Hey guys it's been a while huh? I haven't had internet for a while, so this is the only one that I have an update for. I'm hoping to get quite a few chapters for both this one and Fearless. I tried to follow along with the anime. I hope it's entertaining!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters/places.
Enjoy!
Sand In An Hourglass
Chapter 10 – Meeting New People…. Good and Bad.
Ishiko grits her teeth for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Her chakra was the only thing keeping her standing straight up. The sound of a loud crash drowns out all other sounds for a moment. Her ears were already ringing.
A mixed chorus of groans and people yelling reaches her ears. The three men before her were looking off toward the sound of the noise. Her eyes are also pointed in that direction. A very plain looking building was lying in a heap. Kakuzu was making his way over the top of it chasing someone that she couldn't see past the dust and rubble.
"You won't get away with this!" One of the men before her shouted at her. It was impossible to tell them all apart. His hands were closed into a fist. Ishiko turns her head to look at him. She couldn't help the eyebrow that popped up. She had spent most of the fight running away from them to avoid having to kill them.
"I'm not trying to destroy anything of yours. I'm simply stuck along for the ride. I want nothing to do with this," Ishiko tells the men calmly. She knew her words were falling on deaf ears. She had already tried to tell them that she had been kidnapped.
This time was no different.
The men started toward her.
She turned and run. Gathering chakra she leapt onto a building and started along its' roof. She could hear footsteps behind her. A whistling noise was her only warning, and a deep pain causes her to trip and roll toward the edge of the roof. Ishiko lets out a loud curse and twists grabbing for a hand hold. Her fingers catch the edge of the roof.
'How cliché,' she thinks to herself. She starts to pull herself back up on top of the roof when the men appear over the edge. Ishiko freezes in place. She tries to keep the pain off her face. She isn't sure if it worked or not. Her teal eyes widen when one of the monks lifts up a kunai that she didn't know he had. He kneels down on the edge of the roof and says in a low voice, "We will make sure that you have a proper burial."
Her muscles are screaming from the strain. She shuts her eyes, when she sees him lift the kunai above his head.
Her whole world rocks savagely.
The building she was holding on to started to rock. Luckily, the rocking causes the men to lose their balance.
Unlucky, she lost her grip on the edge of the building. Her body falls limply toward the ground. She was a couple stories up. Her right thigh was in pain, and she was sure there was a piece of metal sticking out of it. There was no way that she would be able to land, let alone put any weight on her leg at all.
She didn't like giving up, but she didn't see any other choice. Something grips the front of her shirt. Her body stops suddenly making her whimper in pain. The pain in her leg was making its' way up into her butt and pelvic area. Her eyes open for a moment. Blackness is around the edge of her vision. All she notices is a hand with black threads coming from it. It looks familiar to her, but she couldn't place it for some reason.
Her eyes close again, and she lets herself slip into the unconscious realm.
Kakuzu lays her unconscious body on the ground and turns to dispatch a few of the stragglers. A large shuriken was sticking out of her leg. He had knocked down the last building. The monk compound now lies in a pile of rubble. Hidan was finishing off the bounty with his ridiculous jutsu. Kakuzu picks up Ishiko's limp body and carries her over to where Hidan is starting some kind of slow ritual. Normally, Kakuzu would complain about it, but this time he didn't. He was busy making sure Ishiko survived.
She would be useful to him. Less of his, and the Akatsuki's, money would go out to paying informants. He would defiantly talk to the Leader about skipping making her a servant and jumping her to member status minus the ring.
His trained eye looks over the wound. It looked worse than it was. He could easily sew it back up, but she would have problems walking very fast. He gently pulls the weapon from her leg. Her breath sucks in unconsciously, and her muscles tense. That's all she does though.
He puts his hand close to the gaping wound and lets some of his string slip out and sew up the large wound. He figured with his stitches it'd take about a day or two to heal. (1) He hears Hidan yelling something to his 'god', but Kakuzu chooses to ignore the obnoxious behavior.
He glances at her left arm. He figured that he better bandage it up so that it doesn't get infected. He pulls off the bandage slowly wondering if she was wounded below it as well. His eyebrow lifts a little. Her arm wasn't wounded, but he could see why she wore the bandage. It was a cosmetic reason. There was a scar from her elbow to her wrist on the underside of her forearm. It was jagged and looked like it was quite old. It was an ugly scar, even to him.
Regardless, her leg needed bandaged, so he wrapped the bandage around her wound and turned his attention to Hidan.
"Aren't you done yet? We are just falling more behind."
Hidan's head snaps in Kakuzu's direction, "It's your fault that we are behind!"
