Si Vis Pacem -‖- Para Bellum [Naruto FanFic]

Arc XII Chapter 35

XII

━━━━━━┓༻❁༺┏━━━━━━

Arc XII Chapter 35

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

“... ... ...” Shikamaru fell to his knees, exhausted, depleted, tired. His shoulders sagged under the invisible weight. His breath was rasping in the cold air. His hands were shaking, sweating profusely. Gone was his façade of bravado and confidence. His mask had finally slipped after what felt like an eternity. Fortunately, however, he had been able to maintain his act long enough. The enemy had finally left.

It had been a close call. Far closer than he was loath to admit. The blade poised against Ino’s throat. It was a perilous affair. The entire situation could have easily spiralled out of control. And yet, they made it. Everyone was safe. Everyone survived, including Ino, which he deemed a success.

And yet, her figure still haunted his mind. Her presence. Her aura. The pressure. The air of condescension. The contempt and derision in her words. The saccharine smile, soft yet utterly lethal. The dark, sinister purple of her eyes. The piercing gaze lingering on him, judging him, evaluating him, finding him and his capabilities wanting in so many regards. Even after all these years.

“... ... ...” Shikamaru gasped for air, his breath slow and steady. Asami. Her mere name sent a cold shiver down his spine. He had never forgotten her. Not since the day they had first met. 

Her silken black hair. Her petite stature. Her doll like appearance. Her piercing gaze. Her ominous eyes. There had always been something strange, something eerie about the girl. Something sinister. Something dark. Something ... otherworldly. As if the rumours had always been true that she was more demon than human.

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━

Day had passed and night had come. Together, four figures stood amidst the debris of fallen rock and stone, the remnants of their battle. The corpses of puppets littered the ground, kunai, blades, axes, spears scattered everywhere. These were now the last pitiful remnants of his once grand art, reduced to insignificance. Sasori of the Red Sand, the legendary puppeteer, ... he was no more.

In the end, his creations had failed their master. His art had proven to be fleeting, like everything else beneath the sun. Sasori neither achieved the beauty nor the eternity that he had been so desperately yearning for.

“... ... ...” Deidara stared at the lifeless battlefield, his voice silent. The scene left an impression. The loss of his partner must have impacted him. More than the former Iwa ninja was willing to admit. Deidara snorted. “For him to die like this, hmm ... ... ... I always told Master Sasori that life is short, but he never wanted to believe me ... Hmm, looks like I was right after all.”

“It appears so.” Asami merely nodded. A rudimentary prayer might be appropriate, but Sasori had never been one to be particularly fond of religion and sentimentalities in general, nor was she. Thus, a moment of silence had to suffice. “To think that Sasori would be defeated ... It was unexpected, to say the least.” Especially, in the light of his enemies ... Sakura, Temari, the old woman ... Sasori should have won by all intents and purposes ... Yet, he did not ... Perhaps she had overestimated his capabilities. As had everyone else ...

“I concur, Sasori’s defeat was ... truly unexpected.” Black Zetsu commented, his voice deep and heavy. “ They were even able to retrieve his body. How unfortunate ...”

“Unfortunate indeed ...” Asami was forced to concede. The body of ninja held many secrets. For a change, it was not just a saying, but a matter of truth.

“...” Asami turned her attention to their domestic explosives expert, gazing at his arms, or rather at his former arms. The former Iwa ninja had lost both of his arms on this mission, which was quite the hefty price to pay. Two mangled stumps remained, his arms crushed and ripped off around the elbows. Shattered bone, torn muscles, ruptured veins, severed tendons dangling like snapped cords. It was a ghastly sight. It would probably fall to Kakuzu to rectify the situation. Regardless of his methods, stitching and patching up people back together was his area of expertise. “It seems that you have also taken quite the beating, Deidara ... Did you perchance lose another arm?” Her question was admittedly rather redundant. 

“Tsk ...” Deidara clicked his tongue, the irritation in his voice audible, but in his defence, Deidara had lost two of his limbs. His foul mood was thus perfectly understandable. “What would you know, un ... It was that Kakashi guy’s fault. The arsehole created some kind of spatial distortion. The punk got me with his time space whatever jutsu. The thing nearly took my whole arm!”

