I'm Yours
So, this is a quicker update than I expected, but I'm gonna be away for a couple days, so there's gonna be a break. I changed the rating on this story to M, because I felt that it's gonna deal with darker stuff for a while, and I thought I should be safe. I know the last chapter and this one are definitely a darker genre, but I just wanted to test it out...plus this is a huge plot thing, if you haven't noticed: CHARACTER DEVEOLPMENT IN SPADES results from this summer vacation. Hope you like it!
I do not own Naruto. Boo hoo.
"Kakuzu..."
"Yeah?" Pain scuffed his foot on the floor, feeling more than a little awkward.
"...I know you won't say yes, but..." Kakuzu looked straight into Pain's eyes, raising his eyebrows in complete un-surprise.
"Do you need money?" he asked suspiciously. Pain looked away. He had never felt so uncomfortable around Kakuzu before. Asking him for money was like Sasori asking Deidara out...at the start of last year. Pain half-smiled, remembering how often Deidara shot him down...and now they were making out in the hot tub.
"...Yeah, I do." he admitted. Kakuzu frowned and looked away.
"How long has it been since Konan's been gone?" he asked, and Pain counted quickly.
"Almost three weeks. She still hasn't called or anything." he replied. He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad had happened to her. Kakuzu considered what Pain had said for a few minutes.
"Okay. I'm worried, too, right?" he said, and Pain nodded. Kakuzu cracked his knuckles casually and continued, "But, I also don't want to spend money if she's fine. Now, Hidan's in Italy right now. He left last week, if you recall, to go visit his Godfather. If you know where Konan's staying, we can call Hidan and get him to drop by, see if everything's okay. If it's not...I've got enough saved for all of us to get a flight to Milan. But not back. There's definitely enough for just you to go there and back, but if you try and leave to get Konan without the others...you'll probably get tackled." Pain grinned and nodded.
"Thanks so much, man! This is great! ...Do I have to pay you back?" he asked, trying to figure out how many years of working at the garage it would take to pay for six flights to Milan. Kakuzu shook his head.
"No. Just don't ask for another twenty years, or you'll break the bank. Besides, I hear the bounty hunting's good over there." Kakuzu said, getting up to get more Coke. Pain grinned and went off to tell the others.
-skip
"It's been two weeks, exactly, Jared. She'd better be what you promised, or we're coming to pick up the full payment. In cash. Yeah we gave her hormones. Listen, Mr A's gonna be here tomorrow, so if he doesn't like what you've given him, and you don't have what you owe him in cash, your head's gonna be added to his collection, got that? ...Now you try and bargain this? Listen, no listen- your last attempt to do a deal like this failed bad, remember? ...Lucille, remember? And what happened to her? ...this one's better? She'd better be."
Konan was awake. Sadly; she'd kind of hoped to die in her sleep. Her body sure felt like she ought to; she barely had the energy to open her eyes, let alone move. She continued pretending to be asleep while the man in black (whose name turned out to be Bill) hung up on her father. It hadn't taken her long to realize that 'Jared' was her father's real name. Footsteps came towards her.
She opened her eyes slowly and looked up, glaring at Bill, who was standing over her.
"Ooh, princess, no Evil eyes, please." he said with a wink. Konan closed her eyes and raised her middle finger. Bill laughed and patted her head lightly.
"Time to take the tubes out, doll." Konan frowned, trying not to feel ill as he undid the bandages and worked the tubes out of her. He had taken a liking to her, apparently; he had started to call her irritating pet names.
"Now, don't you worry sugarpie, you won't be chained to the wall for too much longer; we've got to get your strength back up." he said cheerily, and Konan looked at him. She had learned not to try to speak any more; it hurt too much. Bill came back ten minutes later with a hot dog, water bottle, and hot soup.
Konan's stomach grumbled loudly as she stared at the food...that Bill started to eat.
"You...suck." Konan whispered, shutting her eyes as the pressure on her throat increased when she spoke. Bill turned as if he'd heard what she'd said.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot." he said, and he reached into a bag. He brought out a thermos, a carton of milk, and yoghurt. He walked over and sat down in front of Konan. He unscrewed the lid of the thermos, and the smell of hot tomato soup filled her nose. She almost wanted to scream from how much she wanted it.
"I've gotta start feeding you up a bit...those nutriments keep you alive, sure...but they don't do much else." Bill muttered, digging a spoon out of the bag. He raised a spoonful of soup to Konan's mouth. She stared at him. He looked back, confused.
"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, and Konan rolled her eyes; this guy could be so completely and utterly stupid!
"...can't...swallow..." she gasped, breathing as little as possible. Bill smacked his forehead.
"I'm so stupid!" he exclaimed, then reached around to the back of Konan's neck. The strong smell of unwashed man-lathered-in-aftershave hit Konan like a kick to the face. Bill unhooked the choker from around Konan's neck, and it clattered to the floor as Konan coughed and gasped, gratefully inhaling lungfuls of air.
When she'd gotten her breath back, she looked up at Bill, who raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth. As stupid as she felt to be fed by this dirty man, she was too hungry to do anything else; she opened her mouth, and he put the spoon in. Okay, not the best-tasting soup ever, but right then it tasted like heaven. Konan would've scarfed down the lot as quickly as she could, but Bill seemed to want to take his time feeding her.
