Paste your document here...
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor did I create, Naruto or any of its characters, I am merely the writer.
It was less than a week until her birthday, but Mika wasn't over much excited about it. Partly because she'd never really seen the point, and partly because her parents had never really given too much consideration to her existence. She could only think of one thing she even wanted, and that was for someone, particularly a certain blond shinobi, to give her a hug and tell her he loved her. Of course, that didn't seem likely… "Ah! Tobi is a good boy, Tobi is a good boy, Tobi is a good boy! Don't hurt Tobi Deidara-senpai!" Tobi shouted as he came racing down the hallway, and Mika was obliged to bounce out of the way.
"Tobi get back here you little shit un!" Deidara snapped, "I'm going to give your blood to Sasori-dana to paint with yeah!"
"Oooh-kaay then. I'm not going to ask," Mika said, "Hey Deidara-san."
"Ah! Oh, Mika-chan! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there un," Deidara said, looking slightly embarrassed.
"It's alright," Mika smiled, "I'll let you get back to destroying Tobi now."
"No, I kinda lost the need yeah," Deidara said, "You should come train with me."
"Ok, sounds good to me," Mika smiled, "Where to?"
"How about the lake yeah?" he asked, "We can blow stuff up without getting yelled at un."
"That works," Mika laughed, "Race ya!" And she took off.
"No fair, you get a head start!" Deidara shouted, and promptly chased her.
"Aw, I started first and I still lost," Mika laughed when she managed to catch her breath.
"Aw, that's ok un," Deidara grinned, "You can go first Mika-chan."
"What are you two doing?" came Kisame's confused voice, "Aren't you supposed to be training?" Mika blushed upon realizing just how close together she and Deidara had been for a moment. "We were going to yeah," Deidara said.
"Yeah, ok, I'm not going to argue," Kisame said, "But Leader-sama wants you Deidara."
"Oh, um… Ok un," Deidara said, "Bye Mika-chan, see you later yeah!"
"Man, that guy has some serious issues," Kisame commented.
"Eh, maybe…" Mika said noncommittally, "Well, shall we train Kisame-sensei?"
"Yes, I suppose we should," he replied, "I still don't get why you'll only use a katana though."
"Because I can use two of them at the same time, while your zanzuba is too heavy and awkward for that," Mika explained lightly while blocking his swing, "The katana is light and allows me more freedom of movement. Besides, I can do this." She blocked him again, then with a peculiar turn of her wrist she flung Kisame's blade away to lodge quivering in the bowl of a tree. "Point taken Mika," Kisame laughed, "You've done very well."
"Thank you Sensei," Mika smiled.
"So, just out of curiosity, what were you and Deidara doing?" Kisame asked with a teasing grin.
"As Deidara-san said, we were going to train," Mika laughed, "You got here with Leader-sama's message before we got started."
"You were about this close to each other. You were cute," Kisame teased.
"Aw, Kisame-sensei!" Mika whined.
"Your face is all red Mika-chan," he smirked.
"Ok! Ok. Fine, I admit it… Yes, I like him, but I don't think he'll ever see me the same way Sensei," Mika sighed.
"Why don't you just tell him Mika-chan?" Kisame asked her gently.
"Because I'm afraid he won't feel the same, and then he won't want me around anymore…" she said quietly.
"Look, Mika," Kisame said quietly, "Since joining us you've risked you life dozens of time for other members. Twice for Deidara that I can recall right now. That wasn't lost on him Mika-chan."
"But Sensei, you and Deidara-san both risked your lives getting me here in the first place," Mika pointed out, "He was the one who carried me…"
"I remember," Kisame replied, "You were so weak and beat up that you could barely breath. We thought you were going to die before we got you back here."
"I heard…" Mika sighed, "But… I think Deidara-san sees me as a sister…"
"I don't know anything about that," Kisame said, "But don't worry anymore about it Mika. You'll find out when the time is right."
"Yes sensei," she replied quietly.
"Hey Mika," he grinned, lifting her chin with a finger.
"Yes Sensei?" she asked. "You still have bragging rights for disarming me," he told her.
"Thank you Sensei," she said, and her usual playful grin returned to her face.
"Now, go get some lunch, we'll train some more later," Kisame said.
"Arigato Sensei," Mika smiled. She skipped back to the building and almost collided with Deidara on the way in. "G-gomen Deidara-san," she stuttered for lack of anything better to say.
"It's alright Mika-chan," he grinned, "I suppose you've already trained, so you wanna go get lunch before I have to leave un?"
"Um, leave?" she sputtered in confusion.
"Yes, I have a mission yeah," he explained, What's wrong with her? "How long will you be gone?" she asked softly.
