The small caravan had continued on with the rest of the evacuation traffic. In Lily's truck , all were silent. All that was heard was the wind, rain, the radio was turned down low. The only noise coming from the occupants were Kisame's snoring. Lily would often glance back to the sleeping shark man.
If he had not been here, if none of the Akatsuki had been here, would Hanna be alive? Would they had been in that situation? Most Likely they would have been, so Hanna should be dead. One of her best friends should be dead.
Lily wrung her hands on her steering wheel and was startled when it jerked from the wind outside. She righted the truck and kept on. She kept her gaze on Jo's car before her, except for when it flicked back to Kisame.
"I wish today it will rain all day," So rapped under her breathe with the music that played from the strereo. "Maybe that will kinda make the pain go away. Trying to forgive you for abandoning me," She didn't notice she was starting to sing slightly loudre than a whisper and konan could hear her perfectly. The blue haired woman listened with a small smile. "Praying but I think I'm still an angel away, Angel away, yeah strange in a way. Maybe that is why I chase strangers away. They got their guns out aiming at me-"She had glanced at Konan and smirked but stopped singing.
"You don't have to stop, you know." Konan mentioned with a small smile.
"Yes, she does." Hidan mumbled from the back seat. "Bitch needs to shut the fuck up and drive." Before Jo could respond, Konan turned in her seat, with her smile on her face and mumbled something to Hidan. Jo couldn't quite catch it, but she watched Hidan's face pale in the mirror.
"Damn, Konan, what you say to him?" Jo asked with a smile. "Tell me your secrets." Konan winked at her and Jo chuckled until the car jerked from the wind, startling everyone. Jo righted it quickly.
"What the hell was that?" Kakuzu asked, thinking it was her driving.
"The wind is getting strong enough to push the car." Jo explained. "If I'm not careful I could let it run us into the next lane."
"Should we stop?" Konan asked. "It's already difficult to see the road." Jo shook her head.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Jo answered, shaking her head. "I can see the lane markers and Hana's lights ahead of me. If we all stop on the side of the road, we risk getting hit by other cars."
"How long have we been driving, anyway?" Kakuzu asked, rather irritably, he even stretched his stiffening legs. There wasn't much room.
"About two hours, I think." Jo mumbled, shifting in her seat herself. "We got about three or four more hours, I think."
"Fucking what?" Hidan shouted. "Man, we shoulda just taken our fucking chances."
Pein watched from his seat as Hanna shivered and messed with the heating. This was the hundreth time she adjusted the heating. She looked exhausted, too.
"Are you well?" He asked her. She glanced at him and nodded before sniffing and rubbing at her nose.
"Just think I'm gettin' a head cold." She explained dismissvely. "All the stress, ya know?" Pein nodded and didn't argue. He wasn't quite sure that's all it was, but he didn't push it. She seemed clamy and pale. "At least we're off the highway."
"Will we be arriving soon?" Sasori asked. Hanna looked in the mirror at him briefly and nodded.
"We should be there soon." Hanna confirmed. "I just hope a tree hasn't fallen on it." They sat in silence for a small while until Hanna spoke again. "So, I have a question." Pein just looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "How did you guys even get here?" The question startled Pein. They had spent so much time trying to adjust and settle in and then the storm hit, they had all forgotten about the fact that they had to have gotten there somehow.
Pein thought back on what had happened. He and a few people from the group had just confronted Naruto and a few of his friends.
"I am unsure." Pein admitted after a few moments of silence. "We had just approached the Nine-Tails and his group." Pein explained and Hanna frowned, confused. She didn't remember that in the anime. "Neither side was attacking, therefore I have reason to believe this was not their doing." Pein explained. "We were negotiating when a portal opened up underneath us, pulling us in, but leaving the others."
"Were all of you there?" Hanna asked. Pein shook his head. Hanna frowned again.
"There were only a small selection of us." Pein explained. "Many of our members had died in battle at this time. Seeing them alive again was as much of a shock as being in a different world."
"That's super weird." Hanna stated. "Is there any jutsu in your world that is anything like it?" Pein sat and thought for a while before shaking his head. They sat there in silence for a small while until Hanna spoke up with an idea. "What about a summoning jutsu?" She asked. Pein looked at her. "When you guys use a summoning jutsu, does it work in a similar fashion?"
"Perhaps." Pein nodded. "But who would be strong enough to create a summoning jutsu that would work across universes?"
