ii.
Chapter Six: I Know (I Wish I Didn't)
"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't." -Bill Nye
Nanami was tired, her eyes drooped as she curled farther into the doe at her side. The creatures warmth and the rise and fall of its soft breathing was comforting. She loved the herd, after several times of nuding back their lost fowl with gentle encouragement from her chakra they had begun to accept her presence. It certainly didn't hurt that when she was around the predators seemed to avoid them.
She was drifting softly, her limbs aching pleasantly from a long day- and then from nowhere there was the vast ocean sweeping forth to smother the signal of wildlife around her. She jolted up, startling the doe she'd been dozing with. An elated breath escaped her- she'd been waiting so long. She liked some of the others okay but they weren't Kisame, only he held the ocean inside him. (he held her death, her life.)
She didn't know how he did that. (How do you hide the ocean?)
But there he was.
Her heart soared into her throat, tight with anticipation and excitement. She quickly made her way to a hovel beneath one of the many trees she used as a cache. The hovel wasn't far, but Kisame was a ways away.
She gathered what she wanted with her small, chubby hands. She was sure Raven Eyes would be there too, and she'd gathered words from a town she'd ventured to a week before as his gift. (she had needed new clothing, the words she'd taken were an accident, but she knew he'd be interested.)
Nanami had spent more time than she would have liked around the edges of that town, venturing close to some of the children just so she could learn more words for her Red Clouds. She thought she knew a decent amount now. Maybe.
It was dark, and the leaves of the trees above her provided only filtered moonlight to see by. She didn't usually travel this late at night, but Nanami was unsure if she would have another opportunity to catch him. He wasn't traveling quickly, but waiting till dawn wasn't an option, she was sure she would lose him.
So she blended her own swirl of life into the life of the forest around her like she always did, a seamless embrace- just to be safe.
Nanami became invisible, flitting across the ground and through trees with confident steps that barely touched the soft earth in her flight.
She clutched her gift tight to her chest. She'd collected it with painstaking effort, just incase her ocean came back.
She was glad she had. (She was glad he did)
It was some time later, and a decent amount of travel that she felt she was close enough to slow her approach. This place was not so far that she was unfamiliar with it, these woods were her home after all, but she preferred stealth to speed in this instance. The moon had risen high, and she shifted her bundle to one arm so she could rub tiredly at a squinted eye. She bit back a yawn.
Her calloused barefeet didn't make a sound as she stepped across the soft mulchy earth. Despite her best efforts to leave her gift and go unseen (she didn't want to disturb them, it was late after all) a kunai whizzed by her cheek, thunking hard into the tree at her side. It was only her sense of self preservation that told her to move that inch to the left.
Nanami froze, eyes seeking in the din. Her senses told her that Kisame was here, (Itachi too) but that was one thing. Seeing was another. There was no camp fire here, but despite this and the low light, she saw a figure shift, her ears strained; picking up the rustling of cloth.
A flash of red, and the shape of a cloud. She eased somewhat, slightly reassured.
"Please excuse me" she whispered into the shadows, knowing they would hear. She slid slowly forward on the tips of her toes into the circular space that could count as a modest clearing between trees.
"For sharks in red dawns" She told them quietly her strange wording mish-mashing together in a terrible attempt at politeness. She laid the bundle on the ground and turned slowly, hands held open at her sides so they didn't think she was trying anything funny. If they were opposed to her being here, she would have to give her gift of words to Raven Eyes later. She felt a pang of disappointment, but it was for the best.
It was late, and she was tired. She knew there was a comfortable hole beneath an evergreen not too far from here. She'd dug it a long time ago but Nanami didn't think it was so long that another beast might have taken up residence.
A warm handed landed gently on her shoulder.
She flinched violently. (No one had touched her in a very, very long time.)
Her eyes snapped up to meet dark ones. Raven Eyes.
"I- I am, sorry" she told him hesitantly, quietly into the space between them. His hand dropped back to his side. Her gaze skittered away, looking for the silver ones she knew were here somewhere.
"Dono yō ni watashitachi o mitsukeru nodesu ka?" Raven Eyes asked in that accent she couldn't ever quite figure out. Besides, that was entirely too many words.
Wordlessly, she shook her head. She added a soft shrug for good measure.
His eyes narrowed on her, and he gently reached out once more (his fingers were surprisingly delicate and feminine) he touched her shoulder again, and even knowing it was coming it still felt very jarring on her skin.
She flinched again.
He pretended not to notice, and gently turned her back toward the clearing. He pushed her forward lightly.
She gave him a confused look, and hesitantly asked, "You want I here? Stay?" She couldn't see his face from her vantage point, but she got the impression he was frowning.
"Do you want me to stay" he clearly corrected. She repeated the words under her breath twice, and he seemed appeased by her efforts to learn.
He pushed her down into a sitting position next to her abandoned gift, and she went willingly. She bit the inside of her cheek in another effort not to yawn.
