Chapter 4: Idealistic

May 14, 2016

-Part 1-


A warm breeze flowed through the open window that poured afternoon sunlight into the main room of Deidara's house; once in a while the room was engulfed in shadows when a lone cloud managed to pass over the sun, all warmth would disappear in those seconds.

Said blonde sat in his chair, staring at the table before him. Fifteen empty canisters that stood at attention across the top half of the wooden surface, twenty fuses in a coiled mass of black swirls that lay in a jumbled pile to the right, and ten tiny sake cups on the left, filled with different powders ranging from tones of pink to sage green.

Hands crossed over the blonde's chest as blue eyes stared fixedly at the table, lost deep in thought.

Twenty-five minutes had gone by since Deidara had sat down, during that time neither arm rose to touch the fireworks that vied for his undivided attention.

It had been three days since the Akatsuki incident, three days filled with unease that seemed to choke the air and prick at Deidara's skin like an infuriating rash. During these days of anxiety, the blonde's mind had been so consumed with thoughts of what had transpired that the creation of fireworks had been thoroughly ignored.

Team Magma's attempts on controlling the legendary pokemon had been insane, and nearly allowed for the world to perish in fire; if the Akatsuki had once been team Magma, then it was plausible to assume their goal was similar.

"Chikorita?" The pokemon asked cautiously; glancing downwards the blonde eyed the grass pokemon who was sitting at the leg of the chair, its leaf bent back to peer up as far as its head could go.

"Just thinking about the Akatsuki again, I… I can't get it out of my head." Deidara sighed, sitting back in his chair, arms falling from their rigid hold on his chest. Seeing the opening, Chikorita jumped up into his lap and sat there looking into the blonde's tired eyes. It cocked its head at him, willing him to continue, to get it out of his system.

"During the battle I kept a close eye on Hidan. Based off what I've heard off Team Magma, this Akatsuki isn't anything like the original; they're more violent and seem willing to go to extremes to achieve their goals. . .people like that are dangerous!" Gritting his teeth Deidara resorted to tugging on his ponytail while he ranted. "Yeah, that Hidan was a bit of an idiot, but, there's no way that he's the only member."

Chikorita sat there, tracing its tiny feet together, listening carefully before rubbing its head against Deidara's stomach and waving its leaf up at him. A pleasurable flowery smell wafted up from the leaf, filling the room, allowing for the blonde's body to relax.

The scent seemed to allow for Deidara to take a deep breath that exhaled all his problems out of his mind for the moment; cupping the grass pokemon to his body, the blonde smiled down at it, rubbing his hand against the side of its head. Chikorita sought the warmth of the hand, reciprocating the movement to Deidara's utmost joy.

Even though the thoughts of the Akatsuki were daunting, having his own pokemon to talk to, bond with, and play with was bliss.

"Thanks, I needed that. You're right, I shouldn't be worrying, huh?" Chikorita nodded its head vigorously, smiling up at him with big red eyes as if trying to reassure him of all the threats in the world.

A rumble emanated from Chikorita who shuffled its feet with a tiny blush as it became bashful from the noise. Deidara chuckled at the pokemon's reaction and sighed when his own stomach made an annoyed sound, reminding him a bit of an exasperated Sasori.

"I guess we're both hungry, well, lunch time!" It was childish how Deidara got up and raced the pokemon across the wooden floors, down the hallway, and into the kitchen where the blonde tore open the refrigerator to stare at the contents. White light spilled over Deidara's upper body, turning his blonde hair into a platinum mass that glowed in the sheer radiance.

A normal fridge is usually full of healthy food, some junk food, and liquids; all that remained in Deidara's was a can of tuna and some leftover orange juice from the other day. What could he say, the blonde lived solo and didn't have much use for a stocked fridge, it would all probably go to waste anyway.

Deidara's face fell at the contents, cold air that traced up his face like a hand fell away as he turned towards Chikorita who stood at his feet with its front hooves on the fridge, trying to stretch its head high enough to see into the cold box.

"Tuna?" Returning to its normal standing position, Chikorita rolled its eyes and sniffed, proving that tuna certainly wouldn't do for its petite appetite.

The blonde understood too well, he certainly wasn't in the mood for tuna and orange juice either, cooked meat sounded heavenly about now, maybe some ice cream for dessert. Both pokemon and human seemed to have the same mindset as they exchanged glances and Chikorita hopped into Deidara's arms and they both exited the house.

Wind with the pressure of a feather, ghosted around them, ruffling the blonde's tank top as he swiftly walked down to the small store.

"Ok, so how about some steak for me, and you can pick something out, yeah?" Chikorita nodded from his arms, snuggling curled between the two appendages as it looked around at the world.

