A/N: Yes we're coming out of the gate with an author's note, I'm a mad woman.
Just a quick point of order, this is a rewrite of a story I started writing in 2010. That being said, no one named "Izumi" had been introduced as a canon Naruto character at the time of me starting this.
The Izumi in this story is an OC and is in no way related to Izumi Uchiha. FML. (What are the odds that I would not only pick that name but also have her romantically involved with Itachi?)
Anyway, please enjoy the show.
Running.
It was something my body wasn't meant to do, yet there I was, doing it... well, a feeble attempt anyway.
Feeble is being generous...
It had devolved into the kind of run that, if you saw someone doing it, you would ask yourself why they weren't just walking.
I considered the distinct possibility that I should probably choose to stop and rest before my body made the decision for me. After all, I had been "running" for at least a half hour, and for a shut-in bookworm like me, that was thirty minutes longer than average.
Whatever adrenaline that initially spurred me had certainly worn off.
Thirsty and tired with no clue where I was or, more importantly, where I was going, I leaned against a huge rock with a sigh and shut my eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest.
A choir of crickets and frogs sang out of rhythm with each other, a low, blowing wind and rustling of leaves filling in the gaps. I tried to channel the calmness of the wind.
As it turns out though, trying isn't always succeeding.
As I focused in on the peaceful sounds around me, I couldn't help but notice a strange noise that didn't quite fit in… one that was distinctly un-peaceful given my current situation.
Hm. Never thought of footsteps as something horrifying, yet here we are.
It wasn't long before footsteps became voices and I cringed at my horrid luck as they grew nearer.
"How much further do we have to go, yeah?" One voice whined, sandals scuffing through the dirt.
Scuffy Steps.
"New rule, I'm not entertaining the same question more than once," another voice answered, dull and gravelly with an edge of annoyance.
Big Mad.
There were only two people from what I could hear, Scuffy Steps and Big Mad. My mind rifled through various scenarios that might explain people travelling in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.
Okay, let's see here… could be botanists studying nocturnal plants… hm, is that even a thing? Not sure, moving on. Perhaps business men trying to make an early morning meeting. Members of a local Insomniac support group. Human traffickers, avoiding main roads of course. Werewolves maybe?
My imagination spiraled into very creatively dark places and I abandoned the thought process in favor of focusing on staying quiet.
Reel it in, girl...
I tried to make myself small, er, I guess smaller I should say. The top of my head tended to fall at most people's shoulders, after all.
"I'm beat, can't we take a rest here, yeah?" Scuffy Steps complained.
Oh, lord no. Please have better luck than this.
"...Fine," Big Mad replied gruffly.
Absolute beans.
The two men sat in silence mostly, though one was much more talkative than the other. They spoke briefly of a village they had just come from, apparently they had killed some people there.
Yes, that's right. Killed some people. Though it seemed like a casual topic to them.
So probably shinobi then… though you can't rule out werewolves just yet.
I had been worried about that... from what I had read and knew about shinobi, they were considered honorable and skilled fighters that served their country, but from time to time, they could go rogue.
Missing-nin. Traitors and criminals. Whatever you wanted to call them, it spelled trouble for me.
"Deidara." The rough, calm voice cut through the night air.
"Hm?"
"Have you felt something strange since we've arrived here?"
I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes tight, my hands balled into fists, nails biting into my palms nearly drawing blood.
If you don't move, they can't see you… that's how it works, right?
"Well now that you mention it…" A voice suddenly in front of me, "feels like someone's been eavesdropping, yeah?"
My eyes snapped open to find this stranger's face directly in front of mine. My face held no surprise, just flat anguish.
"Hi?" I said, wincing with a pained smile and an uncomfortable shrug.
The blonde, Deidara, I presumed, formerly known as Scuffy Steps, looked confused, almost biting back a laugh.
"You're saying hi to me…? That's really… that's the play you're making right now?"
Had I not been in the predicament I was in, I would have spent more time being jealous about the fact that he was far prettier than I could ever hope to be. Even in the dim light, the brightness of his one visible, cerulean eye was noteworthy.
It felt like I was locked into place by medusa's stare. My brain screamed for me to run, but my body did nothing.
"Mmm… yeah, I suppose it's too late for me to change it, right?" I asked nervously, wringing the fingers of my left hand with my right.
