- Chapter 14 -

Anarchy

Her bag was filled with her clothes and personal belongings, ready to be carried to her next destination. The room hadn't completely changed yet there were some items missing from their usual places. Everything was perfect.

Akira combed her hair in a neat bun, put the the most serious expression she could muster on her face and popped a piece of gum in her mouth. She took a last glance of her room before slumping her bag on her shoulder and closing the door behind her. Once she had reached the staircase, her palms began sweating and she began counting the stair steps she was stepping on. Nervousness had always been her greatest enemy and, as far as she could recall, that trait of hers was anything but a benefit.

The moment she stepped on the hall, two of the persons who were sitting inside neared her and took everything off her hands, leaving her only with her clothes on. The one lifted up her shirt and the other began clipping some devices on her, wiring her in the process. Akira tried hard not to die from embarrassment; the few rehearsals weren't enough to make her comfortable with all of this.

"Are you ready?"

Akira spared a moment to inspect her father before setting her eyes back on the two police assistants, "Um . . . I suppose so."

"Good," he replied curtly and looked back at the computer placed on top of the living room table.

She was snapped out of her own world when she stopped feeling the two officers' hands touching her. The lewd thoughts flashed in her mind for a split second before mentally scolding herself and trying to focus back on the mission. Her actual mission was beginning from this day and so on since she was going to be in the same building as the rest of the gang; that would make it for easy for her to find who was the leader.

However, even if they would find out who he or she was . . . The hard part was coming. They had to accuse them for a specific crime in order to arrest the members. All the crimes Sato had suspected to be the doings of the same gang were always leading to someone else. He was implying that they had some kind of insider who was helping them out. Yet all of these were simple assumptions since they weren't based on any solid evidence.

"Akira," Sato called out which made the girl freeze on her spot. "Repeat the plan."

The ginger looked at the officers who were eagerly waiting for her to talk, thing which caused her to feel sick in the stomach. "Operation Akatsuki," she began, throwing away any leftovers of her embarrassment, "I will successfully move in the facility of the target, wired. I will try and collect as much information as possible and I will deceive them even for the simplest things. My main target is to sneak out the leader of the organization and bring in the limelight their schemes after I'll have gained their trust."

This plan made Akira feel . . . disgusted. Not only was she supposed to hide her true identity but to shove her nosy ass in other people's business. She wanted to flip everything at that current moment and run away but she knew that she couldn't. She couldn't because the Subaku siblings would spend the next years in prison.

Sato nodded in approval and leaned against the wall. His co-workers carried on with their duties and Orochimaru leaned down to whisper something to him. Akira watched her father with curiosity as he checked his watch and scribbled something on his notebook. When he glanced at his daughter, Akira instantly knew what to do.

The female threw the bag over her shoulder and opened the front door. The game had just begun.

Walking down the street, she recalled Itachi's instructions from the other day.

"You'll pack you things and meet one of us at the central square, near the fountain. Make sure you'll be there at eleven 'o clock in the morning." He made a pause to glance at her- his calm expression was distorted by the warning glimmer in the back of his eyes, "If you pull out a trick, we won't hesitate to wipe you off the face of the earth."

A shiver ran down Akira's body upon the remembrance of his last speech the day before. Itachi was definitely a good and polite person but when a nuisance would cut off his way or his comrades' road, he would literally do everything to get rid of the nuisance no matter what. That was her own assumption, at least.

Akira glanced at the active fountain in front of her and inspected the space around it. There was no one but a hot dog seller, an old man sitting on the bench with his dog by his side, a homeless woman sitting close to the fountain and the passengers who were hurriedly marching up and down the square. No trace of a person who seemed to be from the infamous gang was spotted.

Maybe they're late, she thought and stood beside the fountain. The central square was buzzing full of people and Akira was getting more and more nervous; being in the same place as persons she didn't like or simply didn't want to see had caused her to grow a bad habit of cursing them inwardly.

Hurry up-

"Fukui Akira, is it?"

Upon the call of her name, the distinguished girl looked at the person who had just arrived near her and thanked the Heavens for sending a normal human being to her.

"Y-yes?"

Akira felt herself growing embarrassed for the handful of seconds she had been staring at the lady and for the amount of saliva which was threatening to spill out of her mouth. If Akira was a boy for real, then she was sure she would have fallen in love with her from the first sight.

