Bre POV
I followed behind Cass as we made our way closer to the city in the center of the lake. She was going on about something dealing with jutsus but I wasn't exactly following along. I'm sure it was probably pretty important since it wasn't just her rambling but I hadn't known that at first and hadn't been paying attention and now I was just lost. All I was really getting was that Leader found them really important and was wanting us to use them for the organization.
"And, uh, what jutsus were these again?"
"The bloodline jutsus. Leader called yours a Dōjutsu which means yours are specific to your eyes, like the sharingan."
"Oh I see." So Leader thinks my, dōjutsu, is somehow useful? I've only managed to use it those four times though... How useful can something be if I can't always even do it? My fight with Hidan was the first time I'd even successfully done it on purpose... I let out a heavy sigh and shifted my bag on my shoulder
"Have more confidence. Just because you can't do it yet doesn't mean it's impossible." I stopped walking and looked up at Cass, suddenly very confused. I hadn't said that out loud had I? "Shit..." She stopped suddenly and turned around to face me and I immediately moved back a step.
"Your eyes." Once over my initial shock I stepped forward again, trying to get a closer look just in case it was because of the dim light. But when I got closer I could tell it wasn't a trick of the light.
Her eyes were a bright yellow, not a drastic change from the orange I'd started to get used to but they were different enough. Moving closer I pulled her down slightly so I could get a better look. As I was staring her eyes slowly faded back into the normal coppery orange and I let her go. "Leader still hasn't told me what they look like."
"They're yellow... and really bright." I whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "So you-"
"We can't talk about it here. We're going to be late, let's go." Quickly shutting my mouth at her unusually serious tone I followed after Cass as she turned back to the city. As we got to the gates she gave something to the guards. They handed something back to her and she passed it back to me. "It doesn't have to be out in the open but keep this on you. It will serve as an ID so that you can enter certain restricted places." Nodding slightly I slipped what appeared to be a thin metal tag into my front pocket.
Cass' pace was brisk, so much different from her lazy one before we got here. A lot of her was different in fact. She seemed happy here. And then there was me, the only thing different about me was what I looked like.
Reaching up I brushed wet hair off of my face with a sigh and frowned. Somehow we always ended up like this. She always seemed to find the best in the worst things even when it was clear everything was definitely not ok. But then again, what did she have to think was bad? She spent her days cooking and delivering paperwork, had someone who liked her, and could already use her bloodline jutsu. Why wouldn't she think everything was fine?
I continued to follow Cass as we walked into several buildings and she traded scrolls and other items with people. The whole time she talked to them she kept up a very kind act, giving them the sweetest smiles and chatting away like it was the easiest thing while I just stood in the background. When people asked about me all she said was some lie that I didn't even bother listening to. I knew all of it was lies, especially her smile.
Stopping for a second I tried thinking back to the last time I'd actually seen her smile. It must have been the day before the con, she was so excited about it, as if we were going to a theme park instead of just another anime convention. She had spent that whole day giddy and restless that when it was time for us to go to bed she'd just passed out. I wonder if she still thinks about before...
"Now that that's done, let's go get some lunch. You must be starving." Cass reached back and grabbed my hand, tugging me forward and out of my thoughts. It didn't take long before we were sitting inside a restaurant with several small plates of food infront of us.
"Do we have enough money for this?" I questioned, doing my best to keep my voice low enough that only we could hear the conversation.
"Of course. It's a lot cheaper than it looks actually."
A little hesitantly I reached out and started to eat. Not sure of what anything was I decided to try everything, actually quiet pleased with how everything tasted. Looking up I started watching Cass scribble away in a notebook as she ate. I wasn't exactly sure how she was able to use chopsticks with her left hand but she seemed to have a good handle on it, even to the point that she wasn't really looking at what she was eating.
I leaned forward a bit, trying to get a good look at what she was doing and a small blush spread across my cheeks. "Is that me?" She mumbled around a mouthful of food in conformation and my blush got the tiniest bit darker. "Why'd you draw me so pretty?"
