Chapter 1
Silence, to some people, can be as deafening as roaring noise. Sometimes, even worse. For silence is nothing but physcological, the interpretation of nothingness. It can become pain, it can become maddness.
And some fall to that madness, their mind tattered and broken, a mere artifact of insanity.
Sometimes they lose their lives... to suicide, or to society...
'But not me.' the woman decided. She rolled over, stretched her muscles before standing up from the rather comfortable bed she had napped apon.
'For I will not go mad...the silence is good for me, at least for a little while,' she supposed.
Before getting dressed and heading out through the door, she checked her appearance in the full-length mirror she had on the opposite wall to her bed.
What she saw... she had mixed thoughts of.
She had a sort of hourglass figure, with wide hips, a smaller waist, and a round upper body. Her skin was pale, only marred by one visible scar. It started from her right hip bone, then rose diagonally, crossing over her belly button and ending at the left side of the bottom of her ribs.
It was a scar from her past, something in particular that she would rather just forget. But she knew it would never happen.
And then her eyes went upwards until she was staring into her own eyes. The hair that framed her head was white-ish blonde, and continued down slightly past her waist.
The woman smiled. There were many that would call her beautiful, she knew this (and had experienced this somewhat from various men).
But somewhere deep within her called to her, disagreeing. Insecurity, lack of self confidence... despite the kind treatment she had received, at least in regards to her physical appearance.
But now was not the time to be self-pitying. That could be done later.
The woman sighed, binding her breasts with a white cloth in place of a bra (she really should purchase some from a shop, but hadn't found the time yet) and slipped on a soft light blue shirt. Then came black pants, the cuff at her ankle contrasting by being white. She slipped on a pair of sandals, and left out her three headbands. She didn't need to go full-uniform, at least not when she was still within the base.
So she left her Akatsuki cloak off as well.
And then she was ready.
So she left the room, closing the door softly on her way out. She gingerly stepped down the hallway, trying to avoid as much noise as possible, with as little effort as possible. She didn't feel like talking to a certain masked fool, and if he heard her, he'd certainly come running. Like he did to Deidara.
As she reached the living room, she smiled inwardly. It was empty except for two women, both her colleages.
Sheena and Konan.
Konan was sitting in a chair in the corner, absentmindedly fiddling with a paper creature covered in seals. She might have been working on one of her jutsu, or she could have just been fooling around. When one lived in the Akatsuki, a lot of both seemed to happen.
Sheena, on the other hand, was sprawled across the couch, tossing up a kunai and catching it, over and over. Her snowy-white hair was in snarls, as if she had just gotten out of bed and hadn't bothered to brush her hair. Which, knowing the kunoichi and her personality, she probably hadn't.
"Mornin', Yuri..."
The greeting was almost grumbled, and some would even say it meant unfriendliness. But in Sheena's case...that was simply her way of greeting, at least when she was tired.
"Good morning, Sheena," Yuri replied. She glanced over to Konan, prepared to say something to her as well, but she seemed to be so fixiated on whatever it was that she was doing that Yuri decided to leave her be.
Konan, through subtle signals, seemed to appreciate it.
A sudden, rather loud, voice broke through the calm of the room.
"I'm hungry!"
Yuri raised an eyebrow at Sheena's statement, already knowing where this was going to go, but trying to get out of it any way she could.
"And...?"
The white-haired woman grinned, her dark eyes boring into Yuri's blue.
"Food. Make us some food."
Yuri sighed. She hated being in service to the other members... but Sheena...well...she couldn't afford to piss her off.
"And why? Why should I make you some food?"
Yuri regretted the back-talking reply almost as soon as it left her lips.
There was a flash of movement, only a blur to Yuri's eyes, and Sheena was behind her.
To the casual observer, it would appear that the woman was hugging her from behind, a simple but friendly gesture. Yuri, however, knew that it could easily mean something else.
Her arms constricted of any type of movement, and she knew that Sheena could easily crush her ribs and lungs, at any given second.
It was a threat, not an embrace.
"Because I'm an ancient and powerful Uchiha, and you aren't. I'm telling you, not asking," she purred into Yuri's ear, making her shiver. Whether it was out of fear or simply feeling uncomfortable (or both) was unclear.
"Fair enough," she mumbled in return, surrendering.
Though she hated to be bossed around...she knew boundaries. She knew when to comply.
And the only reason that Yuri did with Sheena's wishes was...Sheena could seriously injure her. As could Madara. They could KILL her. Easily, despite her power.
