"Katsu-kun."
Saya sat with dull eyes, her bottom firmly planted on a gnarled root of the wood chime tree. Katsutoshi sat with a paper and pen not too far off, his hand scribbling away at the parchment with a speed Saya could only surmise as 'really, really fast'.
"You're writing really, really fast." Her voice was low against the breeze, but it rolled along to Katsu's ears and he could only smile with a sort of arrogant quirk as he paused for a moment to look back at her.
"Jealous, Saya-chan?"
"Not in the least," Saya strummed. "I have no interest in calligraphy. At all." She paused in thought and cupped her chin. "But you know, Misa would be impressed. She has a sort of fancy for stuff like that."
Katsutoshi seemed to repress a wide smile as he turned back to his writing.
"Oh? I didn't know."
"Of course you knew! That's why you took it up to start with!" She said heatedly. His smile flickered out, an annoyed twitch flipping the meaning behind the smile.
Saya-chan was much too smart sometimes.
"If you say so, Saya-chan. My parents are the ones who suggested it." He replied easily. "But with Misa-dono as the subject, I was wondering whether or not she would still have her usual birthday party this year?" His inquisitive tone made Saya cackle, the sound echoing between the air and sky.
"Of course she'll have it, she's Misa after all." She laughed back. "Oh, but I would be careful if I were you."
"Oh? Why's that?" His hand continued to glide along the surface of the paper. Saya hesitated for a moment, before delicately continuing.
"I'm not privy to pry into my sisters affairs. Actually, I prefer to avoid it at all costs. But from the looks of things, her guy friend may not appreciate your sentiments towards her." Saya folded her hands behind he head, eyeing Katsutoshi objectively. Her eyes caught the movement of his right hand, which twitched involuntarily, his fingers gripping the brush firmly. The twitch receded, though, and Katsutoshi's face revealed nothing.
"Ah, yes. She has a friend, does she?" He smiled. "That's nice." He turned back to his work and continued drawing. Saya kept her eyes on him before looking up to the tree limbs above her.
Yes, Katsu-kun, she thought. She does have a new friend.
But you knew that, too.
Sometimes a little doll would cry. She's got a sawdust pain, she has. Oh, what the menagerie peonies would say if they could but glimpse her sorrow. The pain will grow and rip her open, the sawdust will spill out. And the seamstress will laugh at the dolly's misfortune, for the doll-maker was much too cheap to fix a doll that not one child wanted.
'Oh,' the dolly sighed, 'it is more than likely I shall break for good. I should bother the doll-maker in spite, and perhaps enjoy the life I have whilst I have it'. So despite the doll-makers warnings he gave her when she had been made that she should not talk nor move about the customers, the dolly sang a song of her life as a doll, her loneliness, and her grief.
Her voice carried over the shelves, past the glass of the shop, out into the street, and spilled over the lofts and apartments. A poet with still hands heard her song, the sadness of her woes, and inspired, his hand swept over his paper and recounted the dolly's song. The poem was so popular amongst its readers that it sold thousands, and those thousands loved the poem so much, that they sang the song to their children, who sang it to their children, and so on.
However, the tune they sang was merrier than that of the doll's eulogy, and therefore was interpreted as a happy tale rather than a sad one. So even when all that was left of the dolly was a pile of sawdust and stitches, the seamstress still laughed, for the dolly, misunderstood by no one in life, would continue to be misunderstood, by everyone, in death.
"You know, somehow, I never imagined I would be doing this when I used to dream about my future…" Saya held a brush in one hand, her face streaked with maroon paint. Her nose, right cheek, and forehead were decorated, along with her hands and clothes. She was without her haori, which she left in her room in fear of ruining it with her project. "Then again, my father would turn in his grave if he even dreamed of what I'm doing right now."
"And just what is it that you're doing?"
Saya looked back and saw that the boy that introduced himself as Sho approach, his hands lightly placed on his hips. He appeared from the darkness that lingered in the air of the main cave, where she had met Akatsuki. Which, of course, was where they were. Her nose wiggled as a slice of her hair tickled the tip, her eyes crossed as she focused on where it bothered her. Locating it, she blew it away and then readdressed Sho.
"Ah, ohayo. What brings you here?" She smiled.
"Don't act so familiar, bakka. Now answer my question." He stopped a few feet away from her, jutting his hip out with one manicured nail abreast.
