The shout of angry villagers were right behind me. My feet pounded against the ground, the rocks around me a blur as I ran away from what was once my home. I still didn't understand why they were after me. They claimed I blew up a section of the village but I had just gotten back from a mission. People called me a liar, a murderer but they were wrong. My theory, someone who looks like me framed me because of who I am. I'm the Henkei Kaiju of Iwagakure. I tried my best not to, but the ninja chasing me left me no choice but to use my explosives.
"Ka!" I yelled, the bombs I planted behind me went off less then a second later. It wasn't meant to hurt anyone, but one kunoichi got to close. I wanted in horror as she disintegrated into nothing. I didn't want to end that way...I turned and ran faster than before, using far more chakra up than I should have.
I collapsed, my legs no longer able to carry me. I'd been running nonstop for three days with no rest. I finally came to the edge of a forest and managed to hide in low branches of the trees. I hoped to lose the few that followed me. Luck was, somewhat, on my side, they gave up after searching for an hour and left me alone. Knowing my village, they would send out more specialized ninja to get me. I had been apart of the explosion corps and was now a threat to the villages safety. I knew some pretty good information other villages would just love to get ahold of. I planned to be far from here by then.
I don't have a home anymore. Sure, it wasn't much, but at least I was finally being recognized as a ninja. Or I was, until the guards came to take me in. But that was after…
"Ugh!" I punched the ground, hard enough to leave a small crater. That bastard...I didn't have time to dwell on what he did to me. I was disgusted with myself enough already, he just made it worse. I had to keep moving, find a small village and change clothes quickly if I was going to survive. Deciding that if I pushed too hard, I might not make it. Begrudgingly decided to break here.
Unfortunately during my hasty escape, I had very little time to resupply my inventory. At least I had my mission standard clothes still, even if they were badly torn. The only thing I didn't have anymore were my leather gloves. They used to hide the horrible curse The Tsuchikage placed on me at birth. He was hoping to use it to save the village, but the downside wasn't worth it. The Iwagakure Kinjutsu was a powerful one, but it had an ugly downside. The mouths are your hands were nearly uncontrollable, and the one on you chest led directly to you medical ninja that was there during the process had sealed my chest mouth shut for good. It saved my life, but I was lucky. The other babies that were tested died in the first hour, because the Tsuchikage wouldn't allow anymore children to have that mouth sealed.
The mouth on my right hand was bleeding from biting its own lip, but it wouldn't let me heal it, so I stuffed a wad of gaze in it and wrapped it tightly. I truly wish it could choke. Forcing myself up, I tired to move on and keep a head of the next wave of shinobi. I knew the trackers would be out soon to try and find me. According to the suns position, I was heading towards Taigakure, southwest of Iwagakure. Wasn't the best idea, but what choice did I have? At least it was known to be hidden.
It was closing in on sunset before I saw anyone else on the road. I had stayed close to it but not directly on it to orient myself. There were two of them, both wearing the same black coat with red clouds one it. One was short and had a cloth obscuring his face and the other...no...impossible. He looked like me! Blonde hair, blue eyes...same face. They stopped walking, turning to see who was coming up to their resting spot. He and I stared at one another for a moment, frozen in shock.
It was odd, finding someone who looked just like you out in the woods like this. Same long, blonde hair, same almond shaped blue eyes and our faces were identical to boot.
"And who the hell are you, un!?" He rudely barked, standing up from the fallen log he was sitting on. "What makes you think you can steal my look?"
"I'm...just as confused as you." He even had my speech expedient. I was able to keep it under control as long as I wasn't mad. "Wait...did you blow the village up?" It made since, we looked alike and everything. They also seemed to be heading away from the village. His smirk gave him away.
"Blow up? Tsk, I made it into art, un!" His eyes lit up and had an excited gleam in them. It freaked me out.
"Brat...I told you art is eternal." The short one rasped.
They got into an argument for a while which gave me time to think things over. I decided to try to get away while they were distracted but was stopped when a metal tail launched from the short ones coat and stopped short of slicing my throat. H-he's a puppet?!
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked. "We're not done talking. Who are you?"
"W-who are you, un?" Damn, I let it slip.
"I should ask you!" The blonde glared at both of us. "Why do you look like me, un?" He asked, his voice lower than before.
