DISCLAIMER: Naruto and friends belongs to Kishi.
"Well that took you longer than expected, sharkboy."
"A few adjustments had to be made."
Their journey ended in a warehouse situated in the civilian sector of the Land of Iron. A gray-haired man with a scythe resting on his shoulder greeted them with a casual nod. Kisame gave him a small wave. Behind him, Itachi and Shiori stood quietly beside each other. Hidan took a peek behind the giant swordsman.
"Well hello there, Itachi-kun! How are you doing? I see you're still as peachy as ever." Hidan chirped at him only to be met with cold indifference. With an annoyed sigh he walked over to where the younger shinobi stood. His sharp eyes trained on the cloaked person right next to him. She was a head shorter than the Uchiha and her features were hidden underneath a worn hood.
"Does the Witch of Shimogakure have a face?"
Shiori pulled her hood down, wincing when the icy air pricked on her cheeks. Hidan grinned widely.
"Ah, not bad. You got yourself a good one, Itachi! Say, you're about eighteen now aren't you? About time you got yourself some, if you know what I mean."
Shiori snorted inwardly. Uchiha Itachi may be many things but a virgin wasn't one of them, not by a long-shot.
He seemed unfazed by Hidan's blatant innuendos and cut straight to the point. "Tell Kakuzu we're here to aid his search."
"Aye Cap'n," the other S-nin replied, turning to Shiori. "A word of caution: My man Kakuzu isn't exactly known for his patience. We're expecting to earn a couple million ryos after our transaction ends so I expect you do well. And-wait a minute. Is that my coat?"
"Of course not," Shiori bit back defensively. It probably was.
Much to Shiori's chagrin she once again came face to face with another man tied up in a chair. The only consolation was that this time, he didn't look like he had been tortured and left for dead. He was merely unconscious. A curtain of chin-length hair covered his face. Kakuzu walked over to where she stood and began flipping through his bingo book.
"Who is he?" Shiori asked, not taking her eyes off of the captive.
"He is a guard who works for the Sound Daimyo," the masked shinobi replied.
"I meant his name."
"It doesn't matter who he is. What matters is that you find this man for us." Kakuzu shoved the book in front of her and pointed at the picture of a man with a Sound Village hitai-ate on his forehead. The name "Haruyama Kurei" was written below the mugshot.
"It's Sendai Mako," Hidan piped up from where he stood in one corner with Kisame and Itachi. The lone lightbulb flickering above them cast an eerie glow on his toothy grin. "Hope that helps."
Not wasting any more time, Shiori took off her gloves and tucked them in her pocket. She walked over to the unconscious man and cupped his cheeks, tilting his head up. Already, she could feel herself getting lost in the endless abyss created by his memories.
"Let's get this over with, Mako-san."
And with that, she pressed her lips against his forehead.
It didn't take long for her to find the Sound-nin's face in the haze of Mako's mind. Within moments she found herself face-to-face with none other than Haruyama Kurei. They were inside a small hut. Outside the windows, all she could see were the endless green of the rice fields. The fields and the mountains surrounding them rang a bell in her own mind.
'Inaho Village. Land of Sound,' she thought to herself. She had no doubt about it.
"You've just signed a death warrant for yourself by helping me," Kurei said to his new contact. "I hope you're aware of that."
Mako's lips stretched into a wry smile. "People like me don't live long anyway. And if I can take our rotten Daimyo with me to Hell then so be it."
"Fair enough. Tell me everything you know."
The scene shifted abruptly and she found herself eavesdropping on a conversation between two men. She frantically scanned through Mako's memories and realized that she was in the estate owned by the Sound Daimyo himself. He and three other guards were patrolling the room's parameters. Mako marched forward until he reached the sitting area where the Daimyo was in. The man he was speaking to had long hair and pale, almost translucent skin. It took her a few seconds and a hiss coming from the sinister-looking stranger to realize who he was.
'Orochimaru,' Shiori thought, recalling the sannin from Itachi's more recent memories. She knew he wanted to claim the Uchiha's body once and that had been highly unsuccessful. She wondered what he was up to now.
