Chapter 3
When she awoke the next morning, Deidara was already awake, watching her. She smiled. "Ohiyo." She yawned and laid her head down again.
"We should get going soon, un. We won't have time to do everything I'd planned otherwise, un."
She looked up to him again. "What were you planning?"
He smiled. "Just a lovely visit to the doctor's, un. Why would I plan anything else?"
She smiled, too. Sitting upright onto his pelvis, she said to him, "You're the first person to make me smile genuinely for as long as I can remember."
Deidara sat up along with her, placing his hands behind himself for support. "We have to get you fed and washed before we go, un. Can't go out looking like bums, can we, un?"
Ino nodded and crawled off him and the bed. "No Akatsuki clothes?"
"No cloak, at least. And I'll have to keep my headband here, un. Do you still require my supervision while bathing, un?"
Ino pretended to consider his offer. "Hmm...No, I can handle myself." She held her smile.
"Good. Make it quick - I'll get everything together and we'll go, un. No suicide attempts, right?"
"Nah," she put her hands behind her head, stretching. "I don't feel up to killing myself today. Maybe tomorrow, if I have the time."
Deidara studied her for a minute, then laughed. "Who knew depressed people were funny, un?" He stood, pulled his cloak off and untied his head band and hair.
For the first time since Kami knew when, she stared at Deidara's body, almost hungrilly, as if she were starving and he was edible.
She realized, then, that she had never looked at a man like this before. She'd always registered faces and voices - she never bothered to look at what else the package had to offer. Deidara's angelic existence stood right there, and she felt her mouth water. An immense urge to kiss him, plunge her lips onto his, shocked her, and she began to doubt if she was really depressed at all.
"Dei," she managed, daring her lips to betray her, "I think you're gonna have to help me take that bath."
After he helped her bathe, Deidara had forced Ino to eat a large breakfast and drink at least a gallon of water. "Have to keep your system as high as possible, un." he'd told her, and she was half tempted to strangle that cheery smile off his face. Simultaneously, she was mentally thinking of the different things Deidara had planned. There were so many different possibilities, and most of the ones Ino had conjured were incredibly boring. With a sigh, Ino ate the last of her food and drank the last of her water.
"There," she said dejectedly as she threw the cup down on the table, "done. Happy now?"
Deidara, who was sitting across from her at the circular table, smiled and nodded. "Gotta have as much energy as possible for today, un." He stood, collected her dishes, and washed them.
Ino followed him to the sink and asked, "What's happening today?"
Again, like every other time she tried to get an answer out of him, he smiled and said, "A doctor's visit." He flicked water at her, then, set the dishes upside-down on the countertop to dry.
Quickly becoming a little more then irate, Ino folded her arms and pouted, "You're so mean, Dei!"
"It's a surprise, un!" He said as they made their way to Kakuzu's room - whichever member that was. "You'll see, after the doctor's appointment, un."
"Will I like it?"
Deidara, instead, knocked on Kakuzu's door, which swung open to reveal a hot sex-scene between the Jashinist and the well-covered member, execpt now he was completely naked. He had spiky, midnight black hair, making his emerald eyes that greener in contrast. His skin was a moca brown, and covered with stitches. On his arms, stomach, neck, abdomen, face...The seme looked over, and a shriek escaped from Ino's lips as she covered her mouth with balled fists. Her eyes widdened in horror, catching every inch of the man on top.
"Fuck!" The Jashinist shouted, angrilly slamming his fist down. He had more hickeys and twice the number of deep gashes on his chest and body, all of which bled profusely.
Ino was unable to register anything as the stitches from the seme's body removed themselves and - seemingly of their own accord - moved along the floor and towards her. She didn't know how to react.
So she did what came naturally.
She screamed and ran.
Deidara shouted at her to stop, but she hardly acknowledged him. All that was running through her mind was; danger, evil monster. Run away.
She slammed into someone, and all her breath left her lungs with an audible Oof. Gasping fresh air into her lungs, she looked up at the oppressor.
"Little girlies that don't watch their step should be reprimanded," the black side of the plant-man whispered. "She looks like a good meal."
"No," the white side replied, "that's Deidara's pet."
"Who said it's illegal to eat dogs?"
