Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Demons amoung the Akatsuki ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Sasori and Deidara's hands shot up first. Hidan and Itachi slowly followed suit. However, Kisame and Zetsu's hands remained still. “Zetsu, Kisame, tell me why do you deny these girls?” The leader inquired in monotone. Zetsu rose to his feet; causing his Venus flytrap to rustle. “Well, I personally don't see why we should allow little girls to join us. I don't think they can handle it.” Akazaku glared intensely at him, as she caught her hands on fire. “Little girls!? Do you want some of this?” Zetsu's eyes flashed with fear as he stepped back. Keyoko put her hand on Akazaku's shoulder and shook her head. “No Aka now's not the time.” Her soft tone calmed the firebrand. Akazaku sighed and sent the fire away.

The leader cleared his throat yet again. “Actually, these girls appear to be no younger than Itachi, Deidara, and Sasori. I've made my decision. Because the majority say `yes', we'll put you girls to the test. If you two pass all the tests, you'll become honorary Akatsuki members. But, if either or both of you fail, you'll have your memories erased and you'll be taken somewhere hundreds of miles from here. We cannot allow our secrets to be revealed. Understood?” The girls nodded with all the respect they could muster. The leader smiled and continued. “Unfortunately, we don't have time to test either of you today. We have other matters to attend to. So if you would like, Sasori and Deidara can show you around the hideout and to your rooms. Or, you both can stay here while we finish our discussion. It's your choice.”

Akazaku could only think for a second, before Keyoko spoke up. “We'd love to see more of this place.” “It's amazing,” Akazaku added. Deidara smiled as he grabbed her hand again. “We'd be more than happy to show them around.” Sasori grabbed Keyoko's hand again as well. “Yeah, we can catch up on the lost info later.” They led the girls out of the room, and closed the door. The sound of voices behind the door revived. “Let's explore a bit, shall we?” Deidara said cheerfully as the four of them began making their way down the nearest door.

Half an hour later, they stopped at the beginning of a fork between two hallways. “Well, from here we can either go to Deidara's room to see his clay figurine collection that he keeps for inspiration, or we can go to my room and see my puppet collection. You girls can choose,” Sasori declared. Akazaku smiled. “I'd like to see those figurines. They sound pretty cool.” Keyoko slightly frowned. “I don't know, I think I'd rather see Sasori's puppets. No offense, Deidara.” Deidara shrugged. “None taken, we'll just have to go our separate ways for now.” So, Deidara led Akazaku down the right hallway, as Sasori led Keyoko down the left one. *Note, the next 2 sections are occurring at the same time.*

(Deidara and Akazaku's part)

Deidara led Akazaku down several feet down the crudely cut hallway; passing what seemed to be a hundred doors. While they walked, Deidara, without averting his gaze, asked, “What made you choose my art over Sasori's?” Akazaku shrugged. “I don't know, figurines seem a lot less creepy I guess.” He nodded understandingly. “So, what do you consider art?” She pondered it for a moment before she answered. “Something beautiful and fantastic, but fades quickly. Like fire which is my art.” Deidara smiled widely. “I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way. You see, Sasori and I are both artists. Even though we're good friends, we constantly argue about what `art' really is. Mine is my exploding clay, and his are his puppets.” Akazaku smiled. `Cool, we have something in common. Crap, am I blushing? I wonder if he can tell.' As if reading her mind, he smiled. “You don't have to be nervous. We're almost there.”

Then, he stopped in front of a door marked `325'. “Here we are, 325. It's kinda messy, so sorry.” He turned the handle and opened the door. He flipped on the light switch as Akazaku walked inside. The room was fairly large, but was cluttered with papers, several clay figurines, and other unidentifiable objects. She walked up to a rather large figurine in the leftmost corner. “It's beautiful.” It was that of a bird with its head raised and wings extended, as if to fly away at any moment. She gently brushed her hand against its beak. He smiled proudly. “That's one of my favorites. I've made all of these in my spare time and left them in here so I could admire them. But, I've also placed many like these around the rest of the hideout in case of invasion. Heh, if any fools infiltrated our hideout… BOOM!”

