Sayonara Yasashii Akumu – Oooh, you read my story! Thanks a lot! It means a lot to me! ;) I try my best to make it as realistically as possible, though sometimes I don't succeed at it. It's really difficult but I hope it's good enough for you. Keiko is in this chapter 6 years old so it makes her 3 years older than Naruto, and 1 year older than Neji. Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy this chapter too. :D
Thomas Drovin – To get the right lottery is every person's dream, such a shame we don't have mind-reading powers… :p Orochimaru doesn't like a disobedient girl, don't you think? Haha, thanks for your nice review (once again). Hope you enjoy this chapter too. :D
So not happening!
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By Angelbloodlover
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~ And she finally stopped playing their song, when she realized she was dancing alone.
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Unknown
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Chapter 3: Welcome to Akatsuki
Another year had passed in this cursed place and nothing had changed except for the fact that I was six years old, which made it equal to three years of living with Orochimaru. There was no one who I could celebrate my birthday with. Well, to make up for the loneliness I had created some henge'd clones to make it seem as if it was a birthday party but sadly I felt the opposite; stupid and pathetic. Fortunately for me, Orochimaru gave me a tanto and trained me in the arts of Kenjutsu, something I really loved. I hated him but I needed to be strong and to become stronger I needed his assistance.
Much to my dismay…
Grudgingly, I had to admit that I was getting stronger, much stronger than I could have imagined to be. No wonder Sasuke became so strong in only three years and could kill him. How much stronger could I become? How much stronger until I could kill the snake?
Let me rephrase it again: How long did I have to stay in this accursed place?
Or better yet how should I handle my case; it was very fragile just like my mind. I was getting afraid of myself, I was getting afraid of the cold-emotionless killer that I was starting to become, one who didn't feel anything when a sword pierced someone's lung or when life vanished away in the eyes of your victim.
I didn't want to turn into a lifeless creature but life never went the way you wanted it…
Sadly enough, life wasn't made to sugar-coat you, it made you stronger.
Was dying better than this miserable life I had? Should I end it right here and now?
I stopped twirling my kunai and touched the pointy end of it, pricking my finger with it. Blood was dripping down so freely. All the pain would vanish within seconds.
Drip. Drop.
I brought the kunai closer to my neck, "Ending a life was so easy," I pricked the soft skin on my neck, drawing a line through it and stopped. "But this was too cowardly." I couldn't do it. I put the kunai back in my pouch and stared at the wall. Here I was wanting to end my life when out there, there were people with worse lives.
Take Uzumaki Naruto for example.
Thinking about that boy made me feel so bad. Here I was trying to end my life while he will have the worst childhood one could imagine. I could change that for him. I could teach him, help him, save him from the loneliness. Yet, I didn't do anything for fear of Orochimaru. I was such a coward and I felt disgusted by my selfish desires. I wasn't better than those cold-hearted murderers because I was letting him get treated as a monster, which he wasn't. He was much more; that boy was a ball of sunshine filled with positive energy, screaming that he wanted to be acknowledged by the villagers and become Hokage.
Then there was Itachi and Sasuke, those two brothers were doomed to have a hate-love-relationship. It wasn't fair but what could I do in this case? The Konoha Elders were at fault; they didn't trust the Uchiha's after the Kyuubi attack and that made the seeds of rebellion start to grow. Itachi was used by Konoha as a puppet where they could put the blame on him. Itachi, the thirteen-year old shinobi who was forced to make his brother hate him – although I disagreed with that fact, he could've tried it in a different matter and not by traumatizing his little brother. And then there was Shisui, his best friend, that guy loved Konoha so much that he would sacrifice himself so Itachi could gain power to protect their village. Don't get me wrong, I love that village but that didn't give them the right to kill all those people, some were traitors but they were the smaller side of the Uchiha clan. The rest was innocent as a lamb; elders, women, children and infants.
Oh Kami, she forgot about Gaara where the only person he loved was forced to assassinate him by his father which in the end led to his death. On that day Gaara became traumatized, on that day his heart became stone.
I gritted my teeth from the self-loathing and hate.
