Sorry that this took sooooo long to write, but the most major case of writer's block I have ever experienced swamped me. I still don't think that it's gone, but pressing on is necessary. Enjoy the chapter!
9
"What do you mean that father ordered him to kill the coughing guy!" Kankuro exploded. The kitchen windows rattled. "You said he was dead!"
The siblings sat around their living room while Akki told them what information she had squeezed out of Baki. Their sensei was locked in his room, trying to breathe normally again.
Akki took a deep breath, trying to summon the patience required when dealing with her brother's thick headedness. "Father is dead," she replied slowly. "Orochimaru killed him. And now that snake creeper is role playing as Kazekage so he can kill the Hokage."
"I thought we were supposed to kill the Hokage," Gaara remarked.
Akki nodded. "We were. But then I accidentally scryed something that changed that. As I've said before, I'm a seer not a scryer. So if I saw this, it's pretty important."
The three sat in brooding silence for a while. Kankuro was debating whether or not to shake Akki around until she told him what she had seen, but he knew she never would. It was infuriating sometimes the ways Akki was so similar to Gaara.
"So what do we do?" Kankuro eventually asked. They needed a plan, and with Temari out of action for a few days that left Akki in charge.
"For now we wait until the next round of exams," she replied firmly. "The rest will happen in due course. We just laze about for a while."
Kankuro smiled briefly and flopped back on the sofa. "Sounds like my kind of plan."
Gaara wasn't so easily placated. "What is going to happen?" he demanded. Green eyes locked with pale yellow in a demonic staring match, which Gaara lost. "Fine. But don't expect my help."
Akki stood and stretched, ignoring her moody brother. "You'll be of help whether you know it or not," she informed him with a grin. "But for now, I'm going shopping."
-
The allotted time before the next test was coming to a close. A good thing too, because the Sabaku children were getting restless. Temari, who had finally been released from the hospital, had taken to violent sparring matches with local chunin to stave the boredom. Kankuro paced restlessly, having found that there really was a point of too much sleep. Gaara had started muttering like a crazy person again. Even Akki, their usual ray of weird sunshine, had become worried and irritable.
Akki was the only one who knew what was going to happen though. She found it difficult to keep such information to herself, but managed. If it was spoken, it might not have come to pass the way she wanted.
The day of the exam dawned bright and warm, like most of the mornings in Konoha. The four siblings made their way leisurely to the stadium where the exams were to be held. It was as if a dark cloud had been lifted from them. According to Akki, this was the day that would define their futures. Above all else, no matter what the future held, they knew the wait was over.
Well, the waiting was over until Naruto and Sasuke didn't show up. When the blond boy finally made his appearance he was being chased by a herd of bulls. "Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" he practically yodeled as he ran in to the stadium.
Then there was more waiting for Sasuke, at least until Kakashi showed up and told them to go on without the raven-haired boy.
"What ever," Kankuro grumbled as they trudged up the stairs to the box where they were supposed to wait. "I don't care anymore."
"I miss Suna!" Temari wailed. "I want sand in my shoes again!"
Gaara flicked his gaze over to her, then back to the insane number of steps they were climbing. "That can be arranged Temari, unless you shut up."
Before they could start killing each other in the middle of the hallway, Akki spoke up. "I have to go to the bathroom," she declared, turning to walk all the way back down the steps. The siblings were so caught up in themselves that they never even noticed her walk away.
-
"Okay you snake, where are you," Akki muttered to herself. Standing atop the Hokage monuments, she scanned the surrounding forest and town with the wind. Not even a breath of air stirred through the town without her knowledge of what was on it.
Orochimaru himself was currently disguised as the Kazekage sitting next to the Hokage. His 'Sound Four' awaited orders for something, Akki wasn't quite sure what. And off in the distance, three giant snakes lay in wait to reduce Konoha to rubble.
That was her first task. Eliminate at least one of the huge serpents. If she could kill one, the entire rest of the day would go as she had foreseen. The Konoha Shinobi would defend their home admirably. The Third Hokage would be killed by Orochimaru. And Gaara would release Shukaku, only to be defeated by Naruto. Then they would return to Suna, where Gaara would become Kazekage.
As she prepared to run off into the forest, Akki pondered why she had been given that brief glimpse of the future. As she so often said, Akki was a seer not a scryer. What important thing would happen because she followed the vision? How would things work out of she ignored it?
"Guess that's why most seers go mad," she remarked to herself. "They see all the things that could be and all the little details that make each possible reality." Pulling out a fan, Akki dashed off towards the forest.
The city was entirely deserted. Everyone was at the Chunin Exams, watching Neji Hyuuga vs. Naruto Uzumaki. The fools had left the town practically defenseless.
-
There was an obvious difference between knowing she had to kill one of the monstrous snakes and actually being close to one. The huge, purple beast could have just wrapped around the walls of Konoha and squeezed to reduce it to rubble. There was no need to have three snakes.
Akki, avoiding the Sound Ninja wind a well-placed gust, flitted up to the top of the first snake's head. Hopefully, they would reasonable creatures, though probably not considering Orochimaru favored them.
"Hello," she greeted politely, using the wind to make sure that her words floated past his ear. "What are the chances that you'll be reasonable and roll over and die?"
