It was a beautiful day, all things considered. The sky was clear, the sun was bright, and the temperature wasn't too hot or cold. The raised dirt road Itachi and Asaya walked along was perfectly picturesque. It trailed the perimeter of a provincial rice farming village in a remote Water Country island. The paddy water gleamed still and peacefully under the sunlight, with fresh, young sprouts eagerly peaking out into the air. A few small houses and sheds adorned the rice paddies like tree ornaments.
Regrettably, all of this pastoral beauty was lost on Asaya, as she thought of nothing and only concentrated on the abrasive sound of her feet dragging along the ground. Every time she began to think, she would remember how Itachi killed Densho and guilt would sweep over her conscience. It was better to not think at all.
A feint chattering drifted into Asaya's right ear. At first it only softly accompanied the scraping of her feet, but it quickly grew loud enough to squelch everything else. Perking her head up, and looked to her left to find the noise originating from a group of young boys playing 60 meters away on the bank of the rice paddy across from her. She stopped and squinted her eyes, curious as to what these boys were so excited about. One smaller boy frantically circled a huddle of larger boys, trying to break into the group, but they easily kept him out.
Within the boisterous noise of the larger group, the week, distressed cry of the little boy came through. "Stop! Stop hurting her!"
For a moment Asaya held her breath before impulsively throwing off her shoes and running vigorously toward the commotion. "Hey!" She forcefully shouted at them. "What's going on?!" Her feet violently splashed through the water, carelessly trampling the delicate rice reeds in her wake.
Like frightened deer the boys froze when they saw the oncoming, rabid woman. One of them yelled "Run!" and they shrieked and scattered as fast as they could, a few of them dropping sticks.
"You better run!" Reaching the bank, Asaya grabbed a pebble from the water and threw it at a boy in an orange shirt. He yelped and stumbled over before scrambling up and running again.
After the larger boys were far enough from view, the solitary little boy walked passed Asaya to gently pick up a small, fuzzy creature. She watched him quietly as he cradled a little bunny in his tiny arms with all the care a mother would give her baby. Large, innocent, tear stained eyes tenderly doted on the white, baby bunny. "Thank you." Mumbling it to her, he bowed politely and walked away.
"Take care." Asaya whispered sympathetically.
Looking left, a black silhouette stood on the other side of the water like a ghost.
Itachi heard Asaya suddenly shout and dash across the water. Now alert, his head snapped to the left to focus on what was happening. A group of young boys were roughhousing excitedly. Exactly what did she think she was doing? How was it any of her business?
Standing still, Itachi shifted his weight to one leg as he watched. A slender eyebrow curved when he saw her threaten and throw a rock at the fleeing boys. One smaller boy stayed behind and picked something up from where the group had been, presumably a stolen possession. The boy politely bowed to Asaya and left.
Some seconds of silence passed while Itachi watched Asaya, and she in turn watched the little boy momentarily as he walked away, but she did eventually remember him. She then obediently walked the perimeter of the rice paddy and returned to him.
Her shoes were still on the ground where she threw them off, but after picking them up she didn't put them back on. Dust and dirt covered her feet, and walking in wet, dirty shoes wasn't exactly appealing. She stood beside him, with tight shoulders and curled toes. "Sorry for running off like that." She demurely apologized.
A genuinely troubled element rested in her eyes. "What's wrong?" Itachi questioned, not convinced it was normal.
"That boy's rabbit… I don't think it lived."
The sun had hidden behind the trees by the time the pair reached the rendezvous spot. The red light glowed angrily against the black, shadow-enveloped trees. Crows cawed ominously to each other as Itachi and Asaya walked by, as if they were planning something. An abandoned cluster of buildings huddled claustrophobically together in a small clearing. How do they know where all of these places are? Asaya wondered. Although, it was logical that criminals naturally flock to abandoned and hidden places as part of their lifestyle.
Bathed in the red light and shadows of the evening, the buildings looked like an optimal place to be murdered. The main building was made of splintered wood paneling with a rusted sheet metal roof. The architecture was very traditional, despite the metal roof, with sliding rice paper doors and a wrap around deck. Clearly, it had been abandoned for years if not decades.
