Chapter Fourteen: If luck would have it.
Natsuki tossed and turned in her sheets. Tears fled down her face and she let out a low whimper. Drowning and burning all clashed in her dreams, her nightmare. Chikakon looked at her sadly from the end of the bed. He padded over, jumping over her twitching legs and nuzzling her cheek. He laid down, he would watch over her in her sleep. He would be her shield, just like he had promised.
Natsuki woke up that morning groggy and somehow sleep-deprived. She sighed, running a hand down her face. "Right," She shook Chikakon by her side, who was still asleep. "Get up, lazy-bum." He growled a little, cracking an eye open and yawning. "There we go, come on." He snorted and closed his again. "Ch. Fine then, you have until I finish getting ready for the day." He barely nodded before falling back into his dreams. Natsuki shook her head, fondness shining in her eyes. Clambering awkwardly over Chikakon's body, she limped her way into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Undressing and stepping in, Natsuki inspected her body for recent wounds. Her stomach wasn't blotched in colour like she had expected it to have been after Itachi's little after-mission training session, but it was tender and sore. Her arm felt the same, but she could already see the emerging greens and purples. Another one on the upper half off her other arm showed evidence of one of her many scuffles with Deidara. That particular one had been for throwing the steamed 'bean' bun at his face. He thought she was being ungrateful, but to be quite honest, she didn't really think that sand-filled food was worth appreciating. She looked down to check her legs and recoiled, falling back into the wall. A net of green veins encompassed her entire left thigh. Blood dribbled from her lip and she stopped biting it so hard. "Great..."
"Hey Chikakon, Chikakon! I found them!" She grinned, pointing to the berry bush. "You stay there!" She leapt into the sea of nettles, her legs protected by her hakama and her feet by her socks and tabi. She waded through the stinging plants, laughing and looking back to keep an eye on Chikakon. "Halfway there!" Pain suddenly spiked up her leg and she looked down, expecting to see a nettle stabbing through the fabric. A coil of barbed tendrils pierced through her skin and she whimpered. Crimson flowers veined with green leered at her from the stem of the plant. "C- Chikakon!" Tears that had welled in her eyes spilled over, tumbling down her face. "Chikakon, get Mummy! Get Mummy!"
Natsuki dug her nails into her leg, hissing and rasping out the only noises she could through her gritted teeth. "Haaah..."
"I'm afraid your daughter has been poisoned."
"What? But isn't there anything we can do?"
"The medicine wouldn't arrive on time, though I doubt you could afford it anyway..."
"But there must be something we can do?"
"Haah... I can give her another medicine, but it has a lot of side effects and may not cure the paralysis. In the worst case scenario, we may have to amputate the leg."
"Nngh!" Natsuki collapsed to the bottom of the tub, pressing her forehead into her knees, trying to apply as much pressure as she could to her leg. She could feel every blood cell burning through her veins, feel every pulse resonate through her blood.
"Nnnn... M- Mummy? Mummy!"
"I'm here Chikako, it's alright, you're going to be alright..."
"Y- you're not my Mummy... Where's my Mummy? Mummy? Mummy!" "Chikako! I'm right here, I'm here!"
"NO! Mummy! There's a monster after me, MUMMY!"
"AARGH!" Natsuki screamed, slamming her head into the wall. She kicked out her leg, writhing in pain. Her tail thrashed. "Make it stop, make it stop!" Tears mingled with the water.
"Good news, your daughter will be able to keep her leg. There is no need to amputate it and there will be no more hallucinations now that she is off the medicine. She has made a full recovery."
"Oh thank God! Thank-you so much Doctor!"
"I implore that she does not over-exert her leg, however, as it needs to heal fully. Good day."
"I'm alright? Chikakon, did you hear that? I'm alright! I can keep my leg! Mummy, Daddy! I can keep my leg!"
"Yes, honey, but please, do as the doctor says..."
"I will Mummy! I'll rest it, I promise!"
"Rgh!" I never did rest it... I didn't let the poisoned muscles heal... I left myself with no hope of recovery and now I must live with the lame leg I gave myself. I am responsible for this pain. My pain.
Natsuki limped down the corridor, Chikakon steadfast at her side. She rubbed at her eyes, which she knew where still red and puffy. She stopped at a door and knocked quietly. A scratchy voice sounded from the other side, "Come in." They stepped into the room, only a small lamp on sitting on a small coffee table in the middle of the room. "Are you alright Itachi-san?" Itachi smirked, letting out a small chuckle. He looked up from the small sofa in front of the coffee table, an old book in his lap. "We Uchihas are sturdy demons. And please, drop the -san, I don't hold any grudge against you."
"Eheh, alright. What about Chikakon?" Chikakon's ears perked and he bounded forwards, leaping onto the coffee table and kit-fox eyes. Pun intended. Itachi looked up at the ceiling.
