Three Dreamers
Scroll 6: The Lost Sister
Naomi
The clan of criminals gave off this stench of pompousness that couldn't be ignored. The air was thick with the rejection of everyday life and the need to rebel against society and its twisted rules. Each member with a story to tell about how humanity betrayed them and somehow caused them to become the way they are. I saw it as whining, blaming others for problems that were clearly self made. With every killing they did, and every life they took, there was added a sense of false accomplishment. The blood stained bodies of the dead harbored the cries of a small child inside of all of them. A child that cried out for an answer, for attention that no one wanted to give them. It was bull shit, what they did to people for their so called "revenge". The torture, raping, stealing. Every one of them, guilty, for the things they themselves complained of. They were too full of the desire to get rid of an image of a false past.
That's why I had to do it, I had to bring them to justice. Their blood stained hands were begging to reach salvation. Their whiney bodies were longing to leave this world. What could I say? They killed off one of their own, because of some stupid back talk. That one whose blood covers their filthy hands, he was my everything, he was my favorite, my father, my sensei.
I watched as the house burned to the ground. For weeks I had been planting small canteens full of kerosene around the hideout. No one ever suspects the small 10 year old who hides in the corner and quivers at the sight of a weapon. Dumb asses, they didn't realize that Ryoku Sensei had taught me everything I needed to know about explosives. I mastered it all by the age of 9. Didn't they realize I was special when they kidnapped me at the age of 6? Right from under my own mother's watchful eye. The bastards, thinking they could take me from my family and turn me into a killing machine. Didn't they know I'd backfire on them? All doomsday machines, especially the ones housed in the human intelligence, eventually grow to think for themselves and go against their so called 'masters'.
I stared up at the damp stained ceiling of my room. I could still smell the ash floating like feathers from the rubble of that day. The thick heat ate at my face as the smoke burned my eyes. The fire crackled in front of me. I heard the screams of the people inside desperately trying to get out of my shadow seal as the fire devoured the house and them along with it. Little did they know the Kerosene hold beneath the hide out hadn't even been reached yet. I remember turning around and beginning to run as the shadow seal wore off. Just as I reached the end of the property, the fire raged and exploded into a brilliant dance of light and smoke. Flames beginning to learn to fly, soaring up into the atmosphere like a thousand phoenix birds. It was beautiful, majestic like free galloping stallions.
Ending up in this place might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. An organization full of specialists was exactly the family I had been looking for. An organization of peace, who killed for the sole purpose of reaching the end of war in this god forsaken ninja world. People had to be sacrificed for a cause all the time. The people here weren't whining for their parents, they were trying to make something of themselves, and better a world through their actions. Truly a band full of delinquents.
My room was cold and damp. I suppose that's what you get when you live in a cave with nine other people. The bed at least was soft enough to sleep on, considering we didn't get enough sleep here. [A good soldier can survive and run at top knotch on nothing but soldier pills and at maximum 2 hours of sleep a night]-Ryoku Sensei. The room was a box of stone, carved to form a rectangular shape that would be livable for a human being. Complete with an iron bed, iron closet, and my work desk for sharpening my tools and experimenting with my new explosives and weaponry. The candle light was dim at night and bright during the day with oil lamps covering the walls. Not exactly a suite at a respectable inn, but it was livable and let me sleep well after a mission.
I turned over and caught my reflection in a pool of water as I peered over the side of the bed. My hair was a mess, as usual, always flipped to one side of my head so that it wasn't constantly in my way. It was such a dark brown that I could have passed it off as black. It fell to the side of my soft angled face in a tangled mess, along with the few purple highlights. Half of it was tied into small braids that wrapped around to keep it off of my back. My eyes were a very deep purple, explaining that to people was the most annoying part of a day.
I clenched onto my stomach as it growled. I was not starving, but very hungry. My figure was well fed. I didn't look like a starving twit, but more like a girl who had some lean muscle. In other words I let people know that they shouldn't underestimate me. I grabbed the black tank top and my loose black fighting pants off of the table. I slipped the thick leather armor onto my arms and covered it in bandaging so no one would suspect it. And lastly I buckled my protective leather vest around my torso. After strapping my boots on I sat on the bed again, I stared at the ceiling once more, waiting for something to start my day.
Then, a knock sounded at my iron door. The bed squeaked as I got up to answer the call from the other side.
"Hey, Naomi….you up yet? Damn woman do you sleep for fucking ever?" asked the voice from the other side. I opened the door.
"Hello Hidan" I said as he stared at me with his silver slick backed hair. There was truly too much gel in that head. Maybe that was why he was such a pompous ass. And why was it that he never wore a shirt? No one wants to see his bare chest. It couldn't be there as a sign of lust, he wasn't allowed to be with anyone. Perhaps it was part of his twisted maniacle religion. I never understood people who were so devout to something that may not be true. I suppose it's just human nature to grasp onto something that makes sense in this confusing life. Finding a bit of something that tells you that not everything in the world has been explained, labeled, and de-fantasized. However, I really did not enjoy the company of this man. His mouth was always stuck in a jacked up smile, and his posture always made him look like his center was trying to eat the rest of him alive. None the less, this was one of my room mates, so I had to deal with him.
