At Leader-sama's command, everyone formed into the half circle. With Leader and Konan in the middle. Leader gave Kumori a look. Even though it was rather blank and uninformative, Kumori was able to figure out she wasn't supposed to hear this. She decided that she should listen to him. After all, it's a wonder she wasn't dead already. Especially since she attacked two of the members. "Then again… if it wasn't for me attacking them, and surprising Leader-sama by my strength… I probably wouldn't be here…"
Kumori nodded, showing she understood. Then, she promptly began to take off her shirt/dress.
"WHAT THE HELL!!" Hidan gasped/shrieked while quickly turning his head the other way. The rest of the group turned to see what had caused such a reaction from the usually hard-to-surprise Hidan. Immediately, the men's head snapped to the other direction, eyes varying in width and amount of shock shown. Konan was giggling, finding their reactions rather humorous. Tobi looked around confused, he didn't understand what was going on.
"Kumori-chan, why is everyone looking away from you, and blushing?" Konan was pure out laughing now, apparently the blushes deepened.
"Tobi, my innocent little friend." Tobi seemed to perk up by the praise. "It is for reasons that your pure mind doesn't need to understand. And just so you guys know, I have an undershirt and bandages on, no need to worry." Kumori smirked, tugging at the strap on her undershirt for emphasis.
Every single one of them gave her a glare that would have made anyone pee their pants. But of course, either Kumori was extremely brave, or an idiot. Most likely the latter, at least, that's what several Akatsuki thought. Konan had managed to get herself under control now however.
"Um…er…so…why did you take off your shirt?" Kisame asked, still a little uncomfortable seeing as all the woman had on were bandages, a spaghetti-strap undershirt, which was rather flattering, and Daisy Duke under armor shorts. She had taken off the fishnet while making fun of them.
Seriously, why wasn't she dead yet?
"Well I don't want to get wet do I?" Kumori stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why are you getting in the water?"
"Because I would like to have some food. I haven't eaten for…" the kunoichi stared off into the distance in thought. "Four days now…"
Kisame was a little taken aback by that, but quickly recovered. Leader had a rather irritated look, seeing as the meeting was still being stalled.
"Well, why don't you fish for it, un?" Deidara tossed in.
"Do you see a fishing pole, or bait?" Kumori's eyebrow raised questionably.
"Un.."
"Thought not."
"Well that still doesn't explain how your going to catch it, un."
"Well if you'd shut the fuck up you'd find out, huh! UN!!" Kumori snapped, mocking Deidara's 'un'-ing. All of the questions were making her feel uncomfortable, and the were infuriatingly annoying. Hidan, and few others snickered, but said nothing. Deidara began to fume, again.
Kumori turned to face the wall, her features relaxed from a pissed demon, to a serine woman. They all heightened their guards as a small, and hardly detectable chakra spike erupted from her.
Absolutely none of them were expecting what happened next.
The kunoichi's long white hair suddenly swirled, encasing her body in a protective cocoon. Her hair however, seemed to fuse with her ivory skin., then shortening. Kumori now literally, had fur. Next, her face seemed to pop out, the sound of bones breaking, and joints discounting, the reconnecting echoed through the cave. The fur going with it. She acquired a small, black nose with white whiskers, her bloody ruby eyes sticking out worse than a sore thumb. Her harms and legs shortened, and became much more stout. Her fingers webbed, and took the shape of webbed paws. Her spine, suddenly protruded in a bloody mess just above her tail-bone, uncurling in a sickeningly beautiful fashion. Once it had stretched to its full length, muscle and fury flesh covered it, creating a flat tail. All the while her form had been shrinking during these changes.
Before the ten, astonished S-Class Criminals, was an albino otter.
"What. The. Fucking. Hell. Was. That!" Hidan managed to gasp.
Kumori looked at them, blinked, and laughed. Although, it sounded more like a high pitched chatter, seeing as she was an otter.
"It's nothing, just an ability of mine. I haven't ever used the otter form though, so it will take some getting used to. Of course, this will provide plenty of time for you to have your meeting. Also, it's going to make my fishing adventures a lot easier. Does that answer your questions? I'm really hungry, and would like to eat as soon as possible." Proving her point, her stomach made a loud squelching sound, as if it was eating itself.
Instead of waiting for them to answer, because she knew that there were going to be more questions, and since Leader looked like he was going to explode, she clumsily got to her feet, practiced walking and running for a few steps, and then jumped in the water, figuring out how to swim enough so she could catch the fish.
