"Our first mission?" you asked as you walked behind Kakuzu and Hidan. You were heading to the entrance of the Akatsuki hideout in the Hidden Rain village.
"Damn right!" Hidan turned to you and swung an arm over your shoulder. "Your first mission with us."
"Shut it Hidan," Kakuzu ordered. He opened the door and walked with you following.
"Oh come on grandpa," you whined. "Lighten up. With me around, we're not going to travel without talking you know. I'm bound to say something sooner or later."
"Even if it's stupid?" Hidan asked. You nodded.
"Even if it's stupid," you thought about it a moment then turned to Hidan with a frown. "Say, do you think what I say is stupid?"
"Huh?" Hidan looked up at the sky. "Most of the time you make no sense."
"Maybe that's just how retarded your brain is!" you shot at him.
"Who's the one with a retarded brain?! If you ask me, you're the youngest so you're the most retarded!" Hidan let go of your neck and pointed a finger at you.
You opened your mouth to argue but Kakuzu interrupted.
"Aiko's mind is much brighter than yours, Hidan," he said. You gave Hidan a creepy 'see?' smile. "Not to mention, she doesn't need people to explain things in simple words as often as you do."
"I thought you were gonna shut up during the the entire damn mission!" Hidan yelled.
"I was. But I thought I had to insult you once."
Hidan growled.
"So... what's the mission grandpa?" you spoke up before Hidan could do or say anything.
"We have to catch a man in a small village," Kakuzu answered. "He has a small bounty of 100 ryo on his head."
"Oh," you thought out loud. "Why did you get this mission? I mean, usually you have to get more money or jinchuuriki hunting or things like that."
"Because Leader thought you should start out with something small," Hidan answered.
"Ah," you giggled. "He doesn't want me to get hurt?"
"It appears that's the reason," Kakuzu answered. He pulled a small envelope along with a bag out of a pocket on the inside of his cloak. He handed you the bag and Hidan the envelope. He looked at Hidan. "That's the man we're looking for." he turned to you. "We'll wear that clothing, since it's possible that the people in this village have heard of us. It's only different, solid black cloaks. No big difference."
You pulled out the cloaks and handed them each one, keeping the smallest one to yourself. You removed the Akatsuki cloak you were wearing, the sun's bright rays hitting your skin. You smiled and faced the sun.
"Hey Hidan," you looked at him over your shoulder. He turned to you as he slipped a hand into the black cloak sleeve. "Catch." You fell backwards.
"What the heck?!" you felt muscular arms catch you from behind. You laughed. Hidan set you on your feet again as Kakuzu put the Akatsuki cloaks into the bag. "Why'd you do that? Idiot!"
"I knew you'd catch me," you answered and smiled at him.
"And what if I hadn't?" Hidan asked.
"Kakuzu would rip your head off and not stitch you back together?" you guessed.
"The kid's right Hidan," Kakuzu stated as he began to walk again. You and Hidan followed close behind.
"So, why'd you do that?" Hidan asked.
"I told you. I knew you'd catch me," you answered.
"There has to be more than that."
You sighed. "I'm gonna ask you something, and you have to answer truthfully."
"Okay," Hidan spoke slowly.
"Can I trust you to always catch me?"
Hidan stayed silent for a while. He looked at the dirt path beneath his feet. When he looked back at you, he smiled. A genuine smile. "Of course you can. I'll always catch you when you fall."
You smiled and threw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck. "Thank you Hidan!"
He wrapped his arms around your waist and spun you around once, your laughter sounding off the trees.
"You two, knock it off already," Kakuzu's agitated voice interrupted your brother-sister moment.
"Sorry grandpa," you apologized and let go of Hidan's neck. He placed you on the floor and stretched his hands out, crossing them behind his head.
"So, when are gonna get there you old bastard?" Hidan asked.
"We'll get there when we get there," Kakuzu answered.
Hidan grumbled and looked at the trees on his side of the path. You smiled and looked up at the sky. Your smile fell as you thought you saw the image of a familiar woman in the clouds. An image of your mother crossed your mind. Why do I keep seeing these images? You asked yourself as you faced forward again, trying to take your mind off the images. Is someone trying to tell me something? Or, maybe, I'm starting to lose my marbles.
You rolled your eyes. "As if, huh."
"Hm? You say something?" Hidan asked. You shook your head.
"No, I didn't say anything."
Hidan furrowed his eyebrows, shrugged and looked away. The rest of the walk was mostly quiet. You looked around. Farubaru sure would make some good company right now. You sighed. I wonder where she ran off to this time?