"That is an excellent question." Hanna admitted, deflating a bit. "Most likely, it is someone from your world. We don't have anyone who can do anything like that in our world." Pein nodded. "But don't give up hope." She told him and looked at him briefly, offering a small smile. "We will find a way to get you guys home. And until then, you are welcome to stay with us." Hanna added with a smile at Pein. He just looked at her funny. She was so accepting of them it was a little weird.
A part of him told him there was something she wanted from them. Perhaps she had her own agenda that benefit from their presence. The other half of him pointed out that since their arrival, the Akatsuki had done nothing to improve the women's ways of life. For some reason, he felt a small pang of guilt at that. The three had taken them in without hesitation, and they haven't even helped in any way besdies destroying the kitchen. Perhaps he should look into changing that.
Pein was thinking all of this while staring at Hanna who coughed slightly every now and then. She felt him staring and glanced his way, frowning slightly.
"Something wrong?" She asked. Pein didn't answer and just looked out the window, watching the trees go by as they bent in the wind and the rain on the window. Odd child.
Lily smiled softly to herself when she saw Zetsu had also fallen asleep. She looked ahead again, but still smiled. Just the breif glance told her bothe men in the back seat were asleep. And she could even hear Zetsu snoring slightly.
She could feel the truck jerk in the wind and kept it as steady as possible. She didn't want to wake anyone or run into the next lane.
The truck was quiet for a long while, the only sound being the low radio. She didn't mind the silence usually, however, she was tired. She could feel herself starting to nod off. Not even the adrenaline rush from earlier could keep her awake now. That was hours ago, it wore off. She wrung her hands on the steering wheel and felt her stomach twist into knots when she thought about talking to the stoic man next to her. She couldn't see what he was thinking and it freaked her out. Everyone else she could read like a book, she knew where she stood. But this group, especially this man, nothing.
"So," she spoke quietly to him. "how are you holding up?" Itachi turned to look at her before nodding.
"I am well." He answered. "And yourself?" She nodded and hummed.
"We should be there in an hour or two, depending on how bad the road are." She told him. Itachi nodded. She tried to thikn of something else to ask him and struggled but then smiled when an idea struck her. "How do you like the book so far?" She asked. "Watership Down?" Lily saw Itachi reach down and lift his bag to his lap. He dug around for a few seconds before pulling out the book. Lily smiled. He liked it enough to bring it with him.
"It is an odd story." He admitted. "However it is interesting, seeing the world from a rabbit's perspective." Lily laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, it gets weirder." She mentioned. "How far have you gotten?"
"These friends, keep talkin' way too much," Jo an Konan sang loudly together. "Say I should give you up!" Kakuzu and Hidan just looked at each other, not sure how to handle this. They just let the two dangerous women sing.
The music was replaced by Jo's phone ringing. She sighed and turned the volume down before unplugging the phone from the aux cord. She answered it and set it on speaker.
"Hello?" She asked, slightly exasperated.
"Hey, hun." A voice spoke. "It's Hanna. Lily, you on?" Hanna asked.
"Yep, I'm here." Lily's voice came over the phone. "Did you guys know Zetsu snored?" Hidan roared with laughter.
"Shut it, big boy." Jo said. "So what's the call for?"
"We are almost to the lake house." Hanna announced. "We are about a half an hour out. Keep an eye out for deer, downed trees, things like that."
"Yes, mom." Jo smirked and teased.
"Don't sass me, Daddy." Hanna laughed and responded.
"God, you two are weird." Lily said.
"Ok, I'm hanging up now." Jo said.
"But, I love you so much!" Hanna whined before Jo ended the call.
"God my friends are weird." Lily said to herself with a smile on her face.
"We are almost to the lake house." Itachi stated. Lily smiled and nodded.
"Yes, can you do me a favor and keep an eye out for deer?" Lily asked. "They like to jump infront of the cars." Itachi nodded and started looking. It was difficult to see with regular eyes in the dark with the rain.
Jo and Konan were singing along to another song while Kakuzu and Hidan sat quiet. Kakuzu was looking out the window, watching the trees bend. Shouldn't they have been far enough away from the storm? Hidan rested his head on the window and looked outside as well.
Before long the song ended and the two stopped singing. Jo turned the radio down and watched the windshield wipers swish back and forth. She could see Hanna's vehicle in front of her a good distance, she knew better than to tailgate Hanna.
