Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ World Collision ❯ Washing in the river ( Chapter 52 )

Jessica closed her eyes softly as she let out a low sigh. As she stood with her arms folded against her chest, she watched as the two men bickered non-stop. Soon after the whole shenanigan began, Deidara hit his target that then went flying quickly over the trees. If it weren't for his quick movements, it wouldn't just be his butt that was sore. Still, even though he was only partially hit from behind, his clothing was still covered in soot from the aftershock. Tobi, who was now turning a gloved finger where his ear hole would have been if it weren't for the black material that covered most of his head, just talked back cheerfully as ever as the blond took out all of his anger on the guilty individual.

 

“I doubt that these two will ever get along, even if they had an eternity to work on it.” She thought as she shook her head slightly. “I doubt that woman at the shop would ever feel safe around her customers anymore after this. I wish I could take her advice and just get away from men like these, but it's not as if I have a choice… And there's nothing else I'd be able to do. Besides that, who would be the one who'd make sure Deidara-sama wasn't getting into any major trouble?” After thinking for another moment with an almost agitated, serious face as she thought this, she sunk her shoulders again as she rubbed her forehead. “Oh who am I kidding? It doesn't matter what I say; when Deidara-sama has something he wants to do, he'll do it no matter what. I doubt he has ever taken a word I've said seriously yet.”

 

“Look what you've done; even my cloak is filled with soot! You idiot, I don't see how you were ever able to enter the Akatsuki! The Akatsuki are made up of beautiful, hansom, courageous, calm, quiet, collected, artistic, strong, dangerous, feared men! Well I can't say that all of us are beautiful or hansom, and the Leader's assistant is a woman, but you don't rank in anything!” He shouted as he pointed at the man who simply looked back at him as if everything was perfect in the world.

 

“Oh Sempai, you really need to brighten up. You're going to have a permanent frown on your face if you don't~!” He said playfully.

 

“Shut up you dimwit! Why can't I just kill you already?” The blond shouted. “I can't stand you!”

 

“Now that's not a very nice thing to say Sempai; Jessica-chan is watching too.” Tobi replied as he pointed at the girl. As he turned to look at her, he let a deep frown set on his face as he stepped towards his partner.

 

“She has nothing to do with this; you're just trying to make your way out of your doom!” He stated as he dismissed it with an arm motion.

 

“But Jessica-chan wouldn't want to see you kill me; she has Hemophobia remember?” The blond then blinked a few times as he seemed a bit baffled. When did he find that out? Had Jessica told him at some point when he wasn't around to hear? Grunting, he then glanced back at the girl one more time before unhooking his cloak. “What are you doing Sempai?”

 

“Jessica, go wash our cloaks in that river we passed a little while ago.” He commanded as the girl's head pricked up slightly in surprise. As the two stared at the man, he then frowned again as he looked between them both. “What are you waiting for? Tobi, take your cloak off. Jessica, take them already and go wash them off; I won't deal with this smell along with you.” He said hinting the last part at Tobi. Wrinkling her nose a bit at the unusual request, Jessica then stood to her feet before approaching them.

 

“Sempai, why are you making Jessica-chan do that? Why, once the cloak gets wet, then it will get heavy and it might get swept down the river. Why don't you just do it?” The masked man asked as he placed his hands on his hips.

 

“She's my slave, so she does what I tell her to do. I'm sure she's capable enough to wash it on her own. Besides, I'll need to wash myself further up stream and I suggest you do too; as long as you don't do it anywhere near where I'm washing.” Shrugging, the man then gave in to the decision and lay his cloak over the girl's open arms.

 

“What are these things made out of?” She thought to herself as she felt their weight coming down on her arms. “I know their much larger than my clothing, and their cloaks, but I never expected them to wear such a heavy thing when they go through hot climates like in that desert we went through.”

 

“Okay Jessica-chan, just make sure you don't fall in the water; the current may be too strong for you to swim in.” Nodding her head, she then turned in the direction she remembered coming from.