But in the next moment, her tired thoughts lay forgotten when her Oceans stepped before her, folding his large bulk onto the ground on the other side of her gift to him.
Raven Eyes made himself comfortable as well.
"You," Kisame said in the water country lit she was more accustomed to, "find us." He gestured at himself and Itachi.
She nodded, "Yes."
His silver eyes flashed in the glowing moonlight. "How?"
"How do you find us?" Itachi repeated the exact words he had spoken before, and she made the quick effort to try and repeat it correctly.
Although, the question confused her. (His ocean was massive, how could she not find it?)
She tilted her head to one side, crow feathers and wooden beads woven into braids fell heavily across her shoulder. She considered the question, and then what answer she might give.
"I feel." She told them. "I…" She hesitated, before reaching out a slow moving hand to touch a wisp of Itachi's ambient chakra. (He sat closer) It swirled over her fingers, weaving between them like steam.
"See?" She offered, attempting to show them. She wasn't sure how to say touch. The look on their faces said they didn't understand what she was trying to say.
She made a frustrated noise.
"I…" She tried again, making a motion of touching the back of her hand, and then her cheek, and then the dirt in front of her.
"Tatchi." Kisame offered, sounding unsure. She agreed with the tone of his voice; she was also unsure, but then he reached for her, the distance between them suddenly nothing at all and his large hand was enveloping over her small, child's hand.
She didn't flinch this time, she knew the ocean's feel better than most.
"Touch." He said again. She nodded this time, he withdrew and she reiterated her earlier point.
"I touch chakra. To follow. Easy to feel." she added the word that she knew from her past life, but had never said out loud. "Oceans is… deep- large? stretch far." She added, because Kisame's chakra was ridiculously easy to find.
Two pairs of blank eyes watched her without expression.
"You touch chakra." Raven Eyes repeated her words, with an inflection like it was a crazy thing to say. Had she said it wrong? She was pretty tired...
Nanami's brow furrowed, and she reached out again to twine her fingers through the Uchiha's ambient chakra once more.
"Yes, see?" She tried to show them, giving it a gentle tug this time, the kind of thing she might do to herd a rabbit towards a trap or guide one of the doe's back to the main herd.
He went ridged and she snached her hand back quickly, worried she had offended him. "I'm sorry!" she blurted, scooting away from him by a couple of inches.
His dark eyes made contact with Kisame's silver ones, and a strange look passed between the two of them.
"Your gifts," Raven Eyes changed the subject. She nodded encouragingly, her gaze resting on the bundle for a moment before meeting Itachi's intense ones.
"Many gifts, Oceans and Raven Eyes have many friends." She told him. His brow furrowed, and she worried she wasn't making any sense again, but he plowed on.
"You know what we tanoshimimasu" Nanami stared at him blankly for a moment.
"What we like?" He tried a different word, one she comprehended. Across from them she could feel Ocean's gaze, and she chewed her words carefully, fearful of upsetting him.
"Yes" she settled simply, and smiled for Raven Eyes. Something sparked in the dark depths of his gaze, for a moment she worried he would activate his sharingan but after a solid moment when they remained normal she relaxed.
"How?" He questioned. Her smile drooped a little. That was a strange thing to ask, how did she know what they liked? She didn't know how to answer that or why they would even care. Did they not like the gifts?
"Nanami knows." She said simply with a shrug, hoping it would be enough. Kisame made a frustrated noise then, and she knew it wasn't.
"Why me?" Oceans interrupted suddenly.
Aa, she wasn't sure how to answer that either. She chewed her lip looking him over. He seemed confused, but as if he genuinely would like to know why she'd chosen him. (She couldn't very well tell him he'd been her joy, her freedom, her death.)
"Kobanzame," She began, offering the name of the fish an old lady had given her once long ago. "Sharks need Kobanzame, and Nanami loves the water."
"What?" Itachi asked sounding unsure. He looked to Kisame for the answer, which he seemed to have as a humored sort of understanding passed through his eyes.
"Suckerfish, they have a Kyōsei kankei with sharks." and Nanami nodded although she didn't know the words- but she knew that suckerfish and sharks lived in the oceans together in symbiosis. Assisting one another.
She would like to have that sort of thing with Oceans.
Itachi huffed. (She thought maybe that was the equivalent of a laugh for him)
"Do you know my name?" Raven Eyes changed the subject again just as quickly as Kisame had with his question.
"Raven Eyes." She supplied, because wasn't that obvious too? He shifted at her side, pulling the front of his collar down so she could see more of his face in the glowing moonlight.
"My real name" He supplied. She froze, eyes sweeping over to Kisame for a moment. She searched his impassive face, finding nothing.
"This would make Oceans happy?" she asked him, and he looked uncomfortable under her regard, but nodded slowly nontheless.
"Then yes. Nanami knows." She answered quietly in a resigned kind of way.
