Author's Note:
I realized that in the last chapter I had completely forgotten to describe Akima in any way, shape, or form. So... I'll do that now. Akima is 15, has brown eyes and layered brown hair. The first layer comes down to just above her shoulders, the second layer goes down to her elbows and is usually tied into a low ponytail, while the first layer is not in the ponytail... Kinda hard to describe. So, imagine someone with short hair when you see her from the front, but long hair from the back. Anyways, she is about 5' 5 and is currently wearing a plain blue t-shirt and white shorts that end right above her knees. She wears... ninja sandals, of course! Umm... I guess that's it.
'Nice' Murderers?"Unghhh..." I groaned.
Judging by the feel of a pillow against my head and a blanket over my body, my entire 'Guido dying in a big fiery explosion of death and me being sucked into the Narutoworld' was a dream, and now I probably had to get up and out of the house before the snoring man downstairs woke up and decided that I desperately needed to do some more work. So, I cracked open one eye and stared at...brown.
My ceiling was not brown. I was quite sure of that. I was also sure that it did not have lots of bumps and stalactite-type thingies hanging down from it. So, I cracked open the other eye and slowly shifted my head to look to my left.
I was staring out of what looked like a cave mouth... outside were many trees and farther away, just so that I could barely hear the rushing of the water, was a river. Tiredly, I shifted my head to look right.
There were two big, heavy-looking packs leaning against the far dirt wall, a humongous sword wrapped up in bandages, and my green pillowcase, looking very out of place beside the other stuff. What was most noticeable about that wall, though, was that someone was leaning against. Someone I knew altogether too well.
Itachi wore a long cloak with red clouds edged in white on a dark blue background. His sleeves were long enough to completely cover his hands, and his black hair was slightly longer in the front than in the back. His Konoha head protector had a cut in the middle, indicating that he was a missing-nin. But what was most noticeable about him were his eyes. They were red with the fully developed sharingan. Those scary eyes stared coldly at me now.
Back in the "old world" I would have been really excited and happy to meet Itachi, just because he's so cool. That was disregarding his evilness and his habit of killing people and all that. That wasn't important back then. This was now, and it was pretty darn important where my life was concerned... at least from my point of view.
So I stared, and he stared back. But, I really wasn't good at the staring game, and furthermore, red eyes are unnerving, so soon my eyes began to water and I had to blink and look down. I quickly formed a hazardous plan. If Itachi was still trying to kidnap Naruto to take his Kyubi power, then maybe I was near Konoha Village, or near Naruto, who would eventually return there someday. So if I stuck with Itachi, then I could complete Step 1 of my long-term plan. Or actually the only step so far. Once I got to Konoha, then I would think about Step 2.
Then the little voice in the back of my head asked, "What the hell makes you think Itachi isn't going to kill you, much less let you travel with him? He's the heartless murderer who beat up Kakashi and Sasuke, remember?"
Well, so much for THAT plan. Might as well deal with the problem at hand...that would be the fact that Itachi is STILL staring and it's creeping me out. I remember mom said to pretend you know nothing and to use my imagination... alrighty then, looks like I'll be playing the role of the poor, innocent little girl who comes from far, far away...in... umm... a very tiny village in the northern fire country. It's called...uhh... think of something Japanese ...Kyoto! And, all my family members are dead (that part isn't a lie, sadly) and I was traveling to Konoha to...find a job! (Ha! There's Step 2 of the long-term plan!) Ok, ok, time to try out my pack of lies on Itachi...
"Oi!" I said sluggishly, pretending to be barely conscious. He just stared. That was really intimidating! Make him stop it!
"Who are you?" I muttered. No response.
"Where are you from?" ...nothing...
"How did I get here? Did you bring me here? Why are you ignoring me?" I was getting irritated. Might as well get up and leave. Would he stop me?
I tried to sit up and with a small groan felt my skin rip open on my back, below my neck. I felt warm blood trickle down from the wound... Oh yeah, that was that weird unexplained burn that had somehow gotten on my back...yesterday? A few days ago? I couldn't tell. Anyways, the more I tried to get up, the more it tore, so I decided to lie back down. Uh oh, my blood would stain the nice clean bed sheets... oh well. I just hope that when it eventually heals again, I won't be as stupid as this time and rip it.
So, reduced to staring around the room again, the bandaged sword caught my eye. I remembered the tall blue-skinned user, who had sharp teeth and gills and looked alot like a shark. In the anime, he had worn the same clothes as Itachi...after all, he was in the Akatsuki too, an evil organization bent on getting more power... or something like that.
