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Chapter Four: Burning Earth, False Pieces
"A simple hello could lead to a million things."
She pulled the dirt aside with a cupped hand and the aid of a small amount of chakra, this hovel was coming along well, and she liked the way the roots of the tree lifted into the air, obscuring the opening from view, and the vine like branches hung low. It wasn't a willow tree, because this area wasn't really swampy enough for willows, but it seemed kind of similar. It smelled nice too, and that was always a plus.
When the hole she'd dug between the roots was large enough to fit two of her she called it sufficient and started piling the removed dirt onto the mat she'd weaved from dry grass. She didn't want ants coming to make their home in the piles, it was best to disperse the dirt away from her sleeping hovels.
She was on her last removal trip when a new chakra pinged onto her mental map. She looked up, perplexed by this new being.
It was too large to be a normal human, but certainly not as large as her ocean. It felt like… soft wet earth in a light rain, but there was something else to it, a tinge of… burning. A hint of fire.
So she rolled up her mat, and blended her chakra with the forest around her and made her way towards it.
Past three rivers, and nearer to the road she despised she found it… or him rather. She crouched low on the high branch, observing the makeshift camp below.
She knew his name was Deidara, but more importantly she knew he was a friend (acquaintance?) of her Oceans.
He wore the same cloak that Raven Eye's and Ocean had. The Akatsuki cloak, she recalled. Still, she was hesitant to approach him. She had no reason to really, and a quick sweep of the area around them told her that his partner was not far behind. The feeling of the puppetmaster made her beyond uncomfortable, all cold shifting parts that didn't quite fit together like they were supposed to.
Despite this… she kind of liked the way Burning Earth looked, he was nice to look at with his long flowing blond hair and easy posture. (He looked… a little like the brother she'd once had) His eye's were closed, and he sat himself against a tree with a small fire smouldering lowly in front of him.
Nanami made her decision, and she turned silently and made her way to the river in the east that she knew would house the thing she wanted. It took her the better part of an hour, but in the end she had soft clean clay piled onto her mat, she rolled the corners together and tied it with a vine from her new hovell tree.
She collected a small amount of dried rabbit, and a few beechnuts and made her way back to Burning Earth. She perched quietly on the same branch as before, he seemed to be asleep now, but the clearing had gained the puppet master as well.
He truly scared her, his wooden body was large with that tail made of many parts, hunched over like she did when she needed to make a leap on all fours. It reminded her of some of the more dangerous predators before they made a strike.
She skittered away from his position, and shimmied down the far side of a trunk, closer to Burning Earth. The only sound was of the leaves rustling, and the smouldering pop of their camp fire. She stepped lightly on her toes, bringing her center of gravity as low as she could, her gifts clutched tightly to her chest.
She placed them on the ground not far from the blond man's sleeping form. She turned to leave, mission accomplished- but froze at the sound of a voice.
"Who are you, un?" She turned slowly to meet bright, crystal blue eyes. He was crouched into a battle ready position, his eyes flickered from her, to the gift she'd left, to his companion and back to her. She got the impression he was cataloging.
"I'm sorry" She said quickly, quietly. "I not meaning-" She paused. "to noisy" she didn't know how to say disturb.
Burning Earth tilted his head, blond hair swaying. His eyes narrowed on her. Behind him, puppet pieces clacked and made a nasty shifting noise that grated on her ears. She needed to get out of here quickly.
She made a slow gesture at the bundle and then to Deidara. "For friend of Shark." She told him. She gestured at his cloak. "Red Cloud friend."
Burning Earth shifted, his battle stance eased. "Kisame?" He asked sounding incredulous. She nodded fervently. (She didn't want to die right now)
"Nanami loves Oceans." She told him sincerely. He choked, one hand coming up to grip the front of his shirt as he started laughing loudly, vivaciously into the air above him.
She took a quick step back, hoping to take advantage of his distraction, but the puppet came forward then, a clearly threatening movement that made her freeze.
"Sorehanan desu ka?" His fake body asked her. Her eye swept away from him, uncomprehending of what he'd asked.
"I'm sorry" she said again, and repeated her age old phrase. "I don't speak well." Burning Earth's roaring laughter eased back into soft chuckles. "Loves Kisame, Dono yōna jōdan, un." he said wiping moisture from the corner of a blue eye.
The puppet pointed at the bundle she'd left behind, and repeated the phrase he'd just spoken. It was clearly a question, and she bit her bottom lip and tried to answer.
"Wet earth, for Red Cloud friends" Hah! That was pretty good actually, maybe she was getting a little bit better with all these words. Then she added "and food." making a childish gesture with stubby (and dirty) little fingers at her mouth for emphasis.
"Wet earth, un?" Deidara questioned, and reached into a bag at his side to pull out a handful of the same mushy gray substance she'd left for him.
"Clay?" He asked, providing her the correct word. She repeated it quietly, attempting to commit it to memory.
"Clay." she affirmed for him with another nod.
The puppet shifted forward again and she skittered backwards another few steps, crouching low to place chakra laden palms flat on the ground. If she needed to escape quickly, four points of contact with the ground would provide more momentum to fling herself into the high branches with. If Nanami had fur it would be standing on end.
"No harm is clay" she hissed at them. "For friend of Oceans- Raven Eyes too" She added the last part, because Kisame always came with Itachi she knew. (It was a nonsensical statement, but this wouldn't occur to her until later)
They didn't look convinced.
The second the puppets tail rose into the air she was already off, pushing herself high into the branches above them. She smothered her chakra into nothing. Something whistled past her but she was already grasping with hands and feet, flying through the trees of the forest that was her home.
She left Burning Earth and False Peices far behind. Not that they really attempted to follow, which she was grateful for.
Nanami scoffed. What a bunch of jerks.