"I know of seventeen clans with bloodline limits residing in the Land of Sound," the Daimyo spoke in a soft voice. "I doubt there could be more than that but I can always ask my men to clarify the figures. I'll send you the list in three days."
"Very well," Orochimaru replied, his raspy voice sending a chill down Mako's spine. "And remember, your list is useless if I don't get a few specimen from each clan.
Mako's face remained blank but Shiori could feel the anger roaring within him at Orochimaru's callous words. 'These are people he is talking about, sick fuck,' he thought, scandalized.
The Daimyo mulled over the sannin's request. "Very well. Consider it done."
The scene disintegrated into a cloud of black smoke and she found Mako and herself inside the safehouse once again. Kurei was with them, his face dark with worry and anger. He walked over to one of the windows and gazed at the rice fields. "We need to warn them. All of them. A handful of shinobi I know belong to some of the seventeen clans the Daimyo was talking about. They will not take this lightly."
"I can help you with that, Kurei-san," Mako volunteered.
"It's not safe here anymore. Get out while you still can. And your wife, isn't she-"
"A wielder of the Shakoton, a bloodline limit. My five-year old daughter is showing signs of possessing this ability as well." Pride swelled in Mako's voice when he said this. "If we run now then we will spend our entire lives in fear, wondering when Orochimaru's men will catch up with us. I have all the reasons in the world to join this fight now."
'Even if it costs me my life,' Mako thought to himself, closing his eyes in acceptance.
When he opened them, he came face to face with a beautiful woman. As she stared back, Shiori could see Mako's reflection in her bright eyes.
"Something's bothering you," the woman said. By the gentle way he held her, Shiori could tell this was his wife. "You know you can tell me right? Whatever happens, you will always have me."
"Does she always do that?" Hidan asked. The four Akatsuki members had stepped aside in one corner as Shiori scanned through their captive's mind. The immortal man referred to the strange way the girl was holding on to Mako. Ever since she started, she had kept her lips pressed against his forehead.
Kisame shifted on his feet. "Actually, that's the first time I've seen her do it too."
"She can't be hitting on him so what's the deal?" Hidan wondered out loud.
"Perhaps it enhances her bloodline limit, make her go through his memories faster," Itachi said. It was a silly hypothesis but it was the only thing that came to mind.
"A kiss in exchange for your entire life. Brilliant," Kakuzu commented, making everyone chuckle except Itachi. His mind reeled back to the day of her own capture, how her lips brushed against the tiniest exposed part of his neck before she succumbed to his genjutsu. Realization dawned on him like a splash of icy water to the face. It explained everything, the insane reason why she tapped onto so much of his mind in so little time. She probably knew more than she had led him to believe. Itachi cursed inwardly.
Shiori pulled away from Mako less than a minute later. Within that short amount of time she began to look at him in a different light.
'This is one of the good guys,' she thought. This was someone who sincerely cared about his country and its people. And she, Sotome Shiori, will be the one to topple down all the accomplishments he had risked his life for. Kakuzu walked over to her, stopping so close to where she stood that she felt her personal space being invaded.
"Speak."
This time Shiori knew she was in her element. Her ability was maximized to its full potential. She was efficient and it shamed her. Silently, she prayed that Haruyama Kurei had noticed Mako's disappearance and had escaped by now.
"The Sound Daimyo," she continued. "He's a corrupt man who's not afraid to sell people out if only to guarantee his title. He's working with an Orochimaru. I saw him and the Daimyo talking." With this, she glanced at Itachi whose glowing Sharingan glared back at her.
"He's after everyone in the Land of Sound who possesses a bloodline limit. I think we need to stop him."
"Guess he hasn't stopped with his sick experiments," Kisame muttered. He hadn't been in the Akatsuki long enough to meet the Sannin but he had heard enough to know that he didn't like him.
"Listen sweetheart, we already know that the Daimyo is a good-for-nothing bastard but we can't kill him just yet...not until after we get paid anyway," Hidan sighed, walking over to Mako before pulling his hair to lift his head up. Shiori gasped. "You mean he's-"
"Yup," Hidan chirped. "He's the one who's paying us millions in exchange for Kurei's head. We're freelancers and we're not exactly choosy."
