Now standing on top of Gamaken, his hands clapped together as he tried to summon Fukasaku and Shima, Jiraiya was completely serious. It would take a couple of minutes, minutes Jiraiya hoped Gamaken would be able to provide.
Unfortunately for the two, they weren't used to fighting someone as fast and powerful as Akira together.
Despite his size, Gamaken was fast and agile, qualities that helped quite a bit when it became apparent that Akira's legs were the focus of her physical strikes. But neither Jiraiya or Gamaken knew how to exploit that, because Akira was simply too fast for either of them to take advantage of her upper body weakness. Whenever Akira kicked she either missed or hit Gamaken's shield. And if it wasn't for Jiraiya's seals that hardened the upside down plate, it would have broken by the very first kick.
Akira jumped up unto a wall as the floor that she stood on was hit by Gamaken's staff, tearing the concrete into small pieces of rubble.
As she landed on the wall she jumped again, but the kick-off was so hard that it shattered part of the wall, the debris becoming lethal projectiles. Akira rapidly approached Jiraiya and Gamaken through the air, and as she got close enough she finally was able to strike. She enhanced her leg with a tad bit too little chakra than she had liked to use. She was fighting a Konoha shinobi, after all. And she wanted to kill Jiraiya, not the toad. The toad reminded her of Minato. Killing the toad would be like disgracing Minato's memory.
The kick was so hard that it sent Gamaken flying with great speeds through the tower, making the entire section of the wall collapse in on itself. The spires that Gamaken collided with cracked and crumbled under his great weight. The toad attached himself onto one of the broken towers and held steadfast onto the crushed edge of the building.
The hold was secure, but actually staying there? Not safe.
Through the smoke and debris Akira jumped, practically flying towards Jiraiya. Gamaken didn't see Akira, because she jumped from one of his blind spots. Therefore Gamaken lost his grip of the building when pain shot through his entire body, focused on the side of the elbow, the arm holding the shield.
The pain wasn't something that made Gamaken lose his shield, though. He had a ridiculous pain tolerance. There was no way he would disappoint the toad sage Jiraiya.
So with minimal effort – minimal, because the pain was more along the lines of heavy discomfort – Gamaken threw the feeling aside and used the moment to bash with the shield. He didn't hit anything, but he wasn't supposed to. He was supposed to stall for Jiraiya until he summoned Ma and Pa.
Fortunately for Gamaken, the time was nigh for his departure from Ame.
"Gamaken! That's all I need! Go!" Jiraiya shouted urgently. He was concerned for the reliable giant toad, that much was obvious.
Then, before Gamaken disappeared with the standard puff of smoke, two very small ones came into being on Jiraiya's shoulders. One was a purple toad with a pale green underside, with, of all things, a high collared cape. On Jiraiya's other shoulder was a green toad, with white hair styled a bit like a mohawk, and thick white eyebrows over his yellow eyes with horizontally slitted pupils, the same eyes being shared by both Gamaken and the purple toad.
"What are you up to now, Jiraiya boy, summoning us in the middle of dinner?" the purple toad exclaimed loudly. "You know our schedules! We have dinner now! We'll miss it because of you!"
The green toad spoke up before Jiraiya could retort, "Now now, dear, there is without a doubt a reason for why the boy called for us."
Then the same toad turned to Jiraiya and asked nervously, "Isn't that right, Jiraiya boy? Why did you summon us?"
Jiraiya nodded as his features changed. His nose widened and got warts like that of a toad's, his eyes whitened and his pupils became horizontally slit, skin webbed his fingers and toes together, granting him an even more toad like appearance. His red geta sandals had been discarded, so his feet were free and able to grow properly. "Yeah. I need Sage Mode to beat this Akatsuki," he said sternly, his voice having absolutely no humour or jubilation in it whatsoever.
The lack of any kind of light-heartedness surprised the two old toads. They knew that if Jiraiya was this serious then it could only spell bad things to come.
That was why they said nothing, and only sat completely still, letting the surrounding natural chakra to get into Jiraiya's system, with them acting as proxies.
With exceptional speed Jiraiya darted towards the still Akira. If Akira had not been as fast as she was she would have been hit. Thankfully she was still faster than Jiraiya, even when he was in Sage Mode, albeit only slightly so.
The following minutes were much different than before. Now it was Jiraiya that was chasing Akira, not the other way around. Normally Akira would be able to at least get a hit in. But with the Sage chakra enhancing his already impressive arsenal of techniques and his body, it made it far too difficult for Akira to get a hit in, even when she resorted to using clones. Jiraiya just used his hair techniques to hit the clones to make them lose their solidity, rendering them useless.
Akira relished in the tough fight. She finally could prove her mettle against Konoha's strongest shinobi, proving not only to herself, but to Akatsuki that she was not to be messed with, and that allies of Konoha and the village itself was in mortal danger, that they could never do anything to avoid certain death, not with her on their worthless tail.
She was breathing very hard, though. "Damn bindings..." she thought, frustrated. Her breathing only worsened as both the excitement and the exhaustion got to her. Her vast stamina was drying up, something she'd never really experienced against anyone except Minato and when the Jinchuuriki went into their Tailed Beast modes. Not even those high bounties could compare to the sheer fatigue she was feeling. The weariness wasn't something she enjoyed, though.
She didn't simply enjoy the feeling of tiredness.
She practically ate it all up.
She loved the challenge, she loved the strength of her opponent, and she loved that her opponent was from Konoha, the one village she hated with all her being, and that she would kill their strongest shinobi. The village's overall might would drop substantially with Jiraiya's death, and the shinobi corps would be racked with a loss of morale.