Kakuzu gives him a nasty look and reaches down to grab Chiriku's limp body. He turns and kicks Ishiko in the ribs hard. Her eyes snap open, and she rolls reaching for her kunai only to wince and look down at her bandaged leg. Her eyes widen slightly, but when she looks up. Kakuzu was already on his way. She slowly gets to her feet. Hidan also makes his way to his feet, wincing from the rod sticking out of his chest where his heart is located. Both give each other a look of disgust and follow after Kakuzu slowly.
Hidan was whining again. His attempts to pick a fight with Ishiko had been failing. She would only grunt and concentrate hard on putting one foot in front of the other. Her leg was killing her, and she was limping pretty good.
Hidan was picking fights with Kakuzu….. Or he was trying to. Kakuzu would only grunt too. It was almost as if something was on his mind.
So for hours they walked quietly. Ishiko glanced up once when she heard the two fighting about carrying the bounty, but she didn't pay close enough attention to what was being said.
It felt like forever when a building came into view. As they got closer, Ishiko realized that it was a bathroom.
'What an odd place for a bathroom.' It was a stray thought that had wandered its' way forward in her mind. What baffled her was when Kakuzu turned course and headed right for the men's bathroom. Hidan stops and makes a face. Ishiko feels a blush rise to her cheeks for a moment before she is able to shake it away. She limps her way toward the female side. Hidan mutters something and follows Kakuzu.
Her nose wrinkles when the strong smell of urine reaches her nose. Her eyes scan over the bathroom with a look of disapproval. It looked like it had been ages since it has seen a mop. In fact, it looked almost as bad as her bedroom. She limps her way over to the sinks and takes a look at her reflection. Her nose wrinkles in disgust.
She was in need of a shower as soon as possible. Her hair was sticking out in different directions. Her face was caked with dirt and dried sweat. Her clothes were dirty and possibly smelled. Her left arm bandage was covered in blood now from her leg. She had pulled a stitch or two open, but her pride wouldn't ask for help. She wasn't even sure on who had stitched her back up.
She hears someone talking outside and sighs. She could only assume Hidan had come out first and was complaining about something. She splashes her face with cold water to wash away some of the loose dirt and makes her way toward the door. She runs a hand through her hair trying to tame it a little. She pushes the door open. Her mouth opens to say something when she stops.
Hidan had two men beside him, each holding a strange looking weapon. The weapons had been run through him. A third man stood before Hidan. All three looked baffled by the fact that he was still alive. Hidan's pink eyes make their way toward her.
"Took you long enough to come out." The three men turned to look at her. She swallows softly and glares at Hidan.
"You just had to pick a fight didn't you?" Ishiko snarls at him. Her attention turns back to the men. Each was wearing Chuunin jackets. The style was obviously Konoha's. Their headbands solidified the fact. One had the same thing around his waist that Chiriku had. She recognized him as Sarutobi Asuma. The other two didn't seem important. A loud crash above her has her scrambling away from falling debris. A fourth Konoha ninja is running from Kakuzu. Asuma is the first to respond. He gets between the two. The fourth one is a young looking ninja. He has his hair pulled back. He couldn't be more than 15 or 16, but he was wearing a Chuunin jacket. Asuma gives an order to pull back.
The Konoha ninja fall back into a group. They are watching the Akatsuki members carefully. Ishiko flinches as she steps closer to Kakuzu and Hidan. One of the first things she notices is the fact that Chiriku's body has been replaced by a suitcase. She made a mental note to ask about it.
"Let me take these assholes on. I didn't get to vent with that last guy," Hidan says as he swings his scythe. The Konoha ninja's are talking among themselves.
"Be careful, Hidan. Or you will end up dead," Kakuzu warns.
Hidan scoffs and laughs when Asuma rushes head long at them.
Ishiko glances at Kakuzu and says softly, "Are you sure that he can handle him on his own? Sure Hidan is strong, but do you know who that is?"
Kakuzu grunts and says, "Sarutobi Asuma. His bounty is bigger than Chiriku's. I know all about him. I think it's time for that stubborn bastard learn some respect." He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. "Don't you agree?"
Ishiko simply nods and turns back to watch.
Hidan was dodging Asuma's powerful attacks while watching out for the moving shadows on the ground. This last fact had surprised Ishiko a little. She had heard that the leaf village had shadow users, but she never thought she would see one.
Hidan's scythe finally catches the side of Asuma's face. He leaps away. Ishiko's eyes narrow. She could have sworn she saw him lick the blood. He makes his way right toward a symbol he had drawn on the ground. It must been done while she was talking to Kakuzu. He hurries into a dust cloud that Asuma had shoved out of his mouth.