"So, we've never really talked...since you couldn't...but I like you, so I'm gonna tell you stuff that...well, I really shouldn't." he said, stirring the soup tantalizingly before Konan's eyes. He raised another spoonful to her lips, and she swallowed it gratefully.
"Not like it matters, right? You're not getting out of here, and pretty soon you're not gonna be able to talk again. So no harm done. To tell the truth," he admitted, rubbing his head before getting another spoonful out. "there's not much to do around here. The other guys don't work around here, and there's nobody to talk to...except you, and you're not much of a conversationalist." he joked. Konan felt like slapping him over the head. Was this guy really so stupid?
"Um..." she interrupted, her voice still hoarse, but thankfully it didn't hurt anymore, "I'm kind of starving, here. Can you...please hurry up?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't be offended. Bill looked at her, not sure if she was 'allowed' to be so impertinent, then shrugged and put the thermos itself to her lips. She chugged the soup until she couldn't handle any more. The rest dripped off her chin down her chest.
"You thirsty?" Bill asked, and Konan nodded; the soup was hot. He opened the carton and put it to her mouth. She swallowed some, but the carton slipped off her mouth and spilled over her face.
"You're kind of a klutz, aren't you?" Bill commented. Konan shot him a look.
"I am chained to a wall." she said pointedly. She wasn't afraid of him anymore, she was just afraid of why she was there. Bill laughed heartily and opened the yoghurt.
"We'll talk a bit before that." he said, and Konan agreed; after having nothing in her stomach for so long, she already felt queasy from just eating that much.
"Now, we'll play the question game. I ask, you ask. Sounds fair?" he asked, and Konan nodded, unsure what he wanted to know, but sure that she wanted to ask why she was there.
"I go first. What's your favourite colour?"
"Um...blue...or purple." Konan said distractedly, and Bill nodded.
"Why am I here?" she asked immediately. Bill chuckled. "Now, that's classified info, doll." Konan stared at him.
"Since when are you allowed to say 'classified' playing the question game?" she asked indignantly.
"Because I'm paid not to answer that question, love." Bill responded before thinking up a new question. Obviously he didn't have much imagination; it took him three minutes to ask 'How old are you?'
"Turning sixteen soon." Konan responded.
"Ah..."
"Why does my dad owe you money?" she asked quickly. Bill blinked at her in surprise.
"How do you know about that?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously. Konan rolled her eyes.
"I heard you." Bill blinked.
"Oh. Well...I guess I can tell you that. Won't make a difference. He owes the boss-"
"Mr A?"
"Yeah." Bill said exasperatedly. "He's been in big debt to Mr A for years and years...longer than you've been alive, by a long mile. See, your daddy used to be a big gambler...and he won a lot, let me tell you. But one day, he placed a bet against his good friend-"
"Mr A?"
"Yes. Stop interrupting. Anyways, so he places this bet, and if he won, he'd get everything Mr A owned plus 100 000 000 in cash. They were betting on the World Cup outcome, years and years ago...and Mr A won. First time in his life that your daddy lost, so he scarpered. Moved abroad, changed his name, got a new business...but Mr A found him. And for years, now, your daddy's been trying to pay him back. But he can't, see, because he lost a lot of money soon after the World Cup, and never got it back.
And Mr A's property's worth a lot more than anything your old man's got. So he tried appealing to Mr A's taste in women...but it didn't work so great, and instead of completing his 'project', he got her pregnant. So now you're here, and you're basically his second experiment. Your daddy's plan is to give you to Mr A, and pay half of what he owes." Bill explained, rocking back on his heels.
Konan seriously doubted that he was allowed to tell her this stuff, but the smell of alcohol on his breath kind of explained everything. Her mind was racing; she was more confused than she'd ever been in her life. Her dad...had tried to sell her mother...and her being born was a mistake? Okay...
"My turn!" Bill said, clapping his hands together.
"D'you have a boyfriend?" Konan stared at him, her lips immediately starting to say 'yes', but then she considered what to say.
"...does it matter if I do?" she asked, and Bill shook his head, a nasty grin on his face.
"Nah...not like you'll ever see him again." Konan glared at him and said yes. Bill raised his eyebrows.
"No surprise, you're a much better looker than the kind we normally get down here" he said, scratching his chin.
"Ready for the yoghurt?" he asked, raising the pot of vanilla goop.
"Yeah, please." Konan said, and he put the pot to her lips. She opened her mouth, but he tipped it too much, and most of it dripped down her chin. She rolled her eyes, but gratefully swallowed what had actually gotten into her mouth. Bill stretched.
"My turn." Konan said, and he looked up. "Why are you calling me Andromeda? That's not my name." she said, frowning, worried that maybe she'd been mistaken for some other girl. Bill grinned.
"That's easy. You're your daddy's 'Project Andromeda'. Nobody here knows your real name. Nobody cares, really. We get paid to watch you, 'Andromeda', and make sure you don't die or escape. That's basically it. My turn." he said, and Konan felt a little sick; a project? Was that really all she was to her father? An experiment to pay off his debts?
"Alright. Did you dye your hair? Why's it blue?" he asked. Konan frowned.
"Um...I'm not sure. It's always been blue." Bill nodded and muttered something about 'experimentation on a child...' before taking another swig from his flask.
