Piper: You guys make me smile. Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. I honestly didn't think this story would go as well as it is, and I'm glad that you guys like it! Also, sorry this is late, I was busy last weekend.
I'm going to try and update again today or tomorrow so that I can't make up for the lateness. I shouldn't have a late chapter already on such a new story, I apologize to any who are angry with me.
I don't own Naruto...sadly...
Chapter 3 - Awake
Sakura Haruno
I squeaked loudly, falling onto my bottom. Kisame smirked at my noise, still laying on the floor, now with his arms casually behind his head. He chuckled a bit at my fear-struck expression, and reached towards me. I flinched violently, but his hand passed me and gripped Samehada's handle. He pulled the chakra-eating sword closer and began to re-wrap the part that was showing. I quickly threw the plastic leaf into the potted plant, and sat there.
When he finished wrapping, Kisame let the sword lay back down on the carpet. He looked at me, his shark like eyes piercing my shivering soul. I looked at him with wide, green eyes, and he seemed to look amused at my fear. He suddenly sat up in a swift motion, and stretched loudly. His bones popped and cracked as he branched out slowly.
I flinched slightly at the noise, and tilted my head towards the floor. I continued to look at him from the corners of my eyes, however, slightly weary about what he might do when I'm not looking. He noticed me examining him, and smirked a bit. I think he took it the wrong way at first, and I blushed heavily and turned my stare towards my carpet. Which was still drawn on, I noted with a deep frown.
"Not all of us are a cold as Leader-sama, and Itachi," He said, his eyes lazily resting upon me.
My face twitched with doubt, and his eyes shimmered in what seemed to be amusement. Slowly, I stood, his eyes following as I did so. I turned slowly, making sure he wasn't going to move after me, and then scurried back into the kitchen. I stepped over all members in the way carefully, not wanting anymore to wake, but I was too late for that. Just as I was about to enter the kitchen through the doorway, a hand wrapped around my ankle.
I gasped, and held onto the corner of the wall to stop my fall. I looked down, and saw Hidan looked up at me with heavily lidded purple eyes. The parts that I could see were clouded with sleep, dim and dark. He merely blinked at me, and opened his mouth to ask me, "What the fuck's for breakfast, bitch?"
Blinking slightly, I ran over my words, "I-uh, I don't, ahh..."
"Let her go, Hidan," A deep, tired voice growled slightly, and a familiar arm shot out to smack the silverette upside the head.
Hidan's hand retracted to caress the back of his abused skull, a stream of curses flowing from his pale lips. He kicked at the tan, stitched male next to him as I slipped into kitchen on the verge of a heart attack. I practically fell into my kitchen chair, and drank the rest of my hot chocolate in one good chug. Not only did it burn my throat, but did nothing to stop me from feeling anxious and scared.
Kisame entered the kitchen first, Samehada now strapped to his back. I watched him with slightly wide eyes as he sat across from me. He grinned at me, his eyes squinting slightly and his shark-like teeth glimmering in the lighting.
I attempted to move my chair away from the table slightly, swallowing nervously. It was stuck on the linoleum, however, and my slight movements did nothing to move the chair.
Next came in Hidan and Kakuzu. Hidan was still cursing at the stitched man, and drew my lips into a thin line. I examined them, and found myself slightly interested. Not in the romantic way, but how they looked compared to the television. The real features, knowing that they weren't cosplayers in wigs and outfits, it was all an odd feeling. Like Kisame, for an example. The gills that moved slightly on the skin of his face and the sharp points of his teeth made him look like something straight out of a horror film.
Hidan himself truly did live up to looking albino. The snow white coloring of his skin made the silver hair atop his head stand out even more, and the purple of his eyes could almost be mistaken for a pinkish red from far off. He was built slightly, with more toned muscles. He wasn't as tall as Kisame or Kakauzu, but taller then me.
Kakuzu I could not see much of. Most of him was covered by his cloak and his mask. The only visible part of his body was his exposed eyes and the tanned skin around them, and that it's self was a sight to see. The parts of his eyes that were supposed to be a blank white were a vibrant crimson, and the middles were and green so electric it was unbelievable.
They seated themselves at the kitchen table, and Hidan looked at me from the corners of his eyes. I gulped, and got up. I moved to refrigerator and pulled out two cartons of eggs. I could feel my wallet hurting as I realized that both cartons would be used up in one day on feeding all of these men, because normally those portions would be able to be rationed over a few weeks depending on if I ate eggs or not each day.
