Hey guys! Sorry for a late update... I know I said I was going to update two times a month but stuff came up and I was only able to update once.
Also some of you might be a bit confused because there's now fewer chapters in the story now... That's because I combined some of the chapters together! I did this because I thought it was pointless having more chapters that were short while others were really long. Hope this clears up some possible confusion!
ALSO... I'm thinking of changing the title of the story AGAIN. I know, this will be my third time changing it... But I have a poll up on my profile right now where the titles will be listed as votes. So please go vote there! I would really appreciate it!
~Chapter 10~
"Once upon a time... A long, long, long time ago... Before the time of Shinobi, humans waged war after war after war..."
The room was silent, in the warm, low light the two children's eyes shone with curiosity... The woman's face taking on a grave expression as she began her tale
"... The time was so long ago that back then, there were Empires... Powerful empires. People were powerless, the only weapons they could rely on being their cunning minds, swords and strategy... Over time, the empires fell
and the armies were destroyed, villages crumbled to nothing but dust. These were dark times, very dark times indeed..."
One of the children, a girl, blinks, "What happened?"
"This was the time that the demons came." The woman speaks, her voice hushed, as if she's telling them a secret.
Outside, the wind seems to moan in response, rustling the leaves of the trees.
"Demons?" The other young girl squeaks. "But I thought demons didn't exist, Mom says that they aren't real!"
"No one truly knows whether the demons were real or not... Perhaps they are myth or they were real, my dear," The woman continues, smiling softly. "... But, they appeared... They came and destroyed the Empires and it's warriors... At first there were only a few, but then more and more came. Some stories claim that a very powerful man was able to summon them to our world, to open a door leading here from their homeland... Other's say that the door or some kind of rip in the sky appeared one day and then the demons started pouring out of it, into our world. There's many different stories about it, many different versions..."
"Yamata-no-Orochi, Oni, Shuten Doji, Nekomata, Ame Onna, Nukekubi, Okari Inu, Karasa Tengu... These were the monsters the Yokai that began to dwell in the Empires, our home world. People began to live in fear of the monsters living in the world, some dwelling the the streets of villages and cities at night, hunting for prey... Waiting, for someone or something. No one knew exactly what the demons wanted, perhaps they wanted to prey on humans, children and elderly alike... Or perhaps they wanted something else. But no one, not one single soul knew what these demons, these monsters wanted..."
"... Years passed, who knows how many did... But someone found a way to send the demons back to where they came from."
"How?" The girls ask, leaning forward in their beds, one of them clutching a Fox plush to their chest.
The woman smiles again, crossing her legs, "Well... Someone came... Someone very powerful came and destroyed the door that the demons came through, or perhaps sealed it shut. No one knows who exactly sealed it or where they came from... A goddess, a warrior sent from the heavens perhaps... But they destroyed that door and sent the demons away. The ones who didn't leave, they destroyed... They hunted them down, ridding the world of the monsters that had haunted them for too long."
"... Except there was one who didn't go back through the door and he was clever, for he always found a way to hide from the humans and from whoever sent his kind away from our world. So as the years passed, the demon hid... Far away, plotting and waiting. The demon was no ordinary one, not just a simple Yokai... He was powerful, very powerful. Some say he wasn't a demon at all but a God..."
"And... At night, he watches... Waiting in the shadows..." The children's eyes widen as the woman speaks. "... He waits and he listens, for the moment to strike... So, they say."
A long moment of silence passes, the two girls looking at each other and then back at the woman.
"Oba?" One of them asks. "Isn't there more to the story?"
"No, my sweet," She says softly, standing up from the bed. "That is the end... Besides, if I told you more, your mother wouldn't be very happy with me..."
The other girl blinks, staring up at her aunt, "Do you think they'll come back? The demons?"
"No, no..." Their Aunt laughs, kissing them both on their foreheads and then reaching over to turn off the light. "They won't because it's just a story."
The Konohagakure conference room was a buzz with voices, a flurry of motion. Though it was still early in the morning, the energy in the room suggested otherwise. People were more than awake at this hour, due to the events of earlier.
The leaders of the different clans sat in their respective seats, along with any other higher ranking Jonin, along with members of the Interrogation squad. Tsunade sat at the front of the room, who's seats were arranged in a semi-circle. On her left sat Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, on her right hand sat Shizune and Shikaku.
The whole room went dead silent as Tsunade stood, a cold yet distant look in her eyes.
"Certain events have taken place here in the village," Tsunade starts, unsure of what exactly to say. "Things that have no doubt frightened civilians and Shinobi alike."
At these words, everyone seems to tense... Anticipating what she will say next.
Tsunade continues, "Due to what has happened, I have summoned you all here to discuss solutions and protocols to ensure that this village is safe... And whatever has passed through the gate is found and... Dealt with.
Punished. She wanted to say, punished... But the last word was clipped, accentuating the point anyways; whoever had murdered the girl, who might possibly kill more innocent people, would be punished.
Homura coughs, Koharu raises a gray eyebrow and cocks her head, "... And what exactly has happened?"
"Someone," Shikaku explains, "Got past the barrier, the gates undetected... Knocked one of the guards unconscious, drained him of his chakra and then killed a survivor from the Village in the Land of Hot Waters."
"Didn't kill a Shinobi... But a civilian girl instead?" Homura asks, brows raised.
"Her throat was slit, along with both of her wrists," Explains Ibiki Morino cooly. "... The murder then took the girl's body and then dumped it in the playground, on a swing, to be precise."
"Surely, that could have been anyone. It doesn't take a skilled Ninja to simply slit someone's throat." Koharu scoffs.
Ibiki's eyes are chips of ice as he says, "You're right, it doesn't. I once saw a woman cut her abusive husband's throat with a steak knife, out of defence of course. Though some argue that her actions were too violent."
Everyone seemed to become tenser at the words. Inoichi cleared his throat, rather loudly while Anko rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Homura stared back Ibiki more coldly than before, his mouth in a grim line.
"With that aside... There is more to this," Shikaku explains, voice soft, eyes flickering to each Shinobi in the room. After their newest discovery, he didn't know if they would be able to remain silent for long. The thought made Shikaku shudder, Tsunade glancing his way.
"What more can there be?" Asks Yamato, the expression on his face neutral.
"Our search..." Ibiki explained, rather tensely. "Brought up a few more... Interesting discoveries."
He and Shikaku shared a look, one that seemed to ask who would explain this to everyone else in that room... Shikaku hadn't told his son yet, didn't know what to tell him. Shikamaru had been shaken from what he had seen last night, but it seemed that something else was bothering his son. Something that Shikamaru didn't tell him.
Shikaku, of course, didn't push him to tell.
So he takes a breath and then says, "The girl was murdered at the Uzumaki mask shrine, perhaps they had taken the girl there, lured her there and... Killed her. When we searched, the masks were all gone..."
A low murmur ripples through part of the room.
"It seems..." Shikaku explains, voice softer. "... That the girl wasn't merely killed but was part of some kind of 'Religious' ritual. She was sacrificed from what it appears..."
Realization seems to dawn on Might Guy's face, he leans over and whispers something to Kakashi Hatake, who only nods grimly. Yamato grinds his teeth, eyes flaring slightly...
Tsunade knew. Knew what he would say next... What he would show them, but from the churning of her stomach, her blood running cold... She knew and Shikaku hadn't even told her before hand.
Ibiki Morino pulls something from one of the pockets of his black jacket, unfolding it and holding it up for the everyone in the room to see. It was of the Uzumaki mask shrine, not of the now empty wall, but what was on the floor of that shrine...
A symbol is drawn in blood, an upside down triangle inside of a circle. The symbol of Jashin, the God that Hidan had worshipped.
