Chapter 19: Akatsuki
Just like Hibiki had said, she returned to the group with Sasuke after 14 days. As Sasuke and Hibiki walked down the hall to the room they were in, she paused.
"I'm kind of scared, Suigetsu is going to be so pissed." she nervously laughed.
"He'll get over it." Sasuke shrugged. Hibiki hid behind Sasuke as he opened the door and entered.
"Sasuke!" Karin joyfully called, hugging him much to his displeasure.
"It's good to see you two," Juugo said. "How was the trip?"
"Fine, we retrieved some medication I needed for my eyes." Sasuke overly simplified. Hibiki walked into the room and peered around Sasuke. Suigetsu sat on the couch with a murderous aura. He glared at Hibiki and Sasuke. He was beyond pissed. For once in her life, Hibiki was glad she was blind. His glare would kill her otherwise.
"I am going to speak with Madara," Sasuke tells the group before leaving. Juugo sensing the tension walked over to Karin.
"We are going for a walk." Juugo said as he picked Karin up with the neck of her shirt. He closed the door behind him, leaving Hibiki to Suigetsu's mercy.
"Is your head ok? Juugo didn't hit you too hard right?" Hibiki asked from her position by the door. Suigetsu stood and walked over to her, He cupped her face in his hand and turned it, Hibiki could feel him appraising her condition with his eyes. After finding Hibiki to be exactly how she left, he sighed. Hibiki relaxed a little, but then felt Suigetsu slam his fist on the wall next to her.
"Damn it Hibiki!" Suigetsu yelled. Hibiki stiffened. She waited for more yelling, but it didn't come.
"I'm sorry Suigetsu, I know you didn't want me to go on my own. But Juugo knocked you out on his own, I had nothing to do with that." she babbled.
"I know when I woke up, he apologized." Suigetsu sighed, his face was in his palm.
"I promised I wouldn't be hurt, and I wasn't." Hibiki tried. He peaked at Hibiki; she had a guilty face. She bit her bottom lip with worry.
What's should I say? Hibiki thought,
As she worried Suigetsu wrapped his arms around her, one hand came to rest on her hip, and the other cradled the back of her head, pulling her tight against him. Hibiki, in turn, slid her arms around him.
"It was annoying, I felt so anxious, not knowing what was happening or where you were." Suigetsu told her. She nodded her head. "You're a pain in my ass Hibiki. You were gone for two weeks," he complained. "Don't do that again." He whispered. Hibiki smiled against Suigetsu's chest.
"I won't." she answered. He let Hibiki go, and looked at her face, she had dark circles under her eyes, he traced one with his thumb.
"Tired?" he asked.
"Yeah, I haven't slept much." she sighed.
Suigetsu watched Hibiki's face for a moment before gently turning her face up and rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. It was chapped and dry. Taking Hibiki's hand, He turned and walked back to the couch, falling onto it. Hibiki sat next to him.
"I barely slept too," He groaned.
"Do you want to take a nap?" Hibiki asked.
"Yeah, but I'm scared you'll disappear on me if I do." he moaned. Hibiki giggled,
"We can take one together." She offered, laying back on the sofa. Suigetsu smiled and joined her. On their sides, there was barely enough room for them both. Hibiki rested her forehead against his chest, while Suigetsu wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. Soon Suigetsu could hear Hibiki's gentle breath as she fell asleep, he closed his eyes too and was asleep in moments.
Karin glared at Suigetsu and Hibiki. She came back with Juugo after an hour to find them both asleep, Hibiki secured in Suigetsu's arms. Juugo calmly handed her some hot tea he made before sitting on the opposite couch and relaxing. Karin sipped her tea aggressively next to Juugo.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Juugo asked.
"His chakra feels wrong, and he annoys me." Karin spat.
"And you don't like him caring for Hibiki because?" Juugo wondered.
"Hibiki has a nice calming chakra, when she is close to him all I can feel is his nasty chakra. I can't enjoy Hibiki's presence with him close by." She grumbled.
"I think she's happy though," Juugo commented.
"Yeah, but the moment he slips up I'm chopping off his dick," Karin promised.
"That's aggressive."
"Yep, Hibiki brings out my motherly side," Karin explained.
After two hours, Hibiki and Suigetsu woke up and Sasuke summoned his team to his side. They came into a cold and malevolent room.
"Man, these guys know how to make a menacing room." Suigetsu whistled.
"What's it like?" Hibiki asked.
"Probably a man-made cavern with a bunch of big ass bones." Suigetsu explained.
"Bones from what?" Hibiki asked.
"Hell, if I know, but from the size, I'm fucking glad their dead." he shivered from the image of what the flesh on bones might have looked like. The four gathered near a table, Sasuke sitting at the head, Madara, and Kisame stood on the opposite side. Hibiki stood away from the group hiding herself behind them, not wanting to interact with 'Madara' again.
