I'm really sorry about the delay… Someone close to me has recently passed away and I admit I didn't take it very well. I've accepted it now, but for a while I was a little listless. Anyway, on to the next chapter of One Small Act!
…...
"Bitch."
She didn't even have to look up to know who was speaking to her, not that she would have acknowledged him in any case.
"Bitch."
She clenched her fists, starting to seethe slightly.
"Oi, bitch!"
She spoke softly, but with a sureness that made even Hidan pause.
"That's not my name."
"Eh?"
"I said; THAT'S NOT MY FUCKING NAME!"
Normally alarming sounds poured from the room like spring water while the on-looking crowd stood calmly outside.
"That's the fifth time she's kicked his ass this week, one would think he'd learn."
"He has the mental capacity of a goldfish; I personally think he never will."
Horrifying screams erupted in a fevered pitch.
"Sad, he can't fight back though…'
"Pein would have his head if the Uchihas' didn't get there first."
"It's only been a month and everyone knows she has them wrapped around her little finger."
Chuckles sounded as the nondescript, Akatsuki low-totem members departed the hallway.
"Everyone, but her."
…...
She only had one rule about living here. She couldn't leave. That set well with her up until the south sector caught ablaze, flames licking up the wall in a time-honored dance. Sparks jumped and flew like firecrackers leaving pinpricks of burning pain on her skin. As she saw it, there was really only one option for her at this point.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. She retreated across the quickly catching floorboards; they cracked and crumbled under her weight. In one blurred movement she launched herself at the windowpane, shattering it outward with an awing glittering explosion. She twisted in midair, avoiding the greedy flames that flared out in their quest for oxygen.
Hitting the ground hard and rolling to reduce the impact she came to a jarring halt. Looking up at the inferno one would have never thought it was once a well concealed, unseen, and secret rebel base. It was bellowing with smoke and lit up like a homing beacon. They were a massive target. Knowing she had to put distance between her and the burning signal flare she got up into the singed branches, lightly jumping from tree to tree with ease.
That is, until a sharp pain coursed through her body, and sank into her limbs like lead. She dropped several feet before being abruptly pulled to a stop as arms gripped her body. Only, they weren't familiar, grasping her thin form to the point of gripping pain. Her cuts from her recent leap showed themselves as harsh pressure was applied. She had to get away.
Even with her heavy form she managed to get off a sharp right-hook into the strange man's jaw and kicking out with her legs nailed him in the gut with a sideways kick. He cursed and she dropped landing, barely, on the forest floor. Stumbling with the intense pulsing headache the came with the strain of moving she collapsed, glancing her jaw on a sharp stone. A shadow fell over her limp frame as she slipped, once more, from consciousness.
"This is getting damn old…"
…...
It was a humbling attack; the blaze was meticulously precise and wasn't discovered until nothing could be done. Sometimes you had to cut off a limb to save the whole. They had another base, though it was significantly smaller, and had evacuated to it, leaving the burning, eye-catching, building behind. They had searched the remaining rumble in three-man teams; so far the death toll was at thirty-two and the missing at nine. Their pink-haired glimpse of hope was among the missing and it struck a mighty blow. You see they had gotten attached to the pink bundle of energy…
After her attack she refused to explain herself and began to hyperventilate when the subject was brought to light. Thus, they were forced to ignore the obvious and step around her panic. Later, it was put to the back of their minds as time passed by. It was replaced by daily antics and peaceful coexisting. Well, if you can call possessive males, murderous teens, and everyday violence peaceful. They enjoyed it though, maybe even looked forward to it.
They had to find her, and they had to find her alive. Pein didn't want to think of any other option, and with that in mind began to speak to the crowd gathered in the small meeting room. The emotions varied from darkly seething to blankly depressed to clearly in shock. Hidan seemed to be the latter, slumped over in disbelief at the disappearance of the female time bomb. Deidara and Konan looked like they were about to give in and burst into tears. The Uchihas', Sasori, and Kakashi were deathly silent and emitting dangerous auras.
The youngest Uchiha and the Hyuuga seemed to be in a panicked worried states. He himself had gone through all of those emotions and every single one in-between. All in all, they were a sight to behold, such infamous shinobi reduced to these states by the loss of one girl they had known for such a short amount of time. Yet, what a special girl she was.
"This was a planned attack."
They snapped too as he began to speak, listening intently.
"..And if my theory is correct, Sakura is still alive."
…...
She woke to a confusing combination of senses. She was first and foremost, in a huge amount of pain, her head was on fire and tiny pinpricks of stinging agony covered her body. Her legs were cold, but her back was warm. It wasn't normal warmth, it came from a living source and that's what woke her up fully. She turned to see apprehensive teal eyes boring into her own, the limbs that were draped across her figure let her go and she backed away to get a better look.
He seemed to be a victim of an awful experiment, twin spears of bony horns stood proudly from his temples framed with tangled white hair. He had projections of small bone on his forehead, looking for the entire world like Oni horns, his canines seemed larger then most humans. Traveling down, she realized he didn't have a shirt and the sharp growth of bone seemed to continue on his arms and legs. The ones on his legs jutted through the soft cloth of his pants, two on the tops his thighs.
The ones on his arms were placed on his shoulder blades and the tops of his forearms. His fingers started out as flesh but extended into sharp bony claws. The most noticeable thing on this man was the sharp visible vertebra running down his back and extending into a spine-like tail, sharpened at its point. It swished back and forth, like an anxious animal's. She was, however, not scared. If he had wanted to kill her, he would have done so while she slept.
Seeing his nervous crouch, she told him as such. He looked startled, then moved closer and spoke, his voice hoarse from disuse.
"You don't fear me?"
She shook her head.
"You're not a monster."
His eyes widened and suddenly he was hugging her tightly, shaking slightly.
"N-Not a monster?"
His voice trembled with uncertainty.
"No, you're a person, and I bet you have a name, don't you?"
Her voice was firm with promise.
"K-Kimimaru."
He looked up at her with shining eyes as he felt the first bit of hope he'd had in years. That's when the cage door swung open, and the room became tense. Kimimaru flinched at the person's presence, clutching his newly discovered treasure to him, careful of the points on his arms.
"Come on, girl, it's time for a little fun."
Looking down at Kimimaru, with his arms around her waist, her confidence rose.
"No, I won't leave him."
Orochimaru looked unamused.
"Fine, want to stay here with the monsters?"
Her cold stare was all that answered him.
"Then why don't you play with all of them, hmm?"
He smirked, and sauthered out, the door shuting behind him at a suprising speed.
"Let's see how long that lasts, shall we?"
He opened a small panel near the large metal entrance, pressing several buttons inside in sequence. A haunting tone sounded and around them the walls shuddered. Orochimaru laughed as he exited, the iron making an ominous ring as it jolted closed. The walls began heaving upwards in one slow smooth motion. Scraping and footsteps sounded from the shadowed emptiness, Kimimaru was in front of her in a flash, growling at the threats that seemed to be coming from both sides.
Ready or not, here they came.
…...
Well, how was it? Like it, don't? Tell me. Tah Tah.