"Heh, barley on the team a week and you have copycats, eh Deidara?" A large man that looked like a shark grinned came from the other side of the road. Another followed, a dark haired man, who was...beautiful didn't describe it. I tried not to look into his eyes, but was captivated by them. I'd never seen someone with piercing red eyes before. Then it clicked, those weren't normal eyes, it was the sharingan! I'd never seen it upclose, but heard about it from my teacher.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" The blonde, Deidara grabbed me by my shirt, pulling out of the trance of the raven's eyes.
"That anyway to grab a lady?" The short one rasped. I glared, watching Deidara's face turn red as he realized a couple of things. First, I was no man and second, he had a hold of the proof. The way he had grabbed my top tore what was left of the longer sleeve off completely, exposing my right shoulder and the bra underneath. He quickly let me go, like I burned him.
"W-who are you?" my voice was giving out. That's what running for so long got you, well and maybe getting caught off guard by two other people.
"That's what I just asked you…" Deidara sneered at me. Besides the obvious, we looked the same up until the hairstyle. Mine was currently in a messy braid while his was up in a half ponytail.
"Nina." I said flatly to my twin. We had to be, there was no other explanation. "I'm guessing you're Deidara?" That got the shark man to bark a laugh, he was getting dangerously close.
"Tsh, what are you doing out here, un?" He was easy to anger too.
"Someone tried to blow up Iwagakure. At first, I wasn't sure why they were after me, but now…" I motioned to him. "Someone saw you and thought it was me, un." The slip got me a death glare from Deidara.
"Thought since I was leaving the area, why not." I didn't like the smirk he gave. It took a moment to understand why, but it was too late. I felt a sharp pinch to the back of my shoulder and turned around to see the shorter man. I watched the scorpion like tail retract, knowing he'd just done something to me.
"Was that necessary?" A deep, but calm voice said just before I blacked out.
I woke up with my hands and feet bound together, leaned up against a tree with a gag in my mouth. I rolled my eyes, thinking the gag was over kill. No one but us were on the road or anywhere nearby. Besides, who's save me? On the other side of the tree, I could hear the four men talking.
"Let's just kill her and get it over with." The voice belonged to the shark man. I struggled a little, but these bounds were tight. Whoever did them knew what they were doing, but it didn't stop me from trying to get out.
"She would make a great puppet..." My guess was the puppet guy said that. That's why the short man had look real, it was from a person! I struggled a little more, trying to get free. I didn't want to die just yet, and I really didn't want to become a puppet.
"No. She could be useful." The voice must have belonged to the raven haired man. His voice definitely matched his looks. The way he spoke to them though, it left no room for them to question it. He must be their leader...He had the authority, despite looking only a few years older than me. "The Akatsuki could use her as a spy or for covert infiltration."
"Besides that, I wanna know why she looks like me!" Deidara yelled. For a group that seemed to not want to be found, they sure were loud.
I heard a shift in the leaves beside me and I looked up from my struggling to see two piercing red eyes, glowing in the dark. I gasped, falling over as I tried in vain to get away. It was the raven haired man, he had moved so quietly and swift...and those eyes. I couldn't stop looking at them, knowing I shouldn't. He raised an eyebrow at me, probably thinking I was stupid for looking into them.
"She awake, Itachi?" The shark called to us, he sounded excited. I feared him the most, but that was only because he gave off a menacing vibe.
"Yes." Itachi said curtly. I watched as his hand came up slowly, reaching to lower the gag. I turned my head a little, hoping he wasn't actually going to hurt me instead. Thankfully he didn't, doing the opposite of what I thought, and helped me sit back up. He did however then quickly throw me over his shoulder, causing me to yelp.
"Hey! Put me down!" I couldn't really stop him though, My arms were behind my back and my legs were still bound. He gave a soft snort at me, one only I could have heard. Was he messing with me? He put me down once we were in the middle of the group, though not as hard as he could have. He was surprisingly gentle, for someone who hung out with a bunch of criminals.
"You gave her the antidote, right brat?" The puppet asked, the mask over its face lifting slightly, showing the terrifying sight below. I never would allow him to make me into something so gruesome.
"Yeah, yeah. She's not gonna die on us." Deidara waived him off. Die?! I felt panic starting to take over again. I was completely helpless...No! Don't think of that now...but they could do anything to me right now.
