This one was a little longer than I expected, but it IS here on time.
On another note, it's completely by accident that this one also happened to involve the Akatsuki.
Please, enjoy.
Takamura wasn't a strong ninja, per se. In truth, he was barely even a ninja to begin with. He had only barely graduated from the ninja academy in the first place, and that was saying something since the Hidden Sand Village was especially desperate for new active ninja. The war with the Hidden Leaf was a short two years ago, and they still hadn't fully recovered from the manpower they lost following that damned missing ninja into a losing grudge match.
That Konoha came out of it almost squeaky clean put quite a few doubts in his mind. Wasn't Orochimaru also part of the Hidden Leaf at some point? Was it all a scheme to weaken the Sand? Probably, but he wasn't nearly important enough to worry about that sort of thing.
No, what he had to worry about was guard duty. As a Genin, and a not particularly important one at that, he wasn't even assigned a Jonin sensei. No, that kind of privilege was reserved for the top of the class. It was held aside for the ninjas that had the capability and capacity to do something with their lives. Takamura was relegated to the ninja corps, where all the other rank-and-file ninja that were expected to be wiped out in the opening jutsus of a war went. Takamura was little more than fodder.
He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"Nothing ever happens around here," he complained. He rested his jaw on his hand as he leaned on one of the battlements on top of Sand's great wall. All around them, in every direction, was grainy yellow sand. Once, a very long time ago, there were efforts to include roads and such, but those efforts were quickly abandoned. Too much money and too much time. It was better to keep the Sand Village hard to get to, at least for military purposes. "What are we even supposed to be looking out for?"
"Nothing," responded Rukia. She was a small girl, an entire head shorter than he. She was actually in the same graduating year as Takamura, and he remembered her as being especially smart. She had memorized most of the jutsu theory and was really good about history. She, however, was cursed with a small stature and lower-than-average physical ability, so despite her best efforts she couldn't make the cut. "We both know it. This job is a time waster. It's no use getting frustrated about it now."
Takamura, having shared this shift with Rukia several times, had already complained about the shift to her. He was never the kind to keep his thoughts to himself, and some had said that it was that quality that sealed his professional fate. Still, he couldn't change himself now, so he prepared his rant despite Rukia's attempt to cut him off.
"I just think it's so damn stupid!" he yelled. "Why is it us that has to sit here and guard a stupid wall that no one ever visits every day? Why aren't we the ones that get to go out there and participate in the Chuunin Exams or visit other countries and villages or save princesses or anything?"
Rukia had a wry smile on her rounded face. "You realize that ninjas aren't usually in the employ of saving princesses, right?"
"Feh. I'm sure at least one has."
"Unlikely."
Takamura huffed. He knew that she was right, but it didn't make him any less bitter about having lost the opportunity to do it. I mean, yeah, it was ridiculous to think that any ninjas—glorified mercenary assassins—would ever get to be in the audience of royalty, but in his wildest dreams he could just imagine it happening.
"Besides," Rukia continued. "You know exactly why we aren't allowed to. Our projected survivability rate for foreign missions isn't exactly high enough to warrant the risk of sending us out."
Takamura pouted. "Then send us on domestic missions."
"What do you think wall duty is?"
"I mean domestic missions outside of the village. There are other places in Wind Country."
"And what do you expect to find out there that you can't find in here?"
"I dunno," he said. "Bandits? Thieves? I don't know." He shrugged. "Something to use all of that basic training on. I learned all of those combat jutsus and I never even get to use any of them."
A dry laugh came from Rukia. "I'm not sure that I even remember how to use any of them anymore. It's been what, a year? We've gone an entire year without using our arsenal. We barely even have time to train anymore. We're slightly better equipped for war than a civilian."
"And is that fair?" Takamura asked. "We spent most of our lives preparing for combat and glory and we're sitting here." Takamura threw his hands in the air. "Is it wrong to ask for some action?"
Rukia scoffed. "I don't think you can handle action. Have you been to the medbays recently? The soldiers coming home from the Mist skirmishes are… bad. To say the least."
