Sakana
Long after my prayer session had ended, I still floated on the effects of Jashin's nectar. Eventually drifting off with a warmth I'd never felt before gently easing through my system, I dreamt of a time long lost, of a boy with dark red hair, of a caring family, and then nothing. Those three images played through my head repeatedly, a seemingly never-ending three minute ballad of a happy family.
As they played through my mind, I memorized every detail- the way the long haired boy softly spoke my name, with wonder and marvel in his voice. Without a doubt, I knew that he was my brother. And I knew that the woman calling out to him to be gentle was my mother- I'd recognize the soft but stern tone of her voice anywhere.
I supposed that this was a dream of my birth family- my mother, father, and brother that I had never gotten to love. I had always known I was adopted, as my aunt never failed to remind me of my place, though I had never known who or where I came from.
"Nagato-kun, be careful with Saki-chan," our mother called out again.
"Yes, mama." My brother smiled softly down at me again.
My eyes drifted closed again, but as I opened them once more, the vision had changed.
Now a man stood above me, eyes glowing white. "My apologies, little one, but it's really for the best."
Something stabbed into my stomach and I let out a high pitched squeal as I faded away.
I awoke in a panic, recognizing the warmth wrapped around me as pale, lean arms. Hidan was snoozing softly next to me and tightened his grip at my sudden movement.
Glancing around the room, I spotted his cloak draped on the back of my desk chair and his scythe discarded on the floor. I felt a grin tug at my lips, but I didn't wake him as I crawled over his sleeping form.
I narrowly avoided slicing my foot open on his scythe and quickly exited the room before making my way to the kitchen for breakfast.
There, I was met with a desperate looking Deidara.
"Where's Zena-chan?" He whimpered pitifully as his stomach growled.
"Dunno," I replied, opening the fridge. Inside were several bento boxes of different sizes. There were notes on each of them and I quickly located the ones labeled for Deidara and I.
"Sorry I couldn't be there this morning, Pein-sama sent me on a mission. I'll return soon. Until then, please eat these meals I prepared for you." I read the note as I opened the box. It was a perfectly portioned meal for me. The flip side of the note had specific notes on what was in the meal.
My bento had poached eggs, white rice, bacon, and cherry tomatoes.
Deidara's was a bit different. He had white rice and bacon, but instead of his eggs being poached, they were scrambled with chives. Zena had given him spicy cabbage as well, knowing how much he loved it when she had made kim chi.
"She probably stayed up all night to make these for everyone," I remarked, looking in the fridge at the stacked containers.
"Do we really deserve her?" The blonde mused, breaking apart his chopsticks.
"No, not really," I replied with a half-smirk.
He shrugged and dug in. I retrieved the bottle of soy sauce from the fridge and sat next to him.
We ate in silence, and despite me having a smaller portion than he did, he finished before me.
Deidara placed his bento box in the sink and left the kitchen. I finished my soon after, but before I could leave the kitchen, I was joined again, this time by Pein.
It wasn't normal to see him out of his office, as Konan was typically the one retrieving various items for him.
"Good morning, Sakana-san."
I smiled and turned around from the sink I was facing. "Good morning Pein-sama. What draws you out of your lair?"
He inclined his head and opened the fridge, retrieving a medium sized Bento with his name on it. "Konan-san's absence has me rather displaced."
"Ah," I merely said, following him out of the kitchen and back toward his office. "Would you mind if I joined you for your breakfast? I actually have something important I think you should know."
He stared at me for a moment, ringed rinnegan eyes sizing me up carefully.
"...Nagato-san, please."
His eyes narrowed even more, and he nodded once. "Alright. I'll hear you out."
In Pein's office, I sat awkwardly for a moment as he stared at me.
"I thought you were going to eat," I finally broke the silence.
"That can wait. Speak." He commanded, and I meeky nodded and told him of the dreams.
I told him every detail I could remember, the color of the walls, the tone of her voice, the joyful admiration in his eyes. Then the man, his wretched smile and his vengeful words, then the pain. And then nothing. "Nagato-san, I don't know what this means but a vision from God is nothing to scoff at."
He was silent. Thinking. Assessing. "What name did you say?"
I gulped, my mouth suddenly dry. "S-Saki."
He bit his lip. "It's true that my younger sister was kidnapped and murdered when I was young," he admitted. "And truer still that her disappearance caused a tremendous amount of grief in my parents, forcing them into the poor suburbs of Amegakure, which eventually led to their demise at the hands of Hanzo. However, Saki-chan had the same color hair as Mother and I."