"Where's Kisame? I wouldn't think he was the type to go out without his sword..." Itachi flinched, and I instantly realized my mistake, but before I could think up anything to correct it, Kisame himself appeared in the cave entrance.
He was just like how he had looked in the anime, gills and all. Not even glancing at me, he strode right up to Itachi, and fiercely said, "You told her my name?! Why would you do that?! We don't even know what village she's from!"
My good self didn't like to see Itachi get scolded for something he didn't do, so without thinking, I spoke up and said hurriedly, "No, he didn't tell me! In fact, he wouldn't even say a word to me!"
Turning to look at me, Kisame growled. "True?"
"Yes!"
Kisame stared at me for a few seconds then turned back to Itachi. "My apologies, Itachi-san. But you understand my concern, when I come back to overhear her talking about me..." Itachi merely nodded and then turned his gaze back on me. Amazingly, he spoke.
"That girl just mentioned your name when she saw your sword. I do not know how she knew who you were..."
Thinking fast, I stammered, "I-I, saw your picture in the bingo book of S-class criminals! And your sword! That's how I knew! R-Really!"
Apparently the answer satisfied Kisame, but Itachi's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"And how did you get your hands on a bingo book?" he questioned quietly. Uh-oh. Were those books rare or something? I remember Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai had known these two because of the bingo book... well, everyone from Konoha should already know Uchiha Itachi... All those people were Jounins, so maybe you were only allowed to read or own one after a certain level. Well, what can my poor brain think of for an answer?
"Uhhhh...I stole it!" I chided myself mentally. Smaaaart. Me, steal something from a Jounin. Pishaw.
Now both of them stared. What is with staring today?!!
"Ok, you know what, would you PLEASE stop staring?!" I sat up quickly in frustration, and the scab on my back ripped all the way open.
"Ahh!" I grimaced painfully, falling back again, but I still had the sense to fall on my side, feeling the back of my shirt get slowly wet. With my bloody back to Itachi and Kisame, I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes so that I wouldn't start crying. Some ninja I am...
Someone came closer and kneeled next to me, apparently inspecting my blood-soaked back. A surprisingly gentle finger pulled down my shirt collar and then examined the burn.
"Well, we're going to have to fix this. No wonder it ripped open so easily." Itachi said softly.
"What? What's wrong?" I said, trying to sound brave, and not on the verge of tears.
I heard another person come closer... must be Kisame. "Oooh, that's a bad one. You're in for a rough time, kid." He chuckled.
"What's wrong?" I repeated, a little scared. Was it infected or something?
"Your shirt is stuck in the scab. Not just in one place either, it looks like it had lots of wrinkles." Kisame said.
My shirt was stuck in the scab? But then to get it out, they would have to...oh no.
I heard the distinctive sound of metal scraping behind me. No, no, there had to be a better way than that, there's always a better way...
"First, I'm going to have to cut open your shirt in the places it isn't attached to your skin so I can get a better look at the scab. Don't worry, I'll just cut a 'U' shape from your collar, ok?" Itachi said consolingly.
I mumbled an "eep" in reply and felt my shirt being surgically cut, miraculously not scratching my skin. Whatever he was using must be really sharp to cut the cloth so easily... Don't think about that!
"Ready? This will take a while, so get yourself comfortable... oh, and Kisame, get her something to bite on. Also..." there was a short pause for dramatic effect. "Get some rope, she might spasm a bit, and that would make me cut deeper than needed."
I think he was enjoying himself by making me terrified out of my mind. Kisame was probably enjoying himself too, because when he gave me a piece of leather to bite on, he snickered. Or maybe it was because he had done something to the piece of leather. But that didn't matter to me, as I turned over so that my back was facing up and Kisame tied my hands together above my head and my feet together.
"Kisame, you should probably hold her down to keep the spasming to a minimum. Are you ready...what's your name again?"
There was an expectant silence. I said around the leather, "Akima."
"Alright then, are you ready, Akima-san?"
"No."
"Ok, I'm starting anyway. Don't scream."
'Fat chance,' I thought. 'I'm not so wimpy that I would scream. What does he take me for?'
His first little stab almost made me cry again, and if I wasn't biting into the leather, I almost definitely would have screamed, loud and long. It was a long and excruciatingly painful process, and it felt like he was gouging chunks of my skin up with a rusty needle or something. It was even more painful than actually getting the burn. I spasmed periodically, and Kisame held my neck down with one hand and my arms down with the other. After what had seemed like hours, it was done and a huge bandage was taped over the gouged-out hole in my back. I turned my cramped neck around, spat out the piece of leather and came face-to-face with the little pieces of me lying all bloody on the ground. I also saw Itachi's hands all blood-splattered, and he hastily put them behind his back.
