One Of Us (Akatsuki Fan-fiction)

Chapter 61

   You decided to make camp for tonight so you flew down and landed among some trees. There would be no fire, you didn't want to risk getting caught. You were near the Land of Fire, and some of the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf knew and trusted you, but you could still be at risk. There could be wandering shinobi from other villages anywhere, so you had to be careful. You jumped into a tree and made yourself comfortable on a thick branch. You leaned your back against the trunk and pulled the picture out of your pocket. You stared at the image under the light of the twinkling stars and ran your fingers over the black-haired woman. 

   "I wonder if any of you are still alive..." you murmured and tucked the picture back in your pocket. You turned toward the sky and closed your eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

~xOx~

   It was dark... and cold. You couldn't see anything, feel anything. Your body was numb, and you couldn't open your eyes or form words. 

   "Y/n!" a distant voice... a female voice. "Y/n!" Y/n? you thought and tried to open your eyes but to no avail. "Y/n! Run!"

   Your eyes finally opened and widened in fear. There was a woman in front of you, a black-haired woman. Blood trickled down the side of her mouth in a thin stream and her eyes... there were none. Only a deep, black, empty hole in their place. You stepped back, away from the woman as she fell forward and landed before you with a 'THUD'. A dark silhouette stood behind her. Your legs trembled as the silhouette moved closer. You saw a blonde man there. He looked familiar somehow... yet, it wasn't the nice kind of familiar. Blood drops speckled his face and his ocean blue eyes looked down at you indifferently. It was then you noticed... you were smaller, shorter, younger. Is this... what happened? 

   The man stepped closer to you, so you backed away until you hit a wall. Hands shot out from the wall and reached for you, pulling at your arms and clothing. You screamed and broke out of their grasp. That was a mistake, as you were soon being held by the blonde man. You were his size now, maybe back to your own body. You ignored the man for a moment and turned back toward the wall. Only thing was... it wasn't a wall, it was a jail cell door. The people, dressed in rags, pushed forward and reached out through the door.

   "Filthy, aren't they?" the man asked and pushed you forward. The people in the cell grabbed ahold of you and begged for freedom. "That's where you'll be going soon..." the man smirked wickedly and pulled out a katana. He stalked over to you, like a predator with its cornered prey. You tried to get free of the people's grasp but they didn't let go. "Don't worry little girl, your pain will all be over soon," the man said and raised the katana in the air. The light reflected off the blade as it came down.

~xOx~

   You jumped and sat up. Your breathing was a heavy pant, your heart was pounding, and small beads of sweat covered your forehead. You placed a hand over your heart and tried to even out your breathing. You swallowed.

   "Just a dream," you closed your eyes and smiled bitterly. "A very bad dream. A nightmare."

   You waited for your breathing to return to normal and then you opened your eyes. The sunrays were shining down through the canopies and you could tell it was still early, around six in the morning. I doubt I'll get any more sleep. So I might as well get up. You sat up and hopped off the branch. You stretched and pulled an apple out of your bag. This would be enough, the nightmare had kinda scared away your appetite. So you started walking as you bit into the apple. It was just right; not too sweet, nor too bitter, enough to get you into a good mood. There were birds chirping here and there, a squirrel ran across the center of the path, and flowers swayed with the breeze. It was pretty peaceful around here, you had to admit it. You looked around as you chewed. I think I'm almost at the border for the Land of Fire. You thought as you approached the edge of the forest. You reached the edge and walked out through the grassy plain until you reached a cliff and stopped there.