"Hmmm... If he gets off my table, then yes." Chikakon barked and leapt into his lap, licking at Itachi's face. "Hey, hey!" He let out a small laugh, pushing him down with his good arm.
"Chikakon, be gentle." Natsuki warned, limping over and removing him from Itachi. He smiled in polite thanks. "Well, we'll be going now, we just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm absolutely fine, but thank-you." Natsuki nodded and left, letting Chikakon down at the door.
They walked through the corridors until they reached Natsuki's work room. There were only a few shuriken from Kakuzu, though that kind of weapon didn't seem to suit him for some reason, and a purposefully mangled kunai from Hidan. Natsuki sighed, taking out Hidan's kunai and inspecting it. Was it a test? Should she take the bait? Or should she just hurl it back in his face and ignore the snide remarks to follow? She sighed, putting it back. She'd fix it if she felt like working after fixing Kakuzu's shuriken.
Natsuki heated one of the four blades, taking up one of her smaller hammers and gentle tapping the malleable metal back into shape. It didn't take much effort and she was just in the process of checking the angles when she heard one of the flaps on the boxes tap shut. Getting up, she hobbled towards the boxes and checked them one-by-one. There was a slip of paper in Zetsu's box.
'Leader-sama requests that you go to his office immediately.'
Natsuki sighed and looked back at Chikakon, sleeping amidst a pile of spanners and wrenches. "Come on, Chikakon." He looked up, eyes bleared with sleep. "I know, but you don't want to stay in here where Hidan could find you." That woke him up. He leapt to his feet, dashing out of the door. "Alrighty then, let's go!"
"You're going on another mission."
"What? But I just got back from-"
"You have. another. mission." Natsuki huffed and looked away. "Be at the main entrance as soon as you are ready. Do not delay, you are dismissed." She and Chikakon left swiftly, Chikakon flicked his tail rudely on the way out and Natsuki had to force herself not to synchronise with him. "Come on, something tells me we should be quick." They moved quickly through the maze of halls and passageways, Natsuki speeding along as fast as her leg would allow her, Chikakon pacing himself at her feet. As soon as she got to their room, she strapped on her katana, slipped a spanner into the folds of her kimono and slipped her little dagger behind the sheath of her katana. She piled her hair into a messy ponytail, grabbed her cane, called Chikakon, and they were gone in minutes.
"What the fuck? You!"
"Well I don't like you either!" Kakuzu let out a heavy sigh, walking out of the base. Hidan and Natsuki didn't even notice, too busy wrapped up in their glaring contest.
"For the love of ryo... Come on! We're starting the mission!" Hidan's head whirled up to yell at Kakuzu and Natsuki gained a triumphant smirk on her face. She had won. The two quickly followed after Kakuzu; from what Natsuki had seen and heard of him, he was quite short-tempered and violent. Not to mention, his name was in red on Sasori's map. A cold blast of air hit them and Natsuki shivered, she wished she had put on some more layers, but last time she had seen any amount of weather, she was in Sunagakure. The grass was crisp, crunching slightly beneath her feet. A shiver ran down the length of her tail and she let it swish just once to warm up. That thought seemed odd somehow. Warming a tail up... She looked a Chikakon, swishing his. "Do you have to keep it warm?" He looked up and bounced a little. Natsuki nodded and looked ahead. "Come on, we're falling behind."
"A bounty hunt?" Natsuki stared, not believing her ears.
"Yes..." Kakuzu's rough voice confirmed. Hidan's rant continued from behind the two of them. He had started complaining a few hours ago and Natsuki was at her wit's end with it. She could tell Kakuzu was aswell. "We must pick up the pace if we are to intercept him on time." Natsuki was sure her heart just plummeted. Her leg was sending horrendous bouts of pain up her leg to her hip, and down to her knee. "And just who is this 'him'?"
"Someone with a very large bounty over his head."
I can see why Hidan calls you Miser now...
Unfortunately, they did end up picking up the pace, which meant that Natsuki was constantly grimacing from the back, trying to keep up with the two men. Chikakon shot her a lot of worried looks. Natsuki refused to bow down though and give in to her weakness. Suddenly, Kakuzu stopped, looked around, then turned off the path and started maneuvering his way through the trees. Natsuki sighed at the prospect of all those roots and Hidan threw up his arms, kicking up another hissy fit. After clambering through all of the trees though, they came out in a large clearing. The grass was wet, soaking Natsuki's feet and she shivered. Ice seemed to run down her tail and she had to concentrate solely on not letting it thrash about. Chikakon had found a stray grasshopper and was chasing it. "He's coming." Kakuzu's voice spoke.
