damn. I don't think it showed up. Chapter 4 was submitted May 31, 2009. Wow, right now literally half my reviews are on chapter one. Oh well, EvilPopcorn is the first reviewer for chapter 5, thanks for answering my plea! Here's the next part folks. Oh wow, I made a big mistake. He doesn't even know Tsunade yet..um..just mentally replace that with Jiraiya. 7/6/09
Chapter 6: The Ghosts are Coming for You, kid
Not that he would admit it, being an Akatsuki bad ass and all, but this was hard. Much harder than usual as in "I typically blow up buildings with my clay because I'm a terrorist and escape before the ninja police catch me". And Deidara didn't even consider the other options such as "Maybe this is harder than usual because it's going wrong, or we fucked up really really bad and now we're all gonna blow up into icky pieces, or a demon's gonna be let loose and kill us and eat our souls".
That just didn't go his way, ya know? Just for some odd reason.
But hey, who doesn't like being an S-class criminal that is soon going to be demon chow?
Sweat ran down his brow. Now annoyance seeped in, not at the kid's stubbornness to hold onto his demon, no Deidara didn't mind that much, it was that his hair was going to be a bitch to fix again. All this hard work was killing his hair-do. We all do have our little pleasures after all.
Itachi's was ruining peoples lives, Kisame killing, Hidan..well, there you go, killing again, Kakuzu money, Sasori-danna puppets..and..ok making human puppets did include murder as a hobby.
Deidara's besides being a terrorist from Iwa that was a regular pyromaniac just trying to blow things up until the Uchiha got involved, had his hair.
Was it so much to ask that he be able to have a (possibly) girly hair do?
The problem was no chakra was leaking out. Oh sure, the host was suspended creepily in the air before the statues (personally Deidara didn't like this part that much..the host looked like a zombie and the statue just gave him the creeps), and was writhing in sorta silent agony; every once in a while a scream broke through his tired throat, the rest of the time his back was arched and his head thrown back in a silent scream. But no energy was seeping from his ears eyes and mouth and seeping into the statue in red billows of chakra clouds.
And that was the pretty big bummer. The power from the demon that should be leaking from the host was the whole point of the operation.
Naturally after over 36 hours of trying to rip the second soul from the jinchuuriki's body (that's a day and a half people) to no avail didn't put anyone in the best of moods.
Failure did that to people. Evil bad guys just typically weren't too pleased when something sabotaged their plans.
"Are we to abort the mission? This is one damn stubborn brat."
Pein glanced at Zetsu. "Yes..and no. Begin JU19." He ordered, answering not only the black and white cannibal but told what he expected of all.
Deidara was mildly shocked, and puzzled. But he didn't think to much on it now, and let relief flood him, and dropped his arms, ending the seal he'd held for over a day.
Time to start the operation.
(whatcouldtheirplanbe?huh,whatdoyouthink?)
Ugh. The world began to come into focus once more. He had a killer headache.
Wait!
Was..was he..still alive? 'But how could that be?' Last time he checked, he was dying or something worse; did that mean Naruto's demon still remained?
Naruto honestly hoped the answer was yes.
He knew that didn't really make much sense, but did any part of this situation meet normal?
Blinking, the blond realized what had been throwing him off ever since he regained consciousness was the fact that he could actually see his surroundings. Most recent events had dim lighting with little more than vague shapes visible. To Naruto it was like a man living underground had discovered the sun. And that was really bright and shocking.
He sat up slowly, half-way up still leaning on his elbows. The genin wasn't just on a fuuton like he expected, but an actual raised bed. The sheets and mattress were rather basic, but still. Immediately in front of him was a familiar sight-more stone cavern. Like I've seen enough of those lately. It held a slight difference though-It was brown. As if it broke up the monotony.
Naruto groaned and hung his head. His stomach rumbled and he was reminded of ramen-therefore he thought of Ichiraku ramen-so he thought of home with as pang.
Konoha. The village hidden in the leaves. His home was surrounded by trees and many forests and woods. But recalling that seemed wrong. The blond changed his thoughts instead to the cliffs that held the faces of the Hokage. The old man..he thought mournfully. The old man was..so many things. Naruto had always thought him to be a mountain-something that couldn't be moved;permanent.