I grimaced, having no explanation for my naturally white hair. But I wanted to prove myself to him. "Her eyes..." I began, remembering those unforgettable orbs. "She had the rinnegan before you."
He swallowed suddenly sitting up straight. "How could you- that is not information that anyone knows." He balked.
"I- I can't forget her voice. I can't forget her eyes." I stared at him, silently begging him to not brush me off, or punish me for lying and emotionally torturing him.
He sat back, placing his hands under his chin. "So it's true then." Unexpectedly, he smiled. I was taken aback for a moment, but returned the smile.
"Possibly." I reminded myself, trying to keep myself from believing that it wasn't just Jashin being cruel and causing mayhem.
Pein cleared his throat and broke apart his chopsticks. He took a bite of the plain white rice in his bento and chewed it silently for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Sakana, though I believe you may be my long lost sister, there is a sure way to prove to me your true identity."
I nodded as I listened, ready to find out who I was really was.
Several hours later, Hidan, Kakuzu and I were trudging through the thickest part of the land of Rain. Hidan was grumbling about how stupid of a mission we were on, and Kakuzu had commented several times on how he expected to be paid handsomely for this menial task.
I scoffed and batted their grumpiness away, keeping a shred of positivity in my mind as I shivered against the biting rain. "You could at least ease up a little," I grumbled under my breath.
Seconds later, lightning snaked across the sky and the dense rain worsened for a moment. That jerk was laughing at me. I scoffed again and flipped off the sky, trudging on as his thunderclaps mocked me like laughter.
When we eventually reached the ferry point, we were soaked. The trip offered no refuge from the rain beating on us, so I huddled close to Hidan, shivering and burning the last few calories from Zena's provided meal. The ride was silent and sullen, as we were all soaked and freezing.
The minutes ticked by slowly, the ferry seeming to last an eternity. By the fifth time I had sighed, Kakuzu tossed me a dirty glare.
"If you do that one more time, I will cut your voice box out and keep it."
His motley eyes were boring into mine, and I felt myself shrink against Hidan, who cackled at my misfortune. An elbow to his ribs stopped his laughter, but he retaliated with a jab to my ribs. I jumped away from him and sat next to Kakuzu. He rolled his eyes at me, but let me sink into his side.
He was warmer than Hidan, anyways.
We didn't escape the rain until we reached a tavern in the village. I relished the warm room and drifted toward the fire as Kakuzu and Hidan spoke to the owner.
They didn't lower their voices, and I knew that this man worked under the Akatsuki, and had a deep respect for the Leader.
For my brother. Possibly. Definitely.
To be honest, I hadn't even told either of my partners about the true reason for the mission- just that we had to retrieve something important for Pein-sama. It wasn't a lie, but I had definitely left a few details out.
'Like what we're supposed to be getting, where we're supposed to be getting it, and how, and why, and basically everything,' The voice in the back of my head nagged me. I tuned it out and turned to Hidan and Kakuzu, who were watching me stare off into space.
"All good, space cadet?" Hidan asked, raising a silver brow.
I nodded, "yep, all good. Can we go change now?" I asked, aching to get out of the drenched cloak.
Kakuzu agreed and set off in search of his own room, leaving Hidan to lead me to our shared room.
Inside , I immediately began stripping the soaked clothes from my body, ignoring the low whistle that Hidan let out.
I turned and opened the closet, finding a set of basic black ninja gear and a thick cloak hanging.
"Wait a minute," Hidan said, and I froze. "That definitely wasn't there before." He mumbled as he approached me.
"What?" I asked, trying to glimpse what he was referencing.
"Here," he said, pointing me to the mirror. "This seal."
I furrowed my brow. It was in the center of my back, a spiral seal tattooed against my skin.
"Should I worry?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"Might have to ask the geezer," he said, "I'll get him. You should probably cover yourself."
I nodded and slipped into the clothes while he was gone. It was a black tube top and a pair of matching basic training pants, with an added flak jacket that I hadn't slipped on yet.
My zealot returned a moment after I finished buttoning the pants, towing Kakuzu, who was already in a clean set of clothes and a dry cloak.
"See?" Hidan said, showing Kakuzu the seal. "It appeared last night, definitely."
Last night? "I—Well, I had an odd dream last night," I said, not wanting to tell them all of the details until the theory was confirmed or proved wrong. "And this man with white eyes stabbed something into my stomach. It... was awful. It felt like he had pierced me all the way through."
"Hmm." Kakuzu mumbled, "This seal definitely looks like advanced sealing. The only people who are that adept would be Uzumaki," he explained. "They were seal-masters. Well, before their demise and subsequent scattering."