Ino bolted to her feet, turned, and ran back the way she'd come. In the hallway, she ran into Deidara, who instantly wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face into his chest and tried to control the violent sobbing and shaking, but found she couldn't. "Dei," she choked, "w-what was that?"
"Ssh. Let's go - I'll tell you later, un." She nodded and he slowly brought her outside.
She blinked back the sunlight and tears still lingering as they reached the surface and actual sun hit her skin. Something similar to relief rushed over her, although she hadn't felt the feeling in years and couldn't be sure that was what relief felt like. "Dei - what was that?" She managed, wiping the tears away with balled fists.
"Do you want to sit and calm down, un? The doctor's appointment isn't at a fixed time, un."
Ino shook her head. She wanted to move, get as far away from the base as possible. "No, I'd rather walk it out." Deidara nodded and motioned for her to follow as he walked away. She obliged.
Deidara produced a folded white envelope from his pocket and waved it a little. "Kakuzu's our treasurer, un. I was going to pick up my share early so we'd have money for today, un."
She knew she wasn't going to get an elaboration out of him about what was going on today, so she changed the subject and asked, "Dei, what was that?" She stopped and turned expectantly.
Deidara stopped as well, stuffing the envelope into his pocket again. "When you want something bad enough, you'll take it in any form you can get, un. Kakuzu won't let Hidan pay a prostitute - not enough money, un - so Hidan needs some sort of...action. It works both ways, un."
"You walk in on that often?"
Deidara nodded. "Un." They set off again, their pace liesurely.
"There was so much blood...the Jashinist..."
"Hidan, un? He's immortal - he can't die. He loves inflicting pain on himself, though, un. And bleeding. That's why he's uke, un."
"And the seme - "
"Kakuzu."
" - what about him?"
"He's a money-pincher, un. Greedy. Won't let us do anything fun, anything that involves money, that is. Not enough money for blankets, heat, nicer beds...You should'nt have screamed, un. He doesn't favor you now as it is. Then you walk in on him and run away screaming...If you want them to accept you, un, you have to show them they don't scare you."
"The plant man, Zetsu...He called me your pet."
"Let them think what they will, un, but I don't think of you as my pet."
"What do you see me as?"
"A beautiful woman whose life I saved, un." Her heart raced a little at that. Why did he always have to be so blunt about it? Couldn't he say something like: A girl who needed help. A different type of person. Even something like An object for my release wouldn't have bothered her just then. As it seemed, she was a sex slave already.
They made their way to the town, it only just coming into view. Loud, festive music reached their ears, and Ino let loose a heavy sigh. So Deidara had planned to bring her to some sort of festival after her doctor's visit. The thought was nice, made her feel good, but she didn't like large crowds - she always felt that either everyone was watching her, or everyone was avoiding her. It had been five years, at least, since her last participation at some sort of festival.
Five years since she'd had someone to go with.
It struck her, then, that five years ago she'd gone with Shikamaru and Choji to the Hokage's annual festival. She couldn't remember much about it, except that it had ended badly. What had happened that day...? Something that brought about her hatred of festivals, as well as her tendency to stay away from large crowds. Something that had begun her dpression. But what had it been? That day had been blocked out of her memory; it had been too tramatic for her to store, so it had been erased. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she had run home in tears.
"Dei, were you planning on bringing me to a festival?" She looked over to him as they got closer.
"That was my original intention, un. Nonde?"
"Something...Something bad happened to me five years ago. At a festival, too. I think."
"Would you rather not go, un?"
Ino considered for a moment before answering, "No. I have to remember what made me this way. I'll go, and I'll enjoy it, damnit!" She pumped a fist into the air with enthusiasim she hadn't felt in a long, long time.
"You can remember your own past, un?"
"Not the five years that I was depressed," she answered with a shake of her head. "I can't remember anything before the first time I met you. Everything else is just a blur...I can hardly remember what happened before then, either. So, if I go and have fun, I might remember the previous cause for my depression. You have to know to heal, you know."
Deidara nodded. "Perhaps we should see a psychiatrist, too, un?"
Ino shook her head. "No - I'd rather talk to you." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Deidara smile.
