Part III
Ruination
"A tree may look as beautiful as ever; but when you notice the insects infesting it, and the tips of the branches that are brown from disease, even the trunk seems to lose some of its magnificence.."
― Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha
Chapter 34
Anomie felt the cloak to be heavy. It weighed down her shoulders and the color darkened her mood. She doubted any of her enemies could recognize her when the thick material covered her face. When she was a child, she had heard about the greatness of the red cloaked warriors of the rain. They were known to be pacifists back in the time before the third Shinobi war ended. Their legacy sizzled off and they became known for being mercenaries for hire.
When she realized those pacifists and the organization under Tobi were the same, she wasn't certain what to think.
She awoke to nightmares every passing night since the massacre. This would be her own punishment for all the blood. It earned her a place among the murderers and she could no longer tell herself that she wasn't one of them. Maybe she was worse.
"I really hate Suna," Anomie said, feeling the sun tear through her skin and blisters form on her feet. Tobi glanced her way as the wind, mixed with bits of sand, knocked the hood off her head. She stopped and stared into the sky for an entire minute of silence.
Tobi chuckled, placing his gloved palm over her shoulder. "I told you there was no use wearing that hood."
"It's too bright," she defended her over use of covers with a sigh as they spotted the hidden village of sand in the short distance. "If he's not here, how about we get some watermelon. I am starving."
"He's here," Tobi said, none too ominously and Anomie decided she didn't care how he knew the missing ninja went back to his home village.
"Looks like it's my turn," Anomie found the wind far more deadly than she would care to admit and Tobi seemed to notice the dilemma as well.
"Are you up for it? We can find another way inside," he commented and Anomie shook her head, stripping off her cloak and revealing the short kimono underneath. She untied the obi from around her waist, slipping off the garment and allowing it to drop to the ground. She felt Obito's stare and she turned her head.
"It requires a lot of Chakra to keep the clothes. I can't be picky," Anomie said slipping off her bra straps. "Look away or don't. It doesn't matter to me."
"You still have no modesty," he commented with a chuckle and Anomie glanced towards him with furrowed brows before shrugging off the deja vu and erupting into a cloud of smoke.
The wind nearly ripped her apart, but the Chakra she had gotten replenished from the Ho'ou did wonders.
"I'll be at the gates in three minutes," he called after her as she darted her body towards the entrance, inhabiting one of the sand ninja female guards.
She turned towards the second sand ninja with a raised brow. "Do you feel that?"
The second sand ninja glanced up from the bingo book in his hand. "Our chemistry? Always."
Anomie, not expecting the flirtation, decided against shoving her kunai into his throat. "Focus. Do you feel that Chakra?"
"An enemy? Finally. Gate duty is boring as fuck," the sand ninja stood, opening the gates like the trusting fool he was. The moment his back was to her, she allowed the smoke to exit her lips and engulf his face. He gasped, trying to breath as she slowed the smoke to enter his skull.
He fell to the ground at her feet, and Tobi walked over both their bodies with a happy skip. "You didn't kill him?" Tobi asked, noticing Anomie's slight hesitation. "There's no point changing your ways now, An-chan."
"There's also no point in having the dead guards become the new reason for Suna to mobilize their Shinobi," Anomie replied, as smoke left the the body of the Suna ninja, and in moments the white haired woman's naked body stood tall as the sand ninja fell to the ground.
"Tobi is a good boy either way," the masked man stated as Anomie rolled her eyes, activating her seal. Her clothes covered her form once more.
"Pretty sure someone who murdered five shinobi in the passing is not a 'good boy'," Anomie said, dragging the two bodies out of sight.
"Pretty sure that was you, An-chan," Tobi said with a sing songy muse.
Anomie scowled at him, dropping the Shinobi's hands and the arms flopped back onto the sand. In the far distance of that gates, the village looked much like Konoha, from the placement of buildings and layout. The only real difference was the block shapes and the light color, making the village not look much different from the sand on which it rested.
The sand village was dull, colorless, and depressing. "It's a wonder more people don't go crazy in this environment, its mind numbingly boring."
"Tobi thinks if you're so bored, you could go home," Tobi replied, suffering the wrath of Anomie's glare.
"This talking in third person thing you got going on is really fucking annoying," Anomie gripped her hair and tied it so it was out of her face. "Let's find Sasori."
"You're so mean, An-chan," Tobi pouted, walking behind her as she began to walk further into the village, her Akatsuki robes covering her body without a care. Of course, since when did any in their organization care for being discreet.
"Let's split up. I need some time away from you," she said and he let out a deep sigh.
"That is a thought you could have kept to yourself," he commented with a pout.
"I wish every thought you ever had could be kept to yourself. Maybe then I could have some peace and quiet," she commented in return. Tobi placed his palm on his chest, moving back.
"That's rude, An-chan," he said, water dripping out from his eye hole and thus defying physics.
"You are so irritating I can barely breathe," she said, turning her back to him and walking away.
