Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.
Spoilers: Many.
AsininityChapter Six
By A.Renika
The sky was velvet blue, with the tiniest hint of pink, and stars still shone vividly against its background, as if guarding over the earth with vigilant eyes. As the stars continued watching the world sleep, a squirrel scurried up the tree to its hidden nest, exhausted after moving all the nuts he'd found to his new private nest. He usually didn't go out searching for food in the middle of the night, but there were times when you just knew that something was about to happen. And the forebodance had taken its toll upon the poor animal, causing it to act against its nature.
The man with onyx eyes focused solely on the blank wall in front of him. His face remained impassive, while a million things that ordinary people would never bother to think about ran through his mind. He, however, was no ordinary man, with extraordinary powers. Everything about him screamed power right in your face.
He had once been a boy, carefree and jovial, his only goal was to surpass his older brother. His older brother, who loved him, cared for him and encouraged him. He would succeed so much that people would stop comparing him to his brother. He would be himself, wholly. He hadn't needed to think so much then, he only had to concentrate on his performance in Ninja Academy. He needn't plot against someone so malicious, so malevolent, that evil reeked off him. He was happy.
But that happiness was ripped cruelly, brutally from him at the tender age of ten. His older brother had massacred the entire Uchiha clan. His older brother had looked at him with such cold, blank eyes. A killing machine. A ruthless man. His red Sharingan, so bloody, so evil, that it was forever imprinted in his memory.
And he spared him.
He became the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, while his older brother turned against the country and disappeared, leaving only one message: Come find me when you hate me.
And hate him he did. He hated him with every fibre of his being. He trained, every day, excelling in his many classes, working only towards one goal: Killing him. But it wasn't enough. When he met him again, he failed against him, a second time. Your hate is not enough…
If it wasn't enough to stay in the country, he needed out. And he turned his Uchiha symbol to the country, leaving, forever. This resolve would be enough. This time, when they meet, he will kill his brother. He had endured so much from his master. His master, who was cruel, sadistic and absolutely nasty in every possible way.
The onyx eyes narrowed.
Itachi will die.
Morning dew reflected the early morning rays as the world began to wake. Ants scurried frantically out from their anthill to begin another day of hard menial work. Bees buzzed from flower to flower, collecting nectar and transporting them back to their Queen. Small animals peeked out from their homes, ensuring the area was clear before dashing out to gather more food for another day's survival. Everywhere, nature was taking its course, bustling with life and energy.
A curious rabbit wandered into a patch of land concentrated with many different types of greens. He tasted one of them – yuck! – and spat it out immediately. These greens were nasty, even worse than the most common grass found in the middle of dry, arid land. The flavor was simply horrendous. And they looked well cared for, too!
Suddenly the rabbit's pupils dilated as he picked up footsteps approaching from a distance. He crouched low, afraid to move in case he alerted the stranger of his presence.
A shadow fell over him and his body went into shock when he felt pressure on his furry little body. His breathing increased tremendously as his heart sped up, his body taut and ready to dart for shelter. But – oh – what was that, the pressure began moving up and down his body, miraculously calming him and soothing his anxiety. Soon he was arching into it, enjoying the stroking immensely.
"Those can't taste nice," a sweet voice like a melody rang out from the shadow.
Of course he couldn't understand, but the voice sounded nice. Finally, he risked himself and turned to look at the stranger. It was a human. He began to feel tense all over again. He had been warned about humans before; they were out to kill his kind.
As if sensing his thoughts, the strokes increased in an attempt to reassure him. "I won't hurt you."
He liked the sound, somehow. He decided that it would be safe with this particular human. This human didn't seem keen on hurting him. Feeling relaxed, he let out a yawn when the human scratched a particularly good spot. The human continued patting him while the other hand got busy with other things.
All the while, the human made the sound he loved so much.
"The morning is the best, you know. When the whole world is about to wake up, yet still asleep…
Beautiful creatures like you reveal yourselves, finally…
And there seems to be peace even if chaos rules my world for the rest of the day.
Keeps me sane, you know?"
The human kept making the lovely sound and the rabbit nudged the hand when it stopped stroking him.
The human let out a tingling sound that was joy to his ears. He was glad that the human was happy. Wishing to hear more of it, he continued nudging and nuzzling the hand.
"You are one precious thing…"
Sakura gazed at the adorable rabbit joyfully. It had been a while since someone gave her attention, and tried to make her happy. She laughed cheerily as she scooped the rabbit into her arms, and cradled him like a baby. She stroked his long ears blissfully, enjoying the soft touch of his fur. And that was when she noticed the small birthmark on the tip of his left ear. Caressing the spot gently, she lowered him onto the ground reluctantly. It was getting late; she had to do what she had to do.
The rabbit didn't seem to want to go. He kept close to her side while she plucked out the wild weeds that had crept their way into her private garden. He seemed to enjoy eating the weeds too. Sakura grinned when she saw that he hadn't touched any of her herbs. They probably tasted horrible to him.
Scanning her entire garden, Sakura nodded in satisfaction when she saw that all the wild weeds had been removed. Crouching low, she began examining her herbs, picking out the ripe ones that she needed. The rabbit continued watching her, hopping alongside her as she moved now and then.
