Disclaimers: See 1st chapter.

A/N: Ori is an OC missing-nin I'm borrowing from the third chapter of my 'Three Degrees of Relevance' fic, in a non-romantic manner for this chapter. That 2005 piece of fanfiction is a non-romantic psychological analysis of sorts about Itachi and how he deals with daily life, as an Akatsuki member. Ori once met Itachi in the third and final chapter, and they had a conversation which makes him consider what he has always known. In this chapter, Deidara has a secret base of his own elsewhere, and what transpires is-

Two for joy

The shorter figure dropped to the ground, mimicking Deidara as he moved. Sprinting from one end of flat, dusty expanse to the other, both shinobi easily maintained a safe distance between each other.

'Cornering a man isn't a good way to go about wooing one, Ori, un. Didn't the encounter with Kisame teach you anything, un?'

Dropping down behind a large boulder, he managed to dodge numerous senbon flung with deadly precision. A second slower and he would have been skewered, and he had no intention of getting a poisonous acupuncture gift from her. Her verbal missiles were just as amusing. 'I'll sew your lips together. Go back to rambling about art.'

A shower of clay pebbles was his reply.

Lightly somersaulting off smooth hardness to perch sideways like a crab on a jutting wedge of rock, she waggled a finger at him, as the C2 pebbles exploded harmlessly past their target. His response was to run in a zigzag fashion towards her, making him harder to hit from a distance. 'My art is paralysing glory, un. Sasori-danna's art is stashing covetousness, un. Your views, un?"

Coming closer, he was keeping an eye on the sword appearing in her right hand.

'I agree with the puppet nut, and with you. Because…' A short jab was feinted to the left, before she swung the ō-wakizashi across in a vicious slash to the right. 'Outstanding art titillates the senses. True art endures, be it gone in a flash or preserved. History is the collector, the present our blank canvas!'

Ducking beneath the sweep of her blade, Deidara lunged forward to kick the longer blade out of her hands, adding some verbal heckling. 'Don't you have a standing grudge with Hoshigaki Kisame and Akasuna no Sasori, un? Sasori-danna still wants to add you to his puppet collection, while Kisame still wants to cut you to ribbons for his dinner. What did you do to Kisame?'

A reaction in mid-air was easy, especially when taijutsu was a strength she possessed at a similar standards to his, and she had allowed him to disarm her of one weapon she would not miss in close combat. Metal-lined black zori deflected the edge of his kunai, Ori capitalising on the contact as easily as a springboard, to position herself to the side and out of his immediate range. Landing and coming out of the half-roll to remain crouched like a wary cat, one hand quickly unsheathing the shorter and more useful kō-wakizashi resulted in a woven shield of gleaming metal, to knock away numerous shuriken.

'That was a low blow, you bastard!'

Seeing the special smoking tag on a shuriken stuck with sticky clay to her primary weapon, she hurled the sword at him. Mock sadness from him did not help. 'Is this how you thank me for reminding you about your special relationships, un?'

Grinning, he easily sidestepped the incoming projectile and sprinted towards her, uncoiling a whip from his belt. A sound of loudly disintegrating metal came from somewhere behind him. Lashing out, the whip snaking around her wrist, a hard tug from him yanked the girl off her feet, but Ori always had good reflexes. She had saved herself from a broken wrist this time.

'You should see the arguments I have with Sasori-danna about defining Art, un. Explosive stuff, un.'

Preventing a painful face-first encounter with the ground using one hand, she came out of a roll and followed the direction of gained momentum toward a flame-shaped pile of rocks. Split-second contact with them gave her enough stability for ricocheting off and back toward him, drawing a kunai. Chunks of stone sprayed everywhere as she headed right for Deidara, one stroke severing their connection and a second movement sending the small blade spinning towards his throat.

Easily overcoming it with his own kunai, the well-worn blade was just in time to parry a senbon meant for his left eye. Her attacks had to be stopped. One bandaged hand had wrapped around his fist and effectively stopped his punch, while metallic lethality warred with each other for leeway.

