1- Exit to Home
Okay, I'm writing this alongside Naki-chan, but she's given me permission to edit and post this.
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"Hey, Miki, you're needed in the Boss' room." The familiar voice alerted Miki to an unwanted presence in her rooms. She stood from her desk and whirled on him, flaming red spikes flaring out as she whipped her head to glare at Itachi.
"The hell does he need me for?" She yelled, pissed off just by the older man's presence.
"You done playing Messenger, Itachi? Hey Miki." Kisame said, poking his head into the room behind Itachi. The second uninvited guest had the red-haired girl beyond pissed off now. And when she was beyond pissed, sarcasm was the best cure for her violent urges until she could get hold of a regenerating punching bag—namely Hidan or Kakuzu.
"What are you worried about? You two secret lovers now or something?" Miki spat out the question as she shoved her way through the door, knocking the two guys together. Her rude question had Itachi sputtering.
"Hell no! You, of all people, should know that even I wouldn't stoop to that sort of hobby." Itachi shoved away from Kisame as he yelled at Miki.
"Seriously. Get going or I'll see if I can't get permission to go ahead and take care of you!" Kisame shouted, jabbing a finger at her. She shook her head a little and started to walk off.
"You're seriously a pain in the ass. Both of you are twisted." Miki said, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she headed down the hall and up a flight of stairs into the tower above the hideout she was occupying. Sometimes it was just too much of a pain in the ass for her to deal with the Akatsuki.
Hell, if it weren't for the fact that Itachi had all but begged for her to be kept alive like some sort of pet, she wouldn't even be there. Damn idiot. He was so obsessed with what had been written on the note left with her when she'd been dumped on his parent's doorstep as a baby. All the note had said was her last name and that she'd been made into the Nanabi Jinchuriki by her dead parents.
He seemed convinced that even if they did the jutsu to remove the Nanabi from her body, she'd survive it and kill them all. Not that she wouldn't mind getting a chance to kill the lot of those bastards while they were still focusing on that arcane jutsu and release all of the Bijuu. It would never happen. If the Bijuu was removed from the host's body, the host would die. If the Jinchuriki died with the beast still sealed in them, the beast would disappear from existence.
She got to the door she needed and knocked once before entering. "Excuse me." Miki said as she stepped into the room, bowing deeply—not out of respect for Pein, but out of habit.
"Miki…you should know better than to delay." Pein growled. Wow, the bastard was pissed just because she'd taken a couple of extra minutes getting there. Some people just couldn't be satisfied.
"Sorry…Sir. Kisame and Itachi were in the way." She responded calmly, waving a hand dismissively. She used that excuse to deter him a lot, but ninety percent of the time, it was the truth. Damn, she couldn't wait to get hold of Hidan and use the masochistic asshole for a punching bag.
"Are you wondering why I called you here?" He smirked and motioned for her to sit down. She eyed the seat warily and shook her head a little.
"I'd rather stand. Why the hell am I here?" She put a hand on her hip as she spat out the question. Just looking at this guy had her in a bad mood, and she was already in a bad mood after dealing with Itachi and Kisame, so it only got worse.
"You're here, because I have a mission for you." He stated calmly, ignoring Miki's attitude. He had a knack for that. It was like the man just didn't care that he pissed off one of the few Jinchuriki that could fully control their beast and could probably easily kick his little ass. Oh well, a 'mission' would probably get her out of Amegakure. That would be a chance to get the hell away from the Akatsuki.
"What a pain in the ass. Trying to keep up the appearance that this village is more than a base for your organization?" She growled and started to leave the room. Her way was immediately blocked by Konan. Fuck. Oh well, she figured she'd get trapped in the room anyways.
"Your mission is to go into Konoha and work with the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." He said as his partner closed and locked the door to keep Miki in. She turned back to face him, coming close to punching the shit out of the pierced up bastard.
"I will not take part in a plot against my cousin, Pein." Miki literally spat at him and crossed her arms.
"Whether you agree to this or not is not your choice. The only thing keeping you alive is the agreement I made with Itachi." He smirked as he wiped her spit off his face. She scowled, narrowing her eyes. 'That damn bastard…buying my compliance with threats against my life.' She thought sourly.
"You realize how stupid it is to attempt to put the Kyuubi and Nanabi even in the same village!" A hand connected hard with her cheek and she turned her glare on Konan.
"You will take a more polite tone!" Konan shouted angrily. Pein laughed a little.
"Konan…no need for violence. You will leave immediately for Konohagakure, Miki. A standard grade Hitai-ate is in your quarters." Pein said dismissively. Seeing that neither of them would stop her from leaving, she unlocked the door and left without a word, frowning.
