Team 8 vs. Deidara: Chapter 1
"Shino, I'm sending you ahead with Kiba and Akamaru to the destination. Hinata and I will patrol the area for intruders. Please be safe. Anything could happen."
They nodded. "Yes, Kurenai-sensei."
The mission already seemed suspicious. Team 8 was assigned with delivering a blue orb to a patron from a foreign village. Knowing almost nothing else about the task ahead of them, they prepared themselves for the worst.
They had not yet been told what made the orb valuable or its purpose, or even who would be meeting them at their destination to receive it. The first thing to do was to get behind the village walls and collect information.
Kiba and Shino reached the gate of the village with Akamaru following closely and sniffing through the dirt.
The guard greeted them. "Ninjas of the Leaf, I've been made aware that you are here to make a delivery. Did you bring the item?"
Shino nodded and presented the orb. "What do you know about this?"
The guard inspected the orb. "So that's what it is," the guard said. "Come right through, then. Take it to the top of the tower in the center of the village. Someone will be there to receive it."
The doors of the gate parted and the Leaf Ninja were waved through by the guard. The village was dead silent. Dust blew in the wind past the small stone homes, many of which were in shambles.
Kiba turned to Shino and growled. "What's with this place, man?"
"I've heard there's been an outbreak of terrorist activity here. I'm hoping we'll get this done before it will pose a threat. Come on, let's get over to the dropoff point."
Meanwhile Hinata and Kurenai kept watch on the activity outside of the village. Their teammates had been gone for no more than an hour before Kurenai saw something circling around them in the sky.
"Take a look, there's something up there," Kurenai said. "I have a bad feeling about this. Do you see it?"
Hinata activated her Byakugan. "That's no ordinary bird," she whispered. "There's a lot of chakra up there. It's not common to see this out here."
Deidara was using the scope on his left eye to scan through the forest when he noticed two moving sources of chakra below.
"Looks like they've put out scouts to keep watch, hm." He zoomed closer and checked the insignia on their headbands. "So they're from the Leaf. They don't look particularly strong. I should interrogate them to see if they know where that orb is."
Kurenai and Hinata prepared themselves as Deidara and the clay bird descended and perched on a tree.
"What are you doing? Identify yourself immediately," Kurenai said to Deidara.
Deidara clutched his palms. "Hm, two pretty ladies from the Leaf out in the middle of nowhere? I know why you're here. You're making a delivery to the village, and I'm willing to bet I already know exactly what that delivery is."
"You didn't answer my question. Tell us who you are before we have a problem," Kurenai replied.
Hinata was assessing the chakra in Deidara's palm. She had also noticed the Akatsuki uniform.
"You're an Akatsuki member. You must be the terrorist we've heard of," Hinata said.
"So then you know what you're up against here," Deidara chimed in. "I'm here for the orb, so you best just hand it over before I have to hurt you."
Kurenai eyes flared. "We have nothing for you. If we did, I would die before handing it over to scum like you."
A shadow clone Kurenai had prepared sprung out of a branch to attack Deidara.
Deidara laughed. "You've got to be kidding me. That's just lame."
Without even turning around, Deidara tossed several clay spiders over his shoulder. They stuck to the clone of Kurenai and blew it to bits. Deidara landed on the ground by Hinata and held his arm out, dropping a clump of clay onto the ground.
"You don't know who you're dealing with!" Kurenai appeared from behind Deidara and grabbed him by the neck. "Hinata, now's your chance!"
"Right," Hinata said. "Eight Trigrams Vaccuum Palm!"
A force of wind shot out from Hinata's palm and nailed Deidara in the chest. Kurenai's substitution jutsu allowed her to dodge the attack.
After Hinata's attack connected, Deidara turned white and began to melt into clay. It was also a substitution.
Kurenai emerged from a nearby tree to warn Hinata about the lump of clay Deidara left on the grund. "Watch out, he's hiding right over there!"
The lump of clay transformed into the true Deidara. His bird charged forward at Hinata and erupted into a violent explosion.
The smoke soon cleared with Hinata standing in the center. She was using her Protecting Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to create a barrier that protected her from the explosion.
"That's not bad, hm. These girls have some interesting jutsu. Still, a far cry from Itachi's Sharingan. They don't know yet that I have the advantage," Deidara said to himself.
To Deidara's surprise, Hinata suddenly sank into the ground. Deidara frantically searched around for Kurenai and Hinata but couldn't locate a source of chakra. "This must be part of that genjutsu the dark-haired chick was using earlier..."
Kurenai's genjutsu morphed the sky into a black void. Deidara looked upwards and could only see a single red, giant, glowing eye.
Kurenai's voice echoed around him. "You may not see me, but I see you."
The sky changed back to its normal blue color, the illusion of the eye burst into flames and Deidara was blinded by the sun's rays.
"Damn. She used her genjutsu to trick me into looking directly at the sun. I'll have to use my left eye for now," Deidara focused his scope and peered through his left eye. Hinata and Kurenai were taking off towards the village.
"You cowards, you can't run from my art! I'm coming for you!"
TO BE CONTINUED - Chapter coming next week!