Jerking his right hand out of her grip, he angled opened fingers for her waist.

'S-stop! Dei-' She tried to twist away from probing fingers tickling her, stilling at the feel of razor-sharp steel touching her throat.

'I win, un.'

'You cheated. Asshole.'

Laughing, they broke contact. Both walked back toward their abandoned chess game. The exercise had been good, and now they could fully concentrate again on the mental exertions. Both liked to meet up where every now and then, they could indulge their melodramatic sides.

'Since you lost, you owe me a story, un.'

'Damn you, Deidara-bo.'

'At least you didn't lose as badly as when you fought my leader all those months ago, un…'

Barely able to keep herself upright on both knees, fingers dig into the soil to keep wobbly arms from giving way. A thin trail of blood stains the left corner of the mouth to the chin, even as an irrepressible cough produces viscous mucus thickened with more crimson liquid.

A soft rustle of cloth disturbs Nature, even footsteps bringing black cotton stitched with scarlet silk closer towards the defeated girl.

Lean fingers fit for inspiration of a sculptor dig into pale flesh, tightening as the victor wrenches his opponent off her knees to suspend her using one arm, her feet dangling limply above the ground. Hovering in the air, both soar even higher until they are one body-length above tattered grass. Drawing back his other free hand and tilting his wrist so his palm faces upward diagonally, long sharp nails are accentuated by a halo from the sunlight hitting dark keratin at an obtuse angle.

Sasori smiles in anticipation at completion of revenge. Deidara sighs. Kisame grins. There is no expression in teardrop pupils floating in a sea of tranquil red.

Their leader's left hand is five razor-edged tips aiming for the spinal cord just below the breastbone. Puncturing worn fibre to delve beneath sallow skin, fresh blood oozes from the wound he creates… and goes no deeper. Drawing five dark garnet lines upwards to stop at her collarbone, a thirsty tongue sucks the spoils of winning off an index finger.

'Mmm… Fear mingles with the decadence of desiring ultimate rest, creating a delicious tang of delightful richness. Copper crushed with sea salt and sugarcane syrup…'

The bloody opening seems to burn nerve endings, clearing a woozy mind back into lucidity.

'A taste I'll preserve. You could make me sweat, thus I'll await the enjoyable prospect of bleeding. Enjoy the debt of owing me your life and death… until then, you're spared for information-gathering being one of your outstanding talents. Retrieve the membership ring from Orochimaru, if your opinions are to have any worth with me.'

That line causes the others to freeze, as his meaning sinks in. Uchiha Itachi isn't surprised.

Leaning forward until their chests touch, blood seeping from the shallow wound seems to blacken sable cotton even further as he whispers gently, breath tickling her ear.

'Your love and hate for a worthy executioner now belongs only to me… so free yourself from this maddening situation, my dear. Only then will I stop despising you.'

Then Ori is falling back to earth, landing painfully on her side, as the Akatsuki leader vanishes in a swirl of wind. Nothing makes sense while her entire body feels like a log of wood, save for a certain bleeding gash anchoring her in this reality. Dumbstruck by the turn of events, she feels like weeping and railing at the heavens for mocking her with his mercy. Glancing into red eyes with three black plumes signifying a unique bloodline, she does not fail to notice how they stare at her, almost kindly, before he averts his gaze and also vanishes.

That Uchiha's partner has a totally different perspective. The leader's mercy allows time to extract the secrets of her clan, and do more than that. Hoshigaki Kisame is quick to adjust, and strides over to the non-moving figure. 'Maybe we should just let Zetsu eat you, what with the mess you're creating all over the place.'

A painful bout of coughing is the initial answer to his statement. The former Mist-nin isn't quick enough to avoid blood and saliva from staining his zori.

'I don't… want your help.'

Well-abraded enamel gleams in an amused smile, as the tall shark-like missing-nin stoops down to the same eye level as her. 'Then you're getting it. And after I get what I want from you, I will cut you up for my dinner without any painkillers while you live and breathe, then eat your raw remains.'

