16 | Operation: BEASTS

- Chapter 16 -

Operation: BEASTS


Waking up with a creepy, masked face hovering above your face isn't the ideal sight after recalling the events of the previous night.

That's what had woken Akira up, together with Tobi's loud voice close to her ear. She had almost choked on her own breath and had immediately pushed him off with her numb from sleep hands. It was as if one of her old nightmares had come back to haunt her, literally. Later on, Deidara had reassured her that her roommate was constantly acting that way in order to wake them up.

With that morning ritual, Akira had rushed off to meet up with Gaara to his house; he had earlier sent her a message for a quick meetup. She was risking getting exposed to anyone who might be following her, yet she was eager to see Gaara again. After all, he was her best friend. Therefore, she would definitely meet up with him, even if she was circumventing the limits placed by her father.

Walking down the street of his house, Akira spotted the familiar building with no effort and walked fast-paced towards it. Once she was at the doorstep, her hand reached for the bell and rang it. It was only a few moments later that someone opened the door. 

"Oh, Akira," Kankuro emphasized once he recognized the girl, greeting her with a curt wave of his hand. He crooked his head backwards and to the side, "Gaara! Akira is here."

"Hey, Kankuro," the girl greeted and entered the house only when he opened the door a bit more and disappeared back in the house.

Akira took a moment to observe the living room; a few cache pots decorating the windows, family photos, old and new, and Temari's bizarre decorations around the room. It had been a long time since she had done such a thorough examination of the living room, and the last time she had, she was truly nervous.

"You came."

Akira turned her attention on Gaara who had just walked into the room, his morning hair being on display together with his plain outfit. The girl happily waved at him and restrained from hugging him that time.

Besides, for Gaara to be calling her in his house, it would be about anything but pleasant news.

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They ended up going in his room and staying there, something which was making Akira fiddle with her fingers nervously. After their latest meeting, she had sensed this change in the atmosphere lingering between them, as if they had reached a whole new level in their . . . whatever relationship they had at the moment. A profound change, that was for sure. Her heart was hammering inside her rib cage in a complex manner as she managed to sustain herself by sitting on his bed.

The abrupt sounds of the door closing casted her eyes on Gaara who had just entered the room with two cups of lemonade juice in his hands. She was expecting him to sit across her on his chair but instead, he took a seat besides her on the bed. A lump began taking form and shape in Akira's throat, an anxious feeling bubbling up as if she wanted to throw up. She felt trapped.

After taking the lemonade juice glass, she gulped the whole liquid down. It burned in her neck but she managed to swallow it all.

"Akira."

Gaara's voice rang in her ears to the point  she wanted to cover them and roll in a small ball on his bed. She knew that what was about to come was anything but nice. Yet, all she did was nod and look at him. He avoided crossing gazes with her, his eyes looking immediately away.

"We may go back to Suna."

"What," the girl exclaimed straight away, neither yelling it nor complaining about it. A pang of guilt surprisingly fell over her heart; she was surprised, to say the least. She couldn't comprehend what she had just heard, the statement sounding alien to her ears.

"We are moving back to Suna," he repeated, slowly this time. "We may."

Akira took in a deep breath and blinked a few times to land back down to planet Earth, "Why?"

"Because," the male started as halfheartedly as before, "our position is dangerous. With everything going on and our family's fortune being at the stake, we can't afford to stay here anymore. We're planning on moving in our aunt's house at Suna. Temari told me so the other day."

Akira nodded after a moment of silence, fiddling with her fingers out of nervousness. 

"I get it," she replied coldly as she cleared her throat. She wasn't too happy about this decision, not at all. However, it was something that had to be done for his family's sake and his safety. That was what she was chasing after, after all. For him to be safe had she agreed to her father's plan.

Akira stood up from her position and dusted off her hands, "I think I should get going. I have to carry on with my duties."

The girl laughed a bit at the last word- as if all of this was one huge joke.

Gaara rose up on his feet as well, not saying a word. Both friends returned back to the entrance with Akira opening the door. Gaara leaned on the doorway as he stared at her figure.

"You don't have to continue doing this. We'll be safe soon."

The girl shook her head and stared aimlessly at the garden before her, "I'll be okay."

Gaara sighed in exhaustion; he knew that she was going to hurt herself eventually. She was reckless like this and she didn't seem to have realized what the consequences would be.

