Chapter 45: Snowdrift Arc - Get on my Level
Well, I managed to shorten it by just a little bit this time. I've been spending more time on DA than ever recently...mainly because I got to talk to my idol, Jordan! You may know her as YumeHoshiChan on DeviantArt or the writer of Akatsukitties/Kitty Karma, posted on the account Valkyrie0Magma.
I highly recommend checking it out, even though Kitty Karma is discontinued. It's one of my favorite Akatsuki Kitten stories because everything is so cute! (^w^)
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except for the plot and the OCs.
Looking back on what Naoki, Konan, and I had done for Pei— er, Nagato — I felt rather warm, fuzzy, and like I had just saved the world or something inside, near my heart.
Currently, I stood on the edge of the stairway where Nagato had previously been sitting, clutching a rather small yellow box in my hands. A red satin ribbon was wrapped around it, around one centimeter in width.
To be honest, I actually didn't know if it was the right gift, especially since it was something that I had treasured for a long time. Still, it was something I thought that I wanted to give to him.
Deidara cared for me a lot. It was rather obvious already, though I wouldn't say that it was a crush at all. Based on his personality, he didn't really seem like the type to have crushes on anybody, and was more of a playboy if he did end up flirting with girls.
However, I wasn't as big of a romance expert as Kisame or Kagami, the latter seeming to know more about it ever since she had gotten ahold of a few romance novels. Perhaps I did like Deidara and he liked me back, but the probability of that was pretty close to zero.
Let's face it, my mind rebuked me. Deidara is an S-rank criminal. You are a normal human from a different world who has known him has known for one-third of a year. Leave it be. You like your best friend, not him.
As much as I wanted to believe what my conscience had just said, some part of me refused to. Ever since that day when we had gone to Prism Grove, for the first time in forever, I was conflicted with my emotions.
Because either way I saw it, both boys were too oblivious and would never like me in that way.
Having a boyfriend was not one of my top priorities, or a priority to me at all. Sure, it sounded nice to have somebody that supported me for the rest of my life, but like I had mentioned before, I hated affection, unless it came from my family. Kisses were absolutely disgusting in real life, though I never minded them in romance novels. Hugs were not my thing, especially since the position itself felt very awkward.
But still, the idea itself was quite interesting.
Spotting the blonde standing in the corner of the room by himself, I decided that this was my chance and began walking down the steps. I had only taken a few steps towards him before he turned around and looked at me, his cheeks pink as he eyed the present in my hands.
Slowly but surely, I felt my cheeks turn pink as well as I recalled the incident that had happened on Christmas Eve, when I had refused to kiss him under the mistletoe and handed him a chocolate kiss instead. It had been so embarrassing that I had asked Zetsu to remove any trace of the mistletoe from the ceiling. He had been reluctant at first, but when I had explained that they were all fake and attached to the ceiling with tape and string, Zetsu quickly took down every single one.
"Um...hey," I began, handing the present to him while mentally slapping myself for stuttering, "Merry Christmas, Deidara."
Calmly, he took the present from my hands, though I abruptly tensed up as soon as our fingers touched. Yes, I know that it was not supposed to be that big of a deal, but still.
Unlike Kagami, who had clawed open her wrapping paper and had torn apart everything but the contents inside, Deidara calmly untied the ribbon and set it aside, proceeding to take off the tape next. I watched in shock: he opened presents a lot like I did, without intending to tear the wrapping paper all too much.
He gasped as soon as he saw the small leather box that was inside, and for a moment, I thought that he was taking it the wrong way. So I motioned for him to open it, and Deidara immediately obliged, popping open the top of the box.
"A necklace?" he questioned, pulling out a silver chain, and I nodded. "Thank you, but this looks pretty expensive, un…"
"It belonged to my mother," I explained, a wistful note weaving itself into my voice. "That necklace was the very same one that my father had gotten her for Christmas during the year that they had first met in high school. According to otou-san, he began falling in love with her when he realized that she had always worn the necklace every day and had never taken it off for months."
