A huge thanks to AntivanArainaiHime, ForASunset'sRise and Woodshrew for reviewing, and I just got a big surprise when I opened my e-mail and found something like 47 e-mails coming from favourites and alerts, so THANK-YOU! I can't list you all though, it'd take forever :)
I do not own Naruto!
Let the story commence!
Chapter Nine: Our beauty is unrecognised.
The birds sang through the leaves, announcing the arrival of a hazy pink fog on the horizon. A rare sunrise with all the beauty of an unseen plum blossom falling to the floor as silent as a camellia. Dew hung from the grass like cool crystal droplets. Everything was quiet as the birds sung their sonata.
Tmp.
The silence broke.
Tmp.
Feet kicked off from a tree branch. Birds scattered. Their sonata shattered. A team of five ninja zipped through the trees. Sound headbands adorned their foreheads. Determined eyes focused ahead with the look of an important mission.
"We'll get 'em this time boys."
Six shadowed figures stood before Leader-sama with a seventh stationed by his left shoulder. His fingers were steepled like a cathedral spire. Rinnegan eyes passed over them abasedly. "The nine tails jinchuriki." He paused for one long moment. "Itachi. What is you verdict?" The Uchiha stepped forwards.
"The bijuu is sealed inside a boy going by the name of Naruto Uzumaki. He is rambunctious, boisterous and exceedingly loyal. Though he acts the fool he is a foe to be wary of. Our information so far has concluded that he does not possess full control of the bijuu inside him." He stepped back next to Kisame and Leader-sama dipped his head slightly. His brows furrowed a little. "Very good Itachi, as from now, I will be setting a new plan in play to aid our goal, we-"
"Leader-sama!" A clasped venus fly-trap threw rubble across the ruptured floor. It opened and Zetsu stood half in and half out of the ground, panting. "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." Leader-sama's glare intensified and he glowered through the arch of his steepled fingers. The members awaited his orders. "What the fuck are you waiting for? Send us out already you old coot!"
"Hidan!" He roared. "Be quiet this instant! Now I want you and Kakuzu to go out with Kisame and Itachi to intercept the attack. Try and take them out quickly and don't argue whatever you do. This isn't the time for such trivial matters. Deidara, I want you keeping an eye out from above. Keep in contact with Zetsu. Zetsu, survey the area for traps and gather more intel, report it back to Itachi, Kisame, Kakuzu and Hidan. Go!" The six nin disappeared in a flash. Leader-sama's eyes fell upon Sasori. "Sasori, you will take Natsuki and hide her somewhere. Tie that fox of her's up if necessary and then station yourself inside at the main entrance. Konan and I will take care of anybody who manages to get past the rest of you."
"Hai Leader-sama."
Natsuki listened to the clashing of weapons down below. Each time she heard it, her muscles tensed. She clung on to Chikakon, laying flat on her stomach so as not to be seen on the roof above the arena. A scream pierced the air, distinctly feminine. Her heart beat stumbled between slowing and pounding. But then a deeper, stronger voice cried out in pain and it leapt into another frenzy. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes at the memories such sounds brought up. She shook all over and buried her head in Chikakon's fur. He was quaking too and both of their tails were bristled in fear. Sasori had told them to hide somewhere remote, where nobody would look and wait until he came to get her. Sasori-san, please be alright! She didn't understand what was happening, who was in danger and who wasn't. She didn't want to lose any of them, not even Hidan and Deidara. She peeked up into the sky. She could just see the blonde's bird swooping through the air. A surge of chakra pulsed through the air suddenly. Natsuki froze stiff. The tip of her tail twitched. That was... She squeezed her eyes shut and wished for it all to end as the tears spilled over her cheeks.
