Raine was laying in a very uncomfortable hospital bed, staring up at the white ceiling warily. She had been staring at it for the last four hours, trying to remember what had happened before she had been put in here. Part of the reason being she could not move her neck. Her entire body, or almost her entire body, was bandaged and numb from anesthetic, but it did nothing to stop the pain. She was the Leaf's prisoner, but there were no chains. It would have been useless to chain her- she couldn't move in the first place. Sometimes the pain would become so violent that she felt she would vomit or cry out, but she always ground her teeth and bit the bullet, refusing to make any noise as the tears burned silently down her cheeks. The nurses knew she could speak, she just chose not to. There was a small breathing mask over her mouth as well, and to her left was a stand with three bags hanging from it, two filled with blood, and the third with water, each with a tube that dripped the liquid into her body. It was what was keeping her alive. Her hair had also been cut shorter, and probably wouldn't reach even to her shoulders if she were to stand.
In the last few days, no one had told her anything about anything. Not how long she had been there, or why they kept her alive, or how she had managed to live in the first place. The nurses were all silent, and no one of any importance had come to visit her. It was incredibly frustrating, so much that she felt like screaming for attention. It was simply not fair. Even... Even akisu has not come to visit me, she thought bitterly. Not that it matters. As soon as I can move at all, I'm getting out of here. The Leaf's numbers are halfed at least, and it should be easy to get past them at this time.
The pain hit again after a few moments of staring up at the ceiling, and she ground her teeth to try to deal with the pain. Her eyes automatically squeezed shut, and her breathing became irregular. She did not even know this kind of constant, inceassant, driving pain had existed, and almost wished she were still unconcious. That way she would not have to deal with it. Her eyes remained queezed shut and watering as the door to her room opened, and two people stepped in.
"Raine" said the first loudly, rushing in quickly. She immediately recognized the voice.
"...Ass...Asshole" she forced out, still trying to deal with the pain, her eyes squeezed as tightly shut as they could possibly be. There were a few moments of silence, before the second person shifted.
"I'll give you five minutes, Akisu-san" came a young woman's voice. She slowly left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving them in silence. Akisu remained in complete silence for what seemed like hours, until she thought he had left as well, and opened her eyes to see him sitting in a chair he had pulled up beside her bed. His head was hung slightly and his eyes were unfocussed on her left arm where the bandages were thick and slightly bloodsoaked. Although she could not move her head, she could see out of the corner of her eye that he was heavily bandaged as well, the visible parts of the bandages on his arms and wrists. She had apperently done at least some damage to him. Good, she thought, looking away.
"Raine" he whispered. She heard something catch in his throat, but said nothing. "There's something I have to tell you... The Gokages, the Fire, Wind, Cloud, Stone and Water Kages, have decided what to do with you, they have. They are still here in the Leaf, rebuilding and planning, and all five have decided..."
"Spit it out" she rasped quietly.
"They are going to execute you publicly if you do not come to terms with them." She said nothing, knowing already what the Kage's wanted from her. Information. Information on the Akatsuki and other things only she knew of. She would not give that away, not for the life of her.
"I will not speak. I'd rather die" she growled in annoyance. At least it would get her away from this man and this godforsaken village.
"Raine, just"
"Leave me alone. Get out now, I don't want you to be here" she said simply, closing her eyes. To her suprise, he stood in silence, without complain, and left, closing the door behind him with a louder-than-usual thud. She almost laughed. He's finally getting frustrated. I knew no one could get by with so little anger. But after another few minutes spent by herself, she almost wished he was there so that he could simply keep her company in this dull, silent place.
I have to get out of here, she thought, closing her eyes tightly. I have to find the Akatsuki and get back in line with the rest of them. I'm behind in that. I need to get stronger and learn to control this new body, the elements that are now a part of me. If I get out at all, that is...
It was night again in the hospital, and before she would go to sleep, one of the nurses came in to change her dressings. The breathing mask and most of the life-support machines had been removed long ago, and she now sat up as the nurse began undressing the wounds. Other than that one time over a month ago, Akisu, nor anyone else for that matter, had come to visit her, save for the nurses and doctors. But she had stopped caring.
