Pic of the Two Tailed Beast --->
Third Person’s POV
The two Stone Ninja bound easily across the ground at an impressive speed, not tripping at all over the uneven, rocky surface beneath their feet. They’d lived in the Land of Earth all of their lives, so rough terrain was something they’d grown accustom to.
“….Hey Tsuka” the brown haired Ninja addresses, glancing down at the rolled up papers in his hand.
“Mm?” the second Stone Ninja responds, casting his partner a half interested look.
“I know we’re supposed to wait for Lord Tsuchikage to read these papers” the brown haired man begins, pursing his lips in though, “But maybe we should check them first? Just to make sure they’re legitimate?”
“What’s the point Kikatsu?” Tsuka asks with a shrug. “We don’t even know what the papers are.”
“Yeah but…..” Kikatsu stutters, before running his free hand through his hair and smiling cheekily, “I’m curious. What’s so important that Lord Tsuchikage had to hire the Akatsuki to steal these for us?”
“I get what you’re saying” Tsuka sighs, “But I don’t think it’s a good idea. Just trust that Lord Onoki knows what he’s doing……”
Here Tsuka trails off, rolling his eyes as Kikatsu begins to slow down, already unrolling the mysterious papers.
“Or you could just completely ignore me and go right ahead.”
Tsuka has no choice but to slow down as well, turning around and walking back over to Kikatsu, whose eyes are eagerly travelling over the now unrolled paper in his hand. Placing a hand on his hip, Tsuka peers over his partner’s shoulder, curiosity getting the better of him now as well.
After a few moments of reading, his face begins to drop into a confused frown, brows knitting together.
“We really hired the Akatsuki to get this for us?” the Stone Ninja questions, as Kikatsu tilts his head to the side, mouth screwing up to the side.
“I bet Lord Tsuchikage wasn’t aware this was just a copy of the Bingo Book” the brown haired Shinobi comments, rolling the papers back up and sighing. “What a waste of time and money……He’s going to be annoyed.”
“Well, we haven’t looked at the papers” Tsuka replies flatly, “So how can we know that it was a waste of time and money?”
** Time Skip **
About two weeks later
Ashley’s POV
Cold water splashes beneath my feet as I race across it, the sound echoing strangely in the dark tunnel around me. From behind me and also to my right, I hear two more sets of feet sprinting across the water, Hidan and Kakuzu right on my tail.
“She’s very fast” Kakuzu speaks up from behind, “So make sure you keep focused on her.”
“What do you think I’m doing?” I grumble under my breath as I roll my eyes. “My Kekkei Genkai is activated, we’re not about to lose her any time soon, no matter how fast she is.”
“Well if you’re so good” Hidan mocks, coming up on my right, “Then why aren’t we f*****g catching up to her?”
“Because you’re so slow” I bite back, turning my head to the right and casting Hidan an annoyed look. “If you weren’t here I’d have caught up by now!”
“Little bitch….” the silver haired man mutters in response, face contorting into an annoyed scowl.
I hold in an irritated sigh and focus my attention back on following our target’s footsteps, having to sense for her presence now that she’s completely out of sight.
About twenty minutes ago, we’d happened upon the Two Tails Jinchuuriki up in the mountains surrounding the Hidden Cloud Village and as soon as she saw our cloaks, she disappeared down into this cold, dank, horrible place. I think it’s an old sewer, though the water isn’t flowing very well, so I’ve no idea if it’s actually still in use….The walls are crumbling, and I’ve seen more than enough rats skulking along the concrete pathways down here. In short, it’s gross, it’s dark, there’s a weird smell and I can’t wait to get back out into the fresh air.
“Left here” I suddenly say, making a sharp left turn down yet another connecting tunnel. Kakuzu and Hidan follow me without question, with the purple eyed man reaching up to grab onto the hilt of his scythe.
Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I focus my attention on the Two Tailed Beast’s Jinchuuriki’s presence, her light footsteps so clear in my mind, she may as well be standing right in front of me on a sunny day.
“She’s just up ahead” I say lowly, reopening my eyes. “She’s run into a large cavern with a whole maze of connecting tunnels…..We better hurry up.”
“Heh, no matter” Hidan grins. “If she’s just up through that doorway there, I’ll hook her with this! Hyaaa!”
With a war cry that borders on psychotically enthusiastic, Hidan hefts his large scythe forwards at speed, the cable attached to the hilt screeching as it unravels rapidly.