It could that he'd been underground too long-away from fresh air, sunlight and the trees..but when he tried to think of a way to explain what jiji had been to him, the blond could only think of someplace pitch black. A dark cave, or even a hole..so deep he couldn't see anything, and he was trapped and couldn't even begin to see the way out. Jiji..
He wasn't the hand offered up; the helping hand saying "here, grab me, trust me, I'll rescue you." No the old man was different possibly more important. Like a true Hokage he was the embodiment of the will of fire. Sarutobi was a candle that cast a glow and allowed him to see the hand, allowed him to see that there was a way out.
Naruto knew there was a word for something like that..and he felt like something was wrong with him if he couldn't even remember it.
And then like the ghosts he so feared, two figures appeared.
He felt really he should be applauded and awarded that he didn't scream this time; he really hated ghosts..spirits of the dead scared him. Reminded him what he could soon become.
One presence he recognized after a moment; Itachi. Those black eyes that captured him so; and the feeling like the Uchiha was so intense yet so..not there like he was in limbo between this realm and the place of the dead. It wasn't something he liked to remember. Much less experience in the flesh once more.
The other was familiar in the vague, "I've seen you somewhere before..perhaps I passed you on the street once, or we both were at the same show." way. You'd seen them once, but weren't really paying attention to them, they were just there. A piercing glinted in the light. Whoah. That dude had like a billion studs in his face, all over!!! Naruto let a stray thought or two cross his mind; that hair really was perfect-c'mon, it's freakin' orange people!
His ninja training kicked in when he saw the orange-stud-guy start to perform handseals. Rooster, Rat, Snake..this wasn't any ninjutsu the blond was familiar with. And he was beginning to get woozy. His reality began blurring and his head spun. "..wuuz goin' on?"Naruto slurred, eyes closing as if they couldn't help themselves.
"Only a jutsu allowing you to sleep."
And then he was out like a light.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Hahaha.."
"What a loser!"
"Dumbass."
Naruto scrunched up his face; squinted his eyes, so he wouldn't cry, like he swore; clenched his jaw and set his mouth in a frown, anything he said always made it worse; and unable to help himself, the small blond hunched his shoulders and made angry fists. The sound of laughter..he couldn't stand it.
Always it came in cruel tones, mockingly. Always at his expense. Never did the sound mean joy or elation to him.
All it represented was those who derived pleasure from his pain and humiliation.
He stalked off, full of anger and frustration. Naruto didn't bother to stick around for the Academy lesson. Being a ninja with them was just stupid anyway.
---
Rrrrrr. Rarf!
That sound sent dread down his spine. Stiffening, all he could do was tighten the grip on the tree branch;tired and scared of teeth that meant pain it was no easy task. Naruto's muscles were tired. The blond wished that they would just go away. Dogs were evil. Always chasing him, yapping loudly and giving away his position anytime he was pulling a trick. Nothing good ever came from them.
They even tried to steal his food. It was already bad enough that he was glared at when he went to buy stuff. The seven year old didn't need to fight for scraps.
Whenever he thought of dogs, dark things rose up within him.
He'd always hated Inuzuka Kiba for not watching his monster.
---
Why was it that no one liked paying attention to kids? Naruto always hated it when he was brushed off.
As if what he had to say, what he thought wasn't important.
Like he didn't exist. Or was he just invisible?
Naruto couldn't stand ghosts; he always feared one day while he was staring in the mirror, he would disappear.
Just like they wanted.
---
Covered in sweat, Naruto jack-knifed straight up, gasping for air. Relief for his lungs, but no comfort to his mind. I'm still here. He thought wildly. I'm not gone. No ghosts yet.
The blond prayed that it wasn't possible for the Akatsuki to achieve his ultimate, secret fear.
"Snap out of it." He ordered. Hearing his voice in his own ears helped. It seemed unnaturally loud though in the spartan room.
Still, the genin glanced around the room warily and was tempted to look under the bed.