One down, four to go. Deidara watched the battle from above. Kakuzu and Hidan had managed to work together for once and used their combo attack to take out who appeared to be the leader, a female with a tough attitude and a dangerous aim coupled with superb chakra control and genjutsu techniques. Kakuzu had his suture monsters out with their masks grinning at their other opponent. This man's face was half-charred and he was a devil to catch it seemed. Hidan couldn't quite catch him and was becoming increasingly frustrated by this fact. Frustrated being an understatement. Deidara's eyes scanned over the ashen trees to Kisame. The shark man was holding his own against a single opponent, being able to overpower him most of the time. He had recently released a shockwave of some sort of lightning-style jutsu which caught him off guard. Deidara had reported this to Zetsu who had informed the rest. Luckily, nobody had gotten to the base entrance yet. He cast a glance over his shoulder, hair whipping at his face. He could just spot Natsuki on the roof of the arena. Ch. Coward. Suddenly though, flames burst up beneath Deidara and he yelled, diving out of the raging fireball's path just in time. Damn Uchiha bastard. A small figure darted past beneath him and he squinted a little. What was that...? Realisation kicked him up the backside instantly. He yanked out the slab of bark Zetsu had handed him and shook it frantically. "Hey fly-trap! Fly-trap! There's somebody running at the main entrance!" He looked down, wondering if the plant man had heard him. He should intercept- A fly-trap swallowed the man up along with the ground beneath his feet. Deidara smirked. Din-dins mister fly-trap.
Itachi ducked and twisted to the side as a kusarigama whizzed past his head. His sharingan twisted lazily. Too bad they wouldn't work on this blind man. His hearing was excruciatingly acute, which proved a difficulty. However, his mind worked quickly, that meant that loud noises or a lot of noises all at once would distract him. Maybe even just enough to land a fatal blow. He pulled an explosive tag attached to a kunai from his holster. The sound of his cloak rustling made the blind's head turn. The weapon flew through the air, easily dodged by the man. Itachi launched himself forwards, a second kunai at hand already. They clashed as the tag hissed away, sparks chewing at the paper.
And then it exploded.
Heat and fire seared the clearing and the surrounding trees of anything other than black. Itachi watched from afar at where his clone had been. The blind man limped out of the woods, charred up his left side. Itachi kicked out his foot, it slammed into a branch, dislodging a makeshift mechanism. Shuriken flew in a ring towards the enemy, surrounding him. His only escape route was to leap into the air, and that he did, the chain of his kusarigama arching over him. Itachi hurled a kunai at a single link in the chain. The man landed, his weapon was pinned to the ground. Another explosion.
Tags detonated all around, explosions ringing clear through the air. Itachi couldn't help but smirk as he leapt further back. That man. He was an idiot. Truly an idiot. When they clashed after he had thrown the explosive tag with the kunai, that was his cue to create a number of extra clones. He wouldn't hear them over the clamor of their weapons. They pasted explosive tags encircling the clearing whilst the real him, up in the safety of the trees, created a mechanism out of string and wire and tree branches. The clones set it up, shuriken attached. When the first tag exploded, the others weren't affected. His clones were taken out, but the man was injured, which was all well and good. He didn't expect Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy, to still be alive. He thought he'd beaten him. Itachi snorted at his foolishness. That's when he sprung his trap. The shuriken to distract him as the explosive tags simmered away, to force him into a corner, the kunai to pin him down. The explosions to sound his death. Itachi walked away slowly. The man's chakra signature was obliterated. He knew that everybody else would be finishing up now. He would... check on Natsuki. Yes. Before reporting back to Leader-sama? He had Zetsu for that. If he wanted Itachi's personal report, then he would summon him.
Natsuki leapt up at the sound of footsteps, katana drawn and tail raised in preparation for attack. Itachi raised a brow and she sheathed it. Her tail lowered slowly and Chikakon sat by her feet. "You've been crying." He stated matter-of-factly. Her brows pinched together and lips pressed in a thin line. "No I haven't." His onyx eyes sharpened by a hint. "Natsuki-san." Natsuki tipped to the side a bit, looking around Itachi. Sasori nodded to her. "Its over now, you can come back down."
"Finally." She rolled her eyes jokingly and the redhead made his way back down the vines. Itachi cocked his head to the side. "You were crying."
"Was not!" Natsuki yelled to a poof of smoke. Stupid ninja...
Her brow furrowed a little at the blotches of blood on the floor of the halls. Chikakon sniffed at it. He shuffled his paws a little, sniffed again, then darted off down the corridor. Chikakon! You'd better hope Hidan doesn't see you running about all over the place! She set off after him.
