Mika awoke slowly, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she took in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she felt very weak. She looked to one side and frowned. Her arms were outstretched, pinioned to the wall by heavy chains. Tugging experimentally on the shackles, she realized why she felt so tired. Those chains were absorbing her chakra. Terrific.

She shifted slightly, pulling her legs out from under her and crossing them. Blood began flowing through them again, making her wince. Where was the bastard that kidnapped her? When she got her hands on him, she was going to-

The lock on the door clicked, making her freeze. Her eyes darkened as the door swung open, revealing the one that had taken her. He entered slowly, closing the door behind him and crossing the room. He knelt down on one knee several feet from her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"So now you're going to be nice, huh?" Mika spat, raising one eyebrow. She noticed he had put on a new cloak, hiding his injured arm, though it still hung limply at his side. Her eyes widened as he leaned forward, studying her eyes carefully. "W-what are you doing?"

"I thought so. You have the same eye color, but they're not the same as his, un." He leaned back again propping his right arm on his thigh. "You never told me your name."

She sighed. "Mika," she responded, the hostility draining from her voice. Her energy was fading, and she didn't have the strength to fight with him any more. "What did you mean about my eye color?"

Deidara shot her a sideways glance. Why had she suddenly become so passive? Only a moment ago, he could practically feel the hostility radiating off of her, but now, she seemed almost . . . friendly. What had happened?

"One of the other members has a kekkei genkai that he used to trick me into joining. I've hated him for that. When he uses it, his eyes turn red, just like yours are, un," he explained. "My name is Deidara," he added, almost as an afterthought.

Mika watched him carefully. "What did you bring me here for?" she questioned.

"My partner, Master Sasori, was killed after we invaded your village. Akatsuki always work in teams of two. I need a new partner, and someone to heal my arm, un," he told her.

Her eyes widened. "Sasori? You mean . . . Sasori of the Red Sand?"

Deidara nodded. "You know of him?"

"Of course. He's a legend; the master of puppets. That's amazing that you were his partner," she said, perking up slightly.

Deidara stood up and went back over to the door. He locked it, then came back over to her.

Mika watched him, suddenly apprehensive. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going to release you now. I need your help with something, un," he replied, reaching for the shackles on one of her wrists. As soon as it was off, Mika drew it in to her body, examining marks where the metal had dug into her skin.

When he released the other one, she pulled back, and they regarded each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Mika glanced down at his arm.

"I guess you want me to heal you." It wasn't a question. "I don't have much chakra left, but I guess I could try." She pulled herself to her knees and sighed.

Deidara watched her carefully. "Why did you decide to help me? A minute ago you wanted to kill me, didn't you, un?"

"I don't see any other choice. I'll need you to take off your cloak," she said.

Standing up, he unfastened his cloak and let it fall to the ground. Mika colored slightly as her eyes traveled over his clothes. He wore a sleeveless shirt, but it only came to the bottom of his ribcage. The rest of his stomach was covered by a mesh shirt, as was the top of his chest. But unlike the mesh shirt she wore, his was semi-transparent.

She swallowed hard. Why was he causing this reaction in her? She should hate him for taking her away from her village. Instead, she could feel her heartbeat increase as he sat back down.

Gently, she reached out and lifted his injured arm. A soft green glow surrounded her hands, and she saw him wince slightly as the bones in his arm began to realign.

"I don't have enough chakra to fully heal you, but I can make it so you can at least move your arm, though it'll be limited motion," Mika explained.

Deidara nodded once. "So you'll be my partner, un?"

She was silent for a moment. "All right." A secret smile crossed her face. 'I'll be your partner, but that doesn't mean I'll make it easy for you.' As soon as she got her strength back, she was going to make his life a living hell.

Mika shook her head as her vision began to blur. She was about to run out of chakra. Taking her hands off of Deidara's arm, she sat back, breathing hard. "Try moving your arm now."

Cautiously, he raised his arm and rotated his wrist. "It's stiff, but it works, un," he told her.

"I'll finish healing you tomorrow. I don't have enough chakra right now," she said. "Don't do anything with that arm until I can finish up the healing, or everything will be undone."

Deidara watched her carefully. She was pale, and a light sheen of sweat covered her face. He stood up and extended his right hand to her. "I'll make you a deal. If you behave yourself, I'll let you out of here. But if you won't, I'll be forced to kill you, un."

Mika sighed. "That's always how it is, huh? Be a good girl or lose your life." She looked at his hand for a moment, then placed hers in it, letting him pull her up. "All right, then. I'll behave." 'For now'.

She swallowed hard as she felt his thumb gently caress the back of her hand.

Deidara saw her reaction and smirked a little. He could feel her heartbeat through their grip; it had sped up. Was she attracted to him? If so, he could use that as an incentive to keep her in Akatsuki. If he could bind her to him somehow . . .