She had not yet looked at the damage done to her body because she simply had chosen not to every time they came to change the bandages. She was afraid she would see something gruesome she would rather not see, and that had been an understatement as she looked upon it now. Her left arm, from the top of her shoulder down to halfway between her wrist and elbow, was deeply scarred and bruised, hopelessly shredded by the Kyuubi's claws. She felt faint simply looking at the amount of blood and the colour her skin had turned around the long, deep gashes. but that was nothing compared to her side. From just under her armpit, running over her bruised ribs, over her hip and to midway down her thigh were two, deep gashes that left phenomenal amounts of blood on the bandages as they were pulled off. She looked closer at what doctors had done to stop it, but as she looked at all the blood, she felt sick and turned away, letting the nurse finish bandaging it and replacing her shirt. She got the usual injections to numb the pain as much as possible, but it did not do much for her.
When the nurse finally left, she turned back to her left side, trying to move her arm. She could move it slightly, up and down, but her hand seemed dead, the fingers barely responding to her commands to move. Her leg seemed slightly better, as it was only torn at the thigh, but her arm and side were completely shredded, and she felt unsure as to whether or not she would ever be able to properly use them again. After a few moments of feeling as if she were going to be sick, Akisu's face sprung to mind, and she felt anger rising inside of her again. It was his fault she had ended up like this, his fault she was to be executed, and all he could do was mope about it, getting all sulkey and quiet. She scoffed, grinding her teeth in apparent anger and frustration, still glaring at her torn up side. The muscles were practically useless, the tissues torn and possibly ruined for life. She had not asked if she would be able to move properly again, although the nurses had muttered things about it every once and awhile. She did not want to ask, but she knew half of it already, and it wasn't good news.
She let her curiosity get the best of her again and began unwrapping the bandages from her hand up, wincing as the skin stuck slightly to the bandages. She timidly touched the deep slashes and cuts, and it felt unnatural for there to be so little feeling on the surface when it hurt so much in the inside. Her pale fingers ran shakily over it again and she lifted them to examine the blood. Without warning, the door to the room suddenly opened, and she jumped, hiding her unbandaged arm under the covers and looking up into Akisu's face. She could not tell what he was feeling at the moment, his face seemed serious, but then again, she could be wrong.
"What do you want" she asked, slightly more gentle than the last time he had visited. She hadn't noticed as much last time, but he was limping as he came to sit by her bed, and his arms were still bandaged heavily.
"Nothing" he said simply. "I just thought maybe you wouldn't be so pissed off by now."
She paused. He spoke alot more rough than when she had known him before, and she knew this was only half of it. Behind his sharp voice it almost seemed as if he were holding back his true personality. He had changed alot. Just like me, she thought, her hand absently returning to her left where the bandages were still hanging loosely. Akisu noticed the movement and lifted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes.
"Can I see" he asked quietly. She met his eyes for a split second, and could instantly tell he really didn't want to see what the damage was, but complied, lifting the covers and weakly holding out her arm to him. He gently took it, and she was shocked at how cold his hands were as they grazed the skin around the wound, sending shivers up her spine.
"What did they say about it" he asked, still examining her arm carefully.
"They just don't know. Itai..." she muttered as he touched a particulary sensitive part.
"Gomene" he said quickly, pulling his hand away and replacing her arm on the bed. She took it and rebandaged it in silence, wincing and tying the knot with her teeth.
"Really... Why did you come here" she repeated, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. He shifted, an odd expression on his face.
"They're going to do it tonight" he said simply.
"What"
"They're going to execute you."
Her heart skipped a few beats. She had not expected it to be so soon, in another month at least, but not today. Tonight of all nights, it had to be this day and not tomorrow or the day after? She met Akisu's eyes in panic, but he seemed to be stoic and emotionless, as if he didn't care about her anymore. She sat up fully, wincing at the pain in her side, struggling to get her legs over the side of the bed. She wore hospital clothes- black pants and a black t-shirt, with bare feet that touched lightly on the cold floor shakily.
"Then I have to get out of here" she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Akisu stood quickly, moving over to the other side of the bed and trying to make her stay.
"Please don't! I'll think of something" he tried, but she ignored him, pushing him away and forcing herself up and standing for the first time in... as long as she could remember. She managed to keep her balance for a few seconds, before her left leg gave out and she fell forwards. Akisu caught her easily and helped her stand properly, supporting her gently.
"Stop it" he ordered. "I told you I'd think of something. Trust me."
"You better" she growled, using him for support as she got the feel for her leg. "It's your fault this happened to me. If you had watched where you were falling, I wouldn't have had to do anything stupid like that."
He seemed about to respond, but pulled her closer instead, holding her tightly. She did not bother resisting this time, simply leaning on him for support in silence. The room was still dark as they simply stood like that for a long moment, the silence almost perfect until the door slammed open again, and this time, six jounin filed in, facing them. Her eyes widened in fear and she instinctively tightened her grip on Akisu. But he had no intention on holding her. He shifted, and for a moment she thought he was going to give her to them, but instead, he pushed her behind himself and stood protectively in front of her.
