Chapter 25: Love Whisperer Arc - Sympathy, Empathy, and Epiphany

Things I hate in my life:

- Homework

- Writer's Block

- No Wifi

- Modern Music

- Laggy Servers

- Deadlines for School

- Exams

Which one of these did I have to suffer through this week? If you guessed all seven, then you are correct! At least I'm slowly getting through everything, especially my writer's block after using all my creativity on essays. Modern music, however, can't really be helped. Sorry to all of their fans out there, but I don't really like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and The Chainsmokers. I prefer 80's music, songs from DDR, anime theme songs, and other foreign songs, such as Caramelldansen and Dragostea Din Tei (which is commonly referred to as Numa Numa)

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except for the plot and my OCs. I don't own Star Wars, either.

Kaiya's POV

About a week had passed since I had tried to confess to Daichi.

Since then, Kisame had been devising of different ways to help me confess, being the love guru that he was...or at least trying to be. Daichi and I barely talked in school. Usually, our conversations were just a simple "hello" and then we would part ways and pay attention to our classes, despite both of us having the same ones.

In addition, none of my dreams took me to the Pure Land that week. I wanted to talk to Yahiko a little bit about all of this, but at the same time, I felt more like hanging out with the Akatsuki. Not only did it make the fragments of the scintillating orb appear, but it also helped me bond with a bunch of what were supposed to be cold-hearted criminals.

Currently, I sat in the corner of the living room, trying to figure out what kind of things all of us could do on a normal Saturday night. Naoki was reading a Star Wars comic on the couch, pretty much lost in the storyline. Kagami and Tobi were the only ones that seemed to be enjoying themselves at the moment, chasing each other around in circles on the carpet. Sasori was playing around with Kagami's stuffed animals, while Deidara watched with envy. Hidan and Kakuzu were having another squabble in the kitchen, but luckily, Kagami couldn't hear anything. Zetsu was somewhere underground, and Itachi and Kisame were just lying down on the couch. Pein and Konan sat next to them, also bored as well. Nobody seemed to have any idea of what to do on a good Saturday.

Well, Yukio seemed to have one.

"I'm bored," he muttered, walking into the living room and plopping down on the couch. "Onee-chan, can we do something fun?"

I shrugged. "You can do anything you want—"

His face immediately lit up. "Ooh! Can I take out my surfboard and go surfing down the stairs while twirling a lit torch around and around while setting off a million fireworks in the house?"

Deidara gave him a smug grin. "I second that idea, un."

"Except for that," I sighed, and both of their faces immediately dropped. I only shook my head. "If we're going to at least try something fun, can we make sure it isn't going to kill us in the process?"

"I got it!" exclaimed Kagami. "Let's play hide and seek, and Tobi-chan can be—"

"No!" every Akatsuki member but Tobi exclaimed, with Deidara being the loudest. "Do not play hide and seek with Tobi!"

She blinked at all of the members, slightly hurt. "Why not? Tobi-chan is playing nicely, right?" Noticing Tobi back away uneasily from the members, Kagami grinned, then jumped on him, tickling the laughing boy. "Who's a good boy, Tobi-chan? Are you a good boy? Yes, you are, Tobi-chan!"

Both of them giggled wildly, and Deidara groaned. Walking over to me, he whispered his thoughts into my ear.

"That half-brained idiot is corrupting your imouto's mind, un."

I nodded in reply, but kept a smile on my face. "Sort of, but she's always been like that. Kagami-chan is quite a playful little kid, and that's why we adopted her. When we were sad, she was able to bring a smile to all of our faces."

"Adopted?" Deidara questioned. "I had no idea...she looks a lot like you guys. I mean, all of you have brown hair and brown eyes...well, you have gray eyes. How does that work?"

I shrugged. "Learning about pigments and chromosomes can be very confusing, but my parents said that I was born with them. My mother had gray eyes, and my father had brown eyes. But yeah, we adopted Kagami from a place called Little Alder Orphanage roughly around eight months ago."

"I see," he responded. "Did she have a different name back then?"

"She was called Kage," I answered. "I don't exactly know why, but that was what they called her at the orphanage. They refused to tell me her original last name, which Kagami also did not seem to remember. She still smiled back then, but much less than she does now."

Before he could whisper a reply back to me, Kagami interrupted us by shoving us apart, her eyes glittering with delight.