Her eyes ran over the colorless houses and annoyed sand that she could feel in her boots fill up with sand. Currently she was annoyed and bored, and entirely dissatisfied with Suna and it's intense heat that was likely to melt the skin from her bones. No. She had no interest in sightseeing or doing anything other than looking for Sasori.
That was when she heard the sound of a childlike scream off in the distance.
"Get away you monster," said a child's voice off in the distance. She frowned, her feet moving for her as she walked towards the ally and through the buildings, only her shadow keeping her company throughout the night.
She had to admit, curiosity was a fickle curse but likely she would never rid herself from its shackles.
It felt like deja vu as she saw the little boy, hair red as the crimson sun, setting over the mountains. His eyes were teal like the ocean, and his appearance was striking over the background of dull sand and lifeless scenery.
"My mom said that if you look him in the eye, he will steal your soul," said one kid, staring at the red haired boy with a look of disdain that she couldn't truly understand.
Why are they so afraid of a kid who is holding a ball so sweetly and earnestly? His eyes looked like glass, and just one jagged word would shatter that mask. How fitting. Enough heat and sand turns into glass. Something so brittle and weak. Wouldn't it be better to just stay as sand?
When one of the kids lifted a rock as the red haired boy tried to hand over the ball, Anomie witnessed the foolish and incomprehensible fear take root as the boy tossed the rock towards the red haired boy's face. The sand rose from the depths of his feet and blocked the rock. It was only moments later that the boy's sand, infused with Chakra, went to attack his offender next. It was obvious from the red haired boy's expression that it was out of his control.
Perhaps if she did nothing, this boy would murder the others. She couldn't find it in her heart to care. She wondered how long ago that she lost that fruitless ability.
It didn't matter what she did or didn't feel anymore. Even though those thoughts rushed through her mind, Kakashi's face darted through as well. Such a kind man...he would never let such a thing happen.
She was always quite fast she supposed, and even more so when she got Orochimaru's mark. She grabbed the child by his shirt and tossed him aside before the sand could squash the life from him. Her curse marking only slightly covering her shoulder and up her neck by the time the sand attacked her next.
"This is some demonic power you have here kid," she commented as the other children ran off. She turned into smoke and rushed into the unsuspecting boy's body.
She had never been inside a body like his before and his flesh quite literally crawled with Chakra.
"What is this?" his voice hissed out, holding his head as he dropped to his knees. "Get out of my head."
"Oho, you have quite the demon in here kid," she commented after realizing what that Chakra was that coursed in his veins. "It is rather crowded in here, but I fear that if I come out, you might do something stupid like try and kill me."
He shook his head and Anomie felt his hesitation.
"Ahh. You don't want to kill anyone do you boy?" Anomie wasn't trying to be cruel, but she had lost the ability to filter or sugarcoat her words. There was so much she found herself unable to do and unfortunate being kind was one of them. "What a bloodthirsty demon. Would you like my help?"
"Help?" the boy was on his knees, clutching his head as she spoke.
She smiled, slowly escaping the confines of his body. His sand remained limp at his side with no return and her fingers moved to brush aside his red bangs, but his sand stopped her before she could touch him. Her lips widened into a slightly bigger smile.
"I can seal that demon. Would you like that? To not hear his voice," she said in a whisper, staring into his hopeful and glossy eyes. "I would need, however, to touch you in order to do such a thing."
"I can't control the sand," he said and her eyes twinkled in amusement.
"How troubling and unfortunate," she commented in return. "Very bad luck." She stood up, and moved around the boy, quite ready to put his presence behind her. "Try not to make friends so hard. These kids are quite weak and have no notion of the world around them, but I suspect you will learn that soon enough."
"Gaara...I'm Gaara," his voice echoed out color to this lifeless and dull village.
"I am sorry for the life you have lived, Gaara of the Sand," she said, turning towards him and bowing her head in a 90 degree angle.
"Y-You're sorry?" his voice was so kind and so innocent, reminding her of that sweet and brittle tone that Naruto had once used with her. She felt a twinge of useless guilt for using the child as she had, and she was using Gaara as well. Playing friendly now, only to steal that demon and his life later. Thus the purpose of the Akatsuki.
She had her inkling that many kids would die before she could be free of the Akatsuki, but she could hardly leave now. She so much left to find out for the good of Konoha. For Rin's village...for the village that Kakashi still resides.
They only thing she could do was protect it with her life. And she would because her life never had much meaning anyway.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Tobi was the first to find Sasori, who had been eager to visit Suna in order to pick up some ugly puppet. It didn't much matter to Anomie, as all she was focused on was just how ugly Sasori ending up being. He was grotesque, with a weirdly styled mohawk and a beard that quite literally covered his entire lower face. What was more, was underneath his robes, peaked a large steel, barbed tail. It would have looked like bones, if not for the metallic and sharp claws.
"Why do you look like that?" Anomie asked, interrupting Tobi's invitation to the Akatsuki.
"That's rather rude, An-chan," Tobi scolded with a chuckle.
