Author's Note:
Hello wonderful people!
Here is the newest update! I'm editing it more, but it's almost finished. Thanks for bearing with me through my MAJOR edits, sorry for the cringe.
If y'all would be so kind as to leave reviews if you're enjoying this fic would rock my socks off!
Thank you to everyone who has favorited and/or commented! You guys are awesome and I appreciate you all a ton.
Stay safe, see you next time!
-J.E
The next morning, we arrived at the Akatsuki base just as the sun was beginning to evaporate the delicate dew drops that rest atop the grass. Kisame and Itachi walked a few paces in front of me, having a some kind of quiet conversation that I clearly wasn't supposed to be a part of. I rolled my eyes and sighed, deciding it was better not knowing whatever it was they were talking about. Deciding to distract myself, I scanned the snow-covered mountain range that lay beyond the sloping sea of trees and grass, inlayed with a few sharp grooves carved into the landscape.
My eyes flickered to a large rock formation with a dark, damp looking cave sitting ominously next a few sparse evergreen tree's, their branches drooped and twisted angrily, shading the cave mouth. Swallowing the lump of anxiety in my throat at the horrors that awaited me inside, I fell a ways behind my captors to the entrance.
What a charming place... Not.
I'd almost caught up with to Kisame and Itachi, when odd black spot in my peripheral vision pulled my gaze to a nearby tree. Perched upon one of the jagged evergreen branches, sat a stark black crow. A wide grin pulled at my cheeks. I forgot how much I'd missed being around animals and nature after being locked away for the past two months.
Sauntering cautiously over to the base of the tree, I beamed up at the creature, all the while knowing full well how ridiculous I probably looked. I simply refused to care. "Well, hello there, beautiful bird." I cooed, watching it give a curious tilt of its head to one side, then to the other.
I giggled and stepped closer, "Yes, I'm talking to you, pretty baby—how are you today?" Stopping just a short distance from the tree, I slowly lifted my forearm and held it out. I wasn't much of a substitute for the branch, but it was worth a shot, considering it had worked many times before.
A sinking sadness welled up in my heart as the crow simply cocked its head again, twisting it while ruffling its oil slick colored feathers. With a heavy sigh, I turned to walk away and give up, realizing I was probably just delaying what await inside that dreary cave.
Suddenly, the crow spread its pitch-black wings, descending down to perch itself on my shoulder. I went rigid and blinked, a few times, wide eyed with bewilderment at the sizable bird now staring at me, so close that it's beak nearly brushed my nose.
Hm… crows could be an interesting summoning animal.
With a massive smile, I chuckled and began carefully petting my new bird friend. It's black lids fluttered happily, staring back at me with a intrigued expression in its dark black eyes. With a twist of its head, a flash of red caught my attention.
Um… I—Is that a Sharingan in its eye?!
Before my mind could totally derail into the reasons how or why a crow would have a Sharingan, Itachi called out from the entrance, "Sora, we should be going now—come."
As he began to make his way into the shaded cave mouth, I gave one last smile at the midnight colored crow resting on my shoulder. "I think we'll call you Kurohachijo, since you are as beautiful as black silk," I fawned as the bird blinked and cocked its head as I spoke. With one quick boop on its beak and a pet on the head, he took off, headed back make himself comfortable on his original branch.
Itachi stood stoney as the rock surrounding the cave mouth as Kisame smirked beside him. I couldn't help but notice the smallest flash of some ambiguous emotion glinting in Itachi's onyx irises and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
Each step forward left me feeling as if I was dragging myself through thick mud to join the two cloaked men. The building anxiety was eating me from the inside out. At the tingling feeling of eyes studying me, I lifted my gaze and, much to my surprise, found Itachi glancing down at me. The trace of a terribly attractive smirk pulling the corner of his thin lips upwards that had my heart thundering in my chest.
That smirk is a weapon.
Fighting a losing battle against the blush spreading over my cheeks, I cocked a brow at him, hoping my confusion as to why he was giving such a look would somehow cover up my embarrassment. It did nothing of the sort. He breathed a laugh as I folded my arms and followed after Kisame, descending into a dimly lit entryway.
