A/N: Okay, I'm up late at the beach, my family is asleep, and I have nothing else to do. It's time for another chapter!
Disclaimer: I actually DO own Naruto. ... Not.
"Look Nejimaru, all I'm trying to say is that we haven't even seen him in combat," Midori griped. "Are we sure he's even Akatsuki material?"
"His kekkei genkai ensures that he is a valuable asset," Nejimaru said without looking at the only female Akatsuki member. He stood more than six inches taller than her, her flaming red hair reaching only to his chin.
"We don't even know if he has a kekkei genkai," Midori argued. "You expect me to believe he's an ancestor of yours, when he's not even an UCHIHA!!" She shouted the last word into the darkness, her rage finally bubbling over.
Nejimaru's rage also peaked at her outburst, and he slammed her into the wall, holding her several feet off the ground with one arm. He squeezed her windpipe and chuckled as she gasped for air. His eyes widened, pure lunacy behind them, as his Sharingan whirled and morphed into the Mangekyo.
Midori shut her eyes, using her chakra threads to pull his arm off her throat. She collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
Nejimaru regained control of himself, and he walked away from the scene, turning a corner into another hallway. By the time Midori got up and chased after him, he had vanished.
"Fucking Nejimaru," she muttered. "And fucking Hakaishimaru, too. They both can go to hell."
She trudged back to her room, where she flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering why she even joined the Akatsuki in the first place.
She had been studying with a class of hand-picked shinobi for the puppet-master discipline, back in Sunagakure. She had come across a scroll in the library one day, detailing the life of the village's most gifted puppet-master, Sasori. Midori had studied his life story, until at one point it seemed he just vanished off the face of the planet. No one in the village seemed to want to talk about what happened to him, so she ventured out, into foreign lands.
She had come across a wandering traveler, a blond-haired man with a missing arm, near the border of Kirigakure. He said his name was Deidara, and he once worked with Sasori, under the command of an organization known as the Akatsuki. He told her of a pink haired ninja from Konohagakure who had killed Sasori, with the aid of one of the elders from Suna.
Midori had returned to Suna, slaughtered her entire class, as well as her teacher, and took the scrolls teaching the art of puppet-control. She fled into the no-man's land between the villages, where she finally met with the Akatsuki for the first time. She followed in Sasori's footsteps, and became one of the more powerful members of the group.
Now she was second-guessing her decision. And now it wasn't like she could just go back to Suna and beg for forgiveness. Hell, there was no Suna to go back to at this point. She manipulated a spider who was weaving a web in the corner of her room, making it tap-dance using her chakra threads. There was no proof that Hakaishimaru was who he said he was, and that was the main source of her trouble. This man had just walked in and declared himself their leader, and no one had done anything. Like anyone was supposed to believe that he was actually an escapee from hell.
She finally pulled the spider close to her bed, and with one swift move, tore its limbs off. She wished she could do the same thing to Nejimaru and his new idol.
--
Kohana and Kiora stood in Kakashi's office, the day after Sasuke's little escapade. Kiora finally had her old look back, her gray hoodie and shorts having been replaced.
"Unfortunately, we still don't have any leads, so we can't have you chasing off after them," Kakashi said. He felt like he was scolding Naruto again for chasing after Sasuke when he had ran off to Orochimaru.
Kiora hung her head, disappointed. Although, when she thought about it, it wasn't like a new lead would have turned up in just a few days. It could be weeks or months before the Akatsuki showed up again. She turned and followed Kohana out of the office, watching as more stacks of paperwork came in for Kakashi to go over.
They headed through town, bored out of their minds and feeling too upset at the loss of Serenity to be horny.
"Sooo, not that this isn't fun and all," Kohana said. "But what are we gonna do today?"
Kiora shrugged. "Wanna spar?" she asked. "You know, for old times' sake?" Kohana thought for a minute.
"Why not," she said, teleporting a few feet away from Kiora. "You sure you can handle this? I've got all my powers back."
Kiora fell into her Hyuuga style fighting stance, and nodded. They stood, staring each other down, until a cat meowed nearby. Kohana glanced away for just an instant, and Kiora struck. In an instant, she closed the distance, forcing chakra into her fist and punching.
Kohana quickly teleported, reappearing behind Kiora. A blast of ice flowed from her fingers, the result of the spell she had cast. Kiora teleported as well, coming Kohana from above with her Chidori. Predictably, Kohana disappeared, and Kiora twisted in midair, planting her feet and flipping through the Thirteen Handsigns. With one downward flick of her toe, she soared skyward, clearing several hundred feet in an instant.
She found Kohana here, flying just above her.
"Now we can use the big techniques," Kohana said. "Like this! Ice Style: Raging Blizzard Jutsu!"
Ten foot javelins of ice materialized behind her, and with one powerful gust of wind, they raced toward Kiora. She countered with a huge fireball, melting the ice before it could get close. Kiora charged forward through the flames, delivering a kick that launched Kohana towards the ground.
"I'm not done yet!" she shouted, chasing her downward with more blows. "Hidden Lotus!" She delivered one final kick, watching Kohana spiral out of sight.
