Dead Girl Walking [Naruto]

Chapt. 61: Sleep Deprived

"Alright, we're all here." Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru all stood around each other while wearing white cloaks as their mission was about to begin. "Our mission is to find Sasuke, Itachi, or Kurami. We already know Sasuke's intentions and will after Itachi. As for Kurami, her intentions are unknown to us. I doubt she will be after Sasuke or else we would have known about his death as well, along with Orochimaru's. We will split up into groups. Once one of us find either these 3 that we're looking for, send out a signal immediately and we will get to you as soon as possible." 

"Right." The team replied to Kakashi. After summoning up ninja hounds, the team split up into groups and were on their way to look for Sasuke, Itachi, or Kurami. 

"Come on Sasuke, do you even know where Kurami is heading? The girl leaves without a trace. I doubt you'll be able to find her. And we've been walking all day! We need to rest." Suigetsu complains as him, Sasuke, Jugo, and Karin were on the search for Kurami. 

"He's right. Even the birds around here haven't seen her either." Jugo mentions. 

"It's like she's hiding her chakra from us. Does she know that we're after her?" Karin asks. 

"No. Kurami was always like a shadow. She would appear out of nowhere and disappear without a trace. As silent as she was, she was always there to help others beside herself." Sasuke recalled. 

"And what makes you think she will willingly join us? She hates your guts, remember?" 

"I don't care. She knows something about Itachi, and I tend to find out what it is. She will join us whether she wants to her or not."

Meanwhile, Kurami continued to walk through the forest to find one of the Akatsuki hideouts. While she was walking, she kept fiddling with the necklace that Tobi gave to her before he vanished.

'Why give me this?... Who was that man just now?...' She wondered. Not one memory replayed in her head while trying to remember the voice of Tobi. Because he wore a mask, she couldn't see his face. 'Just who are you?...' "Hmm?" She hummed when she started seeing red and black.

The ground began to change as everything was slowly turning black. Shadows; people from her past, began to appear, but only like shadowy figures. They all shared the same white, wicked smile on their face.

"Loser."

"Freak!"

"Die already!"

"Nobody ever loved you!~"

"You will always be alone!" They chanted and laughed.

'Not now...' Kurami glared in thought. She knew this was a hallucination because of the lack of sleep. She never did get a full night's rest. "Ugh!" She grunted and held her head.

"Hahahahahahaha!" They laughed. "You will always be alone! You will always be alone!" They continued to chant.

'Shut up!!' She shut her eyes and dropped to her knees. Her heart began to beat rapidly as the pounding in her head increased.

"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die." As the words continued to repeat, Kurami curled up on the ground as she held her chest, trying to ease her rapid heartbeat.

As she grunted in pain, black substance poured out from her body and spread around her like a pool of bled, as if she were severely injured. "Hehehehe~" She giggled. 'It hurts...' She started to smile. 'It hurts so much...' "Ugh!"

With so much pain coursing through her body, her eyes became wide before throwing up due to trauma. She coughed and tried to catch her breath, but her head was spinning. Splitting. Aching.

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed to the top of her lungs. As she did this, Walrider appeared and screeched, synchronizing her scream. Afterwards, Kurami had fainted and Walrider had disappeared.

She was tired. Exhausted. Drained both mentally and emotionally. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep. Sleep and never wake up. But all she could do was cry silently in pain while curling up on the ground.

As she lied on the ground, footsteps approached her. They stood above her and stared down at her.

It was Itachi.

"We meet for a third time... Kurami." He said before kneeling down beside her body and scooping her up in his arms. "Lets get you to rest." He walked off. 

As it began to rain, Itachi found a nearby cave and lied Kurami on the ground and draped her cloak on her like a blanket. The moment he turned around, Kurami's eyes opened. She couldn't stay asleep for so long. 

"Awake so soon." Itachi didn't have to turn around to know that Kurami was awake. Oddly, he knew that she didn't sleep. "I found you lying on the ground. A black pool was underneath you. But it didn't look like you were injured in anyway. Not a single scratch on you except for the scars on your body." 

'Itachi...' Was all she could think when she saw him. 

"You can rest easy. I won't hurt you. I don't have a reason to, like everybody else has. You've been through so much, haven't you? But you don't want to keep living, do you? You wish to die... But you already have." 

'He knows something.' Kurami wasted no time in attacking him with her shadows. So quickly, Itachi appeared behind her and grabbed her shoulder. With this, Kurami shut her eyes and waited for his next move. But nothing happened. 

"You fear that I will do something vulgar to you, don't you? Its why you have your eyes shut so tightly. But I told you from before that I'm not going to hurt you. And nor do I plan to. I know you, Kurami." He whispered the last part in her ear. 

'Know me...? But...' From what she recalls, she only saw him from afar. She didn't get near him to talk to him. 

Itachi released his hold on her shoulder before sitting back and against the wall. He groaned before closing his eyes. Kurami turned around and sat on her knees, facing him. But this didn't stop her from having Walrider appear and grabbing Itachi by his neck. 

Itachi opened one of his eyes and grunted while Kurami glared at him. "Tell me..." She whispered. "What do you know?..." 

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