"Hey buddy!", said the man that had now finished climbing over the gate. Dante didn't even need to look to know he was being spoken to, he hesitated, but begrudgingly lowered his gun. The man smirked and made his way to the front of the group, "Cool, so, first things first. Gun, hatchet down. Bag, gimme."
Dante nearly growled as he sighed, placing his gun on the ground and began to push his bag off of his shoulders. Hidan, having just acquired the weapon, dropped the hatchet by his feet with a growl, more than angry. He refused to kick it over though, if they wanted it, let their bigshot asses come and get it. Soon after, Dante's bag dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
The man with Tobi's mask strapped to his belt came forward, his stature and appearance lanky and a bit ashen. The gun he had been training on the group was put away in his belt as he reached down to pull the bag closer to him.
Every one of the Akatsuki knew as soon as they'd seen the dangling mask, regardless of who "Tobi" was to them, he was dead. How and when, they didn't know, nor did they want to. It was done and over with, and out of their hands. No longer a concern.
Itachi then looked back to Dante and noticed him anxiously staring at his bag as it was rummaged through. As the ashen man looked through the bag, his hands roughly shoving things aside and nearly throwing things out, there was silence. The intensity of the atmosphere was nowhere near to what the shinobi were used to experiencing, but it was starting to feel a bit like home.
The silence was interrupted by a rattling sound coming from Dante's bag. The ashen man, hearing the noise, began to dig further into the bag with renewed vigor. Itachi glanced to Kisame and Kakuzu who both nodded ever so slightly in response, what Dante had in that bag, they didn't know. But they were ready to defend the group if it were to incite a violent reaction from the people around them.
"Chester!", the man called. The grinning man whose eyes were still focused on Deidara and his shoulder, looked down to the ashen man. Dante sucked his teeth softly as three bottles of various pills were produced from the bag. He knew they would be found, but he just hoped that they wouldn't be.
"Well shitty shitty shit!", the man named Chester exclaimed. The ashen man still crouched by the bag threw a bottle to Chester who caught it and started shaking it lightly. He looked at the group in front of him, seeming amused. "Who stole the pills from the pharmacy?", he said in a sing-song voice that seemed familiar to Dante as he surveyed the group.
Kakuzu frowned under his mask. If Dante had stolen from these men, and if they were anything like how he knew many druggies to be, the poor man was as good as dead. But he supposed if the group they had been returning to was as large as Dante had told them, the man didn't have much of a choice. Kakuzu readied himself to pull the man in front of him backwards and out of the way if the situation escalated any further. He was their guide to a supposedly safe place, it'd be a shame if he died.
Dante glared at the man shaking the pills in a rhythmical manner. "They were up for grabs, and there wasn't another group there to my knowledge. If they were yours, I'm really, very sorry but my people need them too." He directed his hand towards the group behind him, "And these guys? They weren't even with me when I took them." Dante didn't want any misunderstandings, nor the group behind him to be in danger for something he did.
Chester nodded slowly in response, not speaking as he read Dante's face, pocketing the pills in hand. He clapped very suddenly making the man flinch. Chester laughed spreading his arms out to his side, hands open out wide. "And just like that, the truth comes out! How honorable. Now, since you were so very unaware, uh...", he trailed off circling his hands towards Dante.
"Dante...?", the other man answered hesitantly.
"Dante! Now, since you were unaware, and you did say you were sorry, I won't kill you. Okay? Now, I must admit...", Chester walked to Dante's side to throw an arm over the taller man's shoulders, "The pharmacy, was fair game. You didn't steal from us Dante! You stole what we were going to steal, you follow?" It was at this point that Sasori had to hold Deidara back from exploding at the man. The group didn't want to fight, yet Deidara had been injured, unnecessarily it now seemed. Chester didn't seem to notice Deidara glaring at the back of his head, or ignored it as he smiled.
Dante nodded once again, the news of his reward for honesty being his life making him perk up quite a lot. "Yeah, I understand."
Chester barked out a laugh, "You see, that's what makes this next part so easy! I'll let you and your friends go, but you gotta do one small thing for me ok?" Hidan was fed up with this, the guy was a joker and yet he acted like he was tough shit. It took every last bit of what little restraint he had to not pick up the hatchet at his feet and decapitate the man.