"Not too long I hope yeah," he smiled, "I should be back in about three or four days."
"Ok," she replied, "Sure I'll go get lunch with you." What was that about? Deidara wondered, Sometimes Mika-chan I don't understand you at all… "So I take it you don't like it much when I go off on mission yeah?" he asked.
"Um, I—no, it's not that, it's just…" she trailed off.
"Mika-chan, I'll be alright yeah," he assured her, "Besides, I'll be able to find you a birthday present while I'm out."
"Thanks Deidara-san," she replied softly. "
"Aw, it's alright Mika-chan," he smiled, "You watch, I'll be back before you know it, and I'll give you the best birthday present ever yeah." They had lunch and then went to the lake. "Well, I suppose this is goodbye un," Deidara said quietly.
"Yes…" Mika replied softly. He hugged her, and started to walk away. He only took a few steps before he suddenly stopped. Wait! he thought suddenly, Mika-chan likes me! He whirled around, but Mika had already disappeared. Damn it, I missed her, Deidara thought, and I can't go back now, Leader-sama will kill me… Damn… well, I promised her a birthday present, so I'll find something… He sighed and left.
By the time Deidara left Mika and Kisame had already started training again, and now it was becoming challenging for both of them. She's gotten so much better, Kisame thought as he was forced to defend himself against another attack, I'm fast, and I can barely keep up with her! What in the world has she been doing? He stared at her, and she stared back. They were both panting and dripping sweat, neither willing to give the other an inch. He looked at her and they both smirked. They weren't about to quit until one of them couldn't go anymore. Mika grinned. He's more tired than I am, she thought, My last move will decide this. He came in, she blocked and shoved him away, then she did the same strange twist of her wrist again and for the second time sent Kisame's blade flying. "Well Mika-chan, I think it's safe to say that you no longer need a sensei," Kisame said when he finally caught his breath again.
"Hmm… Maybe, maybe not…" Mika replied, "I'm not sure I'm ready; but I want to thank you for teaching me so much."
He smiled, "You've been a fine student Mika, one of the best. It has been both a pleasure and an honor. Thank you."
She returned the smile, "I will not forget Kisame-san." She got up, inclined her head respectfully, and left. Over the next few days she trained with virtually all of them, but when her birthday came and Deidara still hadn't come back, she started to get worried. He'd never broken a promise to her, and she hardly thought he'd start now. She woke up about half expecting to find him crashed on her floor, but that wasn't the case. She didn't really feel like she wanted to share her shower anyway… "Hey Mika, are you up?" came Konan's voice.
"Yup, I sure am Konan. You're going to have to come in if you want to see me though," Mika laughed.
"Yeah, I see," Konan laughed, "Are you planning on coming out here anytime soon?"
"Eventually," Mika grinned, "Oh, by the way, before I forget, someone asked me to give you this."
"Who?" Konan asked.
"You'll know when you open it," Mika grinned.
"Well I have something for you too," Konan smiled, "Go ahead, open it." it turned out to be a silver winged horse pendant. "I thought it suited you," Konan smiled.
"Oh, it's so pretty Konan, thank you," Mika smiled and gave her friend a hug.
"You're welcome Mika," Konan smiled, and then she left. The whole day pretty much went like this, but Mika couldn't forget about Deidara not being there. It was very late by the time she managed to get away, and the moon was making a shimmering path across the lake. She finally let some of her sadness through, and the occasional tears made tiny ripples in the water. She finally sighed and stood up, thinking idly that she should go back inside, but the tears wouldn't stop, so instead she began to follow the shore around the lake. "Mika-chan? I know I'm late, but please, don't cry un…"
"D…Deidara-san..?" she asked softly, trying without success to stop crying.
"Yes Mika-chan, it's me un," he replied softly as he wrapped his arms around her, "I missed you yeah…"
"I missed you too…" she replied when she could finally speak again. He smiled and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"I couldn't find anything I thought you would like," he said apologetically, "so I decided to give you this un…"
"What is—?" she started, but was cut off by his lips pressing lovingly to hers. It took her a couple of seconds to get over her surprise, but when she did she softly kissed him back. "So did you like that birthday present un?" he asked softly upon ending the kiss. She smiled and nodded. "Then you'll like the real one yeah," he grinned, handing her a note, "Go on, open it." She laughed a little, and did as he said.
Can I be your birthday present Mika-chan?
She looked up in surprise and Deidara grinned. "Yes, you can be my birthday present Deidara-kun," she smiled softly as she rested her head against his chest.
He tipped her face up and kissed her again and smiled, "Happy birthday Mika-chan."