Chapter One
The bandits taken care of and the provisions already bundled up nice and neat for transport the two men only had the two girls to deal with. Already the towering blue man with facial features closely resembling a shark's was approaching them itching to grab the handle of what was clearly a very large sword on his back.
Trembling at the sight of imminent death slowly getting closer Hana attempted Roxie's earlier method of being sweet," W-well what's wrong with letting us go? W-we're just traveling entertainers looking to earn money every now and then. What good would it do us to run to the next town and tell the officials that two S-rank criminals were just in front of us? You would be miles away before they even caught wind of you!"
"You are not kunoichi, so how is it you knew we are S-rank criminals?" This came from the shorter normal looking male that had taken out all of the bandits. He'd walked up next to his companion to stare at the girls with unblinking eyes that left an unsettling feeling in their stomachs.
If her hands were free Roxie would have palm faced herself on behalf of Hana. The girl opens her mouth and it just puts them into even more trouble. But now knowing that the men standing before her were S-rank criminals Roxie felt that any miracle they might receive would do them little to no help. A nervous smile on her face Hana quickly tried to clarify her words, "Would you believe me if I said I owned a bingo book and have a tendency to read it all in one night out of pure curiosity?"
"It's true, she swiped it off a drunk ninja last year. It should be in our bags that you probably intend to also steal from for provisions." Roxie threw her piece in to make sure Hana's words could be proven for truth.
The shorter of the two walked back to the campfire and rummaged through the knapsacks. Just as the girls had said he found a worn down copy of the bingo book, flipping through the pages he saw that some of the pictures matched to the names had been doodled on or sported a comment next to the picture. He didn't know whether to be genuinely insulted, amused or discusted by the comments and doodles left for the people he worked with within his organization. Pocketing the bingo book the regular looking male rejoined his partner to once more stare down the girls. His voice monotone he made the final call," You may go. However, if we are pursued within the night or tomorrow, we will know who is responsible."
Roxie and Hana nodded dumbly and had to hold down their frightened squeaks when the giant blue man pulled out a kunai and with one swift stroke cut through their precious rope. The two men grabbed what they wanted from the provisions and disappeared into the trees immediately. Able to breathe once more Roxie sat down on her butt hard to sigh," That was WAY too close for comfort. You're lucky they didn't kill us immediately when you mentioned they were S-rank criminals." Hana smirked, now out of danger, and waved it off.
"Eh, still, its an exciting tale. You do know that I can't perform for shi- my life, right?" (Note: Hana is a pervert and is trying to loose her swearing habit)
"Yes, but that's better than telling them that we're homeless pick pockets that survive off of the drunk guys we flirt with! The last thing we needed at that moment was to sound like we're nothings that could cease to exist. Now let's grab whatever's left, including their swords, I'm sure we can pawn them for a pretty penny." Roxie rubbed the parts of her arms that were chaffed and irritated from the rope rubbing where they wasn't any clothing, which was a decent amount on her arms since she wore only a tattered black muscle shirt and baggy army camo cargo pants.
Hana in her tattered jeans with a black spaghetti tank would have been hurt all over her arms, if it weren't for the fluro green, crop jacket that she was wearing. Strolling over to the fire and over the countless dead bodies Hana couldn't contain her energy," That was really freak'n intense! First we get captured by a pack of assholes, then two of the most dangerous men in the ninja world come along and BAM! Freedom! I swear my heart literally stopped when I recognized them, which I would have been able to sooner if Itachi Uchiha wasn't wearing that cloak, I mean they have a full body drawing of him in the bingo book and DAMN does that man have a sweet ass!" Although she was trying to cut back on her swearing to be more appealing to the upper class drunk men she would encounter she felt no compulsion in holding back her gutter thoughts.
In the process of checking the swords to make sure they were of good quality Roxie muttered back to Hana," You do know if he would kill you immediately for saying something so...so...degrading if he ever heard you."
"Which is exactly why I'm saying it now when he is probably miles away already. Oh, and that big blue shark man, Kisame Hoshigaki, has the nicest set of arms you could ever find on a man. And don't even get me started on the size of his sword. Although they do have that saying about swords… you know, the one about it replacing the size of something else? Hmm, I wonder..." The more Hana talked about the two men that had almost taken their lives the more she seemed to find about them to drool over.
Rolling her eyes and tuning out her companion Roxie bundled up all the swords and strapped them to her back as comfortably as she could. Hana finished collecting whatever was left over from their once abundant collection of supplies and threw on her knapsack and carried Roxie's. Before the girls set out they both went over to the disgusting man that had wanted them both to be his girlfriend, they each gave him a firm kick to the head and set out in the opposite direction than where the men named Itachi and Kisame had gone.
Her eyes staring up to the slowly darkening sky Roxie announced," After today I'm insisting that we start building up some muscle or at least try to learn how to use one of these swords."
"Or we could always start using THAT." Hana mumbled this under her breathe meaning for Roxie to hear and not hear what she said.
Sighing Roxie immediately snapped," I've said it before and I will say it again. We are only going to use THAT if we have absolutely no choice. It must be a life or death situation, because you know who will be able to find us instantly otherwise. Am I clear?" Roxie turned her serious stare on Hana who met the look straight on. A pout to her lower lip Hana gave a simple nod and continued walking on, Roxie right next to her.
As the girls walked further on they failed to realize that they weren't alone. Two shadows, one taller than the other kept to a close enough distance so any conversation the females had could be heard but their location still not detectable upon first glance if the girls happened to look around.
Keeping his raspy voice to a low murmur Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the legendary swordsmen told his partner," As intrigued as I am about what they're talking about, I still don't understand why you insisted on following them Itachi. Leader is expecting a report soon, and what are we going to tell him? We're following a couple of low life females around because Itachi knew they lied about being performers?"
" You did not notice the shape of their pupils, did you?" Itachi's question made Kisame raise an eyebrow at his partner. What did the shape of their pupils have anything to do with their excuse to the Leader of the Akatsuki?
Sensing rather than seeing his partner's confusion Itachi asked," Do you recall what Kakuzu brought forth as an idea for fund increasement three years ago?"
Kisame dug into his memory for this topic that Itachi wanted him to remember. The incident which he spoke of came to the forefront immediately, which meant he had deemed it interesting at the time. The details of that day going through his mind Kisame asked incredulously," You don't mean to tell me that these females are THOSE females?"
"I am not a hundred percent certain, but their eyes are a significant start to go off. When they stop to rest we will contact Pein-sama and get further details from Kakuzu if he is present." Itachi reply was enough to satisfy Kisame, though his itch to clarify this abstract thought itched in the back of his mind. As they travelled on he began to think about a means of learning the truth, a way which Itachi might go along with since his curiosity must be larger than his own. If need be he would even propose the idea to Leader to force Itachi to go along with it.