Konoha would eventually feel a little of her own despair. It would plummet into complete grief from which it would never recover. Then her revenge against the village would be complete, and she could wipe her bloodied and dirtied hands free of the filth Konoha had stained her with.
But for now the piece of Konoha scum before her would have to be beaten, preferably killed.
She had to jump backwards and sideways more times than she cared to count. Jiraiya was like a totally different opponent when he was in that annoying Sage Mode of his.
"Che, agile fellow, aren't you?" Jiraiya voiced after his opponent leapt away from yet another Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
Akira didn't reply, focusing all her attention on avoiding Jiraiya's attacks without revealing her identity. "Because god knows that if I blow it, Jiraiya will die. Damn bindings, damn seals not being able to reduce mass..."
Akira did hand stands and back flips, front flips and side hops. It was all to avoid getting struck by Jiraiya's swift and destructive onslaught. Akira was having a ball jumping away, because her abilities were being tested and her limits pushed.
And then she began to notice a pattern in Jiraiya's attacks. Whenever Jiraiya's techniques and physical fortitude began to lose intensity the toads would stop assisting Jiraiya on the offensive. Originally Akira thought it was to conserve chakra, but then she focused chakra sensory abilities.
And she discovered that the surrounding energy – she really had to learn what that was – actually entered Jiraiya through the toads, and that the natural chakra strengthened the Konoha shinobi, rejuvenating him.
'So the toads act as catalysts for Jiraiya's little enhancement technique. Must have discovered that use of the toads after I left Konoha,' Akira thought.
Now she knew what to target. Her stamina was reaching its end, and there was no way she'd lose to even the strongest shinobi from Konoha.
With a burst of what little chakra she had left she turned the tide. Jiraiya was honestly a bit surprised at the turn of events, but even more so when he saw that Akira wasn't even targeting him.
It was only a single moment after Shima and Fukasaku were kicked so hard that they dispelled that realization hit him. "He's going straight for the toads! He has discovered why I was able to fight for so long!"
Akira was still not having a physically good time. Her body was metaphorically screaming at her to stop and take a rest. The lactic acid build-up was getting near unbearable. Her chakra levels were depleting. Her body was going into shock from the exertion.
Akira loved it.
She was actually grinning, and she was getting careless. The bindings that held her chest back was getting annoyingly confining, but if she released the binds her cover would be blown. Jiraiya still had enough chakra to flee, and her pride was telling her that if that were to happen, then she would never forgive herself.
That was what she would have thought if she were in the right state of mind.
She threw her hat aside, her blonde hair that was usually in a ponytail loosened from its hair band. The grin that played on her lips was all but splitting her face in two. She loved the fight.
She wasn't bloodthirsty. She didn't long to kill others. She wanted to have her borders pushed, her abilities put to the absolute test, her aptitudes being analysed through combat. When those things were all in place she would be happy.
Jiraiya's surprise was minimal. Despite his constant displays of perversity and idiocy, he hadn't been a shinobi for forty eight years, survived two Great Shinobi Wars, become one of the greatest shinobi of all time, and led a spy network without becoming extremely intelligent and cunning.
"Akira. I was afraid it was you."
Akira pulled her arm into her robe without pulling the cape off, and released the bindings that limited her breathing severely.
Now free of their enclosure, the front of her cloak pushed dramatically outwards. Akira sighed in relief. She couldn't remember the last time she took the chest wraps off that didn't include hygienic reasons. Not even the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuuriki she had fought had pushed her this far, but that was only because she had partners to help her, and the fact that she hadn't really had the time to take them off when she needed to.
"What happened to you, Akira?" Jiraiya asked. His Sage Mode was fading slowly, and it was gone before long. He noticed a significant decrease in chakra reserves. He was maybe at twenty percent of full reserves, as opposed to when he started, and at the start of the fight he had barely used any chakra.
Akira, in contrast to Jiraiya, was gleeful. Akira didn't want to kill. She wanted to fight. She idly noted that she had barely any chakra left. Maybe an Academy student's worth was left in her system, and that was being generous. It was far from enough to defeat Jiraiya, unless she used seals. But even then she'd require chakra to activate the seals. Chakra she just couldn't use. She would have to use seals that would explode or otherwise harm often to hit Jiraiya, and if her sensing was to be trusted, then Jiraiya's remaining chakra supply was much higher than her own. She would have to use the seal that would contact Konan. It was to be used only for emergency situations, and despite Akira's want to defeat someone who was much more powerful than her, everything considered, she deemed the current situation as an emergency.
Slowly, and frowning, she brought a hand to her neck. Then she channelled a minimal amount of chakra to the seal. Akira felt a brief moment of dizziness before it was cleared. She knew it was because of her lack of chakra. While she had excellent chakra control she was exhausted, which lowered the control she had, which meant that she had sent a bit too much chakra into the calling seal.
Konan had to have felt the Seal of Tethered Transmission activating.
Now it was to survive until she could arrive and take over. It should be easy enough to delay the toad sage for long enough, given that he was stricken dumb.
"Why, Akira? Why haven't you come back yet?" he hesitantly asked. He was dumbstruck, because he couldn't believe what Tsunade had told him at first. He had honestly thought that his student's student – and sometimes his student – was dead, because his spy network had come up with absolutely nothing for so long.
Akira's mood lowered instantly by remembering who her opponent was, making her growl angrily. "I don't care what you're going to say, Jiraiya-sensei. You're not going to talk me back to Konoha. I don't care about Konoha! I don't care about you, or Kakashi, or Tsunade! I don't care one fucking bit! Don't misunderstand, you lecher. I didn't join Akatsuki to enact revenge on that pitiful excuse of a Hidden Village. I joined Akatsuki to create world peace. I'm not one for revenge because of what someone has done to me. I do want to destroy Konoha, but it'll be because Konoha has done too much!"