His grip changed, his hand wrapping around her wrist. Mika was surprised to see that his hand fit easily around her wrist, with room to spare. He was only a few inches taller than she was, but, she realized now, her hands were much smaller. Her mouth went dry as he stepped closer, holding her in place. His hold wasn't painful, merely firm.

At this point, Mika couldn't tell if the weakness in her body was because of her lack of chakra, or something else. He was only a foot away now, and she could smell him. It was an odd scent; a mix between the way the earth smelled after a storm, and something sweet-smelling -an herb, maybe-, though she couldn't identify it.

She wouldn't look at him, focusing her gaze instead on the top of his shirt. If she looked him in the eye, she was afraid of what he would be able to see in her own eyes. Her heart leapt as she felt him lean forward, putting his mouth close to her ear.

"That's my girl. Good choice, agreeing to behave, un," he said, his voice soft.

Mika's eyes closed, her eyebrows knitting together as she tried to take her mind off of how close he was. A sudden warm wetness on her wrist made her inhale sharply and jerk back, eyes opening and watching Deidara with a mix of annoyance and curiosity. What was that? It felt almost like . . .

With some difficulty, Deidara held up his other hand, showing her his palm. In it was . . .

"What is that?" she asked, staring at the mouth. It was closed at the moment, looking like nothing more than a line running across his hand. But she had seen it. It had teeth, even a tongue . . . which was what she had felt on her wrist a moment ago.

Deidara had dropped her hand when she had jerked away, and he watched as she brought it up in front of her and touched it gently with her other hand. He could tell she was unnerved.

"I use them to mold my clay, un," he said, extending his hand so she could examine it.

Mika nodded once, but kept her distance. She looked around the room. "Um, am I going to have to stay in here all day?" she asked. Her arms and legs were stiff from lack of motion, and her wrists were sore. She needed to get out and walk around.

Deidara regarded her for a moment, then stepped forward, reaching around behind her head to untie her headband. He pulled it off, then handed it to her. She took it, raising one eyebrow in confusion. "I'll let you out of here on one condition. You have to show me that you won't try to go back to your village. Mark through the symbol, un."

She looked down at the headband, tracing the symbol of Sunagakure gently. Biting her lip, she reached into the bag strapped to her waist and hesitantly withdrew a kunai. After taking a deep breath, she knelt down and placed the headband on the floor. Slowly, she rested the tip of the kunai on one side of the metal.

If she marked through the symbol, she would be declaring herself a missing-nin. But if she didn't, Deidara would kill her. In one swift motion, she cut through the metal.

A wicked grin crossed Deidara's face as he watched her drop the kunai and bow her head. She couldn't go back to her village now. She had marked through the headband with her own hand, declaring her defection. He reached down and pulled her back upright, picking up her headband with his other hand. "You belong to Akatsuki now." He carefully tied her headband back into place. "And to me, un."

Crimson met blue as Deidara took her chin in one hand and tilted her face up to lock gazes with her. The expression in her eyes was intoxicating to him. His words had ignited a fire in her; he could see it in her wide eyes. It was a mix of anger, defiance, and - he smirked- hidden beneath the other emotions, lust. Perfect. All he had to do was kindle that one feeling, and she really would be his.

"I belong to you? When did we make that arrangement?" Mika hissed, searching his single eye for any clue to his thoughts, but all she could see was satisfaction.

"In marking through your headband, you've proved your loyalty to Akatsuki, and as my partner. As you know, we always work in teams of two. You are my new partner, so we belong to each other, un," Deidara explained, releasing her chin and resting his hand on her upper arm instead.

Mika tilted her head slightly to the side at this. "We belong to each other?" she repeated. His words a moment ago made it sound like it was one-way, like the ownership of an object. But now . . . Had he misspoken? She didn't think so. He had said that deliberately.

"That's right, un," he confirmed, closing the distance that had appeared between them. Mika was up against the wall now; he had made sure she couldn't get away from him.

"Does that mean you belong to me too?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Deidara was silent. His left hand came up, and he ran a gentle finger down her cheek. His caress continued down her neck, over her shoulder, then jumped from her arm to her side, finally stopping on the curve of her waist.

Her mind screamed at her to get away from him, but her body was unresponsive. Everything she had been taught about Akatsuki warned her that he was dangerous, and that she needed to put distance between them. But she was one of them now; his partner. He wouldn't hurt her.

She waited for his answer, conscious of his hand still on her waist.

Another step towards her brought their bodies flush against each other. Mika's hands came up to rest on his chest. She intended to push him away, but found herself hesitating. Why couldn't she do it? Was it because the lack of chakra had made her weak, or because in the back of her mind, she didn't want him to move? She tried to convince herself it was the former, but the longer they stood there, the more she began to doubt it. He was having an effect on her, for better or worse.

