Crash+An Akatsuki Story+Pt. 3

Everything in her head was moving in clips.

Fast clips, slow clips, clips that she wasn't even sure were real.

Clips.



"Something's going to happen tonight." He said. "Something huge. You stay here, please, promise me that whatever happens you'll stay here."

She looked confused. "How long have you known something big was going to happen?"

He looked down, feeling guilty. He knew he'd been found out. "In truth, that is why I poisoned you." He said, softly. "I wanted you to be stuck here. I apologize. I should've just trusted that if I could get your word, then you wouldn't leave."

"I'll not leave this very bed." Her voice was stronger now. She looked back at the sun. "Perhaps the omens and the feelings are just omens and feelings that will bring nothing." She said, and turned to him. "Whatever it is that happens tonight, Itachi, be careful."

Clip

"No matter what I do..." he said, softly, "...I love you. You should know that. Every movement I make is somehow fuelled by you. Every thing I do is powered by some thought of you..and somehow my every thought reflects you. I cannot control it. Every move I make..."

"Itachi..." she interrupted, softly.

"Everything is for your well being. I apologize for what I must now do. I apologize." He said, and kissed her hand. "I am sorry. I'm genuinely sorry. Not for them." He said, the last sentence was tainted with hatred, and it continued into his next words. "Never for them."

"Itachi..." She pressed, a little startled now.

"But I am sorry for what it will do to you. I am sorry. I am sorry that it will tear us so far apart. But it is necessary. It. Is. Necessary."

"Itachi! You're scaring me! What's going on?"

Itachi gave that crazy smile again and stood, turning towards the door. "They'll pay. My promise. Remember, Rai, remember our star." He said, and left the room.

  Clip

She shot up in bed. "Sasuke!"  Her voice was a quiver, "What a terrible nightmare..."

But her heart was nagging at her. Something was wrong...something was terribly wrong.

She looked down at her hands. There was blood trickling down from her palms where her fingernails had dug into her pale skin ruthlessly. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face and she closed her eyes, counting to ten, and then opening them again.

"I know. I'll just go stop by the Uchiha house, make sure that everything's alright..." the Hatake sighed, "...but I'm certain everything's fine. They're the Uchiha clan, after all." She jumped up to her feet and went over to the hospital closet that held her clothes. She pulled on all her gear and slipped out the window...

...she didn't even stop to wonder why it was already slightly ajar...

Clip

She took a careful step forward to find the bed and see if anyone was in this room--all the others in the Uchiha house had been empty and dark--when she slipped on something wet again. This time, however, she landed on the floor with another thud.

She fell into a puddle of the moisture, it felt lightly warm but she didn't wonder too much.

"Are they flooding or something?" She asked, quietly, now close enough to see the bed was in the same condition as the other had been--empty and a mess.

She put her hands behind herself and pushed up, but slipped on the water again.

This time, her bare hand touched it.

It wasn't water.

She looked down at it, unable to tell what it was. But it was slightly thicker than water and it was warm. She pushed it up to her mouth, curiosity taking over, and pushed a finger in her mouth.

She immediately spit it out, the taste of iron filling her mouth disgustingly.

"Blood..." She said, softly.  It took her a moment to think.  Taken over by the thought, her eyes widened. "Blood!"

She scrambled to her feet and ran, throwing the light on.

She had to stifle the scream of terror that tried to escape her mouth, brought on by the sight she had seen...

One of Itachi and Sasuke's cousin's lay on the floor, spread-eagled in his own blood.  Dead.  Cold dead.  Gone.  Dead.  An Uchiha.

Her panic overtook her now and she ran out of the room and down the hallway. The blood still on her shoes, combined with the speed that she was running, and the fact that she didn't see the stairs, was what sent her over the edge.

Rai tumbled down the stairs, her head banging the wall and the railing as she fell with very little grace. When she ended at the bottom she could see much better, as she had arrived in the large living area with many windows.  But she wished that she couldn't see, she wished she was blind.  She wished the fall had stolen her eyesight or even her life.