"Onee-chan!" she squealed. "How about we all watch Star Wars!"

To my partial surprise, Naoki leaped from the couch as soon as he heard Kagami mention his favorite series, an extremely serious expression on his face. Quickly, he snatched the remote and clicked on the television, inserting a disc inside the DVD player. All in about one minute.

"We're all watching that," he deadpanned. "Now."

Yukio smirked at his older brother. "Nii-chan, I know that you want to see Princess Leia and fall in love with her again—"

Naoki's face turned red, and he pointed an accusing finger at Yukio. "Shut up, otouto! I don't have a crush on her! Han Solo does!"

"Who's Han Solo?" asked Kisame. "He sounds like he has a major love prob—"

"No!" we all screamed in unison before Kisame could finish his sentence. "No more Love Whisperer stuff!"

He sank down into his seat, pouting. "Pfft! You guys are no fun! Aren't all movies supposed to include some sort of complicated romance story in them or something so that it attracts all of the fangirls?"

"Not necessarily," Yukio answered. "Most movies embed some sort of romantic plot in them, but a good movie doesn't always need one. Star Wars is a mix of science fiction, comedy, tragedy, and romance. My favorite part, however, is all of the stunts they pull while flying those starships."

"I guess that's not a bad idea," I said. "It's a great family movie, so I think you'll enjoy it. But do you want to start with the original first episode or just watch the series in chronological order?"

Naoki shrugged. "I guess we should start with the original. I started that way, and it helped me understand what was going in the first three episodes later on. Based on all of the content, I'm pretty sure that all of the Akatsuki will enjoy it to some extent."

"Are there explosions?" asked Deidara, displaying excitement.

I smiled at him. "Plenty. Literally, everything ends up blowing up in some way, whether it would be from a blaster, a robot, or a laser beam."

He smirked, intrigued. "Tell your brother to hurry up and play the movie then. I want to watch everything from beginning to end, un."

"It'll be starting in about five minutes," Yukio announced. "Onee-chan, nii-chan, and imouto, do you want to prepare some snacks for everyone? I'm craving some popcorn right now, along with some candy."

Naoki shrugged. "Sure, but don't eat too much, otouto. Too much junk food and sweets aren't good for you."

I nodded in agreement. "That is very true. In addition, it's better if we share with the Akatsuki as well. I doubt that they know what popcorn is, since they're S-rank criminals from a ninja world or something. If they were plotting something, then it is likely that they did not time to eat what they wanted to all of the time, like us."

Kagami clapped her hands happily. "I'll go get the candy, onee-chan!"

"Alright, I'll do the popcorn," said Yukio. "Nii-chan, can you help me with the microwave part, though?"

Naomi nodded. "Onee-chan, are you going to prepare anything for us and the Akatsuki?"

"I'm not exactly sure," I answered truthfully. "Maybe they'll like something that they haven't tried before, like...I don't know, chocolate? Naoki-chan, is there chocolate in Naruto?"

"Most likely not," he answered. "They usually eat ramen, dango, rice, takoyaki, and other stuff like that. Unless it's mochi or biscuits, there usually isn't any dessert being shown."

"Let's have them give chocolate a try," I suggested. "Imouto, can you gather as much candy as possible for them?"

She nodded excitedly, snatching more and more things out of the pantry. "On it, onee-chan!"

After a few minutes, we managed to gather all of the food, and Yukio's popcorn had finished popping. Quickly, I carried the chocolate over to the couch, and Kagami followed me, clutching boxes of candy in her little arms that made me feel guilty, as I was only holding one box.

I handed the chocolate to the Akatsuki, opening the heart-shaped box to reveal tons of assorted chocolates.

"What is this stuff?" inquired Kisame, picking up one of the pieces from the box.

"It's called chocolate," I told him. "Chocolate is a really sweet type of candy, and we all grew up loving it. Give it a try...it's not going to kill you!"

He looked at me skeptically before popping the piece into his mouth. "If you say so."

Watching Kisame give the chocolate a try, Deidara and Itachi decided to grab a piece for themselves, just as Kisame gave his opinion.

"Why isn't this stuff in our world?" asked Kisame, his eyes sparkling. "That was so good!"

Interested, some more Akatsuki members began to taste the chocolate as well, eventually displaying the same reaction as Kisame.

"What is it made out of?" asked Kakuzu. "How much does it even cost?"

