Me: Okay, I got one review and that's okay. I wanna write this chapter anyways, I mean its not like there's some homework I'm trying to procrastinate (Okay there really is homework I'm ignoring)
(Btw way I already finished most of my work, in case anyone was wondering, I'd somehow got my mom to help me out with it)
"There she is..."
"Stay away from her"
"Disgrace."
Suzukanene ignored the whispers. She walked boldly and confidently throughout the Inu village, walking straight down the southern main road. The Inu village was a jointed village with another human one. Two villages co-existing together, both hidden from the outside world. The houses for the main Inu and human clans were in the center of the village.
Suzu thought the village had always looked like a candy ball with filling in the middle. She would have been living in the center with the others if they were still alive.
Suzu skirted around the wall that separated main clans from the other branch families. She continued down it, occasionally tapping the wall with her fingers like it was a secret code only she knew. She stopped five houses down from the end. The house looked as if it grew out from the tall white wall. In truth it was connected to another house in the other side. As much of an outcast as Suzu was, she was still a member of the main Inu family.
"Suzu-chan?" A gentle voice called from behind the door, a figured appearing from it. A short woman with long black hair stepped forward. "Welcome home." She smiled when she saw Suzu.
"Good afternoon auntie Yoshida." Suzu greeted, running up to give the woman a big hug.
"My goodness." Yoshida laughed, returning the favor. "You're getting bigger everyday. How old are you now?"
"Auntie!" Suzu pouted, shocked that her aunt dared to ask such a thing. "I'm seven! My birthday was just a month ago! You need to remember these things! I'm going to stop telling you soon."
"Forgive me, forgive me." Yoshida smiled, gently tapping her knuckles to her head. "I'm such a ditz aren't I?"
"You're forgiven." Suzu huffed, turning her head away. Yoshida chuckled and absentmindedly stroked Suzu's tan hair.
"Suzukanene," She frowned. "Your hair is a mess. We need to do something about it...."
Suzu rolled her eyes, same old auntie. "How about you worry about dinner and I'll worry about my hair."
"I guess..... but-"
"but what! I'm hungry!" Suzu laughed freely. Smiling at her only family, her only friend.
Suzukanene work up in a pitch black room. At first she thought she was still in the underground tunnel, that the lake, the power, her capture was all some elaborate dream. She stood up but her wrists where chained to the ground. A arms length cord, bolted to the floor
"Shit." she cursed under her breath, tugging hopelessly and her bindings. "dammit."
She peered into her black surroundings, too dark to discern anything for sure but it looked like a normal room, four walls, one ceiling and one cold floor.
'That Deidara guy brought me here.' She thought, tugging one last time on the chains. 'He said something about others.... he couldn't be with those first humans I meet could he? No he was apart of the black cloaked group. Well what now.'
What now, the thought played around in her head. She had no idea whatsoever. The chains were strong and she could never hope of breaking them. She couldn't even see a door in this dark room. What if the people that caught her were in here too? Watching her from the shadows. She sniffed the air. No one was in here with her.
What could she do? There was nothing for her to do, but wait and see.
She waited in that hell hole of a room for what felt like an eternity when the man with the blond hair, Deidara, walked in.
"Hey there, un." He smiled crookedly, checking if her chains were still togeather in one piece. "Glad to see you're awake, un. Leader-sama wants to talk to you yeah."
"Leader?" She questioned. Deidara didn't say anything and pulled a chain of keys from his pocket. He picked through them until he found the one he need and unlocked the chains around her wrist.
"Be a good girl and come with me, okay?" He grabbed her firmly by the wrist, dragging her up. She snarled and jerked away from him, backing up slowly into the corner.
"Tell me where I'm going first."
Deidara frowned. "You're going to see Leader-sama. He just wants to ask you a few questions yeah."
"Where am I." She could feel herself growling, her fingers curled like claws.
"Hey, hey" Deidara eased towards her, "We're not going to hurt you, we wanna help you, un." He smiled reassuringly. Suzu eyed him warily.
"I don't trust you." She said bluntly, another snarl emitting from her throat when he was getting too close. Deidara stopped and stood his ground.