"Well?" he said.
"Well what?" I replied sullenly.
"Hn. I just spent a long time picking out pieces of YOUR flesh and getting my hands dirty and having to change your bedding..."
"Oh right. Thanks a lot. I owe you two favors now. But my bedding doesn't have to be changed.
He sniffed. "Of course it does. It's all bloody, and you're lying in it. Can you get up?"
"Probably."
I sat up with just as much pain as before I had the "operation" done, but nothing ripped, so I just bore with it. Apparently I had gotten used to pain. Itachi scooped up the bottom sheet and crumpled it into a ball, then placed it on the floor. His hands flashed into different seals that I didn't have time to even see completely, much less identify them.
"What are y-"
"Grand Fireball no Jutsu" he whispered quickly so that I could barely hear it and then blew out a large flame, completely toasting my sheet into ashes that blew away in the breeze.
I was astonished. Seeing an anime character blow fire on the computer screen was one thing, seeing it in real life was another. It was cool!
"Wow! Could you teach me that???" I squealed.
Itachi was silent for a moment, studying me closely. Then he said,
"You don't know this jutsu?"
"No! I don't know any!"
"None? Well... you have chakra but... there's...I just don't know.
"Awww..."
I hadn't really expected him to teach me anyway... but wait, I had chakra? That was impossible; my mother lost hers when she came to my world... So did I inherit it? Maybe it only exists in the Naruto world.
"But... here. I'll give you this scroll that I... found... a while ago. Most of them will probably be too advanced for you, but you can try them anyway."
He rummaged through his pack and came up with a scroll as thick as my clenched fist, and about the same length as my hand from wrist to middle finger. It was white...but had no characters on it. I was about to open it when Itachi said,
"Ok, time for food, and then you have to take a nap, because you need to have enough energy to move out tonight."
I was speechless for a moment. "I'm going with you?"
"Yes."
"That's cool...but why at night?"
He smirked. "Hn. Did you forget who we are?"
My mouth dropped. I had completely forgotten that they were murderers. And they were trying to capture Naruto. At least, that was probably what was happening at this point in time. Better find out.
"So, what are you after?" I said as casually as possible, stuffing the scroll inside my pillowcase.
Itachi gave me the none-of-your-business look and then said, "I'm going to go kill a couple rabbits for tonight's dinner. Stay here."
"No wait. I have food! Don't kill any poor rabbits!"
Itachi stopped and looked back. "Poor rabbits? In this world, you have to kill to eat, and eat to survive. And your food should be saved for an emergency."
"Oi, Itachi-san. I can only find one rabbit. All the others were scared off by that huge explosion in the forest yesterday." Called Kisame from down the path.
"Ahhh...MY explosion?" I inquired.
"That's the one. What kind of jutsu did you use to finish that man off anyway?" said Kisame.
"Ohhh, that was.... I didn't really use any..." I muttered, and looked at the ground. I couldn't tell them it was caused by a gas explosion... Did they even know what that was?
There was an uncomfortable silence, which Itachi broke.
"Well, if there's only one rabbit then looks like one of your precious rations will have to be eaten, Akima-san..." said Itachi quietly.
"No problem! I'll go get some water! Can I borrow a bottle or something?"
Kisame gave me an empty bottle, which I took and promptly sped off towards the river, as if I had never been injured at all.
At the river
I dunked the bottle in the water and resurfaced. Humming to myself peacefully as I trotted back up the trail, I never noticed the extra pair of eyes watching from the trees... Biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
At the cave
"So what horrible plan have you thought up, Itachi-san?" said Kisame. "I know you didn't save that girl just because you wanted to be nice."
"Don't worry. Everything is falling into place perfectly... though I am curious as to her past. She was lying when she talked about seeing you in the bingo book, I could tell. Also, that explosion that she appeared in... even I don't know a fire jutsu of that level. And yet her surprise at seeing my Grand Fireball no Jutsu was real... Also, I need to ask her about this..." Itachi said, holding up the charred Konoha head protector.
"Yes, we should ask her of her origins..." Kisame replied.
"Hey! I got the water!! Who wants to watch me cook my food without fire??" I yelled, jogging up the path. 'I bet they've never seen something like this before... then again, a lot of the younger people in my world probably have never seen it either.' I thought, mentally chuckling.
"I must admit I'm curious as to how this will turn out..." Kisame said. Itachi merely nodded and commanded me to show him.
"Ok, first I need to borrow something sharp, so that I can cut it open..." Itachi tossed me my blackened kunai, which I swiftly dodged, causing it to sink into the hard cave floor, point first.