Dante frowned, "That sounds...ok." It sounded shifty is what he meant, but wouldn't dare say at this point. Things were going too well.
Chester chuckled, "Awesome, now follow along if you get what I'm saying alright? Who stole the pills from the pharmacy? Dante stole the pills from the pharmacy!" Again with the sing-song voice.
Dante then suddenly had an inkling as to what the other man was doing and hoped he was right, or else he'd be making a fool out of himself for nothing. "Who, me?", he followed with uncertainty.
"Yes you!", Chester removed his arm from around Dante's shoulder. He seemed pleased that Dante was playing along with the strange rendition of the children's song.
Dante sighed as he remembered the last thing he needed to say, "Couldn't b-!" Dante stumbled and fell forward, having being struck over the head with the handle of a dagger. Dante yelled out in pain and heard a few yells before they were silenced by a louder one. Everything sounded fuzzy and far away.
Miraculously, not one of the Akatsuki had attacked in response. A few hands had flinched towards where their weapons usually were, but then their owners thought twice. No weapons, surrounded, Dante was alive. Hidan was the one that had yelled, having been silent the entire time before Kakuzu silenced him, yelling at him himself.
"Now, I didn't lie did I? The guy's still alive isn't he!", Chester's irritated voice came to Dante first through the haze in his head. Hidan ground his teeth, he didn't like this feeling, the feeling of not being allowed to do anything. Not helpless, but not fighting back.
Dante felt a hand on his back, it was a slender, soft hand, unlike Chester's had been. "This is just so Dante doesn't do it again!", Chester nearly sung dropping the pills he had keeping in his pocket. It rolled slightly towards Dante's lowered head and Chester smiled, "You can have these okay? Since you worked so hard for them."
The hand on his back moved in a circle, rubbing his back softly. "Are you okay?", it was Konan's voice, hushed but unafraid. Dante opened his eyes, annoyed to find that his vision was partly reddened in his left eye. Chester had hit him hard enough to break skin, causing him to start bleeding into his own eye. Dante looked up at the woman crouched by him, her gaze unfocused as usual, but her mouth was set into a thin line. He grunted in response to her question, briefly wondering where whatever Pein had given her earlier had gone. He didn't remember Chester ever asking for it.
"Holy shit, Ches...", a new voice came as the woman that looked related to Chester came over in front of Dante and Konan.
Chester looked at her, his eyes slimmed as he seemed to expect something unpleasant. "What?"
The woman's gaze was stuck on Konan's eyes, "I...I think she's blind..." Konan's gaze was still unfocused, her eyes still their original color, but not able to be of much use. As she heard the other woman speak, Konan frowned, so that was how others saw her now.
Chester sighed in exasperation, "Well then she won't be of much help to us then right?" Pein blinked slowly, this was bad. Were they thinking of taking Konan away? This situation would turn violent if that was the case, and he did not like their odds against Chester's armed group. Seeing the state of Deidara's shoulder, it was now apparent how much damage a gun could do. He could only imagine what damage multiple shots to the body could do.
The woman shook her head as she kneeled down and reached her hand out to Konan. "Not to you guys...but me on the other hand...", she said quietly as she gently stroked the side of Konan's face. Konan flinched away and bowed her head down, appearing to be shy. Inwardly, disgust and disbelief flooded her mind, not at the other woman's attraction to her, but the insinuation of what she may want. Konan was no whore, and she wouldn't act one either.
"Hey, my name's Jo. What's your name doll?", the woman named Jo asked with a tone that was intended to be calming. "These guys are your friends?"
Konan didn't speak at first, but then a voice unlike what Dante had heard before emerged from her. "K-Konan, and they're my f-f-friends, yes..." Meek, submissive, and uncertain. The change in Konan's demeanor was far too dizzying for Dante to comprehend, and painful for Konan to fake.
Chester rolled his eyes at this and sighed, "Do you really need another pet Jo? She looks a bit frail to me."
Jo smirked up at him incredulously, "First; Meredith and Rae are not 'pets'. Second; Stop being an asshole." She looked back at Konan, "So Konan, you wanna come with us? I can take care of you, protect you." She gave a light hearted laugh as she brushed Konan's hair behind her ear on one side. "Don't mind what Chester said, you wouldn't be my pet.", she assured.
