CHAPTER 4 : SINK OR SWIM
She has survived so many fires she can no longer tell if she is alive or if she is still burning.
But to be a star, she must burn.
(Warning: implicit mention of past rape)
….
Beauty has always been subjective.
But there is a saying in Stella's world that always makes her want to chuckle, break into hysteric giggles for the sheer hypocrisy it preaches.
"A beautiful face means nothing if you have an ugly heart."
Bullshit.
To most, a beautiful face can do no wrong. Take the Uchiha for example. Traditionally, the clan is widely recognized as attractive with luscious ebony hair and aristocratic, elegant features. But, though the Uchiha are beautiful, their hearts are so very ugly for the most part, tainted by the stain that is their hatred alike a rot that festers deep within.
Sasuke is seen as handsome, lusted over by hundred of fangirls who disregard his coldness and vengeful attitude as being a 'bad boy'. Akari is regarded as beautiful, a gentle beauty so alike her mother yet her soul is dark, chipped at its edges, and unable for the most part to garner empathy for others. She too could start a massacre and wouldn't lose any sleep over it if they deserved it.
Ella too had been beautiful, gorgeous even to Stella's eyes. A sickening kind of beauty that attracted eyes like honey, but that could only hide the viciousness and greed nestled deep within.
"Let's be real Stella, guys aren't talking to you because they want to. You're their practice before they find someone better, someone prettier"
"Like you, Ella!" chirps Marie, ever so the faithful follower. Her thin arms, unhealthily stick-like, cross themselves on her chest.
"Or maybe, they simply enjoy my company," Stella remarks lightly, carefully tucking her hands into her hoodie's pocket, hiding away their tremble as her frame unconsciously hunches smaller.
Ella's full lips twisted into a heinous scowl. Her venomous sapphire eyes glare daggers. "No," she snaps, straightening as her tall, curvy frame looms over the shorter girl. "No one does."
Ella has always been praised as a beautiful girl at school.
"She's really pretty," breathes Lucas as they sit together in music class. His voice is rough and his eyes are red and swollen.
"She is." Stella agrees. As much as she hates her – hates yet still craves validation and affection from Ella – Stella has to give it to the other girl, she's truly been blessed with amazing looks.
"But you know, I always thought she was kind. It's kind of a given. Pretty and kind, ya know?" he gives a short, bitter laugh. "But then you get to know her and wow, she's a bitch. Not going to lie, I wish I had seen it before the whole relationship thing."
Stella pats him on the shoulder in compassion. "You and me both, Lucas."
They should have seen it. That ugly, envious soul nestled within a pretty porcelain doll.
But they hadn't. No one ever did
And they both paid the price.
That is why Akari subtly shifts her hip pouch closer to her for easier access as she spies Naruto talking animatedly with a beautiful girl dressed in a fetching pink kimono. Sasuke glances over her, but she subtly shakes her head, allowing a fond, soft smile to grace her lips, the smile that she keeps for Sasuke's eyes only.
"NO WAY!" Naruto shouts from a bit afar, staring at the stranger with a blush dusting his cheek, limbs moving awkwardly in a mess of movements that is unfitting for a shinobi.
Sasuke clicks his tongue in annoyance at the sight. "He's such a dumbass." He mutters, stuffing his hands into his pants' pockets.
A dumbass for trusting and being so at ease around strangers.
But that is Naruto for you, bright like the sun and oblivious of the darkness that is their profession.
Akari gives a snort, poking at her brother's arm. "Yeah, but he's our dumbass."
A short pause.
"Hn." Sasuke sighs before jogging forward "Oi dobe." He snaps at Naruto, passing the stranger that only glances at him, shoulders slightly tense.
"Yo teme!" is Naruto's answering shout, perking up at the sight of the twins almost like a puppy with his tail wagging.
"Yo Jean!" Stella chirps, perking up at the sight of her best friend, a brilliant smile on her lips as he ruffles her hair with a laugh, greeting her too.
Akari's smile stiffens as Stella's shadow echoes Naruto's actions, her smile so sickeningly sweet, loving, and blind. Though the illusion quickly fades away, something in her chest tightens. Stop. She is no longer like this. That Stella has long since died, long before the bullets torn her apart. She is not that Stella so desperate to escape loneliness she bared her heart for everyone to use.
The stranger passes her, hair elegantly sweeping behind in a curtain of silk. She looks like a porcelain doll. Too polished, too delicate, too different from the famished Wave population for it not to be suspicious.
"Excuse me, miss?" Akari calls out.
The stranger turns around with a soft smile, but her eyes are cautious, judging the threat level that Akari poses.
There is intelligence in her gaze and a wariness she recognizes.
A wolf in sheep clothing, the Uchiha princess deduces. Maybe not a predator per say, but still, there is something odd with the stunning stranger Naruto has gotten close to within a short time.
Naruto is her teammate. Her sunshine and far too trusting and kind.
Akari will not allow him to suffer the same way Stella did.
No one cared enough to shield and help Stella. No one in Konoha cares about Naruto. But Akari will be different. She has to be.
"Yes?"
"May I talk to you for a few minutes if you don't mind?"
The stranger hesitates, but Akari takes a step forward with a smile and crinkling eyes. It wasn't a suggestion, nor a question and they are both aware of that. Akari's eyes glint, the onyx hardening as the brown-haired girl bows her head in acceptance and follows her, far away not to be overheard – not that they would, Naruto and Sasuke being in a full-on brawn and bickering – but not far enough for Akari to lose sight of her boys.
"Yes? How may I help you, shinobi-san?" the stranger asks demurely, her entire frame submissive and soft, like all civilians are, but Akari only shifts her position, hands inching closer to her weapons pouches.
You can help by dying.
"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Akari says, her polite smile withering away, her lips thinning in a tight line as the other girl straightens. The stranger is a pretty thing, moves with the same grace Stella should have but could never quite achieve. "Who do you work for?"
The girl tilts her head. "What do you mean?"
Akari gives a wry chuckle. "You're beautiful, you know?" The girl startles but Akari continues, slowly circling the stranger like a predator circling their prey, watching for the smallest twitch that the girl tries to stifle, a hard thing to do when in front of an Uchiha. "Smooth, unblemished skin, an expensive, pink kimono and your hair is so silky, it's to die for. You put the finest courtesans to shame."
"Thank you?"
"You're welcome. And that is why, I can't help but wonder how can someone as polished as you be here in Wave? You're not from here, that much is obvious, that only means you are with Gato." Akari gives a sweet smile. "Regardless, know this, stranger-san –" Kunais slip into her open palms, the blades glinting menacingly as she grips them tightly. Because that stranger is a threat. Naruto might have been blinded by her beauty, her unassuming, soft façade, but Akari has always seen how looks meant nothing, a pretty gift-wrapping disguising poison.
Kill.
That stranger is dangerous. Kill her before she can hurt us.
Shut up.
It does not fit her role.
"- if you hurt any of them, there won't be enough pieces left to recognize you when I'm done. Got it?"
"Understood." The stranger nods her agreement yet her eyes, previously guarded and evaluating impossibly soften, making Akari's hackles rise.
Do not look at her like that.
Like she is a good person.
She isn't.
