Whatever It Is…

Chapter VII:

Revelation of the Invisible Barrier

Ren gulped uneasily as she slowly stretched forth her hand to return them back into the scene. The scenery melted again rapidly but before Akane's mom replied, Ren collapsed!

"What the—!"Akane gasped as she ran towards her 'twin', "are you alright!?" she nervously asked.

"N-no….I-I can't tell you this one!" Ren stammered as she shakily stood up and ran away from the hideout, "The consequence is too great for me to handle!" she shouted as she burst into tears.

Akane dared to follow her but Ren made it clear that she did not want to be followed. As soon as Akane stepped out of the room, an unknown force threw her back inside and abruptly shut the door. Akane tried to undo the trap but her power was not strong enough to do so. Dejected, Akane sat on the floor as she felt Ren's chakra disappearing. Deidara, meanwhile, made clay birds and tried to blow up the walls of the room but he was unsuccessful.

Nobody had a clue about Ren. What was the secret behind that scene that she was so afraid that if she revealed it to them, she would reduce to ashes? Was it really a big thing that she could not handle the consequence? What was the consequence anyway? Those thoughts bugged their minds as they sat helplessly on the floor, unable to get out.

Suddenly, the door burst open and they found Tobi standing in front of them, carrying the poor Ren over his shoulder.

"What's wrong with Ren-san?" Tobi asked innocently.

"How did you—" Deidara asked, shocked at the turn of events

"Tobi 'bumped' to her." the masked boy said simply as he laid down the girl in the center of the circle.

"Tobi, she was knocked out cold." Akane sternly answered him as she looked towards Ren, "Are you sure that you just 'bumped' to her?"

"Ummm…." Tobi lagged.

"Whatever happened," Pein butted in, "we must know first what Ren is hiding, right?"

"Yeah, I think so too, un!" Deidara declared as the others agreed with their leader

"Honestly," Itachi said to himself, "who cares if she hides something from us?"

Akane tried to redo the seal Ren made. Everybody was silent. This time, they knew, the secret would be revealed. A bright flash appeared out of nowhere and in an instant; they were back in the scene.

"Is it more than you can handle? Frankly, we're just showing you a very small portion of our power."

"Who said that!?" the woman asked.

"We are here…right in her father's arms…."

All of them looked at the baby. It wasn't long until they realized that the two spirits did their job. But nobody thought that it would come into this. It was too late when they realized the spirits were not true to their word. Akane's father threw the baby away from them in contempt. To their surprise, the baby was neither killed nor bruised.

"We can't just let our new vessel die that easily."

"You said that you'll just reside in her!" Riko shouted

"Ha, of course a vessel must be used too, simpleton!"

"No! You never said you'll use her!" Akane's mother protested.

"That will be a good lesson for you. Next time, try to determine the fine lines." Kokoro snickered.

As the conversation became fiercer, nobody noticed that Daichi was already preparing a seal—a very strong, forbidden seal that only his family knew. He secretly pulled another scroll from his vest pocket and quickly wrote some symbols then laid open the scroll on the floor. While Riko was protesting, Daichi performed a seal that made a black circle around the accursed child. It was then too late when the two spirits realized that they had been trapped around a cylindrical prison.

"I never thought I will use this on my very own…"Daichi said sadly, "Forgive me."

Akane's mother tried to stop her husband, "Daichi, Akane will die if you do this!"

"It is all but a miserable mistake." Daichi shouted, "I'd rather let the child die in an incurable disease than allowing her to live in expense ofselling her soul to demons like them!"

His wife said no more. She knew her spouse would not be stopped by any means. Akane, in the meanwhile, could not believe what she was seeing. Ren never told her anything about this one— as long as she could remember.

"Let me go you bastard!"Kokoro screamed while struggling free

But her screams were futile. In a matter of seconds, a bright light flashed and they discovered that the baby was just lying there, without a sound. Akane's mother rushed to the poor child and cradled her in her arms. Sobbing, Riko tried to find signs of life but it was hopeless. Daichi went forward to comfort his wife but as soon as he patted the child, baby Akane cried loudly! The parents were delighted to the fullest and were convinced that those bothersome spirits were gone. They went back peacefully to the village.

