Naruto: Akatsuki

The law of equivalent exchange. Without giving something of an equal price, a human being cannot gain what he or she desires for.

Such a thought entered my mind as I creaked open the door of a run-down house. Though the inside was full of a stench, the fact that it was empty meant one thing: the owners' deaths.

It was thanks to their deaths that we were able to find shelter. The law of equivalent exchange indeed.

'If so,' I thought as Konan and Yahiko wandered around the house in excitement, 'in order to attain the peace, what must be sacrificed?'

It was slowly coming to the truth. Peace, no matter how nice and pleasant it may sound, was no different from war. They are naught but two sides of the same coin.

I stood silent. Staring at my right hand, I opened and closed it repeatedly, thinking of the time when I used this very hand to kill an adult.

But, a pointless thought that it was. With no strength, it is idiotic to pursue the philosophy of the world.

'I'm already busy enough trying to survive.'

Ridding myself of these thoughts, I chuckled weakly—

"Akashi!!!"

—before jolting up upon hearing the urgent voice of Yahiko.

Tensing up, I swiftly made my way to where Yahiko's voice came from, and saw,

one red-haired kid who had... purple eyes with concentric circles.

I quickly looked around what seemed to be the living room.

The whole room was a disorganized mess. The blatant evidence of plundering.

Four adult corpses. Stab wounds on the man with black hair and the woman with red hair. Without a doubt, they were the kid's parents.

...S***. Two dead shinobis wearing the attires with the leaf symbol of Konohagakure engraved on their backs. Kunais on their loose hands.

I turned back to the nervous kid,

"Did you do this?"

The kid growled as the tears flowed out of his eyes, "They killed my mom and dad!!"

"There there," Konan, who crouched down nearby the kid, rubbed the kid's back, "it's going to be alright."

Yahiko, with squinted eyes, stared at Konan suspiciously.

Taking the eyes off of the kid, I ran up to the kitchen and checked the fridge.

"...Nothing to take." With a mutter, I swiftly made my way back.

"Akashi," Yahiko said warily.

"I know."

Two dead shinobis. It was a matter of time before the killers from the leaf arrives.

Leaning down, I quickly scuffled through the belongings that the dead shinobis had with them. Kunais, shurikens, senbons, and...

"Explosive tags." Quickly stuffing them as much as I could, I stood back up with a dark expression.

What I initially believed to be a potential shelter, has now turned into—damn it, a trap.

"Forget about the shelter part. We gotta get out of here, fast."

"What about him?" Konan asked me while looking at the boy.

I momentarily turned to where this boy's parents' corpses lied and placed my palms together as a silent prayer.

'May you rest in peace.'

Then, I answered Konan while hurriedly walking out of the room,

"He'll come if he wishes to survive."

Passing some throwing weapons to Yahiko and Konan, the three of us ran out of the house crazily.

*Splash*

And I found a weak smile on my face as the sound of someone running from the back was heard.

__________

I felt like groaning.

'Again?'

That's right. We returned to the gloomy, wet, and humid cave,

"Haa... haa..."

along with this red-haired boy behind us. It seems that we got a newbie.

Yahiko, who inspected the ninja tools that we've brought back, asked, "So, what now?"

"What now indeed."

Placing my hands in my pocket and feeling the explosive tags, I suggested,

"Let's go steal some more food."

"And then?"

"Find shelter."

"And then?"

"More food."

Yahiko and I stared at each other momentarily, before sighing at the same time,

""This sucks.""

*Growl~*

Then the boy held his belly with a blush, as his stomach let out the loud noise.

Shifting my attention to the boy, I asked, "What's your name?"

"...Nagato."

Ignoring Nagato's embarrassment, I held my hand out, "I'm Akashi, the leader of this gang. Nice to meet ya."

"Hey!" From the back, Yahiko retorted, "Since when have I become your henchman?"

Nagato looked back and forth between Yahiko and me, before grabbing my hand with his own.

Konan smiled while watching the manly handshake between the two of us.

"Now, you're my underling along with those two." I said with a dull expression, "That loud orange is Yahiko, and this smiley girl is Konan."

"...Hi."

Nagato's eyes, though they gave off the mysterious vibes, held some degree of sincerity behind the timidness.

"Hi!"

"Heh, don't listen to the words of that brown emo." Yahiko pointed his thumb at himself with confidence, "I'm the leader."

Konan, with a smile, shook her head in response to Yahiko's words, "Nope, you aren't."

Yahiko froze with the look of a betrayal.

"U-uh..." Nagato sweatdropped, not knowing what to do.

I grinned in an amusement, "Nagato."

Nagato turned to me,

"Are you hungry?"

Though it was raining heavily outside, there existed an inexplicable sense of warmth within this dark cave.

But regardless, it was so wet and humid. My statement about the risks that this place pose still stood. I wanted to get out of this risky place as soon as possible—

"I love this place." Konan raised her hands up high in a joy.

'...What is wrong with this girl?' I thought.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, Akashi." Nagato answered with a gulp.

"K-Konan..." Yahiko fell on his knees, unable to escape from Konan's blatant refusal previously.

Now, this was simply a headache.