Violet-Eyed Serpent: Ch.14

“I'm guessing the old man is the target Suna wanted us to capture?” Pakura asked as she walked besides me and I looked at her before nodding as I turned back to where Yahiko was carrying Higashi while Konan walked besides him.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Do you really think I'd be able to escape out of this?” She asked as she lifted her hands and I smirked at the chains wrapped around them before she rolled her eyes as I shrugged.

"Like I said, one can never be too careful.”

“Sure. Can I at least know whether or not you're an Uzumaki, Nagato?”

“Firstly, stop listening in on our conversations.”

“Can't help it. I'm a kunoichi.”

“Secondly, why do you want to know?” I asked once more and she just gave me a deadpan stare.

“The Uzumaki Clan is the only clan that has manage to establish a Hidden Village all on their own. They're kind of like the shinobi where if you can take one out, your village would give me the equivalent of an A-Rank or S-Rank paycheck depending on whether you killed a child or an adult.”

“And could you? Kill a child, I mean?” I asked and raised an eyebrow as she simply sighed and nodded.

“I've had to kill multiple 'in the name of Suna', except I was getting paid for those. Then again, gtting paid to kill a child of all people just feels wrong.”

“It sounds to me that you're beginning to regret your choice of profession.”

“Regret my profession? Ha! Not in the slightest. Do I regret not having fought against orders when I should have? Perhaps, but one can't change the past nor should you dwell on it. You must only look to the future.”

“…Huh, you're pretty wise for a teenager.”

“You're pretty mouthy for one too.”

“I'm 11 years old, I think. Konan, how old am I again?”

“12, Nagato. You really need to start remembering your age. You're supposed to be the oldest.”

“I don't really care for birthdays and stuff like that. That's why I have you guys to remind me.” I spoke with a grin and she rolled her eyes with a giggle before I turned back and snickered at Pakura's surprised look.

“You're…twelve?”

“Apparently. Why do you ask?”

“I got beaten by a twelve year old?”

“Hey, a twelve year old with a doujutsu and some potent chakra. At least make me sound cool and spare yourself some humiliation in the process. If I was a simple civilian twelve year old that beat your ass, that would not look good on your record.”

“I don't even care for my record or your special abilities. Who the hell trained you?”

“I think you of Suna know him as Jiraiya of the Sannin. He stayed behind for a couple of years to train us and help us grow stronger.”

“…Hah, why am I not surprised? That makes perfectly sense.” She muttered as she looked up at the clouds and I snorted as we continued after the others.

“So, where are you all headed?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?”

“I do. That's why I'm asking you.” Pakura continued and I looked at her before she sighed as I smirked and shrugged.

“First, we're going over there and then we're heading to a place called here and then, we're heading back home.”

“That's just grand. And where are you dropping me off?”

“Uh, at a time called when you don't try to kill us.”

“Which is going to happen in never.”

“And there's when we're going to release you: Never.”

“I'll escape one day. You know that, right?”

“When you do, can you send me a post card from wherever you are so I can come capture you again? I'd rather not waste my time trying to track you down. Not that you would even be able to escape far considering that my eyes has now memorized your chakra.”

“Are they like…a mixture of Konoha's Sharingan and Byakugan?”

“Along with a few other things.” I answered cryptically and she simply gave me a sour glare at the vague response before I looked to Konan as she spoke up.

“Nagato, we're coming up on the drop spot.”

“Cool. Yahiko, you go and make the drop. Sessho, follow alongside him. Konan and I will be watching from a distance.”

“Wait, I have to go in alone?” Yahiko asked with a frown and Konan giggled as I smiled and nodded.

“You chose this mission, did you not? Go and finish it.”

“Good luck~”

“…I swear, this is some horse crap right here.” I snickered at his grumbling as Yahiko walked off, Sessho trotting along happily at his side while Konan quickly cast an invisibility genjutsu around us.

“Hey, bratty teenager.”

“Who-!” She spun to me with a frown, but I smirked as her gaze caught mine, watching as she quickly slumped over while I placed genjutsu after genjutsu on her.

They weren't painful ones, but just one that made her think she managed to break free and ran away during the meeting and did I mention that I layered about ten of these genjutsu on top of each other?

Yeah, it's going to take a while for her to break free.

Turning my gaze and focusing on the chakra of Yahiko, Sessho and Higashi, I watched as they cleared the forest line and walked out onto rocky grounds where a group of shinobi dressed in all brown were waiting for them.

Wearing no headbands and only a pair of dark brown cloaks to camouflage with the muddy ground along with dark grey oni masks to cover their faces, Yahiko looked a bit hesitant while Higashi climbed down happily and stood besides him.