"And now that we've confirmed that he's collaborating with Orochimaru, we have more reasons to keep him alive." Kakuzu turned to Shiori who shrunk under his green-eyed scrutiny. "You killed two birds with one stone, witch. You're not half as bad as you look." He turned to Itachi and chuckled. "I suggest you keep this one as a long term pet, Uchiha. We'll find more use for her in the future."
Shiori relaxed a bit when Itachi walked over and stood between her and Kakuzu. Though she didn't feel safe anywhere anymore, she thought she could guarantee her survival longer if she stuck with her so-called handler.
"Our job is done here. We're leaving," he said to Kakuzu. He turned to Shiori and nodded at her. Kisame adjusted the Samehada on his back in preparation for another long walk."
"Wait. What's gonna happen to Mako-san?" Shiori asked. She could still see his wife and daughters in her mind and she felt terrible that she knew where he was while they didn't.
A heavy silence filled the room which was broken by the loud-mouthed Hidan. "He's going with me. It's time for him to meet the Almighty Jashin."
"Jashin?"
"That's code name for a slow and painful death," Kisame replied, earning himself a terrified look from Shiori. He grinned. "Thought Hidan was a good guy, didn't you? Sorry kid but you've put your faith in the wrong killer."
Shiori's wide-eyed gaze shifted to Hidan who only winked at her as he pulled Mako over his shoulder.
"But...he has a family waiting for him! His daughters..."
The flutter of her erratic heartbeats overtook her words and soon she found it difficult to talk. She truly believed that by her being thorough with finding Kurei, they wouldn't have to take out their frustrations on Mako. The bounty was on the Sound-nin's head. She didn't see the point to punish the guard with death. Before she could think twice she ran over to where Kakuzu now stood. The masked shinobi tensed as he saw her heading his way.
"Touch me and I wouldn't think twice about cutting those hands off-"
"Please, Kakuzu-san!" she begged, bowing her head down. "Please let Mako-san go! I swear on my life I've told you everything he knows. We've taken everything we could from him. He deserves to go!"
A low rumble emanated from his throat. It took her a while to realize that he was laughing. "You foolish little girl. You have so much to learn. That's not how things work with us."
It was nighttime when they arrived at the Minshuku. Shiori wordlessly went through the motions. Kisame rented them the largest room available. After taking a few directions from the young housekeeper, she dragged her feet to the farthest corner of the room and settled on her prepared futon. She vaguely heard Kisame and Itachi talking about having a bath before the duo left her at the mercy of her own thoughts. As soon as the sound of their footsteps disappeared, she let the sick feeling in her stomach wash over her and dry-heaved on her knees.
Too much.
Two words that summed up everything that her life had become. Too much to take in. Too much to stomach. Too much guilt to live with and too much death she had caused. Not only had she helped the Akatsuki catch scent of Kurei's whereabouts, she had also ripped away from Mako the only thing that had kept him alive, which was intel. Somewhere out there, a woman had become a widow. Two sisters have lost their father. And though Shiori was far from capable of delivering a death blow she had seen too much that she could already imagine the smell of blood coming from her own hands.
Itachi approached her again later that night. Out of his Akatsuki cloak and mangled hitai-ate, he finally looked his age. The dark blue yukata he wore fit perfectly on his lean frame. Its low neckline exposed the pale skin of his chest and added a certain kind of appeal to his already handsome features. In another life, this kind of sight would have caused her to run to her bestfriend Miyako so that she can tell her about the beautiful creature she had just laid eyes on.
'Not tonight, Kami. Enough of your twisted sense of perverted humor,' she thought to herself. Tonight she was going to wallow in guilt and self-pity.
Oblivious to her inner musings, Itachi came and sat beside her. He mimicked her position by hugging his knees and resting his chin on them, an act which made him look both harmless and human.
"Where's Kisame-san?"
"Out. I think." He looked at her, frowning slightly when Shiori quickly avoided his gaze. "You're still thinking about that man."
She was but she didn't feel like she had to say anything about that.
