"Konan, take her to her room and see that she gets a cloak and ring," Pein commanded. With barely a nod, the blue-haired woman slipped around the desk and out the door without pausing to see if Clair was folllowing her. The smaller woman quickly followed Konan, brushing against Zetsu lightly as she turned. Even through the sleeve, he caught a glimpse of what he could have sworn were her thoughts with the light contact. She seems nice, I wonder why she's so quiet though... Why it happened now and not when he grabbed her wrist, he didn't know. That was...odd. The black half readily agreed. "Now," Pein said, jerking Zetsu's mind back to his present situation, "About this mission that you failed..." Ooo, ominous...Just as a reminder, bold and italics together means it's a memory. Now onward to the story!
Zetsu collapsed on his bed and sighed in frustration. He had just been chewed out by Pein for about half an hour. Not to mention that just as he was leaving, the orange-haired leader had decided to drop one last thing on his shoulders.
"Oh, and one more thing." Zetsu inwardly groaned. He had had just about enough of this. He waited for Pein to continue with his back turned on him. "Clair is your responsiblity. She'll be your partner from now on." Zetsu clenched his hands in anger as he stalked out, making sure to slam the door as he went.
Damn him! The black half cursed, hitting the mattress with his fist. We don't need a partner! Calm down, there's nothing we can do about it. We might as well make the most of our situation and try to find a bright side. What bright side? She's not afraid of us. I don't understand her. Neither do I. She's either stupid, brave, oblivious, or just a really nice person. Well, we've already acertained that she is a little oblivious, but she doesn't appear to be stupid. On the contrary, she seems very intelligent. Then is she just a really nice person? That is what we'll have to believe until we know more about her. He stared up at the ceiling blankly. I wonder what she's doing right now? Probably getting settled. Then what will she do? I have no idea. It seemed to him that there were a lot of things about his new partner that he didn't understand. We need to tell her at some point. How will she react I wonder? We will have to wonder until we tell her. Hmph. He sat up and hopped off, his mind made up. Where do you think her room is? They let their mind wander down the halls and doors of the Akatsuki base, finally settling on one particular door.
"That one..." He mumbled, leaving his room and heading for the door they thought was the door to Clair's new room. They knocked on it and waited. When no answer came, they cautiously pushed the door open. Clair's pack was laying on the bed along with the headband plate she had shown them, but their owner was nowhere in sight. They backed out and closed the door again. If she's not in her room, then where is she?The white half asked thoughtfully. He didn't receive a helpful answer. Why are you asking me? I'm just as clueless and baffled by that woman as you are! They wandered the halls of the base for a while with no luck. Let's go outside, we need some fresh air. With both of them in agreement, they turned their feet towards the nearest exit. They emerged into the open clearing with relief. This was a sort of backyard for the base, well hidden from view. This was also where Zetsu had taken up his favorite hobby: Gardening. He crossed the clearing to the junglelike cluster of plants, melting into the thick green and heady perfume. He wandered among the plants, letting his mind wander. He remained like that until a soft humming broke in on his thoughts. He crept towards the source until he could see a small, childlike figure clad in a black cloak with red clouds laying in a clear spot among the plants. Small chinks of sunlight had found their way between the thick plants, casting light on Clair's small body and face. She looked completely relaxed and at ease, her lips turned up in a small smile as she hummed softly. Zetsu could feel the heat rise to his face as he watched her. She had no idea that just feet away he was standing there. Or maybe she did. She sat up and shook her head, freeing her hair of lingering leaves and petals. She smiled at him and said in her sweet voice, "Don't just stand there, come and join me." He jumped when she spoke and blushed. How did she know? His white half didn't answer. Slowly, he walked closer, but stopped just in the fringe.
"What's wrong?" She asked him, tilting her head way back to look him in the eyes.
"Nothing," He muttered, moving into the clearing and sitting down, as far away from her as was possible in the small space, leaning against one of the thick plants.
"Did you do all of this, Zetsu-senpai?" She waved her hand at the plants all around them. He blushed again when she called him "senpai", turning his head so that she could only see his black side, the side where the blush didn't show.
"Yeah-we did," They said, his voice tinged with a little bit of pride.
"It's beautiful," She said softly, almost in awe as she looked around. He shrugged.
"All of the plants love you, they call you 'master' and 'friend'," She went on. He looked back at her, trying to decide whether or not to ask the question that he was keen to ask. She looked at him, too, meeting his golden eyes with her bright green ones.
"What is it?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. Dammit, why does she have to be so cute! To torture us I'm sure...
"It's just...How can you tell what the plants are thinking?" He asked her, trying to not look away in embaressment. Gah! Why are we so embarassed around her! No idea...She looked thoughtful, her eyes unfocusing as she tried to find the words to explain it.
"Well...I just...How do I put it? It's almost like I turn on another pair of ears. I'm listening, but at the same time I'm not," She stopped and took in his blank expression.
"I'm not explaining it very well am I?" She asked, furrowing her brow.
"No, not really," He said truthfully.
"Here, let me show you," She said, standing up and moving closer. She kneeled in front of him and placed her hands on his burning cheeks.
"What are you doing?" He exclaimed. He was painfully aware of her closeness and of his own frantically beating heart.
"I'm showing you," She said calmly, her eyes closed. He could see every little detail of her face, from her pale pink lips to her slender eyebrows. He wanted so much to touch her, to feel her pale skin. He kept himself in check though, keeping his shaking hands pressed against the ground. Slowly but surely he could hear voices that were not his own flood into his mind. They were saying things like, "Hello, master." and "Thank you, master." So this is what she hears...It's...amazing...They stayed like that for a long time, Zetsu listening to everything Clair could hear every single day. Then her voice sounded in his head, speaking over the plants.
"It's wonderful isn't it?" She asked him. He didn't even have to say his agreement out loud.
"They love you." Not as much as we love you. Two pairs of eyes flew open when he thought that, his gold ones and her green ones. His heart skipped a beat when she smiled.
"You love me?" She asked him. He blushed a brilliant red and tried to look away, but she held his head still.
"Do you?" She asked again. He forced himself to look her in the eyes again. His hands were shaking again and so was his voice.
"Y-yes, we do," He stuttered. She giggled and brought her face even closer to his.
"Then kiss me," She commanded softly. He obliged hesitantly, pressing his two-colored lips lightly against her pale pink ones. The kiss was short and sweet, much like the girl in front of him. She settled herself comfortably in his lap, laying her head against his chest. He held her close, unwilling to ever let her go. She was the first person who didn't run away from him or think he was a freak. She accepted him and made him feel happy. She didn't judge him and she treated them as equals. She was someone he could relate to, minus the whole having-two-people-inside-of-him thing.
"I love you, Zetsu," She whispered.
"We love you, too, our sweet flower." They chorused, both in total agreement.
Aww, so cute! Well, that's it, four chapters. Let me know how I did! Thanks for reading! I'll try to come up with some new stories to post for you! Also, I have another Zetsu Story called "The Three Friends", which shows another way of portraying Zetsu's two selves. It also includes Tobi! Yay, Tobi! Anyway, Tobi is over and out!