"Because I think you are pretty." Her words made my heart jump the tiniest bit and I quickly looked away. "No need to be shy about it. It's not like it's the first time I've said it."
"Yeah, but it's still embarrassing ok."
"So should I not call you pretty then?"
"I didn't say that." She grinned slightly at my mumbled response and I frowned up at her. "Alright then, why'd you draw me?"
"I didn't really have a reason, I just wanted to." She looked back down at her drawing and I continued to casually watch as we finished eating.
When we were done and had paid the waiter Cass hurriedly got up and lead me out of the restaurant. "What's the rush?" I asked as I did my best to keep up with her speedy pace.
"We're running late again. I zoned out and wasn't paying attention to the time." Something in her voice reminded me a lot of Sasori's and I couldn't help but snicker. "What? Why are you laughing at me?"
"You sound like a certain redhead we know." I kept snickering as pink rushed into her face and she huffed at me with an offended expression. "Oh come on, it's not like I'm insulting you. I mean you do spend a lot of time around him when him and blonde are actually around. That and be honest, you like his art more."
"I respect both of their art. And I'm not going to pick either of them as a favorite, no matter how much any of you ask me about it." She turned her head back forward, causing the bell on her hat to ring softly. The noise was nearly washed out by the rain but it caused a few heads to turn our way.
When I went to look at them more directly everyone quickly bowed their heads and went back to their business. "How come everyone's staring?"
"They don't recognize us." She stopped suddenly an I followed suit. "We're here." Cass gave me a smile that said not to press the issue as she unlocked a door and held it open for me. I shut my mouth and stepped into the tall tower the door lead into. I heard the click of the door as it was closed behind me and then the sound of it being locked.
Looking around my eyes didn't even need to adjust to the light in here since it was almost as dim as outside. It seemed the only difference here was that it was dry. Keeping quiet I followed Cass as she quickly lead me further into the building and to an elevator I would assume was at its' center. Stepping in with her as it finally came to our floor I watched her as she pressed the button for the 8th floor.
"Try and remember how to get back to the elevator when we get out, I don't know if I'll be done talking to Leader by then and if I'm not you'll need to head back on your own." Cass' voice was back to being it's same bored sounding tone as she spoke and I nodded slightly.
"Where am I going?"
"You're room. I figured you'd want to take a shower and change clothes. I already put some on your bed. And don't bother scrubbing down cause we'll be training after I'm done so just warm yourself up alright."
"Alright." I nodded again as the elevator stopped and we got off. Cass kept a slightly slower pace as we walked this time, letting me memorize the path we took to get to my room.
"My room is right next to yours and we share a bathroom alright, so don't leave it messy. Also... don't go roaming around on your own ok. So if you're worried you're going to get lost just stay here." She talked with her hands, only stopping to open up the door that I assumed was her room and tossing her hat inside.
"Alright alright... get going or you'll be late remember." I complained slightly, causing her to frown at me slightly. I waved her along and she let out a small sigh, rolling her eyes as she turned to leave.
As she was going I looked over at my door and opened it up. It was pitch black and I fumbled slightly as I searched for a light switch on the wall. Finally finding it I flipped it and looked around at the barren room. No window, minimal furniture. It seemed like the whole thing was nothing more than an after thought. It wasn't even that big.
I didn't suppose I needed a large room since I would only be spending my time sleeping in it but I had also been hoping I would get the chance to read here as well. With a sigh I walked over to my bed, which was the only nice thing in the room, and grabbed my change of clothes before heading into the bathroom. I already head a guess as to it's size but actually being inside was even worse. It was tiny, almost as small as the one from my old house. With another groan I started up my shower and found a towel to use before setting it and my clothes on the sink before stripping out of soaked clothes.