They stopped in front of a plain wooden door, no scratches, but a few dents and chips in the wood here and there. Natsuki pressed her ear to it. Someone grunted on the other side. It was a deep voice. Strong and sure. Her fingers curled around the doorknob and slowly twisted it. Darkness met her gaze and she listened. Silence. Then something moved and there was the sound of fabric rustling. Somebody breathed. Natsuki took a step in and sniffed the air a little. She could feel her tail twitching. A tingling feel ran down it. She let the door fall shut and crept further in. She stumbled a little over her own feet, but kept her ears trained on the sound of breathing. There was another grunt and she stopped, turned and searched the inky shadows for the source of the sound. Black pupils suddenly appeared, rimmed in white. "Kisame-san?" She saw his teeth as he pulled a cocky grin. "Natsuki-san, be a good girl and leave."
"Good girl?" Natsuki had the urge to kick him in the face. That's when he grunted. She reined in her violent urges and narrowed her eyes. Why was he making silly sounds? She crouched down in front of him, then her nose picked up the scent. Heavy with a heady tone to it, smelling vaguely of sea salt, but more of iron and rust. Blood. She could feel the hairs on her tail begin to bristle. Standing, she fumbled about for a light and finally managed to flick on a lamp. Kisame looked at her seriously. Her eyes traversed his body until they came upon the source of his discomfort. A gash slicing across his bicep, oozing thick rivulets of blood down the blue skin. "You're an idiot." She stated blandly. His eyes darkenned a little at the insult, but he managed a smirk, forced as it was. With a roll of her eyes, she fetched his first-aid kit and knelt back down in front of him. She was silent as she cleaned and dressed the wound. "You could have done this yourself you know." She told him with a hint of irritation. "Hm. I suppose so, but then I wouldn't be depending on you, and I'm trying to show that it's okay to get people's help." She gave him a dark look, then returned to her bandaging. "So you would have just sat here bleeding until I came?"
"No. I was going to sort it out in a couple more minutes if you didn't come."
"You make me sound like a flipping nurse." She spat. He chuckled and shrugged. Pain lanced through his arm and he grimaced, strangling a groan in his throat. She gave him a look that just screamed his idiocy, but quickly finished up. "Alright, don't move it and the like, you know the drill." She huffed, partially-jokingly as she went to put the medical kit away. Kisame slowly rolled his shoulders before letting out a relaxed sigh and leaning his back against the wall. Natsuki gave his dozing figure a questioning look, but pulled his duvet over him anyway and left swiftly.
Natsuki walked down the corridor, her limp finding it's way back into her gait. She and Chikakon made a quick stop off at her room to collect her cane and then they proceeded to the kitchen to gather some food, rice and donburi for Natsuki, fish for Chikakon. Just to spite Kisame. They backtracked all the way back to her work room and Natsuki set to work sharpenning and straightening weapons, fixing dents and checking angles. She knew that it was a job well below her talents, but that was just an excuse for Leader-sama to keep her here. He really wanted her for her 'talents' whatever they were. So far though, she wasn't on the radar. A blessing she was sure. However, she understood that she was of some use in her current occupation. She could repair a bent or nicked blade in an hour tops, whilst others would spend a reasonable amount of time more fixing the problem. And that was with big blades and the giant kind of shuriken. Smaller things like kunai and senbon, or just a quick sharpenning she could do in a matter of minutes. She was efficient and it meant that the other Akatsuki members didn't have to waste their time with such trivial matters when they could be doing something handy elsewhere. Her tail swished methodically with her work and Chikakon pounced on it to keep himself occupied. Natsuki thought back to the battle earlier that day. She thought she had escaped those horrors from years ago, but she was wrong it would seem. They still lurked there. Brilliant. That's just what I need right now. Her tail stopped swishing and Chikakon pounced.
"OW!"
Next time in Weapons Dealer:Chapter Ten - Resume, unpause!
"Itachi, you'd better swear you won't tell Leader-sama!" She cried, clutching to his collar violently. Her canines bared, "Swear you won't tell!"
"You think you can get away with hurting my fox?" She hissed, "And stealing my clothes to top it all off." He choked, but she only squeezed harder. "Now I'm going to strangle you until you lose consciousness, and don't for a second think about faking you mongrel, because I assure youI can tell."