'From one fellow artist to another, I'll help you for that music, un. Back off, Kisame, un.'

Wha- Thought is interrupted by the dizzying shift from a supine position, to suddenly being handled like a trussed-up boar, as Akatsuki's resident bomber slings the dazed kunoichi about his shoulders. Sturdy arms lock her knees and elbows together, even as Ori starts shrieking in outrage at him.

'Put me down! Assh-' Another bout of coughing wracks her chest, abruptly ending that tirade.

'That was unsurprisingly reckless, Deidara. Your hair is now a fashionable shade of -'

'Stating the obvious again, Sasori-danna, un?'

Then the glade was empty once more.

'You know his offer still stands, un. Get the ring, un. That was the only stipulation, un.' smirked Deidara, while staring at the chessboard.

Ori frowned, wondering how long he would take to decide. 'It's only the first test if I was serious about joining, much less qualified. No, thank you. Your leader creeps me out anyway. That stuff about love and hate and a worthy executioner…'

'You mean he wasn't correct about you? I remember your music could bring down a lot more than one house. It's not as if he ordered you to destroy the hidden village of Sound, un.'

Her response was now much crankier. 'Taking the ring from Orochimaru increases the likelihood of a fight with him and his minions. Uchiha Sasuke was a worthy opponent who seems to have discarded everything he learned about the values of a Konoha shinobi. He must have improved tremendously by now. If I die, it's of no consequence to your leader. If I can take the snake down with me, it's two birds with one stone. He works alone. Everyone else has a partner. I'm not dumb enough to fall for your cold-hearted loner of a leader, who sees me as expendable, and what I do won't matter either way to him.'

Deidara chuckled, ending with a sudden yelp as a pair of chopsticks landed painfully across his forefinger.

'As expected, of one whom he considers as potential replacement for any of us, un. However, if you didn't have a plan for maximising victory and minimising conflict, I'll be disappointed, un? You owe me a story of how you encountered and fought Uchiha Sasuke (1)… I await the enticing possibility of us wearing the same cloaks, un.'

'That story can wait. Besides, I like being a traveling musician. Peaceful, get to see the world, kill, gather information and disappear… the usual.'

They sat there in companionable silence. The board was littered with various patterns, black and white pieces twisting, snaking and breaking to create their own intimate battle. Playing by candlelight and ensuring nourishment through a large plate of lotus paste buns and ginger tea was not new to these two. Neither was telling stories while attempting to cheat on the sly. 'You never did tell me how you got that scar on your cheek, un.'

'That isn't the least bit interesting. Fighting a certain sannin's student was the only fun I had, before your other two colleagues cornered me. I have yet to repay Sasori for his damned lies to your leader. All because of our little first encounter, when he became curious about me.'

Sannin? Not on friendly terms anymore, eh? Since when? This is intriguing.

'The encounter wasn't so little, when your reaction was to quickly get up close and personal about hacking him to bits before trying to blow him to pieces with your music, un. Do tell about the Sannin, un. Which one? What happened? There's still some tea in the pot, un.'

Another black piece was laid to form a row of three. No problems countering that. He already had a seed blocking one end, but now he had to figure out what was the younger girl's latest strategy.

'It seems like it only happened yesterday, at the base of Myōboku Mountain. A particular loud-mouthed hothead was too nosy when I found him…'

'Why? They were only hindrances and an eyesore. I needed to test myself. You saved me, so what? If you can kill me now, we're even. No, wait, we're not… you're a monster, because of the monster inside you. People like you shouldn't exist!'

She doesn't care if her venom momentarily saddens Naruto. He doesn't know how to feel for her, when their beliefs and understanding of each other will keep missing the intended spaces, lost in the arrows of selective perception. Sadness is unearthed, to remember that last line being used to wound, many times in childhood. People like you shouldn't exist!

Looking at the boy's blue eyes, she is surprised to see how they are now softer, sadder… with a hint of damp? An expression crosses his face… a look reminding her of a powerful but compassionate man she had once known. How she hates and envies this one, for being all she wanted to become.