"People use cocoa beans to make chocolate," I said. "I don't exactly remember how it works, though. As for the cost, it really depends. This chocolate that I just gave you was only five dollars, but there are some other kinds of chocolate that can cost over a hundred dollars. For some reason, those are the more popular ones, even though I'm pretty sure that they taste exactly the same."

Upon hearing my last sentence, Kakuzu flinched. "Why don't people just save their money, then? Honestly, your world is very strange."

"Yours is probably even stranger," muttered Yukio. "I mean, how in the name of alfalfa do the people there manage to produce—" he pointed directly at Hidan— "this?"

Hidan glared at the boy, his nostrils flaring. "What did you say, you little piece of— ow!"

Yukio immediately silenced him by doing you-know-what.

Off to the side, Kagami stifled a laugh, then stopped. "Yukio-nii-chan, I think you've kicked him enough. There's no need to fight."

He turned around to look at her, surprised. "Why not? Hidan has a rate of about fifty CPM! Fifty curses per minute! I don't want you to hear so much profanity, Kagami-chan. Seven-year-olds shouldn't be listening to that stuff!"

She simply shrugged. "That's okay, Yukio-nii-chan. I've heard much worse before you all adopted me, and Hidan is only doing what comes naturally to him. I don't exactly agree with it, but everybody has their own way of doing something, right? Hidan just believes that...profanity is just another part of being the person he is. Just like how being sassy and a daredevil is part of you."

Yukio sighed, realizing that he couldn't really go against that, while Hidan smirked at the boy. "Fine, I'll let it go this time. But if he hurts you, you know exactly what I'm going to do."

Kagami just shot him a look and sat down on the couch with Tobi, a smile spreading on her face as she waited for the movie to begin. As soon as the 20th Century Fox logo appeared on the screen, Naoki came rushing in with a fresh bowl of popcorn.

"For the movie," he explained to the Akatsuki. "It's another one of the foods we have here, but it's from heating up dry corn kernels and putting butter and salt on them. Usually, people eat it when they are watching a movie, like Star Wars."

Suddenly, before any of us could speak again, loud music blared from the TV, signaling that the movie had begun. Tobi shrieked at how loud the noise was, while the rest of us just read the prologue.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…" read Itachi. "Interesting."

All through that hour, all of the members seemed to be fully intrigued, but each of them was focused on one aspect of the movie. Deidara grinned and smirked evilly ever single time he saw an explosion, which practically meant that he was like that throughout the entirety of the movie. Hidan was rather disappointed that there wasn't too much gore, but was content that there still was blood being spilled. Sasori kept silent, but seemed a little interested in the idea of Stormtroopers and droids. Kisame, on the other hand…

"Han Solo, freaking kiss her already!" he screamed at the television every now and then. "Come on! You're so close!"

Naoki shook his head, laughing. "I find it quite amazing that in Naruto, you're a sadist who enjoys killing people slowly, but here, you're a romantic that tries to play matchmaker with fictional characters."

Kisame shrugged, then returned his attention to the television screen to cheer on Han Solo and Princess Leia. Meanwhile, Kakuzu was seething with anger.

"What a waste of technological parts!" he growled, raising a fist. "How much did it cost to make this movie, anyway?"

"I'm not sure, but at least a few million dollars," I answered, and his eyes widened dramatically. "But it made more millions of dollars from the people that watched it to pay for the movie."

Kakuzu seemed interested in this idea. "I'll keep in mind that the best way to earn millions of dollars is to make a simple video, then."

Instantly, Naoki scowled at him. "It's not just a simple video, Kakuzu. It took like, what? Years to film everything in the movie? And people have to like the movie in order to be willing to hand over their cash! Besides, where are we going to get our million dollar budget from?"

"Well, excuse me!" retorted Kakuzu, and soon, the two exploded into a heated argument. Kagami was trying to pull the two apart, but to no avail. Hidan grinned and ate popcorn, enjoying the argument much more than the actual movie.

Turning back to the television screen, I sighed and shook my head.

This is going to be a long night...

Kagami's POV

After the movie, everybody decided to go to sleep, quite exhausted after watching the movie. I was pretty sure it was all that popcorn and sweets that were making them sleepy, but I had eaten quite a lot of sweets as well, and felt more hyperactive than ever.

But still, I wanted to talk to Rin again. The last time I had talked to her, she was about to tell me how she had died, but we were interrupted by the beginning of that day. I desired to know more about this Obito and Kakashi, and which boy she actually loved in the end.