Itachi walked up to the main building and slid open the door to step inside, not bothering to take off his shoes. Before following him, Asaya wearily glanced over her shoulder.
The house's interior was surprisingly modern, given its antiquated external appearance. The foyer conjoined the living and dining rooms, with a straight hallway leading to the kitchen. What little furniture and accommodations left were even more decomposed than the rest of the house. A leek in the roof had let water damage the blue couch in the living room, so it had molded, leaving a pungent stench in the air.
The kitchen had no appliances except for the sink. The rest were presumably stolen. Many of the white tiles on the floor were cracked or missing, and dirt had accumulated in the grout, resulting in more mould. This was by far the most disgusting place she had ever been, Asaya thought, hoping that they weren't going to stay for long.
Loud, rhythmic thudding noises came from the level above them, moving from one side of the ceiling to the stairs at the other end of the kitchen. The perpetrator, none other than Kisame, walked down the stairs with heavier steps than necessary. "Nice to see someone finally showed up. Don't tell me that little sprinkling stopped you?"
Ignoring Kisame's attempt at mockery, Itachi cut to the chase and asked, "Where are the others?"
"Beats me. Ever since we recruited that new kid they've been late for everything." Kisame stood still at the bottom of the stairs.
At least now they weren't technically the late ones, Itachi thought relieved. They would have to set up camp soon though, as the natural light was fast disappearing from the window. "Go and get something to eat." He said to Kisame while walking out the back door. "I'll start a fire."
The sky blackened immediately after Itachi lit a fire. Luckily, the temperature cooled and became comfortable enough for outdoor camping, because sleeping in that rotten house was not an option. He and Asaya set up camp just outside the doors of a large storage shed that had been used to store giant logs. Apparently, this establishment had belonged to a family of loggers. It was uncannily convenient, since it meant there was an easy supply of dry firewood.
As she sat cross legged in front of the fire, Asaya bathed pleasantly in the orange heat. She was so easily warmed she took off her jacket and set it lackadaisically crumpled up beside her. Itachi sat adjacent to her and took off his coat as well. However, he folded it neatly before setting it aside. The flames smoldered tranquilly, spitting out only the occasional crackle or hiss. After some time the radiant heat accumulated on the surface of his skin, causing an itchy burn.
"Hey!" Asaya's voice echoed in Itachi's head, echoed by the splash of small feet through the rice paddy. "Why didn't you use chakra to walk across the water?"
The question was so unprompted that Asaya almost didn't hear it. Somewhat puzzled, she casually said, "I didn't think of it at the time, I guess."
The unprofessional mentality this girl had baffled Itachi sometimes. "Why- Why did you intervene, anyway?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Asaya watched him look back into the fire, rather dissatisfied. Now uncomfortable, she pulled he knees up to her chest and hugged her legs. "Why? Is something wrong with it?" She was hesitantly suspicious.
"No. Nothing." Since he answered with such inattentive words, he was obviously keeping something to himself.
Well fine, Asaya thought flippantly, but tactfully said, "You know, since I always answer your questions, you could try and answer mine sometime. It's not unreasonable."
Admittedly, Itachi did find her solicitation funny, given the circumstances- almost cheeky. "You're my abductee; I don't have to be reasonable."
Asaya thought he was being completely serious at first. But then she realized he was being wry, and she bit her lip in a smile.
Itachi watched the firelight cast tenebristic shadows across Asaya's profile, accentuating the small, feminine dimple that formed with her bashful smile. Her pale skin glowed softly, like the sky at the earliest break of dawn. Though she coyly looked away from him, there was a cheerful glint in her eyes she couldn't hide.
Rarely did anyone find anything Itachi said funny. His dry and sarcastic style of humor wasn't appreciated by many anyway, so he was surprised at how refreshing it was to see her smile.
However, casually joking with her wasn't appropriate; there were certain boundaries Itachi needed to respect. "Kisame is back." He announced to her, as if she didn't know.
The blue giant emerged from the woods with a few fish gripped firmly in his left hand. He lumbered over to the fire, where he knelt down, crudely skewered the carcasses, and propped them up to roast. "Ne, you hungry, Itachi-san?" Kisame exclusively addressed his partner.
