"Shikyo, are you sure this is the way to Suna?" Riyou asked, annoyed. They had been running through the Konoha Forest for quite a while now, and Riyou knew it didn't take this long to get to the desert.
"Yes, Riyou, for the fifth time, I know where I'm going!" Shikyo exclaimed, annoyed by Riyou's constant nagging. Normally Riyou and Shikyo get along quite well, but at times like these they are enemies. Riyou always thought that Shikyo had no sense of direction, and didn't understand why he lets her lead the team to places such as Suna. Riyou just rolled his eyes and kept silent next to Draniken.
"See? There's the Suna Desert, right there!" Shikyo pointed at the desert that lay just a few yards away from them. Riyou sighed, not wanted to accept that he was wrong. The ninjas made their way through the Desert of Death and up to the Suna gates.
••••
"G'day. Are you here for the valve?" the Kazekage asked.
"Yes. Tsunade said she needs to have it as soon as possible," Draniken said.
"Right. Here you go. Now, I suggest that you don't shake that up too much," the Kazekage said.
"And whys that?" Shikyo asked.
"Because when you do, it fizzes up like soda, and the pressure will get so high the valve will break. The poison is like acid and will burn through your body. It is only safe with a certain flower nectar that turns the poison into a healing agent," the Kazekage explained. Shikyo nodded and they left for Konoha.
"Well that was pretty easy," Draniken said, placing the valve in a pocket inside of his jacket. "Now we just have to get back to Konoha." The three silently jumped through the trees, not really paying attention to their surroundings.
That was, until a ninja jumped up in front of them, causing the group to come to an abrupt stop. It was a female ninja, looking worn and tired. She had cuts on her arms and one across her cheek. Her breathing was quick, as if she had been running for awhile.
"Uh, hello," Shikyo said. "Can we help you?"
"Yes! Oh dear, yes! You see, these guys in black and red cloaks are after me. They call themselves the Akatsuki. They won't leave me alone until I agree to join them in their hideout. Please, help me!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry, but we're on a mission. We need to deliver something to the Hokage as fast as we can. We can't help you," Riyou said.
"Oh dear, please! I need someone to help!" she cried.
"Um, I'll help you," Shikyo offered.
"Shikyo, are you sure?" Riyou asked. Shikyo nodded.
"I can take care of myself," she said.
"Don't get into too much trouble, Shikyo. We'll come after you after we feel you've been gone too long, ok?" Draniken said. He hugged Shikyo. "Come back to Konoha as soon as possible." Shikyo nodded once more as her two teammates continued towards Konoha.
"I'm Shikyo."
"Hello. I'm Nami," the ninja said. "I come from the Hidden Mist Village."
"Ok. So what do you need help with?" Shikyo asked.
"I need help defeating the Akatsuki they sent after me. There's only one, so it should we should be fine," Nami replied. Shikyo nodded as they both jumped out of the trees. They were greeted by red sharigan eyes.
"There he is. Get ready, he's preparing for an attack," Nami said.
••••
"I've got her, and an extra," Itachi said. "They put up a good fight, but they were no match for my Mangekyo Sharigan."
"Good job, Itachi. Now, who's the extra you brought along?" Pein asked.
"I heard Nami call her Shikyo."
"Shikyo Kumori. I've heard of her. Throw her in the basement with the other, we could use some service around here," Pein said. Itachi nodded and went to do what he was told.
Shikyo woke up on a cold, hard floor. Her head was throbbing and she had gashes all over her arms. Reluctantly, she sat up and saw that Nami was passed out next to her. God, where am I? A door opened and light rushed in to blind her.
"Ahh, I see one was woken. Come here," a voice said. Shikyo blinked a couple of times before she got up slowly to walk over to the strange voice. The person placed a hand on her back and moved her so she was in front of him. The man led her to a different room, where another person was waiting.
"Leader-sama, Shikyo has woke," the man said.
