Chapter 21: Love Whisperer Arc - Feeling Problematic

I apologize for this chapter's poor quality, but I had a severe case of writer's block. However, I still wanted to post it to you guys, so...

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except for the plot and my OCs.


Kagami's POV

Rin paused, most likely to retrospect about her past. But whatever her past consisted up, she sure didn't seem all that happy about it. She sighed again, waiting a few seconds before continuing the story of her life.

"I was born in the Village Hidden in the Leaf," she continued. "My parents...I barely knew them, but I know that they died when I was a little girl, before I turned five."

"How did they die?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I think it was on an A-rank mission, but I never knew for sure. It's likely that I'll never know, since by the time that I died, I learned that both of their souls had been reincarnated into different bodies."

I blinked. "Don't you want to try for reincarnation, too?"

Rin shook her head. "Not really. I've decided to stay here forever, until the very day my friends from the mortal world join me. Then, maybe we could live a few more decades up here together before we all try for reincarnation."

"Who are your friends?"

She smiled softly, probably reminiscing about the time she had spent with her friends while she was still alive in Konohagakure. "I had a great friend from the time my parents died. His name was Obito Uchiha. A couple years later, I met my other best friend, Kakashi Hatake, while Obito was participating in a jutsu contest."

"What were they like?"

"Kakashi was a child prodigy," Rin said. "He was always at the top of our class and got the best grades out of everybody, and he could do tons of high-level jutsu while he was still a young kid. When he was just six, he became a chuunin, which is a higher level ninja than normal. Eventually, five years later, he became a jounin, which is one rank higher than chuunin. But still, even though he was a great student and ninja, he was quite distant and cold to everyone. It wasn't until much later that I understood what he had gone through when he was little. His own father committed suicide right in front of him, but nobody knew that. Everybody, including me, was more focused on his talents and amazing abilities than what had happened to him."

I took a moment to take all of this information in. "What about Obito? Was he cold and distant, too?"

"Obito was very loud and stubborn," she giggled. "He always tended to pick a fight with Kakashi for beating him at something, and he was incredibly hyperactive, too. In many ways, he and Kakashi were polar opposites: unlike Kakashi, Obito was friendly to everyone, even though they constantly ignored him and scoffed at his dream of becoming the Hokage, or the leader of Konohagakure. He was almost always dead last in our class, while Kakashi stood at the very top."

"Which one of them did you like better?" I inquired. "Since they're both boys, I'm pretty sure you fell in love with at least one of them or something. I kind of like this Obito guy...was it him?"

"You are quite observant," she grinned at me. "However, the answer really depends. If you asked my younger self that question, than I would definitely say that the answer would be Kakashi, without any hesitation at all. But now, I'm not really sure anymore. A lot has happened since then, and my feelings towards both of the boys have been quite a whirlwind."

"Did you like Kakashi because he was very talented and skilled?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Kakashi was a great shinobi, one of the best of his generation," she replied. "That's why I liked him when I was a young kunoichi. I was extremely excited when we got placed on the same team together, and with Obito as well. But then, there came that horrible day…"

I gasped. "Are you talking about the day you died?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, but it was during the war in which I died. Obito, Kakashi, and I were assigned to destroy an important bridge in order to turn the tide of the war in our favor, but destroying the bridge came at a huge cost. Even I wasn't able to fathom that such a thing could actually happen, even though it was during a bloody shinobi world war."

"What happened?" I whispered, though I was unsure why my voice had quieted down.

"Before we destroyed the bridge," Rin continued, "I was captured by enemy ninja and had a powerful genjutsu, or an augmented reality spell, placed on me. Kakashi and Obito had to come rescue me, but the enemy shinobi crushed Obito under a rock. I wanted to stay with him and help him out, but Kakashi dragged me out of here once the lair we were stuck in decided to cave in on us. We had to leave Obito behind…"

Blinking back tears, I sent Rin an apologetic gaze as she went on.

"After we carried out our mission to destroy the bridge, Kakashi explained to me on how he had originally intended to leave me to die, had it not have been for Obito changing his mind at the last second. It all stunned me, since I never thought Kakashi would go that far. And then, he went on to tell me the news that broke my heart...especially since hearing it made me feel so stupid for not noticing it in the beginning."

I watched as she closed her eyes, starlit tears beginning to escape from them.

"He told me...that Obito...had liked me. Probably even loved me, but he never had the chance to confess his feelings to me. And although I didn't show it, since we were in the middle of a war, I started returning Obito's feelings. Even when I thought he was dead, for the first time, I felt...loved. I mean, I had plenty of friends and all, but that was the first time someone had considered me of so much importance to their life other than my late parents."