The man in front of me pulled back a bit, seemingly bemused by our interaction. I didn't know how these things worked, what shinobi etiquette was, but apparently I'd surmised incorrectly that it might entail a casual greeting.
A terrible abomination of a man soon appeared just behind him, scrutinizing me with coal black eyes that glinted ominously in the moonlight. That had to be Big Mad.
"What are you planning, girl?" the thing asked in an offensively accusatory tone, eyes squinting.
I'll have you know, I've never made a plan in my life.
I decided against verbalizing my internal thoughts at that moment, deeming them exceptionally and stupidly inappropriate… even for me.
"Nothing really," I said truthfully, shifting my attention back to the blonde who was much more pleasant to look at.
However, much to my dismay, he had just been ordered to "seize me", and as cute as he was, I certainly did not want to be seized.
"Wow, you are just… so amazingly bad at this it's almost cute," Deidara said, sparing no time in grabbing my hair by its roots and yanking me up to my feet.
I flinched backward in vain, a pained noise leaking out through my gritted teeth.
Okay, so that just escalated.
"You should probably try answering again, my man Sasori didn't love the first one," he advised, tightening his grip and shaking me slightly.
You know how they tell you about everyone's instinct for fight or flight? Well there's another one. It's freeze, and I am the absolute best at it apparently.
I stared at him through wincing eyes, trying desperately to form a sentence in my mind that would get me out of this situation but they all seemed to end with me as a corpse.
"Hey, anyone in there?" he asked, tapping on my forehead like it was a little door to my brain.
Yes, but please do not disturb.
To be truthful, most of my brain power was being used on simply staying in an upright position as the majority of my neurons seemed to be short-circuiting given the stress and my inability to handle it, so it was all I could do to just look up at him past my too-long, dark bangs hanging in my equally dark eyes.
"Just take care of her, Deidara, we need to get moving," said Sasori, formerly known as Big Mad. He seemed like a real peach.
"Hm, Fine," Deidara said, as if inconvenienced. He released me in order to shove his hand into a pouch at his side.
Sorry killing me is such a bother? Yeesh.
He obviously didn't view me as much of a threat, not that I could blame him there. I was less than five foot nothing with no muscle mass, donning baggy clothes and a dumb, gaping look plastered on my face.
Regardless of all that though, I had a bit of a brain and it was screaming at me that this was my only window to escape.
My body was still leaned up against the rock. I clenched my eyes shut and begged for this to work.
It had to work.
My body shook with effort as I clenched my fists. A dribble of blood began to bead in my nostril before building up enough to flow down freely onto my lips.
I pulled them into a taut line to prevent it from entering my mouth, ignoring it to keep my focus. A swirling uneasy feeling filled my gut as I was hit with the sensation of falling backwards.
Holy biscuits it's actually working.
I stepped back and righted my balance before passing completely through the rock. I quickly celebrated the boulder-phasing success in my head, however, successfully running away seemed less likely, but I had to try all the same.
Once I started, I didn't stop, I needed to count on their confusion to give me a head start. I just hoped they hadn't met too many people that could bamf through boulders…
My adrenaline was back in full force as my feet pounded against the dirt. I felt like the fastest thing that ever lived, racing through the forest with no particular destination other than far, far away from them.
Directions be damned.
That feeling lasted about twenty seconds before the heaviness weighed on my body once more. That stupid rock thing really took a toll on me and the small bead of crimson continued to drip down from my nostril, I sniffed and wiped it away quickly.
I'd worry about that later.
"Well that was a neat trick, yeah?" Deidara leapt down from a tree branch landing right in front me.
My face dropped, absolutely horrified by this completely predictable turn of events, at which he smirked.
Skidding to a halt, I looked frantically around me. The other one, Sasori, flanked me from behind.
Izumi, girl, you are not making it out of this one.
"You see, we just wanted to chat at first, see what you're up to out here, if you're enjoying the sights, that kinda thing... but now I feel like you've really got something to hide," Deidara tutted, approaching me with an amused but menacing expression.
"So I'll ask you again, what are you planning?" His one visible eye narrowed dangerously.
I put my hands up in the air to show I had no violent intentions, trying to find my voice.
"I-I um, I swear I'm not up to anything. I'm r-really sorry if I've caused any trouble. I think this is all a big misunderstanding," I managed to stammer out, unable to feel like his pointed glare wasn't burning a whole through my head, making it entirely too hard to think straight.
He took a step forward and with a laugh said, "you really expect us to believe that?"