I finally got to see all of them more clearly in the glow of their fire. The shark man was far more terrifying to look at than the puppet. His teeth were sharpened, his skin really was blue, along with his hair, and he had what looked to be gills on his cheeks. I saw all were also missing ninja, based on the slashes through the headbands. Konoha, Suna, Iwa and Kiri. Though if I proved it wasn't me that blew up a part of Iwagakure...no, I'd die before I could take Deidara out. The other three would make sure of that.
"Good. Well, you know far too much to be released...and we can't really kill you." The shark said, planting his sword near me. He seemed upset that Itachi wouldn't let him kill me, I was grateful for that. "But if you try to escape…" He grinned and I swore the sword purred. I tried to inch away from it, but it was useless.
"Got it…" I glared at him.
"Kisame." Itachi warned.
"I've heard of you..." Deidara spoke up, kneeling in front of me. At least he finally figured out who I was. I guess he figured it out when he grabbed my shirt, seeing the sealed mouth on my chest when the shirt ripped. "Though we didn't call you Nina."
"I'm sure you didn't…" No, I was known as something else. For two reasons, the first being the kenjutsu, the second...I killed my mother with my birth. I guess she had been someone somewhat important for them to be angry about me being born.
"Henkei Kaiju." There it was, my favorite nickname...if I wasn't tied up I would have punched him hard enough to make his head spin. "The deformed monster of Iwa...so what's wrong with you? I don't see anything wrong with you, un."
"I do." The puppet sneered, making Deidara glare daggers at him. I think he just insulted our looks. That's when I noticed Deidara's hand, the Iwagakure Kinjutsu…
"How did you get that?!" I asked, unable to point, but motioned with my head what I meant. He looked stupidly at his hands, like I'd asked him the dumbest question in the world. "I have it too…" It was a curse.
"You do? So you know how great this power is, un?!" I felt my face fall to disbelieve at his words.
"No! It's a curse, un!"
"A curse? Is that what they told you? Tsh, they're robbing you of the greatest art form!" He got this air about him, and went on about how his art was the greatest expression of how life should be. He was quite animated about it too...
"Art? What?" Did he mean the explosions? This caused the puppet to laugh darkly at him.
"I told you, your art form isn't worth anything." He smirked.
"What do you know Sasori?" So that was the puppet's name. I was left more confused than anything, the two of them were on another world at this point.
"Enough." Itachi's low voice overpowered their bickering. "It's been decided. Leader-sama wants us to bring her back with us. Alive."
I still wasn't allowed to be untied of course, so Deidara threw me up onto a clay bird he made, one similar looking to the ones I can make, though mine looked more realistic and less cartoon like. I couldn't really hold on or sit on it correctly like this, making it so someone had to fly with me. Kisame volunteered, but thankfully it was clear to Itachi what he wanted to do and he was told no. Itachi said he would.
"If she tries anything, I can easily take her out." It was a warning from the raven to keep still.
The only thing keeping me on the bird was Itachi. He had a hold of my arm, keeping me from falling a thousand feet down. I had to side side saddle, so I got a great view of the way down. The others were on their own birds, with ours in the middle of the formation.
I just couldn't stop staring at Itachi. Of course I had heard of him, he was a clan killer, but no one would suspect a man looking like he did could do it. He had a kind face, and something in his eyes told me he held a deep secret, one that was tearing him up inside. I saw him glance back at me, feeling my face flush a little at getting caught staring.
"What is it that you want?" He finally spoke, turning to look at eyes weren't red anymore, but a deep brown that seemed almost black. He was art is you asked me.
"No. Just wondering what went so wrong that you got here." I could have said anything, but that's what I blurted. Now he's gonna think I'm trying to flirt..I criticize myself.
"Is that really what you were thinking? Your face says otherwise." I felt the blush darken across my cheeks. I hadn't been drooling over him, if that's what he was implying.
"Someone thinks highly of himself, un." I watched his lips move slightly upwards. Was that a smile?
"Whatever you were thinking, it cannot happen." He looked forward again, his hair blowing slightly in the wind.
"Now I wanna know what you were thinking." I wanted to see if I could break his mask. He glanced at me, but didn't answer. Oh, that's how it's gonna be. "Not talking now, huh?" He stayed silent the rest of the way, but I kept asking questions. Most were stupid things, like what his favorite color was, but he never answered. He did seem amused by it thought.
