Thank-you to... AntivanArainaiHime, ForASunset'sRise and Woodshrew for your reviews! I am very grateful, I hope everybody reading this enjoys CH8!
I do not own Naruto, I only own Chikako 'Natsuki' Suzuhara and Chikakon. Onwards!
Chapter Eight: August is... Autumn?
August was on it's way and with it, the weather began to turn. Rain fell more often and the wind was harsher, colder. The skies remained dismal throughout the day and most of the Akatsuki members came back from missions complaining about the weather. Natsuki quite enjoyed it though. It was warm inside so it felt all the nicer after coming in from the rain and it actually felt like the organisation was that little bit friendlier so long as they hadn't just come back from outside. Then it was hell because they were all irritated and sopping wet. Natsuki liked listening to their silly arguements though, so long as she was working. It was nice background noise she found. What was better though was when they had good food in. Leader-sama had apparently ordered Kakuzu to get food more often because of all the complaints and that lightened the mood considerably. However, it meant Natsuki was roped into cooking half the time. Sure, other members did the cooking sometimes, but it was mainly her. Because she was of the female species and the underling, that gave them the excuse to make her do 'womanly' chores, like cook for example. And clean up the dishes. She could almost kill them at those times. She sighed and sprawled across her workbench, batting kunai and shuriken aside. She was tired...
Somebody knocked on her door, the sound waking Natsuki not all too nicely. "Hm? What?" She asked blearily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sasori popped his head around the door and Chikakon bounded over to say hello. "They all want you to make dinner now." He informed with a half-sympathetic shrug. He was gone before her head hit the bench. "Great..."
"Hey bitch, make us some fucking food already!" Hidan yelled from in the lounge. She glowered at him, but let it go. Getting in a fight wouldn't get her out of making dinner. She looked in the fridge. No. Nope. Nah. What the- Oh. That's a no then... No. No. Definitely not. Is that- "Zetsu! Get your own damn fridge would you! There's a rotting head in here on the middle shelf, I mean seriously! If you're gonna insist on keeping dead bodies in here, then at least wrap them up properly and put them on the bottom shelf before you give everybody e-coli!"
"People very rarely carry e-coli in their systems without getting ill." Itachi deadpanned as he walked past.
"People very rarely help me cook, but it's not impossible."
"The two are not related in any meaningful way."
"They are when there's a head in the fridge with the rest of the food!" He shrugged it off and sat at the table with a book. Natsuki muttered under her breathe as she continued to scour the fridge for something to cook. She settled with beef donburi in the end.
"Hey! Lazy-butts, get in here, it's ready!" Natsuki yelled through the base, dropping the bowls of food down in their places. It was quiet for a moment, then- "Get the fuck out of my way whores!" Hidan came.
"Hey, un! I want to eat too, yeah!"
"Not before me fucker!"
"Art is a-"
"Everybody shut up before I eat you." Zetsu loomed above everybody, "That wasn't very nice... Shut up." Natsuki flopped onto her chair with a sigh. Any moment now they would sit down in an as-close-to-civilised-as-criminals-can-get way and then they'd have one or two mouthfuls in peace before... chaos. Utter, destructive chaos. As it turned out, Leader-sama got to sit down first, after Natsuki was glared into begrudgingly standing back up, then she and Konan sat. The only other female member sat to the right of Pein, who sat at the head of the table. Zetsu didn't deign to eat with them due to his cannibalistic tendencies and Sasori was locked away in his room or somewhere equally quiet, probably enjoying the company of Chikakon. Hidan and Deidara barged into the table at the same time, bickering and cursing and un-ing. Natsuki steadied it and grabbed hold of a few of the wobbling bowls. "Calm down for God's sake, you each have your own damn bowl!" They converged on her, complaining rambunctiously about status etc. etc. They sat down eventually. Kakuzu took the end seat, opposite from Deidara who was still arguing blatantly with Hidan next to him. Itachi sat between the seat to the left of Leader-sama and aforementioned Jashinist and Kisame placed himself between Natsuki and Kakuzu. As predicted, the table broke into chaos and destruction before too long.
Deidara started it first. Or maybe it was Hidan with his big mouth. Anyway, there was a small explosion, most likely provoked by a large amount of swearing and other such insultive words and food went everywhere. This angered Kakuzu to no end because he'd have to expend money on buying new bowls (because they didn't have any more) and more food, the result of which was Hidan's head being taken off and Deidara becoming a strangled, presumed dead, object on the floor. And that was the end of dinner.