“We’re not suppose to kill her yet Hidan….” Kakuzu sighs grouchily, no doubt shaking his head.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since partnering up with Hidan and Kakuzu, it’s that they get on each other’s nerves…..All the time. It’s not like when I was around Tobi and Deidara, where Tobi’s childish antics annoyed the blonde, this is for real. I can sometimes feel how much Kakuzu wants to kill Hidan, and I’ve no doubt that he’s tried in the past, but the thing that annoys him the most, is that he physically can’t kill Hidan. I’m not entirely sure how it all works, but I do know that Hidan follows some strange god I’ve never heard of named Jashin, and somehow, through blood and sacrifices, he is able to maintain an immortal existence.
Kakuzu is basically an immortal as well. He won’t go into detail, mostly because I don’t think he likes me, but I know that the green eyed weirdo has numerous hearts inside his body. They were all stolen from elders of the Hidden Waterfall Village, a place I don’t think I’ve heard of before, but again, Kakuzu isn’t exactly the sharing type.
I’m very curious about the two of them, but I can see now why Kisame was calling them the Zombie Combo….
Following the steel cable of Hidan’s scythe, I sprint through the wide tunnel doorway and come to an abrupt halt, with the two other Akatsuki members pulling up on either side of me.
Looking straight ahead, I see the same tall, very pretty blonde woman we came across up on the surface. Her dark eyes are narrowed at us, and I see her shoulders rising and falling as she breathes heavily, no doubt a little tired from all of the running she was doing.
‘……My chakra….’ I hear Hakuba mumble in the back of my mind, no doubt growing a little restless. ‘I can feel it……’
‘She’s the host of the Two Tails’ I reply carefully, not wanting to agitate Hakuba further, though I know this is only going to get worse before it gets better. ‘That is most definitely some of your chakra in front of me.’
‘And yet you stand before it with the intent of bringing it back to the Akatsuki’ my Demon replies, to which I am unable to resist sighing out loud.
‘Just trust me, okay?’ I ask simply, ignoring the condescending laugh that echoes through my head. Why does he have to be such an ass all the time?....
‘…….Hmmm’ I wonder internally, narrowing my eyes at the Jinchuuriki ahead of me. ‘How are we going to get you out of this alive my friend?......And how do I make it look legit?.....’
“Let’s finish this” Kakuzu says in his deep voice, to which Hidan pulls out a small, beaded necklace. He holds it in front of him, a small circle symbol with a triangle in the middle of it dangling from the chain.
“Not just yet” the Jashinist objects. “Before we do that, I have another whom I must confer with.”
“…Does he do this often?” I question Kakuzu, casting Hidan a side long glance.
“Unfortunately” is the annoyed response. “You can be such a pain in the neck sometimes Hidan…..”
“Hey, it’s a f*****g pain in the neck for me too ya know” Hidan is quick to snap, lowering his necklace and glaring at his partner. “But I have no chose, because the rules are very strict.”
The Jinchuuriki stares at us cautiously for a few moments, before her lips turn up into a smirk and she slaps her hands together, performing a hand sign.
“You’re a bunch of idiots” she scoffs, dark amusement in her eyes. “You think you’ve got me trapped, don’t you? Well, in fact, I am the one that has trapped you!”
Hearing a faint sizzling sound from above me, I tilt my head back and glance up, only for my eyes to widen as I see an exploding tag burning across the doorway.
Not bothering to warn Kakuzu and Hidan, I throw an arm up just as the tag explodes, sending rocky fragments blasting in all directions. Looking around, I see that the Jinchuuriki had somehow managed to place exploding tags in every doorway, causing them all to blow to pieces.
“What the…..” Kakuzu trails off, looking up as large fragments of rock float above our heads, before his green eyes drop down to me. “…I see.”
Placing one hand on my hip, I lower the arm I’d raised, dropping the large rocks to the ground around us. Though the doorway behind us has now been completely blocked off, like all of the other doorways, I’d at least managed to prevent us from getting crushed by the large amount of debris.
Dust flows around our feet, a result of the massive rock falls, as the Jinchuuriki lowers herself into a fighting stance, eyes narrowed.
“Now that I know you’re all members of the Akatsuki” she begins lowly, “I won’t be letting you escape.”
“Well, looks like we walked right into a f*****g trap” Hidan comments, not sounding at all concerned.
“No matter” Kakuzu replies, glancing between myself and Hidan. “This only makes things easier…..She can’t get away now.”
“My name is Yugito Nii of the Hidden Cloud Village” the blonde woman growls dangerously, “And the three of you are through!”
“Hey!” Hidan barks irritably, jabbing an accusing finger at Yugito. “You better watch your f*****g mouth and stop making threats like that. When people start getting f*****g full of themselves and start talking all tough like that, it really gets me f*****g annoyed. When I get annoyed, then I get mad. And when I get mad, then I lose my temper!”
