A.N.-
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters.
Whoever made them does.
nn;;
Sesshoumaru approached the crossroad. He was unaware of Axel following somewhere behind him in the desert, as that was down wind and he was set on getting to the forest. Rin was humming as she walked and Jaken was obeying the command to 'shut up' that he had be given. As they reached it, Sesshoumaru, and Axel, noted that there was a mountain on one side, a beach on another, their desert, and the forest ahead.
"Look! Sesshoumaru-sama! This is a strange crossroad, Sesshoumaru-sama!!"
"Rin, be quiet! Sesshoumaru-sama will get angry!"
"No he won't, Jaken-sama!"
"Jaken."
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Shut up."
Sesshoumaru was getting annoyed. First a desert, and now this. And who was that on the forest side? Axel wasn't able to see anything through the hard mist that surrounded the crossroad, but he didn't have a demon's eyes. Sesshoumaru concentrated on the spot some more, then they moved closer. He could now clearly see Deidara and Tobi. He didn't even bother noticing the others.
Deidara froze suddenly, sensing the group that was on one of the other sides of the crossroad. Great. More people. Hopefully they weren't like these guys. Even if they were... he could just ignore the other group all together. No need to go get mixed up with even more people. They just needed to complete the mission, nothing else. But of course this plan was ruined by Tobi. Again.
"Hi people!! Senpai! Look! More people are over there!" The masked nin flailed his arms, trying to get the attention of the other group.
"Stupid! Shut up! Un!" The blonde hissed.
Raito poked L in the shoulder. "What should we do now? Leave?" That might not be the smartest choice the two could pick from, though. They could easily lose their way and die in one of the many areas around the crossroad. Or be killed if they came upon more people like Deidara and Tobi.
L tilted his head to the side. "Is it even possible to have this many landscapes in one area at the same time?"
Raito blinked. He hadn't thought of that. And that was probably because it wasn't even relevant to the situation at hand. "Apparently... Where ever we are... It is." He replied slowly.
"Hm." Was L's soft reply before glancing over at Deidara who, instead of beating Tobi like he had done earlier, was now chastising the boy on proper Akatsuki etiquette. Whatever that was.
"You don't just go up and yell at people un. That's what'll get you killed." Deidara finally finished his lecture.
"Oh, senpai! I didn't know you cared!" Tobi squealed childishly as he wrapped his arms around his partner.
"Don't touch me un!" The clay manipulator shot, attempting to tear Tobi off his torso.
Tobi soon let go.
"I didn't mean to challenge your masculinity, if that's what you're getting at." The spiky haired Akatsuki informed consolingly.
"W-What? My..."
"Because you're very manly if you ask me."
"..."
"I would definitely have a crush on you if I went that way."
"Tobi..."
"Deidara-senpai has nice hair, too."
"Tobi. Shut up. Un."
"What shampoo do you use?"
Deidara almost slapped himself in the forehead. Damn it. Why was he always the one to get stuck with the idiots?
"Um... Sorry to interrupt... But I think they're staring at you." Raito pointed out hesitantly. Last time he spoke to Deidara, he nearly got his windpipe crushed.
"Probably because you yelled at them, un!" The blonde slapped Tobi in the back of the head.
"T-Tobi didn't mean to offend them!" He turned and waved over at the group. "Tobi comes in peace!"
Yeah. They were definitely screwed.
Sesshoumaru listened to what to him sounded pointless, Tobi's annoying shouts.
"Shut up."
His most common response. Sometimes he wouldn't even dignify something like that with a response, but apparently Rin was rubbing off on him. He was talking a bit more than he used to.
"Do you know them, Sesshoumaru-sama?" asked Jaken, breaking the 'shut up' rule. Even suggesting that Sesshoumaru should know these people was enough to cause Sesshoumaru to once again pound on his annoying companion. Because of this, Axel laughed, and Sesshoumaru finally noticed him.
"Aren't you dead yet? You idiotic pest."
"Aren't you done being so stuck up?"
"Sesshoumaru-sama, come on!!"
Rin had decided to cross over to the Forest area, and was jumping up and down.
"Jaken-sama, you come over here too!!"