"No."
Is that all he eats? It's so cliché… Asaya thought derisively with an obviously disgusted expression.
At the sight of the girl's face, Kisame only chuckled with satisfaction; he knew she despised seafood. Returning his attention to Itachi, Kisame asked, "So what do we do if they don't show?"
"If they aren't here by noon tomorrow, we'll head to the nearest town and wait for either Zetsu to contact us or for them to figure out where we went. I don't plan on camping out for days on end." Itachi always planned ahead.
Relief graced Asaya with those words. Not that she wasn't accustomed to enduring the wilderness, but hotel beds were so much more comfortable than dirt.
Midmorning the next day, the trenchant mutterings of Itachi and Kisame gently woke Asaya. She lay still and drowsy, almost unable to make sense of their voices in her somnolent state.
"I say we leave now. That way we're sure to make it to town before nightfall." Kisame's voice was definitely not the most pleasant thing to wake up to.
"I would agree, but if you'll look, you can see them on the horizon." Itachi's voice was very preferable.
It was too difficult to truly comprehend what they were talking about while the dirt persuasively lulled Asaya back to sleep. The small, rhythmic tremors of their footsteps walking away only made it worse. She was so blissfully close to sleep when one large pulse snatched her back to full consciousness. Immediately sitting straight up, she grabbed her forehead with one hand while a minor ache slowly subsided. It didn't take long to figure out where Itachi and Kisame went. There here…!
On sight of his fellow Akatsuki members Kisame shouted, "What in hell took you so long?!"
His colleagues disembarked from a gigantic, amorphous, winged sculpture. One of them- a grumpy, old, tortoise-like hunchback- shouted back, "We would have been here on time if it weren't for this amateur. I hate being late."
"Ameture?!" his young partner brashly challenged, "The hell do you mean by that, hm? I have more than enough experience to be a professional, yeah!" The young man jumped off the sculpture after his senior. "If it wasn't for my talent, we wouldn't be able to get around so fast, un." He pointed to the bird to emphasize the point before forming a hand seal, shrinking the sculpture to a handheld size in a cloud of smoke.
The narrow, steely sharp eyes of the black tortoise scowled freely at the young man. "Maybe, but if you'll remember, you're 'talent' almost destroyed the building we were supposed to infiltrate!"
"But it didn't, did it? Hm?"
"You're an insufferable fool…"
Kisame chuckled at his colleague's misery. Itachi wasn't much older than the blond boy, but he was far more tolerable.
"Sasori-san, do you know why Leader sent you to meet us?" Itachi addressed the tortoise, not wanting to waste time on their squabbling.
"Of course I do, don't you?"
When Itachi hesitated to answer, the young man immediately caught on the implication. "You mean Leader just told you to show up here without telling you why? Ha! He must think so highly of you, hm." He smugly boasted.
Itachi's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. That boy really was insufferable.
Two small hands with short fingers nervously gripped the decayed wood paneling of the abandoned house as Asaya curiously watched the new Akatsuki members arrive. Exactly what other kinds of people made up in this organization? Itachi seemed normal enough- or at least normal for a criminal- but Kisame and that Zetsu creature obviously weren't. The first was a tortoise-like, hunchbacked creature, just as menacing as Kisame by appearance. The other had no obvious abnormalities, but it was hard to tell through the cloak and sugegasa.
The voices of all four could be heard, but they were too far away to understand their conversation. The one she couldn't see was male with a very hoarse and abrasive quality, like desert sand. The other was male too, but it was far younger, animated, and boisterous. Asaya's face wrinkled uncomfortably. His voice had an uncanny similarity to a punk she used to know.
"Quiet, Deidara. We weren't told much of anything either." Sasori scolded. "Itachi, we just stole a scroll from a temple in Fire Country. It's sealed, but we were told you could open it."
"Open it?" Kisame interjected. "Neither of us know how to unlock seals. Leader must be confused."
Deidara looked at the blue man in disbelief and groaned. "So we came all the way to middle of nowhere Water Country for nothing, hm?"