"Akisu-san, please let us take the girl" said the first, a man with brown hair and a bored expression on his face. Akisu shifted again, unsure of what to do.
"Akisu-san" said another in a slightly more serious voice. Akisu's forehead was beaded with sweat, but he held his ground, until two of the jounin suddenly dashed forwards, catching him off guard and slamming him into the wall behind, knocking over much of the equipment as the other four followed suit, grabbing Raine forcefully. She tried to struggle away, until one of them managed to hit her side, and she went limp in shock from the pain that erupted from her wounds.
They moved quickly, fastening rope around her neck and feet, and tying her wrists together. After she thought she wouldn't even be able to move anymore, they topped it off by forcefully tying a thick strip of black cloth around her eyes, cutting off her vision completely. She could hear Akisu trying to say something, but someone was apperently stifling his shouts as the person leading her tugged hard on the rope around her neck, leading her off without her being able to see the path she was taking.
She followed slowly, struggling to stay upright and fight off the effects of shock whilst stumbling after the jounin who was leading her. Her mind was numb, and after a few minutes of walking, she fell into a type of trance. Her feet began to move normally and her head was hung, her mind thinking of nothing as she blindly follewed the one leading her. She vaguely noted the change of texture in the surface on which she walked, from smooth hospital hallway to rough, dirt path, and she blankly wondered where they were taking her. "Public execution" did not sound to be the most pleasant death, but before that would come the questions.
The man tugged harder an her ropes and she was forced to keep pace by speeding up, stumbling only once before setting the new pace. She wondered absent-mindedly if Akisu would be alright, but brushed the thought from her mind. He is in no danger of loosing his life, she thought numbly. I am.
"Raine-san" said the man in front of her in an overly-polite voice. "The Godaime will ask you a few questions. They will ask you only once. If you refuse to respond, they will sentence you and kill you without hesitation."
Her dull blue eyes hardened under the blindfold as he began to slow. She would say nothing. She felt herself beng lifted by a number of hands after they had untied her wrists, but they were only to be tied again on either side of her, along with her feet below her. The hands fell away and she remained supported by something she could not see, until one more pair of hands removed the blindfold, and she found herself several feet above the ground, strapped to a cross. There were many shinobi around her, and the Five Kage's before her, along with a single, dark figure to her left who was sporting a giant blade that seemed so heavy he had to rest it on the ground. The ground, she thought, looking down at it. It was already stained with blood. She was not the only one who had been sentence to death here.
Around her were the many shinobi, and as she looked closer, she noticed they were not all Leaf-nin. There were Sand-nin and Mist-nin, along with several Cloud-nin and even a few Stone-nin, all organized carefully on either side of the Five Kage's and in an almost full circle around her. She felt the other part of her personality kicking in, and she lowered her head, her dull blue eyes flaring up to glare out from behind her black veil of hair. She was glaring directly at the Raikage, and it even seemed to play some part in unnerving him slightly, as he blinked several times and dropped his gaze. But her side suddenly gave a particulary large twinge, and she squeezed her eyes shut, letting her body go limp as her head dropped. She did not want to watch her own death.
"Uzamaki Raine" said the fifth Hokage. She had not heard her last name for years, and had almost forgotten she shared it with her half brother, Naruto. It sounded foreign.
"Please answer these questions respectfully. Should you choose to remain silent, we will not hesitate to execute you" she continued. Raine remained silent as they began to question.
"What is Akatsuki's objective" asked one of the Kage's. She did not recognize the voice at all, having never heard it before. She remained silent.
"Answer, Raine" warned another. Her eyes opened again in order for her to glare at the speaker, which was the Raikage this time.
"You really want to know..." she asked queitly. There was a moment of silence, and she knew they were suprised. They had not expected her to say anything. "If you really want to know, then I can tell you. But you will get nothing else from me. Is this what you want me to answer"
The Kage's remained in silence for a few more moments. She was telling the truth- she would tell them what Akatsuki's objective was, but after that she would say nothing. "Tell us this and we will end your life quickly" said the Mizukage slowly. She grinned and lifted her head slightly.
"They'll kill you all" she said, turning her gaze to the Raikage. She could instantly tell he recognized those words. "I told you before, old man, and I was telling the truth."
"But why would they attempt to kill the Godaime" he asked.