"I mean… yes? I was hoping, anyway? It's kind of the truth sooo... I-I don't have a better answer," I said with a bewildered shrug.
"Okay so cute and dumb. Not the worst combination in the world... but definitely not helping you out right now, kunoichi."
"I'm not a kunoichi, does that help?" I asked hopefully.
His eye narrowed once more. "Oh, so just a civilian that knows earth style jutsu and phases through rocks? You really are god awful at this."
Ugh, you're so sus.
My body was fighting me to stay vertical. I leaned against a tree to keep myself standing.
"Aw, are we tired?" Deidara jeered, releasing a tiny little bird from his hand. I stared at it as it flew towards me. It was curious for him to have such a creature but also, it was just very cute.
It all happened too fast for me to comprehend.
There was a loud noise. An explosion. I found myself skidding across the ground, a ragged gasp escaping my lips as cuts and scrapes lined the side of my face and body.
Um, what kind of bird does that?
"Don't think your little rock trick is enough to stop the Akatsuki, yeah," Deidara said with no shortage of pomp as he walked over to me confidently and crouched down to grab me by my hair once more.
"Akatsuki"...?
I soon stood before him once again as he yanked me up, if you could call it standing. Dangling might have been more appropriate.
"Now I'm going to have to kill you," he said as if it were an unfortunate consequence to a misunderstanding. He opened his left palm, revealing a tiny clay bird.
"Open up," he ordered, forcing it into my mouth and clapping his hand over my lips. "Art is a—"
"Wait." Sasori stopped him before walking over to me, his callous eyes meeting mine.
"Yeah?" Deidara sounded annoyed.
Join the club, pretty boy.
"She could be of use to us," He said to his partner before directing his questions at me.
"What village are you from and why are you out here?"
He grabbed Deidara's wrist, removing his hand from my mouth to give me a chance to answer. I hastily spit out the tiny clay bird.
"Bang…" Deidara muttered as it exploded away from me. I swallowed hard.
"Well, aren't you going to say anything, un?" Deidara demanded as Sasori's eyes grew increasingly impatient.
I stalled because my brain was buffering, trying to come up with a response that wouldn't get me killed. If they knew I wasn't useful, which was the truth, they would certainly just kill me on the spot.
"I-I'm from Konoha," I offered up with a wince. That was the truth.
"Alright, kill her. I hate that fucking place," Deidara said, his grip tightening on the roots of my hair.
"Deidara…" Sasori glared at his partner with warning eyes before continuing on. "I asked you a two-part question, do not make me repeat myself."
It would have been great if my brain weren't a complete pile of mush at that moment. What was the other question... what was I doing?
Now that, I had no good answer for. What was I supposed to tell them, that I was running away from home? I didn't get the impression that they would believe me or give a hoot.
"Deidara… she's too slow," Sasori said, hinting at an order between the lines.
Deidara nodded in understanding before his fist connected hard with my jaw.
I stumbled for a moment, entirely dazed by the blow, before falling to my knees with a harsh scraping of skin. The pain was incredible as I touched my jaw lightly, my fingers softly trailing over the bruise already appearing. Tears attempted to spring free from their confines within my eyes.
Their attempts were immediately successful.
"If she won't talk, then we will take her back with us, I think I know someone that will make her talk." Sasori's dull eyes glanced from me to the sky. "Let's move."
"Alright. Ready to go, yeah?" Deidara asked impatiently. It was somehow less of a question and more of an order.
I frantically wiped at the corners of my eyes and choked on a sob, taking in the severity of the situation.
I didn't really have much of a choice. I couldn't outrun them, I couldn't fight them, and I certainly couldn't negotiate. I slowly pushed myself to my feet, still dizzy from the punch, stumbling forward with spots dancing in front of my eyes.
Catching myself on something sturdy, I softly groaned and let myself lean into it while I regained my balance and vision.
"Geez, I'm not gonna complain but what the hell are you doing?" Deidara's voice penetrated through my haze, bringing me back into focus.
I looked up to see I had been leaning against him, his black cloak nearly consuming my small figure before he pushed me away, his hands planted firmly on my shoulders so I wouldn't continue falling backwards.
"Oh… sorry…" I said sniffling, my face sour and hands holding my jaw.
Um, are you apologizing for getting punched?
I suppose I technically was.
Deidara surveyed me with an interesting expression. He was so confident before, but now he seemed to be growing uneasy. Uncomfortable.