Jiraiya shook his head and replied, "I know what Konoha has done-"
Akira furiously cut Jiraiya off with a list of quickly given facts, "ANBU ignoring Konoha's civilians when they needed help. Uchiha Police Force doing the exact same thing. Denying missions that would help people that really need the help because they didn't pay enough money, despite the future benefits helping would give. Killing entire families needlessly. Torturing innocent people, setting them free, then releasing them broken, and never compensated or brought back to their families. I can go on if you're still not convinced!"
Even with each and every accusation, Jiraiya's face remained stern, though his frown deepened. Akira was completely correct. He had come to terms with the state of affairs a long time ago, though he still yearned to change it. Unlike Akira, however...
"I know that Konoha isn't as perfect as we make it out to be, but-"
Again he was interrupted by Akira. "Konoha is better than the rest of the Hidden Villages? How the fuck does doing any of that at all make it right?! Killing innocents that were just in the wrong place in the wrong time when you could have just sealed away their memories? Not helping those civilians that needed it? Killing entire families without being ordered to? Torturing the undeserving? How does the fact that other Hidden Villages do the same things make it right? Konoha claims to be the strongest, to have the best moral codes, but in truth, just the fact that they even say that is proof that they're a bunch of pretentious assholes! They're arrogant! They think that everything they're doing is right when it's not!"
Akira's rage was to be expected to the two people that fulfilled the role of audience. The woman of the two flew down slowly, her paper wings making her descend at a harmless speed.
"That is enough, Akira. You are free to go now," Konan said calmly, and put a hand on the enraged woman's shoulder.
Akira clenched her fists so hard that her palms bled. Konan noticed the blood dripping from Akira's hands, and continued to try and calm her down. "Akira, calm down. Now."
Akira slackened her fists with monumental effort, and let go of her breath shakily. She nodded stiffly and walked away to the orange haired leader of Akatsuki that also watched Akira's rant together with Konan.
They had responded within the second that Konan had felt the Seal of Tethered Transmission activate. Konan had panicked when she felt a bit too much of an effect from the seal than required, although Pain would be the only one who would see the emotion, given that Konan's control over her own emotions was incredible.
Akira walked until she was besides Pain. "I'm sorry for losing my cool and calling upon you, Pain," Akira whispered.
Pain turned his head slightly towards Akira and gave a short nod. "Akatsuki will be severely crippled if you die, Akira. And I personally would rather not have that."
Akira smiled bitterly. "Yeah... Nagato."
Pain gestured to the corridor they had come from. "I suggest that you go and get some rest. You earned it. Leave the rest to us."
Akira slammed her head against the tough wooden wall of her bedroom so hard that her forehead bruised and began bleeding. "Dammit..." she thought distressingly. Akira pounded the wall with her clenched fist. "Fucking dammit... Jiraiya-sensei, why do you continuously side with Konoha? You already know what Konoha is responsible for! You already know what they've done! Why do you seriously think that Konoha is still worth dying for? Why, Jiraiya-sensei? Minato-sensei is dead! His opinion doesn't matter anymore! Nothing of his matters anymore! Why, Jiraiya-sensei? Why?"
The tears leaking from Akira's eyes dripped off her chin and straight onto the dark carpeted floor.
"I hope Nagato and Konan kill Jiraiya-sensei as quickly as possible. While Jiraiya-sensei still sides with that despicable village, he has been my sensei before. He doesn't deserve a painful death..."
Akira flopped herself onto her fluffy bed and the large pillow cushioning the blow. She covered her eyes with the crook of her elbow. Despite that Akira's tears still poured past her arm. Akira's breath was shaky from the lump in her throat that didn't let her sob.
"Dammit all. I need to think of something else... what can I think of? Well, there was that one time where Konan and I went after the Five Tails..."
"Konan, Akira," Pain's voice echoed throughout the small hollow mountain.
"Yes?" Konan's soft and mature female voice responded. Akira was unresponsive, but Pain knew that she was listening.
"You two are to capture the Five Tails while the rest are going to gather bounties."
Deidara quipped, "Awesome! Bounties, eh? I'll get that annoying little wannabe S-ranked ninja from Iwa. You want to come with me, master Sasori? I won't wait for you, though, hm!"
"And listen to your ramblings about your fake art? No," Sasori's deep, guttural voice spoke.
"I will take the bandits from Taki," Kakuzu's gravelly voice uttered before Deidara and Sasori could go into a raving argument that would surely destroy the cave.
Akira and Konan stayed for only one more moment before disappearing with the distinct flicker of the Magic Lantern Body technique dispelling.
Akira was already present inside the main Akatsuki tower, so it took very little time for the two women to meet each other.
"Are you prepared, Akira?" Konan asked stoically. Akira had been in Akatsuki for a year, so it had been three years since she had branded herself a missing-nin of Konoha. Despite the year of service to the criminal organization, Konan didn't trust Akira. She simply seemed too... mysterious, so to speak.
Akira was still very naïve in the ways of criminals and shinobi, even with the many years of experience under her belt. She had been in the ANBU program for three years, two of which she served as an ANBU Captain. The last three years she had spent in Konoha had been as a sensei for a team. A team Akira had deemed a success, until a certain tragedy befell it.
Konan knew of that incident. Mist ninja had attacked viciously and without mercy, and had killed Akira's team while they were doing a high risk mission in Mist territory. Akira had been able to kill the attacking shinobi, but she was too late to save her team. It had scarred her immensely, and had it not been for Tsunade, Akira would have definitely committed some kind of fatal self harm.