And Neji, who would be turned into a slave for the Main Branch members and afterwards his father would be sacrificed for the greater good of the clan and the village. Even though he sacrificed himself for his brother and not for the Head of the clan.
Then we have Juugo who would be used as the main test subject for the cursed seal. He who came to Orochimaru with the intention of being cured only to be turned into a psychopath.
Kimimaro who would be used to train so he could become the next vessel for Orochimaru but unfortunately a bloodline disease warranted his death and marked him as useless for the treacherous snake.
Haku who would be forced to see his mother being killed in front of him by none other than his father. After that, he had to kill his father to live. But at what cost? Only to meet Zabuza who would turn him into a tool, albeit subconsciously. I didn't hate Zabuza since he didn't know how to feel. Though in the end he did admit that Haku was his precious person.
What should I do? No, what could I do? All these bad things and I was here being utterly useless… If I tamper with history too much it would change differently and make my knowledge useless. I would still know who was who and what they would do. So much burden on my shoulders and I was afraid to do the wrong thing. What if I did help Naruto's skill, make him stronger? What would happen to him? How much would he change? Would he still be the ball of sunshine that he was known as? Or would he change into a brooding kid like the future Sasuke?
I was so deep in my mind that I didn't even notice the yellow eyes observing me from the door. "Get up." Orochimaru slithered out. I was disgusted by his mere presence but forced myself to look emotionless in front of him, feeling the ever-burning hatred towards him.
"…" I got up without uttering a single word.
"I see you're being talkative today." When he didn't get a response, he chuckled darkly, opening his mouth, "Let's go." He ordered with a hint of hidden excitement. Why was he so excited that even I could see? Granted, I was much smarter than any of the Genin since I still had my brains from before and knowledge of this world. I could even calmly say that I was high-Chuunin and could hold my own against Jounin-level.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru was still way out of my league.
But that was for now. I will train harder and become stronger and one day I will be able to kill that pathetic excuse of a human. He will never know what happened to him. Inwardly I grinned like a maniac, loving the image of a dead snake, while outwardly I didn't show him anything at all and followed the snake-man towards another base.
I wondered where we would be going. That was when another thought came into my mind, one that I had pushed away to focus on getting stronger but now that question was ringing clear in my head: Which timeline did I get dropped into?
It should be somewhere close to the Kyuubi attack, although I had a feeling it would be after the Kyuubi attack but I wasn't sure on that. I needed more information so I could start planning. I couldn't ask him anything about the Kyuubi attack since I technically wasn't supposed to know about it. I couldn't even gather information or it would mark me as a suspicious person and Orochimaru would keep a closer eye on me, something I didn't want at all. Sighing softly, I hopped on a tree, using my chakra, and followed the snake as we went to Kami knows were…
The silence was strangely enough comforting. No harsh whispers, no taunting, no nothing.
Quietness and silence.
Pure sweet silence.
It was such a long time ago that I could relish in such a comforting aura. I knew it was only a short amount of time that I would feel this relaxed.
Hmm… maybe I could barge in Konoha, tell the Hokage that I came from another world where this world was nothing but fictional, my body had changed into a three-year old child and then got trained by Orochimaru, a missing-nin from Konoha and someone who was very dangerous to be interacted with? Psssht! As if! They would label me as crazy and put me in a mental institute. That was not happening! So not happening!
Suddenly he stopped and I almost bumped into him, were it not for my ninja skills. That wouldn't be very smart to do.
"Don't do anything irrational." He ordered again without elaborating further. What was he up to?
Narrowing my eyes dangerously I followed him through the dark cave filled with bats, mice and insects where we walked through a dirty path. If Orochi-teme didn't train me into fighting blindfolded then I would've hurt myself on one of these sharp rocks. The darkness faded and we landed in a large clearing that seemed like a base for shinobi's. Then without a sound the room was filled with strong – and when I say strong, I mean really really strong – chakra signatures. Six people surrounded us, their chakra signatures so high it made me uncomfortable. Not even Orochimaru would be able to fight all these shinobi's and protect me. Heck, would he even protect me? That snake preferred his own life above anything else. His life was holy and more important than anyone else; a trait that was common with the greedy and selfish people. Still, knowing that Orochimaru didn't care about me didn't bother me at all.