"Let's go then," Sasori ordered as he began shuffling south. Deidara motioned for me to walk so that I was in between him and Sasori, Deidara being the caboose.
The thought of having to walk even one more mile, especially with no shoes, made my eyes well up even more. My legs felt like jello, each step pushing the limits of my bones and muscles within.
I couldn't do it. My knees buckled before giving out and I fell face first, not even enough energy to put my arms out.
"Shit." I heard Deidara hiss.
"Get her up, we keep moving," Sasori said.
I felt myself being lifted and slung over a shoulder like a ragdoll. It was uncomfortable and I couldn't breathe very well, also the blood rushing to my head made my jaw throb even more.
"Hey…" I mumbled, slightly delirious, "...Deidara was it?"
"Hm, you're awake?" He asked in somewhat of a whisper over his shoulder. Perhaps he didn't want to disturb his partner with chatter. Sasori seemed distinctly… unfriendly.
"Unfortunately," I grumbled.
He scoffed out a little laugh. "What do you want, yeah?"
"Can you do piggyback instead of this?"
He stifled what surely would have been a much bigger laugh.
"You've got some balls, I'll give you that. You really think you're in a position to make demands?"
"No demands, just asking… please?"
"No."
"But… I asked really nicely."
"No."
"Yes, I did."
"I'm not saying 'no' to that, I'm saying… ugh. You know what, never mind. Shut up, yeah?"
"But I can pull your pants down from this position. Doesn't that make you nervous? It would make it very difficult to walk, I imagine."
"Seriously, what the fuck kind of kunoichi are you?" he asked incredulously, though not entirely devoid of amusement.
"If you carry me piggyback, I'll tell you."
Deidara was silent. I hoped it was because he was deeply considering my offer. After too long a time went by, I realized it was because he was ignoring me.
Fine. It's pants time.
I didn't have much to lose, it's not like they'd keep me alive once they realized I wasn't important.
I began trying to tug his pants down but man were they on there tight. I absently wondered if he glued them to his waist.
Or, ya know… you're just really awkward and weak.
That was a definite possibility.
"Are you fucking for real?" Deidara asked, unphased and continuing at pace.
My tongue peeked out from my lips as I tried my damndest.
"Hey, if you're that curious about what's in my pants, I promise to show you when we get back to base. You're cute enough."
His tone was weirdly suggestive and I got the feeling he was making some gross sexual joke. I immediately stopped trying to remove his pants and huffed in disgust.
"That's not what I was doing…" I mumbled, crossing my arms.
"Then what were you trying to do, yeah?"
"I was trying to just be annoying."
"Hm, nah, you're doing just fine at that."
Okay, so he's a little funny when he's not decking me in the face.
"Annoying enough to get a piggyback?" I asked, feeling hopefully at our renewed banter.
"Not quite."
I scowled. "What would it take?"
"God, you're persistent."
"And super annoying," I agreed.
There was a moment of tenuous silence.
"...and if I do it, you'll shut up?"
"Mums the word." I said happily.
I landed on my side with a groan as he dropped me off his shoulder.
"You better not be lying about this too…" he muttered, reaching down and grabbing me by the wrist. He bent down and pulled me up onto his back, hands hooking beneath my knees.
We quickly resumed lockstep behind Sasori.
"I wasn't lying about any of it…" I mumbled, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.
Piggyback was much better.
"Hey, what the hell happened to shutting up, yeah?"
"Just one more thing," I said.
Deidara let out a pained sigh laced with irritation. "What."
"Thank you..." I said quietly, resting my non-bruised cheek against him and closing my eyes.
"Tch…" he scoffed.
We continued on for longer than I could stay awake.
When I did awake, however, it was not as I had fallen asleep, in a faceful of blond hair.
No, it was quite different. I sat slumped in a rigid metal chair, hands tied behind my back with wire as well as my ankles to the chair legs.
The walls, floor and ceiling all seemed to be made of the same worked stone, all lit by one dim overhead lamp, it's incandescence flickering subtly from time to time.
"It's about time." A dull voice that I didn't quite recognize echoed from the back of the room. Rounding from behind, a man stood before me, staring down with sullen eyes half covered by slightly messy, red hair.
"This will either be very easy, or incredibly difficult. It all depends on you." His words flat-lined as he removed his stare from my own and walked past me, leaving through an exceptionally vocal door.