Pulling the covers over my body, I slowly closed my eyes, and waited for sleep to claim me.

However, minutes passed, and nothing happened. The candy seemed to be keeping me awake, but then again, I felt sleepy at the same time.

Rin, where are you?

I'm right here, a voice answered inside of my head. My eyes widening, I screamed and jolted out of the sleeping bag. The loud noise woke up Tobi, who immediately rushed to my side.

"What's wrong, Kagami-chan?" he asked me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. I couldn't see if he was worried or not underneath that mask that he always wore, but I could detect it in his voice.

"I-I-I thought I was hearing strange voices, Tobi-chan!" I panicked. "I think I had a bad dream, but I can't remember anything…"

Tobi gently placed a blanket over me as I reluctantly crawled back into the sleeping bag. "Tobi's here, Kagami-chan. Don't think about it too much. Tobi will make sure to scare away those bad, nasty dreams and make them want to say bye-bye!"

He waved his hand towards the window for emphasis, and I laughed at his playfulness. Silently, he turned back to me and patted my head, handing me both Shiroyuki and Usagi.

"Tobi told the rabbits to keep watch for nightmares," he said, climbing back into the bed. "Sweet dreams, Kagami-chan."

"Goodnight, Tobi-chan," I whispered back, thinking that I really was hearing things. Perhaps it was simply a delayed reaction to watching the movie? Maybe I slept through the part where Leia called Han a scruffy-looking nerf herder? Oh wait, that was in The Empire Strikes Back, not A New Hope.

No, the voice said. Kagami-chan, don't you remember me? Pay close attention to my voice. You can talk to me using your thoughts, but don't say anything aloud. Especially in front of the Akatsuki and Tobi.

How do you know my— I trailed off, and all of a sudden, the name of the person who was trying to speak to me hit me. Rin-chan? Is that you?

Ah, I see you've caught on, Rin answered, and I swore that I could hear her smile. Are you wondering why I'm suddenly inside your head rather than simply summoning you to the Pure Land?

I attempted to nod, but realized that Tobi was still looking towards me. Well, yes. How are you even doing this, anyway?

Remember the forbidden jutsu that I stole in order to try to speak to someone? she asked, giggling. Well, there is a second phase to it. It allows me to create an empathy link with the same person I summoned to the Pure Land, so I can communicate with you whenever I want to. But still, I can only talk to you when I have the strength, or if you really need my help.

I see, I responded inside of my head. Say, is it okay if you tell me the rest of your story of how you ended up in the Pure Land. What exactly happened to Obito Uchiha and Kakashi after you died?

If it was possible, I heard — no, felt — her smile fade. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've summoned you, but my chakra was completely drained from practicing the second phase. It took a lot of strength, but at least I'm in your head now. However, I still have not mastered this phase, either.

It's fine, Rin-chan, I reassured her. Would you like me to tell you my backstory as well after you finish?

There's no need, she replied. Being in your head allows me to see all of your thoughts, so I already know what has happened to, you know, them. I'm so sorry, Kagami-chan…

Once again, it's fine, I told her. I just...I wish I didn't have to see it all happen, Rin-chan. It all happened so fast, but I saw every single second of it happening. The screams. The blood. But still, could I have done something to prevent it, rather than standing in the shadows which I had been named after?

At least you didn't die, Rin tried to reassure me. Look what you have now, Kagami-chan. They may not be your biological family, but they love you just as much as your parents did, if not more.

I shuffled underneath the sleeping back, trying to block any more of the horrific memory from entering my head. Well, at least that's a plus.

In my head, I heard Rin sigh regretfully, realizing that it was her turn to share how she had died. So, remember where we left off, after Obito was crushed by the rock on the mission to destroy the bridge?

I nodded silently, confirming that Tobi had finally fallen asleep. Yeah, and did something happen after that?

Indeed, she answered. The destruction of the bridge turned the tide of the war in our favor, but by then, the enemies were filled with rage. A year later, the shinobi of Kirigakure — the village where your friend Kisame is from — kidnapped me and sealed a bijuu — a powerful tailed demon — inside of me. In addition, they also placed a special seal on me so that when I re-entered Konohagakure, the bijuu would be unleashed and destroy the village.

Is that how you died? I asked, my body turning cold.