“Shut up Hidan” Kakuzu interrupts, much to my relief. Once Hidan gets going, it’s basically impossible to stop his mouth from running. He never listens to me if I tell him to shut up, but he usually cools it a little when the orders come from Kakuzu.
“Okay, okay” Hidan smirks, shrugging a shoulder, “I’m just sayin. Sometimes when I lose my temper I get an overwhelming urge to just forget about our objective and destroy everything in my f*****g path!”
“Enough” Kakuzu reiterates, sounding annoyed now. “Our mission is clear and absolute. We need the Jinchuuriki alive.”
“Heh, yeah well” Hidan continues, a dangerous look flashing through his eyes as he focuses his attention back on Yugito, “This mission goes against all of my beliefs. The rule of Jashin is to destroy everything and leave no survivors. I don’t really feel like doing a mission that goes against those rules…….I may not look it, but I’m a really f*****g virtuous man. To have to resist killing a bitch like you is a huuuuge struggle for me…..”
‘…..What kind of religion is this?’ I can’t help wondering, sweat dropping as I glance at Hidan from the corner of my eye. ‘He’s a complete psychopath……’
“Perhaps we can come to a conclusion through negotiation?” Hidan suggests, still smirking at Yugito, who narrows her eyes at the suggestion. I can’t imagine she’ll really want to discuss coming with us willingly….
My eyes start widen, as Hakuba suddenly begins growling lowly, clearly agitated by something.
‘My chakra’ he utters darkly, ‘It’s growing stronger……And I want it back.’
‘Growing stronger?’ I repeat in confusion, looking over to Yugito again. Hakuba says the Two Tails’ chakra is growing stronger, yet I can’t sense anything. I wish I could sense the chakra of Tailed Beasts the way Hakuba can, but I suppose it would be easy for him, considering it was originally his own power….
“So let’s make this real easy” Hidan continues confidently, “Just give up and come with us.”
Her face twisted into an angered scowl, Yugito drops down onto all fours, the water around her begin to ripple. The bandage holding her long hair back suddenly tears away, allowing her hair to flow around her like a Lion’s mane.
“You must be joking!” the Cloud Ninja shouts, eyes now glowing. My eyes widen as I suddenly feel a powerful and stinging, yet faintly familiar, chakra pulsing out into the air.
‘Can you feel it now?’ Hakuba questions darkly, rising to his feet and walking up to the steel bars sealing him inside my psyche. ‘My chakra, she’s utilizing its power……How dare that wench use my power so freely?! Give it back to me!’
‘Calm down Hakuba’ I urge in my mind, as Yugito becomes shrouded in a cloud of steam, her chakra reacting to the water below.
“I’m going to take that as a no then” Hidan comments, lips pursing in thought.
“Are you an idiot?!” Kakuzu snaps, glaring over at his silver haired partner, before turning his attention back to Yugito.
I tilt my head back and stare with slowly widening eyes, as Yugito swiftly takes on a new, impressive form. Two thick, swirling tails swish back and forth behind Yugito, her entire body now encased in a powerful mixture of blue fire and blazing chakra. Having taken on the form of the Two Tailed Beast, Yugito now resembles a gigantic, demonic Cat, though the form is actually somehow quite beautiful. Large and intimidating, but beautiful all them same.
Her two glowing eyes, one yellow and one green, narrow down at the three of us, before Yugito raises one large, clawed paw and slams it down on top of Kakuzu with a mighty roar.
The tall man grunts as he throws his arms up and catches the Two Tail’s paw, before the weight grows too heavy and he is crushed into the concrete with a loud boom.
“Are you f*****g kidding me?” Hidan asks, finally retracting his scythe back towards him. “What kind of Jinchuuriki is this bitch? She’s completely given over to the Beast.”
“I hardly think you should be worrying about that right now” I hiss, watching as Yugito retracts her paw, causing the wall behind where Kakuzu had been standing to crumble. It tumbles down into the hole Yugito had created when she’d crushed Kakuzu, burying the green eyed man underneath the debris.
I pause at the sound of something crackling, only to turn around and see the Two Tailed Beast’s jaws wide open, a huge fireball forming in front of it.
“Uh oh” is all Hidan is able to say, before Yugito shoots the flaming sphere right at us, the fire singing the rocky floor as it passes over.
Hidan is quick to leap out of the way, though I just scowl at the incoming fireball and throw both hands out in front of me. Though I may have been training with my Wood Style and Sharingan a lot in the last few months, I’ve been slack with practising the use of my Katsuryoku. There’s no time like the present to start though.
Focusing my Kekkei Genkai, I grit my teeth and exhale sharply as the fireball roars right towards me and suddenly comes to a jarring halt right in front of my palms, though the velocity behind it causes me to slide backwards.
