Chapter 43
The oddest thing about dreams was that they sometimes could be a reflection of your deepest desires. They could even be the desires that you tried to forget you had. When Anomie was a child, living with her mother, she would often dream of living in a house made of cheese. Perhaps because she was underfed, or perhaps because she just really liked cheese.
When sold to her first brothel, she dreamed of her mother holding her and whispering sweet nothings as if that woman ever had the power to actually protect her. You never know just how much someone means to you until you stare up at the ceiling in fear of losing them.
It was so innocent, this dream just had his face in front of hers. His fingers were against her waist, and his lips were so close she could practically feel his breath all over her, filling her. In moments, however, his face grew older, his breath filled with the recognizable scent of alcohol. She recognized his beady eyes as his lips pressed against hers. She attempted to shove him off, but he was stronger and her arms were smaller.
Tamaki Dairo. His lips were chapped as he took control over her body, rendering her useless. Anomie remembered the way her insides burned as he entered her right over the gasping cries of her mother, bleeding out from the slice over her throat. The house Anomie had once lived in was riddled with blood and her tears as Dairo took her against the doorframe.
Just as quick as he was there in front of her, she had awoken from her daze. She scolded herself for falling asleep and scolded herself again for the moisture running down her cheeks.
In a haste she opened up the mission scroll, overlooking Tamaki Dairo's face. Before the scroll, it had just been an image for nightmares, and for the first time, she had a name to place on top of her very first rapist who sold her and murdered her mother. For the first time, he was human and not just some monster.
But more than that, he was alive. While all the other monsters of her childhood were dead, he breathed. Perhaps it was fate. Perhaps Tobi knew when he assigned her. Anomie didn't believe in coincidence or chance.
She still felt that man's touch, and it was doubtful that she would ever forget.
Dreams were just fragments of inner desires. What was her inner desire? Perhaps to never forget the way his touch felt. To perhaps never forget the feeling of anger that coursed through her veins. For the longest time, she had been numb, shoving away any emotion before it could swallow her whole. She shoved this back too. Dreams were made for sleeping, and those fragments would make her reckless. She had to push it away.
Under normal circumstances, she would escape to the outside world, unbothered and able to feel the wind against her cheeks. She couldn't do such a thing for as long as Kakashi was so close. She couldn't risk wearing the Daimyō Osada's flesh too long either. Contrary to popular opinion, she actually didn't desire to kill him, even if it was a passing temptation.
She needed air and with him passed out with enough drugs to knock out a giant, she doubted his brittle bones would last the night if he attempted to call for help. Anomie, for extra measure, made sure his bonds were tight around his fragile wrists before she patted his sleeping head and turned into smoke.
She barely knew where she was going, but by the time she wondered into a random room, she was met with the grey haired leaf ninja that traveled alongside Kakashi. She was bent over papers, spread over a small table that she sat underneath. The room was illuminated with candlelight, and Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. He too would probably be on the roof, that way he could stake out the area and be outside of the suffocating halls that threatened to force Anomie to remember things she would rather forget. If she closed her eyes, she would remember and remembering would force her to feel.
The smoke of her incorporeal body surrounded the girl, Anemone. Perhaps, if Anomie felt more, she might have once laughed at their similarity in name. She didn't fully care at the moment. "What the fuck?" Anemone saw movement from the corner of her eye, but Anomie had already over took her body before the girl could react. Anemone tried to fight the possession, perhaps harder than anyone ever had, but Anomie was stronger and far more prepared.
"I'm only borrowing it," Anomie whispered as she stood, taking a feel for the way this body had quite a different aura than the other ones she had controlled in the past. It was stronger, and perhaps if it had more time, it could be just as toned as Anomie's herself. Perhaps, Anomie thought, glancing towards the mirror.
Perhaps this woman had everything needed to take up occupancy in Kakashi's heart. Perhaps she could have all of my looks but none of my faults, the thought was morbid, but it didn't make Anomie feel much. Her emotions were too locked away, however the unlabeled distress was far too annoying to separate from.
She stepped out from the room, thankful to feel the night air take her away from bad dreams and old memories that threatened to suffocate her. She couldn't completely force them away. They were mud adorning her only pair of shoes, and she had been tracking it everywhere since the very beginning. There was no getting away for long. The mud always seemed to appear for her to step in and bring with her where this life took her.
"I thought you'd be out for the rest of the night," Kakashi said from above, and Anomie heard him turn a page in his book with a bored sigh. "That is what you said."
Anomie turned her head, and she vaguely remembered her dream in which they kissed. That was something she could never do in her own body. This one, however, had more freedom. She quickly shook the thought away, chasing away those desires since they would be foolish and reckless, and she didn't feel it strongly enough. It was like a distinctly annoying knock that was impossible to stop, but not so hard to ignore.
"Tell me, do you ever consider retirement?" Anomie asked, glancing up at the sky.
"At 19 years old?" Kakashi scoffed, and Anomie felt her blood pulse through her veins at that comment, but of course, it wasn't actually her blood. She felt it all the same.
"I sometimes do. Maybe live out the rest of my life somewhere far," Anomie was at his side in an instant, sitting down on the roof next to him, careful not to touch him. This wasn't her body. She couldn't forget that. "Do you ever consider that?" For the first time, she met his gaze and from the way he stared at her, as if she were a stranger, made her sober.
"I have a life where I am," he told her, putting his book at his side, near her hand. She recognized Jiraiya's series with a hint of forlorn amusement. She read it only weeks ago, remembering his character 'Nomi' which was so obviously used in her own image. Nomi, who was as brave as Anomie wished she could be and as strong as Anomie pretended to be. "But, as I'm sure you know, I've betrayed my post a few times."
