Soul Bound

Happyfish: I do not own anything.

Summary: So the time of choice has ended for Deidara and she is Soul Named with Pein. Kisame and Itachi have met and are starting to get to know each other.

Chapter 3: Getting to know Each Other

Deidara was still a bit upset that Pein had implicitly threatened Iwa in order for her to come to Ame; she would have eventually come here anyway. When those with a Choice had chosen, or they had run out of time and the name had been finalized it is in human nature to try and find that person. Another thing is that even people that do not have a choice, if they did not actively seek out their Soul Named, they would be forced to seek them out the longer they waited and not tried to find them. A deep yearning would slowly build and they would feel pushed to go in one direction or another to find each other. She knew all of that; it wasn't in her nature to wait and think too hard on decisions, something that had caused her no end of trouble at times.

She was not a fool, there were other things known about being Soul Bonded, there is a 'courting' phase where from as little as nine months to as much as five years, depending on if they two knew each other, as well as other factors like personalities and how much time they interacted with each other as well as a few other things. Depended on how long that phase is, for ninja the courting phase was a year and a half to two years. Ninja did not usually have a long life expectancy, so getting love, pleasure or whatever they could as quickly as possible, such as being with their soul bonded as long as they could was something very important. After the courting phase there was the 'bonding' phase where the two in question would become even closer, emotionally and physically than in the courting phase.

The bonding phase would take several months to one year, this phase is shorter than the courting one because the two know each other and are, if not in love, then rather fond of each other and care for each other a lot. During the bonding phase the stronger of the two would become highly possessive and protective of the one of lesser strength. One the boding phase is over the relationship and the Soul Bond is settled and the two of them, depending on the strength of the bond could sense each other emotions to actually being able to communicate telepathically to one another at a certain distance. Another thing was during the bonding phase the two could be only a few feet away from each other, otherwise they would feel discomfort to being unconscious if they were too far away from each other.

She would not try to sabotage any potential relationship between the two of them, but she would not make it easy on him either. Was it petty of her to do that… yeah, probably but she felt that she was at least a little vindicated on doing so. She spoke with him for a few more minutes before she was bade to leave and explore Amekagure.

"Could I have Konan-san guide me if she is not busy?" Deidara asked.

"Why Konan?" he asked intrigued.

"I have met her before a couple of times." She replied with a shrug.

"Very well." Pein replied with a nod. "She can show you around. I want to have dinner with you tonight at one of the restaurants in Ame."

'Would it be hard for him to ask?' she wondered slightly cross, however she was used to that kind of behavior from her grandfather.

"Very well."

She would try to be civil with him, but if he annoyed her she would tell him, after all from what she had heard honesty and communication is good for a healthy relationship… Although being deceitful was more normal for ninja rather than being truthful. Konan was still in the lobby of Amekage tower talking to the orange haired man, Yahiko she recalled his name.

"So, how'd it go?" the orangette asked.

Deidara shrugged, "We talked, he had paperwork to do and I want to explore Amekagure."

"Wonderful," Yahiko said with a smile, "Konan and I can show you around the marvelously wet place that is known as our home."

She chuckled a little at that and followed the two Deidara noticed the relaxed air around the pair of Ame ninja and how they would casually touch each other on occasion.

"Are the two of you Soul Bonded?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," said Konan. "Nagato predicted that we would be."

"Predicted? How long have you known each other?" she asked.

"Since we were very little we have known each other, we were on the same Genin team." Yahiko replied.

"So you know each other and him well then?" Deidara asked.

The three of them talked about things and she was shown around, it was a cooler climate here than in Iwa, she had wished she had put on a couple of extra layers of protection. While her water resistant clothes helped, the cold water seeped into her clothes and chilled her. Deidara made sure not to shiver but she had a slight worry that she might get ill.

"Part of the reason why it rains so much is it's a jutsu." Yahiko said, "Nagato does a jutsu with the rain so he can sense everyone in the village and who enters and who leaves it. That is part of the reason why we have no spies from other villages."

"Is he making it rain?" Deidara asked.

"No," Konan said.

"Good because then I would have strong words with him." She muttered.

Yahiko laughed a little, "I like you, and you're funny."

"Thanks." She replied. "Konan, you didn't tell me you knew your Kage."

Konan shrugged, "It did not seem important, besides you did not tell me who you're Soul Named was."

She was upset that she was not informed by her young friend, it was a private affair and some could be targeted for who they were Soul Named with. It had happened in the past before the formation of the villages and even after it happened sometimes they were killed or captured to be ransomed off. Particularly for ninja or ninaj named it was better to keep things like that quiet as it could be used against you. Despite having little vegetation or rock formations it was a unique looking village. With the tall buildings that looked like they could pierce the sky, it still seemed a bit alien to her the metal city, but it had a certain artistic appeal. It was getting close to the appointed time for her to choose a restaurant she had asked her two guides about what they would choose to eat at. She got several choices, however she chose the place that the two recommended that had good Bakudan, she liked Bakudan it was her favorite food.

"Have you chosen a restuarnt?" Pein asked her.

Deidara twitched a little as she turned to him; she had instinctively drawn a weapon as she had turned toward him.

"In the future, do not sneak up on me would you." She snapped at him.

It had startled her a little bit that he had been able to sneak up on her, she had made sure to be aware of her surroundings, as a good ninja did, particularly when they were in a new place. She had pocketed her weapon and scowled at him.

"We are going to this place," she said nodding towards the Bakudan stand, it also sold a few other food stuffs, but she did not care about those.

"Very well." Pein said with a nod.