"Shouldn't we be away from the storm by now?" Kakuzu asked, taking advantage of the music being quieter. Jo looked at him from the rearview mirror briefly before turning her attention back to the road. She opened her mouth to answer him but yelped in surprise instead. Jo slammed on the breaks and turned the wheel, trying to keep from hitting the tree that just fell on the road in front of them. Konan had grabbed onto the handle on the ceiling and braced herself against the dash while Hida and Kakuzu braced themselves against the ceiling with their hands as well to keep steady. A string of curses flew from Jo and Hidan's mouth. Kakuzu mumbled a few shits but Konan remained silent. The small car slammed against the tree and everyone Jerked. Hidan and Jo both smacked their heads against the window, but Jo put her arm up to try to cushion the blow.
Hidan and Jo both groaned as they sat up right. Kakuzu rubbed where the seatbelt had been tight against his neck, as did Konan.
"Everyone ok?" Jo asked as she looked around the car. Konan and Kakuzu nodded and Hidan was fine. He was just going to have a headache.
Lily watched in horror as her friend's car slammed into the tree. Itachi's eyes had widened slightly and Lily slammed on the brakes, waking up Kisame and Zetsu. Once the car stopped, the two looked ahead and saw.
"What the hell happened?" Kisame asked and leaned around the seat to look ahead. "Did it hit them?"
"No." Itachi answered. "But they did run into it." Lily began unbuckling her seat belt and leaned back and reached the floor behind her for her raincoat and slid it on.
"I don't see anyone moving." She said breathly as she jumped out of the truck, running over to the car.
"Hey Hanna, yeah." Deidara said. "I think a tree hit Jo's car, yeah." Hanna slammed on the brakes, sending everyone forward. She looked in the mirror and saw the tree in the road and turned the trailblazer around. She parked it next to the tree and opened her door.
"Wait here." She said and hopped out, not bothering with a jacket. Pein opened his door as well and slid out, following Hanna. Hanna grabbed some branches and pulled herself up and over the tree and hopped down. Pein followed suit and landed next to her quietly. She looked at him but didn't say anything. She didn't mind him tagging along.
Jo looked to her right as Konan's door was opened by Lily. The car lights went on and she grimaced. Everything was kind of fuzzy sounding and she shook her head, trying to clear it.
"You guys ok?" Lily asked. Konan nodded and looked to Jo. Lily saw Jo dozing. "Jo?" She asked, getting the girl's attention. "You good?"
"Hm?" She asked and thought for a second before nodding and grimacing. "I'm good. Let's get out of the car guys." She suggested. Konan unbuckled and slid out quickly, extending a hand to Jo who took it.
"Jesus, Jo." Hannah said as she and Pein jumped off the tree trunk. "How hard did you hit the window?" Jo looked at her friend, confused, as Lily grabbed her chin and pushed her head to the side, checking her friend's face. Blood was dripping down the side of her face. Jo blinked a few times and shoved Lily's hand away.
"Looks like the car's ok." Hanna said, coming back from looking at the front and side. She had walked away while Lily checked on Jo. Lily faced her when Kakuzu took Jo's face in one of his large hands and looked at her. She glared at him but he didn't care.
"Oh that's good." Lily said and looked at the tree. "tree doesn't look so bad, can we move it?"
"Either that or we have to ride out the storm here." Hanna said. The wind was starting to pick up again and they were starting to have to shout.
"Let's get everyone to pitch in." Lily suggested and before long, they had a large group dispersed along the tree on both sided. As a group, they all started to pull the tree. It wasn't too thick, but it was tall and the branches made it difficult. The group stopped when it was halfway off the road with enough space for a car to get around it. They couldn't force it much farther, it was stuck there for now.
Everyone piled into their cars quickly, wanting out of the storm. However, before Jo could get back into her seat, Kakuzu grabbed her, pulling aside.
"What do you think you're doing?" He asked her.
"I'm driving, shit for brains." She argued and yanked her arm out of his grip, almost knocking herslef over in the process. She shook her head, trying to stop the dizziness, it didn't work.
"Over Hidan's dead body." He said and turned to Konan, stopping her from getting in the car. "Konan, you need to drive." Konan nodded and closed her door, coming around the car. JO huffed and went to the passenger's seat and buckled up, crossing her arms. Stupid fucking concussion. She closed her eyes and sighed. Someone kicked her seat harshly.
"No sleeping." Kakuzu ordered. Jo whipped around and glared at him. She didn't stop glaring until Konan started driving. She sat correctly with her arms still crossed. She could feel the car shifting in the wind.