"Shiori-san, look at me." He expected her to resist, to stubbornly continue staring at his feet. But angry gray eyes obliged and met his gaze with a watery glare.
"What?"
"That man knew what he was getting into the minute he decided to help Haruyama. If Hidan didn't kill him, someone else would have."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Feeling bold all of a sudden, she shifted so that she was fully facing Itachi. "Not everyone can lie to himself as flawlessly as you can, Uchiha-san."
The young shinobi's face remained neutral, making Shiori wonder just how emotionally detached he really was.
"Maybe so," he replied coolly. "But even you will learn to live with it eventually. I suggest you start now."
"I don't want to learn to live with it!" Too much. He was asking for too much.
"You have to. It's the only way you'll survive."
This time she backed down. She cannot reason with him. Begrudgingly, she reminded herself that the Itachi in front of her was an emotionless killing machine. The boy that he was in his memories was either gone or hidden somewhere she couldn't reach. She thought that the sooner she made peace with that fact, the less frustrated she will become.
"Wanna hear something funny? The entire time I was in his mind, he reminded him of you. Mako-san was a good man and he was kind. He was cunning but whatever he did, he did it because he knew in his heart that it was right. I'm obviously an idiot, thinking you and him were the same."
Shiori excused herself before crawling into her futon, which lied a foot away from where he sat. Even as she turned her back on him and pulled the covers well over her neck, she could still feel him looking at her, staring a hole through her back and into her soul.
The next day they headed back to the rusty warehouse and did two more interrogations before Kakuzu was contented enough to call it a day. Luckily for Shiori, both of the captives were hardened criminals. She numbed down the red-hot guilt she felt with the help of their rage and the images of the many gruesome murders they had committed. This time, she felt like she was doing the world a favor. Itachi had acted more humane for her sake and had ushered her and Kisame out of the godforsaken place before Hidan could provide them with details on what he planned to do with the two captives.
Later that day, Kisame thumbed through the fresh ryo bills they had acquired from Kakuzu. It was decided that they were going to get a percentage of the income from the bingo book assassinations because their asset had played a vital role in pinpointing the targets' whereabouts. Since Hidan and Kakuzu operated countries away from Itachi and Kisame, they deemed it fair that the latter got their compensations early. With the amount of intel they acquired, the missions were guaranteed to be a success anyway. Right after crossing the border of the Land of Sound, Kisame insisted that they started shopping.
"Even S-ranked criminals like ourselves aren't exempted from mundane tasks," he said. "The groceries can wait but there are things I need to buy right now. And you too Shiori. You could get something to wear other than that horrible frock you have on."
Shiori agreed with Kisame all the way. While she was eternally thankful that Konan and Fudo, the old housekeeper, had been hospitable enough to give her the basic toiletries, she would prefer using shampoo which wouldn't have her smelling like a man. And then there was the issue with her frock (Since she was still trying to get into Kisame's good side she was going to stay mum about the fact that said frock had been his shirt at one time). It was too large for her. It kept on trying to slide off of her as well, alternating from one shoulder to another. At one point, the wind blew it in such a way that it caused it to slip off both of her shoulders at once. She managed to catch it just in time before she flashed at Itachi who turned around to check on her at that very opportune moment. Not only did it defeat its purpose of covering as much of her skin as possible, it had scarred both of them.
"How about it, Shio-chan? You up for it?" The new nickname blurted out by Kisame's rough voice pulled her out of her mortifying thoughts.
"I left all of my money in Shimo," she replied.
"Well you're the one who brought in the money so I'm guessing it's fair to charge your tabs on us. Don't you agree Itachi-san?"
"Hn." Itachi had been trailing behind since they started their trek from the Land of Iron. Shiori thought he looked paler than usual. His shoulders were slumped and despite his silence, she could tell he was having difficulty catching his breath.
"Are you okay, Uchiha-san?" she asked tentatively.
"Ah. Why wouldn't I be?" he replied, which made the teenage girl quiet with wonder. She looked at Kisame, whose glare only told her one thing.
'Don't go there.'