"What a waste." Natsuki sighed, stretching out her arms before plunging them back into the hot soapy water. Her tail swished about happily at the bubbles, the tip poking out teasingly for Chikakon to chase. A few of the meals had been salvaged and those who had saved them ate. Needless to say, Hidan and Deidara went hungry. "Hey guess what Chikakon?" He looked up from batting at her tail. "It raining outside!" He made an excited squeak and leapt onto the counter. "Shall we go and greet it once I've finished up here?" He bounded about joyously and almost crashed into the sink. "Okay then!" She grinned and got in his face. "You go find my rice hat and happi and I'll be right there in a moment!" His claws skittered across the counter and then he was off down the corridors like a bullet. Natsuki held back a giggle of amusement and quickly scrubbed the last bowl. She dried her hands off and ran after Chikakon. "Hey! Get my cane too!"
Natsuki poked her head around the corner. She checked the corridor twice, pulled up her rice hat as if she were some secret agent and then dashed across to the next corner, repeating the process. Chikakon followed at her heels. She pressed her back against the next wall, checked her map, then knocked urgently on the door, feeling more like a spy with each growing second. Kisame opened the door lazily. His head turned to look at her and he gave her a strange look. "What are you doing?"
"Shhh!" She pressed a finger to her lips and then grinned cheekily. "Come with us." Before he could protest, she had his hands in her grasp and was pulling him from his room. "Wait, where are we-" A finger touched his lips. "Sh." She turned around cautiously and checked this way and that. "Coast's clear." They were off, Chikakon leading the way with Natsuki gliding behind him, dragging a purpley Kisame after her. She flashed him a mischievous look and gripped her walking stick harder. "You sure you aren't falling for me?" It took him a few flustered moments to realise that she was talking about when they had gone to collect her clothes and necessities from her house. "N- no way girl." She smirked and swished her tail.
"Then you have no excuse for being so slow!" She laughed, lunging forwards. "I hope you like the rain!"
Rain pounded down, soaking the dirt to mud as the trio walked out into the arena. The musical sound of each individual droplet hitting the stone steps and the ground or other puddles created a fantastically harmonious melody, combined and finished with a flourish by the faint sound of the leaves of the vines being hit and of the creaking of the grasshoppers. Natsuki's tail raised and wagged about like a giddy dog's and she twirled in a circle in the mud, "Isn't it great!" She cried. Her hands clasped around his again and she grinned up at him, "Come on!" Chikakon pranced between their feet, taking the lead up the arena to the roof. The run was long and Natsuki's leg started up a soft thrum of pain, but clambering up the ladder of vines and ivy to the great rocky domed roof was exhilarating. She helped haul Kisame up (because he was nervous about the vines snapping under his weight), and they gazed out across the forest way down below. Kisame chuckled silently at her, her tail was whipping about uncontrollably and she was rocking back and forth on her heels. The rain bounced off her rice hat harmlessly and, in a flash of playfulness, he pinched it from her head. "Hey!" She swung round and leapt up for her hat. He raised it high above his head teasingly. "No fair! You're way taller than me." He laughed back.
"Then you'll have to use your head then won't you?" She took the phrasing literally and headbutted him in the stomach. Chikakon headbutted his ankles too, making him stumble. Natsuki leapt up and, latching her toes into what felt like a cloth belt or obi beneath his cloak, wrapping an arm around his to constrict his movement, she took the hat back and placed it on her head. She tickled his face with her tail for a joke before jumping down. "Take that sharky!" He smirked and pushed back his soaked hair, "Nah, I'd rather get revenge."
"Wait-" She darted off in the opposite direction, screaming and laughing. Kisame set off after her.
His hand gripped her waist from the back as he finally caught up with her. Natsuki turned in shock and slipped in the mud, falling on her butt. Chikakon chased a grasshopper behind them and Kisame laughed. He crouched in front of her with a smirk. "Is this your revenge? Make me fall on my butt?" He chuckled at her,
"No~" He suddenly got in her face with is cocky grin. His hand slowly reached behind her and her body froze in place, eyes a little wider. The rain seemed to pound down harder, dripping down their faces like little rivers. A little orange blur was seen and- " Ow!" Kisame recoiled, clutching his nose. Chikakon sat on his master's lap with a satisfied look in his eye. Natsuki broke from her trance with a bout of laughter, falling on her back and kicking her legs in the air like a child. Something twinged. Like an instance of light flitting by in utter darkness. Natsuki stopped laughing immediately, hand clamping over her thigh. "Ah, sorry, I have to go." Kisame looked up as she abruptly stood, gathering her rice hat and cane before leaving. "Wait-" He began, but his voice died down as she disappeared down the vines. "Did I do something wrong?"
Natsuki limped down the hallways stiffly, dripping rain everywhere along with mud from her happi. She stripped it off halfway to her room. Chikakon looked up at her worriedly. Her face was still and hard, like a mask. Her eyes held nothing but steadfast determination, like a strength. Some kind of power. Her lips, pale and thin, pressed into a hard line. Anybody else would think she was just having a bad day, that someone had irked her off, but Chikakon knew better. That was her look, the mask she wore if she was wary of being seen when her leg was like this. It was worse than usual. She was in pain.