"Yeah? Well they're not me."
"Have you seen the kinds of things that active-duty ninja can throw around?"
It was Takamura's turn to scoff. "Are you telling me you'd rather be here?"
"I didn't say that," she responded. "I'm just saying… well, I've been thinking. Being active duty is definitely less boring and humiliating that being permanently stationed here. But, like, you can't really choose your missions on active duty, right? There is a fine line between being sent to… rescue princesses… and being sent on a suicide mission."
"I'm sure they aren't that bad."
"Are you sure?"
To that, Takamura didn't respond. He settled back onto the battlement and stared out into the desert. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew that Rukia was right. There were far too many stories of ANBU and Jounin-level ninja travelling out into who knows where and not returning. Being active duty was harrowing, to say the least.
But that still didn't make him dream about it any less.
"Come on," Rukia said. "You know that I'm right."
Of course he did. That didn't mean that he wanted to admit it to her, though. To admit he was wrong was to give her ammunition for the next few days of service, and he didn't want to spend the rest of the work week doing that. It just started after all.
"I know that when you're silent you're just looking for something to change the topic to."
"No!" he screamed. Still, his eyes were scanning the horizon, looking for something even slightly out of place. Of course, as per usual, he didn't see anything. It was just rolling, yellow dunes as far as he could… wait…
"What's that?" he asked.
"You're not going to distract me," Rukia said, humor lingering in her voice. "Just admit that I'm right."
"I'll do that later!" he said. The words felt wrong coming out of his mouth, but there were more important things, for once. "What's that out there?"
Content in her victory, even if it was delayed, Rukia followed where he was pointing. "Okay, I'll look at your distraction, but remember that… huh…"
Out there, in the beating afternoon sun, there seemed to be two figures walking towards the village. While travelers and tourists weren't exactly rare, they usually didn't arrive as two lone figures traipsing through the unforgiving desert on their own. They were usually either squads of ninja, all of whom were trained and equipped to travel in trying terrains, or entire caravans that had enough water and food to make the trip.
That these two weren't either presented a difficult possibility. They were either two stragglers that were ambushed and forced to make their way here with whatever they could carry, or they were enemy ninja. Both options presented a form of danger, as whoever attacked the stragglers could still be nearby, Now, if they weren't stragglers, then they were enemy ninja, and that was a problem in itself.
"Should I ring the alarm?" Takamura asked. While he had been on wall duty for quite a while, in all that time there was never a reason to actually sound the alarm. As such, he wasn't entirely sure if this was a good time. Rukia, however, had been here longer, and while he wasn't sure if she knew what to do in this situation, it felt better to have a second opinion. "Rukia?"
The girl wasn't responding, which was odd. Takamura was certainly the more talkative of the two, but that didn't mean she was shy or quiet by any means. He turned to look at her, only to see her staring wide-eyed out into the field. He waved his hand in front of her face, only for her to keep staring ahead, as if he weren't there.
"Rukia?" he called, worry starting to war with his anxiety. He reached for her, only for a shrill, exceedingly loud noise to cut through his ears like a kunai through the air.
"Intruders!" called one of the other ninja posted on the wall. Takamura couldn't discern his name from voice alone, but he knew it was an older person at the least. "Enemy ninja on the horizon!"
So, it was the scarier of the two options, then. Instincts long since forgotten returned, and Takamura patted at his clothing to make sure he had everything. His weapons pouch was properly fastened to his hip, though he wasn't sure of the quality of the metal within anymore—he had neglected their upkeep some time ago. He had some emergency soldier pills if things got too drastic, and there was a flare attached to his right thigh. He was sure that he wouldn't be involved in any real fighting, but there was always a chance.
"Rukia," he said, a little excitement creeping into his voice. "It's finally here! Some action!"
But, once again, Rukia did not respond. She hadn't even moved, in fact. She continued to stare at something that wasn't there, standing deathly still all the while.
"Rukia?" Takamura was starting to get worried now. He reached for her shoulder so that he might shake some sense into her.
And that was when the explosions rocked the wall.
