"W-Why are you doing this?" she whispered, eyes wide in confusion.
The cloaked man paused and turned around to see the young woman half-buried in the ruins of the Sunagakure ninja academy.
He merely laughed, as though delighted by the pain in her eyes. "A-answer me, you b…bastard!
Amusement glittered in his brown eyes, a smirk tweaking the corners of his mouth upwards. "Why should Sasori no Danna answer you?" the redhead's blonde companion snarled, his lip curling.
At this, the bloodied woman's eyes looked up and met the dull apathetic orbs. "You don't remember me, but I remember you," she said, her green eyes boring into the redhead's bored irises.
Registering a slight change in his expression was the only way the wounded blonde-haired shinobi knew that he was interested in her words. "How do you know, Danna?" the blonde man asked, the woman's words also peaking his interest.
"That's a secret which I'm sure that your partner doesn't want you knowing," the woman said, disregarding her dire situation and smirking knowingly at the ex-Suna Nin.
The blonde-haired of the two-cloaked men's eyebrow twitched both in annoyance and interest. He strode over and easily pulled her frail, twisted form out from beneath the rubble. The blonde man held her by the front of her Jounin jacket, the sound of her sandals scrambling to meet with the floor barely audible as he hissed out, "What secret is that?"
She grinned into the angered man's face, something close to amusement written across her features, "Wouldn't be a secret if I told you now would it?"
Air hissed through his teeth, and he shook the battered shinobi in irritation. "Deidara…" the redhead said, finally breaking his silence, "Stop fooling around. I don't like to keep Leader waiting."
The blonde dropped the woman to the floor, before stalking out behind his impatient partner.
"Is she still following us?" the puppeteer's voice drawled, referring to the stumbling mess trailing them.
The blonde, Deidara, glanced back and confirmed her presence with a nod of his head. The woman in question, the bloodied mess, was the Sunagakure shinobi from the ninja academy. "Stupid brat, I should have finished her when I had the chance," the redhead commented blankly.
Assuming that his partner was talking about the recent incident, he shrugged and said, "You're the one who wanted to leave so suddenly, or did you forget Danna?"
"I have not forgotten, Deidara, I was referring to a different event."
"Oh? So you do know her, Danna," the blonde smirked.
The redhead snapped back, "It's none of your goddamn business, Deidara! So shut your mouth and keep walking."
Frowning in annoyance, the blonde grumbled but otherwise remained silent.
"What are we going to do about her? We can't let her know about the base," the blonde questioned, blue eyes streaking towards the limping figure in the distance.
"I know, Deidara. I'll deal with her, you can make the report to Leader by yourself," the redhead snarled, turning to face the stumbling figure approaching them.
Sighing at his partner's quick temper, Deidara disappeared to make the report to the mysterious Leader.
"Why did you follow us, Karei?" the redhead spat, as the Suna-nin staggered closer.
Her eyes widened at the use of her name, and she looked up into hate-filled brown eyes. "I…I never got the chance to thank you," Karei murmured, wincing as she applied weight to her badly wounded leg.
Karei blinked her eyes in surprise, almost swearing that she had seen the murderous brown-eyes suddenly hazed over with confusion. "You wanted…to thank me?"
She nodded, flinching as her bruised muscles screamed in protest. Akasuna no Sasori curled his lip, his uncertainty quickly masked, "Idiot girl! You should have stayed in Suna instead of trying to thank a heartless murderer!"
"Oh? It almost sounds as though you were worried about me," Karei commented, amusement fluttering across her face, momentarily replacing the painful grimace.
"Think what you like, girl. The opinions of the dead don't affect me," he shot back harshly.
"I'm not dead yet," she countered, defiance showing in her expression.
"Oh?" the redhead growled, flashing out of existence only to appear in front of the startled Jounin, a kunai raised at her throat, "Any last words?"