Deidara continued eying the necklace, his gaze focused on the silver bird pendant that hung in the middle. "If that's the case...then why are you giving it to me? I'm not your mother, un."
"This necklace hasn't been worn by anybody for about a year," I told him. "Lately, I've been feeling uncomfortable about just letting it sit there in my room, without a proper wearer. It just didn't look right, just lying there and collecting dust when it was supposed to be treasured. I thought that you would like it, since you really like birds and have a connection to them, which I've realized throughout the past couple of weeks."
He shot me a funny look. "What exactly is this connection that you're proposing? And please don't say that I have wings and a tail."
I giggled, shaking my head. "Very funny, Deidara. Otou-san picked out a bird because he thought okaa-san was shy, cute, and constantly having her head in the clouds. But even more, she did not know exactly where to land, since she refused to get a boyfriend for years and denied having feelings for boys, just like how a bird takes time to find its way home. Furthermore, he thought of her as wild and carefree, full of naivety and a fun-filled person. And I've just realized that the vast majority of those traits can also be used to describe you."
"I see," he muttered, unsure of how to respond. Before he could, I took the necklace, unhooked the chain, and carefully placed it around his neck, in the same fashion Konan had placed the necklace around Nagato's neck. I could have sworn that his face had turned red, but since I had not been woken up properly, I was still quite delusional.
"But still," he said as soon as I had finished, "why me? You have your brothers and Kagami, as well as all the members of the Akatsuki…"
My cheeks turned slightly pink, but I quickly hid it by biting my lip and crossing my arms, making me look more rebellious. "But you're the only person out of everybody who truly fits the description of the bird. While the others possess some of the traits, you have all of them. Besides, I wanted to let you know that I really care about you and like seeing you happy, especially since I felt like I've owed you something ever since you took me to Prism Grove."
"You don't owe me anything," he said, smiling at me. "Merry Christmas, Kaiya, and thank you very much. I'll make sure to keep this necklace safe, since it's pretty important to you."
At that, I scratched the back of my head nervously. "You're welcome, but you don't have to go that far, ya know. Remember, it's just a necklace to you."
Perhaps, my mind thought, maybe he does like that necklace a lot. I mean, he's been staring at the little bird for quite a while now…
Deidara did not respond, so I left him to tamper with the bird as I observed everybody enjoying themselves in the living room, despite all the noise. But for once, it wasn't from clamor, chaos, or arguments like there usually was: just happiness, joy, and gratitude, even from the Akatsuki.
It felt weird to say, but it was pretty cool how a simple holiday could reveal everybody's true feelings toward each other. I would have said that it was as if magic had done its work on everybody's brains, but I couldn't say that.
Through my eyes, that was exactly what had happened.
The next day, we were woken up early, but thankfully, I was granted a few more hours of sleep than the previous day. In addition, it wasn't an annoying, pigtailed seven-year-old that jumped on me to wake me up: instead, it was the person who had made me behave strangely throughout the past couple of months.
"Hey, do you want to get up?" asked Kaiya politely, bending over me. Instantly, I jumped away from her, believing that she was Kagami coming to wake me up. Much to my chagrin, Kaiya seemed to take a large amount of amusement in this.
"Will you quit laughing at me?" I half-growled, causing her to chuckle some more. "And why must we all wake up so early every day, un? Can't a shinobi get his rest around here?"
She shrugged. From my bedside, Akane flew over to land on Kaiya's shoulder, cooing in a tired voice. The clay phoenix seemed to have changed drastically from being in a colder environment, tending to sleep more and attack other Akatsuki members less often. In fact, she hadn't said Ba-caw in days.
"Let's make an effort to conserve daylight," Kaiya said, backing away as I resignedly threw off my covers. "And besides, I think it's a good idea to make the most of all the fun we can have while we're up in the mountains. After all, we'll be leaving tomorrow."
That last comment made my eyes widen. "Already? It's only been a week!"
