Thanks again for all the reviews! And sorry the last two chapters have been so short. Hopefully this one will be a bit more satisfying.
Chapter 2
The long night was finally over. The sun was already well above the horizon, and the streets that had been silent and empty only a few hours before were now bustling with activity. Sakura sat on a chair looking out a window on the market below. She was in a room on one of the upper floors of the hospital, in almost the same position she'd been in since they'd finished working on the boy from Akatsuki.
He now lay in bed, bandaged and bruised but alive. Tsunade had assigned Sakura to watch over him until he woke. And pray that his injuries would prevent any violent struggles he might make when he did. For now he was resting peacefully and Sakura had no way to occupy herself except by watching the activity below. And now that she was growing tired of that…
Sakura turned her gazed away from the outside to the figure on the bed before her. She, Tsunade, and Shizune had moved him up there themselves. The Hokage wanted to keep him from as few eyes as possible. As far as she knew, no one else who had seen him had yet identified him, including the ninja who had brought him in. Sakura could understand why, he'd been such a mess when she first saw him. But Inner Sakura had gone crazy once he was cleaned up and Sakura had got her first real good look at him. Even with all the injuries, he was obviously a good looking guy.
Rising from her chair, Sakura quickly pushed that observation from her mind, rather embarrassed that those girlish thoughts still managed to worm there way into situations like this. She moved to stand next to the bed, observing the boy steadily. She thought back briefly on the first time she'd seen him. There wasn't much to reminisce on. It had only been for a few minutes, before he'd run off with Gaara's body and was pursued by Naruto and Kakashi while herself and Chiyo confronted the other one. But it had been long enough for her to recognize him just now.
She reached out a hand impulsively and gently touched his face. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than her, 18 or 19 perhaps. (A/N. Not sure what Deidara's age really is, but this seems to be around where most people put him.) And already such a high-ranked criminal. Sakura couldn't imagine how a life like that would be. Always having to live looking over your shoulder, never quite safe no matter where you went. How could anyone choose to exist like that?
Sakura was just drawing her hand back and turning to return to her chair, when suddenly the boy's eyes snapped open. Sakura jerked back but not before one of his hands shot up to grab her wrist in a vice-like grip. She flinched despite herself. He was fast.
There was a moment of silence between the two as they just stared at each other. Sakura didn't know how to react. She didn't want to do anything that might provoke him to attack, but at the same time she didn't want to appear weak or nervous. The other's expression was completely unreadable. "Uh…" Sakura groped frantically for something to say. "How are you feeling?"
The boy's stoic face finally relaxed a bit. He blinked a few times, cerulean eyes darting curiously around the room although his grip on Sakura's wrist never loosened. "Who are you, un? Where am I ? What happened?"
"Er…" Sakura fumbled around again, not sure how much she should tell him. "My name is Sakura," she said after a moment. "You were found injured in the woods last night. You're in a hospital."
"Sakura," the boy said her name experimentally. Then his eyes narrowed and he squeezed his hand tighter. "And are you aware of who I am, un?"
The girl held back a yelp, then nodded coldly. "You're with Akatsuki."
"Very good, un." He grinned impishly at her. Suddenly, the top of Sakura's wrist began to smart painfully as it was clenched hard by something. She cried out in spite of herself. Crap, she thought, thinking back to when she'd first seen those weird hand-mouth things, didn't think about those. He ground down harder. "Then I would suggest you answer my questions a little more fully. Where am I and what is going on, un?"
Sakura bit her lip. Oh well, he'd find out eventually. "You're in Konoha. Some of our scouts found you last night and brought you in. Apparently you got into some kind of fight and came out on the wrong end. You would have died if we hadn't saved your worthless life."
She put a noticeable emphasis on that last statement which made him scowl momentarily. But he released her arm and settled back against the pillows. Sakura snatched her hand back and studied her wrist carefully. The skin wasn't broken but it was bright red and the teeth marks were evident. But it was nothing a little medical jutsu couldn't handle. Sakura plopped back down in her chair and set to work. When she looked back up the boy was staring at her.
"I remember you, un," he spoke up. "You were that brat that was with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. You defeated Sasori-danna."
Sakura nodded, feeling a small sliver of pride when he used the word "defeated". "And you're the jerk who killed Gaara and tried to capture Naruto," she said back.
They were quiet again. Sakura was feeling rather uncomfortable, but she had no way to get a hold of Tsunade. She couldn't just leave the guy there, alone and unattended. She was surprised at how amiable he was being, but her leaving would almost certainly spell disaster. The Hokage had promised to return in a few hours time. She would just have to hold out until then.
"You didn't answer my question," she said.
"Hmm?" He raised and eyebrow at her.
"How're you feeling?" She rose from her chair and stood by the bed again, hands on her hips and as stern a look as she could muster on her face. "Whether I like you or not, you are still my patient. And I will therefore treat you as such."
He glanced up at her then away again. "I'm fine, un. Just a little sore."
Sakura nodded then reached down to pull down the bed sheets and check his bandages. She wasn't surprised when he pulled away. The kunoichi sighed then glared down at him. "Look, you've been reasonable cooperative so far, so I really don't want to complain. But you need to understand that we don't mean you any harm. Not yet, at least. Although I don't know exactly why the Hokage decided to help you, I'm not going to do anything against her wishes. So, please…" she trailed off, uncertain what to call the boy.