"Rin! Don't order Sesshoumaru-sama around! And get back over here!!"
Sesshoumaru at that point decided to join Rin, and purposely stepped on Jaken on his way. Jaken popped up again after this and immediately ran to join them.
"Wait for me!!"
"Hurry, Jaken-sama!!"
Axel sighed and stepped into another black portal, appearing behind the others.
"Look at all these people, senpai!" Tobi squealed joyfully and spun around on one foot. As you might've guessed, the masked nin /loved/ people. He loved talking to them, making them laugh, doing absolutely /anything/ with them. ((AN- Not that way you perverts. Dx ))
"Un..." Deidara grumbled, bringing a hand to his forehead. Why did he have to get stuck with that idiot as a partner again? Zetsu didn't have a partner, and Tobi had followed the plant man around for a while before he had been permitted to join the Akatsuki. It was probably because poor Zetsu was sick of him, too.
Raito and L watched silently as the other group appeared around them. These guys... didn't look like they came from the city either. That or they might just have decided to dress up in those weird, old outfits and meet here for some sort of convention. That might be considered normal... For some people.
"Moron! Now even more people are here un!" Deidara hissed and slapped Tobi in the back of the head.
"Ouch" The spiky haired Akatsuki whined and rubbed the back of his head.
Sesshoumaru watched Tobi a few minutes, and then looked at Deidara. He looked like a girl, but he smelled male. Yeah, he was male. Weird like that member of the Band of Seven by the look of it, but a man. He then turned to Tobi. He couldn't help punching the one who was now annoying him more than Jaken or Axel, and he told him to shut up again.
"Ouch." Tobi blinked and turned to face Sesshoumaru.
He then screamed.
LOUD.
"Deidara-senpaiIdon'tlikeclowns!!" His words melded together and he spoke quickly and shakily before diving behind the blonde. Deidara couldn't help the anime style sweat drop that slid down the side of his head. He also couldn't help but notice the lord's rather powerful blood lust that he was giving off. If Tobi got Deidara killed, he'd come back to life and haunt the spiky haired Akatsuki until he died or committed suicide.
"Sesshoumaru-sama? What's a clown?" Rin looked at Sesshoumaru. She was very confused. Who wouldn't be if they were from the Feudal Era? They didn't have clowns. For a moment Sesshoumaru shook his head at Rin, but then, as if he had just figured out what he was doing, he straitened up. He wasn't some lowly Idiot like InuYasha and this... Axel. He was a demon lord, and a powerful one. He glanced at Jaken again, trying to see what he was up to, talking with Raito.
"Sesshoumaru-sama is the most powerful demon of all. And I have been traveling with him for centuries."
Raito blinked. "Does that mean you're a demon as well?" college student inquired while staring down at the toad like creature. This really was a strange day.
"Of course! I am the loyal servant of Sesshoumaru-sama! And Rin's protector-" Upon adding Rin to this he paused, turning to see a glaring Sesshoumaru. He was punched once more, and left on the ground to recover while Sesshoumaru returned to the two ninja and Rin.
"Uh... M-Mr. Clown? T-Tobi didn't mean to offend you earlier... Tobi's sorry..." The masked nin stammered nervously as he continued to hold onto Deidara.
Deidara glared back at Tobi. "Let go of me, shit face! Un!" He then grabbed his partner's arms and attempted to pry him off yet again. Jeez. This was tiring.
"Shut up. I'm not a clown. I'm a demon." Sesshoumaru, deciding that force wasn't needed and that Rin didn't need to see more violence, explained, still listening to the bragging Jaken. What an Idiot.
"Y-You're not a clown?" Tobi straightened. "Okie-dokie then!" And then, almost in the blink of an eye, the spiky haired Akatsuki was standing right next to Sesshoumaru, petting his hair. "Your hair is just as nice as senpai's! Tobi wants to use the same shampoo as you guys.." He ran a hand through his hair.
"Moron. Un." Deidara sighed and shook his head.
"Stop petting me!" Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to kill Tobi here and now. But Rin was here and he was pretty sure that at least one of these guys was a good fighter. Jaken looked up, now recovered from being punched, "Gah! Don't pet Sesshoumaru-sama!!" Jaken warned. Sesshoumaru did have soft hair. After all, it was his fur that became his hair, even if the fluffier fur stayed the same. Sesshoumaru decided to just punch Tobi. He did.
