AU, in that the Akatsuki aren't criminals and ninja-ing isn't all that prominent, but still exists.
Do you struggle with gift-giving? Looking for a new way to express yourself? Searching for new collections to start? Worry no more, at Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium, where our gift is giving! Presents, artwork, flowers, and much, much more are at your disposal. Come visit us anytime!
It was a warm summer day, and Hinata Hyuga was determined to change her ways. Gone were the days where she would stutter and stare at the ground. No longer would she turn red at the sight of Naruto Uzumaki – nay, any boy to ever cross her path! The summer season was just beginning and just as the sun rose to introduce a new day, she rose up to grow into a new version of herself.
Hinata stood in front of her full-body mirror, her hands balled up into fists in anticipation for the day. She stared at her reflection, thinking to herself, This summer, I'm going to put myself out there! I'm going to find love! Acceptance! No more small, timid Hinata!
She took a deep breath and sighed her newfound mantra, "New day, new you!"
Today's adventure – ask Naruto on a date!
Hinata took a bold step out onto her front porch and breathed in the new summer air. A smile on her face, she marched down the street in order to look for her long-time crush, Naruto. "New day, new you, new day, new you…" she muttered to herself over and over again, her eyes constantly scanning the crowd for the spiky-haired blond.
However, after about an hour of searching and asking around for his location, she found that he was out on a mission and wouldn't be back for a few days. Spirits slightly diminished, she sighed and sat on a bench outside of a small shop. So much for a new me… she berated herself, not noticing the orange-masked fellow watering the plants that surrounded the entire front face of the store.
In fact, the masked man failed to notice Hinata as well, and when he watered the hanging plant above her head, he spilled some water on her as well.
Well… more like spilled the remaining water in the can, which was a lot.
Hinata yelped at the sudden rush of water over her head and the man screamed and fell backwards on his butt. Hinata stood up quickly, but hit her head on the hanging plant above her and shook dirt all over herself. Covered in leftover muddy water, she looked around for the cause of this travesty. It was then that she saw the orange-masked man, who also slightly wet from his clumsiness with the watering can and on the ground, rubbing his sore bottom.
"Owie… Golly, that hurt…" he muttered to himself, getting up and dusting himself off as best as he could. He saw Hinata and exploded with worry and apologies, his arms spread out and flailing because he didn't know how to save her soaking outfit. Hinata was alarmed to say the least, but still tried to calm him down. "I-It's okay, uh…" she glanced down at his nametag and read it out loud, "…Tobi."
Tobi stopped and looked at her. "A-Are you okay!? Gosh, I'm really really sorry! I'm still pretty new at this and I was just watering the plants and didn't pay attention and gosh, Sasori an Deidara are going to be so, so mad at me I just know it…" Tobi spoke fast and rambled a bunch of apologies in between sentences. Hinata couldn't even process what he was saying most of the time.
But thank goodness, she didn't have to, because she heard from inside the store another man's voice, one that was significantly calmer than Tobi's and definitely more collected.
"What's all the commotion, Tobi?" A young man with disheveled and short red hair poked his head out the front door of the shop. He glanced at Hinata, assessing her soaked-ness, and then at Tobi, who was holding the now empty watering can. He understood the situation immediately, stepping outside to introduce himself.
"Oh, gosh, Tobi, look what you've done…" he sighed. He looked to Hinata and smiled a little, extending his hand to her. "Hello, I'm Sasori. I'm sorry about what Tobi seems to have done to you…" Hinata took his hand and smiled. "It's… It's fine, really," she said softly. She stared in wonder at the two of them, realizing how odd a pair they seemed to be. They were totally different from each other in so many ways already, and she had known both of them collectively for ten minutes. What were they doing running a… a flower shop?
Sasori stepped away from them for a second, saying, "Let me grab you a towel. Oh, better yet, why don't you just come inside…" he held the door open for both Hinata and Tobi to step in, and Hinata couldn't believe her eyes. The ceiling was significantly higher than she thought possible for the building, and there were two floors of shelves of odd things, knick-knacks and tchotchkes, works of art from sculptures to paintings, toys and instruments and of course, more flowers to add to what she saw outside.