"It seems..." Ibiki said sharply, having to speak more loudly over the sudden outburst of voices. "... That a Jashin Priest has been or is still in our village."
Annie forgot to move and it seemed to be a major effort to even grab that damn necklace from the coffee table.
The rosary, Hidan's... Still crusted with blood, Annie didn't look at it but looked at Pain. "What?" that was the only word she could summon to speak.
"Use your power to find Hidan." Pain explained slowly as if he was explaining something to a child. "Surely, you can do that?"
"You can't make her!" Zana snapped.
Pain snarled at her, "I am not speaking to you."
Still, that dark voice from earlier seemed to linger there in her mind... Beckoning her, daring her to try to look and find him.
They had not even asked how she was... Had not even asked how she was faring after her ordeal with Hidan, they looked at her saw nothing but a tool. No one seemed to look twice at her, no one, not them even seemed to consider that she was just a human girl trying to escape this terrible power. The thought had sent a tendril of rage through Annie, but also of despair.
A tool, that's what she was. Nothing but a damn tool... If she didn't have this wretched power then they would have thrown her aside like she was trash. She didn't know whether to hate them more or herself. Hate herself for letting them ask this of her, or to hate them for... Well, existing in general.
Now that she thought of it, why were they so desperate to find Hidan? He really wasn't that powerful, that important... He was disposable, that was most likely the case in Madara's eyes. He only needed the Akatsuki to find the Jinchuuriki, they were tools, pawns for him to use.
So Annie tosses the necklace back on the table, forcing herself to look bored, uninterested, "Why would I do that?"
"I was informed..." Pain said slowly, his words clipped. "That you tried to look into the future willingly and that you attempted to find someone with it once."
"Oh, I wonder who told you that bit of information," Annie sighs, trying not to glare at Itachi and Kisame. "Gossip seems to spread through you all like wildfire."
"Stop acting childish and at least give me an answer."
Zana seemed to be growing more irritated by the minute, her jaw clenched, "Why is that a group of criminal freaks who don't belong here feel the need to boss us around all the time?"
"Have we told you how lucky you are that we haven't killed you?" Kisame snarled at her.
"Yeah, you've reminded us like every day," Sam responded. "Thanks though, for not killing us... I greatly appreciate it."
"Should we start keeping a tally of how many times you say that?" Zana asks, scoffing. "Or maybe every time he or someone else says "You're lucky that we haven't killed you' we should take a shot."
"... Or you could take a shot every time they threaten to kill you."
"You still think that this is some kind of joke?" Kakuzu growls.
"No," Zana says flatly, staring at him. "I think you're a joke."
"SHUT UP!" Pain bellows at them, causing Sam to almost fall flat on her back. Zana grimaces, slowly and quietly moving away from him, not so discreetly.
Despite her best effort not to, Annie's attention focused on Itachi... Who seemed to not be paying attention to what any of them was saying, he was looking distantly at... Something, lost in thought most likely. Surely, since he had told Pain about Annie trying to find Tara, he would be more interested in the situation at hand. Kisame at least looked like he was about to explode, whether it was from Zana's comment or what Pain asked her to do, she didn't know.
"Well?" Pain asks, his voice on the edge of irritation. Annie noticed that 'this' Pain never usually got irritated, or showed any emotion at all... But it was different now, this whole week. Maybe it was her that was grating on his nerves. "... Are you going to do it or not?"
"No."
While she let that one single act of defiance settle on Pain, on all of them, she picks up the necklace again, examining it. Yes, she could look and see... See where the hell Hidan was, but she felt no obligation to do it, especially for the Akatsuki. She had nearly died and yet they were demanding her to do this?
She swore she could hear Pain grind his teeth, "Why?"
"Well, simply because I don't want to. But if I were to be more specific, it's because I don't answer to you."
"Don't waste my time," This time he moved closer to her, sitting on the coffee table and leaning forward. He was far too close for Annie's liking, but she forced herself not to move away from him. Instead, she looks into his eyes, face blank. "Do it and tell me what you see."
Annie had never been forced to see something... But here she was, being forced by the Akatsuki leader to conjure a vision.
'It's like peeling paint... Peeling many layers back, or taking a single thread and forming a tapestry... It doesn't just come in a flash. I have to form it, like an artist...' Annie had once said to Kyo, though she probably sounded deranged when she had said it.
"I'll be able to focus better if you weren't so close to me," Annie hisses at Pain. "So do you mind giving me some space, Pain-Sama?"
Surprisingly, he obliges without snapping back at her, though he did glare daggers at her again. She was tempted to give him a vulgar gesture in response but only clasped the necklace tightly. Deep and even breathes... She had to focus on her breathing, make sure her heart beat steadily.
Annie closes her eyes... Imagining Hidan, bright fuchsia eyes, a wicked grin and violence in his eyes... She imagined him the last time she had seen him face to face, a knife to her throat, blood dripping down her body.
Ino, Choji and Shikamaru stared at the food on the table... None had the appetite to eat, even if the food smelled heavenly. The scent of salted beef tongue with onion only seemed to make Shikamaru's churn in disgust, recoiling from the scent. He was surprised that not even Choji wasn't diving into the food yet, Choji, who loved food almost more than anything.
He, none of them dared to look at the empty space at the table... Space where Asuma sat the last time they were here. Asuma, their Sensei, who had laughed and joked with them that day, who cared for them all so much until that day, the day that he died. And Hidan... Who Shikamaru had killed, or thought he had killed, was probably around here somewhere, or out there... On a killing rampage.
'You must think rationally... There were more followers of Hidan's religion... It could just be another one of them...' He had thought, trying not to submit to the panic, the bone-chilling terror of the idea of Hidan out there in the world again. 'It is someone else, it is someone else... It is not Hidan.'
But many others thought otherwise. In a way, it would have made sense that it could be Hidan... He was in the village already, well if he was indeed alive. He would have killed that girl, he would have sacrificed her... But then what was it or who was it that had knocked Izumo unconscious and had gone past the gates? No one had the answer to that question yet.
Now, Shinobi searched the whole village for answers... For whoever had killed that girl and whoever or whatever came into the village last night. Shikamaru and his fellow team members had come here in hopes of settling their nerves... But nothing seemed to be helping, they were completely rattled.
"What do you suppose we do if Hidan is the one that is... Out there?" Choji asks quietly, hesitantly taking a bite of his beef. A small bite, chewing slowly as he stares down at the table.
"They will find him and interrogate him," Ino answers flatly. "Then put him back in a pit where he belongs."
Shikamaru grimaces, "That's if it is indeed Hidan who had killed that girl last night... Kaede, I mean."
"You were the last one to speak to her before she died," Ino says softly, taking small, hesitant bites of her food as well and then sipping her tea. "You... You said that she didn't seem well, that she was frightened. Perhaps she knew that something or someone was about to kill her... She knew that she was being followed."
"Yes," Shikamaru says softly, not feeling inclined to say anything more on the matter. Whether or not the girl knew she was being followed, it didn't matter now... She was dead. They had taken the body to the morgue this morning to inspect it, though it was now obvious how she was killed.
His father had told him. Privately. He didn't hesitate to tell him but there was regret in his eyes when he had told Shikamaru how the girl had died, how she was murdered. Shikamaru knew what his father was thinking of the matter; Kaede's murder could be connected to the disappearance of Hidan. It did not connect to Madara's disappearance though, Madara had no need of the Zealot. This, his father had told him as well, his complete thoughts on the matter.
Shikamaru did not need to say anything more, because he was thinking the same thing... Except for the strange feeling from last night, the things Kaede had said to him before she was killed.
"The demon..." She had said. "I... I think it was human once. It looked like it was supposed to be human... But... It's skin, it was black, you know... The colour of the void, so dark."
