A/N: Sorry for the late update, I'm just too busy to write because of school work. Enjoy reading!
Whatever It Is…
Chapter VI:
The Secret
"Tobi doesn't know what Akane-san is talking about." Tobi sighed, "Tobi doesn't know Madara."
Akane wrinkled her forehead, "Quit fooling around, sensei. You are the only one who could counter that kind of genjutsu!"
Tobi shook his head, "Tobi is confused."
"Please, sensei!" Akane pleaded, "I know we've just been together half a week but those times…those times were very memorable. Don't tell me you forgot about it!"
"Tobi is not your sensei!" Tobi insisted shakily, "Please Akane-san, you are scaring Tobi!"
Akane was about to tell something more but suddenly, the bushes nearby began to sway—someone's coming. Tobi jumped behind a tree in fright. Akane walked softly to see what was Tobi doing but to her disappointment, she saw Tobi, crouching while his knees knocking together. She noticed that something was wrong on Tobi—he peed in his pants. Frowning, she dragged Tobi to the clearing to meet the newcomer. It was Deidara. Akane could see that Deidara knew nothing of their conversation by the look of his face.
"Is there anything wrong, un?" Deidara asked innocently.
"Nothing's wrong." Akane whispered then she threw Tobi to Deidara, "Well, better clean your partner up. I'm going to the hideout to see Ren's condition."
Deidara stared at her with a half-confused face, "What do you mean by clean him up, un?"
Akane threw a mischievous look at him, "Why don't you ask him?" she said then hastily left.
Deidara wondered after her words for a minute. After that, he smelled something stinky. He traced the smell and the trail pointed to Tobi. He heard a liquid like splashing loudly to the ground and he saw that it came from Tobi. Realizing what Akane really meant, Deidara threw him away disgustingly. Tobi landed headfirst on the bushes. Struggling to get free, Tobi wriggled as hard as he could but he could not get loose. Irritated, Deidara yanked Tobi's leg and sent the orange masked boy sprawling to the ground.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH, Tobi, I'd never expect you'll do this humiliating thing, un!" Deidara screamed furiously, "How old are you to let yourself pee in your pants!"
"B-but, T-Tobi is scared," Tobi reasoned eagerly, "really scared."
"Scared of what, un?" Deidara scoffed, "Of the birds and trees, or of ghosts?"
"O-Of the moving bushes, and…"
"And what?"
"A-Akane-san." Tobi finished.
Deidara glared at him indignantly, "Why should you be afraid of her? I know she cannot be trusted but what did she do to make you pee like crazy, un?"
"She was trying to change Tobi's name!" Tobi confessed childishly.
"What!?"
"She said Tobi is Madara."
Deidara put his hand on his hip and glanced at him bewilderingly, "'Tobi is Madara'… but who the heck is Madara, un?"
Tobi shook his head sadly, "Tobi doesn't know."
Deidara shuddered, "Let's not think about it. Get up and let's go back to the hideout. And before you'll step inside our room, remember to take a bath. You stink, un."
"But Akane-san said Deidara-sempai would wash Tobi." Tobi said timidly.
Aggravated, Deidara handed Tobi a clay butterfly, which Tobi toyed earnestly, and left quickly. "Get lost, un." Deidara murmured performed a seal and in a split of a second, a small explosion happened.
"I think my speculations around him are all answered—he's not Madara-sensei." Akane thought half-seriously, "Sensei isn't a chicken."
As she strolled back to the hideout, she saw Ren standing at one of the doors, looking depressed. Upon seeing Akane, Ren rushed up to her. She seemed to be pretty weak but Ren tried her best to show everybody that she's fine.
"Ren-chan," Akane cried crossly, "you shouldn't be moping around this place!"
"Sis, don't worry about me." Ren assured her, "Remember that…"
"You are now a human being for heaven's sake, Ren-chan!" Akane said worriedly, "You aren't a freeloader inside my body now. You have a body now of your own and most of all… you are tangible and vulnerable to everything so better take care of that vessel of yours."
Ren lowered her head, showing Akane that she was regretful that she was so reckless about herself.
"…But it is…" Ren began.
"It was…" Akane corrected, "It was my body…years and years ago. I admit that I could not easily get used to this but, there's nothing we could do now." She said simply then entered the hideout followed by Ren.
Inside the hideout, not a sound could be heard. Ren led the newcomer to the kitchen to prepare a little snack for the two of them. Neither she nor Akane remembered the last time they had eaten a scrap of food. Now feeling starved, Ren mixed anything she could find edible at the refrigerator. After heating and making the food a bit presentable, Ren served it in front of her guest. The two didn't really mind whether it taste good or not, they just wanted to have something to fill their stomachs. While they were eating their meal, Ren suddenly looked up to Akane.
"Sis could you do me a favor." Ren asked solemnly.
Akane raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead."
"Konan-san, one of the members of Akatsuki, had been Kokoro's first victim." Ren said gravely, "Strangely enough, I could not detect any wound that caused her coma. I wish you could help me."