Pleased with the full basket she had collected, she picked it up, ready to leave. Sakura bent down to face the young white rabbit.
"You keep yourself alive now, all right? You can have those weeds you liked so much if you want. Keep my garden healthy, won't you?" Sakura whispered, rubbing his ears lightly between her fingers.
He didn't know what the human was saying, but he did know that the human was leaving. He could feel it from the way the human caressed his ears. Perhaps the human would be back again. The greens seemed to be the human's, after all. And so, he turned and dashed off, back into the safety of his burrow.
Sakura watched forlornly as the rabbit ran off. She was back into the real world now. The sun had fully risen and it was now beating mercilessly down on her face. The magical appearance of the world in the morning had disappeared, leaving Sakura with the cold and heartless world she had come to know.
Then something burned on her finger.
Turning away, she left her private garden.
Perhaps the rabbit would welcome her tomorrow morning.
"Where the hell were you?" Deidara fired at her the moment she stepped into the house. "Now we're probably going to be late because of you!"
Tobi sat silently next to him, as usual, and said nothing.
"I hurried back the instant I received the message," Sakura retorted in annoyance. Setting her basket down in the kitchen, "We can go now."
Akatsuki worked in ways she had never imagined. The Leader, whom she had yet to catch a glimpse of, was rich. He gave each pair – in their case, trio – a place to stay. Akatsuki made money from the numerous odd missions they took on; their price being more affordable than most others, so their services were more popular amongst the poorer countries.
But besides that, Akatsuki had another goal, which was to gather the strongest powers ever to walk the earth and combine them together. Their mission was to capture the foxes, from the one-tailed, to the ninth-tailed. Searching for them was the difficult part, since no one knew who they were sealed within. And as the number of tails increased, so did the difficulty to overpower them.
Akatsuki members weren't just traitors of their countries, either. They were well built, sturdy, tough and absolutely resilient. They attained and adopted extraordinary skills that made them almost invincible. They were all self-motivated, constantly seeking more power and more strength. They were greedy and merciless, cruel and brutal. In short, they were wild animals spinning out of control.
Above all, each and every one of them was a professional. They worked together when it was needed, no matter how many disputes they've had before or how much they really just want to stick the dagger in their partners' throats rather than their enemies'. They got things done, and that was that.
The trio reached the entrance of the dark cave.
"Stupid spelunkers," Sakura muttered under her breath, like the very first time she'd been in there.
The Leader silenced the cave without even clearing his throat. The whole place just fell silent; you could hear a pin drop.
"Something is brewing for our ex-Akatsuki member, Orochimaru," The Leader began, going straight into the point. "Deidara, Sakura and Tobi, you'll be going to Sound for information."
"Yes." The three of them replied instantaneously.
"You will finish him if he is not dead by then."
"Of course," Deidara replied boldly. "I've been wanting to lay my hands on him for a long time…yeah."
Sakura scoffed. Another thing about Akatsuki was that they were men. Men who were egoistic, proud and absolutely intolerable beings when it came to showing off.
"Sakura-chan! Why won't you let me just blow the whole thing up? Yeah?" Deidara whined, hands already preparing to form a seal.
"Because, you baka, if he's not in there then there's no point!" Sakura retorted, angry at his impatience. It was hard to work with a person raring to go only at the most inconvenient times. Deidara had a tendency to act on impulse, completely ignoring Sakura's specific instructions and screwing up the whole plan. Sakura often lost her temper with Deidara because of that, and Deidara wasn't happy at all with being told off. And they would argue again. In short, they couldn't work together.
Tobi came with them this time. He had kept quiet though, not interfering with the plan, but not taking part in any of it either. Like always, he was just the audience.
The blonde continued fiddling with his hands, fidgeting, as if trying very hard to hold back.
Sakura glared daggers at Deidara. "Do you want me to break your wrist?"
He finally seemed to notice the black cloud above her head, and took her threat seriously.
Sakura, on the other hand, was nervy and jumpy. Here she was again, so near, yet so far… She hadn't liked this place at all. And the mere thought of the laboratory gave her the creeps. Yet, this was the place she had finally seen him, after so many years…
Her heart churning with mixed feelings, she inched forward. She had to face it sooner or later. If she had the choice she would have chosen the latter, but the matter wasn't in her favor.
Taking a deep breath, she focused her mind. There were three guards this time, much lesser than the previous time they had attacked. Sakura huffed. Men. They were all the same. They think highly of themselves and thought themselves the smartest of all. Well, she was about to outsmart him.
"Hey, Tobi. How about you go in and take a look…"
A/N:Finally, I get to the part where I've been itching to write for ages. Rest assured, Chapter 5 and 6 aren't redundant, just dull. Get ready for more action in the next chapter! It's going to be a challenge for me -- fighting scenes are definitely not my strongest point. I'm still honing my skills!
Give me a little support here, yeah? ;)
Anyway, I appreciate you guys adding me into Story Alert, Favorite Story, etc., but I'd like to hear more from you guys. If you know what I mean. Yeah, I mean clicking that little 'Go' button and giving me a bit of your thoughts.
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R&R, as always.