“Fucking cheat, un!” Deidara cursed, his voice filled with utter disdain. He gritted his teeth at her.“Uchiha and their fucking sharingan. Always the same story with these bastards and their damn fucking eyes ruining my day. No sense of beauty. No sense of art. How I fucking hate them and their entire clan, un.” His voiced was filled with utter disdain. His contempt for the sharingan and the Uchiha clan was well known. Deidara despised Itachi with every fibre of his being, all due to personal reasons, only because he had been once slighted. If only he knew ...

“I see ...” Asami closed her eyes, deeply sunk in her thoughts. So she was not the only one to face Kakashi’s unique technique. “I think the time has come for us to depart. There is no need to linger here any longer than necessary.”

...

...

...

Deidara nodded. Zetsu concurred. Everyone agreed, except for Tobi.

“Asami-senpai~, wait!” Tobi waved with his arms, rushing ahead. “Wait! Wait! Wait! Tobi forgot something!” Her partner was rummaging through the vast field of debris in search of something important.

“...” Asami offered a blank stare, bored, disinterested. “Tobi, ... what are you doing?”

“No. No. Nothing. Nothing either. Here also not.” Tobi scurried across the battlefield, leaving no stone unturned while sticking his head into various holes and openings. “Here neither. Hmm, where is it? Tobi sure that it must be somewhere around here ... Haha, yes, there it is! Tobi found it.”

Tobi rose, unable to contain his excitement. Her partner presented them with his precious find, holding a ring inside his hand. They recognised the ring in question. The ring bore the letter ‘sphere’. “Tada~, I knew it, Sasori’s ring. Look, senpai~, Tobi can finally become a full member of Akatsuki too!”

...

...

...

“...” Asami offered another blank stare, used to his usual antics. Tobi ... How kind of him to remind her of his continuous existence. She had nearly forgotten about him.

Asami mustered a gentle smile, all radiant and happy sunshine. Her hands rested on the pommel of her sword. “I commend your efforts, Tobi~. Excellent work. Would you be so kind as to step closer~. I have a little present for you, my little Tobi~.”

“Yay, Tobi going to get a present!” Tobi rejoiced with wide, open arms. He was quick to close the distance. “Thank you, Asami-senpai! You’re the best ...”

Her blade sliced through his figure, passing through his incorporeal form. It was a clean strike, sudden, quick. Judging by his reaction, her attack caught him by surprise. Yet her strike failed to connect, which was to be expected. Even then, a small cut appeared. A small cut, so infinitesimally small, marred his pristine black coat, the heavy fabric of the coat cut asunder. 

“...” Asami grinned, her lips curving upwards. Her suspicions had been all but been confirmed. The signature of his chakra ... It was indeed the same that Kakashi’s ability had exhibited. Not to mention, his ability was active, and not passive in nature. His reaction speed might be excellent, but he was far from invincible, which was an encouraging finding.

“Aargh!!! Waargh!!!” Tobi shrieked up in panic, backing off immediately. “Asami-senpai~, what’re you doing?! Are you trying to hurt Tobi?! Why would you do that?! Tobi scared!”

“You have an intriguing ability there, Tobi. A bloodline ability, I presume ...” Asami chuckled before sheathing her blade, her gaze directed at her partner. “That being said, Tobi, my friend, you are a poor fighter, but you are an even poorer liar ...”

Asami’s eyes narrowed dangerously, her irises glowing dark purple. Tobi stiffened visibly, gulping. “The little stunt of yours that you pulled during the fight ... Do not do this again, Tobi. I did not appreciate it, nor do I appreciate being taken for a fool. So be warned, this time, I will be generous, but next time, the consequences of your actions will be far less pleasant. Do we understand each other?”

“... ... ...” Tobi whimpered, scared, frightened. Yet he nodded along. “Tobi understands. Asami-senpai~ scary. Senpai evil witch~.”

━━━━━━┛༻❁༺┗━━━━━━