You're Falling – Chapter 4: Fit In
A/N: Wow, are we really only on chapter four? It feels like this has been going on forever…mostly because it has. I had the concept down since before I had half finished 'Buried Alive'. And then after the concept, I did the planning, and then research, and then the chapter balancing, and then some more research. Oh, and did I mention I have literally no free time anymore? I come home from school some days at five o'clock, almost always have at least two hours of prep work, which gives me one hour to eat with my family and two hours (or more, if I sleep less) to write. So you guys are killing me, slowly but surely. I can feel my body getting sick as I type this. I'll be out with flu by Wednesday, I swear…But anyway, I rather love writing, so I don't mind :3 sacrificing my own body isn't so bad, considering. Sacrificing my mind would be much worse. My eyes are already fucked as it is…my family has a really bad history with eyesight, and like all the other women my eyesight is declining through my teens…Oh good, I really needed a new pair of glasses. Song of the chapter is Teenagers by My Chemical Romance – it's epic live :D
This is thinking/dreaming.
This is regular story.
This is author's note.
This is title
Warnings: Swearing. Cursing. Foul language. Whatever you want to call it, I've got it written in here because a certain character turns up. If it offends you now, go run back home to mummy. If it does not offend you, then stick around. It gets worse. There will be sex at some point, yay! Who doesn't love a good bit of sex? Well, priests and nuns and me, but other than that…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Now I'm done not-plagiarising the anime, we can get onto the good stuff. Yay. Because plagiarism is bad, kids. Masashi Kishimoto owns it all and no matter how many voodoo curses I attempt I will never own Naruto. But that's probably a good thing, since I'd just insist all the characters talk out their problems over tea and biscuits. It would probably solve quite a few issues, actually.
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They said that teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me
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"Well, here we are. Welcome home, brat," Sasori said with a lazy flourish of an arm.
In front of me was a rock. Nothing special, just one rock in a small cluster of other rocks, all big and grey and rock-like. I raised an eyebrow. Akatsuki lived in a rock?
"Am I supposed to be impressed or something, un?" I asked. Sasori sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Not the rock, under the rock, brat. Of course we don't live in the rock, that would be stupid," He paused, casting a sideways glance at me. "Oh wait, you already did that,"
"My safe house was fine, un! It was perfectly adequate!" I crossed my arms and pouted childishly, stopping short of flipping my hair. My old safe house was perfect for my needs; dark, enclosed, slightly damp…maybe he had a point.
"I think you'll find our safe houses a little better equipped," He turned to face Kisame. "Would you like to do the honours?"
"Sure," Kisame pushed back his sleeves, and with a little too much flourish formed a series of hand seals. Half of the rock faded before my eyes, disappearing into thin air to reveal a long hole in the ground with a set of stairs leading down. "After you,"
Sasori stepped forward, gesturing backwards for me to follow. I stepped carefully down the stairs, the darkness enclosing me all too quickly. The steps were rough under my feet, crumbling and slippery in turn. Small patches of bioluminescent plants glowed softly on the wall, casting enough light to turn Sasori's figure into something sinister and terrifying. His hunched figure slunk down the stairs with the gait of someone in their sixties; if this guy was supposed to be my partner, he must be incredibly strong to have lasted so long as a missing nin.
Suddenly, the rough steps were replaced with neatly carved stairs, and chakra-laced lamps replaced the plants. Sasori was once again the short, lumpy figure jerking down the stairs in front of me, and I could see exactly where I was stepping. The narrow staircase widened out, enough to take two people to a step, but I didn't increase my pace.
"Hey, Kakuzu! Money-fucker, get your ass out here! The other bastards are fucking back! And they brought the new bitch with them!" A voice from called from somewhere in the distance. I raised an eyebrow. How many expletives was that in how many sentences?
"That's Hidan. Just ignore him and let us do the talking," Kisame said from behind me. I nodded once, letting myself drop off the final step. The corridor in front of me was well lit and spacious, the floor set with dark grey flagstones, although I couldn't say much for the wallpaper.
Two sets of footsteps approached; one calm and even, the other erratic and excitable. I was guessing the uneven footsteps were from the voice from before.
"Seriously, don't say anything," Sasori warned. "Hidan's kind of-"
"Fucking epic! That's what!" A figure wearing the classic Akatsuki robe with a shock of silver hair rounded the corner, dragging a rather bored and irritated looking masked guy with him.
"A moron, is what he meant to say," The annoyed guy said, punching the first guy none too gently on the arm.
"Hey, you money loving bastard! I'm fuckin' epic, don't deny it!"
"The loudmouth is Hidan, and the other man is Kakuzu," Sasori explained, walking past them. "Keep up. Hidan is our resident idiot, but he's immortal, part of the reason we keep him around. Try not to get yourself sacrificed to his ridiculous god."
"Jashin is not ridiculous, you heathen fucker!" Hidan shouted. Seriously, did he have only one volume setting?
The deeper we got into the base, the colder it got. The flagstones transitioned into wood, and the wallpaper slowly got more and more ghastly. It looked like there was a practical reason for the Akatsuki cloaks, after all.
"And Kakuzu deals with the finances of the organisation. Don't break anything, don't destroy anything, don't cost him any money, and you'll get along fine," Sasori stopped outside a door, pausing to look back at me.