They entered the village, then, right through the front gates. Deidara ushered Ino through the crowds, holding onto her hand firmly. With an amazed look on her face, she stumbled along the streets with the bishie that was Deidara. He brought her to a less-crowded area of town, but she could tell it was abandoned only because of the festival; the houses and their yards were nicely kept, and the businesses were tidy. Their owners busied themselves by sweeping up their grounds or pleasently chatting with one another about trivial things.
A party-going couple passed them, both wearing headbands of Ame. With a gasp, Ino caught up with Deidara - who had walked ahead of her, although gripping her hand tighter than tight. "Dei - "
"Not my real name, onegai, un."
"What do you want me to call you, then?"
"I don't know...Yuki. We're siblings, un."
"Okay. Anyway, this is Amegakure?"
"Un." He stopped and looked around for a minute, then pulled her down another street. He stopped at a cherry buiding with a white cross between two windows. Inside the cross read: AMEGAKURE MEDICAL CLINIC. He nodded and pulled her inside.
Inside, there was a small office that smelled sickly sweet. To their immediate right was a reception area with a secretary flipping through papers and chewing gum loudly, noisily popping bubbles. Deidara moved off to the nurse, and Ino followed.
The nurse looked up from her paperwork and startled recognition sparked her navy eyes, making them seem darker. "Dei - "
"Ssh!" He hissed, leaning in closer to the glass that seperated them.
"Right. What do you need?" The woman looked over to Ino and sighed. "STD check? Papsmear? Birth Control? Contra - "
Ino caught on. "What? No!" She looked over at Deidara to see that he'd gone two shades pinker.
"No, Tsuki, my friend - Yamanaka Ino - needs some bloodwork and a urine test done, un."
"Are you on birth control pills, darling?" She twirled a lock of black hair around her fingers and blew a bubble, popping it loudly.
"No." Ino answered, growing increasingly annoyed by the woman's mere presence.
She wrote this down quickly, looked up again. "Anti-depressants?"
"Un," Deidara answered. Tsuki scribbled this down as well.
"If you don't mind, D, I have to ask her some personal questions." Deidara nodded and took a seat at the far end of the room. Ino leaned against the small counter that came out of the wall, resting her arm on it. "Have you ever considered suicide while on an anti-depressant?"
"I thought of it once," Ino admitted. Tsuki began writing this down as she finished, "but I'm not sure if I was on the pills then."
Tsuki nodded. "Alright. Do you have any appetite at all?"
"After I went on the pill."
"Thirst?"
"After."
She nodded and wrote this down, too. "Any intense sexual urges?"
Ino blushed. So these were the personal questions. "Once or twice." Scribbles onto the paper.
"Have you had your period recently?"
"Last month, I think."
"And when is your next date?"
"Erm...The twenty-eighth, I think."
"Do you have any allergies?"
"No."
"Types of medicine you refuse to take?"
"No."
"Disease?"
"No."
"Do you now, or have you ever, had a record of stroke?"
"No."
"Kidney failure?"
"No."
"An erection lasting longer than four hours?"
"Y-hey, no!"
Tsuki laughed. "Gomen. Just jokin' with you, darlin'. Okay, do you now, or have you ever, smoked?"
"No."
"Drank an alcoholic beverage?"
"No."
"Been on the Pill before, sweetie?"
"I'm a virgin."
Tsuki nodded, scribbling non-stop. "What do you like to do for fun, darling?"
"Flower arrangements."
"Oh, that's nice," she replied, her tone sugary sweet. "Anything else?"
"Not particularly."
Tsuki nodded again. "Food you like?"
"Erm...Whatever's given to me?"
Tsuki flashed a smile and wrote this down. "How've you been feeling?"
"Feeling?" Ino replied, sure she'd forgotten what these were. "Erm...Better after I started the medication."
"Before that?"
"Everything was just...black. And cold. I was trapped in nothingness..." That same nothingness sloshed through her thoughts then, threatening to take over. Whenever she thought about it, an icy feeling always washed through her veins, as if a poision stored in her veins reawakened and was ready to pull her under again.
"Try not to think about it, dear." Tsuki advised, "Ever had any bloodwork done before?"
"No."
"Has there ever been a need for you to go to a doctor's?"
"No."
"Original village of residence?"
Ino hesitated. Giving this away could expose the Akatsuki...
"Don't worry, darling - We're with you."