"H-How do you like your eggs?" I asked quietly, and used the many days of working as a waitress to remember the three orders.
As I was cooking their eggs, Deidara and Zetsu wandered in. Deidara seemed to visibly sniff the air before he found the source. He grinned slightly at me, and I looked down at my skillet. I tried to concentrate on cooking the eggs, but a sudden warm breath on the back of my neck made me uneasy.
"What are you cooking, yeah?" He said, and his warm breath hit the back of my ear.
Shivering slightly, I bit my tongue. I was panicking on the inside, and torn between yelling at him, punching him, or crying.
"Oi, get the fuck back from the damn food, Blondie!" Hidan cursed, "You're going to fucking screw it all up!"
Kisame chuckled somewhere from behind, "You'd think that because you look so girly you'd be a bit good at cooking! But, hell, you burn everything you touch!"
I twitched slightly at the sexist comment, and I could practically hear Deidara seething behind me. I quickly plated the food and passed the plates to the three table inhabitants. I walked back for the fridge, opening the door to let a rush of cool air come bursting forth.
"How do you like your eggs, Deidara?" I asked, snapping him from his anger.
He looked at me, blinking in shock at the sound of his name being called. A light color tinged his cheeks, but it quickly went away as he gave me an answer. He took my old seat at the table, and I turned to Zetsu. He seemed to be having a heavy conversation with himself. I took a step towards him timidly, and his golden eyes suddenly locked onto me.
I examined him at that moment, my spine shaking. The dark side of his body seemed to have a slightly larger eye, but that was probably a trick of the coloring as the ebony side of his skin didn't have a pupil in the caramel depths of his eye. The light side, however, did, and it was trained on my short figure. His hair was short, choppily cut into grass green spikes. Aside from those features, the thing that stood out the most was the venus fly trap around his upper body.
"Yes? What do you want?" Zetsu spoke, and I was shocked for a second.
The two voices that came from him were two completely different tones. One was more gentle, normal, and carefree. The other was slightly deep, more gravely almost.
"I-I don't know exactly what you e-eat," I admitted, locking eyes with the larger man for a few seconds before looking at the floor.
"We eat meat, woman. Raw meat," He spoke, the two different voices answering making me feel like I was talking to two totally separate beings at one time.
I looked back up, and saw him watching me hungrily. I remembered something about Zetsu being cannibal, but I didn't know if it completely true or not. I didn't want to test it out, so I scurried to the refrigerator and dug around in the freezer on the top. I pulled out the only steak I had, the steak I had bought for my up coming birthday.
"I'll let this thaw out, will it do?" I asked, afraid that he wouldn't want to eat it.
A breath of release silently left me when he nodded, and he leaned against the wall near the table. He had resumed talking to himself once he had stopped conversing with me. I noticed, however, how his eyes watched the steak as I put it into the microwave to thaw. I set it up the timing on the steak and went to cook Deidara his breakfast.
As I cracked the eggs into the pan, I watched as a certain black haired male entered the kitchen. I stiffened slightly, and kept my self a bit alert. I didn't want to be grabbed again, and I wanted to be prepared if he tried to knock me out with sharingan again. I could feel him standing like Zetsu, since there was no more chairs left to sit in.
"Would you like something to eat, too, Itachi?" Saying his name aloud sent shivers down my spine, and tasted like tangy fear.
I looked at him over my shoulder, trying to suppress a shiver as our eyes connected for the first time since the arrival of the evil organization. They were a deep crimson, so bright that it looked like his eyes were bleeding. The black pupil and the ebony colored tomoe of the sharingan stood out against the sea of rose coloring that was his eyes. They colors of his eyes popped out against his lightly paled skin, and seemed to be his most dominate feature, aside from the sharp and handsome tributes to his face.
He nodded at me, and my tongue felt a bit heavy as I attempted to string together another sentence.
Kisame looked up from his egg sandwich, and swallowed a mouthful before speaking, "Itachi likes his eggs as a sandwich."
I nodded at Kisame, and turned back around quickly. I started preparing Itachi's meal. Glancing at the clock on the stove, I saw that it was already four o'clock at night. I sighed slightly, realizing that I wans't going to get any sleep before school.
Just as I was almost finished plating Itachi's food, Deidara spoke through a mouthful of food, "So, Sakura, yeah. How'd you get that bruise on your cheek?"