I groaned, "That doesn't mean anything, though. The Uzumaki are dead." Well, mostly. I didn't want to believe that someone from my own supposed family could do something like that, much less to a newborn infant.
"Ehh, just because Whirlpool is gone doesn't mean that there are no Uzumaki left. Just like there could be secret Hyyugas, secret Uchiha, secret families exist." The miser huffed, crossing his arms. "Nevertheless, I'm certain that this seal was placed by somebody extremely skilled with creating and maintaining seals. Therefore, an Uzumaki."
I rolled my eyes, but accepted his explanation.
"And judging by the lack of side effects from having a seal recently placed, plus the dormant chakra still lingering in this seal," he continued, drawing my attention to his face again. He wasn't wearing a mask, probably having been interrupted before he could get to that stage of dressing. I found myself watching his stitching as he spoke, trying to piece these new pieces of information together into something that made sense. "Sakana," he spoke my name seriously, eyes steeling against my open gaze. "This seal was placed nearly twenty-three years ago."
"But- but she's from that other place with no chakra." Hidan cut in. "If this was placed that long ago—"
"I'll be twenty-three soon." I said, closing my eyes. "I left something out, and I'm going to apologize for that before I tell you—"
"What?" Hidan growled. "What is it?"
I raised an eyebrow at his sudden protectiveness. "The dream, well, I have reason to believe that I hail from this world originally." I said, vomiting the words out.
"...Wow." Kakuzu said, processing the new information.
"And you somehow ended up in that other world—" Hidan said, stringing together the big picture.
"Look, I can't explain how, I was a newborn. I just had this dream where my family was smiling at me and cooing at me—My mother warning my brother to be careful with me, and then finally, this man standing above me, he tells me that it's for the best, and then he—He stabs me with something." I had stood up in the process of talking, and pointing at a spot above my bellybutton- a stark white birthmark that I had never really thought much of.
It made sense, to me at least. Kakuzu commanded me to turn around, and I obeyed, sighing in defeat.
"It's as if it's clean through," he remarked, measuring the distance from the mark to my side, and then from the birthmark to my side. "Perfectly placed in between your organs. Whoever did this wasn't trying to kill you," Kakuzu continued as Hidan and I listened silently. "It seems as if they were trying to cause minimal damage."
I swallowed, taking in the new information. "Who would want to—" I began, but cut myself off. If I truly was this lost girl, someone had taken me away from my family. In doing so, they claimed to be doing something good. They were preventing something from happening. Something potentially catastrophic.
"Alright," I sighed. "We'll get to the bottom of this." I said, slipping my cloak on over the gear. "Let's just... Go to the place Leader-sama told us about."
"I agree." Kakuzu said quietly, finally putting his mask on.
"Where is that anyways?" Hidan asked, staring at me. I grinned sheepishly."You don't know, do you?"
I scratched the back of my head. "Well, he didn't give me directions. He told me to go to the place my soul pulled me to."
Kakuzu sighed and placed his head in his hands. "So cryptic."
Hidan let out a string of low curses, already pulling out a map of Amegakure. "I guess we can just fuckin' start walking."
"I better be paid well for my trouble." Kakuzu reminded me.
True to our word, we wandered the rainy city for hours, feeling nothing but dark dreary emptiness from each sector we scoured, until we ourselves began to fill with that same emptiness.
"I'm wet, and hungry, and I demand a blow job for my trouble," Hidan growled, grabbing my arm and spinning me around. I jerked my arm free and flipped him off, not happy with my own level of sogginess.
"As if," I scoffed, glaring at him.
"Sakana, I hate to agree with the pest, but we've been at it for hours. At this rate, we'll die of hypothermia."
"Stop being a baby," I spat, throwing my hands up and turning down the nearest alley I could find.
I passed through the alley with no problem, ignoring the stray beggars and focusing on which way 'tugged' at me.
Not feeling anything in particular, I drifted down the streets and alleys until the sky started to dim.
I glanced around my surroundings and found myself in the ghetto part of town, empty husks of buildings foreclosed and standing in rows around me. I had no idea which way the tavern was either, and I was hopelessly underprepared for what might happen in this side of the town.
Of course, I'd survive it, but I really had no way to defend myself, and that in itself was really fucking sketchy.
"Hey, girl," A man called out to me from a nearby corner. "Are you lost or somethin'?"
I quickly gathered myself, "No, I'm alright."
"You're lookin' a little confused there," he observed.
"I'm fine," I repeated. "I'm on my way to meet my colleagues."