Straining against the fireball to keep it from continuing forwards and engulfing me, I crack one eye open and glance back over my shoulder, quickly spotting Hidan hiding behind a large, broken piece of one of the walls Yugito destroyed earlier.
A bead of sweat dripping down the side of my face due to the intense heat of the fire burning in front of me, I drag my arms over my head and send the large fireball soaring over it. Making sure to fall over backwards, I can’t help smirking when Hidan lets out a shout as the fireball collides with the rock he’d hidden behind, causing a massive explosion that sends fire and small pieces of debris in all directions. A hot wind blows viciously throughout the tunnel, when the Two Tails lets out another furious roar.
‘Stop abusing my power!’ Hakuba demands furiously, scratching at the steel bars with his sharp claws. ‘Give it back to me! I want my power back!’
“Hakuba” I whisper pleadingly, sitting up on one elbow and watching the Two Tails when it pauses for a moment, its odd eyes resting down on me. “You’ve gotta stop freaking out, or you’re gonna attract its attention just like you did with the Three Tails!”
‘Do you think I care?!” the Ten Tails snaps back at me, his red eyes blazing furiously. ‘This human is wielding my own power right in front of me, and I want it back! That strength does not belong to her, or any human!”
“I get it” I reply softly, bracing myself as the Two Tails begins to growl at me and lowers itself to the ground. “I totally get it, but I really need you to calm down so your chakra doesn’t flare up and annoy the Two Tails any more…..The other Tailed Beasts don’t like you remember?”
‘Don’t tell me things that I informed you of in the first place’ Hakuba snaps, baring his teeth viciously. ‘I would tear that pathetic, inferior creature before us apart with my own claws if I could. Its power is nothing compared to mine! I want to-’
With a loud roar, the Two Tails interrupts Hakuba’s furious rant and launches itself right at me, teeth bared and arms outstretched to tear me apart with its monstrous claws. I feel my heart pound against my chest with fright, before I spin around focus chakra into my feet, leaping high into the air.
Glancing down below me with wide eyes, I watch the Two Tails slam into the ground with a heavy thud, before the cat like creature turns its head to glare up at me with annoyance. Clearly it’s not happy that it missed me. No doubt it’s sensed Hakuba’s angry presence now and it wants to get rid of me. Fantastic. This is just going to make things that much more difficult.
Blinking rapidly, I can’t help sweat dropping as I see the Two Tails forming another powerful fireball, directed right at me of course. It swiftly snaps its jaws closed, sending the flames hurtling through the air.
Throwing my hands down and quickly raising them back up, I drag the water from down below and pull it high up into the air. It swiftly forms a thick, watery barrier in front of me, before the fireball slams right into it with a jarring bam.
While I use my Katsuryoku to push against the fireball and keep it away from me, the vacuum wave of the speedy fireball coming to such an abrupt halt sends me tumbling back down towards the ground.
I hit the dirty water heavily, taking a few seconds to actually determine which way is up, before bursting above the surface and kneeling on my hands and knees, chakra keeping me atop the water.
Gross. Who knows how long this water has been sitting here, and what’s actually been in it…..Its best not to think about it, especially seeing as the Two Tails is now running towards me.
‘I have to figure out a way to let her escape’ I think to myself, pushing myself to my feet and frowning at the incoming Two Tails. ‘All of the entrances are blocked now, so we’ll have to burst our way out I guess….’
Spinning around on my heel, I begin sprinting away from the Nibi, my hair and cloak streaming out behind me. I run swiftly across the water, with the Two Tails hot on my heels, her booming footsteps shaking the ground.
I run straight towards the wall on the opposite side of the room, away from Hidan and Kakuzu, before skidding to a halt and spinning around. I glare up at the Two Tails challengingly, performing a set of hand signs.
“Lightning Style” I cry, smirking behind my mask as the Nibi opens her jaws and begins creating yet another fireball, “Black Wolf Jutsu!”
Lightning nature chakra quickly starts to build up inside my body, black sparks flickering across my skin and sending a tingling sensation through me, before the electricity separates itself from me.
As the lightning forms into a large wolf like creature beside me, I quickly reach down into my weapons pouch and dig out some old explosive tags, weapons that I hardly ever use, and hold them behind my back, subtly sticking them to the wall I’m standing in front of.
May as well make the bang as big and powerful as possible.
Smirking to myself knowingly as the Two Tails launches its third fireball at me, I swipe my arms down towards the ground as I jump up, creating a blast of wind that sends me rocketing even higher than normal.