"Team Hebi is now 'Taka'. Our new goal, to destroy the Hidden Leaf," Sasuke announced.
"You say that, but how do you intend to go about it?" Madara asked.
"We're going to kill the Elders. The others are not our immediate concern." Sasuke clarified.
"If you aim high, the ones below will shield them." Madara replied.
"It won't be that easy. You so-called "Taka" don't have enough strength for that." Kisame snickered.
"Kisame Senpai you shouldn't underestimate us. We still haven't settled that last game of ours. This time, I'm serious," Suigetsu threatened. He lunged to Kisame, his sword drawn.
"Stop it, Suigetsu!" Juugo called after him. The sword was blocked by Madara's arm, giving no damage in its impact.
"Sasuke! You haven't trained them well." Madara scolded.
"Suigetsu! Are you stupid? This isn't the place to…" Karin began to yell.
"My objective is his Shark Skin Sword! I've been hanging with Sasuke only so I could get that!" Suigetsu interrupted.
"Hibiki help us out here." Karin begged.
Hibiki held up her hands in surrender. "What makes you think I have any power over him?"
"Sasuke what'll you do?" Juugo asked.
"All right go for it if you want to, Suigetsu. You probably can't beat him yet anyway." Sasuke said.
"Oh, thanks a lot, Sasuke. Just hold tight. I'll treat you to some tasty shark's fin soon enough." Suigetsu sneered.
"The Akatsuki is also low on manpower. I'd like to avoid unnecessary skirmishes." Madara mediated.
"Humph." Kisame commented. Yet huh? He thought with a toothy smile.
"Then you shouldn't criticize others, you guys." Suigetsu said as he returned to his teammates side.
"We share common interests. From here on, Taka will work together with the Akatsuki." Madara announced.
"And what's in it for us?" Sasuke asked.
"We'll give you a Tailed Beast." Madara offered.
"Tailed Beast?" Sasuke wondered.
"You don't know about them?" Madara asked, surprised.
"I know! It's like the Nine-Tails, with chakra physically manifesting as tails, they're mon-" Karin began to explain but was halted by Sasuke.
"In other words?" Sasuke asked Madara.
"They're chakra monsters, Originally, the First Hokage collected several of them and kept them under his control. Each time a Great Ninja War threatened, the Hokage Hashirama used them to maintain the power balance and distributed them to other lands, starting with the five great nations, as proof of alliances or agreements. You could call them the ultimate chakra weapons. It's not a bad preposition." Madara finished.
"That's quite generous." Sasuke said.
"However, if you betray the Akatsuki, you will die accordingly." Madara warned.
"Humph" Sasuke smiled. Hibiki narrowed her eyes at Sasuke, he wasn't taking 'Madara' seriously enough.
Don't underestimate people dumbass. She thought.
"There are nine Tailed Beasts in this world. The Akatsuki has collected six so far so there are three left." Kisame explained.
"The Akatsuki and Taka will split up to hunt the remaining three. That is our immediate goal." Madara concluded.
"You don't have the Nine-Tails yet, right?" Sasuke wondered. Hibiki knew Sasuke was worried about Naruto, even if it was subconsciously.
"Taka will capture the Eight-Tails. The Akatsuki will hunt the rest. Which includes Naruto." Madara warned Sasuke.
With this the agreement was made, and Akatsuki cloaks were handed out the Taka teammates. Hibiki also received one, although she very reluctant put it on. Well, she thought, the cloak is like a territorial marker, it should provide some extra protection. The group also received supplies from Kisame before leaving and heading out into the day.
"Find the Eight tails Hibiki," Sasuke ordered, Hibiki closed her eyes for a moment,
"Land of Lightning, close to the cloud village, once we get closer, I'll look for an exact location you can strike at," Hibiki said wiping her nose. Thus, the group left on a five-day journey to the Land of Lightning. They ran for four days and then rested at an old minshuku on the fourth night.
The Minshuku was run by an elderly man and his son's family. Their room was on the second floor of a guest house, it creaked and groaned when walked through and had a slight draft. Suigetsu stored his sword in a corner and collapsed onto a futon bed.
"I'm exhausted." he groaned.
"There are only three futons," Juugo announced as he and Hibiki laid out the last one. There was a tense moment where no one spoke. It was a cold night, and they all needed sleep. So, no one was willing to forfeit the futons all together. The five of them sat in a circle needing to figure out the sleeping arrangements quickly.
"I guess we split by gender?" Juugo suggested.
"Juugo, you get one to yourself," Hibiki sighed.
"I don't mind sharing." he stated.
"Juugo you take up the whole futon by yourself, plus I've seen you sleep, you move around a lot and none of us want to be crushed in our sleep." Karin explained.