A spark of insight lit a fire in Itachi's mind. Asaya, he thought. "We can't open the scroll, but I think I know who can."
"You're joking." Kisame couldn't believe what his partner was implying. He and the other two Akatsuki looked questioningly at Itachi.
"A while ago, Kisame and I were sent to Iwa to abduct a girl. Leader ordered us to hold her until further notice." Itachi noticed Deidara look down and away, definitely contemplating something. "Do you know something, Deidara-san?"
"That's right," Kisame said, "you're both from Iwa, and she's about your age, too. You probably went to school together."
"Maybe, yeah. What's this girl like, hm?" Deidara took off his sugegasa and shifted his weight to one side. The chance that this girl was who he thought excited him.
Impatient, Sasori interrupted, "I have a better question; where is this supposed girl? I don't see her and I doubt she's invisible."
Itachi took the liberty of answering, "She's been watching us from behind that building."
Looking at the corner, they saw a small head quickly disappear behind the wall. A mischievous, impish smile blossomed on Deidara's face. "Hmm, I guess I'll have to see for myself, yeah." He made his way confidently toward the corner.
As the new Akatsuki reached up to take off his sugegasa, Asaya subconsciously inched her head and shoulder further around the corner. But when his blond, blue-eyed face was exposed, her brain momentarily refused to process the visual information. What cruel cosmic irony designed this twist of fate? It was a moment of complete and utter consternation.
The four Akatsuki turned their heads to look her way. Asaya recoiled from the corner and flattened her back against the wall, heart beating like a rabbit on the run. What would happen now that Deidara was present? He knew things that the others didn't, thus changing the circumstantial dynamics entirely.
The footsteps of one of them were closing in. It was Deidara- it had to be. He had the ability to resist curiosity with the strength of thin porcelain. Closing her eyes and holding her breath, counting down the moment where he was just around the corner…
When one black, polished toe peeked beyond the building, Asaya panicked like a cornered feline. Her claw reached around the corner and ensnared the left side of his blond head, violently slamming it against the splintered wood three times. Deidara, completely disoriented, buckled over, giving Asaya the opportunity to knee him in the stomach. Groaning, he fell to his knees then to the ground. His scope lay broken on the ground beside him, tiny shards of the shattered glass lens twinkling.
Asaya lorded over him, tempted to kick him again for good measure, but tempered herself into walking away.
No one quite understood what had just happened, or why. Unable to say a word, neither Itachi nor Kisame would have predicted that Asaya, who, despite her multiple escape attempts, always behaved so submissive and demure, would so savagely assault Deidara at the first opportunity. They stood still while trying to figure it out.
"I like this girl." Sasori stated.
"So let me guess- ex girlfriend?" Kisame said to Deidara as he weakly stood up.
"Not quite, yeah." Coughed Deidara. "We were friends before I left Iwa, hm." He cradled his throbbing head in his left hand, one eye squinting.
"Then what'd you do to piss her off?"
"Well, I'm probably not the most popular guy after deserting my village, yeah."
Deidara was obviously ashamed of whatever he wasn't saying, but no one cared to inquire about it. However, Itachi did find it advantageous that Deidara knew Asaya. Maybe now he could get some answers.
"I don't find your childhood memories worth wasting time over." Sasori stated. "Itachi, we have a scroll for you to open. Can you or not?"
Relieved at Sasori's words, Itachi wanted to get this over with just as much. "No, I cannot, but I think the girl can."
"I know for a fact she can, yeah." Deidara interjected. "She apprentices directly under Iwa's grand master. Or at least she did before I left, un."
Slender, black eyebrows twitched. Why wasn't Itachi made aware of this sooner? Thinking back to the other night in the hotel, he wondered why he didn't realize Asaya was lying about her life. "She claimed that she worked for the Tsuchikage's family."
Looking out the corner of his good eye, Deidara thought about it. "Back in the day she used to babysit one of the Tsuchikage's grandsons. The family liked her so they probably kept her around, un."
So Asaya hadn'r exactly lied, but it didn't make Itachi feel any better.