Takamura almost fell to the ground, and in his panic he was forced to grab onto the nearest thing. As he was already reaching for her, he tried to brace himself on Rukia. He grabbed her shoulders, but instead of the stabilizing presence of a trained, if novice, ninja, he was met with almost nothing. She fell backwards with no resistance, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground.
"Damn… Rukia?" he asked. He looked around, eyes scanning every possible area for where the attack came from. For the life of him, however, he couldn't find out where it came from. There were other Sand ninja that were posted on the wall, all running around looking just as confused as he was. Some were sitting dazed on the ground, but other than that… "Rukia! This is no time to be shellshocked! We have to do something!"
Takamura wasn't exactly sure what that was, but he knew that it needed to be something.
XxX
Sasori and Deidara, two missing ninja of some renown, were walking through the unforgiving sands of the Wind Country. Just ahead of them, the great wall of the Village Hidden in the Sands loomed, blossoming out of the ever-stretching dunes like the petals of a flower. Deidara, skilled though he was, marveled at it like the child he was.
"I don't see what's so interesting about this," Sasori whispered. He whispered because he didn't have a choice otherwise. His voice was naturally low, and the doll he was inhabiting wasn't nearly done with the voice modulator to be accurate. It wasn't powerful enough to speak very loudly, or to emulate it correctly, so when he spoke he sounded as if his voice was run through a sander. "It's just a village, like any of the other ones we passed."
Deidara, his annoying partner, did not share his sentiment. "Well, that may be the case for you, my man, but that's because you grew up here! For you, everything about this village is old hat." The cretin then giggled. "Well, I suppose everything except for the Kage."
"That, too, will change," Sasori whispered. His voice was monotone, but that made sense. He was a doll, after all. He didn't need expressive changes. "In case you've forgotten, the Kage is the entire reason we're here."
"Of course I haven't forgotten," Deidara huffed. "I'm not stupid."
"Then stop acting like you are!" Sasori hissed. Well, tried to hiss. His voice still came out as monotone. "This isn't some sightseeing tour. We're here to challenge the might of an entire hidden village and steal their leader. It would pay to be serious about this."
To that, Deidara just shrugged. He folded his arms as he followed Sasori back to his home village.
Or, at least, his former home village.
"So, how are we going to do this, Sasori my man?" the insufferable goon asked. "I was more than willing to go in guns blazing, but something tells me that you're not too keen on that idea."
"Of course I'm not. The village might be weaker, but it's still one of the five great villages of the Elemental Nations. If we go in unprepared, we invite far more trouble than we need. We need a distraction: something to keep them off of us."
"And what kind of distraction are you thinking of?"
If Sasori could grin, he would've. "I've an idea. While you might be married to the idea of destroying all of your work, I put more value in something that lasts forever. And do you know what lasts forever?"
"The ramblings of old men like you?"
"Close," Sasori grumbled. "Sleeper agents."
XxX
A pulse went out. Takamura wasn't sure how he knew that, but something in his told him that it did. He wasn't the strongest of ninja, nor the smartest, but he had always been especially sensitive to chakra. He could always tell when a genjutsu was used on him, as well as when it was used on others. He could usually sense when a jutsu was used around him, to the point where he would have to ignore most of the techniques that were activated lest he go insane.
That chakra pulse, however? That was something completely new. He thought he felt something off earlier, but he had assumed that it was something routine.
Now that he was feeling it again, in the light of their recent attack? No, something was off.
"What the…" he started, but then another explosion rocked the wall. He was thrown off balance, and he had to brace himself against the stone floor. Below him, Rukia was still looking straight ahead, this time at the sky.
Poor girl was out of it. He had to get her to safety.
"Hold on," he whispered, though the words were more for himself. "I'll get us out of here."
He stood up, hauling his friend with him. She was small, so luckily it wasn't that much of a struggle. He looped her arm over his shoulder, then started to walk towards the stairs. Luckily, they weren't posted very far from it, so it wouldn't be so far to travel.
Another pulse traveled through them. This time, Takamura was aware of the pattern.