Akira nodded, not saying a thing. Akira thought it best to not talk, afraid that her voice might betray her nervousness. This was her first Jinchuuriki hunt, after all. She had prepared herself as much as she thought was necessary. She had many small scrolls with storage seals written on them that would expel powerful explosive paper tags with but a single hand sign and a flare of her chakra. She had so many of those small scrolls that she devised a storage seal array on her coat that would send a set number of them out at the same time at the speed of a standard thrown kunai.
Konan wasn't as nervous as Akira. She had dealt with Jinchuuriki before, and while they were certainly not something to sneeze at, she was confident that she could still be able to defeat it with the help of another S-ranked shinobi, even if said S-ranked ninja was inexperienced in fighting Jinchuuriki.
"Then let us go."
Both the Akatsuki members were sitting on a bench in a tea shop in the Land of Stones. They had, with the help of Zetsu, found the Jinchuuriki of the Five Tailed Beast. He was a big man, no question about it. His red armour alone made him stand out more than he probably should have liked. The constant steam coming from the thing tied to his back made him more noticeable than he already was.
Currently he was slowly walking out of the city they were in.
"That's our target," Konan whispered behind the shadow of the tasselled hat.
Akira's only answer was to take a small sip of the green tea in the white porcelain cup. Konan took it as a confirmation.
"We will wait until he is in an unpopulated area. Then we will ambush him. We must be swift," the blue haired woman added.
This time Akira's response was to nod. If Konan hadn't specifically looked for it, she wouldn't have seen Akira's hand that was holding the tea cup shaking.
In order to comfort the shaking woman, Konan put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We will be able to do this."
Akira's head turned to Konan. Konan barely heard Akira's somewhat unstable breathing calming down, and she wouldn't have if she didn't know it was there.
Konan jerked her head to the side, indicating that they should go. They left after paying for the tea and leaving a small tip for whoever picked the money up.
They followed the Jinchuuriki, lagging behind quite a bit to remain undetected and seem as inconspicuous as possible. It was difficult, especially given their choice of clothing.
But once the red armoured Jinchuuriki reached a clearing far away from any settlement he turned around to face his two pursuers. "I know who you are and what you want with me," he said. His voice was deep, but had a certain young tone to it. "You are here for the Tailed Beast inside me, correct?"
Konan took the lead and took her hat off. Her stoic eyes locked with Han's. "Yes. And am I correct to assume that you will not come peacefully?"
Han nodded. It was then that Akira noticed that his chakra suddenly built up to levels far higher than her own and the older Konan's. "He is preparing his chakra," Akira whispered before moulding her own chakra to help her. She prepared for some tough fighting, and she would only admit it to herself that she would enjoy it.
Konan subtly nodded while Han responded. "You would be right. I will not let someone steal that which belongs to Iwa, and neither will I let you take away my life!"
It was then that Akira became a black and red blur that was streaking towards Han. The Jinchuuriki expected such, having fought many that would use the Tailed Beast inside him for less honourable deeds.
That was why, with steam gushing out of the tubes on the backpack on his back, he punched the ground, creating large fissures to crack the earth apart. The violent shaking sent Akira tumbling, sliding down a flipped piece of hard earth. Akira's speed worked to keep her steady, however, and she righted mid-air and vaulted over the crack.
Konan flew up with the help of her paper wings, and thus escaped the cracking earth. She flew forward and with a swing of her wings, she sent sharp pieces of paper at Han. The paper made a few cuts in his red armour, but it was far from enough to cut through it. The paper lodged themselves in the ground behind Han, followed by Han running at the still somewhat disoriented Akira, intending to pound her flesh in with the help of his steam armour.
Akira sensed and saw Han approaching rapidly, so she acted accordingly. Her legs pushed her up from the moving earth, sending her up into the air, far enough to dodge Han's devastating punch. Konan caught Akira and threw her a small distance away from Han, making her avoid being blown away by the hot steam shooting out of the holes in his backpack.
Seeing as she was so close to Han, Konan threw her wings forward, sending many sharp paper shuriken, aimed at Han's face. Han anticipated an attack from the paper angel, and saw it to begin with. The Jinchuuriki simply tilted his head so that his red hat covered his face. When the many paper shuriken collided with the steel hat, the clang not heard over the soil still shaking violently.
Han had enough time to jump back. He realized that he had his work cut out for him. He was confident that he would still be able to win, but these people were obviously very skilled, and he could deduct that despite not having fought for a lengthy period.
Konan flew back as Akira stormed past a small cloud of dirt. Akira released one of the seals, sending one of the small scrolls towards Han. Han didn't know what the scroll was for but he wasn't about to find out. His fist sailed through the air, and just as Akira jumped away and his fist collided with the scroll, a powerful explosion rocked the clearing. The explosion was so powerful that it completely evaporated the dirt it affected.
But Han was unharmed as his body was covered by a bubbling shroud of reddish orange chakra.
Then he disappeared, and it was only Akira's experience fighting ridiculously fast enemies that made her see Han aiming for her head. She ducked under it as Konan's paper flooded Han's position.
Thus followed a fast exchange of attacks, punches, kicks, whole body throws, everything the combatants could think of, everything was thrown at each other. Akira kicked as much as she could, and if it weren't for her seals, they wouldn't have as many opportunities getting a hit in on the Jinchuuriki. But Han, while possessing extreme strength, also had unprecedented speed and control, given his status as a jailer to one of the greatest beings in existence.