The ash-blonde shinobi looked down at the kunai, then straight into the brown-eyes of the puppeteer. "Go ahead! It's better off this way. So no one will know what you used to be, that you once were human!"
Amused laughter met her remark, and she watched him cautiously, waiting for him to end her life. "You don't understand the true irony of that statement, and you never shall…say goodbye now, girl," the redhead said, tightening his grip on his weapon.
"Grandma died a few weeks after you left. In the last week, she lost her mind completely, and on the day she died…she died calling for you…"
The redhead hesitated, mulling over the new information. "Even with the medicine I administered?"
The blonde nodded, her eyes closed as the memories came rushing back.
A small Karei tugged on her slender grandmother's hand, wanting to drag her into one of the many shops lining the street. Suddenly, she stood stock still, causing her grandmother to look down at her in surprise. "Karei?" she queried, before looking to see where her granddaughter was staring.
A child and their parents were walking hand and hand down the street, laughing and smiling. Hurt and pain shone in Karei's eyes, and her only living relative bent down and embraced her. "Grandma? Why don't I have parents like everyone else?" the small child asked, her thin arms grasped around the old woman's neck.
"You do, Karei. They're watching over you from a better place…"
"Grandma? Grandma?! What's wrong with you? Why won't you get up?" a thin voice wailed in distress.
Her Grandma had collapsed with no warning, in a secluded area on the way back to their house from the village's center. Karei shook her Grandma's shoulder, tears threatening to spill over her cold cheeks. "Grandma! It's not funny any more! Please just open your eyes Grandma!"
A freezing hand on her shoulder made her look up in surprise, her eyes blurry from withheld tears. "Whereabouts do you live, kid?" the boy said, his bright red hair contrasting against the soft yellow sand background.
Raising a shaky hand, Karei pointed, "Not too long of a walk in that direction….s-sir."
The redheaded boy grunted at his label, "Call me Sori."
Karei stood against the doorway, fear shining in her eyes as she watched the skilled hands bring a cup to meet with her grandma's wrinkled lips. As the empty cup made a dull sound as it was set back down on the bedside table, Karei spoke up, "Is Grandma going to be alright?"
The redhead wiped his brow and looked over at the huddled figure, inviting her closer.
"I will tell you the truth. Your grandmother is suffering from senility, which is when the mind decides that it wants to have a break and stops telling your grandmother what to do…"
The blonde child stood next to her Grandma's bed, avoiding making eye contact with the boy unless he noticed her tears. "Go ahead," the boy said, fiddling with a sprig of herbs, "I know what it's like…to feel alone, that is."
Losing her resolve, the blonde child ran and hugged her arms around the startled redheaded boy. She wept into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably as the weight of the world pressed down on her fragile shoulders. The boy's arms snaked around her and pulled her close, and he sighed and waited for her cries to cease.
"Sori? What are you doing today?" Karei asked, wide eyes fixed on the redhead.
"I'm collecting a special herb for your Grandmother's medicine," the boy replied, pausing in his work to wipe one hand across his brow and squint up at the sun.
"…Can I help?"
He glanced up at her, before nodding and gesturing at a wide-leafed plant. "This is rue leaves, you collect them like this. Later if you like I'll show you how to make the medicine so you can brew it once I leave."
Her mouth opened slightly at the information that her companion was already planning on leaving only after a week of living with her and her Grandma. Disregarding this is stupid, however, she quickly began helping the boy collect the precious herb.
"Sori!" Karei screamed as a man suddenly leapt out and grabbed her around the neck.
"Hand over your valuables, boy!" demanded the leader of the three thieves.
"Let her go," Sori snarled, his usually passive voice filled with hatred.
"And what if we don't?" the leader smirked.
"Then you die."
"You attack us, the girl dies," the leader retorted, and on cue, the thief holding Karei raised a kunai to her neck and began to put pressure on it.