He braced himself, squaring his knees as the wall rocked just a few seconds after the pulse passed. Somewhere far down the wall, stone crumbled and people screamed. What kind of jutsu was this?
He decide that he didn't need to know. He continued to the stairs, the pulled Rukia farther up on his shoulder as he traveled down so that her feet wouldn't bump against the stairs. He had made it down an entire flight before another pulse shot through the wall.
He braced himself… only for nothing to happen.
"Huh?" he asked aloud. "Was that one a dud?"
Could chakra bombs even get duds?
He turned to check on Rukia, only to remember that she was in shock. It was a shame, as she was usually the smarter one. She was the one who had the answers to the questions, or a solution to some perceived problem.
She was also the one that was thrashing violently in his arms.
"WRAAAAGH!" she roared, pushing about and throwing her little arms every which way. Her teeth gnashed, trying to bite at him, at everything, and she kept trying to claw at his face.
"Whoa!" Takamura yelled as he struggled to keep a hold on her. If he lost his grip on her she would fall down the stairs and hurt herself. "Stop it! What the hell is wrong with you?"
Rukia, of course, did not stop. If anything, she began to struggle even harder. Foam started to escape from her mouth as she nearly went feral. Eventually it became too much for Takamura, and she slipped out of his hands. She didn't even cry as she tumbled down the next flight of stairs.
It was a painful fall, by the way. She didn't seem to care about her wellbeing. She didn't shield her face or curl into a ball or anything. She just… collapsed down the stairs.
She probably had more than a few broken bones because of it.
Takamura chased her as fast as he could. Up top he could still hear various ninja screaming and trying to collect themselves, but that hardly mattered to him right now. He had to check on his friend and make sure she was alright.
"Rukia!" he screamed. "Rukia. Are you…"
Despite the numerous injuries she was likely sporting, Rukia seemed perfectly fine. There were purple bruises already starting to form all over her body, but she didn't pay them any mind. Rather, instead of getting up or preparing first aid, she seemed to be looking for something.
… something that was in her weapons pouch.
"Rukia, no!" Takamura screamed, jumping into action immediately. He tackled her back to the ground, pinning her arms above her head. "This isn't the way!"
Of course, Takamura told himself. He had heard of this kind of thing before. Some ninja, once exposed to the horrors of war, break under the pressure. Having to constantly live on the edge of death, expecting it every turn, was too much for even the hardiest of minds. Some ninja couldn't handle the pressure, the stress, anymore, and took to ending their lives on their own terms so that they wouldn't have to bear the uncertainty. This had to be what was happening to Rukia now. It would explain the rabid struggling and the shock.
He couldn't let her end her life. Not over something like this.
"Rukia! You can't kill yourself!" he yelled. One of her hands slipped from his hold and darted immediately for her weapons pouch. Takamura caught it immediately and restrained it above her head once more. "You're stronger than this!"
Rukia, of course, didn't respond. Not in any way that was normal. She continued to roar and thrash and bite.
Takamura, now out of ideas, could do the only thing that popped in his head. He had heard it worked in movies, but… well..
"I'm sorry, Rukia. But I can't let you hurt yourself!"
He closed his eyes and dived.
XxX
Sasori sent out another pulse of chakra, this one being the third time that he sent this specific signal. He was sure that he had at least one of his sleeper agents attuned to this symbol. They should have detonated by now, taking out a chunk of wall and throwing the Sand ninja posted there into disarray. Ss it was now, almost five minutes had passed without a new explosion, and the ninja posted on the wall, though generally useless as ninja, were starting to gather themselves.
That was a problem.
"Sasori, my man," Deidara, the annoying roach called. "What's going on? I thought you had some grand plan in the making to mask my entry, yeah?"
Sasori, of course, did have a plan. It just wasn't going to plan. "There seems to be a complication."
"Oh?" the mouth fetishist crooned. "I wasn't aware that you could have complications. Is this to mean that you've fucked up?" Sasori could feel the wicked grin spread across the man's face. "My, what a fortuitous day."