Her terror was silent, she wasn't the type to scream.  But she was so stunned that she couldn't move, so stunned that should couldn't bring herself to even think or breathe.  Her head was gushing blood now, but that didn't worry her.  That didn't even register.  Because she had fallen directly into a warm puddle of blood that was not her own...

Lord and Lady Uchiha were dead.

Clip


"Maria?"

She removed her mask and looked down at Raidena with unwitting hatred. "You had something to do with this." She snapped.

"No!  No! I didn't! I--"

"The evidence is against you, traitor." She said.

"No! It's...I just...I..." Her lime green eyes fell to her blood-stained clothes.  The evidence was against her.

"Two facts. You were found at the crime scene...and you are the only person close enough to Itachi that he would tell you about this."

"Itachi?" She asked, her voice quiet. "Itachi? What about Itachi?!"

"Don't act stupid!" Maria said, smacking her with a force so hard that the small, quivering, bloody girl was sent flying back into the walls of the Uchiha house near the front door.  Her head cracked against the frame, splitting it further from when the stairs had split it. Maria came over, grabbed her by the hair, and punched her in the face again.

"Admit it!" She screamed at you. "You HELPED him! YOU HELPED ITACHI KILL THE ENTIRE UCHIHA CLAN!"

"Wha..." She asked, everything going fuzzy, "...no...he didn't. I didn't...we didn't...he couldn't...Sasuke..."

She smiled. "Sasuke's the only one who escaped Itachi's killing spree, Rai, but you should know that since you were involved."

  Clip

She was at the hospital now.  She was fighting with the ANBU who still thought that she might have had something to do with this.  She was bleeding.  She was sore.  She was dizzy.  She was loosing.  She had fallen and Maria had run over now to finish her life.

"You had to have known!  Admit to it, Raidena, and maybe I'll spare your life."

Rai just shook her head and looked down at her bloody hands, tears forming in her eyes.  "No..."  She insisted.  "No..."

Maria lifted her kunai.

CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP

Maria pocketed it, not doing anything further.

"Kakashi."

"She had nothing to do with it." His voice rang out. For the first time in her life he sounded angry.  Really angry. "Leave her be. Let her get medical attention. Innocent until proven guilty."

Maria backed off.  "Of course."  She said, and Kakashi discharged the Chidori into a nearby tree.

Clip

"Rai!! Rai!!"  The voice was so familiar. But she just couldn't place it. She lifted her head and looked a bit from her father's shoulder.

"Rai! Let me see her!" a weeping voice demanded. A nurse held Sasuke back, away from her. Sasuke was crying, streams of tears running down his face as he reached out for her hopelessly.

"Sasuke, no. You can't see her." The nurse coaxed.

"SHE'S MY FAMILY! Let me see her!" He cried harder, trying to pull away from the nurse who held him back even firmer now.

"She is not your family." She commanded. Sasuke reached out for Raidena as Kakashi walked her past.

She used her last bit of energy to smile and him, reach out and take his out-stretched hand for just a moment, and mutter to him a few words that she hoped would offer some comfort--even though she guessed nothing could be comforting right now.

"Sa...su...ke..." She said, softly, Kakashi continued walking, but Sasuke would not release her hand until the last moment he could hold on. "...family...forever...remember that....remember it. Me and you." She said, softly. She coughed up some blood. "I lo...I love you...Sasuke...it's okay...I'm here..." She flashed him a weak smile and his hand slipped from hers.

Clip

He looked her in the eyes, and she saw something different inside of him. A deep hatred. Something huge, that she had never seen in a child so small.

"Live." He spoke.

  Clip

"Isn't that Raidena Hatake?"

"Yeah, she was Itachi Uchiha's girlfriend.  Rumour has it she had a hand in the downfall of the clan.  But Sarutobi guards her so closely there's no knowing."

"Why is she with Sasuke all the time?"

"Probably wants to finish Itachi's job."

Her fist clenched around Sasuke's hand and he looked up at her.

"You're going to break my hand."  He pointed out.

She shook her head to wake herself up and she looked at Sasuke with a sad smile.  "Sorry."  She said, loosening her grip.

"They're annoying you, aren't they?"

Rai smiled.  "Who?"  She said, trying to play stupid.