"Just come with me, and everything will be clear. Leader-sama will answer all your questions. Now do you want to stay here till the end of time playing the cornered animal or do you want to get somewhere."
It was a simple question. She did not want to play the game of cornered prey but she also did not want to go with this man. She stepped back until she was pressed against the wall. She couldn't stay like this. Coming to a decision she lowered her guard. Took a shy step towards Deidara.
"Get in front of me, and don't think of dashing off, this place is already enough of a maze without all the genjutsu placed all over it." She followed his directions and he walked her out of the room and into a well lit hallway.
The walls where white and so was the ceiling, a continuous line of fluorescence lighting stretching down it on either side of her. The blue carpet was mostly clean expect for the occasional mysterious stain that tainted it in places.
"Don't mind the stains, yeah." Deidara told her. "You really don't want to know what it is, un." Suzu didn't ask and he lead her on.
"We're here, un." Deidara stopped and turned to face a empty wall. His hands moved together, shifting into different positions. Coming together then pulling apart. He did it really fast too. To end the display he slammed his palm on the wall, the wall trembled in one spot, its image wavering ,and a door appeared where one couldn't exist before.
"What..." Suzu asked, amazed.
"Genjutsu hiding the door, un." Deidara explained as he knocked on the polished wood. A ruff call came from the other side, a quick, come in, and Deidara opened the door.
A man with tall spiky orange hair and multiple piercings sat behind a mahogany desk, papers littered all around it.
"Is this the girl." He asked, slowly examining her. Deidara nodded and the man told him to leave. Deidara bowed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Take a seat." Pein gestured to a plump red chair next to the desk.
Suzu walked forward cautiously, her eyes never leaving the man as she sat down.
"I apologies for the mess, usually Konan helps me with this work but she's been out for a while." He grabbed a few papers, skimming them before tossing them into a large waste basket. "If you don't mind I'll be working on this while talking with you."
Suzu nodded slowly, unsure of what to make of this man. His bright hair and piercings didn't make him out to be the sort of person who did paper work.
"I am Pein but you will call me Leader or Leader-sama if you wish." he said quickly, tossing more papers out. "Your name."
"Inubatsu Suzukanene." She said quietly, eyeing him.
"Age." He fiddled with a paper stamp.
"Seventeen."
"Are you an Inu?"
Suzu didn't answer at first but remained silent. He looked up from the papers he just finished skimming, his eyes probing for her answer. "Yes.... I am an Inu." He nodded and turned back to the papers.
"And just what is an Inu."
Suzu wanted to give some kind of sarcastic answer to this but this guy didn't seem like the type you wanted to mess with. She wisely held her tongue. "Inu's are cursed beings, turned human."
Pein looked up, his eyes burning with questions or was it something else. She noticed his eyes first the first time. They were a series of rings. Starting out purple and slowly changing to gray in the center, each ring a different color. "Inu are humans gifted with demon abilities. Don't lie to me."
"Where did you hear that." Suzu snorted. Human's gifted with demon abilities, that's what they taught in the village. The knowledge she believed until the white wolf and brown/black dog told her the truth.
"Reliable sources within." Pein answered cryptically.
"That's a lie." Suzu started to say then hesitated. It didn't matter anymore what she said. She was no longer apart of the village. "It is a lie the humans in the village made long ago to keep us Inu from knowing the truth."
"How did you come to find this out?" Pein questioned gently, his full attention on her.
"I was always different." She whispered, "I was strong, stubborn, I had Inu powers without a pact. They, the other Inu, they were weak, submissive, like- "her face soured. "-dogs. They prostrated themselves to human rule, giving up all pride, all dignity."
"What is the real story them."
"I'm sorry Leader." She gravely smiled to herself. "I can't tell you because you're not an Inu."
Pein leaned back in his chair, a hand messaging his hair line. He sat in silence, picked up a paper and tossed it. It seemed like he had gone back to the the mountains of paper on his desk, forgetting about her. He started a new pile, stamping each paper in red ink. Suzu watched him, every move, every breath.
"We'll continue the topic later." He said, halfway through skimming a report, written in sloppy handwriting. "But I still have a few questions left for you." He didn't wait for a response. "Do you know who we are."
