Sasuke was fast. I’ll give him that. It’s been a little over two weeks since the food poisoning episode that Itachi and I had. I have to admit, when I woke the next day, I was sure I had dreamed of Sasuke talking to me. I was in my bed, as comfortable as could be, feeling dreamy. Then I saw the silly duck sitting out in the hall, a stressed frown on his features as I’d entered the room, searching for a kitchen to raid.
In the two weeks that had passed, I’d been training really hard to get back into the rhythm of killing things. I was past my former level of skill, and Sasuke and I were currently racing each other to see who was faster. Sasuke was using chakra. I wasn’t. The line where Itachi would declare the winner approached and I pushed chakra into my legs and flew like a bat outta hell.
I was almost a full three seconds ahead of Sasuke, and damn did I feel proud. Sasuke scowled playfully at me as I went back to my training, which included occasionally bombarding their ears with a foul string of curses that had to do with me hitting something by accident, usually my head. I shook my head and went back to target practice, throwing from every angle imaginable accurately until my arms ached and my head spun.
It took me the better part of the night to get to that point, which was ultimately my goal when it came to not using chakra for endurance. As the moon began to set, it was four in the morning and I was tired enough to go inside. I was starting to wonder if I’d placed too much faith in Deidara. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but it had been six weeks, a month and two weeks, after his suicide-type mission and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him. I was getting really worried. I walked inside the hideout and grabbed my half-eaten pocky box and some instant ramen.
Three minutes later, the pocky was gone and I was slurping up my noodles happily. It would be another four hours until anyone else got up, unless someone couldn’t sleep, so I basically had the place to myself. I turned the TV on, set the volume to something low but clear, and watched the screen mindlessly for two hours. In that time, I’d finished my noodles and had made several more boxes, which were now steaming around me with that wonderful instant ramen scent. Please note my sarcasm. It’s not that great a smell. It’s okay.
The “Big Day” was coming up. Soon. Like, two days or so, soon. That’s the biggest reason for my strict training regimen. I scarfed down the too-hot noodles and lay on my back. What should I do for two hours? That question was easily answered as a walking fish-stick came into the room. “Fishy!” I cried, glomping it with my arms and legs. The fish-stick froze, then sweatdropped.
“Erm... could you get off, Nayami?” Kisame asked, his face frowning with something like annoyance. I pulled my best pair of puppy dog eyes and pouted. Kisame looked conflicted before he sighed with defeat and allowed me to cling to him as he raided the fridge. He found some really old sushi and a box of seaweed.
“Um, Kisame? Don’t eat the sushi. It’s really old. I’ll make you some fresh stuff, alright?” I said. Kisame gave me a strange look. “I won’t kill you or anything, you can watch.” He shrugged, causing me to fall onto the floor. I gave Kisame a quick death glare and set to work finding sushi ingredients.
An hour later, Kisame had eaten all the sushi I’d made and was now glaring at the TV as it showed people cutting up some sharks. I wanted to laugh at his expression, but I knew if I’d do that, Kisame would leave and my entertainment would be gone. Now I know you’ve got to be asking, how is it possible for Nayami to make sushi when she practically killed all of Akatsuki trying to make toast? Well, the answer is, the toaster has it out for me. I’m able to make food. Decent food. It ain’t great, but it’s edible.
Dawn was coming soon. I felt it deep in my bones and sighed softly as I headed to bed. A low murmur of pain pulsed through my eyes but I ignored it. I slipped into bed and fell asleep, wishing bitterly that my revenge would come sooner.
Yoru’s eyes were wide as she raced through the trees, strangled gasps escaping her lips. She hurried away from the shadowy figure behind her, wanting nothing more than to forever escape his callused, roaming hands. Her feet were cut and bloody, and she knew none of her ninja training could help her here.
She tripped, and felt as if time had slowed. It suddenly sped up and she fell with a hard thud, her head colliding roughly with a tree root. She let out a strangled gasp of horror and hurried up and began to run again, her eyes glowing with terror and pain. Yoru glanced over her shoulder, noting how far away the criminal man was behind her. She was startled at their close proximity and sped onward, hoping for safety.
She collided with a man who towered over her, dark eyes gazing down at her emotionlessly. Yoru let out a terrified whimper which ended with a painful squeal as she fell backward. She got up and hurried in another direction, hoping for the life of her that the second man didn’t want to hurt and touch her the way the first man did.