As far as Sasori was concerned, Itachi and Deidara's conversation amounted to idle chatter. There was a mission that should have been done by now. "If you want to gossip about this girl's personal life, do it over tea and cake. Stop sidetracking and get back to the mission, Deidara."
Deidara's lip curled as Sasori specifically addressed him. That condescending, smug way of talking down to him grated his nerves. And there was no reason to rush anyway. There wasn't another mission lined up at the moment and Leader technically hadn't given them a deadline. The ancient doll just wanted to complain and boss him around.
Asaya looked up from where she was sitting in the shed when the Akatsuki rounded the corner. Something bad was about to happen- she knew it. Especially now that Deidara was with them. He could spill all sorts of beans: abilities, history, her favorite color, everything! They would probably torture her for village secrets too. The other new Akatsuki – Sasori, she remembered them saying- was probably some sort of torture expert. Now that she thought about it, Itachi and Kisame had probably been holding her until he arrived for interrogation. And then after words she would have to be disposed of. Kisame was probably planning on eating her alive, or at least whatever was left over…
The four loomed over her like vultures above an emaciated calf. Asaya froze for a moment before Deidara pulled a cylindrical object out of his coat pocket and threw it on the ground before her. She nervously pulled her feet underneath her, half expecting it to explode.
"Open it." The black tortoise commanded.
Asaya looked at the red and green scroll on the ground, examining the label closely. "I can't. It's-"
"Bullshit, un." Deidara interrupted. "Don't even try to lie, hm."
Damnit… Asaya winced. It was worth a try.
"If you fail to comply, Kagami-san, we have ways of making you." Itachi gently warned, eyes flashing red.
With a sullen sigh Asaya picked up the scroll. The seal was a basic explosion type; not the most complicated thing in the world, but there were obvious consequences if it wasn't disarmed properly. Fire Country. The craftsmanship was immediately recognizable. That country's work was relatively easy to deal with since they usually used recycled formulas.
I could just open it now and take us all out at once… Asaya cynically thought. Maybe they didn't know it was volatile, but it was ironic that these terrorists would so readily hand her something so dangerous.
"How imperative is it that this is opened?" She asked, almost inaudibly.
"If it wasn't important, why would we have gone through the trouble of getting you?" Sasori's callous words made her wince and she sucked in her stomach.
Asaya explained, "If I try and open this, it could inadvertently explode."
"Then you better not make a mistake."
A few hours had gone by and Asaya still hadn't unsealed the scroll. Unfortunately, no one had been able to provide her with anything to write with, so she improvised by pulling a rusted nail out of the shed wall and writing on the dirt. Mental fatigue had set in, making her hand drag as it scratched the dirt and her eyes to intermittently stare at the symbols as if she were illiterate. It had been so long since she had been away from her studies that she had forgotten how tedious it could be. Checking and rechecking, making extra sure that everything matched up- was she even using the right formulas in the first place?
The four Akatsuki sat in a circle some feet away from Asaya. Occasionally, they would glance at the girl to make sure she wasn't causing trouble, but otherwise ignored her to talk amongst themselves. Eventually though, the black tortoise ran out of patience and yelled, "Are you finished yet?"
Asaya snapped her head up immediately, looking at him like a squirrel caught in the middle of the road. Instead of speaking, she slowly twisted her head side to side.
Sasori grumbled dissatisfied, but turned back to his collogues and continued ignoring her.
However, Itachi had been watching Asaya fairly closely. Mostly because he didn't quite trust her with something that could explode, but partially because his colleague's trivial chatting wasn't any more interesting than watching a girl tediously scribble on dirt with a rusty nail in a rather chicken-like manner. He watched compulsively when she startled like a field mouse at Sasori's interrogative question.
That timid, demure meekness she outwardly exhibited belied the earlier incident where she so naturally assaulted Deidara. In the moment Itachi couldn't have been more astonished, but thinking about it the independent and defiant look in her eyes he sometimes saw when she thought no one was paying attention hadn't left the behavior completely unforeshadowed. The truly impressive part, however, was her ability to tactfully control these qualities to her advantage.