Flipping around as I near the roof, I focus chakra into my feet and hang from the ceiling. Squinting my eyes and throwing an arm in front of my face, I watch as the Nibi’s fireball collides with my wolf and explosive tags, causing a huge explosion that lights up the entire cavern. I have to close my eyes at the brightness of the fire, a burning hot wind tearing my clothes and hair backwards.
I suck in a pained breath as the wind burns at my skin, before it quickly dies down and I am able to reopen my eyes. I can see that the Two Tails is temporarily stunned, shaking its head to try and rid itself of the temporary blindness it probably got from the explosion happening right in front of its face.
I cut off the chakra flow to my feet and drop down from the roof, spinning around and landing easily in a crouched position in front of the Two Tails, head tilted back to watch the Beast and wait for it to notice me.
‘Take back my power’ Hakuba orders in an ominous sounding whisper. ‘I want it back……I need it back!’
“I’m sorry Hakuba” I reply softly, face turning serious as the Two Tailed Beast’s head suddenly snaps down towards me, teeth bared, “But I just can’t do that right now…..”
Whirling around, I break into a full out sprint, disappearing through the hole in the wall that the large explosion had created.
With an enraged roar, the Two Tails takes off after me, intent on tearing me to pieces. I don’t even need to activate my Katsuryoku to keep track of the Beast behind me, seeing as her massive body makes the whole ground shake every time her paws make contact with it.
I sprint across the water at an impressive speed, if I do say so myself, not wanting to slow down and run the risk of having the Tailed Beast catch up to me. I could go faster if I used the All Fours Jutsu, but I hardly want to lose the Two Tails. I need to get this Jinchuuriki up to the surface and make her disappear before Hidan and Kakuzu have the chance to catch up. And no doubt they’ll be after us any second now….
I suddenly make a sharp right turn, skidding across the water’s surface, just as the Two Tails launches another powerful fireball at me, though it continues in a straight trajectory and completely misses me.
The Two Tails roars angrily at this and follows after me, its shoulder crashing into a wall as it also skids around the corner.
“We’re not too far from the surface now” I say to myself, feeling a tiny bit breathless. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to full out sprint like this, and it certainly takes its toll on the body. “Just gotta try and blast our way out of he-”
I come to an abrupt halt and stare at the wall in front of me with wide eyes, amazed and annoyed that I’ve found myself at a dead end.
“Well……shit” I sigh, shoulders drooping. “If we can just blast through here, she’ll be able to escape.”
Activating my Katsuryoku, my shoulders immediately square back up and I suck in a sharp breath. Hidan is already on his way towards us, and Kakuzu isn’t too far behind.
“Dammit, why?” I complain out loud, throwing my head back in frustration as I turn around to face the Two Tails. “Why can’t things ever just be easy?”
The Nibi responds with a furious roar, to which I can’t help scowling. Can’t this stupid woman figure out that I’m trying to help her here? I wish I could somehow send her a telepathic message, so she’d stop trying to kill me and just blast her way out of this grotty, old sewer.
If I really wanted to kill or capture her, I’m sure I could’ve by now, especially if I had’ve taken the time to assist Kakuzu and Hidan.
“Can’t you just leave me alone and get the hell out of here?” I growl at the Two Tails, giving in to my annoyance for just a moment and crossing my arms. “I don’t know why you’re wasting your time coming after me when those two are running here to capture you. Blast through this damn wall and you’ll be outside you stupid Cloud Ninja.”
The Two Tails responds with yet another roar, the sight of yet another forming fireball causing me to sigh. Can’t she just listen to me?
Although, to be fair, I am wearing an Akatsuki cloak right now, and Yugito doesn’t know me from any other Akatsuki cloak wearing person, so why should she trust me?
Damn logic….
“Time to put you out of your f*****g misery Beast!” a familiar voice calls, making me want to slam my face against the wall. Why?!
Staring into the glowing orb that is forming in front of the Two Tails’ mouth, I heave a deep sigh and place my hands together.
“This…..Is going to suck” I mutter, performing rapid hand signs. “Lightning Style: Black Wolf Jutsu!”
As another wolf like creature made of black lightning forms beside me, I quickly perform another set of hand signs, nodding my head at the wolf to stay put and turning around to run at the Two Tails.
“Fire Style” I cry, “Fire Wolf Explosion!”
Placing a hand in front of my mouth, I blow out a large amount of small fireballs, with all of them swiftly morphing into flaming Wolves, steam rising from their feet as they touch the water.
Scowling at the Two Tails as it roars angrily and sends its fireball shooting towards me, I drop down and slide along the water’s surface. I close my eyes as I travel right under the Two Tails, when the fireball she’d shot at me makes contact with my highly explosive fire wolves.