Akane looked at her sharply, "When did THOSE happen?"
"What sis?"
"When did you talk to them and when did the incident happen."
"I talked to leader-sama a few hours after I considered myself already awake and ready to walk around." Ren told her proudly, "And about what happened to Konan-san…" then she stopped dead.
Akane eyed her impatiently, "What happened?"
"Um, she was injured when Kokoro's still inside my body." Ren said sadly, "The bad thing is…"
Akane sprang from her seat, "I would help! Kokoro was inside my…'ahem'… your body when that happened, I guess. I also think I look like her when that happened right?"
Ren nodded.
"Then it's settled." Akane said confidently as she and Ren knocked and pushed the door together.
"I hope leader-sama would not let his anger throw off balance." Ren prayed silently.
The two saw a very bleak room. After their eyes adjusted in the dark, they faintly saw the spiky, orange haired leader of the Akatsuki, standing beside the still as death, light blue haired woman with a paper flower tucked behind her ear. Ren gulped quietly as she called the Akatsuki leader's attention.
"Leader-sama, this is um…my sister Akane." Ren introduced, "She is here because…"
"…because it is my responsibility." Akane put in, "Your partner was injured because of that fiend. I know that I look like Kokoro but if you'll allow me, I might able to fix her."
Pein looked at the two 'sisters' quite suspiciously.
"Just trust me…" Akane said confidently, "I'll do my very best to make her wake up."
Pein sighed, "Fine…" he said weakly then left the two in the state of confusion.
"I didn't really expect him to agree…"Ren murmured
"Whatever…" Akane said then looked at Ren, "You will have to go outside too." She mysteriously said.
"What, me too!?"
"Yeah so get out now and mingle a little with your 'friends'." Akane dictated her.
"Friends, huh? Fine, I'll go out." Ren declared and went out of the room.
Akane locked the door from the inside quietly. She tiptoed quietly to the unconscious blue haired woman and she started stretching her arms. Suddenly, a silvery chakra surrounded Konan and Akane as the ex-ANBU's eyes became pitch black.
"Alright," Akane whispered, "time to get to work!"
"What the heck is sis thinking?" Ren thought worriedly as she sat with the Akatsuki members at the common room.
Deidara just recently came in, dragging Tobi. He was about to throw his childish partner into their room to beat him up but when he saw Ren, he dropped Tobi to meet her. Deidara was not sure what to think or do but he felt that he must talk to her.
"Ren…can I talk with you, un?" Deidara timidly asked.
Ren's eyes widened, "What is it, Deidara-san?"
Deidara first took a long deep breath. He had so many questions but he was unsure how to ask it.
"Deidara??"
"Who or what are you, un?" Deidara burst out.
"Ren-san is an Akatsuki member!!!" Tobi declared
"No, that's not what I mean!" Deidara shouted back at his partner, "What I mean is…"
"There are so many things that we do not understand about you and your sister…" Pein suddenly put up, "We don't usually care about the lives of other people but this time, I think you two must give us an explanation."
Ren shook her head, "I'm sorry, it's a very long story to tell."
"Just go and tell us…pleeeaassse?" Tobi begged earnestly.
Ren looked around. A dark shadow fell upon her face, "I don't really want to talk about the roots of this feud but if you desperately want to know, then… alright."
Everybody formed a circle inside their meeting room. Ren requested that they should wait for Akane before telling their story. Nobody spoke a word as they waited for Akane. Deidara and Tobi noticed that it was really hard for Ren to tell her story—her face was quite colorless. Suddenly, the door creaked open and Akane entered with an emotionless face. Pein stared at her coldly but suddenly his face lit up as Konan entered the room and sat beside Pein. The leader was pleased to see his parnter alive but it was not evident to the other members.
"Sis," Ren whispered, "what did you do?"
Akane smirked, "It's a secret."
Ren sighed, "Sis, they wanted to know our story."
"What!?" Akane shouted, "But I'm not good at storytelling!" she protested.
"So we're going to do 'it'?"
"We have no choice."
Everybody gave a suspicious glance at each other as Akane gave Ren an odd looking scroll. Ren spread it on the floor and performed a different kind of hand seal. Suddenly, the walls began to melt.
"W-what's happening!?" Tobi asked fearfully
"This is what you call flashback." Ren declared.
All of a sudden, there was a huge temple in front of them. It had a weird shape and there were crystals that surround the whole place. The building itself was completely quaint. As Pein observed those crystals, he noticed that there was something moving inside those crystals.
"Is this….chakra!?" Pein asked
"Yeah…." Ren said sadly, "those were the chakra of the people who were not deemed worthy to enter our home."
"This IS your home?" Deidara queried.
"Ren and Kokoro's…" Akane replied
Suddenly, there was a thirty year old man dashed past them, carrying an almost lifeless infant in his arms. They crystals became alive and turned into golems. The man stopped and gave the baby to a twenty-two year old woman who was following close behind her. Itachi noticed the insignia on their forehead protectors—they were from Hidden Rain village.