"So, what's the big deal, un?" Deidara asked, "Their story isn't that bad."

"Yay," Tobi suddenly chirped, "Tobi likes happy endings!"

"Oh, shut your mouth, un!" Deidara said as he kicked Tobi.

"It's not really….happy, Tobi." A voice behind them sadly said.

They wheeled around and saw Ren standing behind them. Her steel gray eyes were glistened by tears of the fault which she tried to conceal for so long. Akane started to walked towards her but Ren suddenly pointed to the picture of the 'happy' family. All of them were instructed to look at the baby's eyes. When they looked closely at the baby, they noticed that there was a hint of steel gray color in the iris.

"Hey, that means…" Tobi said.

"Daichi only succeeded in sealing Kokoro." Ren declared, "But not me."

"Wow, what a twist." Zetsu's dark side remarked.

Akane sighed, "I do recall that when I was still at Konoha, I could hear voices in my head. And actually, I felt that it was my best friend or should I say, my only family."

Ren smiled wryly at her, "…and she gave me a name which I considered to be my real name."

Akane flashed a smile, "Yeah, and now I remember. Ren's 'real' name is… Mitsuko."

"Ren-san's name is Mitsuko?!" Tobi asked half alarmingly, "But what will Tobi call Ren-san now?"

"And...." Deidara added as he made a glance on Ren, "what do mean by not-so-happy ending, un?"

"Hey hey, fellas, one question at a time!" Akane glared at Tobi and Deidara then looked at Ren sharply, "There's nothing in there that'll make you shiver like crazy. Now tell me, why are you so afraid on the things WE both know?"

"You're wrong..." Ren replied quietly, "There are some things that you don't know about is a line that divides our lives asunder. We aren't the same, you know?"

Akane looked like as if she was struck by lightning. All this time... she thought that there weren't any barriers between them. She was confident that Ren's memories were also hers. She always considered "Ren" as her twin soul. What were the things that this one know that she didn't know?

Silence baffled the whole group. Nobody knew what was happening. Ren realized that she must break the barrier between them. It was for Akane's own good...and also, it was for her own good. But how could she suddenly unearth the things she buried for years? Almost every minute she made sure that the barrier between their memories wouldn't break and now she would decide to reveal the secret that would destroy ALL of her plans--

Plans? The word rang a bell inside her head. It seemed that her past was still foggy but slowly, the light of truth shone upon it and revealed the real her. It stung her greatly, unable to accept herself but she forcefully swallowed it. She fully knew what really happened that night. The murder wasn't just a twist of fate--somebody did it stealthily.

"I--I killed your parents." Ren said softly, "I instructed the Rain shinobis patrolling nearby to get your parents."

Akane's eyes widened, "Ren, you're joking, right?"

"No...I am not."

Akane stood there in silence as Ren's steel gray eyes became shiny silver. She felt her skull was being ripped apart, as if something was forcefully being removed inside her brain. The incising pain was getting more intense-- she could bear it no longer. Her cold, sweaty hands clutched her blood red hair. The pain wasn't stopping. Her pale lips moved vigorously but no sound came out of it. Her eyes searched for something to ease her pain but Deidara, Tobi, and the other Akatsuki members stood there, trapped in another dimension. She looked at Ren, but her eyes continued to glow like the light of the fireflies. The she felt her blood ran wildly to her veins, desperately desiring to get out of her.

"Ren, stop it!" Akane screamed helplessly

Then the pain stopped suddenly. Akane knelt down with her head facing the floor. She suddenly felt as if something returned to her. She looked up and saw Ren with her hands full of blood. Akane now understood everything. She slowly stood up and pulled out a kunai.

"You damn murderer!" Akane shouted hoarsely then dashed towards Ren, attempting to stab her in the heart.

A/N: I'm really sorry for the late updates. I'm really busy with the school work.... Pls review...