She doubted if she was dreaming or not for a second, her nightmares did tend to be really real and often horrifying. Even so, something told her she knew she was awake, no matter how realistic her nightmares were. She could never be creative enough to create the weird creature before her from her imagination.
"Oh shut up Kisame! I was sleeping when she broke the stupid roof and she got the upper hand on me! That's all." Deidara groaned, not showing his relief that someone else was here now. The sword began growling with a smile, causing a shiver to go up Harumi's spine. This must've been the most ridiculous thing she'd ever witnessed.
"Did you like the small taste you got of her chakra, Samehada?" the shark man -or Kisame- asked his spiky sword which he called Samehada. Harumi recognized the name of the sword, it belonged to one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the hidden mist. Of course! She immediately remembered and recognized Kisame's name! He was a criminal from the Hidden Mist and was wanted in all nations. Fear spread through her body when she registered what Kisame had just asked his sword. Her chakra? Did the sword absorb a bit of her chakra? Her hands fisted, that was dangerous, Kisame was dangerous, much more than Deidara who had yet to land a proper attack on her.
Only my power can work against that sword.
'I know, but I'm not sure I can keep myself safe using your power while fighting the sword, the shark man himself, and even blondie. Any other advice is welcome though,' she replied in her thoughts.
Once again, she was met with silence. It annoyed her, how is it he only conversed with her when he decided he wanted to? Did her opinion really mean nothing? She gritted her teeth and told herself she'd deal with it later. Her eyes connected with Kisame, and his annoying smirk was driving her insane. Apart from that, she knew she had to escape immediately. The adrenaline was beginning to set her body in full fight or flight mode, and it was leaning much more towards flight. She had to think rationally; where did Kisame come from? When she was sensing for chakras earlier on the bottom floor, she could only sense Deidara's. That means he only recently arrived.
It clicked in her head. One of the two doors in the dead end hallway must've been a stairwell. She had to get there, but how would she get past Kisame and Samehada? She was really running out of time and she didn't want Itachi to pop up any minute, because she'd be really screwed if he did. She was certain that she couldn't take them all on, and even if she did use her inner power, she couldn't guarantee it wouldn't only harm her body more in the process. It was a huge weakness, and she was still trying to figure out a way around it. Back to her issue at hand though, she could try to finish breaking the barrier from earlier, but she was too worried to have her back turned on Kisame.
Speaking of him, she had accidentally zoned out the conversation Kisame and Deidara were having, but soon brought herself back into the present while still trying to devise a plan.
"No, she didn't even bother asking why she was here. She just ran and tried breaking the barrier while fighting me," Deidara explained.
Kisame sighed and nodded his head, turning back to Harumi and smirking when he noticed the fire burning behind her eyes as she looked at him intensely. He had heard there were only two survivors in the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's little brother, and a girl. He had always wanted to meet the only one who escaped his partner's clutches, and he wasn't all that surprised that Deidara was having a hard time with her. He already knew she must've been strong if she escaped from Itachi, and it only confirmed it when they were ordered to retrieve her.
"Listen, I don't know who you guys are, and I honestly hope I don't need to find out. I know Itachi brought me here with some sick intentions in mind, but I don't know why I'm still alive and I frankly don't care, to be honest." She looked around. "How about we just go our separate ways so we can all leave here with all our body parts intact?" She was stalling, and hoped they wouldn't notice. She could feel the sweat leaking down her body as her brain was in overload while she tried to figure out the best escape plan.
"I'm afraid we can't do that, we were ordered to stop you by any means necessary if you tried to run. We can't kill you, but we can get pretty close if you fight back," Kisame replied, waving Samehada almost as a statement. She understood. They could do anything from breaking her bones to sucking out almost all her chakra, just as long as they kept her alive. That man used to do the exact same thing. She'd be out of chakra, bloodied and bruised while on the brink of death, and only then would he let her rest. Only enough to keep her alive. She knew better than anybody what they were threatening her with.