No, Rin replied. I was able to stop the bijuu from being unleashed inside of the village, but at the cost of my own life. When Kakashi rescued me from the Kiri-nin, they pretended to chase us, but in reality, they were allowing us to escape in order to force me to enter the village. I knew what was happening, so I ordered Kakashi to kill me. He refused, but at that moment, the Kiri-nin caught up with us. As Kakashi was preparing to attack the Kiri-nin, he instead impaled me with his Lightning Blade.

It took approximately ten seconds for her last sentence to register inside my mind. And when it did, I felt like I was going to hurl.

Kakashi did what?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I let out a small gasp, smothering it two seconds later with my hands so that Tobi didn't hear me.

But why? I asked her, close to tears on how such a prodigious and friendly shinobi could commit something so awful. Why would he do something like that to you? Didn't you like him or something?

Remember, Kagami-chan? she responded. I stopped being infatuated with Kakashi after Obito presumably died, and was instead torn between both of them. Furthermore, Kakashi didn't really kill me. It was my own decision to end my life right there, so that the bijuu sealed inside me wouldn't destroy Konoha. I was the one who jumped in front of Kakashi's jutsu just before he was going to attack. It was a lose-lose situation either way, but I feel like my death, directly and indirectly, caused some major consequences.

Like what? I inquired. Doesn't a person's death already cause consequences, like the loss of a loyal shinobi?

Much, much worse, Rin answered sadly. If only I had known that not only Kakashi had to watch me die, but that my best friend had also watched the entire thing unfold.

My eyes widened, realizing exactly what that meant. You don't mean that—

Yes, she confirmed. Obito was watching the entire thing, but nobody knew. After Kakashi passed out after witnessing my death, Obito single-handedly killed every single person there, save for Kakashi. My soul was leaving my body at that time, and I desired to tell Obito so badly that I was there. But I couldn't.

Tears began to escape from my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. Nevertheless, more and more seemed to come, even though I had not felt this way whenever I read books about death.

Rin was silent for moment, then continued. I could tell immediately that Obito had been filled with so much grief after I died. It wasn't until I reached the Pure Land did I find out that Obito had been working for a man named Madara Uchiha, who had rescued him before he was killed in the cave-in. Throughout the years, he went around killing shinobi and attacking random civilians in order to try to make a world where he and I could be together again. Really, the idea of it was sweet and all, but I didn't like the way he and Madara were planning to carry it out. Killing innocent shinobi is no excuse for trying to create world peace.

How in the world is more killing supposed to lead to world peace? I questioned. Doesn't it only create more wars?

Pretty much. But according to Madara, that was what Project Tsuki no Me was all about. I don't know too many details about it, but it definitely involved the Akatsuki in some way if he went and joined them a few years later.

My jaw dropped in real life. Say what? Obito is in the Akatsuki? But nobody here has that name! Who could it be?

Inside of my head, I heard some sort of beeping noise, and Rin gasped. Sorry, Kagami-chan, but it's my time to leave. My chakra levels are running very low, so hopefully, I can see you again soon. Goodbye for now.

Wait! I inwardly panicked. At least tell me which member is supposed to be the man known as Obito Uchiha!

But in the end, I received no response. Rin had returned to the spirit world, since I could no longer hear her inside of my mind.

My eyes shifting towards Tobi, and then at Usagi and Shiroyuki, I sighed, not wanting to think of any Akatsuki member as Obito. Tobi seemed far too nice, Obito was definitely not a puppet like Sasori, and he definitely wouldn't disguise himself as Pein or Konan.

I've got to find out about this, I decided. But still, I feel so bad for Rin and Obito...nobody should have any of their loved ones die. No one. Not even the loved ones of the ones that killed or were S-rank criminals. Also, I can't even tell anybody about this, since it would also give away the fact that I was talking to Rin as well! Even though it's probably for Obito's sake, I feel so bad about keeping a secret from my family! Oh Kami-sama, what do I do?

Needless to say, I go absolutely no sleep that night.

A/N: It's quite unfortunate that Kagami doesn't realize that the man she's looking for is the one sleeping in her bed, hugging a stuffed dove. I also plan to expand much more on her backstory as the plot goes on.

Anyway, I'm sorry for how late this chapter is! I hope you still enjoyed it, though!

Question: Favorite book of all time? I absolutely love The Book Thief by Markus Zusak!

Good night, everybody!

— Tenshi —