"You won't get him to crack." Kisame called to me, over hearing what was going on. Deidara just glared back at us, seemingly pissed Itachi was getting attention. This made me determined to figure out who exactly was Itachi Uchiha?
Their base was in the middle of the rain village. Honestly I would have chosen a sunny-er area, but that was because I wasn't a fan of the rain. It hindered flying.
"Is this her?" A woman appeared from the shadows when we landed. The platform was narrow and on the roof on, making it odd getting off of the bird. The blue haired woman had an umbrella open even though it wasn't raining. The moment I thought that, it started to rain again, drinching us in seconds.
"Come." She turned around to the building and lead us inside. Itachi untied my legs before helping me off, but kept a tight hold on my still bound arms. I was kind of glad, I really didn't want to fall of the slippery platform.
"Where's Pein?" Kisame asked.
"Resting." Was all the blue haired women said. "Deidara, Sasori. Have you two located your target?" She asked as we entered an inclosed area.
"No, Orochimaru is a slippery devil." Sasori growled, pissed at not getting this Orochimaru guy. "We'll find him…"
"Good. Itachi, Kisame. You mission went well I hear. For now, rest." She left through a door to the left without another word.
"Thank you, Konan-sama. Come. We'll find you a room." Itachi said as he took the rest of the restraints off. Finally I was able to ring my hair out. He watched me untie my hair and squeeze the water out, but still stayed unusually stoic. Deidara rushed off in a huff, making sure I knew he didn't like me. He purposely shoulder checked me as he went inside, pushing me into Itachi. I glared at the back of the blonde's head as he disappeared into the darkness.
"So...who are you guys?" I asked as I followed Itachi towards a different door.
"We're called, Akasuki." The Uchiha said, disappearing into the darkness of the doorway. I hesitated, which made Kisame pushed me inside.
"Hurry up! I want to have a warm shower for once." He seemed very eager.
Itachi took me to another floor, telling me this was Deidara, Sasori, Kisame and his floor. It was the only floor with five bedrooms apparently.
"You'll take the open room." He showed me the door that lead to the room. "Make yourself at home." He sounded bored with me as he turned to leave.
"Thanks…" but this wasn't the place for me. The air felt heavy with sorrow and damp with unspoken regret. It was suffocating. "Hey, why did you…" But he was gone when I turned back around. I wanted to know why he vouched to not kill me.
The room was sparse with only a bed and a small desk in the corner. The closet was shoved in another corner facing the bed. As far as I was concerned, it was heaven. I flopped on the bed face first, groning at how hard it actually was. That hurt… I sat up to rub my sore nose when someone barged in. At first I thought Itachi was back to say something, but I was very wrong.
"Well, well. They told me we had new meat. Didn't know it was gonna be another blonde bitch." The silver haired man grinned. The cloak he wore was open, revealing he didn't wear shirts underneath. At first he had dirt across his chest, but looking again it was blood. He reeked of it and death. "Name's Hidan, cutie. How'd you like to convert to Jashin?" He was a sleeze, the smile he gave proving he didn't have any good intentions with me.
"Who the hell do you think you are, un?" I glared at him, standing up but keeping a distance between us. Something told me he was not easy to take down, though he looked it.
"The guy who is about to give you the welcoming of your life." He started taking off his cloak when someone yanked him backwards out of the room. Good, I was about to cut his dick off. I had a kunai in my hand the second he moved.
"There you are." A deep voice that sent chills through me, spoke from the hall. I looked out to see a man with piercing bright green and red eyes, the mask over his face made it hard to see much else. The feeling I got from him was even worse that the one I got from Sasori. "We need to leave, now. Stop terrorizing the fresh meat." The nickname wasn't a favorite of mine.I watched him drag Hidan by the collar of his cloak, the silver haired bastard was yelling profanities, telling Kakuzu off.
"That's Hidan and Kakuzu." I nearly shit myself when Sasori appear from around the corner. I know I screamed, I wasn't proud of it... "I would keep your door locked at night if I were you."
"Noted…" I tried to get my heartbeat to go back to normal. "He looked at me funny for a second. "What, un?"
"Your nose is bleeding." Was all he said before slinking away into the room next to mine. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand, seeing I was bleeding. Stupid mattress.