"We usually only spend a week up here at most," she responded. "But since it's the day before we pack up and head back to our hometown, I prepared a skiing trip for everybody at the ski resort so that we can all have some more fun in the snow."
I tilted my head to the side slightly in confusion. "Shinobi don't know how to ski, or even what it is—"
"I know," she responded, cutting me off. "That's why it's our duty, as regular humans from another dimension, to teach all of you how to ski. It's another bonding thing, and besides, it's a lot of fun once you get used to it. Didn't you see all of the shards that we got from Christmas already?"
"Oh yeah," I mused, recalling how some of our gift boxes had indeed been filled with a couple of those fragments. After we had counted all of them — most of them being found near Pein, for some reason — the Kaiya had determined that there were about fifteen pieces, around a full quarter of what the scintillating orb was supposed to look like. If we could find a way to glue them all together, the orb probably would have been somewhat close to three-fourths completed.
But then again, it wasn't up to me to keep track of it, really. Konan, Kagami, and Kaiya usually did it, or practically everybody whose name started with a K. Excluding Kisame and Kakuzu, of course, though they did come to observe the collection of shards in Kaiya's dresser drawer every so often.
"If we can find some more of the remaining shards from doing more familial activities," suggested Kaiya, "then we just might be able to send you back to your world before February hits, possibly." But when she had uttered that last line, there was some odd pitch that resonated within her voice. It sounded a lot like...sorrow?
Deciding not to take it too seriously yet, I smirked. "I'm still right here in front of you," I teased lightly, "and you're already missing me? What a pity…"
Kaiya immediately fumed, matching the exact type of reaction that I had intended to incite. She pointed an accusing finger in my face, her other hand on her hip. "Don't get so cocky, ya know. Perhaps I won't end up missing you when you leave, Deidei-chan."
"Oh, shut up, un!" I retorted, sticking my tongue out childishly. Darn this obnoxious girl and her witty comebacks!
She stuck her tongue out right back at me. "Exactly my point. Now get up and go change into something warm before I decide to leave without you."
"I don't care if you leave me at home alone!" I countered, crossing my arms while turning my head away rebelliously. "Honestly, that's just more time for me to perfect my art, since I haven't been doing that for a while."
Instead of a frown, like I had expected, she grinned at me devilishly. "Whoever said that I was leaving you at home alone? I mean, I don't know about you, but Hidan can prove to be great company—"
"Alright! I'm changing!"
Smirking victoriously, Kaiya left the room, Akane flying out after her. I swore that as I reached to grab my puffer jacket from the other day, the clay phoenix smirked at me. Smirked!
Great, I thought with a defeated sigh as I donned my winter outfit and slipped on my gloves. Now my own creation is taking after that annoying girl that I've somehow fallen for...how could it possibly get any worse than that?
Suddenly, my hands touched the object that was still around my neck: the necklace that Kaiya had given to me the day before. Having remembered what she had said about the story behind the silver chain with the little bird pendant, I had kept it around my neck for the rest of the day. For some reason, I had no intention or motif that made me want to take it off, despite the chain annoying me on occasion.
Although I knew that I was going to have to be very careful with it while going down the mountain, I ultimately decided to keep it hanging around my neck, carefully tucking it underneath the collar of my jacket so that it didn't easily fly out and bonk me on the nose or something.
Once I was completely dressed out, I ran down the hall and slid down the stairs, noticing how all of the Akatsuki were already disguised and waiting for me. Remembering that I still had to disguise my identity due to my unique appearance, I quickly performed the jutsu, then followed everybody out of the door, locking it behind me.
At first, I wanted to race up towards Kaiya and tease her some more as revenge for earlier, but she was already conversing with a squealing Kagami, while Tobi listened in, standing by his best friend. So instead, I ended up walking next to my oh-so-artistic partner.
"Good morning, danna," I greeted, but the man did not reply immediately, making no other indication that he had heard me except staring at me for a few seconds. After adjusting the scarf that was wrapped around his neck, Sasori continued walking, ignoring me for about another minute until he decided to finally speak up.