An hour in half or so later, ten, thoughtful looking Akatsuki, and a reverting-back-to-human Kumori sat around a fire. Kumori had asked a bunch of bats to bring some wood in. The bats, who Itachi noticed, were ninja bats, happily obliged. When he questioned her on the ninja bats, she glared at him with otter-ish eyes. Pulling her cargo dress on, and fixing the fishnets, she sat next to Tobi. Then she grabbed some of the fish, which were two feet long, and really fat, and began gutting it. The others had only had time to reach for their fish by the time she was finished with hers.
"Jeez, un. How did you gut that thing so fast?"
"Practice." She said simply.
"Um.. Kumori-chan?" Tobi muttered. Kumori swiveled her eyes to look over at him briefly, before returning to de-scaling her fish. She hated scales.
"Could, you gut Tobi's for Tobi? Tobi's not really good at this sort of thing…"
"Sure, if you will de-scale mine." Tobi squeaked happily, and traded fish. Once, again, in under a minute, Tobi's fish was gut free. Surprisingly, Tobi had finished scaling hers, and was halfway through with his.
"I don't see how your bad at this, but whatever, my fish is scale clean, and I'm satisfied." Kumori said, eyeing Tobi's work.
"Naw, Tobi finds it easier to skin things. Tobi doesn't like the look of the insides." Kumori giggled, and held her fish over the fire with a white fur coated hand. Once again, her hair fused with her skin.
"Kumori-san, how does your hair and skin fuse like that?" Sasori asked monotone.
"Call me Kumori, all of you, and I'm not really sure, I just know it has to do with…events that occurred." Kumori said choosing her words carefully. She noticed Itachi look at her, somewhat questioning, but shrugged it off. All ninjas have secrets.
"Who was Kumori-chan running from!?" Tobi chirped happily, forgetting about the 'just Kumori' thing. The reaction was immediate. Kumori's eyes widened, to the point that A few couldn't help but think her eyes would fall out. She dropped the fish, and her body became a rigid statue.
Several tense moments went by, and Tobi began to get worried, Sasori had a I-think-I-know look on his wooden face.
"Kumori-chan?" Tobi asked warily. Meanwhile, Kumori's head was spinning. Could she trust them? No, they were S-Ranked Criminals! But then again…they were treating her well, and seemed to trust her. Besides, they were against him too. No, if she did, she was sure to get captured, and questioned. Most likely by Itachi, and Kumori wasn't in a hurry to try out the Mangekyo Sharingan. But, if she told them willingly, it's not like they would have to do that. Besides, she certainly was not on his side. And Sasori was already onto her anyway. If those books were correct, then Sasori should almost definitely know.
"Kumori-chan, did Tobi say something wrong?" Tobi's voice snapped her out of her thought, she looked down, biting her lip. She could feel everyone's gaze on her. Sighing, she began.
"Swear to whatever is most precious to you that you will not capture, or harm me in anyway, and let me go freely for giving you this information?" These words were more directed at Leader, but still, she wanted the others to get the point. She also noticed that Sasori's look changed to an understanding one. He knew, it was official, she couldn't go back now.
"I was running away from the Hidden Experimental Facility: Sealing." She looked up at the confused Akatsuki.
"Basically, I was running away from Orochimaru-teme."
"WHAT!?" Tobi , Deidara, Hidan, and Kisame yelled. Itachi, Zetsu, Kakuzu, and Leader's eyes all widened a noticeable amount, and Konan let out a squeak. Unlike many thought, the Akatsuki did actually have a sense of right and wrong. It was just stretched a little. But they all knew that anything involving Orochimaru was wrong.
"Explain." Itachi demanded. Kumori stared off into the distance, and unknown to her, the guard she held fell. Everyone was able to see the pain, and suffering in her ruby eyes.
"At the Facility, Orochimaru tested seals he found, or invented. Also, many other seal specialists ran experiments on humans to find what would happen if multiple seals were performed. As I'm sure some of you have guessed, I was one of the few that survived so far into the test."
"How many made it as far as you?" Leader questioned.
"Including me?"
"Yes."
"Two."
Extremely uncomfortable silence ensued. Tobi's visible eye was huge, and Deidara's mouth was wide open, all three of them. Several others held a stunned silence, but Leader wasn't satisfied.
"How do we know this is the truth?" Kumori looked at him and sighed.