The battle commenced the second this man, this 'bounty', stepped one foot into the clearing. Hidan hurled himself forwards, screaming out, "Congratulations! You're my newest sacrifice to Jashin!" Kakuzu waited patiently, watching as the man defended himself from Hidan's onslaught of attacks. Suddenly, he broke free and tried to flee, darting for the surrounding trees. Natsuki took that as her chance. She summoned her chakra as fast as possible, letting her hands follow their instinct. A great fireball raged and took form, thundering towards the man. He skidded to a halt, running back the other way to the center of the clearing to escape the fire. His hands flew together, "Wind Release, temple of the hurricane!" Air rushed past Natsuki, soaring for the bounty. It massed around him, taking on a visible form swirling around the man like an impenetrable wall. Hidan threw something black and slim into the convulsing air currents. It flew around in circles until it was spat back out, flying towards Natsuki, she only just managed to dodge the spear, so close to impaling her head. "Watch it Hidan!" She yelled, having half a mind to storm over to him and throw him into the hurricane himself. Kakuzu lifted an arm slightly and Natsuki saw it... detach? What. the. Hell. His arm just came off! It shot into the ground, some kind of black cords keeping it attached to the rest of his arm. Natsuki couldn't believe her eyes. Suddenly, the man inside the hurricane was dragged into the ground with a yell and the hurricane wavered. With one last jerk, his head disappeared underground and he came up, hanging from Kakuzu's grip, outside of his protection. It faltered once more and dispersed with a heavy sigh. "For someone with such a large bounty over his head, you weren't very challenging." He tossed the man to Hidan's feet. "There, have your fun with him and then let's go." Natsuki didn't really want to remember what happened after that, but she decided that Hidan was definitely a maniac. Not that she had had any doubts of course.
Natsuki sat down in the clearing, rubbing her leg to try and stop the pain from being so violent. Chikakon was sat at her feet, Hidan hunting down rabbits and whatnot to kill somewhere else in the clearing. Kakuzu had taken the dead body, mangled and broken, to somewhere he called 'the collection office'. Hidan had recommended she not go and, from the sounds of his voice and how he had pinched his nose, she had for once complied. When Kakuzu got back, there were two other people with him. Natsuki recognised them immediately. Kisame and Itachi. She got up and limped towards them, Chikakon bounding ahead to greet them all. "What are you two doing here?" She asked, looking from one missing-nin to the next.
"Leader-sama wants you to help us on our mission." Itachi provided. Kakuzu dipped his head to Natsuki and left them, calling to Hidan as if he were a small child that wouldn't leave the park. "What's your mission?"
"Just keeping tabs on Orochimaru's whereabouts. As soon as we find his current lair, we'll head back." Kisame said, grinning lopsidedly. Natsuki couldn't help but smile at that face.
"Don't tell me you fell out with Zetsu too?" He laughed and Itachi smirked.
"No, he's on another mission." The three departed, Natsuki calling out for Chikakon who had run off to chase something again. Another chill wind blew and Natsuki shivered. This time, she let her tail swish to keep warm. The two men looked back at her, both smiling. She grinned back, Chikakon pouncing on her head. This was the best team she could wish for.
The four of them sat, shivering before their fire under the night sky. A light snow was beginning to fall, but luckily the heat from the flames kept the majority of it from settling on them. Their backs were still cold though. Chikakon was snuggled up into Natsuki's stomach and she was protected from the elements on either side by Kisame and Itachi leaning on her. Chikakon had caught their tea, but it hadn't lasted long. Soon, in Natsuki's bleary, drowsy state, she felt a light pressure exert itself on her shoulder. Her eyes gradually looked over and a small smile tugged at her lips. Itachi had fallen asleep, dropping his head onto her shoulder. She slowly looked to Kisame, who smiled back.
Natsuki didn't know when it was that she had fallen asleep, but the next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake Itachi. Her head jerked up and Kisame jolted, sitting upright in a flash as if he expected an attack. The fire had stayed alight throughout the night, so they weren't cloaked in snow like the rest of their surroundings. "We have to get going now." He murmured, bathed in the weak early morning sunlight. Natsuki squinted up at him. Despite how little Sun there was and how drab it was, the snow reflected it powerfully. Natsuki got up, cradling Chikakon in one arm and picking up her cane. Kisame stretched beside her, stamping out the fire before they all left.