Yoru screamed as she came face-to-face with the first man. “Come here, girlie. I promise it won’t hurt...” The man giggled. Yoru’s eyes were impossibly wide and showed a terror on a new, higher level.
“Please...” She whimpered, “Don’t come any closer! Leave me alone!” The girl climbed a tree and ran through the boughs as quickly as she could. The man below her cursed at her and began to climb slowly, trying to reach where she was, where the branches became slender and flexible. Yoru continued to hurry away, climbing to the top of the tree and launching herself from treetop to treetop as she held in what felt like burning tears.
The second man, who’s dark aura was instantly recognizable, watched with a bemused frown. (A/N: bemused means confused. Amused is funny, or humored. Just to clear that up.) He wondered why the girl was running from the man and appeared next to her in a murder of crows. The girl started with fright at his sudden appearance and scooted as far back as she could on the tender tree branch, fearful of his dark eyes and the weak boughs. “Why do you run?” He asked.
Yoru’s glowing eyes held unmasked terror, along with exhaustion and an unspeakable amount of pain as blood trickled from a gash on her scalp. “He’s going to hurt me. He wants to do... things to me.” She whimpered. “Things that hurt and feel bad and wrong and ugly.” The man’s eyes darkened as they began to glow an eerie red and he stared at the clumsy figure who had followed the girl.
A terrified silence ensued and the dark man jumped from the tree. Yoru squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to fend off the cold and the fear as a scuffle sounded below, and then a hard, body-shaking thud. With her sensitive hearing, Yoru could tell that the two men were talking. The first man was speaking in a pleading and persuasive tone, perhaps begging. The second man was speaking in a hushed tone, his voice low, cold, and threatening.
Yoru crawled to the tree’s study trunk and wrapped her arms around it tightly, trying to imagine it was someone who cared for her. Her late foster family and ‘sister’ were at the very back of her mind, hidden behind worried thoughts of what the two men could be doing. She squeezed a few tears out of her eyes and brushed them away hastily, not wanting to show her weakness although she knew it was clearly evident. A warm hand softly gripped her upper arm. Yoru let out a shocked gasp as her eyes flew open.
She calmed slightly as she spotted the emotionless man. His face was stony, but his eyes whispered of a secret sort of warmth. The man, who she now recognized as a boy not too much older than herself, met her fearful eyes evenly before he drained himself of his cold exterior. “He gave you quite the scare, didn’t he?” The older boy said. Yoru shuddered visibly and nodded a bit.
“He’ll come after me. He always does.” Yoru whispered with a trembling voice. “He says he likes me. He lies and tells me everything is fine, but afterward it all just blurs and hurts so badly.” The boy smiled softly at her.
“It’ll be fine from now on. Trust me. I just have one favor to ask of you in return for this.” Yoru nodded eagerly. She wanted to please. She wanted to repay the debt. “Very soon, something bad will happen to the Uchiha clan. Do you know of them?”
“A little.” Yoru admitted. The boy smiled kindly at her.
“After what happens happens, I need you to go to the main household and find a small boy named Sasuke. Can you do that for me?” He asked. Yoru smiled and nodded.
“I can do that.” She whispered.
“I know this may be a little out of line, but if you can, I’d like you to take care of him as best you can. You’re Okami no Yoru, right?” Yoru shrunk back at the sound of her new nickname. She hated it. She despised it. Noticing this, the boy stopped. “Sorry, Yoru. I didn’t know you didn’t like that name. Either way, I ask that you take care of him for me. I know you’re night-bound, but do your best, alright?” Yoru nodded. “Can you promise me?” Yoru crossed her heart with a finger and spoke softly.
“I promise to look after Uchiha Sasuke to the best of my ability.” She whispered. The boy nodded and smiled.
“Thank you, Yoru. Please stay safe. I must be going now.” The boy disappeared with a rush of air.
I opened my eyes sleepily and growled at the lateness of the morning light. I still had another five or six hours of possible sleep. With a small smile, I rolled over and hoped for another memory.
The sound of small sniffles reached Yoru’s ears. It broke her heart into a million different pieces, but she made no noise. She was a ninja, and had recently been promoted to a Jonin level after passing the Chunin Exams with her team. The stadium had been darkened to a midnight-like setting by her jutsu and in the end, due to her obvious advantage, she’d easily won.
She patrolled the outside of the house, murmuring small, inconsequential jutsus to protect the occupant inside who cried so bitterly at such a young age. Yoru slid the door open, her heart beating in her throat. What if she was too late? What if she was wrong? What if she was passing some unspoken boundary of the grieving?