"Good." Akari pockets one kunai, keeping the other one just in case as she starts walking away, leaving the stranger behind yet keeping her in the corner of her eyes.
"Ne, do you have somebody precious in your life?" the stranger suddenly asks.
The question makes Akari pause.
"I don't see how it's any of your business."
The girl gives a short giggle. "Forgive me shinobi-san. It's just heart-warming that you care about your friends like that. They must be very precious to you."
"They are. So don't think to harm them, you will die before you can."
"But are you strong enough to follow up that threat? You are a child. You can't guarantee to protect everyone."
Akari knows that.
She really does.
"If not me, then who else will?"
Fuck
She…
She did not mean to say that. To reveal one of her turmoil just like that, to a stranger; one she had just threatened, nonetheless. But it slipped, slipped because the girl has poked at her fear, has thrown in her face the pure helplessness when she had been kicked into the water, leaving her brother alone. Sure, she knows he is powerful, she has confidence in his skills, but Sasuke is her twin. Her other half. The only thing constant, warm and holding her steady when all she wants to do is to drown. She would do anything for him.
When Akari had been kicked away because she was weak, didn't calculate enough in her strategy, she left her brother behind. Moreso, she lost the opportunity, the choice of using herself as a shield to warn away death that had taken the form of the mist missing-nin. Just in case.
It's true. She can't protect everyone she holds dear, even if they are so few that the number fits in the single digits. Not here, not in this blood-stained world.
But she has to try.
For Sasuke, her brother who people keep at arm's length, wary of Itachi's shadow that looms above the cold (traumatised) little boy. For the half of her soul whose power is kept limited, who is kept weak because the government fears the power he could have.
For Shikamaru, utterly blind to the rot that lingers in this world, the hell they had been born into. Whose shadow stretches thin yet always manages to find her.
For Naruto that Konoha loathes and would gladly see him fail.
For Kakashi-sensei, so broken and rough on the edge yet who looks at her as if she isn't a failure, as if she is perfect just as she is and no one ever looked at her like that before.
"That's admirable."
Or foolish.
…
If there is one thing the Uchiha heir resent Kakashi-sensei for is that their sensei never trains them as he should.
Sasuke is bitter and easy to irritate and Akari understands his frustration with their teacher. More than anyone really because even after she spent so much time working on her skills, breaking herself apart in the process with no regard towards her limits she has never known where the line had been drawn, only where her body crumbles, her fighting skills are brushed aside. But it's fine. Kakashi-sensei's warmth is enough to forget his neglect.
She had always been blinded by those she loves.
Their jounin instructor is the Copycat Sharingan no Kakashi. A man rumored to hold over a thousand jutsus.
And yet, here they are, Team Seven, with hundred of D-ranks in their belt, one C-rank ongoing, but not a single new jutsu in their arsenal.
To Sasuke, it is an insult. To their blood, their abilities.
Kakashi-sensei distributes tasks to the team, setting up a guard rotation to scout and guard Tazuna. Though the boys have both managed to somewhat work their way up their trees, their jounin instructor insists that they continue working on their chakra control.
"Why can't we just water walk?" Sasuke asks, huffing as he wipes away some dirt from his navy shirt.
Kakashi-sensei's lone eye widens slightly. "You already know how to water walk?"
"Of course, we do Kashi-sensei!" Akari chirps from her tree branch. "Uchiha shinobi should at the very least be able to do so."
"That might be true Akari-chan, but you usually start with tree walking first."
Oups?
Though, Kakashi-sensei cannot blame them, there are no adults to tell them what is age-appropriate. There was no adult to guide them, no adult to help them, none.
And no adult to soothe away the heart-wrenching nightmares that continue to haunt them.
There is only Sasuke and Akari. That's all they need.
"Doesn't matter" Sasuke interjects. "Give us something better to work on." At Akari's pointed look, he adds a "please" almost sheepishly.
"Maa" Kakashi-sensei drawls. "What do you think Naruto?"
Why only Naruto?
What about Akari?
Naruto's head perks up as he grins to the silver-haired jounin. "I agree with the teme! Come at me with everything ya got Kakashi-sensei! Uzumaki Naruto isn't afraid of your tasks dattebayo!"
"Well then, how about you guys do some sparring on the water. Last one to remain on it using chakra control gets a new jutsu."
"Really?!" Both Sasuke and Naruto exclaim, jumping up their feet in eagerness.
"Maybe." Kakashi-sensei gives them an eye smile. "No."
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
Kakashi-sensei turns to Akari brightly, ignoring the two boys 'complaints. She smiles back at him automatically even as he says: "While they do that Akari-chan, why don't you guard Tazuna? I will over the boys and make sure they don't overtrain."
"Of course, Kakashi-sensei."
Akari has enough experiences with adults to know it isn't a suggestion.
But…
She wants to train too.
What about her?
…..
Akari comes back from her bodyguard duties with a subtle frown that Sasuke immediately eases away with a brush of his lips, tender and sweet and out of sight of the rest of the team. He quirks an eyebrow at her, silently asking her what's wrong yet Akari cannot bring herself to tell him. It is not important enough to be worth his notice. Sasuke is already plagued by the world's darkness, thrown there without care by Itachi, Akari should not add to that for something as meager as her feeling brushed aside.
It's silly.
She's not overdramatic.
Worse things happened. The world is cruel after all. Injustice happens all the time.
Death should never have brushed so close to a child, barely eight of age. Yet it had.
And Sasuke has yet to recover fully from it. It looms over him, a constant, dark shadow that haunts his dreams and his every interaction.
(Akari too has been touched by Death, had felt its cold kiss as bullets tore her back opened and left her bleeding out. But this is not her story thus it doesn't matter)
It is at supper time that Team Seven is confronted by the spoiled brat that is Inari. He is young, ten years old, and is an angry, bitter child.
(Sasuke had been eight when he lost everything and that, Akari can never forgive the village nor the world for it)
They were talking about training, Naruto eagerly recounting his day to her with wild gestures even as he is covered in dirt. Sasuke adds some comments in, smug and satisfaction glinting in his eyes.
It's the first time she saw him so satisfied, proud even since they joined Team Seven.
It is a heartwarming sight to see Sasuke and Naruto working together to get stronger. She only wishes she could have done the same. Could have trained with them rather than guard Tazuna, and be nothing more than a glorified porcelain doll the workers liked to comment on, questioning her worth as if she could not kill every single one of them within a minute.
"You already look weak. You're younger and weaker than everyone else. If you don't prove yourself, no one will ever believe in your skills. No one will ever respect you,"
"What's the point?"
All eyes turn to Inari, the one that spoke, whose little fists are clenched tightly.
"What's the point of what?" Naruto repeats with a tilted head.
"What's the point of all this training? It's not enough! Gato has an army, you're all going to die"
"Hah? Whatdya mean? We're training really hard to protect all of ya!" Naruto exclaims after swallowing with great difficulty the mouthful of food he had stuffed inside his mouth. Akari quietly slips him a tissue that he takes with a beaming smile aimed at her.
"But it's not enough! What's the point of all these cool tricks if you're going to lose? No matter what you say, the strong will always win and the weak will always lose."