Akira couldn't remember much of the fight. It was far too blurry. Dust and dirt flew by too fast for her to see, logs being used as substitutions so often that it was virtually impossible to get a clear foothold on the destroyed ground without at least hitting wood.
One thing she could remember was being so immensely tired. She had never felt that feeling before. The thrill, the emotions running through her, she never knew that she could feel as if she belonged again after leaving Konoha. But here she was, fighting a Jinchuuriki alongside an Akatsuki ally, Konan.
The last moment she saw was after Han transformed into the Five Tailed Beast.
Han charged a black ball in front of his mouth, swallowed it, and spat out a narrow – if you were to take the Beast's size in proportion – beam of yellow destruction.
Akira pushed Konan out of the way.
She died from being struck by the chakra. Konan had told her that her torso, from her left hip, curving inwards to her stomach, and then her left shoulder, had simply disappeared. There was no blood, seeing as the heat from the beam of chakra cauterized the flesh.
Akira didn't know what happened after that, or how Konan won. She assumed that it was because that technique was a last resort.
Akira woke up in a comfortable bed. Konan was beside her. The blue haired woman saw Akira awakening and stood up to look her into the eyes. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Akira blinked. Her mind was very much in a clutter, her memories telling her that she should have been fighting the Jinchuuriki together with the woman beside her. "What... happened?"
Konan closed her eyes for a moment before replying. "You were struck by the Jinchuuriki's Menacing Ball. It was fatal," she replied stoically.
Akira was confused and sat up. "Fatal? But... how am I here, then?"
Akira heard footsteps on the other side of her bed, so she looked to see the leader of Akatsuki standing there, a couple meters away from the bed. "That would be me," he said.
Akira blinked, startled. "I... I see," she stammered, before diverting her gaze to her lap.
Konan looked at Pain, and if Akira had looked at the woman, she would have seen a scowl on her.
Pain closed his eyes and began to talk. "Konan and I have been discussing about a certain issue regarding your loyalty, Akira."
Akira's eyes snapped to Pain's. Unperturbed, Pain continued. "If your recent actions are anything to go by, your loyalty is unquestioning. However, I would like to hear it in your own words."
Akira's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, but she quickly stepped out of the bed, and didn't even flinch or try to hide her gender. She bowed deeply, so deeply that her forehead was planted onto the floor. "My loyalty resides with Akatsuki, and only Akatsuki. I promise you this, Leader. I will never betray you."
Pain looked at Konan, who looked pleased, albeit it could only be seen by him. "I was not talking about your loyalty to Akatsuki."
Akira stiffened, but didn't stand up.
"I was talking about your loyalty to me and Konan."
Akira's shoulders slackened for a moment before tensing again. She pressed her forehead harder onto the floor. "I pledge myself to yours and Konan's service, Leader."
'Unshakable devotion... shouldn't be surprised, given her past and that she feels as if she belongs here,' Nagato thought.
Pain nodded, no emotion playing on his face. "Very well. Follow me and I will show you something I hope I won't regret."
Akira was a bit surprised, but after being given privacy to bind her breasts and put on a covering outfit, she followed Pain and Konan to the deeper parts of the main Akatsuki tower.
They stood before a large concrete door when Konan motioned for Akira to take a step forward. "The true leader of Akatsuki is behind these doors, Akira."
Akira's eyes widened underneath her newly donned hat, but she shook the thoughts out of her mind. 'I'll get answers from them,' she thought.
And with that, she pushed the door open.
The room was dark, lit by only a single candle that stood on a table.
A voice cut through the darkness, a voice Akira had never heard before. "Hello, Akira."
That was when she saw Nagato for the first time in her life.
Akira's tears stopped as she thought of that moment. Her lips curved upwards in a smile. "Thank you, Nagato, Konan. You rescued me from myself. I owe you both my life," Akira said to the empty air.
She removed her arm from her reddened eyes. She sighed and rubbed them before standing up and going to the shower, idly noticing that Jiraiya's chakra signature was fading rapidly, a clear sign of death.
"Nagato's plan for world peace requires Jiraiya-sensei's death," Akira said to herself as she reached for the valve for hot water. "Nagato doesn't enjoy killing, but he will gladly throw aside his emotions if it is for the greater good."
Akira stood in front of a group of four teenagers, her hat covering her face properly. 'Karin, female, approximately sixteen years old, red hair, red eyes. Abilities, sensor, healing. Threat assessment, low threat. Suigetsu Hozuki, male, approximately sixteen years old, white hair, purple eyes. Abilities, swordsmanship, water based techniques that allow him to change his body into water. Threat assessment, low-medium threat. Juugo, male, approx sixteen years old, orange hair, orange eyes. Abilities, unknown, assume dangerous. Threat assessment, medium-high threat. Male teenager, approximately sixteen years old, black hair, black eyes, clearly Sasuke Uchiha, younger brother of Itachi Uchiha, former apprentice of Orochimaru. Abilities, three tomoe Sharingan, lightning and fire techniques, apparent aptitude for the art of swords, possible snake summoning contract, possibly annulled followed by betrayal of Manda. Threat assessment, high-low threat.'
Akira sighed, 'What a rag-tag group of misfits.'
Suigetsu heard the sigh, and turned his attention to her. "Hey."
Akira frowned, though none of them could see it. "What?" she growled dangerously.
Unknowing, or uncaring, of her ire, Suigetsu continued. "I know what you're thinking. You think we're weak, don't you?"
"Yes," Akira replied bluntly.
Suigetsu's eye twitched. He was about to continue, presumably more irately if his irritated expression was anything to go by, when Sasuke interrupted. "Suigetsu. Stop."
