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Chapter 14: So Much For My Happy Ending
"I'm home!" Autumn yelled, opening the door. All day she had been thinking about the previous night. What was with them? They were acting like there was something wrong. And Itachi, what was with him? He seemed so obsessed with her sharingan last night. Before she and May left for school that morning, he had pulled her off to the side, and whispered something to her. He said that it was time for her to master her sharingan. What the heck did that mean? She had skipped lunch to go out on the roof to think, and she noticed something. There was no one following her. Usually one of the Akatsuki would be there, especially at lunch, to make sure she never spilled their secret. There were still some pretty big Naruto fans in her school, and she could've leaked information to anyone of them!
"How was school?" Pein asked, coming up from the basement. He was looking at her report card from third-quarter. Autumn rolled her eyes, now that gave her an ominous feeling. He was acting worse than her dad used to…
"Great, now 'what' are you doing?"
"Checking your grades, just to make sure you haven't been slacking off in our absence."
"Did ya miss us, squirt?" Kisame asked, appearing out of nowhere.
"Yeah, I just longed to once again come home to a bunch of S-class criminals…" She said, sarcastically. Kisame grabbed her head, and pulled it back so that she was looking straight up at him.
"Did you need something?" She asked, not enjoying his nails so close to her eyes. He just looked up at Pein, and let her go.
"What is with you guys?"
"What do you mean, un?" Deidara asked, walking down the stairs.
"That," everyone in the room raised an eyebrow. "You're all being nice. Last time I checked, Kisame was still mad at me for that stupid fish comment, Deidara, you just seem to enjoy torturing me, Pein, last time you didn't give a crap about my grades, Itachi did. Speaking of him, where is he? As well as everyone else?"
"Preparing for a mission." Pein answered, still scanning her grades.
"A mission? Here?" He nodded,
"Autumn, as a member of the akatsuki, you will go on your first official mission this evening."
"What?" She asked, shocked. This wasn't good.
"You have until 1730 hours to prepare for this mission, dismissed." And with that final statement, he retreated back into the basement.
"You people have GOT to be kidding me..."
"Nope, face it kid, you're one of us now," Kisame said, walking up the stairs.
"Well that doesn't make any sense, I'm still an ally of Konoha." She muttered to herself, under her breath.
"What was that, un?"
"Nothing." Autumn just shook her head, and walked up stairs, only pausing at the fourth floor to catch her breath.
6:00
"Are you ready?" Itachi asked, handing her a kunai. They still hadn't left yet.
"Aniki, I've been ready for over an hour, how many weapons are you going to give me?" Itachi handed her another kunai, and stopped.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked,
"No, but I don't have a choice, do I? What's this mission about anyway? It's got to be big with the amount of weapons you're giving me."
"... It's an assassination mission."
"Really? In my world? That's odd…"
"You don't seem worried."
"Of course not, as I said, I don't have a choice. Do I have to kill them though?" He nodded,
"Great…"
"Leader wants us to report to him now, it's time." Sasori informed them, looking into the room. Itachi and Autumn nodded, and followed him down the stairs.
After they left, Autumn followed Itachi and Sasori through the woods, and down a path. She didn't know where they were taking her, but she didn't object. This was her first official mission, she was sure that if she did anything wrong, they would have her killed, and Sasori wouldn't want anything more that to turn her lifeless body into one of his puppets. They traveled in silence, running, and jumping through the trees like the ninja that (some of them) they were. Autumn was glad that she finally had the potential to keep up with them. No more did Itachi have to carry her on his back! Surprisingly, the fact that she had to murder someone, didn't affect her at all. Instead, her mind was focusing on how much she had improved in the past few months. She had gotten so used to having a normal life that she was now craving for adventure like everyone else did. Normal was nice after her multiple encounters with Orochi-hentai, and his evil harem, but it was also boring compared to the excitement she had felt, being chased through the forest by Kabuto. Nothing compared to the way she felt then. The attention was enough to blow her mind. The most dangerous criminals of that world were after her. And as she had just realized, they still were.
"Aki," Itachi said her name quietly so that only she could hear,
"Hai?"
"Are you sure that you can do this by yourself?"
"Huh?" Where did that come from? It wasn't like Itachi to care this much. He was usually pretty confident in her abilities. "Uh, sure. As I said, I don't really have a choice."
"Hn." And here we go again. They trio kept going until they reached a clearing.
"What?" Autumn gasped, this seemed familiar… It was her school! She looked, first to Itachi, and then to Sasori who answered her unspecified question,
"This is where your mission is to take place." He said, emotionlessly.
"Autumn!" 'May?'
"Ah, and there's your target now." Autumn turned around completely so that her body was facing Sasori
"Say what?! Have you people gone insane?"