“Think he'll remember to take the money?” I asked Konan as we watched Yahiko to the shinobi and she simply smirked before I nodded as the orange-haired boy took the scroll that was handed over to him.

Following the normal protocol, he opened the scroll and scanned it thoroughly along with unsealing a few bills before he nodded and let the old man walk over.

With that done, Yahiko didn't waste a single moment and rushed away at a blistering pace, Sessho keeping track as the both of them landed in front of us right as Konan included them into the genjutsu and I sunk us deep into the ground while sealing it back up above us.

Making a clone, it blew out a small stream of flames above us to produce light, Yahiko unravelling the scroll and sending a bit of chakra into the seal before we grinned as numerous stacks of ten thousand ryo bills fell onto the floor.

“Nice work. We can start counting now and wait until they leave above or start making our way back to the base. Which sounds better?”

“Getting back to the base is the best option for us, especially that we now have more than enough to buy one of the towers in Amegakure.” Konan spoke up and I nodded before looking over at Pakura, who was still looking dazed.

“Before we do that, though, I have to take care of something.”

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“And awake!” I grunted as I sent a pulse of chakra into Pakura, taking a few steps back as well while the two clones at her side frowned the moment a focused look came into her eyes and she glared at me.

“That is quite unfair.”

“On the contrary, it has kept you in check. Now, these clones here will be escorting you to one of the border camps where I'm certain a commanding officer will be waiting for you.”

“W-Wait, I was lying! I don't want to go back!” I was surprised at her words and raised an eyebrow while the clones slowly lightened their grips on her arms.

“Really? You were adamant on escaping before.”

“Yes, I wanted to escape, not be led back. Being escorted back to a Suna camp is the equivalent of you all but shouting at them to torture me for information because they're not going to believe that you let me go willingly.”

“So, you want to just…run? No need for an escort?”

“No, I needed to escape. If I return without any severe wounds that are believable enough, they will just torture me nonetheless.”

“…You two just as confused as I am?” I asked while looking at my clones, not surprised to see both of them just raising an eyebrow at me.

“Yep./ Uh-huh.”

“So, what…what can I do?”

“…Stab me in my leg with a wind blade and then burn the hole shut. I need an injury that's believable enough.” She answered and I looked at her before she yelped as the clone to her right stabbed a wind-enhanced kunai through her leg.

The other was quick to blow flames onto the wound and burn it shut as the first pulled out his kunai, both of them dropping her and dispelling as I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Sorry for that.”

“N-No, that…is quite good.” She gritted out as she stood up, taking deep breaths before I smirked as she gave me a stern nod despite the pain evident on her face.

“T-Thank you for the help.”

“…See, now I can't just let you leave because if you die along the way, I'd feel bad.”

“No need…to feel that way. I…am your enemy and showing sympathy…is the epitome of stupidity.”

“…I still do. Come on, if your people are just going to injure you for returning home safe, then they don't deserve you.” I grunted as I threw her over my shoulder and began walking back to the cave near our base.

“Put me down so I can return back in shame to my people!” Pakura exclaimed as she slapped her fists against my back and I simply ignored her as I continued walking along.

“Like I said, if they're willing to torture you, then they don't deserve you. Now, do you like hotpot?”

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“Nagato, why is she still here?” Konan asked with a frown while looking directly at Pakura, who aimed a frown back as I sighed while letting Yahiko and Sessho fight over the last piece of beef.

“Because she was going to get tortured by her fellow Suna shinobi if she returned so I decided to let her stay.”

“…Very well, I suppose that is a good enough reason.” The bluenette muttered and I gave a thankful smile before looking at Yahiko as he spoke up.

“So, you find a good tower yet?”

“Not yet, but I am weighing between two. One is the fourth tallest tower in the city and will cost us about 80% to 85% of our budget, leaving us with a little less for the rest of the things we may need. The other is a much smaller one, but it is located near the northern section of the village and will only cost us about 50% of our budget. I want to take that one, but I know that we want to expand our organization, which means that we may need a bigger tower. Which one do you guys want?”

“Do we need a bigger tower right now?” Yahiko asked and I frowned slightly before shaking my head.

“No. Considering we decided to wait until we're fifteen before we recruit new members, there is no need for us to have a bigger tower. I'm guessing you're picking the smaller one, then?”

“Naturally. Konan?”

“The one that makes us spend less money so we have more for interior designing and refilling our stocks of ninja tools.”