"Brat," he said, catching my attention, "do you have any clue on where we're headed?"
I responded with a simple shake of my head. "I honestly have no clue, Sasori-danna. But if Kaiya says that it's going to be fun and if Kagami is already enjoying the walk, then I guess it's going to be rather interesting. She said that we were going to try some activity called 'skiing'."
Sasori remained indifferent. "It sounds like a snow-related activity, since we seem to be traveling towards those peaks on the horizon. Also, it is likely that we're going to climb those mountains and go down, then repeat in some way until we exhaust ourselves. But otherwise, I don't know anything more about it."
"How do they expect us to traverse that mountain so many times without chakra?" I questioned, feeling slightly bad for the people that probably had to scale the mountain while carrying heavy ski gear up the snowdrift. It looked as if it was covered in a solid, flat sheet of snow, broken only by the pine trees and the telephone poles that seemed to be running up and down the mountain.
Seconds later, Naoki answered my question by pointing towards the mountain. "Look closer, you two. Nobody ever climbs that mountain on foot unless they're absolutely insane. We have better methods than that nowadays."
I squinted my eyes at the mountain, and I quickly spotted the method that Naoki was referring to. What I had originally believed to be telephone poles was starting to actually look much different, as if it was...small carts running up and down the peak.
"Do you mean those carts?" I asked, and he confirmed my theory with a nod.
"We can get on those for free, just as long as we have proper ski gear on so we can get back down," explained the boy. "Nobody ever uses the ski lift to go down the mountain, hence the name. Just don't fall out, because none of us will be able to catch you. We'd be too busy trying to holding down the restraint and screaming."
I scoffed at that. "Please! Like I'd ever do something so stupid, un!"
Naoki shot me a glare, then abruptly grabbed my hand and pulled me aside before I had time to even think. We kept walking and following the group, but Naoki put a finger to my lips to prevent the group from hearing what he was about to say.
"You've got stupid written all over your face," he grumbled, placing his hands on his hips, almost mirroring a spoiled brat. Which he kind of was...no offense. "I mean, look at you! You created a fifty-foot phoenix that can use chakra, allowed yourself to wear a girl's outfit for high school, nearly got us all caught after sneezing, fell in love with my sister—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I whisper-yelled, waving my arms in front of me. Luckily, Sasori didn't seem to have notified the group just yet, so none of us paid attention to our secret conversation. "What was that last line again?"
The boy blinked, his glare still remaining. "You fell in love with onee-chan—"
"Alright, I heard it now!" I retorted a little too harshly, cupping a hand over his mouth. However, I removed it seconds later, feeling a slight blush heat up my face. "But seriously, was I that obvious?"
He shrugged. "I don't really pay attention to stuff like that, but Kagami-chan told me last night. She watched what went down two days ago underneath that mistletoe, which I unfortunately had to miss. To be honest, I probably would have laughed for a good five minutes."
I sighed at how he had brought up the whole mistletoe thing again, when I had nearly kissed Kaiya that evening. "But still, why is it listed in the many stupid things that I have done since I came here?"
At that, he arched an eyebrow. "Oh? So you admit that they were stupid deeds, then?"
"Just answer the freaking question!" I growled impatiently, shaking his shoulders. "And hurry up, since we're behind the group right now."
Naoki huffed, slapping my hands away. It was strange, but ever since that Sunday when we had trained Akane and dealt with the horde of children at the front door, I had picked up the habit of grabbing people's shoulders whenever I grew impatient. "Look, I know a lot about what you've done in Naruto, and let me say that I don't support the idea of you getting together with onee-chan. Honestly, I doubt that she likes you back, and even if she does, I still won't like the idea. Ever since they became friends, I've always wanted her to go on a date with Daichi. At least I know that he is trustworthy enough for her."