"My turn," Konan said, and he nodded. "What do you mean, I'm gonna be 'given' to Mr A?" she asked, fearing the worst but hoping she was wrong. Bill sighed.
"Well, I'm not really sure. I've never actually met Mr A myself, but I'd guess he'd either marry you if he likes you enough, or just keep you in his house for fun, if you know what I mean," he said with a wink. Konan did know what he meant. She half-wished that she didn't.
"Anyways," Bill continued, the alcohol talking now, "Your dad wrote up a little contract that Mr A can only keep you for ten years, and then he has to set you free. So if I was you, love, I'd make it worth his while, or he just might get rid of you before the ten years are up, if you know what I-"
"I know what you mean!" Konan exclaimed, irritated. Basically, she was being sold as some kind of sex slave to some old dude who was at least as old as her father, and if she was lucky, she'd be freed when she was twenty six. She couldn't even believe it.
"But, you never know," Bill continued, taking a swig from a hipflask that smelled of ale, "Maybe Mr A won't take you. Your dad said you'd be ready by tomorrow, but the measurements still aren't right." Bill said with a shrug, gesturing to Konan's chest and hips.
"What are you talking about?" Konan asked nervously. Bill seemed to have forgotten that it was his turn.
"Oh, you know...your daddy's been messin' with your body for a while, y'know... doing genetic make-up alterations... He said you knew about that." Konan's expression darkened. "Well...sort of...I just didn't know why. He said he was doing stuff to make people want to marry me. I thought it was his hobby or something." she said, glaring furiously at the floor, appalled by her own idiocy in believing him and letting him do stuff for years. She'd just thought he was weird, not...not actually crazy.
"Anyways," Bill continued, wiping his mouth, "this is the final stage. Two weeks on hormones activates it. According to plan, you've become Mr A's ideal woman. Or, you ought to, really soon." Konan couldn't think. She wasn't breathing much anymore, either.
"Are...are you crazy!" she exclaimed as more white yoghurt dripped off her face.
"Not me, love. Not really." he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She was about to tell him to stop it when there was a bang that echoed around the room, and Bill fell forwards onto her.
"Looks like he's been busy." a deeper voice said sarcastically from the entrance. Konan's heartbeat was thundering in her ears, she could feel herself pulsing, her eyes were wide...and Bill was dead, his blood soaking onto her skin.
His dead, wide-eyed face pressed into her chest.
Four men, all wearing black like Bill was, walked slowly into the room. One held a silver pistol. Konan could feel tears of fear slipping down her face. She couldn't move, couldn't speak from terror. There was a dead man on her. His blood was dripping down her. These realizations coupled with the fact that she didn't know what was going to happen terrified her beyond belief. The first man with the gun kicked Bill's body off of her. Konan stared at it, too petrified to look anywhere else. The man bent down in front of her.
Konan looked at him, stiff with terror. His face held no pity. He was stone, with a stiff jaw. He wiped a sandpaper-like finger down her mouth, and inspected the yoghurt.
"Not what we thought, he was feeding her." he said, his voice like gravel. Another man behind him laughed, his cold voice rather high.
"He'd have gone sooner or later. He was almost never sober on duty...he might've said things." he said, and the man in front of Konan snorted. His putrid breath caught in her nostrils and throat, choking her. He reeked of really bad cigars.
"Alright, girlie," he said, fixing Konan with a gaze from his ice-blue eyes, "time to go." He took a key from his pocket and undid the shackles holding her wrists to the wall. Her arms fell, the blood painfully returning to her hands. She bit down on her lip as her hands began to tingle and burn.
"On your feet." the man instructed. She tried to get up, but her legs were asleep, and too weak to hold her. She stumbled and fell back down. "Marley, you carry her." the man jerked a thumb towards her, and another tall, large man with a short black beard walked forwards towards her. Silently, he hoisted her off the ground and slung her over his shoulder. Konan didn't protest; her body was weak, and she was more scared than she'd ever been in her whole entire life.
"Let's go." said the first man, who was obviously the leader. They walked out of the small dark room, leaving Bill's body splayed on the ground in a pool of his own blood. More of his blood dripped down Konan's legs, staining the jacket of the man who carried her as they left.
"Put her down." Konan opened her eyes as she was gently laid down on another cold, hard floor. They were in a room identical to the one they'd been in before, down to the pipe running down one side of the room with a vent. But this room had no window at all, and no chains or shackles on the wall.
"You're gonna stay here for a few days. Angelo's flight was delayed, so your daddy's got a few days time. We'll bring you some food later. If you make any noise, we'll put the collar back on. Understand?" the largest man asked coldly. Konan nodded jerkily, and then the door was slammed closed.
In the pitch-black darkness, Konan crawled into a corner and began to cry, screaming silently every so often. More than once she wished to die in her sleep.
-skip.
"Hidan?"
"Hell yeah! Who's this?"
"Who do you think it is, it's Pain, you retard!"
"Oh, yeah. Just kidding! I knew it was you."
"Sure. Where are you?"
"Italy, baby! Fuck yeah! WOOO!"
"I know that...what city?"
"Ah...I have no fucking idea...just a sec, there's a sign here...Rome."
"Okay. Can you get to Milan?"
"Sure, why?"
"Konan hasn't called. I just wanna check she's okay."
"She hasn't called yet? Fuck, it's been weeks!"
"I know."
"Okay, sure I'll check. What's her address?"