"Did you love her? Koneko?" Anomie had to only assume that this girl, surrounded with obvious Anbu makings (such as the tattoo on her arm), had to know the background of Anomie's tainted Anbu career. How far has gossip spread? Her question was calculated, and she wanted to ask without emotion or condescension. She wanted an answer, something honest. Kakashi's easy answer would be a firm no, and it would surely shrink suspicion.
"Never been too fond of cats," he answered.
Anomie might have laughed at that snarky reply, but she had to stick firm to her act. "What was she like, senpai?"
He didn't answer, and Anomie just wanted to touch him. Emotions she had suppressed were beginning to return in her vulnerability. There was no escaping it. She was stuck and she couldn't get away from it. Would he push away this Anemone if she suddenly touched him, even just his hand. A part of her hoped he didn't, and a part of her hoped he did.
"We should leave here in the morning," Anomie told him, hoping to get him to agree.
Kakashi glanced her way, and she stared deeply into his one visible eye that was just so unrelenting. "Can't leave until we know for sure that Maemi is safe."
"If she's in any danger, it's because she doesn't know how to shut her mouth," Anomie told him with a slight smile that earned one from him in return.
"At least the way back is just the two of us," he commented, and a pang hit her chest at the comment.
Anomie didn't know who this girl was, but for a moment, perhaps she saw a hint of affection in Kakashi's eye when he looked at her. Perhaps she was wrong, or perhaps she just pushed them closer together. It didn't actually matter in the end. This was a girl capable of returning some sort of affection that Anomie had sealed herself from feeling fully.
"At the very least, it will be a quiet journey back to Konoha," Anomie agreed.
So long as he doesn't force me to kill anymore Konoha ninja, then perhaps it would be a quiet journey back, Anomie thought with a slight smile that was so obviously the one that she set aside for him alone. He paused at it, as if he could recognize bits of her from underneath false flesh. Unlikely.
She didn't want to hurt him anymore. The world could burn for all she cared, but he had to live through it. This was the first real idea she had with emotion in so long. It was painful, forcing her to remember why she wanted to forget him.
"You should get some sleep," he told her and Anomie noticed he purposely avoided her eyes. Perhaps his mind was too keen for his own good, or perhaps he remembered Anomie's mannerisms far too much, like the way she tilted her to the side when she spoke or the way her gaze was unrelenting and confident. Or the way that she usually always leaned her left side towards him when she leaned towards him. Maybe it was even the quiet lull that she used when she spoke. Maybe it was even the way she slightly opened her lips when she watched him talk, just daring him to touch her. They all followed her, regardless of body if she wasn't careful.
"And you?" Anomie asked, placing her hand near his as a sign of comfort.
"I do better out here," he told her with a sheepish smile. She was happy that he was now capable of smiling more at ease.
"Try to get a couple hours of sleep, Kakashi-senpai," Anomie told him, her eyes slightly narrowed in amusement. She didn't give him a chance to reply as she jumped down, entering this girl's room and getting in the same position she had been in before. Moments later, she rested her face into her arms, feigning the position of sleep as she left the body in one piece.
For a moment, Anomie did consider taking this girl's life. She didn't know why. Just because.
●▬▬▬Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ▬▬▬●
It happened sometime during the day. Anomie wasn't certain when, but she could tell her guards had been slain. She could feel it embedded in her blood when she met the eyes of the clones that had been placed in the Fire Daimyō's personal guard. How could she not recognize such an obvious ploy. They had equal distributions of Chakra, which was something that only was just occupied in clones. No human could have so equal life force and aura.
They followed her all day, and she allowed it, knowing the Daimyō was far too inexperienced to ever have a suspicion. When they would attack her, or if they would attack her, was all difficult to guess. Their mannerism were too casual for an ambush, but then again, since when do men make it known to the victim before an ambush.
Konan had to know as well, and Anomie very much doubted she wasn't already stationed to take them out so Anomie herself could kill Dairo. Konan had no idea of Anomie's rape filled past, all starting with the old man who nearly choked her to death as he penetrated her underage body.
It was coming back to her slowly, and Anomie knew that the rage was pointless. Killing him wouldn't bring her mother back to life and neither would it turn back the clock. Kemuri would have still be destroyed in the war, and who knows, perhaps all that pain had been the sole reason she was still alive.
Emotion was uncontrollable. It was the death of logic. It was the death of reason.
Anomie destroyed the clones around her at the sound of the pitter patter of rain against the roof. She walked over the clothes that fell, empty, to the ground. She left the Daimyō's body there too, unbound and without a thought. She didn't care anymore.
It was all too quiet, and when Anomie across the manner, unbothered over being seen, she felt Konan's hand stop her. She hadn't seen the woman appear, let alone get in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Konan asked, causing Anomie to smile sweetly. "You've alerted him of his destroyed clones."
"Did I do that?" Anomie pressed her pointer finger against her lips.
"We agreed to be discreet," Konan reminded her, glancing around for any sign of a Leaf ninja, before she forced Anomie into a corner, off in the shadows. "You know a fight would be troublesome. And if there are any casualties, especially a Daimyō, Akatsuki's reputation would tarnish."
Anomie barely understood half of what she was being told. She was impatient and her vision was red. "So what? Hiding behind faces isn't getting immediate results. Make a mess. Handle the Leaf, and I'll do the rest." Anomie didn't give her the chance to reply as Anomie disappeared, not leaving Konan much choice, as the plan was disrupted and her partner so obviously didn't give a shit.
Anomie felt his touch as she opened the latch to the door of the Fire Daimyō's daughter. The room was a disaster, with papers and broken glass on the ground. Of course, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Anomie had alerted him, got him on edge. He obviously wasn't expecting a fight, just an easy rape.
Anomie didn't care about his reasons, even if she knew them in mere writings and rumors. Perhaps he too liked to feel alive with the thrill and exhilaration of forcing women to bend over for him. Perhaps if they were nobles, that thrill was tripled. Anomie didn't care. She walked up the bed, finding a tiny amount of blood on the sheets.