"Ouch." Was Tobi's curt reply. A few seconds later he stopped petting Sesshoumaru. At least he wasn't being exploded now. Being punched was much better.
"Ohohohohohoh! Are you an elf? Because you have pointy ears and Tobi heard that elves have pointy ears! Do you have cool elf powers? I wish I had elf powers!" The spiky haired Akatsuki squealed and spun around on one foot again.
"..." Sesshoumaru was really working hard at not punching this brat. He looked down at Jaken. He would have Jaken deal with this. Jaken was good at one thing, and that was distracting people. As Sesshoumaru kicked Jaken over to Tobi, he paused again, this time to glare at Axel again. He walked over to a tree near Raito and leaned against it. Nothing to do right now, might as well listen to Axel's conversation.
L turned as Axel appeared behind him. The guy wore something similar to Deidara and Tobi but... It was slightly different, (lacking the clouds), so that meant he probably wasn't with the other two. It was then that it dawned on him that the guy had appeared out of some weird, black portal. Hn. Didn't he just add to the bunch. A masked, schizophrenic psycho, some moody guy with control over explosives, and now this guy. His hair was so red it could've been mistaken for being on fire... Plus he could make portals to go in and out of as he pleased. He must be dreaming, right?
"That's an interesting trick you have there." L mused as he eyed Axel.
"Thanks...?" Axel looked over L. Not the person that he would normally talk to. But he was better than that Feudal Demon Lord that kept punching the toad thing.
"Do you use that to get around on a daily basis? I've yet to see someone else that has the ability to teleport like that. It's rather intriguing." L tilted his head to the side and finally made eye contact with Axel. Interesting man.
"Um... All of the members of the XII Order get around that way. Its called walking through the hallways of darkness." Axel said, suddenly confused. Now he wasn't being attacked.
"I see. Are these members somewhere around here at the moment?" L chewed on the tip of his left index finger, out of habit.
"Nah, most of them are dead. I don't feel sorry for any of them either. 'Cept Roxas... but he's not really dead..." Axel answered, no longer caring.
"Well, that's rather sadistic of you, isn't it?" L blinked, only averting Axel's gaze once as he turned to see Sesshoumaru beat Jaken on the head. He then turned back to the Organization member. "I believe we're all stuck here, then. I've yet to see any signs of a city or a way out of any of these places." He sighed in a slightly exasperated tone. Raito and him should really be getting back to the task force for the Kira case. But what could happen? Really? Worse case scenario was that they put Matsuda in charge.
//Back with Jaken and Deidara//
"Sesshoumaru-sama is not an elf. He is the most powerful demon of all." Jaken told Tobi. Jaken always got shoved around, but at least not by everyone.
"... Is he /part/ elf?" Tobi inquired, confused. "Or part clown?! Clowns wear make up like that and they come and steal your soul! Like the puppets! Have you ever seen Smile Time? It's about these puppets who come on T.V. and suck the life out of anyone who watches! Oh. My. god. Is he a puppet clown? He forced you to deny it, hasn't he? Hasn't he?!" The spiky haired Akatsuki was now on he knees, holding Jaken by the neck of his shirt and shaking him violently.
Raito stared blankly over at Tobi who was currently shaking the life out of Jaken. "Somehow I highly doubt anyone here knows where we are." He murmured to L who seemed to be spacing out.
"Sesshoumaru-sama is not part elf!! And as for part clown, whatever that is, he isn't that either!! And he isn't wearing make-up! Not as far as I know!! And what's a tv?" Jaken shouted all but the tv part while being shaken. The tv part he looked at Rin. She was the human in their little group. Rin shrugged a bit and looked away.
Tobi stopped shaking him. "Um… a T.V. is this box that you can watch different things in. Like... Have you ever seen people looking into crystal balls and then you can see the people walking around? It's something like that." He paused and dropped Jaken before walking over to Rin and Deidara.
"Miss, do you know where we are?" Rin was talking to Deidara. It was a bad idea, on her part, but she had no way to know that. Sesshoumaru could sense the building pressure.
