Part 2

Chapter 8

With the Akatsuki

"Orochimaru's been killed." Leader relayed to the astral projections of his fellow members.

Kisame chuckled first. "After leaving Akatsuki ten years ago, his death finally came to him, eh? I wanted to see how he died, and I also wanted to see how the Zombie Combo died." Zetsu was the one who reported their deaths but besides that no one really knew how they were killed, so Kisame's sense of curiosity wasn't unusual. Deidara himself wondered whether the Jashinist was really dead or just lying in pieces somewhere.

"Hidan and Kakuzu were still with us. Watch your tongue." Leader reprimanded him.

"Sorry."

"The ones who killed Kakuzu and Hidan back there were people from Konoha." Zetsu joined in. "It was Kakashi and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's platoon." Deidara's eyes narrowed. Kyuubi's jinchuuriki kept meeting with various Akatsuki members, just not with the one who wanted to have a go with him the most; he himself. First Sasori, now Hidan and Kakuzu. It was getting ridiculous at this point.

"That platoon is strong, isn't it?" Tobi asked. "They stood up Deidara-san a number of times already too!"

"Tobi!" He barked. "Just say another word you asshole. My patience container is about to explode, un." His failure to cross paths with the Kyuubi was irritating by itself. Tobi's mocking voice was a needless provocation.

"Easy, easy, easy. If your patience container is a bag of your patience, Deidara-san, then like your bag of exploding clay, you'd just shred it to pieces immediately." He wouldn't had to if his partner didn't ask for it by running his stupid mouth.

"Seriously, you-"

"Deidara, calm down." Leader cut him off. "You'll only prove Tobi right." Deidara glanced at the Leader, wanting to say: you pair up with him next time and see how well it goes for you.

"And Tobi, you're always saying too much. You're angering your senpai." He didn't want to be a senpai to this annoying kid.

"Yes, I'm sorry!"

"How will we catch the remaining jinchuuriki like that?" Kisame asked. "Anyway, whoever killed Orochimaru must've been something else. Who was it?"

"It was Sasuke Uchiha." Great, another Uchiha.

"I was supposed to be the one to beat up Orochimaru, un." Well, Sasori was. He voiced his anger at the traitorous Orochimaru numerous times. But since Master Sasori was gone, he might as well do that in his stead.

"Impressive. Nothing less from Itachi Uchiha's little brother." Far too many Uchiha's for his taste anyway, especially now that the younger one decided to meddle so close to them.

"He's currently going around gathering companions." Zetsu seemed to have more info than he let on.

"Itachi, Kisame…he'll most likely be targeting you." Leader stopped the discussion about Sasuke's new companions. "Everyone else, remember what I've told you about Sasuke Uchiha. If they learn too much about Itachi and Kisame, they may target the Akatsuki."

"They sound like an interesting group, un." He smirked. Suigetsu Hozuki a second coming of Zabuza? Now that seemed battle worthy.

"Hang on, hang on!" Tobi spoke. "Don't you have a weird interest in them? I'd rather not get involved with them."

He didn't get a chance to answer him because the Leader already switched the topic, once again postponing Deidara's plans to go after the Kyuubi or anyone else for that matter.

"Before that, Itachi and Kisame, hurry up and bring the Yonbi here. We're going to seal him."

It seems Iwa's second jinchuuriki got captured without the Old Geezer batting an eye. Typical Onoki, forever remained a hypocrite.

Iwa shinobi were the biggest fools out of them all. They never questioned Onoki's decisions or judgement. How some people managed to still live there unbothered by all of it was baffling.

And disappointing.


Sayomi's POV

Current location: Konoha

Before I rang the doorbell to Shikaku Nara's house I thought up at least five different scenarios. From him attacking me, calling me a liar and not believing me, hell I even prepared for tears.

But now that I looked at the situation I was in, it was something I definitely didn't prepare for. I didn't have a countermeasure for sitting opposite of Shikaku, playing shogi with him.

First I stared at their front doors for a while, trying to steady my breathing. If my glare could burn holes, the doors would have been a goner. In the end I rang the doorbell because I didn't want to be dubbed a lunatic that hesitated for ten minutes straight.