Her lips quirked up. Annoying girl or not, obviously she put up a fight. But she also lost, judging by the small mess of broken furniture, littering the ground. She heard the door slam open, and Anomie met the gaze of the leaf ninja, Anemone, who already had her weapon drawn.
She, of course, didn't give her the chance as Anomie quickly turned into smoke with a smirk. Anemone, who was left standing there, baffled and surprised, quickly examined the broken furniture, the echo of a dispute as well as the absence of the Maemi Osada.
Anemone went to rush from the room, but the moment she did, she was shoved back in with a painful kick. Koneko stood above her, performing a quickly timed attack with the sharp end of her katana. Anemone barely managed to dodge it, but the kick that had realigned her ribs made it hard to move. She attempted to stand, but the Anbu traitor was faster and far more prepared. However, she didn't know Anemone's attacks or her own clan Jutsu. With quick fingers, she performed a clan favorite Jutsu, causing an upheaval of shadows to surround just underneath her.
Koneko was none the wiser as she slammed her foot into Anemone's back. There was no taunts or harsh words. Koneko was strictly business. Unfortunately, she also was quite reckless.
The black shadows erupted from underneath Anomie's feet, trapping her in place before she could rethink her strategy. She attempted to move her arms, but they remained slumped at her side while the ninja from Konoha calmly stood, her hands in place to not lose control of the Jutsu.
"My," Anemone said, taking a step back, thusly forcing Anomie to step forward. "Look how quickly your bravado goes out the window when you're stuck in place. How sad."
"My," Anomie's voice was just as amused, while she slyly attempted to break the possession with no luck. Her nerves would not obey. "What great powers you have."
"Where's Osada?"
"Which one? The annoying old man or his daughter?" Anomie didn't show much facial expression, not much interested in chatting. "Currently, said old man is tied to his bed and in a totally unsexual way if I might add."
"His daughter, smartass," Anemone said. Anomie didn't mind the comment, after all, she had been bested. "Shame you're holding that blade, but I'll make you regret it." Anemone raised her arms, and Anomie mirrored the motion, however, with a blade. The tip of Anomie's katana rested against the brittle skin over her belly. "One move from me and you're dead. So how about you answer the question before I shadow possession your ass and make you literally go fuck yourself."
"I am so turned on. How did you know my kink?" Anomie resisted the possession enough to chuckle. "No one fucks me better than myself, after all."
Anemone's nose twitched but she didn't say anything against it. "Where is the girl?"
"Who did I kill?" Anomie asked instead, her amber eyes penetrating just as violently as her own katana would against her flesh. Anemone froze, trying to push away her own anger. "Come on. Just between us girls, humor me. Who did I kill? Was it a brother? Mother? Sister? Lover? Come on, sweetie, don't leave me in the dark. I've only killed so few of Konoha, if we don't count the Uchiha. Most likely you couldn't give two shits about a bunch of whiny eye enhanced scum. So, it must have been the Anbu pursuit force. So many came after Orochimaru that day. I took each of them out and littered their bodies on the forest floor."
Anemone's hand twitched and clenched at her side, and because of the shadow possession, so did Anomie. The girl laughed in amusement, but it didn't reach her eyes. If Anemone looked closely enough, she'd say any amusement was a farce. "That's not why I'm here. Where is Osada?"
"Nara Anemone," Anomie said with a brief flicker of a smile. "Nara don't usually join Anbu. Clans in general, the big five, are such loyalist, nepotistic little cunts." Anomie slightly chuckled at the other woman's growing frustration. "Now, don't think I'm prejudace. My best friend and mentor was from one of the big five. All I have is love and respect for at least the Hyūga. Maybe. It's coming back to me. Akihasa? No. That's not it."
Anemone felt her blood boil as if she were a kettle over a fire. She felt her breath hitch in her throat at the coldness of Anomie's eyes. "Shut up."
"Akihiro? Can't be. Oh," Anomie chuckled, twitching her fingers ever so slightly, not that the woman in front of her could see. "Akinari. Nara Akinari. I remember now. Such a sweet boy. So loyal. Did you know he never begged? I didn't expect him to be so...sturdy. Must be all that healthy Nara blood. So much blood in his veins. Then again, I did open up his throat. It completely ruined my favorite gloves. I'd say we're even."
Anemone had dreamed of killing Koneko, but she had her own duties and her own mission. If there was one thing she was, it was loyal. She would not put Konoha in danger just because of her own emotions. With that in mind, she didn't take Anomie's life. "Where is Osada?"
"If I were to take a wild guess, I'd say not here," Anomie retorted, and Anemone frowned, but she could feel her Chakra beginning to waver. She couldn't hold this woman much longer.
"You're all on your own. Are you sure you want to be smart with me right now? I have your life in my hands," Anemone had seconds left, approximately thirty. She had to do something quickly.
"How scary. Shame for you that the Akatsuki travels in pairs," Anomie's warning didn't give Anemone enough time to block the swoop of paper that tore through her arm, forcing her to let go of the Jutsu.
"Why didn't you just turn into smoke," Konan asked with a bored sigh as her arm reformed from as bits of paper returned to it.
"I wanted you to save me. It was very sweet," Anomie glanced towards Anemone with a smile. "Look at you. Bleeding profoundly just like your weakling brother."
Anemone's heart filled with rage as she went to attack the woman, using a large amount to perform a Jutsu, but Konan only jumped in the way and blocked it. Anomie sneered, before she turned around to walk away. "Find Osada." Konan told her and Anomie smirked.
"Love you too, Konan."
Konan rolled her eyes, but when Anomie turned to look back at her, her eyes were almost genuine, if not gentle. Konan nodded her way, causing Anomie to slightly smile before ducking her head through the door. There was commotion coming from outside, where she assumed Dairo's men were fighting.