She looked over at Kisame, and saw how everyone was at ease, even if he was…physically (probably mentally too) different. Also noting it was the same with Deidara, Zetsu, Sasori, and Kakuzu. Physical deformities meant nothing here.
Hesitantly, she went to take off her cargo dress again. This time, nobody reacted. For one, this was a serious matter, and for two, they knew it was safe this time. After slipping off her dress, she removed the fishnet. She couldn't help but notice that everyone was on edge, prepared for attack. Ninja instinct, always expect the unexpected. Finally, she stood in her mini shorts, bandages, and undershirt. When she took her hand up to form a seal, everyone tensed. For her own safety, she said spoke the word a little louder than her normal mumble.
"Release."
Slowly, she could feel the genjustu release. Kumori saw Itachi's eyes go wide and realized that the whole time, Itachi never noticed it. She knew it was high level, but never thought it was so high that Itachi Uchiha wouldn't notice it. She'd just figured he had thought she had low-self as teem, and used it for her looks. Well, in a way, she did…but not because of fat or anything.
Kumori closed her eyes, not wanting to see their faces. Even if they were used to physical deformities, there was bound to be some sort of reaction.
Kumori knew what she looked like by memory. She had looked, and been disgusted, yet fascinated with herself.
On her neck, was Orochimaru's Heaven Seal, same area as Sasuke's. On her shoulder, the Earth Seal rested, not even an inch over the fire seal. Lately, Kumori noticed the two were beginning to merge from being so close. On her collar bone, a spiraling seal that had little fireballs around the edge literally glowed. The glowing, unfortunately made the scars that laced her entire body more pronounced. Extending down her arm, a large seal that spiraled up her entire arm. A snake's head flickered it's tongue over the tender underside of her wrist. Dozens of other seals covered her other arm, legs, back, stomach, neck, and even one on her face. Many had merged to form solid black blotches.
The one on her face of course, had been the most amazing of them all.
Covering most of the side of her face, temple, and a small fraction of her forehead, was a flickering seal. It curled underneath her eye into a small, delicate curl, and then stretched like fire beside her eye. The beautiful shades of orange and red mixed to form a image that very much looked like fire. It also caused her visible ruby eye to pop.
"Is this enough proof, Leader-sama?" Kumori asked, a look in her eye stating that it should be. And it was, it was more than enough.
"What does the seals morphing cause?" Zetsu's white half questioned.
"A better question is how the hell did you survive through all that." Zetsu's black half tossed in.
The short one-sided conversation was enough to bring them out of their shock. And Kumori was relieved, yet slightly shock to find that they all seemed to be at ease now. She had expected them to be wary at least a little longer than that.
Not that she was complaining.
"To answer your questions, Zetsu. I have absolutely no idea. Orochimaru-teme was pretty sure that I survived because of my kekkei genkai. Before any of you even ask, I do not know the name of it. I just know that it copies other people's kekkei genkai to a certain degree. Whenever I use the absorbed kekkei genkai the first time however, I go into cardiovascular failure for ten hours. It takes several weeks for me to fully absorb a kekkei genkai, unless the person's blood mixes with mine. My kekkei genkai also is what allows me to do the animal thing. Oh, and the morphing thing always causes unpredictable outcomes. Sometimes it neutralizes each other. Sometimes one become increasingly stronger. And sometimes new things occur." Kumori said in an I-really-don't-care-about-this tone. Then, Kumori continued.
"Before you ask, Orochimaru has several bases. The Facility is located underground, at the base of a cliff in the Rice Country. I can show you where on a map. I can also show you several other hideouts."
Everyone at this point had began to eat again. Tobi gave Kumori half of his, seeing as hers was a lump of ash in the fire from when she dropped it. Leader looked thoughtful, and others simply looked bored.
An hour or so later, Kumori laid on a flat, raised area in the form of a thick furred wolf for warmth. The others arranged guarding schedules, and went to sleep/took position for guard.
Kumori had been kind enough to catch some more fish in the morning, and even gutted them all. But she had Tobi de-scale them, saying that if he did, that Tobi was a very good boy. Tobi of course, happily agreed. Hidan laughed and called Kumori a manipulative bitch. Kumori silenced him however when she sent one of her shut-up-or-I'll-feed-you-to-Zetsu looks. Hidan shut up, and then got into a fight with a snickering Deidara.
Leader, who had been secretly observing the kunoichi, was slightly surprised at how she reacted with everyone. She also seemed not to have a problem with anyone, but wasn't forming any bonds. Leader decided that she was skilled, and smart to go with it. Yes, he would give her the offer, she'd be an excellent addition to the Akatsuki, especially with everything else that had been occurring.