What was going on in her head, exactly? As the minutes passed, a cloud of anxiety gradually manifested over Asaya. Itachi surmised that she thought that after she opened that scroll they- probably he- would kill her. Her usefulness would have expired and they couldn't just let her go. She was just another unlucky casualty in the path of Akatsuki's goals. But really, was it any different than dying as a kunoichi- a tool- in the name of your village?
It was all rather conventionally tragic.
Stars twinkled in the darkness like pinholes through black paper. As it was the beginning of the lunar month, no moonlight glowed over the pristine forest leaves or the roofs of the decaying buildings. Instead, a strong, yellow-orange fire illuminated the wood panel walls, only disrupted by the silhouettes of five figures.
The first four sat in the immediate area of the fire, and they cast the largest shadows. They had completely forgotten the much smaller fifth shadow, which took the form of a sleeping woman.
When Asaya had finished, she didn't bother telling the others. She was too tired to really care, and, seeing that they had forgotten about her anyway, took the liberty of flopping over and falling asleep.
The first to notice she wasn't sitting upright anymore was Deidara. "Does she always do that, hm?" He pointed at her.
The other three shifted their attention onto her. "Stupid cow…" Kisame grumbled.
Curious, Deidara stood up and walked over towards Asaya, stretching his arms and back to relieve the stiffness that accumulated over hours of sitting still.
"I dare you to wake her up!" Kisame teased as Deidara stood over the sleeping girl.
The blond shot an angry look over his shoulder at the sharkman's challenge. "I'm just seeing if she opened it or not, yeah!" He defended himself- although he was wary of disturbing Asaya.
By all appearances Asaya slept solidly, curled into a ball with an arm for a pillow. The scrool was laying about a foot in front of her face. Thinking back to their academy days, Deidara remembered that she was the most Olympic of all sleepers. But despite the placid, innocent face, Deidara saw a dragon guarding treasure. He swallowed his fear for the sake of his image and knelt down on one knee to pick up the scroll, hand reaching out slowly and eyes watching for the slightest twitch of her body. He knew she would attack him again if she woke up.
Luckily, she didn't even stir and he held the treasure, smirking triumphantly. "Stupid cow, yeah."
Wham! Pain plastered sharply across his left cheek for the second time that day, knocking him backwards on his ass. "Dammit!" He shouted, cradling his face to soothe the stinging.
"What did you just say?" Asaya accosted, boldly standing over him on her knees with a raised fist. "Want to say it again?"
Narrow blue eyes focused on Asaya's brown. "Dammit, Sasa-chan! What did I ever do to you, huh?"
"Really?" Asaya was offended by the question. "That shouldn't need an explanation, jackass. And don't call me that."
This time, the other three weren't so shocked. Kisame laughed deeply with shining teeth, happy that his expectation came true. And there was a sense of bitter pleasure that Sasori felt at his partner's suffering. Even Itachi couldn't deny that the whole thing was rather ironic.
Between chuckles, Kisame suggested, "You know, Sasori, if you ask leader he might let you keep her. She seems to be good at keeping your partner in line."
"I'm already contemplating it." Sasori said. Having a puppet with the ability to beat that punk to the ground was a terribly cathartic vision.
"Seriously, why are you so pissed off, un?!" Deidara crossly asked.
Puffing out her chest and shoulders, Asaya berated him, "Do you have any idea how much crap I was put through after you defected!? I almost lost my apprenticeship because of you! They even threatened to dishonorably discharge me!" She expressively flailed her arms about to exaggerate her point.
"Hey, I never thought they'd accuse you-"
"No, you didn't think, did you? That's kind of your problem; you're a narcissistic, audacious, egotistical, selfish asshole! For all the times you've gotten me in trouble…"
Watching Deidara and Asaya bicker childishly was much more entertaining than the three would like to admit. In all honesty, it was probably the funniest thing to happen since Itachi and Kisame first kidnapped the girl.
Kisame jokingly asked, "Do you think we should stop them or wait and see if she hits him again?"
"Leave them." Sasori said decisively. "Hopefully she'll kill him and I can get a new partner." It was a sincere desire. "And where is Zetsu? He's late."