As soon as the fireball makes contact with my trail of wolves, they begin bursting in quick succession of each other, the trail leading all the way back to the large electrified beast still standing by the wall.
With one final, huge explosion, a large hole is ripped in the sewer wall, though my back is immediately slammed with a blast of burning hot wind, fire and rocky debris. I can’t help crying out as I am blown of my feet, the wind accelerating my speed and sending my flying straight into Hidan, my head colliding with his chest.
We both crash heavily into another wall, with the both of us groaning in pain for a few moments, when everything around us falls silent.
“Ahhhh” I complain, slowly sitting up and shaking my head, “My back…….That fire was hot!.....”
“I think your f*****g head broke my ribs” Hidan snarls at me, pouting like a child. “Aim better next time.”
“It’s not like I had any control over that you know!” I snap right back, sitting up on my knees and throwing my hands on my hips. “I was doing all of the work anyway, so you can’t complain about anything!”
“And a great f*****g job you did too” Hidan retorts sarcastically, bending his knee and slinging his arm across it, pointing behind me with one finger. “The target got away.”
“What?!” I explode, whirling around. “Are you kidding me?! After all the work I did, it ran away?!”
‘……It was right in front of me’ Hakuba mumbles solemnly, hanging his head and resting the top of it against the steel bars of his prison, ‘And it got away……Again……’
‘I’m sorry Hakuba’ I apologise sincerely, feeling bad for the Ten Tails for some reason. ‘There was nothing I could do for you in this situation…..I wouldn’t even know how to absorb the Two Tails.’
‘I need to be in control for that to happen brat’ Hakuba sighs, closing his eyes and raising his head, before turning away. ‘……You are right. This is not an ideal situation for that to happen……’
“Ha, the Boss is gonna f*****g kill you for this!” Hidan laughs gleefully, just as Kakuzu appears around the corner, looking like he wants to murder someone.
“I’ll kill her first” the green eyed man growls, narrowing his eyes at me, before switching his glare to Hidan. “And I’d kill you too if I could. You were even more useless than her. All you did was run your mouth. If you had’ve kept quiet, we could have caught her before she turned into the Two Tails.”
‘What’s Kakuzu on about?’ I wonder dryly, crossing my arms. ‘He literally did nothing. I mean, he was crushed into the concrete and buried under all those rocks, but still. He did absolutely nothing…..’
“…..We had better get in contact with the Boss” Kakuzu mutters, casting Hidan and I one more irritated glare, before turning around and heading back the way we’d come from.
Uh oh.
Third Person’s POV
“Ashley-chan!” Tobi cries as soon as he spies the blonde girl, excitedly jumping up from his seated position atop a boulder. “You’re back! Yaaaay!”
Trailing behind Hidan and an annoyed looking Kakuzu, Ashley pauses in her walking and glances up, a deadpan expression crossing her face. Not that Tobi could see it however, considering Ashley still had her Wolf mask on.
Deidara rolls his eyes as Tobi jumps down from the boulder, one arm slung across his bent knee, back leaning against the rocky wall of another Akatsuki hideout. While he didn’t hate Ashley or anything, he didn’t overly like her either. She could be amusing at times, but the fact that she was an Uchiha like Itachi just made the blonde teen’s blood boil. If she so much as looked at him with her Sharingan activated, Deidara was going to blow her to smithereens.
“Stay back” Ashley orders flatly, holding out her hand. Tobi is unable to stop before his face smacks into Ashley’s palm, and he ends up falling to the ground in a heap.
“I-It’s nice to see you again Ashley-chan” Tobi stammers, placing one hand to his head as Ashley merely steps over him, not caring much for conversing with the dark haired male.
Tobi was probably her least favourite Akatsuki member, purely because he was so annoying and touchy feely. Not to mention he kept saying things that made Ashley suspicious of him.
“Looks like you guys failed too hm?” Deidara asks knowingly, smirking to himself as Hidan casts him an irate scowl.
“Shut the f**k up brat!” he snaps, before jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at Ashley. “It’s her fault. She let our target get away!”
“It wasn’t my fault you idiot Jashinist!” Ashley shouts angrily, whipping out a kunai and flinging it at Hidan’s head with murderous intent. “Stop blaming me!”
Hidan reacts quickly to the thrown kunai, pulling out his scythe and using it to deflect the knife easily. It ricochets off of the scythe and falls to the ground uselessly, making Hidan smirk.
“Pathetic” he mocks, making Ashley growl under her breath. She was growing very weary of Hidan saying this was all her fault, and was considering the possibility of trying to kill him.