"Kumori, come here, I need to speak with you." Kumori turned towards Leader, somewhat surprised. Responding to his question, which was more like an order, she got up and walked briskly to him.
"Yes, Leader-sama?"
"You can come willingly, or we can force you, but judging by your strength, medical skills, and intelligence, I have come to the decision that you will be apart of the Akatsuki."
Kumori's eyes widened, though not with surprise, but with alarm. Suddenly out of nowhere, she tackled Leader. He looked at her with a furious expression, that turned into a questioning one at her expression.
She was panting heavily, and her eyes were dilating. He also noticed that her body racked with tremors of pain.
The other Akatsuki, who had responded by grabbing Kumori and holding her captive, under the impression that she had attacked Leader, were all furious, yet confused.
"What the hell, un?!" Deidara yelled in her face. Kumori looked up at him, and only then did everyone notice her condition.
"Well well, it seems Kumori-chan has some friends." a sickly sweet voice taunted. The Akatsuki members turned to see a pale, frail girl who had green hair, and purple eyes. Her short, miniskirt fluttered a bit in the breeze that followed her, and her hita-ate gleamed upon her waist. She also seemed to have been from the Facility, seeing as she had seals as well, just not as many, and they had not merged near as much as Kumori's. She didn't have a genjustu hiding them. Itachi noticed that she had a look of pure hatred directed at Kumori. One that reminded Itachi of his brothers gaze for him.
"Don't call me chan, whore." Kumori spat, her eyes held a look of hate that overcame the others.
"Aw… but I thought we had such a close relationship." The girl fake-pouted, though her aura of hate never left.
"Jeez, did Orochimaru-teme fuck you to hard or something?" Kumori retorted, losing her temper. The Akatsuki looked out of place, not really sure what to do. By now, they had let go of Kumori, figuring out she had saved Leader, not attacked. The woman had lost her sweet demeanor, and now had a look that matched her aura.
"Shut the hell up bitch! Or I'll-I'll…"She spluttered. Kumori smirked, seeing as she had the upper hand now, and since she had already moved the poison that had been on the senbon into her hair, out of her blood stream.
"Or you'll what, hmm?" The Akatsuki looked between the two, some smirking at Kumori's emotion manipulating plan.
"Kumori-chan, who is that?" Tobi asked, pointing to the woman.
"She, Tobi, is named Machi, but is known as Oro's play thing." Kumori 'introduced'. Machi was positively fuming at this point.
"SHUT UP, AND DIE" Machi had obviously lost her cool, and was now flying at Kumori with her hands flipping through hand seals.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A large fireball erupted from Machi's mouth, Kumori jumped out of the way, turning into a large white wolf, with red eyes. Once she landed, she immediately jumped, and collided with the furious kunoichi. Leader signaled to others to watch, and stay out of the way. They had already done so however, seeing as how this was not their fight.
Machi, who had been thrown of balance, was desperately trying to avoid the deadly claws and fangs that snapped at her hungrily. Kumori, who found this going nowhere, allowed an opening, whom Machi easily fell for. As the woman dove to stab Kumori in the side, Kumori morphed into a small bat, and flew out of harms way. When Machi realized her mistake, and twisted around, it was to late. Kumori had taken the form of a wolf again, and landed squarely on her shoulders, shoving her to the ground.
Machi twisted and cut open Kumori's mouth as she lowered her head to bite her neck. With a howl, Kumori jumped back, resuming human form, and healing her half-attached jaw. Apparently, there had been a chakra added push to the blade, which almost tore her jaw clean off.
Taking her chance, Machi activated a seal, and charged at Kumori again. The white haired kunoichi hadn't finished healing yet, so she jumped out of the way of a fireball, and took the brunt of the shockwave that followed.
"Ha-ha, don't you see? You cannot defeat me! Orochimaru-sama will be so pleased that I brought you back. And then he'll torture you for running away!" Machi shrieked in triumph.
"If I can't defeat you, then why is it that I haven't even activated a seal yet?" Kumori taunted. Her eyes were getting more and more feral, and had a hungry look in them.
"If you want to be with that jackass you 'loved', so bad, then I'll happily reunite you!" Kumori morphed into a wolf again, and charged. But instead of immediately attacking again, she snapped at Machi's ankles, morphed into a cat, ripped apart the tendon that was so easily exposed. She then turned into an albino clouded leopard, and tore at the back of the woman's knees.