"Ne, you shouldn't stick your nose so far up in the air, gaki, otherwise something might fly up it." She advised solemnly, turning back around to her work. She dipped her brush into the jar of paint, paint that was a mix of herbs and remedies she'd whipped up earlier in the day after asking Itachi for the ingredients. Instead of helping her directly, he'd pointed her in the direction of some other member, one by the name of Sasori. After tracking the man down, she realized that this was the man who'd looked more like a boy, and was also paired with the infamous Sho. At first he regarded her as one would regard a horsefly: with annoyance and ignorance. But after some time, she finally got him to acknowledge her.
She had wondered why the Uchiha had recommended the red-head for her remedy retrieval, but after she listed the items she needed, she found that he was in possession of all of them. It was strange that the man should have lead-based paint, root-hair, among other things….Even stranger that he had the helping of man's hair that she had needed as well. That thought would keep her up at night.
She had painted along the walls and floor of the cave, swirling signs and insignia's lining her designs into one large system of circles within shapes within circles. As Sho surveyed her work, he scowled and faced her back.
"Hmph." He strode over to the boulder on his right, perching on it while inspecting his toe nails. He waited a moment before cupping his chin and staring at Saya. "What's with all the paint?" She continued her swirling motions, not bothering to look up at him.
"You know, I was buried alive once." She said cheerfully. "It was a long time ago now, but I still think it was one of the scariest things I've ever faced." She bit her tongue in concentration as she leaned in to the circle. Sho raised a brow, an incredulous expression on his face.
"I don't believe you, and by the way, changing a subject like that is rude." He huffed.
"Oh, it's true. I was leading an assassination with a small squadron…" She paused in curious thought, "Actually, it wasn't too far away from here." She shrugged. "Anyway, we were after a yakuza head, and unfortunately for us, our lead had went sour, and our position was compromised. My men were killed in battle, but I was taken hostage." She twirled the brush in her fingertips. "Their leader decided that just killing me wasn't enough. Instead, they bound my wrists and ankles with chakra sealing properties, threw me into a wooden box, hammered it shut, and buried me deep enough that I could feel a little heat from Hell." She smiled up at him.
"Fine then. Let's pretend what your saying is true. Tell me, how did you get out?"
"Ah, now that's the question, isn't it?" She chuckled. "Yes, just how did I get out?" Dotting a space, she stood from her symbol. "You may not believe it, but I had one hell of a knack for breaking things. Whenever I was angry, I had a tendency to throw vases and punch holes into walls. So, that's what I did."
Sho blinked.
"You…threw a vase?"
"No, bakka, I punched a hole into a wall, or rather, into the ceiling of the casket."
"So you're telling me you dug your way out?"
"Precisely."
Sho sat and watched her for a few moments before narrowing his eyes.
"What a load of crap."
"Believe what you want," She said, "You know, it actually made really good training. And the looks on the yakuza's faces was well worth the effort." Her smirk was so self-satisfied, Sho decided that she was telling the truth. None the less, as he gazed upon her, he figured he hated her.
"Why are you here?" Saya finished up her jar and screwed it shut, fingering the excess that dripped over the side.
"I'm preparing for the summoning contract."
Sho shook his head.
"No, stupid, I mean why are you here? Why are you here with Akatsuki, instead of leading your so-called correction unit?" He wrung his hands and spread them before his shoulders. "So much authority, so much power! You could be doing so many…so many awe-inspiring things right now." He looked her in the eyes with cold contempt. "But you are here. Doing nothing."
"I'd like to think I'm doing something." She frowned. "Otherwise, if I wasn't doing anything, then that'd probably mean I was dead." She took her brush and painted her hand with it, making sure to get all the creases and edges.
"No." He replied heatedly. "You may as well be, though. You threw away all that potential! For what?" He stood on the rock. "To work for a band of criminals? To make a deal in order to save your neck?" He spat. "Disgusting."
Saya looked over at where his wad of phlegm had landed and gave a mild look of distaste.
"No, that's disgusting."
"And you're a fool!" He shouted. "You have not once considered your situation seriously!"
"Life is too serious all on its own, gaki . It's best to laugh now and then and make the best of it." She said lightly. Then, pressing her hand firmly against the center of her final circle, she smiled and stood to face Sho. "I wonder, just who pissed you off enough to make you want revenge?"
"Who ever said anything about revenge?" He snapped.
"Honey, I can smell it from a mile away, and you absolutely reek of retribution. Take it from a professional, and learn to let it go. Believe me when I say it'll make your life a whole lot brighter." She winked and took off in the opposite direction, jar and brush in hand.
"You don't know a damn thing!" He yelled back. With a clenched fist, he sat back down and glared at her retreating form. "You don't know a damn thing about revenge."
He whispered the last part to himself, but Saya had heard it just fine. She too murmured to herself in return.