"Those girls.  Don't worry.  I'll get them."

"No, Sasuke, it's okay."

He shook his head.  "You're my big sister.  I don't let anyone annoy you."  He said, and walked over to the girls.

They both looked at him and smiled.

"Hello Sasuke."  They said in unison.

"Hi girls."  The small child said, and tilted his head.  "Do you two mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"No, go ahead!"

"Why are you two such big bitches?"

"Excuse me!?!?!?"

"Oh nothing...it's just...why would someone say such vile things about my big sister?  My cousin told me once that people who say mean things like that about other people are nothing but really big bitches.  Which I guess makes you two bitches.  And bitches are bitches all the time, regardless of where they are or who they're mocking.  So, if it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience to you two...could you go be bitches to someone else...and I don't care if you keep bitching about my big sister, but do it somewhere she can't hear you or I swear to god I'll ri--"

Rai ran over and put her hand over his mouth.  "Sasuke!"  She hissed in his ear.  "Who taught you those words?"

Sasuke mumbled under her hand.

The two 'bitches' looked offended and stormed off without another word.  Rai removed her hand.

"What the hell?!"

Sasuke smiled.  "A little kid with a potty mouth makes girls uncomfortable.  Everyone expects me to be cuddly.  So if I'm illogically rude, then they'll leave me alone."

Rai laughed.  "Nice logic."

Cli--   

The clips stopped.

She could feel her own breathing.

She could feel her own pain.  She ached everywhere.  She didn't even try to open her eyes.  She hurt too much.

Wherever she was laying was comfortable.

It was nice to be comfortable for once.

She was about to open her eyes when she felt someone's fingers brush a lock of her hair out of her face gently.  She wondered who it was, but wasn't curious enough to open her eyes.

The person's hand caressed her cheek and then the bed--she guessed it was a bed--creaked and they were no longer touching her.  She heard incredibly light footsteps going away from her.  She finally dared to open her eyes.  The room was nice, actually pretty which was odd because of the fact that virtually no rooms in the lair had been nice so far, minus the main kitchen.  There were beautiful tapestries on the wall, a few paintings here and there, and all the chairs and other furniture in the room were carved of mahogany wood.  Everything was decorated in beautiful deep reds and blacks and silvers.  The bed was comfortable, fluffy.  The sheets were red silk and the comforter was a black crushed velvet.

The only creepy thing about this lavish room:  The puppets.

There were puppets in the corner, wooden parts on the tables, jars of eyes and jars of what looked like hair.  There were knives hung here and there on the wall and a few still had wood shavings clinging to the blades.

All the puppets sort of creeped her out.  All of them looked so eerily human.  All of them looked so eerily real.  And yet in a way they were beautiful.  They were something that she sort of...appreciated.  The work that the artist would have had to put into carving each of those, the love that puppeteers put into creating their weapons, creating their masterpieces.  It was almost breathtaking.

Her eyes scanned each puppet with wonder.  There was the silver one that had saved her life...

...this must be Sasori's room.

She went to sit up in the bed, but a hand slammed down on her chest and backed her into the bed.

"Don't move."  Sasori's voice said quietly.

She nodded, a little scared by the sudden motion.

Sasori brushed back a piece of her hair that had moved into her face when he had slammed her down, and she tilted her head.  She recognized his touch as the touch that had awoken her.

"It turns out that some of the poison from my last fight was still on Hiruko's spade."  He said, absently.

She nodded.  "So...I'm poisoned?"

"Not that much.  You should be fine.  I got you the antidote."

She nodded again.

"Not one for words, are you?"

She shrugged.  "I thought you weren't...and I'm a little...uncomfortable is all..."

Sasori raised an eyebrow.

Raidena gazed around at the puppets.

"Don't like my work?"

"No...I lo--I like your work.  They're very...realistic."

Sasori smirked.

"It's just...bodies freak me out.  Even wooden ones."

Sasori's smirk remained.  "Ah.  That's too bad.  You could go stay in Deidara's room if you--"

"I'd like tha--"

"--IF you weren't in such a bad condition."  He finished.

