Chapter 8: The Psychic
The moon was completely in the sky now as the Akatsuki with Roku entered the Hidden Grass Village. Surprisingly, the streets were full of activity. Kids played along side the streets as older patrons visited the street side merchants to barter.
After a long silence, Momoro's innocent questions broke free again, "Do you know where to find this clan?"
"No, but somebody here must," came the leader's answer. He added, "I would appreciate it, Kuro, if you could keep a Byakugan open. If you see someone who look to have information, or one with an abnormal chakra flow around the head, notify me immediately."
Momoro yawned, "So we're just shooting blindly? I'm going to the tavern then." With a casual wave, Momoro turned away from the others, a small smile on his lips as he walked away. Stonewall made a move to follow, but Roku gripped his shoulder.
"You're our insurance. He could just run off if we let you follow him."
Stonewall nodded absently and continued with Roku and Kuro. They did not make it far before they were stopped by a tall, spiky hair shinobi of the Grass Village.
"Nice costumes! I almost mistook you for Akatsuki!" he grinned, offering his hand. "Of course, Zetsu would be the one doing the foot work if that were the case. I'm called…"
But before he could finish, the three had walked off, now aware of the slight flaw in their appearance.
-
That worked better than I thought it would.
Momoro walked the streets alone, lost in his thoughts. Of course they wouldn't let Stonewall follow… But that'd be too easy. But they let me go, so I could… He shook his head in disgust at his own thoughts. I can't just abandon Stonewall… I need to formulate a plan…
"Excuse me…"
But where do I start? I could assemble a resistance here in the Grass to help me…
"Excuse me…"
But who would help me? And what would I tell them? 'The Akatsuki are coming! Save my friend!' I need to be more subtle if that's the ca—
"Eek!"
Momoro came back to reality as he collided with a small girl. She dropped the pot in her hands, and into shards it shattered, splattering dirt all over the ground. Momoro recoiled and fell into this dirt.
"Oh, I'm sorry… are you alright?"
With a giggle, she nodded, "You, however, are not so much… that was a pot of the finest blend of manure in the Hidden Grass Village, perfect for herbs and shrubs."
Momoro gagged as he threw himself out of the manure, shaking the back of his cloak. He looked down at her to realize that she was actually a young woman with a small frame and wild green hair. She wore a Grass Village headband over her eyes. In his innocent, somewhat absent nature, he blurted out, "How can you see like that?"
She giggled again, waving a finger at him, "You walked into me, as I recall it, so wearing your headband on your forehead obviously doesn't help you see. Also, I'm blind."
Momoro gnawed at the inside of his lip, "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to.."
"Don't worry about it. I can get around just fine."
"How do you…"
"A special ability of my clan. I can get around without sight." She shook her hair about and offered her hand, "I'm called Izune. What about you?"
He gave his hand in return, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "It's Momoro."
Her mouth opened a little in a delighted smile, "The Momoro? From the Hidden Stone Village? Your work is legendary! What are you doing here? Have you come to make a statue for us?"
The young craftsman blushed, as he shook his head, "No… I'm… on a mission of sorts. I have to find something in this village."
Her smile faded a little, but she took him by the wrist and tugged at his arm, "Well, let me show you around then. Maybe I can help you."
He swallowed, his nerves beginning to stand on edge. I don't want to put anyone else in danger…
"Perhaps I should just…"
"No, I insist," came her response, cutting him off completely as she tugged again, leading him down an alleyway.
-
"Momoro is still wearing his cloak…"
"I know, Kuro. That's good for us. He'll be easy to find," the leader answered. Kuro growled in the back of his throat as he folded up his Akatsuki cloak. He seems to know the answer to everything…
"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10…" Kuro began.
"7."
Kuro sputtered, "What the hell! Why do we need a psychic from here! You just totally read my mind!"
Roku shook his head as he put on a pair of sunglasses, "Statistical probability. 7 is the most often picked number in this case. Enough of this foolishness. Let's continue looking now."
Kuro looked to Stonewall, who had just put on a clean, black muscle shirt. Stonewall sported a huge smile on his face. "And what the hell are you smiling about? Don't you have anything to say about this?!"
Stonewall shook his head and followed Roku out. Kuro cursed under his breath, and after slinging his backpack over his shoulder, followed him out of the abandoned house they broke into. Now that they were changed and discrete, they continued their hunt, vigilantly watching the streets.
-
"No… way… You're a psychic?"
Izune nodded to Momoro's question. Quickly, Momoro covered his eyes and squeaked, much to Izune's amusement.
"It doesn't make a difference if your eyes can be seen or not. I can read your thoughts unrestrained. I know that you're wondering how long I've been reading your thoughts, and to set your mind at ease, the first thought I read was, 'Well, she's a cutie.'"
Momoro blushed again, but in a second, straightened up and gasped, "That was after I introduced myself… So you know what my mission really is?"
She nodded, "I also know that you're in this against your will… If you find the psychic the one called Roku is looking for, then he is bound to cut you some slack, and think that you really want to be an Akatsuki… right?
Momoro blinked, "You're perceptive too… But I don't want anyone to be hurt…"
She nodded again, "So I'll come with you willingly."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"But what about…"
"Momoro, I'm a blind psychic. This village has no real place for me. Even in my clan, they think I'm weak because I was born blind. The other members of my clan can all see. So leaving is the best for me."
"If you say so…"
Izune giggled, "And I do say so. Let us find your comrades then."
-
"Damn it, Roku. We've been walking for 2 hours, and we haven't spotted a single psychic. Everyone you've talked to claims to know nothing about them. This was all for nothing!" Kuro called out.
"Kuro… You haven't been using your Byakugan, have you?" came the cool response.
"I thought we were trying NOT to give away our identities, so I haven't used it since we stopped at that house!"
"Use it now. One more time."
Kuro cursed to himself as he activated his eyes. In a quick sweep, he spotted…
"Roku… we don't have to look anymore… Momoro is coming towards us from the east, and with him is a girl with an abnormal chakra flow around her head."
The corner of Roku's lips curved up into a smile.
-
Momoro was gnawing at his lip again. I'm leading this girl to possible slavery… Maybe even death…
"I'll accept whatever fate has in store for me," Izune answered his thoughts. She skipped ahead of him a bit. Momoro looked up and saw Stonewall and the others, leaning against the side of a building, waiting. They weren't wearing their Akatsuki cloaks, but Izune seemed to know that they were the ones he was bringing her to.
"One more thing!" Momoro called out to her. "How do you move about so freely if you really are blind?"
"My psychic ability allows me to scan the area around me for obstacles. I see them in my mind," she answered, and with a small spin, she stopped before the others. "Hello! My name is Izune!"
Roku raised an eyebrow and looked up to Momoro, who shrugged. Roku looked back over to the girl and began, "I am…"
"Roku, leader of the new Akatsuki. You want to find a psychic to…" she finished for him, pausing as she read his thoughts, "…find missing rings?"
His mouth agape, Roku nodded, "Everything you've said is true… Can you do this?"
She nodded, "Of course. It might take a while, because I need to focus, and you want to gather more members, so we should keep moving."
She turned around and skipped off a little ways. Everyone else stared at her oddly, until she called to the others, "Come now! You want to enter the Hidden Waterfall Village within the next two days, right?"
Roku nodded and followed Izune. Momoro caught up with the other two, recounting the meeting to them and excluding the troubling details. Kuro hissed, "I don't know what the hell you were thinking. This girl is bubbly and spontaneous, and she's psychic? That sounds like a bad combination."
Momoro shook his head, watching her skip along, "I don't know. I think it'll be interesting."
Next Chapter: Infamous!