DISCLAIMER: If I can't even write a decent fanfic with no grammatical errors, then obviously I am NOT the creator of Naruto or its characters. If I was, I would have changed Kisame's voice actor in Shippuden to someone who DOESN'T sound like a prepubescent boy. I do, however, own Saya and all her un-character-depthness.
That's about it.
(!)ATTENTION: I'm looking back on these earlier chapters and face-palming. Like, hardcore face-palming. I knew my writing sucked early on, but for the love of God, this is utterly pathetic. I'll be taking a really long time to update because I want to try editing these chapters a little, though once this fic is completed, I plan on coming back and really going crazy.
I appreciate any patience you're willing to spend on me.
There are places in the world we don't see or hear of.
There are people who we will never know of.
There are things we could never imagine, happening all the time.
And still, life goes on.
Ignorance is bliss.
But those people, places, and things…
They're all still there.
Just waiting to be discovered.
"Do you know who we are, onna?" Kisame watched the woman closely, a slip of arrogance simmering just beneath his relaxed exterior. There must have been a catch. What was the girl up to, eh? Saya continued sipping her drink, her stare directed at the sea.
"Do you know who I am?" she asked in return. Well, she had them there, not that they were going to admit it.
She sighed.
"If I were to guess, I would guess you were Akatsuki," she hiccuped with a small jolt. Trailing her eyes up and down both men, she continued. "And if I were to guess why you've come for me, I would guess that you are in need for my special ability." It wasn't hard to guess who they were, of course. Any shinobi who had a bingo book could recognize who they were, how could they not with such blatant uniform?
A sly smile upturned her lips. She fell back onto the fine sand with a very unladylike grunt and stared up to the sky that was littered with twinkling stars, arms on either side of her. Both Itachi and Kisame watched as she wriggled those fingers into the sand and sighed, the coolness of it soothing her flushed skin. "My certain skill that leaves all else in the dust," she quipped.
"Oh?" Kisame prodded. Perhaps this is why Leader wanted the woman. She apparently had some sort of ability, one that would theoretically bring them closer to their goal. It must be something worthwhile as well, otherwise Leader would not have bothered.
"Yes," she nodded, "my amazing skill." Itachi scanned her, his Sharingan ready for her if she were to spring into action.
"Which would be?" Itachi asked, his voice a velvet-sheathed dagger in the darkness. There was a drawl to it, though, that didn't lessen its intensity. She turned her head slightly.
"Why, my amazing drinking abilities of course!" Kisame didn't even bother holding back the scoff that jumped from his throat. He really should have seen something like that coming. "I can out-drink everyone and their mother!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms out and sending sheets of sand into the wind. It whipped against both men's cloaks before being carried off along the rest of the shoreline.
"And just why would we need any use of that skill?" Kisame questioned lazily, putting particular emphasis on the word. She shrugged.
"How should I know, that's just about all I'm good for." She blinked repeatedly and paused in thought just before careening her head back further towards where Kisame stood, who quirked a brow down at her. "You know, you've got alotta buggers in your nose, Ao-san!" A burst of husky giggles spurted from her throat while she pointed at Kisame with a single finger. He scowled, not in the least entertained by her antics.
"So are you coming or what, gaki?" he demanded, gripping the hilt of Samehada. She poked her chin in thought.
"Should or shouldn't, I don't know. Perhaps a star will tell me so!" She pointed to the sky and squinted. "I see….I see….I see!" she mumbled, moving her finger in circular motions. "I see you!"
Suddenly, she flipped back onto her feet and spun around, chucking her bottle past the two men. Kisame wasn't startled in the least, but that didn't keep him from growling at her.
"What the hell was that, onna?"
A loud thunk sounded behind them, and Kisame looked too see that she had hit a man in police clothing. His eyes were swirling, obviously he was unconscious, and two others looked down to him, taken aback.
Itachi had heard the men coming, it was hard not to the way they had trudged down the beach. But what made him narrow his eyes was the fact that the woman had heard them as well, despite her inebriated state. Leader hadn't given them much to go on, though, he was sure that wasn't due to lack of information. It didn't matter either way to him; the woman was hardly a challenge. Still, her senses, even with drink, weren't to be completely made light of it seemed.
One of the police looked up from his fallen comrade and yelled out at Saya.
"Sayuri, what's the big idea, eh?" Pointing accusingly at her, he marched forward as the other man helped the unconscious one to his feet, attempting to slap him awake. Saya waved him off and stuck out a tongue.
"Bleh. Whatta ya guys doin here anyways? Shouldn't you be reading your Icha Icha books or something? Since when do you patrol, ne?" She slapped both hands on her hips, her balance tipping only slightly before she righted herself again. The man rubbed his stubbly chin and then his short brown hair. He was probably in his early forties, and he seemed that he was used to the life of police work. He looked tired, almost as if he had been recently woken from a comfortable and welcomed sleep. Warily, he glanced at the Akatsuki men, wondering who exactly the two were and if they were the trouble he had been warned about.