"Have you not done the math..." she asked mockingly. "There are nine Akatsuki. There are nine shinobi countries on this continent. The Leaf, Cloud, Mist, Stone, Sand, Rain, grass, Waterfall, and Sound are the nine villages. If they manage to overthrow the nine shinobi countries, this continent will be theirs."
"That's impossible. There is no way they would be able to defeat these countries without armies of shinobi" said the Raikage.
"I'm not lying" she said simply. "I'll even give you more advice. The Fire country should watch out for one of their own, not the Uchiha, but another with the two master bloodlines. The Stone should also beware of their own, the man who houses the spirit of the wolf and fights like an animal. The Wave should watch for the one originally from the Rain, the Vampire. The Wind will fall after the Leaf when the Uchiha arrives there. And finally, the one in charge of killing the Cloud, would be the Aohane. When these five fall, the others stand no chance."
"Is that so..." said the Raikage. He seemed more calm now, and coud look her directly in the eyes. There was a moment of apperent silence as the five Kage's discussed this in whispers, leaving her to guess what was being said. But she did not have long to wait, as they suddenly launched into her sentencing,
"Then, we will get this over with" said the Mizukage, turning to the left where the Hokage stood holding up a large scroll.
"Before you are executed, we will read off your crimes, the reason you are here. Because you are wanted for crimes in every country, we will go one by one, starting with myself, the Godaime Hokage. In the past several years, you have been wanted in the Fire country for the following crimes: high treason on several accounts, armed mugging, arsen, armed burglary, murder and homicides, extortion, torture, coercion, armed assault, attempted murder, attempted assault, attempted kidnapping on several accounts, forgery..."
Raine listened absent-mindedly, not knowing what half of the things she was being charged with actually meant. Most of them had been done during her time in the Akatsuki, the attempted kidnapping of her brother, torture, and forgery of the passes needed to enter the village. But some of the things had been done before she had become a missing-nin. High treason, in other words, selling out her country and the Hokage, had been the main thing. She had been a storehouse of information on every country, and she would give that information away to whom she pleased. Some things on the long list almost made her laugh as she remembered what had happened. Arsen for example. That had been an accident, but it also happened when she was with the Akatsuki. She had accidentally dropped a cigarette in the grass outside of the acadamy, and a few moments later, the whole right wing of the building was up in flames.
The Kage's each took their turns in sentencing her, and she noticed she was guilty for high treason in every country. She snorted lightly, and regretted it instantly as her side erupted in fresh pain, but it would end soon. The last Kage, the Raikage, finally ended with his list of crimes, and the man to her left that carried the giant sword shifted in anticipation, bringing the sword around to his right and resting it on the ground beside him.
"Do you have any last words" asked the Hokage. Raine closed her eyes angrily.
"Fuck you" she growled. She heard the scrape of metal on stone as the executioner lifted the large sword, and the whistle of air over the blade's edge as he brought it around towards her neck. Time seemed to stop.
No really. Time seemed to stop. She opened her eyes to find the blade inches from her neck, the Kage's all staring frozen up at her, the surrounding shinobi not so much as breathing. She opened her eyes fully to see a dull, grey orb hovering before her. The Time orb...? She had never learned how to use it properly. Then who...? She found the answer as he quickly began untying her wrists and ankles, letting her drop to the ground painfully, landing messily.
"Akisu" she said in utter shock. There he was, keeping his promise, standing before her and breathing heavily. But he had no intention of simply standing there.
"Run, now"
"How did you..."
"I've spent the last months learning how to use this orb only for this purpose, but I can only hold it for a minute tops. Run now before it breaks"
She stood without hesitation, catching herself and finding her balance again. She turned quickly towards the village gates and began towards them, passing by Akisu on the way. She paused for only a second to place a light kiss on his cheek, before dashing as fast as her body would allow towards the gates. It felt so odd to be running in a world where time was frozen. There was no sound, and no breeze, and no anything, but she ignored it and broke through the gates into the forest at full run. Her side had re-opened and started to bleed again, but she continued forwards without looking back. After another few moments of dashing, she felt a soft breeze on her face and heard the leaves of the trees rustling. Time had started up again. And she was only a short ways from the village.
As if on que, she could sense the shinobi moving silently towards her in the darkness. She dropped to the ground, trying not to pannic as she looked around. She had no clue which way she was currently facing, but decided that sitting there would only get her caught, so she upped and ran, dashing to the left of the direction she had originally been going.