'Damn him…I'll deal with it for now…but I'll kill Itachi for giving that ass an edge over me.' She stormed down to her room and shoved her weapons and two changes of clothes into her pack before grabbing the Hitai-ate that had been left on her desk and tying it with a loud snap over her forehead. She straightened her short, spikey hair and headed for the exit nearest the border. The less she got rained on while she headed for home, the better.
"You heading somewhere, hm?" Deidara asked as she passed through one of the rec rooms. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"None of your damn business. Go blow yourself up." She spat out the words and bumped into Hidan. Just what she needed. She really wanted to kill something at that moment, but she didn't want to beat Hidan to 'death' and listen to him complain about it while Kakuzu stitched him up.
"Watch where you're walking, dammit." Hidan growled at her. Okay, she was obviously in a really bad mood, and he had the nerve to turn his stupid mouth on her? Dumbass.
"Then don't fucking stand in the way when someone's talking!" She yelled, throwing him into the wall and leaving the room. She could hear his complaints as she walked down the hall towards the exit.
"It's easy to forget how strong that little brat is…you're okay, hm?" She heard Deidara first.
"Damn bitch." She heard Hidan growl loudly. "That really hurt."
"Considering there's a massive dent in the wall, eh." Deidara laughed slightly. "Anyone else would have been dead." So she'd put that much force into the throw? She hadn't noticed. If even Deidara commented about it, it was probably deeper than Hidan was thick. She let out a small laugh and continued on. She heard footsteps and quickened her step.
"Where are you heading, Miki?" Itachi asked, grabbing her shoulder as he caught up with her. She could hear another set of footsteps that probably belonged to Kisame coming up on them as she yanked out of Itachi's grasp.
"You don't know?" She asked quizzically.
"Know what? Oh. What's with the Hitai-ate, Miki?" Kisame asked as he caught up.
"I'm stuck doing Itachi's dirty work. Dealing with my nuisance of a cousin." Miki spat out. She was pissed off as it was, she just wanted to get the hell out of there and home so that she could finally relax at least a little.
"Well then…have fun with that." Kisame said, turning to leave. He turned the bend just as Itachi reached for Miki.
"I had nothing to do with this…" Itachi started. She hit his hand away and stepped back.
"I don't care. It's your fault I'm even in this mess! If you had just let them kill me when Kisame caught me…" She hesitated. She didn't know what to say after that. How could she honestly say that it would have been better if she'd just been killed? She wouldn't have had to deal with all this bullshit, that was for sure.
"Miki…you're like a little sister…" Itachi reached towards her again. She hit him away again.
"If I was like a little sister to you, you would have let them kill me! The same way you killed the rest of your family!" She shouted, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. "Like you killed the only family I've ever had…" The night he'd slaughtered the Uchiha clan was still burned into her mind, so it was hard to forgive him for that—not that she'd ever even want to forgive him for that.
She blinked away the tears. "I'm leaving. And I hope I never have to come back here. Not unless they really plan to kill me next time." She sighed. "I am not a pet." She shoved past Itachi and ran down the hall, out of the hideout.
XX
"Miss, do you have a pass?" The Chunin at the gate asked politely as Miki entered Konoha.
"Yes, I do." She said, pulling a card out of her pocket. "I was sent as a part of a peace effort from Amegakure no Satou."
"I see…" The Chunin said, nodding slowly. "Then you'll need to speak with the interim Hokage."
"Okay." Miki said lightly and started down the road. She followed once familiar roads to the Hokage's mansion and sighed a little in relief at being back in Konoha.
"Can I help you, miss?" The secretary asked as she stepped through the door.
"I need to speak with the Hokage. About several things." She answered, surveying the people running around working on organizing different events. They certainly seemed busy…oh right. The Chunin Exams just recently ended. They must have been setting up promotions and such.
"Ah…well, we have an Interim Hokage right now. The new Hokage hasn't been appointed yet." The secretary said nervously. She shrugged a little, brushing a bit of her hair out of her face.
"That's good enough. I just need to speak with a leadership official in order to finalize my temporary transfer." Miki sighed.
"Oh. The office is on the third floor, the only door on the inner wall." The secretary gestured in a circle, describing the layout of the third floor.
"Okay." She said, turning towards the stairs. 'I already knew where that stupid office was…only because of my past. The hell happened to the Third?' She could feel the secretary's surprised gaze until she got out of the woman's line of sight. Miki climbed the stairs and knocked on the office door when she reached the third floor.
"Come in." A male voice called from inside. 'The hell is that guy? He sounds way older than even the Third.' She thought sourly as she opened the door and bowed slightly.
"Excuse me."