Konan shook her head quickly, "N-no...I want to stay with my friends..." And it was the truth, despite the others not exactly holding the title of "friend" in her heart. She had no intention of conducting espionage in an unfamiliar world with unfamiliar people, especially if she had to act like a helpless blind doll while doing so. She was not helpless, and most certainly not blind.
Jo frowned, disappointed. She then sighed and stood, "Oh, pity. Well I hope I'll get the chance to see you later Konan." Said woman sincerely hoped that later would not come to pass as she turned her attention back to Dante.
Chester huffed and then gave a big grin to Dante, "Well that concludes our business together Dante! Hope to see you again in the future! Try not to die okay buddy?" Dante glared up at him as he struggled to get back to his feet, but Konan made him stay down, telling him to gather himself before trying.
Dante listened begrudgingly, staring at the pill bottle Chester had left in front of him with bitterness. The ashen man that had found the pills kicked the bag back over to him and Dante reached out to pull the bag closer, and opened it. They hadn't taken anything else, just the other pills, the other pills that his people would need. They hadn't taken the hatchet he had given Hidan, not even his handgun, but they had taken the pills.
"One more!" Before he stop himself, Dante was shouting at Chester's retreating back.
Chester and his retreating group stopped.
Hidan couldn't hold his anger in any longer, he turned to the fallen Dante. "Shut the fuck up you dumbass! I take back everything I said about you being smart!"
Chester turned back to look Dante in the eyes, disregarding Hidan's outburst. "One more? Another song?", he asked as if that was what he hoped Dante was asking for and not the alternative...
"One more bottle of pills. There's more than two other bottles in there, I know! You shot my friend for no reason, he needs them!", Dante argued. All of the Akatsuki were taken aback at this, but it didn't show on their faces. That was the reason for his outburst? Deidara's injury? Deidara, although thankful for the consideration, was surprised the other man even cared. Dante's glare never dropped from Chester's face, "You punished me for stealing the pills, don't punish him for something he didn't do! One more..."
Chester tilted his head curiously and smirked with a hint of pity, his eyes, again, shifted back to Deidara. Without looking away, he sighed. "Homer, toss them one more. We were wrong to injure his friend without proper cause, and I don't want any bad blood between our groups.", he admitted congenially. Dante wasn't buying it though, and neither were any of the Akatsuki. Without another word, Chester and the rest of his group turned and began walking. The ashen man now known as Homer, lagged back to toss another bottle of pills to Dante, seeming to not want to come any closer, and turned to follow his own group. The pills rattled as they hit the ground.
As the other group turned the corner, Hidan was more than happy to start cursing under his breath, snatching up the hatchet at his feet.
Pein meanwhile allowed himself to exhale deeply and began to walk over to Dante and Konan, helping both of them to their feet. Dante nodded to Pein in thanks before hissing at the pain in his head, "Sonovabitch..." Sighing, he looked to Pein and Konan. "Sorry for getting you all involved in this."
Konan simply shook her head, telling Dante to not think too much of it while reaching into her cloak to pull out the bent rebar she had been holding before. Dante blinked in awe, wondering how she had hidden something like that so quickly. Pein simply reached down to pick up the two pill bottles on the ground and held them out. "What are these anyways? Will they actually be of help or did you just run around the pharmacy grabbing whatever looked useful?"
Dante snatched one bottle from Pein's hand. "Hey," before pointing at him with the same hand, as if warning him, "shut up." Dante chuckled incredulously at his own words, giving up on trying to make it seem like he was actually upset. He then looked at the bottle in his hand. "Thankfully I didn't have to do that because we have a nurse-in-training or whatever back home, she gave me a list of medicine we would probably need."
Pein nodded, allowing himself to give an amused smirk while noting, Dante seemed to be a bit of a joker. Dante shrugged in response before reading the bottle in his hand, and tossing it to Kakuzu. "For uh...your friend, painkillers. He'll need a few.", he notified distractedly as he leaned down to pick up his gun from the ground.
"It's Deidara, and thanks, but I'll only need one.", Deidara answered while accepting the bottle from Kakuzu.