With her eyes lit brightly, Yoru shrugged off her worries. She was merely here to comfort the boy, not to take him home or ask too much of him. She stepped inside and after merely minutes, the boy had launched himself at her. She accepted the blows he dealt her, She could feel the anger, fear, and sadness that he passed to hear with each hit and kick and swallowed those feelings, hoping something would soon stop him. It hurt, being hit.
Eventually, after little talking and some hugging, the Uchiha boy was asleep in her lap. Yoru held the boy close, feeling great comfort from their closeness. She’d finally found someone like her, someone with no family left. Someone whose family had left them unexpectedly.
She found her eyes watering slightly. Why was it allowed for families to die? Who deemed them worthy? Who deemed it fair? Yoru held in an angry growl. It wasn’t fair for children as young as the one she held to be stripped of their loving, protective, comforting families to be left alone in a cruel, cold world. Yoru relaxed after a few minutes. She gazed out the window for a second and froze in terror. Glowing red Sharingan eyes were watching her. She relaxed as she realized, very slowly, that the eyes belonged to whom her debt was owed. She nodded to the eyes and went back to murmuring to Sasuke. She was content.
My eyes peeled open slowly and I welcomed the darkness of my room. I wanted to smile, but I didn’t. Instead, I took a shower, got dressed, and went out to relax. Hidan was sitting in the living room, bored out of his mind, so I grabbed his arm and announced we were leaving to have a few drinks. As I dragged Hidan through the streets of a nearby village, he remained unusually silent. After a few minutes, I dragged him into a bar and we sat and waited for the bartender to come to us.
“Aren’t you underage?” Hidan suddenly asked. I flushed a thousand shades of red and nodded. Hidan smirked suddenly and threw an arm around my shoulders. “ ‘Atta babe!” He said. “That’s the way!” I rolled my eyes in a good natured way and ordered some sake as Hidan got some other sort of beverage.
Twenty minutes later Hidan was passed out and I was dragging him home, my drunken footsteps uneven as I giggled my way home. We entered the base and I tossed Hidan into his room before I giggled again and went to the living room. I held a not-so-full bottle of sake in my hands as I stumbled in, sipping it continually as I screamed at the TV when the actors became stupid. I was grinning when midnight hit and I passed out completely.
The migraine I had was on the thin line of insanity. I was curled up in a ball, my hands tightly wrapped around my ears and my eyes shut to keep the lights out. With every noise, I wanted to claw my ears off and hit my head until I passed out again. I’m not the type of person who deals well with headaches, of any sort, shape, or size. I pried my eyes open, cast a darkness jutsu, and stumbled into the living room, searching slowly for any sort of painkiller. I was lucky that I wasn’t drunk enough to puke, but I still got a killer headache. I walked over to Kakuzu. “Please, please tell me you have painkillers.” I said in a pleading voice. “My head feels like Deidara’s art blew up in it.” Kakuzu chuckled, sending pain waves in my ears. I cringed. “C’mon, Sasori do you have any?”
Sasori shook his head, focussing on the TV, a self-satisfied smirk painted onto his face. I felt like slapping him and instead snorted my disbelief and went to search for painkillers. Two hours later, my migraine had left, but my head still hurt a bit when I moved too fast. It was fine though. I was out training again, getting ready for tomorrow. Suddenly, panic swept through me. I gently knocked on Pein’s office door and hoped he was still awake.
It felt like an hour later (it was really about two minutes), but Pein emerged, his eyes looking a bit sleepy. “What is it, Nayami-chan?” He asked. With my panic-stricken eyes, I spoke.
“I know the chances may not be very high, but in case either of us dies, I want to teach you the reanimation jutsu that I use, alright?” I said. Pein’s brow furrowed. “Please?” He nodded slowly and I pretty much dragged him outside.
“We don’t have a dead body or anything, so I’ll have to show you, and show you what it feels like, alright?” I said, motioning for him to sit. Pein nodded, his eyes focussing sharply. I could tell he was the type of person who was always eager to learn. I held my hands up and began to instruct him. “First of all, to do the jutsu, you need to have good chakra control, which we both know you have. This jutsu works mostly with your hands, but it’s possible to use other parts of your body for it.” Pein frowned.
“What do you mean?” He asked. I sighed slightly and though for a moment.