Alright, she thought, thinking back to the time when she had used the forbidden jutsu. She thought hard, dodging absent-mindendly between trees as she scraped the back of her mind for an idea of what exactly had happened. In my feet and legs are... In my right foot is Air, Gravity and Shadow, in my left there is Earth, Metal and Wood. If I activate the Metal and Gravity, it'll only slow me down. I somehow have to activate the shadow, Wood, Earth and Air... If I can do that, I'll be able to outrun them, even with these wounds...
She slowly began releasing the chakra she had been building up in the hospital, letting it flow towards her feet and controlling it carefully. She touched on the orbs embedded within her and slowly activated them, careful not to activate the ones that were unneeded. She hadn't expected it to work, but it apperently had, as she felt the breath sucked away from her when she sped forwards, trying to ignore the vivid pain in her side. She nearly closed her eyes just to deal with the pain, but continued plunging through the forests regardless.
After what seemed like hours, the trees around her began to thin, and ahead of her she could see an open space, perhaps a field. But what was scaring her most at the moment was the fact that the sky was getting lighter. She hadn't expected the nights to be so short. But she had not heard her persuers for a long time, so after she had broken out into the clearing, she only continued running for a few moments before slowing and finally stopping, cutting off the flow of chakra to her feet.
She caught her breath and held her left side tightly, wincing as she turned towards the forest where she had come from. She looked to her side where the black t-shirt was soaked through thickly with blood, and when she pulled her hand away, it was red and wet. Shit, she thought. So much blood... She had not noticed up until now either, but she was still barefoot, and had somehow managed to avoid cutting up the soals of her feet, even at such a high speed. But her body hurt all over, and she felt as if she were going to be sick. It was not only the pain, but something in the air, mixed in with the blood. It smelled like... smelled like... the ocean.
She finally caught her breath and stood fully, surveying her surroundings. Her head looked slowly to the left, then the right, before suddenly snapping back to the center. That tree had just moved. As if to mock her, shadows began filing out of the forest, breaking cover and charging directly at her. She felt a jolt go through her body, and nearly turned to run, but froze in disbelieving shock at what she saw heading at her, slightly apart from the shinobi, the shinobi who had apperently also just noticed. There were eight of them, in black and red trenchcoats, heading directly for her.
She needed no second prompting. She was off as fast as she could run, forcing the chakra to her feet and stumbling once before regaining her balance and taking off across the field, glancing behind her. The eight Akatsuki seemed to not care about the shinobi beside them, but were heading at her with killing intenet. In another situation, she would have gone willingly to them, but she caught the look in Kariudo's eyes, and knew he did not want to save her. They were all after her to kill, not to help her.
But as she continued to look over her shoulder, she saw Shirotaka fall onto all fours like an animal, and break away from the group, charging her with speed to match her own. She turned away from them and forced her body to it's limit, but it was no use. Shirotaka was upon her in a matter of moments, pouncing like a giant cat and taking her down easily by sinking his teeth, which were fangs at the moment, into her right arm. What do they want with me? she thought, giving a short cry as she hit the ground and tumbled severaly times. But this time... this time she would not be taken so easily.
As Kariudo himself descended on her, she suddenly spun away, Shirotaka's fangs slicing down her right arm before he sunk them deeper at the elbow.
"Let go, dog" she growled. She spun away, giving a particulary hard tug. For a moment she thought her arm would be ripped off, but she managed to pull it from his jaws a second before Kariudo grabbed her. She was off again without hesitation, this time formulating a new plan. Her arms were useless, her right one at least as seriously damaged as her left arm, and both heavily bleeding, but she would not give up. She would not be killed here.
The fabric of the black t-shirt buldged between her shoulders, and suddenly ripped as two dark blue wings spread from them, rising high above her head before coming down hard, the feathers billowing as they caught the air and lifted her into the air just as Shirotaka's wolf-like muzzle snapped inches from her left foot. She did not bother gaining much more altitude, but concentrated instead on flying as quickly as she could towards the far-off light. Ahead of her she could see a vast, dark blue surface that stretched as far as she could see. The ocean. Something that they could not follow her over if she flew over it.
The sun suddenly fully broke over the horizen, blinding her for a few seconds as it reflected off the surface of the ocean, but she continued on, beating her wings hard until she was over the dark blue water. She refused to look down, and refused to look back to her persuers. If she fell it would be over, she didn't know how to swim. She just hoped there would be somewhere to rest shortly. If she was forced to fly over this for too long, she would die either from exaughstion, drowning or bloodloss. But she brushed the thoughts from her mind. At least she was away from the Akatsuki, from the villages, from everything that had ever caused her pain. She was free. At least for awhile.