Okay well if it's multiple choice let's just go with the very easy way.
It was only moments later that it squeaked open once more. Five figures filtered in and stood before me, only one of whom I recognized in addition to the man I had just seen. Deidara and the red-head were preceded by a man with many piercings and an impossibly pretty woman with blue hair. Oddly enough, an impossibly pretty man with dark hair and scarlet eyes filed in behind the others.
The pierced man stepped forward ominously, his gray, spiraling irises connecting with mine.
"As I'm sure you've already been informed, you can make this as painful as you'd like, ranging from no pain at all, to pain that you never imagined could exist. I am Pain."
Wow, what an introduction. Someone give this man an oscar.
I swallowed hard and stared up at him with a blank expression, just absolutely crapping myself internally. I was exhausted and having a hard time even keeping him in focus. He took my empty gape as a signal to continue.
"Who are you?" he asserted, barely making it a question.
"Izumi," I blurted out. I couldn't even manage a full sentence and I hated the way my voice sounded as it eked out of me, timid and weak.
"Izumi is a name, it is not who you are. I do not care about your name. I'll ask again, who are you?" He pressed.
Giving this guy a solid 10/10 for intensity.
My eyes shifted to the people behind him as if any of them would help me out. They all remained stoically regarding me.
"What village are you from?" Pain followed up with another question when I took too long. I could handle this one… though I thought that about the first one too.
"Konohagakure," I answered as quickly as possible.
He nodded to himself before asking another question, "And what is your purpose?"
My tongue felt dry and swollen against the roof of my mouth.
What was with these questions? Pain seemed to be growing impatient. I tried to lick my lips before answering but my tongue just seemed to scratch against the chapped, frayed skin.
"I think you're going to hate this answer but… I-I'm just a girl from Konoha, I was… I was running away from home. That's it, I swear," I admitted in a hurry, my eyes big and begging for him to believe me.
His irritation grew quickly, a growl murmuring in his throat.
"You expect me to believe that?" he asked in a raised voice.
Whoever said 'honesty is the best policy' deserves to be spoken to.
Before I could say anything, he continued, "You, who possess earth-style jutsus, are just some girl running away from home in the middle of the night? And you just so happened to be found listening to members of the Akatsuki? Do I have this correct?"
I winced a bit and stared up at him with a very pained expression. "God, well when you put it like that, it sounds really bad…" I said, mostly to myself.
"It does." He agreed coldly. "Now that we've established that, why don't you try again. This time I'd like to hear the truth."
My face was pure anguish.
How could I explain this? I was just some shut-in, reclusive bookworm that wasn't even allowed out of the house most days. I didn't understand my abilities any more than anyone else. In fact, I grew up trying to hide them.
"I-I know how it sounds... but it's the truth..." I said weakly. "That stuff with, um, what did you call it? Earth jutsu? I-I can just do that… somehow?" I offered almost apologetically, understanding exactly how absurd it sounded.
"How stupid do you think I am…?" he asked dangerously with narrowed eyes.
"Oh I don't think you're stupid at all!" I rushed to correct. "I think my answers are stupid, but I just… don't really have different ones? Do you guys have like... a truth serum or something I could take? I don't really know how this all works," I pleaded with the man.
Deidara let out a snorting laugh from the backline.
Pain shot him a warning look and he apologized mildly under his breath, still somewhat snickering. The dusty-red haired man next to him elbowed him to stop but his heart didn't seem to be in it as he too looked somewhat amused.
"You have the ability to be honest I'm sure, just not the motivation… or at least not yet," he drew near, kneeling down to eye level, our faces just inches apart.
The kunai in his hand slowly pressed into my leg.
A strained, ragged breath flew from me as I let out in a flurry, "I promise I'm already super motivated!" Most of it pushed through clenched teeth as he dragged the kunai toward him, carving a path down my thigh.
A shivering whine chattered from my lips as I attempted to process the pain and the gravity of my situation. Spots danced in my eyes as the pain intensified the longer he dragged it along my flesh.
"P-please… not l-lying…" I pleaded through the tears that were streaming steadily.
"Who sent you?" Pain asked in a calm and callous tone.
I cried out again and squeezed my eyes shut as he pressed in deeper, wracking my brain for an answer as my body shuddered through the torture.
"N-no one, I p-promise," I whispered through grating teeth and a sob.
I looked up past him, my tearful eyes meeting with Deidara.