"Your mission, is to assassinate this girl. It should be simple enough that even you could do it." She ignored him,
"I can't kill her! Nii-san, do something!" She looked to Itachi, but he just shook his head. May had stopped a few feet away when she had noticed her friend arguing with the two older guys. Wow, Autumn was lucky. She was standing there with two hot guys, and May could barely hold a boyfriend for more then a week.
"You said you were ready, shoujo. Now it's up to you to do your job. But, since I'm feeling generous, I'll lend you a hand." Autumn's body stiffened as she felt Sasori start to take control.
"W-what are you doing?!"
"I'm helping you. This is your first mission. It's time to prove your worth to the akatsuki." Autumn watched in horror as she saw his fingers move, and felt her body move with them. Her legs unwillingly moved her over to where May stood.
"Fall! I got your note! So what did you need, and who are those two guys with you?" Autumn tried to resist as Sasori had her hand slowly inching toward her kunai holster.
"I-I-I can't explain it now, but May, I beg you, please listen," May looked concerned as her friend's body began to tremble, and tears started to form. "Y-you have to leave, now…"
"Huh?"
"You're in danger of getting killed if you stay here, please, just leave…"
"Fall, what's wrong, are those guys harassing you? If you want I can call the police if you want."
"N-no, just go…" Her hand was getting too close...
"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" That was it, she couldn't hold it back anymore,
"JUST RUN!" Autumn yelled as her had grabbed a kunai and slashed at May. Luckily, May had sharp reflexes, and she dodged.
"Fall what are you doing!?" She yelled. Autumn just kept coming at her.
-CRASH!-
The thunder roared, and it started to rain again.
"LET ME GO!" Autumn demanded, trying to gain back her free will. Sasori had her chasing May around the field they were in. May ran in the direction of the school building, and Autumn followed close behind. As a last attempt to save her friend, Autumn purposefully slipped in the wet grass, and fell face first into the mud. Just to give her some time.
Instead of forcing her to get up as she thought he would, Sasori calmly held her in place as he walked over to where she lay in the grass. He released his chakra strings, and bent down over her.
"If you don't want me to help, then I suggest that you get this over with quickly." he grabbed her head, and pushed it further into the mud, "Do you understand?" Autumn didn't reply, instead, she grasped the kunai in her hand, and brought it up, attempting to stab Sasori.
"Foolish, weak shoujo." He said, darkly. He reattached his chakra strings, and forced her to freeze. He turned her around, and made her walk toward the school, where Itachi had May cornered. When she reached his side, he gently squeezed her shoulder, and backed off.
"Please don't make me do this..." Autumn pleaded, as she took another step forward. Her hand went up, and swiftly came down. She cringed when she realized that May didn't move.
"YOU IDIOT! Why didn't you dodge?" May looked up and smiled sadly,
"If you wanted for me to die, you could have just asked. I didn't know that I was that much of a problem…" Autumn paused, she didn't know what to say. Who knew that she thought like this?
Autumn's grip on the kunai loosened, and her body felt numb. She was no longer under Sasori's control.
"No May, you weren't a problem…" She spoke softly.
"It's okay, really. People have told me that I was annoying."
"But you're not!"
"It's okay, just do me a favor, and tell me the truth…" At that moment, May started to cough up blood. She grabbed the handle of the kunai that was firmly planted in her abdomen, and pulled.
"NO!" Autumn screamed, but it was too late. As soon as the kunai came free, blood started to pour from the wound. She didn't know that she had pushed it in that far. She didn't think that she had the strength to do that to another living being.
"Don't cry... If you didn't do it, then my mom probably would've,"
'What!?' May coughed two more times, and bravely faced death in the face without a single tear.
"But... I'm glad it was you..." Autumn gasped as she used her last breath,
"Thank you... Fall." She gasped, and that was it. May was dead. Still crying, Autumn quietly closed her friend's eyes, and turned, not wanting to face such a scene. Itachi offered her a hand, but she refused. She ignored both him, and walked toward the field. She wasn't going to use the tunnels. That wouldn't be safe at the moment.
As she passed Sasori, she noticed him smirking. She stopped and glared at him.
"Come to thank me, shoujo?" He asked. That threw Autumn over the edge, after all she had been through within the past two hours, she definitely didn't need to hear his mouth. She grabbed her gun, which she had brought along, and aimed at him.
"You..." She couldn't bring herself to say anymore. Itachi appeared behind her, and forced her hand down.
"Let me go!" She yelled at him.
"Autumn, stop." He commanded, twisting her arm, and forcing her to her knees.
"He made me kill her!"
"I simply made you do your job." He stated. Autumn stopped struggling against Itachi, and looked up at Sasori, who was right in front of her,
"SHE WAS MY BEST FRIEND DAMNIT!!" Sasori watched in interest as her irises started to bleed red, and a strange design replaced the three twirling commas of her sharingan.