"Hold up," I muttered. "Thought he had died?"

She nodded solemnly. "Obito was still alive the entire time, but none of us knew that. We presumed that he was dead for a year, without a corpse to prove it. But a year later was when my time came to come here. I never intended to come to the Pure Land at only age thirteen, but that's what happened."

"How did you die?" I asked, but before she could answer my question, the Pure Land began to fade.

"Has it already been fifteen minutes?" she pondered aloud. "I guess I might have to continue this storytelling later, once my chakra recharges again."

"Wait!" I cried. "I want to know more! Please, tell me what happened to Obito and Kakashi!"

Rin smiled sadly at me. "Again, next time, Kagami-chan. It's time to wake up and enjoy your day. I promise, I see you again in about a week or so."

With that, she faded, plunging me into darkness and back into reality once again.


Kaiya's POV

When I woke up this morning, I had the sudden urge to go back to sleep.

It had been a week since I had seen Yahiko, and I wanted to see if he had any messages or knew who Shisui Uchiha was. If Kagami was able to talk to him, then maybe she was serving as his messenger to us or something. Badly, I wanted to find out what he was telling her at night, but if Kagami didn't want to tell us immediately, I respected her wishes.

Anyway, it was time for school. Another day of teaching half a band of S-rank criminals how to behave. Another day of annoying the heck out of Deidara and torturing Hidan into being quiet.

But worst of all, it was another day I had to see Daichi and resist the urge to tell him how I felt.

How long have I had this crush? I asked myself. Three months? Six months? From the day that we met?

High school crushes were super strange concepts, especially if somebody had one on their best friend. A quiet, book-loving, and normal person would be largely ignored in a huge society of more popular people. It was a rather cliché concept, but this time, it was all real. I didn't stand a chance, really.

He doesn't like me back, I thought to myself. He couldn't have, or I would have sensed it by now through his actions. Maybe I'm the dumb one for keeping my feelings to myself?

Grabbing my head, I cringed, trying to get rid of any thoughts I had about a successful confession. I wasn't planning on telling him. No way.

I can't let that get the best of me. There are worse things to worry about, like Hidan, good grades, Hidan, the fact that the Akatsuki is at my house, Hidan, my siblings getting into trouble, and did I mention Hidan?

Yawning, I got ready and rounded up the Akatsuki members that were going to school, and we set off to go to Kestrel Heights. Surprisingly, Hidan kept silent, even though he was probably the one I had originally worried about the most. But then again, as long as we didn't give him a bladed object, he wasn't going to be too much of a threat to us. Yukio and Naoki were definitely doing a great job in keeping his actions in check.

As we walked towards the gate, I was surprised to see both Chizuru and Daichi already standing there. When they noticed us walking by, they smiled and waved at us.

"Good morning, Kaiya-chan!" Daichi greeted with his signature grin. "And good morning to your friends as well!"

Chizuru continued to shyly wave, but I could tell that she was trying to be friendly and polite.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and we all moved to our respective first-period classes. But once Chizuru had gone, I blushed slightly, realizing that I was alone with Daichi...and the five members of the Akatsuki.

Even if I wanted to, it was going to be next to impossible to confess to Daichi. Especially with five S-rank criminals in disguise standing right next to me.

The day flew by rather quickly, and most of the Akatsuki just acted the same as they did the day before. Deidara did not argue with Sasori again, but they glared at one another every now and then. Nothing interesting really did happen during the rest of the day, but at least it was Friday. The freedom of the weekend was always something to look forward to.

But still, my mind was somehow filled with thoughts of Daichi that day. It came to the point where I had stopped paying attention in class, and of course, my science teacher noticed right away.

"Kaiya," he said, jolting me back into reality. "Can you explain the concept of the Krebs Cycle to us?"

Gulping, I peered at my notes for help, but found myself staring at a blank sheet of paper. I had been way too distracted to write anything down. The teacher continued to squint his eyes at me, but luckily, Daichi's hand shot straight up.

"Daichi?" said the teacher. But stopped when Daichi went on to explain the answer to the question that was originally meant for me. But still, I caught nothing from that, either. When I looked at Daichi, my thoughts fully focused on my feelings for him.

Why is this so gosh darn confusing? I growled to myself. I can perfectly understand how crushes work in the storybooks, so why can't I understand how it works in real life?