My face was unintentionally pleading, he looked taken aback for a moment, perhaps confused as to why I was looking to him for help. I didn't know either. I didn't know what else to do. His shock retreated only to be replaced by uncertainty.
I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut until he stopped. Letting out the last of my crooked gasps, he pulled the kunai from my leg and stood so that he towered over my frail form.
"Itachi, see what you can do," Pain ordered.
My attention fell on the man that stepped forward. The beautiful one.
A chill ran down my spine, as if his stare alone could produce the icy wind that I swore to have felt. I gulped, staring up at him, silently pleading for him to… I don't know… be nice? It didn't seem like it wasn't working so I decided to verbally plead as well.
"Itachi, was it?" I asked, an almost permanent wince on my face as the pain continued to roll through my leg.
He regarded me silently and I was thinking that might be a 'yes' for this guy. Just a hunch.
"Listen, Itachi… It's nice to meet you, you seem great," I said, punctuated by a sob as the pain hit me in a wave. I continued rather pitifully through my tears.
"I'll be honest though, I'm not doing that w-well over here and I don't know what kind of s-stuff you have planned, but I'd hate for you… God this hurts… ugh… for you to waste your t-time. I really am just some stupid girl with a weird talent. I-I don't know anything. Honest." My voice was small and stuttering at times and obviously warped through my crying, but I just prayed he heard somewhere in there that I was being truthful.
There was no shift in his countenance, only within his eyes and suddenly I was no longer in that room, just an open space that seemed to go on forever.
A pained sigh whizzed past my shivering teeth as I felt a cool blade meet my skin. It moved through the flesh of my stomach like a hot knife through butter.
"I recommend you start talking, this could go on for a while. I would honestly prefer not to take this route, if at all avoidable." Itachi's deep, smooth voice pulled me from my lulling unconsciousness against my will.
"I'm n-not lying, please stop..." I stuttered quietly with a sob.
The blade again. And again. It seemed to go on for hours.
I awoke with a rush, back in the room and in terrible agony, only to suddenly feel I'd never know an ounce of energy again.
"Over already?" I heard Pain ask, his voice was retreating quickly however.
"Her body was not able to withstand even a fraction of it." Itachi's voice was small too, like I was hearing it at the end of a tunnel. And soon it was gone all together.
I was alone when I awoke again. I let my head fall forward as I cried quietly to myself, tangled and sweat-drenched strands of hair veiling my face.
I had never cried so much in my life. I was usually fairly content, snacking and enjoying a good book in my room. This was a dreadful departure from my everyday life.
I lifted my head ever so slightly to peer through my mess of hair. Scanning the room, I nearly looked right over the small set of glowing yellow eyes that sat almost cautiously in the corner.
"I think she has spotted us." It seemed to whisper to itself.
"Yes it appears she has, what should we do?"
"Kill her?"
"We can't do that, we are only supposed to watch."
"She knows we're here."
"Yes, let's go for now." The figure concluded as it began to sink into the floor.
"We should tell the others."
"Wait, please…" I croaked, not understanding what was happening. "Can't you help me?"
After several moments of silence between myself and those brilliant golden eyes, they disappeared entirely and my heart fell once again into the darkness.
Well biscuits… this doesn't seem like it'll end well….
My stomach growled and curled in on itself painfully at the mere thought of food, rebelling against my lack of nourishment.
I didn't dare move when I heard the door creak open several moments later.
"We found something interesting in your bag, maybe you'll feel like talking now, yeah?" Deidara smirked as he stood before me.
He was holding a picture out for me to see. It was a photograph taken of me with my parents when I was a little girl, when they first adopted me. It must have been in there from a long, long time ago, it didn't hold any sentimental value.
"We know their faces now so maybe you'd like to say something to make sure they stay out of harm's way. I'm sure you know what I mean." He smirked and looked at me, thinking he finally had me in the corner.
I was unsure how to phrase my thoughts before responding, I didn't want to come off like a heartless psychopath for some reason. It seemed like I would have been in good company.
"I… certainly don't wish them dead... but they're… oh god, how do I say this without sounding awful... We're not close? I mean I hope you don't do anything to them, obviously, but they're just kind of the least of my concern right now. Does that make sense?"
My lord, what kind of unholy word vomit was that, Izumi? Also, you are cold as ice.
I winced inwardly and briefly pondered the likelihood of there being hot springs in Hell.