As the doorbell resonated through the yard, I looked around and at the fence surrounding Shikaku Nara's house. The Nara compound was on the edge of the village, with his house being the first one.

A woman eventually opened the door, white apron around her hips and her brown hair down in a ponytail.

"Yes?"

"Is Shikaku Nara here? I need to have a word with him." I blurted those words out as quickly as I could, which must have sounded so suspicious and anxious. She didn't notice though, just nodded and let me in the front yard.

It was a nice-looking house, the old-fashioned build with elevated foundation and sliding panels instead of walls. She motioned me to follow her and we got up on the stairs, but instead of entering the house she continued down the outer hallway, taking a right turn around the house. Their garden was perfectly up-kept but minimal, without flowers or other decorations.

Shikaku soon came into our line of view, sitting in front of the shogi board on the end of veranda. He was dressed in a green kimono, his dark brown hair in a ponytail and two scars on the right side of his face. He stared at the shogi board, hands crossed.

"Dear, you have a visitor." He looked up at me and I bowed my head slightly. I couldn't read his eyes but I did see he was observing me very closely. I watched for any signs of him moving out to attack me yet he remained sitting, soon straightening his back and rearranging the shogi board.

The woman gave me a smile before going away and he pointed at the seat in front of him, not breaking his movements over the board.

I placed my hands on my knees as I sat down, knowing I can do a seal in a fraction of a second and get away from here if things go south. Right now everything seemed fine, which wasn't completely unexpected but it was a bit suspicious.

Once he placed all the pieces on their starting positions he finally looked at me.

It was a stare down. Kind of. He looked straight into my eyes and I wasn't about to be intimidated by him so I stared back. He was Hokage's advisor, which proved his expertise. I suspected he was no joke on the battlefield either. However, I prepared myself in case he decides to attack me. I wouldn't be here if that wasn't true.

"Do you play shogi?" He asked, making a move without hearing my answer. I tried not to make a face, thinking back on all those hours I wasted watching Rin-sensei suck at shogi. I remembered the rules, though I had a feeling I didn't stand a chance against someone like him.

I humoured him, and for a while it went back and forth like that; he moving a piece and then me moving a piece. I had a vague idea of what I was doing, but I definitely wasn't playing any strategy nor did I have enough experience with the game to think up one on the spot.

He stayed silent and I thought about breaking the ice and trying to explain who I was, since I was the one who came here to talk to him. For some reason I couldn't proceed with that, and instead focused on the game. Which was weird because I never really liked shogi to begin with.

I smirked to myself once I took his knight out, recognising a strategy Masaki often used against Rin. But then he took out my general, so my gloating was short lived.

"You're a better shogi player than your mother." My hand froze halfway to the board. I looked up, finding corner of his lips curled up in a smile. "Even though there's room for improvement."

"How did you…you don't even know my name."

"Your resemblance to Shiori is uncanny. Your eyes are a darker shade of brown, but the rest is the same." I leaned away from the board, taken aback by the whole thing. I didn't think he'd be able to guess who I was without knowing anything about me.

"Now…how long have I had a niece I didn't know about?"

"Nineteen years. My parents died when I was three." I added quickly, in case he got hopeful he'll see my mother any time soon. He nodded. "How did she die? I was told Ishii of the Iwa killed her on the battlefield in the last great war."

"That's my father." He stared at me before breaking down in laughter.

"She always had unconventional ideas, but this has to be her most insane one. To fall in love with an enemy shinobi…"

He tilted his head slightly as he looked at me again, and I could tell he was actually looking through me because of the way his eyes remained unfocused. Perhaps he didn't even see me but my mother, and that thought, along with the silence that stretched, made me uncomfortable.

"What was she like, my mother?" His eyes focused on mine and I knew I brought him back to earth. "I know she fooled everyone she wasn't a kunoichi and followed my father to Iwa. Why did she do that? Just abandon her family and go with the enemy."