"So cold, so dark... Lifeless... Like it sucked the happiness and life out of you if it came too close. Fear... Death."
Shikamaru had felt it too. She had described exactly what he had felt, the thought, the memory sent a chill down his spine. Still, he had never told anyone about it... Had wanted to tell his father, Ino and Choji about it, but something had held him back from telling them. Perhaps, Izumo saw or felt something as well, maybe he could ask him...
He hated keeping secrets, but this was a secret he had to keep... He didn't know why he felt he did, but he couldn't even put what he had felt into words.
Choji gulps, looking at both of them, "If it is Hidan that is out there... Then how would he have gotten out of that pit? He couldn't have gotten out of there on his own... It would have been someone else."
"You think...?" Ino replies but then frowns. "You're suggesting that someone in the village would have done it? That someone would go there and dig him out of that pit and put his body back together?"
"That is our land," Shikamaru says flatly, "We would have known if someone had gone there."
"... But there was no sign of whatever it was that there... Whoever it was."
"It's creepy. It's like they just vanished..." Choji shudders. "I don't like this."
"Me neither," Ino murmurs, setting her chopsticks down on her plate. "... I... I just want to find whoever did this. I hope nothing else happens and that things... Things will go back to normal."
Karin sat in the floor of the cell, staring through the bars and into the darkness.
How many days, how many weeks had she just sat there... Doing nothing? The only form of entertainment came in the form of the Interrogation Shinobi who would come to her cell to give her food. Sometimes, Ibiki Morino would come down here to 'chat' with her. Well, his version of 'chatting' was clearly interrogating.
If only Sasuke could come and take her out of this prison... Though Karin knew she didn't have to wait for Sasuke, because she had a plan. Though it would be nice to see him again, that he would come here for her. Her plan wouldn't work though if Ibiki was here, if he was, then she couldn't even think about escaping yet.
So all that was left to do was to wait. So Karin waited, but she was fed up with waiting. It was cold down here, too cold... And boring. The least these Konohagakure Shinobi could do is give her some reading material, a nice romance book perhaps. Ah, what a treat that would be.
But now, romance novels and Sasuke weren't the main things on her mind right now.
Last night, someone was here... In this room and whoever or whatever it was, they weren't human. Their Chakra didn't feel normal, it was dark... So dark and cold, like a winter night. Karin couldn't see them, but she could sense them, feel them in this room. How long they had lingered, she didn't know... But soon after they were gone, she couldn't find it in herself to try to fall asleep.
Her act of being traumatized victim seemed to work so far... The guards were convinced that she clearly not right in the head. Good, let them think that. Better them to think that she was weak than cunning if she appeared to be too cunning than they would be prepared for her to try to escape. They seemed to be less... Careful around her at the moment. That, of course, was part of her plan... She had to convince them that she was not dangerous, that would give her a chance to escape.
A door opens somewhere and Karin pretends to look at the picture of Sasuke with open affection. Voices echo from down the hallway... Then the door to the room opens, Ibiki Morino and a few other Shinobi from the interrogation squad enter the room.
Karin's hope of escaping suddenly withers when she looks at Ibiki, who is openly smirking at her. He knows, the bastard somehow knows that she is planning to escape. Wordlessly, one of the Shinobi unlocks the cell door and Ibiki steps in, walking towards Karin.
"Good news and bad news," He says as a way of greeting. "The good news is... That you're being transferred to the Correctional facility. The bad news is... Well, bad news for you... There is no way for you to escape from there."
As if to confirm this, Ibiki takes the picture from her and snaps it in half... Revealing the hidden tool kit that is inside. The other Shinobi in the room look surprised and Ibiki gives them a cold look. "Do not her fool you again," He says coldly. So cold, his voice like sharp pricks of ice. "A girl like her is bound to be prepared for situations like this. Most Shinobi are after all."
"You can't take me to the correctional facility!" Karin shrieks, face flushing in anger as two of the Shinobi walk into her cell and place hand cuffs on her wrists. "I-I... I haven't committed any serious crimes!"
"Really?" Ibiki scoffs, towering over her. "Aiding both Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha is not considered a crime? Both of them are Criminals and anyone who associates with them, works with them is also considered a criminal. Do you understand now why we are sending you to the correctional facility now?"
Karin clenched her jaw, nostrils flaring. She opened her mouth to say something but then something... She saw something... Felt something, a dark figure in the corner of the room, cloaked in the shadows.
"Do not worry child... I will help you..." The figure whispered into her mind, sending a chill down her spine. "I will... Help you..."
She blinks but then it was gone and everyone is looking at her strangely now. No, they didn't see it, didn't feel it, whatever that is.
"We'll take her now," Ibiki says gruffly, walking out of the cell. Karin is lead out by the Shinobi who handcuffed her, three more flanking behind her and beside her. "This will be one less problem I have to deal with."
"It's strange..." Annie says, looking out the window of the room. "... I had the same dream again. I keep having it. It's like a video that plays on repeat... I think it's supposed to mean something like it's trying to tell me something..."
Kyo writes something down in her notebook then looks up at Annie, "Was there anything different this time?"
"No, It was the same. I followed him... Followed him as he killed them all, his whole family..." Annie explains, crossing her legs beneath her. "... I tried to talk to him. Tried to stop him and ask... Why? Why would you kill everyone but your brother?"
"His motives are not clear," Kyo states, looking at Annie from behind her round glasses. "Even I'm having a hard time understanding why he would do something like that... But it's not real."
"If it's not real then why do I keep seeing it?" Annie argues. "It's a sign, Kyo. There's something not right here... I think I'm having this vision because I have to figure something out in it..."
"Why don't we discuss this later?" Kyo interrupts her, voice sharp.
Annie sighs, leaning back on the couch. "Fine... Let's just get this over with."
"Have you been sleeping well lately?"
"It's on and off... Sometimes I sleep like the dead and then some nights I constantly wake up. Other nights I can only sleep for a few hours."
Again, Kyo writes this down. "And you wake up normally... Or have you had any more episodes of sleep paralysis?"
That last question had made Annie pause. Sleep paralysis... She remembered the first one she had, it was... Terrifying, but not life threatening. She hadn't told anyone about it, hadn't told Sam and Zana that she sometimes suffered it... It had been a while since she had an attack.
"No, I haven't had any episodes recently..." Annie says softly. "... Actually, I haven't had any episodes for awhile. That's good right?"
"It is," Kyo says and for a long moment, they're quiet. The only noise is the ticking of the clock and the rain outside, pattering against the windows. Annie stares out the window, counting the droplets that ran down the smooth glass.
"Annie..." Kyo says softly, setting the glasses down on her notebook. "... Is there anything else that's been happening? I mean, is there anything else that you might have seen?"
Annie doesn't answer for a long moment, eyes glued to the window. Finally, she turns back to Kyo, biting her lip, "... Do you remember... When I told you about the Shadow man?"
"The Shadow man... The one who you called the King of darkness... The one that you called a God..." Kyo frowns, opening her notebook again and putting her glasses on. "... Did you see him again?"
"Uh... Yeah..." Annie murmurs, looking down at her hands. "But... I don't think he likes me saying that I saw him... He's terrifying... He... He... Told me that I shouldn't tell anyone else. That it should be our secret. He said he wants to be my friend that he needs me..."
"... But whatever it is, it's only trying to frighten you." Kyo adds.
"Yeah... But there is something else..." Annie shifts slightly. "Sometimes... When I dream or see this vision... I see a door."
"Hm, well that's new... A door, you've never had a dream about it before. What kind of door is it?"
Annie laughs lightly, "Oh... It's a beautiful door. Something that an artist crafted carefully... It's a doorway more like. Double doors, obsidian black... And it's engraved with all these different images and art... Some kind of demons, Shinigami..."