Ino studied Tsuki for a long moment, trying to read her eyes. But they were blank; they offered no condolence. "Er, Konohagakure."
Tsuki nodded, and the scribbling and questions came to a halt. "All done! Your registration's complete. Now," she stood with the papers containing Ino's information and continued, "go through that door there. I'll meet you on the other side." Ino looked to the left, where she noticed a door directly across the one she and Deidara had entered through. Calmly, Ino walked over to the door, lying her hand over it, and calling out to her 'brother' to come with her. He nodded and silently followed.
Tsuki was at the other side of the door, waiting paitently where a hallway to the right connected to the one going straight ahead. She flashed a pearly white smile and turned her back to them. "This way, onegai." She led them up the straight hallway, and took a left, where a digital scale was waiting. "If you could stand on the scale, onegai, and take your shoes off." Ino nodded and removed her shoes, handing them to Deidara. She stepped onto the scale and dared the electronic meter defy her.
Pushing a few buttons, Tsuki calculated Ino's body weight into pounds - a complete total of one hundred and eight pounds. "That's good, considering," Tsuki mumbled as she wrote down the weight into Ino's file.
"Considering what?"
"The fact that your muscles are deteriorating. It's in your footsteps." She smiled at the amazed look on Ino's face. "This room here," she said as she walked down the hall a bit - back the way they'd come - and to a door that was labeled 'eight.' She opened the door, allowed them in, and followed them. "Alright, Yamanaka, I'm going to take your blood pressure and check out your breathing, along with your heartrate. Okay?"
"Hai." She hopped up onto the tissue-paper-lined bed and rolled up the sleeve of her right arm. Deidara took an empty seat that was to her left.
Tsuki set the clipboard, file, and pen onto a countertop harboring a sink and cabinents both under and below it, and picked up a stethoscope, putting it into her ears. She grabbed the handheld-heartrate measure that hung in a wire basked on the wall beside Ino's bed and wrapped it around Ino's upper arm, holding the soundpiece to it in one hand as she pumped the device in the other. She watched the meter for a moment, then unstrapped the heartrate identifyer and shoved it back into its wire cradle on the wall. "A normal heartrate," she announced, writing the numbers down on Ino's file. "All right, last thing I gotta see before you meet my brother. All I gotta do now is check your breathing."
Ino nodded and rolled down her sleeve. "What do I need to do?"
"Just sit upright and take deep breaths as I tell you to," Tsuki instructed as she got behind Ino and placed the listening piece to the stethoscope up her shirt. It was cold. "Deep breath." Ino obliged. "Let it out slowly, through your mouth." Tsuki listened. "Good. Once more." Ino repeated the breathing, Tsuki continued to listen intently. "Good, good." Tsuki said as she removed the stethoscope from her ears and, throwing the replaceable ear caps away, left the two of them. The file was left on the countertop for the doctor.
Exhasperated, Ino fell back onto the bed and let out a heavy sigh. "It's good you decided to take me to that fair," she told him, looking over to him.
"Why, un?"
"You so owe me."
Deidara smiled, and the doctor walked in. "Ohiyo," he breathed as he closed the door behind himself, "gomenasai. Tsuki forgot to check your liver and stomach. Mind if I do that?"
Ino nodded and stared up at the linoleum ceiling. The doctor pulled down the flap of her pants a little and pressed down on her stomach, liver, ovaries, and right kidney. "Hurt anywhere?"
"No."
"How about here?" He pressed down on her left kidney and she shouted out before bolting upright, grabbing her kidney. "Did that hurt?" The doctor asked, and Ino wanted nothing more than to beat the living crap out of the man.
"Yes," she growled, trying to hold her temper.
"UTI, left kidney. Just as Sasori described." The doctor went and scribbled something into her file. "However, it appears to be much worse than Sasori originally believed. You've got a kidney infection, Yamanaka-chan." He finished writing and looked over to her almost expectantly.
"H-how much medicine will I be on?" She asked him, making it a project to keep from crying.
