ii.

Chapter Sixteen: Breath the Wild Air

"Live in the sunshine. Swim the sea. Breath the wild air." -Emerson

"This one looks good, see how the edges are curling? They do that right after they bloom, the sap will be more potent." She told False Peices, who nodded despite the fact that she was sure he already knew this.

Still, she was pleased that he was involving her in his poison making at all. It had been… an unexpected offer but not an unwelcome one. Nanami knew enough about some of these plants to know which ones would kill you before you finished your dinner.

Maybe he was just testing her? She didn't care if that was the case, she was just happy to help.

"Nanami-chan" Burning Earth interrupted poking his blond head around the door. She looked up from selecting one of the buds that had better coloring, to the cheerful man in the doorway.

"Yes?" She asked when nothing seemed forthcoming. He grinned.

"Come out into the living room." She stood, tip toeing around empty glass vials and an arrangement of plants and puppet parts scattered around the floor. (False Pieces was surprisingly messy)

Said redhead didn't look surprised at the appearance of his partner, but didn't get up to follow as she left the room, looking as disinterested as he always did.

In the great stone room she found Raven Eyes and Beating Hearts sitting at the worn table, Oceans lounging boredly on the couch and Loud Blood grinning from ear to ear near the front door.

Burning Earth came from around the corner of the kitchen with a glass of something that he was sipping at.

"So," Loud Blood began in an overly eager tone, and she was immediately suspicious.

"You have been with us for a little over two years now Nanami-chan." Burning Earth interrupted him. Hidan gave him a scathing look. "That makes you like, fucking seven or some shit right?"

Nanami shrugged "I might be." And no one batted an eye because it wasn't surprising that she didn't know.

In the last two years she'd grown a little; looking more like a child than a toddler. (She was still very short though, something she was always reminded of standing next to her Red Clouds.)

Her hair had grown farther down her back (she needed to ask Burning Earth to cut it again actually, she preferred it at her shoulders) but it still bore the feathers some of the Red Clouds liked to bring her, with little wooden beads and even a small bell Oceans had gifted her. (Though she suspected it was more that he wanted to hear her coming and less that he found it aesthetically pleasing.)

It made a pleasant, soft ringing sound when she tilted her head or turned too quickly. She found that when she needed to- like in her fights with Hidan- that it could be muted with a barely noticeable amount of chakra.

"Your age aside, you have been here for some time now," Raven Eyes smoothly got them back on track and Nanami tilted her head, previously mentioned bell giving a soft ting sound.

Beating Hearts grunted, never one to skirt around the point of a topic. "We want to take you outside."

She blinked and stilled for a moment. Had she heard that right?

Outside?

Where the sun was? And the moon? Where there was grass and a breeze and fresh airohgods-

"Really?" She breathed eyes wide.

Everyone was grinning at her, (except Raven Eyes and Beating Hearts for obvious reasons.)

"We're leaving in an hour." Beating Hearts informed her.

"Gehah! This is going to be a fucking blast little bitch-" Beating Hearts gave him a sharp look that promised his head might leave his neck if he didn't shut up.

"Don't wander off." Oceans warned, and she nodded vigorously because her voice had failed her, and she was really trying very hard not to cry right now because they were saying she was going to go outside- outside- outside-

The very first thing she did (after squinting at the hash sunlight- had it always been this… bright?) was throw herself down into the grass and roll around in it. It felt good, really good. It was cool and it pricked at her skin in a sensation she had almost forgotten, how could she have possibly forgotten how wonderful this was?

Loud Blood laughed deep from his chest at her expense, his cloak that he hardly ever wore inside was hanging loosely from his shoulders. Somehow him wearing it with nothing underneath managed to showcase his lack of shirt better than him trolloping around the great stone room with nothing but pants on.

Beating Hearts also wore his Akatsuki cloak, and it made him seem even larger than he did in just the black pants and tank top that was his usual attire.

The violent laughing man leapt towards her, aiming a punishing kick for her ribs with what she was sure would be enough force to punt her clear into the trees.

She rolled beneath his leg and sprung up behind him as he turned in a motion to fast for her to see- but she was already bring up her forearm to smash into his, and pushing his weapon arm away from his center. She danced inside his guard laughing and launched off the ground with a balancing leg to tackle him to the earth with a shoulder.

He went. (Even though she knew he was better than that.)

And then he was rolling around in the dirt with her laughing just as hard as she was while they attempted to maim each other bloody with tooth and nail. His scythe lay forgotten somewhere to the side.

"Children." Beating Hearts called to them in that tone of voice. Loud Blood pushed her off his chest straight up into the air, and she landed at his side a moment later with chakra enforced arms and legs like a cat.

She took a moment to tighten the bandage around the arch of one foot and then stood, brushing herself off like she'd done nothing more than trip.

Her grin was a little feral, matching the one Loud Blood wore as he trailed after Beating Hearts; making loud complaints and threats in his usual vulgar fashion about Beating Hearts choice of words.

Nanami didn't ask where they were going, because she didn't really care; but as the day wore on and they passed the rivers and the streams that were familiar to her in a faded sort of way, she started to become more aware of the limitations of her small body.

When she stumbled for the third time, Beating Hearts stopped. There was still plenty of light in the day and she could tell neither one of the Akatsuki wanted to stop.

She chewed her bottom lip in frustration.

"Oi, quit biting, that shits annoying." Loud Blood reprimanded her after sharing a look with his companion. She released her tortured lower lip at his words, and balled her little hands into fists.

"Nanami can keep going." She told them fiercely. Loud Blood grinned at her.

"Sure you can." He said confidently, and she looked up from her sore feet as he walked towards her. He bent down and in one smooth motion, he swooped her up, and perched her on his shoulder like some kind of humanoid bird. Because of her small stature it wasn't too awkward, but still, she felt a little humiliated.

"While we're out I can show you how Jashin-sama's ritual works little bitch." The blond man told her with no small amount of glee in his voice.

"Hidan." Kakuzu warned. Loud Blood rolled his eyes and winked at her. "Don't be such a stuffy old fart Kakuzu, she's gunna see it while we're out anyways."

Beating Hearts grunted but didn't disagree.

His acid green eyes caught her brown ones and in their depths was the promise of blood and pain if she started praying in the mornings or suddenly became magically slathered in corpse paint.

Nanami grinned at him, showing a few too many teeth.

He didn't look reassured but he went back to not paying attention to them.