Kyo seems to pale slightly, her hand freezing, "And...?"
"Well, the door... It's... It's open slightly... And there's something spilling out of it, black smoke... And there's something else... Voices, there's some kind of voice coming from the other side of those doors... So many different voices, singing, crying, screaming... I think they want me to open that door, to see what's on the other side."
Another long moment of silence passes, Annie looks up at Kyo but she is still frozen... Looking at her. Finally, she lowers her pen and closes her notebook, "I think that will be the end of our session for today."
"But..." Annie stammers. "We just started!"
"I know... But... I've suddenly gotten a migraine... And they take awhile to go away." Kyo says quickly as she stands up and drops her notebook and pen on the desk. "Perhaps you should head home now... I'll call you again."
Annie stares at her, frowning. Hesitantly, she stands up and slowly walks out of the room, Kyo following behind her. As she reaches the front door, she slips her shoes on and puts on her jacket.
"Did... Did I say something wrong?" Annie blurts out as Kyo opens the door for her. "I... I was just telling you what I saw..."
"I know," Kyo says, her mouth in a firm line. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Annie."
There was a first for everything and Sam could certainly say that this was her first time seeing Annie use her gift... Her power, whatever they wanted to call it. Not so much a gift but more of a burden a curse in a way... Seeing the future, seeing the fates of other people long before they knew what would happen to them.
Everyone in the room was quiet as Annie closed her eyes and... Well, she almost didn't move, she was breathing only and her eyelids fluttered slightly as she went into her vision. The rosary was in her hand, her hand which was frozen still, except for the thumb that traced the upside down triangle in the circle.
Sam almost startled as she looked at the symbol, realizing... She had seen that symbol before, had seen someone wearing a necklace like that. She couldn't remember where but she did remember seeing it for sure.
"This is so weird," Zana whispered to her, standing even closer to her as everyone else watched Annie, waiting... "I feel awkward, don't you?"
"Don't say too much, they can hear what we're saying," Sam whispers back, her voice lower than Zana's. Deidara gives her a look, a strange look... Sam looks back at him and he smiles tightly. Zana, noticing this, rolls her eyes and mutters something in Spanish.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock... The clock chimes as the silence continue to stretch and stretch, almost never-ending. Deidara is still looking at Sam, an uneasy look in his eyes... Kisame glances at Zana and she bares her teeth at him, Itachi is... Itachi is clearly not focusing on the situation at hand. Kakuzu strokes his chin, staring off into the corner of the room, his mind lost in thoughts as well... Sasori looks at Annie blankly and Tobi...
Where was Tobi? Sam looks around, but he is nowhere to be seen. Strange, that man was strange...
A whimper comes from Annie's mouth and Sam looks back at her. Annie... Her skin has gone pale, her face going sheen with sweat. She whimpers again and then moans, eyes squinting shut as her body begins to tremble. Pain sits back, looking at her... Unsure of what to do, of what she might be saying.
Annie whimpers loudly again, gasping.
Pain says quietly, "Annie..."
"Jesus..." Zana hisses and walks over to Annie, sitting beside her on the couch. "Something's happening and it's not good..."
"Zana..." Sam warns. "Don't..."
"Annie..." Zana says softly as she whimpers again.
A second later, Annie opens her eyes. Her only reply is a loud ear-splitting scream.
Hidan awoke, his limbs feeling heavy... Too heavy. And god, his head, it hurt.
There was something in his mouth, a gag. Oh... He dared to look down at himself, black chains wrapped around his body. He was chained to... A platform, a small raised platform. No, he was on an altar. And these chains weren't just any ordinary chains, they were adamant chains, no wonder his body felt so heavy, it was because the chains were restraining or draining his chakra.
Why... Why had they brought him here and what were they going to do with him now? Shit, he should have tried to escape faster, sooner. If there was a way to escape this damn place at all. Panic begins to settle in his whole body, shaking as he tries to move his arms, his legs... But they are cuffed, chained to the very alter beneath him.
'No no no no no...' He wants to scream. 'Not like this, not like this, please... Anything but this... Fucking hell...'
A door opens and then closes, causing him to freeze, forcing even and slow breaths through his nose. Foot steps lightly tapped on the stone floor, towards him, closer and closer. His blood freezes over, his whole body going numb... Of all the people who would do this, it had to be her.
"Well, well, well..." A familiar voice croons, close enough now that Hidan can see them... Her. The same silver-blonde hair, though slightly dishevelled, her lips painted black, start against her moon-white skin. "Look who's awake... Hidan of The Akatsuki, Hidan the immortal one."
He would have cursed her but there was obviously no way to, with the damn gag in his mouth... As if realizing this, Reina smiles wickedly.
"Would you like me to remove that so we can chat for a bit?" She pouts, caressing his face, a mocking gesture perhaps. "It must be so difficult for you not to talk, you were always talking, talking, talking... And for some reason, everyone listened to you, Hidan."
He growls at her, eyes flaring with rage and barely detained hatred and disgust. Bitch. She was truly a cold, cruel bitch, down to the very bone.
Reina laughs, sitting on the edge of the altar, "Oh Hidan! You truly are amusing... It doesn't take that much to rattle you... You... Snap so easily, just like your partner. What is his name? Oh... Kakuzu, isn't it?"
No reply from Hidan. Only the same cold glare that he had given her so many times before.
"An... Interesting man," Reina continues to talk, inspecting her nails... On closer inspection, their not her real nails, but sharp metal claws, where the real ones should be. Well, that was new... "There's so much about him you don't know, things most people probably don't know... He's insured to make sure certain things from his past are kept secret. Yes Hidan, I made sure to do my research... It seems you two are perfect for each other."
'Fuck you and burn in hell,' He wanted to scream, but he couldn't, he couldn't. He was powerless, completely powerless in this situation. 'Fuck you, you stupid bitch...'
"Reina..." A voice purrs from close by and she pauses, looking towards it. Hidan freezes even more, whole body numb as whoever it is comes within eyesight... Eyes wholly black, pure obsidian black, long moon white hair, intricate scars running from his cheek bones to his temples. This time Hidan tries to struggle free as the man moves closer to him, standing beside Reina.
'No no no no no no no no...'
"Hidan..." The man says again, lowly. He bends over till their faces are inches apart. "Hello..."
Every single inch of him wants to push him away, to be away from him, but he moves closer... Closer and he straddles him, moving a hand to his throat, where his rosary used to be.
'No no no no no...'
"Hidan," He says again, gripping his chin firmly. "I'm going to remove this and you are going to cooperate with me."
"... Believe me, cooperating will be the last thing he does." Reina sneers. "He was never good at it anyways."
The Priest sneers, "As much as I appreciate you finding him for me Reina, you will keep quiet now and not speak."
"What is it with men and telling me or any woman to keep quiet?" She murmurs, walking away from the altar and then pacing back and forth while playing with a piece of her hair.
The Priest begins to take the gag out of Hidan's mouth, who in turn breathes heavily once it is removed. But the man, the Priest doesn't move from his position, that hand still on Hidan's throat.
"What... The... The fuck... Do you want?" Hidan snarls. "Get... Off of... Me."
The Priest only smiles, not moving, "Now now Hidan... Don't worry one bit. I've spent some time looking for you and luckily for me, Reina found you here... Here of all places, exactly where I wanted you."
"That's because something fucking dragged me here! They knocked me unconcious and dragged me here, fuck..."
Reina cocks her head at this, "Really now?"
The Priest only looks down at Hidan, black eyes glimmering as he lowers his face closer to his... Trailing down his throat, his neck, "You certainly are quite a site to behold aren't you?"
Hidan's nostrils flare, heart beating as fast as a humming bird's wings as the Priest looks at him again, examines him. Fuck, there was no way of escaping for him now, no chance. Who knows how long he would remain down here now?
