The Things She's Seen (An Alternate Story-Line)

Chapter 4: Ghosts

Third person pov

Hollow's eyes connected with those of the woman floating behind Sasori, and the ghostly figure gaped. She grabbed the hand of the man next to her, pointing at the girl in Hidan's arms. Hollow looked to him, thoroughly confused. 

Why were they so shocked? Who did the man gasp and stare with wide eyes, and why did the woman look ready to cry? Hollow didn't understand. She didn't understand why they were reacting like that, and why everyone was ignoring them. She didn't understand how she could see through them either, or how they were flying.

"D-Dear, can you see us?" The woman floated forward slightly. 

"A-Ah, yes." Hollow said. 

"What the fuck?" Hidan replied instantly, looking down at her. Hollow's eyes went wide. 

"T-The man a-and w-woman." She pointed to them. Hidan looked up, his eyebrows shooting up. 

"There's nobody there, un." Deidara said, scratching his cheek. 

"Great, he's insane." Kakuzu grumbled. 

"Just what we need." Kisame chuckled, his sharpening stone scraping against spiny blade. It frilled in an almost happy way, as though it were a dog pleasantly getting a brushing. Hollow looked away. Scary.

"N-No, we're ghosts. I'm Midori and this is my husband, Sasodai. You're not insane. We're real." Midori said desperately. 

"T-They sa-said they're re-real." Hollow told Hidan, confused. 

"Well they ain't." Hidan said in a matter-of-fact tone. 

"Let's just kill him now. He's clearly of no use to us." Kakuzu said gruffly. 

"Whoa, calm down, un. We haven't even seen if he has any powers, un." Deidara said. Hollow felt her face go pale. She didn't want to die, but those two people looked real, even if she could kinda see through them. 

"My patience is running low today. What are we doing with the brat?" Sasori asked gruffly. 

"Your patience is always running low, un." Deidara snorted slightly, gaining a glare. Hollow's eyes darted around, unsure of what to do. She wanted to run away and hide, and she regretted allowing Hidan to pick her up. 

Not that she could have gotten away, she supposed. With her injured feet and overall fatigue, she surely would have been caught in no time flat. They definitely would have killed her then. Surely. 

"Look, I'm pretty fucking insane and you haven't killed me yet." Hidan said. 

"Probably because you can't die." Sasori grumbled. 

"I mean, I'm just sayin'." Hidan said. 

"You're an idiot." Kakuzu sighed, shaking his head and massaging temples. Kisame chuckled, but he didn't contribute to the conversation. Hollow's eyebrows furrowed again. 

Were these people friends, or enemies? She couldn't tell if they were fighting or conversing. It was quite hard to tell with all the insulting that was going on.

"Just tell Sasori our names, okay dear? Our names." Midori urged soothingly. 

"What the hell are you two doing this time?" Shisui floated forward. This boy had not only pointed them out, but the couple were talking to her. 

"She can see us, Shisui." Sasodai said excitedly. 

"Whoa, really?" Shisui turned to Hollow, who looked at him curiously. Shisui floated forward, bending down so his face was level with her. He hummed. "He is looking at me." Shisui said, reaching out. His finger poked her cheek, and he instantly recoiled. "I touched it." He said. 

"Shisui, it's a him." Midori sighed, drifting forward. 

"Wait, seriously? Like, physically?" Sasodai questioned. 

"Yeah, seriously. Look." Shisui reached out, grabbing Hollow's arm. The girl let out a squeak of surprise as he pulled the arm up, weaving his fingers into hers and closing his hand around her much smaller one. He was cold. "See? We're holding hands, and I'm dead." Shisui grinned. 

"We can see that, Shisui. Now let go of the poor boy!" Midori swatted at him. Shisui stuck out his tongue, but did as he was told.

"I-I'm not cr-crazy." Hollow said in an unsure tone. 

"Just because you say it doesn't make it so." Itachi said from his place at the table. He was still reading. 

"Yeah, kid. It's fucking sad that you think they're real." Hidan said honestly. Deidara banged on the tv again, but it didn't do anything differently. 

"B-But Sasori-san k-knows t-them." Hollow defended. 

"No I don't, brat." Sasori said, clearly annoyed. Who did this kid think he was?

"N-No, b-but th-they're M-Midori-san and Sasodai-s-san." Hollow argued, staring at him. Sasori's hackles seemed to raise, and he recoiled, his eyes narrowed. 

"Where did you hear those names?" Sasori hissed at her angrily, his tail swishing. Hollow stiffened. 

"Whoa, so he does know them?" Kisame laughed. 

"Those are the names of his deceased parents, if I'm not wrong." Kakuzu said, walking towards the table to have a seat and count the money he'd gained from their last mission. 

"O-Oh." Hollow stuttered quietly as Sasori hissed at her. 

"Protect this small child." Shisui sighed happily, petting Hollow. 

"Don't... don't pet him, Shisui." Sasodai put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, shaking his head. 

"Yeah, but he's so innocent and small." Shisui said as Hollow blinked at them with large, doe eyes. 

"While he clearly lacks the overall maturity most kids his age have, that doesn't mean we should pet him, Shisui." Midori scolded. Shisui scoffed at the pair. 

"Where did you hear those names?!" Sasori was getting more impatient by the second. 

"You better answer him, un." Deidara said, his voice muffled as he was behind the TV. 

"You're on your fucking own, kid. I'm going to go report your presence to leader-sama." Hidan dropped Hollow. 

"Whoa!" Shisui leapt forward, barely managing to catch the terrified girl. 

Hidan paused, staring at her silently. Everyone else did the same.

"She's floating." Itachi said calmly. 

"Yeah, no shit. But how?" Hidan questioned. Hollow grasped at Shisui's shirt, eyes wide in fear. 

"Whoa, calm down, kid. I'm not going to drop you." Shisui assured as the kid clung to him, eyes darting around. 

"Nice save." Sasodai sighed. 

"T-They're ghosts. I-It's g-g-ghosts." Hollow answered, looking up at Hidan. Deidara let out a dramatic gasp, and Kakuzu grunted in surprise. Other than that, no other sounds were released.

"...I'm really glad we picked up this fucking child I mean, he sees dead shit. That's cooler than Kakuzu's arm shit." 

"Shut up, imbecile."