Dante looked over at the wounded man skeptically. "One...? Are you sure? You were shot in the arm for fucksake!", he exclaimed in disbelief. His question was answered as Deidara popped a singular pill into his mouth and tossed the bottle back with the very arm that had been shot, smirking as he did so.
"I'm sure, yeah. Hell you probably need a few yourself right?", Deidara asked in a teasing manner.
Dante caught the bottle, his mouth open as he found himself speechless. He stared down the bottle dumbfounded before staring at Deidara with the same astoundment. He shook his head to snap himself out of it before picking up his bag and putting the pills away. "Nope, nah I'm good. Thanks for asking.", he stated distantly.
Deidara couldn't help but snicker at the reaction, and had to admit that he missed being able to amaze others with the most mundane of his abilities, like his high pain tolerance. An upside, he supposed, of this whole situation.
Pein held up the other bottle to read the label, "Penicillin...antibiotic. So you did get something useful."
Dante let out a mock-offended laugh, "Okay, I have a head wound and half of my vision is red, and you're not letting up on me anytime soon are you?" He looked down to meet Pein's eyes with a questioning glare.
Pein gave a bit of a smirk and put the penicillin away into Dante's bag, which he then took to throw on to his own shoulder. "Not for a second. Now let's get going. Deidara's arm and your head that you keep whining about need to be treated, right?"
Dante threw his hands up in surrender, "Right, alright. Can't forget about that. Though I don't think any of you are, don't worry, we'll be there within the hour."
Itachi looked back behind them, the street was empty but he could hear the familiar sounds of approaching zombies. He looked to Dante, "What about Ian?"
"I'm right here dipweed." As the group turned around once again, Ian walked around the corner, hands in his pockets, glaring at the ground. His clothes were bloody, more bloody than before at least, but he didn't appear to be wounded. "I heard uh...a gun go off...everyone okay?", he asked softly.
Deidara chuckled in a sarcastic manner, "No, everyone's great! I have a hole in my shoulder and Dante's head is split open, but we're doing peachy!"
Ian looked up, alarmed, "Wh-what the fuck happened?"
"We had a run in with another group. They screwed with us a bit, but we're alive and kicking.", Dante reassured as he put his gun away in his belt. "How about you man? You look like hell.", he digressed, concerned for his friend.
Ian shrugged dismissively looking off to the side, "I don't know man. I...I'm fine, physically at least y'know? Ran into a swarm of those fuckers but... I took care of it." He murmured as he spoke, not wanting to give much detail.
Dante nodded, "Obviously...and Evan?"
Ian scoffed softly, shaking his head. "I didn't... I couldn't even get to him..." His voice shook and his breaths came out softer. He balled his fists in his pockets.
Dante looked at his friend solemnly, and raised up an arm. "Ian.", he called softly. Ian hesitantly looked up at him, he looked angry and there were tears in his eyes. Looking conflicted, Ian eventually stormed up to Dante's side, where he was held close under his arm. Ian cried staring at the ground, refusing to say a word.
Dante glanced back at the group behind them, "Let's go guys...", and began to walk.
Ian hadn't allowed himself to cry for long, in fact it was soon after their departure from the street that he pushed himself away from Dante to start leading the group. He led in silence, which Kakuzu was grateful for, not wanting Hidan to get himself worked up again and start arguing. He and Ian seemed to react to one another like wild dogs fighting over a scrap of food, and Kakuzu wanted no part in it.
Ian led the group on, maneuvering them past clusters of zombies, but eventually they came across a horde. The density of it was so bad they were forced to duck into a stairwell on the side of a building to avoid the zombies' path.
The Akatsuki watched on and listened in awe and horror, though neither was apparent by the blank and bored looks on their faces. There were so many...too many. There had to have been over two hundred of them there, groaning, croaking in an unnatural manner, and not all of them looked as rotten as the female zombie that had been the cause of Evan's demise.
In fact, it made it worse that some of them looked as...fresh as Evan had. They looked like normal people who had just slipped up in some blood, but the bite marks were as clear as day. Men, women, children, marched, limped, and dragged themselves slowly towards where the group had just come from, driven only by some hellish insatiable hunger.