Surrender or die, submit or die... Well, not die, but face something worse than death, much much worse. Hidan should surrender and submit, enjoy and relish in whatever they had planned, savour every painful moment of it. But he had a feeling that it was much more sinister and twisted than he expected it to be. He had seen it... Had not expected to stumble upon it here, but it was happening, it really was happening.
They were going to unleash Jashin, release him from this prison. They were going to-
"Hidan." The Priest says again, gripping his chin harder. "You have something I want, where is it?"
Confusion, complete absolute confusion rattles him. What was the man even talking about? "What?"
"No one else has been given the gift of immortality since me... And you... Meaning, we're the only ones who are immortal... You are special, Hidan, so I wonder if you happen to know where the keys, the objects are," He motions to Reina, who for a moment stops pacing and faces them. "Reina tells me that this is the reason you had left the temp, to seek, to find the keys..."
"You really have gone mad, you crazy bitch," Hidan barks at her. "Because I never once fucking said that, you said that so you can sway him to you side. Honestly..."
"So you don't have it." The Priest interrupts him, his voice flat.
Reina seems to think hard on this before quietly saying, "... And none of the Akatsuki had one of them?"
"Seriously? Why would one of those bastards have it? None of them believe in Jashin or know this whole... Thing about him being trapped for a long, long time... So please explain to me why they of all people would have it?"
"We believe the keys are sealed inside different obects, Hidan. Perhaps even hiding in plain sight."
"And you know this for certain?"
"No. But it's highly possible, considering whoever sealed him away and took his powers... Well, they would have made sure that they are well hidden. Very well hidden."
Hidan blinks at this, "Many have tried to find them for years... I mean, a thousand fucking years and you think you might finally be able to?"
"You? Not us?" Reina cocks her head again, walking closer to the altar. "Aren't you the Lord's most loyal servant?"
"... Perhaps I will find other uses for him," The Priest murmurs, moving to stand by Reina. "As to answer your question, Hidan... With Jashin's power, we will find them... Call to us, because like calls to like after all."
Like calls to like... The Shinigami, the Yokai... They would find it, but if the Yokai were back and the Shinigami as well, that only meant one thing.
"You... Opened the door... The gate..." Hidan breathes shakily. "You opened... That door... But how?"
The Priest smiles this time, "It took me a great deal of time... A thousand years and even with my strength, I was only able to crack it open a bit. It's closing again now... But I have a way of summoning the Yokai now without opening that door..."
"So, how do you plan to completely open it, by bringing Jashin back?" Hidan asks, dark dread pooling in his stomach.
Both Rein and The Priest smile, their smiles as sharp as a razor's edge, "That's why you're here Hidan."
One moment, Annie had been calm and then suddenly she that calmness rapidly changed, like the sea when a storm gathered. One moment she was calm, soothing lapping waves and then the next she was roaring waves and crashing water. It was frightening how one could change so easily, how one's emotions were so much like the sea.
This was one of the reason's Zana didn't like the ocean. The waves and tide changed too often and beneath those waters... Something darker lurked, it would pull you down, drown you and smother you. Then you would be lost in the endless, black depths of the ocean, long long forgotten.
But this wasn't the ocean; this was Annie and Annie was screaming, Zana covered her ears but then she was flung aside so suddenly that she didn't register her body hitting the shelves rather roughly as she was flung aside. Fears of the ocean of everything flung aside with it, Zana attempts to stand but is instead dragged to the side, out of the living room.
"Calm down Annie, calm down!" Sam's voice barked from the living room, then turns soothing and quiet. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay..."
'It's okay, it's okay...' Those were the same words that had been shouted at her that day... That day, years ago. She remembered salt water filling her mouth, her nose, her lungs, she was so full... She was not going to drown, but explode because she was filled with so much water. She had become the ocean, the ocean had become her, there was no turning back from that. But then she was pulled and dragged out from that salt water and emptied of it till she could taste nothing but the coolness of air, oxygen.
A nightmare, a memory... She shuddered at it and at what was happening now.
"Snap the hell out of it."
Zana shook her head, snapping something back in Spanish. But when she looks up, she sees that it's Kisame, who looks at her with a frown... Jaw clenched in obvious irritation. Now she registers what is happening; she is sitting out in the hall, her back against the wall and Kisame standing in front of her.
Kisame nudges her with his foot, looking even more annoyed than before, "What did you just say?"
"Uh... I..." Zana stammers, gathering her thoughts together... Throwing away the urge to speak Spanish, her native tongue, rather than English. "Something in Spanish... It's my language, my native language."
The screaming has stopped now, of course. Zana had felt stupid, she didn't really know why though... Maybe it was the fact that she had spoken Spanish and had to explain it to this man before her, this man who had no idea of her culture, her family. She couldn't help it though, she had been stressed lately and when she was stressed, her speech would flow back into Spanish... Her mouth felt more comfortable forming those words, though she spoke and read English fluently as well.
Zana stands up but falters slightly... Her body is shaking and is now just registering the sharp pain in the parts where her body had hit the floor and the shelf. Was it Annie who had done that? "What happened?"
"I have no clue," Kisame grunted. "Annie flung you across the room though, that's a great deal of strength she has."
"Across the room?"
"You didn't notice?"
Zana flushes, her eyes narrowing at Kisame, "No... I-I... I guess I'm in shock, but I'm feeling it now... She didn't punch me in the face, like you did."
"You're lucky I didn't break your face. You're still alive and I wouldn't complain about it."
"There's no need to be such an ass," Zana snaps at him as he turns away from her, "... Is this how you are with everyone? Always hurting them to get your way?"
"You're best friend is having a mental breakdown and yet here you are insulting me," Kisame mumbles, walking back towards her. "She seems fine now, at least."
"Not like you actually care or anything."
Now Kisame looked like she wanted to hit her again and Zana found herself wanting him to try. Did this man, this criminal want her to be afraid of him? But before either of them could do or say anything, Sam walks out of the living room, into the hallway, followed by Itachi.
"Are you alright?" Sam asks softly.
At this Zana wants to laugh, what a question to ask... Was she alright? No, she wasn't, "Um, well... I don't know, I'm just... Shocked, I guess. What about Annie?"
"She is in shock as well," Itachi explains. "Perhaps it's best that we leave her alone."
"She is our best friend, you barely know her. But I know her so don't tell me what to do," Zana snaps at him.
Sam flinches at this, "I think he's right, Zana."
"God, you're agreeing with him?"
"We are standing right here." Kisame remarks, eyes sliding to Zana as she trembles with anger. "... And I must ask; do you really even know her? She did never tell you that she could see the future, never told you thing about that. That's the thing about trust; if she really trusted you, she would have told you rather than keep anything from you."
"She had her reasons," Sam argued back, though the tone of her voice was cool and calm.
Kisame smirks slightly at this, enjoying their reactions, "Were they good reasons though?"
"I will not let you give me advice on friendship and trust, considering from what I heard... You've done rather questionable things and are the last person to be trusted," Sam says coldly, standing ram rod straight. She grabs Zana's arm, who is barely containing her rage at Kisame's words. "While we appreciate your ill advice, we do know Annie best, whether she has kept this a secret from us..."
"... She has never once said a thing?" This question comes from Pain, who for some reason, feels the need to barge in on the conversation. Not a conversation, but an interrogation more like. "She never told you exactly what she saw?"
"No." Sam states. "I suppose you're now going to interrogate us about this, what about Hidan? You searched all day for him and you didn't find him?"
"That's the strange thing, we never found him. No sign of him or anything,"
'It was the same with Tara as well, she just vanished...' Zana thought, rubbing the back of her neck. 'They said that Annie tried to find Tara but did she find her...? Perhaps she would have told us if she did...'
