I was once again absorbed in Scarlet Breath. This Scarlet girl had the exact same problem as I do— that is, when I fall asleep I kill people until I wake up or am woken up. It doesn't happen too often though because I have insomnia and just stay awake all the time, which, by the way, is very boring when everyone else is asleep and you can only watch.
As I turned the page a folded piece of parchment fell to the floor. I picked it up, carefully unfolded it, and gasped; it had my family tree written on it! The key on the side indicated that all names written in red had the malédiction de l'insomnie— the curse of insomnia. The tree stopped at my grandmother whose name was written in red along with a few others, mostly girls.
I stared in shock then flipped to the cover to see who had written it; it was written by Scarlet's husband back in the 1700s. That meant that everything was true...
"Mori-chan?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Deidara called my name so suddenly.
"Yes?" It came out sounding like a squeak.
Deidara chuckled. "Sorry to frighten you, un. Leader-sama wants to see us for a mission."
"Oh, ok." I hopped up and tucked the book back onto the shelf then followed Deidara to Leader's office. Sasori-san was there waiting as we entered and stood beside him in front of the desk.
"Glad to see you're all finally here." Leader-sama's cool grey eyes flickered towards Deidara and me. "I need you to assist Hidan and Kakuzu with their mission in Konoha."
"Hai."
He nodded once and we set off. I gulped and looked at Sasori and Deidara out of the corners of my eyes— they didn't seem to notice or feel what I was feeling. I was nervous beyond belief about going to Konoha. What if someone saw me, especially Kakashi-sensei or Naruto-kun? Would they deem me as a traitor and criminal? I had to fight back tears at the thought of it. I sniffled and they both looked at me, Deidara curious and Sasori annoyed.
"It's nothing," I said hastily. Sasori rolled his brown eyes and faced forwards. Deidara shrugged and did the same. I sighed and silently prayed Konoha would show mercy on me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ah f***!"
I listened from my hiding place as Hidan shouted profanities while he fought with the Leaf ninja. Deidara and Sasori joined him and Kakuzu in the battle, but I remained hidden, afraid to face my comrades. To my horror, Kakashi joined the battle. I ducked quickly behind a tree to avoid being seen by his sharp onyx eye. I guess I wasn't quick enough.
"You there, hiding. Why don't you come out?" he said in his calm voice.
I bit my lip and shrank back into my cloak. Crap! Crap! Crap! My mind raced, a million thoughts whirling around violently, and I tried desperately to comprehend them. A kunai stuck in the other side of the tree with a thunk. "Don't make me come over there."
I was frantic by this point. What do I do!? What do I do?! Before I could decide he was there in front of me, his face full of shock, and the battle had continued.
"Mori?"
I was on the verge of tears. "Sensei...," I said, my voice quivering.
"Mori! I thought you were dead!"
I shook my head, not trusting my voice.
"Why...?"
I had to look away from his gaze full of sadness and disappointment. I'd never thought he'd look at me that way, and it made me want to crawl under a rock and die; I hate to disappoint people, especially people I care about.
"Mori."
The harshness in his voice made me look up, though I regretted it as soon as I did. He was angry now— and towards me!
"Why didn't you come back to the village? We miss you. Naruto..."
I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my teeth while the tears fell. I really did not want to think of Naruto or anyone else being sad, and it only made me feel a whole lot worse. I probably deserved it though. Scratch that. I did deserve it.
"I had no choice, they forced me," I said quietly.
"Wh— damn!" He whipped his head to the side and I followed his gaze. Things couldn't have gotten any worse; Naruto, the biggest target of the akatsuki and my best friend, was standing there, watching the battle in shock until he noticed me and his shock grew.
"Mori-chan!"
He started to run towards Kakashi and I, and I noticed a few of the other ninja glance over at him, but he didn't seem to care that he was running through the middle of an intense battle between high ranking ninja.
"Mori!"
He glomped me and wrapped me in a tight hug. For a moment I forgot everything; there was only me and a happy Naruto.
The thought brought me back to reality and dropped my heart into my stomach because he obviously had not seen my akatsuki cloak. I immediately squirmed out of his grasp and looked solemnly into his confused bright blue eyes. That was when realization struck him hard.
"That cloak...Mori..."
"Get the f*** over here and f***ing help us out!" Hidan shouted angrily at me. I winced.
"That would be nice," Sasori said. Kakuzu's emerald eyes bored into mine and Deidara— his ice blue eyes tore my heart in two. I knew for a fact that with Kakashi and Naruto there I could find a way to leave the akatsuki and go back to my happy life in Konoha, but did I want to leave Deidara behind?
I hadn't realized I had fallen to my knees until Naruto was at my side.
"Mori are you ok?"
His voice seemed distant, as did the battle. My thoughts started to whirl again, and they dragged everything with them, making me dizzy and disoriented. The torn pieces of my heart argued violently with each other— stay or go?
The ground was so close, the scent of earth filling my nostrils as I lied down on my side without knowing it. The edges of my vision blurred and then something strange happened. It was like my mind exploded and energy flowed through me like a raging river. My head was clear, though everything felt very different. This power felt familiar in a way...
And I realized it was because it was what had happened when I had fought Itachi. I had also read about it in Scarlet Breath.
Often times she would lose control when days were difficult. I could only hold my precious Scarlet and wait for the horrible rage to fade away, watch as she cried and then finally calmed down.
Now she possessed a terrible curse, and it ran in her family. It was the curse of insomnia, and not only did it mean what the name suggests, but sometimes its victims possessed the powers like those of demons. What an awful sight it is when this power is set free!
She explained to me one day long ago why this is so:
"It is because of a foolish ancestor of mine. This ancestor was great in many ways and considered a hero, but I think of them as a felon of the worst kind.
A terrible demon roamed the lands, killing the villagers. Now this demon was a shape-shifter and a creature that never slept, only wandered as a wild-eyed human female. One day my ancestor slew the creature and took a drop of its blood and mixed it with a newborn's— yes a child! Thus, this curse that runs in my family."
The demonic powers made perfect sense to me then, and as she finished her story, I could only feel sorry for her.
~~~
I recalled a day when she was forced to make a difficult decision; marry her enemy or remain in a cell the rest of her life? The demonic powers broke free in a storm of deep blues and violets, and at the center forming a kind of skin around her, black. The audience of the court scrambled away, but some were not so lucky as to make it out alive. The chains binding her to the desk melted away, the floor beneath her feet blackened.
I will never forget what I saw when I looked in her eyes, or rather, what I didn't see, for there was nothing to see. They were empty black pits of the strange black fire...
The black fire began to form and curled in thin wisps between my fingers and the strands of my sandy blonde hair. My vision faded to black as if the fire were covering my eyes saying "Don't look" so the demonic energy could take control— and that's exactly what it did. It whispered to me and took over, persuading me, keeping me occupied and unable to fight back. I fell into a dark fantasy world of dead trees and graveyards, the sky stained as black as the fire, the trees and tombstones stark white against the darkness. Little faeries danced around me and ushered me around. Butterflies of sparkling silver and glittering black fluttered around me soft as rose petals. I followed the faeries and butterflies all through the graveyard, laughing and dancing with them, feeling light as a feather and an empty happiness like that of a broken soul.
I came to a particular tombstone and stopped dead in my tracks; it was made out to Naruto. The one next to it was marked Kakashi, and another one said Deidara. I screamed and looked around frantically. The faeries and butterflies had vanished, leaving me alone and very afraid.
Suddenly I felt the ghosts of arms wrap around me light as breath against my skin, their warmth and solidity growing until the fantasy land shattered and I was safe in my mind and in control.
