Into the Cloak
Prologue
Small puddles of mud splattered as Nami ran through the pitch black forest. She was holding something wrapped in a ragged old blanket. The root of a tree stuck out of the ground and she tripped over it and fell. The item slid a few inches away from her as she scrambled to her feet. Once she retrieved it she slid her fingers across it, searching for cracks. After finding there were none she began running again. It had begun raining and there was thunder in the distance. She spotted a cave just a few yards ahead and ran into it. Fortunately there was a box of matches with her and a pile of sticks in the cave. She made a fire and unwrapped the item. It was a box made out of a mahogany colored wood and had the Waterfall village symbol on it. She folded the blanket and laid her head on it while thinking about the events that took place a couple of hours. A few minutes passed and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter one
The next morning was little cooler, from the storm, and damp. Nami was awake and already working on a plan to survive. She decided to start by collecting the essentials: food, water and herbs for medicine. She remembered that her mother taught her what herbs were safe to eat. Maybe some Ginseng or Jasmine grew around here. As she was collecting food, the sound of footsteps coming her way made her stop and turn around. She muttered something under her breath while looking around. The sound resumed and this time Nami was sure somebody was coming. There was a boulder a few yards away and she hid behind it. Five minutes later a man came along and leaned up against the boulder she was behind. The man was about five-foot eight, with blond hair pulled into a high pony tail with part of it covering his left eye. He appeared to be about twenty five years old and had piercing blue eyes, just like hers. Another five minutes passed and he started to walk away. Nami waited… no other sounds came except for the fading footsteps of the man. She resumed gathering food for a while then headed back to the cave. There, she started boiling water in a leaf and added some herbs for flavoring. She took a sip of the mixture and spit it out. "Eww… now I know what Echinacea tastes like." She said quietly as she wiped her mouth. Another mixture was made and this time it tasted a little better even though it had a bitter aftertaste. It was all she had so there wasn't any other choice but to drink it. An hour later, Nami was sharpening a stone that was going to be made into a spearhead for hunting. The sound of twigs snapping and voices made her freeze and listen. The noise became louder and louder. Soon… everything was dead quiet, the only sound was the crackling of the fire. The voices continued to talk to each other, eventually disagreeing on something unknown. Nami couldn't tell how far away these people were. The fire made a short, but loud crack as sparks flew in the air. She decided to pack up her stuff and keep running. On her way out two men were leaning against some trees, looking straight at her, "Hello." The blonde said. There was another man with him. He was about the same height as the blonde, red eyes, and somewhat long, dark, red hair. An emotionless expression was pasted on his face. They both wore the same cloaks and shoes. The cloaks were long and black. Red clouds with a white outline were sewed on. The cloaks sent a warning signal to her brain. She recognized the design but couldn't remember where. A few minutes passed as the two men talked about what to do. Nami soon learned that the blonde's name was Deidara and the redhead was Sasori. Sasori looked at Deidara, "I'm going to go find more spies. Take care of this one." He went away and she took a step back, preparing herself for Deidara to strike by putting her arms up in front of her face. When Nami lowered her guard, he was gone. He appeared behind her and held a kunai up to her neck. He eyed the box she was holding up to her chest, "What's that?" She held it tighter, not responding. He pushed the kunai harder, almost piercing the skin, "Not the talkative type, huh? Maybe you will be after this." He moved the weapon to her arm and without hesitation, slashed her. She kneeled on the ground and gripped her arm. Blood dripped on the ground as a hissing sound escaped her lips. It soaked her sleeve, which made it reek of blood. Deidara grabbed her by the shirt and threw her at the side of the cave. When she hit the wall her grip on the box loosened and it fell. The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped for air as he approached her. He shoved her against the wall, "You feel like talking now?" She struggled for a breath, her voice was dry and raspy, "Why should I tell you?" He took the kunai and placed it on her neck again. His eyes widened and he looked around frantically, "Where is it?" He almost yelled. Nami coughed, "What?" Deidara let her go and she fell to the ground, "The box you idiot!" He looked around again and spotted it. It was lying on the ground, completely exposed. He picked it up and smirked while he brushed the dirt off of it, "You shouldn't leave things like this laying around," he looked at her, continuing to smile, " somebody's going to steal it." Nami struggled to get up. The wound in her arm had stopped bleeding but it still stung too much to ignore. Deidara shoved her against the wall again, this time almost suffocating her, "I should probably kill you now, just to make sure you don't tell anyone." She gasped for breath, "Why would I, I'm a wanted criminal anyway." His grip tightened, "Even better."
"Deidara!!" Sasori appeared out of nowhere, "I thought I told you to take care of this thing!" Deidara took the kunai out again and held it up to her neck, one last time, "I was just about to do that. Oh, before I forget." he gave the box to Sasori, letting go of Nami, "I found this." She tried to crawl away but Sasori saw her, "If you try to move only bad things will happen." She stopped, paralyzed with fear. Sasori inspected the box and Deidara got ready to kill her, "We should just kill her now Sasori-Danna. What do you think?" He stopped looking at the box, "I'm not so sure if we should anymore. This box has a jutsu seal."
"So what?
"So, we may not be able to open it if we kill her." A smirk appeared on Nami's face, "I see at least one of you is smart." She got up, " No one can open that box except for me." She took in deep breaths. She leaned against the cave wall, trying to keep herself up . Sasori walked over to her, "See Deidara, she knows why we can't kill her." Deidara looked away, scowling. Something sparked in Nami's head. She was standing up, the two men let down their guard and she could run. Nami looked around. Then positioning her feet in the opposite direction, started running away. But the next second she was cut off by Sasori. She backed up a little as he took a step towards her, "Running away won't work." He grabbed her arm and threw her at the wall of rock. Sasori held her down while Deidara summoned a giant bird. First Deidara jumped on, then Sasori forced her to get on too. Nami had had enough fighting for one day, so she just followed their orders.
As they flew over the forest it grew thinner and thinner. Eventually only scattered trees were left. The bird approach a lake and swooped down closer to the water. Then, out of nowhere, a huge wall of rock came over the horizon. As they got closer, it got bigger. A boulder, about ten times as big as the bird blocked the entrance. Deidara made the bird hover in front of the boulder while he made a hand sign. The boulder then moved out of the way as they flew in. It was very dark inside, almost pitch black. Nami felt an evil presence in here that sent chills up her spine. She shivered to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, but it stayed.
Chapter two
The bird landed with hardly a sound. Deidara was first to get off. Then Nami half slid half fell off with Sasori following. She looked around, "Where are we?" She asked, just loud enough for them to hear. Deidara smirked, she couldn't see it but she knew he was, "This is our home… and your nightmare." Nami crossed her arms, "This place doesn't scare me." She tried to lean against the bird, but realized it was gone. She fell with a soft thud. Her eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness and she just barely noticed a giant head statue on the back wall. It was as tall and as wide as the atrium itself. Two Hands seemed to stick out of the ground too. There was an outline of a boulder on the chin of the head. Sasori gave a sigh, "Don't suppose Itachi's here?" Deidara shook his head, "We'll just have to wait."
"You know I don't like waiting."
"What else can we do?" Sasori eyed the door, "It's possible Leader's here."