Wandering Heathens

Medicine

They sat, in the pouring rain, next to each other and cross legged. Eyes closed, they were concentrating on their chakra. Delving deep into their consciousness, they felt themselves becoming detached from their bodies and surroundings as they focused to weave together their natural chakra and their kinjutsu chakra.

It was a battle of wills to combine the two, to weave them and make them one. Sweat poured from their bodies and their lips were pulled back from their teeth in grimaces and snarls. Each refused to be beaten and knew if they failed at this task that they wouldn't be able to awaken their final Uzumaki kinjutsu.

With a scream of pain, Ryuu opened his eyes and leaned forward onto his hands, panting and gnashing his teeth at the pain in his chakra system. Shinjo was still concentrating, his face contorted as he forced his chakras together. They mingled, the blue with the black, and he felt his body become stronger and his mind sharper because of it. "I think I've got it" he said to Ryuu, his voice strained from the effort he was exerting. He tried a little more and the chakras snapped like a rope pulled too hard and he came hurtling back to the present.

Ryuu rubbed his back comfortingly until Shinjo stopped shaking. After a few minutes Shinjo finally spoke, "I had it. Briefly but I had it." Ryuu sat back and sighed, pushing his wet hair from his face, "I tried with mine but something was pushing back. Something was stopping me from combining them." Shinjo nodded in agreement, "it felt different than the battle we had when we opened the scroll. This feels..." he trailed off, tapping his forehead. "The seal?" Ryuu asked and Shinjo nodded. "How do you know?"

"Watch" Shinjo said as he stood and unsheathed his sword. He moved his hand over the seals on the weapon's hilt and removed them one by one. Nothing happened; the weapon remained unchanged. He fed chakra into it and still, nothing happened. Ryuu grabbed the sword and examined it, the faint and timeworn scratchings of the Ryōshis still visible but inactivated. "Interesting" he mumbled to himself, forgetting Shinjo was there while he closely examined the hilt and then the blade. He even ran his finger down the blade, cutting himself and letting the blood fall onto the cold steel, and as before, nothing happened.

Shinjo snatched the weapon from Ryuu, reattached the seals and sheathed the sword before sitting back down. "Something is blocking us from using our full powers" he said and Ryuu looked at the grey sky, feeling the rain hit his face. "Then I suppose we need to find out what we're not supposed to know" he said finally. Before Shinjo could answer, a familiar figure emerged from the rain: Kakuza.

"If you two get sick I'm not paying for the treatment" she said. Ryuu rolled his eyes at her, "yeah yeah, we know. We have our own money, ya know. We don't need a sugar kunoichi!" Shinjo smirked at his partner's indigence and looked at Kakuza. "You need something?" She nodded and motioned for him to follow her. "What about me?! Don't leave me here!" Ryuu protested and got up to follow but one look from Kakuza's red and green eyes made him falter and sit back down.

Grabbing Shinjo's hand, she lead him inside the Akatsuki Tower, down hallways and corridors and into her room, set as far away from the other members as possible. "Strip" she commanded with her back to him, looking at various liquids in vials in a small, worn leather case. Shinjo stripped to his waist and stood there, shivering while water droplets fell from his hair onto his skin. Selecting a vial, Kakuza turned around and her breathing became a little uneven as Shinjo stood topless in front of her.

Shaking her head to clear it of the ideas and emotions clouding it, she walked over to him and handed him the vial, "drink" she commanded. He looked at it, small in his hand, it's tan liquid sloshing inside. He looked at her again and couldn't sense any malice so he decided to trust her and drank the disgusting liquid. Coughing from the taste he asked what it was. "Medicine from Yusa. It's expensive but the Akatsuki can't afford for you to be ill" Kakuza growled. "What about Ryuu, then?" She looked away and replied "I don't care for him so I don't have any inclination to help him."

Shinjo stepped closer to her, saying "you should care. He's my partner and should anything happen to him..." His voice trailed off as he raised a hand to her face and gently stroked her masked cheek. Kakuza closed her eyes and smiled a little behind her mask. She tensed when Shinjo began removing her Akatsuki robe and mask and steeled herself for his exclamation of either disgust or horror.

Her robe fell from her shoulders and pooled on the floor at her ankles. Shinjo took in her tanned skin and ran his fingers gently over her exposed stitches before moving to her face. She looked away, anywhere but at him, while he traced the stitches from her lips. What she hadn't anticipated was Shinjo gently kissing her and pulling her against his body. She felt her feminine softness against his masculine firmness and was allowing herself to be lost to the foreign concept of affection and tenderness.

Flashing behind her eyes was a scene. Two teens and an adult. Found her with a scroll. Slaughter. Escape. Decades of lonely wandering. She snapped her eyes open and pushed Shinjo roughly away. "What the hell?" He asked her, shock and confusion lacing his voice. "I can't" Kakuza replied, looking at the floor. "What is it?" Shinjo asked but the woman had replaced her robe and mask and had left the room, slamming the door behind her in her retreat.

Shinjo redressed and left the room, confused by what had just happened. He peeked into the other rooms, looking for her, but she was gone. He found Hida lounging in the living quarters and drawing a prayer circle on the floor with red paint he had stolen from Sasori. "Where's Kakuza?" He asked her. Her magenta eyes boredly looked at him and she sighed, "I don't fucking know. She came in here, grabbed her case and fucked off into the great unknown." "Where's Ryuu?" Throwing down her brush in frustration, she stood to her feet and began yelling," I DON'T KNOW! I'M NOT YOUR GODDAMNED BABYSITTER! KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR OWN SHIT YOU BLASPHEMOUS HEATHEN!" Shinjo slowly backed out of the room and went to his own.

Closing the door, he walked over to his desk and opened a book. Inside were sketches of events, rooms and people he had been remembering. Zuko was cleanly drawn, his details standing out from the page. A teen Ryuu grinned goofily at him from another page. The next page, however, contained a blackened outline of something, someone that he was never able to see long enough to get any details. He turned another page and a scene of carnage met his eyes. Several bodies lay on the floor but the most striking part of the image was Zuko laying in a pool of blood with his fingers outstretched as if he was trying to touch someone. Did he have a message? Or was he simply wanting one last touch before he died?

Frustrated, Shinjo threw the book against the wall and sat down heavily on his bed. He gripped his head with his hands and closed his eyes, willing the tears that threatened to fall, away. Why can't I remember?! What are you trying to tell me Zuko-sensei?!