Most of their group was uncomfortably squeezed into the base of the stairwell, while Hidan, Konan, and Sasori sat on the stone stairs. There was barely any breathing room, the place not originally designed to hold so many people for any longer than a minute. No one complained though, and more because any noise they would make would attract the cannibals less than seven feet away from them, and less because they didn't mind.
Ian sat near the top of the stairwell to make sure no zombies would fall on top of their heads, or get near enough to. His face was calm, concentrated on the task at hand. The gun in his hand dangled easily, his nerves not nearly as on edge as the Akatsuki's were. There was a strange mix of calm tension in the air that made time seem to pass by much slower than it actually was.
Dante was the first to note the newcomers' unease and since he was already uncomfortably squished next to Pein, he turned to him. "I guess you guys haven't ever been pinned down by a horde before," he asked in a hushed tone that everyone heard regardless due to their trained skills.
Pein didn't even bother to look over to the other man and stiffly shook his head in response. "It's...unnerving," he responded truthfully seeing no reason to hide anything.
"We are a very paranoid bunch, Dante," Kisame commented from his position next to Pein. He grinned in an bemused manner, to which Dante smiled uncomfortably in response.
Pein sighed lightly as he then looked at Dante, "I believe we'd all feel ten times better if we all were able to obtain weapons."
Dante nodded in understanding, "Won't be long now, we're halfway home."
Ian frowned as he saw something troubling further down the street, there were a few stragglers being pushed to the sidewalk due to the density of the horde, if they continued on their current path, they'd fall right on top of their heads. Ian slowly stood up, gaining his group's attention. Dante shrugged as if to ask what was wrong. Ian pointed down the street as a response and then turned slowly to look around him.
Dante was allowed through the tightly packed group of people around him to join Ian on the stairs. He turned around and saw the problem, his brow furrowed. He nearly jumped when Ian tapped his shoulder, and looked at the shorter man in confusion. Ian then pointed at a trash can on the side of a staircase, he was confused on how this would help but then Dante spotted what was in the trash.
By now, Pein had joined the two men on the sidewalk and had assessed the situation for himself, and found himself confused as to why their two guides were now digging through the trash. He watched as Dante suddenly turned down the street, facing towards where the zombies were travelling, and threw something over the horde's heads.
Crash!
The sound of glass breaking was unmistakable, and Pein understood, they were trying to alter the zombies' path. A sound plan, he supposed. They were blind, and therefore, could be treated much like sheep, easy to herd. This was one of the only good things he had learned about this strange yet imposing enemy, besides them being slow, he could stand in full view of them and not be detected unless he made noise.
Standing this close to them was daunting, yet it tempted something in him, a temptation he was much too sane to give into. It tempted him to yell out at the monstrosities, challenge them, toy with them. If he had Hidan's recklessness, perhaps he would have.
Ian then chucked another glass object down the street, when it shattered, the horde in front of them all at once got louder. Their throaty, primal, meaningless calls telling that they had heard it. They began to move more towards the noise, taking them a few more feet away from their group. Pein looked down the street to note, that Ian and Dante's efforts seemed to have worked. The few zombies that had wandered a bit too close to their group's hiding spot, had further merged with the rest of the horde, chasing the noise.
Ian grinned at Dante, giving a small fist pump in success. Dante smirked, suppressing a chuckle.
After the close call, Pein and Dante decided to stay out on the street while Ian rested his eyes at the top of the steps. Pein didn't see any reason to return to the stairwell, and Dante wasn't a fan of being crowded with a group of people. The two of them took over the responsibility of watching the horde until it passed.
As Pein and Dante looked down the street, Pein decided to observe Dante more while he wasn't looking.
The man stood almost a head over Pein in height, his skin darker than what Pein was used to seeing. The tone of skin seemed to be natural and though darker, reminded him much of shinobi from the Hidden Cloud. Though that wasn't what intrigued Pein, it wasn't his casual ragged clothes, or amiable nature, but Dante's hair. Pein thought back to his travels across the shinobi world and came up blank, having never before seen hair with such a texture. Rougher, curly, and more compressed than what he was used to seeing, and the style Dante's hair was in was even stranger. Of course Pein had never seen dreadlocks before, and seeing the tight black braids that fell down past the man's shoulders, tied back in a ponytail, elicited a strange irritation from him.