Damn them...
Sheena released her and laughed, returning to the couch. In her eyes was an ever-present look of mischief.
"That's right..."
Saying nothing, Yuri left the living room, instead heading over to the kitchen. Sadly, she wasn't the only one there... Tobi was, too, stirring a pot of soup madly.
The masked man looked up, his face contorted in an unseen grimace. He was not happy to see her either.
Tobi, on the other hand, was much more happy to see the woman, dropping the stirring ladle and nearly spilling the soup.
"Yuri-chan! Yuri-chan!" he yelled, launching himself at her faster than she could react. He knocked her to the ground, and she hit her head, swearing softly.
"Get...off...me..." but her voice of protest was muffled, for the majority of the man's weight (and he was rather heavy) was centered on her chest- and her lungs.
But Tobi only giggled and shook his head.
"Tobi wants to play a game with Yuri..."
That confused her. What could Madara possibly want? He'd made it clear on more than one occasion that he didn't particularly care for her (that was an understatement) and that the only reason he hadn't killed her was to use her influence in trapping the other Jinchuuriki.
Other.
Maybe that was what this was about...
Yuri was the only jinchuuriki to join the Akatsuki. She had been granted complete immunity to their extractions, so her fellow members wouldn't turn on her, on one condition:
That, if needed, she would use her extra power and chakra from her beast to the benefit of the Akatsuki. If the situation was appropriate.
Having an asset like this, as far as she knew, was of great value to him.
But, apparently, still not important enough (or perhaps too important) for him to tell her 'the details'.
Yuri was surprisingly lacking when it came to the knowledge of her beast. She didn't even know what she was host to...
She was sure that Madara knew, but he would not tell her.
Evidently, though, as she had previously thought, it was of some importance.
For if she did not host an important tailed beast, there would have been no reason to reveal his identity to her shortly after she joined the Akatsuki. Which was what had happened. Nearly scared the shit out of her, too.
Seeing the hyperactive and cheerful Tobi turn into the serious and scary Madara was...quite an experience, to say the least.
But, coming back to the matter at hand...
What was it that Madara wanted now?
Was it something to do with her as a jinchuuriki? Did the situation call for it?
Or was it that she was the elder sister to Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Emiko, the Kyuubi's containers?. She might be consulted on a matter related to them...that would make sense. Or was it something about the second-eldest, Kazumi?
Yuri wished that they hadn't all become Jinchuuriki. It meant that nowhere any of them went, they would be treated...different. Whether it was out of fear for the beasts (as was most common among civilians and low-ranking ninja) or simple and unkind recognition for being related to an Akatsuki member, it wouldn't ever be positive.
She sometimes worried about her younger siblings...
As she should. They were in great danger, as long as the Akatsuki existed. As long as she, Sheena, and Madara were alive, they would all be in danger.
"Alright," Yuri eventually responded, letting the masked man drag her out of the kitchen and down the hallway. She could worry about cooking something for Sheena later. Besides, Madara's word was to be obeyed more than hers. As far as she knew, the two of them didn't even like eachother. Hell, they seemed to hate eachother.
Which made her wonder why Madara even bothered keeping Sheena around- the white-haired woman never seemed to help with collecting the beasts, and the only real things she did involved pissing off other members of the Akatsuki. There must have been some other reason that an old colleage of Madara's was here...
Because as far as Yuri knew, Madara didn't have any. At least, none that he didn't want to kill. And he seemed to want to kill Sheena... but he refrained for some reason.
One of the few things she knew nothing about, when it came to the Akatsuki.
They finally stopped at a large and looming wooden door. Yuri felt her blood go slightly cold...
She knew this room.
This was where extractions were performed, where tailed beasts were ripped out of their hosts and stored in the gigantic statue. She hated this place...
Madara entered the room, motioning for Yuri to follow. She did, noting the sudden change of temperature from the building to the cave.
After shutting the door and returning her attention to the room, that same blood-chilling feeling returned to her.
That statue...
Just looking at the damn thing made her shiver.
It had to be the creepiest thing she had ever seen...and Yuri had seen a lot of creepy things in her lifetime.
It oozed an awful-feeling chakra, and the whole aura of the dimly-lit cave just made her want to turn tail and run. Oh, how she hated this place...
"What is it, Madara-sama?" Yuri nearly had to force the respective title through her teeth, not wanting to acknowledge him as someone of importance. She hated him. And she was pretty sure he felt the same way...
