Yay! I got the feel for this story! ^^
Trying to rush it out in case my muse wears off. ._.
Thanks to those who reviewed!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any of its characters.
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I wanted to groan. Ever tried hitting your head against a tree while fainting? Trust me, you won't enjoy the experience. But who was I to complain? I'd bet Aoki and Rin have it worse then me, seeing as they hit the floor after fainting. Which led me to one more fact that I could reassure myself with. The people who kidnapped us can't possibly be the real Akatsuki. Because Itachi would not be such a jerk and stand aside when my friends' heads get up close and personal with the cold, hard, damp and dirty floor of the park.
So anyway, I woke up to muffled talking. Muffled, not because they bothered to keep their voices down, but because of a door. It would seem that we were kept in a room of sorts. A really barren and empty room. No windows, no furniture, no bed. And of course, our bags and equipments were also gone.
Someone tugged on my sleeve, and I turned around to face Aoki, who put a finger to her lips.
"How do you feel?" I whispered as softly as I could.
She made a face, grimacing, before whispering back. "Like crap. I think I cracked my skull or something." She replied, rubbing the back of her head. No surprise there, seeing as she fell backwards.
I turned to Rin, who was already awake. She was of a much worse condition. She fell forwards. She sported a bloody nose, where blood had dried into a rust-colored thin layer. Her forehead had a nasty purple bruise, which thankfully could be covered by her fringe. In response to my unanswered question, she showed her middle finger to the door behind which our kidnappers stood. I nodded sympathetically. I feel her pain. But I'd rather feel it more on the mental side, and less of physical.
Still, aside from the injuries sustained, there were more pressing matters at hand. "Why do you think they kidnapped us?" I asked Aoki. They had no motive to do that, seeing that none of us come from a rich family that they can approach for ransom.
Aoki fidgeted for a while. "You know, I got a theory. I think that they are the really Akatsuki members. That the blast managed to send us to a different realm."
"But why the Naruto world?" Rin asked, voicing out the question in my head. It was pretty illogical. There was so many animes and manga worlds out there, why not one of those? It is not like any of us made a choice to-
I gasped. Ohmygod. I think I got it. At that time...
I hope that my favorite anime characters will save us and-I wasn't able to finish my train of thought. But that was because of the blast wasn't it? Such coincidence... seriously, it can't be...can it? I visibly gulped. From the worried look Aoki sent me, I must have turned pale too.
"You alright?" she asked. "You looked as if you have seen a ghost."
I sighed, before I related my thoughts to them.
5 minutes later...
"Wait. Give me a break. You are saying that this is cause of the horoscope thingy and your thoughts at that time?" Rin asked as she frowned in concentration.
"And the blast. That was the catalyst, I believe." Aoki add helpfully.
"Umm...look, I'm really sorry that you guys got caught up on this because of me." I said, as I ran my fingers through my hair. Whatever would I do if they got hurt or anything? Well, I guess I'll probably practice to live without self-condemnation then.
"It isn't even confirmed yet, no need to be worried!" Rin laughed, as she pushed me playfully. "Plus, this is a once in a lifetime experience! We should be thanking you instead."
Aoki and I shared a doubtful look. Trust her to be so cheerful even at a time like this. She really is unaware of how dire of a situation we are in... Which was really unsurprising, as she tends to be a little slow most of the time.
"So, lets assume that they are normal people for now okay? Anyway, shouldn't we do something other then sitting here and speculating?" Aoki asked.
Just by looking at each other, we came to an unspoken and unanimous decision. Like good little girls who got kidnapped in the TV shows, we scooted to the door soundlessly and pressed our ears to it.
"Don't know what the fuck they were talking about! They are in serious need of help from Jashin." Psycho 1 exclaimed. "And luckily, I have need of sacrifices. Let me take care of -"
"Idiot. You can't kill them." Psycho 2 interrupted. He did not even bothering to keep the irritation out of his tone. Psycho 3 snickered.
"Screw you, since when did you become boss, you fucking money-face?" Psycho 1 retorted.
"They seem to work for a group or village that knows about us. It is best that they be brought back and interrogated. Any decision needed later will be left to the leader." 'Itachi' said calmly.
