Chapter Thirty - Ignition
Aiko sucked in deep breaths, fingers angled to the ground as she dug her nails into the earth. An abundance of shallow cuts made by the claws of crows oozed with blood over her skin, that which couldn't be seen in the darkness of the paper cocoon she had concealed herself within. She had underestimated her opponents, and perhaps overestimated herself. It was a bitter thought, but a true one nonetheless. They had worn her down, the three shinobi all too familiar with her abilities.
When the realisation had dawned that she was outmatched, her escape was cut off by a cage of crows. She had retorted with a crackle of electricity, causing the birds to scatter… and the insects to move in. The fourth member of their team was an Aburame, all too prepared to remake the cage and attempt the theft of her chakra to boot, utilising the weakness of the time between which she could perform her jutsu. They didn't even allow her the hope of releasing a paper butterfly into the air to alert her family of her imminent peril.
Time was running out as the insects began to drain the chakra that granted her control of her paper, whilst simultaneously eating it, crumbling her last defence. Even as she attempted to reinforce it with water on its outer edge, drowning the insects to death, she had to grit her teeth as earth natured spikes pierced the water shell. Her mother had warned her that a Konohagakure shinobi's advantage was in their numbers. If only she had listened to her more.
She was going to die.
And she was cowering in a paper shell.
"Life is fleeting, un. When the time comes you have to go out with a bang."
Aiko took a moment to allow a smile to plague her lips before her eyes opened, revealing the steeled blue behind her eyelids. Her paper cocoon expanded to reveal her opponents, its remains calmly floating around her form like they were caught within a gentle wind.
"Do you know what happens to leaves in a dry climate?" she asked of her opponents, her demeanour having achieved a zen-like state. "They burn."
A bright smile appeared on the youngest member of Akatsuki's face, causing the Leaf shinobi's own to widen in response as she performed a single hand seal. That which ignited every morsel of paper left littered around the Village. Her opponents charged, Aiko looking up at the sky to admire a bird circling overhead, peacefully awaiting death.
Small clumps dropped from the sky, making blue eyes narrow.
"KATSU!"
Aiko shielded her face with her forearm, feeling the ground rumble under her feet as violent explosions surrounded her, sending her opponents flying back. Her blue orbs widened at the sight of a familiar clay bird rushing towards her, blinking as she was scooped up into familiar arms. A face plagued with a dumbfounded expression looked up, meeting a familiar one with the exception of one obvious feature.
Black sclera.
"Deidara?" she whispered, her voice cracking slightly as her chakra flared, suspecting she was caught in a cruel genjutsu.
"Nice piece of art you did just then," Deidara grinned, emphasising the cracks to his complexion. "Course I would have made it go katsu in a second, but I can appreciate making these chumps slowly watch this place turn to ash, un."
Aiko's only response was a choking noise, tears running down her cheeks as she slowly stretched her hand out… and proceeded to choke the life out of him.
"You idiot! You complete scum!" she screamed, latching onto his neck like a vice, crying as he spluttered and choked. "You promised! You promised you wouldn't leave me, and now you're - now you're-"
Aiko collapsed against his chest, bawling her eyes out, gripping her deceased best friend as if she expected him to disappear from her grasp.
"Hey, it's ok… I'm- I'm here, un," he murmured, staring into the distance as he rested his chin on the top of her head.
"You're dead, Deidara. Who did this to you? Who dares-"
Aiko visibly shook with anger, her killing intent brushing against the consciousness of the shinobi below, despite flying amongst the clouds on a clay bird.
"It was Kabuto," Deidara responded, placing his hands on either side of his best friend's arms to force her to look him in the eye, his expression more serious than she had seen in all the years she had known him. "Listen to me, Aiko. You need to get away from me-"
"But-"
"No, Aiko! Why do you think he sent me? He wants-" Deidara cut off with a strangled sound leaving his throat.
His body heaved as if he was fighting some unknown force. With the last ounce of his strength, Deidara pushed Aiko off the clay bird. Aiko bellowed as paper peeled from her form, barely managing to control her flight to aim for the foliage of the forest below. Her body screamed from the assault of branches before the wind was knocked out of her as she hit the ground and rolled, only to end up sprawled out on the ground. She coughed and wheezed, scrunching up her eyes as explosions savaged the surrounding forest, causing a tree to groan before falling toward her. Aiko scrambled away, letting out a scream as it crushed her the bottom half of her leg, pinning her in place. Only instinct alerted Aiko to a blank-faced Deidara landing in the clearing.