"I was given a tip that you might be in some trouble, so we headed out to find you," he paused and looked to her, stopping in his tired stride. "Are these guys giving you trouble?"
"Nah, so you can go back to your pervy dreams, Icha-san," she slurred, waving him away. A deep blush bloomed across his cheeks.
"My dreams are none of your business. But that's beside the point." He glared at the two men. Kisame looked to Itachi, who was already engaging his Sharingan. Just as he was about to put the man to sleep, Saya pointed up at the sky.
"Oi, oi, wha's that!" she exclaimed. The man looked up, and as he did, she appeared behind him. "No, no. Over there!" She pointed in the opposite direction, a hand on his back to direct him. He followed her finger and looked, searching the sky.
"What?" He asked bewildered. Excitedly pointing in all directions, she had him spinning around so fast that he got dizzy and fell on his backside.
"Takuma-san!" The remaining coherent man called out worriedly. He was still trying to rouse the man who had been hit by the bottle. He seemed a lot younger than the other two, most likely being a newbie on the force.
He looked from each of his superiors and finally at Saya, dumbfounded. She, however, had turned back to the two men, both whom were waiting patiently for her to acknowledge them. She thoughtfully sized them up before coughing into her hand and rubbing her neck.
"You guys were serious about wanting me to come with you, weren't you?" she laughed. Itachi shifted, the look in his eyes giving her all she needed to know. Her smile never went away, but her tone hardened. "And seriously, if I say no?" she asked.
"Like I said," Kisame grinned, "you're coming, conscious or not." He threw a glance over at the three men. "Or, we could kill a few people to persuade you." He didn't think that would really work, not with Itachi not being one to kill unnecessarily. That certainly didn't mean she knew that, and besides, just because Itachi wouldn't didn't mean he couldn't take a few heads. However, she didn't seem the least bit fazed and merely kicked a bit of sand beneath her shabby sandals.
"What happened to 'just like that'?" Itachi asked quietly. She swayed a bit and pointed at him
"You never sat and watched the waves, remember? You were too busy acting the big bad, dark and clad assassin role to even come outta yer shell and seal the deal, ne?" Itachi seemed nonplussed by her rant and accusation, but his previous glare never softened. Kisame, on the other hand, slammed his sword dramatically across the sand, sending a splash of powdery sand into the air.
"Enough, onna! What's it gonna be?" he barked dangerously. She grinned at his scowl and stared him on and without looking, she hauled the officer who was still unconscious into the air and tossed him to the other two.
"Heads up!" A mischievous smile crossed her features. The younger man gulped, his Adams apple bobbing, as his superior fell in a heap across him and his friend, leaving all three unconscious and down for the count. They were back near the fence, and out of the way for the impending fight. She turned back to the other two.
"What's it gonna be, you ask? Well, it's gonna be just like this." She drunkenly pointed to Kisame. "I'm going to refuse, of course. In retaliation, you are going to make a mad dash to my left and take a nice jab at me. Me, however, already premeditating this, will have dodged and made a swift flip towards your dark friend over there." She pointed to Itachi. "Then, once I regain my footing, you will snatch my arm up in a lovely death grip and attempt to swoon me with those gorgeous eyes of yours. However, I had, again, assumed you would do so and you would be staring at my shadow clone. The real me would have already escaped during my explanation as to how all this would happen while the two of you were sucking my silly jibber up like silly sea sponges, and I will already be approximately ten to fifteen miles away and happily sipping my own personal gourd of sake I've been saving for a special occasion, which in this case would be my going away party." She finished with a wink.
Kisame blinked and waited a moment, watching out for any hand signs that resembled a replacement jutsu. She swung her head from side to side, looking for something and then pointing dramatically towards the space behind them. "Kami, what's that?" she yelped.
The distraction failed miserably.
She grinned sheepishly at them and turned to her left to make a run for it. Kisame saw this and took his chance to swing at her. He smirked as his blade came down on her, but just as it was about to hit, she flipped backwards a few times and stopped near Itachi. Itachi realized how similar things were playing out to her rambling and instead of grabbing her, made a move to trip her. However, she deftly pounced into the air as he went for her legs, so he swiftly snatched her arm while she was still in the air and slammed her into the earth. She choked on a grunt of pain as a smoke-screen of sand lifted into the air from contact. She winced and stared at him as he hovered above her. Kisame clucked his tongue as he neared the two and sneered down at her.
"Whatever happened to being miles away with sake, eh?" he jeered. She glanced from one man, whose eyes were beginning to spin, to the other, and back again before sticking out a tongue. Her form then went up in a pool of smoke, leaving the two Akatsuki members to stare at the bare ground. Kisame rolled his eyes and sighed, looking at his partner.
"When did she sneak off? I didn't see any hand signs."
Itachi stood and brushed himself off with a single jerk of his cloak. He calmly performed a few hand signs that were better known as a tracking jutsu and without looking up, responded.
"While we were sucking up her silly jabber."