A.N: Okay I just needed to get this chapter out of the way so the fun can really start. You know the boring important plot bits between the fun chapters. So here it is kinda a colaberation of a bunch of unrealated topics.
Chapter Twenty-four: Family Secrets, Mathematics, And Every Girl's Favorite Toy
"Well," Tobi said in a way that told me he was grinning "I'm Tobi I guess."
"Not what I mean," I said as we walked out of the hospital and into the hustle of the streets. It was almost seven and most lessons were already over. Now was the time that all students would go to restaurants or the Black Widow club to unwind and hang out. It was Tuesday so the crowd wasn't to big but it was still like walking through a crazed school of fish.
"Then tell me what you mean?" he asked and I could tell he was about ready to bust a gut.
"I mean who is Madara and how is it your related to the Uchiha clan," I said pressing my brows together. Tobi took a short breath and linked his arm with mine.
"Ah Jen-chan," he sighed patting my hand "it seems the cat is out of the bag now isn't it?"
"No, duh," I said rolling my eyes and he chuckled.
"Okay I'll tell you," he said playfully "my birth name is Uchiha Madara and I'm the youngest of eighteen siblings. Itachi's mother is one of my sisters making me Itachi and Sasuke's uncle."
"Oh well that makes sense I guess," I said "but what's with the mask…and why change your name?"
"Ninja technique," he said pointing up the index finger of his free hand "what's the point in letting you opponent know who and what you are on first sight?"
"Oh like the ninjas in them old Japanese movies were they are dressed in all black and only show their eyes and hands?" I said making Tobi laugh.
"I see," I said then gave a sly smirk "so since I know about you can I see what's under your mask?"
"Ha in your dreams Dragon Girl!" Tobi laughed unlinking his arm from my arm and racing off to the Akatsuki temple. I giggled and chased after him we both moving at normal human pace so we could enjoy the moment.
Never let Itachi have you think that you'll ever do anything artistic in his classes. I stared down at the giant math problem that he had told me to write down on the paper.
If your moving at a rate of 94 miles per hour on foot and the enemy is moving at the rate of 98.7 miles per hour with a 6 mile lead how long will it take for him to be empty of chakra if he loses one billionth of his chakra every second and if he started at full and has normal chakra control.
"You're an evil man," I murmured but Itachi said nothing. I began to write down what I could for this mother of a math problem. "Itachi can I leave to think about this better?"
"Sure," he said with the tiniest smile that you would need a ninja trained eye to really see. "But no cheating."
As I left still reading over the problem and what I had scrawled on the paper with me chewing on the eraser of my pencil. I tried visualizing the situation at hand but couldn't get myself to think so far ahead. I mean what kind of terrain were we on? What element or Jutsus did the target know? Am I alone or backed up by a team? In most math problems at school these extra facts wouldn't matter and perhaps they didn't matter for this problem either.
I left the hospital into the crisp cold streets. The streets were mostly empty but there was still the trickle of business in the small stores and fast food places. There has to be some sort of trick with this, Itachi knew I sucked at math. I had told him that a few times.
Besides in a squad of four there would usually be one or two people that were skilled in mathematics, why would I need to know this stuff when I was an artist? It was so silly that I would ever have to solve something like this evil math problem.
Maybe I'd be able to think better at home I thought and headed off to the dorm. I had started talking about the dorm like my home with two very attractive artistic brothers. I pushed open the door and Deidara quickly looked up. He was sitting on the sofa his with his drawing pad sitting on his knees. He also had a calculator and a few books on seals and the atom bomb.
"What's up?" I said going over to sit by him.
"Oh just working on this jutsu," he said tapping his pencil on the page before looking at me. "What do you have there un?"
"It's a math problem Itachi-sempai gave me to do," I sighed still chewing on my eraser.
"What's it say?" he asked and I read it to him out loud. "Well what's the question to the problem?"
"How long will it take for him to be out of chakra," I stated wondering what use that was to me.
"Well what information isn't needed to solve that problem hmm?" he asked and I knotted my brow reading over the problem again in my head.
"The rates we are moving at?" I guessed and Deidara gave a wolfish grin. I crossed out the unnecessary information and read what I had left.
How long will it take for him to be empty of chakra if he loses one billionth of his chakra every second and if he started at full and has normal chakra control?
"Well that cuts it down quite a bit," I murmured, "now all I need to worry about is this mega decimal."
"One billionth is a bit much yeah," Deidara stated "cut it down a bit make it one tenth better."
"Um okay," I said "so if he lost a tenth of his chakra every second I um I don't know." My face felt flushed and I could feel the water coming to my eyes.
"Hey don't worry," he said worriedly "I don't think I'd be able to get this problem correct ether un. Just tell Itachi that this one is just way to hard for you yeah."
"No!" I snapped, "I'll get this damn thing right okay? I can't let him down not after I made all those mistakes while fighting Konan!" The tears were in my eyes now and running down my cheeks. "I don't want him to be angry with me."
"Jen-chan this problem is completely ludicrous hmm!" Deidara snapped back at me "It's not meant to be solved! Can't you see this it just a test to see how far you'd let yourself be mentally bombarded before you snap hmm? And you now what Jenny, you completely failed this test! You know you're not good with this stuff but you still wanted to do it on your own! If this were a mission you could get someone killed because you are to proud to say you couldn't do it and let someone else take charge yeah!"
