Status: Active.
Bursting Red
Informal inductions.
My eyes glazed over the shallow dips in his collarbone, inky dark shadows pooling around the sharp edges. “What’s going to happen to me Deidara-kun?” I managed to drawl out, his body shifted above me and I could smell the panic sweeping his pale skin. Can you hear me? I couldn’t even catch a tone on my own voice, it was almost like I was drowning, smothering.
“What the hell were they thinking?!” He cried out, gripping frantically at the blood stained cloth that was sticking to my dull flesh. “Bastards!” It almost made me laugh, they all said I would be dead by the time I got here. Well, I’ve been here for over forty minutes and my heart is still beating. It’s an amusing story really, by now I couldn’t feel much, I was numbing at a fast rate but altogether I was more at peace than I had been for a while. I wanted to tell him just to let me go, that there was nothing here for me anymore. But I couldn’t spit it out and he just kept trying to pull me back together…
-------------------------
When we had arrived at the base, Itachi forced Deidara to let me walk on my own for reasons left unsaid. It was what I would expect a secret base to look like, discreet. A large rock blocked our way fully intact with what Deidara called a five seal barrier which was no sooner deactivated and we were allowed entrance. Heads turned as we entered, grins, malicious grins flooding my vision. There was at least four people in the room we walked through, or more appropriately, stumbled through. “So it’s true, is it?” A silver haired man stood tall, walking over to us with a smirk on his thin lips. My head lifted slightly and I locked onto his violet eyes earning a startling laugh in return.
“You were informed?” Kisame turned towards the manic man with a curious gaze.
“We all were. Now, wait- what the hell is this? She’s hardly alive!” His hand wrapped around my chin and forced my head back up. I could hardly see but I saw the hunger in his eyes. It was like putting a rabbit into the lion’s den. These guys wanted to rip me to shreds, wanted to see my blood splatter the walls. I suppose they weren’t classified as criminals for handing out candy though, nothing less than I had assumed.
“Let her go, now.” Deidara snarled lowly, arching his shoulders back from behind me. Hidan spared him a daring glare and clenched harder, moving my face so that I could stare directly into Deidara’s threatened stature. I whined in response to the pain but didn’t dare shift away.
“Hey blondie, is that any way to talk to your superiors? Well?” With as much force he could manage he pushed me out of the way, stumbling, I hit the ground with a loud cry. The rest happened so quickly I could hardly recount it but I know the silver haired man was flung backwards with a wail and no sooner did I feel Deidara wrap his hand around mine. I was on my feet in a flash and we were heading towards the large boulder that blocked our escape, from coming in they had never replaced the seal, leaving the exit more vulnerable than care should allow. For a slight second he let go of my hand and I began to stumble towards the floor with my throbbing leg being useless, his hand slapped against the rock and it trembled. He caught me as swiftly as he could and we were off again. Funny, time almost seemed to stand still while everyone watched in mock amusement. The air outside was a refreshing blast of chilling wind and the minute we hit outside the archway he pounced off the ground and into the air over a small body of water, my hand clamped around his with a strength I didn’t know I possessed. Especially at this time.
Like an angel without wings, I was flying through the air. Half dead already so it seemed.
Copper colored strands of hair invaded my vision as I turned my head back to watch the chaos ensue. Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori stood at the entrance just watching. But that other one, the one Deidara had pushed back was dashing forward with an undeniable rage on his face. No sooner did I catch a flash of red fly nearly beyond my vision.
And it hit me.
The three bladed scythe that man wore on his back was imbedded deep within my right arm, he was gripping a rope attached to the end of the handle with a smug grin plastered across his sharp face. Naturally, I released my grip on Deidara, my eyes wide and my mouth tight with pain. As the blonde shinobi looked back he watched with horror as I fell back through the air, my left hand struggling to free the blade from my arm. In the process I cut my fingers open on the blade. A stupid mistake on my behalf. The water lie below me and I hit against it with an impact I was surprised didn’t kill me. The small amount of water broke my fall slightly yet I still spat forward a fair amount of blood when I landed. “Nezumi-kun!” Deidara shouted, landing beside me with rage painted on his delicate features. The scythe flew back into the hands of the manic man and he laughed.
“I better work on my aim, I missed her neck completely!”
I understood. You take a toy away from a misbehaving child and he’s bound to behave to get it back. I was a toy and Deidara, a mere child begging for a treat. He had no choice but to listen if he wanted me to live. “Just listen to them Deidara!” I cried out, my chest rattling as I screamed at him. His hand inched back in shock, his mouth parted open and he stuttered something before yelling loudly and standing up.
“What the hell is it you want from me, hm?!” The others looked down on him mockingly.