It was painfully dark. But, being robbed of sight intensified the tingling of the chakra suppressant wearing off and my pathways clear up. Finally. A crack in the floor forced me to stumble forward with a small gasp. Shooting a hand out to catch myself with the cool stone wall, the warmth of a rugged hand clasped my wrist, preventing me from faceplanting. "Try to be more careful, you can't be injuring yourself further." Itachi whispered. I tried tugging and wiggling my wrist out of his grasp to no avail. With a sigh, he snaked an arm around my waist and shoulders to cradle me in his arms. The butterflies felt like they might burst from my stomach and take my rapidly beating heart with them.
"This is so unnecessary..." I groaned, secretly thanking the universe for the fact that the pitch-black darkness was covering the hot blush staining my face.
A deep, rumbling chuckle escaped from his throat, "You may think so. But we can't afford you splitting your head open in some idiotic manner, for a second time." I breathed a laugh. The murderous Uchiha was teasing me.
The shadowy halls finally brightened, I squirmed enough to force Itachi to let me down. I breathed a sigh of relief at being able to see where I was stepping—well, mostly able to. Two, 10-foot-high, double wooden stood imposingly in front of us. I gulped, fighting back a sudden wave of nausea at the apprehension chipping away at my confidence. The last time I'd been in a hideout with doors like that was when I was one of Orochimaru's favorite subjects for human experimentation.
Breathe. You have been through worse. You can handle this.
Kisame glanced down at me with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Sora-chan. Everything will be just fine, even if Pain-sama seems a little—" He paused, considering his next words carefully, "intimidating."
A leader? Intimidating? Shocking...
As I stood drowning in my swirling whirlpool of anxiety, one of the enormous doors creaked open before the three of us. A young looking man, wearing the same black cloak with red clouds, and long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail leapt out. His quick movement triggered my defensive mechanism, causing me to panic while vaulting backwards into the darkness as I assumed a defensive stance. "Welcome back, you sons-of-bitches! Long time no see!" The overly enthusiastic blonde man hollered loudly before pushing open the door fully and gesturing with arm for us to enter.
"Deidara…" Itachi monotoned to the blonde man. Breathing out a sigh of stale air, I stepped forward from the shadows and watched the man he called Deidara lift a brow as he scanned me up and down with one sky blue eye—the other fully hidden underneath thick yellow bangs.
"Who the hell is she?" The blonde man whispered to Kisame, pointing at me.
Damn. Rude. Oh boy, we might have some problems...
"You could just ask—I'm standing right here, ya know," I scoffed. I watched Deidara physically recoil, his expression flickering between irritation and amusement.
Deidara whistled, "Damn, she's got some lip. I like her. Is she a maid or something?" He asked.
I cackled a laugh before scowling at him and narrowed my eyes, then folded my arms over my chest. "A maid. Fucking hilarious."
"I'll fill you in later, Deidara" Kisame said, moving to stand between me and the much smaller blonde man. "But, damn, I would kill for a shower right about now." With that, both Kisame and Deidara howled with laughter as they stepped through the threshold.
"Ha! My man, you'd kill for a lot less!" Deidara retorted through his laughter. My eyes widened in horror, knowing that wasn't a lie.
Itachi rolled his eyes and ignored them, then directed his gaze down to capture mine. "Sora, you're safe here. Please come inside. I will show you the layout of the base and take you to your room." My eyes shot open filled with a utter disbelief.
Coming from a place that kept me chained up in a damp, concrete cell, complete with guards monitoring my every move, every hour of every day, this place seemed like a dream. "M—my what?" I stammered barely above a whisper, sounding like someone who'd just seen fire for the first time. Rooms. Beds. They were all things that had become foreign in my years of being people's hostage.
A flash of anguish broke Itachi's impassive demeanor. "Your room, Sora... You'll have your own private room and bathroom here," he clarified. My mouth went agape from his words. With a smirk, he shifted his hand to the small of my back and escorted me through the doors.
A room and a bed… For me? This place might not be so bad, after all.
Deidara and Kisame apparently hadn't gotten very far past the doorway as Deidara folded his arms, glaring at Itachi as we walked. "Let me guess, you're going to take her, hm?" He grumbled. "Why do you get to do it?" He added impatiently.
Itachi let out a long exhale, the method I was learning was his was to prevent himself from strangling people. Releasing that same exhausted exhale, he flashed his Sharingan dangerously, "Because you will do something foolish, per usual. I—Pain-sama can't and won't allow that to happen." He responded, his voice stern. That brief stutter forced me to peek up at him as Kisame stifled a chuckle, grinning from ear to ear.