"Very good, actually," he croaked, his old, deep voice coming from within her mind. Akki didn't know how he was doing it, but it was certainly more convenient than speaking aloud. "If you so desire it, daughter of elements."
Akki was utterly perplexed. "I have no parents, elementals or otherwise," she said slowly. Akki had been found in the desert after being sealed with a wind demon. She knew in the deepest part of her soul that was what had happened.
The old snake snorted. "That's exactly what I said," he remarked. His tone made it obvious that he thought her a bit slow. "You are the incarnation of the wind itself, though why the wind chose a female form I shall not live to know."
Akki shook her head. "No, I was abandoned in the desert after being sealed with a demon," she insisted. All her life, Akki had lived with the assumption that she had been abandoned after being sealed with a demon. That was how she liked the world to be; it made sense.
"Think what you will," the snake replied mentally, obviously not caring. He shuddered a bit. "My name is Ume. I would very much like you to put me out of my misery."
Shoving the strange new (false) details she had gleaned to the back of her mind, Akki nodded. "What is wrong with you anyway?" she asked as she pulled out her other fan.
"I am very old, even by our standards," Ume replied. He shuddered once more, like he simply could not get warm. "They sent me on this mission with the hopes I will die. I hoped so as well, but I think you will be much swifter about it, little wind sprite."
Akki nodded. "I would want the same done for me." Even if you are crazy, thinking that I am the wind.
The snake emitted a weak chuckle, like he heard her thoughts. Perhaps he had. "I will not argue with you, little pest. Kill me now and get on with your mission."
Before she could talk herself out of it, Akki leapt up into the air so she could see all of the snake's long body. It would be a shame to kill the old snake, but if that is what he wanted and what she needed to do, there was no other way. A violent sweep of her fans across her torso, and a moment later the snake erupted into a gusher of blood.
-
Akki's part of the bargain was done. She had killed that kind monster. Akki had killed people for less, but this was somehow different. In the few minutes that she had known Ume, Akki had grown fond of him. It was a very unusual thing.
The trees seemed to fly past her in a blur. In the distance, smoke rose from Konoha. The acrid smell of burning flesh wafted past her on the wind. Everything was going according to plan.
At least, until a huge blast of desert air overtook her senses. Turning around, Akki saw part of the forest being crunched and crackled, sand flittering about. Gaara must have let Shukaku out. Changing direction, Akki headed back to her twin. This was not part of her premonition.
-
"Temari, what's going on?" Akki demanded, landing next to her sister. Temari looked sick. "Why is Gaara-?"
Without looking away from the mass of sand formerly known as Gaara, Temari whispered, "Where did you go, Akki? You could have stopped him."
"I had to protect Konoha," Akki replied, placing a hand on Temari's shoulder in concern. "I didn't think that things would get so out of hand. What's going on?"
"Gaara was fighting that Uchiha brat. Then the invasion came. Gaara ran off and the Konoha shinobi had Sasuke pursue. Gaara wiped him out easily. Then Naruto showed up, with Sakura. Sakura is slowly dying. Naruto is in the process of trying to beat Gaara."
Temari was monotone, staring at the fight in a state of shock. She was tired, too tired to process anything more. Was that the Kyuubi?
"I'm going to talk some sense into him," Akki declared, leaping off the branch where they stood. Temari watched her sister go, hoping that she would see her come back.
The top of Shukaku's head wasn't difficult to get to. Sticking out of the middle was Gaara, but Akki knew it would be useless trying to talk to him. "Shukaku!" she bellowed, ignoring the fight that raged around her.
"What do you want?" he demanded. He had the second creepiest voice she had ever heard; the first belonged to Orochimaru. "I'm in the middle of something, wind sprite."
"I'm going to have to ask you to crawl back inside Gaara where you belong," she informed the demon briskly. Inside, she was terrified. Gaara was in danger.
"Can't do that, I'm afraid," Shukaku replied with a grunt. "I may not like the kid, but now we're both in hot water."
"If you stop, so will Naruto."
A huge, yellow and black eye focused on Akki, looking amused. "Kid, this is the vessel of that Kyuubi bastard I'm fightin'. The chance of him stopping is like a snowflake in a forest fire."
Akki shook her head. Stupid raccoon.
"Who you callin' a stupid raccoon?" the demon demanded, grappling with a giant frog. "I am not stupid! Watch what you're thinkin', wind sprite."
"How can you know what I'm thinking?" Akki asked cautiously. The sand that made up his face was shifting, causing her to have to hold onto the sleeping Gaara for an anchor. "Why are you calling me wind sprite?"
"Cause ya are," he grunted. "And you think loud. Now, you're going to want to move."
Before she could ask why, Shukaku took a hit to the face, knocking Akki from her precarious perch. Down she fell to the forest floor.
Ignoring the branches and leaves that cut her as she fell, Akki tried to swirl the air around her into a cushion. Sadly, the ground was coming way too quickly. She would hit the earth hard, breaking several bones. That she would have at least survived.
But Shukaku decided to disintegrate at that moment. A three-ton glob of sand crashed into Akki, driving the girl into the ground. The sickening crunch her body made was easily muffled by the sand around her. Akki closed her eyes. Gaara… she thought, before the numbing darkness enveloped her.