It was a good question. Itachi had been wondering the same thing. Although, by now Zetsu's tardiness didn't surprise him. Everything involving that girl was slow, tedious, and frustrating. He hoped that when Zetsu did show up, they could just hand over the scroll and be done with the ordeal that she was.
But as he looked at Asaya vigorously quarreling with Deidara, he remembered how vivaciously she had defended the young boy and his rabbit and his feelings began to betray himself.
Squawking chickens was an accurate comparison to the sound of Asaya and Deidara's arguing- or chattering squirrels, or even crotchety old men. They sat facing each other, gesturing with their hands to enhance their words.
Leaning forward, Asaya placed one hand on the ground to stabilize herself as she pointed one finger directly at Deidara. "I couldn't have been happier that your obnoxious ass defected! And it looks like you've finally found a group of people just as unpleasant as you for friends. You should-"
The feeling of the earth shivering beneath her hand stopped her mid-sentence. She looked at the ground confused.
"What? Finally run out of stupid things to say, hm?" Deidara took advantage of her sudden silence.
"Shut up." She curtly commanded, lifting her hand from the ground.
The earth vibrated again, strong enough for them to feel it through their legs. They stared at the ground between them.
A large, green plant erupted from the ground, causing both Deidara and Asaya to scramble backwards in shock. Its two giant leaves folded open to reveal the black and white face of Zetsu. "Nice to see you again, Asaya-chan. Have you finished your homework?" White Zetsu playfully addressed the cringing girl.
He had never directly spoken to Asaya before, so she nervously froze with wide eyes and an open mouth.
"Well?" Zetsu's gleefully menacing smile didn't make her feel any better.
Now stricken mute, Asaya picked up the scroll in question- conveniently located to her right- and held it out to him.
"Good girl! We're so proud of you." He fully emerged from the ground before taking the scroll and walking away towards Itachi and the others, stepping around Deidara on the way.
Looking at Itachi and Kisame, White Zetsu said, "Leader will be happy to know she passed her test. Seems she is who we wanted."
Itachi caught the implication immediately. "Was there ever a question of identity? Or were we given misinformation?" He had asked similar questions before, but never got a clear or meaningful answer. Maybe with a large amount of luck it would be different this time.
"Well, technically no. You were never misinformed, but Leader may have been." White Zetsu ambiguously said.
"Explain." Itachi was not in the mood for these games.
Black Zetsu answered before his counterpart could run his mouth. "Akatsuki was given the girl under delicate circumstances."
"'Given?'" Itachi's voice became more demanding. "What do you mean we were 'given' her?"
"I can't answer that. Leader doesn't tell me everything." Black Zetsu was quick to answer.
Great. Now there were even more questions. Itachi could have stabbed himself.
Kisame took his turn to ask, "What do we do with her now, then?"
"Ah, yes!" Zetzu gleefully chimed. "You're all going on a mission together!"
Thin, almost feminine fingers rhythmically tapped on a composite wood desk. Listless breath occasionally wheezed from the apathetic lungs of a sullen boy. Tsuta, as he was called, recently began spending excessive amounts of time stagnating in his room like this: alone, silent, and in the dark. This behavior started when he got the news. He has skipped school again, too- not that anyone was making him go anymore. Asaya was the only one who ever had, and she was gone.
The doorbell rang loudly from downstairs. Even when it chimed three more times, Tsuta chose to ignore it, continuing to tap his fingers on the desk unaffected.
The visitor wasn't satisfied, and a moment after the ringing stopped began pounding on the bedroom window. "Hey, Tsuta-kun! I can see you. Open up!" It was his cousin Kurotsuchi.
Why didn't he close the blinds? "Go away." Tsuta said in a flat tone, not bothering to look at her.
"Look, I know you're upset, but you have to come out sometime. Grandpa wants to see you in his office. Don't make me drag you over there." She threatened.
Groaning dramatically, Tsuta rose from the chair and walked out of his bedroom.
"You better be at the front door when I get there!"
It was a short but silent walk to the Tsuchikage's- grandfather's- office. Tsuta obviously wasn't in the mood to talk and Kurotsuchi knew that anything she said would just upset him. Taking a deep breath, she politely opened the door for Tsuta as they walked in, anticipating the worst. Nothing good ever happened when Grandpa called family to the office. Unless it was for a mission, but Tsuta obviously wasn't there for that.
