AN: Here's the end of this, and it covers a major timeskip. This definitely diverges from the canon timeline. As for what I think of this? I hate it. So by all means, bash it to Hell and back.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would've given Naruto a giant orange house, Kakashi a milk bone, Sasuke a tomato garden, and Sakura more character development in the beginning. Seeing as none of that happened . . .

Warning: Lemon ahoy! Beware!


Final Goodbye

"I'm leaving tonight, hm."

Those were the words that had made up Isane's mind about the decision she had been stalling on ever since she found out just how much the blond had slipped past her barriers. Just three simple words (four, if you count that speech impediment he had never been able to get rid of, much less attempted to) and Isane knew what she wanted.

In the end, she understood that his art had always meant more to him than she or anything else ever would. After all, it was the one thing he had that was truly his without question. Even Isane was never completely his to have, because she was like lightning.

Fast, powerful, free, and completely indomitable.

He'd been trying to stop a storm with bare hands when it came to her, and he'd only gotten hurt in the end. Earth was never really good at handling lightning, anyway. It was its one true weakness.

Isane smirked emptily at her thoughts. She'd never been much for poetry, but that comparison couldn't help but appeal to her.

Earth and lightning, always separated by thousands of miles until the latter struck with vicious precision that often left the former crumbling in pain.

She'd never meant to hurt him in the same way, but there was no point in dwelling in the past. All she could do was hold her head up high and keep looking forward to the future.

And maybe . . . if I'm lucky enough . . . we'll meet again someday. That would be nice, wouldn't it, Deidara?

As if he'd been summoned by her thoughts, the very man suddenly appeared before her, his form hidden by the shadows of the night as he waited for her to say her part. She wished she could see his expression but then after recalling their last encounter thought better of it and resisted the urge to ask him to come closer.

She didn't want to see his eyes full of hatred.

So Isane continued to lounge casually against the door to the forbidden scrolls storage room, eyeing his form with a carefully blank expression devoid of the emotions she felt raging like a storm inside her. "So this is it, Deidara?" she asked emotionlessly. Impersonally. "You're really going for it then."

She could feel his eyes on her, the power of his stare dragging out shivers along her bare arms, but she fought back any other visible reaction. She wasn't here to play tag with him. It was now kill or be killed.

But can I really go that far? Isane wondered with her eyes focused completely on her opponent.

Finally, the shadow spoke. "Are you really planning on stopping me, kid?" he asked indifferently. She could just barely make out the blue of his right eye and the red light of his scope hidden behind his bangs.

Isane narrowed her eyes and tensed, preparing for a fight. "If you haven't noticed, old man, I'm not much of a kid anymore."

And she saw his gaze flick up and down her body, saw him smirk at the shudder she failed to subdue, and in that moment she knew he understood her real intentions for being there. "The guards, hm?" he questioned as he slowly stalked out of the shadows, gaze focused solely on her.

Isane smirked and held up a senbon needle, the metal tip sparking with a jolt of her lightning chakra. "Already subdued and stripped of weapons, clothes, and their dignity, Deidara. Guess they never thought to have security measures in place for rampaging little kids."

He was closer now. Much closer. So near that she could see all of his face even in the darkness, feel his hot breath on her skin. She shivered again, a motion she knew he could see all too well, and watched as his blue, blue eye darkened with lust.

"You have half an hour tops," she warned him as he leaned forward. "Make it count."

And then she was slammed into the door as the blond man began to devour her through her mouth. Isane was soon moaning his name as he sucked on her lips, her neck, and his hands roamed her willing body as she wrapped her legs around his waist and felt him between her legs. Isane closed her eyes as his hands slid up her shirt and brushed against her heated bare skin, rubbing closer and closer to the sensitive flesh of her breasts. She wound her arms around his neck and brought his face to hers, kissing him feverishly with all the desire and need she'd ever felt for him in her actions.

One of his hands began wandering south and Isane, caught in the heat of the moment, murmured lustfully in his ear, "Yes, Deidara, I need you. Right here, right now. Please."

Isane never begged. Hell, she hardly ever asked for anything because of her damned pride. But now here she was. Begging him to all but ravish her in a way he'd only dreamed of doing. Though his mission was still in the back of his mind, Deidara couldn't really bring himself to care about it much in that moment. Because right now, a beautiful and sexy as hell woman was asking him to take her in the best way conceivable.

And as a hot-blooded male, Deidara didn't really feel like denying her that.