"Dei," she sobbed as he approached her, a scream ripping from her throat as he yanked her body out from under the tree and hoisted her over his shoulder. "Please…"
Konan's grey eyes narrowed, her mouth thinning into a disapproving line. Nagato was being reckless, already beginning to concentrate his chakra into the God Path in preparation for Shinra Tensei. Such a thing was a sure sign of retreat, yet Aiko had not appeared. Her clones were dispersed throughout the Village and beyond, feeding back their intelligence. Nagato's Paths were dropping by the minute, fully set on this course of action, awaiting Konan's confirmation that Aiko was removed from the situation.
That was when a paper clone dispersed itself, the paper lost in plugging Aiko's wounds informing her of her daughter's dire state, but more importantly, her location. The original concentrated paper at her shoulder blades, two wings emerging on her back, earning her the title of an angel. Many in Amegakure referred to her as kind and merciful, a messenger of their God, sent to protect them, but now she was an avenging angel, prepared to cut anyone who dared to hurt her daughter into Very. Tiny. Pieces.
Aiko followed Deidara's empty gaze, the two of them positioned on his clay bird, looking out over Konohagakure. Her eyes widened as she witnessed the already ablaze Village be ripped apart by a repulsive force, leaving behind nothing but a smouldering crater. Aiko had always known that her oji-san was strong, but now she knew what an understatement that was. Her oji-san wasn't just strong, he had the power of divine judgement usually reserved by the Gods.
"I'd rethink taking me if I were you," she sneered, her wounded leg adjusted to minimise the pain whilst she held her bound hands in front of her, knowing she was no longer addressing Deidara, but Kabuto. "Otherwise, once my oji-san finds me… that will be you."
'Deidara' gave no outward reaction, adjusting his gaze to set on the open skies, the clay bird beginning to soar forward. The motion sent a gentle breeze through both shinobi's hair before the bird gave a mighty lurch, Aiko yelping as she was thrown from the bird, only to be caught in the arms of an angel.
"Kaa-san," she breathed, relief flooding her features before the grip on her mother's arm tightened as she dodged the incoming clay shaped like spiders, that which exploded mid-air with no 'katsu' to be heard.
"Aiko, what's going on?"
"It's- it's Deidara," she stammered, eyes fixed on the bomber as he weaved his paper bird around paper weapons and explosive notes. "He showed up with black eyes… tried to warn me that Kabuto was using him, and then he- he just went blank and attacked me."
"Aiko, listen to me," Konan said sternly, a tone in which it was ingrained within her daughter to pay attention (or else). "That is not Deidara. He is dead, do you understand? The Deidara we knew, he loved you Aiko, and he would never attack you. This abomination disgraces his memory. Art can not be fleeting if it is not laid to rest."
"But," the girl murmured, eyes watering as she looked towards the form of her best friend, "he's in there."
"When are you going to learn by now, un?" Deidara called, his clay bird hovering at a distance, a smile restored to his face. "I know two things about your okaa-san, Aiko - the first is that she's always right."
Konan considered the grinning Deidara carefully. No doubt this was the person they knew, but that was what made it all the more dangerous. It caused an opponent to hesitate, and a single moment of hesitation could only mean death. Aiko whimpered, crushing her forehead into Konan's chest and crumbling under the weight of what must be.
"And the second?" Konan inquired, making the bomber chuckle.
"She can kick my ass back to the grave and beyond."
"Quite so."
The bomber grinned, calling upon his C2 Dragon, that which flapped its wings and took off in the direction of the paper user. In a blink of an eye the kunoichi had dispersed, paper littering itself across the skies. The dragon circled, opening its maw to release its load, similarly littering the skies with clay bombs.
"Katsu!"
Successive explosions ignited like an open minefield, Deidara's attention turning to the dud bombs to his left, their effects dampened by the multiple layers of paper wrapping their form and starving them of oxygen. A concentration of paper confirmed his suspicions, Konan flying towards him with a vengeful expression that would have made him wet himself under normal circumstances. Instead, he involuntarily began forming clay, lifting his arms to… oh, but he couldn't move.
"What the-"
His question was answered as the real Konan rose up from the ground, having concealed herself within the igniting explosions, adding to his growing paper cocoon that now pinned him in place. He couldn't move, and considering he was dead before, he was pretty sure that he couldn't die now, which possibly meant that he was going to remain mummified and stuck in an endless cycle of asphyxiation for the rest of his… death. It was going to suck. Art was not supposed to be eternal… but for Aiko? Deidara would endure, such as it meant to be a shinobi.
Control.