"It's on Via Privata Fratelli Gabba, some street right in Milan...It's a big white house, should have a number 213 on it somewhere...can you find it?"
"Fuck yeah. I'm a fucking wizard with directions."
"...uhuh...call when you find it, okay?"
"Got it. See ya."
Pain shut the phone and turned to look at Deidara, who was sitting across from him.
"Do you think she's okay?" he asked, and Pain half-smiled.
"She could be. But if she's not, I'd rather know now then later, right?" Deidara nodded, and gave Pain a sympathetic smile.
"I miss her, too. But I know what you must be feeling right now, un. We'll find her." he promised, and got up to grab a drink from the fridge.
"I know... I'm just worried." Pain murmured, telling himself that she's probably fine...but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
-skip
"She's not here?" Hidan asked, and the surly maid at the door nodded.
"That's right. She left a few days ago."
"Okay...is her dad her?" The maid narrowed her eyes.
"Who are you?" Hidan ran a hand through his hair and smirked.
"I'm Konan's boyfriend." The maid's eyes widened, and she let him in.
"He's in the study, here.." Hidan walked into the large room. A tall, thin man with greying brown hair looked up.
"Who are you?" he asked bluntly, reaching for something under the desk. Hidan grinned, well aware of what he was doing; straight-up lying to somebody who may or may have not kidnapped his own daughter.
"Hey. I'm Konan's boyfriend. Is she here?" he asked casually, watching the older man's movements. The hand under the desk relaxed, and Mr Amega frowned, giving Hidan a once-over. "No. She's not here. Did she tell you that she was?" he asked. Hidan raised an eyebrow.
"She said that she was visiting her mother with you. She was supposed to be back two weeks ago, but I haven't heard anything from her." Mr Amega cleared his throat.
"Well, she went to the airport ages ago. I haven't seen her since." he said, examining his nails. "Okay, then. Do you know where she might have gone, if she didn't get to the airport?" Hidan asked, sticking his thumbs into his belt loops. Mr Amega gave an exasperated sigh.
"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but haven't you got anything better to do then come here and bother me? Konan is not here. Can't you text her or something?" he asked, waving a hand vaguely. Hidan smirked and stepped forwards.
"I would, but.." he began, slipping Konan's phone out of his back pocket. "..I found her phone in your garbage bin, along with her bag and ipod. Where is your daughter, Mr Amega? I'm not going anywhere until I know what the fuck happened to her." he said, narrowing his eyes.
Mr Amega's eyes shot straight to the blackberry with a distinct silver 'K' on the back in Hidan's hand. His hand once again shifted under the desk.
"Look," Konan's dad began sternly. "I am just as concerned about my daughter as you are. But we're not on the best terms right now. We went to see her mother, and they had a fight. Konan was upset, and ran away. I'm sure she just abandoned her belongings in my garbage to spite me, because I paid for them. She's probably camping in a park somewhere, that's what she usually does. More to the point, how dare you rummage through my garbage? That's personal property, I'll have you up for that, you know!" he said angrily. Hidan raised his eyebrows calmly.
Looks like Pain's right...something's happened, he thought grimly. He stepped forward again, now only separated from the other man by his desk.
"That's a funny story, old man. You think she's camping in a park? Your daughter's afraid of the dark. Why the fuck would she sleep in a park when she's scared of the dark, spiders, and strangers?" Hidan growled. Mr Amega's frown disappeared, and he raised his eyebrows before pressing a button on the underside of his desk.
"I think it's time to say goodbye, young man." he said calmly as a security guard stepped into the room. Hidan swore at Mr Amega and the guard for a while, but eventually he was kicked out of the office.
"Can I please use the bathroom before I go? I've got a really long bus ride." he said to the maid who was showing him out. She frowned at him, but let him. He smirked and walked off. He locked the bathroom door, and took out his phone.
"Pain?"
"Hey, what's up?"
"Well, I met her dad. Fucking prude, he creeps me out..."
"Is she there?"
"No. He said she went to the airport, then changed his story. He says she saw her mom, had a fight with her, ran away, and is sleeping in parks." Pain laughed humourlessly.
"She'd never do that."
"I know, right? This guy doesn't know his daughter at all! Anyway, I found her phone and her bag in the old guy's trash can. I think something's actually happened to her, man." Hidan confessed, checking the corners of the room for cameras or listening bugs. Pain sighed.
"I thought so. Alright, can you stay at an inn or something for one night? We'll be there tomorrow morning. Meet you at..."
"Corvo Contorto. It's an inn, I'll be there."
"Okay. See ya." Hidan shut his phone and left. Once he was out the door of Konan's 'home', he caught the bus for downtown Milan.
Despite his confidence that Konan was fine, there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something bad was happening.
-next
Konan heard the iron door open and close. There was the sound of a key in a lock. Slow, heavy footsteps came towards her. She didn't raise her head. She felt empty. She was still afraid, but in a numb kind of way. The way children are afraid of a rollercoaster their first time. It's terrifying, it's terrifying, and then the ride breaks down. They're scared, clutching the bar in an unmoving cart. After a while, they're not scared of falling. They're scared that they know that soon the ride will be fixed, and they'll start the ride again.
"Hey, bella." a soft husky voice spoke up above her. She didn't move or speak. A hand slid softly down her shoulder.