But if he did care then it wouldn't start bothering me, it would fucking creep me out.
And if these insanely strong shinobi's attacked us, I would use Shunshin no Jutsu and teleport far away from this place. Long live that jutsu Orochimaru taught me and all the other jutsu's that I would learn in the future. The scary part was that he shared them all with me. I didn't know why but I will find his true motives for training me. I will and I would.
Looking at the shinobi's one by one, I tensed and was ready to fight or flight for my life but it seemed that wasn't necessary. One of them took a step forward, revealing his face from the shadow. Now let me tell you that I would've gasped from shock if I wasn't able to control my emotions because before me was someone I recognized immediately.
It was none other than Pain, also known as Nagato, the Rinnegan user.
Slowly, one by one, the others crawled out the shadows, all strong and mighty. Something that I wasn't yet and wouldn't be for a long time.
Kakuzu. The greedy heartless murderer who, ironically, had five hearts and was practically an immortal one. One by one his hearts would be crushed until he was completely engulfed within the darkness.
Sasori. The puppet master who experimented on himself, turning himself into the perfect puppet so he couldn't feel any emotions at all and be able to run away from the pain. His grand-mother and Sakura would kill him by striking his only weakness: his heart.
Kisame. The shark-looking man with Samehada, a dangerous sword that sucked chakra, who didn't care about comrades or friends, not even his own life. He would die by sacrificing himself to his own half-kin, in other words he got eaten by sharks.
Konan. A blue-haired beauty that was always side by side with Nagato. Her blind loyalty would be her downfall and she would be killed by Tobi.
Pain, also known as Nagato. A Rinnegan-user with the need to change the world into a peaceful world where he was brainwashed by Tobi. His death would be much more peaceful thanks to a certain blonde ball of sunshine.
I couldn't see Zetsu and Tobi but I knew that in the future I would see them. Not now, but soon. I was kind of glad that Tobi didn't come, I didn't like his manipulative being. He was such a drag and so troublesome, like Shikamaru would say.
"What's the girl doing here?" Pain's voice boomed out, soft and yet deadly, his voice echoing in the dark cave, making the bats scurry away.
"Ku ku ku… she's my student. She won't know anything about this organisation."
Somehow I felt kind of relieved that he didn't kill me on spot but then why would he train me only to kill me? No, I was sure that he was up to something but what? Why take in a child? I will find out but I pushed that aside, now I had to focus on these dangerous ninja's, seeing how it dumb it was to be relaxed around them. I may be a child but I wasn't stupid, far from it.
Pain nodded, "Good, if she will be a threat to the organisation she will be killed. Here is your ring, you'll be partnered with Sasori." The man drawled out in his emotionless voice. It sent chills up my body just by hearing how velvet and yet dead Pain's or rather Nagato's voice could be. I looked at all off them and observed Sasori, I couldn't make it seem as if I knew who Sasori was, now could I? I could only see a hunched doll, known as Hiruko, but I could feel the irritation roll off him. Man, Sasori needed to take a chill-pill. Oh wait! He couldn't eat anything seeing how he killed his human emotions and needs.
"Sasori, you'll explain everything. The rest is dismissed. You know what to do." Pain said, looking everyone in the eye before it was settled on me. I fought stubbornly not to look away and stay emotionless and succeed, making Pain raise one of his eye brows. "Interesting…" He murmured softly, earning me the stares from all the other members. I felt so awkward and couldn't suppress the sigh of relief as the drilling gazes left me. What did he even mean by "interesting"…? Orochimaru kept repeating that sentence too, so much it was starting to annoy me.
Just like they came in they disappeared as if they were never here in the first place, minus Sasori who was explaining everything to Orochimaru quietly, away from my childish ears. I sat down, knowing that it would take a lot of time, and started meditating on my chakra. The tingling of my chakra felt familiar and I let it embrace my body like a cocoon, protecting me from this cruel world.
Strangely enough, I could pick up some of the words they were saying:
"…collect money.."