“Be a good boy and I won’t have to kill your little pet. That’s all.” Hidan muttered, still angry at Deidara’s shove back in the main opening. The water was draining my blood too fast, it didn’t have time to coagulate and I was already running low. My left hand gripped onto Deidara’s pant leg to let him know it was now or never and he looked down at me with sympathy in his cyan eyes.
“I’m sorry, I truly am.”
And my world was painted black…
“What’s going to happen to me Deidara-kun?” He was moving on top of me and I could feel the slight numb tug of what I guessed was a needle and thread. A bead of sweat ran off his forehead and fell onto my outstretched palm, sliding over my knuckle and curving towards the fold of my palm. Can you hear me? Even to me my voice sounded thick, if I was even talking, I couldn’t tell. The room we were in was dark and smelled dusty, old almost. But I could nearly see Deidara’s mouth moving in makeshift words. Let me go, I don’t have anything worth living for now… But he didn’t hear me. Slowly my consciousness came back and I felt beneath me the crooked folds of a rough linen blanket, Deidara was still moving, crouched above my sprawled out form. Deidara’s outer robe was off and exposed underneath was his netting shirt. It was torn and stained with my blood.
“Nezumi, say something, hm. Anything.” I heard from a great distance.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked quietly, reopening my eyes to meet his startled ones. He collapsed to my side in a fit of relief, pleased to see me still alive. It was a shame I couldn’t say I felt the same. The pain was unbearable, my head was pounding and my leg in comparison to my arm was child’s play. When he noticed I was trying to move my arm he sat up and told me no.
“I did all I could…but there were parts even I couldn’t fix…” Ignoring him, I desperately moved my arm up to my face. To my relief, everything was there. Five fingers and the rest. I moved my hand to form a fist and it hit me bluntly. Two of my fingers weren’t moving in sync with my other fingers, in fact, they weren’t moving at all. My pointer finger and my ring finger were stuck in a curled state, relaxed to the point where it looked natural but strangely obscene at the same time.
“My fingers…what happened?” I trembled, my voice showing proof of the tattered state I was in.
“Nezumi-kun, the nerve damage inflicted…I mean, you’re lucky you even have an arm left, hm.” He called it lucky but it was all his fault to begin with. My arm fell against the bed and despite the pain that swept my nerves, I didn’t cry. I didn’t do anything but regret every choice I had made. All I ever wanted to do was love him, unconditionally. But I suppose I used that word too lightly. “You know Deidara,” I said, eyes fixated on the dull ceiling above me. He didn’t move or meet my eyes, he knew. “I can’t paint without this hand. I can’t draw ever again. My passion, my art, it’s all nothing now…I’m nothing. What am I without my creations but a runaway waitress without a cause…”
Nothing, I was absolutely nothing in this world anymore.
“We’ll find a way…” He started but I cut him off quickly.
“You tell me you grew up, that you couldn’t be that naïve little boy anymore? Well, you’re more naïve than ever before. A monster, a killer…a criminal. And you can’t even say you love me back…maybe I’m the one being naïve after all.” He looked down at me with a sadness in his eyes, but he didn’t reply. He had nothing left to say to me. “Tell me, where are we now?”
“In the sleeping quarters. For you and I.”
“Then they aren’t killing me?” After the way he had been behaving, I wouldn’t blame them if they cut me out.
“I don’t know yet, hm. I don’t know anything as of now.” I gave a single nod in understand and closed my eyes. I couldn’t take this. Deidara shifted next to me and I realized he had turned his back to me, it would have been nice to see him cry right then. Maybe it would have proved to me he had even so much as a shred of humanity left in his body. But all he ever did was hide it all away, I guess it didn’t matter either way. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a pile of clothes, on top was the red and black robe the other members toted.
“You don’t look good in black.” I said suddenly, he tilted his head towards me slowly with a raised eyebrow.
“Nani?”
“Black isn’t your color Deidara-kun. It’s too dark for someone with your coloring, it’s depressing. I wish you wouldn’t have to wear that ugly thing.” He smirked and shook his head.
“I don’t understand you Nezumi, hm. I don’t think I ever have.”
“Then you’re not looking deep enough, because quite frankly, you could read me like a book.”
-------------------------------
“What do I do with the girl?” Itachi spoke, raising his scarlet eyes to meet the hologram figure that stood before him, unmoving and stoic. Breaking out of thought the shadow figure raised his head higher at Itachi, all seriousness in his wide eyes.
“How is the boy reacting?”
“Rash, she was almost killed by Hidan and as of right now, he’s sewing her back up in hopes she lives.” The leader made the Uchiha uncomfortable. It wasn’t the power that bothered him, it was the ongoing mystery that shrouded their controller. If he were to be taking orders, as expected, he would have rather it be from someone who he had at least seen the face of.