"Sorry," he said, feeling guilty.
While Karin and Hibiki didn't mind sharing a futon, as they have had to before. Suigetsu and Sasuke stared at each other. Neither was willing to sleep that close to each other.
"Your snoring would be in my ear." Sasuke said, making a valid excuse. Karin glued herself to Sasuke immediately.
"I don't mind sharing with you Sasuke." Karin beamed. Sasuke pulled away from her grip.
"I'd rather sleep next to Hibiki." he said. He wanted a quiet night of sleep and would only get it with Hibiki. She didn't snore and she wouldn't cling to him all night.
"There is no fucking way I'm sleeping next to Him/her" Karin and Suigetsu yelled in unison. Hibiki chuckled.
"Sorry Sasuke, none of us would sleep with them fighting all night." Hibiki said. And she was right. Much to Sasuke's displeasure, he had to pick between Suigetsu and Karin.
"Karin is really tired and will probably fall asleep right away." Hibiki hinted.
"Yes, very tired," Karin eagerly agreed.
The arrangement was made, Sasuke and Karin were to sleep on the far left, Juugo in the middle, and Suigetsu and Hibiki on the far right. While Sasuke, Juugo and Karin left to get dinner, Suigetsu sighed in relief.
"I was so freaked about having to sleep next to Sasuke." Suigetsu admitted, laying on his back. Hibiki stat with her knees tucked under her next to him.
"Why were you so freaked, Sasuke is a silent sleeper," Hibiki asked.
"I just get the feeling that if he had a bad dream, he would murder me in his sleep." Suigetsu explained.
"And the fact that I'd be sleeping next to you made it an easy choice." Hibiki teased.
"Yeah well, I'd rather keep my eye on you, you tend to disappear when I'm unconscious." he laughed.
The other three returned and they handed food to Hibiki and Suigetsu and the group shared light conversation as they ate. Once their stomachs were full everyone laid under the covers. Karin stared at Sasuke's back while he slept, giddy. Juugo fell asleep almost immediately. Hibiki and Suigetsu laid facing each other. Hibiki closed her eyes and like Juugo was asleep in minutes. Suigetsu watched Hibiki's face, he wanted to be sure she was asleep before he was. She seemed more relaxed than normal. Smugly smiling Suigetsu drifted off.
Juugo sat up, it was early morning. He found Sasuke sleeping as far from Karin as he could get, while Karin had a giddy face and slept as close to Sasuke as she could get. On his other side Hibiki slept soundly in Suigetsu's arms while he snored. Juugo smiled at the sight. He had to admit as he got to know the two, he grew to support the relationship between them. (AN: he ships them.)
As everyone got ready, Hibiki sat still, looking for their target. Eight tales was eccentric to say the least. He was erratic in some ways but predictable in others. Maybe it's a jinjuriki thing. Hibiki wondered. After some searching, Hibiki found his closest next location, and the perfect timing to strike.
Hibiki opened her eyes and stood.
"What can you tell me," Sasuke asked.
"He will be training at Unraikyo, Storm Cloud Ravine." she reported.
"Any distinguishing features?" Sasuke wondered.
"He wields eight blades and has bull horns tattooed on his left cheek," Hibiki stated.
"How long will it be to get there?" Sasuke asked.
"Few hours, we will wait nearby and at noon, he will emerge from the ravine. You can get him then." Hibiki answered.
"Good" Sasuke confirmed.
They ran to the ravine and stopped a few miles away. They rested on some rocks while Hibiki watched the battles outcomes. She grimaced a lot, and her nose bled more than usual.
When she opened her eyes, Suigetsu wiped the blood from her face.
"This guy is tough. You will need to be extremely careful. Don't underestimate him. The most likely possibilities all end in at least one death. The person who dies varies greatly. It can be possible to win without someone dying, but it will be tricky, be cautious and sure with your choices made in battle." Hibiki warned. She pauses and the team is tense except Suigetsu who felt excited about another good battle. Sasuke stands,
"Thank you, Hibiki." He said as he walked off. Juugo pats her head before following Sasuke. Karin bends over and hugs her tightly,
"I'll keep the boys and myself alive." She promised.
"Even Suigetsu?" Hibiki jokes.
"If I have to." Karin groaned. She glared at Suigetsu for a moment before rushing off after Sasuke and Juugo. Hibiki stood as Suigetsu approached her. Once he was close enough, she pulls him into a hug. Holding him tightly.
"Don't die," she begged. Returning her hug, he scoffed,
"You think I'd let someone else decide when I'm going to die." he joked. She stepped back and smiled sadly at him.
Suigetsu softly brushed her bangs away, exposing her forehead, He kissed it gently. He pulled back a little and watched as Hibiki faintly blushed.
"I'll be back soon." he promised, before leaving to catch up with the others.