That's where monsters sleep!
The blond flinched. The voice was ringing as if the old lady had just screamed it at him again. Two years old, and that had been his most prominent memory.
Naruto sometimes wondered why he'd even become a shinobi for the village. It still hadn't gained him any respect. People still spat at him anyway as he passed.
The only improvement was they layed off when he was with his team. Somewhat.
But it was just as harsh as ever alone. Glares. Whispers.
Damn ingrates.
All that he did for them-and what was he rewarded with? Nothing!
You could be powerful without them. Something murmured in his mind.
Normally, Naruto paid no thoughts like that such heed.
But tonight..
He could do anything.
---
The blond'shead whipped around at the sound of rock moving. Part of the wall was moving down. Someone must have been using a Doton jutsu to create a way in.
It was orange-piercings and Itachi again. Both in the mysterious black cloaks decorated with red clouds. This couldn't be good. Were they coming to try to take his demon away again? Or worse. Torture him for information he couldn't give?
Because no one trusted him to let him know anything important.
Ouch. Yeah, that kinda stung.
"Come with us."
Naruto was reluctant, but knew resistance would ultimately be futile. It was childish, but he still wanted to know what orange-piercings name was. Clearly a fairy must have been around and granted his wish.
The man chuckled at something, the blond had no clue what. "My name is Pein." Okay..wow, that was kind of creepy. Like how did the guy know..?
Itachi ghosted behind them as they passed through the entrance and it closed up behind them, sealing the cave once again. "He is our leader." Narutobit his lip and tried to keep his shudder from escaping. There was just something about that Uchiha.. His voice had such a strange effect on him. The twelve year old ignored the walking-on-my-grave feeling, and focused on following Pein.
For pure ninja purposes, he tried to memorize their route. Right left, abruptly there were stairs, another left right, right, now they were going down a set of stairs. Left, right, up, down, up, left..left?
It was dizzying and practically impossible to make a mental map of the place. So many tunnels branching off into other tunnels. Then they were going up stairs, deeper down, then back up again.
He wondered if they were doing that on purpose.
By now his stomach was killing him. Naruto hadn't ate in like..forever. The blond genin frowned. Starvation was not a death he looked forward to.
Then finally after ten minutes of navigating the maze they stopped.
His jaw dropped. The exit was right there. Right freaking in front of him, like twenty feet away. He could practically taste his freedom. It was a relief to breath the fresh air. The blond tired of the stale air of the tunnels. Naruto squinted. The light was very bright after days of dim lighting. "What.." the words died on his lips. I'm tired of these mind games.
That had to be their game. Now like a rabbit of something they were dangling a carrot on a stick over a staked pit, and were seeing if he was gonna jump.
Well no siree. Naruto was not falling for that.
"You can go, Naruto." Itachi's voice was smooth. And eerie as always.
The blond shook his head. "No. I'm not falling for it. This is just another mind game of yours."
"You can go if you wish, or stay here." Pein intoned. "Just tell me the answer to this; If you weren't here right now, what would you be doing?"
Naruto couldn't answer, because he didn't know. The blond did know though. He just didn't want the answer he was getting. So he stayed silent.
Before they could change their minds, he went after the damn carrot. Naruto flew out of the tunnel, and didn't look back once.
Even if he really wanted to.
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Words: 2,575
That's like a new record for me. Betcha didnt' see that coming! Don't worry things will work out. It's important to the story that this happens.
Thank you also JSinuYasha for reviewing. I didn't catch it until just now. Not to be whiny, but I'm really motivated when you review!!! I appreciate it a whole lot.
cookies for JS and EvilPopcorn (I seriously love that screen name).
Ok peoples, this is a really cool story that I found:
Of love and mistakes, by Silver Vanilla; Main char. are Itachi and Naruto. A very twisted Au. Sick brilliance people. Only two chapters so far, but still. How far will a person go for a friend, is the question here.
Alright, that's it for now. I can't wait til my game gets here!! Hurry up Amazon. The World Ends with You for those care.
Edited 6/11/09. Finally fixed all the spaces.