“I see. Give her two weeks if she’s not dead by tonight. When that time is up, make the boy kill her. If he wants power and peace within himself, he must not keep treading blindly ahead.”
“Understood.” Itachi turned his back just as the hologram flickered away into nothing again.
“What the hell were they thinking?!” He cried out, gripping frantically at the blood stained cloth that was sticking to my dull flesh. “Bastards!” It almost made me laugh, they all said I would be dead by the time I got here. Well, I’ve been here for over forty minutes and my heart is still beating. It’s an amusing story really, by now I couldn’t feel much, I was numbing at a fast rate but altogether I was more at peace than I had been for a while. I wanted to tell him just to let me go, that there was nothing here for me anymore. But I couldn’t spit it out and he just kept trying to pull me back together…
-------------------------
When we had arrived at the base, Itachi forced Deidara to let me walk on my own for reasons left unsaid. It was what I would expect a secret base to look like, discreet. A large rock blocked our way fully intact with what Deidara called a five seal barrier which was no sooner deactivated and we were allowed entrance. Heads turned as we entered, grins, malicious grins flooding my vision. There was at least four people in the room we walked through, or more appropriately, stumbled through. “So it’s true, is it?” A silver haired man stood tall, walking over to us with a smirk on his thin lips. My head lifted slightly and I locked onto his violet eyes earning a startling laugh in return.
“You were informed?” Kisame turned towards the manic man with a curious gaze.
“We all were. Now, wait- what the hell is this? She’s hardly alive!” His hand wrapped around my chin and forced my head back up. I could hardly see but I saw the hunger in his eyes. It was like putting a rabbit into the lion’s den. These guys wanted to rip me to shreds, wanted to see my blood splatter the walls. I suppose they weren’t classified as criminals for handing out candy though, nothing less than I had assumed.
“Let her go, now.” Deidara snarled lowly, arching his shoulders back from behind me. Hidan spared him a daring glare and clenched harder, moving my face so that I could stare directly into Deidara’s threatened stature. I whined in response to the pain but didn’t dare shift away.
“Hey blondie, is that any way to talk to your superiors? Well?” With as much force he could manage he pushed me out of the way, stumbling, I hit the ground with a loud cry. The rest happened so quickly I could hardly recount it but I know the silver haired man was flung backwards with a wail and no sooner did I feel Deidara wrap his hand around mine. I was on my feet in a flash and we were heading towards the large boulder that blocked our escape, from coming in they had never replaced the seal, leaving the exit more vulnerable than care should allow. For a slight second he let go of my hand and I began to stumble towards the floor with my throbbing leg being useless, his hand slapped against the rock and it trembled. He caught me as swiftly as he could and we were off again. Funny, time almost seemed to stand still while everyone watched in mock amusement. The air outside was a refreshing blast of chilling wind and the minute we hit outside the archway he pounced off the ground and into the air over a small body of water, my hand clamped around his with a strength I didn’t know I possessed. Especially at this time.
Like an angel without wings, I was flying through the air. Half dead already so it seemed.
Copper colored strands of hair invaded my vision as I turned my head back to watch the chaos ensue. Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori stood at the entrance just watching. But that other one, the one Deidara had pushed back was dashing forward with an undeniable rage on his face. No sooner did I catch a flash of red fly nearly beyond my vision.
And it hit me.
The three bladed scythe that man wore on his back was imbedded deep within my right arm, he was gripping a rope attached to the end of the handle with a smug grin plastered across his sharp face. Naturally, I released my grip on Deidara, my eyes wide and my mouth tight with pain. As the blonde shinobi looked back he watched with horror as I fell back through the air, my left hand struggling to free the blade from my arm. In the process I cut my fingers open on the blade. A stupid mistake on my behalf. The water lie below me and I hit against it with an impact I was surprised didn’t kill me. The small amount of water broke my fall slightly yet I still spat forward a fair amount of blood when I landed. “Nezumi-kun!” Deidara shouted, landing beside me with rage painted on his delicate features. The scythe flew back into the hands of the manic man and he laughed.
“I better work on my aim, I missed her neck completely!”
I understood. You take a toy away from a misbehaving child and he’s bound to behave to get it back. I was a toy and Deidara, a mere child begging for a treat. He had no choice but to listen if he wanted me to live. “Just listen to them Deidara!” I cried out, my chest rattling as I screamed at him. His hand inched back in shock, his mouth parted open and he stuttered something before yelling loudly and standing up.
“What the hell is it you want from me, hm?!” The others looked down on him mockingly.
“Be a good boy and I won’t have to kill your little pet. That’s all.” Hidan muttered, still angry at Deidara’s shove back in the main opening. The water was draining my blood too fast, it didn’t have time to coagulate and I was already running low. My left hand gripped onto Deidara’s pant leg to let him know it was now or never and he looked down at me with sympathy in his cyan eyes.