 

“So is it straight back?” She asked as she looked over her shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” her master replied before walking in the same direction, but at more to the left of her. She guessed as much that they or at least he was taking a full-fledged bath, meaning that he'd go more upstream from the area she'd be washing at. Thinking this, she could feel her cheeks turn slightly red from embarrassment. Just thinking about the same water she'd be scrubbing in… was his bath water. Shaking her head harshly, she pushed the perverted thought to the back of her mind. She hated whenever thoughts like that came to her mind. It was so… inappropriate; along with being embarrassing if she'd actually witnessed the sight. She could tell that she'd be scared for life if she saw either of the men bathing. Shivering a bit, she then heard the river from the area it was being hidden in by trees and bushes. Pushing through a few of them, she slowly side stepped till she was at the bank of the river. Looking into the water, she could tell that it did have a strong current indeed, and didn't know how the two men would be able to actually `wash themselves' without being carried down stream. With an ugly face after receiving an unwanted mental image, she then tried to find the best spot to start washing the filthy black and red cloaks.

 

“Now how am I going to do this?” She asked herself as she placed the articles of clothing on the ground beside her. Sighing, she then took one and let the ends of the tall hood hand in the water. Kneeling on the rest of it so the force of the water wouldn't sweep it away like Tobi had forewarned, she then leaned over the edge of the water and began grinding, squeezing, and scratching the material with her hands. “I doubt I'll be able to get all of this scent out of the clothing, but I should be able to get most of it out.” She commented as she inserted more and more of it. After a good ten minutes, she had gone over the whole thing and decided that it would be best to ring it out, set it to dry, and start on the other before the two had finished washing themselves. Perhaps they were finished already, but there was still the possibility that they were scrubbing themselves in an attempt to get all of the scent out; she guessed that Deidara's hair would most likely take the longest. What were they going to dry themselves off with anyhow? Were they going to just sit somewhere and wait till the sun would dry them? She could easily picture Tobi deciding to run around with nothing but his mask on to dry himself off. “That's another scaring image; what is up with me today?” Trying the same method with the other cloak, she then frowned as she found that no matter how much she scrubbed the thing, she could still smell soot. It wasn't long before she discovered to her displeasure that the scent had spread onto her self, most likely due to the way she sat on each to make sure they didn't escape her grasp. “I guess I'll just have to wash myself then.” She grumbled as she hung the cloak over the same branch that hung over near the edge of the river. Sighing, she then scanned the area as well as she could to make sure no other intelligent being was around to see her. Feeling it was safe; she quickly took off her shirt and quickly began scrubbing it with all of her might. As soon as she was satisfied, she did the same for the rest of her clothing before laying them out to dry by the cloaks. Putting her nose up to her arm, she let out a disgusted sigh as she found that she herself, not just her clothing, got the scent of soot. Quickly walking into the water, she yelped as she went down to her knees so that the water went up to her neck. As her teeth chattered loudly, she began lathering her tangled hair with her hands as she continuously worked against the current. “I wouldn't be surprised if I got hypothermia from this water; what temperature is it in here?” She thought to herself. “How could Deidara-sama or Tobi-san decide to do this now with this method?” Standing to her feet, she then covered her chest with her arms as she stepped out of the water. As her whole body shook from the cold meeting of the wind, she quickly dashed over to her bag and began ringing out her hair on the grass. Shuffling through the bag, she then took out the small washcloth she requested for a while back, and began drying herself off with it. When she found herself as dry as necessary, she slipped on her black skirt and dark blue kimono top that she had washed shortly after she received the clothing that was now lying out to dry with the cloaks. “I guess I'll just put my wooden sandals on now,” she said as she put her navy blue sandals into the bag after retrieving the other shoes. Still shivering, she stumbled a bit as she tried putting the shoes on her feet. Putting her hand behind her, she found a branch that she gladly up all of her weight on as she placed the shoes on her feet. It was then though, that she felt the branch get slightly easier to lean down on. Looking back at it, the expression of shock and horror came across her face as she saw one of the cloaks rushing full speed down the stream-like river. “Dear Lord, what am I going to do?” she prayed in panic, as she then frantically ran down stream beside it as fast as she could.