"It seems pretty bad, so I'm going to put you on seven hundred and fifty milligrams of Cephalex and some Tylenol for pain." He returned to her side. "Now, we've got one more thing to take care of. Tsuki says you've never had blood drawn before, so you may not want to watch." The doctor - who, Ino realized, had failed to introduce himself properly - opened a cupboard and withdrew from it a large, blue case made of some sort of plastic. He set it on the countertop and, lifting the catches, opened the case. "Yamanaka-chan, are you squemish?"
"A little," she wondered how he'd get the blood. Break the skin with a kunai, perhaps? That was all she could think of. She was a little bit of medic-nin, yes, but she was definitely not a phlebotomist.
The doctor pulled out a rubber band and tied it tightly around her right arm. He pulled out a needle, and she knew watching him would make her sick. "N-niisan?" She called weakly.
"Un?" Deidara answered, at her side in an instant.
"Can you hug me, onegai?" Deidara nodded and held her close. She bured her face in his chest and clenched her eyes shut.
The doctor wasn't an idiot. The instant she'd properly covered her face, he plunged the needle into the crook of her arm. She squealed, but realized it didn't actually hurt too bad. "There," the doctor murmured, placing a bandaid over the puncture site, "all finished." Held out before her were three tubes of blood, each corked with a different colored stopper.
"Wha...But, how'd you get three?" She asked, blinking back tears.
The doctor laughed. "You'd be surprised at how easily you can bleed. Well, that's all. Tell Pein he can expect a call from us reguarding Yamanaka-chan by next week." The doctor collected his files and blood and opened the door. "Goodbye. Please don't come back too soon." He held the door open for them and showed them the way out.
"Arigato, sensei." Deidara called as they walked away.
"Just don't find a reason to come back!" The doctor shouted, and they laughed.
As they walked away, Ino felt the need to talk. "How do they know you...Niisan?"
Deidara smiled. "They've always supported our...family, un."
Ino nodded. She recalled Tsuki's exhasperated expression when she'd asked if Ino needed some sort of contraception. "Niisan...You're not a virgin, are you?" She already knew the answer.
Deidara hesitated. "...No, un. I'm not."
She nodded. "Okay." An uncomfortable silence passed while she tried to figure out how to put what she was thinking into words. "Erm...Niisan...Has, uh..." her voice faltered. If Deidara didn't want to speak his name or mention the Akatsuki, how could she bring Hidan into the conversation?
"Nani?" He pressed.
She shook her head. "Nothing. I'll ask later."
Deidara dropped it at that. "Okay. Now, wanna go shopping, un? I've got two thousand yen on me, un."
A cash register chinged open. "T-two thousand, you said?"
Deidara nodded. "All for you, un. To spend on anything you like. My treat, un."
Excitement rushed through her - something she'd never felt before Deidara - and an insatiable urge to spend the money came along with it. Her stomach growled, though, and she wrapped and arm around her stomach and murmured, "I'm hungry."
Deidara nodded. "Okay. Do you wanna go into town or around it, un?"
She couldn't hurt him by saying she didn't want to participate - not after he'd seemed so excited to bring her. "Inside town is where all the best eateries are," she mused. She nodded and finished, "Yeah. Sounds liks fun. We could go see what's happening..."
Deidara brightened. "Really? You don't mind, un?"
"Of course not," Ino flashed a smile. "Wherever you go, I'm happy to follow." Perhaps not the best thing to say, but she had no experience with relationships - she'd never been in one before.
This must've worked for Deidara, because he smiled and said, "Great, un!" By now, they were right in the throng of the city. A band played loudly outside one store, and spectators crowded around it in a tightly-packed semi-circle. Confetti littered the streets, buildings, plants, and everywhere she looked, Ino spotted a couple leaning in for a kiss.
Alomst every time she saw this she turned to face Deidara and opened her mouth to say something, only to find herself too scared. She would look away, then, and find something else to settle her gaze on.
A firm grip on her hand, Deidara found an eatery that wasn't too crowded and steared her over to it. It was the walk-in type, with no wall between shop and street, but she didn't care. The sweet smell of dango, omurice, rice cakes, and Ramen wafted to her once the curtains were drawn back, and she took a deep breath, her mouth instantly watering. She and Deidara took a seat at the bench in swirly-stool chairs, and a worker came over. "Ohiyo damas. What can I get you?"
Ino thought for only a second before she answered, "A plate of dango, onegai, and some rice cakes. Can I get some sweet bean paste with that, too?"