Isane could barely let out a gasp of surprise as the hand that had been sliding sensually down her body suddenly shot to her black shorts and pulled them down. She watched the blond's visible eye widen in surprise and then darken to a deep midnight blue as the desire running rampant increased. "No panties, Isane?" he purred, his finger stroking the edge of her entrance.

The brunette trembled at the sensations shooting through her at his ministration, her legs instinctively tightening around his waist so his finger rubbed her closer.

Oh, god! Isane thought, shutting her eyes as his finger slipped inside her warmth. "Deidara!" she gasped as he inserted more fingers and began stroking her with a skill she hadn't known he possessed.

"Tell me what you want, Isane. Hm," he demanded, watching her face and the expressions that flickered briefly across it. Memorizing them so he could watch them over and over and over again at his leisure.

Artists are skilled with their hands, a more controlled part of her mind thought. Isane moaned in pleasure at the sweet torture the blond was wreaking upon her. Suddenly, he brushed a particularly sensitive spot inside her that had her screaming his name.

"Answer me," he repeated, eye flashing intently.

Helpless, Isane panted heavily, "You. Inside me. Now." She was done begging.

Luckily, he sensed that and with a teasing flick of his fingers, he hit that spot again and relished in her cry of pleasure that came in the form of his name. "If you insist, Isane, hm," he replied and then a second later he thrust inside her.

Pain. Bright, intense, overwhelming pain ripped through Isane's body and her cries were only muffled by Deidara's lips on hers. She felt a few tears leak out of her eyes and trail down her cheeks, but the man quickly kissed them away. Isane clung to him, burying her face into the crook of his neck where she silently wept at the agony currently rolling through her.

Deidara kept still, regretting that he'd hurt her so badly that she'd actually cried a little bit, but he knew it was a necessary hurt. So he waited patiently for her to adjust to the sensation of him being inside her. Even if it was slowly killing him to finally have her but not move to truly claim her.

The pain finally began to dull and Isane was able to focus on the feeling of Deidara within her. It was odd, to say the least, to feel something other than her fingers sheathed in her sex, but it nevertheless felt good.

More than good, Isane thought, eyes slipping closed as she reached up and steadied herself on his shoulders. This feels like heaven. And she knew it was only about to get better.

Mentally steeling herself, Isane kept a careful grip on his shoulders and allowed her body to slowly slide down his, hearing the sharp intake of his breath as she eased him within her hot, wet core. When he was fully sheathed inside, Isane found herself face to face with him and, coyly, she leaned in and brushed her lips to his, silently telling him it was all right to go now.

Dear, god! Deidara thought as Isane suddenly slid down his body. He had to force himself not to take her right then, forcibly reminding himself that she could still be hurt because of him, but all thoughts of self-blame flew out the window, so to speak, when he found the woman's lips on his.

"I'm ready," Deidara could practically hear her think. "Please, Dei, move!"

Mouth still locked on hers, Deidara began to move. He felt her moan against his lips and had to fight back one himself. Good god! This must be what it felt like to slowly disintegrate, the blond thought as Isane's heat wrapped around him. And when she began moving with him, he felt a completely new sense of pleasure fill him.

Isane, he thought, staring at her face and how her eyes were closed in absolute bliss from this moment of intimacy she was sharing with him. Isane. Isane. Isane . . . I . . . I think I could fall for you.

The brunette was thinking much along the same lines as him, only she was much further along. Deidara, I love you, she thought to herself, shuddering at the feelings he woke within her not just physically, but emotionally as well. I love you so, so very much. And it's killing me to know that you don't feel the same. At least not yet . . .

Isane actually wondered if he would ever be able to feel the same about her as she did for him. With the passion he had for his art, she couldn't help but think it wasn't very likely.

Earth and lighting, she thought again as she felt him take hold of her thighs and hoist them higher so he could take more control of the rhythm. Polar opposites never truly meant to join without the destruction of one occurring.

And every single time it was lightning that triumphed over earth.

As Deidara's pace increased and Isane's muscles began to tighten around him, she hoped that, just this once, the earth wouldn't shatter.

And then there was no more hope or thought, for they had finally reached the end and the true beauty of fleeting art was all they could think about.

Fleeting—because in the end that's what this was, and they both knew it.


"You sure you won't come with me?"

"Yes . . . What you're looking for won't be found here. But somewhere out there . . . yeah, I'd only get in the way and we both know it."

They stared at each other for a long moment, eyes conveying messages that neither was comfortable with saying aloud. Because that would make everything real.

