The chase

Ino surged through the trees, her feet heavy and swift with chakra. Branches whipped at her face and leaves got stuck in her hair but she could not slow down, would not. No matter how fast she was, she felt as if she never was fast enough. His breath echoed in her ears, followed by a deranged laugh. He's crazy, crazier than anyone she'd ever met. He's more unhinged than Sasuke, his temper was even hotter than forehead's and he would certainly give Shikamaru's brooding a run for its money. Ino had never met anyone like him, except for in the mirror, when the striking resemblance would kick in. Though they had their differences. His hair was a bit darker, like sand dunes, as were his eyes, the deepest part of any ocean. His skin was more tanned as well, for being out and about in the hotter parts of the world.

Her whole being called out to him and it scared her more than any storm could. They were just too different. He was full of warmer colours, a scorching heat like the detonations he so loved. Whilst she was pale and full of cold and neat pastel. Not to be confused with the insides, the souls and the brains. He was the most cruel, ruthless and arrogant prick she'd ever had the misfortune of knowing. Sure, she could be arrogant as well, but at least she was compassionate, at least she wasn't as selfish as Deidara. That's why she could not tear herself away from him, he was everything she would never be.

Ino wasn't sure how long it'd been since they both started meeting like this. Every time she was out on a mission, she seemed to run into him and his clay birds, his akatsuki cloak flying in the wind as he grinned at her.

"I can always find you, yeah. You know you can't hide, piggy."

His voice burned her ears and she wanted to rip his blonde hair out for the nickname. Gosh how she detested his smile. She did not stop to consider that he may have put a tracker on her.

Then the chase would begin as he threw bombs in her wake, sometimes she barely escaped the fires. It set off butterflies in her stomach and she trembled in voltage. In the end he caught her of course, slamming her against a tree, hard enough for her to taste blood. He would usually just nail her to the tree with kunais, framing her figure. Deidara liked to practise his aim at her, throwing senbons and shurikens over her form. He only ever grazed her skin, as if he was careful not to fatality wound her. He liked scaring her more than anything and Ino couldn't reign in her emotions, she was frightened every darn time. Fright and excitement.

"Why m-me?" She'd stuttered out, tears of shock running down her pale cheeks. Self-loathing took her over, bit by bit.

"Because you're artful, yeah. I like you." His smile was wide, a row of teeth, splitting her apart.

"I like your reactions... you are not as well put together as people seem to expect. You are not as confident as you appear to the untrained eye, yeah. I know you, I can see you." The last words rang in her ears. Loud, aggressive and true.

"I want to know how far i can push you until you break, go off like a time bomb... It's too much fun and I know you think so too... I can see it in your eyes, the excitement, the danger. You love it, yeah."

Ino was so done. He'd saw through every layer of her, like he could read her mind like a book. As if he were a Yamanaka. Something she did not dare to admit to herself, he had spotted and plucked like a fruit. She hadn't told anyone in the village yet, hadn't told anyone about her run in's with Deidara. They would never let her go out on her own again and her life would go back to being boring. He was the only real entertainment and she would not let that slip away. It was a rush, not knowing whether she would survive their next encounter or not, she always did though, no matter what. Ino always lived to see another day.

A day like this one. Where she was once again, hunted by his glee. And once again... no matter how much chakra she pumped into the soles of her feet, no matter how fast she surged through the trees... it still made no different. Ino would never get away from Deidara's explosive gaze, his disturbing cackle. In the end, she stopped trying all together, she didn't want to get away anymore. Maybe she never did. Once he placed a flower crown on her head, filled with thorns and roses, she knew for sure what she was getting into. His kisses were just as fierce as his clay bombs, engulfing her in flames. He told her art was a fleeting concept, it came and went, quickly like the detonation of a bomb. He told her that Ino was just like that, for she was art itself. This game of theirs would not last for long and she agreed with him, better something than nothing right?

Soon enough, she began to love his dark eyes, his three mouths, his insane smile, the hastily made flower crowns he would gift her with. She loved the way he would look at her, like she was the most artful being in his world. She loved the way he touched her, like he already knew her inside and out. Most of all, she loved his lips, lean and tinted with secrets she craved, kisses she ached for, the bites that made her shiver. She loved as much as she could afford... before he slipped through her fingers like the golden sand corns his hair represented. He did tell her it was fleeting, rapid and transient, still she was not prepared for when the chase ended.

Maybe it was for the best... but it sure didn't make her feel any better. Ino was unprepared for many things but she liked to pretend the opposite though... and for most of the times, it worked. Until she met a blonde terrorist in the deep forest, he was the first and last one to truly see her for what she is. Unsure, unstable, unwilling and filled with fleeting touches of art. Yes, she truly did love as much as she could afford, until her love ran dry, just like her tears.

She was not running anymore, the chase had ran dry as well, leaving her to dehydrate in her own sorrows.