I frowned. So far, we had only heard the voice of the one acting as Itachi. Hence his voice was recognizable. But the others... I would bet that Psycho 1 is 'Hidan'. That was easily interpreted.
Based on his reply of 'fucking money-face', it is a no-brainier that Kakuzu is Psycho 2. Then the one who laughed... I'd hazard a guess that it was 'Deidara'.
Woohoo! If I ever live this case of kidnapping down, I think I should look into the police industry for prospective jobs. I'd make a darned good detective. ...okay, okay. I lied. Sure, it's possible to guess their identity based on what they said. But that was not how we found it out. Because their voice was exactly like that of the original characters in the anime. If I didn't know better, I would have been sure that someone was watching 'Naruto' on the other side of the door. Except that there was no such dialogue in the anime as far as I am aware of it.
"It seems to me that the spies have woken up." 'Itachi' murmured. Before we could even so much as back away from the door, it was flung open. Well, as Aoki and I was leaning at the spine of the door, we did not get knocked off balance. However, the same cannot be said for Rin. You know the kind of scenes that they show on TV, the part where someone puts their ear to the door, the door gets opens and the person flails around before falling onto the ground? Well, tell you what. That is a .LIE.
Through watching my friend, I found out that the first thing that she does is to grab for something to keep herself stable. As they say, a drowning man would even clutch at a straw. Except that she wasn't drowning, she was flailing. And instead of a straw, it was fake-Deidara's cloak that she was clutching at.
Everybody stared at her. I shook my head and counted.
One Two Three Four Fiv-
'Deidara' simply stood there smirking, as if impressed that he managed to scare her. "This one is pretty lively, hmm."
As the three of us slowly stood up, Rin had to pick herself up from the floor, I couldn't help but notice our belongings on the table that they seemed to have gathered around. The walls around us was made up of grey concrete, no paints adorning them. But there were still no windows here. So maybe we are underground? A basement perhaps? I couldn't be too sure.
Eyes darting around, I tried to access the situation we were in. The room was rather spacious. But the furniture were minimal, consisting of only a large rectangular table in the middle, and a few wooden chairs scattered around it. There were three doors, I noticed. One was leading to our room, while the other two must be leading to somewhere. The door on our left, had a staircase leading up, while the other one simply opened up to what seem like a corridor. One must surely lead to the exit.
But it wouldn't be easy to escape. Sure, 'Itachi' maybe sitting down on a chair, and 'Kisame' is just leaning against the wall at a corner, but 'Deidara' was standing next to the door on our left, while 'Hidan' and 'Kakuzu' was flanking the door on our right. Thankfully, 'Sasori' was nowhere to be seen.
I tensed. Perhaps if we act fast, we could grab our stuff and make it out one of those doors. We will have the element of surprise, so it'll probably buy us some time. I glanced at my side, and notice that Aoki had her eyes on our bags too. Knowing her, she probably have the same idea in mind. Hopefully, Rin would be able to-
Someone cleared his throat, and our eyes instantly snapped up to look at him. 'Itachi' had turned his chair to face us. How the heck was he able to do that without us noticing? I blame that on my lack on focus at what he was doing. Right. Only someone with abnormal speed and stealth would be able to do that. And this fake version of Itachi is not that person.
Aoki broke into a smile. My eyes almost popped out in disbelief, and my hands itched to smack her across her head. Was she going mental?
"You know, I think there is some sort of misunderstanding between us here. I don't see any reason why you would want to...take us to this place" She is a smart girl, not to use the word 'kidnap'. "but why not my friends and I just leave this place, and forget this ever happened. Then everybody will be happy."
I saw the direction that Aoki was going towards and frankly, I commend that girl in being able to keep her cool. Me, I will probably just demand that they let us go right that instant. As for Rin, she still had a blank look on her face.
'Deidara' barked out a laugh. "A misunderstanding, she says! Do you think that we are really fools, hmm?" I had to hold my tongue back on commenting that, yes, they were Fools with a capital 'F', for even kidnapping us.
"You would tell us that you are not working for any village or groups to gather information on us? Then how do you explain this?" 'Itachi' continued smoothly, his red eyes trained on us. I noticed that the contacts looked very real, unnervingly so.