"What's the point of working so hard if you're not guaranteed to succeed?"
Sometimes, Akari wonders the same thing.
Inari is not wrong. The strong always prevail. It is the law of the world, simply how things worked.
"Speak for yourself" Naruto scoffs as Sasuke nods in agreement with his words. "It'll be different for us dattebayo, we're really strong."
But will it be enough?
"You're just an idiot! Always laughing and fooling around. You don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt! YOU MAKE ME SICK"
Akari pauses.
Idiot.
Fool.
"People who have it so easy sickens me."
Her jaw tightens, the muscle clenches and twitches. Akari puts back her teacup on the table harshly before her lips curve up in a sweet smile as the others 'attention snaps towards her.
"I understand you're hurting Inari-san, but watch your words, please. You're not the only one that suffered, don't try and presume your pain is greater than the other's," she says.
"But…"
Naruto slams his arm down, glaring at Inari and his goofy grin is nowhere to be seen. "You know what? Listening to you complaining like a whiny brat makes me sick. I might be an idiot-" Sasuke huffs amusingly and whispers to her "At least he is aware of that." "-But you're nothing more than a coward!" Naruto stands up, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, Aka-chan." He whispers to her before leaving.
No one had ever stepped up for Stella.
There is a silence that weighs heavy in the room, Inari's mother biting her lips as she glances anxiously between the shinobi she is harboring and her son. Probably afraid that they will retaliate to defend Naruto who is obviously shaken by Inari's accusations.
She shouldn't.
After all, she is part of the mission; the one to protect Tazuna.
Akari is a Konoha shinobi, she follows orders and dedicates herself to her team.
But if Inari had been insulting Sasuke to the point her twin brother stormed off with cloudy eyes and hurt curling his fists?
What is a single life compared to the greater scheme of thing? How little weight does a civilian's child life hold in comparison to the Uchiha princess?
There had been little left of Ami.
"I'm sorry about Inari." The mother breathes even as her son shoots her an indignant glare.
"Mah don't worry about it." Kakashi-sensei brushes her off, as if the child's careless words have not hurt Naruto to the point his smile died.
Don't say that. Don't say it's alright. Words can cut deeper than swords.
"As long as you apologize to Naruto," Akari pipes in. Inari might be a child, but she won't let him criticize her teammate like that. "Naruto insisted to continue the mission to protect your grandfather, you should be grateful to him."
"Hn." Sasuke grunts, standing up with his hands tucked in his pockets, his glare never leaving the sniffling Inari. He waits for Akari to tuck her arm around his, grunting a good night to Kakashi-sensei before leaving the room alongside her.
…
The two twins leave the room with little Akari-chan pinching Sasuke's cheek with a soft giggle. Kakashi's heart warms at the sight.
It is not easy to find kindness in the village.
Not for Friend-killer Kakashi.
But the little Uchiha princess holds such warmth and softness, gives it so freely to her team, her presence alone makes up for most of the coldness that is ever so present in his life.
Ghosts of the past watch his every step. They hover over his team and Kakashi likes to believe watch over them too.
Obito would have loved his little cousin and Rin would have helped her with the medical jutsus that Kakashi could never hope to teach his little genin. Kakashi is sure of that.
Naruto too – Kushina's smile on his lips and with Minato-sensei's eyes – revels in Akari's endearing love. After all, Akari-chan is the first one to show him kindness, the first one that gave him a sense of importance.
"You see," Kakashi starts, leaning over the table with his elbows on it, his lone eye glancing towards the three civilians. "Naruto is an orphan. He never knew his parents, never had a single friend in the village till he joined Team Seven. Still, I never saw him sulk or give up. He has a strong will, and no one can tell him what to believe."
Just like Kushina.
"So what?" Inari snaps. "He's not the one that risks losing everything if they get killed by Gato."
Ridiculous.
His team won't get killed.
He will die before they can.
How else could he meet Obito and Rin and Minato-sensei in the Pure Land otherwise?
"Inari!" Inari's mother gasps in shock. "You're out of line!"
"No! Tou-chan said the same thing, he said he was gonna protect everyone and he died! They will too! Why should I apologize? And that girl, she's like a princess, she doesn't know anything about suffering, but she lectures me anyway!"
Kakashi leans back in his chair. He does not appreciate the child's tone when mentioning his cute little genin. Especially little Akari-chan, with her soft smiles and unconditional support towards her team. "That princess you're talking about is Uchiha Akari, one of the sole survivors of the Uchiha massacre."
"Massacre?" Tazuna's daughter repeats, gulping. She is right to gulp, of course, the Uchiha massacre is after all a tragic, bloody affair. "That sweet girl?"
Kakashi nods grimly. The jounin understands why it is such a surprise, one look at Akari-chan and you wouldn't think she had lived such a tragedy. If anything, Sasuke is more up the part, eager for power, cold, and alone. Just like how Kakashi was when he was younger, though he thinks that the Uchiha avenger has softened with his sister and teammate in a way Kakashi hadn't had the chance to, having lost his team before he understood its value.
He wonders if Obito and Rin would still be alive if he had opened his heart earlier to them.
If he had been a little warmer – not so rigid and rule-obsessed – could have Rin united their Team like Akari-chan unites theirs?
"What does that mean?" the child asks.
"Tons of people died," Tazuna responds to his grandson before turning towards Kakashi, his eyes grim and sorrowful. "Uchiha massacre? Her family died?"
Kakashi resists the temptation to close his eye in shame, thinking of a solemn thirteen-year-old whose burden had been too much.
Who had lost all humanity and became a kinslayer.
"Hai, everyone died. Elders, babies, families, everyone. The twins were eight." Inari's mother covers her gaping mouth with her hand, tears in her eyes. Inari stiffens. "Akari-chan was the first one on the site."
Rumor has it that she had witnessed Itachi in the middle of his crusade.
He tries not to think about it.
It isn't true after all.
Akari-chan is good. Too kind, too pure to have seen such darkness. Good like Obito who kept smiling in face of his clan's scorn. Kind like Rin who cared so much.
Kakashi will never forgive himself for not noticing Itachi's growing madness. For not stopping his teammate before he went onto his murder spree. Gai tells him that it is not his fault, it is not his responsibility, but of everyone, it is him that should shoulder the blame for depriving two innocent kids of their family.
His cute little genins.
Minato-sensei would have been ashamed and Obito, livid.
"Did the murder get caught?" Tazuna asks.
Kakashi ignores the question. Itachi should have been caught, but hadn't, had never been brought to justice and he wonders if Minato-sensei would have let that slide if he was still alive and the Hokage. Only, it is wishful thinking because Minato-sensei is dead, but his son is very much alive. His son that looks so much like him, his coloring with Kushina's sunshine.
"God, that is awful. How did they survive? Are they alright?"
Kakashi doesn't answer the mother. He thinks of the two twins that hung limp in his arms that night as he surveyed the blood-filled compound. Of Akari-chan's tiny form with blood trailing from her lips. She had been covered in blood, he still doesn't know if it had been her own and he had kept his eye determinedly fixed on her little face.
Are the twins alright?
Sasuke's bitter and vengeful speech echoes in his mind yet it is easily replaced by his laugh and smirks that assuage his dark eyes. Akari-chan's soft smile flashes before his eyes.