Deidara twitched. He wasn't a horrible person, even if he was included in a group of mass murdering missing nin. He wouldn't hurt the girl for her mistake... Not like he did Tobi. Tobi was different. "No. Un." He replied in an extremely bland tone, eying the small girl for a moment, arms crossed.
Rin blinked, standing silent for a moment as she sensed the cold vibes she was getting from Deidara. Then she got an idea. Flowers! Who didn't like flowers? "Do you like flowers mister? I like flowers! They are so pretty! Sesshoumaru-sama won't tell me if he likes flowers and Jaken-sama just tells me to shut up." Rin said all of that in one breath.
Deidara grinned. "My favorites are the yellow ones. Un." Yes. The blond /loved/ flowers. He had loved them even more, though, when he stopped to pick them with Sasori. The puppet master never seemed to appreciate his love of them and never accepted them when Deidara offered to give him some, but it was still fun. He had even picked some for the whole Akatsuki once, no matter how strange that seemed.
But that was before Sasori died. Before he had received Tobi as a partner. Now he did /not/ stop to pick flowers if they passed a field. He did not share his knowledge and love of all the adorable little fluffy animals that lived in the forests. He did not skip around the headquarters, humming and giving gifts to the other members on holidays and their birthdays. That was Tobi. And no matter how much he hated to admit it, Tobi was almost exactly like him when he was the newbie with Sasori as his partner. When he was the one being threatened everyday for being annoying. When he was with his Danna...
A sudden wave of depression slammed into him and his grin disappeared.
"Are you ok, Mister? You look sad." Rin said.
Deidara smiled sadly. "Yeah. Peachy un."
"I get sad sometimes too. Bandits killed my parents and brother..." Rin's turn to looks sad, as she thought back time when she had stopped talking. But then she smiled and said, "But then I met Sesshoumaru-sama and I wasn't alone any more!"
Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open at that moment, and he looked at Rin. Had he really cheered her up that much? He was sure it wasn't him that caused her to start talking again.
"That's so sad! I'm not sure what happened to my family..." Tobi wrapped his arms around Deidara. "But now I have my senpai!"
Deidara glared at Tobi, shoved him off and threw an exploding bird at him. And just as it's name states, it exploded a few moments later. "Don't. Touch. Me. Un!" The blonde hissed impatiently, glancing down at Rin. Maybe it wasn't the best time to mention that he had killed his parents and thousands of other civilians in Iwa by an explosion.
"Wow! What was that, Mister?" Rin said, looking at the exploded Tobi. She didn't even seem to notice that it was weird behavior, maybe from watching Sesshoumaru.
Deidara grinned. Not many people actually appreciated his art. Especially not Sasori... Going and saying that permanence was art. His puppets were just tools and things that sat on shelves until they were needed. If ever. Deidara's art, on the other hand, was that of impermanence. The beautiful sight of the explosion taking place, there one minute and gone the next. That was truly a sight to see. Permanence, to Deidara, was ugly.
"It /was/ a clay bird un. I made it with exploding clay." He reached into the pouch on his left side and removed some clay, holding it out for Rin to see.
Tobi stood shakily, wobbling a bit before straightening. He then ran over to Rin and Deidara again. "Senpai can make some really cool sculptures! Like birds and spiders and scorpions--" He cut his words off, noticing the horrified look on the blond's face. Ah damn it. He just /had/ to mention the scorpion, didn't he? "... Tobi's sorry..." He murmured and slouched a bit.
Rin picked up on the fact that Deidara didn't like what Tobi had said, and instead looked at the clay. She didn't touch it, sure that Sesshoumaru would scold her if she did. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Come and see!" Sesshoumaru stopped glaring at Axel, and walked over to the others, shoving the still thinking Jaken out of his way.
Axel looked at L. "Want to hear more about the Order? Or see a cool trick?"
L snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Axel. "Sure." He replied, interested in both those things. He had never seen anyone else like Axel before and the man was... Strange... But interesting. Really, all he had gotten out of his was that he could travel through some darkness hallway and most of his friends were dead. Which was horrible. L couldn't see why Axel didn't seem to care about them. Well... He mentioned a guy named Roxas earlier but that was it. Immediately after thinking that, a question popped into his mind.