Akira punched his shoulder lightly, "I'll be alright, idiot."

And without another word, the girl walked off his house. Once she was out of the front yard, she picked up her pace and eventually found herself running. Exhaustion encountered her quicker than she had expected and she ended up pausing her step a few meters away from Gaara's house.

Akira looked at her hands and felt the first tears welling up her eyes. She couldn't hold back the sadness anymore, it was too much for her to contain.

She cried because the person she loved the most would go somewhere far away. She cried because Suna couldn't keep them safe from her father's plan. She cried because she was powerless against all of it and as much as she wanted to prevent it, she couldn't.

Because she wasn't a supergirl and supergirls never cried.

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

The door behind her was closed quietly enough not to cause any noise and she immediately plopped down on the couch. The only person in the living room was Kisame, yet he didn't pay attention to her as he was too busy playing with his PSP.

Akira wasn't in the mood for talking either after crying like a baby in the middle of the road and bumping on almost every passenger on the street. The reassuring sound of the sizzling pan in the kitchen made her feel like she was back home, where she felt like she belonged somewhere.

Konan emerged from the kitchen and sat besides Akira, a plate with fried bread and eggs sitting on her lap. It was at this moment that Akira realized she was hungry as hell.

"If you want to eat, make something yourself," the older girl mused after taking a bite of her lunch. The stare of Akira was showing how hungry she was in the eyes of Konan.

Akira shrugged her shoulders and stood up from the couch, walking in the empty kitchen. She automatically searched through the selves and cupboards for ingredients, solely finding flour, milk, instant coffee, cheese and ham.

A crepe would be nice, she thought instantly and spotted an already used frying pan on the oven. Thank heavens that I know what was fried before in it. 

Taking a bowl out, she poured in the correct ingredients and mixed them with a spoon, long enough for them to become a sticky and wet mixture. It was her favorite snack and since she couldn't acquire some more ingredients for a proper meal, this was the best solution at hand.

The first spoonful of the mixture was dropped in the sizzling frying pan and she shook it in order for it to expand on all of the surface.

"What are you making?"

Kisame's presence in the room was noticeable since the moment he spoke up and the girl glanced at him from the corner of her eyes before focusing back on the food.

"Crepes."

"How?"

Akira raised her eyebrow slightly, "You don't know how?"

"We're not all made to know how to cook, y'know," the male snarled as he sat up on the counter besides the over.

The ginger shrugged and took out the first crepe, placing it on a round plate. "You make the mixture using the ingredients in front of you and drop it in the frying pan. Beforehand, you must have some oil in it. You shake it a bit for the liquid to spread across the surface of the pan and you wait for one side to become solid. Then, you flip it on the other side, wait for it to become solid as well, and boom! Ready."

Kisame watched her actions while she was talking and huffed, "Let me try."

Akira glanced up at him glaringly, handing him the spoon, "Don't burn my crepes."

"Our crepes," he mused with the same old snarky smirk plastered on his face as he was handed the spoon.

Akira wasn't too pleased with the outcome of this; in no other alternative universe or dimension would she share her crepes with someone like Kisame . . . or anyone, basically.

Kisame placed some mixture in the frying pan and started shaking it around, unfortunately dropping a small portion of it on the oven. Cursing a bit, he placed it back on the oven and let it heat up for a bit. Annoying crispy foodies, thought the shark boy with rage burning in his eyes.

"What happened, sharp teeth, giving up already?" mused Akira with a mischievous smirk ghosting above her lips.

Kisame snaked the spatula underneath the crepe and flipped it on the other side, "Like hell I have! It's almost done!"

"You have a bucket of crepe mixture waiting for you so I'd say that you have just started."

Kisame growled at the girl and waited for the crepe to be fried from the other side too before prying it off with the spatula and placing it on an empty plate. Half of it was still liquid and the other side was well-cooked.

Akira scratched the back of her head awkwardly, "I think that you must-"

"Just pass me the creep mixture goddammnit."

She amusingly passed him over the bowl and sat on the counter, watching him struggle with the spatula. God only knew why he was trying to do something he had almost no knowledge of, yet it was nearly as funny as watching cat videos on YouTube.

"How come a guy like you knows how to cook, hm?" Kisame questioned after calming down his nerves.