"Mission accomplished," he muttered, walking away. "I'll tell Leader that you're finished." He yelled to the two over his shoulder, right before he disappeared.
'Day three...'
It had been three days. Three days since it had happened... In those three days Autumn hadn't eaten, she hadn't slept, and she hadn't smiled. The only time she had left the seventh floor was when May's parents had come by the next day, to tell her in person that they had found their daughter's body, lying right outside their front door. Itachi's doing, no doubt. Unlike her father, May's mom didn't seem as distressed. Instead she had spent the time that she was there trying to persuade Autumn to move in with them. After her parents had disappeared two years ago, May's mother had offered to adopt her. And why not? In her eyes, she was a straight 'A' student, she worked with little to no complaints, and compared to May, she would've made the perfect daughter. But there was a slight problem. No one except her friends knew what she was really like. The 'Miss Perfect' thing was only an act for the adults. She used it on teachers, parents, and anyone else she met on the street. Even her friends couldn't tell that it was an act when they first met. But her parents could. They always knew. And so she refused.
Her room was dark, just like her clothes. After May had died, she had locked herself in her room, and had sealed off the seventh floor to prevent any others from entering. She had blocked the sun from entering the entire floor, by putting a jutsu on the windows. She hadn't seen the sun in awhile,
'I wonder... Is the sky still crying?' It would have been an odd thought to anyone else that was in the mansion, but to Autumn it made perfect sense, and to her, the question seemed to fit the mood.
After Autumn had shut herself from the world, things took a turn for the worst. Since that one afternoon, it hadn't stopped raining, and because of that, the river wouldn't stop raising. The business district had started flooding, and so did the school, much to the joy of all of the other students. The plants, and greenery in and around Autumn's home had started to wither away, due to the vast amount of negative chakra that was being emitted. Even Zetsu had to use a few different jutsus to protect himself.
For three days, Autumn had been sitting on her bed doing nothing. Well, right before midnight struck, and the fourth day began, the akatsuki had decided that something needed to be done. For an evil organization bent of the destruction of the world, they weren't very keen on the new ever-lasting darkness' effect that Autumn was having on the world. Earlier that same day, they had a meeting discussing the subject. First they would have to break the seal on the seventh floor, which for a group of S-class missing nin, shouldn't be so hard. Then they had to make her happy again. Tobi had first come up with the brilliant idea of killing Hidan, but due to the fact that he was immortal, they couldn't do that. Then Itachi suggested that they buy her jewelry. All girls are supposed to love jewels. Thankfully, Konan still remembered what happened when they went shopping, and smacked him. So that was the end of that idea. Hidan wanted to beat her until she smiled. Just suggesting that, got him a free ticket to seventy-two hours of torture, courtesy of Itachi, who agreed with Tobi's idea. Eventually they did all agree on one idea, but that was brought from Autumn's clone, who had come down to get a glass of orange juice.
"Why don't you just try bringing May back to life?" It asked, walking to the refrigerator. Everyone at the table gasped, why didn't they think of that? But of course, how?
"There's a scroll upstairs that we stole from Orochimaru, try that." Isn't that convenient? Kami (or the authoress) must've been looking down on them that day.
Back with the Emo Girl...
Autumn stayed in her little corner, away from a particularly happy looking bear, that hadn't been affected by the emo cloud that was hanging in the air. The cloud was getting bigger, and bigger. In another chapter or two, it could be bigger then the super emo cloud that May had. Speaking of May, the bear. It was one of her most prized possessions. Her father had given it to Autumn, saying that they had no use for it now. Suddenly, there was a huge blast, obviously aimed for the door.
"Let us in, un!" Autumn raised an eyebrow, and opened the door. Her clone handed her the orange juice, and disappeared. She shut the door in everyone else's faces, and went back to being emo. After a few more blasts against the door, all got quiet. She quietly stepped outside her room, only to see Itachi, Deidara, and Konan standing there. She attempted to run, but it was too late. Itachi picked her up like a sack of potatoes, and hauled her down the stairs, kicking and screaming.
"This isn't working…" Autumn stated, sitting at a table in her library. The evil residents of her home had captured her, and dumped her on the third floor. Across from her sat Pein, and on either side of them were Itachi and Konan. Pein had told her of a way to bring May back through one of the scrolls, but they needed a sacrifice. Of course she knew this already, so she was arguing against it,
"HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"
"NO! I AM NOT HAVING ANOTHER PERSON KILLED FOR MY SAKE!!"
"...It would do you well to listen to your superiors, shoujo." He stated glaring at her.
"Why do you care so much? My happiness has nothing to do with this."
"If your 'happiness' weren't affecting the world outside, then I wouldn't."
"What do you mean?" Pein motioned Zetsu forward. He had been standing in the corner waiting for Leader to allow him to show her. He took off the henge that had been on him. Autumn gasped, his leaves and his hair had both turned brown, and except for the rest of his body being two different colors, he looked, well... normal.