Pein had already come to terms with the fact that wherever they had been transported to, was far away from anything any of the Akatsuki had ever known, and whoever had done this, had made sure to target their chakra. For what reason though, Pein still had no idea. The most believable theory so far, was that this was a sort of assassination attempt, with this world having already killed two of their members. But if the person was indeed powerful and skilled enough to transport them to this so called "District of Columbia" where there existed no chakra or shinobi, and without their memories on top of that, why not confront them in person? It all seemed too convoluted and roundabout, and if they wanted to kill the Akatsuki, they'd have to be watching close by to make sure they actually had.
But they sensed no chakra, each and every one of them, sensed nothing. Even without most of their own, even if the person watching was concealing their chakra, the Akatsuki would have been able to sense it. It didn't make any sense, not a damn bit of it.
Dante watched the last of the horde pass them by, he let out a slight sigh of relief, beyond glad that that was over, never enjoying being pinned down by a horde before. He then glanced over to Pein, he seemed to still be watching the horde leave, a strangely calm look on his face. Dante had thought the man to be strange from the moment he met him. Blunt, straight faced, and paranoid, undoubtedly the leader of the group Dante found him with. Dante had entertained the idea that they were a part of the military, only to reason out, if that were the case, they'd have weapons, use military jargon, be a little less clueless, and be dressed in proper military wear and not...whatever they were wearing. Dante nudged the man with his elbow. "Okay I think we're good." He stood up off of the wall to go over to Ian and shake his shoulder.
Ian's eyes opened slowly as he gave a low groan. Hidan snickered, "Woah, don't tell me you actually fell asleep shit-for-brains!"
Ian sighed as he rubbed his eyes with the balls of his hands, and put them down to stare at Hidan with a blank expression. Hidan smirked, expecting Ian to attempt to shoot a smart retort at him or to try and hit him, but found himself disappointed when the other man stood up without a word, leaving the stairwell. Dante patted Ian's back as he passed him, having stood there the entire time. Dante then shrugged at Hidan in what was supposed to be an apologetic gesture, but the smirk on his face said something entirely different. "Alright, we're good to go guys. Let's hope we don't run into another horde," Dante informed those still in the stairwell before going out into the street where Ian was already going ahead.
Again, Ian led the group from afar, scouting for any trouble ahead and only turning back to silently tell the group to hurry up, much to their annoyance. Dante would only chuckle awkwardly and give the excuse, that Ian was probably eager to get home and rest, after the day they'd had.
When they had finally made it to their destination, the sun had started to set, painting the sky and everything it bounced off of, burnt orange.
The Akatsuki were overall unimpressed with the building they had been brought to. It was like most buildings they'd seen so far, tall - about four stories - and made of brick, dull besides a few strange illustrations that framed a few windows. There were three people around the entrance that waved once they saw Ian and Dante. Two were armed with fire axes while the one in between them held a handgun in his hands.
The man with the gun walked to meet Ian before he got to the door and began speaking to him while glaring past him, his irritated gaze seemed to be focused on Dante.
Pein spoke lowly to Dante without turning his head, his eyes focused on the man speaking to Ian. "It seems we're not wanted here..." Dante nodded sharply in response before shaking his head as if to say, 'what can you do?'
"Welp, too late, looks like you're already here and we're going to help you guys as much as we can." Dante held his hand out for his bag. "Don't worry about Jackson, he's a head figure here, but so am I." Pein placed the strap of Dante's bag into the man's awaiting hand without another word as they approached Ian and the man - Jackson - that had finally stopped whispering as he noticed them getting closer. "Jackson," Dante greeted in a formal tone.
Said man nodded before looking at the group behind him and giving them a tight uncomfortable smile, "You've brought quite a large group with you Dante. It's nice to meet you all, I'm Amon Jackson, you can call me Jackson."
Dante opened his mouth to speak, but Jackson raised a hand to stop him. "Dante, I know..." He let his hand drop and sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I usually would try to turn away any group this large with a quick trip to our nurse and an hour's rest but...", Jackson turned to Ian who casually tugged at his blonde curls, "What you all did for Ian and Dante...tried to do for Evan, deserves the best of what we can do for you."
Dante blinked in surprise, but didn't let much else show on his face. "I'm glad Ian told you." He glanced at Ian who had his eyes downcast, staring at the ground. "They were a huge help."