Anomie's eyes were trained on the smallest droplets of blood, that she was certain many would have missed with all the commotion. Near the end of the hallway laid the body of one of the many Fire Daimyō's guard. His throat was slit open and his eyes bulged out as if he couldn't believe his own fate.
She carelessly walked over him, not even bothering to keep herself from stepping on him. The heel of her boot nearly pierced through his hand, but her eyes were still trained on the droplets of blood that looked too far apart and oddly located to belong to the guard whose only wound was that of a slit neck.
The way his weapon sprawled out next to his hand at least suggested that this man went down fighting. Anomie knelt down next to him, her head tilting to the side. Her fingers brushed against his cheek, a small smile resting against her lips. "I admit...this Jutsu is a bit of a stretch, I've tried it on a cat once."
Her chest shook with laughter. "Curtesy of Orochimaru. I will never live it down if he found out I used his technique. Of course, you're not telling anybody anything." She quickly motioned her hands in the sign of the tiger, snake, dog, and dragon.
She had learned this Jutsu rather indirectly, due to her knack for picking up Ninjutsu. However, it was flawed from the lack of practice and never having been used with an actual human. Anomie simply never found the real need to use it, as it was mostly just a pass time it of learning to see if she could learn it. It was to see if she could do what Orochimaru could and perhaps she considered bringing a couple people back from the dead.
There was a reason she never did.
The guard sucked in a breath of air, but it came out in choking gasps as he attempted to breathe, but seeing that his throat was slashed, such attempts were futile. Anomie grabbed his chin so he would look at her, his eyes filled with fresh terror. However, she remained unfazed as she forced him to focus on her and only her.
"I know," she said with a gentle coo, wiping away a bit of blood from his lips. "I know you're in pain, but focus and I'll make it go away."
Anomie always did have a rather beautiful lull to her voice, and it did usually have a calming factor. His face slightly calmed and his gurgling nearly stopped. She knew she didn't have much time.
"I need to ask you a question. Do you understand me?" Anomie's voice was kind, in a way that was very unlike how she would normally speak. His eyes roamed the room like a wild animal, and with his current predicament, a wild animal was probably what he was close to being.
Slowly, almost too slowly, he nodded his head. In response, she gave him another gentle smile as if she were his mother. His hair was slick with blood when she touched it, soothing his nerves.
"Where is Osada Maemi?" Her question was met on deaf ears, but it filled his eyes with sorrow and guilt. She knew the look quite well, but she didn't dwell on it with any bit of emotion.
She watched as he tried to speak, but all that came out were gurgles and more blood. She actually found it impressive that he was still able to even bleed, considering the puddle that was currently soaking her boots. She glanced towards the kunai that rested next to the man. It was covered in blood, and she noticed the finger marks that were coated with blood. She turned over his hand with a curious glance finding that they were clean of blood.
"You saw her? Nod your head," Anomie asked and watched as he slowly nodded his head.
"I..." His gurgled response was rather impressive, considering that she could easily pick out his tongue through his throat flaps. "Tried to protect her...hiding...follow the...birds..."
"Is that all?" Anomie sighed, having a deep disliking for vague answers. She lifted the kunai with a smirk. "It's kind of fitting then, to murder you twice with the same weapon."
She stabbed the blade into his head, and it made an odd crunching noise that reminded her that she had shattered the bone. His beady eyes bore into hers with swift clarity and she, for a moment, felt a brush of guilt. She quickly stood up, dropping the kunai on his dead legs. She sighed, running her hand through her hair, glancing around only to notice the small birds colored onto the wallpaper. She took a step closer to it, running her fingers over the blue birds before she noticed the small creatures drawn flying towards the end of the hallway.
She gave the dead man another glance, before finally remembering that Dairo had slit her mother's throat as well. She turned back around and continued walking down the hall, following the birds. When they finally stopped, she was in front of a dead end. She glanced down at the rug, seeing that a part of it was upturned with a bit of blood splatters.
"Well," Anomie pushed her weight on one side, leaning on her hip with a smirk. "I suppose I could use my brain and a little ingenuity to solve this mystery." She raised her hand, ushering her Chakra into her fist. "However, mysteries aren't really my thing." She destroyed the wall in one blow, and pieces of wood shattered upon impact. She heard a scream from inside, and with the light from the windows behind her, she saw a dim view into the room. She took a step inside, seeing the huddled form of Maemi Osada, crouched and crying.
"Please...stay away," Maemi begged, and Anomie brushed the dust off of her hand. "Don't touch me anymore."
"My oh me," Anomie said with a giggle. She took a step forward, and the shattered bits of wood crumbled underneath her feet. "You look like you just went through a traumatic experience." Anomie knelt down in front of her, her eyes cold but her lips were curled in amusement. "Tell me, did he make you swallow?"
Maemi's crying only got worse, causing Anomie to sigh, wishing she had tried the sympathetic route instead. Maybe that way, she wouldn't have to hear any crying. She rested her elbows on her thighs and placed her cheek against her open palm. "Leave me alone."
Maemi's cries fell on deaf ears, and Anomie's lips twitched up in amusement. "Now I wish I could, but let's be serious, Tamaki Dairo is not the worst person to pop that cherry. I mean, at least his size is that of a stem. You barely even feel it."
This comment made her cry harder, but Anomie rolled her eyes and gripped Maemi by the scruff of her torn robes. "No please!"