"Not bad," said a voice behind her. She turned to see Kohana floating to her left. "I didn't expect you to use something quite so devastating."
Kiora shrugged and started heading towards the ground. She was surprised to find Natsuko standing beside a building, watching her.
"What do you want?" Kiora asked, not even masking her contempt. Natsuko threw her arms around her and pulled her to the ground in a hug.
"I never thought you'd come back!" she sobbed into Kiora's collarbone. Kiora shoved her off, getting to her feet.
"What the hell are you talking about?" she shouted.
"You're finally back," Natsuko said, looking hurt. "I thought you'd still remember me after all this time."
"What the hell is going on?" Kiora asked. "Did you take some of your mom's drugs or something?"
Natsuko recoiled at that one, tears pooling in her eyes. "What happened?" she asked. "D-don't you love me anymore?"
Kiora, completely confused by now, took a step back, next to Kohana.
"Wait, isn't that..." Natsuko's voice trailed off, and she seemed even more confused than Kiora for a second. "Can you trust me for a second?" she finally asked.
Kiora frowned, but nodded. "Then follow me," Natsuko said.
They followed Natsuko to her home, which only seemed to confuse her further. Shaking her head, she let them in, and called for her mother.
"What's wrong?" Ino said, sounding exasperated. She looked stressed, and the bags under her eyes plainly said lack of sleep. Then she noticed Kiora and Kohana. "Is she back?" she said. "Is my daughter back?"
"I repeat: What the hell is going on?" Kiora said. Ino motioned for everyone to sit down.
"After you vanished, Natsuko started to repress the memories of you two ever being together, until eventually, a split personality developed," she said. "That started about two weeks after you disappeared. I lost my daughter for a year, it was like a complete stranger was living in my house."
Kiora was speechless. She just thought Natsuko was just being bitchy all this time since she had returned, but she found herself believing Ino.
"Her psychologist said that a huge shock was needed to pull her back to her senses," Ino continued. "I take it seeing you and Kohana together was enough to jerk her back to reality."
"I just remember seeing that fireball in the sky, and I went to look," Natsuko said, speaking up for the first time. "The last thing I remember before that was crying on your grave."
"Wait, I have a grave?" Kiora asked, distracted. "That's not creepy at all."
Natsuko giggled, if only for a second. Kiora saw an incredibly relieved look flash across Ino's face.
Kiora turned her gaze to the floor, concentrating on everything she and Natsuko had said or done since she had returned. By the time she thought she had found a hole in Ino's story, they were already hugging, and Kiora couldn't bring herself to voice her opinion. Instead she shot Kohana a puzzled look, which was answered by a shrug.
"I'm sorry for anything I might have said," Natsuko said. "I'm as lost as you are right now. I know..." She stopped, inhaling and choking back tears. "I know we probably aren't as close as we were before, but I hope we can at least start again as friends." She gave Kiora a look of longing that she hadn't seen in months, and it completely dispelled her doubts.
"Okay," Kiora said, offering Natsuko a hug. She was subsequently tackled into the couch by her former lover.
"Told you she still had the hots for you," Kohana said, grinning, but still looking slightly disappointed.
Kiora noticed the disappointment in Kohana's face, and she gave Natsuko one last quick hug and rose to leave. "We should hang out later," she said to Natsuko. "But right now I'm late, so I'll catch you later, 'kay?"
Natsuko nodded and led them back to the door, where they said their goodbyes. After the door had finally closed, Kiora turned to Kohana.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"You and I are immortal," Kohana said. "In my case, that is both a blessing and a curse. I am blessed to meet so many different people during my life, but I am ultimately cursed to watch them die and leave them behind. There will come a day when you realize the same thing. You won't really age any further than you have now, but Natsuko and Aiko, your parents and one day, your children, will all grow old and die. It happens to all the long-living species, but to the immortal ones it's hardest."
"I don't know what to do," Kiora said. "Part of me remembers all the good times we had together, and wants things to be like that again, but I'm still hung up on the fact that, well, you and I aren't exactly enemies anymore."
"That's putting it mildly," Kohana said. "I've had over a millennium of life. I can wait for less than one human lifetime for Natsuko to grow old. Even if you want to be with her now, I will be waiting long after she has passed away."
"I guess," Kiora said. "But that spark is gone between Natsuko and I. I'm not sure I could really ever be anything more than a friend to her at this point."
"The decision is up to you," Kohana said. "All I can do is offer my advice."
She turned and headed back towards home, leaving a very confused Kiora to her thoughts.
A/N: Well, I hope that clears up what's wrong with Natsuko. I hope my crazy thoughts didn't confuse you people too much.
I have a mission for my readers. I haven't been a fan-fic author for very long, so there are a few things I have yet to learn.
What is a Mary Sue? Kyouger, you referred to Kiora as this in one of your early reviews, and it's been bugging me ever since, trying to understand it.
What is the fourth wall? I've seen vague references to it without it ever being explained.
What is a song-fic? I like songs, and I like fics, but I'm not adept at putting them together, and it may come in handy later on in this story.
Thanks in advance guys, girls, and anybody not covered by those last two. Keep on reading!