"Oh, I know a bit about it. Maybe, I think, a bit more than you can imagine."
"Oh, and Sho?" She called out once more. She heard him mutter something to her back.
"What?"
"Do you have a mirror?" She asked, coating her tone with a thick glaze of indifference. She waited a moment as she heard him struggling to answer.
"Yeah, why?" She threw him a grin as she turned out of the room and down a corridor.
"Bring it."
Her bare feet felt chilled against the floor of the underground base, particularly with paint spackled on them. But a humid warmth pulsated just beneath her, somewhere in the heart of the roots and soil something primal lived and gave her a push to move towards a pair of doors that she'd much rather obviate. After her and her keepers had returned to the base, they had been greeted yet again by the Akatsuki leader. It wasn't all that unpleasant, the man was hardly rude…It was just, Saya was reminded of her father when she talked to him. It was the condescending tone he held, the air of authority he exuded, the power that radiated off of him like a red mist.
She got a better look at him in the dim light when he addressed her, and she found he had quite the surprising appearance: Piercing's all over, orange hair, entrancing eyes. Saya would never admit it, but she actually found him intimidating.
And also a little handsome.
She coughed at that thought with a gurgled chuckle and skipped a bit to continue along her path. The solstice was tonight, and it was already dusk outside according to Sho's entrance. He wasn't supposed to return from his trip to a near-by village until sunset, and if it was actually just beginning to darken outside, then she still had time to spare before midnight. The leader, who she learned was known as Pein, had ordered her to prepare for the summoning contract that she had promised them she'd perform.
The halls, she decided, were bare but very welcoming. The air, while somewhat stifling, was nicely temperate, and the glowing roots always caught her fancy. They sort of made her feel like she was in a fairytale, albeit with a really fucked up plot.
Tapping her chin with the brush, she conceded that fairytales were also really screwed up, if not completely inane. In fact, now that she considered it, her story was much livable than that of prince charming's. Yeah, she'd settle for her own, after all, it could be a lot worse.
She could have to kiss a frog.
Actually, that's really not so bad. Especially if the damned thing turned into a gorgeous man. No, scratch that. I would much rather settle for a pile of ryo….Or Hoshigake's dignity on a gold platter, mine for the ruining. She snickered at the notion, completely unaware that she was about to bump into someone.
A gruff snort drew her out of her thoughts as she swiveled to her left and took a step back, looking up to find it was…
Well speak of the devil…She thought sardonically.
"Watch where yer going Hoshigake, otherwise you might run into something you can't run out of." Saya quipped, looking up at Kisame with a smirk. His temper simmered and prompted him to snap back at her, however, when he fully realized Saya's appearance, he couldn't help but shake with laughter.
"What's so funny?" She frowned, looking around her like she'd spot whatever it was he was laughing at.
"Y-Your face!" He roared. "You look completely ridiculous!" She frowned and touched her chin with one finger, realizing that she'd marred her face more when she had tapped her chin with the wet brush.
"Your face always looks ridiculous, but I never laugh at you." She sighed. Kisame no longer wore his cloak, but just his arm warmers and a simple black and grey outfit. His hulking form mitigated her own in comparison, but her height rivaled his. She noticed that he wore a head band that wrapped around the back of his skull rather than just a forehead protector, and for the first time, she wondered what his life before Akatsuki had been like.
He sobered up and regarded her steadily.
"You done with your paint stuff?" He asked, referring to her occupied hands.
"Yeah, now all I have to do is combine ten different chakra signatures to summon a nasty son of a bitch and persuade him to contract with you guys so long as I act as a medium for the flowing chakra pulses between here and the damned thing's dimension." She blew another strand of hair from her face and looked back to him. "Piece of cake."
"You know, it's sarcastic comments like that that get you into trouble." He commented. "What is it that we're summoning?"
"To put it simply?" She asked. "I guess you could call it a demon. It's more of an amassed spirit, but the scroll I read confirmed it as a Demon Summon." Saya shifted her weight. "This is so stupid…If I'd known what reading that scroll would entitle me to, I never would have…" She trailed off. Kisame frowned as he inspected her expression. He didn't like it, the frown. It was weird on her face, almost like a scar that made her terribly ugly.
"What are you going on about now, onna?"
"You know how a lot of great shinobi are accounted for simply because of their mental capacity?" She asked, looking deep into his chest and not meeting his eyes. "What nobody realizes is how having an intellectual ability can be a curse."
"I didn't know you were some sort of genius." Sarcasm dripped heavily from his tongue.
