A Life with the Akatsuki [ABANDONED]

The Misadventures of Nagareboshi: Chapter Two

“They are the real deal.”

XChapter 2XX All is Hell That Ends Well X

A smarter person might have turned and run. But I remained with my feet frozen to the ground in both fear and shock. In that moment, everything clicked. I may not know how it happened, but I know where I am. And I know who they are. Crap…

“Who are you, un?” The blond demands as he takes a menacing step forward. The masked one bounces on the balls of his feet in excitement.

“Maybe she is informant-san?” The bouncy one asks in a rather childish voice. There is no mistaking. They are the well-known Akatsuki members, Deidara and Tobi.

Foolishly, it is now that my legs decide they can move once more. And before I can send the signals down to my legs not to move, I am fleeing the scene. There are some muttered curse words behind me, but I do not stop or slow down to see their reactions. Now that I am already running, I see no reason to stop.

As an ex-member of my school’s track team, I race down that hill with an incredible speed. It does help that I feel like the hounds of Hell are nipping at my heels. I reach the bottom of the hill and slow down as I try to make a decision, only to feel a steel-like grip latch onto my shoulder, forcing me to stop. My momentum carries me, though, and I end up with my feet sliding out from under me. Only the grip on my shoulder keeps me from falling down again.

“Tobi caught you, spy-san.” The masked man says in a cheerful tone. Despite his kind tone, his grip says that he is far from pleased as he threatens to break my shoulder blade.

Deidara drops down from a tree. “I see you caught her, un.” He says dryly.

The grip on my shoulder lightens up slightly as his partner shows up and I try to take that moment to duck away from him, only to find myself being pulling into a hug. What the heck…

“Tobi. Let. Her Go.” Deidara practically growls, walking up to us before prying Tobi’s arms off me. In that split second of a struggle, I slip out of his reach and take off. The blond swears again, clearly not expecting me to run immediately.

I only make it two blocks before I reach a dead end. Desperate, I look around for some way out of the alley only to find the cause of this mess; the public bath house, or Sentō. I run towards it and practically dive through the open doorway. The woman at the front desk gasps in surprise before chuckling. “Are you okay? Can I help you?”

“Uh, yes, I would like admittance for one, please.” I reply, placing the money on the counter. Ojii-san had made sure that I had enough money to pay for the bath.

The woman smiles and hands me a towel before sliding the money into a pouch at her hip. “Have a nice bath,” she says before greeting the next visitor. There is a shout from outside and I rush into the ladies’ side of the Sentō. Outside the sliding door, I can hear the lady arguing with Deidara about entering this side of the Sentō. He stutters for a moment before announcing loud enough for me to hear, “You have to come out of there sometime.”

I know he is right, but that does not stop me from enjoying my bath time. It is clear that I do not have to worry about being interrupted, so that means I can spend as much time as I need to plan a way out of here. Though, it doesn’t take a long as my bath did.

Escaping would be a bad idea. If I leave, they will eventually figure that out and come looking for me. And since the only person I know and trust is in this village, I cannot pack up and leave. I have nowhere to go, so I am stuck. Besides, I doubt that they plan to kill me. If that had been their intent, they would have done that sooner.