"We're here," Kakuzu's voice snapped you out of your thoughts and you looked up to see a small village. You knew it was not a shinobi village, there were no traces of shinobi anywhere and this village looked like a simple farming village. "Alright, we're splitting up. Hidan and Aiko I'm trusting you two to go searching without getting into trouble."
You nodded. "Sure thing grandpa."
"Whatever you old geezer," Hidan grumbled. "If keeping Aiko safe is what you mean by that, no need to tell me twice. I don't want to face Leader's wrath if anything happens to her."
"Good, you caught on this time," Kakuzu mused. "Keep Aiko safe at all costs."
"Why are you trusting me this time?" Hidan asked. "I mean, I thought you would take her with you since I'm 'untrustworthy'."
"You are untrustworthy," Kakuzu said and looked at you. You looked back at him and smiled. "However, you made Aiko a promise. And I expect you to keep that promise."
"I made a promise?" Hidan said thoughtfully.
"Hidan!" you punched his arm playfully. He laughed.
"Hey calm down princess," Hidan said as he rubbed his arm. "I know I made a promise, I was just teasing with you."
"Don't call me princess," you whined and crossed your arms.
"I still can't take you seriously when you're mad. You look so adorable!" Hidan burst out laughing. You pouted.
"I'd like to see if you still think I'm adorable after I pound you fifteen feet into the ground," you growled and glared playfully at him.
"You'd still be adorable," Hidan stated rather flatly. You sighed.
"Whatever," you mumbled.
"Enough you two," Kakuzu's agitated voice interrupted. "Stop bickering amongst yourselves and go look for that man."
"Yes grandpa," you turned and walked off, calling over your shoulder. "Hurry up Hidan!"
"I'm coming!" Hidan's footsteps sounded close to you and they came to a stop beside you. "So, where we gonna look first?"
"First we have to gather intel," you told him and looked around. "Men like the bar, right?"
"Yeah but I don't think that's the kind of place for a g-"
"Alright then, we'll go to the bar first."
Hidan sighed. "I don't think that's a good place for you. Women that enter the bar... well, they get uncomfortable."
"Well, I'd wait outside but knowing you you'll start talking to women," you told him. "So in this case, I have no choice but to go into the bar with you." You pulled your hoodie over your head, covered the bottom half of your face with your mask and walked to the bar, Hidan right beside you.
"Maybe you should rethink your choice," Hidan tried to convince you as you walked among the other people. "Look, I promise I'll be quick! You just... uh... wait right here!" He gently pushed you onto a sofa and pointed a finger at you, a stern expression on his face. "Now, don't move from there. Unless some guy is perving all over you, then you can move. I promise I'll be right back."
You crossed your arms and legs. "Fine, I'll wait here but you better hurry back Hidan." He nodded and walked off. This is my first mission, and I don't plan to fail. Not when Leader finally trusted me enough to send me off. Even if it's just for finding a man, I'm not gonna fail on my first mission.
"Hello there," came a weird voice from in front of you. You snapped your head up and glared at the drunk man in front of you. He had violet purple hair and dark blue eyes. His clothing was mostly black with a white undershirt and a black button up shirt over it. Maybe Hidan was right. However, this man might have information. I could play along with him, but I have to be careful not to get carried away. "What's a pretty little lady like you doing alone at the bar?" He hiccuped. You forced a closed eye smile.
"I'm just trying to spend time somewhere," you answered in a soft voice. "I have nothing to do, so I just came here to... enjoy the music." You inwardly grimaced as the man sat beside you. He reeked of alcohol.
"You have nothing to do?" the man asked as he took another drink of his beer. You shook your head.
"Nope," you answered and faced him. You were glad you had put on your mask, he was looking directly at you with googly eyes. Unconsciously, you moved back from him.
"What's wrong little lady? You looked stressed," he said and tried to put an arm over you. You held his wrist and smiled under your mask.
"Do I?" you asked and placed his hand on the sofa between you. He leaned into your face and you moved back again.
"You do. Maybe I could get rid of some of that stress?" he asked and looked you head to toe. Your skin got the goosebumps. Something about the way he was looking at you made you uneasy. Sure Hidan did that sometimes, but his eyes were completely friendly and had no bad intentions in them and he did that to compliment you. This man, however, had something else in his eyes.
"No thanks, but you might be able to help me. I'm looking for a man with light green hair and dark brown eyes," you told him.
"I've seen a young man like that around here," he hiccuped again. "But, you said you didn't have anything to do. So how about we spend some time together?"
"No thanks," you said as politely as you could. "I really need to find that young man. Do you know where he might be?"
"Yeah, but I ain't talking," he grabbed your wrist. You glared at him.
"Let... go... of... me," you demanded, venom lacing your voice.