"I'm not a genius." She said gruffly, "But that doesn't mean I'm an idiot." Looking at her jar, she struggled to explain herself. "I…Well, I sort of can remember the stuff I read."
"Yeah, so does everyone else. What's you point?"
"That's not what I mean." Annoyed, she looked up to his face. "The things I read, I never forget them. And I remember them word for word, exactly as they are." She sighed. Kisame rubbed his chin and mulled over what she said.
"You mean sort of like an eidetic memory?" He watched her face as she shrugged. Her nose was a splotch of purple, and her chin was covered by painted goatee. He followed a trace of paint to her eyes, and found them to be much deeper than he'd originally considered.
"Whatever," She said absentmindedly, "I never knew what to call it. I thought I could take advantage of it, though. I thought I was being resourceful. Memorizing all those scrolls in my family's library." He noted that she seemed to be talking to herself now rather than him. "I thought that if I knew the contents of everything in there, then maybe I could become a better leader. If I knew those summons and jutsu's, then maybe I could use them to bring my family's charge to a new level, a higher one." She shook her head and gave him an ill-humored smirk. "I was so stupid. Sure, for a while it was great. For a while, I could do things that weren't just average. But then I had to go and fuck up my chakra system, and now all I have are those words in my mind."
"Just like a book." She mused. "A book for Akatsuki to use now, it seems."
"Because you can't use your chakra?" He asked. She silently nodded, then, taking a step beside him, her smirk softened.
"Forget it, Hoshigake. Just thinking out loud." She patted his shoulder. "I seem to be doing that a lot lately." With that she brushed past him and continued down the hallway before taking a right and disappearing from Kisame's sight. He watched her leave with a thoughtful look.
"A photographic memory, huh?"
A few hours later Saya stood outside of the main cave, where she had decorated it's innards with her solution. Any moment now those same men would saunter in and take a place among her circles. Deciding to make sure all was okay, she took her feet and dragged herself from the glowing hall.
After she informed the oh-so mysterious leader that all was ready, she sided on cleaning herself up before anyone else saw her self-inflicted embarrassment.
Wiping up, she returned to her room and sat until she knew it was time. Really, Saya sat just to gather her wits. She had no idea how she was going to sweet-talk this spirit into binding himself to Akatsuki's will. He was sure to be old, because the scroll she had gathered the summoning ritual from was, in itself, quite ancient. She idly wondered why its original owner decided to hand over the collection of demon-related techniques to her family in particular. Not that it really mattered, but if it had anything to do with the fact that her sire's had distant connections with the creators of the jinchūriki seals, then maybe fate really did play a part in her life. A decedent of allies to the guards of the tailed beasts helping an organization intent on using them, probably to create mass destruction and war.
Oh yes, she was reserved a one-way ticket to Hell. Just add that on top of sloth and wrath, and heck, maybe she'd even get to meet the devil himself.
Hey, maybe this demon is a close cousin. At least if I get on his good side, I might be able to lessen my repentance to a bearable degree, she thought wryly. Scratching her head, she strolled into the cave with a heavy groan and peeked about the painted mural she had accomplished.
Compared to the usual summoning seal's she'd dealt with in the past, these figures were quite daunting. A foreboding aura seemed to permeate from the foreign symbols and signs along the walls and floor, stretching into a complicated system of circles and prehistoric kanji. It was like an alien language among pie charts, decorated with blotches of thick, still tacky paint. There were four large circles at each direction on the walls: North, East, South, and West, each filled with swirls and strange figures to create an elegant scripted picture.
Each of these targets bled down to form rivers along the floor that spiraled into a diagram. There were ten smaller circles, big enough for one person to stand in each, and they edged along one main ring that, too, was filled with eddies of ciphers. It had taken her a complete 27 hours to complete this seal, but even without any current sleep, her veins were thrumming with a type of excitement that, ironically, left her lethargic. Weariness replaced anticipation, and really, Saya just wanted to haul her carcass back into her dwelling and sleep for a couple of years.
"What the fuck is this?" Saya looked over her shoulder to meet eyes with the silver-haired shinobi.
"It's a beautiful piece of art that you should appreciate." She had meant to sound sarcastic and brooding, but because her throat was so dry, it came as more of a gurgled cry.
"Hardly art." Another voice murmured, one she identified as Sasori. "It probably washes off with water."
"Who cares? Let's just get this shit over and done with." Saya ignored them as new voices joined in further behind. The flickering flames along the torches eerily shaped shadows reminding Saya of giggling monsters and crying children, and as someone passed by her, she couldn't refrain from flinching.