The woman shrieked in pure pain, and fell to the ground. Kumori raced to her face, claws outstretched and a snarl upon her feline lips. Machi tried to defend herself with her arms, but it was no use, seeing as Kumori had ripped them to useless shreds in seconds, and then progressed to her stomach.
"If you loved him so much, then you'll die like him!" Kumori's kind eyes, had nothing but pure hatred, glee, and bloodlust within. Tobi whimpered slightly at the sight, and Kisame looked utterly shocked. Deidara was gaping like a fish, and Konan looked alarmed at the sudden ferocity. Leader was blinking a bit, Sasori and Itachi were emotionless, and Hidan began to get excited.
"She's make a wonderful Jashin follower." He mumbled to himself.
Kumori, who seemed to have forgotten about her audience, was currently ripping Machi's insides to a non-fatal mess. Machi's cries were ringing throughout the cave, and only encouraged the psychotic woman.
"Your, you're a monster!" Machi cried as her arm was ripped of my Kumori's fangs.
"I'm not a monster, I'm a demon." Kumori hissed so low that only Machi could hear, eyes glowering into Machi's fearful ones. Kumori allowed for her eyes to actually become demonic looking, before silencing Machi's loudest, most terrible scream of pure horror by closing her jaws on her throat.
Machi's eyes rolled into the back of her head as her body convulsed. Horrible gurgling noises bubbled through the thick stream of blood pooling out of her mouth. When her body had stopped convulsing and her heart beat was no more, Kumori ripped out her throat completely, and dropped the mound of flesh unceremoniously, before backing off and resuming her human form.
Hidan came down first, admiring Kumori's work. A second later, Kakuzu joined his partner, though he wasn't caring of the mess. The others shortly followed, although Tobi was holding onto Deidara's sleeve.
Kumori looked over at them, and wiped the blood off of her mouth, and peeled the skin out from under her nails and between her teeth. Deidara noticed that her eyes had lost the wild look in them, and were now on Leader.
"Does your offer still stand?" She croaked. Leader looked at her, and then back to what used to be Machi, but was now an unidentifiable corpse. Turning to look at her he said.
"Yes, now more than ever."
Kumori nodded, and then winced from the motion.
"I'm in, I've no where else to go, and quite frankly, enjoy being here. Besides that, I'm not so sure my fighting style is very welcome in other areas." Leader, Hidan, Deidara, and Kisame chuckled at that, they had overcome their shock.
"Ku-Kumori-chan is sc-scary." Tobi stuttered wide-eyed. Kumori laughed, and then looked to Tobi.
"Don't worry, if you stay on my good side, you'll never experience it first-hand." Tobi shivered, and nodded. Kumori giggled, wiped her bloody hand on a rock, and then patted Tobi's head.
"I like you though, do you know why?" Tobi shook his head.
"Because silly, you're a good boy!" Tobi's mood instantaneously brightened, and he jumped around yelling.
"Tobi is a good boy, Kumori-chan said so!" In a sing-song voice.
"Don't encourage him, un!" Deidara groaned. Kisame laughed, and Kumori giggled. Whenever she had calmed down, she put a hand on the wall to support her as she attempted to walk. Unfortunately, Kumori collapsed, and landed on a trying-to-catch-her Deidara. She looked up at him, smiling sheepishly.
"Could you set me in a shallow area of the wall? Transforming that much is rough on my body…" Kumori grinned. Deidara raised an eyebrow.
"How come, un?"
"Oh, I don't know, because my muscles, bones, organs, and joints are constantly being ripped, torn, shredded, broken, and reformed to give me the animal's abilities. So they might become a little sore. Besides that, I haven't actually fought or trained in years!" Kumori said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
Deidara frowned, and dropped her.
"Shit-fuck-damn-ass ow!" Kumori screeched. Deidara laughed at her version of saying ow.
"That is an interesting way to say ow!" He roared. Kumori just glared at him as Tobi picked her up.
"Deidara-senpei is just having fun, but Tobi will help Kumori-chan!" He chirped, setting her in a shallow pool. Kumori grinned at Tobi, before washing the blood off.
I know this chapter was shorter than my other one, but I'm out of ideas! -cries-
I love to read stories that have long chapters, and I try to make mine long, but if I'm out of ideas, then what am I supposed to type?!
I'm not sure if I'm any good at fight scenes, (or writing for that matter) and would appreciate your opinion! Reviews are cherished!!
Tears