They are. they have to be.
"How can she keep going then?" Inari asks.
Kakashi gives the child a smile. "She has us."
And unlike Sasuke, Kakashi knows that alone is enough.
…But when a child is punished for their honesty, they begin to lie.
Because in the end, it is all pretend.
….
Sometimes, Akari wonders if she has a right to exist.
If her existence is not simply a mistake, too insignificant in the greater scheme of things to be noticed, allowed to live next to Uchiha Sasuke only because she is that unimportant. She knows nothing of the original story, stole barely a few glances of posters and short clips on a giant screen, colors bright, too bright for a show centered around child soldiers. Akari isn't here to change the story. To spare the hero some grief and pain. There is no use of her in this world.
And sometimes, well, she wonders if Sasuke, Shika, and her team would be happier without her there.
Would Sasuke not be happier, better without a leech for a sister?
That's what she cannot help but think as Sasuke's yelps of pain reach her ear and her limbs ache to join him. She wishes to protect him from the pain, to do what she vowed to in that hospital room years ago make the ocean run red before any harm can even touch her twin. But Sasuke had looked at her – straight in the eyes with such determination and fire she could not look away – and told her that was his fight. His fight, his first solo test to see how strong he has become.
Who is she to refuse her darling twin that?
Akari knows how strong he is, how resilient and powerful. But though her own death doesn't frighten her, his death will always be her deepest and greatest fear.
But the weight of Kakashi-sensei's orders, no expectations lock them in place, freezing her as she stands in front of Tazuna to protect him.
"Protect him, Akari-chan. I know you'll do well." Her teacher had said.
Do well.
There's no threat added to it, no if you fail as if he is sure she will uphold his order. There is confidence in her that shackles her, because since when did anyone have confidence she will not fail? She slashes another kunai at Zabuza's clone – one stabbed in the eye, another stabbed in the neck – lips snarling as water drenches her yet again from the crumbling clones.
Do well.
Who is she to refuse Kakashi-sensei? To refuse his pride and confidence in her when so few would even look at her, so sure that she will crumble, waiting eagerly for her fall?
"Aka-chan!"
A blur of orange rushes next to her.
"Aka-chan! Are you alright? Where's the teme? Some mean guys attacked Inari's house and I beat them all, dattebayo! Ain't I cool? What's-"
"Naruto!" Akari exclaims, grasping at his hands, grounding herself with his warmth. The body under her hand is buzzing with adrenaline. "Breathe."
The blonde shinobi takes a deep breath with a sheepish grin. "What's happening?" He asks. "What do you need me to do?" His sapphire eyes look up to her through his eyelashes, trusting her to command him as her tool, though perhaps not consciously.
He shouldn't trust her like that, she who whispered sugary sweet lies dipped in an affection that flickers away as the time wind blows, yet he does.
Naruto is always so eager to please, so eager to be loved.
"Zabuza and his apprentice killed the bridge workers. Sasuke is in the ice dome, fighting. Go assist him."
Sasuke had never said that the blonde shouldn't intervene. Only that Akari is to stay put.
Only Akari is left on the sidelines.
"Ok! YO TEME, I'M GONNA SAVE YOUR ASS"
Akari shakes her head at his bellow, ignoring Tazuna's small chuckle at Naruto's exuberance. Even Kakashi-sensei sends a brief, amused glance in their direction before deflecting another water bullet, grunting as he avoids Zabuza's giant sword. He doesn't fully succeed, a small cut appearing above his mask and a thin ribbon of blood dribbles down. Her teacher is getting tired, the constant drain from his Sharingan eating away at his reserves and energy. She would know, of course, having almost fainted from chakra exhaustion from using it too much to develop her chakra coils. Exercising them, pushing them to the brink of exhaustion till a better result comes in.
Training had always been harsh, and their methods, unconventional. But as their trainer always say, anything to keep the family proud, happy.
It burns. The water, which smells like salt and is gently conditioned in that cool, soothing temperature one would want for their pool, burns. The grip on her head, firm and clawed, doesn't waver even as her limbs flail uselessly like a fish left outside of the water. It keeps her down, head bent and entire body fighting to get up, to leave the water.
But she cannot and her head throbs.
You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you blackout.
The instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you don't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding.
Stella opens her mouth. Immediately, water rushes in, tasting of salt and products as it swallows her whole. Tears prick at her eyes and lose themselves in the water before anyone other than her can register her weakness. It is her small secret to keep, even under the trainer's scrutiny.
It burns too much. She can't.
"182 seconds," Louis calls, face cold and unfeeling even as she splutters and desperately gasps for air.
Her uncle's eyes tighten slightly at her as he notes it down in his notebook. His voice rings out in the vast room. It sounds resigned yet is punishing all the same.
"Your time got worse."
He doesn't need to continue for they both know what his words condemn her to.
'I'm sorry' his eyes say.
But being sorry doesn't change a single thing.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Akari shouts, crouched in front of Tazuna, hands forming the horse seal and hovering close to her mouth.
Her teacher continues to attack the missing nin, kicking him further away in the gut, before coming to her side just as she spits out a fire jutsu at Zabuza, quickly followed by an exploding tag. He crouches in front of her, eyes alert and Sharingan spinning, though his voice is kept light as if he didn't want her to worry about him.
Don't fail.
Her hands glow emerald as she places them on Kakashi-sensei's back, her chakra reaching out to him tentatively, in the same manner a shy child would warily reach a hand out, ready to take it back as quickly as he can if only to spare him the usual pain of rejection. It's the first time she does so with someone other than Sasuke and though Kakashi-sensei's chakra is wary, prickly, it mellows down at her touch. It complies, softens, embracing the stranger that is her chakra into his system as though it trusts her to do well. Something warm slithers inside her chest as Kakashi-sensei exhales. The cut on his cheek knits itself back together, leaving unblemished and smooth skin. Yet her chakra continues its path, searching for a wound she cannot see yet feels all the same, as if she had connected the two of them together. It's deep and it burns, but Akari shakes it off, only focused on the sole thing she can do.
Don't fail.
Her right-hand shoots up, deftly grabbing Tazuna by the cuff and maneuvering him behind her just as a huge sword swing by, only stopped by the silver-haired's kunai.
"Mah, Akari-chan, thanks for that," Kakashi-sensei praises her lightly, squeezing her lingering hand before stepping away from her.
"Not too bad of a brat, now is she." Zabuza remarks lightly, eyes narrowing on her.
"Well, Akari-chan is the best kunoichi." Her teacher drawls.
"Don't think you're so great, you're not."
Akari would have blushed at the compliment had she not seen and known the other kunoichis. There is no glory in comparing oneself to mediocracy. It would only leave her delusional, so sure of her own importance till it tightens into a noose and chokes the life out of her.
"Akari-chan," she immediately straightens at Kakashi-sensei's commanding voice. "Take Tazuna and go check on his family. The boys and I will join you when we're done."
W-
What?
"But sensei, I can't just leave you behind!"
Isn't that what Kakashi-sensei preaches day and night? To never abandon a comrade, to never prioritize a mission over a Konoha shinobi's life? That is how her teacher wants her to be, that is the mask she crafted.