Akira sighed again and Suigetsu huffed. "Let's just go," Akira impatiently ordered.
The trip to the Land of Lightning was surprisingly short, but if one were to ask Akira, she would immediately say that it could not have been short enough. Suigetsu and Karin kept arguing about the smallest of topics, Suigetsu usually the one to instigate the red head's wrath.
If it weren't for the fact that Akira had loads of experience dealing with annoying people – Deidara's and Sasori's very frequent spats came to mind – she'd have snapped and killed them both.
The only reason she was together with the newly minted Akatsuki members was because Nagato wanted her to see how strong they were, individually and as a group. Akira would step in only if they were in immediate danger, otherwise she'd be laying low and in hiding.
Akira didn't like it, but she'd deal with it. It was for world peace, after all, so dealing with nuisances like these was worth it.
They arrived at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning and ascended up the steep steps of a crafted plateau, at the top of which was a flat surface dotted with few shrubbery.
The plateau was empty save for six people. The ones from Akatsuki and the Eight Tailed Beast's Jinchuuriki.
Akira stopped at the top of the stairs, letting the group called "Taka" go first. "You four are to defeat the Jinchuuriki. I will only interfere if any of your lives are in danger."
The Uchiha nodded, his face a blank mask while the rest of Taka didn't respond.
They walked past Akira.
'I don't know what Nagato is thinking, these children aren't old enough or skilled enough to even consider confronting a Jinchuuriki. Especially not one Minato-sensei himself thought was dangerous,' Akira thought grumpily. Minato had informed her, among others, of the handful of encounters he had with the rapping multi-sword wielding Kumo ninja. He'd spoken of him with respect, and cautioned them against taking action when facing them.
And as it turned out, fifteen minutes later, what Akira thought was very true. The best fighter was doubtlessly the Uchiha, but the orange haired Juugo was a fairly close second, followed closely by the annoying white haired guy. The girl was the weakest.
But why was it true? Because the Jinchuuriki just called upon his Tailed Beast and overpowered them with sheer force of raw strength. Akira had actually never seen a successful transformation of a Jinchuuriki's human body to a Tailed Beast's body. Apparently, the relationship between the Jinchuuriki and the Tailed Beast was amiable, at least.
Not that Akira understood such a relationship. To her, Tailed Beasts were just constructs of chakra which will couldn't determine right from wrong, knowing only destruction and instincts.
The head of the pale purple Tailed Beast suddenly slammed unbelievably hard onto what was left of the plateau that it shook the plateau around so much that the edges of it crumbled down to the water below. In fact, the kick was so hard that the only remaining horn on the Tailed Beast's head broke off and fell down the ravine.
Akira had been the one to kick him, after all.
But even with the body of the Tailed Beast receding back into Killer B, Akira didn't let up the beating. She knew how tough and tenacious Jinchuuriki could be, after all.
She kicked him up from the ground and kicked him again, making him collide with the stairs so hard that the entire mountain they were embedded into cracked.
And of course, she had reinforced her legs with chakra to make the fainting of Killer B even snappier.
Without turning around, Akira addressed Taka. "You are all too weak. Grab him and let's go."
Suigetsu, panting and groaning from exhaustion as he was, growled lightly from the direct taunt.
Fortunately for him, Akira chose to not listen to him and continued down the steps that led out of the Valley of Clouds and Lightning.
'Their teamwork was impressive, I'll give them that much. But individually they're weaker than a bowl of rice in a hot pot of curry... I miss chocolate.'
And just as she thought that she reached into a pocket inside her Akatsuki cloak and picked a bar of high percentage chocolate. She unwrapped it and began to eat it. 'Nothing beats a good bar of chocolate. Nothing.'
Akira stood in shock in front of Konan, who was sitting solemnly on the green couch in Akira's room. Why did she feel so heavy? What was with the hole slowly expanding in her chest? Why was it so hard to breathe?
"C-Come again..." Akira stammered, not believing a single word Konan had just said.
Konan looked straight into Akira's dismayed eyes. She repeated the three words she had said not a minute ago. "Nagato is dead."
Akira's heartbeat rapidly increased. "B-But... how? How could – Nagato was – how could Nagato of all people be dead?!"
Konan didn't avert her eyes, which to Akira spoke volumes of the truth in Konan's words. "He sacrificed himself to the cause of the future."
Akira stumbled down, luckily landing on her bed. "Future? What future? A future without Nagato..."
Akira's eyes watered quickly. Reflexively she covered her eyes with her hands. "If Nagato is dead, then..."
"He sacrificed himself for Naruto Uzumaki," Konan sedately told, bracing herself for Akira to blow up.
"Naruto... Uzumaki?" Akira slowly said. "Naruto Uzumaki? Isn't he..."
"He's the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox from Konoha, yes."
Silence reigned in Akira's room. There was no sound in it except for Akira's increasingly rapid breathing and Konan's calm one.
"Why did he... why did he die for a Jinchuuriki? Why... why a Konoha shinobi?"
Konan wasn't surprised by the venom in Akira's voice. "Because Naruto Uzumaki is the light of the future. His flower is the flower of hope. Anyone he meets will have a seed of that flower. Hope... for the future."
Akira chuckled throatily. "Hope for the future in a Konoha ninja?"
Konan sighed. "I do not see him as soldier of Konoha, Akira. I see him as the carrier of hope. He is the child that will finally bring about peace in this war-ridden world of hatred."
Akira suddenly stood up. Her hands were balled by her side and her reddened eyes filled with anger and remorse. "I trusted you, Konan. You betrayed me, just like the rest of them. I thought you were better than that."