The woman was simply drop-dead gorgeous- in Akira's eyes, at least. The first thing she had noticed were those glimmering yellow eyes of hers which were giving off a dangerous yet comforting vibe. The set was completed by her straight purple hair which were decorated with a fresh white rose on top and her determined stance which was screaming "self-respect".

She was brought back in reality when the gorgeous woman extended her hand, "I'm Konan."

Akira eagerly shook Konan's hand while having her eyes set up on her. She bet she looked thirsty at that moment but that would benefit her- it would make Konan treat her like the rest of the boys which was a bonus for her cover.

"Follow me," was all the beauty said before turning around and walking off.

Akira didn't hesitate a moment and followed closely to her. Konohagakure was a huge town and anyone could get lost easily. Konan must have noticed Akira's struggle to keep up, thus she slowed down her pace and matched it with the new acquaintance's.

An invisible grin lingered above Konan's lips, "You can hold my hand if you're scared."

Akira would have faced this ironic comment with sarcasm if it wasn't for the embarrassment which had occupied her cheeks, "Okay . . ."

They had just entered a new neighborhood which was away from the busy roads of the city. Akira could recall being in this place before after looking around for a bit; that's when she remembered her crazy adventure with Hidan and the cloaked figures which were associated with the Zetsu twins, therefore the Akatsuki.

Now that I mentioned it . . . Akira trailed off in her thoughts, glancing secretively at Konan. The sign she was expecting to see somewhere on her was hugging her wrist; a black wristband with a red cloud sewed on it. The ginger confirmed her previous thoughts, Black, red, white. Those are their colors.

Akira stopped walking when Konan paused her step right in front of the house which was ringing some bells in Akira's head. The same house appeared in one of her memories, one of her recent ones. It was the place close to where the Zetsu twins had made the deal with her and the house where she had finished her project with Itachi. She must have been staring at it for a long time because she lost her balance from spacing out and fell front. For her own luck, the door wasn't opened yet and she was able to react quickly and place her hands in front of her.

Konan raised an eyebrow but didn't comment it; instead, she opened the door and let the shortie enter first.

The place was exactly the same as before. Scratches on the wall and the table, some clothes and empty food cans scattered around and a funny smell lingering around.

"Sorry for the intrusion!" Akira said loudly enough for the persons who were handling the microphone to hear. It was the code which meant she had entered the enemy's residence. In cue, she took off her shoes and carried them with her, the reminder of Itachi about the destruction of her shoes still in her mind.

"Suit yourself," the purple head called out before disappearing in the corridors of the house.

Akira did as told and sat on the couch after shoving a stained shirt from the spot. She could drop off the mission just for the mess which was conquering the house. She hated being in messy places like this and she would love to clean it all by herself.

Focus back on the mission, she scolded herself and shifted uncomfortably on her position. That funny smell turned out to be a cheap cologne bottle she fished behind a pillow of the couch.

"I didn't know you'd be here so early, yeah."

Akira spotted Deidara entering the living room with a lollipop in his mouth. He was far too relaxed- his pants hanging lowly from his hips with his boxers visible on the back and his hair being messier than other times.

"Hey," the girl greeted and nodded at him.

Deidara threw the lollipop stick in the garbage can and motioned to her to stand up, "Konan told me to show you your room."

Akira stood up, bag on her hand and eyes on the corridor. She was feeling nervous due to the fact that she was infiltrating the enemy's lair and she was wired with Konoha Police's microphone and whole spying set she thought only existed in movies. Following behind the arrogant blonde, she left herself look around the place and admire it. It was unchangeable for sure.

As she walked further in the corridor, a buzzing sound occupied her ears. She stopped walking abruptly and tried to find what was wrong with her hearing; that's when she realized that the vise-versa microphone was malfunctioning. Deidara paused his step a meter away from her and shot her a questioning look.

Akira quickly recovered from her shock and faked a frustrated expression, "Damn. I forgot something home."

Deidara smirked slyly, "Walk back and get it. I don't have my driver's license yet, yeah."

The girl raised her middle finger towards him and threw him her jacket, "I'm not going to be late."

. . . . .

Akira began messing up with the wires close to her ears; them being see-through -or in other words invisible- was making it harder for her to untangle them and see what was wrong with them. Maybe the location of the house was the problem or we had a connection problem or whatsoever, she thought as she aimlessly wandered back to her house where the whole team of her father was waiting for her.

