Dance of the Hearts

I think I'm addicted to the PeinxBlue pairing now...

Ok. This idea popped into my head while I was sleeping, and I wrote it down at 2 in the morning. So yeah...sorry if it sucks, and it's a bit rushed looking. I tried to revise, but this was the best outcome...also probably quite a bit of grammar mistakes (not my strong point, so please point out any mistakes if you see any!)

Constructive criticism more than welcome!!

Disclaimer: I don't not don't own Naruto. Hah! Brainteaser!!

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Thud. Thump. Thud. Thump.

She listens as their hearts dance together in a steady rhythm…

-----

Blood dripped from her fingers as she faced the stranger. It wasn't her blood, of course.

Behind the teenaged girl, a pile of about fifty ANBU lay dead.

The stranger smirked, the corner of his mouth raised ever so slightly.

The teen girl remained poised and calm. A gentle breeze tossed her cerulean locks into the air. She eyed him nonchalantly. “What?”

“You have impressive skills, kunoichi.”

“Why thank you.”

“…But do you seek something more in life?”

Her ice-blue eyes narrowed slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you honestly want to stay this way forever? Assassinating people to claim the bounties on their pathetic heads?”

The blue-haired kunoichi was taken aback slightly. How did this strange young man know what she does for a living? She has never even met him before.

She studied him carefully. He was decorated with piercings…everywhere. Under his lip, down his nose…and there were far too many to count on his ears. Is he for real? What kind of a shinobi would bear that many piercings? And his eyes were pupil-free. Instead, it was composed of a series of concentric circles, spiraling on in an almost hypnotic pattern.

“Well, kunoichi?” His low voice remained calm and patient.

“I have a name, you know.”

“Do tell.”

“…I don’t trust you enough.”

He paused, apparently deep in thought. She kept her eyes on him, and a kunai clenched in her fist, refusing to let down her guard.

“I have a proposal you may find you’ll like.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He was walking towards her, and she stiffened, raising the kunai level to her throat to demonstrate her suspicions. He stopped, and eyed her appraisingly.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

She didn’t know why she wasn’t trying to kill him already. Usually, any man she found was spying on her, she would have attacked on the spot. But this man wasn’t any other man. There was something about him she found strangely comforting…although it was certainly not the infinite number of piercings. The young woman just could not put her finger on it.

“I’m forming an organization…a terrorist organization. I will gather the strongest ninja I can find, and together, we shall achieve world domination. Care to be the first recruit?”

Truth be told, she wanted to laugh. World domination? How cliché! It was probably just another young man’s fantasy, and this stranger was one of those idiots who dreamed it.

She told him her exact thoughts, without batting an eye.

He just smirked even more. Then he sat down, and mentioned for her to do so as well. She complied warily, seating herself a good distance away from him.

And he explained his whole plan to her, his plan to capture all the tailed beasts, and how they would help him control all that occurs in the world with those monsters. The nineteen-year-old kunoichi actually found it all quite interesting, despite how much she hated to think that.

By the end of the hour, she was converted. And by the end of the second hour, the Akatsuki was born.

It was getting dark. The sun was barely peeking up from the horizon, and the moon was already gaining height in the night sky.

The strange shinobi stood up, and she mirrored his movement, no longer holding the kunai out protectively in front of her, although she still kept her distance and stiffened at some of his sudden movements.

“Hm. It’s getting dark. I believe it’s time we head out, don’t you think?”

She nodded curtly…then realized something was missing. “What should I call you from now on?”

He turned his eccentric eyes on her, and replied, “The name is Pein.”

She was quite shocked that he would actually give her his name. To her, a name was a sacred word, only to be given to those she truly trusted with all her heart. The young woman wondered vaguely if that meant this strange shinobi trusted her fully already…

The blue-haired kunoichi nodded. “Okay…Pein. Let’s move.”

And she began to walk away.

“Wait! Now tell me your name.”

She pretended not to hear. After all, he was yet to earn her trust.

The young man must have understood her message, because he fell silent and followed her footsteps into the depths of the forest.

Pein never asked her for her name again.

-----

Thump. Thud. Thump. Thud.

She entwines her fingers with his, and breathes deeply, inhaling the scent of their blood mixed together into one crimson concoction…

-----

She hated piercings. Especially ones on the face. They would always get in the way of everything.

Pein, obviously, liked piercings. And she would often scold him about them, because as a shinobi, he should not have to spend valuable time fussing over jewelry.

But in the end, the studs and rings remained where they were, and she would have to acknowledge the fact that Pein just wouldn’t be Pein without his five trillion piercings.

So that was why when the day came and she saw the auburn-haired man without the metal pieces clinging to his face, she found it quite frightening.

“Pein, what happened to…” She was ready to say ‘your face’, but decided that would be rather rude.

“Infection.”

“Oh. Well…” She glanced at him nervously, although she didn’t exactly know why. It was just that…his face looked strangely empty, and the kunoichi found that she didn’t like that look at all. “How long until you can put them back in again?”

“Not sure. Perhaps never.”

“What?” The blue-haired young woman stared at him, wondering if her ears were already failing her. Pein without his piercings would surely mean the end of the world. And no matter how much she detested those piercings herself, she knew she would detest a piercing-free Pein even more.

The kunoichi’s mind was made up. “Come here,” she beckoned at the leader of the Akatsuki.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, just do it!”

Slowly and hesitantly, he made his way to her as she raised her hands to his face. Carefully, she ran them over the swollen areas, and pumped chakra into them to dispel the bacteria.

It was an awkward moment, the young woman realized halfway through her ministrations. Pein was about a head taller than she was, so he was bending over slightly as she ran her hands over his face. She willed herself not to blush, and plowed on with a mission she thought she’d never execute: a mission to restore Pein’s piercings.

