A/N: Longest. Chapter. Ever. I would like to show my appreciation to all of my reviewers, my followers,and my favorite-er! THANK YOU! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm still struggling with Kisame. How can I keep true to his character, but also make him caring? I promise that I will try my hardest to keep him in character! Arigato!
I do not own Naruto.
Warning: a small amount of profanity!
"W-what Tobi?" I felt my heart beating in my ears, and bile started to make its way into the back of my throat.
Tobi walked closer towards where my body was laying and knelt down. He looked at Kisame and nodded in his direction. Kisame looked back towards me and then picked himself up off of the floor, giving Tobi room to lean in closer to my face.
"You're coming with Kisame and me to Takigakure. We do not have much time and we have much to do." His voice was serious and very unlike the Tobi that I knew. "Can you walk?"
I used every ounce of strength in my body and tried to move my legs. "No."
Tobi turned to Kisame. "Will you carry Yin, Kisame; we cannot wait for her to regain her strength."
Kisame turned to look at me and then bent down. He pulled me into a sitting position and then hurled my body over his shoulders.
My stomach was still tender from our last adventure, and when I felt his shoulder wedge itself back into my stomach; I yelped.
I heard Tobi rustling with his cloak. "We are going to make a few stops on the way to the village."
I felt Kisame wrap his long arm around my legs and begin to walk forward. I let out a loud sigh and heard him chuckle.
"You're lucky Tobi cares about your ability to walk; otherwise, I would just cut off your legs. You would be much easier to carry." He said with a grunt and began shifting his shoulders.
I gasped at his crude comment and tried to wiggle out of his strong hold.
'Oh….right….I can't.' I thought to myself, feeling a little disgruntled.
I felt something lightly tapping the back of my head, but I was unable to turn my neck to see what it was. Then, I felt Kisame jump. We hit the ground with a 'thud'; and then, we were off. I could feel every foot step he took, and every tree limb he landed on. After a few hours of sprinting through the forest, we stopped.
"Kisame, we are going to stop here and let Yin rest."
'Rest?' I thought to myself.
Then again, I was sore from the beating that Kisame's shoulder was giving to my stomach.
Kisame stopped; flipped me over his shoulder, and onto my feet. I swayed back and forth, and tried to adjust my head to the sudden movement. Kisame grabbed my shoulders and guided my body to sit on the ground.
"Now, don't run away from me this time." Kisame said, smirking in my direction.
I had just enough strength to hold my body up. I glanced up at Kisame and scowled in his direction.
He laughed and turned his attention towards Tobi.
I quickly straightened my face. 'When did I get brave enough to do that?' I thought to myself in shock.
The fire Tobi had started shortly after our arrival made the darkness around us seem less frightening. I looked towards the two men in front of me and noticed Kisame nodding his head up and down.
'What are they talking about?' I thought, as I strained my ears to hear their mumbling.
I saw Tobi glance in my direction and begin moving closer towards me.
"Yin-chan. Are you comfortable?" he asked.
I nodded my head.
Tobi sat down next to me and let out a sigh.
"This has become more troublesome than I thought it would be." He said, as he looked down towards his feet.
He fixed his eyes on a small twig in front of him, picked it up, and threw it into the fire.
"Your brother. He is a very strong and powerful man." Tobi said while watching the twig catch fire and then quickly turn into ash. "You Yin, Were once a very strong and powerful person as well."
'What?' I thought to myself. I was surprised from Tobi's statement.
"W-what do you mean T-Tobi?"
Tobi lifted his hand and then turned his face to meet mine. He put his hand on my lower back and ran his fingers up my spine.
I didn't move. I couldn't.
He stopped and turned his attention to the fire again. "You have a seal on your back. A seal that has the memories of the actual Yin, inside it."
Tobi shifted his feet and pushed himself off of the ground; standing beside me for a moment and then looking to Kisame.
"Can you remember anything before the moment that you met the man that you call 'Ni-san'?" Tobi asked me while walking towards the flames.
I leaned forward and tried to rack my brain for memories of my childhood.
Nothing.
I went back, trying to remember the first time that I had met my brother.
'He looked haggard, like he had been crying. I could remember him looking at me and grabbing my face. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and laid his head on my chest. I saw him turn his face to mine and then open his mouth. "Tell me Yin, what do you remember?" I looked at the man in front of me who was gently holding my face. "W-what is this place? Who are y-you?" I asked him. I was starting to tremble uncontrollably. He held me tightly in his arms and said "I-I will spend the rest of my life making this right, for you Yin. I will bring you back."'