"You're beautiful." An Italian accent, but not too strong. "It's a shame you're gonna belong to Angelo soon. You're wasted on that old man." Konan shifted slightly; as Bill had promised, she was growing at an alarming rate, and the bra she was wearing under the lace bodysuit was uncomfortable now.
"So I'm gonna play with you now, so you'll know what you're missing when you're with him." Konan raised her head, recognized the man with the beard who had carried her, Marley, and spat in his face. She heard a low chuckle, and she seized up a little with fear when she felt his hands around her shoulders.
"Look at me, darling." She didn't. He roughly shoved a hand under her chin and raised her head. The moment her eyes met his, he slapped her hard across the face. The force sent her head straight into the cement wall she was sitting against. She gasped in pain, and stars exploded before her eyes. Her head was ringing loudly, and she bit her lip to fight the stinging pain her her head.
"Don't sass me. I'm doing you a favour here." the man threatened her before smoothing down her hair. He ran one hand over her breasts, and he undid his fly with the other. Konan let out a dry sob, and he chuckled in genuine amusement.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." Konan began to cry silently, wishing with all her being to be back home, with everyone...with Pain. Pain, who would never do anything to hurt her. Everything about him was the opposite of this man, this wretched monster who was going to do things to her that Pain had never asked to. Konan's crying was cut short when she felt the man's hand between her legs.
"Stop!" she cried out, her voice breaking, and she kicked him in the throat. He fell away from her, coughing and retching. Konan, shocked, pressed herself further into her corner, as if the wall would fall away and let her escape from this locked room. She drew breath in ragged, shuddering gasps, tears falling freely from her eyes.
"You bitch...you'll learn not to protest. I'm going to break you down, you slut," the man said, his eyes alight with malice, the dirty words slipping out of his mouth slowly, as he enjoyed every sound of the hatred they illustrated.
Konan had never hated anyone so passionately in her entire life.
-next
"Hey, you guys made it!" Hidan said, grinning as Pain, Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu walked into the bar that made up the first floor of the inn he was staying in.
"So, what's the plan? We gonna search the entire fucking city?" he asked, and Sasori shrugged, "Well, it's not like we can tell the police. I mean, we could, but from what her dad said to you, I doubt they'd look very hard. Plus, is Konan even her real name?" he asked, looking at Pain, who shrugged.
"Well, considering how her dad flat-out lied to Hidan when he asked where she was, I don't think the police would get very far. We can talk to them if we can't find her, but...I don't know about you guys, but I've got a record I'm supposed to be doing time for...so I don't think I should just walk up to the station..." he said, running a hand through his hair.
"Ditto."
"Yeah."
"I think everybody here is in the records." Sasori said drily, and they grinned.
"Let's check all the hotels and stuff first." Itachi suggested, and they agreed. "Just a sec, I gotta fix my hair, un." Deidara said.
"Don't take too long, lady, we gotta go." Sasori said teasingly, and Deidara flipped him off as he walked through the bar.
He pushed open the door to the men's washrooms, and stepped over an unconscious guy before passing by a few occupied cubicles. He turned to face the mirror, and began to fix his hair up. The pounding music was a lot quieter in the bathrooms. As he was re-doing his half-ponytail, he frowned. He thought he heard something, some kind of high-pitched sound. He shook his head, glanced around, and continued. And then he heard it again...he frowned, and looked around again.
Everyone else in the bathroom was unconscious or completely stoned. He looked under the sink, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. He got on his knees as the sound got louder. It stopped, then started again. It sounded...kind of like a scream. Deidara's eyes widened in surprise. It was kind of...disgusting to grovel around on the dirty floor, but he was really freaked out by the sound. He spotted a dirty drain just in the corner under the sink, half-concealed by an expired lottery ticket.
He wrinkled his nose as he lifted the soggy paper away from the opening, but he forgot his disgust when he heard the scream again. His heart pounded with alarm when he realized the screaming was coming from the drain...and even more so when he recognized that scream. You don't forget a scream you've heard multiple times throughout a year. Mind racing, Deidara scrambled up, brushed scum off his jeans, hopped over the unconscious guy, and ran through the bar over to the group.
"You took forever." Sasori said, rolling his eyes, but Deidara didn't have time to be offended.
"You guys have to come in the bathroom! There's this drain, and there's screams coming out of it, un! And I swear, I think it's Konan, un!" he explained quickly. Everybody stared at him.
"Screams coming out of a drain?" Kakuzu asked sceptically, and Deidara nodded vigorously.
"And you think it's Konan?" Pain asked, and when Deidara nodded, he started walking to the bathroom. The rest of the guys followed him. Soon they were all bent-double under the sinks while a drunkard collapsed in a stall watched.
"Just wait, you'll hear it, un..." Deidara said, listening hard. Sure enough, a few seconds later another scream echoed out of the drain opening. Pain stood up, as pale as though he'd seen a ghost. He looked at the others, who all looked pretty shaken. Hidan cracked his knuckles.
"There's a blocked-off entrance to a winecellar under here. Wanna go check it out?" he asked, and they agreed.
They filed through the 'Employees Only' door, and blocked it behind them with chair. At the end of the hallway was indeed a boarded-up door that read 'Wine cellar', with a large neon sign on it that said 'Forbidden'. Pain raised his eyebrows at Hidan, who tore the sign and the slats of wood off before Kakuzu kicked the door down.
