I was afraid to come out of the safety of my mind. Who knows what kind of damage I had done while in my state of rage? I blocked everything out and wandered through the abyss of my imagination.
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I cradled her in my arms, frantically looking for signs of life, momentarily forgetting the feeling that she had betrayed me.
"Mori!"
I shook her gently then gave a tiny sigh of relief as I saw her chest rise and fall slowly with every breath she took. The battle had ceased once she lost control; everyone had hid to escape the deadly tongues of blue fire. Now they all came out cautiously, except for one, who came rushing over and kneeled down on her other side. He wore the akatsuki cloak and had long blonde hair that fell over one side of his face. He looked down at her with ice blue eyes full of worry. My heart stuttered when I recognized him as the one who had killed Gaara, though I didn't feel angry, noticing his anxiety.
"Is she ok, un?"
I stared at him, shocked. It felt strange to believe anyone in the akastuki could actually care for someone.
He stared back intently, anxiously awaiting my answer. My shocked gaze softened and I looked down at her. "I'm not a medic, but she seems fine enough." He sighed and sat back, running a hand through his long locks.
"Deidara."
He looked over at the other akatsuki members. I looked over too, anger boiling inside me.
"Grab her and let's go," the one with red hair said. My grip on Mori tightened defensively.
"Why can't you just go away!?" I screamed. They paid me no attention. I could feel the nine-tailed fox spirit growl fiercely and laugh dangerously at them. Tears stung my eyes and threatened to spill over. The one called Deidara looked at me uncertainly for a long time.
"Don't make me wait brat," redhead called harshly.
"Hold on, I think we should just let Mori decide for herself since she had no choice before," Kakashi suggested calmly from behind me. At this Deidara smirked.
"She has no choice now that she is a member of our organization, un."
I stared incredulously. "She never asked to join your stupid organization!" I snapped.
"A jinchuuriki shouldn't be defying us," the one with bright emerald eyes said. "Or we'll just take you with us right now. You two wouldn't stand a chance against the four of us."
For the first time I realized that the other Leaf ninja were nowhere in sight— we were indeed alone.
"N-Naruto?"
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"Mori!" Naruto called out in surprise. I looked around— Deidara and Naruto were hovering over me while Kakashi stood back a little ways. I sat up and froze; there they were, the dead bodies of the other Leaf ninja, their blood spilled across the grass. I could feel the blood drain from my face as I shrieked and tears poured out. Everyone looked at me in alarm, probably thinking I was going crazy or something.
"Mori!"
"They're d-dead...," I whispered. They followed my gaze to the fallen shinobi, the ones I had accidentally and unknowingly murdered. I stood up and ran over to them checking each one for signs of life, shaking them repeatedly until someone wrapped their arms around me in a hug and pulled me away.
"Let her go!" Naruto shouted angrily.
"Let's go, Mori-chan," Deidara whispered in my ear.
"But— " I locked eyes with Naruto; his glare turned to a pleading look. My gaze shifted to Kakashi. His onyx eye stared back calmly, though there was a tiny hint of sadness. Deidara, arm around my waist, pulled me along, away from them.
"Wait! No! Naruto!"
I reached an arm out towards Naruto. He instantly lurched forward in a sprint to reach me.
"Please let me go!" I cried, struggling against Deidara's grasp. I saw a flash of red and black to my right, and then Naruto's eyes were closing as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Sasori stood in front of him.
"Naruto!!!"
Sasori turned and hurried after us as Kakashi rushed to the aid of Naruto.
"Why did you do that!?" I yelled angrily at Sasori. His cold brown eyes met mine, and he thrust his hand down on a pressure point in my neck, knocking me unconscious.
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I stared up sadly at the ceiling of Deidara's room from my mattress on the floor.
"Mori-chan, un?" The wooden door creaked open as Deidara entered the room, then creaked some more as he shut it. "Are you ok, un?"
I rolled onto my side and stared at the wall, refusing to speak. The springs in the mattress groaned as he sighed and sat down on his bed.
"I'm sorry about what happened earlier, yeah, but you can't go back and live in Konoha."
I turned to face him, my solemn gaze making him look away. "Why can't I?"
The dim light of the room threw shadows across his face, making him look much older as he replied. "You know too much about this organization and we wouldn't be able to trust you to keep quiet about us. Besides, the ANBU would probably try to pull it out of you if you didn't talk, un."
I sighed loudly and faced the wall again. The springs groaned again and soft footsteps padded across the floor towards me until Deidara was kneeling behind me and leaning over me to see my face.
"Honestly, what's the matter? You can tell me, un. I just want to hear you talk to me." He gently stroked my hair and smiled kindly. I smiled a little in return and started talking. He listened patiently and didn't interrupt (surprisingly enough) and gave his opinion when I asked for it. By the time I was finished we were both laughing, something I really like about Deidara— his ability to lighten the mood and make me laugh. Suddenly, he bent over and kissed me softly, his hand lightly stroking my face. I closed my eyes and sighed. A moment later he pulled away and smiled again before saying, "Goodnight, yeah."
"Goodni— " My pulse jumped and the room reeled around me. That horrible fantasy land flashed before me with its black sky and white tombstones. My neck whipped forward harshly as Deidara shook me out of my trance, the sudden pain returning everything back to normal.
"Mori?"
"I'm fine, just feeling kinda strange after all that's happened today." I clenched my hands into fists to keep Deidara from noticing their trembling.
"Well, I hope you feel better then." He lingered for a second before going to the bathroom to change. I unclenched my hands and looked at them— there were deep indents from where my nails had dug into the flesh and they were still shaking violently. I took in a few shuddering breaths to calm myself before Deidara came out of the bathroom and hopped into bed. I focused my attention on his steady breathing. It didn't hold my attention very well, and soon I found myself wishing for someone to talk to. Unfortunately, the only person I knew for sure would still be up was Sasori since he didn't sleep either.
I was about to get up when another trance swallowed me up. I fought to get away and had to resort to biting hard on my thumb until blood trickled out to break free. I groaned. I was possibly losing it and my thumb was throbbing annoyingly.
Another passage of Scarlet Breath came to my attention. It had said that trances like those I was experiencing were not uncommon after losing control, and that there were ways to keep it from happening...
I hadn't gotten any further though. Yet another sigh escaped my lips. One of these days I was going to eliminate this problem I had, one way or another.
