Obedience
-Chapter Sixteen-
Worrying will never
change the outome.
_______________________________________________
~*~
"You're never gonna tell me, are you?" Emiko eyed the boy curiously, whilst kicking her feet back and forth. "Tell you what?" Sasuke asked, situating himself in the armchair beside her. "Your first kiss" she mischievously scanned the Uchiha, her amethyst eyes burning into his.
"Go to sleep" he looked away, in attempt to hide his blush.
Emiko studied his expression as she'd soon pieced it together. "You've never kissed a girl" she inched in on him, placing her fingers beneath his chin, "have you...?" it didn't take a second more until Sasuke had reached for her, bringing her lips to his. He couldn't help but move closer, pressing her down to the mattress. -A loud knock was heard, bringing the two to reality, "Emiko, you in there?"
Sasuke pressed his finger to her lips, "Mikoo" they persisted. But She was speechless, lost in the Uchiha's onyx orbs as he brushed her lips with his thumb. "I'm sure Sasuke didn't go far, Karin." Suigetsu spat from outside the door. A smile crept to the Uchiha's lips, while Emiko struggled to maintain her composure. He placed a palm over her mouth in attempt to quiet her, though it wasn't an easy task. A small giggle escaped her mouth, nearly giving them away. "Did you hear that?" Karin asked, "No because I'm not delusional. She's probably sleeping, let's go." they stayed silent, until sure the two had crept away.
Finally, Emiko could laugh freely. "You have a good team" she wiped her eyes, "Minus Karin" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the girl, letting her free, "Very funny"
"You know," Emiko brang her knees to her chest, "I haven't seen you smile in a while"
"Don't get used to it" he closed his eyes. "Yeah, yeah" she climbed underneath her covers. " yawning Emiko turned onto her side, looking up to him, "Are you just going to sit there while I sleep?" she raised a brow. "Actually" he crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair, "I was ordered to make sure you didn't get into any more trouble"
"Classic" Emiko sighed, closing her eyes, "It's like they think I'm going to try to escape..."
~*~
In the morning Sasuke awoke to an empty room. As his eyes fell on the made bed, he struggled to recall if what happened had been real. Stretching, he decided to go to the kitchen for a cup of Tea.
As soon as he reached the end of the hallway, he found nearly every member of the Akatsuki sat at the table with a plate of breakfast. This was unusual as the group was never found eating together. The smoky scent of bacon filled his nostrils, causing his stomach to grumble.
Curious, he searched for the source of the food. As soon as he entered the room, his gaze landed on Emiko, flawlessly multitasking in the kitchen. "How do you like your eggs?" She asked Kisame, "Over easy" he grinned, sliding the girl his plate. "Hey Sasuke" Emiko murmured, whilst flipping an egg.
"Oh look, he finally shows up" Suigetsu grumbled, casting him a glare. "What's your deal?" Sasuke asked, "My deal?" Suigetsu repeated,"That idiot kept me up all night searching for you!" he lowered his voice, motioning to Karin. "I didn't MAKE you do anything"
"-Just shut up and eat your food!" he yelled. "Can you two try not to get into a fight every five seconds?" Sasuke sighed, taking a seat at the counter, his eyes glued to Emiko as she cooked.
"It's not my fault she has to be so damn annoying!"
"Congratulations, now you're the one that's annoying" Sasuke replied. Suigetsu scowled shutting himself up with an angry mouthful of toast. Emiko looked him over, the boy definately wasn't at his best. Dark circles shaded his undereyes and his complection was unusually pale. She giggled as the boy groaned, exaggerating his exhaustion. "Yeah yeah, real funny."
"Hey!" She flopped Kisame's eggs on his plate, and aimed the spatula at him,"Keep giving me that attitude and I'll spit in your food next time"
"I highly doubt that" Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Why don't you try then" Kisame chuckled. "Can't you guys just leave me be"
"I beleive you're setting yourself up, Hozuki" Kisame chuckled, while he went to take a seat at the table. "Eggs or pancakes?" Emiko turned to Sasuke, "Eggs" he crossed his arms, "Over medium"
Once breakfast was cooked, the crowd became to distracted eating that they lost sight of the cook. "Hey, where'd Emiko go off to?" Deidara quiestioned, scanning the room. Sasuke placed his plate in the garbage, and let out a sigh.
"I'll find her"
The Uchiha knew exactly where she was, but he'd hoped he was mistaken. But, As soon as he reached outside, he found that he was spot on. There she was out on the hilltop the sun shining on her back while she finished pushups. The Uchiha watched her go and she didn't seem to notice. They were stationed in the countryside of The Hidden Rain and still somehow, the girl brought sunshine with her.
"Really? After all this time" he approached her. She's had the same routine all these years, skip breakfast, train, eat...repeat. "Why is it" she began, panting for a bit, "That you always seemed to inturrupt my meditation" she narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha before sitting criss-cross to the grassy floor, "instinct" the Uchiha teased. Emiko's face went blank, "I'll remember that"
"You still do this every day?" he questioned, taking a seat beside her. "Just the same as I did when I was younger." she explained, "it's just become a habit, really..." Sasuke flashed the girl a look of slight disgust. There she was, acting like her strength was nothing again.
"I see nothing about you has changed"
But that wasn't the truth one bit. It was how Kabuto fixed her up.
~*~
Had it been a month since Emiko had gone missing? No it had been only a couple of weeks. It all began to feel like years to the Kage as he realized he was slowly beggining to lose memory of Emiko. He couldn't remember the way she looked when she smiled or laughed, but her scent definately remained on his sheets to haunt him. It had felt so long to him, he wasn't even sure if he remembered her voice. And there was this feeling he had, how numbness combined with dread, he had no idea. But the feelings seemed to feed off eachother, heightening as the days went on.
"Kazekage-Sama?" a knock was heard on his door, "Yes Matsuri?" he called his assistant in. Before she could open her mouth, Temari darted inside with Kankuro following after. "We have news" Kankuro announced, "Which do you want first; the good or the bad?" Gaara swallowed thickly, tensing as he realized he should probably prepare for the worst. Silence followed.
"The bad." he finalized. Temari paused for a momment while her a Kankuro exchanged looks for a moment. "What?" he grumbled frustrated, "tell me" Temari exhaled, and looked at her brother before reluctantly sliding him a newspaper. There on the front page was a picture of Emiko dressed in robes of The Akatsuki. Beside her was Sasuke and his team.
"Missing nins in kahoot's?" the headline read. "If you haven't heard the story of Emiko of the leaf then it's time you're informed of who she is. At the age of 10 she had murdered her father and mother in cold blood, naming herself the last of the Tamashii clan. It has been reported that the girl's parents were in association with Legendary Sanin: Orochimaru and that she had been a former expirement of his but there is no evidence supporting this claim. The photo below depicts a girl that seems to be Tamashii along Sasuke Uchiha and his team "Taka", sporting Akatsuki robes. Is this the Missing-Nin, Emiko Tamashii? What you chose to beleive is up to you."
Gaara's stomach dropped, or was it his heart? At this point he couldn't tell the difference, as a giant lump formed at the back of his throat. "And the good news...?" he asked his siblings. Kankuro frowned, his eyes falling to the floor in defeat.
"We found Emiko"
Gaara sent them a simple nod and sat there for a moment before clearing his throat. "We will be heading to a Kage Summit to discuss the Akatsuki. We leave for Land of the Iron tomarrow, so be packed.