Aoki stepped forward, ready to explain some more, but a metallic clang of something thrown on the floor stopped her in her tracks. Looking down, I saw a sound headband.
WAIT A MINUTE.
ISN'T THAT MY SOUND HEADBAND? I gasped in disbelief. The realization of something hit me with all the force of a freight train. Shitshitshit! This was not good, not good at all. If they are really Akatsuki, I'd better pen down my will right now. Maybe they will give me a chance for a last request? I thought back on what I had read about Akatsuki. Nope, no chance at that.
But I was jumping to conclusions. Perhaps they really are cosplayers. Cosplayers who were so absorbed into their roles that they'd kidnap us. Right. Anyway, it have yet to be verified that they are the real deal right? So, they were normal civilians, nothing to worry about. YET.
"Hold on a moment." I said, as my eyes narrowed at 'Itachi'. "Why should we answer the questions of strangers? We aren't obliged to answer to you."
I felt Aoki tugging at my shirt, and Rin was muttering something about me having a death wish for the three of us. I shrugged it off.
"This is illegal and we could report you to the authorities. So if you know what is good for you, you guys better let us go now." I finished.
The room was silent. Deathly silent. And then all of them started laughing, except for 'Itachi' and 'Kakuzu'.
"That girl needs the most help. Did you hear what the hell that idiot said?"
"Oh, I'd like to see you try to bring us tho the authorities, hmm."
"Little girl, you don;t know the situation, do you?" 'Kisame' added, as he smiled, showing a flash of sharp teeth.
I tensed. Sure, I may not have my sword at the moment, and Aoki does not have her bow. However, both of us were still trained in hand to hand combat to some extent. Pit us against an average person off the street, and we'd come out tops. As for Rin, she ace in hand to hand combat. Bloody hell, she participates and win boxing competition for goodness sake. And it seemed that the situation was not getting any better.
"That," came 'Itachi''s smooth voice. "was not a request." Smoothly said, but the threat behind it was also present.
"Lets get this straight for a minute." Rin interjected. "You are saying, that you guys are the real Akatsuki members, and that you feel that we are spies for the sound village?"
She maybe slow, but of the three of us, she is the most straight-forward one. Perhaps that is what we really need right now.
"So you admit to working for the sound village to spy on us." 'Itachi' replied calmly.
"No. we are doing nothing of that sort. But answer me this. Aren't you guys cosplayers?"
Aoki, the rest of the Akatsuki members and I, simply stood there, watching the crossfire between the unofficial leader of our respective group.
"Cosplayers? That term is unknown to me. I know not what you are talking about."
"Wait. That is to say, you are The Uchiha Itachi in flesh and blood? The one who slayed his clan all?"
I groaned, as I face-palmed. Beside me, Aoki was shaking her head. Of everything she could confirm, she had to mention that.
'Itachi' remained as expressionless as ever. But if you really squint, you would notice the slight creasing of brows, and the thinning of his lips. "How much do you really know?"
Before either Aoki or I managed to stop her, Rin blurted out. "Well, we know quite a lot. You guys are something of a show we watch."
I sighed.
After a while~~~
"You are telling us, that the three of you came from a different realm, a different world?" Deidara asked, barely managing to conceal the flatness in his voice.
"Right."
"And that you watch the happenings in our world as a form of entertainment, hmm?"
"Uh huh."
"So this cosplayers, are people who dress up like us."
"Umm...not really accurate, but yeah."
"...you are seriously out of your mind aren't you?" Deidara said, as he frowned at me. "Itachi, did you hit her head on something when you carried her here?"
I fumed. Okay, fine. I admit that it took us a lot of convincing, although unintentional on their part, for us to believe that they are the real deal. But that ridiculous blonde! He dare doubt me! However, the fangirl within me reacted. Itachi carried me here? That's like a dream come true! Ohmygosh! Maybe if I fainted he'd-
Waitwaitwait. Concentrate, I willed myself. My friends and my life is at stake here, and the worst thing to do now is to give in to my overly active imaginations.
"But," Kakuzu said. "That would mean that the three of you know a lot about us."
The rest of the Akatsuki members all went silent, turning their focus on us again. It is not as if they need to be told, but Kakuzu's stating of the obvious only made it all the more clear what would happen if such information is released.