"What happened, are you okay!?" Since when did she care? These people were murderers for Pete's sake!
"Your mood. Due to how you feel, you body emits a negative chakra, effecting everything within a twenty-five mile radius." Wow... that was a lot.
"Twenty... Five... miles?" Pein motioned to the window. Zetsu opened the blinds, and stood to the side as Autumn got up from the chair, and looked out. Due to the continuous rain, and the fact that she lived on what used to be farm land, the area was flooding.
"There's water in the basement too." Zetsu added.
"If you really want me to be happy... then, just leave." She said, addressing everyone in the room. Just then, Tobi burst into the room.
"Tobi is a good boy! Tobi got the mail!" He yelled, holding up what looked to be a letter. That was weird, normally, because of the jutsu that was set up on the mailbox, Orochi-baka received all of the mail. Autumn looked at Pein suspiciously,
"Allow me to explain, a few months ago, we infiltrated Orochimaru's lair, looking for you. When we did, we revealed the fact that we lived with you part time, and he 'handed over' the deed to the house, and undid the jutsu on the mail system. Therefore, I am the owner of this house, and I'm the one paying the bills."
"Then what is that?" She asked, pointing to what Tobi was holding. Pein took it, and opened it. His eyes scanned the paper briefly before he put it down.
"These are your adoption papers."
"..."
"..."
"...WHAT!?"
"After running away from the government for two years, you didn't expect it to finally catch you?" Sasori asked, walking into the room. Autumn glared at him.
"How would they know?"
"Your parents are still MIA, and the school system has been taking notes apparently." Pein answered, he handed her the papers.
"While you were on your mission, I took the liberty of contacting social services. You should thank me, they were planning on picking you up next Thursday."
"...I think I could've taken my chances." She said, walking out of the room.
"What should we do?" Konan asked,
"We might as well give her time to think. We'll leave on the next new moon."
Autumn quietly cried her way up the stairs. This wasn't fair! He had no right to adopt her without her permission! She looked over the papers in her hands. They were real all right. If this was their weird way of apologizing, then they seriously had issues. Before she got all the way up to her room, Autumn was stopped by Hidan, who was standing in front of her door.
"...What are you doing?"
"Waiting." He answered, resisting the urge to be an idiot.
"For?"
"Leader's orders."
"Well could you wait somewhere else?"
"Nope." At that moment, Tobi ran up the stairs, followed closely by Deidara.
"Aki-chan!!" Tobi jumped on her, and Deidara tripped on a stair, and fell on his face.
"What's the matter now?"
"Tobi thought that because Kisame-san was good at using water jutsus, he could get rid of the water, but instead all he did was make it worse!!"
"...Eh?"
"Come with Tobi! Tobi will show you!" Tobi grabbed Autumn's arm, and dragged her down the stairs. In his rush, he trampled Deidara, who was attempting to remove his face from the floor, only to get it shoved back, creating a hole in the stairs.
"...Wow…" That was all Autumn could say as she gazed at the newly formed lake that used to be the first floor of her home.
"What happened?" Itachi asked, walking down the stairs, only to stop at the second floor, where he had a wonderful view of the lake.
"Your partner. Has anyone seen Kakuzu lately?"
"He was in the basement."
"...Oh... so who wants to tell Pein? Since he's the one paying for the damage…"
"Tell me what?" Pein asked, walking down the stairs, he didn't notice the water until after he made it to the platform between the first and second floors. As soon as he realized, he turned to Autumn,
"You have three seconds to explain why I'm standing waist deep in water..."
"..."
"... Kisame," Itachi answered for her. "And apparently Kakuzu is still down there." Pein sighed, and walked back up the stairs.
"We are having shark fin soup for dinner." He announced, and left.
"... Well I'm not going down there." Autumn said. Tobi had already left before Itachi had come down, and Kisame was hiding from the awaiting wrath of the rest of the akatsuki.
"You shouldn't be so angry with him." Itachi said, out of nowhere.
"What do you mean?"
"You should be honored, you were the only child to be adopted into the akatsuki by more than one member."
"Why? I don't feel very honored."
"Leader-sama adopted you for your own good."
"I could've handled social services by my self!" Autumn snapped.
"Maybe, but what would they have said when they found a bunch of random guys living in your house?"
"...Touche."
"You should be grateful."
"That's not what I'm mad about."
"So you admit it. If it's about May, we could always sacrifice Hidan." Autumn smiled at his joke.
"That's not it. It's just... well, I left for months, and living alone, I was finally getting used to being alone again. I had a normal life, normal friends, just... normal. But then you guys come back, throw all of this into my face, force me to kill my best friend FLOOD MY HOUSE and expect me to not care about anything." She shouted that one part, hoping Kisame heard her.
"Aa, you blame us for ruining your 'normal' life."