Something stole into her that she hadn't felt since that morning so long ago. It was a shivering little thing that had crawled under her skin, maybe from one of the shadows that skulked about. But instead of remaining just beneath the membrane, it burrowed deeper, and planted itself right beneath her lungs and just above her stomach. Her breaths were restricted now, and that creature seemed to vibrate, jumbling her insides and causing her toes and fingers to twitch. Her heart hammered deeper and deeper into her chest, creating an imprint on the inside of her back, just beside her spine.
That's when she felt it trickled down.
Blood.
It was bubbling out from some hole where her heart throbbed- No. Now it was pouring down, buckets of it. Her top was soaked, and her legs were sticky. It was a stream of gore just gushing into a puddle around her, flooding the cave, filling it and leaving her to drown at the bottom of a red sea.
She panicked.
Clawing at the syrup-like juice, she tried to swim to the surface that seemed to be so far away. There was a darkness enclosing at the edges of her vision, her oxygen slipping away as her lungs constricted into hardened rocks of flesh.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't breathe.
She needed air.
Air…
Air…
Air…
Air!
No!
Why couldn't she move? Why was she frozen to the ground? How? Why! She had to do something, anything!
A panic swallowed her whole.
There was no more time…She was stuck…She couldn't get out….
She could not get out.
"Hey."
A hand on her shoulder whipped Saya from her nightmare, and she couldn't restrict a deep inhale of air. Her limbs were stiff and the muscles in her neck were so tight that she could hardly turn her face to see Hoshigake looking at her from her right.
It was a daydream.
Was that it?
Her throat seemed ragged as she coughed in an exhale, her eyes watering only slightly.
The tears blurred her vision, and the world seemed quiet for a few seconds, except for the rushing of blood in her ears.
"Huh?" She choked out, brushing off the side effects of her vision.
"You've been standing here for five minutes, staring into space." He frowned. "You haven't gone completely brain dead, have you?"
"Hardly," she replied sourly, "I was just in deep thought is all." As her vision cleared, she realized that eight men were now in the room with her, impatiently waiting for her to snap out of her daze. She shrugged off Kisame's hand and listened to a pop as the Akatsuki leader appeared at the far end of the room, accompanied by the same woman as before. They were no longer concealed in the darkness as they stepped forward, looking ominous in the twilight room. Kisame walked away to join Itachi, who was standing near the central circle on the floor.
"Imatsura, you are ready to proceed?" Saya heard the deep chords of Pein's voice, wondering if she'd ever heard such a powerful tone.
"Of course." She said coldly. She swept her gaze over the rooms inhabitants. "If you'd each please step into one of the circles." Each circle an Akatsuki member approached had a different kanji. She watched as Sasori casually walked over to the one that had "jewel", as Sho sucked his teeth in an all-too familiar gesture and followed his partner into the one with "blue". The man with silver hair, Hidan, stood inside "three", beside the man with stitched arms who had "north", and beside him a very strange creature appeared in "gai", the sign of the boar. He was split into dark and light, and a plant-like casing hid most of his face from Saya's inspection.
Pein and the woman, who looked at him imploringly, waltzed into two of their own positions, "zero" and "white", along with Itachi and then Kisame, "vermilion" and "south". They formed a circle around the large sphere, where Saya walked to with a professional apathy.
Before she proceeded any further, she turned and walked up to Sho, holding out a hand. She waited silently, her face flat as he stared at her hand as though it were a snake.
"What?" He snapped.
"You very well know what." She said in a still voice.
"Oi, what's the hold up?" Hidan snarled, an irritated glower making his features sharp.
"Tch, annoying woman." Sho muttered, retrieving from within his robes a small, simple mirror. It was double sided, and looked to be in a wood frame. Saya took it from his grasp and swung around.
"Domo arigato." She said with an easy voice. Sauntering to the middle of her rather giant disk, she stood languidly before straightening up to a stiff stance.
"How does this work?" The man with stitches and green eyes questioned. He narrowed his gaze at the floor and the markings. "This better not take long."
"It will take as long as it needs to." Pein answered, the reply more of a command than anything else. He stared piercingly at Saya as he waited for her to begin. "Start, Imatsura."
"Yep." She flattened her palms against the top and bottom of the mirror, closing her eyes. Saya began concentrating on what she was about to do, all the hand seals she would have to perform. It had been an extraordinarily long time since she had done a complex jutsu. Actually…
She had never performed one like this.
If Saya were to compare her previous techniques with this one, it would be like comparing a city to a country.
Or a puddle to an ocean.
She heard a foot shift just beyond the circle someone was standing in, and by the sound of the teeth-sucking, she assumed it was Sho. She peeked open one eye with a mild look of distaste as the culprit stared back at her.
