Til death and beyond

Debut

Dreams.

Vivid and colorful.

It was like a pleasant sleep I would never want to wake up from. I was in a tranquil state.

But sometimes those dreams went dark and I remembered my son who we left behind. How was he? Was the village treating him well? Was he healthy? Was he happy? How old was he now? Time didn't seem to exist in this plane.

Then I saw him- Deidara.

How could he have done this to us? We were so beautiful. Why did he go ahead and destroy us? Why? I needed answers.

There were outbursts of anger, sadness, hopelessness and guilt but then I managed to calm down and resume my peaceful sleeping.

But someone was tugging at me. Someone was calling me...

No. Stop. I want to keep sleeping. Don't disturb me.

It didn't stop and then suddenly- I saw the sky. I saw a landscape. I was... running?

I blinked slowly in confusion as if I took a long nap and couldn't remember when I had fallen asleep, yet I didn't feel completely awake either. My body was moving but it felt like it wasn't really my own, like it was an animated shell and I was just inside in autopilot mode. l was holding something heavy in my right hand which turned out to be my beloved guitar. Knowing I had it with me brought me comfort.

I then looked around. Beside me was Itachi and behind him was Kakuzu carrying a frail looking white-haired man. Who was that? We were all running and wearing the same maroon cloak. Where were we going?

I looked Itachi in the eyes and saw that his Sharingan was already activated, emphasized by his black sclera. Just then did it dawn me. We were dead!

I was dead. Deidara killed me... killed us...

And... where was she? I could not hear anything in my head and I suddenly felt incomplete and alone.

"What... is going on?" I was the first one to break the silence, hoping this was not what I think it was.

"It appears someone called us back to this world." Itachi replied, his eyes focused somewhere distant.

"This isn't the Reanimation Jutsu, is it?"

"It appears to be so."

"Then... is this Orochimaru's doing? Is he still alive?! I thought your brother killed him!" The thought agonized me. I did not want to be brought back to life to find out that snakey son of a bitch was still alive!

"It can't be. I sealed him away. The only other person who could possibly activate the Reanimation Jutsu is..."

"Kabuto."

I gritted my teeth. Never ever, in life nor in death did I want to be under Orochimaru or Kabuto again! I had wasted the majority of my life as their guinea pig and I would not allow them to violate me like that again now that I'm dead! Above all, I didn't even have complete control of this body. How dare he bind my soul like that, as if a decade of torturing me wasn't enough!

I looked at the rest of them. Were we the only ones reanimated? Surely Deidara must have been reanimated too since we both died at the same time but then again maybe Orochimaru didn't have any DNA samples from him. Thinking about it, I don't see Hidan or Konan either. Kisame was probably still alive.

I sighed, the thought of not seeing Deidara was making me more miserable. I really needed to know why he did what he did. I needed closure.

"How can we stop this Jutsu?" I knew a bit about this Jutsu, that it required a living sacrifice to bind the soul of the dead and that their bodies became indestructible but I had no idea how to end it.

"One would have to find the caster and force him to stop the Jutsu."

Guess I'll have to find Kabuto and kill him myself this time.

At some point Kakuzu stopped and handed the white-haired man over to Itachi.

"Need to help out Zetsu at the coast." His eyes met mine. "You haven't finished paying off your debt."

"Well, it's not like I can bring money to the afterlife. Can you?"

Kakuzu just simply let out amused grunt.

"Guess the immortal one can't enter the afterlife either." He murmured before running off in a different direction. I wondered if he was disappointed that his partner wasn't reanimated.

The frail man hooked his arm around Itachi's shoulder to give him support while walking. That's when I noticed the Rinnegan.

"...Pain? Is that you?"

"Anjira." He smiled weakly. "You can call me Nagato. I regret not meeting you under better circumstances. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Surely he was talking about my pregnancy back then. I was startled by his friendliness. Pain was usually rather strict but now that I've seen his real form, I suppose there was no need for formalities. His sick appearance still surprised me and it sickened me to think he was resurrected in this state.

"I hate this Jutsu. I'll try to find Kabuto and put an end to this charade."

"Killing the caster may not be enough." Itachi spoke up. "One would have to cast genjutsu and trick him into releasing it. It won't be simple."

"I know how to cast genjutsu."

"But you won't get far since he can control our movements." He reminded me.

I frowned. Why couldn't we just live in a world without Orochimaru's bullshit?

Just then did my body make me run elsewhere and I bid my goodbyes to Nagato and Itachi, unsure of what our fates will be. I recalled the time before my death that I wanted to be resurrected so I could kick Deidara's arse.

It is true what they say: Be careful what you wish for.