I didn't have any choice but to fume right there. "Is this because I'm an S-rank criminal or something, un? Are you saying that you don't trust me, not even after we've lived with you for four months?"
"Honestly speaking, I never really trusted you guys from the beginning," he confessed, his voice surprisingly casual. "Even right now, as I'm telling you all of this, I still feel like somebody trapped me in a genjutsu. No criminal can truly have a change of heart, can they? Once a criminal, always a criminal."
"Then what about the past few weeks, or even yesterday?" I roared, now fully upset by Naoki's rant about everybody. "Hidan bought your otouto a skateboard, which he knew was what Yukio always wanted! I gave a box of candy to Tobi yesterday, since I was feeling nice! And besides, if we were true criminals, wouldn't all four of you be dead right now?"
"Enough," Naoki drawled, turning back towards the group. "Let's just head out right now. I just don't want you to damage onee-chan more than she already is, alright? It's for the best that she finally stops worrying about everything that goes on in her life. That car accident...it took virtually everything away from her…"
Not wanting to say anymore, Naoki grunted, and stomped back towards the group, who had still not noticed our absence. I was tempted to follow him, but instead, I stood there, pondering about the words that he had just said.
Naoki really loves his sister to death, I concluded, feeling somewhat distraught. He'd do anything for her happiness, and all he wants is for her to stop thinking about her parents and the accident all the time. Sure, maybe his comments about not trusting me and the Akatsuki came out as somewhat rude and stuck-up, but he still has a point. Based on how she acted back in the near-train crash, Kaiya was very close to her parents before they had died, and now she's extremely worried about losing another person she cares about.
And as I headed back towards the group, the realization hit me like a kunai to the back, and my face instantly turned beet red.
Yesterday morning...didn't Kaiya say that she...cared about me?
Luckily, nobody noticed how embarrassed I was at the moment, and I was able to get away with it by covering my face. It was true: that was what she had said when she had put the necklace around my neck.
As we approached the base of the mountain, my fingers fiddled with the bird pendant, finding it somewhat entertaining. Despite how annoying she could be with comebacks and words, Kaiya did speak wisely during certain times.
"We're here!" squealed Kagami as soon as we reached the foot of the ski resort peak. "Onee-chan, can we go on the ski lift now? Please?"
Kaiya shook her head. "Not yet, imouto. First, we need to rent out some ski gear from the cabin by the lift first. You don't want to get to the top of the peak and have absolutely no way down, do you?"
"Oh, yeah!" said Kagami innocently, as if she had never thought of that before. "You're right, onee-chan! But can we still hurry up? I wanna show Tobi-chan how to ski down the bunny slope!"
At that, Tobi instantly perked up. "Ooh! Tobi wants to see all the bunnies with Kagami-chan! Where is the bunny slope? Does the bunny slope have long ears, too?"
Yukio facepalmed. "Please. The bunny slope? You guys need to get out more...I'm going on the double black diamond, and nobody can stop me!" A mischievous, crooked grin spread on his face, as if he was some sort of evil scientist coming up with a diabolical plan, just without thinking about wiping out humanity.
"Are you sure, otouto?" asked Kaiya, crossing her arms and shooting him a look. "You've never been on the double black diamond before...just the normal black diamonds. Besides, aren't those only for expert skiers?"
He simply puffed his chest in response. "Yeah, yeah, I can do so much better than those dudes! Wait until they see me...Yukio Hoshiyume! A daredevil far above their level!"
Kaiya giggled, shaking her head once again at her brother's antics. "We'll see how you like the intermediate slope first, Yukio-chan. It's been a while since we've last skied, so let's not do anything too hazardous for the time being. Besides, if we just drop off everybody on the double black diamond slope, how do you expect them to learn how to ski?"
The brown-haired boy huffed in a very Kagami-like manner, turning his head away. "Fine, then! I'll show you what I can do when the time comes!"
"Exactly," mused Kaiya, taking Yukio's hand to make sure that he didn't wander off as we stood in front of the ski cabin. "When the time comes, otouto. For now, let's play it safe and teach everybody how to...get to your level."