"Basically…"
"But, it can't be helped. It's more than just your life at stake here. Remember, all of us are doing our best to make you the best kunoichi in both of our worlds."
"Oh really? I thought you guys just enjoyed watching me suffer."
"Some of us do."
"Not helping."
"Not supposed to. I'm not here for your comfort, I'm here to tell you the truth."
"Don't you know that the truth isn't always the best?"
"I know, but as I said, I'm here to tell you the truth."
"So, who's going to get Kakuzu?" Autumn asked, changing the subject.
"No one."
"Aa."
"...Hn."
"I don't know why, but I suddenly want to go for a swim..."
"Have fun," Itachi turned around, and went back upstairs to tell Hidan that his partner was going to die. Autumn slowly walked down the stairs until the water was up to her neck.
'I have a bad feeling about this…,'Sshe thought to herself, and she held her breath, and kept walking. The water was surprisingly clean, and clear, except for all of the debris from what had been down there in the first place. She kept forcing her body down into the water until she could no longer. She was far enough that she could see the front door, but that was it. She swam down further until she saw that basement door. Suddenly there was a large shadow behind her. She turned, but there was nothing there.
'Must've been my imagination…' She thought, swimming toward the door. She could see that it was moving as if someone were trying to move it. Confirming that Kakuzu was really going to die, she turned around, and swam back up. As she reached the surface, she heard someone playing the 'Jaws' theme, which was kinda of weird. She looked toward the stairs, and found that everyone except Kisame, and Kakuzu had all gathered in that area. Autumn shrugged, and dove back under. She swam back to the door, and waited there for a second, thinking.
'Should I, or should I not?' She grabbed the handle, and shoved as hard as she could. It didn't work. She tried again, only with chakra. This time it worked. As the door opened, she was immediately sucked in.
The basement was cool and dry, despite the state of the floor above it.
"What just happened?" Autumn asked, looking around. Kakuzu and Kisame were sitting across from her in two seperate corners.
"This idiot here, decided to flood the first floor instead of the basement, causing thousands of dollars worth of damages." Kakuzu explained, glaring a Kisame.
"I said I was sorry!" He whined.
"... So how do we get out of here?"
"We don't until Kisame reverses the jutsu." They both looked to Kisame,
"I can only create water, not take it back."
"We can't go out the window, since there's still more flooding out there, and we can't use the door as you've just seen."
"So basically we just wait here until we sufficate?"
"Yep."
"Uh-huh."
"That sucks."
"Agreed."
"Ditto, kid."
"Will you stop calling me that?"
"...No."
"...F you."
"If you keep this up, you going to end up just like Hidan." Kakuzu groaned.
"I only said the letter, I didn't say the word!"
"First step…"
"You sound just like him!"
"I can't help it if it's the truth."
With the Rest of the Akatsuki...
"Shouldn't we be worried, un?"
"She's the one that decided to go for a swim, it's her fuckin problem," Hidan said, amused.
"Leader?"
"She doesn't want, nor does she need our help." He stated, obviously not caring.
"You make a bad father, un. No wonder she hates you." He shot at glare a Deidara, and walked back upstairs to prepare for their departure.
"What are you doing, un?" Deidara asked Itachi as he took his cloak off, and stepped into the water.
"I'm going to open a window." He said, and with that, he dove under.
By the next day, the water was gone, and Autumn was in a better mood. She was still sad, but it was hard to stay depressed when all of the people around her were getting the crap beat out of them, and she had a front row seat! First it was Tobi, for no reason. Then there was Kisame, for flooding the first level. (which was being restored) And to make things better, Hidan! Man, life was good!
The water had gone down thanks to Autumn's slowly improving mood. And the house was being cleaned by Tobi, Deidara, Kisame, and Hidan. So until school started again, there was nothing to do.
Pein had announced that they were going to leave again earlier that morning. Autumn didn't mind. Just because she was in a better mood didn't mean that all was forgiven. She was still pretty sore at Pein and Sasori. Itachi was never really in trouble, though.
In three days, the new moon would rise, and she could go back to normal... she couldn't wait.
May 7th, Midnight…
'Today was her birthday…' Autumn thought to herself, as she lay in her room alone. The previous week, the Akatsuki had left her home, once again, and she was left to drown in her misery. She really did want May back, but she didn't want to watch anyone else die. Getting tired of doing nothing, Autumn got up, and went downstairs. She didn't really mind the long walk. It gave her time to think before she reached her destination. Before she made it to the first floor, she felt drawn toward the scroll that lay opened, but untouched, on the table in the library.
'What is wrong with me?' She asked herself, as she entered the room. Maybe she could ask Pein to sacrifice Hidan. It wasn't as if he was going to die. Or Kabuto, or Orochimaru.
'No.' That wasn't the best idea. She still needed to ask them about her parents. They couldn't die until she had answers, and after that, they could fall off a cliff, or jump in a lake for all she cared.