"You'd think that would be difficult." Sasori commented as the door flew off its hinges and thundered down a dimly-lit set of stairs behind it. Kakuzu cracked his knuckles and smirked at him.
"I work out." he said simply, and Sasori laughed. Suddenly, shouts and running footsteps resounded from down the stairs. Pain looked at his friends.
"Do you guys have...you know...stuff?" he asked, not sure what to ask. Hidan laughed.
"Fuck yeah!" he said, taking knives out of his belt as Deidara removed some of his explosive clay from his bag. Kisame bashfully took a dagger out of his boot as Pain removed a gun from his jacket.
"Ready?" he murmured as six men in black thundered around a corner below them.
"Let's kick some ass." Itachi said monotonously, and Kisame laughed. One of the men below fired a gun, and the seven boys hid behind the doorframe quickly. The men began running up the stairs. Kakuzu took out the first one up with a solid kick to the chest that sent the other man flying against the opposite wall.
"You guys go ahead," Sasori said, knocking out the third one up with one of the slats of wood.
"Me'n Dei will take these guys and block the door." he said, and Pain nodded, running down the stairs with the others right behind him. Hidan spotted another man running towards the staircase from below, and he jumped off the side, right onto them before slitting their throat. As the man's blood splattered onto his face, Hidan laughed and licked it off his fingers. His laugh was insane. The others ran past, and Kakuzu paused to help Hidan up.
"You're crazy." he said as Hidan grinned.
"I know, right? Fucking ape-shit. Jashin, this is the best!" he laughed as they ran after the others. Two more men in black began shooting at them, but missed in the darkness.
"Why are there no lights in this place?" Kisame complained as he stabbed one of the gunmen in the chest.
"Have you seen the rooms in here? They're prisons...it's probably to freak out the prisoners." Itachi said reasonably, breaking another man's nose and sending shards of bone into his brain.
"Freaky." Kisame commented, an Itachi cracked a smile. Pain was still ahead of them all, opening door after door, his mind reeling as Konan's face burned before his eyes.
Konan stared down at Marley's corpse. Her chest rose and fell faster and faster as she began to seriously lose it. Her head was pounding nearly as painfully as her heart, and she was beginning to go into hysterics. She had just killed a man. She had just killed somebody. He was dead.
She shut her eyes, a few tears leaking from them. She wasn't crying for the man whose neck was still between her legs, she was crying for herself. But after a while, she laughed. She had just killed somebody twice her size with her thighs! That's the last time that guy tries oral...She shook her head, the smile on her face fading as she started to cry harder. She heard footsteps outside the door. And there's another guard, coming to look for Marley...they'll probably kill me...or something.. Konan thought miserably, staring down at the dead Marley's face.
Disgusted with herself and taking it out on a corpse, she kicked the body away from herself, shuddering. She felt dirty, with the dead Marley's touch still haunting her shoulders and chest, stomach and thighs. Thankfully he hadn't gotten much further than touching her... She raised her head, jumping in shock and fear as she heard the sound of somebody trying to unlock the door. There was a lot of metallic clicking, during which she pushed the body as far away from herself as possible before retreating back into her dark corner next to the pipe with the vent-like opening.
Finally, the door swung open, and a tall man stepped forward into the room, holding a gun. Konan pressed herself against the wall, and she shut her eyes when she saw the man look at Marley's body. "Broken neck..." she heard the man mutter. She buried her head in her knees, listening hard as her heart pounded furiously, hammering in her ribs. She never knew her heart could beat so fast when she hadn't moved much for the past three weeks.
She heard the footsteps come closer, felt a breath of air escape his lips and brush her skin. She accidentally let out a quiet sob, and flinched when he put a hand on her shoulder.
"There you are. I was really worried about you." And now her imagination was trying to break her heart. Hardly daring to believe her ears, she raised her head just enough to see the face of the man next to her. Orange hair, piercings.
"Are you serious!" she asked, not even sure why. Pain grinned.
"I'm so serious." he replied happily before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, so tightly that Konan could barely breath, not that she was complaining. She began to cry against his shoulder while he rubbed her back and rocked her back and forth. They stayed like that for what felt like a long time. Konan couldn't even think. She couldn't be sure that she wasn't just imagining this, but she lapped up every moment of it like it was holy ambrosia.
"How...how did you find me?" she choked out finally, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Pain sighed against her head, and grinned.
"It was actually easy," he admitted, and Konan blinked, surprised.
"What? I even don't know where I am, how did you..?" Pain smiled slightly.
"I think we were just lucky. Hidan went to your dad's house, and asked where you were. He said you'd gone to camp in a park after having a fight with your mom-"
"What?"
"-and we assumed he was lying, so we all came over to meet Hidan in this inn. Deidara went to the bathroom, and heard screaming coming up from a drain...looks like the sound came up the pipe right here," Pain said, glancing up at the large pipe with the small vent-like opening by Konan's head. "...and that's how." he explained, pulling away and looking at Konan's face.
"Speaking of screaming...are you okay?" he asked, examining her features to check that everything was still attatched. Konan shook her head.
"No. I'm hungry. And I killed a guy with my thighs. But right now..." she broke off, fear seizing her again.
"Wait...Angelo's coming! He's coming now! What are you doing here, he'll see you, and then everybody else is here, what the hell are we gonna do!" she asked, hysterical, before crying again. Pain frowned as he helped her to her feet.