"Hai. Tea?"
"Mizu, onegai."
The worker nodded and turned to Deidara, who mumbled, "Same as her." The worker left them.
"Gomen, Niisan...Is that too much?" She looked over, honestly expecting to see him fingering his money with a 'I-couldn't-possibly-pay-for-this' sort of look on his face.
But a look of that sort wasn't anywhere on his face. "No, no, not at all, un. Anything you can't finish can always be brought back with us, un."
Ino nodded, looking away. Slowly, another epiphany came to her; this was just Deidara's way of sneaking her on a date. She found this more flattering than offensive, however, and, flattered, turned away even more.
The waiter came then, with a "Hai," as he set their meals and drink in front of them.
"Arigato," Ino muttered, "itadakimasu." She took a rice cake and dipped it into her spherical container of sweet bean paste. Taking a small bite, she pulled it away fom her mouth, bobbing her head a little in a vain attempt to keep the past from falling onto her face. But it did, leaving a trail from the corner of her mouth to her chin. A very thick trail that wouldn't be an easy removal. Mumbling a small, "Kuso," she looked around for napkins. When she couldn't find any, another curse was uttered. "No napkins?" She asked Deidara, who produced some from a bin beside him, invisible to her. "Oro? Oh, arigato." She took the napkins he'd supplied her and cleared away the paste.
"Oh, you have a little here, un." Deidara touched his face where the paste lay on hers. When she failed to locate it, he took the napkins from her. "Here, un," he said as he gently cleaned off the paste.
Ino's face got hot as she stuttered, "O-oh, thanks."
Deidara, noticing her discomfort, nodded and moved back to his food. "Eat up, un. This is your dinner."
"Really?" She asked, her mouth full of food again. "Nonde? What time is it?"
"'Bout six, seeing as the band left, un."
She hadn't noticed the village was music-deprived now. "Wow. I hadn't noticed." She bit into a dango, finished with her previous rice cake.
"And we still have to go shopping, un." Deidara mumbled, sipping his tea.
"Shopping? For what?"
"Supplies, of course. You think our family'll just give you what you need to learn, un? Hell no - we're cheap, remember? So I'll buy you what you need to get started, un."
"I thought the lessons would be once a day, with one sensei at a time." She finished her dango and took a sip of tea.
The waiter came over before Deidara could answer. "You want a bag for that? It's closin' time."
"Oh, it is?" She honestly hadn't noticed the time fly by. "Uh, hai." The worker nodded and stalked off. "Oh, wow," Ino breathed as she looked over her shoulder and out to the city's streets. "it's starting to get dark." She shuddered a little. "And cold."
"We still have to go shopping, un." Deidara groaned. "We'll miss the fireworks! They're the best part, un."
"Oh, gomen. Time flies when I'm with you." She caught his glance. "It's never gone by so fast before...I didn't mean to ruin your plains."
"Don't apologize. If we go now, we'll have time to catch the end, un." He was seriously outweighing fireworks to time with her.
The waiter appeared again with their food, all neatly wrapped up in a brown baggie. "That's four hundred yen." Deidara nodded and handed the man money from his white evelope, then folded the envelope up again and returned it to his pocket. Ino took the food.
They walked out then, and Ino said to him, "If we rush, we can probably get everything done before the fireworks start," -she looked up to the sky--"looks like we still have about two hours before it gets dark."
"Scratch that," Deidara told her, "it's winter, un. More like half and hour."
Ino nodded. "We can always see the fireworkd first, if you want." She'd never cared about what someone else wanted before. It almost felt odd...But not wrong. She knew this was the right thing to offer.
Deidara's eyes lit up. "Oh, really, un? I love fireworks."
She nodded, and as they walked, she wanted nothing more than to tell him what she loved. Was it love? Did she love Deidara? She couldn't be sure; she'd never felt any sort of affection towards anyone before. She'd never cared about a person before, let alone love. Perhaps Deidara...? She looked over to him - she being only a few inches shorter than he - and studied him as they continued down the street, searching for a good spot to sit. Deidara located one; it was a small clearing, perfectly flat, its grass bed unblemished by rocks or trees. They laid down among the tall grass, staring up at the indigo sky. Deidara held his hands behind his head, using them for a pillow. There was a space between them where their food sat that Ino desperately wanted to fill. She didn't want to be so far away...
