ii.

Chapter Seven: Beneath the Earth

"Where you movin'?" I said, "On to better things."

"What do you think?" Kisame asked quietly after the little girl's breathing had evened out. She was curled into his lap, her entire body fitting between his folded legs. He moved a feather adorned braid away from her mouth absently, curling it behind a little ear.

"She's a powerful sensor." Itachi said aloud, adding this new information to his mental repertoire of what they knew about the child.

"And she knows too much to be a spy." He added, and Kisame knew that look on his face, and that tone of voice. He was thinking too hard.

Probably distracted by the tidbit of news about his brother.

He had to admit, as his eyes wandered to the forehead protector on the ground, he was a bit distracted himself.

So Momochi was dead… that was… disappointing.

Itachi absently pulled the tie from his hair, and redid it, pulling the flyaways back in place and away from his eyes.

"We will have to take her back to base." He said then, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips.

"She might not live through it." He added, a slight warning in his tone as he watched his partner absently pet at the child's hair.

Kisame grunted, but said nothing.

She awoke before dawn, a soft shifting of unconscious to consciousness. There was fabric piled around her, and she was warm swimming in its voluminous depths. She sat up, the cloak sliding away from her little shoulders.

She felt Raven Eyes shift to crouch in front of her. She rubbed a bleary eye and blinked away sleep to meet his gaze.

"Raven Eyes?" She murmured, it was quiet. The morning birds were still asleep.

"Come with me." He said simply, a soft request. She looked around for a moment, noting that Raven Eyes still wore his cloak but Oceans was missing. She couldn't feel his chakra at all.

"Oceans wants this?" She asked hesitantly. The slender man before her gave a nod of confirmation. She bit her lip, considering. If she refused, they'd probably just kill her and call it a day. But if she accepted she would get to see Oceans again. (Somewhere in her, she was aware that they knew this would be her motivation. His absence the carrot on a stick.)

"Alright." She agreed, and crawled out from beneath her makeshift bedding.

Itachi retrieved the cloak with plucking fingers, he turned and began to walk towards the east. She followed after a moment, her shorter legs taking three steps for one of his.

He didn't move very quickly, a slow loping grace that she found accommodating. They traveled until the sun had crested the horizon, and the dew on the grass reflecting the red and orange light of dawn.

Raven Eyes came to a halt in an area just past where her senses usually stretched, there was an oddly large amount of chakra pooled on the ground here, it shimmered; steaming up lightly and cresting back down like water vapor.

It was pretty to watch.

"Before we go," Itachi said gaining her attention. He looked and sounded pretty serious, despite his attempt at simple words. "Words said in the dark are…" he paused. "himitsu" he tried and she shook her head in the negative. He pulled down the front of his cloak so she could see his face and brought his other hand to his lips. He made a 'hush' gesture with one finger.

She nodded in understanding. She wouldn't repeat anything said last night.

"Good." He said simply.

Raven Eyes spiked his chakra, and she watched as his eyes spun red for a second- and he blinked and it was gone.

"Nanami, come." She blinked, the pool of chakra on the ground had dispersed to reveal a stone staircase that descended into the ground. An illusion of some kind? (genjutsu)

She trotted quickly to follow, the stone was cold on her feet, and she resisted the strong urge to drop onto her hands for four points of contact.

She felt unsafe. Raven Eyes hadn't exactly been the nicest to her last night. (She was still angry with him)

The light of day faded behind them as they descended, and despite being miffed with Raven Eyes she found herself shifting closer to his bulk, her fingers brushing along the loose fabric of his cloak for comfort. She didn't allow herself to cling but this much would be enough.

He looked down at her behind his high collar with a perplexed expression, and she gave him a shaky smile.

They stepped off of the last step onto a flat stone floor, and Raven Eyes pushed the door before them open, reaching down with gentle finger tips to push her inside. She stiffed at the contact, still finding his skin on hers unpleasant, but she went without a fuss.

The room inside was large, brightly lit with what she recognized as electric lamps, although it was her first time seeing them as Nanami. There was a puff of warm air as she stepped inside.

She noticed the soft looking furniture scattered around. A long couch, a low table, a large square rug that looked like it might be sporting blood stains.

There was a small kitchenette nearer to the table on her left that curved behind a dividing wall and out of sight.

Against the far wall were more doors, but she didn't have long to ponder this as the chakra signatures and bodies in the room held her attention. Itachi pushed her farther into the room as he shut the door behind him with a click.

"Hello" She greeted the men softly, feeling unnerved.

There was the unpleasant sound of clicking puppet pieces in the far corner, hunched forward and wrapped in red could print fabric. Bright blue eyes full of mirth framed by blond hair lounged on the couch, arms dangling over its back to face her.

Loud Blood who was not to be ignored was huffing and muttering things she was sure would be obscene if she could understand (she needed to get him to teach her those words.) from a very undignified sprawl on the floor, half laying across the table with his scythe on his back.

Her eyes alighted on Beating Hearts, who stood with arms folded at the opposite corner of the couch that Burning Earth had claimed, leaning slightly into its back.

She stepped towards him, ready to leave Raven Eyes behind but paused when his hand landed on her shoulder (again) she tensed shooting him a disgruntled look over her shoulder.

His face remained impassive.

Burning Earth burst out laughing "I don't think she likes you Itachi, un."

"Hn." was all he had to say, but his eyes held hers, and within them was a warning.

"Let's just kill the baita." Loud Blood added his two cents, his hand coming up to rest lovingly on the handle of his scythe.

"Shut up Hidan." Beating Hearts sighed.

"Kusokurae Kakuzu, Nanda yo omae-wa? Honto." came his overly aggressive and rapid fire reply. Nanami shifted away from him immediately, staring as his tirade was completely ignored. She got the feeling this was normal here.

Itachi pushed her forward again, nudging her towards an Akatsuki-free corner of the room. She went with one last look to Beating Hearts.

Out of everyone here she'd prefer him but it looked like she wasn't getting much of a choice right now. Besides, he was the closest to Loud Blood, and that guy was a fucking creep.

"Where is Oceans?" She asked Raven Eyes, her voice wavered childishly, exposing how uncomfortable she felt. He paused in his response, and Burning Earth found that was a good moment to interject.

"If you're a good girl you can see him later, un." He looked like he was enjoying this way too much. She liked it when Beating Hearts had said it (it had meant something then) but Burning Earth just made it sound disgusting.

"Pig." she hissed under her breath. (inside she broke a little, carrot on a stick confirmed)

Burning Earth just laughed.