Konan's shoulders slumped slightly, not entirely surprised at Akira's harsh words. But before she could say anything, Akira was out of the only window in her room, the noise of glass shattering resounding in her ears.
Konan was quiet for several minutes before she murmured two words that she wanted to say to Akira.
"I'm sorry."
With that Konan dispersed into hundreds of small paper butterflies, heading towards one of the largest lakes in the country, towards what she knew might very well be her death.
After all, it wasn't every day that you encountered Madara Uchiha in a battle to the death.
A tree crashed against another and split in two, having gone through several of them in the process.
A scream of rage and grief erupted from the forest that was currently being decimated. It contained a bitterness that had festered for years, rage that had been fanned from time to time, and sheer, mind-numbing despair so great that who heard it would be overcome by the feeling of drowning.
'Why do they always betray me?! Why does no one like me anymore?! I want them all to die! What deity have I angered to make me this miserable?! Why?! Why?! Why?!'
"Why?!" Akira screamed, channelling chakra into her leg and crashing it down onto the earth. A huge crater, six metres across, instantly formed around her leg, while a lightning effect of cracks spread out from the centre of where her leg landed and fanned out a distance of dozens of metres around her nearly instantly, followed by the ground caving in, great heaps of earth upheaving, others shattering, with dust and debris littering the air. Trees were completely uprooted from the earth, many of those near her falling apart. Dust piled into the sky, and the tremors from her kick continued for twenty seconds even after the ground ceased to come apart.
Akira idly felt the clashing chakra signatures of that new oddball Akatsuki member and Konan. They were fighting, and Konan was clearly giving it her all while the masked one seemed to be somewhat calm.
Akira was conflicted. She didn't know who to help, or if she even wanted to interfere to begin with.
'But Konan had to have a reason to believe in that... that... Konoha shit stain, right? Why would she call him as the "carrier of hope" if she didn't? But he's a Konoha shinobi! All Konoha ninja are supposed to die! They're all cannon fodder to begin with! So why? Why is she so firm in her belief in the Jinchuuriki? He's from Konoha! And because of that, he's arrogant, a misfit that is only good when dead! So why? Why does Konan believe in him, in Naruto Uzumaki?'
Akira screamed to high heavens, collapsing onto the ground. She sobbed to her heart's content. "Konan... Nagato... why did you... please don't leave me..."
So consumed in her despair that she didn't feel the ground shake for ten long minutes, nor did she hear the contemporary explosions.
'But if I don't go there and help her, she'll die! And then Konan won't be my friend anymore! Who will I then turn to when I need help? Who will be my friend then?'
And then she felt Konan's chakra flutter significantly, a clear sign of dying.
Konan was astonished. Her plan, everything she had thought of, she thought she had considered everything. But Madara was still alive, the proof going through her stomach, the pipe being stained by her dark red blood.
"But I... I thought of everything," Konan gasped, blood seeping through her lips. "That technique-"
"Can only be used for five minutes?"
She heard chuckling come from him, but before he could say whatever he wanted to say, a foot lodged itself deep into his chest. If it hadn't been for his Sharingan, he would have not even seen it.
He was sent at least a mile away, breaking even the sound barrier, his chest literally caving in from the hard hit. But he threw off the pain like it was a mosquito bite, for his body was not entirely his own. He grumbled angrily. 'I didn't expect Akira to arrive. She has forced my hand before, but she is getting out of hand. I have to kill her, but unfortunately, with the damage I have received, and the lack of an eye, I won't be a significant fighter. I have to retreat. You've won this time, Akira. You won't win again.'
And as time and space warped him away, his thoughts were on the remaining Akatsuki organization's members. 'This is getting troublesome. First Kakuzu, who was a pain to kill, and now Konan and Akira. They're bound to be together more from now on. And without the Rinnegan, my plan has to stop for some time.'
And he was gone.
Akira sensed his chakra disappearing, and so, she turned to the injured Konan. Konan was gasping for precious air, but her eyes were firmly locked with Akira's.
Akira grimaced from the pain her only remaining friend was experiencing. She looked away from the blue haired angel, but picked her up anyway. "I have to get you to a hospital. I'm not good at medical techniques."
She leapt forward with all the force her powerful legs could give her, the wind shooting past her as she made for the village.
"I just hope you're right about this boy, for if you're wrong, you're dooming the entire world..."
Akira was sitting beside the white sheeted bed Konan was laying on. Her hands were clasped tightly together as she was staring at nothing, absorbed in her thoughts.
She didn't know why she saved Konan, really. Her mind told her that she should have let Konan die by that masked man's hands, but her heart had told her otherwise.
Normally Akira would have let her mind win over her heart, but for some reason, she just didn't listen to her mind. It was new, actually. She was... it was uncomfortable. It was something she wasn't used to.
She shook her head. 'No, it's not that I didn't listen to my mind,' she thought. 'It's that I don't want to lose my best friend. Best friends have falling outs. It was just a temporary falling out. Konan doesn't mean to leave me to myself. She doesn't disregard my hate for Konoha. It's just because the Jinchuuriki is a good person... apparently, anyway.'
Akira rubbed her head, dishevelling her hair. "Damn. This is getting annoying."
"What's getting annoying?"
Akira snapped her attention to Konan. She was awake, and smiling gently. Akira smiled back with much more vigour. "Konan, you're awake!"
Konan's smile widened slightly. "Of course, silly. Now what's getting annoying?" she asked again, with a more composed tone.
Akira's smile faltered a bit. "Well, it's your trust in the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki. First time I saw him, he seemed like a talentless and hopeless ninja. What's so good about him?"