'If we had met in another time and place, things could have been different. I might have willingly called you "friend"… but you've chosen a side and so have I.' Eyes the colour of the Nakano River now become strongly determined. Calm pupils narrow to slit pinpoints. The black and orange-clad genin radiates a maturity and authority somehow reminding her of Hachi… Jiraiya… Raikage.

'For the sake of your family and village people who died, because of trusting your selfishness… I will defeat you.' His quietly confident conviction stuns her, as his hands move rapidly to use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Staring at the multiple copies enclosing her within a small circle, their right hands draw out shuriken from weapon pouches. A certain sword is quickly summoned.

A mesh of gleaming movement destroys offensive projectiles, even as everything becomes a blur. As the assault ceases, she senses more enemy movement and spins sharply to the right. An intense blue ball of chakra strikes the glowing blade, and the consequences of two different energies meeting send the two hurtling backwards, upended soil and grass spraying in every direction and obscuring visibility in the clearing. Each landing is brutally cushioned against gnarled bark.

Naruto's wrist is numb from the impact. Rubbing it hard, he can feel some feeling returning. He knows he must not get into close-range combat for too long, for she will doubtless increase speed, and such a combination will be fatal. That must be the sword Ero-sennin mentioned… an average Rasengan saved my hand but her blade is as impenetrable as Sasuke's Chidori! Still, I must find a way to stop her using that weapon.

On her part, Ori is cradling the left wrist with her right hand, stopping her sword arm from shaking further. Induced pain from the contact with that- She flexes the wrist, to reduce the discomfort. What the hell is that? Must be some high-grade jutsu Oya-ji taught him, since I didn't see it while watching him fight in the exams that time… the force was powerful enough to nearly break my blade. If I hadn't increased it in time to eighty-five percent, I'd have bad injuries by now.

If this battle was based on looks alone, both would be dead by now, given how they glared at each other. Pulling themselves up once more, they both use Tajyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu at the same time. Duplicates of both parties appear and start fighting enemy clones using taijutsu with numerous kunai. Ori still retains the sword.

Come on, Naruto, you won't be able to resist attacking me directly with some assistance, now that I've made myself so obvious.

He doesn't disappoint, as three lookalikes try to hit her. Slicing through two of them swiftly, she stabs the third one and feels a satisfyingly solid 'thunk' as she drives that one backwards into one of the training stumps.

Her smile fades away as with a small 'poof', her blade has impaled a log with a multitude of explosive tags attached. Kawarimi no Jutsu! Hurriedly dissipating her secondary weapon, the explosion still catches her enough to knock Ori off her feet. Forcefully halting herself, split-second detection makes her leap to the left and back, as a boy lunges out of the trees towards her.

For a moment, this frame of their battle seems to have slowed time. The girl sailing backwards with wide-sleeved arms spread out on either side like a bat, a boy closing the distance between them with one arm outstretched, soaring towards her like a discus from the force of his propulsion. Fierce blue eyes are riveted on one spot just below her left collarbone, while dark eyes are transfixed by the approaching fist of condensed energy intent on punching through her chest.

Snapping out of the mesmerising sight of impending doom, survival reflexes hastily take over. Five fingers pull his right hand further to the side and leave him open, as she hooks a left foot into his belt to gain leverage. The right leg comes up to knee him in the face, and with that blow the two are separated in opposite directions.

Rolling over twice before he comes to a stop, Naruto pants as he pulls himself to his knees. A battered cheek is already showing signs of bruising from her kick. However, he can see his opponent is quite unsettled. The girl almost sprawled on her back is wide-eyed, staring at a large charred spot on the front of her dull amber robes, where the heat from Rasengan has burnt through two layers of cloth to mar pale skin.

Wisps of black hair have come undone from her little braids, straggling down a fat ponytail as she almost forgets how to breathe. The closest she's come to death, ever since fighting Hachi. Any intention to die valiantly in defeat by Naruto's hands is complicated by pride-tinged-with-vanity surging to the fore.

How dare he… Although I believed you have the capability of being Hokage, I didn't take you seriously enough as a threat. A mistake I'll rectify now.