"Swell. Sit down, please," The man offered. Shikyo cautiously sat down in a chair. "Welcome to the Akatsuki. You, Shikyo, will refer to me as Leader-sama, and you will also call every other member here by 'sama'. Understand? Now, since you were the first to wake, you will be rooming with Zetsu. Alright? Understood?" Shikyo nodded. "Good. Now leave." Shikyo hesitated for a moment.
"I said leave," the man said. Shikyo shot up and left the room, closing the door behind her. She stood there, thinking over what just happened. She must've been there, say, twenty minutes. Lost in deep thought.
"Hello?" someone said, waving a hand in front of Shikyo's face. Shikyo snapped out of her trance and was greeted by a pair of gray eyes. She blinked, startled at how close he was.
"Uh," was all Shikyo could say.
"Yeah. You're Shikyo right? The new maid?" the red head asked.
"Maid? No. Prisoner? Yes," Shikyo said.
"Leader-sama didn't tell you did he? You're the new maid," he said.
"Okay then," Shikyo said. "Just so you know, I'm not going to do anything but leave." Shikyo waved and tried to walk away, but the man grabbed her shirt, preventing her from doing so.
"I don't think so. You need to get to work on cleaning my room," he said.
"You're not the boss of me. Now let me go so I can leave! God, this place smells like blood and mothballs!" Shikyo said. The red head rolled his eyes and suddenly Shikyo lost control of her body. She was walking towards room, the red head behind her.
"What are you doing?!" Shikyo exclaimed.
"Making you clean my room," he replied as he had her open the door and enter the room. The red head relaxed on his bed while he controlled Shikyo with the puppet strings.
"Oh, I see Sasori has already put you to work," Itachi said, glancing in the room. Shikyo just growled as Sasori kept making her clean the room. Itachi smirked and carried on with what he was doing. Eventually Sasori was happy with his room. He even showed Shikyo the way to her room.
"Have fun with Zetsu. Let's hope he doesn't eat you," Sasori said as he walked away. Shikyo watched him for a moment before turning to open the door. There was another person in there, with a venous fly trap like thing around his head. It was closed, so Shikyo couldn't see his face. She looked around, looking for the other bed. She found it and laid down. The bed left out a soft squeak and thats when Zetsu opened up.
"Who are you?" he asked. Shikyo remained in her horizontal state, eyes closed.
"Shikyo. The new prisoner," she said.
"Are you dinner?" a different voice asked.
"What? Dinner? Ha. No," Shikyo said, and left out a long sigh.
"What are you doing in our room?" the other voice asked.
"Being in my new room, thats what," Shikyo spat. She didn't mean for it to sound as hateful as it did, but she was tired, annoyed, scared, and her head was still throbbing. It was quiet for a moment.
"Oh," was the last thing Shikyo heard before she fell into a light sleep.
Shikyo was awaken by someone lightly poking her cheek. When she opened her eyes, though, no one was in poking reach of her. There was just Zetsu in the room, reading a book. Shikyo just shook it off and rolled over onto her back. She pulled up the sheet, realizing how cold she was. What she didn't notice, though, was that Zetsu was watching her.
"Are you hungry?" he suddenly asked. Shikyo rolled over on her side to face him.
"Kinda sorta. I don't think I want to eat whatever food you guys keep here though. I just want to go home, is all," she replied. Her words were numb yet emotionless. Shikyo found out he had a light side and a dark side. Literally and figuratively speaking. The dark side of him had the dark personality, and the light had the light personality. Which was pretty self explanitory, really.
The two talked for what seemed like hours, and Shikyo was actually enjoying it. Zetsu was really kind and sweet. Even his dark side wasn't that mean. Shikyo felt that she has made a friend, but still wasn't sure if she should trust him. After all, he is an S-Rank criminal.
"I'm quite famished...," Shikyo blurted.
"Oh, well, do you want food then?" Zetsu asked. Shikyo pondered this question...asking herself a lot of 'what if' questions. The last question that dashed through her mind was, What if I don't eat?