"Don't step outta the circle." She said. "Otherwise none of this will work." She closed her eyes again and resumed her concentration.
"What happens if we do?"
"Maybe we'll burst into flames."
"Doubtful."
"Or maybe she will."
Saya recognized two separate voices with the same tone and depth, though, one was a tad malicious. It must have been the yin-yang man she'd just seen.
"If only it was that easy" She said with a sigh. "The only thing that will happen is nothing. The summon will not work, so please, do not step out of the circle until I say so." With that, Saya delved deep into her own subconscious, withdrawing what she'd need to know in order to execute the jutsu.
Seconds passed.
More seconds.
Minutes.
Five minutes….
Ten minutes…
"What the fuck is she doing?" Hidan screamed, looking between Saya and the Akatsuki members.
"My legs are falling asleep." Sho sighed, looking at his fingernails.
"You will not move." Sho looked at Pein and flicked some dirt from his nail.
"But she might've fallen asleep." He watched Saya as she stood still. She didn't even look like she was breathing. "Maybe I should throw my shoe at her." He continued. "Just to make sure."
"Just leave the onna alone." Kisame growled.
"Who died and made you king?" Sho snapped.
"Brat, don't test your luck. I have no qualms against killing kids."
"Whatever."
More time passed and Sho grew increasingly more impatient.
"Okay, if she doesn't do anything in the next minute, I'm-"
Saya's eyes flew open. But, they were not her eyes.
They were an iridescent blue, glowing as if they were stars of some kind. The mirror in her hands floated freely between her palms, spinning at a freighting speed as a gust of humid wind began whirling within the room.
Her hands quickly sped through a series of hand signs. The movements melded into one another, as though they were simply a blur of brown skin . As her pace continued, the markings surrounding the figures lit up with a cerulean glow, thrumming with a life force not their own.
Or was it?
Kisame felt a tugging sensation at the soles of his feet, and he quietly realized that his chakra was being absorbed by the technique the woman was performing. It didn't hurt, and it wasn't uncomfortable; rather, it made his feet feel as though little needles were puncturing them, and even tickling them into a giddy twitch. He mildly regarded his fellow members as they recognized what was happening, and that she was using their chakra to perform the technique. It was to be expected, especially since the woman couldn't use her own.
It was weird, though. As Kisame watched Saya complete hand sign after hand sign, he was surprised to find himself in awe of the raw energy emitting just from the electricity in her eyes.
Itachi activated his bloodline in order to follow Saya's hands, his face lined with taught lines as he inspected his surroundings.
"W-What the hell?" Sho stuttered as the lines about his feet lit up. "What's this?"
"Interesting." Zetsu said as he crossed his arms.
"It's a crappy light show."
"It'll be midnight in thirty seconds." Sasori stated softly.
But suddenly, a shredding sound echoed throughout the cave, catching Akatsuki's attention and urging few of them to look at where it came from. Saya stood just as stiffly as when she'd begun, her hands still spinning. But a tattered piece of her shirt fluttered away, and then just as suddenly, it was followed by another one. Then, a sharp gust of movement cut her just above her right eyebrow, followed by a trail of blood. More cuts tore at her clothes and hair, hacking away her hairpiece and leaving her tresses to fall to her shoulders. It was as if an invisible force was slicing her up from head to toe. Her expression was forced as she ground her teeth in effort, exerting her hands faster and faster.
Then, it all stopped.
The throbbing light dulled to a distant ebb, and the gusts receded to only a chilled quiet. The air was still warm, but something cool wafted between the muggy eddies, leaving something sinister to crawl about the room. Saya's expression returned neutral, and her fingers rested on one sign with her pinkies, index fingers, and thumbs held up in place.
"…Now what?" Sho asked irately.
The cave descended into an irritated silence, waiting to be curbed of anticipation.
But meanwhile….
"Hello?"
Saya curiously looked around. The darkness that swallowed her in a gulp fell her to a strange place, devoid of any light she recognized. The sky above her was endless night, and a purple moon hung low near the horizon. It cast an ghostlike haze to light her surroundings, and because of it, Saya could intake where to go.
But really, that didn't help her at all. Because, of course, she was completely lost.
She went to take a step forward, but her foot was caught on something chipped. With a look, she narrowed her eyes at the sight of bones
Millions of them.
There was no ground, just human remains. No, it wasn't just that: There were thin skulls that she recognized as canine, and some smaller as rats. It was like a sea of charred bone, chalk dry and cracking beneath her steps. She was still barefoot, as she was in the cave, and the texture of her support made her wonder how old some of these skeletons were.