Sam hummed in thought before she could say anything, Pain added, "Perhaps we will have to keep looking... Or maybe he will show up."
"And what if he doesn't?" Sam asks. "What if he's out there still? He's unpredictable, isn't he? He's probably going to murder more people..."
"What the hell do you mean murder more people?" Zana asks. "Wait, you think that he had something to do with that Janitor who was murdered in the school? That was some fucked up shit... And I don't even want to think about what might have happened to Tara, she just disappeared like those other people..."
"Quiet." Pain snaps, "We will find him and find out whatever happened to Tara. Once that is done, we'll have to find a way back to the Shinobi world."
"... What a great plan," Kisame agrees. Itachi was quiet most of the conversation, not the one for small talk apparently, or talking a lot in general.
Sam sighs, "Well, what if that doesn't happen soon? What if there is more to this than what we're seeing?"
"Whatever you think it is, you're overthinking it," Pain says walking away from her.
He had brushed her off... Pushed their thoughts and opinions aside and didn't even seem to care about what they had spoken. Funny, it was as if Pain was hiding something, which was most likely the case at this point. Whether he told them anything or not, Zana shouldn't care... But if bugged her for some reason.
Following him, she says, "You're hiding something from us."
To her satisfaction, he stops walking, freezing in place. Sam seems to be trying to warn her not to say anything more by the look in her eyes. Kisame definitely looks like he's going to do more than just punch her this time and everyone else... Well, everyone else in the Akatsuki just observes what is about to unfold.
"Maybe it's none of our business, but I think we have a right to know what the hell is going on," Zana continues, fighting to keep her voice steady. "I won't be left in the dark while you go and do whatever the hell it is you do whenever you're not at this house."
"Same here..." Sam murmurs in agreement.
Kakuzu looks actually amused, funny, Zana wasn't sure if the man even felt an inch of happiness in his life.
"And I won't let you harass my best friend anymore-"
"We're not harassing her," Kisame snapped at her. God, it was always Kisame who fought against her, argued against everything she said. "We're asking her questions."
"Actually you're not... You're demanding, interrogating. I'm sure it's a method you're most used to using considering your criminal pasts..." Sam explains. "... But those methods aren't great to use when you're dealing with a girl who hasn't really told anyone about what she's seen.."
Kisame whirls to her, baring his teeth, "Are you lecturing me?"
"Yes, actually I am," Sam says. "You clearly need to be lectured, given your current shitty attitude."
Everyone went silent at that, Deidara coughed, though it was to cover the laugh that almost escaped his mouth. Kakuzu was actually grinning, though even he was trying to hide it and Konan looked astounded. Zana was as well... Who knew that Sam, who had seemed so quite and shy could shut down a hyper masculine criminal like Kisame.
Zana didn't dare look to see the look on Kisame's face, the last thing they all needed was a monstrous looking criminal attempting to murder them in this house.
"Is there a point to this... Conversation or are you just looking for an excuse to pester us?" Pain asks through gritted teeth.
"Actually there is, but Ki-" Sam nudged Zana hard in the rib cage, a sharp warning look in her eyes. "Anyways yes, there was something I would like to bring up to you. Both me and Sam at least."
Zana remembered their conversation with Sam earlier that day, about training... God, the idea of it made her cringe, made her swell with anxiety. But she was going to do it, she was going to ask. It would be well worth the consequences in the end if they knew how to at least fight, defend themselves.
"Say it then, if it's important," Pain snapped, clearly running out of impatience.
Zana opened her mouth, but it was Sam who spoke instead, "We were wondering if it's possible for us to be trained... To be Shinobi, if possible."
Now that statement seemed to leave everyone slightly stunned... Eyes widening, heads cocking and of course, the smiles in amusement. A cold sweat begins to clamour on Zana's back as Pain stares at them as if they both have suddenly grown two heads. If they were expecting anything, it definitely wasn't this.
Pain finally speaks, voice flat, "Why?"
"Well... You tied us up in chairs when you first came here and seemed to assume that we are Shinobi or whatever," Sam said, shrugging. "If that's the case and we do have... Well, I wouldn't see why it wouldn't hurt to see if-"
Kisame barked a laugh, "Why would we waste our time training you?"
"Be quiet, Kisame," Itachi spoke, much to their surprise. In fact, it was Itachi who seemed to be the only one who didn't look at them with a mocking or amused expression. In fact, he looked rather curious. "It's not easy if that's what you're thinking."
"You think we don't know that?" Zana grumbled, but Itachi eyes snapped to her and she didn't speak again.
"We learn and train from a very young age and all of our lives," He explains coolly. "It is not easy even then... Becoming a full fledged or a Jonin level Shinobi is no easy feat; it's not a smooth straight path to take, it's a path filled with dangers and obstacles, one that you must make difficult choices all for becoming stronger. The training is not only physically challenging but can be mentally challenging as well. If you are truly serious about it, then you must dedicate your whole free time and whole life to it, if you don't, then you are determined to fail. I only say this not to discourage you but because it is true and you should think well on this decision."
His words were harsh, an axe slamming down on their very hopes and slicing them in half; but he had not spoken them harshly, but rather wisely. Annie did mention after all that he had graduated from the academy at a very young age and was considered a 'genius'.
"... I suppose that depends what Village you grew up in... Each Shinobi Village has its system of training, some much more brutal than others," Kisame chuckles darkly. "You would not have survived the Bloody Mist era, girl."
"The bloody mist is no more," Itachi says coldly, Sam looks puzzled but Itachi only shakes his head at her. Don't ask, he seems to say with his eyes. Zana wondered... Wondered what the Bloody Mist was, and wondered what kind of system Kisame had gone through to become such a brutal ninja.
But Konan looks at both Kisame and Itachi with a frown, "It depends who exactly teaches them... What the outcome will be."
"They're 17, they have a lot to learn." Itachi states.
Sam cringes slightly at this, "I'm 16 actually, turning 17 in August."
"Who cares?" Kakuzu grunts. "Do it and see what will happen, if they die during the process, then so be it. They were never meant to be Ninja."
"Maybe not," Sam snaps at him, "But I know that I meant to be more... Then this."
"And now that we're involved in this, there's no turning back," Zana explained. "We didn't expect this to happen... And now that it's happening there will be no turning back to our normal lives. We can't just go back to regular life after what we have seen so far. And you're all criminals of course and then we're... Well, we're us, just two normal, regular teenage girls who somehow got caught up in a group of criminals lives. Being involved with any of you has consequences, you think we don't know that? I have to lie to my family about this, I don't want them to know... I don't want any more of my friends being involved and I'd rather die than to see my family get hurt or murdered because of what is happening now. So believe me when I say this; I think about the consequences, I think about them every damn day and every damn second... I don't want to spend these days, these hours and seconds hiding back in fear. I know that you're murderers and criminals, I know that there are people out there who are hell bent on destroying you, killing you. So what happens if those people target me and my family instead? What happens if I am not able to protect them when that time comes... What happens if someone takes something or someone away from and I can't get it back? Yes, I know that training to be a Shinobi is brutal. I don't care how brutal it is, if it guarantees that I can protect my family, my friends, then I think it's worth at least trying."
Zana takes a deep breath, body shaking. "... And if any of you threaten my family..." She adds, "I will fucking ruin you. Okay, I'm done now."
Sam sighs deeply as everyone looks at Zana. No wonder her and Annie became friends, they both had the same steel determination, the same fieriness. "I agree with everything she said."
"Well, hm..." Deidara said, sounding astonished. "It seems you are very serious about it after all..."