"Missions…Kakuzu…"
"Tailed Beasts…Kyuubi…"
"Three years since the Kyuubi…"
"Fourth Hokage…"
Somehow I had a feeling that I shouldn't be able to pick up all these words and yet I did. Could it be that my senses were getting stronger too? It was known that everything you learned from the three till the five was very sufficient for the child's knowledge. Was it because of that fact I learned to write Japanese so fast? It could be, but putting that aside I could start planning since I knew in which timeline I was in.
So I was brought in this world one year after the Kyuubi attack. I felt sadness, knowing that I couldn't save Minato and Kushina but thinking like that would give me a huge migraine. All the what if's would drive me crazy… I was too late and I had to deal with it. I couldn't save everyone. That was just not possible. I had to do with what I had.
Still, Minato was one of my favourite characters; his personality was beautiful and hypnotizing. Minato, alongside Jiraiya, Kakashi, (the old) Obito, Shisui, Itachi and Naruto were my favourite characters. Though, I should stop referring them as fictional characters and start viewing them as human beings.
It was still weird to know that I've been living in this world for three long, suffering years… Did my presence changed something? Was Orochimaru's interest in the Uchiha's gone? Sighing softly, I continued my assessment: Right now it was three years after the Kyuubi attack, Naruto would be three years, like Sasuke and the rest of Rookie Nine. My eyes almost widened at the fact that Kumo would be sending one of their ambassadors who would try to kidnap the Hyuuga heiress, Hyuuga Hinata, only to get killed by a mad-stricken Hyuuga Hiashi. This would lead to Hizashi's death along with Neji's heart.
What should I do?
Should I risk my life and try to save him?
If I did save them from this catastrophe I would gain the Hyuuga's favour, which could be a huge advantage on my side for when I wanted to live in Konoha. But then Orochimaru would know about my little escapade.. I could tell the Hokage and the Hyuuga Head clan to keep this a secret until further ado but then they would get suspicious of me. I'd be forced to tell them about Orochimaru and then they would be less trusting towards me. But what if I would tell them about Orochimaru…? I could tell them I was taken under his care by force, which was true, and to be trained as his ultimate vessel. I could become a double-agent, like Itachi, for Konoha and sneak them information about Orochimaru. And gradually I would gain their trust. After I got the Hyuuga's favour, the rest of the clan would follow, though I wasn't sure about the Uchiha clan. They were known to dislike the Hyuuga's because they thought the Hyuuga's were inferior to the Sharingan.
The Uchiha's… that clan had no luck whatsoever. The Massacre would be happening five years from now on and I still had no solution for it. How could I stop the Massacre when the Konoha Elders were suspecting them of the Kyuubi attack? How could I change their mind sets without being suspected either?
A smirk threatened to explode on my face when an excellent plan was starting to unravel in my head. If I would succeed in this plan, then the chances of the Uchiha Massacre happening would go twenty-five per cent down.
The problem with this plan would be the fact that I had to be careful around Orochimaru. Caution was the message! If he would start to suspect me of something, he would kill me, no, he would torture me and then he would kill me… And that was something I wasn't keen on. In order to kill Orochimaru, he had to keep training me. I had to know all his jutsu's, his moves, his tactics, … everything.
I had to handle this case with utmost care. No mistakes were allowed. I had only one chance… and to ruin it all would be foolish, like Itachi would say.
All on time…
"Let's go." Orochimaru said, not looking at me. I was long used to his voice and it would be foolish to show Sasori some kind of weakness. We kept jumping from tree branch to tree branch and I was getting bored. I wanted to do something to release the strain on my stiff legs.
"We're heading to Konoha now." Sasori spoke quietly, glancing at me to make sure that the warning was sent. Don't make me kill you, brat.
I looked back at him without blinking my eyes, not showing him any signs of weakness. Bite me.
Somehow I had the sudden urge to walk up to him and ask him; "You mad, bro?" but I couldn't do that. He would get annoyed at me and become an even bigger bitch than before. And if I had to travel with him I want to be with a semi-annoyed Sasori rather than a pissed-off Sasori.
With that we left towards Konoha and I still had no fucking idea as to why we were going towards there. But seeing that Akatsuki was obsessed with the Tailed Beasts it had to do with the Kyuubi, no not the Kyuubi, about Kurama. That was his real name and I had to respect him.
Let's pray that everything would go according plan.