She looked up at Raven Eyes from under her lashes feeling hesitant and a little fearful.
"Name me." He said, voice dropping an octave. She sighed.
"Uchiha Itachi." she pointed to Ocean. "Hoshigaki Kisame."
Itachi's hand shot out grasping her upper arm in a punishing grip. She squeaked loudly tears gathering in her eyes at the sudden turn. Fear slithered down her back, choking her in its cloying embrace. (She was going to die here, this was a mistake)
"I'm sorry!" She cried chakra unconsciously gathering in her palms as she fruitlessly attempted to remove the offending appendance. (She firmly decided she did not enjoy Itachi's touch.)
"The others? Red Cloud Friends?" He asked, his tone threatening as he used the silly name she called them in her desire to avoid outright saying Akatsuki. That seemed like a lost cause now.
Ah, curse her and her desire to see Kisame pleased with her.
"I'm sorry," She said again, tears tracking wetly down her cheeks. "Nanami knows."
"Names." Itachi demanded squeezing tighter and she looked imploringly over at Kisame, who watched Itachi with a frown but nothing to say.
She sobbed. "Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori," a wet gasp "Tobi, Konan, Zetsu, Nagato" She paused thinking clearly enough to add, "Orochimaru?" It came out like a question, because she had no idea if he was still in Akatsuki or not. Then again she had added Tobi's name and he wasn't an official member until Sasori was dead. (Her mind was going to crack even more if this continued. She had only wanted to see Oceans pleased.)
"I'm sorry." She cried again, softer this time. "Nanami knows."
She wished she didn't.
Itachi let her go and she immediately shifted away from him and rubbed soothing chakra into what she was sure was going to be a nasty bruise later.
"How?" He asked, and his eyes were red then, and spinning. She looked down and away quickly, avoiding. Had she been looking she would of seen his eyes narrow.
"Nanami born knowing."
Silence.
"Who is Nagato?" Kisame asked then and she squeezed her eyes shut, more tears leaking down her face. She felt so hurt, her chest ached. She couldn't look at him.
"Leader-sama." She answered, she was too far in to leave now.
"Who is Tobi?" Itachi's voice came from her side. She hunched forward.
"Uchiha Madara is a lie."
More silence.
"Who." He pressed, so she did look up meeting his spinned red tomoe with a flinch.
"Uchiha Itachi not meaning to know." She tried to deflect, but when his chakra spiked and she felt the violence in it she caved.
"Uchiha Obito."
"My itoko?" Itachi murmured to himself, sharingan swirling into nothing. He shared a look with Kisame, who nodded silently at some unspoken question.
"I go now, please." She made to stand but found Kisame gripping her wrist in a motion she didn't even see. His silver eyes bore into hers, the ocean within him making itself known again. It smothered Itachi's smaller signature cresting over her skin in a familiar embrace. She had died once in that embrace. She thought maybe she could still smell the salt and brine in her hair sometimes.
"I'm sorry" He told her softly, and it sounded like it took a lot out of him to say that. "Please stay." She relaxed at his soft voice, his chakra hushing in her ears. So when he pulled her forward into his lap she went.
She was so tired. His cloak was warm. (she was only a child)
His large hand ran gently over her hair and she curled her own into a red print cloud.
"You did well." He praised, and she wished she thought so too.
She watched as Itachi pulled the bundle between them apart,(absently, the hair stroking was very lulling.) revealing the forehead protector she'd gone to absolutely ridiculous efforts to retrieve. She hated that fucking island, but she thought Kisame would be pleased by it and when she'd heard the words she bore for Itachi she went to the lengths needed to retrieve it.
The fabric was long, longer than anyone else's that she knew. A deep slash played across the mist symbol emblazoned proudly in the middle.
The petting stilled for a moment.
"Who's is this?" Itachi asked, and she answered him hesitantly.
"Momochi Zabuza." A sad sigh. She had always disliked that he had died. "Had meant to die, sad though, Demon of the Mist not bad man."
Silence met her declaration, but the petting resumed.
"Raven Eyes gift is words." She paused, and then "More words." She hissed- because he was a jerk.
There was an expectant silence, and the only reason she decided to fill it was because Kisame was petting her, and it was nice and he was warm and it made her feel good.
Even though Itachi was a jerk.
She reached for a moment, remembering what she needed to say and the right way to say it.
"Raven Eyes has a brother, he's a good boy." She flicked her eyes up from her comfortable position tucked into Kisame's lap to meet Itachi's stoney ones. If anything he looked even blanker than normal.
"Has sharingan now." Because she knew this was true, even if she hadn't witnessed it. She curled her face into Kisame's cloak. She entertained the thought for a moment of telling him about Orochimaru's plot to take him, but dismissed it. He got all he was going to get out of her tonight.
She was tired. She told them so, and the quiet reigned long enough to find her sleep inside the ocean's embrace.