After that, I had pretty much ignored my notes for the rest of the class, still deep in thought about my feelings. At that moment, I realized how big of a problem it was going to be.

If this keeps up, I thought, eyes widening, then I won't be able to concentrate on my studies. I've got to tell him soon or something!

But just as soon as I had thought I couldn't take it anymore, the bell rang and dismissed us all to go to lunch, making me let out a sigh of relief. But as soon as I stepped out of the door, Deidara pulled me aside towards an empty hallway.

"You've been acting strange all morning, un," he told me. "Your siblings told me that you are the most studious out of all of them and never lose focus...what happened?"

I growled, jumping away from him. "It's nothing of your concern."

"Geez," he responded. "I was just trying to help. But seriously, what's on your mind, un? I won't tell anybody, I promise!"

"Why do you care so much about this?" I inquired.

Deidara only shrugged. "I was curious, un. You were more distant than usual this morning, and Daichi had to answer that question for you. But then again, who am I to judge that, un? This is only our second day of high school. How long have you been here?"

"Two years," I told him. "It's October, so add a couple months to the total. In addition, I've practically been going to school all of my life, but not high school. There's kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school, and right after high school, there's college. The cycle never ends."

"How are you not bored with all that education, un?" asked Deidara. "In our world, people usually graduate from the academy in about a year or two. Why must you go until you're an adult?"

I shrugged. "It's kind of weird that way, but even I don't know why this way was established. But then again, it's to prepare everybody for what's to come in the future, such as jobs, crises, and moving out."

"Anyway," he began, a smirk appearing on his face, "When are you going to tell him?"

I blinked in confusion. "Tell who?"

"You know," he chuckled. "Daichi."

Immediately, my cheeks flushed bright red. "D-D-Deidara, was I that obvious? I mean, do you think he knows that I feel that way about him? Did he say something about me?"

Deidara's eyes began to widen in realization. "Was that why you were behaving so oddly back in Science, un? As of right now, I'm not sure if he's aware of you having feelings for him, since I've never had a crush before. The only reason why I was able to tell was because you blushed pink every time he talked to you. You even stuttered, which was something you do not do at home."

"Oh my," I replied. "I had no idea...hopefully the others couldn't tell how I was feeling?"

He shrugged. "For Sasori-danna, it's hard for him to detect emotions, since he's a puppet, Hidan is just way too stupid, Itachi probably doesn't really care, but I don't know about Konan. None of us really know that much about her, other than the fact that she loves origami and that her only other friend is Leader-sama."

"Why don't you ever call him Pein?" I piped up, slightly curious about this fact as well.

Deidara shrugged again. "It was his orders, really. Konan referred to him as something else when they were alone, but I forgot what it was. But all of the other Akatsuki members call him Leader-sama, since he is the leader of our organization, after all, un."

"Let's head back to the lunch tables," I suggested. "The group is probably wondering where in the world we wandered off to, although I'm pretty sure Hidan could care less."

He nodded, and we headed back to the cafeteria, where the group was indeed waiting. I blushed again when Daichi waved at me again, and Deidara, taking notice, smirked.

After that, the day sped by even quicker. Again, nothing interesting really happened, except for the time when we had to stop Deidara from blowing things up in Art class again. But throughout the school day, I couldn't stop thinking about Daichi.

What if he doesn't date? I thought frantically. Why am I even worrying about this?

Even after we left school, my mind was still fixed on him. It just would not go away, that feeling in my heart.

"Argh!" I shouted aloud, turning everybody's attention to me as we walked back home from school. My brother and a couple of the Akatsuki members gave me a worried look, especially since they had not seen me act this way about something before.

Deidara continued to smirk at me knowingly, causing Hidan to raise a brow, unaware of what in the world was going on.

I guess Deidara was telling the truth about Hidan being stupid after all. But then again, did the Akatsuki really know how feelings worked?

Maybe they did deep down, but I wasn't really sure about it. But then again, there had to be a time when they were innocent children, although I could not imagine Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu, or Kisame as little kids.

Did the Akatsuki ever fall in love? I thought to myself. Yahiko said that he had liked Konan...but was it one-sided or a mutual attraction? Unless she talks to me about it, I won't be able to figure out how exactly Konan felt about Yahiko. It also seemed like quite a sensitive topic to her, by the way she always stood solemnly in silence.

Suddenly, in front of us, a kid screamed. I flinched upon hearing the loud noise, but when my eyes fixed on the child, I could tell what he was screaming about.