Akari can't leave him behind.
"Akari-chan…"
Akari shakes furiously her head. She cannot let go of that mask. Not when Kakashi-sensei looks at her so fondly, not when his chakra is warm and accepting and ignoring the darker undertones her own takes.
He wanted her to be that sweet, kind medic that always wishes to support her team. That's what he wants, so why is he asking her to leave, it doesn't fit her role, it deviates from the script, what is she supposed to be now?
Tazuna takes her hand. "Let's go! Have faith in your sensei."
Kakashi-sensei throws her a smile while Zabuza watches, eyes narrowed. Akari is tugged away from the bridge, away from the ice dome, and the warmth that was once nestled in her chest freezes, biting and cold.
She has to fight.
"Why can't you listen to instructions? Adults know better than you! Your only job is to do what they say! SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."
Right?
Fight. That's what she's trained for.
Yet…
Akari turns around, harshly snatching her wrist out of Tazuno's frail grip, flicking a handful of shurikens.
"What-" Tazuna breathes before flinching as the sound of steel meeting steel echoes and other shurikens fall to the grown, some etching themselves in the surrounding trees.
"Zabuza. Jerk's panties are getting all twisted up because we're retreating, and he can't follow." Akari mutters, stealing a glance at the ice dome where she knows her twin is fighting. The raven-haired girl takes a small hesitant step towards it, reaching a hand towards it under Tazuna's pitying eyes, before tensing.
A large group of men appear before the duo, all muscular and armed though a short, old wheezer stands at the front, a cane in his hand and eyes gleaming as he leers at her.
His clothes are finely made, the cane encrusted with jewels, and he breathes money and arrogance.
Stella had grown up around those, darting around them in reception halls before her grandmother would call to her.
Akari feels a small, demure smile slip automatically on her lips and her hands tuck themselves neatly behind her.
"Well, well," he says, chuckling.
Stand straight Stella, chin slightly raised up, but don't act defiantly.
What was the saying again?
Ah. Sugar and spice and everything nice.
"Make the family proud."
"Tazuna, what a surprise. Didn't think you would survive to this point, but seems like your luck has run out. Come and die."
"Gato." Tazuna practically growls, teeth grinding. "Not a chance. This bridge will be done, even if it kills me."
"Big words coming from someone that hides behind a little girl."
Tazuna glances at her. Akari doesn't react to him nor to the insult, too busy analyzing Gato and his mercenaries. She's content to wait for reinforcement, there is no need for her to go on a murder spree even if Gato's lingering eyes on an underage child make her blood boil.
Slaughter him.
Stab him through the ears with his cane.
Melt off his grubby hands, who knows where he put them?
She blinks slowly, the perfect image of the porcelain doll Tazuna's workers mocked so easily a few days before, a taunt Tazuna turned a blind eye to even as the words turned crueler and harsher towards a child as they take in her aristocratic features, quality clothing, and expensive gear.
"Hey, little girl," Gato turns to her, his voice sickly sweet and soft and fake even as his eyes gleam, bathing in sin. He gives her a leering grin. "Why don't you come with us and leave the old man behind, hum? No one will hurt you at my mansion."
The implication isn't lost on her and Akari's fingers slip towards one of her throwing knives as she tilts her head innocently.
A flash of white. A sob and a trembling figure flashes behind her eyes.
She wonders if that's what he said to sweet, little Trixie.
"Trixie?" Stella gently pushes open her twice-removed cousin's bedroom door. The velvet curtains are drawn shut – a first because the girl lives for the sunshine and prefers the townhouse's gardens to her own suite – and her cousin stays curled into a fetus position, blankets draped over her, shielding her, and ignoring Stella's call.
Trixie doesn't answer.
"Trixie? What's happening? Are you alright?"
Trixie still doesn't answer, but a strangled sob escapes her little cocoon, and Stella's heart aches as tears prick her eyes. She might not be quite close to her cousin, Trixie not being quite from the Main line and not considered as gifted as others, but she is a cheerful girl, kind and trusting. Who wouldn't love her?
"Shhhh, hey Trix? Everything will be alright, don't worry." Stella whispers soothingly, hands hovering near the little bundle, but not daring to get closer. The girl underneath the covers flinches violently. "You're safe here, no one will ever hurt you, ok? No one will hurt you here, I promise."
A raw, trembling voice answers. "But that's what he said too."
"How do I know you won't?" Akari whispers, tone seemingly shy, taking a hesitant, small step away from Tazuna who stares at her in shock.
"I promise. You won't get hurt. We'll have a fun time. You'll even meet new girl friends!" Gato takes a step towards her, another one and another one till he's so close, she can smell him. The old man smells of expensive cologne, cigars, and sex. He reaches to take her arm, fingers curling like claws and skin so smooth it is obvious he had never truly worked for anything in his life. His face is covered in shadows though the sun still shines brightly in the sky. A heartbeat echoes in Akari's ears. "We don't hurt little girls here, I promise-"
Another heartbeat.
Her grip on the kunai tightens, heat pouring from her palm.
Little girls.
Trixie had been 11.
Little girls.
The stench of corruption and abomination gets closer to her, his claws almost touching her, already dripping with blood and semen.
I'll keep you safe.
Ink lazily dances on the dark metal, a slight orange hue to them as symbols and letters and kanji start to bloom. Akari's heartbeat beats loudly in her ears, heartbeat pounding as Gato unconsciously licks his lips.
He promised that too.
(The grass beneath Akari's feet dries up, withers, and darkens. A few leaves crumble into ashes. No one notices.)
Gato's hand – slightly wrinkled – is mere inches from her arm. She feels its natural heat and feels the blaze in her own chest.
"I can still feel him. Feel his hands, feel him inside."
All mirrors are banned from her suite and Trixie flinches at the window's reflection.
Akari grabs Gato's forearm and gives him a wide smile. "Don't be stupid," she says, stabbing it with one of her kunai in the crook of his elbow. The smile is a cruel one, sharp teeth, and too crooked to look anything but innocent. The ink glows on the kunai and warms itself. A thin trail of smoke starts to linger in the air. The little girl's eyes blaze in hatred and revulsion.
Die. Die die die die die die.
"Everywhere, they hurt little girls." Akari sneers, kicking him back amid his hired aid as the raven-haired girl tackles Tazuna to the floor.
"Stella… am I a mistake?"
"You're not. Never."
"He said I was. Said no one would listen to a mistake."
"He's wrong."
BOOM.
An explosion sets off, the sound not as loud just like what she had hoped and something splatters on her face. Red, warm and thick liquid. Blood.
"AHHHHHHHH YOU BITCH!" Gato screams out in agony. Something in her chest purrs. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
He's clutching at the mangled, charred flesh that remains from his arm as blood continues to pour out even if the mercenaries are immediately treating it. Tazuna from slightly under her freezes in horror and his breath hitches, heart beating wildly. The smell of burnt human flesh stings the air.
"I'm doing karma's job!" Akari calls back, rising to her feet with a small stagger.
"No. He's right. He always is."