"Will you wait for me?" he finally asked.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes. Just when he was about to give up and turned to go, she ran at him and hugged him tightly, her face burying into his back. "For however long it takes, Deidara. I . . . take care, old man. I don't want you dying before I get the chance to kick your ass in a rematch!"

Unseen by her, the blond smirked. It almost felt like everything between them was back to normal. Almost. Twisting around, he caught her mouth with his, giving one last kiss just in case . . .

Don't think about it, he thought and slowly pulled away, studying the way her eyes were half-lidded as they stared at him in somewhat of a daze. "Right, catch you later, kid, hm," he said and leapt onto the clay bird he built with the help of the kinjutsu he'd been able to steal much faster thanks to her.

Her cry of "I'm not a kid anymore, you jackass!" saluted him off into the night as a final goodbye, and he supposed he wouldn't have it any other way.

Hey, now that he was an S-rank traitor, he didn't want that reputation being ruined by people thinking he was a big softie or anything.

And in his opinion, having a pissed off woman threatening to cut your remaining eye out was a good enough excuse for any man to run away from his home village.

"Hey, you hear the news?"

"You mean about the death of that one traitor?"

"Yeah! What was his name again? Man, you'd think a guy would be able to remember a criminal that came from his own damned village."

"Deidara. That sick bastard finally got what was comin' to him."

"Heh, I heard he actually blew himself up. All for the sake of killing that one Uchiha brat that recently betrayed Konoha."

"Too bad he missed. That would've hit two birds with one stone otherwise."

"Eh, who cares? That bastard is finally gone and I feel like having a few celebratory drinks. You coming? First round's on me."

"Hell yeah! What about you, Isa—huh? Isane?"

"Huh, wonder where she's off to in such a hurry."

"Eh, whatever. Women are weird like that. Now how about those drinks, buddy."

"Heh, you never change, man."


No, no, no, no, no . . . She repeated the word over and over again like a mantra in her head, desperate for it to not be true as she rushed toward the Tsuchikage's tower. Isane passed a dark-haired woman she vaguely recognized as the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, but she ignored her. Solely intent on reaching the village leader's office.

She made it there one minute later but didn't even need to enter to receive answers to her questions. A woman was speaking to Ōnoki-sama just as Isane halted outside the door.

"This was all we could find after the blast. Everything else within a ten mile radius was incinerated beyond recognition."

Isane's breath caught in her throat as she heard Ōnoki's gruff voice. "I'd recognize that piece of metal anywhere. Yep, that's the brat's eye scope. He never went anywhere without it after the accident. It's as good as confirmation of his death as we'll get right now."

Dead.

That was all that Isane could focus on and without another thought she formed a seal and used shunshin to get away to the only place she could truly think.

The old training field greeted her with nothing but past reminders that it hadn't been visited in nearly eight years, which was when Deidara had first—No, she thought, collapsing to the ground as the tears she never let show to anyone finally came pouring out into the open.

"Please, god, no! Not him! Not him!" Isane begged quietly, her hands fisting tightly into her hair as her emotions began to overpower her.

And then she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Mama?"

The brunette's tears came to a halt and she looked up in surprise to meet oh-so-familiar sky blue eyes staring at her curiously, and with slight worry.

"Mama, are you okay, yeah?"

And Isane almost choked out a strangled laugh at the little "yeah" the sandy-haired girl habitually added at the end of her sentence. In that moment, Akira reminded Isane so much of the girl's father that she almost progressed with her breakdown.

Almost.

"I'm fine, sweetie," Isane lied, smiling softly and felt a pit of relief when her daughter accepted the lie without question. She knew Akira saw through her words, seeing as the girl had inherited both of her parents' perceptiveness, but nevertheless the little girl already knew better than to dig too deep if someone obviously didn't want to talk about something.

Strangely enough, Akira had gotten that trait from her Great Aunty Nori, who was a formidable old woman yet still one of the most considerate people Akira and Isane had ever known. Isane and Deidara certainly hadn't known when to back off once they discovered a secret.

"Ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?"

"Yeah, and satisfaction brought it back."

The words, from so long ago when the future seemed like nothing more than a far-off dream, echoed in her mind. Coming back from when she was just a silly little ten-year-old girl admiring a silly twelve-year-old boy creating what he proclaimed to be true art.

"Because true art is fleeting."

"Transient like life, right?"

"Yeah, like life, kid. That's art."

"Stop calling me that!"