Hands balling into fists down by her sides, Ashley grits her teeth as two pillars of earth rise up out of the ground on either side of Hidan. He glances between them curiously, eyebrows rising up as the pillars take on the shape of two sinister looking serpents.
“You really piss me off” Ashley utters darkly as she flicks one wrist, when the two earthen snakes suddenly launch themselves at Hidan, jaws agape.
As Hidan bounds out of the way, not looking too concerned, one of the snakes dives towards his feet, causing the Jashinist to jump up. As he does this however, Ashley manoeuvres the second snake towards Hidan’s shoulder, with its mouth latching down onto his scythe.
“Hey!” the silver haired man protests, landing back on the ground and spinning around, glaring at the snake with the scythe in its jaws. “F*****g give that back!”
Swaying gently from side to the side, the snake suddenly reels backwards, causing the cable attached to Hidan’s scythe to unravel swiftly.
Deidara watches on with amusement as Hidan goes flying across the room, Ashley’s earthen snake having yanked him backwards. The blonde couldn’t help faintly admiring Ashley’s ability to control elements like the earth with such ease. If he was honest, it was really quite beautiful art, though its calibre was nowhere near that of his own creations.
“Look you irritating little bitch” Hidan spits, dangling in the air as Ashley’s second snake coils itself around his middle, “You’re lucky I haven’t sacrificed you to Jashin yet, but once I get down from here, you’re f*****g dead!”
“I’m not scared of your made up religion or god” Ashley retorts icily, pushing her Wolf mask up to the side of her head, revealing that her Sharingan is activated. Without another word, she crouches down and leaps up into the air, flipping around, before she lands on the coiled up body of the snake wrapped around Hidan.
Rising slowly to her feet, Ashley finds herself looking down into the face of a scowling Hidan, her eyes cold and unfeeling. Hidan is unable to react, seeing as his hands are bound to his side, though he can’t help kicking his legs in frustration.
He hadn’t been expecting her to create these two annoying serpents, but if he had’ve been ready, this little girl would’ve already been dead!
“Seeing as I can’t kill you” Ashley mutters lowly, holding Hidan’s chin with one hand and lowering her head down so she is at eye level with him, “How about I just trap you in an eternal Genjutsu?”
Hidan’s eyes widen slightly as the red tomoe in Ashley’s begin to spin rapidly. Before she can cast her Genjutsu on the Jashinist however, Ashley’s Sharingan allows her to see the chakra of two more people.
Whirling around, one arm outstretched, Ashley makes the earthen snake with the scythe in its mouth dive in front of her, taking a barrage of kunai knives to the stomach.
“Unfortunately you won’t be killing any more Uchiha today” the blonde girl states nastily, straightening up and narrowing her eyes at the person who’d thrown the kunai.
“Oh, that’s a little cold don’t you think?” Kisame questions with a chuckle, his face lit up with a shark like grin. “You’re family after all aren’t you? You should play nicely.”
Ashley remains silent as she glares at the man beside Kisame, top lip lifting in distaste and revealing her sharp teeth, gritted together. Itachi stares right back, his red Sharingan eyes looking into Ashley’s inverted ones.
His face holds no emotion, as if his cousin’s words had meant nothing to him. Despite her ever growing anger towards Itachi, Ashley knows that she still cares about him, and no matter what he did, she always would. It was the same with Sasuke. Though they’d both given in to darkness, they were her beloved cousins, and she’d always have a small amount of faith in them.
Now was not the time to show that love though, seeing as Itachi had just thrown a handful of kunai right at her.
“Release him” Itachi orders in his soft, yet firm voice, to which Ashley growls loudly.
“You don’t order me around” she retorts challengingly, clenching her hand into a fist and causing her serpent to restrict even tighter around Hidan’s body.
“No, but I do” a deep voice suddenly booms, causing everyone but Ashley and Itachi to look up. The two cousins continue to stare at each other, Ashley’s brows furrowed and her mouth turned down in a scowl.
Though her heart was beating against her chest, Ashley’s ego wouldn’t allow her to back down. Scared or not, the Minami’s pride was stronger than her fear of Itachi.
“Now that we have all gathered” the Akatsuki Leader begins, materialising on top of a boulder, “Where is the Jinchuuriki?”
Here Kakuzu turns to Ashley and Hidan, his green eyes narrowed. Apparently he wasn’t going to be the one doing any talking. In his own mind, the Jinchuuriki’s escape was not his fault, but Ashley’s and Hidan’s. Though he had his money from the Stone Village, so Kakuzu wasn’t too upset. He’d prefer cash over a Tailed Beast any day.
“This brat…..L-Let her get a-away!” Hidan chokes out, struggling to talk due to his body being crushed by Ashley’s snake.