Raidena raised an eyebrow now.

Sasori sighed.  "You can't go into Deidara's room like this...I can't move you like this...look, do you think I WANT you in my bed?"

Rai shrugged.  "Probably not.  So why not move me?"

"The brat would kill me if I killed you."

Rai went silent.

"You appeared to be having a nightmare."

Raidena shivered.  "Well.  I might've been dreaming that I'd been smacked in the face, sent off a cliff, and then saved by a shiny metal spade that poisoned me."

Sasori sighed.  "Still resentment?  You humans hang on to things far too lo--"

"I'm not the one trying to last forever."

Sasori looked at her.

Rai smiled.  "I can tell by the abnormalities...well...no...not ABNORMALITIES...but the LACK of abnormalities...what I'm trying to say is your Chakra network is wired too perfectly.  No one is born with chakra networks that are perfectly wired to be a puppeteer.  And yet, here you are with a network that allows more chakra than normal to flow to your fingertips.  And your organs aren't in the way, they just run straight through.  You must somehow be in a puppet...the only organ I could find was a heart."

Sasori smiled.  "Smart girl."

Rai shook her head.  "No.  Not smart.  Gifted.  I graduated top in my class.  And I have a kekkei genkai that helps."  Rai raised her pointer finger to her eyes.  "Do you think normal people have eyes this--"

"I had a raising suspicion you were from the Bishijou Clan in the Land of Fire."  Sasori said, nodding.

Raidena smiled.  "Not many people know of us.  That's touching."

"But from the looks of you...you weren't raised there.  Plus...Silver Hair?  That's not normal for Bishijou Children."

"Proper Bishijou Children."  She said, softly.

Sasori smiled.  "Raidena Hatake, the daughter of Kakashi.  I thought so."

Rai flashed a short-lived smile.  "And you're Akasuna no Sasori.  Right?"

Sasori raised both eyebrows this time.

"How did you know?"

"Just a guess."  She said, shrugging.  "The biggest puppeteers in the world are from the sand village, and the only missing-nin puppeteer I've ever heard of was Akasuna no Sasori, which is you.  And how did you know that Kakashi had a child?"

"Just a guess."  He mimicked.  "Silver hair, Bishijou girl...the clear explanation was that you were Lelena's daughter.  And most everyone knows that she was kicked from the clan for falling in love with Kakashi Hatake and bearing his child.  I figured that the child must be you."

"Since Bishijou children usually have brown hair?"

Sasori nodded.  "Since Bishijou children usually have brown hair."  He agreed.

"So...these puppets?  How long did they take you?"

"Depends."  Sasori admitted, his face still an extreme expression of ultimate calm.  "Some of them took days, some months, and a very rare few took years."

"Must be extremely patient."

"I am."

Raidena blinked.  "Hey, Sasori?"

"Yes?"

"Could you please get your hand off my chest?"

Sasori's lips played into a smirk and he removed his hand calmly and slowly, not a single sign of embarrassment on his face that his hand had been resting on Raidena's chest through the whole conversation.  

"Thank you."  Raidena quipped.

Sasori's smirk faded.  "No problem."

A few moments of silence passed between the two.

"So...I hear that you were there the night Itachi killed them all?"

"I was, but it's not really something I like to talk about."

Sasori was silent for a moment.

"Death makes you very uncomfortable, doesn't it?"  Sasori asked, his voice still indifferent and level.

Rai looked down.

"It used to make me uncomfortable too."  Sasori confessed, his eyes downcast, his face still utterly calm.  "My parents died.  I tried to remake them as puppets to feel them again...but there's no way to feel a puppet's love.  They don't love.  They're just wood...and so I ran away.  And I came here.  And I realized that death is just life's way of telling you your life was not full enough.  True art, and thus forth truly beautiful life, is everlasting.  My puppets disturb you because they seem too realistic.  They seem like bodies.  And that makes you remember, you remember seeing death.  And in truth, Raidena, most of my puppets are what you think they are."

Rai blinked. "They...are...bodies?"

Sasori nodded.  "A truly beautiful and full life deserves a homage in death.  I make them eternal, and they become art itself."