Winter's P.O.V
I laid in bed completely dressed and ready for the day after I woke up thinking about Sasuke. I act all tough, when really I am not. I cannot take it when I see someone suffering. Back there with Sasuke I didn't care what I looked like to him, I just wanted to make sure he was ok. Stupid jerk doesn't know how to take care of himself.
"Winter! Wake up!"
I jumped three meters. "Can you please knock?!" I shouted as I threw open the door to a very distressed Sasuke. He looked on edge and his hair was wilder than normal. "Are you okay?" I asked him. I lifted my hand to touch the bandage on his cheek and he smacked it away.
"Don't touch me, brat, I'm fine. Just not looking forward to what's coming." He replied looking like he was trying to keep from strangling me.
"What's coming? You're early, we don't start training for another few hours." I asked confused, and a little hurt.
"Just let me in? Okay? I brought paper and pens." He said, shoveling his hand through his crazy hair.
I was so confused. Paper and pens for what?
I let him in my room and I pulled the second chair to my study desk, lighting the candle that was on the table. Shaking the match out I sat down in a chair and watched him dump paper and pens on the desk.
"What do we need all this for?" I questioned. This was really weird, was he making up for back in his room when I nursed him?
"Lord Orochimaru's orders: I am teaching you Japanese." I nearly choked on my saliva.
"So that's why you were hurt on your cheek. You totally refused didn't you?" I smiled, tilting my head in question.
He didn't meet my eyes.
I laughed and its echo bounced around the room. He glared and I shut up.
"I am doing this for Orochimaru, but so help me you annoy me. I will kill you and make it look like an accident, Winter. I swallowed and picked up a pen.
"What's first?"
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After several hours of speaking in two different languages, I was exhausted. Sasuke had left two minutes earlier saying we would have to do this every day to keep my memory up. Fun.
Every time I got something wrong he would be really angry. He didn't use emotions but when he did he could really terrify me. I would get angry back and we would end up in a fist fight until I said something Japanese. It calmed him down because it made him believe we had made progress.
In all truth, I knew more Japanese than what he had taught me because of hearing everyone speaks it. When I was on the run and homeless I learned to speak enough to get by.
While I was resting my head to put it at ease, my alarm went off. Training. I groaned and wished he was just as exhausted as I was.
When I arrived at the arena I saw Sasuke almost asleep against the weapon's shelf. His eyes fluttered closed.
"Sasquatch!" I called. His eyes flew open and he groaned at the sight of me.
"Do I seriously have to deal with you again?" He started to bash his head against the weapon's shelf.
I looked around, there was no one here watching the fight. We could do whatever we wanted.
"I don't like this as much as you do. How about we call off training today and do something different?"
I put my daggers on the floor to show I was serious and not tricking him into losing the fight. He pulled his blade out and set it on the floor.
"What did you have in mind?"
I shrugged my shoulders and sat down on the floor. I laid back and stared at the ceiling, using my arms as a pillow.
"Just relaxing," I replied.
"We really should train, if you slack off you will regret it." Why was he so determined?
"Shut up will you?" I growled at the idiot. He is so not going to ruin my relaxing time.
He looked surprised and after a few seconds he laid down two meters away from me.
"Why does Orochimaru want you?" I asked, turning to face him.
He glared at me and clamped his jaw shut so I turned back around and faced the ceiling. It's fine with me if he doesn't want to answer. The less he speaks the less I want to punch him in the face.
"He wants me to become his next vessel." He spoke. He actually answered the question. I was really surprised at first but then I realized his answer had brought up more questions.
"What is a vessel?" I asked starting to sound like a toddler who asks questions about everything.
"Orochimaru is actually really old, but he doesn't age because every four years he takes a vessel to keep him young."
My brows furrowed as I thought over what he just said.
"Does that mean he is immortal?" I questioned.
"No, it just means he won't die of old age."
I watched his eyes in the flickering candlelight of the arena. Somehow it made him seem even scarier.
"So there is a way to kill Orochimaru?" I rolled over to face him and my green eyes fixed on his neck. His head was turned so I could see a mark that almost looked like a tattoo. Thinking back, I remember seeing it on him before.
"It is difficult. A life for a life. If you want to kill Orochimaru, you have to die with him."
The words slowly sunk into me. That is horrible, but still why hasn't anyone killed him yet? The realization dawned on me. Many people have probably tried to kill him, but he was a very powerful Ninja. None of them probably ever got close enough.
The silence filled me with a kind of emptiness and loneliness and I wondered about the mark on the back of Sasuke's neck. "What does that mark mean?" It slipped from my mouth before I could stop it.
Sasuke's hands flew to his neck and covered the mark. "It's nothing."
"You don't act like it's nothing."
"It sort of binds me to Orochimaru. That's all." He growled.
"Okay! I was just curious." I held up my hands in defense and he rolled his eyes.
"You know, you are not as strong as you make everyone believe. It's all an act." Sasuke spoke.
"I am plenty strong, thank you very much!" I snapped.
"That's not what I meant. You fight people yet you tend them when they are wounded. Strange combination."