It was an old trick she learned way back. As soon as they stepped in one of the local shops, she made a beeline for the female aisle and armed herself with boxes of tampons, sanitary napkins and every pink-handled razor she could get her hands on. The two S-ranked shinobi froze on the top of the aisle, unsure of what to do next. When she motioned at them to come closer using a hand which held a bottle of feminine wash, the duo did a one-eighty and headed the other way. She could vaguely hear Kisame reasoning with Itachi that she couldn't run that far anyway. Shiori basked in her accomplishment. As silly as the situation was, she had won this time.
She spent the rest of her solitary afternoon window shopping. The Land of Sound had a quaint little shopping district that was dotted with numerous little shops. She peeked into every window she passed by to admire the decorations. At least for a few hours, she could pretend she was back on Shimo and that life was back to normal.
'As normal as it could possibly get when there are people who are convinced that you're a witch,' she thought to herself. She dug inside the pockets of her brand-new trousers and found she still had some money left. She spotted the local apothecary and decided she could use a cough syrup or two to help her sleep. As soon as she went in she noticed that it was empty save for one other customer.
"Uchiha-san."
Itachi looked just as surprised to see her there. He gave her a quick once-over, noticing that she had ditched the hand-me-downs and had bought new clothes which were her size. Feigning non-chalance, he turned his attention back to the chemist and gave her his prescription.
"What are you here for? You don't look sick," he queried, giving her a curious look.
Shiori debated with herself whether or not she should let him in on her plan to commit drug misuse. She decided not to. "You first. What are you here for?"
"Hn," he scoffed at her just in time for the chemist to return with a full paperbag. After murmuring a deep "thank-you" he turned around and saw Shiori eyeing his medications worriedly. His stomach coiled with unease.
'Does she know?'
"Uchiha-san. Seriously. What are those for?"
He bent forward until his eyes were leveled with hers. He smirked when Shiori jumped at their sudden close proximity.
"I said-"
He tapped his nose twice with his index finger. "Don't be nosy."
Shiori stared at his back as he exited out of the apothecary. From a distance he looked as fit and healthy as any young man his age. Even the way he walked spoke volumes of how much he was truly capable of. And yet, something kept on bothering her, something which, despite her internal protests with herself, made her worry for the young shinobi. Her thoughts went back to the incident a couple of hours back.
In the wee hours of morning she was awakened by the sound of someone having a coughing fit. The longer she tried to ignore it, the worse it became. The coughs were accompanied with wet, chesty gurgles. Every breath that preceded it wheezed with labor. Whoever it was, it sounded to Shiori like he was drowning. She turned in her futon and was surprised to see that it was Itachi.
He was curled on his side a few feet from her. His entire face had gone red. Beads of sweat fell on his furrowed eyebrows. Each cough racked violently throughout his entire body and it sounded like he was coughing out more air than he could breathe.
"Uchiha-san," she called out, voice still husky from sleep. She made a move to go near him but stopped when Itachi's body tensed. The way he was grimacing made him look as if he was in a lot of pain. He started to hold his breath.
"Hey. Hey-!"
"Leave him," Kisame intercepted from the other end of the room. He too had sat up on his futon, eyeing his writhing comrade. "You'll regret waking him up. Trust me."
That same moment, Itachi gasped deeply and turned on his back. Shiori's eyes never left him until his breathing grew calmer and the gurgling sound in his chest subsided. The angry blush on his face faded until it was nothing more than faint pink stains on his cheeks. And then he was quiet again. It was as if nothing happened.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Nothing. Now go back to sleep." Something about the way Kisame was looking at his partner told her otherwise.
Shiori frowned as the memory replayed in her head. One thing was for sure. Uchiha Itachi was hiding something. And she couldn't figure out what it was.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well...sorry for the delay. I'd make up a really genius excuse but then that would only make me sound like Kakashi so.. Again, thank you oh so much for those of you who reviewed, liked and favorited. I'm not gonna lie, I like reviews better especially con-crits. At this rate I may have a clue as to where this is heading and how to get there but they're all pretty vague and stuff. I just hope you guys stick around long enough to find out. Dunno if the long chapter is a good thing or a bad thing but...hope you liked it.