Only a game ⥤Hiatus⥢

報告

A few hours passed and we were walking in a forest. Light mist started forming around us and the sky was dark. I could barely see five feet in front of me and the farther and farther we walked into the forest, the harder and harder to see. It's a pain in the ass.

As more we walked, I had to strain my senses to know where the hell Konan and Rumi were. Thirty minutes later the mist seemed to start to lift. Five minutes later, I saw on the map that we arrived at the village. I stopped and enlarged the map then turned to where Konan is.

"We're here Konan-san."

"Wrong direction."

I blinked when I heard Rumi's voice from my left. Embarrassed, I turned to the left and mumbled out a quiet 'Fuck'. After a few seconds of agonizing silence, I spoke once again.

"What are we going to do now Konan-san?"

"Find them." She deadpanned. Probably.

"Oh, ok. Well, we'll be waiting here. Go-"

"You're coming with me."

"Uh... Ok?"

⇴⇴⇴

I stared at the corpses littering the ground. Most of them died of asphyxiation or were cleaved in half. Some were missing a limb or two because of the occasional paper bombs but other than that, the first two were the most common causes of death.

Their deaths were quiet, excluding the bombs, and quick. Their lives ended with a snap of a finger. The shit I got myself into finally dawned on me. Making me standing still, lunatically grinning, and the feeling of fear overwhelming me.

"When push comes to shove, we're not helping you."

"That's very assuring. What am I supposed to do without you guys?"

"Try to live without us."

"Thanks for the helpful advice."

"Your welcome."

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I put on my usual smile and headed over to where Konan is. She seemed to be talking with a man. He's probably Kandachi.

⇴⇴⇴

Konan noticed Tsubaki's presence nearing them while Kandachi did not. He was too busy panicking and cursing. After a few frustrating minutes of torturing, she finally killed Kandachi. She barely got anything useful. Mentally sighing, she dropped the body and checked to see if she was near her. Which she was. She was to her right a couple of dozen feet away.

Once she got to where she was, sitting on top of a rock. Once she was a few meters away from her, she turned to face her. Once she saw who it was, she stood up and ran over to her.

"So, Konan-san. Did you find my information useful?"

"It was indeed useful."

Upon hearing her response, she started jumping up and down cheerfully celebrating. After a few moments, she stopped.

"So, what are you going to do now Konan-san? The information I provided has been proven to be reliable and I haven't tried anything funny. Will you put a good word in for me?"

"I'll think about it."

"Is that so... Then I guess this is where we part ways. After all, it's no use staying with someone if you don't know what the hell will happen. Oh, and you don't have to worry about me spreading information about your organization. After all, I want to be on good terms with you guys."

With a polite bow, she headed towards the exit. Leaving Konan silently staring at her back. Once she could no longer be seen, Konan took a single piece of paper out of thin air and channeled some chakra into it. A few seconds later it folded itself into a butterfly and then once complete flew off.

She channeled extra chakra into that one so she can constantly tell where it is, and she could also hear what they are saying. She was not going to take any chances.

⇴⇴⇴

After a few minutes after we exited the village, Rumi asked me a question.

"So where are we going now? I thought you were going to go with her."

"Nope. I've got an event to attend to."

"Is that so... Where are we going and what are we doing?"

"Konoha, we're gonna go loot so-"

Before I could finish my sentence, I tripped over something and fell face-first onto the ground. I sat up and felt around me to figure out what the hell I tripped over. It was a tree root. Sighing I stood up and continued walking.

⇴⇴⇴

They stood in a dimly lit room with the smell of iron still strong.

"Have you taken care of them?" The orange-haired male in front of her asked.

"Yes, it turns out that they were in a village in the land of fire..."

"I see... Is there anything I need to know of?"

"During my search for them, I ran into an..." She hesitated; she didn't know what to call her. "Informant... She supplied me with the location of them."

"And?"

"She seems to be aware of our existence. She even knew my name."

"Did you take care of her too?"

"No..." She could feel his questioning gaze on her. "Those thoughts disappeared as soon as I thought about them. She asked if she could be the informant of the Akatsuki. And when we parted ways, I sent a tracker after her. What should we do about her?"

"...Keep an eye on her, if she poses a threat to the Akatsuki, kill her."

"Understood."

⇴⇴⇴

I woke up around noon the next day. I wasn't in a hurry to get to Konoha, so I took my time and looked around. When I became too tired to walk, I sat down and sorted my belongings. Then I made a storage seal to seal my large stock of food. 

When the sun started to set, I placed everything back in the inventory and looked for a place to sleep. Once I found a comfortable place to rest, I closed my eyes and let sleep take over.

[One week and three days until the Uchiha massacre]