But, at the same time, Yuri was not an idiot. She knew to not anger him, so attaching the title was one of the simple things she did to stay alive. Simple as that.
"I'm...re-assigning you, sort of."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. What could he mean by that? Was her position in the Akatsuki being changed?
"You are going to be switching teams. You aren't going to be working with Itachi and Kisame anymore. Instead, you'll be with Deidara."
"Why?" Yuri felt dissapointment sinking through her. She didn't want to be seperated from Itachi and Kisame...especially Itachi.
Though she considered Deidara to be one of her closest friends, if not her closest, Itachi was...more than that. Itachi was...a lover. Her other half.
She could almost feel Madara smirking through his mask.
"You are in no position to be asking questions. However, since I feel myself slipping into a rather charitable mood, I suppose I'll tell you. Two reasons:
1. Seeing you screwing the only useful Uchiha makes me sick.
2. I'm going to be doing some important work for a while at the base, I can't be with Deidara. Therefore, he needs a partner, And I'm choosing you because you're on the only three-person team. And he likes you.
So it'll give the idiot some time to actually get some work done. Understand?"
Yuri most certainly did not, but she nodded all the same. The only real thing she felt sure of was that she wanted to slap Madara into Oblivion.
But she refrained from doing so, as to avoid a slow and painful death.
Madara seemed to notice her discomfort, and only laughed.
"You'll learn to like it. Trust me. You are Dismissed."
Yuri turned and prepared to leave the room, muttering something under her breath. Something rather insulting.
She was about to step out of the door when Madara grabbed her by her throat in a blinding flash of movement, slamming her against the wall and constricting not only movement of any kind but also breath. Through the one eyehole in his orange mask, an easily detectable rage emanated.
"Dont you ever disrespect me, you Senju-blooded whore! I'll just as soon snap your neck and use your beasts power than let you live and badmouth me. Understand?" The last word was said in a sickly sweet tone, and it made Yuri want to vomit.
Which she probably would, when she was in the safety of her room once more and not this unnerving cave.
"Y-yes.." she managed to choke out.
Madara released her, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
"Get out," he growled, his voice lowering.
Yuri waisted no more time in running out.
Even when she could no longer sense his or the statue's chakra, she kept running, all the way until she reached her room.
Running in, slamming and locking the door, she began to whimper.
Very softly, nothing that the other members would hear, but still audible to her. And she hated herself for it.
Tears began to stream down her face in small trickles, and Yuri wiped them away, failing at stopping.
"A shinobi shouldn't show such weakness," she reminded herself, but that only made her feel worse. So she spent the rest of the day curled on her bed, letting her tears fall unseen into the depths of her blankets in pillows.
They wouldn't care; they were inanimate objects. Warm and comforting inanimate objects, but still inanimate objects.
Oh well. It didn't matter anyway.
Having inanimate objects was better than having nothing.
Definitely.
End of Chapter 1
(A/N: Well...I finally published it! The sister-novel to A World of Shattered Memories- Shiko! Yes, I know the quality's not very high yet, I'm bad at introducing new characters, and especially bad at starting stories. Hopefully though, that will soon change.
For readers that are new to this series...welcome! This is not the only installment in this series. There is a connected story, A World of Shattered Memories- Shiko. It is not necessary to read that to read this, but you might like seeing some of these events through a different character's eyes. So you might wanna check that out!
Ok, in case this wasn't clear in the description...
This is a ItachixOC and DeidaraxOC triangle.
I also just realized...I accidentally used a Skyrim/Oblivion reference when she "wanted to slap him into Oblivion!" Jeez, I'm becoming such a geek I don't even realize when I reference things...O.o...
Let's see...other things... I know some of you might be confused at how Madara said 'Senju-Blooded whore' when Yuri is an Uzumaki just like Naruto. Well...that will be explained in later chapters. Or, if you want to go and read A World of Shattered Memories- Shiko, I believe I have already published a chapter explaining it.
Further more, the tailed beasts and two Kyuubi's will also be explained... probably not for a few chapters though.
I have a question of the day for the readers and reviewers of both in this series.
Which one of this series is your favorite/ which did I do better on? A World of Shattered Memories- Yuri or A World of Shattered Memories- Shiko?
I'm interested to see your thoughts, and would love some feedback!
I love you all, I honestly do.
Reviews are like cookies. Please feed me!
Constructive criticism is appreciated, flaming is not. )