Ahem. Well. Here's Chapter 3. Anyway, thank you all for your lovely reviews, faves, story alert, etc.
I'm going to continue with this fic, naturally. I always try to see everything through to the end. But something worries me. I know Madara is supposed to be the main antagonist of this fic. But I read Naruto 399 on Friday, and it makes Madara sound like he's not such a bad guy after all! So that got me really worried. I was like, "Oh, what if I got him all wrong?"
Something tells me he wasn't lying to Sasuke. But just because you think something's the truth doesn't mean it is. So I'm going to take everything that guy says with a grain of salt. Until another character confirms it, I'm just going to assume it's some paranoid dude's rambling. Because he seems eerily obsessive to me, even if his intentions are good.
It won't change this fic, though, I don't think. I still think the guy's crazy, and he'll dispose of anybody who he no longer has use for. I'm just mostly concerned that people who read this might flame me and go, "No, you've got it all wrong, that's not how Madara is, who don't you go read the manga you moron?" Because I've seen things like that written in other fics.
You all wouldn't do that to me, would you?
Konan stopped for the night in a small village.
She checked into an inn. Money was no problem at all. If she ran low, she could always get some more. Still, there was no need to let it burn through her pocket. She had no idea how long she'd be on the move, so it was best to take precautions so she wouldn't be left in a bad way financially.
She couldn't quite describe it, but she was feeling...strange. Men whom she passed by, they were looking at her, but that wasn't quite what was the matter--men in Amegakure had looked at her, as well. Perhaps it was...well...the looks in their eyes had been different. In Amegakure, she'd been a figure to be respected and feared. A person who could summon the wrath of "God" if anyone even looked at her wrong.
But these people she was seeing...how was it they were looking at her? The women gave her disapproving, jealous looks and the men, what about them...? What was in their eyes?
Konan knew, but she couldn't get her brain to wrap around that thought. It couldn't be that. No one would ever look at her like that. No one but Pein. They wouldn't dare. If anyone had looked at her like that in Amegakure, Pein would have killed them...if she hadn't gotten to them first.
But this was not the right time or place for that. Killing people would attract too much attention, and she wanted to remain discreet as long as possible. She was supposed to be an ordinary woman. Ordinary women didn't kill guys who were checking them out, right?
So she sucked it up, cringing under those gazes.
She felt naked, not wearing her cloak. How naive had she been? How could she have left Amegakure wearing something form-fitting and not have anticipated that this would happen?
It wasn't like she never wore clothes that accentuated her feminine figure. It was just that not everyone could see.
She couldn't quite decide why exactly she was so uncomfortable. It wasn't that she wasn't feminine or anything. She was aware of her gender and not at all ashamed of it. She was a wanted criminal, true, and part of an organization that was overwhelmed with testosterone, also true (although, in her opinion, some of her fellow Akatsuki members were even girlier than her). But it wasn't like they were trying to catch her eye or anything. In Akatsuki, she might as well have had a giant sign over her head that said, "Already taken. So don't even think about it or you die." Thus, she'd never really had to worry about things like that.
But that wasn't the case now. Not at all. Did men eyeball all women like that? What did women do about it?
This was downright embarrassing. How long had it been since she'd been out in the field?
Had she really been elevated so high alongside "God" that she'd forgotten how to interact with the people below her?
But she needed to find Uchiha Sasuke, and she had no idea where to start looking. Someone had to know where he was, or if not that, at least have heard of him. But the only way to find out was to ask. And how did you get information? Forceful interrogation wouldn't be the best solution in this particular situation. There were too many people and things could easily get out of control.
Ok...other than forceful interrogation, how did you get information? Just...sit and listen and hope you heard something good? But she didn't have that kind of time. And these were just random, ordinary people, so they probably wouldn't be talking about Uchiha Sasuke in casual conversation. So...it appeared that, under the circumstances, she'd have to take the initiative.
All right...so...did a facade of friendliness get people to lower their guard and spill stuff they didn't intend to? Was that what it took?
And...since she was indeed female...to find out about Sasuke...should she use...feminine wiles?
Ugh. The thought was utterly repulsive.
But, she was supposed to be an ordinary woman, and that's what ordinary women did to get attention, right? Use their gender to their advantage?
Well...as revolting as it was to resort to such tactics...for Pein, she'd do it.
But where was a good place to start? And who would be her first victim--er, target--um, informant?
It would have to be...someone who seemed wise to the ways of the world...someone who seemed like he might have a vast reservoir of knowledge...and at the same time, was unusually receptive to a woman's wiles, someone with no immunity to feminine charm...
Why did Jiraiya come to mind?
She actually was paying attention to the people around her now. She assessed the men, but none of them seemed quite right for her purposes. If she wanted this demeaning thing she was going to do to actually pay off, she had to test out her charms on exactly the right man, and he didn't seem to be present in this tiny village.
She was beginning to think that testing the effectiveness of being female in regards to the other gender was not a good approach. But then, the next day, she was pretty sure she'd found a good guy to use try her charms on.
Anyway, there's Chapter 3. I'm sorry it's not longer, but...I don't know. I just can't write long chapters very easily anymore. I always assume people don't like reading really long chapters.