'Maybe then I could...' Autumn mused, as she gently ran her fingers across the ancient parchment that the scroll was made of.
There were other ways to bring her back to life. She just had to find them. Maybe she could try and enter the world of "Fullmetal Alchemist" and find the philosopher's stone.
'As if,' She doubted that she could even get there in the first place. Plus if Ed had been looking for it for years, how could she find it within the month she had before the akatsuki came back? Throwing that somewhat stupid idea out the window, Autumn sat down at the table and attempted to be serious. Maybe she could just forget about her? Not gonna happen. Suicide? ...Maybe... She definitely wasn't going to commit homicide for a second time.
Well then, as most of us should already know. Emo people do not need to start thinking about killing themselves. Especially if they're all alone, in a house full of sharp/pointy ninja weapons, random guns, senbon (needles), and evil/dark scrolls. Not to mention the emo cloud above her head which was starting to emit random streaks of lightning.
Dismissing, yet accepting her suicidal thoughts, Autumn took another look at the scroll in front of her. Maybe she could get around the whole sacrifice thing. Maybe, instead of sacrificing another person, she could sacrifice her chakra! It was basically the same, since chakra was a person's life force. If that didn't work, then there was always her math teacher...
First, though, before she attempted any of that, she was going to eat something. All this thinking had taken up a total of about three and a half hours. Never too early for breakfast!
One week later...
Autumn still hadn't bothered with the scroll. In that one week, she had fallen so deep into depression that the emo cloud above her head had become hurricane Emo. She had to tie herself to the bed at night just to make sure she didn't fly away.
Her emo-ness didn't seem to improve, since school started again, and the whole entire school was buzzing with the news of May's death. Plus, just so they wouldn't have to make up the missed days, the teachers were giving their students all of the homework that was missed, and they were giving a test to make sure that they understood it at the end of the year.
None of the Obsessionists were talking. Not to each other. Not to the teachers. All of them were in silent mourning. They had been referred to the school councilor, but none of them said anything. Some of the girls cried, but that was it. Autumn just played around with her chakra the whole time. She had been storing her chakra by creating a seal, much like the one Kabuto used. The seal kept her chakra inside of her body, instead of releasing it at night. She didn't really need it. She wasn't sleeping. Since the akatsuki left her house, her insomnia had come back.
There was still Cleo, though. Autumn truly hated being alone again, but if Cleo was her only option, then she could forget it. She hadn't even thought about that snake since she left her at Oro's. She could just wait a bit more. If her body didn't collapse from the stress, then she might still have a chance...
Another week of emoness later...
Autumn was lying on her bed. Her body felt as if it was on fire. Sadly, just as she predicted, her body collapsed from the stress of holding so much chakra. She couldn't move. If she tried, she was sure that more pain would follow. Suddenly the house start to shake, but just as quickly as it started, it stopped.
"WE'RE BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER BI-?" Hidan started as he burst into Autumn's room. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU!?"
"Could you please not yell... I'm in enough pain as it is, the last thing I need is a headache..." Autumn begged, but Hidan didn't listen. Instead, by the time she finished that sentence, he was halfway to the second floor.
"ITACHI!!" She heard Hidan's resounding voice. Well, he was mad at something, anyone could tell that. About five minutes later, Itachi appeared in Autumn's doorway.
"Akiko, daijobu?"
"Yeah…" Itachi looked at her, obviously he didn't believe that. He walked to her side, and gently poked her in the forhead.
"Ooowww..." Autumn whined. That didn't help. Itachi examined the newly made burn on his finger. No wonder she was in pain... Itachi examined her arms first, much to her complaint, and then checked her legs. When he didn't find anything, he checked the back of her neck. And behold, the item he was searching for. She had sealed her own chakra with a certain type of tag. Only she could remove it.
"Foolish little..." He paused. Wrong person.
"I'm not Sasuke, remember?" She bit out, "Why are you here anyway? You're not due back until next month." Itachi just shook his head in response. He grabbed her arm, and directed it to the seal on her neck.
"Take it off." He commanded.
"No!" Autumn cried, weakly. Using what strength she had left, she pushed herself off of the bed. But, Itachi still had a hold on her arm. He wrapped her fingers around the edge of the tag, and ripped it off. Almost immediately, Autumn's strong, almost suffocating chakra signature, filled the room.
"Are you trying to commit suicide?" Itachi asked, calmly. Autumn didn't answer, instead, she started to make rapid hand signs, and she disappeared. Itachi raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember teaching her that yet.
Autumn reappeared in the cemetary where May had been buried the previous week.