She shook her head and continued forward, ignoring the uneven footing. Bare tree's, similarly white as bone, hung jaggedly about her, and under scrutiny, Saya realized there was rotting flesh still attached to some branches.
That was when she smelt it.
Decay.
Pure festering rot smoldered beneath her nostrils, clouding her senses. It was as noxious as tar, but arrayed with an infuse of layered odors. Saya felt the urge to vomit, but swallowed the lump in her throat and continued to walk in some direction.
I have no idea where I'm going, she thought. Where is this damn thing? Shouldn't he know I'm here?
"Or is he just too pompous to greet me even though I'm within his domain?"
"Mortal, you have no room to talk. You're arrogance far exceeds my own."
The voice tumbled Saya's heart into a frenzy. Before her, something quite large seemed to shift the bones into a landslide, making way for what she believed to be her target. Green eyes peered out at her, sharp pupils slicing through her soul. The figure rose and towered many heads over her, but she could not see it.
It wasn't that it was hidden behind shadow or mist, but her sight just couldn't seem to focus on the thing no matter how hard she looked. All the demon was to her was a black mass of moving things.
"Of course it does." She said carefully. "Otherwise how else would I be able to deal with things that are stronger than me?"
A profuse amount of rancid breath wafted into her face as the creature breathed out.
"What is it that you want, girl?"
His voice was like a broken instrument. All at once there was a low and a high to it, and it made Saya want to claw at her skin.
"Sir-"
"Shi. You may refer to me as that and only that. If you should call me anything else, I will disembowel you and feast on your flesh."
He said it so easily, as if he were discussing the weather.
"Shi." She continued, reigning in her fear. She shook off a shiver and looked the mass in the eye. "I have come to establish a contract between you and my beneficiaries. They wish to utilize your Demon Statue of the Outer Path." She fisted her hands at her sides.
"Oh?" He said humorously, "Too bad. Such a contract is impossible. Without a human with the-"
"Rinnegan" Saya interrupted. "Yes, the leader of this group harbors the trait. He has done his research on you."
"Has he now?" Saya waited patiently, attempting to even her breathing as the shadows pondered in silence. "Then what do I get in return, little human?"
"What is it that you want?" She asked warily. He chuckled deeply in response.
"What a foolish thing to ask."
"I suppose it is, but it was all I could ask without sounding petty." She said in an offhand tone.
"Amusing, but I do not think there is anything I want that a human like you could give me."
Saya pinched her chin with her fingers, thinking hard on what she could offer him. What did a demon want anyway? They had immortality, power, and with either they could attain anything. She looked down at her feet and regarded the bones.
"What if I promise the souls of my beneficiaries to you?" She asked solemnly. "They're murderers with little remorse, a delicious treat, no?" His chuckle this time was distorted, and very gurgled against the putrid air.
"I do not feed on things of habit. They taste of stone and grass compared to that which I prefer."
"And what is it that you prefer?"
She watched as a wicked grin formed among the darkness.
"I still think I should throw a shoe at her."
Sho tapped his foot at the silence that answered him.
"Or maybe a kunai?"
"Shut the fuck up, you pansy-ass." Hidan spat at the boy, but he was just as irritable.
"Itachi-san," Kisame asked, "Do you see anything?"
"Nothing."
"Should it be taking this long?"
"I don't know."
Kisame shifted a bit and glanced over to Saya. Itachi restrained a smirk, but Kisame could still hear it in his voice.
"Worried?"
"Hardly." He scoffed. "I haven't eaten dinner and I'm getting hungry."
"Of course."
Just as Itachi's words left his mouth, the blue encasing Saya's eyes faded out, leaving her usual amber orbs. She blinked, and then smiled. But the smile, Kisame thought, wasn't a satisfied one, nor was it happy. It was a grim, and very scared smile. The mirror stopped spinning, floated in the air for another second, and then fell to the ground with a clack.
"It's about damn time."
"Oi, woman, that better have not broke!" Sho exclaimed. He went to move but she motioned for him to stop.
"It's not done yet." She said in a tight voice. She sent her stare back at Pein, and it was such a sickening stare that the purple-haired woman shifted closer, as if to shield him from the gaze.
"I sure hope you plan to use this fruitfully." Her husky voice deepened below its usual pitch. "'Cause this is gonna hurt like a bitch."
Kisame raised a brow at her words, but following them, the pulsating blue paint bled a radiant crimson. It burned with a brighter light than the blue, and held steadily without flicker. The floor followed it and stopped at Saya's feet.