He sighed but I continued to talk, letting out all the unanswered questions out of my system. "All my life I thought they were killed by a band of thieves when they went to visit the native village of my mother somewhere in Land of Earth. Only later had I found out who they were and that they were last seen near Konoha. Maybe they were killed by Kyuubi, or by someone else - not like I have a way of knowing. I can't say for sure I know anything about them except their names. Both of them are complete strangers to me, so much I can't call myself neither Ishii nor Nara."

I could see in his eyes he understood how confused I was, which was true. I rarely thought about my family before learning who they really were from Onoki-sensei's scroll. After that I didn't want to think about them because on top of not remembering them in the slightest, I couldn't understand their actions or motivations.

"She was my younger sister and we grew up in the war times. She was bright and passionate, but too green. Not fit for battlefields." He shook his head. "She was a talented medic nin. Nara clan's heritage is the usage of herbs and deer antlers in medicine and remedies. She read our treasured medical encyclopaedia from cover to cover, and once she mastered the craft she was unrivaled in our entire clan. But as I said, she wasn't fit for battlefields, rarely any medic nin is. Regardless of that she was always deployed to battle. She never complained, rather told me how that experience will make her as strong as it did Tsunade-hime. That's when I got a word she'd been killed by Ishii of the Iwa."

"Why did she follow my father back to Iwa then?"

"Love makes us do crazy things. Somehow both of them abandoned that hatred we were all carrying the entire war." I pursed my lips. It wasn't the explanation I wanted, but I couldn't hope to get another. The two people who could tell me the whole story were dead. So that was that.

"You said they were last seen in a village near Konoha?" I nodded. "How do you know that?"

"My mother was a medic nin and my father was skilled in Doton and Katon. Yet I wasn't good in any of that. I almost didn't graduate the Academy because I couldn't do basic Earth clones." I smiled, fiddling with the fabric of my pants.

"So once I found a jutsu I was compatible with, Onoki-sensei launched an investigation into my heritage. An Iwa nin doing Shadow jutsu is unheard of."

"Shadow jutsu is not a kekkei genkai, but it is used only by members of the Nara clan. We took measures to limit that jutsu to these walls and we teach it in absolute secrecy." I deadpanned.

"Well, I was…inspired." I didn't have a better explanation for it.

"It seems that jutsu came natural to you." He scratched his beard before laughing again. "Shiori never used it, but it seems the Nara genes came through after all."

I nodded, feeling embarrassed. "So Onoki looked into your parents because he recognised our jutsu?"

"Yes, and didn't bother telling me about it. It was only later that I found out about them, when I broke in the forbidden section." He raised his eyebrow. "I wasn't looking for that. I didn't know it existed. I was there for a completely different reason."

"And that is?" He sounded like a parent but didn't appear angry. Just interested.

"My friend took a kinjutsu in order to advance himself. Onoki-sensei didn't take it well and threatened him with execution. So my friend left the village."

"When was that?"

"Three years ago. I left the same day." I took off my cloak, revealing him my crossed-out headband tied around my arm. His eyes narrowed at it and I sighed.

"It's not that simple."

"Rarely anything is. Good thing is that I have all the time in the world." I hesitated for a moment, thinking how he'll definitely proclaim Deidara a criminal that's beyond saving if I tell him the whole story. At the same time I knew he'll see through all my lies and half-truths, so I shouldn't even bother sugar-coating anything.

The silence prolonged and he must have realized I don't feel comfortable talking about that subject. Even though I wasn't uncomfortable, just fearful of giving him only a partial description of who Deidara was. I wanted to paint him exactly as he is, but found myself not knowing how to put it into words.

"You haven't told me your name." He said, moving a piece on the board.

"Sayomi." I didn't know which move to make. Both on the board and regarding the topic of Deidara.

"Who took care of you growing up?"

"My grandmother for some time before passing away. After that I was by myself." I let out a small chuckle almost immediately. "That's a lie. I wasn't alone for long."

And just like that the words spilled out of me. Who Deidara was and what he did. What I did afterwards and how I saw him getting tricked into joining the Akatsuki by Itachi Uchiha. I didn't tell him I infiltrated every village in my search for him, but I did tell him I spent three years tracking both Deidara and the Akatsuki down.