"Shut up," Anomie ordered, forcing the girl to her feet with one hand. "Look alive cause in six minutes you might not be."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Dairo is a sick man, and has been in the human trafficking business for years. It brought revenue to the Fire Nation and the Water Nation alike. It's what buys those pretty jewels you decorate your hair with or those nice dresses that were ripped off of you tonight. He was captured and the target on his head was placed there by your father and the crusty Water Daimyō. Both of which I hold no doubt enjoyed the fruits of Dairo's labor. Lord knows many men would rather fuck a young girl than your fugly mother," Anomie dragged the girl out towards the sound of clanking metal, signifying the ongoing chaos that Anomie so elegantly ignored. She gave Maemi one last glance, wondering if her heart might have reached out in sympathy, some time long ago. However, that just wasn't who she was anymore. "It's a real crooked system, leaving those at the bottom of the pyramid to suffer the weight of the consequences that men like your father escape."
Unlike Dairo's last victim of the water Daimyō's daughter, Anomie didn't have anything to gain from kindness. Maemi had no political stance, and mostly this girl spent her time decorating her hair with jewels and insulting the poor. At least the other girl had some sort of strength in her eyes. Anomie knew a lost cause when she saw it. Maemi was weak, and she would wither like an ephemeral plant, hatching in a harsh environment, only to die in a week.
"Please just stop," Maemi begged, tears flooding her eyes. Anomie doubted this girl heard a single word being said.
"I'd let you go, but Tamaki Dairo is looking for you. He never got to kill his last victim," Anomie said and the moment she felt another presence her lips pressed into a smile, as she turned around to see the man of her nightmares, standing before her. "Thanks for being adequate bait."
"Well, who might you be?" Tamaki Dairo's voice was much like she remembered it. It was deep, hoarse even. His face had aged and she could see fine lines around his eyes. His once vibrant black hair had faded into little spots of grey, but his dark hazel eyes remained the same from her memories.
"I heard you wanted this one. I found her for you," Anomie watched him take a step step forward as she spoke. His mere presence had caused Maemi to collapse into tears and prayer. Anomie hid her hands behind her back, as if she were stretching. Instead, she performed a well time Jutsu. "Such a nuisance that one. That is your MO, isn't it? Young girls with little experience to a man's touch? I'm not judging, just giving you a life that you wanted."
"And you procured her with no ulterior motive?" Dairo's voice was sinister, but Anomie remained unchanged and unbothered.
Anomie didn't answer and merely dropped Maemi at his feet. His lips curved into an equally deadly smirk as he brandished what looked to be a short blade that rested at his side. Maemi tried to run, but he placed his foot against her back before raising the tip of the blade over her.
"This should send a message," Dairo brought the blade down, stabbing it into her back while Anomie just watched. The blade entered her skin clean and quick, and Dairo had a moment of satisfaction before the body of Maemi had disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The real Maemi having ran to cower in the corner with the aid of Anomie's misdirection. "You..." Dairo's angry gaze met hers and she slightly smiled.
"That's just embarrassing. Were you about to celebrate? Talk about how you managed to kill a tween with no fighting ability. Bravo," Anomie chuckled, clapping her hands. She saw his attack coming, as he gathered much of his Chakra into his fist. She, however, didn't have enough time to adequately dodge, sending her flying through the wall of the mansion and out into the garden.
She laughed from her place, sprawled out onto the ground as the sun licked her skin. She slowly stood while Dairo stared at her through the hole in the house. She met his gaze with a slightly crazed expression. He slowly walked towards her, jumping through the hole in the mansion. Likely, he thought she was just some weakling who fell at a single punch, adamantly believing that women were lesser.
"I hope you enjoyed that. It will be the last time you ever get to touch me," Anomie activated the first seal of her curse mark with no hesitation. The black markings covered her face until she felt the Chakra soar through her veins. It was intoxicating and the rush of adrenaline allowed her to feel the anger in full. She had never allowed herself to feel such unrestrained anger before, and when Tamaki Dairo met her gaze, his own eyes widened in fear.
This man, a fighter, rapist, murderer, feared her. She could practically taste it and it was the only thing she wanted to taste from him. She wanted him to feel weak and powerless and to surrender.
He turned his heel and bolted right back into the mansion. She tilted her head, already aware of her own creeping madness as she watched him run. Coward that he was, he spotted Osada Maemi, still cowering and crying in her corner. Anomie heard the girl's sob when Dairo lifted the girl to him, pressing her body against his chest, despite her struggles.
Anomie didn't feel any sympathy when she jumped into the hole of the building. It was all more than amusing to watch. If the girl was smart she would have ran while Anomie distracted Dairo. She was a stupid girl with no survival instincts, spoiled beyond belief. Even small little Fuyu, just having lost a mother, was far superior to this girl.
Dairo placed a blade to the girl's throat, causing Anomie to give him a cat like tilt of the head. Her lips spread into an amused smirk, but her eyes were full of a certain kind of crazy that she couldn't suppress even if she tried.
"One more step and I cut her throat." Dairo's warning was wasted on deaf ears and Anomie almost immediately began to make a tisking sound with tongue. "I don't want to do that. Do you want me to?"
"Please stop. Don't hurt her," Anomie covered her face with her palm, giving a proper show of pleading. "She's just a child."
"Then step back, drop your weapons, and leave," he ordered and she nodded her head, any trace of the crazed look had vanished.
"These weapons?" Anomie lifted up her kimono, revealing long legs and a dagger tucked over her thigh. She tossed the dagger at his feet. "Or these weapons?" She pulled out many sharp, needle like daggers from her hair, undoing the bun and slowly her soft curls to casacaded down her shoulders. She then pulled off her duel sai blades that rested on her back and tossed them both onto the ground.
"Good girl," Dairo whispered, and she remembered him saying that to her in the past. She remembered every word and every expression he ever had. Oddly enough, memories of even her mother's face had faded a long time ago, but his face remained steady. "Now be a good kitten and leave. Don't make me show you how much you women deserve a firm hand."
"Might I interject something before I leave?" Anomie was quite tired of his voice and how easily his cowardice turned into arrogance. His eyes narrowed, as if he had some type of leverage against her and she was just some little child who dared talk back to him.