Akira shrugged, "No women in the house meant that someone had to learn how to cook if we wanted to survive. Thus, after a couple of years, both my father and I learnt some basics which I extended furthermore at some point. And you don't call making crepes cooking."

"In this house, we very well do, midget," the man exclaimed and turned off the oven.

A pile of crepes was standing alone on a plate with half the crepe mixture still in the bowl. Kisame licked his lips at the sight of the food and he took one, immediately slurping it down.

"You're supposed to put some toppings in it, y'know."

"Whatever."

The girl grabbed one and stuffed it with cheese and ham, eating it as quickly as her hunger allowed her to. Both ate their lunch quietly, the munching sounds resonating through their ears solely. It was a moment of tranquility, something which Akira needed after being woken up like this and hearing the bad news from Gaara. Kisame, despite his aggressive nature and his cocky behavior, was able to calm her somehow. It was impressive, really.

"Are you gay?"

The male nearly choked on his bite, yet he managed to conceal it by patting himself on the back . . . kind of.

"What kind of question is that?!"

"Looking at Itachi like this the whole time has created some . . . opinions, false they may be, they exist anyways."

Kisame huffed without losing his cool, "You're gayer than I am, chipmunk. No way would I ever like a guy."

It was Akira's turn to smirk mischievously, "You didn't deny liking Itachi though." She continued eating down on her crepe and hopped off the counter, creeping towards the door and attempting opening it in case Kisame would have the intention of breaking her nose with his fist. Unfortunately, the door was pushed towards her from the outside and resulted to her falling down.

"Leader-sama ordered an-," Konan started once she peeked inside, eyebrow raised at the fallen newbie on the ground, "- assembly. Proceed in the assembly room."

Kisame smirked down at the girl before following Konan out of the kitchen. Akira smudged her lips in a thin line and easily lifted up herself, feeling the karma chasing after her. She followed right after her two comrades and noticed them walking down the hall, thus she sprinted as fast as she could towards them. 

All three of them walked in silence until Konan and Kisame stopped right in front of a wooden door, reminding Akira of these spy movies when the protagonists were to meet the boss. Konan opened the door and revealed the inside of it.

Well, not really, since the room was dark as hell, but she noticed the rest of the group sitting on chairs assembled in two parallel lines. Closing the door behind them, all three of them quietly took their seats. The scenery was like a satanic ritual was about to take place, summoning demons and sacrificing humans. Maybe Hidan had persuaded the leader to perform his rituals there?

"Now that all of us are here," the deep voice of Pein sounded crystal clear in the closed room, "let us begin."

His figure dressed in plain black clothes stood up and walked up in the middle of the front. All eyes were glued on him as he opened a pack of papers and started rummaging through them, picking some of them out. Truth was that Akira's heart was pumping faster than usual; what was all of this about?

Pein stopped fiddling with his papers and looked down at all of them, "The time has come for us to execute our missions. Our main goal is to capture the Jinchuuriki and extract the objective from them. You'll start your missions starting off tomorrow." The leader made a small pause to look at his paper. "The pairings are: Deidara and Sasori, Kisame and Itachi, Kuro and Shiro, Kakuzu and Hidan, Tobi and Akira, Konan and I. The papers containing the information about your missions are in your rooms already."

The members started whispering among them, the chatters growing louder and clearer. Akira was beyond confused. She had so many questions, yet she was afraid to ask. Her hands were trembling slightly- that was it. That was what she had to accomplish and then she would be free from everyone; this group, her father, his threats. She would be free again.

"Before you go," Pein added, making everyone quieten down again. Akira focused her eyes on Pein whose dark metallic eyes seemed to be fixed upon her.

"Talk about these missions to anyone and you'll be a dead man."

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Guess who updated? This guy, oh yes ~ And guess what else? My updates will be more frequent (and I'm honestly stating that) due to my exams granting me with holy inspiration and summer being just around the corner. So expect at least two updates per month after the 15th of June; who knows, maybe even 1 update per week if inspiration melts my brain!

Thank you so much for over 2K votes, this is insane! More information about the Akatsuki's operation will be revealed on the next chapter, pals ~

Q:  What do you ship more in this fan fiction; KisAki or KisIta?

Dedicated to Krazii (KraziiKawaiiXD) for being an awesome and supportive peep lately, and also for being one of the best Naruto fan fiction authors!


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