"Despite all of it I just can't-I can't seem to find him." I bit my lip. "He was my only family back when I thought I had no one. I can't let him be thrown out of the village like that, nor can I watch him work for an organisation he has no interest in." Shikaku kept quiet, his hands crossed.

"Seeing as he is a member of the Akatsuki, it doesn't look good for him. Every Nation is by now aware they are after the bijuu. You've said you found no evidence of him being behind anything yet, but that doesn't mean he won't be forced to make a move soon."

"I know. That's why I can't afford to lose any more time. If we find him he can give us valuable info about the Akatsuki." I didn't know that for certain, yet I was willing to promise that much in exchange for their help. For the past few weeks or so I had this nagging feeling in my stomach, telling me I'm running out of time. That was the first time in three years that I worried about such a thing. I knew the reason for that was Akatsuki making a move and everyone being high on alert and out to get them. Also how everyone seemed to cross paths with them, except me.

"And you'll use that info to bargain with the Tsuchikage?" I raised my eyebrow slightly before catching his train of thought. I nodded. "If Konoha gets their Akatsuki info from Deidara, Onoki-sensei won't be allowed to do anything to him, much less execute him."

"Ideally, but from my experience Onoki is an unmovable stone." I snorted.

"I know that better than anyone."

"So-"

"Leave Onoki-sensei to me. I have unfinished business with him. I had three years to think of what to say to him, this time he'll listen."

He looked at the board and then at me, his eyes serious. "Still I need to ask you this. What if Deidara changed sides?"

"I told you, he was tricked into joining by Itachi Uchiha. I saw it with my own eyes. I doubt he could leave Akatsuki after being drafted in like that."

"That was then. You don't know how Deidara is like now."

"Well I can't make assumptions either!" I felt bad for raising my voice like that, but I didn't want to think about all those negative outcomes. Of course it was possible that Deidara changed drastically, but I stopped speculating a long time ago, in order not to lose hope.

"I'll know for sure when I find him." I said, much calmer now. "Even if he did change sides I'll drag him back to the village regardless." He smirked.

"I'll deal with everything after I find him. That's the hard part, because I definitely didn't slack off these three years. Akatsuki was always one step ahead, but no more than that." It was one huge step, though.

"Why haven't you come here three years ago?" He switched the topic.

"I thought you'll kill me after you learn I'm an Iwa shinobi who uses your jutsu." He blinked, taken aback. "Why would you think that?"

"Well what else was I supposed to think after Onoki-sensei took all those measures to find out who I am?" He exhaled.

"I came here in the end because maybe-maybe I can't find Deidara all by myself." I tightened my fists. "Which is infuriating after all this time, but I don't really care anymore. I just want to find him already!" I closed my eyes. "If there's any way you can help me, please-"

"I'll help you." I opened my eyes. "If your search ends successfully maybe we can put a stop to the Akatsuki before things escalate. Besides…" I raised my eyebrow but he didn't finish his thought. It didn't surprise me that he voiced that as his motivation for choosing to help me. I couldn't be sure Deidara will be willing to spill out the info, or be able to; maybe Akatsuki had a way of keeping them from talking. In the end it didn't matter. I'll deal with that after I find him.

Before I could ask him how exactly will he help me, his eyes shifted to someone behind me. "Just in time, Shikamaru. Come here."

"Mom said you have a guest." He approached us and I looked up at my cousin. He looked just like Shikaku, minus the beard and the scars. Perhaps that's how I looked to Shikaku, exactly like my mother minus a couple of details.

"Shikamaru, meet Sayomi." He glanced at me. "She's your cousin from Iwa." I deadpanned.

"Right now I'm not an Iwa shinobi." I muttered.

"Technicalities." Shikamaru raised his eyebrow but sat down without much fuss. This time Shikaku did all the talking, and even though Shikamaru's eyes narrowed upon hearing I'm after a certain member of the Akatsuki, he kept quiet.

"Shouldn't you tell this to the rest of the family too?" He asked once Shikaku finished relaying my story to him. My whole life sounded a lot crazier when someone else talked about it.