"Don't throw sharp things! Jeez, you could've killed me!" I squeaked. Itachi exchanged glances with Kisame, and then said,
"Sorry, but I thought you would be able to catch it." He smirked.
"My God, you must think I'm a ninja or something, talking about catching a knife like it was no big deal..." I grumbled.
Itachi held up the charred head protector and said, "Well, considering this..."
"It's not mine! That's...uhh...someone else's..." I ended in mutter. Well, whose is it? Should I say it was my mom's? Or should I say it was that dead guy, Guido's? Or did I find it somewhere? Steal it? Killed a ninja from Konoha and took it from him or her? Or maybe fake knowing about it at all and professing no idea about how it got near me?
Itachi and Kisame stared. I really wish they would stop that! I had to say something. If they believed I had stolen the bingo book from a Jounin, then maybe they'd buy that I stole a head protector too. "Umm, I stole it... from someone from Leaf..."
Itachi was quiet for a moment and then said, "So, show us your magic 'cooking without fire' food."
"Hai..." I said quietly, and then regained my enthusiasm. "Ok, so first you have to open the top." I bent down to retrieve my kunai and sliced the top off easily. "Then, you take out all the food packets and put the ones that need to be cooked inside this special packet here, see?" I held up the cooking packet. Then, add water and close the top, and wait for 10-20 minutes, depending on whether you want the meat to be well-done or rare, and open it and eat!" I zipped up the top of the packet and sat down, feeing like I was on one of those cooking shows on TV.
Itachi and Kisame stood still for about a minute, eyes on the packet until I said, "You know, it's going to take about 15 minutes since I like my meat medium, so you don't really have to stand there for the entire time..."
Itachi said, "I know, I'm looking for the chakra that must have been used to make it swell up like that and increase its temperature, but I can't seem to find it..." I glanced at his eyes, and the sharingan wheels were, indeed, spinning.
"There isn't any chakra involved, I know that for sure. I think it has sodium acetate or something in there and it bonds with the water, creating heat energy..." I said, remembering when I had studied heat packs in chemistry class. I think this was the same process, but I'm not sure.
Kisame said, "I'm just waiting for that thing to explode..." referring to the now bubbling and swiftly expanding packet. 'Wait, was I supposed to close the top?' I wondered. The heat pack had been in an enclosed packet, but I couldn't remember whether this was supposed to close or not. If not, then someone was going to get burned...
But the packet didn't explode, and everyone got to try some beef teriyaki... cooked without fire. Itachi still seemed amazed by how this worked and reverently said that it would make rationing a lot easier once he learned how to make it. I replied that it would never spoil as long as the packet was kept closed, and that the one that we had all eaten out of was at least 10 years old. (That had to do with irradiation or something, I can't remember, but it's true.) This knowledge made Itachi, who was drinking some water, choke and spit it out all over the ground, and then went into a coughing fit, while Kisame and I laughed. Afterwards, he laughed at himself too, and then said that he would definitely need to learn how to make those.
Anyways, after the early dinner/late lunch, I was sent to bed, even though I complained bitterly that I wasn't tired and should be allowed to stay up. But, when my head hit the pillow, I went straight to sleep.
A little later, away from the cave
"Well, are you going to tell me your master plan, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked.
"It isn't perfect, but so far I think we can use her to distract Jiraiya away from Naruto long enough to kidnap the demon child..." Itachi replied softly.
"We've already tried that method and it didn't work, remember? Jiraiya won't fall for the same trick twice." Kisame said without thinking. Itachi was silent. Kisame quickly realized how rude he had been and said, "But it could work since she is younger this time. Perhaps we could put her in a dangerous situation, and have him try to save her."
"I think that's a good idea. How about we push her off a cliff? That would require quick saving, and Jiraiya would probably react without thinking."
"Hmmm. And I thought you were losing your touch..." Kisame chuckled.
"Hn. That would never happen. But we have to keep up the pretense of being nice murderers. This could prove to be challenging." said Itachi.
"But you've always liked to challenge yourself, haven't you, Itachi-san..." Kisame said, smirking.
"After all, I have already tested my power...it's about time to test something else." Itachi said, perfectly serious.
"You and your tests, Itachi-san, really..." Kisame laughed quietly.
Kisame and Itachi stood in silence for a while, each with their own thoughts... until Itachi said, "Where do you think she's from? She's definitely not from around here... And she lies a lot. She lied about the bingo book for sure, but with the head protector, she wasn't telling the complete truth. Later tonight, when we have to move, we should ask her where she came from, why she's here, and I WILL convince her to tell me how she managed to blow up the forest like that. Also, who was that dead man with her? Her kunai was in him, so he must have been her enemy..."