Gato's eyes are hateful and agonized. Yet, they will never compare to hers. "GET HER. I WANT THAT BITCH DRAGGED HERE ALIVE" he commands to another portion of his forces that grunt, rushing towards her with war cries and weapons raised. Too bad the blast had thrown them further away, too far to reach her before she can terminate the monster they serve.
A choked sob. "No one believes me."
Akari ties a storage scroll to one of her throwing knives and throws it in an arc motion to the group. Her eyes glint and have she cared enough to notice – Tazuna does and he trembles at the sight of the girl's demon eyes – her Sharingan blaze in sick, twisted loathing. Gato stumbles behind, tries to get away from the approaching knife, but there is no need to do so. He won't die by a simple stabbing. Monsters don't die like that.
"You have to do something! You can't just let him get away with it!" Stella's voice is hoarse with indignation and angered disbelief because no one listens, no one tries to understand.
"He's a respectable, wealthy figurehead, Stella. He's Anna's godfather too. He wouldn't do that."
He would.
But no one sees because monsters never face the consequences of their own arrogance and cruelty, shielded by their name and wealth. There are no consequences, not when they seat upon a throne of corpses. Monsters usually don't die at all, free to continue their heinous acts. But not here, not with her nearby.
"Release." Akari calls out, molding her chakra and detonating her seal as a torrent of water drenches Gato and the mercenaries surrounding him. They all splutter, completely soaked. The water, cold, comes to their ankle, retained by the small pit created by the explosion. She flicks open another scroll, one that contains all but a small flicker of electricity from an older battle, yet it is enough for her plan to work. Akari shunshins closer.
"Why does no one believe me? Why is he still here?"
Because the world is a cruel place.
Monsters live while innocents die.
A twisted smile paints her lips as she lets the scroll slowly slip from her fingers, the paper fluttering and lazily landing on the water. The raven-haired girl makes contact with Gato's bloodshot glare, though his eyes flinch away from hers. She kicks and pushes three other guards into the little pit, water splashing a bit as they stumble into it.
"Hey, Gato-san?" she tilts her head cutely to the side, eyes never leaving his paling, desperately fearful face. Even monsters tremble before Death's shadow after all. "Please die."
Akari forms the Ram seal and pushes chakra in her storage scroll, already back to Tazuna's side as electricity hungrily rushes through the water and runs through Gato and his guards. They scream, high and agonized, the bodies twitching involuntarily as they crumble down, charred and foaming of the mouth. Akari doesn't spare them a second glance back, taking advantage of the others' frozen forms, disbelief, and fear paralyzing them to the floor even as the twelve-year-old walk past them, to leave.
Smoke, ashes, and copper follow her, death shadowing her every step.
The people surrounding her tremble.
They had thrown her in the pit of darkness and madness, never expecting her to come back alive. Perhaps she isn't truly alive.
But Akari has always worn madness so well, you wouldn't notice.
…
Akari and Tazuna come back to the bridge atop of Eren and his pack member, the black panther's fangs jutted out in bloodthirsty approval at his mistress's kill. Through their bond, threaded and dipped in blood, cruelty and darkness, he can feel the loathing, the burning hatred that coursed through her mind, flashing her entire vision white as nature bended to her fury.
It had been beautiful.
"Tazuna-san."
The old man turns around, flinching as their eyes meet. Akari smiles pleasantly.
"That's the thing about masks, Stella. Once they see your true colors, you can no longer pretend to be an angel, they will never believe it."
"So, what happens when the mask does fall?"
"You take leverage. Ensure that it remains a secret. No matter the mean."
"I'm sorry you had to witness this."
The bridge builder opens his mouth, trying to formulate, string together words, but everything melts on his tongue before he can utter them. He settles for an answer, testing the waters and praying that the Akari he had known since the beginning of her mission is still there, somewhere beneath the ruthlessness. "It's fine. Why did you do it?" He asks.
Akari taps her chin in thought. "Because he was a monster. And he needed to be stopped."
"By killing him?"
"Yes."
"You shouldn't kill someone just for that, Akari-chan." Tazuna's answer sounds patronizing and Akari's jaw twitches at his words. "Leave that decision to the adults."
"I would have loved to, really. But the only adults who were there were a grandfather hiding behind a child and sadistic mercenaries." She shoots back, Tazuna falling back into silence at her almost scolding, sneering tone. "Didn't inspire much confidence to me."
She adjusts her weapon pouch to her hip and thigh, smirking as the old man sends a wary glance to it. "Hey," she starts, voice light. "You do know you won't be able to tell anyone what happened, right?"
At Tazuna's reluctant and almost hostile, judging glance, she continues with a smile that stretches slowly wider the more she says. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to darling, little Inari, hm?"
The grandfathers' breath hitches. He whimpers out a "no".
"Yes," Akari replies. "I have plans you see, and it wouldn't do it you snitch me. If you tell anyone what happened, well, I'll make what just happened seem like child play compared to what I will do to Inari and your daughter."
The man's pupils dilate in pure terror and horror. "No-" he breathes out again as a sob shakes him. "He's just a child, please he's innocent, he's just a child- "
"I know." Akari says quietly. Inari is innocent of his grandfather's ignorance and testimony. But she needs the insurance, needs to make sure her mask doesn't crumble apart. For Sasuke. For her. "And if you keep your mouth shut forever, he will live the best life you can give him. I won't do anything to him, won't even think to harm him, I swear. So long no one knows what happened here."
"Deal." Tazuna immediately agrees. "You won't touch him?"
Akari gives him a small smile. "I won't. I promise. Don't think to double-cross me, though. I am an Uchiha and I won't be fooled."
"Yes Akari-sama."
…
Oh Tazuna.
Be careful. Even the devil had once been an angel.
And a liar today is still a liar tomorrow.
…
"What do you mean you almost died?"
Sasuke grasp at her hands, tugging her down, back to his side and stopping her from storming out of their compound to hunt down Kakashi-sensei and Naruto. "I didn't. Everything went well." He says soothingly.
Yet his words don't subside the panic and pain she feels in her chest. Akari chokes back both a sob and a hysteric chuckle at the same time, the broken sound raw and hurt because Sasuke cannot leave her behind. Please, she won't survive it.
"That's not what Naruto said. He said you looked like a porcupine because of all the senbons."
"Naruto is an idiot that likes to exaggerate."
"Sasuke…"
"Akari. No."
Akari's form trembles in her brother's hands, her twin cradling her to his chest as she straddles him. Their room has not changed since they went to Wave and their bed welcomes them back with silk pillows and soft covers.
"I know you're strong. But. I- I can't lose you Sasuke. You know I can't." she whispers, voice breaking.
Sasuke tucks an ebony lock behind her ear. "And you won't, Akari. You'll never lose me. Besides, Naruto and I managed to get the upper hand on the bastard, drove him out of his blasted ice mirrors to fight."
"You did? Of course, you did, you're strong."
Strong unlike her. Her twin brother doesn't act on memories long since outdated and outbursts that will eventually kill her. He is the fire that burns away the sins, washes away the wrong in smoldering flames. While she is the ghost shackled to corpses and whispers that prey on her mind.
"That nin was surprised by our strategies. Hn. Should have known better to underestimate Team Seven."