"Why should I? I answered your question, you haven't even thanked me," he said. He held his beer out to you. "Let me invite you to a drink. You drinkin with me is the same as a 'thank you' for me."
"Let go of my hand you bastard," you growled.
"And if I refuse?"
You stood up but he still held onto your wrist and followed you up. You turned to him. "I don't want to hurt you."
He laughed. "You don't scare me little lady."
You smirked and kneed him between his legs. He gasped and let go of your hand as he bent over. You started to walk away but his hand shot out again. You turned around and glared at him.
"Let go of me," you ordered again.
"Not until I make you pay for that," he whispered harshly.
You narrowed your eyes. "Look mister-"
"Hey you bastard!" came a voice from behind the man. You looked behind him as he straightened up and looked behind him. He grabbed the man's hand that was holding your own and twisted it. The man winced and let go of you. Hidan pulled the man away from you and swung an arm around your shoulders and pulled you close to him. "Stay away from this girl."
"Why? I saw her first, so go look for another woman," the man shot back and tried to size up to Hidan. "I had my eye on her first."
"Who said I had an eye on her?" Hidan asked and glared at the man. "I won't let you get at my little sister for a one-night stand and then leave her!"
"Your little sister?" the man asked, he looked back and forth between the two of you. Then smirked and sarcastically said, "I can see the resemblance. Especially since she has that stupid mask." He pointed at your mask.
"So what if we look alike or not? She's my little sister and I will not let you touch her!"
"Hidan," you whispered. He looked at you out of the corner of his eye. "I don't know if this drunk man was telling the truth, but he told me he knew where our target is."
Hidan nodded, grabbed the man and swung him over his shoulder.
"Let go of me!" the man yelled as he punched the Hidan's back. You walked beside Hidan and grew annoyed of the man's yelling as you summoned a small bird and sent it off to find Kakuzu. "Do you have any idea who I am? Gorou Hamasaki is my name! I will have you thrown into prison!"
"You just sound like an annoying brat," you interrupted his rambling in a monotone voice. You saw Hidan turn his head towards you and raised an eyebrow. You looked at him and pulled your mask down a little since the man couldn't see, he was still busy trying to get away from Hidan's grasp. You smiled at Hidan and whispered, "Something I picked up from the scorpion."
"I noticed," Hidan mumbled as you pulled up your mask again.
"I am not a brat! You're the brat here!" Gorou yelled. You turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"How old are you?" you asked.
"What does it matter to you?" he demanded. You shrugged and turned away.
"I was just curious," an evil smirk graced your lips. "Because you look forty five."
"I am not forty five! I'm twenty!"
"Oh, is that so?" you asked in an uninterested voice, though in truth you were smirking to yourself. He had talked right into your trick and told you his age. People these days. They hate to appear older than they really are.
You heard footsteps beside you and looked over to see Kakuzu.
"I got your messenger bird," he said and looked at the man on Hidan's shoulder. "That's not who we're looking for."
You laughed. "Right, I forgot you don't understand my summonings. This man said he had information on our target."
"I see," Kakuzu said and looked forward. You walked toward an empty alley. Hidan harshly dropped the man on his shoulder. Gorou groaned and rubbed his back. He started yelling at Hidan. You man some hand signs and trapped Gorou in a spirit bird. All sounds were muffled, so there a smaller possibility that someone would find out you were all here.
"Alright now you bastard," Hidan crouched down in front of the bird and stared at the man. "You tell us all you know about this man," he showed Gorou the picture.
"And if I refuse?" Gorou growled.
"Bad idea," you stated.
"I'll sacrifice you to jashin," Hidan smirked when Gorou's eyes widened.
"Y-you're a jashinist?" he asked.
"Yeah, got a problem with it?" Hidan glared at the man. He gulped.
"Fine," he said through clenched teeth. "I'll talk. Bt under one condition."
"What would that be?" Kakuzu inquired. Gorou smirked and looked at you. Kakuzu and Hidan followed his gaze.
"Absolutely not," they both growled at the same time. Gorou shrugged.
"It was just a suggestion," he said. "What do you want to know about this man?"
"If he's in town, where is he staying?" Kakuzu asked.
"Oh he's in town alright. Crippled Inn in the middle of town," Gorou said. "Last I saw him, that's where he was staying. Anything else?" (I made up the Crippled Inn)
"Room number," Hidan answered.
"Second floor room sixteen."
"Very well, if he's still here we should go," Kakuzu ordered. You and Hidan nodded. Hidan stood and walked over to you.
"This man didn't touch you, did he?" Hidan demanded. Your eyes widened at the look in Hidan's eyes. You smiled and shook your head.