Konan laid her head back onto the fluffy white hospital pillow, her smile not wavering at all. "Because he's the one to bring the world into an era of peace," she said. Konan looked back at Akira. "He isn't actually that talented. He's not as good at fighting as he should have been, that's true. But his determination to get through and save those precious to him is more than enough. He has guts, that much is certain."
Akira sneered a little. "You know that guts aren't all that matters, Konan..."
Konan chuckled slightly. "Indeed, I know that. But his chakra capacity is enough to make sure that he can persevere and endure just about any fight. He's quite adamant."
Akira scoffed. "Oh please. I'll have to see that for myself before I'll believe you there."
Konan nodded and smiled gently. "Good. Because I plan on having the both of us train him. You said he was hopeless and talentless? I don't think so."
Akira didn't initially like the prospect of training Naruto Uzumaki, but she yielded less than a second later when she forced herself to say that he was not to be seen as a Konoha shinobi.
And that was why she and Konan were in Konoha, scouting for Naruto. Of course they didn't wear anything that could connect them to Akatsuki. No reasonable Konoha shinobi or civilian would appreciate the black cloak and red clouds. Instead, they wore very gender neutral clothes, grey, brown and beige. Add to that a hat that covered faces and hair, and they were covered.
Although the scouting took a very short time, thanks to Akira's sensing and Naruto's unique chakra signature and capacity.
Predictably, he was in a ramen stall.
Akira and Konan agreed to meet up in a clearing in the woods outside Konoha's walls, Konan having Naruto in tow.
It took maybe ten minutes for Konan and Naruto to arrive in the clearing, but in those ten minutes, Akira had walked up a tree to sit on a branch. She made no effort at all to hide her presence, seeing it as useless.
"So what are we here for, Konan?" Naruto asked. His hands were clasped behind his head.
'He's relaxed. He's too trusting. I know that Konan wouldn't kill him, but still, he's too comfortable around people he doesn't know inside out, people that he shouldn't trust.'
Konan ignored Naruto's question and looked straight at Akira's position, calling upon her. "Akira, please come down from there."
Akira sighed and leapt down. "Is this him?" she asked. It was a useless question – Akira already knew that it was him – but Naruto hopefully didn't remember her and couldn't recognize her chakra signature either.
Naruto leapt up from the ground from shock, while Konan simply nodded. "Yes, this is the Nine Tailed Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto grasped his chest and squinted, gasping heavily. "Gah, Konan, you could have warned me, you know!"
Konan turned her eyes – only her eyes – to Naruto, and smirked. "That would have ruined the surprise I have in store for you."
Akira raised an eyebrow, which no one could actually see because of the hat she wore. "The only thing this child has going for him-"
Akira was oh so rudely interrupted by Naruto's loud exclamation, making Konan's smirk widen a bit. "Hey! I'm not a kid!"
Akira's eye twitched. She slowly began to rub her forehead and sighed. "This child has going for him is chakra capacity and the Nine Tails inside him. That's it. Still not convinced, Konan."
Konan's smirk faltered slightly. "He managed to defeat Nagato," she added in Naruto's defence.
Akira was quiet for only a moment, and in that moment she thought that grieving over Nagato's death would be useless for some time. "Because of the Nine Tails."
Naruto watched the two women calmly argue back and forth between each other before he groaned. "Oh come on! I can talk for myself, you know!"
Both women stopped and snapped their attention to Naruto. Akira grabbed onto her hat and pulled down slowly, green eyes locking with blue. One of her eyebrows were raised once again. "Oh really? Okay, let's see what you have going for you. I know you have the Nine Tails inside you, but what techniques do you know?"
Naruto's face hardened comically, numbering the techniques he could do with his fingers, one after the other. "I can do shadow clones, I can summon toads, I can go into Sage Mode, I can do the Rasengan, and I can combine it with wind nature!"
Akira's eyes widened. 'He has completed the Rasengan? That's... quite good. Okay, his standing in my perspective has raised by a notch.'
Akira waited for a few seconds before waving her hand around. "Okay, what else?" she asked.
Naruto blinked, confused. "That's it."
Silence. Complete and utter silence. Silence so thick, one could have sliced a blade through it, and struggled to complete the cut. Crows began cawing in the distance, which made the silence even more unbelievable, because they should have migrated by now.
Akira sighed. 'And the notch is gone.'
"That's all you can do? What the ever living hell?" Akira spun around to face Konan. "This is ridiculous, Konan! He needs help, and he needs it badly!"
A smile formed on Konan's face, while Naruto shouted indignantly, claiming that he was still awesome as always.
Author's note:
*sigh* Okay, I am terribly sorry. I haven't updated in, what, a month? I just checked my last updated chapter, and my god, it is true! No, it's even worse! It's more than a month ago since last chapter! Dafuq?!
I blame Dark Souls. Ho~ly hell, that's one hell of a good game. Hard as hell, but goddamn!
I'll say it here and now, I love the Straight Silver Knight Sword, because to my knowledge, it is the best sword (discounting greatswords – I'm a quick kind of guy) because it can be buffed by miracles, sorcery or resins. So fuck greatswords, SSKS is awesome!
…
I have a confession to make. I use trainers. BUT! I only use trainers for magic, items, materials, humanity, and souls. That's it. I don't dare to use health cheats or stamina cheats unless I really don't want to die and die and die and die and die again and again against that one boss, or that one enemy.
Besides, while I like challenges, I like the lore and the story of Dark Souls more than the gameplay. And I NEVER invade, so as to not ruin anyone else's game. Instead, I let others invade me, but they already know the risks anyway.
PRAISE THE SUN!