After yesterday's hours of fruitless walking, not being able to find any of Orochimaru's occupied bases, they were hoping to have a luckier day. But as they went on and the hours passed, the weather grew colder and a blizzard began to set in with them only having found one more base. Unoccupied again. Chikakon bundled himself inside Natsuki's top, pressing into her body for warmth and she in turn let her tail thrash about to generate heat. She could see Itachi and Kisame shiver every so often under their thick cloaks and began to seriously regret not bringing some sort of coat herself. The snow was building up, soaking their ankles, then their calves, until it got to their knees. They had been searching for some kind of shelter since the blizzard first started, but they hadn't found anything and now it seemed as if they were going to buried beneath frigid snow and die. Natsuki whimpered a little and hugged Chikakon. She couldn't let that happen. She had to figure out some way of getting them out of this. Her eyes flicked from Kisame to Itachi to Chikakon. She stopped, turning to the West. She dropped her cane onto the snow and gathered up her chakra. Her hands flashed together as she performed a Great Fireball Jutsu, watching it sear through the snow, melting it away. "Natsuki!" Her head whipped around. Itachi wore a light frown and Kisame ran a hand down his face.
"What?"
"You released your chakra!" Itachi scolded. "Our cover's just been blown." Natsuki gulped and grinned sheepishly.
"Well... at least it's not so cold now?" Kisame huffed.
"If you were that cold, you should have just said." Her tail whipped violently.
"I would have thought it was obvious."
"It doesn't matter now." Itachi stepped in between the brewing arguement. "Let's just keep moving, everybody stay on guard." Natsuki nodded glumly. She had just ruined the mission... Something warm landed on her head. She jumped, looking up to see what it was. A black cloak adorned with red clouds. It slipped and fell to her shoulders. She blinked at Kisame's retreating back, his shoulders bearing the harsh climate to compensate for her lack of planning. A small smile tugged at her lips.
"He's here." Itachi whispered, his voice barely audible in their urgency to remain undetected. Natsuki nodded, shifting her grip on her cane. Kisame crouched beside her, one hand hovering above the ground, prepared to grab Samehada at a moment's notice. Itachi's sharingan turned calculatingly. A minute later, he started shuffling back. Their mission was complete. He had Orochimaru's current location logged in his memory. Kisame crept back too and Natsuki followed, holding Chikakon under one arm. As soon as they had put some distance between them and Orochimaru's base, they stood and leapt away. They could finally head back.
No snow fell that night. They had bunked in a cave a ways up on a cliff just in case though and had a small fire going. Just enough to keep them warm, but not enough to alert others of their presence. Itachi was on guard that night and Natsuki had already fallen asleep, huddled against Kisame's side with Chikakon bundled in her arms. Kisame was still awake, looking out blankly across the cave. His hand twitched and gradually he brought it up to brush a strand of hair from her face gently. With that, he allowed himself to drift gently off to sleep.
Natsuki woke up groggily, jerking again. Why was she... moving? What? Her bleary eyes surveyed her surroundings. She blinked, her vision clearing slightly. She appeared to be very high up and still wrapped in Kisame's cloak. She yawned, rubbing her cheek against a shock of blue hair. After half an hour of waking up, she finally spoke. "Can you let me down now Kisame?" She felt his head move to look up at her. "Sure." He stopped and crouched down. Natsuki slid off of his back, thanking him for letting her sleep. He only nodded.
"Oh," She clapped her hands together, slipping out of his cloak and holding it out for him. "Here you go, t- thanks again." She felt her cheeks heat up a little bit and turned away, walking on. Kisame pulled his cloak back on, following after her. He could smell her scent all over his cloak. It made him blush. Itachi looked back at the two. "We're almost there." He called.
Chikakon trotted by Natsuki's heels happily, the snow only coming up to just above his ankles. Suddenly, something crashed out of the trees and they all leapt back, Samehada, katana and sharingan out. Kisame was bowled over by and indistinguishable blur and then Itachi was taken down by something plummeting from above. Natsuki raised her katana to attack when somebody jumped her from behind. She gasped as she collapsed in the snow and her katana fell from her grasp. Shrill laughs reached her ears and she looked up. Hidan was cackling madly, sat cross-legged on Kisame's chest and rubbing it in the shark's face how they were ambushed so easily. Deidara was on his back, kicking about in hysterics. Puppet hands entered Natsuki's vision as Sasori got off her. She stood, shivering as the snow fell form her soaked clothes. He smiled at her and laughed a little. "Got you." Her eyes darkenned and she bent down to retrieve her katana. A snowball launched through the air and hit the redhead square in the face. "Got you!"
Yay! It's nearly Christmas! In Weapons Dealer anyways. I'm sorry I didn't include everything that was in the preview, I swear this story has a life of its own.
Anyways, ryo is the currency used in Naruto.
Also, thanks to everybody who reviewed, I really appreciate it and it's always a pleasure to hear from you. You're also super-duper good at motivating me!
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Next time in Weapons Dealer: Chapter Fifteen...
"It's repulsive, it reminds me of people's feet. I don't see why people think mistletoe is so romantic, it sounds like a division of athlete's foot."