“That is true. Sessho, you good with a smaller tower, bud?” I asked and chuckled as he gave a bark in affirmation, the other two snickering as I nodded before looking at Pakura who was busy eating.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” She asked after finishing chewing on a piece of pork and I rolled my eyes as Konan spoke up.

“Since you're going to be a part of our group from now on, that means you're going to have to live with us so which do you choose? A small tower or a big one?”

“Bigger isn't always better.” She answered with a shrug and I nodded as I made a note of the tower height on the page next to my bowl.

“Great, so we're all in agreement on the tower being the smaller one. Next on the list of things to do are the latest missions. We have nine D-Ranks, four C-Ranks, two B-Ranks and two A-Ranks.”

“I'll take the D-Ranks and the C-Ranks.”

“Split the B-Ranks and A-Ranks in half?” Konan asked after Yahiko did and I shrugged as I handed out the scrolls for those missions before looking at Pakura as she spoke up.

“That's all your day is like? You meet in the morning for breakfast and then you just jump into missions?”

“Kind of? Is that not how your life was like as a Suna kunoichi?”

“No, we at least had time for training and team bonding amongst some other things.” She answered and I raised an eyebrow before looking at the other two as they both hummed.

“What are the deadlines on your missions?”

“The earliest one is one of the C-Ranks, tomorrow night.”

“Mine is the B-Rank at 5.30 pm in two days.”

“Mine is also the B-Rank at 3.30 pm in a week's time. So, you guys wanna hang out then?” I asked and Yahiko looked at Konan before they shrugged in unison.

“Sure, what do people do on things like this?” Konan asked as she looked at Pakura, who raised an eyebrow in surprise before looking at Yahiko and I.

“You guys…have never hung out? Just relaxed for a day?”

“Kind of. The only time we relaxed was when we were either studying up on shinobi tactics or playing Shogi or Go against Jiraiya-sensei.”

“Oh, and the times he took us hunting.” Yahiko chimed in and I nodded as Konan hummed.

“There were also the few times we played Hide-and-Seek as he called it.”

“You mean the times we had to find and stop him from being a pervert to other women.” I spoke with a smile, remembering the times Sensei tried to sneak away to get a lady.

“Yep, that's the one.”

“…What kind of childhood do you guys have?” Pakura asked with a bewildered look and I snorted as the others smirked.

“From ages 7 to 10, we were training day in and day out to be able to fight when Sensei left. After that and up to this day, we've been doing nothing but fighting and completing missions on a daily basis. We grew up in a war-torn country after all, one that was started by your former village along with Konoha and Iwa.”

“You really know how to make a person feel bad, don't you?” She spoke with a glare and I smirked before looking at Yahiko as he finished his meal.

“How about this? You two have a girls day out and Yahiko and I can have a boys day off?”

“And what exactly are we supposed to do?” Konan asked with a raised eyebrow and I shrugged as I stood up while Yahiko did the same.

“Anything. After all, it's our day off, isn't it? Sessho, make sure she doesn't try anything.”

“Can't exactly do anything with these on.” She spoke with a frown while gesturing to the collar around her neck and I smirked at the chakra suppression seal on it that Sensei had made all those years back when I asked for ways to learn how to fight without using chakra.

“Eh, just to be sure. Come on, Yahiko. You wanna go one on one?” I asked as I walked into the rain in just my black bodysuit and dark grey pants, tying my headband back around my head.

“Oh, you bet!” Yahiko spoke with a happy smile as he quickly walked out after me, making sure to pick up his sword as the two of us walked until we were a few hundred meters away from the base.

Walking away from each other and making sure there's at least a few meters in between us, both Yahiko and I turned towards each other as he unsheathed his sword, water wrapping around it in a raging current as I took out a kunai before flowing my chakra through it.

“You wanna go to first hit or first to get knocked out?”

“Either one sounds good.” He answered with a shrug and I nodded as I spun my kunai in a reverse grip, Yahiko holding his blade with both hands as I picked up a stone and threw it upwards.

As it reached the apex of its arc, I slowly began to take deep breaths, both Yahiko and I focusing as we watched the stone slowly coming down before blitzing forward the moment it impacted the ground.

A loud screech echoed in the air as the rapidly rotating water around his sword clashed with my vibrating wind blade, making the air around us vibrate and the ground under our feet trembled as I smirked and slowly pushed forward.

Time to see how much the orange-haired goofball has grown.

A/N: And Nagato is finally going to test whether or not Yahiko can handle being on his level.

Next chapter: Wind vs Water.

As you can see, Nagato is trying to convert Pakura to the life of being an Akatsuki member, but it is a slow and steady process and one he wants to see succeed.

Will he? We'll have to find out another time.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!