It got a bit quiet in the kitchen, an odd silence washing over like a tsunami. Even Zetsu had stopped the conversation he was having with him self to listen to my answer. The sounds of men eating was either quieted, or none existent. It was unnerving, and I forgot how to make a response for a moment. Finally, after a few seconds of silence I picked up Itachi's plate and turned.
Their eyes were on me, I realized with a jolt to the heart. I masked my face, and stiffly moved over to Itachi. Without looking him in the eyes, I handed him a plate and backed away.
"I was hit by a ball in my gym class," I lied through my teeth, avoiding eye contact. I was one of the many people who couldn't look others in the eye when they were lying, unless I had a good enough reason to lie.
When I looked up, I saw a few doubtful gazes cast in my direction, and gulped quietly.
"Yeah, and I'm a fucking fairy princess," Hidan cursed quietly into his plate of scrambled eggs.
I couldn't help the image that popped into my brain. It was of Hidan, a frilly pink tiara atop his head in a hot pink ballerina uniform. The tutu upon his hips was frilly and curly. He held a powder pink wand in his hand, a purple star on top of it. He had make up painted on that reminded me of the girls in my school that liked to cake their entire face in the stuff.
My stomach cramped with suppressed laughter, and I couldn't stop the slight chuckle that fell from my lips at the mental image inside my brain. Eyes were once again upon me, and I blushed to the roots of my hair. I looked at the floor, when I heard feet pad into the kitchen. I looked up, and my eyes connected with the leader of the Akatsuki, a certain puppet-man with dark red hair a few steps behind him.
Rinnegan eyes met mine once more, and the air was constricted from my lungs. I couldn't look away, and I could feel more heat rise to my face.
"D-Did you want something to eat?" I stuttered, frozen in my place.
He raised a fine brow, and slowly he nodded. I asked him how he liked his eggs, and once that was done with he kicked Hidan out of his place at the table and sat down. I was met withy silence when I asked Sasori if he wanted anything, and remembered with a blushing face that Sasori was a puppet. He didn't eat.
I fixed the Leader his food and handed it to him, quickly moved away from the table. Just when I did so, the last member of the Akatsuki woke.
"Is pretty Sakura making breakfast for Tobi and his friends?" A loud voice shout, and a black blur darted into the room.
I gasped loudly as he crashed into me, wrapping his arms around me firmly. My heart was beating against my rib cage as he began to shake me back and forth, squealing about how cute I was. A light blush adorned my face, but it was over powered by a tint of green to my face. I wasn't very good with dizzy, and his spinning had my brain tumbling.
"Tobi, yeah! Let her go you idiot!" Deidara snarled, snapping up from his place at the table.
Itachi calmly slid into the now empty seat, watching as Deidara stomped over to us.
Deidara's arm stretched around me, and snatched Tobi's collar. The hyper man was suddenly ripped from me, and I fell to the floor in a dizzy heap. I held my head in one hand, using the other to keep my from falling flat onto my back. I watched with a hazy head as Deidara beat Tobi in the head, making the poor man fall to the ground.
Normally, in the anime, it was funny to watch Tobi be reprimed, because it was fake. In real life, it hurt to watch almost. I looked away, my heart slightly heavy. I didn't like watching any one get beat up in real life, it made me think of my Principle and what she might have in store for me the next time she sees me.
"Deidara-senpai! Tobi was just asking a question!" Tobi whined slightly from his place on the floor.
I heard Deidara scoff, and watched as he turned from his former victim. His brow twitched when he saw Itachi sitting in his seat. He seemed to bite his tongue, and walked over to the wall to lean against it. I looked away from him and towards Tobi, who was still on the floor away from me. I bit my lips slightly, pity swelling up in my stomach.
"Are you hungry, Tobi?" I asked softly, my head lightly throbbing from the spinning.
He turned his masked face towards me, and suddenly I was pulled off of the floor. He cradled me to his chest, and cooed, "Thank you, Sa-ku-ra! It's been a long time since Tobi has had anyone make anything for him!"
"Y-You're welcome. C-Could you put me down so that I can cook? How do you like your eggs?" I questioned, and he put me down.
He chirped me his answer, and he hovered around me as I began to cook his meal. When it was done, he quickly took his plate and sat himself in corner. I watched, slightly amused, as he slipped pieces of egg underneath his mask without it moving away from its place.
The fact that he had a different identity underneath that mask made me uneasy, but as long as I didn't have to see it face on and the other Akatsuki were around when he was, I would be okay.
I hoped.
Piper: Sorry, more filler than anything. Next chapter will be better, I promise.
Please review and tell me whatcha think!