Viciously jerking her head up, an expression reflecting instability and bloodlust settle on the genin staggering to his feet. Naruto is almost hypnotised by the overwhelming hatred he can feel, coming from her. She has risen to one knee, left hand poised to the side once more as if to grip her non-existent sword. A low snarl leaves gritted teeth, bared whiteness disconcerting in a face distorted with unidentified emotions. Her sword has reappeared but is no longer a gleaming grey. The chakra of the weapon has extended tendrils crackling dangerously around the sharp blade. Staggering intensity of escalating energy usage causes everything else not firmly stuck to the earth to fly off the ground.

'Uzumaki Naruto…'

The blatant aura of menace this one emits is positively unsettling, coupled with the guttural hiss of his name. Those eyes have darkened so much into twin pits of emptiness… for a moment her aura reminds him of a skull. The right hand is also gripping the hilt of that death-dealing weapon. Then this one is almost upon him, viciously swinging that blade in a direct arc, down upon the genin.

Damnit, he hadn't mastered Dodongo Rasengan! There is no time to dodge. Recreating Rasengan and imbuing it with as much power as he can, the genin shoves a huge sphere of blue energy towards her face.

Silver touches blue, melds into it… then slices like a hot knife through butter.

I'm going to die- Naruto panics as he watches destructive sharpness bearing down on him. Eh?

A dizzying blur is followed by one dark blue wall colliding with his enemy, knocking her away from him and into a tree, so hard the trunk breaks into two. Glancing around wildly, he sees a familiar figure close by. Legs bent, palms outstretched as if warding off something…

'Ero-Sennin!'

Pale melon trimmings are ruined with dirt and bits of bark. Using the broken stump to slowly pull herself painfully to her feet, Ori stares uncomprehendingly at the man whom the boy is embracing. What…why? I was so absorbed I didn't notice him, and something else… Fingering a cut lower lip, two fingertips come away with dark splotches.

The sight of her weapon hardens grim lines in the elderly man's face. To summon the sword means using a fixed amount of chakra at one shot. She'd improved the Imagawa family technique of weapon-summons, being able to vary the amount and shape of chakra being released over a period of time, judging by the buildup of power as she recreated a modified version of her sword. Hachi underestimated her, so he died. He pushes away the sickening gut feeling of self-loathing for admiring her development, to chastise her with disappointment.

'Your destiny may be ruined by your choices. Don't allow your selfishness to destroy his as well.'

Further words are interrupted by the results of an orange-and-black-clad genin carrying out a familiar jutsu. Naruto has remembered what Jiraiya had said. Ero-sennin did mention something more powerful was used to cause that extent of destruction… Then he remembers her asking him a question from their first encounter. When he didn't know she'd been the evil perpetrator.

An enormous toad appears, polished pipe sticking out of the corner of his mouth as moonlight gleams over thick reddish skin.

However, she's not far behind in summoning her own affiliated animal.

Blinking deceptively bleary eyes, Gamabunta stares at the large insect hovering in the air, its summoner standing on the black skull between bulbous eyes of many lenses. A quarter the width of the ancient toad's girth but perpetually hunched over, a certain insect queen gives the impression of a malnourished old man. Isn't that-

'A mosquito?' Naruto is puzzled at the choice of opponent for the gigantic amphibian.

In the meantime, a buzzing high-pitched sound equivalent to the whine of ten thousand fingernails scraping across glass addresses Ori harshly. 'Why… call me for this! Where's the offering of seventy-five sips of children?'

'Sacrifices have become harder to obtain. However, it's only fifty lives if all we do is talk. Not negotiable.' At the soft-spoken attempt of placation, her chosen familiar lapses into a sulk, wings flapping in agitation and causing the skeletal thin insect to rock up and down in the same spot.

Jiraiya has not seen this insect king before, except in historical scrolls, but Gamabunta carries personal memories only too well. Removing the pipe from his mouth, he speaks quietly. 'Whatever you do, don't let the proboscis on that old friend touch or sting you.'

