Rain To Wash The Blood Away (Nagato x reader)

21. Darkness

Hidan thought in silence for a while before looking up at you with a confused expression.

"So you fell down a hole?"

You nodded.

"Not just any hole. Only recently I learnt that it was very well-known in the area, named Hell's pit because it was a literal death trap and the resident's of the nearby village believed that demons would emerge from it at night. It was bottomless ravine which was known to swallow people in the night," you explained.

It was the day that you emerged from the pit that you went to the nearby village. At the time you had fallen in, the ninja you were fighting were occupying that village, but after visiting you had learnt that the Akatsuki was successful in their mission and were able to rid the village of the rogues. Learning that made you feel a lot better about what had happened, at least you hadn't 'died' in vain.

"If it's as scary as you say it is, how the hell did you get out of it?" Hidan accused, not quite believing everything you had told him. Heaving a sigh, you lent back against the back of the couch and tried to relax.

"Why do you always ask for the longest stories?" you groaned, taking a glance over at Hidan who was waiting eagerly on the couch opposite yours.

"Come on, just tell me," he pressed, not looking like he would give up any time soon. No longer caring about what had occurred in the pit, you went back and tried your best to remember everything you could. It was the first time since you had been down there that you had thought about it. It wasn't that anything necessarily bad happened down there, the only thing that you found painful was the fact that you had left everyone behind and you couldn't help but blame yourself for it. If you had been careful, you would never have fallen in the pit and the Akatsuki wouldn't be in the state it was now. Taking another deep breath, you thought back to what happened next, telling the story as you walked back through your memories.

Flashback

You remembered falling for a long time, full minutes passing before you hit the bottom. The fall was fast but you seemed to land softly, as if you had entered a new plain where there was almost no gravity. You were weightless and were able to land successfully on your feet, receiving zero injuries.

In that moment you were both very emotional and confused. You had left your friends to fight alone and had no clue what had happened. After falling, you guessed that you were dead and what you were experiencing was some sort of after life.

But how wrong you were.

You were still alive, but it seemed as if you were in another world, one which was very different than the land which were born and had lived your whole life.

This land existed in constant dusk, looking as if the sun was only hiding behind a corner, teasing the darkness with its minimal light. It was a dim landscape, a darkened cavern which was void of sound. All you could hear was the occasional drip of  water and echoes of what you could only describe as the creature which resided there.

Looking above, from where you had fallen, you could see no light at all, that showed just how far you had fallen. In the nothingness of the eternal cavern, you sat alone and awaited your eventual demise.

But you were suddenly caught off-guard when you heard the sound of giggling, that of a little girl. Standing, you looked around and tried to locate the voice. Despite only being there for a short amount of time, you were desperate to speak to someone, anyone, you didn't care who it was. It also made you curious of what lived here, if anything.

You blindly rushed off in the direction of the laughter, noticing how the shadows moved, looking as if they were chasing you. In a hurry to find the little girl, you started running, the moving shadows becoming even more noticeable.

And before you knew it, you were trapped. Shadow-like creatures surrounded you, drawing closer. There were some in the shape of animals as well as others which looked like people, their arms outstretched, hands aching to grab at you. In that moment you believed that your life would end, that these creatures would feast upon your flesh and leave only a pile of regret-filled bones. But there was someone who saved you, someone you owe everything to.

A creature of pure darkness appeared, its size quadrupling most of the others. It resembled a wild dog in its shape, the sound it made as it approached sounding close enough to a canine-like growl. In that moment, you became even more fearful, worried that this creature would be the one to feast upon you instead. But you were wrong in thinking that.

The other shadows retracted and went away, being only visible in the distance as your eyes adjusted to the darkened world. And now, it was just you and this creature. There was a moment of silence where you stared up at it with fear gone from your mind, there only being curiosity left. You had come to terms with your death, knowing full well that you were to be swallowed by darkness and this creature was literally made of shadows. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath and awaited your impending doom.

You waited patiently for your death, reopening your eyes when minutes had passed by. Taking another look up at the creature, you met its gaze. Its eyes were a bright white, standing out significantly against the darkness of its body.

"Please end my suffering, creature," you called out to it, having no faith left in continuing to live. You had no hope left in ever getting out, having only the sight of the climb above to take your confidence away. But something happened which changed your mentality completely.

"Are all humans this weak-minded?" it asked, startling you. There was no point where you had sat there and ever considered the chance of this creature speaking to you. Staring up at the creature, you couldn't help but smile and let out a small amount of laughter.

"Not all, there are plenty of humans that are strong," you told it, not sure where this conversation would lead. The shadow then lessened in size, shrinking down to become something much smaller than you. It crouched on the ground, taking another form as a small girl. Her body was a mass of darkness formed into the shape of a little girl, her only facial features being a pair of shining white eyes. From there she approached you and gestured for you to come down and meet her height.

"What makes a human strong?" she asked, her white orbs staring directly into your (e/c) eyes. It made you think for a moment, there were lots of different meanings of strength, it just depended on who was asked.

"Different humans have different beliefs in what strength is," you told her, hoping that she would understand. But she seemed to understand easily, your words making her curious.

"What is strength to you?" she asked. You couldn't help but smile as you thought back to your childhood, from where you had met Yahiko and Konan, to saving Nagato and growing up with them.

"To me, strength is being able to protect the ones you love."

"And are you strong?"

"No."

"Would you like to be?"

I haven't updated this story in so long and I'm sorry about that. My time has been very limited over these last few months and whenever I had the chance to write, I seemed to go straight to my other stories even though I love this one too.

Anyway, I am very sorry if you've been waiting all this time for an update. I will try and update as often as I can, thank you for reading <3