"Oh!" L exclaimed quietly, removing the finger from his mouth. "How about your name?" It surely was rude of him to not ask that earlier on. He guessed it was just the fact he was a bit startled by everything that was going on.
Raito stared at L. He, more than anyone, should know the importance of keeping your name a secret. But still. If any of these people turned out to be criminals (like he was sure Deidara and Tobi were) he could easily kill them with the Death Note later on.
"I'm Hideki Ryuuga." L smiled and glanced over to Raito provocatively.
"Oh. I'm Yagami Raito." The high school student bowed slightly.
"I'm Axel. Number VIII. My element is fire." Axel introduced himself. He blinked a few times. Most people he knew didn't go around telling others their names. Well, at least they were polite and gave their names first. Unlike that demon.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." L nodded.
"Your element is fire? Are you proposing you're a pyromaniac?" Raito frowned, which earner him a look from L. Who was the social retard now?
"No... I control fire look." Axel opened his hands and two chackrams, metal frisbees, appeared in them with a puff of fire.
"Wow." L bent over to inspect the chackrams in his hands. Of course he wasn't stupid enough to get /that/ close.
Upon hearing Axel's, L's, and Raito's conversation Tobi bowed to both Sesshoumaru and Rin as Raito had done to Axel. "My name is Tobi!" He introduced himself politely.
Deidara blinked and glowered at Tobi. "You just don't go around introducing yourself to strangers, shi--" He stopped himself and looked down at Rin. Unlike Hidan, Deidara usually watched his language around children. "Stupid. Un." He added quickly.
Tobi pointed to the blonde. "And this is Deidara-senpai!"
Deidara punched Tobi on top of the head. "What the he-- What did I just get done telling you un?!" The tongue in his hand quickly wrapped around the clay and pulled it into the mouth in his palm. It was obvious Tobi was going to be exploded again soon.
"I'm Rin!" Rin said looking at Deidara, then Sesshoumaru, who was still looking ready to kill someone.
"Sesshoumaru."
"I'm Jaken! I have been serving under-" Punched on the head again. Sesshoumaru glared at him. Would he really have to get to the point when he had to lecture Jaken on not going around bragging? He wasn't very popular. He was powerful. With enemies.
"It's nice to meet you both; Rin, Sesshoumaru-sama." Tobi was grinning under his bright orange mask, Deidara could tell from his tone.
The blond sighed and said nothing as he allowed to his hand-mouth to chew on the clay some more as to press chakra into it.
"Sesshoumaru-sama is the most powerful demon ever!" Sesshoumaru glanced down at Rin. He wished she wouldn't brag either, but at least she wasn't bragging about herself. Jaken, on the other hand, did.
Raito sighed. They really weren't getting anywhere. "I don't suppose anyone here knows where we are?" He inquired aloud and glanced around at the people in the area. He was pretty sure all of them hadn't come here merely to talk.
"Cool! My senpai is the best artist ever!" Tobi had to hold himself back from hugging the blonde for what seemed the seventh time in the past five minutes.
Deidara glared at Tobi. That idiot bragging for him was making them both look stupid. He then moved his gaze back over towards Sesshoumaru and Rin. "Mind me asking if you know a way out of here un?" He asked, hearing Raito.
Rin shook her head.
"If we did we would be gone by now fool!" Jaken just had to shout. Sesshoumaru punched him again.
Deidara glared at Jaken. Annoying. He hated that frog thing already.
"Don't call senpai a fool! That's not nice!" Tobi gasped and pointed accusingly over at Jaken.
"eep..." Jaken caught the glare that Deidara was sending him and ducked behind Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru used the chance to knock Jaken towards Axel.
"Sesshoumaru-sama punishes Jaken-sama again..." Rin was holding some flowers she had picked.
"We have no need to be escaping quickly." Sesshoumaru said, wanting a quick response. Actually, he was kind of glad about having a break, even if there were tons of weirdoes around. At this thought, he used his light whip to knock Axel into the trees by aiming at his charkrams.