Kurotsuchi and Tsuta bowed respectfully to the Tsuchikage.
"Tsuta-kun," He began. "I have an urgent letter for you." His tone was serious and grave.
A letter? What could be so critical about a letter? Tsuta uncertainly approached the desk. Directly in the middle was a folded sheet of paper addressed to him. He recognized the handwriting immediately. Anxiety rushed through him with the intensity of a narcotic. "What is this?" His voice was broken and strained.
"It arrived last night by a hawk. There is a seal on the back that I need you to open." The Tsuchikage explained.
Picking up the letter, Tsuta examined the seal on the back. It was defiantly Asaya's work. "Do you have a knife?"
Kurotsuchi pulled a kunai from her pocket and handed it to her cousin. "Be careful." She gently reminded him, worried there would be an accident.
After putting the letter on the table-seal side up- Tsuta pricked the tip of his right index finger, as if for a blood test. One tiny, red drop of beaded on his skin, which he dabbed on the seal.
This was how Asaya always sealed something meant solely for him. Unfortunately, blood was the most foolproof method of easily discouraging prying eyes. The black ink reacted to the blood by slowly evaporating off the paper.
Tsuta snatched the letter off the desk before the Tsuchikage could, eyes eagerly reading the words.
Dear Tsuta,
I hope you will be glad to know that I am alive and mostly well…
Tsuta couldn't help but roll his eyes at her ridiculous habit of writing with an extremely formal voice. The letter went on to explain that she had been kidnapped- which was not what he had been told happened- by two criminals in a terrorist organization called Akatsuki. Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame… He committed the names to memory.
Do not question your grandfather about Akatsuki…
Well, he'd just have to find a more indirect rout of getting information out of the old man. He knew how to ask the right people the right questions.
The last line told him not to worry, and that she would be home soon.
"Give me the letter, Tsuta." The Tsuchikage commanded forcefully. "I never gave you permission to read it."
Tsuta's eyebrow twitched. Unlike everyone else in the family, Tsuta wasn't a ninja drone. So as far as he was concerned, he didn't have any obligation to mindlessly obey the Tsuchikage. The letter was addressed to him, not anybody else. And luckily, it looked like Asaya thought the same way. At the bottom of the paper was another seal, but this was the kind that would destroy the document when activated. With no lack of rebellion spent, Tsuta put his thumb on the seal and channeled a small amount of chakra into it.
The old man watched horrified as the paper ignited and burned away in seconds. "Dammit, Tsuta!" He yelled, nose red as a plump, ripe strawberry. "That letter was classified! How dare you disobey your Tsuchikage!"
At this point in his life, Tsuta wasn't at all bothered by Grandfather's scolding. "It wasn't me! Asaya put in a time sensitive seal." He acted defensive anyway for the sake of lying.
Oonoki grumbled upset. "What did it say?"
"She just said not to worry about her and to take care of her apartment till she got back, since she already paid rent through the year. That's all I read, I swear." Tsuta lied coolly.
Asaya was the type to say hopeful words just to make someone feel better, even if she couldn't always fulfill her promises. Knowing this, Oonoki begrudgingly let it go, but warned, "Fine, but if I find out you are lying to me, know that you are compromising Asaya's safety, and there will be consequences. Now go."
Tsuta bowed and left the office with Kurotsuchi following behind him.
"Why do you always have to be so difficult, Tsuta-kun?" She harassed immediately after closing the door.
"Hey, why don't you go bother someone else for a while? I can walk home by myself." Tsuta snapped back.
"Ugh! Tsuta- kun, you know Grandfather and everyone else cares just as much as you do about getting Asaya back. So why do you have to make things so difficult for him?"
They continued to argue the entire way home, right up to the front entrance where Tsuta said and abrupt goodbye and closed the door before Kurotsuchi could say anything to prolong the conversation.
Tsuta ran up to his room as fast as he could, grabbed the key to Asaya's apartment, and left through the backdoor hoping no one would see him.