A few hours later, Sam and Zana sit on one of the many driftwood logs on the beach of Goose Spit. The sun bears down on them, but the heat is nothing compared to the curling dread of fear in their minds, their stomachs. The hesitance, the uncertainty of what would happen... What the outcome of their training would be.
Wind whipping her short wavy, dark brown hair, Zana turns to Sam who looks across the ocean's water, "Sam...?"
"Yeah?" She says quietly, her eyes never straying from the water's waves.
"Today..." Zana starts, uncertain of what to say at first, "You were so... Brave. How do you do that?"
Sam chuckles softly, "I even surprised myself with that. I know... I know that I can be quiet, maybe shy... But maybe it's not that, it's just that I prefer to keep my thoughts inside, my words... It's like I keep it locked up a lot of the times. Except lately... It's been hard to keep it locked up, it's just spilling out and it keeps spilling out."
"I guess I get what you're saying," Zana says softly. "I mean... There are still things that I keep locked up. Things that I'm afraid to express, I don't know why... But there is one thing that I should say, that I should tell you. Because it's been locked up in here for too long," She motions to her heart and then her head, "Something that I need to let out. And after today, I think I finally have the courage to say it..."
"You know, you can tell me anything. That's why I'm here, so I can listen."
Zana sighs, breath shuddering. "Okay... Well, I'm going to tell you..."
A long moment of silence passes, Sam waits patiently, crossing her arms across her chest as she watches two people on paddle boards go by on the water.
"I..." Zana starts, hesitantly. "I'm bisexual... I mean... I guess it's not a big deal to you or Annie... But... I haven't you know, actually told you guys before..."
"It is not a big deal," Sam says softly, moving her hand into hers and squeezing it reassuringly. "Definitely not to me or Annie, we support you. We support whoever you choose to be and who you choose to love. We support you no matter what path we go down from here."
"... We support each other no matter what." Zana adds, smiling softly. That smile turns into a wide grin and she laughs. "God, that felt so good to get off my chest..."
"Honestly..." Says Sam, quietly biting her lip. "I've... I've known for awhile that you also liked girls. I didn't want to say anything though, because it's your business and I couldn't force you to say anything about it of course... I really am proud of you though. Not for choosing to tell us but choosing to love whoever the hell you want to, for being whoever you want to be in this society... Which still oppresses those who are like you."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Zana groans, hugging Sam who in turn wraps her arm around her back. "Just... Just don't say anything to the Akatsuki though... Okay?"
"I definitely won't," Sam promised.
After their discussion with the Akatsuki about training, Pain had told them they would talk to Annie... Though Sam felt like she should be the one to talk to Annie about it, they were still giving her space, to think, to breathe. Most likely, their training would start tomorrow and Pain had agreed to train them along with Itachi and Konan. Kisame wanted to take part in it but considering the tension between him and Zana, it wouldn't be happening.
All of their training wouldn't just be physical though, there was lots to learn about Ninjutsu itself... From the history to the different elements, Genjutsu, summoning and so much more... Itachi had explained briefly that there would be a lot to take in about Ninjutsu itself and it wasn't as simple as it seemed. No wonder they were hesitant to teach them, Sam and Zana didn't know anything about it and these people had trained all their lives to be Shinobi.
Annie would know more though, most likely... She would know, because of her visions. Not everything, but she would know more, at least more than Zana and Sam did.
"I love you..." Zana whispered, leaning her head on Sam's shoulder. "No matter what happens."
"I love you too, Zana," Sam says softly, relishing the feel of the wind against her face.
The words were no comfort though, if anything, they felt more like a farewell, a goodbye.
The Priests and acolytes walked into the room, forming a circle around the symbol on the black stone floor. There in the middle of the symbol laid a girl, no older than twelve, her blood red hair stark against the obsidian black of the floor.
"Today we offer up this life, this Chakra back to Jashin," The head Priest murmurs, voice as smooth as silk. Pulling a knife from his robes, he slices his palm and then the other, putting his hands together. The other Acolytes and priests repeated the motion. "... From the darkness, she came and to the darkness, she shall return. Let the light of the old Gods die, the spirits of the Kami wither into nothingness... Let her and those in the eternal darkness rise again with new strength. Bless us with power, the strength to restore this world to darkness, let blood call to blood, let darkness embrace us."
"Darkness embrace us..."
"Darkness embrace you, young child..."
A darker, colder voice speaks lowly, "May your blood summon the darkness and strength of Jashin-Sama..."
The girl in the middle of the circle whimpers, her body vibrating, shaking with utter fear and terror. Tears stream down her face as they draw symbols within the religious circle and then stand back up, making more symbols with their hands. She can't move, can't escape, some kind of force is holding her down...
Something appears above her, a black, smokey figure holding a scythe. Its face is that of a demon, cruel and wicked, it's eyes bottomless, black pits in it's face. Shinigami, Shinigami... The Shinigami. The Reaper of death. It smiles cruelly down at the girl, its face only a few inches away from hers.
The murmurs and chants continue as the Reaper takes it's Scythe and slices it down the girl's chest, making a nice clean cut, blood swelling and running down the floor. The symbols there burn brightly as the blood runs through the grooves of the Symbol of Jashin. The Shinigami, pulls open the girl's chest, revealing a still-beating heart and her lungs.
He rips the heart out and devours it, relishing the taste of the flesh and the sacrificed life. The girl's death is quick, unfortunately, but it was necessary for this type of ritual. Opening its bloody mouth, it reaches it's hand down its throat and pulls something out... A small black gourd, it opens it slightly, black powerful chakra, like smoke spills out and flows into the now dead girl's body.
The girl begins to transform, eyes turning wholly black.
As the chants and prayers continue, darkness embraces her.
Pain walked through the large chamber one that was discovered only earlier that day... Such a strange and odd place, pillars ran from the vast ceiling down to the floor; carved of ancient beasts and legends, Yokai and Gods. The place its self felt alive and present as if the walls and every inch of the stone thrummed and thrived with life.
There had been no sign of Hidan in this place either, though that wasn't why Pain was here.
Madara stands in the middle of the chamber, hands clasped behind his back, facing away from him. You could barely see him in the darkness of the chamber, but with his keen and sharp eyesight, he could see him in the darkness of it.
Seven days... A week, they had been here and they seemed to be discovering something new and strange almost every day, then Hidan's sudden disappearance. There was something wrong about this, something wrong about all of this... There was still no explanation for it though, no conclusion to these strange events and now...
... Now, this; three girls they would be training, Pain might as well have handed over their Akatsuki cloaks and rings. A death sentence, he was already offering them a death sentence by doing this. He was a damn fool for offering three innocent lives this opportunity for power, just like it was handed to him many years ago.
And this was where this power had gotten him.
"I'm thinking this place would make for a nice training room," Madara says. "It's out of sight, spacious... And... Has some nice architecture."
"I suppose so," Pain replies, standing beside him. "... What do you think it was before exactly? And why would it be here of all places?"
"I've been thinking the same thing myself," Madara explains, walking forward. "... But I did discover one thing."
Pain frowns, "And that is?"
"Look down and tell me what you see, for yourself..."
Following his instructions, Pain looks down at the ground, to the lines on either side of him. The lines that form a triangle, one in which he was standing right in the middle of. Around that very triangle, was a circle... The symbol of Jashin and he just so happened to be standing in the middle of it. But why was such a symbol in here of all places?
Pain was at a loss for words.
"The symbol of Jashin," Madara mused. "... And these pillars, they depict Yokai and Shinigami. Not just Shinigami spirits but the actual Shinigami themselves."
"I think it's still a waste of time, all they will do is complain most likely."
Itachi doesn't reply to Kisame's words right away, instead, keeping quiet as he steps into the cavern... The chamber that Kakuzu had discovered today. What he made of their conversation today, he could only do what the girl's had requested; train them, teach them. He didn't have a reason for doing so, but Zana and Sam were right to ask, and they had good reasons to do it.