Karei whimpered, the pain becoming almost unbearable. The redhead's eyes suddenly went livid, and faster than any eye could follow; he ripped 3 scrolls out of his pack and each released a puff of white smoke. When Karei opened her eyes again, the thieves were nowhere to be seen, and her saviour was crouching down in front of her. "How is your neck?" he asked, the slightest hint of concern betraying his impassive expression.
Karei tried to tell him that it felt fine, but found it painful to speak and tears rose in her eyes. "Let's go," the boy said, taking her hand and leading her away.
That night, the redhead put her to bed and just as he was about to close the door he heard three words, which sent a cold shiver down his spine. "Love you, Sori…" a sleepy Karei murmured, before rolling over and burying herself in her blankets.
The boy closed the door and leant against it, expression somewhere between apathy and sadness.
By morning he was gone, leaving only instructions and a month's supply of medicine. Teardrops fell onto the paper and making the cursive writing almost illegible. "Sori…" Karei whispered.
"Why did you leave?" the blonde said, asking the question which she had been longing to ask since that day.
"I stayed too long, you got…attached to me," he said, his expression showing that he wasn't lying.
Her burning eyes stared down at the fallen leaves, her quick erratic breaths pushing against the kunai still at her throat. "…Kill me."
A spark of surprise shone in his eyes before they narrowed. "Brat. Don't tell me what to do."
"You're going to kill me anyway, you're not the person I love anymore."
At this, he hesitated, obviously taken aback. "You still…after 14 years…" he said, before his eyes grew cold, "you're so pathetic, I should just kill you right now so I can watch your heart break as you die."
"Well then, why don't you?" Karei challenged, infuriating him with her forced grin.
"Don't provoke me."
"Well then do it."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't have to tell you, brat."
"Why don't you admit it?"
"Admit what."
"You love me."
The redhead threw back his head and laughed. As his laughter subsided, his amused brown-eyes moved back to the shivering shinobi. "That was the most entertaining thing I've heard in a long time. Because of that I'll make your death painless."
He rotated his grip on the kunai, and Karei shut her eyes in acceptance. "I should have known…" she muttered softy, a moment before she was cut off.
However, she wasn't cut off with the kunai like she had expected, but rather with a warm mouth against her cold lips. Eyes fluttering open in surprise, she saw the redhead in front of her, with his arms wrapped around her battered body. Closing her eyes again, she raised her own arms, one around his shoulders, and the other in his bright red hair.
It felt like they were no longer two separate entities, as though they'd been joined together by the bond that had been renewed from years ago. He deepened the kiss, distracting Karei even more from his raised arm behind her head. Suddenly, he broke apart from her and looked into her startled eyes a second before he brought his hand down, "I'm sorry, Karei."
She struggled to open her glued-together eyelids, and when she finally did, bright white walls met her gaze. "Suna's hospital?" Karei whispered, almost in disbelief.
A nurse walked into the room, carrying a bowl of water and a washcloth. "Excuse me, but how did I get here?" she politely asked the surprised nurse.
"You're awake! Don't you remember what happened?" the nurse replied.
Searching through her memories, the closest thing that could explain the phenomena would be a particularly vivid dream she'd just had involving the destruction of Suna's ninja academy and a certain redhead. Shaking her head, she looked apologetically up at the nurse. "You were left in the entrance of Sunagakure, no one saw how you got there but one of the patrols spotted you and brought you here for treatment," the nurse explained, tidying up the surrounding area before taking her leave.
Karei looked down at her bandaged hands, then over at the pile of clothes on the bedside table, which she normally wore. She blinked in confusion, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her. Reaching over, she pulled a note out of the front pocket of her Jounin vest. As she recognised the small, cursive writing, tears began to fall and joy engulfed her. "So…it wasn't a dream."
Karei,
I apologise for having to do this to you, but with my current position, it would be impossible for us to meet again. Maybe…there'll be a day in the future, when I've done everything I have to do, where I'll come home again. And if you permit it, home with you. Do not forget that what ever has happened, what ever will happen, you will remain with me for eternity.
Sori.