She didn't give him a chance to reply as she appeared in front of him with speed so fast he dug the blade into Maemi's neck just out of surprise. She drank up his expression with a smile. She glanced towards Maemi and her gaze had morphed back into something deadly. Anomie's fingers dug into the girl's abdomen without hesitation, watching as the girl cried out before Anomie grabbed the girl by her torn robes and tossed her out of the way. Dairo's neck sliced into the girl's throat as she was pulled away, but Anomie could tell it wasn't deep enough to be truly fatal.
"It really isn't anything personal," Anomie said to the injured Maemi. However her gaze was steady and unwavering on Dairo. "I will kill as many people as I have to so long as you are one of them. And you will die slow."
Anomie's voice was soft, absent of any anger or need for revenge. However, her actions spoke volumes of her rage. With Osada Maemi bleeding out on the floor, Dairo had lost his leverage.
"Is it money that you're after? Titles? I know people in high places, and they can get you into ranks of power and prestige. I can get you whatever you want," he offered with raised hands, holding out for any spark of mercy.
It was wasted, but with a predatory step forward, Anomie smiled his way. If he was desperate enough to try and bargain with her, who was she to dissuade him. "Really? Anything? How about a house in Konoha." She could tell he didn't understand her tone of sarcasm, so she'd have to be more obvious. "With a pony. No. Two ponies. And a shark."
She, having thrown away her weapons, used the Chakra from the curse seal to summon one of her Ho'ou. The small bird, decorated in red feathers as if it bled fire, balanced on her finger, and she gazed at it lovingly, as if she were a mother. She stroked its red feathers, small embers rubbing off and catching the wind. They flowed like petals, despite the bird's tiny size, and flew towards him, kissing his cheeks and causing him to slight flinch. Dairo took out one of his tanto, aiming it for her.
She let out a soft laugh as the bird exploded in a flash of fire, raining down over her like pelting snow. She barely even felt it as she was covered in a blanket of Phoenix feathers and fire. She caught his blade from mid air and watched as it turned molten red before melting in her grip.
"What are you?" Dairo's eyes were wide, almost in disbelief at the enemy he made.
"Think a bit more. Try to remember," she whispered, grabbing his throat and forcing him to let out a pained scream. She felt her hand sear into his flesh until she smelt its cooked aroma.
She was careful. She didn't want him dead quite yet, so she tossed him right back out the house, watching as he carefully regained his stance and aimed a Water Jutsu in her direction. She merely laughed, escaping into Maemi's body and allowing the girl to experience any bystander injuries instead of her own body.
It never came, however, as Kakashi grabbed Maemi before she could get hurt by the dragon shaped blob of Chakra infused water. Anomie, from inside the confines of her second resort, began to laugh as he set her down carefully.
"Get out," he ordered, and Anomie looked straight through him, with none of that beady innocence that Maemi would usually exhibit.
Anomie escapes the spare body sign a bout of laughter. "What's up? Konan couldn't keep you satisfied?" She leaned forward, blowing him a small kiss. "Don't worry, no can satisfy a man better than I can."
Kakashi was expressionless as he glanced towards Tamaki Dairo. "Were you the one who injured her?" He needed the answer of the man who he had no choice but to return to Maemi's father, alive. Angering a Daimyō was nearly a death sentence.
"It was that crazy bitch," Dairo commented, pointing at the casual Anomie who almost immediately opened her mouth in mock surprise, pointing to her own chest as if to say 'me?'
Kakashi glanced towards Anomie with an exasperated expression. "Really?"
Anomie have a sweet smile but he didn't have time to to reprimand her before she turned into smoke and reappeared behind Dairo. Her fingers trailed up his arms with a smile. Before he had a chance to say anything, she kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to the ground as soon as she heard the snap of bone. He let out a banshee scream while Anomie slammed the thin and long heel of her boot straight through his second knee. It made a popping and crushing sound, as if she just took a hammer to a watermelon.
"Now, don't you go anywhere," she told him with a chuckle, glancing over to Kakashi who didn't look like he wanted another confrontation with her as he ignored her maiming in order to bandage Osada Maemi's neck and abdomen.
The young girl looked to barely be breathing as she mumbled out Kakashi's name.
"Like a kicked puppy. Tell you what, you take the dumbass somewhere safe and I'll make sure my guest gets all of my hospitality."
Kakashi's she's narrowed at her proposition. "How about option B." He made a shadow clone, having it take Maemi someplace safe. Preferably away from the battle between the blue haired Akatsuki member and Anemone, who insisted she didn't need his help. However, after seeing how that woman, Konan, fought he doubted such a thing. Even so, Anemone had a greater chance of living through this without his help, but Maemi did not.
Anomie glanced up as one of the feathers of the Ho'ou drifted out of her. She allowed it to rest on her palm, watching as it enveloped her hand in a thick flame. She used it to attack Kakashi, forcing him back, but also forcing her forward. She felt his arm tremor as he grabbed her wrist, the only safe area to grab when her hand was on fire.
He quickly shoved her back, when he notice the flames swipe towards him. He noticed her eyes were cold, but she hesitated before every swipe. Her body seemed to avoid touching him in a way her mind could not comprehend. He tested that theory with a narrowed gaze, pausing before she could punch him with an attack that would hurt, but he could live from. Just as he thought, her fist came to a screeching halt and the flames disappeared.
"That's what I thought," he whispered to her, causing her eyes to narrow.
"It doesn't mean anything," she said, her tone rather casual with a tight lipped smile.
"Doesn't it?" he replied, and she slightly hesitated.
He didn't give her any time to reply as his clone that he had fooled her with disappeared from in front of her eyes, and his real body was grabbing ahold of Dairo with one hand, riddled with Chakra. Her eyes narrowed, watching him carefully as he glanced back towards her. "So that's how it's gonna be then."