She didn't mean to stare, but everything in the store was so colorful and vibrant. She caught Sasori staring at her reaction and he smiled when they made eye contact. "Welcome to Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium," he said, waving a grandiose arm at the larger-than-life store. Hinata kept looking around the shop over and over again, keeping her spot at the door while Sasori weaved between the different small kiosks of little things to find a towel for her.
From the outside, the store seemed like such a small, ordinary place. But once she was inside, it was a whole new world. The cash registers were in a circle in the middle of the store, and behind them were these grand staircases, their edges full of tables carrying all this exotic stuff. On the second floor she saw many more weird and foreign objects. She was so drawn into this magical world of – stuff, for lack of a better word – that she forgot that the only reason she was there was because someone spilled plant water all over her. Seeing all of this stuff almost made her glad that such an event occurred.
Sasori came back with a towel and handed it to her. "I'm so terribly sorry about Tobi here. Is there anything we can help you with today?" he said to her, his face somewhat neutral yet still showing a bit of concern. Hinata stared at him in wonder for a few moments, creating an awkward silence between the three of them.
"Um… If you'd like, you can stay and walk around the store if you like," he said finally, breaking the silence and stepping towards the registers. Hinata nodded, embarrassed for staring. Tobi scratched the back of his head and apologized to her one more time before going back to watering the plants.
At first, Hinata didn't know what to do with herself. She looked at the towel and realized that she was still soaking wet. She didn't know how much help one towel would be for drying off her entire person, so she decided to just wrap the towel around herself and walk around the store. She looked at all the books and how they were very uniquely bound. It looked as if there were only one copy of these books, and the one copy was the one in the store. She was surprised there weren't a lot of people here trying to get their hands on them.
She noticed that there was an empty spot at the end of the bookshelf, which was suddenly filled with a book, sliding in from the other side. After recovering from the surprise, she took the book out and read the cover. The Bible of Jashin.
Jashin? Who was Jashin? Hinata leaned over and stared into the surprising darkness of the area through the bookshelf. A magenta-colored eye stared back at her, and she almost screamed, jumping back in surprise. The bookshelf opened like a door, and a shirtless man with slicked back silver hair appeared before her.
"Would you like to hear about my lord and savior Jashin?" he asked her, his attention on the book in her hand. Hinata was speechless and confused, unable to respond until another man walked up to them.
This man was wearing a mask over his mouth and a sort of hood over his head. His eyes were truly something else, green pupils with red instead of whites for the rest of his eye. He had dark skin and a very well-fitted suit that gave him the appearance of an intimidating business man.
"Don't scare the girl, Hidan. Why aren't you wearing a shirt? Again?" the dauntingly tall man demanded of the shirtless one. "What? It's not like it's air conditioned behind the bookshelves. And it's not like you're about to spend your precious dollars on such a necessary luxury, especially during the hottest summer ever!" the silver-haired man raised his arms up in frustration, his voice rising. "And besides, I only came out here because I just finished writing the Bible, and she picked it up! Of course I'd come talk to her!" Hinata squeaked in surprise when the man – Hidan – turned his attention to her once again.
"What do you know about Jashin? If you want, we can perform a ritual together right now!" Suddenly, Hidan's skin turned black and white, making him look like a skeleton. Hinata was shaking in her boots, even more so when Hidan held up a giant pointy spike between them. She couldn't even find a voice to scream. WHO – !? WHAT – !? she thought frantically, frozen in place as Hidan took a step towards her.
The businessman sighed and grabbed the spike, breaking it in half. Hidan returned to his normal skin color, looking annoyed. "You didn't have to break it, Kakuzu!" Hidan yelled. Businessman Kakuzu sighed, gesturing to Hinata. "She's terrified! Look at her, she's shaking like a leaf! Why would it even be remotely logical for you to begin a ritual when she is so clearly not interested!?" As the two bickered, Hinata saw Sasori approaching them, a tired look on his face.
"Hidan, Kakuzu – what are you two doing? What's Hidan doing out here?" Sasori saw Hinata, frozen with fear, and sighed. Kakuzu and Hidan had stopped arguing long enough to yell excuses at Sasori, who frankly had had enough of it.