“To answer your question, let me explain the jutsu first, and if you still don’t get it, ask again, alright?” I said. Pein nodded. “To begin, this is not medical ninjutsu. It has no medical aspects in the chakra, really. First, you concentrate your chakra into your hands. They’ll glow blue, and that shows that you’ve done it correctly.” I demonstrated, and my hands were enveloped in blue chakra. “Next, since the person is dead, you’d place your hands above their heart, like so.” I placed both my hands over the place where Pein’s heart would be. I took my hands away after a few minutes. “Then, you’d... how do I put it...” I murmured. I imagined what I’d done before, and then spoke again.
“After you place your hands over the heart, you’ll... pour your chakra into the person you’re reanimating. It’ll take up a lot of chakra. You should be able to feel it replacing their own and circulating throughout their body. After a few minutes, their heartbeat will pump to match your own until they’re alive. Don’t remove your hands until after the person wakes and makes. To be extra safe, allow them to make a movement, and then you can stop the jutsu.” I said.
“I have no idea what it feels like to be reanimated, but if you’d like, I can show you what it feels like to replace chakra.” Pein nodded. “I’ll do it to you first, and then you can try it on me.” I placed my glowing hands above his heart and slipped my chakra into him. His eyes widened as my chakra flowed through his chakra network and his ‘heartbeat’ matched pace with my own. I stopped after a few minutes.
“Now do it to me.” Pein’s chakra hesitated as it entered my system. “Keep going, you’ve got it.” I murmured as it began to circulate. My blood seemed to move just a little bit faster as my heart stuttered until it matched Pein’s ‘heartbeat’. “Now, to stop, you just stop giving them chakra.” I said after a few minutes. Pein’s chakra stopped after a few seconds. I gave him a closed-eye smile. “That’s pretty good! However, in the beginning your chakra hesitated. You can get away with it, but it would be best if you just pour it in. This jutsu should heal wounds and illnesses at the time of death.” Pein gave me a half-smirk.
I punched him in the shoulder and went back to my training until the sun threatened to rise. Pein had decided that for the best results, he’d carry us there and we’d begin at around midday, so I could catch some Z’s and be fully prepared. I took a shower, toweled off, got into my ninja clothes, a black tank and black pants with customary black ninja sandals. I put on my Akatsuki cloak and tied my crossed-out black Konoha headband across my forehead, where it was supposed to go. I allowed my bangs to fall over it, to protect my eyes from harsh light.
I packed my kunai, shiruken, and other weapons into my weapons pouch, and placed a few scrolls that held weapons inside in the pouch as well. To finish, I did my bandages around my arms, from shoulders to palms. I fell asleep fully dressed and ready so that we’d get out of here quicker when Pein decided to leave.
I woke up not too long after midday. Instantly, I hissed at the light as I covered my eyes. I pulled out the black cloth I had that still smelt faintly of Deidara and placed it over my eyes before I stood. “Well good day to you, too, Nayami.” Konan said pleasantly. I gave her a cheeky smile.
“I’d rather call it good night, but I guess it wouldn’t work for you “normal” people.” I said slyly. “Good day, Konan, Pein.” Pein told me his plan in a meticulous manner before he told Konan he’d be going in. Quickly, he summoned his other Paths and used them to get himself in. As for me, I walked in through the front gate, eyes happy at the chaos.
Everywhere, the homes of people who’d fed from my pain, my sweat, my blood and tears, were torn down and burned. I laughed and felt Pein’s chakra calling to me. I quickly transported myself there and landed beside him with happy thud. I gazed about at the destruction.
“Who are you?” demanded the Fifth Hokage. Her brown eyes seemed tired but fierce. For a moment, I wanted to run up and hug her, but then I remembered. The pain and the tears, the horrible feeling of guilt and loneliness. I growled at her and gave her a painful, vengeful smile.
“You don’t even remember me?” I asked her calmly, my head tilting to one side as I stepped to Pein’s side. “How pathetic.” Pein gave me a small smile before he turned to her.
“Don’t forget, Nayami-chan, you have changed from who you used to be.” He said, gazing at the four ANBU and Hokage emotionlessly, although a hint of smugness was evident on his face. I nodded.
“Of course, Pein-sama.” I replied. “You’d think they’d know my chakra at least, but then again, I was disposable to them.” Pein nodded, his arm snaking around my shoulder in a show of possession.
“Yo... Okami no Yoru?” One of the ANBU stuttered. I growled menacingly at him. The Hokage’s eyes widened suddenly.