"I believe," Kakuzu continued. "That some interrogation is in order."
Just as Aoki was about to retort, something, or rather someone, suddenly appeared beside Deidara. "Leader says that that if it is something trifle, we are to settle it ourselves and report it to him later." Sasori's voice was deep and scratchy in the form of Hiruko. "We are also to head back to the main base as soon as possible. There are information that hunter-nins are approaching, and we must leave before they reach."
"No." Itachi murmured, as he eyed the three of us, seeming to be considering something. "This is an important matter that must be addressed by Leader himself."
"We will bring them back to the base with us."
Wait...WHAT?
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I stood on the clay creation with unsteady legs. The clay bird have not yet risen, but I felt as if my legs were turning to jelly. And Kisame seemed to be finding some humor in the fact that my leg is going to give at any moment. I would have shot him a glare, if I was not so busy trying to keep my balance on the not-yet-moving clay bird.
Aoki had already flown off with Hidan and Kakuzu. She seemed pretty fine when standing on the clay bird. However, when the bird took off, I heard a squeal, and what sounded suspiciously like Hidan's laughter. Next, it was Rin's turn. She seemed to be much worse off than Aoki. The moment the clay bird rose into the sky, I heard an ear piercing scream, that slowly became softer as they flew away. I highly doubt that meant that Rin is screaming any softer though. I have known her to have a major case of motion sickness.
When the bird I was on start to fly, I felt jerked backwards, as air rushed against me. Instantly, I screamed like nobody's business and fell on my knees, hugging my bag and katana which was returned to me. For the time being. It is not that I have got a fear of heights or anything. I can take the airplane just fine, I can take high-rise elements just fine too. But this was a totally different story.
I consoled myself with the fact that Rin screamed louder than me.
I was high up in the air together with two S-classed nins who can pick my head off any moment they felt like it, with nothing but a fat blob of clay shaped like a bird holding me up. And there were no seat belts. Oh boy, do I feel safe and secure.
Kisame laughed, as he set Samehada down. "You hate heights do you?"
"No, I just hate traveling in air on something consisting of something as dubious as earth with two peoples who have no qualms on killing me." I answered back, after thinking for a while. Sure, Kisame may be part of Akatsuki but if he wants to strike a conversation, I'm fine with it. Of course that is hinged on my trust that he won't hurt me since I am not a confirmed threat yet.
"Then you shouldn't be afraid. Just stand up, you won't fall off. All you need to do, is channel some of your chakra to stabilize yourself. A ninja should at least know that"
From where I was lying face down on the clay creation's back, I raised my head enough to glare at him. "I am not a person of this world, much less a ninja, so you would forgive me if I do not have any chakra to speak of at all."
"Huh? You don't have chakra? I thought you were masking it. How do you people even survive then?"
I was too lazy to tell him that chakra wasn't really necessary to eat, drink, sleep and breath, which are necessary for survival. So I opted for snuggling with my bag. Until I noticed something missing.
"Umm...Itachi, where is my headband?"
Itachi who was standing on the head of the bird merely turned slightly and glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "I will hold on to it."
I sighed. Well, I could always buy another one true, but that was a birthday gift from Rin and Aoki. It has sentimental value, hence I would prefer not to have to replace it if possible.
The rest of the journey was quite peaceful. Except that in the anime or manga, they never told you how cold It would be to be flying above clouds. Clan in only a t-shirt and training pants, I was shivering from head to toe. And every time the bird changed its altitude or direction, I always get the feeling as if I was going to fall, and my stomach would lurch, as if it had been left behind at the previous position.
So nope, the flight was not good at all. I mean, they didn't even provide a paper bag for me to puke in! Not that I needed to anyways. But sadly, I doubt the same can be said for Rin.
This continued for the rest of my journey, Kisame standing somewhere nearby, Itachi standing on the head of the bird, and me questioning my sanity.
"Hey, we are reaching. But you can stay there if you are too scared." Damn that Kisame! I'd bet that he was grinning! Still, I raised my head. Below us was small dots and squares, which I think must be houses and shops. Ahead, the opening of a cave grew wider and wider as we approached.
I took in a deep breath. Goodbye, sanity.
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