Curling his left arm around her waist, Deidara used his free hand to tilt her face up. He smirked as he felt her breathing speed up. She was trembling slightly, so faintly that he almost couldn't feel it. Ever so slowly, he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Yes, I belong to you, un." Pulling back, he brushed his lips across hers in a fleeting kiss.

Mika's blood erupted into flames. The kiss was over before she had the chance to register it in her mind, but she felt lightheaded, and extremely hot. She wanted to say something, but her voice was gone. Swallowing hard, she tried again.

"Why did you do that?" she whispered. She meant to sound angry and accusing, but the tone that the question took was curious instead.

"A present, for agreeing to help us," he said, removing his hand from her chin and twirling a lock of her hair around one finger. He leaned forward again, and Mika's heart leapt as she realized he intended to kiss her again.

But, to her disappointment, he suddenly jerked back, taking his hand from her waist and stepping away from her. Movement over his shoulder caught her attention, and she watched a shape rise out of the floor. It was vaguely human-shaped, and wore the Akatsuki cloak. But above the cloak were a pair of giant leaves. They were closed at the moment, hiding what was within.

"What is it, Zetsu?" Deidara asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

The leaves opened, revealing a face that was jet black on one side, and pure white on the other. "Pein has a mission for you. At dawn, you must go and retrieve Sasori's ring." Mika noticed that it was the black half that spoke. His voice was somewhat cold.

"We're not interrupting anything, are we?" the white half asked in a much lighter, friendlier voice. His golden eye sparkled mischievously.

Deidara growled quietly, his eye narrowing. "Of course not. I was just explaining to her how we do things around here, un," he snapped.

Zetsu's black half raised his eyebrow, but neither half said anything more. The leaves closed once more, and he sank through the floor, leaving Deidara and Mika alone again.

"That was fast. I didn't expect Pein to give us a mission so quickly," Deidara said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms carefully. "You probably won't even be awake at dawn, if your chakra hasn't restored itself yet, un."

Mika looked at him thoughtfully. "If I get a good night's sleep, I'll be fine by morning. I can finish healing you, then we can go bring back the ring," she said.

"And you'll have enough chakra to carry out the mission safely, un?" he asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"If I'm careful; using only what's strictly necessary to heal you, I'll be fine," she assured him.

Deidara stepped away from the wall and picked up his cloak. Folding it over one arm, he went to the door, reaching into a pocket for the key. He unlocked the door and opened it, stepping out into the hall.

"Coming?" he asked, looking over his shoulder when he realized Mika wasn't behind him.

"You mean . . . you're letting me out?" she asked, crossing the room slowly.

"I made you a deal, didn't I? You behave and I won't keep you here, un," he responded, closing the door as Mika came to stand beside him.

"Yes, but I thought you meant out of the shackles, not out of the room," she confessed, brushing her bangs out of her eyes with one hand, and frowning when she caught sight of the angry red marks the metal cuffs had left on her wrist.

"You'll never get a good rest in an empty room, un," he remarked casually, turning to head farther down the hall, stopping at the fourth door on the left.

Mika followed him cautiously, unsure of what he was insinuating. When he opened the door and went inside, she peered around the door curiously.

The room was fairly large, lit by torches set in each corner. Beneath one of them was a bed, and a table was near it. In another corner was a second table; this one larger. A pack was in the middle of it, though Mika couldn't tell what was inside it. The rest of the room was bare, but she could sense Deidara's presence in it, almost as if his chakra were ingrained into the walls. This was his room.

She stood in the doorway, watching him as he went over to the table and put his cloak down on it. He turned to look at her.

"Come on inside, un," he said, motioning with his hand.

Mika stepped inside and closed the door, but advanced no farther into the room.

Deidara, still watching her, sighed in exasperation and went over to her. He wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her over to the table. He sat her down on one side, then took the opposite chair for himself. Reaching into the pack, he withdrew a small black bottle.

Mika watched him warily as he opened it, then reached for her hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"It's just nail color, don't worry," he assured her, holding up the bottle. "Every member of Akatsuki wears it, un."

She allowed him to carefully put the nail color on her. While it was drying, she looked around.

"Where am I going to sleep tonight?" she asked. Her head was turned, so she didn't see the wicked smirk that appeared on Deidara's face.

He stood up and went across the room seating himself on the edge of the bed. "Right here, un," he said, patting the blankets with one hand.

"And you?"

The grin grew wider. "Same place. Since you don't have a hall of your own, you'll have to stay with me, un."

Mika's head snapped around. "Sleep in the same room - in the same bed - as you?"

'Oh hell no.'