"dear fuck'n Jashin woman are you doing that thing again where you stand there an' monologue about how you hate me" he emphasized, "well I don't quite fancy you either"
"look are you here for a reason?" I asked
"Fuck yeah, what'd you think? I came by to say 'hello mrs. Nesbit want to have a tea party?'" he danced around like a frilly ballerina and sang in a high voice. Then he glared at me, "I'm here cuz boss wants ya…so go now, that way I can get on with my fucking life"
I pushed past him, punching him in the stomach on my way out.
"hey you fukin rat, I will kill you for that!" he yelled, I just continued to walk away, "hey don't you wanna know where boss is?" he yelled at my back.
"No" I yelled and proceeded forwards. Pein was always in the same place, he was never anywhere in the living quarters part of the hideout. He spent most of his time astral projecting himself from the statue room, the place where we sucked out people's demons. Either that or he was in Amegakure. Sometimes even both. I wondered which of his counterparts would be there to greet me.
It was the usual one, his favorite, the shell of his old best friend. I stood a few feet from the massive statue and watched as he sat in perfect serene silence. It was as if he was trying to soak up the entire world with each inhale. I didn't get to see pein very often, none of us did.
He was a very quiet man. Never saying much, always in deep concentrated thought about something. I owed a lot to him. When I was very small I was on a huge run from the law. Almost every shinobi was out looking for the person who burned down that old mansion that housed my wretched childhood. Little did they know it was a small girl. A few years of running away and I ended up here, how it happened escapes me, but either way, it happened. Pein took me in, and said I could stay here as long as I promised to help with his big plan. What that plan is I'm still not sure of, I just know that it involves sucking demons out of people.
That's not the most wonderful job in the world, but the way I had it described to me was that we were working towards a real kind of peace. A real way to get everyone to stop fighting. He really was quite a man. Just sitting and shooting his soul towards the heavens, he was one of the few people in the world that I had much respect for. I wonder what he's pondering right now? Better yet, I wonder why the hell I'm in this room?
He immediately opened his eyes and peered down. He slowly got up and proceeded to jump off of the statue towards me. His eyes met mine, dark purple spirals, like every other striking feature on him.
"Hidan said you wanted to talk to me?" I asked as I bowed low in respect.
"Yes, I have a mission for you…it's been a while since your last one." he said, emotionless. He was right, it had been a good couple of months since the last big mission, and that wasn't even for a jinchuuriki.
"I want you to go to Konoha" he said
"for the nine tails? I thought that one belonged to itachi and kisame?" I questioned
"No, not for the nine tails, we can't risk a job that big yet. I'm going to need some intel on the guard, and various law enforcement around the city" he motioned for me to follow him, "the nine tails is a well guarded boy from what we know, but we don't know how well he is guarded. I need you to go to Konoha and find us some 'blind spots', do you understand?"
"Yes sir, anything in particular?"
"No, just a general understanding of any weaknesses"
"for how long?"
"a month or less, this isn't a big job, just a quick in and out intel mission" he said, and with that he dismissed me. Since I was supposed to be undercover I couldn't bring my Akatsuki robe. I didn't mind though, it made people far too afraid of me. I began packing what little weaponry I could fit in with my explosives. Clothes weren't much of a problem considering I didn't wear more than two outfits. All I had to worry about was money, but I figured I would have plenty of that. I packed my things up and headed for the door, better to start now and get it done sooner, plus I was getting bored of my ceiling. I was headed out towards the statue room, when I was stopped by a rather large puppet.
"Naomi" Said a deep and coarse voice from behind me.
"Ya know, ya don't have to hide your voice with that on, I know what you sound like" I said, "and why do you insist on wearing that puppet everywhere?"
"I just wanted to let you know that my sources tell me that there's a new girl in the sound village with your last name." I paused
"What sources do you have in the sound village? And what girl? You know I don't have any siblings"
"I didn't say she was your sibling. Having the same last name just means she's your relative."
"of course…none the less, I haven't seen any of my family for a while, so it's no threat to me"
"just thought you should know. You can't keep your secret past from everyone forever Naomi Ryoku" and with that he disappeared. It was true, I kept most of my life secret from my "co-workers", but after living with these members for the amount of time that I have, I figured they should earn trust. Not many people here were open books anyways, in fact mostly everyone kept to themselves. There was only one person I had ever had a full length conversation with, Deidara. However, we spent most of the conversation talking about explosives, and he spent most of it bragging about his "art", which is why that was the only conversation I'd ever had with him.
I am an introvert, for the most part, I prefer to be left alone to my thoughts. In fact, that was why I was sent on so many intel missions. Every other member of the Akatsuki had a partner to catch jinchuuriki with. But, I was the only one who's name wasn't plastered all over every burn book in this world, so therefore I was free to roam anywhere. I had only been to Konoha once before, with my dad, when I was very small. All I remember are power lines and trees. I made my way outside and headed off towards Konoha, ready for a new mission to begin.