"Maybe I'm wrong about Zana," Kisame mutters, looking around the chamber as they step into it. "... She's feisty, I like that about her, at least."
"Her and Annie are both alike in that sense," Itachi agrees quietly. Something was wrong, the room felt... Suffocating and that smell, it smelt of blood, of death. He looks at Kisame who no doubt has sensed it as well, his mouth a grim line.
Kisame sniffs, nostrils flaring, "That doesn't smell right..."
"Like death..."
"Rotting flesh, most likely..." Kisame whispers as they begin to descend farther into the darkness, their bodies taught, ready to attack in case something or someone else was in here. "... Shit, that stinks."
Itachi wouldn't admit it out loud, the smell... God, the smell made him nauseous. The smell brought back memories, terrible memories, ones that he had often had nightmares about. That was a secret though, something he didn't feel inclined on telling Kisame, even if they were close.
"There's something in the middle of the room..." Kisame murmurs, eyes glowing yellow in the dark. "Oh... Oh shit..."
They approached the middle of the chamber, both of them stopped, standing still... Taking in the scene before them. There were bodies, many dead bodies forming a circle in the middle of the chamber. In the middle of the circle, there were more corpses forming an upside down triangle. The bodies were dirty and bloody, blood pooling among the corpses. From observing them, Itachi saw that the bodies were all of young people, completely stripped of clothing.
Itachi turned away from the sight, closing his eyes. One, two, three... He counted, taking deep breaths. When he opened his eyes, Kisame was looking at him, face pale. He looked afraid, Kisame Hoshigaki was never afraid or never dared to show his fear.
"Kisame..." Itachi said, but he wasn't looking at him, not really. His eyes darted around the room, looking and listening.
Listening for what though?
That's when Itachi started to hear it, what Kisame was hearing it... It grew louder, echoing off the walls of the chamber.
Singing and chanting.
Annie pressed the gas pedal of the Jeep, speeding down the highway. No music played on the radio, the only music the adrenaline pulsing through her body, her blood singing with fear and dread.
She looks in the rear-view mirror, there... There was Yuuto Uzumaki. Yuuto who looked terribly uncomfortable riding in the back seat of a car, her arms were crossed against her chest, eyes on focused on Annie.
"You could sit in the front, you know," Annie murmurs, then Yuuto is in the passenger's seat. As a ghost, a Yurei, they could suddenly appear in places like this. It turned out, Yuuto was always here, but she only chose to be seen, most of the time apparently she was just invisible.
Yuuto looks out the front window, "It's okay to be afraid."
"I don't really know what I'm doing right now," Annie says through gritted teeth. "But thank you... For coming with me. I don't know if I could do this on my own, it is dangerous after all."
"I could have taken you there. Even though I am a Yurei, I am still able to use my powers..." Yuuto explains.
Annie nods, but then asks quietly, "Why are you still here? Why aren't you free... In the afterlife. Isn't it a punishment to remain chained to this life as a ghost?"
"You are right, it is," Yuuto says sadly. "... But it is my punishment, for failing. You'll understand when the time comes."
"I guess I'll trust you on that," Annie grunts as they pull into the parking lot. They would have to walk the rest of the way to the Chamber that had been discovered by Kakuzu that day. Of course, the Akatsuki had never told her what they had found... But she didn't get the chance to. After attempting to find Hidan and seeing something... Entirely different, she basically ran up to her room and slammed the door.
She parks the car and then turns off the ignition. Before she can open the door to get out, Yuuto grabs her hand, "If you want to talk about what you saw, we can... I'm here."
"I appreciate your support. But I definitely don't want to talk about it." Annie says icily, stepping out of the car and grabbing her bag and flashlight. Yuuto follows her silently as she heads into the woods, turning the flashlight on.
"I would not use that if I were you. It will attract attention." Yuuto says softly from beside her.
Annie stops, turning towards her, "Then how the hell am I supposed to get through this forest?"
"You are a Kunoichi and Shinobi have strong eyesight... And you have me as well..." Yuuto explains, grabbing her hand and guiding her towards the forest. She begins to glow slightly, but not too much. "As I said before Annie if you tell me what you saw-"
"I. Will. Not." Annie hisses as they descend farther into the woods, trying best to walk quietly as they go. "I... I... I do not want to."
Yuuto only nods slightly, turning away from her and guiding her farther into the darkness. It was reassuring to have her by her side, though Annie still felt bitterness towards her... Bitterness because she wouldn't explain what exactly was going on and why Yuuto had even chosen to guide her through whatever the hell was happening. There was also the fact that she had remained tethered here, even though her soul should have strayed to the afterlife.
In general, there were so many things that she needed answers to but... Apparently, Annie had to find those answers herself. That was why she was here, at the forest, the mountains... The way to the Glacier. A completely dangerous thing to do alone, but she wasn't alone. She had Yuuto and Yuuto had her, of this she was certain.
Besides... Pain, Madara, Itachi and Kisame had come up here about a few hours ago. She didn't know why, but she wanted to follow, wanted to see what was in that chamber.
Wait...
No, Madara had not gone with them. In fact, he was still at the house when she had left, when she had last seen him. Pain came here to meet Madara most likely...
"What's wrong?" Yuuto asks softly.
"It's... Something is not right..." Annie whispers back as they make their way through the trees, feet silent on the ground. "Something is not right..."
"Perhaps we should head back home?"
Annie shakes her head, "No. We keep moving forward."
"Okay."
Soon enough, they make it to the cave where Annie had almost met her fateful end the night before. A chill ran down her spine as descend into the darkness of the cave, a sudden coldness sweeping over her as they walk farther and farther into that darkness. She can feel Yuuto slipping away, her form fading as they reach the smashed entrance at the back of the cave.
"I'm right here," She whispers against her ear, though she cannot see her. "I'm right here..."
Annie steps through, greeted by another cold, dark feeling that seemed grind against her nerves and her bones. She forces her eyes to adjust to the darkness and then she can finally see a bit more clearly... The chamber was huge, massive. Pillars carved with different beasts ran down the room, Dragons and Oni... It all seemed to stretch on endlessly, into nothingness.
'Darkness embraces you,' A voice whispered. Annie whirls, but there is no one else there... She is alone, completely alone. Walking to the center of the chamber, she looks around, making sure her steps are as quiet as possible. Where was Kisame and Itachi, where was Pain?
"Itachi... Kisame...?" She says loudly, but there is no reply, no answer.
'Darknessss...'
'Darkness... Embrace... Youuu...'
'Darkness...'
The voices echo from everywhere, singing and chanting. Annie freezes, her blood going cold as the voices continue to speak and sing. They were calling her, calling her to go where there though?
Then a figure emerges from the darkness and Annie almost screams.
It was Tara.
"Darkness embrace you," She murmurs and then lunges at Annie.
Annie throws herself to the side, dodging her... But she is gone, so suddenly that Annie blinks, staring at the place where Tara was. Then voices fade slowly until it is quiet, so quiet again. Yuuto doesn't appear again, she is gone... A chill runs down Annie's spine as she turns around, looking around the room. A cold mist seems to descend along the room, shadows moving among them.
Spirits, ghosts... They were here, Annie could feel them. Whatever else was here, it certainly couldn't be any good. She didn't realize that she had descended much farther into the chamber, but she reaches a dead end, the stone wall in front of her. But as she looks, she sees that there are carvings on the wall, illustrations of... Demons, Yokai.
And between it all, was a doorway, spilling darkness from its open doors.
Well that ending wasn't the greatest in my opinion but I really wanted to get this chapter up! Also I managed to do this while with a pretty bad headache so props to me! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!