He smirked triumphantly a that, opening the door to the lodge. "Sounds good to me, onee-chan!"
We all entered the building curiously, observing all the items that were on display inside. Jackets, goggles, and beanies were hung up in many different racks, waiting for somebody to grab them off the hooks. In the corner sat what looked like random poles, probably used for skiing, based on what the signs above it read.
"Come over here," she motioned to all of us, and we quickly followed her to the counter, where the clerk was already waiting with fourteen pairs of metal boots, along with fourteen pairs of assorted skis.
I observed each part of the ski gear until Kaiya handed me my own gear, a nervous look on her face. "I guessed all of your shoe sizes," she admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "Just let me know if something doesn't fit, alright?"
Nodding, I fiddled with all of the random straps and switches on the boot, seeing how each one functioned. Somehow, I quickly figured out how all of them worked, and before I knew it, both of the shoes were on in no time.
Yukio proceeded to hand me my skis, which were an alabaster-white color broken only by a yellow stripe running down the middle. "Put the front of your foot in first," he instructed me, "and then push your heel in until you hear a clicking noise."
Silently, I obliged, listening to the sound of my boots locking in, which was somewhat satisfying. I actually didn't mind listening to the sound of everybody else's boots click in, even though I usually disliked noises that weren't coming from me.
Tobi sat in the corner, clicking his boots in happily, but after Kagami whispered something into his ear, I knew that something bad was going to happen. Suddenly, he squealed, then began stepping on the levers at his heels to unlock his boots, then repeatedly clicked them on and off again.
I was about to rush over and yell at him, but Kaiya handed me a pair of those ski poles that I had seen in the corner.
"Alright," she said, as everybody put their ski gear on, "I think that we're good to head out now. Let's head to the bunny slope first."
Nobody was surprised when Yukio stomped his feet in anger, a miffed expression on his face. "Are you kidding me, onee-chan? I don't want to do such an easy and boring hill! Can't I just go on the peak?"
Kaiya sighed, shaking her head. "Okay, you can take a small group and head on over to the intermediate course, okay? But no black diamonds until I say so, okay?"
Yukio seemed to take some time to think about this, then grinned mischievously. "Sounds good! Deidara and Sasori, do you want to accompany me over to the intermediate ski lift?"
In response, I shrugged. "Sure, why not? I mean, I don't really want to go on the bunny slope either, un. Danna, are you okay with that?"
Sasori just sighed. "I don't really care, brat."
"Yay!" exclaimed Kagami, grabbing Tobi's hand and dragging him outside. "Come on, Tobi-chan! I really wanna go down the bunny slope!"
That made me quickly leave the building, along with Yukio, Sasori, Zetsu, Itachi, and Hidan, to head to the intermediate course. The rest of the group headed towards the opposite direction, planning to refresh their memories by going down an easy slope.
I should have known that once the other group was out of sight, Yukio decided to put his plan into action and drag us towards a further ski lift.
"Wait, where are we going?" I questioned him curiously. "I don't think that the right one is over there."
Itachi nodded, then pointed towards the intermediate ski lift, which was right next to us. "Indeed. Isn't the intermediate ski lift this one?"
"Screw intermediate," sneered Yukio, a confident, maniacal smirk spreading across his face that ironically reminded me of mine. "I don't care about it...every cool pre-teen knows that the real fun begins when you ski down a black diamond!"
As much as I liked that idea, the gleam coming from the silver chain necklace brought me back to reality. "But Yukio, you know what Kaiya said. She's just trying to make sure that you stay safe, not trying to prevent you from doing what you enjoy."
Yukio thought about it for a moment. "Perhaps. But still, I want to go on the black diamond! I won't go on the double black diamond yet, but a normal black diamond isn't all that dangerous, is it?"
"How old are you?" questioned Zetsu, having slight difficulty functioning with his skis. "Perhaps Kaiya thinks that you're too young."