"Uh, sure," she said. She'd just have to believe in her heart that they won't poison the food. Though Shikyo would rather die from eating and getting poisoned then not eating and finding out they wouldn't poison the food.
Zetsu got up and led her towards the kitchen. He silently fixed her a sandwich with more meat then anything. He didn't bother to ask her what she liked, he just went ahead and threw everything in the fridge on there. Sandwich in hand, Zetsu spun around and handed Shikyo the food. She took it from him, hesitating before taking a bite. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"This is delicious!" Shikyo exclaimed, swallowing the bite. Zetsu just smiled as he watched her devour the sandwich. She's really cute, the white half of him thought.
"Shikyo! Uh, I need you, un!" shouted a voice. Who the heck is that? Shikyo thought in annoyance. She swallowed the last bit of her sandwich as she stalked into the main room.
"Yes, random person who knows my name?" Shikyo said.
"Deidara. See, a piece of my art went haywire and now my rooms a total mess. Think you could clean it up, un?" he asked.
"Yes. I think I could. Will I do it? No," Shikyo said.
"Hey, you're supposed to obey. That's what Leader-sama told us. So, go clean it up," Deidara ordered.
"Yes Master," Shikyo said sarcasticly. Deidara rolled his...eye...and Shikyo walked ooff into the hallway, only to end up coming right back.
"Uh, where's your room?" Shikyo asked.
"My roommate is Sasori-dana. You've been there, right, un?" Deidara asked.
"Yeah. Wait-I have to clean that room again?" Shikyo exclaimed.
"Apparently so," Zetsu said, popping up next to her. Shikyo sighed in annoyance and stormed off towards Sasori and Deidara's room. Why did I offer to help Nami? Shikyo thought.
••••
After spending two whole hours cleaning up Deidara's mess, Shikyo was finally dismissed to her room. Shikyo thanked her dismisser, and tiredly wandered off towards her room. She was ready for sleep, ready to dream. To her dismay, Nami came running down the hallway and prevented her form doing so.
"Shikyo-chan! These people are so nice! They gave me a cloak just like theirs and my own room! I feel bad for being so prejudice earlier. Everyone said they were evil!" Nami exclaimed. So naive, Shikyo thought. She inhaled a deep breath and put on the fake smile she used so well.
"That's great! They gave me a room too. But you know what I am? A maid. A freaking maid," she replied. The last part of her scentence was filled with hatred and disgust.
"Oh jeeze, don't be such a downer! Atleast you got a room all to yourself!" Nami said, trying to cheer her up. She failed.
"Nami, I, unlike you, have a roommate. The only reason you have a room all to yourself is because I woke before you and was placed into the next available room. Okay? Don't try to cheer me up. It won't work. Unless you can magically poof me back home, don't even think about trying to make me happy," Shikyo said. Nami was silent, as if in deep thought. Shikyo took this as an advantage and continued towards her room, hoping Nami wouldn't stop her. Shikyo soon heard footsteps behind her, but managed to enter her room before Nami caught up with her. There was a minute of silence, a minute of hope that Nami wouldn't come bursting through the door.
"Oh thank God," Shikyo said, releived that nothing had happened. She walked over to her bed and collapsed, instantly falling into a deep slumber.
••••
Shikyo awoke once more, startled as her eyes met two yellow orbs. She quickly came over her startle, realizing the yellow eyes belonged to her friend Zetsu. Blinking, she wondered why he was so close.
"Uh, good morning," Shikyo said. Zetsu smiled weakly as if to say 'good morning'. Shikyo couldn't explain the sensation she felt when he moved so their noses touched.
"I...uh..um...," was all the she could say. Zetsu pulled back and gave her some food, for breakfast. He said nothing, but smiled at her as she bit into the egg, bacon, and cheese biscuit sandwich.
"This is good, did you make it?" Shikyo asked.
"Uh, yes," the dark side of Zetsu said.
"Have I told you how cute you are?" the light side asked.