"Who's Angelo?" he asked, but she didn't answer.
"Can you walk?" he asked, stuffing his gun into his pocket. Konan shook her head, so Pain bent over, and she jumped on and clung to him.
"We better go now. " he said, and Konan nodded, looping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
"Where's everybody else?" she asked, fear gripping her again. Pain grinned as he began to jog along the passage. Konan took one last look at her hellish prison chamber before it vanished from sight around a corner.
"They're holding off the mooks, I think. You sure had a lot of guards. You worth money or something?" Pain asked curiously. Konan sighed, tears still streaming down her face.
"You have no idea." she mumbled, and Pain grinned as he turned another corner.
"So your dad-" "He owes this guy Angelo more than ten billion in cash, and he couldn't pay it off. So he tried to create some kind of perfect sex buddy for Angelo, who is probably some kind of perverted freak. So that was my mom, but it didn't work and she ended up pregnant with me. So Daddy tried again with me, and apparently it's worked, and then Angelo came to pick up what Daddy owes, so that's why I'm here, but Angelo's plane was delayed, and that's why I'm still here right now..." Konan explained quickly, her throat constricting every time she said 'Daddy'. She didn't feel right saying that, but calling him anything else would be weird; she'd called him that her whole life.
"...Your dad's kind of..."
"Horrible? Monstrous? Evil? Mean? Heartless?" Konan supplied bitterly.
"...I was going to say weird, but those work better." Pain said, and Konan cracked a tiny smile. She couldn't even say how good it felt to hold Pain, talk to him, touch him, see him...it was like nothing she'd ever experienced, and she had a feeling she'd never feel this way again.
"So, the others are around here?" she asked, and Pain said, "Should be."
All of a sudden, there was a huge bang, and dust and rubble fell from the ceiling. Konan screamed as Pain flung her off of him before pressing her against a wall, shielding her from the debris with his body. He looked up at her after it was over, breathing heavily, his arms on either side of her head. She stared back, panting and weak-kneed.
"That was Deidara." Pain said, offering Konan a weak smile which she returned before jumping back on his back. They raced up the stairs, avoiding bodies everywhere.
"Who did that?" Konan asked as they passed a particularly bloody corpse.
"Hidan." Pain said airily, and Konan laughed weakly. And I live with that guy...she thought before laughing, feeling sick as they passed another bloody body.
"Hey! You found her!" Sasori said as they emerged from the 'Wine cellar' Konan slipped off of Pain's back and Sasori jumped at her, hugging her fiercely before kissing her full on the mouth. He broke away quickly, leaving her completely gobsmacked, and he grinned before he was pushed aside by Deidara, who also hugged her tightly and kissed her on the mouth.
"Are you going to do that every time I see you?" Konan asked, rubbing her mouth as she clung to Pain to help herself stand; her legs were very painfully asleep.
"Where're Hidan and Kakuzu? Kisame?" Pain asked Itachi, who also hugged Konan briefly.
"Hidan and Kakuzu went to grab some taxis. They thought we should get away from here as quickly as possible. Kisame went with them." Itachi replied, and Pain nodded. They walked into the bar, where Konan's appearance naturally attracted a lot of attention.
"Hey, you said somebody's gonna be looking for you?" Pain asked Konan, who nodded.
"I think we should switch you with somebody. Just in case," Pain said, and led her into the guy's bathroom, bringing Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi in with them.
"Deidara, can you pretend to be Konan? Somebody's looking for her, and it would be a lot easier if they didn't catch her again. Is that okay?" he asked, aware that he was asking a lot of his friend. Sasori started to object, but Deidara nodded.
"Sure. But you have to give me your gun, okay?" he asked, and Pain handed it over with a grin. Konan and Deidara went into a stall to change (there was only one that was devoid of a drunken man, so they had to share) Konan gratefully rid herself of the stupid lace bodysuit, and Deidara handed her his black sweatshirt. Konan put it on before removing her bra and giving it to Deidara who muttered that he didn't want to wear it.
Once it was gone, she sighed with relief; she could finally breathe properly. Her stupid bra had been constricting her chest for the past two weeks while the stupid hormones had been activating her dad's stupid mutation experiment. She also took off the black booty shorts, exchanging them for Deidara's black jeans.
"They really made you wear this? How embarrassing, un!" Deidara complained, and Konan laughed, still feeling kind of high and freaked-out. She still couldn't believe she was out of the darkness. The lights of the pub had practically blinded her, and she still wasn't opening her eyes fully.
She pulled the hood of Deidara's sweater down over her head to create a shadow on her face, which made it a lot easier. She and Deidara emerged from the stall, she looking like some kind of misfit in tight jeans (her hips were a lot wider than Deidaras, by then).
Deidara was not happy. He'd put on Konan's bra, and told her to shut up when she'd said it looked better on him than on her. He undid his hair, and the long sheets of dark-blonde certainly made him look more feminine, hiding his flat chest. Sasori whistled at Deidara, who scowled as they walked out of the bathroom.
As soon as they stepped out, they could tell something had happened; it was completely silent. Everybody was gone, except for five people; Konan's father, being held at gunpoint by a large man in black sunglasses. Two more men in black stood grimly on either side of another man, who stood in the middle with his hands behind his back. He wore a black business suit and he had a rather boyish face under curly grey hair. His large brown eyes took in the group.