Anomie shrugged, but Sasori didn't look bothered. In fact, he didn't have an expression altogether. "Akatsuki..."
"We have someone already who indulges in your interests," Tobi said, and Anomie nearly stiffened, not liking any mention of Orochimaru's name. It was rather awkward being in the same organization with a man who so openly wanted her dead.
"Immortality?" Sasori looked intrigued while Anomie only felt more uncomfortable. Likely Tobi knew as much and that was why he brought up Orochimaru's name in the first place. Anomie could only guess that this was his way of poking fun.
She knew she'd make an enemy the moment Tsukasa had propositioned the massacre, and it seemed enemies were much easier to make than friends. That was her curse, and she bore it with grace.
"Orochimaru's is working on a Jutsu, or at least he was before," before he sent out missing ninjas to take my life... "It is quite the treat. Taking the body of someone else, stronger and younger."
Anomie couldn't tell if he was intrigued by her words, as his face was blank beneath the bush of beard and cloaks.
"What would you two do if I rejected?" he asked, causing Anomie's face to spread into a smile.
"I don't believe we were asking," she turned her head to Tobi who was currently scratching his masked chin as if he were actually giving it thought.
"Which one of you are stronger?" Sasori's voice was monotone, but there was a warning in his stance. Tobi took no heed of such a thing and almost immediately put himself into annoying words.
"Oh, I don't fight, senpai. Violence is scary," Tobi said with a bounce in his step, and immediately Sasori's eyes fell to Anomie. She in turn was frowning towards Tobi for placing her life in the line of fire, before deciding that ultimately, she didn't care if they fought.
After all, she knew about his abilities and he hadn't the faintest idea on hers.
"If you wish to make this difficult, we can fight, but," Anomie chose her words quickly and carefully as she watched the missing ninja's eyes run down her cloaked and probably non-threatening looking body. "No matter the outcome, the result will be the same. You will join us."
"What makes you so certain?" Sasori asked in return.
Anomie had always been talented at reading people, but certain people like Tobi were quite difficult. However, none were impossible and she could see the greed and fear in anyone's eyes not long into meeting them.
Sasori, who had taken residence in that puppet body, was no different. She didn't need to see his face to know he wanted immortality and power. After all, doesn't everybody?
"Because where else is there for you besides this path?"
All anyone wants is a destination to kick their feet, but if life has taken that away from you, then it becomes easier to follow the lead of others.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Anomie was half asleep, her back against the wall as her eyes remained shut and the wind picked up against the window of the hotel room. The banging of the outside world being subjected to the gust of wind didn't stir her awake. Mostly, she only remained annoyed.
Tobi and Sasori had parted ways a week ago, leaving Anomie with the task of finding the current locations of demons. She supposed it was helpful that she was far more capable of people skills than any of the other Akatsuki, so seeking out information became a rather irritating pass time throughout the year.
She only wished the Akatsuki was comprised of people capable of polite conversation and holding their own in battle.
Instead she got the makings of Kakuzu who was rumored to have stolen the hearts of all his past partners. "You can be partners with Kakuzu." Tobi had said a couple months back.
"Fuck that," she had responded
From that moment she agreed it would be best to not have a partner. Perhaps having no one next to her made it so easy for the knife to near her throat, however she was just as quick to grab the black clothed arm and flip the two so she was on top of the man and the blade rested near his neck.
Perhaps this reaction timing was why she was so quick to be alone.
"Orochimaru is sending weaklings now," Anomie said with a smile, staring into the masked assassin's eye only to find that he was in fact a she. Out of surprise she slightly lost her grip and the woman flipped them around, pulling down her mask with a coy smile.
"Orochimaru said you have a weakness for a pretty face," the woman whispered and Anomie briefly glanced over the woman's dewy complexion.
"Orochimaru wouldn't know a pretty face unless it was under his scalpel," Anomie said, glancing over her wrists that were held at her sides.
"Why haven't you smoked out? I've been waiting," the woman whispered.
"I didn't want to ruin the moment," Anomie said with a forming smile. "After all, I do have a a weakness for a pretty face."
"So Orochimaru says."
"So he says," Anomie's body dissolved into bits of smoke, flooding the woman's face. Before she could suffocate the beautiful woman's she found two warm lips pressed against hers.
It was bitter and cold, and by the time the smoke cleared Anomie was breathless. "My name is Kazehaya Mineko, poison master of Oto. Your time is up, Fuyu-chan."
Author's Note
エリカ (Erica) means solitude.
Hey guys it's been a while~ well, Anomie is up and running and ruining her own life. She's like Hamilton without the awesome musical number.
Writing Anomie as a bisexual character is so much fun to me and it is perhaps her most memorable quality and it's very amusing to write.
Sadly, bisexual characters are difficult to find which is a shame cause it's so common.
Oh guess what? Someone very kind got Anomie's Oiran mark on the back of her neck. It was so sweet and I would like to dedicate this chapter and many more to her cause seeing it made me want to cry.
See you next time guys! Love you all!