She almost considered listening to them and surrendering, but the very thought of seeing Itachi again and having him use her for whatever these black-cloaked people needed her for than killing her, it shook her so down to her core that she would have rathered have her bones broken than to have her soul damaged all over again. Not to mention that she knew Hido must be killing himself trying to find her. She knew him well enough to know that he'd find a way to blame himself for her disappearance, and she didn't want to ever do anything to hurt him.
"I don't want to fight you, but I can't stay here. I have to go, please just let me leave." She started to set her plan into motion. She watched as Deidara looked proud of himself and Kisame shook his head, his smile-like smirk there as usual.
"I'd advise against fighting us, but don't misunderstand. I would love to feed all of your chakra to Samehada and leave you defenseless," Kisame said.
"Fine then," Harumi spoke, before dashing around the corner. She sent a blast of lighting at the barrier, watching it crack even more. Kisame went right after her, and as he turned the corner, he swung Samehada. It surprised him when she simply jumped over the sword and onto his back before she jumped behind him. He didn't quite comprehend what happened until he watched the barrier crumble. His eyes widened slightly. She tricked Samehada into absorbing the barrier's chakra. He then saw her run past him down the now barrierless hallway and turn another corner. He immediately ran after her, not realizing that he wasn't chasing the real her.
The real Harumi hadn't moved from when she jumped behind him, she only used his sudden realization and confusion to make a clone and have it run away. Kisame had been so surprised by Samehada breaking the barrier that he didn't bother to do any confirmations that the person he was chasing was the real her.
The real Harumi realized that it was much easier to fight Deidara than Kisame, so she devised the plan and when Kisame was out of sight, she turned to the blonde. He had a white thing in his hand that he threw at her, but she dodged. She didn't understand what it was until it exploded, sending her flying into the wall. Her eyes widened as she noticed he was making more.
"Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!" she said as she released her jutsu so quickly that he barely had any time to process what was happening. While he was busy dodging, she sent her lightning chakra to her feet and ran into the dead end hallway. She opened the second door for it to reveal grey stairs going up and down. She quickly began running down them, praying she was safe now. She smiled. She'd be home soon, to Hido! Her happiness was short lived when quite a few of the white things from earlier fell down onto the stairs.
She looked up in shock, only to see a smirking Deidara hold out his fingers and snap them. It was too late for her to react; all the white things began exploding, sending her flying into the walls, stairs, and railings. She screamed in pain, she felt a few small burns from the explosions while her body was ricocheting against the place like a ragdoll. Just as the explosions finally stopped, she fell over one of the railings, and her body fell against the ground. Thankfully, she was close to the bottom, but it still made her back ache greatly.
She coughed harshly, her body in so much pain but she could hear Deidara speaking from the top. She forced her body up with great struggle, a cry of pain she couldn't suppress coming out. She could hear Deidara's footsteps coming down the stairs, slowly. He was taunting her, and she hated it. She used the wall as support, trying to ignore the stabbing pain she felt with every step she took. She tried to move as quickly as she could, pushing the door open to the lobby. She urged her body to move faster, feeling a glimpse of hope when she saw the front doors.
It was once again shattered before her eyes as she felt something cut deep into her arm and a portion of her waist, causing her to scream as her body was thrown to the ground. She bit so deep into her lip that it began to bleed, just like her arm. Her waist had a lighter cut while her arm had a deep one. She covered the wound with her hand, feeling the hot blood trickle out. She looked up to see it was Kisame, and Samehada had ripped her skin open.
Her body shook, from both fear and the sheer pain of her injuries.
"I don't like being deceived. That was a bad move on your part, miss." Kisame smiled, watching as Samehada growled happily, absorbing some of her chakra again when it had cut her. She looked up at him, her violet eyes full of hate and fear. Deidara chuckled as he walked over and stood next to Kisame, the sight before him intriguing. She had her hair in a bun before, but his explosions must've burned away her hairband, because her lengthy black hair was now down and sprawled out against her pale skin, the contrast really showing her beauty.