'It's now, or never...'Despite the vast amounts of pain that were plaguing her body, she still managed to perform the appropriate hand signs, and hoped that only her chakra would be enough of a sacrifice. Autumn placed her hands of the grave, and started to release all of her stored up chakra. She could already tell that it wouldn't be enough. The emo hurricane, floated away as it felt that it's host wasn't going to be around much longer, and conquered the sky. As rain started to pour down, Autumn pushed harder. She was risking her own life, but it was worth it.
Itachi looked out the window. He knew what she was doing, but Pein forbade him to go after her. It was her choice, and hers alone. If she was that desperate to die, then so be it. Suddenly, everything stopped. The rain, their breathing, and even their heartbeats.
At that moment, the akatsuki disappeared from our world. For what may have been the last time...
May sat there crying, much as Autumn once did when it was her turn. She held her best friend's head in her lap, and cried to her heart's content.
"YOU IDIOT!!" She cried out to the world. Sadly there was no one around to hear her. Even if they did, they wouldn't care. The only person who ever cared was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it...
May sat quietly, as a strange talking snake explained to her, the details of Autumn's life.
"So she gave her life to save me?" She asked, scared of both, the fact that the snake was talking to her, and the snake itself. The snake noticed her fear, and to her amazement, changed into a human right before her eyes!
"Yes. A foolish thing to do in my opinion, but in your case, necessary." At that conclusion, May would've started crying again, but she was still staring at the spot where the snake used to be.
"W-who are you? What are you!?" She exclaimed. The 'snake' gave a low bow, and explained,
"My name is Cleopatra, I am the summoned familiar of your former friend, Autumn."
"Summon?" Cleo sighed, this was going to take awhile. But, that was okay, she was sure she could spare a few centuries.
Cleo had brought May to Autumn's house, and finished explaining. It was easier after she tied May down to a chair, and forced her to watch episodes one through two hundred and twenty of Naruto in Japanese.
"So what do we do now?" May asked, as the credits started to roll.
"If we're lucky, the akatsuki won't be back for a long time. Until we're sure, it'd probably be best for you to go home." Cleo said, getting up.
"Can I say goodbye to Autumn first?"
"Go right on ahead, but if you collapse on the stairs, I'm not going to take you home." May nodded, and headed up to the seventh floor. Because it was still raining, Cleo had taken Autumn's body, and left it in her room. She put a jutsu on it to keep it preserved.
May made it to the seventh floor in less time than she had expected. She opened the door, and stepped inside.
"I can't believe that you did all of this for a good-for-nothing, like me." May said, forcing herself not to cry. She walked over to the bed, where the body was, but there was something wrong... Autumn's body was gone!
"Looking for something?" Came a voice from nowhere.
"Huh? Who's there?!"
"It's too bad that our Aki-chan had to waste her chakra trying to save you..."
"What the hell are you talking about, and who is 'Aki?!"
"Aren't you the polite one?"
"SHUT UP!! Who are you, and where is Autumn?!"
"Over here!" A new voice said. It was a more feminine voice. May turned her head to the far side of the room. That side was dark, so she couldn't see. All she could see were... Green eyes?! What the heck? No one she knew had green eyes.
The person she had been talking with earlier started to grow impatient, and threw a kunai in the direction of her head.
"Eek!" The kunai barely missed her head, and planted itself in the floor, taking a lock of her hair with it.
"Now, if you don't mind, I believe that it's time for you to leave us." The voice said, revealing himself to be... Kabuto! May brought her hands up to protect herself.
"Kabuto-kun!" The girl in the corner whined. (Anyone else finding this a bit creepy?)
"Relax." He said to May. "I've been asked not to kill you, but you are going to leave. I'm just going to drop you off in the middle of nowhere, and get on with my happy life. Sound good?" May gasped and backed away. She attempted to run out the door, but she tripped over an annoyingly happy looking bear.
"Kaaabuuuutoooo-kuuuun!! She's getting away!!"
"Will you shut up already?!" May yelled, throwing the bear at the girl's face. For a brief second the eerie glowing eyes disappeared as the bear hit it's target.
"Heh," May snickered. It was funny, until Kabuto took advantage of her distraction, and grabbed her arm. He flipped the light switch, and the whole room was suddenly bright.
"Are you alright, Akiko?" Kabuto asked the girl on the other side of the room.
"I'm okay! And this bear is so cute!" She responded, hugging the bear tightly. This was the first time May had been able to see what she looked like. She was wearing a plain white yukata, and her hair was extremely long. So long that it hid her face from view.
"Good." Kabuto said, as he dragged May toward the girl. She giggled, happily.
"Now what would you like for me to do to her, Aki-hime?"
"Oh, please don't hurt her! She was my friend after all."
"Huh?" May was now officially confused.
"Hmm? That's right you don't seem to know yet. If you would be so kind to show us your face, dear Autumn."
"What?!" The girl giggled, and gently tucked her hair behind her ears.
"Good to see you too, Mei-chan!"
"Y-you couldn't possibly be-!" Kabuto cut her off, by forcing her to her knees.