"Sasori, you motherfucker, you didn't tell us your new partner was a hot chick!" Hidan gushed loudly, slinging an arm around my shoulders. Kakuzu glared. I grit my teeth, using every ounce of willpower not to blow the entire base up.
"Hidan-"
"Maybe this fucking organisation can finally have a bitch around who does something other than make fuck-me eyes at Pein constantly, and bitch about-"
"I'm a guy, you idiot!" I shouted over him, moving forward quickly to walk next to Sasori. "I'm obviously a guy, un!"
"I swear to Jashin, your fucking hair is longer than Itachi-fucking-Uchiha's and Konan-bitch's put together! And you're wearing fucking eyeliner!" He pointed wildly to my hair any my eyes. My fingers twitched towards my clay pouch. Just one bomb, one hand seal and one little word, and this moron would shut up.
"I can wear eyeliner if I want, un," I said defensively, one hand reaching up to comb my fingers through my hair. I liked my hair. And there was nothing wrong with wearing eyeliner. In fact, a lot of guys wear eyeliner, so it's hardly abnormal. I knew I looked like a girl, but not that much. I had a very masculine figure.
"And what the fuck is with the 'un' thing? Are you retarded or something?"
"Of course he's not retarded, you imbecile. Do you really think Leader-sama would let someone like that join?" Kakuzu spoke up from the back, eyes glaring holes in the back of Hidan's head.
"Well, he let Hidan in, didn't he?" Sasori quipped, and everyone chuckled except Hidan who let out a string of curses. "Anyway, we shouldn't question Leader-sama's decisions. He wanted Deidara, so we got Deidara. End of story,"
The corridor ended with another door, which Sasori quickly pushed open. A wide, spacious kitchen lay behind it, counters and work surfaces sparklingly clean. A huge fridge-freezer stood opposite an oven and a pair of sinks, the walls lined with shelves covered in glasses, crockery and cutlery. A long wooded table sat in the middle, with a bowl of fruit invitingly set in the middle. I was suddenly very hungry.
"Help yourself," Kisame said as he pushed past me, reaching for a glass from one of the shelves.
"Break anything and it comes out of the budget for food," Kakuzu grumbled. He leaned against the wall, still glaring daggers at Hidan, who had rushed forward to dig through one of the cupboards. "What the hell are you looking for, Hidan?"
"Fuckin' found it!" He stood up straight, waving a bottle over his head triumphantly. "You fucking remember that time when we went to that town and fucked those bitches up good? Yeah? Well, I still have some of their fucking booze left over!"
"Drink a drop of that and I will remove your head from your body and seal it in a box for a week," Kakuzu pushed away from the wall and pulled the bottle out of Hidan's hand, placing it firmly on the counter.
"But 'Kuzu, you're so much more fun when you're shit-faced!" Hidan wailed, grabbing for the bottle.
"You're just trying to get me to sleep with you again," Kakuzu stashed the bottle back in the cupboard, closing the door sharply.
"But 'Kuzu-"
"It's the middle of the night, and we have to be up in the morning for a briefing,"
"But 'Kuzu-"
"Bed, Hidan. For sleeping in." He seized Hidan's wrist and began to pull him out of the kitchen, casting a despairing glance over his shoulder at the pouting immortal.
"You're no fucking fun,"
After Hidan and Kakuzu left, everything was much quieter and more peaceful. I took an apple out of the fruit bowl, taking a bite out of the juicy flesh. Gods, it had been too long since I'd had a good apple. Itachi had disappeared sometime while Kakuzu and Hidan were arguing, and Kisame was fishing something out of the fridge. Only Sasori stood still, watching me eat.
"Aren't you going to have anything, un?" I asked, picking an orange out of the fruit bowl and waving it in his general direction. Fresh fruit was delicious. Before, on my limited budget from the terrorist jobs I'd done, I hadn't had much opportunity to buy good fruit, or any good food for that matter. Most of my money had gone on clay, which was certainly a worthy expense, but that didn't mean I didn't miss eating well.
"I don't eat, brat," He said, looking quickly away at the opposite wall. I glanced at the patch he was staring at; there wasn't anything special about the wall, so why was he staring at it so intently?
"Why?" I replied, curious.
"My body no longer needs it," He paused, as if considering something difficult. "This isn't my actual form, merely my puppet armour," He admitted, voice gruff. So this wasn't what he actually looked like? Did that mean everything about him was different?
"So what do you actually look like, un?" I asked. I set my fruit down and turned to face him, looking expectantly at him. I was actually getting curious now; if this shell was part of his art of puppetry, then it was impressive. I couldn't even tell that it wasn't alive, never mind a puppet.
"Fine," He grunted, drawing the puppet up and angling the underside towards the wall. The Akatsuki cloak parted, a panel pushing out from under it. A slim figure hopped out of the cavity, landing gracefully on the floor. He straightened up and turned to face me. Messy red hair, drowsy brown eyes and even, handsome features looked back at me.
Sasori was…hot.
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A/N: Hooray! I absolutely love writing Hidan, he's so fun to write…just thinking of enough swear words that aren't too British is a challenge in itself! So, anyone out there read Buried Alive? You remember that thing about the wallpaper…hehe…Lol, I'm so sad I have in-jokes with myself! Anyone else find Sasori's eyes eminently sexy? It's like 'bedroom eyes' is the default setting! But anyway, I am exhausted, so I'll bow out for the night :3 reviews mean you get an extra delicious dose of almost-hallowe'en cheer!