Jackson sighed and turned to the building behind him, "Well, someone has to break the news to Sarita... Ian, take over for me." He began walking, putting his gun in a holster on his waist.
Dante frowned and followed after him as Ian took a step aside. "Wait, what the hell Jackson, I should tell her, you don't need to! He died on my watch, you shouldn't have to..."
The rest of the group followed after the two men, leaving Ian standing in the road. They watched as Dante tried to stop Jackson. The latter just sighed, "You do not want Sarita angry at you while she's treating you Dante, what if you need stitches? Y'know we don't have anesthesia." Jackson climbed the three steps that led to the front, opening the both the metal bar door, and the wooden one. "Angry Sarita equals tight ass stitches. I'm doing you a favor.", he chuckled dismissing Dante's frustration holding the metal door behind him to prevent it from closing.
Dante huffed and grabbed the door handle and glanced back to the group following close behind, "Well do you think she won't know it was me? You telling her won't change anything." He held the door for the group while Jackson stood inside off to the side to let them inside.
As the Akatsuki looked around the inside of the building, it looked similar to the lobby of a very small hotel, at least five doors that likely led to rooms were visible behind the front desk area, and a staircase that went up, behind the desk itself. There were a few people standing about. Staring at the group with either curiosity, or suspicion. It seemed that they too were privy to what danger newcomers could bring. Jackson and Dante continued their conversation behind them as the latter closed the doors.
"It wasn't you that killed him Dante, she's not irrational.", Jackson stated. Dante turned and gave him a look that spoke volumes, Jackson sighed, "She's not that irrational." Dante exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.
"Fine. Whatever, do what you want.", he gave up, throwing his hand down to his side. Dante dropped his bag to fall into his hands, throwing it over his shoulder. He walked over past the Akatsuki and into the hallway to disappear into a back room. Jackson walked over and huffed a tired sigh, "There's no peace with that kid." He turned to Deidara and gave a strange smile, "In the meantime, you can come meet the nurse! She'll see to that arm of yours." He turned and left up the stairs still speaking to the group leaving no room for conversation, "The rest of you can stay here till I find you all a room you can use to rest up."
Deidara hesitantly followed after him after a few silent looks between him and the rest of the group.
Before Deidara could properly get halfway up the stairs Sasori was following after him with a sigh, "I'll make sure nothing strange goes on with this nurse..." He muttered to Pein as he passed him. The other man nodded in acknowledgement as he turned to Konan and spoke to her quietly.
Kakuzu grumbled under his breath as he pulled his arms from the sleeves of his cloak to allow them to hang closer to his side. Hidan decided to crouch and sit on the ground where he stood, playing with the hatchet he'd been given in his hands.
Kisame stood by Itachi, a slight grin on his face as he spoke. "I wonder if we'll be able to acquire any weapons like Dante and those men had...though I doubt it.", he trailed off looking around at the suspicious faces around the room his grin turning amused, "Those men outside, you'd think they'd be given 'guns' as well, but they only had axes..."
Itachi gave a short nod, "It seems that there are not enough of them to go around, though they make sure to have at least one among those guarding the building. Though I don't think it will be a problem." He stared blankly at the ground in thought.
Kisame nodded in agreement, "Yes. It does seem that...more discreet weapons will be of importance to find in our situation."
Kakuzu scoffed bringing the two's attention to him, "You two are correct, and the only one of us with such a weapon is ogling it like a child with a toy."
Hidan's ears perked up at this, with an annoyed hum he gripped the base of the hatchet and hit the side of the blade on the base of his palm repeatedly. "Kakuzu, you bastard! You know that's not what I'm doing!", he gave a cocky smirk, "I'm doing something of real importance with this thing!"
"Tearing out your vocal chords with it I hope?", Kakuzu droned out.
Hidan nearly swung his hatchet at the man's legs, shouting before a sudden loud thump came from upstairs, distracting him.
Pein looked at the stairs, holding his hand up as an order for the rest of the group to stay back before rushing up the stairs. He nearly bumped into Sasori who had a startled look on his normally apathetic face, stopping before he did. Pein opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Sasori was one step ahead of him.