"I am not too young!" retorted Yukio, visibly insulted by the harmless comment. "I'm eleven years old, soon to be twelve next year! I can function just dandy on that slope if kids younger than me have gone down it!"
He was about to dash off again, but Sasori restrained him by attaching his chakra strings to his back, stopping him from going any further. Yukio vainly struggled again Sasori's power, but to no avail.
"Listen to your older sister," he deadpanned, walking towards the intermediate ski lift. "She's trying to do what she thinks is best for you."
"What she thinks," he pouted. "I just wish that she'd let me perform dangerous stunts more often. Why can't she understand that I want to do something fun, for once?"
Because she doesn't want to lose you, too, I mentally answered, but didn't dare say it out loud. A secret was a secret, though at the same time, I could tell that it formed a chasm between Kaiya and her family. So instead, I said, "Maybe because she won't be there to watch you go down and record you skiing?"
"Unlikely," he answered as we approached the ski lift. "Onee-chan rarely uses cameras, let alone video recorders. The only exception is if it's for a school project that involves filming. Nii-chan would be the one doing those types of things, since he wants to direct movies and television shows when he grows up."
We walked up to the ski lift, and I pushed my poles into the ground to propel myself forward. The other Akatsuki members followed this, but some propelled themselves further than others, and eventually, we were in two lines of three people, like we had just formed three-man squads. Standing next to me was Yukio himself, as well as Sasori.
Deciding to follow how Yukio was proceeding to board the flying chair, Sasori and I pushed ourselves forward, just as the chair snuck up behind us and carried all three of us into the air. It wobbled precariously, but I felt a lot better after I activated the restraint that kept us from falling out of the chair.
"Maybe we can see everybody else on the dumb bunny slope," teased Yukio, looking towards the left. "Well, they're not dumb, but the slope itself is."
Peering towards the left, we spotted an ocean of pine trees, along with sheets of snow that made me feel like I was a moving cake decoration, with the fluffy snow as the vanilla icing. Sasori turned his head negative ninety degrees — without moving the rest of his body, being the puppet boy that he was — and observed the terrain as well, but for a while, we couldn't spot them.
A little while later, we spotted some people, but they didn't look like they were part of our group. Most of them appeared to be young children, though I could immediately tell that neither one of them was Kagami. Mainly because neither one of the children was bouncing down the slope with a masked man in tow.
Moments later, Yukio let out a small shriek, telling us that he had spotted something. "Look!" he exclaimed. "I think I see Konan and Nagato!"
For some odd reason, Pein had requested that all of us, including the Akatsuki members that he didn't hold a high opinion of, would call him Nagato from now on. I had instantly realized that it was his real name, based on the way we had said it, but something had definitely happened on Christmas morning that I still needed to clarify.
Anyway, we noticed Konan's familiar bob of black hair — due to her being in her high school transformation — along with a brown-haired Nagato, skiing side by side down the bunny slope. By the looks of it, they had already figured out how to twist and turn, as well as accelerate and slow down.
"They seem to be having fun," Sasori commented, turning towards Yukio. "Perhaps we should have gone for a more leisurely—"
"Oh no, you don't!" the eleven-year-old quickly interrupted. "Anything but leisurely! Now, come on! We'll be getting off this lift in just a little bit."
As we neared the other side of the lift, where all the chairs began to turn around, I lifted the restraint back up, preparing to leave the chair. Yukio and Sasori followed, lifting their skis up so that the chair could push them off as they landed.
When we reached the end, all three of us stood up and stuck the landing, allowing the chair to gently shove all three of us towards where the slope began. Around a minute later, Hidan, Zetsu, and Itachi showed up as well, using their poles to assist their way down to the starting area.
Zetsu took a look around the area, spotting a couple signs that led to some other slopes. "Wait, can you take more than one route down from the intermediate slope? Still, why are some circles and others squares and diamonds?"