"Nah. He didn't touch me, only my wrist," you answered and held up your hand. Hidan leaned closer and looked over your wrist. He nodded and stood up straight.
"Alright then, we should put him to sleep and head over to that Inn," Hidan said as he turned towards the man. He stepped into the bird and knocked the man out cold. Your bird disappeared. "Now then, let's get going. Shall we?"
You nodded and walked beside Kakuzu behind Hidan. You reached the Inn and a young woman sat at table. She looked up from the book she was reading as you walked in. she smiled kindly.
"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked. You looked at her and then glanced at Hidan. Surprisingly, he wasn't looking at her but instead looking at some scroll hung up on the wall. "Do you need rooms?"
"No," you answered and looked at her again. "We only came here to visit an old friend of ours."
"Oh, what room is it?" the lady asked as she moved towards some thin strings behind her. You noticed some were leading upstairs and others were going left and/or right. There must be bells in the rooms. When someone has a visitor or mail, she rings the bell and the person staying in that room comes down.
"Se-" you smacked Hidan's stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"We would like it if you didn't make him aware that we're here," you told the woman. She glanced at you questioningly.
"Why is that?" she asked.
"It's a surprise visit," you answered. She nodded.
"Do you know where your friend's room is?" she asked.
You forced a smile and nodded. "Yes, we know where his room is."
She smiled back. "You can go on in then."
You nodded and headed towards the stairs. Kakuzu and Hidan following behind you.
"You know, you didn't have to hit me," Hidan whispered. You glanced at him out of the corner of your eyes.
"Sorry Hidan," you whispered back. "But if I hadn't done that, you would've told her. And if the man is there, he would suspect."
"Aiko has a point, Hidan," Kakuzu said as he stopped in front of room sixteen. He reached out and grabbed the doorknob. He whispered, "Get ready."
You and Hidan nodded. He opened the door and jumped in with you and Hidan following right behind. You looked around.
"No one's here," you whispered and stood up from your fighting stance.
"Yeah," Hidan agreed.
"We'll just have to wait for him," Kakuzu stated. He walked over to the window and peaked through the curtains. "He's coming."
"Alright then, let's hide I guess," Hidan whispered. He ran into the closet, Kakuzu hid behind some coats hanging on the wall and you jumped onto the ceiling. The door opened and in walked the man with light green hair and dark brown eyes. You looked at him. He wore a navy blue shirt and grey pants with brown sandals. He didn't look dangerous to you, but then again, appearances can be deceiving.
The man sighed. "Finally I can get some alone time." He walked over to the bed and threw himself face down.
You looked over to where Kakuzu was hiding. He nodded up at you. You nodded back and quietly jumped off from the ceiling. You walked over to the man on the bed, pulled out a kunai and held to the back of his neck. Gently, you pressed the kunai to his skin. He stiffened.
"If you know what's best for you, get up," you ordered. He started to get up.
"Good job kid," Kakuzu said as he stood beside you. Hidan came out of the closet and walked over to you. He stood beside the bed with his arms crossed. The man got off the bed and slowly turned to face you.
"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded and frowned.
"Arata Mori," Kakuzu said. The man turned to him. "We're here because of the small bounty on your head."
Arata nodded his head at you. "And you bring a woman along? Can't you have gotten me on your own?"
"That's none of your damn business!" Hidan stated. Arata chuckled.
"I suppose you're right," he smirked. You narrowed your eyes at him when the door burst open and Hidan went flying out the window.
"Gah!" you heard a loud 'thud' as Hidan hit the ground. You turned towards the door and saw a tall man with brown hair and brown eyes along with Gorou standing in the doorway.
"Boss are you alright?" Gorou asked. You held Arata beside you with the kunai still on his neck.
"Do I look alright you idiot?!" Arata yelled back. You saw the brown haired man pull his hand back.
"Wind style: Gale palm!" he swung his fist towards Kakuzu and sent him flying through the wall. You looked back at the wall over your shoulder. Then turned around and glared at the brown haired man. "Seems it's only you now."
"What makes you think that?" you asked.
"Please," Gorou answered for the other young man. "Your companions are out in the dust."
"Kid!" Kakuzu's voice came from the ground.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Hidan yelled. "We're coming!"
"Too late!" Gorou yelled. "Water style: Water Dragon jutsu!"
Out of nowhere, a water dragon came at you. You made a single hand sign and held your hand out in front of you. A shield of wind (much like Chiyo's chakra shield) appeared on your hand and blocked the attack. The water dragon disappeared.
"Damn it," Gorou growled. He turned towards the brown haired man. "Haruki!"
"Wind style: Gale palm!" he swung his arm towards you and you went flying backwards, through the wall.