Deidara deadpanned and leaned in close, his visible eye looking at me through squinted lids like he was trying to gauge my truthfulness. I hoped desperately that he was good at it.
He stayed like this for what felt like a very long time before letting out an irritated huff.
"You're really obnoxious, you know that?" He said pointedly before turning to leave.
"Thought I was just cute and dumb…" I muttered to myself. It surprised me when he let out a small laugh, apparently having heard me after all.
"Cute, dumb and obnoxious. There's not really a limit. Let's add weird to the list as well," he said.
Oh, banter. How exciting! You should give it a try.
Sure. Not like I had anything else to do.
"My list is getting rather long, I just hope you have it on a scroll with a lot of space for future additions. I imagine you'll come up with plenty of other grievances to add before you kill me."
"Making jokes in the face of death, yeah?" He folded his arms and seemed to appraise me.
"Maybe they won't all be grievances," he mused before letting the door close behind him. But he wasn't gone for long.
Murmurs filled the corridor that led to my holding room, and right on cue, the door swung open and in filed the same group as before.
"We're going to try this again. I hope you've had enough time to think about and… experience the situation you're in and understand the gravity of it," Pain started in right away, stepping toward me while speaking calmly.
"Yes…" I murmured, annoyed with the condescending tone to his voice, like I didn't understand the predicament I was in. I understood it a lot better than he did.
I'm the one with a big ol' slicey-slice down my thigh, bud.
I looked toward Deidara briefly and he just smirked at my irritated expression.
"What were you doing in the forest that night my men found you?" He asked pointedly.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, growing tired of having to provide truthful answers that I knew wouldn't cut it. "I was leaving my village, running away..." I said with a sigh.
"Why?" He followed up quickly. Now this was a new question. I paused, almost in shock that I might be given the chance to explain myself.
"It's um, it's complicated…" I began hesitantly, not sure how much he'd really care to hear it. "I overheard a conversation between my parents and someone else. You see, they adopted me when I was 6 and… well that doesn't matter I guess..." I trailed off and shook my head, trying to keep my thoughts in order and just answer the question concisely. "Anyway, I overheard them with someone else, some man, and it sounded like they were going to send me off with him. I mean they were practically begging for him to take me and I just kind of… freaked out and left." I confessed, trying to gauge his reaction.
"So what you're telling me... is that you're simply a civilian with a bad relationship with her parents…?" He questioned.
"Yes?" I offered with a wince. I could tell he wasn't buying it.
"And how can I be sure that you're telling the truth? If you are truly not a kunoichi then how did you know the jutsu you used in the woods?" Pain's spiraled eyes drilled coldly into mine.
"You see, it's hard to tell if someone is telling the truth if they have not felt pain. Pain is the incentive for liars to become honest." He pontificated.
I groaned through his little speech, inwardly of course. I wasn't that dumb.
If I haven't felt pain? Pal, it's all I've felt since I ran into your boys. What reality are you living in?
He pulled out a kunai and began to shine it with his cloak as he spoke again, "by the time I am done with you, I will be sure you are telling the truth."
"I swear to you, I'm already telling the truth!" I cried out in a raspy tone, my backbone growing out of nowhere.
He raised an eyebrow at my sudden outburst and brought his face close to mine. He looked like he was about to use that beautifully shined kunai, but to my surprise, Deiadara stepped forward.
"Pain-sama, this girl doesn't seem like much of a ninja, yeah? When I hit her, she toppled over like nothing, even a low-grade kunoichi can take a punch better than that. Just look at her muscle mass, she barely has any."
Okay... feeling really attacked here.
"True…" Pain contemplated, "but what about her jutsu?" he followed up.
"It's just a… a talent?" I said, exasperated from not knowing more. "Dirt, rocks, fire, w-water, um what else... trees? I can just do stuff with them…I-I don't know how, I swear." I said frantically.
Pain stepped back, regarding me with an expression I couldn't quite pin down.
"Pain." It was the first time I heard the woman in back speak.
Her voice was even and her eyes held no emotion as she called him over to her. She said something to him far too softly for me to hear.
Pain's eyes passed over me with a glint of calculation as he listened.
He moved over to Itachi and said something briefly before gesturing for everyone else to leave.
Everyone but Itachi filed out of the room. He stared at me for a moment with an unreadable expression, half-covered by his cloak. I felt numb, my leg was caked with dried blood and was throbbing something fierce.