"I can't exactly let you kill a war criminal wanted by the Fire Daimyō himself," Kakashi replied, and he noticed that whatever hesitation he had seen in her had begun to disappear.
"I'm warning you, if you take away my revenge...I will slit your throat in your sleep. I don't care how long it takes, I promise that I will." Her threat was quite ominous, and he sighed, realizing that he wouldn't be able to get away with the mission without a fight. He tossed the criminal further behind him, not quite comfortable because of the broken legs, but in no fatal harm.
"Of course. I don't doubt it." Kakashi wasn't capable of being surprised at her words at this point. He was exasperated. Exhausted even. However, he couldn't step aside. Even if it meant that he had to protect the piece of trash that rested behind him. Tamaki Dairo no doubt deserved justice for his actions, but he couldn't place his own honor in question for Anomie any longer. The Fire Daimyō was crooked and corrupt, but he helped govern this nation and held more political sway than most.
With a strengthened resolve, he stood in between her prey and the falling leaves of the trees around them. In spite of everything, he still loved her, but it would no longer be his crippling weakness. It was time to grow up and push all that aside. She took a step forward and it felt like an out of body experience. She wasn't in control and she could only see that man's fingers, gripping into her neck and staining her skin with her own mother's blood. A part of her body had remained smoke, and she hardly looked human.
Maybe that was why she appeared before him that way. Or maybe she spent more time like that than flesh and blood. Slowly, her lips curled into a smile that didn't feel at all sweet. Her eyes weren't settled on him, but rather, Dairo who attempted to crawl back from behind him. "Do you remember me?"
Of course he didn't. How could he? Anomie knew that the girl he raped was Fuyu. That girl was all smiles and carefree dreams about houses made of cheese.
"I was so young when we met. By the riverside you asked me where I lived. I told you—foolish as I was back then. That's on me. Then you brought me food and told me that I could get more if I let you hold me. Manipulations like that would of course work on a girl who only ate scraps of bread and rice," Anomie's comment was said with the absence of emotion, as if she were reading from a script.
At the sound of Anomie's story, perhaps the most Kakashi had ever heard of her past and childhood, caused him to glance back at Dairo. His own earlier determination and consciousness of not allowing this woman to torture a man to death in front of him, began to waver when Anomie's gaze raised to connect with his.
"Move aside Kakashi. I will not ask again," she said, raising her palm and from it, her Chakra gathered and almost engulfed her hand before a flame rose from the middle of her palm. Her control over fire had always been extraordinary, but he had never seen her perform fire techniques without hand signs. She manipulated the Nature Chakra she felt in her body and the air.
She's gotten stronger.
"You are a Leaf Shinobi," Dairo quickly piped up from behind him, as if he sensed Kakashi's resolve filter out. "Do you have no honor—will you let this criminal kill an unarmed man in cold blood?" His voice made Kakashi sick.
Anomie's laugh filled the empty space—making it seem all the more daunting. "No such mercy is deserved." She took another step forward and it was then that the fire took the form of a bird, a cheap trick that proved she was trying to scare him by showing off her own control without the use of her summoning. It flapped towards him before shooting forward like a rocket with no hesitation on her part. However, he was faster, moving to dodge it and simultaneously kicking Dairo out of range of the fire when he saw that it was that man that she was aiming for.
The older man still attempted to escape, however with both legs broken by Anomie, that was nearly impossible. He had no legs and barely a drop of Chakra left. Kakashi moved forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward so her back rested against his chest. "Do we always have to fight?"
"I am more than willing to have us go our separate lives, as soon as I separate that man's head from his body. Step aside. Do not make me say it again." Her threat didn't feel too intimidating with his tight hold on her arm, however, within moments, her skin began to grow hot. "Baby, I'm just burning when you touch me like that." She chuckled, and he slowly noticed that she was doing symbols with her fingers, a Jutsu technique he had also never seen before. "Ho'ou, now's the time you get off your ass and help a girl out."
Kakashi let her go as her skin turned into fire under his touch. It was fitting—her being untouchable. "Will killing him make you happy?" Kakashi had already decided not to fight.
Anomie, having found the question a surprise, could only pause. However, she was too far gone to properly answer as her hand raised once more to end Dairo's life. "Never know until I try."
Kakashi intervened, kicking Dairo away and defending the blunt of her attack with his tanto. She didn't wait to turn her wraith onto him next and she sent him a flurry of attacks. Every time he raised his blade to defend her oncoming kicks, it would begin to melt under the raw temperature that she emitted.
"Killing and revenge is never the answer, Anomie. I know you realize that too."
"What do you know? Absolutely nothing. You don't know hate—only loss. Loss, due to your own recklessness and inexperience, might I add. Lecture me again, Kakashi, and I swear—"
He used her distraction to prepare a well timed water Jutsu, forming a dragon from the moisture in the air. He hesitated before using it, but he knew that if he didn't, then she might actually kill him. Perhaps she might regret it, but it wouldn't matter when he was dead. She swiftly undid her own fire technique, simultaneously forcing wood from the ground to block her in an unfinished circle. The technique was draining, but her curse seal allowed her to ignore it.
She slowly peaked out of the wood, barely with enough time to hear the oddest sound of birds chirping, but she knew it couldn't be that. She barely managed to dodge his attack as it tore through the wood barrier she had made as if it were built from paper. She swiped to the left and quickly grabbed his arm and slammed it into the ground. The explosion of lightning forced her back, but Kakashi didn't rest, rushing to swipe her next.
"All that work and deadly Jutsu just to save one rapist?" Anomie asked, grabbing onto the scruff of his collar with a whisper that sounded like a shout of judgement in his ears.
