ii.
Chapter Five: Beating Hearts, Loud Blood
"Sometimes," Said Pooh, "The smallest of things take up the most room in your heart."
It occurred to her some days later that the Akatsuki hideout was in river country, a distant memory she pulled from her past life. It was getting easier to do that the more often she needed them. (She didn't think about how she'd already lost so many other pieces of that life. She would take what she could get.)
Sometimes in the weeks and months of silence she forgot she wasn't really just a five year old little girl living in the wilds. (The silence ate at her, mixing up who she is- who she used to be. It smothered her humanity and replaced it with something more feral, Nanami didn't live in the wilds, she is the wilds.)
She hoped this realization meant she would get to see Oceans soon. Maybe even Raven Eyes, she liked Raven Eyes alright, he was much nicer on her senses than False Pieces and Burning Earth (even if Burning Earth was nice to look at)
Her suspicions were mostly confirmed when she came across a new pair of the Red Clouds, because once is chance, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern. Nanami knew this.
She did have something she felt would be a good gift for one of these men, but the other she firmly refused to go anywhere near. The sunlight glinting off his three pronged scythe only reaffirming her fears of him.
He would kill her. There would be no need for rhyme or reason. He would do it because he wanted to see what her intestines looked like, or what her blood would smell like, or some other such nonsense. (A part of her saw this, and the beast in her acknowledged the beast in him) So she followed behind, her presence as soft as a breeze, her chakra mimicking that of a birds as she flitted in the treetops behind them.
The loud one stank like blood, it made her nose scrunch in distaste, but he said a lot of words; a constant flowing stream of things with a lit that made him sound whinny. (she tried to remember the words she could confirm with their proper meaning- he was good for that at least.) His companion's only sound was to heave put upon sighs, and make clipped comments she was sure were demands for silence.
He was the one she would give her gift to this time. Especially now that she knew they shared these woods with her. (Because something about her really was a child, and she craved to stave away the loneliness.)
Her opportunity came when Loud Blood wandered off far enough to provide her a few minutes. She hoped somewhere within her that he was taking a damn bath.
The man made from threads and stitches waited, his eyes were closed and his arms folded across his front. He stood silently, patiently leaning against a tree. (Kakuzu had been one of her favorite characters she remembered)
She imagined you'd have to have a certain amount of patience to deal with Loud Blood.
"Excuse me." She called politely from a high branch. She didn't want to drop to the ground in case he decided she'd look better as a corpse. Just incase.
His shoulders tensed, signaling to her that her mimicry of small creatures had been successful. His eyes cracked open revealing red sclera and acid green irises. Her breath caught for a moment, because wow- it was actually quite beautiful. (in the way a venomous snake was beautiful)
His folded arms dropped to his sides, his eyes looking up at her crouched form braced against the tree branch on all fours.
"Red Cloud friend of Oceans and Raven Eyes" she called to him. His impassive face didn't change as he continued to watch her. She gripped the little bag between her fingers tighter for a moment; adjusting it between the branch and her palm, before tossing it out gently. His hand snatched it out of the air faster than she could see.
She smiled to him; she liked him. Not as much as Oceans, but he felt… nice. Like beating hearts and rushing waterfalls.
"Gift." She said simply. His fingers rolled around the bag, making the coins inside clink together. His eyes narrowed on her for a moment, before he nodded his acceptance. Her smile widened.
"Like you." She told him. "More another time." Because the coins were relatively easy to come by. The ravens and the magpies collected them for their nests.
For now though, her eyes sweeping towards Loud Blood's quickly approaching form, she'd have to take her leave.
She stuffed her nose into the crook of her arm and narrowed her eyes in distaste. "Stinks." She told Beating Hearts.
"Yes." He agreed following her line of sight. And with that she shifted away, she needed to check on the deer herds anyways.
She saw Beating Hearts again a month later, (it had been a quiet, solitary month) near one of the rivers she preferred to collect perch from. Loud Blood didn't wander off this time, but she was pleased with this gift she'd managed to spirit away from a group of bandits (they were stupid men, with little chakra to sense at all) It was a heavy bag, and it included rolled notes of paper she knew would have value to him as well.
Nanami was eager to present it to him.
So she'd chance it.
Plus… she had spent the time to make that other thing, even if she was still positive Loud Blood would kill her given the chance, he was still Oceans friend. That had to mean something right?
Loud Blood sat with folded legs on a rock overlooking the slowly flowing water, his scythe leaning against one of his shoulders. He hunched around it like it was a beloved item. She thought for him it probably was. He was murmuring words she didn't know in a strange cadence. Like a quiet prayer.
She considered how to approach for a moment, the trees didn't come close enough to the river for her to remain in one and gain Beating Heart's attention. She'd have to come from the ground… which made her nervous.
Still… the heavy leather bag tucked into her ragged kimono reminded her of why she was here. She slid barefeet across flat river stones, nervous eyes flicked back and forth between the one she liked and the one that stank.
She approached as close to Beating Hearts as she could get, putting him between her and Loud Blood; she crouched low like the beast she was. He'd claimed a spot overlooking the river not far from his partner, looking for all the world like he was asleep standing up.