"Maybe I should cut up those legs of yours to keep you from running," Kisame threatened, dragging Samehada over her ankles very lightly, but it still caused a small cut on them. Harumi flinched at his sudden threat and movement. She didn't know what to do. She knew he wasn't making any empty threats, but she couldn't stay here. If they were willing to cut up her legs, who knows what they actually planned to do with her.
"What happened to all that confidence from before? You were brave when you broke my ceiling, now look at you," Deidara taunted. In all honesty, he was very angry with her. She had embarrassed him by beating him so badly, and in front of Kisame no less. Did she know how angry he was when Kisame had to step in and defend him from that punch?! It was humiliating. It made him furious, and he wanted revenge.
"That was before you two cowards decided to fight a girl recovering from poison at the same time. Not to mention that you seem to know the gist of my abilities unlike I, you," Harumi spoke with such venom in her voice, it surprised them. Still, her comments only fueled his anger. Kisame didn't seem to be bothered at all, he only wished to tame the urge to feed Samehada every drop of the powerful chakra that was radiating off of her. He noticed Samehada getting agitated, and had to remind himself to hold back, noticing the sheer damage Deidara's explosions had done to her. That, and the satisfaction he got from seeing an opponent at his mercy. It was getting him ready as well, his eyes widening with excitement at the thought.
"Do you really think angering us is going to help you right now?" Deidara questioned, his annoyance clear in his tone as he continued. "Do you not see that big fish sword getting all excited? You keep that up and big old Kisame won't be able to hold it back."
"Unless your question was rhetorical, I don't see a problem with me answering it," Harumi replied. She knew it would've been better if she just kept quiet, but the pure hatred she felt for Itachi in that moment was preventing her from keeping her mouth shut. He had dragged her back into a world of pain, and she only wished death upon him at that moment. She wished to see him torn apart by wolves and have his remainders eaten away by the crows he loved so much. She hated him with every fiber of her being. Usually, if she was feeling such harsh emotions, she'd hug and talk to Hido, but he had taken her away from him.
"You're really pissing me off, but I'll let it slide because you look like you're going to pass out any second now," Deidara remarked. He went over to help pick her up by her upper arm and take her to a new room. He accidentally pressed on a small burn under her arm, causing her to yank her hand away in pain.
The problem was…she accidentally smacked Deidara's face in the process. Her eyes went wide at her own action, along with Kisame's. He looked back at her, was she insane? She must have a lot of spunk, he thought, but it was going to get her killed.
Deidara's face turned to her in pure rage.
"Are you trying to die? If you want to play then fine, we can play a little. Itachi and Sasori aren't coming back for a while, so we have tons of time to get to know each other before then," Deidara said, rubbing his hands together. Harumi was about to explain but then she saw him pull out some clay and put it into the mouth on his hand. She gasped. Creepy! The mouth pushed out three mini bombs in the shape of birds. She realized it must've been his kekkei genkai.
Out of instinct, she began to back away in fear. She tried to stand up but she stumbled back as sharp pain struck through her foot. Deidara threw the smallest one beside her. She tried to move, but a small blast sent her flying back two or three meters. She hissed in pain and when she heard Deidara laugh, she lost it.
"Maybe you should make the next one the shape of a donkey. Surely you have before considering it's basically your spirit animal. Ugly, filthy, and stupid. Or is that a pig? Oh well, it doesn't really matter since they both fit you to a tee," she snapped at him.
"I'm gonna kill you, you stupid little-" He was interrupted by Kisame holding him back from approaching the bleeding girl.
"You can't kill her. We're not allowed to, remember? Not to mention that she can barely stand as it is," Kisame said with a sigh..
"If she dies, then I'll take responsibility. So if you don't wanna have some fun with little-miss-big-mouth here, you should just go," Deidara replied. Kisame looked at her, then Deidara, and shook his head.
"I'll be back later. I have to go find someone to feed Samehada, but I can have some fun when I come back." He patted his sword.. Make sure she's actually conscious by the time I get back, will you?"
"I'll try, it depends on her pain tolerance." Deidara smirked. And with that, Kisame left to go find a ninja to feed to Samehada.
Deidara looked back at her and smirked. "Are you ready?"
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