Saya bent forward and placed her hands flat on the ground. She filched as they seemed to stick to the ground with a magnetic force, locking her to the floor. The signs traveled towards her slowly, until they reached her hands, where they burned upwards to her shoulders. Their speed doubled, then tripled as the plethora of kanji raced along the floor to her body.
She threw her head back, biting her lip till it bled, trying not to scream. Steam curled off her limbs and back, more her back than anything. The scent of cooked flesh rose in the air, and the material on the back of her shirt singed.
Tears strolled down her cheeks in heavy blobs, and she twisted so far back that Sho though her spine would break. He watched her in awed silence, not wanting to admit to himself that he pitied her for whatever it was that was happening to her.
Kisame's eyes narrowed, just as Itachi's had, followed by Pein's and then who we all know to be Konan's. Their gazes traveled from Saya, down to their hands as rings materialized onto their fingers. They each had a different kanji on them, one that reflected the one they had been standing on. Sho twisted his hand to inspect the ring, wondering what it was made of: Glass or onyx?
Saya gasped.
Something was being burned into her back, and by the looks of things, it was the seal itself. It quickly disappeared onto her skin, until the last of it transferred and her hands were released. Steam continued to wave off her back and the excruciating pain left Saya numb to all but the embrace of sleep as she passed out and fell to the floor. But just before her eyes fluttered completely shut she couldn't help but comment.
"You can move now." It was a tired but humored response, and she crumpled at the end.
"Oi, onna!" Sho approached her slowly, taking a moment to retrieve his mirror before kneeling beside her.
"We done here?"
"I sure the fuck hope so."
"You may leave." Pein replied, eyeing Kakuzu and Hidan.
"Then I am leaving as well."
"We have work to do." Zetsu retreated from the light and into the shadows. Itachi walked a bit towards Sho and Saya, letting Kisame pass him as he stopped just before the pair on the floor.
"She's not dead, is she?" Sho asked.
"Of course not, brat. She just needs some sleep." Kisame reached down and threw Saya over his shoulder.
"We'll report to you in the morning." Itachi told Pein.
"Very well. Bring her with you when you come."
"She can't sleep?" Kisame turned to his leader.
"She can sleep when she's dead." Then, both him and Konan were gone.
"Come, Sho. We have a mission." Sasori took his leave, Sho not far behind.
"Tell the woman she owes me a new mirror, this one's chipped!"
As the two disappeared, Kisame turned then to Itachi.
"That boy should have been born a woman." He said wryly.
"And you should have been born a fish?" Itachi and Kisame looked down to Saya's face, her eyes just barely opened. There were deep lines etched beneath her eyes, dark and giving her a sickly appearance. Her hair was a tangled mess and her clothes were a wreck.
"I thought you were asleep, onna."
"And I've come to realize your thoughts are often wrong, especially when they're trained on me." She replied tiredly. Then realizing where her head was, "You better not fart, snaggle-tooth, or I'm gonna punch you in the ear."
"Such a crude woman."
"Such a troublesome fish."
Kisame grinned and began making his way to her current sleeping quarters.
"You'll have to tell me what happened." He told her.
"I could not see it." Itachi said in an almost whisper, walking behind them. Then, he skulked down another hallway to his room.
"He's sulking, isn't he?" She chuckled dryly. She was completely numb from her dealings, so her limbs flopped of their own accord as Hoshigake carried her away. They swayed to the rhythm of his steps, which, she noticed, were wide and sturdy. She hated that she was at his mercy, but surprisingly, he was being quite amiable.
"Yes, he is. He doesn't like not knowing." Saya rolled her eyes before succumbing to the darkness that still treaded on her sight.
"He would like knowing even less."
You know what? This whole story, the plot and the characters, originated from this single scene. About 14 months ago, I was listening to this song. The song was really fast paced, and I was running a 5k by myself, so I was bored. While I listened, I sort of thought up a single scene, and that scene had a woman, surrounded by Akatsuki, performing some sort of ritual.
It was too cliché for me, so I expanded on the idea that she was a kidnapped priestess from some little-known village in the north. She was older than Saya, and had once been pregnant with her first child, only to have it stolen from her when she was violently attacked my her husband gone mad. There was a lot of other stuff to her character, but then I realized she was much too humble for Kisame, so I trashed the idea and began anew.
That's when Saya was born. Everything that she is came from this single scene, a scene that I've gone over in my head so many times that I've memorized the dialogue that transpires. Still, I don't think I did it any justice compared to the scene in my mind, but I hope it was enough to capture your attention.
By the way, 'Shi' means death.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Reviews are always revered and appreciated.
~Serb