My eyes started to water. 'N-ni-san? That was you.' I thought to myself.
"You can't, can you Yin." Tobi broke the silence that had grown between us.
"N-no." I said, hanging my head to look at the ground.
"A whole body transplant saved your life Yin. You won't remember anything past the moment that you woke up from your surgery." Tobi said.
I lifted my head up and looked towards Tobi.
"W-whole b-body transplant?" I looked at Tobi in horror.
"Yes. The head that rests on your shoulders did not belong to you at one point."
My body suddenly felt hollow. My heart was beating so hard in my chest and I was finding it difficult to breathe. I mustered up what little energy I had and lifted my arms up to my face. My fingers roamed over its entirety and my body started to tremble.
'T-this is not….' My thought was suddenly halted.
"Once the person who set the seal on your back is killed, then it will release, and Yin's memories will return." Tobi said. "Your brother has located the bounty hunter that is responsible for placing the seal on your body. We went to his current location, but in the process, we were ambushed by Takigakure ANBU. Your brother had predicted that we would be attack and told me to flee at the first sign of any ANBU. He told me that he would escape after collecting some information."
Tobi stood across from me looking through the flames that were starting to burn my cheeks.
"We are going to find the bounty hunter and kill him tonight." He said suddenly. He didn't sound anything like the Tobi that I was used to, and Kisame didn't seem bothered by his sudden dark tone.
I sat on the ground, shaking. "W-what about Ni-san?" I asked.
Tobi turned his body and walked towards me again.
"He will wait for me to come to him." Tobi's tone sounded final.
He stopped and knelt before me.
"Would you like to ride on my back this time Yin-chan?" He spoke with a much softer voice.
I stared at Tobi with wide eyes.
'Who is this man?' I thought.
Tobi turned his body around and tapped his shoulder's.
"C'mon!" he said.
I pulled my arms up and wrapped them around Tobi's neck. His scarf was soft which felt very nice against my skin. He pulled my legs up, locking his arms underneath the bend of my knees and off we went.
Kisame wasn't far behind. I could see him keeping in step with Tobi out of the corner of my eye. I put my head on Tobi's shoulder and felt my eye lids getting heavy.
Sleep.
When I woke up, I noticed that I wasn't with Tobi anymore. I was lying on the ground.
'Where am I?' I thought as I lifted my head.
My muscled ached, but my at least my energy was coming back to me.
'Dirt?' I felt it all over the left side of my face.
I sat up and wiped my face. Something tasted awful in my mouth and when I gritted my teeth together, I noticed that the dirt I had been sleeping on had made it into my mouth.
"Tobi? Kisame?" I called out, while trying to wipe my mouth clean.
"You're awake."
I heard Kisame's voice, but I couldn't see him anywhere.
I looked around for a moment and then tried to stand up. My head started to spin when I straightened my back.
"Kisame?" I asked, still checking my surrounding for any sign of him.
I felt a gush of wind hit my back and turned around quickly to find Kisame standing there.
"Do you need something girl?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed.
"I-I was wondering where T-Tobi was…." I felt my cheeks starting to get warm.
Kisame looked at me with a confused expression and then brushed past me.
"He left a while ago."
"Oh…." I couldn't find the courage to ask him anything else.
Kisame propped himself up against a large tree and closed his eyes for a moment.
I noticed something tall standing next to him, it was wrapped in bandages. For some reason, I couldn't stop staring at it. My curiosity had gotten the better of me, but I was too afraid to go next to Kisame and actually touch it.
"Samehada. It's my sword." Kisame's voice made me jump.
I turned my attention to him.
"Samehada?"
Kisame stood up and wrapped Samehada's handle in his hand.
"Would you like to know how I claimed Samehada as my own?" he turned to me.
His facial expression was one of excitement and blood lust.
"I-I…." I was at a loss for words.
Snap!
In an instant, Kisame pulled me behind his body and held Samehada in his hand. He was ready for something; and by the way he reacted, it couldn't have been Tobi.
A man emerged from the trees.
"Who are you? What are you doing here!" I heard the man yell toward Kisame.
Kisame walked slowly towards the man in front of us.
"A-answer me!" the man shouted as he reached for his weapon pouch.
Kisame was closing the distance between himself and the man. I saw him raise Samehada and then quickly bring it down across the man's chest.
I could hear the man gurgling something, but I couldn't make it out. I saw a little stream of blood start to make its way towards me. When Kisame turned around, I noticed that he was smirking.