L stepped back casually as Axel was knocked into the trees. "Are you alright?" He questioned, a bit surprised by the randomness of that attack. He saw no reason for it to take place.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT FOR DOG-BREATH?!?!" Axel jumped up. He glared at the demon lord, who looked away. Fun was the thought that crossed his mind, but he didn't let that show.
Tobi jumped at the shout and brought his hands up to where his mouth would be if he didn't have the mask on. "Y-You ate a puppy, Sesshoumaru-sama?" He squeaked. The spiky haired Akatsuki loved animals. He especially had a liking for puppies. This news devastated him.
Deidara merely sent him an exasperated stare and shook his head. He really couldn't find anything to say at the moment. Well, anything other than his usual insults or retorts that he gave his partner.
"What do you think I am?" Sesshoumaru inquired, tired of Tobi's stupidity.
"Sesshoumaru-sama would never eat a dog! That would make him a cannibal." Informed Jaken. Rin looked up at Sesshoumaru, still holding the flowers. Sesshoumaru didn't look happy.
Axel calmed down, seeing that no response was coming.
"Um... Isn't cannibalism when you eat your own species? I mean, he doesn't really look like a dog." Tobi blinked, confused.
"Un." Deidara agreed with Tobi for once. He couldn't help but stare at Sesshoumaru curiously.
"I really wouldn't be surprised if he was." L noted all the strange things that had been happening that day. Demons, people with mouths in their hands, a person who could make weird frisbee things appear in his hands magically... Today really was a strange day.
Raito could only nod solemnly.
Sesshoumaru growled. Enough of this. He changed into a huge dog. Rin grabbed hold of his fluff, as did Jaken, before he stood up though.
"Behold the mighty Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"Sesshoumaru-sama is really big, Jaken-sama."
Axel could only stare. So much for the puppy comments.
Deidara blinked and stared up at the rather large dog for a moment before glancing over at Tobi who appeared to be enjoying the whole thing.
"Wow, Sesshoumaru-sama! you really /are/ a puppy!" The masked nin squealed, waving his arms to get his attention. "You're so cute!!"
L gained a rather startled look on his face and stepped back a few feet as not to be squished by the giant dog. "These people... are strange."
Raito blinked and stumbled backwards as well. "These people really do have a violent streak, don't they?"
L cocked his head to the side. "Mhm."
Raito chuckled nervously, he seemed even a bit frightened as he stared up at the giant dog, and looked over at the detective. "I really am starting to wonder if this is a dream or not."
Tamaki poked Kaoru in the shoulder impatiently. "You think they're gone yet."
Hikaru lifted his head out of the bush to find both Ahiru and Fakia staring at him. He lowered his head back out of view and nodded. "I think they've seen us m'lord."
"Why are we even hiding?" Kaoru whispered back, elbowing the blond beside him.
Hikaru did the same. "They'll think we're weird or something."
Tamaki swallowed and nodded. Time to start the show. The high school student jumped from the bush and took long strides over to Ahiru. Her hand in his, he clenched it softly. "Might you know a way out of here, my princess?"
Ahiru blushed and stammered inaudible words/sounds. The guy was /really/ good looking. Who wouldn't react like that?
"No." Fakia replied tonelessly. He didn't find Tamaki amusing at all.
Both Hikaru and Kaoru jumped from the bush a few moments later. "Then I suppose you're lost, too." Hikaru grinned, Kaoru leaning up against him slightly.
Fakia wasn't going to answer, and started to pull Ahiru away by the arm.
"Yes, we are." She huffed and pulled the limb away from the brunette. "This place is /huge/!"
That comment was met by silence.
"Well… It… Uh… Looks huge. I mean, it could be really small or something. I haven't looked from the sky because I bet if you did you'd be able to find your way out pretty quickly. And—" She stopped herself there when she finally noticing confusing and/or boring these other people to death.
That was, of course, until she noticed that their eyes were no longer on her.
All four men were staring, almost horrified, up at the giant dog that had just emerged from the forest.
Ahiru mirrored the looks on their faces. Wide eyes, mouths slightly ajar.
"Wow." Came Kaoru's softly spoken statement. What did they miss?
-END CHAPTER-
A.N.-
Hannah played Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken, and Axel.
I was everyone else.
xD;