The door swung open, cracking against the wall in her haste to get in. It crashed shut behind them and Natsuki fell against the extra support. Her features contorted into those of pain and suffering and her fingers dug into the skin of her thigh. "Haah..." Her pained breathe shook. The happi fell in a heap to the floor. "Dammit all." She slid gradually to the floor. Her eyes slid shut for a moment. Dammit, what the hell? Why is this happening? What happened up there? Her hand flashed out to slap the cold ground before she tore into the flesh. What was he gonna do? She asked herself, trying to distract from the pain. What was he going to do to me? What was going to be his revenge? Her eyes travelled to Chikakon. What would have happened if Chikakon hadn't bit his nose?
Chikakon watched as Natsuki eventually shut her eyes. Her breathing slowed down and calmed. Everything was alright now. He pulled over a blanket and dragged it over her haphazardly. Curling up on her good leg, he propped his head on his paws and huffed in his fox voice. Stupid sushi roll, he thought he could get away with trying to dirty his master with a ball of mud and leaves? Next time, he'd bite more than just his nose. His ears would be hanging from strands of tissue and cartilage if he wasn't careful.
"ATCHOO!"
"Fuck you!"
"Is that your version of 'bless you', Hidan?" Natsuki bit spitefully. The Jashinist sneered back at her crude joke. "Fucking whore should just keep quiet..." He grumbled.
"Well I would, but somebody just can't afford vitamin C tablets."
"Yeah well you shouldn't have been out in the fucking rain in the first place, should you bitch?" An intense glare targetted him. Natsuki would have bonked him over the head already, but her leg still throbbed and it was a waste of energy getting up off of the sofa to whack him anyway. She huffed and let her head fall back onto the arm of the sofa. "Whatever you foul-mouthed imbecile." Hidan glared over at her. His teeth grit together and he shot up, stalking over and looming above her field of vision. "What the fuck is up with you, bitch? Why aren't you fighting back? Where the fuck is your attitude? Your spunk?" He spat. Natsuki glowered at him, but didn't respond in like. She simply sighed and hauled herself up, supporting herself with her cane. "Unlike you Hidan, I don't survive off conflict."
Natsuki's hands scrubbed down the plate, softly dragging the sponge in deep circles over it's surface. She looked up and sighed. It was night time again. Another day spent in the Akatsuki. She realised that her moods kept swaying, she kept changing her mind. She wanted to go back, to get out of the danger zone and yet, at the same time she didn't realise she was in danger. She felt quite at home with these criminals. After all, life was just life whatever she did with it. Like it made a difference. She looked back down at her hands. Suds surrounded them. Water drowned them as she plunged them down under. She pulled them out and placed the plate on the drying rack, taking up a dirty one. Soft footsteps approached from behind. She didn't look to see who it was. "Natsuki."
"Kisame-san."
"Did I do something wrong yesterday?" Her hands stopped scrubbing for a moment before she replied.
"No." He took up a place beside her, drying the clean dishes slowly.
"Then why did you run off?" Her hand naturally fell upon her thigh. He dipped his head knowingly. They stood in silence for a minute. "What were you going to do?"
"Hm?"
"Yesterday. What were you going to do?" A soft chuckle escaped his lips.
"Nothing much." Their hands brushed as he went to take a plate from her. Energy sparked through their skin and Natsuki pulled away, blushing. "Ah. I see."
"Why? What did you think I was going to do?" He looked away, a faint lilac tinting his cheeks.
"Nothing much." She managed to mumble. She pulled the plug out and the water and suds all drained away. They put the dishes away quietly and then walked side-by-side out of the kitchen, Natsuki's limp prominent.
They stopped outside of Natsuki's door and she looked up at him. "Tell me. What were you going to do? What was going to be your revenge?" He cocked his head and smirked.
"I was gonna throw mud in your hair." A small smile quirked at her lips.
"Of course. Goodnight Kisame."
"Goodnight, Natsuki..."
In some ways, Natsuki reminds me of Holo/Horo from Spice and Wolf. It was completely unintentional, but sometimes when I write down one of her lines, it sounds just like something Holo would say.
On a side note, the title for this chapter doesn't make much sense, but I've always thought that Autumn starts in August, but that's just my own little fantasy, no need to comment on it. The title for CH9 also makes little sense because I strayed from the plot a little.
Next time in Weapons Dealer: Chapter Nine, Our beauty is unrecognised.
"That snake Orochimaru set us up! Those spies he had trained on us a while back- It was a decoy! The sly- Five ninja are heading this way now. They'll be here any minute and they're extremely strong."
"So you would have just sat here bleeding until I came?" ...