"Try not to overcorrect." She instructed. "If possible, try your best not to let the car swerve. I'll text hanna to slow down. With this weather we don't need….." Jo trailed off and zoned out until Kakuzu kicked her seat again. "Why the fuck you kicking me?" She snapped.
"You stopped talking in the middle of a sentence. You were going to tell Hanna to slow down." He explained. Jo looked at him confused but nodded anyway. She picked up her phone and started typing. Within minutes, ,the car ahead of them slowed.
Lily checked the time. It was early morning now, and if the storm hadn't have followed them, they sky would be lighter with the sun just starting to think about rising. Lukily, the storm didn't follow too much, the eye was in Virginia and estimated to head north, not west.
"We should be there any minute now." She said quietly as she looked for something on the road. "The drive way should be just around this bend here." She explained as the caravan followed the road around the corner. Trees surrounded them on each side, the thick forest stretching on indefinitely. She heard a loud yawn in the back seat and glanced in the mirror to see Kisame waking up and rubbing his face. She smiled gentely but focused on the road as she turned down a gravel road. The branches of some of the trees and bushes brushed her truck as they rolled slowly down the path.
"Is this it?" Kisame asked as they drove. Lily hummed and nodded. "Finally. Need to stretch out my legs."
"Same." Lily said nodding as they pulled up to a cabin. It was one story and fairly small. Lily parked near the door. "We're here." She announced and smiled at Kisame and Zetsu. "If we unload everythign quick enough we can pass out." She said as she opened her door nd pulled her hood up, stepping out into the rain and shutting the door behind her. Kisame grunted.
"Damn, wish we could wait until the rain stopped at least." He mumbled.
"The food will spoil." Itachi said as he stepped out into the rain as well. Kisame rolled his eyes and stepped out as well. Zetsu left last and stood in the rain, just enjoying it. Lily let him be with a smile, understanding he most likely hasn't had proper nutrition since he arrived in this world.
Lily popped open her trunk and climbed in. She grabbed a few items and passed them out. Then she grabbed a few bags herself and carried them to the front porch where a few others were waiting. She stood there confused for a few seconds until she realized Hanna wasn't on the porch.
"Hanna!" Jo shouted from the porch. Hanna's head popped out of her trunk as she looked at the group. Then realization struck her and she ran over, digging in her pockets. She flew up the steps and past everyone to get to the door.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." She mumbled as she unlocked the door and swung it open, letting the screen door rest on her. She held it open as people began to file in. There was a small entry hall and after that, to their left was a large living room with another hall on the opposite end leading to bedrooms. The living room had a coffee table and two couches and two love seats. "Just toss the sleeping gear in the living room. Food goes in the kitchen to the right." She said to Sasori and Deidara who were carrying a cooler each. They nodded and headed to the kitchen.
Sasori flipped on the light and Deidara blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light. The area was roomy and divided by a small bar. It seperated the cooking area from the dining area where a small table for four rested. They set the coolers on the counter and Sasori began to leave.
"Dana, yeah, I'm gonna start unpacking." Deidara said and waved Sasori on. Sasori looked at the blond and nodded before leaving.
Jo, Hidan, and Kakuzu were grabbing things from Lily's truck, having already finished emptying her small trunk. Jo followed Kakuzu and Hidan in the rain. She couldn't help but look down at the mud and puddles at her feet. She smiled and looked up to the sky that was starting to lighten as the sun thought about rising. They had been driving all morning and were exhausted. Even though she had to swap out with Konan, she was still tired, and the rain felt refreshing on her face. She stood there, smiling at the sky with her eyes closed.
"Hey!" Hidan called from the porch. "What the fuck are ya doing?" Jo shook her head, feeling a little goofy, and continued on to the porch. Hidan pushed the door open again and walked in. Kakuzu was about to follow when he heard something fall into the mud. He turned and say Jo lying face down in the mud. He dropped what he was carrying and made his way over to her.
"Jo!" hanna shouted from the porch, already on her way out. She crouched next to Kakuzu as he gently rolled her over. Pein and Konan, who were by Hanna's vehicle, joined them. "Wht happened? Is she ok?" Hanna asked. Kakuzu was silent as he checked her. "Jo?" Hanna called as she gently shook her friend's shoulder.
"She's out cold." Kakuzu stated. "Other thank that, I think she's ok. Let's get her inside and out of this miserable weather."
So it took so long and im soryy its so dull.