"Excuse me." She called to him. His relaxed form tensed similarly to the way it had when she'd first approached him. He didn't bother opening his eyes this time and simply held out his hand to her, palm up and ready to receive.
She smiled, she definitely liked him. (He was accepting. non-violent.)
She scrambled towards his position another two steps before a screeching cry broke between them.
"Jissai no mono to fakku?!" Loud Blood's voice was so grating, but the sound of his attention made fear shiver down her spine. She shifted closer to Beating Hearts keeping a wary eye on the bare chested man who was pointing an accusing finger at her, he was standing now, taking aggressive steps towards her.
She needed to do this quickly, (she was in this position too often with the Akatsuki) Her gaze slid back to Beating Hearts who had his eyes open now, watching her expectantly.
"Another time now." She told him, and he grunted at her, fingers twitching. (eagerly?) She pulled the bundle from her clothing, relinquishing her crouched stance enough to reach up and place the bag into his waiting hand.
He held it low to her accommodatingly. This bag was much, much heavier than the last and a pleased look flashed across his eyes.
"Good girl." He rumbled.
The praise had her lips parting in a rush of unexpected pleasure. A heated breath escaped her, and she realized she would do anything to hear him say that again.
It felt good to have a purpose, to be wanted. Even if it was as simple as collecting these useless things.
She stared up at him for a moment, before Hidan's voice had her dropping back down onto her palms and pushing off backwards, just in time to avoid his scythe plunging into the stone she'd been standing on.
"Hidan." Beating Hearts bit out at his partner. "Anata wa kanojo o korosu shinai koto ga arimasu." She didn't know what he was saying but it sounded like a reprimand to her, she continued to back up quickly towards the treeline, chakra assisting her movements.
She hissed at him angrily between clenched teeth, but she had one more thing to give before she left.
Nanami pulled the twine from around her neck, watching as Loud Blood screeched angrily at Beating Hearts with his back turned to her.
"Hidan!" She called, naming him as Beating Hearts had. The man swung around to face her in an aggressive movement to fast for her to follow, his partners acid green eyes sliding back to watch her, a warning in his gaze.
She bit the inside of her cheek and chucked the necklace as hard as she could at him. It bounced off his chest harmlessly and piled onto the ground at his feet.
No one said anything for a long moment as both the men took in the sight of a circle made from carved darkwood with an inlaid triangle she'd knitted from red vines. Nanami thought the colors might appeal to him.
"Jashin-sama" He breathed, and the Akatsuki looked up to find the little girl was long gone.
They sat around the table, and for a long, blissful minute no one said anything.
On it's surface they had compiled a wicker mat piled with clean white clay, dried rabbit strips, some kind of possibly edible nuts, two bags of coins amounting to a decently large amount of cash, a single white feather, and a handmade necklace in the shape of Hidan's ridiculous god talisman.
"It's possible she's been watching us for a while, she seems talented at hiding her chakra signature." Itachi offered first.
Kisame shook his head. "She's so young, what's the point of all of this." He made a sweeping gesture at the items.
Deidara chuckled "When she approached us, un, I got the impression she was just going to leave the clay and go. She said it was a gift- because I was a friend of yours. Said it was because she loved you. Un." He told Kisame laughingly.
"She called us 'Red Cloud Friends'" Sasori added in a tone that conveyed how stupid they all thought that sounded.
"She has approached me twice." Kakuzu grudgingly said, which earned him a sharp look from his partner. "The first time she told me it was because I was acquainted with 'Oceans' and 'Raven Eyes'. She seemed prepared, she already had the money on her both times." No one missed the pleased note in his tone at the last part.
"Her language skills are poor, but I suppose I must be 'Raven Eyes' and that makes you 'Oceans'." Itachi mused to Kisame. The shark man scoffed.
"Again, what's the point."
"She seems to respond excessively well to praise." Kakuzu informed them. "Perhaps she is just a young child looking for acknowledgement."
"You just like that she brings you cash. Besides that doesn't explain shit about how she knew what each of us would like! I mean- seriously? She brought me the fucking holy symbol of Jashin-sama how the fucking hell-?" Kakuzu cut off his whining with an elbow into the man's ribs.
He wheezed. No one batted an eye.
"He makes a good point though." Sasori said. Quiet descended on them again.
"She's like, fucking five." Hidan said after a minute.
"I suspect she lives in the woods around this area. She tends to crouch, using chakra in both her hands and feet to move around. What few words she does know seem to have a water country lit to it." Itachi cataloged what few facts he did know out loud.
"We don't even fucking know her name, seriously." Hidan complained. A beat of silence and then-
"It's Nanami." Deidara said gaining everyone's attention. "She spoke about herself in the third person once, un."
"In any case." Zetsu's soft voice spoke for the first time. "Leader-sama wants you all to try and glean more information from the child before we decide if we should kill her, find out why she seems to know Deidara's weapon of choice if she's never seen him use it. Kakuzu's money hobby. Why she knows the sign of Hidan's idol."
"It's not a fucking idol you prick that's fucking blasphemy-" Kakuzu elbowed him again, harder this time.
"We won't be able to get much if she can't speak." Kisame pointed out.
"Rectify that." Zetsu told him. All eyes turned to Itachi expectantly, his face was impassive but he let out a small put upon sigh that the other took as acceptance.