"Riko, take care of Akane, this won't take too long." The man commanded
"Daichi," Riko said worriedly, "we are not really sure if the spirits will co-operate. What if we endanger our child's life more because of our actions?"
"We have no choice. If we want her to live, we must disregard the cost." He said sadly
"And who's that?" Tobi asked while they watched the man fight the golems by himself.
Akane lowered her eyes, "My parents… Daichi and Riko"
"I must say that your father is an excellent shinobi." Pein admitted as he watched Akane's father fight.
"Sure is…." Ren said a bit enviously.
"What does it have to do with the main picture?" Zetsu asked impatiently.
As if for a reply, Ren speeded up the events. They were now inside the temple. It seemed like a ruins: the pillars were broken down and the walls were badly damaged. The only thing that looked decent in there was the platinum silver altar where the two silver auras were residing. One was lighter in color, one was darker. They found Daichi and Riko talking to those two.
"We have seen that you are worthy to enter." The first one said, "What is your request?"
"Please," Akane's mother begged, "our child is inflicted by some mysterious, incurable curse. It was eating the soul of our child little by little. Help us."
The two auras were silent for awhile then one of them answered, "We can remove the curse. But there is a catch."
"What catch?"
"We can remove the current curse but it must be replaced by another curse."
"What!?"
"We are longing for a vessel for us to reside. She is the perfect person."
"Is that all?"
"Unfortunately, no: Because of our presence, this child will have such tremendous power—power that will make people wage war with each other just to acquire her like a great, destructive weapon. She will always leave a trail of blood as long as we are there. Do you wish to continue?"
"Trail of blood, eh?" Itachi muttered under his breath, "Very interesting."
The two thought for a moment. Would this be a right decision?
"….proceed, we agree with your conditions…" Akane's father said gravely.
"Daichi! Don't you mean that you wanted her to be a monster!?"
"Well, do you want her to live?"
"I do but I don't want her to live a miserable life."
"Don't worry. It won't hurt a bit." The darker aura said, "Anybody who opposes her, she can destroy them without touching them."
Daichi looked seriously at his wife,"In this world full of wars, we may not be able to protect her at all times."
The woman hung her head, "I don't know what to do. It's all up to you now."
In a flash, the two auras vanished. Daichi and Riko looked around but they discovered that they were all alone. A dim, grayish glow surrounded the baby and then it vanished. Baffled, everybody looked closely at the baby. It began to sob and to cry. Of course, her parents were delighted but they were struck with horror as the infant opened her eyes. They felt as if something was strongly pulling out their soul—as if a slow death was happening upon them. They quickly noticed that baby Akane's eyes changed from raven black to steel gray. Not enduring the torture anymore, Daichi wound the baby's head with an empty scroll and the effects vanished.
"Daichi!" Riko scolded, "What have you done?"
"If I haven't done it, we'll die!"
"But—!"
Daichi sighed, "I can't believe that this is the cost! They hadn't tricked us, had they?"
But before the woman could answer, the scenery vanished and it returned to the dull gray room.
"Hey, what happened?" Tobi asked. "The ending is not yet there. Is Tobi right, Ren-san?"
All put their eyes on Ren but they found her sitting against the wall with her knees touching her forehead. They heard a faint sob at Ren's direction.
"Are you alright, un?" Deidara asked.
"…no." Ren said gravely.
"You're tired, right?" Zetsu queried.
"That sucks, I'm pretty interested with their story!" Zetsu's darker side told to his other side.
"No Zetsu-san, I'm fine." Ren replied, "But I'm sorry, I cannot show you this one, even to sis."
"Hey, that means I do not know everything about us!?" Akane said. "That's not fair!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Kisame asked
"Wait, there is an intruder!" Zetsu said
They all wheeled and they saw Kokoro standing near the door! Everybody got themselves ready but they soon realized that the figure was just like an astral projection of her. She gave an insulting laugh before speaking.
"What now, Spirit of Light, afraid to reveal the truth, huh, big liar?" Kokoro said as if taunting Ren.
"What truth?" Akane confusingly said.
Kokoro looked Akane in the eye, "Listen poor victim, this 'Ren' here told not your parents everything about our plans with you."
"SHUT UP!" Ren cried hoarsely, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO PLANNED THAT THING ALL ALONG!!!"
"But," Ren's twin aura said coolly, "that doesn't change the fact that you liked the idea."
Tobi scratched his head "Uhh…Tobi is REALLY confused."
"Me either." The rest of the original Akatsuki members thought.
"W-what thing?" Akane asked.
Kokoro shifted her eyes towards Ren, "Why don't you ask your 'sis'?" she slyly said to Akane then vanished.
Ren froze she wasn't prepared for that situation. Akane walked towards her 'sister' and looked her in the eye, "Something tells me that I should believe that creep even though I don't want to. But tell me; is there something that you are hiding from me?"
Ren was silent. She just looked at the floor.
"Tell me." Akane said sternly.
Ren stared Akane for a long time. Tears welled up on her steel gray eyes.
A/N: Wondering what will happen next? Give me a review first. :P