“It wasn’t my fault!” Ashley snaps, whirling around to glare at Hidan, before turning her attention to the Akatsuki Leader’s flickering form. “I was the only one who fought the Jinchuuriki! This idiot here just ran his mouth and made her angry, so she transformed into the Two Tails and destroyed him!”
“She didn’t f-f*****g destroy me” Hidan argues, before Ashley swipes her hand down, causing the snake to suddenly release Hidan and disappear back down into the earth. Hidan falls to the ground with a yell and a thud, placing one hand on his ribs and glaring at Ashley as she drops gracefully to the earth.
“You always seem to be on the team that fails to catch f*****g Tailed Beasts” the Jashinist accuses, picking up his scythe from the ground beside him, as Ashley’s other snake had also disappeared. “You’re a f*****g jinx!”
“I suppose I was with Itachi and Kisame when they failed to catch the Nine Tails as well then?” Ashley asks boldly, making the former Mist Ninja’s eyes narrow a little.
He pulls Samehada down from his shoulder and points it at Ashley.
“You weren’t with us” Kisame recalls, “But you were there. That was the first time I ever had the misery of seeing you.”
“So once again, my time has been wasted” the Akatsuki Leader sighs, interrupting before another argument can break out. “I grow tired of this……”
Here the Leader pauses for a moment, placing one hand over half of his face and subconsciously tapping his finger tips against his forehead. Seeing that no one is going to say anything, Deidara sighs and rises to his feet, dusting off his cloak.
“Well, seeing as this is going nowhere” the blonde announces cheekily, “Tobi and I will be off to capture the Nine Tails hm, like we were trying to do before we were interrupted by this meeting.”
Ashley’s neck wrenches around at this, her eyes focusing down on Deidara, who is now smirking at Itachi. They were going after Naruto?
“And we’ll actually get the Jinchuuriki hm” Deidara states pointedly, grinning as Itachi’s eyes flick down to him for a brief moment. Kisame casts Deidara a dark look, mouth turning down into a frown.
“I suggest you keep walking and stop talking Deidara” Kisame warns, tapping the hilt of Samehada. “We wouldn’t want things to get messy now.”
“Oh, they won’t hm” the blonde teen replies loftily, hooding his icy blue eyes. “We’ll be sure to do a good job. Come on Tobi!”
“Coming Deidara Sempai!” the dark haired male responds, saluting. “Buh bye Ashley-chan! Be a good girl while Tobi is gone!”
Ashley gives Tobi a strange look, when the Akatsuki Leader drops the hand from his face and raises his head. He’d had an idea. He was still suspicious of Ashley, and while two of the three missions she’d been on had resulted in failure, he still felt like she could be of some use to the Akatsuki. It was mainly because of the abilities she possessed, but he was only willing to give her one more chance.
“Deidara and Tobi” the Boss addresses stonily, making the two pause, “Take the girl with you. You’ll accompany her on her next mission.”
“Huh?!” Deidara cries in disbelief, his eyes turning into wide, white circles. He didn’t want to travel with her again!
“Yaaaaaay!” Tobi shouts with joy, throwing his arms in the air as he races back towards Ashley. Before the girl can protest, Tobi wraps his arms around Ashley, pinning hers to her sides, and lifts her up.
“Tobi gets to be with Ashley-chan again!” the dark haired male sings, swinging Ashley from side to side and resting the side of his head on top of hers. The blonde girl grows an anime vein, but before she can really hurt Tobi, the Akatsuki Leader begins talking again.
“While Deidara and Tobi will be heading down to the Land of Fire” the Boss booms, “I want you to locate Orochimaru’s hideout. I have received information that he is currently residing in a hideout not far from the Land of Fire’s border.”
“Y-You want me to go after Orochimaru?” Ashley questions, managing to free herself from Tobi’s death grip on her.
“Correct” is the Akatsuki Leader’s stony reply. “I want you to infiltrate his hideout and recover the stolen Akatsuki ring he still has possession of.”
“…..I thought you didn’t want me to go after Orochimaru until I’d proven myself to you?” Ashley asks slowly, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes suspiciously. Surely it hadn’t been that easy to impress such an intimidating man.
“This is your chance to prove yourself to me” the Boss states seriously. “And Ashley…. …..”
Here the Boss narrows his eyes at Ashley, making the girl growl internally, not liking the threatening aura emanating from him.
“Don’t bother coming back if you fail this mission” the Akatsuki Leader states darkly, “Or we’ll kill you.”
Ashley stares back at the tall man for a few moments, before she hoods her eyes and flicks her Wolf mask down, turning to leave.
“Understood” she mutters lowly, heading for the exit with an excited Tobi and an irritated Deidara in tow.
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