It was a word that Konan favoured. When you were in control of a situation, you could tackle it with a clear mind. But there was nothing controlled about neither her lifelong friend, or her daughter's actions right now. Nagato had pushed himself too far to capture the Nine Tails, blood trickling from his mouth as he sat atop his throne, the peace in sight blinding him to all else. Aiko was all but lost to herself, her mother having to cocoon her daughter in paper to prevent her from removing the bindings from Deidara's form.
Since, Aiko had done nothing but lay beside him, staring at him like a tortured soul, consumed by the knowledge that he was suffering within. A fact which Kabuto was relying on, no doubt, hoping the girl would find a way to release him, allowing the revived bomber to complete his mission that clearly centred around the youngest member of Akatsuki. Now the boy who hosted the Nine Tails had found them, and Konan could only look to her child with remorse, blaming herself for dragging her into this life as she glared towards him, plagued by the hatred that bore pain.
"Do you hate me?" Nagato questioned their intruder, one that had golden orbs with a dash through them fixed on the man with cold fury. "Now that you see me before you… you want revenge, don't you?"
"Don't bother with words, oji-san. We should rip the Nine Tails from him and leave him for dead," Aiko spat, drawing a similar look from the Nine Tailed Fox. "Maybe then his teammates will feel a small morsel of the pain they've put me through."
"Enough, Aiko," Konan chastised her child sharply. "Killing for the purpose of revenge won't change anything."
"Konan is correct," Pain answered, Rinnegan eyes watching the boy before him become consumed with anger, so much so that his hand was shaking. "Naruto could not provide me with an answer. His role is to be a sacrifice, one that brings peace to the world. That is the answer, and the only true justification for death."
A chakra receiver flew through the air between them, embedding itself in Naruto's chest, a non-fatal wound as Nagato put it. Yet it seemed that the boy intended for it to do so, stating his purpose for seeking them out. Finding out how he would feel when faced with opponents that had killed those precious to him.
"I can't forgive you," Naruto declared, a closed fist clenching his heart, "I want to kill you so much... I'm trembling!"
The observing kunoichi's eyes widened as Naruto took a step forward, resisting Nagato's influence as he pulled the chakra receiver from his chest, something that was meant to be impossible at this proximity. Yet as the Nine Tails lifted his fist to deliver a vengeful blow, he stalled, his eyes lowering to the floor. Aiko's blue eyes narrowed, looking for the deception hidden within the movement, anything that would threaten her family.
"The Pervy Sage said that the day will come when people truly understand each other… he had faith," Naruto's arms slumped, his head bowed as if he had returned from an exhaustive battle. "When he told me that, I wasn't really listening to him. He said he wanted me to find the answer… but I was just glad to have his approval. Now I understand what we really meant, it's not that easy…"
"That doesn't change the fact that you can't forgive me," Nagato countered, watching the boy close his eyes before straightening, the tell-tale signs of sage mode removed from his features. "Love and forgiveness can't be bought with mere words."
"Yeah, you're right."
"It's too late for Jiraiya's idealism - it's not realistic. You said you would defeat me and bring peace to the world, even if that's just an excuse for selfish revenge. Both you and Aiko are prime examples that a self-serving justice creates an endless cycle of hate."
Aiko dropped her gaze. There was no worth in arguing with her oji-san. She no longer believed in his vision. Uzumaki Naruto would die, a finality in itself, regardless of the justification you gave it; whether that be revenge, or peace.
"Can you really believe in Jiraiya's nonsense after seeing this reality?"
Yet the blonde's response seemed to be another question, and Aiko continued to question this boy's tactics. Surely he was delaying them? Waiting for the necessary backup to take away all that she loved. She wouldn't let him, so she let her oji-san tell him the story of how three Ame orphans came together, how they fought for peace… yet only found pain. A story that was as much her beginning as it was to Nagato's Akatsuki. That which allowed him to realise that living in this world meant hurting others unintentionally, allowing hatred to live on.
Peace is not possible in this cursed land, and is nothing but a fantasy.
"Now you have my story - so let me hear your answer."
Aiko watched carefully, tense as the Nine Tails put his hand into his jacket… and brought out a book.
"That may be true. I think you're right."
Aiko was as surprised as her oji-san, her mouth dropping open slightly. He… agreed?
"I understand you," Naruto paused, his eyes closing as he admitted his truth, "but I still can't forgive you… I still hate you."
"Of course you do," Aiko scoffed, eyes narrowing. "That's the only answer a monster like you could give."
"Let's finish this," Nagato commanded.
"But…" Naruto interrupted, looking up with a steeled resolve, that which enraptured the attention of all that witnessed his words, "Pervy Sage believed in me, so I will believe in him and his own beliefs. That's my answer.
I won't kill you."
A/N: I keep getting lost on the path of life... oops? Next chapter is end of Part II though, so enjoy!