I sighed, so Sasuke had noticed. I did the only thing I could think of. I said, "Thank you, Sherlock."
"But that is it, isn't it? You don't like seeing people suffering. I noticed with me, every time I winced you cringed. It makes you feel uncomfortable."
I couldn't deny him. "Whatever."
He corner's of his mouth tilted up and he let out a half-hearted attempt at a laugh. Clearly, he hadn't really laughed in a long time. He chuckled more as he said, "Tough, but sensitive."
This time I snorted and started laughing. It was good to laugh again, I am sure he felt the same way.
When 'training' ended we both went to our rooms. I paced around the room still smiling at how good it was to laugh again. But what I really needed was fresh air.
I had memorized the way to the hideout entrance and when I got there my face was tingling to have the wind in it again. I pulled myself through the hatch and stepped out into the darkness.
It was night, the stars and the moon glowed and made everything seem so peaceful. Inhaling and exhaling the sweet smell of nature I finally relaxed. Everything that was going on in my life and I finally relaxed.
I climbed a tree and scouted the area. No signs of life for miles around. I was just about to go back to the hideout when I heard a twig snap.
My eyes darted around and I saw a figure, through the darkness I could make out eyes, staring coldly at mine.
I jumped to the next tree, slid down it and ran, that was the only thing I could think to do. I had left my dang daggers back in the training room. Just when I thought I had run away from the figure, I heard its' footsteps.
Should I go back and trust that I could beat this person in a fist fight? No, that person would have a weapon and would be able to kill me instantly. Is this how I was supposed to die? I thought I was at least going to turn eighteen before I died.
A tree appeared out of the darkness and I ran smack bang into it. Hopefully without a concussion I continued to run. A kunai flew past my ear with a paper bomb tied to it. I knew from experience that it couldn't hurt me and so I kept running. The paper bomb exploded in a flash of fire and smoke and I just kept running.
Unfortunately, whoever was chasing me was much faster. I couldn't outrun him so I would just have to face him. I stopped in my tracks and the figure backed me into a tree. I was glad that Sasuke and I had spent heaps of hours learning Japanese. I was a quick learner and I could make out a little bit of what the figure said.
"You're just a little girl..." It was a man's voice. He chuckled and walked towards me. I felt an overwhelming sense of power and the man pulled out a wicked blade. It flashed and I screamed. "Now, now little girl, there will be none of that." He smiled sadistically and I knew at once that I couldn't take this guy. I had to run.
I twisted around the tree and I sprinted, hoping I got a good head start. I ran until I couldn't run anymore. There was a really big tree and I thought that if I could climb to the top, I could see anyone coming at me.
I grabbed the lowest branch and hoisted myself up. Like a climbing wall and monkey bars mixed together, I hauled myself up bit by bit until I reached the top.
Breathing heavily I let my eyes adjust until I could see the bottom of the tree. Sure enough, there was a figure there. Why wasn't he climbing?
My heart froze. Another shadow appeared. There were two of them?
Their whispers carried up to me. The first voice was the same as the one who had confronted me at the tree. "It is just a young girl, perhaps we should find someone else." I didn't understand all of it, but I understood enough.
The second voice was sharp, perhaps he was the leader. "No, we have to use her. She has seen too much, if she tells this to Orochimaru he will strengthen his defenses and we won't be able to get anyone else. So it has to be her. Besides, she ran through my paper bomb without a scratch on her. She is special." I only caught half of it. I had these guys after me because they couldn't get anyone else and they knew that I was special.
Oh crap. I had two people on my tail the entire time.
Breaking me from my distress was a vibration that shook the tree. I looked down and gasped. Were they cutting the tree down? Didn't they want me alive?
My life didn't matter to them. If I died, they would still be able to 'get someone else' whatever that meant. They were only worried about if I escaped.
I didn't want to die so I did the only smart thing I could possibly do. I climbed down the tree in hope that I could find a chance to escape.
The two men smirked when I reached the bottom of the tree. "Smart move girl." The first voice said.
"Please let me go." I managed in a barely recognizable voice. It was ragged and short of breath.
"Not in this lifetime sweetheart." Spoke the second man.
"There are two ways we can do this--"
"--the hard way or the easy way. Yeah, I know. Where are you going to take me?" I cut the first man off and held out my hands in case they had handcuffs or anything. I was surprised that I had remembered so much from what Sasuke had taught me. There was no way out of this situation but I could hope that I could escape at their evil lair or whatever.
"Smart move again girl." The first man smirked.
They tied a rope around my hands and put a gag in my mouth. The first guy slung me over his shoulder and started to walk in the opposite direction of Orochimaru's hideout.
"Congratulations girl, you have just been taken by the Akatsuki."
My gulp was barely audible.
******
In a way I think Winter is a lot like the rest of us, putting on a mask to protect herself. Some people use comedy, creating jokes or making themselves the joke so people don't look at them too closely. Winter puts on a hard outer shell tricking everybody into thinking she's strong but really she's not... thoughts?
This got deep real quick peeps, #PeaceOut
Love, Books4_Ever xx