"And today this stupid boy told me that earth chakra was better than lightning chakra 'cause it was easier to control, yeah!" Akira huffed, her arms crossed as she stared moodily up at the sky, her blue eyes reflecting its dazzling color perfectly despite her sullenness.

Isane smiled down at her daughter, wondering if she'd ever been like that with . . . with him.

"Well, did you know that lightning beats earth any day, Akira-chan?" Isane asked her five-year-old daughter.

Akira looked up at her mother with wide blue eyes, a spark of amazement causing those azure orbs to resemble almost sapphires in the light. "Really, mama?" she breathed in wonder.

Isane smirked and held up a pebble in her right, the rock resting in the center of barely noticeable scars on the palm. It looked like fragments of something had cut into the skin very deeply before being carefully removed.

"It's not a good idea to leave those in there, kid. Not unless if you want to lose your hand."

"Way to state the obvious, Blondie."

"Watch closely, baby," Isane told her eager daughter and then let loose a small bit of her lightning chakra.

And the little girl did watch as her mother told her to. Her eyes rounding even more in surprise as she watched the little pebble her mother held was zapped by electricity for a few seconds before it finally crumbled away to dust.

"Whoa, that was amazing, Mama!" Akira exclaimed and grabbed at her mother's pants. "Can you please do that again? Please, please, please, yeah?"

Isane laughed at the puppy eyes her daughter was giving her but nodded. "Of course, Akira-chan," she replied, stooping down to search for a suitable pebble to use. "Just have a little patience and good fortune will come to you."

And maybe . . . if I'm lucky enough . . . we'll meet again someday. That would be nice, wouldn't it, Deidara?

"Mama! Mama! Look at this! Don't you think this would make the perfect exploding rock, yeah?"

Isane glanced up from the road and smiled at her daughter as she ran towards her, hands outstretched but held closed very tight in order to protect the "exploding rock" she had found.

"All right, Akira-chan, just let me take a look . . . at it," Isane trailed off as she stared at the object her daughter placed in her hand. And the so-called rock made her breath catch in her throat as shock rippled through her.

In her hand was a smooth and solid ball of white clay.

But . . . they said . . .

"Mama, you okay, yeah?" Akira asked worriedly as her mother stared at the rock oddly. Then again, she supposed that the rock was worthy of being stared at.

It was so perfectly smooth and round, and shone with the purest white color she had ever seen on a stone. And Akira could tell the rock had power, too. It told her so when it tingled upon meeting her hands.

"Akira-chan, honey, where'd you find this?"

Akira snapped out of her reverie at her mother's inquiry. She pointed out at the forest, her eyes trained directly upon a certain tree at the border of the clearing. "That man spying on us from behind the tree gave it to me, yeah," she said with a shrug, presumably in the supposed man's direction for having told his secret. "He said in exchange for a good exploding rock, I had to keep his presence a surprise."

Isane stared straight ahead, just barely having picked up her daughter's explanation. Instead, she called out hesitantly, "Deidara? Is that you?"

Akira cocked her head to the side as she watched her mother call out to where the man was hiding. She quickly noticed her mother had dropped the exploding rock and, quickly forming a few calculations in her mind, infused some of her lightning chakra into the stone and hurriedly tossed it in the direction of the trees.

She pointed her fingers at the flying stone and called out with an impish grin, "Bang, yeah!" and a bolt of lightning arced from her fingers to the airborne rock.

It exploded and she watched in satisfaction as the man that had given her the stone was forced to leap out of his hiding place, coincidentally landing right in front of her flabbergasted mother.

"Deidara . . . Is that really you?" Isane asked the blond man shuffling nervously in front of her.

"Um, hey, Isane," he said nervously, his eyes flashing from her to the little brat smirking impishly at him from the sidelines. "Heh, long time no see, hm?"

Isane promptly punched him in the face and started calling him all the most vile names she could come up with. But jackass was a frequently featured one.

And little Akira? Well, like the smart little five-year-old she was, she plugged her ears and enjoyed the show of her mother beating the tar out of the man she had figured out pretty quickly was her father. After all, if his speech impediment hadn't been a dead giveaway, her mother's reaction to the man certainly had.

And so the reunited family lived relatively happily ever after—though of course Deidara needed quite a number of bandages afterwards.


AN: And on that incredibly cheesy note, this nuisance has come to an end. Tell me, does Isane lack personality? Isn't Deidara OOC? Is Akira adorable? (Okay, so she's pretty much the only thing I liked about this.) Share your thoughts in a review, please. It's appreciated.

~amkay