"Who are who?" Suzu said, confused.
"Do you know who was originally after you?"
"No... I don't."
Pein nodded. "We are Akatsuki, I am its leader, and I would like to proffer you a position."
Suzu started at him blankly, unsure what to make of all of this. Akatsuki? She had never heard of such name before.
"You are welcome to refuse but doing so will send you right into the hands of those originally after you and I can guarantee you that you would not get the same generous treatment we are giving you here. We will protect you from them."
"What's the catch." Suzu said, thinking hard about all of this. She didn't know those those other humans were but then again she didn't know these humans either.
"You offer your powers as and Inu to us."
"No way." The words left her mouth before she could stop it, but once started it was hard to quit. "I'll never make a pact with a human. Never."
"There is time to change your mind." Pein said slowly. "I will give you time to think this over. In the mean time you will stay here at our base. I can not disclose the exact location of this base nor can I let you move freely about it. You will be escorted at all times by an Akatsuki member. The only time you can be by yourself is when you are in your own personal quarters we will have arranged for you. For the moment you will have to stay in another members room."
"I haven't agreed to anything." Suzu said darkly. She had a feeling like she was about to sell her soul to a deceiving devil.
"Nor do you have to." He stood up from his desk, letting a few papers fall to the floor. "We just want you to be safe until you have reached a decision. The other group after you will not be as nice as we are."
Suzu stood up."You've said that already."
"Deidara!" Pein opened the door to the room. At once Deidara stepped in, his blue eye bright. "Take Suzukanene-san to the kitchen, get her some food and give her a tour if you wish."
Deidara bowed and gestured at Suzu to follow him. Once out of Leader's office and the door firmly shut Deidara asked really fast.
"Suzukanene, un?" He chuckled lightly. "bell, bell sound?"(1)
"Bell chime sound." Suzu corrected. "My drunken father named me. Apparently there was a set of chimes outside the hospital window and he named me after the sound it made."
"Sucks to be you, un." Deidara laughed walking slowly down the long hall. "So you hungry Nene-chan?"
"I'd prefer Suzu and yes." She huffed, frowning slightly at the nickname.
"Best get your food now Nene-chan before Kisame eats everything."
Suzu again frowned at the nickname but her curiosity over came her frustration. "Kisame?"
"Another member yeah." Deidara made a turn down a new hall. "You'll be meeting everyone eventually and I'll warn you now, Akatsuki isn't.... well we aren't the most normal looking cookies in the box. We're the freaky rare ones you find."
Suzu was dumbstruck for a moment. Did he just compare himself to a cookie?
Suzu sat on the roof of her house, staring up at the night sky. Her back resting on the white wall. On the other side she could hear the celebrations going on. It was the night of the Tanabata festival(2). She stared at the slip of paper. Its virgin whiteness waiting to grant her wish.
She stood up, her head barely coming up to the top of the wall, she looked over at the bright lantern lights, strung up between the many buildings. People, Inu and human alike dressed in bright decorative kimonos and yukatas danced around or eating celebration food. The smell of the sweet festival cakes wafted to her nose.
The young girls danced with the young boys around a bonfire that retched its fiery hands to the very starts themselves. She lifted her paper slip high into the air, watching the wind play with it. The paper flirted around her hand and fingers. She let it go, the thin material fluttering in the wind, dropping down the spinning back up. It flew in graceful arcs all the way to the fire where the hungry red and orange consumed it.
"Suzu?" Yoshida's head appearing in the trap hole. "There you are, I finished the festival cakes."
"I don't want any." Suzu turned away from the bright festivities. "I'm going to bed."
"Suzu, you shouldn't feel bad. We'll can still celebrate with the branch families." Yoshida said but the woman knew it was no good. Suzu didn't feel better from the words.
"They hate me." She sunk down, her head propped up on her knees. "They want me dead."
"Don't listen to them." Yoshida wrapped Suzu in her arms, stroking the young girls hair soothingly. "They don't understand you."
"I hate them." Suzu admitted. "One day I'll be free from them. Be free from everything."
"Then make a wish." Yoshida whispered to her. " Make a wish. For this is a night wishes come true. A night that makes the impossible possible."