Now, as he'd become a doll, Sasori didn't feel that he was the kind to fall prey to peer pressure or wild swings of emotion. Deidara, however, was one of the few people who could spurn such reactions from him. With a swing of his hand, he dispelled the chakra blast he sent out and moved over to the next frequency. Luckily, this one went out correctly, and an explosion went off shortly after.
"Everything is going according to plan," he croaked. "Prepare for infiltration."
Deidara, as much of an idiot as he was, didn't seem convinced. Still, he summoned one of his stupid exploding birds and prepared to fly clear over the walls to assault their prey.
Knowing the Kage, the Jinchuuriki of the Sand was already prepared and waiting for combat.
XxX
Rukia liked to think herself a kind girl. A smart girl. A girl who was wise and matured beyond her age and more than well equipped to handle any sort of surprise that the world could throw at her. True, she wasn't personally experienced in anything, having spent most of her life in the ninja academy, and then having spent the rest of it working on the wall. Still, as she'd read a lot about the world, she was sure that there was nothing that could truly throw her off guard.
Waking up far from where she was standing not two seconds ago with a broken rib and one of her closest friends kissing her, however, was something that she didn't think anyone could have prepared for.
She wanted to scream, but the kiss did feel rather nice. And it wasn't as if Takamura was necessarily a bad person. Or even an ugly person. Still she did wish to know why the world was on fire. And why everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Or how she ended up down here in the first place. Or…
… you know what? Maybe it was time to stop.
She tried to push the boy off of her, but her arms felt as if someone took a bat to them. She tried to speak around the lips pressing against her own like some kind of hydraulic press, but that just left her mouth open, which opened up a new can of worms.
Or a can of tongue, as it were.
Left with no options, she did the only thing she could thing of.
She bit down. Hard.
Takamura yelped as her teeth dug into his invading appendage, and Rukia took a few seconds to relish in his pain before letting go. When she did, she attempted to sit up, only to receive a shock of pain running through her entire body.
Yeah, whatever happened to her was not pleasant, to say the least.
"What the hell is going on?" she asked. The sun suddenly felt too bright, and her head was hurting something fierce. "Did we get drunk? Is this a hangover?"
Takamura, being the well-meaning idiot that he was, didn't think anything of her confusion. He simply wrapped her up in a hug. She could feel the tears running down his face, mostly because they were landing on her back and soaking through her shirt.
"Oh, Rukia!" he sobbed. And it was an ugly sob, that was for sure. "It worked! It worked! Thank the gods it worked!"
"W-what worked?" she asked. Whatever the reasoning, it had to have been in part why she was suddenly on the ground. And why her body hurt. And why he suddenly reciprocated her feelings even though he was so oblivious to them before.
"The kiss!" he shouted. "I broke you out of your madness!"
Rukia blinked. Well, that was new.
"Madness?" she chuckled. She looked around. There was smoke still billowing to the sky, and the sound of frantic orders being given all around her. "I think that there's enough madness around for us to worry about me."
Takemura, the sweet idiot that he was, didn't seem phased by her words. He pulled back, looking into her eyes as if they held a fresh glass of cold water, then pulled her into another hug.
"Sure," he said, his voice a watery mess.
Rukia, surprised and in pain, could only hug him back.
"Hey!" someone yelled. "What the hell are you two kids doing? Can't you see we're under attack? Get your asses in gear!"
The two broke apart, reality suddenly crashing down around them.
"Right, leader!"
"Uh, yeah. Right, leader!"
The jounin that screamed at them was glaring, but he didn't let the problem sit. He had more important things to worry about. He glared for a few seconds more before running back to take control of the wall.
The two watched him leave. They made sure he was out of earshot, then looked at each other. They managed to keep themselves composed for a few seconds before laughing.
"This the action you wanted, Takamura?" she asked.
Takemura smiled. "Something like that."
They both made off to their own stations, each with their own jobs to defend the wall.
Still, they spared glances at each other, small smiles breaking across their faces.
Neither of them noticed the shadow of the gigantic bird flying over their heads.