I hadn't even realized how dirty I was until I stepped into the shower. Looking down at my feet I watched the dirt from the last few days swirl with the water. I used some conditioner I found to carefully untangle the knots in my hair and try to get as much of the dirt out of it as I can for the time being. And then using water I tried to wash off my body for the most part as well. When I was finished I stepped out of the shower, dried off, and then did my best to dry my hair before braiding it over my shoulder. I got dressed quickly and dumped my dirty clothes in the hamper before walking back to the elevator.
Looking around it didn't appear as if Cass was back yet so I used the time to practice with my chakra, trying to get a better feel for how it moved in my body. Letting it flow to my feet I walked up the wall and started to pace on the ceiling. I nearly lost my focus as the elevator dung and Cass walked out. She looked around before looking up at the ceiling as I dropped down, landing softly in front of her.
"Are you ready?" Cass asked, taking some clips from her pocket and pinning her bangs back.
"Yeah. Is there a place for us to use here? Or do we have to go back outside?" She gestured for me to follow and we walked back into the elevator. I leaned against the wall as she pressed the button for a blank floor below the basement.
"We're staying in the building. There's a fairly large area in the sewers we can use. " She was speaking with her hands again and it made me smirk slightly. "Leader wants you to continue working on your dōjutsu. Both of us actually. Until we can use them in unison. It's only midday so we'll be working either until dinner or until we can barely stand." She stood straighter for a second as the elevator stopped.
When the doors opened I nearly let out a scream because standing there, licking blood from his hands was Zetsu. I looked over at Cass to see her pale slightly. "Oh? Cass and Bre, what a pleasant surprise. If we had known you were coming down we would have cleaned up first." He quickly wiped off his hands on the inside of his cloak before stepping out of the way. "Are you two training? Care if we join?"
"Sure. You have a much better understanding of jutsus than I do." Cass looked back up at him once the blood was gone, smiling softly. He chuckled deeply as we stepped out, walking with him to a fairly large opening in the tunnels. Cass and I continued to the center while he stood off to the side and watched us. "Ok. So I'm going to go ahead and activate my jutsu and then I want you to try yours. I think it might be helpful if I understand what it is you're feeling when you try."
Her stance relaxed for a second as she let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes. Her hands moved quickly in a set of six hand signs and I could feel her chakra as it spiked, almost making me gasp. For a second I could see it as it reached out curling around my leg. Interesting. So this is how you connect to a person. I looked up at her as she opened her yellow eyes and nodded.
Once she had a grasp on my mind I let out a deep breath and cleared my mind, trying to remember what Itachi had told me about activating my jutsu. "No... no that won't work." I furrowed my brow as Cass brushed a hand in the air, complaining loudly.
"What do you mean?"
"You can't just follow what someone else does. We're unique. You two don't have the same jutsu so you can't activate it the same way he does. You need to figure out what the driving factor is in what ties all of the times you used it together." I sighed and nodded, thinking about the times I'd used it.
The first was only for a second, while sparing with Itachi, then again with him but I managed to hold it for nearly five seconds that time, the third while I was battling Hidan to get him to call me by my name and finally to a bear attacking Hidan just the other day while he was attacking that bear. I thought hard for a little bit causing Cass to gently rub at her temple, as if she was in pain. "I think I get it. Each time it happened I had some other goal in mind. A very set goal. The first I just wanted to successfully use a jutsu, the second I was frustrated with Itachi and wanted to wipe the smug look off his face, third I had a bet with Hidan for him to use my actual name, and finally I wanted him to stop taking so long in fighting with a wild bear."
Cass nodded at me and put her hands on her hips. "Then you just need to get determined and set a very specific purpose." She looked over at Zetsu and nodded, making me look between them. She closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh, when she looked back up her eyes had returned to normal. "Train on your own for a little bit. Just think how badly you need to do this and focus on that." This time she did hand signs I recognized and a clone appeared beside her. It didn't move much as she walked over to Zetsu, as if the clone was only a shell and she hadn't quite gotten a hand on making one that could move.
I nodded and kept up my focus, doing my best to activate my dōjutsu.