It lights up in a fire ball. Ishiko rolls her eyes. She knew his stupidity knew no bounds, but this was pushing it. Her eyes widen when the dust clears away and Hidan is standing there. His skin is a weird black color and a white skeleton appearance has taken over the front and back of his body. What really shocked her was the fact that Asuma had burns on one side of his body.
Hidan releases a loud laugh. Ishiko tries to figure it out as the battle proceeds. Finally, it clicks in her head. She looks back at Kakuzu.
"His jutsu… It is like their bodies are linked….. Right?" Her voice had a hint of uncertainty.
Kakuzu doesn't take his eyes off the fight. "It took you long enough to figure that out."
She glares at him, but she doesn't say anything.
He finally glances at her, "You haven't seen his jutsu yet have you?" When she shakes her head, he continues, "No wonder. He enjoys dealing pain to others and inflicting pain on himself. He calls it a curse or the 'Wrath of Jashin'."
Ishiko looks back to see that he was being forced out of the circle by the shadow kid. She looks back when Kakuzu starts to talk again.
"It's a slow attack. He could instantly kill his opponent, but he doesn't. He drags the battle out."
"Kakuzu! Ishiko! Help!" Hidan shrieks when he sees Asuma limping his way toward him. Somehow, Hidan's ear had been cut open. Ishiko raises an eyebrow and Kakuzu scoffs.
"You told us to stay out of it. You wanted to do it on your own," Kakuzu says in a monotone. "We intend to do so."
"Please! I'm sorry! Help! Pretty please with a cherry on top!" He grimaces when Asuma is only a few feet away. Ishiko suddenly feels a pang of guilt, but she didn't plan on going to help him.
Asuma raises his deadly looking knuckle weapons. With a quick swipe, Hidan's head comes off and rolls away. A look of relief floods over the Konoha group. Ishiko watches his head roll away with a wrinkled nose. There was blood everywhere now.
"You fucking pricks!" Hidan wails. A look of shock comes over the group. "You fucking assholes! You should have helped me! What the hell is this? I thought this was a team!"
Ishiko couldn't help but sneer, "Like I want to be a team with any of you. If you have forgotten, I'm here against my will."
"Fuck off, bitch!" Hidan snarls in response, "Kakuzu, bring my body to me!" A growl from Kakuzu has Hidan using a polite tone of voice, "Pretty please. I need your help, and you are so strong and dependable."
Kakuzu makes his way toward Hidan's head. Ishiko could swear that she saw an eye roll. She makes her way to the stairs and sits down. Kakuzu suddenly, and brutally, beats Asuma to the ground slamming a knee into his back before he finishes making his way to Hidan's head. He grabs Hidan by his hair.
"Ow, ow ow ow ow! What the hell? I said to bring my body, you dumbass! That hurts!" Hidan yells.
Kakuzu grunts and says, "Your head is lighter, besides shouldn't you be complaining about the pain in your neck."
Ishiko chooses to ignore Hidan's protests in favor of watching what Kakuzu does. Her eyes widen when a stitch makes its' way out of Kakuzu's arm. It was almost as if the stitch had a life of its' own. It sews Hidan's head back onto his body. Her hand touches the stitches on her leg. The battle continues on almost as if she had been forgotten.
She struggles to her feet. This would be her last chance. One more try, and she would be free. She limps away toward the forest and easily disappears inside it. The sound of the fight slowly fades away. She releases a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. Her leg was starting to burn again. She didn't dare stop though. She knew she had to put distance between them. Especially since she was having a hard time walking.
Hope filled her chest.
Only to be dashed when a large hand grabs the back of her shirt and stops her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
"I hope you weren't planning on running…." Kakuzu's deep rumbly voice says. A clear and deadly warning laced his voice.
Ishiko doesn't even bother with a response. She just turns when he lets go of her shirt and follows him. She was stuck, and she hated to admit it.
He stopped in a clearing and sat down beside Hidan. Both made a weird hand sign and their bodies relaxed. Ishiko sits down a little ways away and frowns. Her leg was still aching badly. She lets herself fall back and watch the sky. The clouds drift by softly. Her eyes close slowly and before she knows it, she's asleep.
(1.) I'm not sure about this, but I figured that where he sewed up Deidara and Hidan there might be something in the stitch itself that might accelerate healing. Also, Deidara can use the arm that he sewed back on. Hidan can use his neck even if he is immortal. So I figured that she can walk as long as she was careful.