"Come with me," Itachi said as he cut my bindings and stood before me.
As gorgeous as he was, he frightened me, whether I wanted to admit it or not, so I would follow his orders no matter what. I was afraid my time was up though, perhaps he was taking me to be killed.
I tried to stand and failed miserably.
I groaned loudly as I hit the ground and struggled to get myself up. Itachi loomed over me, simply watching. Pulling myself to my knees using the chair, I managed to push my body to its feet. It was as if the veins were filled with kerosene and someone lit the match within my leg.
Yep. That's gonna get infected.
An indiscernible noise sputtered loudly from my lips as I gritted my teeth in an attempt to distract myself from the pain.
"Let's go," Itachi said calmly as he turned his back to me and began walking slowly towards the door. I stepped away from the chair, but the second I lost it's stability, I dropped to the ground in a pathetic heap once more.
"Ugh, just kill me here…" I groaned, no longer interested in trying to stand. "No need to take me behind the shed or wherever you normally do it… here is fine," I assured with a wave, my breath ragged and shallow, eyes wincing shut from the sharp pain.
When I didn't hear a response, I looked up to see that Itachi had stopped, his back to me, just standing there in front of the door.
In a split second he was gone and I felt myself being lifted from the ground. Like everything else lately, it all happened so quickly that I couldn't comprehend it in real time.
I looked up bewildered to see Itachi's aloof face, he didn't look at or even acknowledge me, he just continued forward through the doorway, my body draped between his arms.
Behind the shed it is, then.
We traveled through a series of labyrinth-like hallways before we entered a room. A room that was distinctly not a murder shed.
He laid me on a bed, my body sinking in gratefully. It was the most comfort I had experienced in what felt like a lifetime. The room was smaller than my previous holding chamber.
The décor was simple but elegant to my surprise. Dark mahogany floors stood in contrast to the cream colored walls that were adorned with various weapons and various traditional art pieces.
"This is… your room?" I asked quietly, realizing halfway through that he would probably prefer I don't talk. Itachi looked at me and followed my eyes regarding the space.
"It is," he stated. Then back to silence.
"It's nice," I said, still looking around, not really sure what to do with myself in the too-silent room.
"...You're trying to make conversation with a person that just tortured you?" Itachi asked calmly, only affording me a glance as he milled about the room.
I grimaced. It's not like I had many options.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call it conversation. That would require two active parties…" I muttered.
"You're saying I'm not an active party." He seemed vaguely amused.
"I'm saying you're quiet, at the very least."
"You're perceptive."
So first he tortures me and now he's teasing me?
"Well you'll have to forgive me, my brain is on the slower side. Lack of blood, I suspect. Possibly a head injury. Who's to know?" I knew it wasn't the time to be snarky but I couldn't resist.
"Hm."
It was all he had to say as he silently appraised me. He turned away to fumble through his drawers, eventually pulling out some clothes and setting them at the end of the bed.
"I apologize, these won't fit you very well... Kakuzu will be in shortly to bandage your wound," He said with his back to me, shutting the drawers. As he walked out of the room I murmured a thank you. He stopped for a slight moment, then continued out, shutting the door behind him.
I didn't think I had seen this "Kakuzu" yet, and judging by the other members of the Akatsuki, I couldn't even guess as to what he would be like. I sat in silence with my thoughts as I waited. I was being given clothes and having my wounds treated... so I must have said something right for once.
I replayed the conversation in my head on repeat but I couldn't figure out what Pain heard that made me worth keeping alive.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
A few things of note so you can hate me now instead of later and maybe I save you some time?
This story is rated Mature because it gets steamy later on (way later on, okay, don't get too excited, this is not smut for smut's sake) some of these scenarios are non-con and I will put a disclaimer on those chapters so you can avoid them like the plague or secretly delight in them.
Cool? Cool.
Point of order no. 2, I started this story about a decade ago so despite countless revisions, some silly plot devices may still be at work, especially at the beginning, forgive me :3 starts a little slow for my tastes, but if you like a mix of dialogue/banter heavy, slice of life, drama, romance, hurt/comforty type stuff, this is for you. If not, goodbye, thank you for trying, I really do appreciate it.
Honestly, this story is just me going, hey what would happen if the Akatsuki had to take in this sort of klutzy, cute mess of a human that manages to emotionally disarm them over time?
And thus the cinnamon roll Izumi was born.