"It seems I'll have to. I'll call for a meeting tomorrow morning." I tensed. "But while the information that Shiori had a child with an Iwa shinobi is something everyone should know, the fact that Sayomi is a missing nin and her friend is a member of the Akatsuki stays between us." He gave Shikamaru a look and he sighed.

"You said there's no evidence he did anything yet, but that doesn't mean he didn't help Akatsuki get a hold of other bijuu." Shikamaru looked at me. He really took a lot after his father, questioning everything no matter what.

"I know. I'm not claiming he's innocent, I'm only saying there isn't any evidence he's guilty." Shikamaru stared at me dumbfounded while Shikaku laughed. No way Deidara was innocent. I wasn't, and neither was anyone else.

"I'm not a big fan of the Akatsuki." Shikamaru muttered.

"No one is." Shikaku said and I sensed something was off, but I didn't dare ask what.

"This time it's not your fight, Shikamaru. This doesn't have anything to do with us, nor with the Akatsuki. This is an internal Iwa squabble." He gave him a look and Shikamaru sighed, moving his hands behind his head.

"So you plan to force the Third Tsuchikage to take a missing nin back into the village?"

"I plan to finish what I started three years ago. Back then he didn't listen to me talking sense, but this time he will."

"Shiori wasn't one for arguments and battles, I always thought she was too nice. She made sure to send you to prove me wrong."

"She's that girl on the black and white photo, right?" Shikaku nodded, smiling slightly.

"It's such a shame. You two could have practiced your Shadow jutsu together all this time." He looked at the two of us and I felt so out of place. I didn't expect them to be so welcoming to me I guess.

"She would have doted all over you, Shikamaru."

"Sounds like a drag."

Shikaku continued to look at us, a certain wave of nostalgia washing over his face. "Really little sister…" He shook his head.

"Iwa out of all places." Shikamaru added.

"I wonder what your father was like."

"As far as I know he was jonin captain of Second Iwa Division." I shrugged. Shikaku then stood up.

"I'll call others for a little family meeting tomorrow." Floorboards creaked as he walked away.

"Must we really do this?" I muttered. "This is so strange to me."

"How much do you know about the Akatsuki?" Shikamaru leaned forward and my eyes narrowed at his tone.

"I know four members." He raised his eyebrow. "Deidara, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Sasori of the Red Sand."

"Sasori's been killed."

"By Konoha shinobi, I know."

"I can give you names of two more members. Hidan and Kakuzu. Hidan was a Yugakure shinobi, and Kakuzu was a Takiagakure one." I couldn't be sure whether I saw their names in archives at some point.

"You came in contact with them?" I asked, Kakuzu's name resonating in the back of my brain. Maybe I really did see his name before.

"They killed my sensei." So that was the catch. That's why Shikaku stopped him before he could showcase his distaste for my whole situation.

"We took them out though."

"That's impressive." He sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I have a feeling you're not lying about Itachi being behind your friend's involvement with the Akatsuki. But if he attacks a single Konoha shinobi, we won't let him get away with it."

"So only if it's a Konoha shinobi?" He frowned and the corner of my lips curled up. "If there's anyone who'll fight Deidara if need be, it'll be me. And I'm saying this not because I think I can beat him, but because I won't let anyone else do it." He continued to observe me.

"The sooner I find Deidara, the sooner we'll be able to make a move against the Akatsuki and stop whatever it is that they're doing. And if things escalate, I'll take him out." I finished.

"Fine, you've convinced me. I can agree on that."

"You want to shake on it?" I offered him my Seal of Reconciliation.

"I haven't done that in years." He eyed my fingers and I smiled. "It's an Iwa thing." But we shook on it.

"Truce then?" I asked.

"Truce, cousin."


I think this went well. I couldn't do a big shocking revelation because I don't feel it very Nara.

As for Sayomi, she's tip-toeing around all the big plans she has in her head, sort of weighing each of them against each other and trying to decide which one to use when the time comes. She's mostly doing that because she doesn't know when she'll finally find Deidara and how will that play out - so it may seem she doesn't know what she's doing, which is wrong. She knows what she is doing right now, she's just not sure what she will do in the future.

Review pretty please and thank y'all for reading. See ya next week!