"Mhm. You know these parts are a little dangerous."
I nodded, "Yes, thank you. I'll be careful."
His dark eyes glinted and I felt dark intent from him. "The main road is back that way," he said, pointing down the road.
"Ah, that's not where we agreed to meet," I explained, waving and thanking him as I quickly strode back the way I came from.
I heard footsteps falling behind me, and I tried to stay aware of my surroundings, despite feeling hopelessly lost.
Something clattered behind me and I jumped, peeking over my shoulder. There was nothing there, but that didn't put me at ease. I turned back around and kept trudging on.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice the man from before standing directly in front of me, until I ran into him and he roughly grabbed my wrists.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, struggling against his tight grip.
"I told you to be careful, girly," he cooed, his rotten breath invading my nostrils. "Ya weren't very careful now, were ya?"
I snarled, baring my teeth at him. "Let me go and you'll live," I warned him.
"Ah, don't think I'll be doin' that." The man grinned, showing me his broken teeth.
"If you say so," I bit out as he shifted his grip to hold both of my wrists in one hand, and reached for a kunai with the other.
I hissed as the blade dug into my forearm, kicking at his stomach and knocking the kunai out of his hand.
"In the name of my lord, Jashin-sama, you will be punished for your hedonism." I swore, picking up the blade and wiping it on my cloak. Swinging the kunai at him, I slashed his wrists in return of his rough treatment.
Satisfied with my collection of his blood, I brought the sweet liquid to my lips and lapped at it, my skin already darkening. I chuckled and placed my hands on my hips mockingly.
"What? You didn't think I was some poor helpless girl, did you? That's pretty funny..." I smirked at him, his blood still painted on my lips.
He whimpered, immobile with fear.
"Alright, since you made me laugh I'll cut you a deal," I slyly offered, "Slow and painful? Or quick-" I stabbed myself in the gut, and he exclaimed and coughed, "and as painless as possible?"
He coughed, blood bubbling out of his mouth.
"Yeah, you're right, this is boring," I coughed, planting the kunai into my own heart.
Darkness overcame me instantly, but it was short-lived. I woke a few moments later, feeling invigorated.
Atta girl, Jashin's voice sounded in my head. I smiled and wiped the blood from my lips. Apparently sacrifice felt really good.
Who knew?
As I stood and dusted myself off, I felt a pull at my gut. This had to be what Pein had spoken of.
I followed the feeling to a small house, abandoned and boarded up.
I kicked the boarded window in and climbed through, landing in a pile of broken glass and dust.
Coughing, I used the window to help myself back up and peered around the dark house.
I felt at peace, safe. But there was still a string leading me deeper into the house.
I traced the walls, recognizing the signs of a loving family home; notches in the wall, brightly colored walls that were now faded and peeling.
Eventually reaching a cabinet in the kitchen just tall enough for me to slip through, I drifted my hands along the frame and felt a panel shift.
Inside was a small paper, a single word inscription.
Pull.
I entered the cabinet and felt along the seams for a grip. As if pulled by a magnet, the back panel popped off, and I found myself staring at the Uzumaki seal.
I placed my hand in the center, and it glowed brilliantly before fading away, revealing a small hatch.
Opening it, I pulled a box out and opened it.
A katana, with a name carved into it- Kogitsune-maru. I picked it up and felt peace fill my system.
This sword had to be what Nagato spoke of. Something only an Uzumaki could wield.
I tucked the sword back into the case and quickly left the house, pausing only to stare at my family's abandoned home with quiet longing before climbing back out the window.
Kogitsune-maru- (Little Fox), Inari Ōkami and its fox spirits help the blacksmith Munechika forge the blade Kogitsune-maru at the end of the 10th century. Munechika's name is etched into one side, while Kogitsune-maru is carved on the other. It is told that Munechika was commissioned for the sword by the emperor, but had no assistant to help forge the blade. He visited the shrine Fushimi-Inari and prayed for divine assistance. He met a white-haired boy shortly after who instructed him to prepare his forge in the old ways and then Munechika would receive assistance. Munechika did so the next day, and as he prayed again, the boy appeared. Munechika realized at this point that the boy was truly the god Inari-Myōjin, the god of fertility, agriculture, and rice. Inari-Myojin knew exactly when and how to strike the sword without Munechika's instruction, and so when the blade was finished, Munechika carved his own name into one side of the blade, and Kogitsune-maru into the other side. As he finished the last stroke of the blade, Inari-Myojin disappeared.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me what you think could be improved on, or what you really liked about this chapter!
~Mistress-chan