Return Of The Madness

Chapter 33

Yuma woke to her shoulder being gently shaken, a raspy voice in her ear. 

"Yuma, wake the fuck up," the voice growled. 

Mismatched eyes snapping open, Yuma saw a familiar black and white face looming out of the wall above her pillow, and felt herself snap fully awake, grinning brightly. "Zet-nii!" she whispered, thrilled to see him again. "What time is it?"

"4 in the morning," His white side smiled gently, and his black side struggled to remain expressionless, trying to turn the slight upturn of his lips into a grimace. "How have you settled in since returning?" White Zetsu asked. "We're... sorry we didn't help you in Sunagakure..."

"Don't lump me in with you assholes," Black Zetsu snarled before smirking at Yuma. "Nice scar, brat."

"Thanks!" the young woman chriped, rolling over and sitting with her legs tugged beneath her, smiling at her friend. "And, really, don't worry, Zet-nii. I'm fine! I have full use of my eye and everything, and look!" she reached over, grabbing her sword and the red-ribboned scroll from her bedside. "Papa gave me my cloak and sword back!"

Both sides of Zetsu seemed surprised. "Does the Hokage know? It... seems unlikely." Then they shook their head, "No, there are more important things to discuss, and we can't stay for long." Yuma looked at them, concerned, but Zetsu looked back at her, fully serious. "We've managed to convince Leader that you've been taken to the Land of Earth, he thinks you were captured on a mission. He still wants you captured by us, obviously, but it should give you more time."

The smile disappeared from Yuma's face, and she straightened her back, nodding. "I understand... I have information for you guys, too, from the Hokage."

If the sword and cloak surprised Zetsu, this statement short-circuited them. Yuma dove into her explanation, telling them everything Tsunade had said, including her warning that if the village, it's allies, or Yuma were attacked, she would have to step in, but for as long as they were acting in common interest, the Village's main focus would be on Pein and Pein alone.

"That's... unexpected..." both Zetsu's responded, and Yuma looked down, smiling sadly. 

"... maybe-"

"Shut up," Black Zetsu interrupted, though he lacked his usual venomous tone. White Zetsu reached out, uncharacteristically pulling her into him, and to her surprise, both arms wrapped tightly around her. 

"We miss you too," White Zetsu muttered as Yuma burrowed into the embrace, fully intending to enjoy the moment, as she was unsure how long it would be until any of her S ranked family visited again. ", but even if Leader wasn't an issue, you're only going to get hurt more if you keep thinking like that."

They felt Yuma shudder against them, and she gave a mighty sniff. "I... I understand..."

Zetsu sighed again. "Our two worlds can't combine, I'm sorry Yuma. We have to go now."

Her head snapped up, eyed wide and filling with crimson tears. "A-Already?" It's been so long since she'd last seen them, couldn't they have just a little while longer? She wanted to know how everyone was, she wanted to talk to them. It's so unfair, she misses everyone so damn much.

White Zetsu looked sad, Black Zetsu looked uncomfortable. Eventually, Black Zetsu reached into their cloak, and withdrew a small plant, a succulent. "We have to pass on the information to the others, but we'll be back when we have more to tell you... Konan plans to visit soon, once she can get away from Leader without drawing his attention, we'll let you know where and when."

Accepting the small plant, Yuma held it to her chest, ducking her head as she felt the tears overflow. 

She jumped as a pair of lips pressed against the crown of her head, but when she looked up, they were gone...

In the morning, Kakashi watched as a VERY tired Yuma shuffled into the kitchen, beelining for the coffee machine. He let her sit down to her bacon and eggs, but before he could ask, she spoke. 

"Zet-nii visited me," she started, gauging his reaction. His eyes widened, but he quickly closed them, collected himself, and looked at her again, remaining calm. 

"Any news?" He asked, admittedly surprising her, but he wasn't about to lose her trust again. This was the first time in a while she updated him directly and willingly on that matter, and whether he liked it or not, they brought valuable information in the dead of night. He just wished he could be present, to protect her if they ever betrayed her, but he wasn't delusional. He knew that they wouldn't show with him there, and with good reason, he wasn't sure he could control himself in the presence of the ones who stole Yuma from her home. 

"They've convinced Pein that I'm in the Land of Earth, captured for one reason or another," She told him, watching as the silver haired man before her furrowed his brows in confusion. 

"We have several allies in the Land of Earth,  why would they capture you?" 

"The Sand are also our ally," Yuma reminded him, then paused as she seemed to phrase her next sentence carefully, then gave up on it completely. "I've, uh, killed a lot of people in those 2 years. The only reason Suna was different was because Panda-chan survived, but there's nothing to say that there wasn't a witness in the Land of Earth, and that was my most recent observation mission before..." 

"Right..." Kakashi muttered, looking into his coffee. He wasn't sure how to continue, fortunately Yuma had that covered. 

"I told Zet-nii about what Tsunade said, they were surprised, but said they'd tell the others... also..." she stopped, and started chewing on her cheek as Kakashi looked up at her. She seemed to age before his eyes, stressed, indecisive as she debated on whether to share the next bit of information with him, and he felt a deep sense of self-loathing. 

Is this what he'd accomplished since she'd gotten her memory back? Ensuring that she had to walk on egg shells and cherry pick what information she could give him?

"Yuma," he started, drawing her attention. "I'm sorry, I know I haven't been... very receptive since you've gotten back, but..." he thought a moment, then continued. "I trust your judgement, and I trust you. You don't have to tiptoe around me. The more you tell, the more I can help. I'm  so, so sorry I've made you feel like you need to hide from me..."

He saw crimson tears bubble in her scarred gaze, and scolded himself further. What right did he have to persecute the Akatsuki when he let of those injuries happen to his own family. 

"The second hand of the organization, Konan-nee, wants to visit me, but doesn't know when she'll be able to without drawing Pein's attention to me. Zet-nii is going to let me know when a time and placed is decided, it's not as easy for the others as it is for him to visit, especially with how long it's taking them to 'capture me'..." She watched his reaction carefully. 

Kakashi thought about his next words carefully. A lot was resting on his response to this information. 

"Are you close to her?" he asked calmly, and saw her eyes widen ever so slightly wider. 

"She... helped me a lot. She read me stories when I had nightmares, taught me how to do origami, and... she's the one who talked Pein into letting me outside. It was... a long time before I was allowed to feel the grass again..." 

"She... She sounds nice," Kakashi finally said, smiling at his cousin, who smiled with an overwhelming sadness at the cup of, now cold, coffee in her grasp. 

"She was..."

Kakashi reached over, putting his hand over hers and drawing her eyes back to him. "Thank you for telling me."

Her smile softened at him, genuinely grateful. "Thank you for listening."

And in that moment, Kakashi swore he would continue listening, until she'd told all she had to share.