It's Not Forever *Shikamaru/OC/Gaara* (Book 1) COMPLETE

Chapter 19

A/N: I lied, I found more POV jumping, but I promise it's not as much.
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 It's surprisingly well-lit in this room compared to most of this base. Itachi picks up my backpack, pouch, and drumsticks from the wall next to the door. I put my bag on after checking its contents, then my pouch. I tuck my sticks into my socks and step further into the room. 

"Hattori, you may be of use to our organization. Your abilities were brought to our attention by Itachi. Your strength and abilities will be put to the test. This is a test of survival. Fight to kill or be killed. If you survive, you may join us. Understood?" I hear a powerful disembodied voice say. It's not booming, but it's one that makes you feel the impact of the words as they're spoken.
"Aye Aye, Captain." I mutter and mock salute the catwalk across the room. I hear some snickering afterward.
"Begin." The voice says and I tense up in preparation.
I slide my headphones back down around my neck, choosing to wait to see what happens. I'm not sure what to expect from these people. Hopefully I can handle it. I see blades coming toward me and knock them away with a wave of my arm. I smirk as more come at me faster. I knock them away as well. They must underestimate me. I feel more come at me from all directions. I drop into a spin, forming a spiral with the sound wave to trap them all. I stretch my palm out in front of me, shooting them all into the opposite wall, all embedding themselves to the hilt.
"This is too easy Captain!" I call out, looking up at the catwalk. The men are all shadows from this distance. I count ten of them, then one disappears. Several large wooden poles emerge from the ground, offering hiding places for myself and enemies. Atleast they're trying to make it interesting. I look up in mild interest as something flits toward me. As it grows nearer, I realize it's a clay bird. It's so cute. A voice yells, 'Katsu!' and I roll away from it just as it explodes. Okay, that's cool. I wonder whose it is. I return to my feet as dozens fly at me. I run away from them, then jump at the wall, using it as leverage to leap backward over the birds as they explode. The blonde guy from last night steps out from behind a pole and smirks.
"Nice art. Kudos on the detonating clay." I say, both of us circling each other. "Do you want to play?" I smile sweetly.
"Of course, un. I didn't get to repay you for punching me the other night."
He reaches into a pouch and pulls out a bird, when he tosses it toward the floor it turns into a giant scale version. He steps onto it and it glides into the air. This will be fun! I run to the nearest pole and stab a knife into it and use it to climb onto the top. He tosses clay and knives with exploding tags down at me. I dodge most of them by jumping pole to pole. I stop underneath where he's floating and wait for them to come at me. I pull out my drumsticks and send them back in a wave just as they detonate. The tags explode around him, knocking him off of the bird. He catches himself and pulls himself up onto a nearby pole.
"You're pretty good, un."
"Thank you. You're not too bad yourself. I never did catch your name before I broke your nose. What is it?" I ask, chuckling lightly. The caffeine is really starting to make me hyper.
"I'm Deidara, un. Who are you?"
"I'm Kaida. Let me introduce you to my own art since you've shown me yours."
I smirk and twirl my drumsticks around my fingers before drumming out a beat, sending massive waves in his direction. He doesn't dodge in time and the waves crash into him, sending him flying backward into a pole.
"Ooh! This is fun! Let's keep playing." I clap my hands and cheer.
Another member lands in front of me on the top of the pole. His hair is silver and his eyes are red. Sharkie also jumps down, landing behind me. I hear muffling shouting from the catwalk above and recognize the voice to be Itachi's. He's probably mad that their leader sent down two more people instead of one.
"More fun! Hey there Sharkie, come to play?" I purr, my gaze never leaving the silver haired man in front of me. His gaze is trained on me, his expression either showing a desire for sex or murder, hopefully murder. I turn as Sharkie grins and pulls his sword as Deidara stands again. The silver guy pulls a three bladed scythe from behind his back. I giggle and perfom the signs for my Oto Mari no Jutsu, sending balls of sound at the three of them. They all dodge them and I dodge the incoming birds from one side and the blades from the others. I knock Sharkie back a bit with another sound attack, leaving silver guy as the closest attacker.
"Hey there. Nice necklace. Jashin worshipper?"
He grins before swinging his scythe in my direction. I jump up in time and land on the blades with a smile. I sense weapons coming toward me so I bide my time, taunting the Jashinist until the last moment. I flip backward into the air and focus my chakra into sound waves, pushing the knives and birds together around the man. I compress the sound and they all explode, knocking him back across the arena.
