Chapter 3: The End
His heart beat at what felt like a thousand miles per hour. The emotions in his heart felt so strong: fear, anger, worry, frustration...hopelessness.
'Damn it!' he shouted mentally to himself. It felt as though his legs were reaching their limits. How long had he been running now? Apparently not long enough, since he still wasn't there. The sun hadn't even risen when he left, and now it was getting ready to set. He had stopped only a couple times, just long enough to eat a food pill.
Long blonde hair flailed in the breeze behind him as he felt tears well up in his eyes.
'Why? Why him?'
"Tobi!"
He knew shouting his partner's name was a pointless gesture, but it did comfort him in a strange sense. He wished that when he called the masked ninja's name, he would jump out from behind one of the trees. 'I'm here, Sempai!' He could hear his voice vividly, like he was right next to him.
Ahead of him, the trees began to get thinner. He knew this meant he was getting close. Remembering the map, the village he was looking for was on the edge of the forest.
Sure enough, just a few hundred paces in front of him was what appeared to be a small village. As he neared, he slowed down, pressing his back against one of the many thick trees of the forest. His hands snaked their way to his side, reaching into the clay pouches.
'Don't want to enter unprepared,' he thought to himself as the mouths on his hand kneaded the clay. It would be a minute or so, but better to do it now than when facing the enemy.
In his hands lay a small army of clay spiders. He would save them for the battle to come. Surely the enemy would never let him get to Tobi that easily.
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He was cautious to approach the village. It seemed abandoned, but if the information Zetsu brought was right, this is where the enemy would be. Seemed a smart idea; no one would think to look in such a run-down place as this.
Deidara kept close to the buildings, hiding in the shadows. One particular building, about half way up the main street, caught his attention. Unlike the other buildings, which were tattered and worn down, this building was pretty well kept. The blond knew this meant recent activity had happened at this building.
He was near the entrance within seconds, body pressed against the front of the building. Two shinobi stood guard at the door, though they had not noticed the bombing terrorist yet. This was his chance for a surprise attack. He let three of the clay spiders fall silently to the ground, commanding them to move forward.
"What are those?" one of the shinobi asked, pointing to the small white spiders.
The other looked perplexed. "I dunno... Hey there, little guys, don't come here." He tried to shoo them away.
"Then maybe you shouldn't take our friend, un." Deidara stepped out from around the corner, showing his face to his enemies.
Both shinobi prepared kunai. "Who do you think you are?" the first one shouted.
"Tell me, do you know what happened to a man wearing an orange mask?"
"What are you trying to do?" the other shinobi questioned.
"He's mine, and I'll be taking him back, un. KATSU!"
As Deidara shouted the word, the small spiders jumped onto the shinobi, exploding on contact. The two men fell to the ground, groaning in pain. The blond walked up to them, a kunai in each hand.
"This is only the beginning..."
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Deeper into the building, Deidara faced off with many shinobi. It was in a massive room where the situation turned for the worst. A good twenty shinobi attacked the bomber at once. He was now on the run, attempting to make some more clay explosives before his attackers could catch him.
"Gah!" he gasped, dodging yet another shuriken thrown at him. "Dammit!"
"We've almost got him!" the enemy shouted. "Just a little longer!"
"Water style: Water shark bullet technique!" The voice boomed over the sounds of battle. Suddenly, water sharks swam through the air, striking the enemy shinobi.
Deidara looked behind him to see Kisame. The shark man grinned to the blond, then focused back on his attack.
With the combination of sharks and explosives, the battle was won by the two Akatsuki members.
"Arigato, Kisame no Danna, un."
"Hey, no problem. Silly thing to take on this many shinobi at once though...you really are desperate, aren't you?"
The blonds face sunk, looking at the ground. "I'm worried for Tobi, un."
"We're gonna get him back!" Kisame patted the younger's back. "Don't worry, you have me to help you!"
Deidara attempted to smile. "Yeah, your right. We'll get him back, un."
"That's the spirit! Anyways, it looks like there are two paths to take from here. How about you take the right path and I'll take the left?"
"Un!" The blond started down the right hallway, leaving the shark man to go to the left.
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The hallway felt so long as he ran down it's length. It was going to take him a while, but he would not give up. With his scope re-adjusted, he scanned the hallway for any life, deciding to check the outside of the hallway before breaking into any of the rooms. He would wait to see if he could hear anything from out here.
Nearing the end of the hallway, the bomber felt himself tense up. He heard nothing yet, until now. It was muffled, so he understood nothing of it, but there was indeed human voices at the end of the hallway. As he got closer, they got louder. He pinpointed the sound to the last door on the right. His hands had already been at work preparing clay to break the door open with. He let the snakes slither to the door while he prepared some more, opting to make grasshoppers.
Once his new creations were ready, it was time to detonate the snakes. His right hand raised in front of him, holding the necessary seal.
"KATSU!"
The door burst open, and the blond rushed in, just barely entering the room. It was empty, save for a chair in the middle with a person tied to it. The person's head leaned forward, only showing the blond his black hair. The head slowly raised, showing two onyx eyes looking at him.
"Deidara...sempai?"
He recognized the voice in a heartbeat. "Tobi!" He reached a hand out to his missing comrade, but stopped himself from running to him.
Tobi gave him a weak smile. "I'm glad you came for me, sempai, but you need to run."
