My first intension was to jump, but I then realized that I was at the top of a tree that had little trees surrounding it. While we were in a largely wooded area, this one tree didn't have any near enough to where I was guaranteed a safe jump. Considering the fact that I only had half a second to decide what to do, my next move was decided for me.
I was hit dead on.
The spider hadn't bitten me, but had knocked me to the ground. While in the air, all I could see was the giant spider, ready to pounce when I hit the dirt. If I landed on my feet, then the spider would squish me, but if I didn't land on my feet, then I'd be knocked unconscious.
At the last second, before the grass could touch my Akatsuki cloak, I saw a flash of orange, black, and red pass by me. I then realized that it was Pein, who'd grabbed my wrist while I was still flying through the air. We both landed on our feet, next to Itachi, who'd jumped to the ground.
When I looked up at the spider, it was ready to pounce again. It let out another loud hiss, and then shot that weird water at all of us from its fangs. Immediately, the water froze into ice in mid-air.
We all sidestepped before the ice could hit us, which made the spider very angry. As Pein and Itachi tried to hold it off with fire, I made a hand-seal of my own. Afterwards, paper shuriken and kunai shot from my sleeves.
Itachi continued to hit the beast with his fire, while Pein switched to a wind jutsu. He helped to make my paper weapons go faster, so that they'd hit the beast like real shuriken and kunai. The spider was too distracted with Itachi to see what we were doing.
Hack!
The weapons hit the spider with great force. Icy blood spurt from the arachnid. It let out a loud scream, hitting the ground.
Pein and Itachi finished the beast off. Itachi used a fire jutsu to burn the body, and then Pein used a water jutsu to put out the fire once the spider was just a smoldering heap on the ground. Afterwards, the entire woods smelled horrible.
"Itachi," began Pein. The raven-haired boy turned to Pein, nodding for him to continue. "Go tell the leader of this village that the spider has been destroyed. You will find him in the largest building, in the center of the village. Konan and I will go ahead and head home." he ordered.
Itachi nodded, running off. This left Pein and I to walk back, on our own. As we drowned in our own pool of silence, we paid no attention to the animal noises that the woods supplied us with.
_ _ _
"Konan," Pein called out to me. I turned to look at him, his pale face shining in the small amount of lighting that the lanterns on the side of the road gave us.
"Yes?" I asked, fingering my hair.
"Tomorrow night, you, Deidara, and I will all be going on a mission here again. This involves a series of murders of geisha in this area." he explained to me.
I nodded. "Which type of geisha is this?" I asked.
"The murders are ones of entertainment geisha only, not prostitution geisha. That is illegal around Amegakure and its surrounding villages." he said.
I sighed, looking up at the stars. They shined brightly where we were. "So, what will we be doing?" I asked.
Pein looked up at the stars also. "You will be disguised as a geisha, staying in the room that the dancing, singing, and music playing will be. Deidara and I will be watching from the ceiling. This killer is supposed to strike women when they walk outside of the building, so Deidara and I will follow you from the rooftops until something happens."
I nodded, understanding. "What about the other geisha?" I asked.
"The other geisha are well-aware of the situation. We have arranged for them all to stay inside of the room, leaving you the only geisha-dressed girl to be outside. This way, you will be the main target." he said.
I nodded. "What am I to wear? I don't own a kimono, or the makeup that I will need." I asked.
Pein closed his eyes, now walking without looking in front of him. "When Itachi reaches the leader, he will be given a box containing the makeup, kimono, and such." he informed me.
Now, we'd reached the base.
_ _ _
The first thing I'd done when get into the base, was take a shower. I couldn't seem to get that horrible feeling off. You know that feeling you get when a spider crawls up your leg? Well, it's like that, but a million times worse.
When I'd gotten out of the shower, the box of geisha things sat on my bed. I sat down beside it, going through the stuff. The first thing I saw was the kimono.
I had to admit, it was gorgeous. It was a blue kimono, with a layer of white fabric at the end of each fold. There were cream, light blue, purple, and pink colored flower patterns running down it. The obi was also cream-colored, with a small landscape stitched on it.
(Note! You can find the picture of this kimono on my profile, if you want to picture it better!)
Also in the box was a light-purple flower that I could put in my hair. There was a pack of white makeup that I could put on, along with the red lipstick and blue eye shadow. There were instructions on how to put the makeup on in the box also.
To bring the whole thing together, there were cream-colored shoes at the bottom. I suppose the outfit wouldn't be complete without those shoes. I wondered how the geisha house had known what my shoe-size was.
End of Chapter Quote:
"He wants me to be steady, like the river. But, it's not steady at all."
-Pocahontas