"Hidan was scaring the ever living shit out of this girl –"
"Kakuzu destroyed my fucking spike!"
"He thought it was a good idea to start one of his fucking rituals right here in the store, in front of our first customer in ages!"
"Our beloved first customer in ages is interested in worshipping my LORD and SAVIOR, JASHIN – "
Hinata could see Sasori almost twitch in agitation. But he was remarkably good at keeping a straight face, though one could really tell that he was reaching his limit. He held up a hand, silencing the two. "Look, I really wish I gave a shit about all of this, but I can't have you guys scaring people out here. Hidan, are you done organizing the books in the back? And Kakuzu, are you here to assess the cash registers?" Hinata was amazed at Sasori's professionalism.
Kakuzu cleared his throat and said "Yes. I need to go through all the sales within the past few years. Leader has been really bad at keeping the store's finances in order while I was on vacation." Sasori nodded, then looked expectantly at Hidan, who just grumbled and retreated behind the bookshelf. "It's like you guys got me in a fuckin' cage back here…" Kakuzu had made his way to the cash registers, leaving Hinata and Sasori alone.
"Hinata, I'm so terribly sorry about all this," he said as he gently took the Bible of Jashin from Hinata and replaced it on the shelf. "Do you have any questions? I'd understand if you felt like leaving after meeting… them." Sasori smiled at her and she couldn't help but relax a bit more. For the first time in a while she was able to move normally again, no longer pinned down by fear. "It's fine… I'm just curious…" she paused to look around the store again. "What is this store, exactly?"
Sasori cleared his throat and said in an almost rehearsed tone, "Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium! Presents, artwork, flowers, and much, much more!" They stood there in silence for a minute. Hinata didn't mention how vague that description was compared to what she saw in the store already. "What… What kind of presents do you sell? Do you own the place? I know you mentioned a leader, but why isn't he here in the store?" She took a step forward, wandering aimlessly around the store. Upon closer inspection she saw that the store was divided, organized in a way that made sense to somebody, just not her.
In fact, upon even closer inspection, the store wasn't organized at all. Hinata dared to ask, "Sasori… How is a customer supposed to find their way around here?" Sasori shrugged and nervously scratched the back of his head. "I, uh… I guess we never really thought about that kind of stuff."
Hinata nodded. "Oh." How the hell are they still in business!?
"Yes, which is why we need YOU, Hinata Hyuga!"
A voice boomed from above them. From where they stood in the center of the store, Hinata saw a figure jump from some place in the ceiling and landed with a loud thud
on the counter of the registers. He stood tall and proud, his arms crossed over his chest. His incredibly intimidating presence was about ten times that of Kakuzu's. He had wild orange-auburn hair that stuck out a bit like Naruto's, and about a million piercings on his face alone. His eyes were as wild as his hair, with the strangest rings around his pupils. They were almost hypnotizing as he looked her straight in the eye. He was a powerful presence to behold, yet when Hinata spared a glance at Sasori, he looked perfectly calm.
"Ah, Leader, hello!" Sasori waved and saluted, smiling a little.
"Hinata Hyuga," the leader said again in his booming voice, not paying much mind to Sasori's greeting. Hinata stood up straight and tall, paying full attention. "You are Akatsuki's first customer in ages. It was fate that you were brought here, because we are in desperate need for a help that only you can provide!" he pointed at her dramatically, waiting for her response.
"H… How can I… help…?" Hinata asked timidly, mentally berating herself for being shy yet again.
New day… new you…
Hello, TWA is back! I was looking over my old fics (none of which I really plan to edit or continue at this point ((Except for Rich Girl, which was updated fairly recently)) and I decided to try this whole fanfic thing again.
I have given up on reading Naruto a long while ago, so my understanding is still within when the Akatsuki were still active in the story. This makes perfect sense to me because I love the Akatsuki with my entire being, and my love was recently sparked because I began watching the Rock Lee spinoff series. It's so cute and funny, and it's the only contact with Naruto I've made.
So yeah, here I am. I don't really expect this fic to get a lot of attention because I've been so out of commission for a long time, but I hope you liked this idea nonetheless! I might make this story something for my own original stories as well, eventually, so.
Yeah. See you in the next chapter!