"That was fun! Thanks for playing! Who's next?"
Sharkie lands next to me, swinging his sword out. I jump back but it catches my thigh, scraping skin off. I lose my balance and fall between the poles. I pull a kunai and drive it into the side to catch myself and swing back up. I scowl and stand up, ignoring the pain and bleeding and plan my next attack. It's what Shikamaru would do. Plan ahead, then attack. This was never my forte, forget the planning, LET'S DO THIS! I pull out kunai and rush at him. He swings his sword toward me and I catch the blade with my knives. Something about the sword sparks a memory.
"I know this sword. It's the Samehada, one of the Seven Swordsmen's blades. You're Kisame Hoshigaki. Cool! Who would've known Sharkie would actually be someone relatively important at some point in time." I muse.
"Nice to meet a fan, Little One." He grins, breaking his sword free and swinging around for another attack while I counter it.
"Are you and Itachi together? I don't judge but you two seem cute together." He gives me an odd look at my statement before laughing. I take the distraction to my advantage and punch him in the stomach, using my chakra to lift him into the air. A bit of blood pours from his mouth as I kick him back toward the doors. Where's Deidara and the other guy?
I feel someone latch onto the back of my shirt, tossing me backward through the air. I smack the far wall and feel pain shoot through me. From above, I hear Itachi shouting again. Now I'm done playing. I stand up, wipe the blood from my lip, and roll my shoulders before reclaiming a spot at the top of a pole. I focus a bit of my chakra into my hands before sending waves out in all directions. With a smirk, I watch as it hits the trio, sending them back.
"Now what, Captain?" I call out.
More shadows disappear, leaving three behind. One must be Itachi, the other the Leader, and the last must be the female judging by the figure. Tobi appears, cheering and flailing his arms around. I spin and roundhouse kick him in the jaw, knocking him out of my way. A plant looking man, colored black and white, stands a few poles away along with a puppet like man and another with a mask over the lower part of his face.
"Heh, this will be interesting." I mutter quietly.
----------------Itachi---------
 I watch with worry etched onto my face as all but three of the Akatsuki members go down to attack my sister. She's been holding her own fairly well, only getting slightly injured so far. Watching her fight, I can tell she's barely even trying, still just toying with everyone like she's always done. Fighting for her is a source of amusement; she only ever tries if she gets mad or hurt enough. She has gotten stronger and improved over the years though.
"She's doing well so far. Who did she train with?" I turn to find Pein staring down at the fight with interest.
"She travelled with Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice for a while as a young child, then trained with me until I left. Afterward, her sensei in Konoha, but no one taught her any sound jutsu or her fighting style. Strength and healing were the main things anyone ever taught her. She's taught herself everything, she even made the sticks she uses to amplify her attacks and perform jutsu without hand signs. She's highly intelligent, but hardly ever truly fights. She likes to toy with her opponents."
"Interesting. Who is her clan?"
"She was raised in the Hattori compound, somewhere between the sound and the waterfall. No one knows her parents though, not even herself. The Hattori tried to kill her because of who abandoned her there, but they never said who."
I focus on the battle below in time to see everyone coming toward her, while she's in the center firing attack after attack as fast as she can. I can tell she's struggling but still trying. There's no way she can win this. I turn to Pein and growl at him to stop the match, but he holds a hand up for me to wait. This can't end well...
--k----------
Ignoring the pain searing through me, I force my eyes to open. I groan in further pain as the brightness of the room blinds me, causing me to slam my eyes shut again. I hear movement next to me and I turn my head. I wince at the pain and open my eyes slowly.
"Did I win?" I ask, my throat dry and hoarse.
"You're awake. I was worried." It's Itachi. He sits down next to my bed in a small chair and his hand moves to run through my hair.
"What happened?" I ask, thinking back but only remembering up until they were all coming at me.
He sighs before explaining. "They were all going to attack you and you stood there with your eyes closed. You opened your eyes and they were glowing bright white and you screamed. A bright light came from your chest and exploded. It destroyed the arena then it all dimmed and you passed out. Everyone is alright, just minor injuries, two are immortal so they can't die anyway. What was that?"
I raise an eyebrow before telling him that it had never happened before, then asking again if I passed.
"Leader was waiting until you were awake. Sasori says you can likely be released once he checks your vitals. I'm going to find him." He stands and walks out, leaving me alone.