The Bakudan was good, it tasted different than the Bakudan in Iwa, the best Bakudan was in Iwa, but it was good enough. They ate and spoke about their different likes and dislikes and other such getting to know each other questions and answers. Once they were finished with their meal, Pein insisted on paying for the whole meal and the two of them left to go to the Kage Manor. It was something that was common throughout the ninja villages, both large and small was that the Kage had the largest and most luxurious living quarters, it was a way to do a one-upmanship that was common to do. He had shown her a few living quarters for her to choose from and informed her of where his living quarters were. She picked one and he left her to her own devices, after setting up her room the way she liked it, including traps and half of the place to become a studio she got dressed for bed and went to sleep.

=-=-=-=- Change of place =-=-=-=-

"It is a good thing that you are different than what I perceived you might be," Kisame said.

Itachi was about to say something when a young Uchiha that looked rather a lot like him, closer looking than Shisui had.

"Aniki!" the younger ninja said hugging Itachi tightly. "I missed you."

There was a very happy smile on Itachi's face, it was not huge, but it was there, Kisame marveled at the gently, loving look on his face.

"Hello otouto," Itachi said. "I have missed you as well."

Sasuke looked up curiously at Kisame and after releasing his brother he went over to Kisame looked him over curiously.

"It's nice to meet you Hosigaki-san!" he said with a polite bow, "please take care of my brother."

"Otouto," Itachi said with mild disapproval.

"Sometimes he works himself too hard or he thinks too much and he needs someone to pull him out of it." Sasuke said while dodging from his brother.

Unfortunately, Itachi was still much faster and much more experienced, particularly in younger brother wrangling. So Itachi had Sasuke in one arm, he tried to tell Kisame a couple of other things but Itachi placed a hand over his mouth and gave him a look that said, 'quiet you.' Kisame was rather amused by the interaction between the siblings, he also noticed a more playful and gentle side to Itachi come out as soon as he saw the younger one.

"Aren't you a cute and concerned little brother," Kisame said with a slight smirk he ruffled the short spiky hair.

Sasuke protested the 'cute' comment and was turning a light shade of red; Kisame chuckled a little and said, "As many stories as you have about him, and some of them are potentially black mail worthy, I bet he has many more of you since you are his younger brother."

Itachi had talked about his slightly mischievous younger brother whom he worried about from time to time since he would sometimes become withdrawn. He knew why he did, the clan viewed Sasuke as a badly made copy of Itachi and always compared Sasuke to Itachi… and none of what they said was complimentary… Sasuke had no sense of self amongst his clan, or at least amongst most of them. Even their parents dismissed him at times. It frustrated Itachi to no end; Sasuke had given up on gaining their approval when he was eight years old. He trained hard and tried his best, to become the best he could be, but rarely did he ever tell of his successes and accomplishments, particularly since it seemed like they didn't care. It worried Itachi about Sasuke's apathy to most of the clan, that he might do something or let something happen and not particularly care.

Kisame stuffed the depressing thoughts out of sight and said, "You're older brother said that you are thinking about becoming a Swordsman."

"Yes, I do." He replied surprised that Itachi had told him that.

"Well… I could give you a few pointers from time to time." He stated.

Sasuke smiled at him and thanked him for the offer and he would take Kisame up on it. Kisame just chuckled and told him that it was fine.

"I have a mission I have to go on with my teammates," he informed them both. "bye!"

"Ah to be that age again," Kisame said with a chuckle, "You're younger brother is as you described him."

Itachi nodded the two of them entered the house they had been given, it was clean, fresh food in the fridge and canned food in the pantry. The beds were made and it looked like the place was ready to be inhabited it.

"I would not have minded a two-bedroom apartment," Kisame stated after he took a quick look around the two story house and came back down where he had spotted Itachi.

Itachi shrugged, "My family does not do things by halves, and besides it's… easier if all Uchiha and their Bonded have a home within the compound. It makes the civilians feel safer."

"I noticed that there is a small pond in the backyard," Kisame said, "Which room do you want?"

Itachi looked around the rooms and chose the left bedroom, Kisame had chosen the right one, they had decided that once they both felt comfortable, they would both move into the master bedroom at a later, unspecified date. Once they were unpacked they headed out to speak with the Hokage, Shusui had come back and informed them that the Hokage had requested to speak to the newest couple of Soul Bonded. It was common that the ninja couples, particularly the couples that have one that is from a different ninja village and speak with them. Kisame was going to head to T&I for a few hours and be allowed to be a special jounin. It did not bother him the decrease in rank and the increase in being watched. They were ninja after all and being suspicious was natural.

One of the interrogators was someone he had met before on the field of battle, Morino Ibiki, a rather tough Konoha ninja that had earned Kisame's respect. During the war, the two had a sort of cat and mouse sort of routine, sometimes it would be Morino chasing after the group of Kiri specialists that Kisame was guarding and sometimes it would be Kisame chasing after a group that Morino was guarding or had kidnapped.

"Well, well, of course they'd choose you," Kisame said with an amused smirk as he leaned back in his chair. Morino was more in the psychological torturer, but he was not afraid of doing physical torture, the scars on his head and face attested to that.

"It's been a long time Hosigaki." Ibiki replied.

After a few minutes of banter they went down to business and the questions about everything and anything Morino made sure not to be insulting with his questions, but Kisame was eager to leave the depressing little metal box the stuffed him into. He wasn't a prisoner, but he did not like being in such a claustrophobic place. After a few more minutes he was allowed to leave, he did so and complained a bit to Itachi, before starting the tour of Konohakagure.