" Takigakure ANBU, what a joke." He said as he secured Samehada on his back.
I stared back and forth between Kisame and the body lying on the ground behind him.
Kisame made his was back towards me.
I took a step back and then felt Kisame grab my arm.
"Don't even think about running girl." His voice was very stern.
I nodded my head and felt him loosen his grip on my arm.
"We need to move away from the body, I'm sure there are more out there." Kisame said.
He started towards the trees behind us.
I saw him glance back in my direction, making sure that I was following him.
"K-Kisame, where are we going? Don't we need to wait for Tobi?" I asked
He looked over his shoulder.
"Tobi will be able to find us, we aren't too far from the village."
"Village?"
"Takigakure, the man that he and your brother are looking for is supposed to be there. He and your brother are going to look for him."
I hung my head and started to piece the conversation Tobi and I had had last night.
"The man that sealed away my….I-I mean, Yin's memories." I whispered to myself.
We walked for a while in complete silence. I was so lost in my own mind; my body was on auto pilot. My festering was ceased by something hard. The whole front of my body had hit Kisame's back. I stepped back and rubbed my forehead.
"I-I'm sorry Kisame."
He peered at me over his shoulder and then walked over to another large tree. He put Samehada up against the tree and then sat down.
I walked over to a tree that was a ways away from Kisame. I looked over at him and noticed that he had closed his eyes again. I ran my hand across a few blades of grass that were sprouting out of the dirt beside me and I felt the wind blew my hair in all different directions; the cool breeze felt nice against my skin. Without thinking, I let out a loud sigh and leaned my head up against the tree behind me and then, all of a sudden, I started to feel something strange.
'Someone's watching me.' I thought.
I felt a pit in my stomach and looked around for more ANBU, looking up into the trees and then finally at Kisame.
His eyes were on me.
My cheeks felt like they were on fire. I did the only thing that I could think to do; stare back.
We stayed like that for what seemed like forever.
'What's happening?'
I was starting to feel frantic.
"A-are you alright Kisame?" I asked.
He continued to stare for another long moment and then turned his head.
I watch Kisame for a while, waiting for him to look at me again. He didn't. I conjured up what little courage I had and pushed myself to my feet; walking towards Kisame. I was getting closer and I could see Kisame turn back to look at me again. I was a couple of feet from him now and my heart was practically beating my chest to death.
"K-Kisame." I spoke just above a whisper. "C-can I s-sit with you…."
He never answered.
I knelt beside him and shifted my feet underneath me. I sat still for a moment and then felt my emotions start to take over.
"What's going to happen to me?" I asked.
I turned my head up to face Kisame.
He waited for a moment and let out a sigh.
"What do you mean?"
"W-when Yin gets back her memories, what will happen to me…."
Kisame turned his head to look at mine.
"You don't even have memories of your previous life do you?" he said.
"N-no."
"Then why does it matter?"
My mouth dropped open and I could feel the tears start to form. I hung my head and took in a deep breath.
"I-I guess you are right…."
I heard Kisame shift a little.
"You're scared, but of what? The life that you have been living from the moment you were killed and used as somebody else's vessel has been nothing but a lie."
His harsh words made the tears fall fast. I gripped my stockings and held onto them, trying to get a hold on myself. I heard Kisame let out another sigh.
"Once the seal is removed, you will get your memories back and you will be Yin. The truth will come to you, so don't be scared."
I pulled my eyes up to his. I was floored. Gentle words were something that I was not used to. I wiped my eyes and smiled.
"T-thank you K-Kisame."
And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Searing pain across my spine sent me to the ground in front of Kisame. I doubled over and screamed. I felt Kisame grab my shirt and rip it off of my back.
"Damnit!" I heard Kisame shout.
My eyes were shut tightly, but I could smell flesh burning.
'Not again. Please.'
I felt sweat pouring from my pores and my body started to shake.
"Kisame! Please!" I screamed.
I felt Kisame's arms wrap around my body. He held me so tight that it was difficult to breathe.
"You're going to have to stop shaking." He grunted while squeezing my body.
I pulled my hands up to his chest and grabbed his cloak in-between my fingers. I tried to hold myself steady and relax. My breathing started to slow and I felt the pain begin to subside.
"They must have done it." I heard Kisame say.
I felt his arms unwrap themselves from around my torso and felt something heavy on my shoulders. I opened my eyes and looked down. Kisame had wrapped his cloak around my body. I brought my face up to his and then felt my body go numb.
Darkness took over once again.