"I'm not leaving you here, Tobi, un!"
"It's too late to run, Deidara-sempai," a new voice entered the conversation, saying his name in a fashion that mocked Tobi's.
From one of the shadowed corners, a ninja appeared, a massive scar running across his face. He wore the standard shinobi garb, minus the forehead protector. His hair was a brown mess on his head, brown eyes looking at the blond.
"I'm glad you finally showed up, sempai." He slowly walked next to Tobi, a kunai in hand. "Though, I expected you to be older, what with having the title sempai and all."
"Just let him go already, un!"
"Not the brightest, I see. Now, why would I let him go? Because you asked? That would be foolish. Why go through the hard work of catching this man if I'm just gonna give him back to you?"
Deidara felt a growl rip through his throat. "Let him go, he's of no value to you! Tobi's just a kid, he knows nothing, un!"
"How do I know you're not bluffing? What if this 'kid' knows more than you?"
Deidara's voice lowered. "I know him better than anyone ever will."
"Hmph," the enemy huffed. "I'm sick of listing to him. Finish him."
Four shinobi stepped out of the shadows, throwing kunai. Deidara was able to dodge the attack with ease, throwing his grasshoppers onto the battlefield. "Katsu!" he shouted, setting them off. Two of the shinobi fell for the attack, collapsing onto the ground, burning from the explosion. The other two had managed to dodge the attack and prepared to counter attack.
One shinobi prepared a fire jutsu, while the other charged up a wind jutsu. Deidara quickly reached into his bag, hoping to make more creatures to finish them off with. He tossed the birds within seconds, directing him to the shinobi.
The leader watched as his shinobi fought the Akatsuki member. He watched Tobi fight with his restraints. "Heh, don't even try, kid. You're not getting out."
The raven-haired man looked up at the brunette. "Really?" He stood up, phasing through the restraint. He stood face to face with his captor.
"Wha...?" he stepped back. "How did you...?"
"I've always been able to do this. I just never did since I've had no back-up until now. But now that Deidara-sempai is here, we're gonna finish this once and for all."
Tobi blinked his eyes, turning them red. "Sharingan?" the enemy questioned.
"You caught me off-guard last time, but this time, we will win. Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"
"Gah!" the enemy leader screamed, red flames engulfing him. His form, still on fire, crumpled to the ground, curling up into himself.
Deidara had just finished off the other two shinobi. He walked over to see the man on the ground next to Tobi. Deidara made a small dragon out of the clay, and placed it on top of his scorched body.
"Let's get out of here, un." He started for the door, calling back to his partner.
"Ah, yes, sempai!" The sharingan ninja ran to the blond, both exiting the room.
"Katsu!"
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They met back up with Kisame, who had finished off a good sized army of the enemy shinobi. The three made to escape as quick as they could, in hopes of no one following them. Kisame had gone ahead to give his report to Pein-sama, while Deidara and Tobi chose to take the trip home a little slower.
The two had found a good place to take a break, right by a small pond. Both sat by the edge of the water, letting their feet dip into the cold substance.
"Sempai," Tobi started.
"Un?"
"I'm...I'm really glad you came for me. I was worried I'd have to get my way out without any help."
Deidara gave the ninja a genuine smile. "Of course I'd come for you, un. I'll always come for you."
Tobi smiled back to his sempai. Deidara couldn't help but stare; it was the first time he'd ever seen the man without his mask on. His face was quite attractive, a small nose and mouth accompanied by fairly large black eyes.
"Tobi," the blond started, "how come you never told me? You know, about the sharingan, un..."
"Oh, well...I knew you hated it, so I tried not to use it when possible."
"For me?" he was taken aback. His eyes widened as he tried to process what was being said to him.
"Well, yeah!" The raven-haired man smiled. "I...I always wanted to make you happy, sempai. I had heard from Itachi-san and Kisame-san about how you joined the Akatsuki, and how ever since that day, you've hated these eyes."
Deidara smiled to his pupil. "I guess it's not the eyes I hate...but just the user. I felt as though Itachi had insulted my art, and so I pinned it on his eyes, un."
"So...you don't hate me, sempai?"
"No, I don't hate you!" the blond raised his voice to carry his point.
Tobi's smile grew as he leaned to hug the blond. As he wrapped his arms around the other, he gave his sempai a quick kiss on his cheek, leaving the blue-eyed man to gasp in shock.
Tobi let Deidara go after a moment. "Arigato, sempai!"
"Doitashimashite," Deidara answered simply. He let his hand reach out to rest on the other cheek, slowly bringing himself toward him. The blond let his lips gently touch the others, creating a short but sweet kiss. "Let's go home, Tobi, un."
"Yes, sempai...Deidara."
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AN: That would be the end to Gomenasai Sempai. I would love it if you all would be kind enough as to review it. I am very happy to recieve both praise and constructive criticism, but please don't just flame me. I mean, I want to know what I did wrong, so if you are going to tell me you didn't like it, please tell me what I need to work on. I am always wanting to improve my writing skills!
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please tell me what you thought of this story. It's in a style of writing I don't typically do, but it just kinda came to me while listening to the Hurricane Suite from the Naruto Shippuden OST. My main focus for this story was being able to write a convincing and easy to follow battle scene as well, so please let me know if I was able to do that or not.
Domo Ariagtou Gozaimasu!
~Ninoandjaffar!