“OKAMI NO YORU!” She bellowed. I growled at her as well, and she took a step back, shocked.
“I’m not a fucking wolf!” I hissed under my breath. I looked at Pein. “Do I have four legs, a tail, and two ears at the top of my head?” I asked. He shook his head, rolling his eyes. I nodded. “You’d think they’d know that.”
“Yoru... what are you doing?” Tsunade asked. I looked calmly at her but didn’t answer for a long time. “This... isn’t Konoha your home? What happened to the Will of Fire? What happened to the eager, loyal shinobi I knew?” I laughed suddenly, catching her off guard.
“You think this is my home? You dragged me here! You wiped my memory and stole me from my remaining family! Will of Fire my ass! No place like this deserves loyalty when it comes at such a price!” I said, my voice low and edgy. “I hate you. I hate Konoha. I hate everyone here who I protected! I was nobody, and I still am nobody!”
“Yoru...” Tsunade started.
“My name isn’t Yoru! I’m not a wolf! Don’t call me by name!” I shouted loudly. “You never knew me! You still don’t!” I wanted to cry, and Pein could fell the angry tremors that shook my body.
“Don’t worry, Nayami-chan. Everything will be fine. Don’t you agree? All you need is to have them grow up.” Pein said. I nodded quickly.
“Y- Nayami... what is this? What are you doing?” She asked. I glared at her, the breeze allowing my hair to swish away from my face as I untied my headband and gazed at her with my powerful Rinnegan eyes.
“This is your fate when worlds collapse.” I said. “I took my pain. Now, I’ll give it back.” I tucked away the cloth and performed several handsigns. “Demonic Summoning: Night Wolf!” I shouted.
In seconds, the Night Wolf was behind me, his large snout resting on my shoulder lightly as he bared his teeth menacingly at the Hokage. “Wait, Yoru! Look, I think there’s something we can do here. You leave, in exchange for the Akatsuki member.” I glanced at Pein. He eyed the Hokage.
“Oh? What Akatsuki member do you think you have?” He asked. The Night Wolf bared its large canines for emphasis. Tsunade shouted a few unintelligible orders before a familiar sight was brought before my eyes.
“Deidara, for Okami no Yoru to leave.” She said, bringing forth the beaten blond rogue. He was shoved practically into my arms.
“Deidara?” I whispered, my eyes tearing as I brushed away his dirty hair. His blue eyes gazed at me blankly. “Deidara!” I shook him slightly. “C’mon, don’t you recognize me, babe?” I whimpered, shaking my hair out of my eyes. “Say something.” Deidara didn’t react. “If you’re worried it genjutsu or something, I promise, it isn’t! Please, Deidara!” He was slow to react, but eventually, his hands came up and squished my face, his hand mouths licking my skin a little. I let him, hoping he’d say something, anything.
“C’mon, Dei-kun, say something.” I whispered, watching his eyes look my face over. “Anything, Deidara. Please? I love you, Deidara. Just please, please say something.” He opened his mouth.
“Something, un.” He said instantly. I checked his chakra quickly, and identified his as the real thing, before I hugged him as tightly as I could.
“Smart ass.” I whispered. “I love you.” Deidara’s hands knotted into my hair as he pulled me closer. Suddenly, anger overtook me, and I tensed. “Dei-kun, stick with my clone, alright?” I quickly made one. “Go where the clone goes. I’ll know everything she does. You need to get away from here, please.” I said, holding him at an arm’s length as I studied his face, forcing him to understand. “Stick with my clone, follow her where ever. Don’t leave the clone.” Deidara nodded hesitantly before he spoke.
“Alright, Yami-chan, un. I’ll go with your clone. I love you, un.” He stood next to the clone.
“I love you, too.” I said, waving at him as the clone and my recently recovered boyfriend transported to a safe area I knew of. I glared at the Hokage.
“How dare you! How dare you take him!” I hissed furiously. “For this, you will pay.” I whispered. Pein and I disappeared. I told the Night Wolf to wreak havoc where ever it felt like it inside the village. I eyed the place with distaste. I’d punish Konoha. I’d punish them all!
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*slowly peeks around corner* Hello~. I’m sorry for such a late update, and for leaving you with a cliffy, but at least Dei-kun is back! *glomps Deidara* ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it and didn’t feel like stabbing me with sharpened sporks!
Until Next Time,
Fallen :)