I bite back a yelp of pain as I force myself to sit up. The room is painted a dingy white with a couple of beds and some equipment on a nearby counter. The door opens again and I turn, expecting my brother, but sigh when I see the orange mask. Tobi comes bounding into the room and I resist the urge to strangle him.
"Kaida-chan is okay! Tobi was worried about you!"
"I'm okay Tobi. What do you want?" I ask.
"How did you make the explosion?" He asks, his voice and demeanor drastically changing.
"I-I'm not sure Tobi, it's never happened before. What happened to your voice?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"You must know something about it." He insists.
"I-" I'm cut off by the door opening. Tobi turns and cheers as Itachi and the puppet guy enter.
"Yay! You're helping Pretty Lady-chan! Get better soon!" He turns toward me and without seeing his face, I sense his threat about keeping what happened quiet. He skips out the door and it slams shut. I roll my eyes and turn toward my brother and the puppet. Without a word, the man begins to check my vitals and look me over.
"You'll be sore and weak for a while, but you can go." He says in a flat tone before walking out.
I turn to Itachi who helps me stand and gives me a crutch to help me walk. My body is screaming in protest, but I push back the pain and force myself to keep walking.
Itachi leads me down a series of hallways and finally brings us to a halt in front of a door a few minutes later. It seems to be settled in a wing with only three doors... This one must be the Leader's office, another his bedroom, but I'm not sure about the last one. I turn my gaze back to the door as Itachi lightly knocks on it, then looks down at me with an unreadable expression. I look away and stare at the door, wondering what's in store for me. I hear the Leader's voice tell us to enter, so Itachi opens it and helps me inside. My eyes dart around the dark room, taking in every bit of information I can. They settle on a blue haired woman with a paper flower in her hair. She looks kind, but there's no viable expression on her face. In front of her, seated at a large wooden desk, is the man I'm assuming to be the Leader. I can't see his face clearly, but I can see the glint of metal in several places where he must have piercings. I refuse to appear weak in front of the Leader, so I meet his hard gaze with an even expression of my own.
"Hattori."
"Hai?" I respond evenly.
"How did you perform the last jutsu?" His question throws me off.
"I have no idea. It's never happened before."
"Why is your chakra level so elevated?" He asks instead.
"I thought my levels were normal."
"Who trained you?"
"I don't see how that's any of your concern."
"Little Sister." Itachi mutters, and I feel his hand squeeze my shoulder roughly.
"Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, Itachi, and myself. My sensei only worked on my physical strength."
"Who taught you the sound jutsu?"
"No one. I taught myself."
"How?"
"Is this twenty questions? I read books about them. If I learn about it once, I can usually perform the jutsu without flaw. I designed my weaponry and constructed it to amplify the power and allow me to perform without speaking."
"I want to study you further. I will keep you here to perform tests and you will act as an apprentice member, going on missions and training, but you will not set foot outside of the base unless you are sent under my orders."
My heart is conflicted. I'm happy to not be sentenced to immediate death, but I still am likely to die. This freak wants to use me to his advantage. I won't get to go back to Konoha, I won't see Shikamaru, Ino, Temari, or Gaara anymore. Home is gone now.
"Why did you approve my capture? I am just an ordinary ninja with no connection to your organization."
"Itachi spoke of your abilities. They intrigued me, so I figured we'll see if you could deliver."
"What if I don't want to join?"
"Kaida-"
"No Itachi. I have had no say in anything in my life. I may not have had much in my life, but really I'd rather starve on the streets again than to be trapped in this place with a bunch of criminals and a traitor like you." I growl before turning and walking out. I slam the door behind myself and hobble through the pain through the corridors. I don't know where I'm going but I'd rather be anywhere but that office.
"Hello Little One."
"What do you want Sharkie?" I ask, the anger showing through my voice.
"Ouch, someone's cranky. You should be happy he's letting you stay."
"Oh yes, because I want to spend the rest of my life as a criminal with this merry band of gentlemen. To top it off I'm trapped here with my traitorous brother who caused this predicament."
"Merry band of gentlemen? Haven't heard that one before. But think of it this way, it's this or death. And since you're a member now, you're less likely to be eaten, sacrificed, or whatever by the others. Just don't piss them off." I look up at the shark man as he matches my pace through the halls. "Where are you going anyway?"
"Do you have a training hall?"
"You're a little broken for that, don't you think?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Think of it this way," I start with a smirk. "it's this, or death. And not my own."
He chuckles. "If you insist."