I was speechless as I looked back at the angry blue eye that glared daggers at me. We were nose to nose with each other but I did not dare move forward I was too scared he might bite. There was something more then just anger in his gaze however, there was frustration, worry, and disappointment. He took my shoulders and took a deep breath. I just looked back at him numbly if not a bit shaken also.
"I don't want to see you hurt yourself physically," Deidara said rubbing my shoulders gingerly "or mentally un. You've already messed up your memory for the powers of the dragons so don't kill yourself with needless stress okay?"
"Alright," I said closing my eyes and letting my tears dry on my cheeks.
For the rest of the week Itachi gave me similar riddles but none as horrible as the very first. He explained to me that mathematics as with all things were needed but one must always have a clear head with every situation and not to let problems like that derail you from your main goal. I wouldn't make that mistake again.
The weekend came giving me time to begin packing for the travel home. I wouldn't need much but the boys needed at lest a week of clothes plus emergency extras. They had normal clothes that they pointed out to me to pack for them because it would be odd for them to wear there black uniforms everyday. I also knew it would bring suspicion to the kids of my town. They would ask to many questions and making up lie after lie might bring loopholes to our story. So the boys had to look as normal as possible.
So for most of Saturday morning I was folding and packing clothes for Sasori and Deidara. Sasori had gone to get a language jutsu from Pein-sama while Deidara was getting a disguising scroll from the hospital.
There was a knock on the door making me jump because it had been so silent in the room other then the TV that had music videos on. I sighed feeling the blood pulsing in my ears and walked over to the door to open it. Itachi was standing in the hall wearing a pair of jeans a gray sweater and a pair of dark sunglasses.
"Oh hey," I said with a smile "they let you out of the hospital?"
"Yea," he said plainly.
"What's with the hot shades?" I asked with a flirtatious smirk.
"To protect my eyes since they've been wrapped out for a week I can't have direct sunlight for a little while till they adjust to bright light again."
"I see so what's up?" I questioned putting a hand on my hip.
"To go out to get your sword," he stated with a bored shrug "or did you forget?"
"Of course not! Let me just get some shoes on and I'll be right there," I said disappearing back into the room to pull on some sneakers and took about fifty dollars from my little plastic piggy bank that Kakuzu had gotten me. I went back over to Itachi who was leaning on the doorframe. "Lets go then!"
The weapons store was near the front gates of the Academy and was nearly the size of a temple unlike many of the other miniature shops so for the standards of the Academy it was the mall. There were all kinds of things in there. Smoke bombs that were in buckets with two-dollar price tags like tennis balls you'd find at a spots store. Clubs and medieval flails hung from the ceilings and kunai/shrunken sets put in glass cases like jewelry would be in a normal store. Manikins that would usually wear the latest winter fashion had the newest lines in lightweight armor. Like in a bookstore there were shelves and shelves of scrolls full of Jutsus and summons waiting to be unraveled and learned. And hidden away near the back of the store there were swords that hung on the walls.
There were all kinds of blades from every part of the world. Celtic swords as long as I am tall from Ireland, curved blades from the deserts of the middle east, giant swords that must have been eight feet tall and three feet wide, and even French foils. Of course the largest group of swords were katana of all sizes and color.
"Well go on pick something out," Itachi said crossing his arms.
I wasn't really sure what to pick all of them were so beautiful I was afraid if I touched one and dropped it that it would shatter to pieces. Of course this thought was crazy because these were made for combat. So I picked up a short sword about a foot long that's scabbard was probably made with ivory and had gold-foiled dragons printed on it. Unlike with most stores that sold weapons like this there was no lock on it and I could carefully pull the blade from its case.
"That's a wakizashi," Itachi stated making me look at him questionably "it's a side sword that is used with a long sword."
"Oh," I said looking at the blade "it's beautiful."
"There's the matching katana," Itachi said looking up slightly above my head. I sheathed the wakizashi and looked up at its older brother. It had the same ivory scabbard and its halt was twinned with black and gold weave. I gingerly took it from the shelf putting the smaller sword carefully between my knees.
The katana was heavy but with an extra boost of chakra to my muscles I was able to hold it without much effort. I then unsheathed the larger sword and examined its blade.
"I like both of them," I said still looking at the metal of the blade.
"Then lets go," Itachi said and I smiled sheathing the katana. All together the perches were only like seventy-five dollars and I went home a very happy girl.
"Where have you been?" Sasori asked as I came in and put the bag holding my new swords.
"I went shopping with Itachi," I said pulling out the wakizashi then my katana.
"You know when a girl says she's going shopping one would expect she would pull clothing out of a bag," Sasori stated giving me a lazy look as he pulled a sleeping Loren closer to his chest.
"Did you get the jutsu or were you two making out this whole time?" I asked with a smile as I stood my swords on the windowsill.
"Of course I got the jutsu," Sasori said unaffected by my sass.
"Hmm?" Loren muttered opening her eyes "oh hey Jen," she said sitting up a tad bit bashful.
"Hey haven't seen you in a while," I said with a smile and she smiled back.
"Yea I know but after this week we have a whole week to hang out," she said with a warm grin.
"Uh huh," I said, "how are the sand siblings?" And by sand siblings I meant Gaara and she knew it.
"He's okay," she said "you know same old same old."
"I guess," I sighed slumping down in the sofa next to her. "I can't wait to go home."
"Me either," she sighed putting her head on my shoulder.
A.N: Jeez Sasori hasn't been in a chapter for a while I gatta give him more screen time. Review please!