"But it's strange about that explosion... She hurt herself too, but in the back... Is it possible it is one of those forbidden jutsus that brand you? I've never seen one before, only heard... The class of techniques that are extremely powerful, but are double-edged swords... But to trade a huge explosion for only a medium-sized burn like that... I'd take it." Said Kisame.
"Perhaps..." was Itachi's soft, one-word reply.
Later, in the cave
"AH-CHOO! AH-CHOO! AH-CHOO! sniff/snort Ugh... It was about time I sneezed... I was wondering if I had lost my allergies or something." I muttered, mostly to myself.
"Well, I was about to wake you up anyway, so your allergies kicked in at the right time. It's time to go." Itachi said, standing up.
"What time is it?" I yawned, also getting up and stretching.
"10:00 PM. You slept for 5 hours."
"Whaaat? And now we have to go running through the forest half-asleep? You're kidding me!"
"You're the only one half-asleep. Kisame and I have been up. And now, roll up that bedding and give it to me... after all, it's mine."
I stared down at the bedding. It was his?? I hadn't even thought about where it had come from or anything... and the other one that he had burnt because I bled all over it...
"Wait... are you telling me that... you and Kisame don't have a bed because of me?"
"Well, the one that was completely ruined was Kisame's, and that one is still good, but you don't have a bed at all, so..."
"Ahhh!! I'm so sorry!! I'll, uhhhh, get you a new bed when we reach a town! Ummm... later on, when I get some money..." I ended in a mumble.
"That's alright; I'm used to sleeping without a bed so it's not that big of a deal." Itachi said. "Anyways, let's check on your burn and then we have to go. I think someone might be tracking us..."
Upon hearing that, I didn't waste anymore time and sat up to roll up the sheets.
"I have to check on your burn, Akima-san..."
"Oh yeah..." I lay down on my stomach and waited, hands under my chin. Itachi knelt down and inspected my back closely.
"It's fine. It shouldn't hinder you very much unless you split it again, so be easy on it, ok? Don't ruin anymore bed sheets." He smirked.
"...sorry..." I mumbled quietly.
"Ok then, let's go!" Itachi grabbed my arm and dragged me effortlessly outside, then let go and did a ninja-jump into the trees.
'Yeah... I can do that...' I thought. 'Guess I'll just run along below... not sure if I'll be able to keep up though... these people are ninjas after all.'
I set off running below them, but Itachi swooped down and said, "Don't do that, you'll leave tracks. Come up into the trees."
I looked at the ground, shuffled my feet, then said, "I can't jump that high."
Itachi stared. I remembered that even Konohamaru and his friends were able to jump 10 times their height in the anime, and they were still in Ninja Academy. I was deeply embarrassed, but, NO ONE can jump that high! At least where I had come from they couldn't.
"Yes, you can. It's easy."
"I can't."
"Just try."
"I'm telling you, it's impossible."
Kisame dropped down out of nowhere and said, "What's the hold-up? We have to move quickly."
"She says she can't jump high enough to reach the tree branches."
"What? Just try!"
"I can't! I'm sorry, but where I come from, that's just not possible!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed and I saw the sharingan wheels rotating. First he looked at me dead in the eyes, then he looked at my feet and said, "You can jump much higher than even these treetops. Try it now, or we will have to leave you behind."
"Fine! Fine! Watch me make a complete idiot of myself!" I shouted, my face burning from the embarrassment that I was about to receive. I closed my eyes, crouched down a little, and gave it all I got. Instead of going up about a foot and then coming down, I felt myself soaring into the air, past the trees and their tops...it was like flying. Then, I slowed down and felt the pull of gravity...
I imagined myself hitting the ground and popping like an overripe cantaloupe. Luckily, Itachi jumped up to catch me and landed on a branch. "See? Now, don't jump that high unless there's something to jump onto, or else you won't be able to land without hurting yourself. Now, we really have to go. No more nonsense about not being able to jump this high. Sheesh."
"Ok..." I said breathlessly. Ohh, but it was even more fun than Drop Zone! And much more life-threatening. I think I like the Naruto world more than I thought.
Author's Notes:
And another chapter done... joy. People like how Narutoland has less gravity? Instead of making Akima perfect, I blame it on the world. I mean, it's physically impossible to jump higher than one's own head... on Earth, at least. (But she's not on Earth, is she?) Read and review... same rules apply from last chappie, no flames, and constructive criticism is a-ok.
