Howl of Konoha Book II

The Seal

I was startled by the tapping of knuckles against the wood of my bedroom door. Lifting myself up off the floor, I opened to find a solemn-looking Kisame starring down at me. I yawned and stepped out of my room closing the door behind me.

"Hey Kisame." I yawned. "Wassup?"

I noticed Kisame's eyes flick every now and then down the hall in the direction of the base's living room.

"Kisame? You okay?" I questioned.

It took a moment for Kisame to finally make eye contact with me. When he did I could see a look of both regret and sadness hidden in his shark-like features.

"They're back..."

My eyes widened and my head snapped to the direction of the living room. I bolted down the long hallway, a smile on my lips. I could hear Kisame's voice faintly in the distance behind me calling my name but I ignored him and ran faster down the hall. The glow of the living room lights and soft murmurs reached me. I slid to a stop, panting like a dog and tail wagging when I finally entered the scene.

I took in the faces of those gathered and felt my smile falter. Everyone stared at me with caution. I stepped forward and caught sight of long, blonde hair. Knowing instantly who it was I sprinted and tackled him in a hug. He returned it, patted my head and smiled down at me. My tail begun to wag again as I pushed back tears of happiness. I was so glad he was back and alive.

"You idiot! You had me scared shitless, ya'know!" I scolded him. Deidara chuckled rather nervously at me and it was then that I noticed he was missing an arm. "Jesus Christ, what the fuck happened to your arm?!"

"Heh, those leaf ninja sure are something...." That was all the blonde said to me before looking away. After that comment the room went quiet and the atmosphere seemed to have changed.

I let go of Deidara and scanned the faces of the the people in the room.

"Hey, where's Sasori?" I turned to ask the blonde when I noticed the redhead's absence. I took note of the others avoiding eye contact and rubbing the backs of their necks. Everyone's behavior was beginning to make me nervous. I returned to look up at Deidara and he too was avoiding eye contact. I grabbed a hold of his sleeve and tried to get his attention.

"Deidara.., where's Sasori?" I asked again.

The drawn out silence was enough to tell me what had happened on their mission. My tail ceased movement and I released Deidara's sleeve. I backed away not just from the blonde but from the rest of Akatsuki as well.

'It's not true, is it?'  I asked through my telepathy. 'He promised.'

"I'm sorry, Natsuki." Deidara mumbled. "Sometimes promises are meant to be broken..."

Tears appeared in my eyes and without another word, I turned and ran. I exited the base and sprinted through the forest. Paths and columns of green faded behind me. I ran until my legs hurt, screamed until my voice became hoarse, and cried until my eyes stung. My anger built up and I unleashed it on the trees that stood in my way. A path of destruction is what I left and the more I destroyed, the more I fueled my desire for revenge.

I lost track of how many times I said I was done with loosing my most important people, but I guess I'm like a child in that sort of way. Wanting to protect those I hold dear yet being unable to when it finally comes down to it. Constantly saying I won't let anyone get close to me ever again yet never actually going through with the motion. I was pathetic, and everyone knew it.

Suddenly, the worst possible pain imaginable buried itself into my head. I collapsed in mid-jump and fell from the canopy of the trees. I landed hard. A crater from the force of my body hitting the ground fanned out around me and knocking the air out of my lungs.