"I suppose this is the rescue attempt I was told about, eh?" he asked, looking from Sasori, Pain, Itachi, and Konan...to Deidara. Konan's knees were shaking and she was still clinging to Pain to stay upright, but Deidara didn't look too confident, either. He was staring at the guy who was obviously Angelo with a mixed expression of disgust and nervousness.
"You must be Andromeda," Angelo said, stepping forwards and kissing Deidara's hand. Konan could see his other hand flinching before turning into a fist, and she guessed that Deidara was trying not to slap Angelo across the face.
"I am Toni Angelo. I must say, I am delighted to make your acquaintance. You most certainly are not what I was expecting..." he said, shooting one of his bodyguards a look; They took out a silver pistol and shot Konan's dad in the chest. He dropped to the floor. Konan shoved her fist into her mouth to stop herself from screaming. "...but you do look wonderful." Angelo continued as if nothing had happened.
Deidara's hand was visibly shaking. Sasori was watching Deidara with an intense gaze, watching for any sign of Angelo hurting him. Pain squeezed Konan's hand. She leaned against him and began to cry silently into her shoulder, not taking her eyes off of her father's body, lying bloody on the ground. Angelo smiled greasily and placed a hand on Deidara's chest. The expression on his face when he discovered that Deidara was too flat to possibly be a sixteen-year old girl would have been hilarious if the situation hadn't been so serious.
"But...it's impossible. You! You're not my payment...Where's Andromeda?" he asked, shoving Deidara away. Sasori caught him, shooting Angelo a death glare. Angelo surveyed the group of teenagers, narrowing his eyes.
"No woman has left this inn. She must be here." he muttered, examining Itachi, then Sasori, then Pain. Finally he stopped at Konan. She kept her eyes lowered, her nails digging into her palms from nerves. She had no idea what was going to happen. No idea, and that scared her more than anything. Angelo slowly reached forward and pulled the hood off Konan's head. Her blue hair bounced out, and she shut her eyes to the light. Angelo began to smile. He placed a hand on Konan's chest, and his smile increased tenfold.
"Found you, my pretty." he said, and his hand began to squeeze. There was a bang, and then another. Konan was shoved to the floor, and she hit her head on the wall. Pain shot through her and she struggled to sit up, panicking. There were shouts and bangs and thuds, and she tried to focus her vision, but she was still dizzy. She got to her feet and rubbed her eyes, opening them in time to see a man in black throwing himself at Pain from behind.
Konan screamed and ran, not even sure what she was going to do until she jumped on his back and slapped her hands over his eyes, mouth and nose. The man immediately released Pain and started stumbling around, twisting and spinning, trying to get Konan off. She clung on, not moving her hands. The man ran backwards at a wall, slamming Konan's back and head into it. She gritted her teeth, not letting go. He did it again and again, and Konan's head continued to crack into the concrete wall, but finally the man ran out of air.
He sank to the ground, and Konan rolled off of him, rubbing her throbbing head. It felt sticky, and her hair was stuck together by something. She looked at her hand and saw blood She couldn't stand, her back hurt too much, and she felt dizzy and sick. She tried to see what was happening, but her vision was too blurry. She saw her father's body just to her right, and she crawled over to him.
"Daddy?" she asked. He was miraculously, still alive. Blood dripped from his mouth and was stained over his shirt, but her looked at her.
"Konan...I'm so sorry." he said, his voice hoarse and watery, full of blood. Konan couldn't help it; she started to cry, but she soon ran out of tears.
"Daddy...why?" she asked hoarsely. He closed his eyes.
"Your mother poisoned herself last week. She's dead." he said before opening them. Konan stared at him.
"What?" she asked, but he didn't say anything more about it.
"Konan...I did rather like you." he said softly, and then he was still. Konan stared at the dead face of her father, stunned and feeling empty. She closed his eyes, and turned around. Sasori was lying on the ground, with Deidara, Pain, and Itachi kneeling around him.
"No.." Konan murmured, crawling towards them. Pain put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She leaned against him before pulling away in horror; her cheek was covered with blood.
"Not mine." he said quietly, and she looked down at Sasori. His shoulder was bleeding heavily; there was a bullet buried in it. He was awake, and obviously fighting the pain as he held Deidara's hand and smiled at him.
"Come on, don't cry," he was saying, "I'll be fine." Deidara kept shaking his head, his face hidden by his long bangs, but Konan could tell he was crying.
"We'd better get to a hospital...those cabs must've come by now." Pain said as they helped Sasori up. Konan leaned on Pain as they walked through the inn doors out into the fresh night air. Hidan, Kakuzu, and Kisame turned around and their jaws dropped when they saw Deidara's outfit...and then Sasori's bleeding shoulder and Konan's bleeding head.
"What the fuck happened?" Hidan asked.
"I'm surprised you didn't heart anything." Pain said with a small smile before he saw that they had earphones in. Pain rolled his eyes. "Basically, Angelo turned up to take Konan away. He shot Konan's dad...and there was a little fight." he explained as they helped get Sasori into the taxi.
"Wow. Well, this summer vacation officially sucks." Kisame commented, and they laughed half-heartedly.
Phew! Definitely a lot darker than what I usually do...not sure if I'm any good at writing more serious stuff, but I tried! Plot-no-jutsu: complete! :D