Naruto questions why, even as he points out how toads easily catch insects like that one.

'The first of its species is far more dangerous. If she breaks into infinite smaller versions, they only suck blood. However in a swarm, cornered humans cannot survive. Her piercing device not only induces slow-healing wounds upon injury, that sharp probing segment drains blood AND chakra. If she touches you with that…'

Murmuring coolness stirs dull amber cotton covering pale melon linen. Looking at the man and boy standing side by side, Ori knows what provoked her emotional insensibility. Jealousy. That's why you weren't there when I needed you, isn't it, Jiraiya-sama? A boy fated to be Hokage overshadows a lowly orphan who was expected at most, to be a high-ranking jounin in an adopted family and not amounting to much.

'Now I know why… Uzumaki Naruto… who drove away his teammate… who steals affection… who requires others to sacrifice themselves. Your pathway to becoming Hokage is littered with broken bodies.'

'That's not true!'

Even though her last phrase is a shot in the dark and betrays what he confided in her, it hurts Naruto more than he can imagine.

'I would love to stay and argue futility with you, but others are coming.' Sarcasm drips off her words. Her shoulder hurts so much, it must have been dislocated. Her ribs aren't feeling much better. Jiraiya can sense intruders as well, and he knows they aren't on his side because he would have been notified beforehand by well-hidden wards.

'Don't pursue me, and I'll lead them away. Hokage, eh…. Get stronger. I hope I never see you again.'

He is unsure of what to say, until he sees his sensei nodding down at him. 'I will not go after you. You have my word.'

Both sides simultaneously acknowledge a ceasefire, and their animal alliances vanish to whence they had come.

'I take my leave.' With a slight bow, she disappears into the darkness.

'Wait!' shouts Naruto. There is no reply. Despite the rage and ill-will he bore towards her earlier, he still maintains some respect, when she had been kind towards him, before he found out she had been responsible for destroying that small town. Now he knows what to feel, and he is mentally transported to that incident on the bridge with Tazuna-sama and Momochi Zabuza. Haku. Haku had the same look in his eyes.

That look she had on her face, when she was about to kill him… so lonely. Trapped. Now he could feel something at last for her… Pity.

'He chose the boy, un?'

'The one whom I respected like a real relative, who treated me like kin when I was still a cloud-nin… chose a brat over me.' Bitterness was punctuated by dust trickling from between tightly closed fingers. Deidara sighed. There went another chess piece he had to replace. 'Anyway, there's something else about this one you would want to know. He's-'

Soft popping of the fifth clay pearl on the west side of the third circle interrupted them again. Looking away from the chessboard to the additional attachment on the table, this palm-sized map invention of his was a handy warning device indeed.

'It seems your trespasser is getting closer without trouble. I'll take my leave.'

She had one striking characteristic of the few people he was comfortable with: wary loners who could respect others' spaces and rules. Rising to her feet, Imagawa Ori smiled at the seated man. Shrugging on her cloak and doffing the straw hat, the koto was slung behind her back. She was confident of his ability to handle the situation, if it turned nasty. After all, this was his playground.

'See you around, un.'

His friend nodded, returned the sentiment, and left via the narrow opening in the rocks on the eastern side. Deidara knew that one would have no trouble handling/evading his traps. Ah well, maybe the next time they played, the game could be finished and break their tied score. For now, he had some housekeeping to do.

Alright, I'll get one memento of this invasive idiot, before sending that one off.

Concealing himself in the shadows, waiting... Crunching sound of grit was the signal.

Index finger resting on the button, he was about to take a picture, when his victim was recognized through the lens. What's THIS asshole doing here? How did he know- Sasori-danna, why did you tell him about this place?

'Stop hiding.' One hand removed the straw hat to reveal a dark head of hair. Blood-red coolness looked right at the other man.

Uchiha Itachi.

Next: What does Itachi want with Deidara? Will Hinata be worth adding to Sasori's puppet collection?

(1) denotes a little spin-off extra chapter in itself. I should probably post it up, at this account.