"And he paid for it. That's good," Akari smiles slightly in the crook of his neck, tension leaving her frame as she listens to her brother's heartbeat. "Did you kill him?"
"No, Naruto recognized him from the forest and tried to parlay, the dumbass."
Is that even a surprise? Akari wonders if he is too much of a liability, to try and talk to an enemy and leave his teammate open to others' strikes.
"That's foolish."
"That's exactly what I said. The dobe should always prioritize our team and listen to me. After all, I will always put us first."
"As I would. But, sunshine has that way with people. He's just so trusting and bright, just like a child."
Just like Stella.
"Hn. We weren't like him before." The 'before the massacre' goes unsaid.
"Were we?" Akari quirks an eyebrow. "I don't really remember. I know we changed. For the better or the worse, we aren't as we were like before." Akari had not always hated herself, had not always been afflicted with such hatred and darkness. She once had been light, kindness and adoration incarnated. AkariStella wonders what her parents would think of her now. Not that it matters.
"I had been weak. Nothing more." Sasuke gives a faint protest. "Naruto is still weak, though the dobe is improving. We are not."
Akari knows they are strong, but will it be enough?
She hates that feeling, that fear that would strangle her in the dead of the night and would shadow her every interaction as Stella.
Do you feel it?
That feeling of someone stronger, better creeping ever so closer to you every time.
"We're not," she agrees easily. "How did Naruto do?"
"He did fine. He's a decent teammate at the very least. We can trust him with our back."
Akari isn't so sure about that, but she holds her tongue. Sasuke is slowly reaching out, inch by inch, a trickle of trust slowly building between the two boys. It's fine. It doesn't bother her at all. After all, she has Shikamaru, it is only fair her twin has someone else by his side too.
"So, he got away?" She asks.
"No, Kakashi killed him. Involuntary, but he did. Naruto wasn't happy about that." Sasuke scoffs in derision.
Of course, Naruto wasn't thrilled about the idea of killing someone he did not see as an enemy. Akari isn't surprised.
"And you?"
"If Kakashi wouldn't have killed him, I would have. It's important to tie all loose ends. He knew who you were, you know?" Sasuke gently grasps her chin with delicate and gentle fingers, his thumb caressing her cheekbone. His eyes are filled with love, but they darken at his next words. "I wouldn't let anyone that is a threat to us live."
Akari closes her eyes with a pleased hum at his caress. Sasuke has come far from the righteous avenger he used to be, so determined to be the hero who will avenge their clan while keeping his hands clean of blood, except for Itachi's.
He had wanted to be different.
"How can I hate Itachi if I kill like him?" Sasuke had asked with trembling hands, a few days after they killed the cocky civilian. "I don't want to kill for power, I don't want to be like him."
Akari tugs him closer, peppering his face with soft, butterfly kisses. "You aren't," she whispers fervently. "You aren't like him, Sasuke, I swear. Itachi killed our family for power. You're killing to protect your family."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"It's not." Akari gives a small, watery smile because she hates herself just a bit more for pushing her brother like that. Don't her wrong, she doesn't regret her decision, but she had never wanted to hurt him. "You both kill and fight for different reasons. His is selfish, yours is noble. And that difference is all that matters."
After all, we are all villains in someone else's story.
"And Zabuza?" The Uchiha princess asks.
"He died too. When Gato's mercenaries came after you, it got out that Gato had never planned to pay the shinobis and was going to betray them. Zabuza wasn't pleased. He killed them all till his injuries from Kakashi's fight killed him too." He pauses briefly, with a slight pout as if it almost hurt him to admit it. "It was impressive."
"Oh my, you're telling me that Uchiha Sasuke himself finds a missing nin impressive? Should we have asked for his autograph?"
Sasuke flicks her forehead with a soft chuckle. "What good does a dead person's autograph do? What was impressive was his fury when his apprentice died. He killed everyone that disrespected the boy. Too bad it was after the boy died. He thought Zabuza didn't care for him."
"Hmmm." Akari feels a twinge of pity for the unknown boy, so clearly devoted to the one that saved him yet unable to feel his warmth.
I won't be like that.
I won't let myself get killed so easily, I won't leave Sasuke behind.
"What's going on inside that pretty head of yours, Akari?" Sasuke shifts slightly, reclining on their bed's head with her still in his arms.
"You." Akari gives him an adoring smile as Sasuke's entire features seems to soften in fondness. "But I pity the apprentice. To love someone so much, but never be loved the same. It sounds like an awful fate." One she had been condemned to till Sasuke came into her life, a shining and warm beacon of hope filtering though harsh whispers and dark shadows.
It's as if her twin brother can read her mind as he kisses her forehead and cradles her face in his hands. All she can see, hear, feel is him.
"It won't ever happen. It's just you and me, Akari. I love you. I love you so much, there wouldn't be anything I wouldn't do for you. I won't let anyone tear us apart."
"Forever and always?"
Sasuke looks at her straight in the eyes, holding her gaze as two tomoes, earned during his fight against Zabuza's apprentice and thoroughly celebrated, spin in an ocean of scarlet, activated by the raw, pure emotions the Uchiha is feeling. Akari resists the urge to activate hers as well, but it is a secret she keeps nestled in her chest, locked behind training sessions spent in the library and moments stolen. She will not outshine him.
"Forever and always." He repeats after her.
It is almost frightening how quickly her world would crumble if she were to lose him, Akari muses. How she had never truly craved affection the same way she does his. How much she loves him.
And perhaps, that is the problem. She loves Sasuke so much, that she would gladly follow him all the way to Hell if it meant she could hold his hand on the way down.
…
"Naru-kun." Akari sits down next to Naruto in his favored ramen stand. She orders a bowl of miso ramen – extra pork and side dishes too – with a smile, before turning towards her little sunshine. He is pouting quite adorably, trying not to look at her in the eyes; guilt, and conflict emanating from his sapphire eyes.
"Sunshine." She repeats and he turns toward her. His bottom lip trembles slightly, unnoticeable to so many, but Akari can only see Stella and her stubborn refusal to allow tears fall. "Come here." She opens her arms.
Naruto rushes into it, letting his chair fall. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry Aka-chan." Naruto mumbles as droplets of salt drop on her shoulder. He got slightly taller, a mere half-inch, but Akari notices anyway.
"Shhh don't cry Naru. What are you sorry for?"
"For not putting our team first. Teme told me he could have died because I chose to talk to Haku and not watch his back. Because I chose a stranger over the team."
Akari sighs, ruffling his blonde locks before gently pushing him away from her. "It's true what you did was reckless, but you learned your lesson, didn't you sunshine? You won't choose an enemy over us?"
"I didn't mean to!" the protest escapes Naruto's lips before he slaps a hand to his mouth in horror. But his eyes blaze in stubbornness and continues. "Haku is a good guy! He didn't want to kill us!"
"I'm a good girl, aren't I? I didn't want to kill Gato –" lies, she enjoyed it " – but I did so anyway because he was dangerous and a threat to the mission, to our team. Everything I do is for us. Haku would have done the same thing for Zabuza."
"Haku would-"
"What would you have done if you had killed my brother, sunshine? What would Konoha say? How would I live through that?"