"I think that they represent the level of the slopes that they eventually lead to," I guessed, squinting my eyes at the sign. "Circle probably means easy, the square is intermediate, and that's a black diamond, over there," I said, pointing towards a sign that was covered in snow.
"Whatever," said Zetsu, moving down the intermediate route that the lift was supposed to take us to. "We'll be going down this slope right now. Do any of you guys want to follow us?"
Without uttering a word, Hidan, surprisingly, followed the plant-man down the intermediate slope, probably to get away from Yukio, who he still probably despised, even though he had bought the boy a skateboard for Christmas.
Yeah, despised. Not hated.
Speaking of which, where did the boy go, anyway?
I whirled my head around to search for the boy, but he was nowhere in sight. My eyes widened in slight panic as I began looking around for Kaiya's brother, but I still couldn't find him.
"I believe that Yukio already followed those brats down," Sasori drawled, adjusting his scarf once again with his ski pole. "Brat, are we going to follow them down the slope?"
My response was going to be a nod...until I heard the happy yelling from a path that had been marked by a sign.
"So long, suckers!"
Yukio, I recognized the voice instantly, and my head quickly turned towards where the sound had come from. I gasped as I saw a glimpse of the boy's short, brown hair before every part of him disappeared completely...behind the black diamond sign.
"Stop!" I called after him, even though I had already heard the sound of him skiing down the slope beyond the snow-covered sign already. "Remember what Kaiya told you about doing that?"
Swiftly, I sprung into action, pushing off the ground with my ski poles. But just as I was about to go after him, I felt Itachi's icy stare on my back and froze, facing the Uchiha. For the first time in a long time, he had the Sharingan out in public.
"Hn," he mumbled, which I translated as "hold on" by his subsequent hand motion. Slowly, I felt his gaze move from me to the black diamond sign, which he seemed to study curiously.
Has he already forgotten what type of eye he wielded? I asked myself, unsure of why he was staring at the sign so intently. Only the Byakugan can see through signs, not the Sharingan!
Suddenly, Itachi tensed up, making a shiver go down my spine. His eyes flashing dangerously, he bent to the ground, collected a mound of snow, and chucked it right at the sign.
Inwardly, I twitched. All that for just one snowball? How is that going to help the situation?
Itachi's snowball landed on the side of the sign where a layer of snow had landed and covered the rest of the sign. The impact knocked a majority of that snow off, and after the snow cleared, I gasped at what was behind the snowy layer.
"A-another diamond?" I inquired, studying the sign. Suddenly, the realization hit me hard. "Wait...two diamonds...a double black diamond!"
The Uchiha nodded solemnly. "Yukio chose a very dangerous route," he remarked, as if we had already not have known that. "We need to keep him out of trouble before Kaiya finds out."
"Are you sure?" asked Sasori dubiously. "We don't know how to ski—"
"I'm going after him," I announced, which seemed to be taken as a surprise. "What? I'm not missing out on a chance to take on the hardest peak on the summit, un! I haven't done something like this for months!"
But of course, I wasn't as focused on that as I had just declared. Yukio's life came first, especially since he was important to Kaiya and her family. After all, anything important to Kaiya was just as important to me.
"Be careful, brat," Sasori deadpanned, as I began to ski down the path of the double black diamond. I gave him a curt nod, just as I propelled myself forward and skied after the eleven-year-old.
I just wished that I had felt the weight on my neck disappear as I skied past the sign to follow Yukio down the double black diamond.
A/N: Aaaaaaaand we'll stop there. If you didn't know what just happened, the necklace that Kaiya gave Deidara fell off, and Yukio is speeding down a double black diamond without knowing it... O_O
I'm trying to focus a bit more on the boys from now on, since I've realized that I haven't really developed on their personalities too much, other than the fact that Naoki is grumpy and lazy and Yukio is mischievous and rebellious. Either way, both boys were meant to be written as rather overprotective of their siblings and spoiled...
Question: Last song you listened to?
Peace out, lovelies!
— Tenshi —