The Akatsuki base was, strangely enough, one of the most elaborate and beautiful compounds I'd ever laid eyes on. Extravagant skylight windows permitted the light to pour downwards, illuminating the speckled, carmine red marble tiles that adorned the floors accompanied by muddled, eggshell-colored marble squares climbing up the walls. As Deidara escorted us into the main living space, I noticed the abundance of precisely placed décor and objects.
Two slightly worn black leather couches sat in the first inlet off to the right. A coffee table with a shogi board sat in front of the couches, some of the tiles randomly strewn across the board as well as the table. Farther down the hallway, simple, wooden doors lined the wall, leading to what I assumed were the bedrooms Itachi had mentioned. As we passed them, another inlet came up on the right. It was fully equipped, stainless steel kitchen with some of the biggest appliances I'd ever seen.
I stopped dead in my tracks to gawk in astonishment at the sight. My mouth began to water thinking about all the fabulous meals my Oji could make in a kitchen like that. He was the best cook and always ensured my Oba and I had food to refuel after a long days work. Kisame calling my name from way down the hallway snapped me back into reality. Pushing myself to keep up, I lightly jogged to catch up with them, my feet scuffing on the smooth, decorative marble with each step.
All of them stood silently staring as they waited for me to join them. "You should keep up, Sora-chan. This place is designed to be confusing—so other people can't navigate it easily." Kisame informed more stern than usual. I groaned a sigh and nodded.
Well isn't that just fucking peachy... How the fuck am I supposed to get around this place?
Deidara and Kisame began making pleasant conversation as they continued walking. "How big is this place?" I said wide eyed, looking down the endless hallway.
"It's not as bad as it seems. You will get used to it in time." Itachi asserted without sparing me a glance.
How long are they planning on keeping me here?
The caustic reality of those words grated against my ears like nails on a chalkboard, forcing me to contemplate the potential length of my captivity. Escaping was impossible, at least not without any inside assistance. The grim reality of my current scenario made heart sink and my insides churn with unease, "Well, when you put it like that, you make it seem like I'll be staying for a while…" I brooded sardonically.
Clearly picking up on the distress in my tone, Itachi halted and grabbed my arm, forcing me to face him. "Sora, you may be here for some time. The organization has use of your peculiar talents. So long as you're useful, our leader will not harm you. You'll be protected here." He informed with a gentle squeeze of my arm before turning and continuing down the never-ending hallway. I hated that I needed the security of these people and loathed the inevitable conversation with their leader. Itachi caught me off guard by changing the subject as we strode down the hall, "Why were you petting and talking to the crow outside of the base?"
I laughed under my breath, knowing it was his summons. "I saw Kurohachijo perched on a tree while walking into the hideout. I thought he was adorable. So I decided to say hello."
"It's curious that you'd stop suddenly to... pet a crow," he remarked with a chuckle. "Humor me, why did you? Do you like crows for some particular reason?"
I tried to concentrate my sight down the long corridor we had entered, "I've always liked animals and came to appreciate them more than others since I wasn't allowed to be play with the children in the village after a certain point in my life," his expression dropped, any trace of amusement ceased in an instant.
I continued, wringing my hands together nervously as I spoke, "Crows especially. They were always around our farm. My Oba told me a story, about the sun goddess, Amaterasu, sending her three-legged crow named, Yatagarasu, to provide guidance to a ruler. She said Yatagarasu represents gratitude and family love... So, I sort of saw them part of my family, always looking out for me. I—uh—kinda owe my life to them..." My voice trailed off.
Anguish gripped my heart, wrenching as I recalled the distant memory of slitting my wrist with a piece of sharp glass. I had endured weeks of excruciating torture, experimentation and chakra depletion from overuse of my justu. Just as I had begun to draw blood with the razor-sharp piece of glass, a crow landed beside me and stared, tilting its head inquiringly and hopped up onto my arm, forcing me to drop the glass shard.
"What do you mean?" He murmured.
"Let's just say… they saved me in a way. I like to show them some affection when I see them around." I monotoned before directing my gaze over to the giant, darkly stained wooden doorway that was fast approaching. In front of it stood Kisame and Deidara, chatting away. Itachi stopped, stealing my attention.
The pain stabbed into my chest as I peered up into his dark charcoal eyes, watching them alternate between crushing sorrow and empathy. His brows furrowed and his lips parted as if he was about to say something. A voice calling for Itachi from down the hallway forced me to avert my eyes and stride off towards the other two men. The inaudible sigh he released as I walked away made the knot in my stomach double.
I wonder what he was going to say...