Darkness fell almost suddenly, as if someone had turned out the lights over Ame. Ino shuddered a bit, but didn't complain. She wanted to use any excuse possible to get closer to him, but found her mouth clamped shut. Her palms were sweaty, and her heart racing. Despite the cold, she was fairly warm.
The fireworks began then, and Ino felt the need to explode the same way - to make all her thoughts and feelings perfectly clear, to shower them over Deidara. But she didn't know how to communicate, to verbalize. It was up to him to make the first move, because she didn't know how. Besides this, whenever she even thought about him, her heart nearly stopped and her breathing cut itself short. She was so damn nervous, she didn't know what to do with herself.
How dare you fireworks, she cursed them, how dare you express yourselves so easily when I can't? They replied with another explosion; this one of reds, blues, and golds. An umbrella of the sparkling rainbow fell from the heavens, and she could hear several people 'ooh' and 'aah' with amazement.
The finale came then, and twenty or so were lit all at once, all simultaneously exploding, illuminating the night sky. On a quick glance, Ino noticed the insane smile illuminating Deidara's face, making his visible eye seem bigger, rounder with such intensity Ino felt her mouth water, but her throat go dry. Why couldn't she get used to it?
Ino sat upright along with Deidara, but found her mouth sewn shut. "Beautiful," Deidara told her. "Simply art, un." He stretched, stifling a yawn. "What'd you think, Ino?"
Her name being said by his voice was more than bliss. Her heart raced, and she feared she wouldn't be able to speak - her throat had gone dry almost instantly. "It was beautiful," Her voice cracked, but she managed to answer, at the very least.
"Un." Deidara agreed. "Only a couple of things that can match that." But he didn't elaborate, and, honestly, she didn't want him to. She would've died of a heart attack if he did. "Ready to head back, un?"
"Yeah," she managed, "but you may need to help me." She was so exhausted she feared she wouldn't make it to the Akatsuki base on her own. A fatigue swept over her, at the joints and legs especially. She tried to push herself onto her feet, and found she couldn't. She cried out as she plopped onto the ground again. "Dei, I...can't get up." She was so weak she felt like crying.
A confused look spread over Deidara's face as he stood and stretched a hand out to her. She took it and tried to hold on tight, but found her hand trembling with the effort. Deidara grabbed her hand firmly, then used his spare hand to grab her arm. He pulled her onto her feet, and she collapsed onto him, her legs unable to support her weight. "Ino...?"
Tears welled now; the weakness too great to bear. "Dei, I can't! Itai!"
"What hurts?" Deidara commanded, pushing her back a bit so he could look into her face.
"Everywhere!" She whined, letting her head loll back and looked up at the sky. "So weak..."
Deidara scopped her up, bridal style, and jumped off, leaving the food. Her consciousness began to waver as sleep threatened to engulf her. "Dei...don't let go..."
"Stay with me, un!" Deidara commanded. His voice was faraway, distant. It was of no use; she was slipping into the realm of the subconscious. "Don't close your eyes, Ino! Stay awake, un! Stay!" But it was in vain; her eyelids drooped dangerously, until they finally closed. "Ino!" Was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness.
A/n:
Translations:
Uke: Reciever
Seme: Dominant
Nonde: Why
Bishie: Prettyboy
Ame(gakure): Village Hidden in the Rain
Onegai: Please
Sensei: Although it's usually used for 'teacher,' it can also be used as 'doctor'
Dango and Omurice are common foods - sort of like ricecakes.
Ohiyo Damas: Good morning (high respect)
Mizu: Water
Hai: Yes, right, here
Itadakimasu: I gratefully recieve
Oro: Huh?
Itai: It hurts
Okay, that's all! The attack Ino suffered just at the end was from the anemia - I suffer the same thing sometimes, but I've never collapsed from it (perhaps because Ino's suffering from it more than I am). Erm...Everything at the doctor's clinic was an attempt at the real thing as close as possible - I hope I came close! Also, they called her 'Yamanaka-chan' because, in Japan, it's of the highest respect to call someone by their last name. They do the same thing at the schools. Anyway, please, please review and tell me what you think!!!