"I don't care about that piece of shit," Kakashi said, shoving her back and landing a kick towards her ankles. She couldn't dodge it completely and crashed into the ground. She quickly used a wood release Jutsu to block his next attack.
"How dare you-" Dairo began to complain, much to Kakashi's annoyance.
"Shut the fuck up," Anomie told him in a hiss. Standing up, she fixed her hair and gave Kakashi a sultry smile.
"I care about you, Anomie. Revenge isn't an answer. It's poison. Don't fall into it," he told her and she furrowed her brows, pausing as she glanced towards the old man hiding behind the man she probably loved.
Anomie shook her head, "do you think me a weak flower whose petals fall by the slightest breeze? I cannot live while he still breathes." She pressed her for fingers against her neck. "He nearly choked the life out of me, sold me off, killed my mother. He is the reason my childhood was snatched off the streets. I want him dead. If you cared for me as much as you say you do, then you'd help me now."
"I want to," Kakashi admitted with a sour glance behind him.
"The step aside. Shield your eyes. You didn't see me."
"You nearly killed the Fire Daimyō's daughter, Anomie, and him...who knows what he did to her," Kakashi told her, taking out his blade. "If I let you be the one to kill him, allowing him to escape Konoha's justice and let you obtain yet another life under my watch, I'm finished."
Anomie's eyes grew cold with understanding and her fingers were still slick with Osada's blood. It coated her skin like oil. How much washing would it take to rid herself of a scared fourteen year old's blood? Probably not long.
She let out a dark chuckle. "You are quite right, Kakashi." She dropped her blade at his feet. "This is what I love about you." This made him pause since her eyes were so gentle, but her words were poison. He did not trust them. The timing was odd and her eyes went from calculating to soft much too quickly.
"No you don't," he told her, but it wasn't harsh. He simply felt she was too jaded to properly give him such a look.
"Truly and deeply, do I love you," she told him, and he went to slash her, but the moment he realized she wasn't defending him did he realize he had been tricked. His blade went through her and lodged into the wood clone she had left behind. It curled around his tanto and around his hand.
He glanced behind him, seeing the real Anomie possess Dairo in a mere instant. He kicked away her clone and turned to see the older man stand, despite his injury and broken leg. It looked unnatural and painful, but he knew enough to be certain that she didn't feel it. It was all pain for Dairo.
"I promise to not kill him," Anomie moved stiffly, crooked in a broken body. Dairo's legs were bent, misshapen, and yet still moved in such a way that made Kakashi cringe. Anomie smiled, picking up the blade she had dropped before. "But you simply must defend yourself, Kakashi."
She broke into a sprint, high jacking her captive's Chakra to move, and she felt his pain, but she knew he felt it much stronger. She dashed forward swinging her blade towards him and forcing him to dodge.
"Whatever will you do?" Anomie swung her blade again, forcing him to hit it back with his own. "Either way, this man will die. By your hand or mine. Will you run or face me head on and burrow that beautiful blade in his heart?"
Kakashi's eyes narrowed, kicking the man back hard enough to hear the bones in Dairo's ribs crack. Anomie fell to the ground with a bloody laugh, hearing her captive scream. Yet still, she stood, coughing out the blood that needed escape. The laughter was grating to Kakashi's ears, but overall it was unsurprising since he always knew that she was cruel.
"The longer you prolong this, the more humorous it is for me," Anomie said with a bout of laughter. She felt around her ribs, glancing towards him. "Ah yes, the blood is seeping into his heart now. I will keep him alive for as long as need be. Suffering and in torment."
Kakashi ran his blade through Dairo's body, feeling his heart sink at Anomie's cruel grin. Her head slipped out of his body, as did her arms. Her hands ran up his arms and pulled him forward, sinking his tanto in further. He tried to move back but she pulled him closer.
"I wish things were different," he whispered, and her cruel smile disappeared. Something flickered in her eyes, perhaps regret, perhaps not. He doubted she could feel regret for ending a life of a lowly man such as him.
"I've done what I've had too with the options I've been given," she said, before she leaned forward and forced her lips against his, sinking into him. Her lower body exited Dario and let him fall as she turned corporeal just next to Kakashi's empty hands that dropped his blade. "Whatever you may believe, I do care for you, Kakashi."
"Not as much as you care about yourself, Anomie," he replied, turning away from her and rubbing his eyes as he motioned to walk back towards the village. He didn't turn to watch her hack off Dairo's head. "If Osada Maemi dies, I'll be the one to kill you."
He got no reply.
Author's Note
ミヤコグサ (Miyakogusa) or a Lotus corniculatus also called Bird's-foot trefoil. This flower is kind of funny since it's so bright and yellow, cheering up any garden. And yet, it has a darker meaning such as 'revenge' which is still a mystery. School children even used to pick these flowers as wards against their teacher's wrath. The flower itself is a symbol of warning.
This chapter itself was one of my longer ones, but I didn't want to end it without bringing Kakashi back into the fold. It was important for their relationship, but also to show that Anomie's getting a bit crazier and more vindictive, forcing him to do her dirty work. She decided to let him kill Dairo as a way to punish them both at once. She didn't want to drag out Dairo's death, since that isn't the way she is. She only wanted to see him die since she isn't as vengeful as, say, Sasuke. However, she made a visible choice between something she wanted, and Kakashi, showing that her own self-preservation and selfishness is much deeper than ever.
Omg I got like the worst review the other week that was more offensive than criticism so it round right back around to being hilarious. Part of it was 'if Obito does you should just delete your account'
People can be so mean sometimes but it's cool. I can take it.
Like 90 percent of all fanfiction never change the Obito 'death' thing so idk what he wanted from me. The amount of plot I'd have to change to make him live gives me a headache. Isn't it enough I kept Itachi's mother alive? I wanna change things but like, not everything lol
Thanks for reading peepole. Ttyl!