Suddenly, a small push was given to her from the front which caused her to stop her doings and look front. A girl with her head lowered down was standing right in front of her and due to her average height, she could see from down there the ruined mascara of the person. As she looked closer, she was able to recognize the person's identity.

"Shizuka-san?"

The Hyuuga girl snapped her head up at the mention of her name and bit her lip, trying to erase the previous sadness, "O-Oh, look who it is. Hey, Akira-kun."

Akira couldn't help but try and comfort the girl, even if she wasn't an expert in those things, "What's wrong?" As she inspected her more, she noticed Shizuka's drenched clothes and her slightly wet hair. It was like a storm had washed over her on her way there.

Only the thought of it brought tears again in Shizuka's eyes and caused the female to start sniffling again. "I had a talk with Itachi on the phone and I have noticed that l-lately, he doesn't want to spend much time with me and then I thought that there may be . . . another g-girl," she explained and made a small pause when her voice cracked, only to continue moments later. "So, I decided to go out for a walk and I accidentally stepped in a puddle of water and I f-fell in and . . ."

Shizuka, not being able to take it anymore, broke in a queue of sobs and leaned her head on Akira's shoulder. The ginger girl furrowed her eyebrows and slowly patted the mourning woman's back, having no words to express herself; she was both feeling awkward for being in this current position and questionable about what she had just heard.

"Well, I was heading back home to take something I forgot so I suppose I can give you some dry clo-"

"Can you?" Shizuka murmured silently as she lifted her head from Akira's shoulder.

Akira seriously didn't want to help her at a time like this, she had just offered with the perception that Shizuka would have declined her request. With the police force in her house and with even her father in the house, she was completely screwed.

"Sure," the disguised girl replied halfheartedly and hurried to lead the way. Automatically, she took out her phone and sent a message to her father, warning him about their arrival.

At that moment, Akira wished Itachi hadn't given Shizuka any signs of giving up on her, thus she could have arrived safely at her house and made the police assistants change the wires. She wanted to focus back on her mission in order to get over with it, not get herself stuck in complicated relationship fights. Not to mention that they made her feel forever alone.

The trip back home was quiet and neither of them exchanged another word. Besides, they had nothing to talk about. Once they arrived in front of the entrance of the small house, Akira wished the police was hidden somewhere for the moment or else they were screwed.

"I'm home," Akira called out to no one when she entered the front door and let Shizuka enter after her.

Once they had both left their shoes in the entrance, the shortie lead the unexpected guest in the living room where the police was nowhere to be seen, for her good luck. Shizuka suited herself on the couch, getting it a bit wet from her clothes and looking around with a small smile decorating her lips.

"I'm going to bring you some clothes so stay here, okay?"

Not waiting for a response any way, Akira ran up the stairs and entered her father's room. She figured that if she'd give her old girly clothes to Shizuka, her cover could be blown instantly , taking into account that the Hyuugas were smart. Therefore, she chose picking some of her mother's old clothes. It was a bit hard to find them in the boxes which were still existent in the couple's bedroom, the dust and the aging of the fabric making it difficult to find a clean and perfect cloth.

In the middle of searching, a warning popped in her mind. Her hands froze inside the box and it took her a second to process the new information.

"Oh my god."

The photos. The living room was full of family pictures with her wearing skirts and dresses.

Akira instantly grabbed the first pair of clothes she could find and leaped forward, shoes clattering against the wooden pavement, slipping from time to time. She rushed down the stairs while grabbing the bar as if her whole life depended on it.

"Shizuka!"

The girl entered the living room with her heart racing as she stared at the guest dead in the eye. Shizuka was standing still with a calm smile on her face which hid confusion behind it.

Akira cleared her throat and motioned to the clothes, "I brought you some dry clothes. My mom's."

Shizuka simply smiled at the girl and bowed politely at her, "Thank you a lot but I just remembered I have some family meeting to attend."

"No problem," Akira replied and lead her to the door. She was glad she wasn't bombarded with bizarre questions out of the blue; that meant she was safe for the current moment.

Shizuka opened the door and gave her a closed-eye smile, "See you soon, Akira-chan."

Akira nodded but soon paused her movements and stood in the door frame, looking at nothing. The rain was still pouring down outside. That's when it struck her.

The family photo from her first day in elementary school on the table was missing.

. . . . .

With no wires around her body anymore, Akira sat shakily on one of the bus seats and propped her arm on the extension of the window.