She also realized his facial features were still quite boyish underneath all those studs and rings…completely contrasting with his mastermind plans of world domination. He was quite handsome actually…

After ten minutes or so, she pulled back, satisfied with her work.

“There. It should get better within the week…and then you can wear your piercings again.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I was told to leave them out forever, or the consequences would be...unpleasant.”

The kunoichi quirked an eyebrow, rather offended by his lack of cooperation. “Oh yeah?” And the consequences for if you don’t put those damn piercings back in will be even more unpleasant…for me at least. The young woman almost winced at the thought of the strange yet efficient plan already blooming in her head.

The next day, there was quite a ruckus within the Akatsuki. Uchiha Itachi could have sworn he heard Pein’s voice saying (yelling), “Since when did you get a piercing?!”

And the only female member of the Akatsuki grinned, tilting her head to one side so the light would catch the small, silver stud under her bottom lip. “Now you have to wear yours, because if you don’t, then we wouldn’t be matching partners anymore.” She gave him a mock pout. “See? You have piercings, and I have a piercing. Now go put those…things…back on, and then we can be like real partners in crime.”

Pein had actually seemed relieved to have a defense to wear his piercings again.

Later, she realized he hadn’t said thank you for all the trouble she went through, just to give the poor man an excuse (albeit a pathetic and childish one) to restore the numerous rings and studs on his face.

But she also realized that he needn’t do so, because him donning his piercings again was good enough of a thanks for her.

Perhaps piercing weren’t so bad after all.

-----

Thud…thump. Thud…thump.

She wraps her arms around him, a silent tear winding its way down her face…mingling with his blood…their hearts still dancing to the beat of their souls…

-----

“Status report please.”

The woman cleared her throat, tucked a strand of azure hair behind her ear, and replied: “Money resources down by twenty-three percent. Deidara has been defeated by Uchiha Itachi’s younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. He has been confirmed to be dead. He is yet to be replaced. Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame are currently on a mission in Amegakure. Oh, and Tobi just flushed a couple of your lip piercings down the toilet.”

Pein pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “How many members left?” he asked without looking up.

“Four, not including you and I. Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Zetsu, and Tobi.”

“Wonderful. And how close are we to the Nine-tailed demon fox?”

“Uh…”

“I thought so.”

The leader of the Akatsuki descended from his throne of tubes, and walked past the kunoichi who had given the status report.

“Pein? Where are you going?”

After receiving no answer, she hurried after the powerful shinobi.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Calling a meeting. We need the Nine-tails right now.”

“What?”

“We’re losing members. It’s all or nothing.”

“You’re going to start a full-scale war, aren’t you?”

“…”

She sighed. “This is rash, Pein. You know how crazy it is.”

“Yes. But I have confidence in our…remaining members.”

He turned to face her. “You’ll support me in this decision, right?”

She watched him evenly, but there was a watery look in her cobalt eyes. She wasn’t too fond of the decision. But she was very fond of him.

The kunoichi flashed Pein a ghost of a grin.

“You know I always will. No matter what.”

-----

…Thud…Thump…Thud…Thump…

She smiles weakly as she feels his hand at the back of her head, stroking her cerulean hair. Neither of them says anything…no words were needed when the two of them communicated…the rhythm was fading…the dance was ending…

-----

A blade pierced the kunoichi’s stomach. She reeled back and screamed in pain.

Off in the distance, she saw the Uchiha brothers lunging at eachother…Chidori crackling, mangekyou spinning…

She fell to her knees, agony clawing at her mind…her world was blurring…fading…

But at least it was for him…Pein…

Alas, all the sacrifices in the world would not have saved him from his fate, and she saw him collapse in the distance…lying in a pool of his own crimson life…

She crawled over to him pathetically. Her once blue tresses were tinged with scarlet…

He was dying. She was dying. The Akatsuki was dying…

She held him close, needing to feel him there, to know she was alive…that he was alive…the world was fading to black around her…but he was still there…clear as day…

He was clutching the back of her bloodstained cloak …trusting her not to let go, to lead the way…and she realizes something…finally…

She leans down to his piercing-decorated ear, and whispers, “Ruka. My name is Ruka…”

Too bad she didn’t realize it earlier:

He had earned her trust a long time ago.

-----

…thud…thump…thud…thump…

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die.

And Ruka wonders why just a part of her life has flashed before her eyes, only starting from the moment she met Pein as a simple teen with a complicated dream…

His heartbeat was fading away, and pretty soon, it will only be an echo of what has once existed.

She squeezed him tighter, not willing to let him go that easily…

They were both sinking into darkness…into shadows…a blue-haired woman embracing the leader of a fallen organization, loyal to the very end...

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die.

Ruka smiles, and closes her cobalt orbs.

Her entire life did just flash past her eyes…her life that had only truly begun when she met a certain, piercing-obsessed youth…

…thud…thud…thud…

…

-----

And the dance of their hearts faded into an echo of what had once existed.

- This was a (failed) attempt to capture the development between Pein and Blue. First as partners in crime, then friends, then implied lovers...and then they died. Sorry, but I can't seem to write a fic with a happy ending. Oops.

- I'm gonna pretend I don't know that Tobi (a.k.a. Uchiha Madara) is the real leader of the Akatsuki, kay?

- Anyway, please forgive the section about Ruka and piercings. That was my pathetic stab at fluff...and as you can see, I totally fail in the fluffy, happy departments of writing and literature. My bad.

- Eh, this is one disorganized fic. Sorry for any major confusion...AND SUPPORT THE PEINXBLUE PAIRING!! MUHAHAHAHA!!!!