"It's polite to bow to your superiors."
"To hell with that! You can't be Autumn! She has brown eyes!" She screamed as Kabuto twisted her arm.
"Actually, they were more of a hazel, but that works too!" 'Autumn' said giggling. That was a fact, but it didn't help against the fact that she looked so much like her.
"That? It's only a side effect. Using so much chakra, and everything else she's been through..." Kabuto explained, as May tried to kick him.
"Shut up! You don't know! Autumn wouldn't act like that!" Kabuto twisted her arm even further.
"Maybe not, but you'll have to believe me that she really is Autumn." Cleo said, entering the room.
"Cleo-chan! So nice of you to join the party!" 'Autumn' said, happily. She smiled, and hugged the bear even tighter. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and looked bloodshot.
"Akiko! What's wrong!" Kabuto yelled, forgetting May, and running to her side.
"Shut the hell up you bastard! For that last fuckin time, that is NOT my name!!" Autumn yelled, pushing Kabuto away.
(Just a side note, if you've noticed, in this story the only time Autumn has officially cursed in this story was in the second chapter when she got pissed off, and yelled at Pein. If Autumn's angry enough to say more than one curse word in a sentence, then you had either start running, or say your prayers)
Cleo gasped at Autumn's language, while May cheered.
"HA! Way to go Autumn!!" Kabuto glared, but redirected his attention to Autumn as she attempted to punch him in the face.
"That's doesn't seem like the way 'princessess' should act." Kabuto stated, grabbing her arm, and throwing her to the other side of the room.
"I'm NOT a fucking princess! So shut the fucking hell up and leave me the hell alone!!" Before she hit the wall, she turned, and regained her balance, and used the wall to jump back at him. But, before she could reach him, he disappeared. Before he left all he said was:
"You will never be able to escape us, Princess..." Immediately after, Autumn collapsed.
"Are you okay!" Both Cleo and May exclaimed, running to their friend's side.
"I-I'm fine..." She bit out, grabbing desperately at her neck.
"Let me see!" Cleo said, moving Autumn's hand. What she saw made her gasp. It was Orochimaru's curse mark.
"Cleo..."
"Shhhh..." Cleo wrapped her arms around the girl's head. She had been through too much. No one deserved to go through all of this at age 13. Autumn grabbed, first at the carpet, then Cleo. May looked in terror at her friend. She had only seen the curse mark in the episodes, but this... this was real.
It was at that moment, that May finally realized that things would never be the same again.
"Are you done yet?"
"Let me think… Uhh… No."
"Well could you please hurry up? I need to get to school!"
"Oh, stop complaining already! It would've helped a lot more, if you knew how to do this yourself."
"Well, I'm sorry that before this I actually had a life. That didn't include putting makeup on every morning!"
"It'd still help if it did..." Cleo laughed.
"What's so funny!?"
"Oh, nothing. Just the thought of you putting makeup on every morning."
"Shut up." It was the first time that Autumn had bothered going to school since she had come back from her experience with death. Sadly, her curse mark was completely visible. It wasn't winter, so she couldn't wear sweaters like she did then. Instead she had to face her worst fear... Makeup.
"I might get done faster if you were nicer to me."
"Fine, could you please, shut up?"
"Hmph. Done. Now was that so hard?"
"Yes, can I go now?"
"You're free."
"Thanks Cleo!" Autumn grabbed her skateboard, and headed out. Her life was anything but normal, but she could learn to live with it all. Cleo had said that she was going back to her world as soon as summer started, since that was the time that she wouldn't need her.
May had gone home to her parents earlier. She didn't want to go, but they were still her parents. Her father had visited Autumn after he found May's grave empty. That day, he saw his daughter walking down the stairs, and he broke down in tears. His wife objected of course, but he finally took charge. He had filled for divorce.
As for everyone else, Autumn had picked her team for that summer's challenge, and so had Joey. Both sides had fans within the school, since both captains had a moderately high popularity level. May wasn't on either team, surprisingly, this was serious in the eyes of children. Autumn wanted the best she could find.
Autumn had finally accepted the fact that she was going to be alone again, and happily embraced it. Her insomnia had come back, and she was hoping that she could go back to the way things were. Cleo had informed her that her eyes would be green forever, not that she really minded. They were cool. They seemed to work a bit like byakugan, except, she couldn't turn them off.
No one knew what happened that day with Kabuto, but in truth they really didn't care. They were just glad that everyone was alive, and well.
Cleo smiled in the direction that Autumn went. She seemed unaffected by what had happened. She seemed so happy. It was hard to believe that this was the same naive girl she had met less than a year ago.
'Oh well...' Cleo thought to herself. There was no reason to dwell in the past. Just look toward the future.
"Look to the future,
What do you see?
I see:
Peace,
and Pleanty,
and Harmony."
The End.