Redemption

'What is he mumbling about, Ayumi-chan, un?' Deidara muttered with a bored expression on his face and crossed his arms.

I couldn't help but stare at this man... The one who called himself Daichi. Daichi Tsukiyomi.

No... It's impossible. He can't be a part of my clan. He must be lying.

'Tsukiyomi clan is dead,' Sasori said, still glaring at the three strangers.

I watched as they chuckled. Daichi gave us a creepy grin, his eyes wide and bloodshot, then stretched out his hands to the sides – his face was filled with madness and grotesque.

'You're wrong! Ayumi is not the only survivor of the Tsukiyomi clan.'

I flinched at Daichi's tone. Could he be saying truth? I studied his features for a while – he looked like Tsukiyomi, for sure. But that doesn't mean anything...

'T-That's not possible... I d-destroyed my clan, but that was an acci-'

'No need for those silly excuses, dear,' Daichi smiled at me, almost kindly, but his face turned dead serious again. 'You killed everyone. You killed my family, my friends, my clan... I will never forgive you.'

The man's face was straight for a while, then he started laughing like crazy.

'That idiot is insane, un...'

'Seems so. We don't have time for that, anyway,' Sasori said. 'Let's go, Deidara, Ayumi.'

The puppet master turned to leave with Deidara following him. The blondie glanced at me, motioning for me to hurry up.

'Come on, Ayumi-chan. Don't worry about these guys.'

Feeling a bit hesitant, I nodded slightly. I was still shocked, but if my partners ordered me to go, I must listen.

I turned around, but someone blocked my way and grabbed my elbow.

'Not so fast, girl,' one of the black haired men hissed at me and smirked. 'Do you really think we will let you go so easily?'

'Let go of her!' Deidara yelled angrily and a small clay spider exploded on the man, making him back off instantly. 'Are you picking a fight with us, un?!'

'I couldn't care less about you, Akatsuki people,' Daichi explained with his arms crossed, then gave me a disgusted look. 'All I want is to fight Ayumi. You two can leave.'

I gazed at Deidara and Sasori, wondering what will they do. They have no reason to stay with me, right...? And they better leave. If they get hurt because of me...

'Are you really so stupid?' Sasori spat at the three men, giving them one of his usual emotionless glares. 'Do you seriously think we would betray Ayumi like that?'

Deidara sniffed, then smirked slightly.

'Sasori is right! We would never leave Ayumi-chan in trouble. If you think of fighting her, then you have to fight us too, un!'

I felt heart in my chest pound faster at their words.

'G-Guys...'

The blondie grinned at me, showing me his white teeth, while Sasori kept his face blank, though I swear I could see his lips curve slightly.

'How touching... S-rank criminals have feelings after all, huh?' Daichi shouted sarcastically. 'I used to have emotions too, until you erased them, Ayumi.'

His words and glare pierced my soul deeply.

'Now I have only one emotion... That is hate. I want revenge.'

Something heavy was stuck in my throat. I tried to swallow it, but nothing happened. My body felt cold and I didn't know why. I felt like I was unable to talk anymore. Why... Why did all of this happen?

'Enough of your nonsense!' Deidara snapped and started molding his clay with his palms. 'I will just show you my art! It will shut you up, un!'

'I will be the one to shut your loud idiotic mouth, you stupid lousy blondie!' The other raven haired ninja rumbled and threw a few kunais at Deidara.

He jumped back – his face looked totally pissed.

'Who did you call lousy?! Ahhhr, I will show you, un!'

Soon the two of them got into a fight and Deidara disappeared behind the trees, already fired up to demonstrate his ultimate art. His opponent growled something under his nose and disappeared together with him.

I heard a loud creak and turned my eyes to see one of Sasori's puppets attacking Daichi. The poisonous scorpion's tale tried to wrap itself about the man's body, but he gracefully slipped away. Suddenly a wave of water came crashing down on Sasori – he only sighed and jumped into a tree. I noticed the other ninja glaring at the red head – it was obvious what they were trying to do. They wanted me to fight Daichi, no matter what.

'I will get this over with as quickly as I can. Show him the result of your training, Ayumi,' Sasori muttered and stared at me.

He actually gave me a smile. A warm one. That's really rare for Sasori... No, I can't remember him being like that.

Suddenlly he disappeared too. Soon it was only me and Daichi, standing in front of each other.

My body was shaking, but I felt a bit more confident. Sasori believed in me after all. Deidara too. I can't be weak. I must not be weak.

A shuriken flew right at me and I had to stop dazing off. I blocked it easily and jumped back, getting ready to fight.

'Finally... Finally I can avenge Tsukiyomi clan,' Daichi smirked. 'You're a traitor who must be killed. No, you're far worse than a traitor...'

'You don't know anything...'

'I know much more than you imagine. You were going to say that it was your bloodline limit who killed them off, right?'

Sweat was beginning to form on my forehead. He was right. I never meant to kill my clan... It wasn't me...

'Let me say you this – there is no excuse for what you did. There will never be. You can try to live in your sweet illusion, thinking that you did nothing wrong, that you weren't thinking straight when you slaughtered them... But it's all fake. You killed them, one by one. This is a fact that you can't change. You deserve punishment for your crime, don't you think, Ayumi?'

All I could do was stare. My mind was turning blank. Second after second. Daichi smiled.

'Seems like you're smart enough to realize that I'm right. Do you know... Do you know this pain of losing someone close to you?'

I watched as Daichi's fair eyes clouded. They were full of sadness and sorrow. That sorrow which I knew so well... He blinked at me a few times, waiting for an answer.

'Y-Yes, I kn-'

'No, you don't. You know nothing about my pain. That horrible night...'

Daichi closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

'That horrible night I was just a child, two or three years older than you. My family... It was killed by you. And I saw all of it.'

'I'm s-so-'

'Shut up,' he snapped at me darkly and I did.

The least I could do was listen to him.

'My father was at that meeting, the one which had to decide what to do with you and your parents. My mother told me about it. At that time she was taking care of me and my little sister. Suddenly we heard a few screams and a loud crash. My mother told me to hide. She was crying and shaking. I hid under the table.'

My knees were getting weak. I grabbed my head which was aching now – the pain was unbearable. I never meant to... I never wanted to...

'All I remember from that moment was you. You broke our door and came in, using your monstrous chakra. Your eyes were completely white – you looked like a demon. You were a demon.'

Daichi lowered his head so that I wouldn't be able to see his eyes.

'My mother was begging you to stop, you know? Her tears were leaking down the wood as you dragged her on the floor – her neck was ripped. You twisted it.'

'S-Stop... Please...'

'I was afraid to move and breath. The fear inside of me... It keeps hunting me, even now. I will never get rid of it,' he continued in a harsh and disturbed tone which was breaking me slowly. 'I probably lost my consciousness and woke up a bit later, only to see dead bodies around me. The corpses of my mother and my sister... Distant sounds made me freeze in fear again. I don't know how much time did I spend being surrounded by my dead family. Do you know what it feels like? Do you know what it is for a child to keep staring at his slaughtered family for hours, afraid to let out a sound? Who do you think should pay for that? Who is responsible?'

I fell on the ground, hiding my face in my hands. The cause for his pain was me... I ruined his life. Not only his... No...

No...

Daichi tilted his head to the side, giving me a weird crazed look.

'We shall end your inhuman existence right now, don't you think?'