WITHER. [akatsuki x oc]

one: enter, megumi satsuru

The second I stepped foot into the dark cave, the cold pricked my bare arms. A deep sense of fear wrapped its fingers around my throat and choked me. The robed man who escorted me into the cave turned his face towards me, but I didn't have the nerve to face him back. I didn't want to look too far into his piercing, lavender eyes, lined and hued with the Rinnegan. I would've had my soul snatched out of me if I did.

The floor felt like the safest place to rest my gaze. At least five other pairs of eyes were scanning me, some sharp like senbon, some burning through my flesh. I wished that my hair wasn't tied back -- if I let it loose before coming, it would have covered my face. I would've felt a lot safer that way. This was my choice, and I knew I chose it because it was better than the village. But right then, I thought I was being skewered and roasted.

"Who are you?" a gruff voice asked, coming from my left. I flinched at the sudden question, opening my mouth to speak before feeling my voice get caught in my throat. I stood there for an eternity, trying to push some sound out of my mouth. It was like trying to push a boulder through a straw.

"You're scaring her, dude," another voice chuckled, coming from in front of me. I didn't dare to look up at them at all. My eyes were glued to the ground. This voice sounded a hair friendlier, but not by much.

"Hey, are you okay? Can you even talk?"

Tears rose like a great wave behind my eyes. It crashed against my head, giving me a dull headache. I took a deep breath and tried to offer something of a smile.

"I'm Megumi," I finally manage, and once I started to talk, it slowly became easier. "Megumi Satsuru."

It was silent in the room. I pined for a way to fill that silence with something, anything. My pounding heart filled my ears like an empty glass.

"Megumi," someone pondered, tasting my name in their mouth. I took a deep breath, thankful for the person speaking. Voices slowly started to bounce back and forth.

"Huh. And I thought this would be interesting."

"You're really quiet. Not even Itachi quiet. Just awkward quiet."

My ear twitched at that.

"Better than having another loudmouth like you. At least if she's quiet, she's tolerable."

I opened my mouth to speak again. "Itachi?" I said, lifting my head from the ground for the first time. It was my turn to examine the people in the room and all their faces.

A scoff resonated through the room again. A scrawny teen with blonde hair covering half his face shot me a hateful frown.

"Hey," he groaned. "Didn't you say she was from the Leaf? Don't tell me you're one of Itachi's fangirls."

I immediately shook my head, and his expression dissipated into neutrality. When I found Itachi's eyes boring into mine, a calm immediately washed over me, and my heart rate began to slow down. Even though my mind was panicking at the sudden release of tension, my body was completely at ease.

"Why are you here?" Itachi asked, his voice serene like still water. Something in me pushed my heavy voice through my narrow throat, opening me up and pulling the answer from my stomach.

"The Leaf screwed me over," I began, my voice declarative but my head frantic. It was as if I lost control of my body.

Itachi paused, then spoke again. "How did they screw you over?"

Despite the mountain of mental protest built inside me, I sang like a canary.

"I was accused of killing two ninja on a mission due to negligence. The other two medics who were on the mission with me were my best friend and boyfriend. While they were having an affair, I had to save twelve ninja on the brink of death by myself. I could only save ten. To save themselves, they lied and said I didn't do my job. I was kicked out of the medical corps, and subject to disgrace, ridicule, harassment and death threats."

"So you left on your own?"

"Yes. I left on my own."

"Where were you going to go?"

"The Village Hidden in the Sand."

The person with the gruff voice earlier let out another rough sound.

"You never made it there, did you?"

I felt the grip Itachi had on me start to weaken the tiniest bit. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, a tear falling down my face.

"No. Pain found me in the forest near the village gates."

Even though Itachi remained expressionless the whole time, I thought his eyes softened a bit.

"Itachi?" I breathed, another tear falling down my face. "Can you release your genjutsu now?"

The blonde kid stood from his seat, eyes just as piercing now as Itachi's. The others furrowed their brows in confusion, the first genuine emotion I saw from them since I walked into the place.

"His eyes aren't active," another person said, his arms crossed over his bare torso. He slicked back his short, silver hair over his confused face.

"Yes they are," I said, the quiet in my body driving me to insanity. "I can feel them. Itachi, you've gotten all the information you want from me, now please turn it off."

"One more thing," he said, ramping up the intensity instead. His Sharingan, masked by the genjutsu, now glowed a menacing, bloody red. My body began to shut down, knees buckling and head spinning from the lack of oxygen. I fell on my fours, my attempts to regain control of my body futile.

"Do you know a boy named Sasuke Uchiha?"

"He left the village long before I did. I have no clue where he is or what he might be doing."

The genjutsu weakened, and my heart rate returned to its original trepidation. Chills rattled my bones, and my limbs returned to me, aching. Soon, Itachi released me from his clutches, and left the room in a wisp of smoke. I stayed on my knees, still trepidating.

I saw two feet walk towards me and stop at my shaking body. I looked up at the person standing over me, and it was the same blonde boy. I could see the other half of his face under his hair.

"How did you know?" he asked, demanding an answer. "How did you know he was using genjutsu? His eyes weren't active."

I took a deep breath before speaking again. "I could feel it. I've been under genjutsu like that before, just not as powerful..."

"But...his eyes..."

"That was part of the illusion," I breathed, trying to stand up and falling back to my knees. "It looked like his eyes weren't active because that's what he wanted me to believe. I'm not exactly the kind of person that gives up my whole life story like that. He wanted information...probably about his brother."

"...so you're saying it's been on this whole time?"

"Probably since I walked in."

An empty guffaw rolled out of the teen's gut. I wipe my face, itching from the tears that dried over my cheeks.

"Hm," another member hummed, approaching me, but keeping a distance. Only his sickly green eyes and the copper-toned skin surrounding them were left uncovered.

"You might be a little interesting after all."