"My teddy bear!" a little boy wailed in front of us, pointing towards the road. "It's broken…"

He broke down and wept, just as I saw the pitiful lump of scattered cotton and dirty brown fur in the road. Based on how many rips and tears that I saw in the poor remains of the toy, I could tell immediately that it had been accidentally run over by a car, and it was well beyond repair.

I rushed over immediately to comfort the random little boy, but to my surprise, Konan followed me, her face still expressionless. I used the chance to examine the boy a little: he had short hair that had been dyed orange, brown eyes, and was wearing a casual t-shirt and sweatpants.

He looks a lot like Yahiko, I noted.

"What's wrong, little boy?" I asked him, even though I already knew what the answer was. Not saying anything, the boy pointed to his decimated teddy bear and began to cry again.

"It's alright," I tried comforting the child. "I'm pretty sure your parents will get you a new one soon."

He only sobbed harder, and I gently patted him on the head, the same way I did when Kagami would start to cry. From a couple feet away,

Konan watched us, something unidentifiable flashing in her eyes as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of blank origami paper.

I stared at her in surprise as she began to crease and fold the sheet of paper over and over again. The boy stopped crying for a moment, looking up at the unfamiliar black-haired lady that was suddenly playing around oddly with a square sheet of paper.

"Konan," I choked out in disbelief, "are you—"

She nodded before I could finish my question, just as soon as she opened her palm to reveal what was inside: a small white paper crane. Handing it to the boy, she watched him stare at the bird with wide eyes, his sadness slowly disappearing the more he stared at it.

"It's a magical paper crane," Konan explained to the boy, though I knew that origami wasn't exactly magical. "Tonight, use it to make a wish to the bright stars in the night sky. Then, maybe your parents will buy you a brand new teddy bear to replace that one soon."

Although she did not smile the entire time, she nodded at the boy, who was jumping up and down in happiness. Suddenly, he ran up and hugged Konan, surprising both of us.

"Thank you, kind lady!" the boy cried in delight, all of his tears disappearing.

Clutching the paper crane to his heart, he ran back towards what I assumed to be his house on the block, and we watched as he ran inside and closed the door behind him. Once he had disappeared into his house, I turned back to Konan, my eyes wide.

She gave me a long look, then proceeded to walk back home, her expression not willing to change. The Akatsuki followed her, all of them with different expressions. Itachi's eyes were widened slightly, Sasori remained unfazed, Deidara's jaw had dropped, and Hidan was rubbing his eyes, making sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"What the f*** just happened?" he asked himself, and Deidara shrugged in response.

"Don't ask me, un," he answered. "That's the first time I've ever seen Konan act like that. It just wasn't like her at all, especially since she never helps anybody out anymore."

That was the moment I realized what possibly could have motivated her to help the little boy out.

The boy must have reminded her of the one that had loved her, I realized with a jolt. She definitely still cares about Yahiko, no matter how much she tries to hide it. Although she may be the co-leader of the criminal organization known as the Akatsuki, deep down, Konan definitely has a heart.

I sighed, staring at Konan a bit more and completely forgetting about Daichi for once that day. Although the Akatsuki had calmed down slightly, I continued to stare at Konan, even when something bright and shiny sparkled in front of me.

Not caring if anybody had seen me or not, I grabbed the tiny fragment of the scintillating orb out of the sky, pocketing it just as quickly as I had seen it. Although it was only the size of the head of a pin, it definitely counted towards the Akatsuki's main goal to return to their own dimension. As we walked home, my mind was only thinking about one thing, even to the point where I ignored my imouto's greeting when she saw me from the window of our house.

It was then I recalled my brother's warning to me, the same day when the Akatsuki had been turned back into humans.

"They're dangerous, cold-hearted, S-rank criminals," Naoki had warned me. "Be very careful around them, since they can kill any normal civilian in an instant, without hesitation or remorse."

For some time, I had believed that, and avoided interacting too much with the Akatsuki. But now, I was beginning to doubt my otouto's words of warning after what Konan had done for the innocent little boy who had just lost his teddy bear.

Maybe the Akatsuki aren't as heartless and evil as we originally thought...


A/N: I wrote the majority of this at midnight, but I couldn't post it at school. I mean, I know how to do it without getting caught, but I needed to use Grammarly to help me spell-check everything. However, I did have enough time at school to type about eight pages of the next chapter without getting caught by anybody other than my friends.

Question: If you had to pick, would you rather have a twin sister or twin brother? I'm actually not sure about this one...

See you guys in about an hour!

— Tenshi —