A Life with the Akatsuki [ABANDONED]

The Misadventures of Nagareboshi: Chapter Thirteen

"Why are you doing all this? Being nice, I mean."

XChapter 13XX Operation: FreedomX

My shin hits his arm and I grunt as the impact jars my entire leg. He might not be made of metal, but it certainly feels like he is. I throw an uppercut, but he brushes it aside with his elbow before landing a punch to my gut that has me doubling over.

However, before he can knee my face - again - I roll away from him to give myself a chance to catch my breath. If he really wanted to, he could have pursued me and I wouldn't have been able to fight him off, but he remains in the same spot I left him in.

"We have been working on this for a week and you have not made any progress, Hitsumi-chan," Tobi says, his tone one of mild annoyance. If he's annoyed, then I'm furious, because, like he said, we've been sparring for an entire week and yet it is always me who ends up on the floor. I didn't go into this expecting to best him, but I at least didn't want to continuously end up out of breath, on the training room mats.

This isn't even really sparring, just a one-sided fight. Once I can breathe without gasping for air, I jump to my feet, only to hiss in pain when something - most likely my ribs - ache in protest. It isn't a sharp pain, so I know they aren't broken, but they definitely are bruised.

Suddenly, Tobi is in front of me. He grabs hold of my right wrist and pulls it above my head, causing pain to shoot up through my side and I scowl at him for causing more pain. He pulls my shirt up just enough to see my ribs and I kick his shin with my shoe, more in warning than actually attempting to hurt him. However, he just ignores my annoyance as he probes the tender area. It won't show for a day or two, but I'll have a nasty bruise later...

"We're done for today," he says as he lowers my shirt back down, certain that nothing has been broken. It wouldn't be the first time he did, so I'm guessing he is relieved. It only took a few hours at the local hospital to take fix up, but the doctor got nosy and forced me to stay overnight, worried that Tobi might be my abusing boyfriend. The mask didn't really help anything.

I've only been here for two weeks, but I already have suffered broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a concussion, and I had to get ten stitches from Kakuzu, who thought I had an accident in the kitchen, on my outer thigh. If things keep going the way they are, I may just end up in an early grave. "Meet me in my room so I can wrap your ribs," Tobi says once he has let me go.

"I can do that myself," I protest but he holds up his hand, cutting off my protest all at one. He's already annoyed with me, and I can't blame him for that, so it would probably be best to not anger him more. If he wants to wrap my ribs, so be it. I honestly was never good at that and while I would be willing to try again, it would just be easier to have someone else do it. I always make it uncomfortably tight or loose enough to slip off.

Exiting the training room, I turn right down the passage. After pushing open a door that is always locked when I try to come here myself, I end up in the third floor hallway. Going down a flight, I look around to make sure no one is in the area before entering Tobi's room.

Instead of sitting the bed, I take a seat at his desk and skim read the papers on them. However, there doesn't appear to be anything of actual interest - not that I expected him to keep important documents in an unsafe place - and I lean back in the chair.

Supposedly, Tobi shares this room with Zetsu, but there is only one bed and as far as I know, Zetsu doesn't sleep. Or, at least, not in the base. The walls are blank and the room looks more like something Tobi the Master, not Tobi the Goof, would have. As my eyes roam the mostly empty bedroom, they land on a file on his desk.