He seemed to sense what her problem was and after a moment he muttered, "Deidara. My name is Deidara, un."
"Deidara," Sakura repeated. "If you would please just let me do my job, it will make life easier for everyone. You have several broken bones and bad gashes. The wounds need to be checked and some of the bandages changed." She reached down for the sheets again and this time he lay still as she drew them back.
"Fine," he said, "work your magic." He looked away from her to gaze nonchalantly at the bare ceiling. After a moment he began to hum a cheery little tune to himself. Sakura had to work not to stare at him. This Deidara was an odd one.
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Unbeknownst to the two ninja, they were, at that very moment, being observed. A sparrow, small, insignificant, was perched on the window sill. It pecked absently at some minute beetle scurrying by, as any bird would. But its bright eyes were trained on the two teenagers in the room beyond. Deep and intelligent eyes they were. Not like those of a normal bird.
Once the girl rose to check the boy's injuries, the sparrow shook itself quickly and then took flight. Didn't seem like anything interesting was going to happen now. The tiny bird rose into the sky, gliding high over the colorful village below. Then, with a quick sweep of its wings, the sparrow flitted off towards the forest. It moved quickly, fast as a large chestnut bullet. After awhile, Konoha a few miles behind now, it suddenly folded its wings back and dropped, straight through the leafy canopy. The landscape it emerged on was completely diced, runnels torn in the earth, trees turned charcoal. The same place Deidara had been found the night before.
The sparrow alighted on a low hanging branch and emitted a series of saucy trills. In the wake of this chorus, a shape stepped out of the shadow of an old oak. Sharp blue eyes glared out from beneath a long fringe of auburn hair. A small form clad in a tight dark green robe and heavy black boots, the figure stepped forward into a weak beam of sunshine. The light revealed a young woman, slim and fine-featured. Her cold eyes glanced up at the sparrow. "What news?" a low voice rose from the finely formed lips.
The bird ruffled its feathers briefly before dropping from its perch to the ground. In a puff of smoke, the transformation jutsu was lifted and another young woman appeared. Unlike her porcelain companion, this girl was taller and fuller, still feminine but obviously a physical force to be reckoned with. She brushed a lock of ebony hair out of her face before answering her companion. "He is still alive. And it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon."
"Tch." The first girl shook her head. "Kanaye won't be happy about that. He wanted to finish this one off as quickly as possible."
"Well, there's no point in attacking now. Not while he's in Konoha. That would be a challenge too great for us even."
"What do you think we should do?"
"I'll remain here for now. Keep an eye on things. You should return to Kanaye, let him know what's going on."
"Yeah, leave me to take the heat."
"He may have put us up to this, but that doesn't put him above us. You could kill him in a second if you wanted anyways."
The smaller girl sighed. "Whatever. Just don't get caught."
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"I told you, I don't want to talk about it, un!"
"And why not?"
"Why should I, un? What reason do I have to help you?"
"Well, let's see. Maybe because I saved your bloody life!"
"So, un?"
"You do know that honor is part of a ninja's code, right?"
"Not mine."
Tsunade growled in frustration, putting her head in her hands and massaging her temples. Sakura stood behind her sensei's chair, arms crossed and glaring daggers at Deidara. The blonde, however, appeared to be having the time of his life. He was lounging in bed, arms crossed behind his head, corners of his mouth twitching and elfish eyes dancing impishly.
It was getting late, and the two woman had been interrogating Deidara for nearly an hour by then. But he was refusing to give them any answers. He was having a grand time leading them around by the nose though, as they desperately attempted to pick his brain of what had happened the previous night. Part of Sakura wondered if even he really knew what had happened to him.
"Can't you at least tell us why you were this close to Konoha?"
"I can tell you it has nothing to do with my getting attacked, so it is therefore none of your business, un."
"But who did it?" Tsunade pushed. "Is it someone who could be dangerous to the village?"
Deidara shrugged. "Don't know, don't care, un."
"Would you please stop saying 'un'?"
"No, un."
Tsunade slammed her fist hard against one of the chair arms, making Deidara's grin grow even wider. "Throwing a tantrum won't help you, un," he chastised the Hokage brightly. Tsunade stared at him in near disbelief for a second before shooting up to a standing position. She put a hand on Sakura's shoulder and propelled her towards the door, mouth set in an angry line. Deidara chuckled as they left the room.
Slamming the door behind them, Tsunade turned to Sakura. "I'm sorry you've had to be stuck with him all day. You can go on home for now. I'll have a few ANBU posted around the area in case he tries anything funny."
"Have you even told anyone else about him yet?" Sakura asked.
Tsunade shook her head. "Just you, me, and Shizune know the specifics. A few know that we have someone out of the ordinary here, but not specifically who. That could cause a riot. Now, I want you to go home and get some sleep. Meet me at the village gates first thing in the morning. I'm going to have Hiroshi take us out to where he found Deidara. I'd like to take a look around there."
Sakura nodded, suddenly realizing how tired she was. "Hai, Tsunade-shishou," she agreed with a yawn.
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Well, it was a little longer than the last one. Sorry it's still kinda short. I just want to get as much out as possible before school starts. Hope no one seemed too OOC. Oh, and Deidara has finally returned to the manga! does a happy dance And he got his arms back too! But on the downside, it looks like he's been partnered with Tobi :p I miss Sasori already. R&R!