She walked over to another figurine a few feet away. It was smaller and resembled a demented hound. She gazed oddly at its two heads and six legs. “What's this one supposed to be?” He turned towards it. “Oh, that's an experiment of mine. It's quite deadly, and it's very fast. I plan to use copies of it for sneakier missions, but this one is just back-up.” She nodded and took a look at the many others. She kneeled beside a small swan-like figure with a long jagged beak. “Where do you get the clay to make all this?” He shrugged. “I get it from the ground around here. The Land of Rivers naturally has explosive clay-like earth deep enough, so I just use my chakra to intensify the explosions. The only disadvantage is when it runs out in battle. But I usually don't have to use all that much.”

Akazaku's eyes lit up. “Could you show me some clay-work now?” He nodded and reached for his backpack that lay beside his bed. He pulled a small lump of clay from the large mass inside, and inserted it into his left hand-mouth. After a few chewing sounds were heard, it opened and out popped a tiny clay bird. “Ta dah!” he uttered proudly, as he set it down on his desk; causing it to become immobile. Akazaku clapped as her face turned slightly nervous. “That was awesome, but I didn't know your hands had little mouths on them.” Deidara's face softened into a semi-hurt look. “It doesn't bother you, does it? That I'm a freak?”

She shook her head and stepped forward. “You're not a freak. You are an amazingly talented artist,” she replied comfortingly as she embraced him. His face lost all trace of hurt. “And you are the most kind and beautiful girl I have ever met.” He placed his hand on the side of her face as his own came to meet it. Their lips connected as their hearts beat against one another. Akazaku pulled him closer, causing him to wrap his other arm around the small of her back. That seemingly endless moment would not soon be forgotten by the two of them.

(Sasori and Keyoko's part)

Sasori led Keyoko past several uniform doors, all marked with ascending numbers. She stared strangely at them. “What's behind all those doors? There are so many,” she asked, noticing that there were still much more ahead. Sasori chuckled as he eyed them as well. “Hardly any of them are actually real. Itachi places a Genjutsu on these walls every so often to confuse any intruders. But if you ask me, I think he does it just to get people to walk into a wall.” Keyoko laughed as well.

After a while, they finally stopped in front of the door marked `208'. “Here we are,” Sasori said as he opened the door and turned on the lights. Keyoko walked in and Sasori closed the door. His room was about as big as Deidara's, and just as messy too. There were several puppets lining the corners of the room, as well as hanging from the ceiling. He walked to the left wall and picked up a rather large puppet that had been standing on its own. He showed it Keyoko and smiled. “What do you think of this one? Her name is Yukashi. I built her two months ago. It's one of the best one's I've made from scratch.”

Keyoko grinned. “May I hold it?” He nodded and passed the puppet to her outstretched arms. Despite its size, it was quite light. Keyoko couldn't help but admire it. It was human-like with long dark hair, a pointed chin, angled eyes, and wore a long spotless red robe around its petite form. Pretty much, it was the most beautiful puppet she'd ever seen. “It's gorgeous. Everything about it is perfect.”

He beamed. “Thank you. I put a lot of hard work into it.” She handed it back to him. He carefully placed it back in its original place before turning back to her. “What do you consider art?” She innocently gazed at the ceiling; thinking. Finally, she replied, “I believe that art is something beautiful that someone put their heart into. Something that is so wonderful that it lasts forever.” She turned her gaze back on Sasori. “You're an amazing artist, Sasori.” His face flushed slightly. “You're too kind.” He paused for a moment, as the red faded. “It's interesting that you view art the way I do. You wouldn't believe how often Deidara and I argue about `art'. His art is his clay, and mine are my puppets.”

Keyoko blushed slightly. `Awesome, we have the same artistic views. I hope he can't see me blushing.' Sasori grinned evilly. “What? Are you embarrassed?” She shook her head as he changed the subject. “Can you guess how many puppets I've made?” She shrugged. “A thousand?” Sasori chuckled. “You're close; 1,500.” Her jaw dropped. “1,500! Wow, you are amazing!” He took a step closer to her. “You're so cute when you're surprised.” She turned lobster red in an instant. “You know, no one has ever appreciated my puppets this much.” Keyoko's face faded a bit. “I guess no one can appreciate utter beauty.” Sasori placed a hand on the back of her head. “I appreciate you.”

She managed to remain her current crimson shade as he gently pulled her close. His lips collided with hers in a rush of desire. She pulled him closer as her heart threatened to explode in her chest. The moment that seemed to stop everything and anything, was what assured Keyoko that Akatsuki wasn't going to be anywhere near as treacherous as she could imagine.