“I’m sorry, I truly am.”
And my world was painted black…
“What’s going to happen to me Deidara-kun?” He was moving on top of me and I could feel the slight numb tug of what I guessed was a needle and thread. A bead of sweat ran off his forehead and fell onto my outstretched palm, sliding over my knuckle and curving towards the fold of my palm. Can you hear me? Even to me my voice sounded thick, if I was even talking, I couldn’t tell. The room we were in was dark and smelled dusty, old almost. But I could nearly see Deidara’s mouth moving in makeshift words. Let me go, I don’t have anything worth living for now… But he didn’t hear me. Slowly my consciousness came back and I felt beneath me the crooked folds of a rough linen blanket, Deidara was still moving, crouched above my sprawled out form. Deidara’s outer robe was off and exposed underneath was his netting shirt. It was torn and stained with my blood.
“Nezumi, say something, hm. Anything.” I heard from a great distance.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked quietly, reopening my eyes to meet his startled ones. He collapsed to my side in a fit of relief, pleased to see me still alive. It was a shame I couldn’t say I felt the same. The pain was unbearable, my head was pounding and my leg in comparison to my arm was child’s play. When he noticed I was trying to move my arm he sat up and told me no.
“I did all I could…but there were parts even I couldn’t fix…” Ignoring him, I desperately moved my arm up to my face. To my relief, everything was there. Five fingers and the rest. I moved my hand to form a fist and it hit me bluntly. Two of my fingers weren’t moving in sync with my other fingers, in fact, they weren’t moving at all. My pointer finger and my ring finger were stuck in a curled state, relaxed to the point where it looked natural but strangely obscene at the same time.
“My fingers…what happened?” I trembled, my voice showing proof of the tattered state I was in.
“Nezumi-kun, the nerve damage inflicted…I mean, you’re lucky you even have an arm left, hm.” He called it lucky but it was all his fault to begin with. My arm fell against the bed and despite the pain that swept my nerves, I didn’t cry. I didn’t do anything but regret every choice I had made. All I ever wanted to do was love him, unconditionally. But I suppose I used that word too lightly. “You know Deidara,” I said, eyes fixated on the dull ceiling above me. He didn’t move or meet my eyes, he knew. “I can’t paint without this hand. I can’t draw ever again. My passion, my art, it’s all nothing now…I’m nothing. What am I without my creations but a runaway waitress without a cause…”
Nothing, I was absolutely nothing in this world anymore.
“We’ll find a way…” He started but I cut him off quickly.
“You tell me you grew up, that you couldn’t be that naïve little boy anymore? Well, you’re more naïve than ever before. A monster, a killer…a criminal. And you can’t even say you love me back…maybe I’m the one being naïve after all.” He looked down at me with a sadness in his eyes, but he didn’t reply. He had nothing left to say to me. “Tell me, where are we now?”
“In the sleeping quarters. For you and I.”
“Then they aren’t killing me?” After the way he had been behaving, I wouldn’t blame them if they cut me out.
“I don’t know yet, hm. I don’t know anything as of now.” I gave a single nod in understand and closed my eyes. I couldn’t take this. Deidara shifted next to me and I realized he had turned his back to me, it would have been nice to see him cry right then. Maybe it would have proved to me he had even so much as a shred of humanity left in his body. But all he ever did was hide it all away, I guess it didn’t matter either way. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a pile of clothes, on top was the red and black robe the other members toted.
“You don’t look good in black.” I said suddenly, he tilted his head towards me slowly with a raised eyebrow.
“Nani?”
“Black isn’t your color Deidara-kun. It’s too dark for someone with your coloring, it’s depressing. I wish you wouldn’t have to wear that ugly thing.” He smirked and shook his head.
“I don’t understand you Nezumi, hm. I don’t think I ever have.”
“Then you’re not looking deep enough, because quite frankly, you could read me like a book.”
-------------------------------
“What do I do with the girl?” Itachi spoke, raising his scarlet eyes to meet the hologram figure that stood before him, unmoving and stoic. Breaking out of thought the shadow figure raised his head higher at Itachi, all seriousness in his wide eyes.
“How is the boy reacting?”
“Rash, she was almost killed by Hidan and as of right now, he’s sewing her back up in hopes she lives.” The leader made the Uchiha uncomfortable. It wasn’t the power that bothered him, it was the ongoing mystery that shrouded their controller. If he were to be taking orders, as expected, he would have rather it be from someone who he had at least seen the face of.
“I see. Give her two weeks if she’s not dead by tonight. When that time is up, make the boy kill her. If he wants power and peace within himself, he must not keep treading blindly ahead.”
“Understood.” Itachi turned his back just as the hologram flickered away into nothing again.