"You are?" The man asked her. 'Oh shit.' She recognized the man as Danzou, the one that tried to have her killed before, for the sole purpose that she was a Jinchuriki.
"Uzumaki Miki. I am from Amegakure. I was sent by my village leader as a part of a peace effort with Konoha." She said in answer to his question. He didn't seem to recognize her face, but when she said her name, his expression changed a little.
"I see…I'll have you work with Hatake Kakashi and his students." Danzou smirked. "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." Miki nodded slightly as he listed the names.
"Understood. In that case, I will be able to stay at my cousin's apartment." Danzou frowned. He was expecting her to be more aggravated about the arrangement. Well, she was aggravated enough as it was, she wasn't going to let some old guy with a vendetta against Jinchuriki in general to bother her when she could kill him without so much as blinking. She smirked and bowed again.
"I hope that you have a good day, Sir."
"You as well." He said haughtily as she backed out of the room. 'Damn…it had to be that guy stuck there until a new Hokage is placed…he'll send us on a mission with intentions of getting Naruto and me killed!' Miki thought as she walked to a window and jumped out. She landed in a crouch and headed for Ichiraku, tracing the roads from her childhood memories.
"Miki, right?" A boy yelled at her and ran over. The voice startled her and she looked at the boy, immediately recognizing him.
"Sasuke…hey."
"It's been a long time…right?" He asked, glancing around.
"Yea…it has. Almost five years. How've you been?" She asked nervously. She hadn't seen Sasuke since she'd been caught by Kisame. And that had been right after Itachi had joined Akatsuki.
"Five years huh…? I've been fine. Are you back for good? I'd heard that you'd been kidnapped and probably killed by the Akatsuki." He examined her expression intensely. She smiled a little, trying to get him to lighten up.
"Hopefully…and yea, I was kidnapped. But they didn't kill me. I survived and ran away. Been in Amegakure for the past three years. I'm a Jounin now." She said, trying to sound proud of a rank that didn't exist in the Akatsuki. That story had been what she'd come up with to tell anyone who remembered her from her short time at the academy before she graduated and got captured.
"Wow…where were you heading?" He asked, realizing that she'd been heading in a direction, determined.
"I was gonna see if I couldn't get some ramen at Ichiraku." She said quietly. "But I just remembered that I don't have any money."
"Oh…I have some money. Enough for both of us to eat there…if you want." Sasuke suggested quietly. She smiled at him.
"Thanks." She started walking again. Sasuke hurried to catch up with her.
"Did you already talk to whoever's in charge right now?" He asked when he was walking beside her. She nodded a little.
"Yea. I've been assigned to work with a team." She glanced at him.
"Really? Which one?" Sasuke asked, an eyebrow raised. She sighed, remembering that she had to deal with stupid Naruto.
"The team under Hatake Kakashi." She sighed.
"That's my team!" He exclaimed. She nodded again.
"I know. But it means I have to deal with my idiot cousin Naruto!" She exclaimed dramatically. She laughed a little in her mind. She hadn't been back in Konoha for even an hour and she'd already gotten over her bad mood. Sasuke used to always have that effect on her. She was glad he still had that kind of effect even after five years.
"Yea…that part of it sucks. He's a pain in the ass to work with." He paused. "But he has his good points sometimes." She laughed out loud.
"Defending him or something?" She asked sarcastically. He shrugged as they reached the ramen stand.
"Nah. Just saying." He said and pushed a flap at the entrance to Ichiraku out of Miki's way. She smiled a little.
"Thanks…" She went inside the stand and sat down. "I'd like a bowl of pork ramen please?"
"I'll have the same…" Sasuke sat beside her.
"No problem!" Ichiraku turned and started making the food.
"You know we have a mission in the morning, right?" Sasuke asked lightly.
"No…What is it?" She turned to Sasuke and suddenly felt like she was being watched with hate. "What the hell…?" She turned to look outside. Ten girls were peeking into the stand, hatred in their expressions. She blinked in surprise.
"The hell?" Miki glared at them and her hand rested over a weapon bag at her upper leg. The girls immediately scrambled to get away, seeing that she'd probably kill them if they stayed. She turned to Sasuke.
"You know what that was about?" He shrugged a little.
"Fan girls…I thought they'd all given up…" He sighed. "Girls have been following me around ever since you disappeared." She smirked a little at that.
"Well…if that's the reason they started following you, then I'll just make sure they stop." Miki winked as the bowls of ramen were placed in front of them. She stared at the bowl, excited.
"What?" Sasuke asked, watching her.
"Nothing. I just haven't looked at food this good in a while." She said and grabbed her chopsticks. She then dug into the bowl of ramen noisily. Sasuke sighed and did the same.