After telling her father what had happened, she was a wreck. She had gotten yelled at, almost slapped which was a first and had gotten her voice a bit hoarse from yelling back. The police officers had explained that it wasn't the wires that had caused the disconnection, it was the location of the house. Its thick walls and magnetic waves were prohibiting the signal from passing in. The worst part was that Akira couldn't come face to face with Shizuka anymore because she was sure she could easily get blackmailed or even worse, get exposed to the Akatsuki.

Never in her life had she been so anxious about another person. However, she had some kind of plan running in her mind. She could ask from a close friend of the Hyuugas who was her acquaintance oo to get this picture back. Her first thought was to ask Kasumi since she hang out a lot with Hinata Hyuuga but she would never accept to take part in her schemes. The final and seemingly best option was to ask from Sasuke this favor. Besides, he owed her since the time she had helped him out with pranking Kiba.

Yes, that must be it, Akira thought as she boarded off the bus, one block away from the Akatsuki base. She quickened her pace and ran the last meters towards the house.

"Phew. You can do this," Akira whispered to herself as she turned the handle of the door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked already. Curious as to what had happened, she entered the hall and closed the door behind her.

The girl walked carefully inside the living room where she dropped her bag for once more. The light which was emitting from the kitchen and the raised voices which were barely heard behind the closed door made her go up to the kitchen entrance a moment after. Akira was a bit scared to open the door and invade in but maned up and entered the kitchen. Automatically, ten heads plus a new one turned to her as she waved.

"Sup?"

"There she is!"

A moment after the key word was heard, Akira caught sight of the extra person in the room, Shizuka Hyuuga.

Before she could say something defensive about herself, Itachi stepped between the two, "That's ridiculous. I would never cheat on you, let alone with a guy."

Shizuka groaned loudly, nearly hysterically, "She is not a guy! She is a girl!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Akira questioned as absurdly as she could muster with her eyebrows furrowed in fake confusion. Shizuka knew and hadn't hesitated confessing it.

Shizuka's eyes hardened at the sight of Akira, "Oh, you know very well what I'm talking about, bitch."

Akira stepped closer and covered her nervousness with anger, "Oh, you wanna play it like this, hoe?"

Itachi placed his palm on her chest and pushed the ginger head back, glaring, "Take it easy."

That's when Konan cleared her throat loudly enough for everyone to hear which made everyone stop talking. The beauty stepped in the center of the circle and stood besides Itachi, "Care to explain yourself?"

"Yes!" Shizuka exclaimed and crossed her arms, smiling triumphantly. "Akira-kun is in reality a girl. That day when I encountered Itachi and her in the amusement park, Itachi introduced Akira to me as a guy. Little did I know that this . . . this bitch is a girl and definitely Itachi's side-chic!" 

Akira sighed in exasperation, "Do you actually think before talking? What you're saying sounds like a Disney movie scenario and not reality!"

Konan made a sign to Akira to stop talking and adverted her gaze back on Shizuka, "Do you have any proof concerning this?"

Shizuka smirked mischievously and took out the only piece of evidence she had collected. Akira gritted her teeth as the Hyuuga handed the family picture to Konan and watched Konan making a face and looking at Akira, completely flabbergasted.

Akira clenched her fist to her side, "You know nothing about my life!"

Shizuka raised a suggestive eyebrow, "Seems I do know something, you faker. How could you date him at the same time as me?!"

"I didn't! You're hallucinating!"

"You're lying!"

"Fuck you, slut!"

"Look who's talking! Absurd!"

Akira and Shizuka were separated only by Itachi who was the main reason of this argument. One more word and they could start fighting for real.

"What is this all about?"

Akira turned her gaze on the door which was just closed and then looked at the person who had just entered. His intimidating aura and late arrival to the "party" could only mean one thing and that's where Akira ended up, her heart dropping.

The Akatsuki leader had just joined the party. 

。。。＊ 。。。＊。。。＊。。。 

Aaaand cut! That's where we'll stop for today, hehe~ I made you wait for a while but I think it was worth the wait! Since we have our summer vacations here, I will surely update quicker than I used to and . . . Guess what? I'll publish a side-story to this concerning Konoha High! I hope you all enjoyed it and that you'll enjoy my upcoming book too :)

Question: Your reaction to a possible break-up of Itachi and Shizuka?

Dedicated to Anni (AnnitsaTomson) for being a patient bae and one of the greatest fans of this book <3