Suzu said nothing but cuddled closer to her aunts warm embrace. She couldn't make that wish. She threw away her slip. Her wish was gone, gone by the burning fire that roared into the night, devouring the sky.
Suzu sat on the couch, eating quietly from a box of cookies. The Akatsuki kitchen was surprising full, but lacking in anything worthy of being called edible much less food. Deidara mumbled things about a man called Kakuzu. Saying quite a few choice curse words and something about being a money whore.
Suzu reached in the box and pulled out a oddly shaped cookie. One that had a strange mutation coming off it, it looked like Deidara's ponytail. She called to Deidara sitting on the opposite end and threw the cookie at him. He caught it and looked at her.
"You're cookie." She said to him, he looked at the cookie again and laughed.
"I thought I' had embarrassed myself with that horrible comparison but I was spot on, yeah." He bit into the cookie.
"What's the tour Leader talked about?" Suzu closed the box, having enough of the sweet sugar cookies. Deidara looked up at the clock and shrugged.
"I guess I could give you a quick tour, but Sasori should be back soon. Sasori is my partner." He thought for a moment. "He'll be fine, let's go."
They hoped off the couch and Deidara walked her around, explaining a few things about the halls and doors, like the fact that most of them were fake, elaborate illusions set up by another member, Itachi, Deidara said his name was.
He told her a few tricks to remembering everything. He lead her down a hall that had everyone's rooms. Then he took her down a few more halls to a open room, void of any furniture and all white. Deidara told her they used it for training. He lead her to leaders office and took her past that to a stairwell that whent up to the surface to another training area. He concluded the tour by going down another hall that opened up into a wide room with a vertical staircase at the far end of it right across of them.
As they entered a redheaded male stepped of the stairs and approached them.
"Hey Sasori-no-danna." Deidara greeted the red head nonchalantly. The redhead nodded and looked at Suzu curiously. "Suzukanene" He jerked his head at her, rubbing the top of her head playfully. "Or Nene-chan as I call her."
"I said not to call me that!" Suzu pushed back at him, growling.
"Is she one of us?" Sasori asked Deidara. The blond shook his head.
"What dose he mean, one of you." Suzu turned to Deidara.
Deidara laughed nervously, "Whats with all the question's jeez." He smacked Suzu on the back, laughing all the while. Suzu wanted to ask more but Sasori had already called the blond to talk with him privately. Leaving Suzu out of the equation.
When the two males came back Deidara looked rather grumpy and excused himself, leaving Suzu alone with Sasori. Sasori made her follow him back to the living room. Suzu liked Sasori. He didn't reek of that smell humans had. He smelled earthy, like wood.
Time passed by slowly, Sasori working on some sort of doll or puppet and she occupied herself with a incredibly old magazine she excavated from the bottom of the couch cushion. She was just reading an obsolete science article when Pein walked into the room, dressed in black.
"I'm going to take you to Konan's room, you will be sharing with her."
Suzu followed him, silently testing herself along the way of which halls where real and which ones were fake. He walked her to the end of a hall and stopped before a light gray painted door. He opened it for her and said hurriedly. "You can use the clothes in the bottom drawer of the dresser. They were bought for you to wear. If they don't fit then make do for now." he closed the door, his muffled footsteps fading away.
Suzu examined the room, it clearly belonged to a female. The room was a pale lavender, two oblong windows on the ceiling, let in soft moonlight. The bed was a lofty queen size with purple sheets. White origami flowers decorated the top of it. Suzu picked up a flower examining it . It was beautifully made, almost real looking. She sniffed it, imagining the wonderful smell it could have.
She fell asleep that night, dreaming of a field of paper flowers. A world set under the soft light of the moon.
(1)Deidara is referring to Suzu's name. Suzu means bell and Kane means Chime but can also mean bell and ne means sound.
(2)Tanabata festival is a festival on the 7th of June or August. It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night, once the stars come out.
(3)
Me: I'm really happy with this chapter and this story. But know what would make me even more happier?? A beta reader would. Thats what.
Now reviews would make me feel even better than all that other junk. Review please!!!