"He's fine, the nurse seems to know what she's doing and she's doing it well, despite just being told of that man's death. Trust me, they are the least of our worries at the moment.", he informed trailing off as Dante came up behind Pein.
"What are you guys doing?", the man questioned seeming confused, "Did Sarita drive you out?"
Pein turned to look at the man, shaking his head. "No, it's nothing of importance.", he glanced to Sasori who adopted a look of indifference on his face, "We were just talking."
Dante frowned, not seeming to buy it. After giving them both another look though, he decided whatever it was, it was none of his business. "Alright, whatever you say.", he uttered in response as he climbed the stairs past the two men.
Sasori waited to speak until Dante's footsteps disappeared out of hearing to speak, his face going serious once again. "You need to take a look at this-No... Rather," he trailed off bringing a bejeweled green hand mirror out of his cloak, "You need to take a look at yourself..."
Pein gave an off frown, not understanding what the problem was with a simple hand mirror, but took it nonetheless. He did as Sasori bidded him to, and looked at his reflection.
And did not see himself.
Not that he normally would, the body his soul was in, previously belonging to one of his best friend...
But Pein did not recognize the person in the mirror at all. Off brown shaggy hair that fell around his head, no rinnegan to be seen, and instead hazel eyes stared back at him in shock.
Sasori took the opportunity to start explaining, "Deidara noticed before me, saw me in the reflection and noticed my eyes looked human. After looking more closely, the hinges of my puppet body aren't showing in the mirror, and my hair seems less red." He gave an irritated huff as he crossed his arms, "We didn't have the chance to see what was different about Deidara himself, but he was able to make a distraction long enough for me to grab this from the nurse's belongings."
"And I suppose the rest of the Akatsuki will also look vastly different in the reflection of a mirror... Is this how these people see us?", Pein wondered to himself nearly pushing the mirror back into Sasori's hands. He felt a migraine coming on.
"Even back in our world, civilians stared at us in horror, regarded us as higher beings... Now...", Sasori sighed as he hid the mirror back in his cloak, "We look like civilians too."
Pein opened his mouth to speak but stopped as he noticed that they were being watched from the top of the stairs. He frowned and Sasori turned to stare annoyed at the man and young girl peeking around the corner to stare at them. Both had a child-like wonder written on their expressions. Pein chided himself for not noticing their presence earlier, but then remembered that these people had no chakra, and therefore, would be hard to sense if he was distracted as he was moments before.
Sasori sighed and faced the two that had yet to speak to them, "Yes? You know it's rude to eavesdrop."
The young girl looked surprised that he had spoken, but looked anything but apologetic as she looked up to the man peeking around the corner with her. "I thought you said he couldn't talk! Liar!", she accused with a smile on her face.
The man gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry, guess I was mistaken. Coulda' sworn he was mute!" He shrugged as he adjusted his box framed glasses, leaning back on the far wall and stuffing his hands into his hoodie pouch.
Both shinobi stared at the two in confusion, they'd never seen this man before, and he claimed to know things about Sasori. Incorrect things, but nonetheless, it was strange.
The young girl shook her head in a pitying manner, "What am I gonna do with you?" She put her hands on her hips with a pout, "Don't lie again, okay?" She turned to Sasori and Pein with a curious grin. "Anyways, what's an a-cat-su-whatever? And why are your eyes purple?"
Both Pein's and Sasori's annoyed gaze turned surprised as they looked at the child that seemed expectant of an answer. She tilted her head impatiently, "Who the heck are you guys?"
Pein isn't looking himself...literally. We've have some more characters introduced this chapter and... No one died!
I see that as a rousing success don't you all? (Considering my kill count so far and it only being the second chapter. -)
Sorry it took so long to update this, but I must remind you, I am a full time student in college and grades always have to take priority over fan fiction (sadly). Sorry, I don't make the rules!
Though I do make this story, so please any predictions you have, any ideas, or thoughts on what's occurred so far, please do post them below! If I'm doing something you don't like and think I could do better, I won't know if you don't let me know, so don't be afraid to give constructive criticism!
Please don't post, "Please update" or things like, "What's taking so long?", again. I have a life outside of writing these stories for FREE. So please be considerate.
Thank you all for your support, it really means everything, and I honestly wouldn't be able to keep going if people didn't even read and review. So thank you!