"Sasuke didn't die and I didn't kill him! I would never, teme is my best friend! I would never leave him behind!"
"Stella, you're my best friend! I would never leave you behind!"
"I know sunshine. Sorry. Sasuke is really precious to me? Just as you and Kakashi-sensei are. He trusts you with his back, you know?"
It becomes hard for one to discern all the lies from the truth when they are both so tightly woven together.
"Really?" Naruto looks as if she had just presented him with the world wrapped prettily for him.
Akari's heart clenches. Stella had never been so happy.
"Yup! But don't tell him I told you that, k? Else, Sasuke will brood for an entire week and who will I tease?"
Naruto is frantically nodding his head in agreement when Shikamaru's head pops in the stall. He looks good, he always does, though a bit tired as if he had run to here which is frankly ridiculous as Nara Shikamaru would never run. He is too lazy to even wake up sometimes.
"Hey, Akari? Can I talk to you for three minutes?"
"That's awfully precise Shika" Akari teases with a fond smile. "Unfortunately, we don't even have the time. Kakashi-sensei is already waiting for us."
"Oh." Shikamaru glances to the side, scowling briefly before looking back at her. "Alright, after then?"
"I'm so sorry, but I can't. Is it urgent?"
"I mean, it's not death threatening, but it's still troublesome. Are you sure you can't today?"
"Everything is troublesome to you, Shika." Akari points out helpfully, giggling as he pinches her cheek in response. Once he lets go with a soft, loving pat, she continues. "But, sorry, I really can't. Sasuke got his sharingan and there's an Uchiha ceremony and legislations to do. What about tomorrow?"
Shikamaru sighs as he tucks his hands into his pockets, slumping. "K" he drawls. The Nara heir glances at her almost wearingly. "Just know that I did what I thought would be best. And I'm sorry, so don't kill me tomorrow. It'd be a drag to wake up just to get killed."
"I don't know if I should be scared," Akari answers with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that to you. I love you too much for that." Oddly enough, Shikamaru chokes a bit, coughing as the tip of his ears dust themselves pink.
"Troublesome woman."
"You guysss, stop flirting! Let's go Aka-chan!" Naruto loudly complains before snatching her hand with his.
Shikamaru splutters indignantly at his comment, snapping a 'You're such a drag' to the blonde while Akari looks at her teammate weirdly with her head tilted, long ebony locks sweeping to the side in a silk curtain.
"I didn't know you knew what flirting meant, Naru-kun. Anything I should be aware of?"
Shikamaru snickers as Naruto gives a loud gasp and blushes beet red.
"AKA-CHAN!"
…
And then, something weird happens after their training, as Team Seven stretches and cools down while Kakashi-sensei sits a bit away, snickering in his porn book yet still directing Naruto in his stretches.
Nara Fueko, Shikamara's distant aunt who Akari met a few years ago, approaches her with a warm smile.
"Congratulation on your engagement, Akari-hime. I always knew little Maru-chan would tie you down, he wouldn't want anyone else."
And with those words, as if it had not frozen her in pure shock, the elder woman trudges away.
Engagement?
Shikamaru?
"Don't kill me tomorrow."
Akari's eyes widen. Next to her, Sasuke's beautiful features are twisted in a horrible, furious scowl.
"That Nara is dead." He growls, low and deep as he unsheathes his new tanto, a gift from their teacher. Her brother kisses her on the crown of the head quickly, she is still frozen in shock, before stomping away.
"Teme!" Naruto calls out in a hurry, already sprinting after her twin. "Wait! Murder is never the first choice! Wait… TEME!"
"W-What?" Akari stutters. What the actual fuck. She turns towards Kakashi-sensei that for once has tucked his prized orange book away where she could not see it. "Can they do that?"
Even Stella had never been entered into an engagement without her knowledge, nor consent which she had never given, ever.
Kakashi-sensei's lone eye glints. "Maa," he says almost nonchalantly. "Seems like I better get to know little Maru-chan, huh?" He bites his tongue and summons his pack, Pakkun at its head. "Please take care of my pack, Aka-chan, while I go threaten, sorry, talk to Maru-chan."
And he disappears in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind Akari, gaping, surrounded by adorable dogs.
And though the Uchiha princess doesn't realize it, too caught up with cuddles and friendly licks, there are no voices whispering in her ear.
…
How dangerous it is to finally have something worth losing. Something that makes her feel a little more alive and far less lost. Anything that is built upon sand and lies will eventually crumble down, and shatter realities and dreams of bright futures.
Will you be able to handle the aftermath?
…
Author Note:
I am alive! Just crippled with a horrible inability to write any decent fight scenes, but that is an issue for another time and the future me. So, the Wave arc is finished and a little bombshell is dropped onto Team Seven. Everything seems to fall in place, huh? While I rewrote and rewrote and rewrote again this chapter, I also had time to plan the story more thoroughly and with a greater understanding than what I had when I first drafted the plot.
I am thinking of posting another story in which pieces of different POVs and AU's would be included revolving around Akari and DW (Devilish Whispers). It is something I love while reading fanfiction, and sometimes, it's easier to get over writer's block if I write other things or try some ideas with my character. Let me know what you think! I honestly think I will. And let me know if you have any request (ex: Haku's POV maybe )
Thank you so much for the love this story is receiving, this is making me want to go finish this story alongside you guys, so thank you for your support.
Review reponses: I adore them
To Guest: First of all, wow, your review honestly had me gaping and then jumping around like a child. I loved reading it and it really helped me further the story and create more depth for the characters, so thank you so much for that. I will soon publish a Sasuke POV whether it is the side story or it will be included in DW and hopefully, that will answer some of your thoughts. And I completely agree with your take on Akari, she is capable of remaining stable, but as you pointed out, that dependence depends on her precious people. She's walking on a thin thread, let's see in which direction the wind will blow, hihi. I'm glad you like Akari! I really try not to portray her too much as just an antagonist or just as a crazy villain. She's much more, just a bit messed up in the head and fragile in a world that would crush her for that fragility if she isn't careful. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you again for the review!
To time-twilight: Thank you so much for your reviews! They're greatly appreciated hihi. Actually, I too had not been able to find an Uchiha oc like mine (well not for now at least, it probably exists and I haven't found it yet) which is why I wrote the story. I thought that the Uchiha line has such raw potential in hatred and love as the family feels too deeply. What happens when you have someone that loved so much and has endured tremendous loses? After all, the eyes that open in grief see it all. Your review actually made me think about Itachi and his role and not going to lie, I already wrote most of their interactions, I just need the story to keep up ahaha. Akari is mistrusting and doesn't actually care about many people, but I'll let you in a little secret.
Spoiler (not really, but still): Akari has 4 precious people she would do anything for, and it's actually mentioned in the chapter too. Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto and Kakashi. They all gave her a love that she grew so addicted to it, she couldn't help but love them. Now, all we need to do is see how that love will turn out.
And thank you for your suggestions for training, you'll see some in future chapter (No one is actually aware that Akari has the Sharingan yet, she couldn't find any way to justify having it before Sasuke and she didn't want him to grow bitter over that fact)
Thanks again for the review!
Well, that's all for me, I think. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully, see you soon.
Lots of love,
Daphne.