Like any other day, it certainly was pleasant, the sun was out and about trying to dodge the upcoming clouds, and there was warmth. But if you knew what had gone down a few days ago-like everyone in the town had-you'd look at the place a bit different. The clouds covering the sun every few minutes was daunting, the warmth felt colder than normal and made people shiver, and when the wind blew the trees to the suicide forest people veered away from it. It wasn't that anything concerning the land/weather had changed, it was the thought that the encounter with the Akatsuki would happen again. It was possible that they would realize that Professor Birch was actually needed, and would come to retrieve him again, but they'd send someone to actually progress the mission and achieve their goal.

These were thoughts that circled back into the blonde's head as he fast-walked, he couldn't help it, there was a nagging suspicion in his stomach that wouldn't let up, a feeling that wasn't derived from hunger. Even so, Deidara hoped that eating and getting a good's night sleep, would rid himself of this feeling.

"Good afternoon Deidara." Upon entering the store, Deidara found Ino's mother behind the counter, rearranging a stand for gum. A smile was flashed his way, light blonde hair frizzing around the edges of her face in a tired way. "Could you be a nice lad, and grab that for me?" Her index gestured towards a pack of gum that had fallen to the floor on the side of the counter where Deidara had entered.

Making sure that his left arm had a good hold on the pokemon, Deidara leaned down and swiped the packet up and onto the counter with a quick movement.

Ino's mother smiled warmly, taking it from him to place it on the rack once more, her dim blue eyes turning to meet his as Deidara shifted a strand of hair away from his right eye.

"Thank you." Deidara gave a nod before allowing Chikorita to run on the floor to find something it wanted to eat and shuffled off to the fridge for a container of some kind of meat that would hopefully deal with his hunger pains and suspicion pains. "You know, Ino was just here. If you wait a few minutes she'll be right back."

With a hand still on the handle to one of the freezers that held meat, Deidara stood there, not opening it as he inwardly cringed at the woman's words; eyes closing in distaste he took a few breaths before answering with as much professionalism he could.

"One of my deadlines are coming up, the project must be done and sent out by then." Flicking the door open, Deidara kneeled down to grasp a pack of steak and ham before shutting the door, the frigid air sent giving him a slight chill. "As nice as that would be to see your daughter...I just don't have time to do so." The older woman nodded at the blonde's words as he grasped a bag of chips, a dozen pack of lemon soda, and a few candies from the stand at the front.

"By the way, you got any Pokemon food?" Bending over, the woman produced a semi large see-through container that held many pellets.

Something brushed Deidara's legs, his eyes widened before looking down to find Chikorita with a bag of lettuce, its little mouth clamped shut on a corner of it. Glad that the pokemon at least had some other kind of food that it would enjoy, he picked up the bag and added it to the pile of food.

Chikorita was placed on the blonde's head as Ino's mother rang up the items, one at a time. The constant beeping of the machine rang as each item was scanned. Making a small nest for itself, Chikorita sprawled across Deidara's head, playfully nibbling on the hair tie that held up the ponytail.

"That'll be $23.18, please." Digging into the pockets of his shorts, Deidara brought out a plain wallet that was black and white with curly words that the blonde had written himself: True art is an Explosion! There was even a small firework painted at the bottom, showing only a glimpse of what could be in an instant. This simple wallet proved that fireworks weren't the only commodity that the blonde was superior at.

Handing over a fifty, Deidara waited patiently as he was handed the exact amount back. With the wallet back in his back pocket, the blonde nodded at Ino's mother, grasping the bags in both hands and quietly left the store.

Taking a deep breath of air, Deidara sighed; it felt like he aged two years every time he stopped in at the Yamanaka's store. The only positive thing about the ordeal was that Ino hadn't shown up during the shopping period.

With two bags in each hand, they both set off for home, bags swinging both from momentum and the breeze.

"Well, that went surprisingly well." Chikorita nodded, seeming to also be on the lookout for Ino, since just the other day it had seen the girl flirt with its master, even if it was just a pokemon Chikorita could see the blondes unease.

"Deidara!" The blonde turned to whoever had yelled his name, instantly recognizing the person, who was rushing towards him. Deidara had no time to sidestep as Ino crashed into him, tugging her arms around him in a painful hug that nearly brought both of them to the ground.

With the last bits of his desperation, the blonde made sure not to fall with this girl on top of him, that would lead to even bigger problems.

Resting her chin on his chest, Ino clung to the jacket he wore, grin up at him with that girly smirk of hers. "You should have waited for me, you sly fox." Deidara's eye twitched at the sudden nickname, not liking it in the least. "Let me carry some of those for you." If he'd been asked by anyone else the artist would have agreed without a second of hesitance, but this being Ino. . .Deidara clung to the bags, shaking his head.

"Nope, get off Ino." Ino's face contorted to that of a frown, squishing her thin eyebrows to meet the tips of her eyelashes.

"Come on, we can totally take the long way!" Deidara just stared at the young teenager before him, was this girl that dense that she couldn't catch on that he didn't want to go out with her?

"Ino," maybe it was time for him to actually tell her the truth, gritting his teeth at the thought before taking a reassuring breath. "Ino I-" But Ino was no longer listening, fanning her hand at him kiddingly.

"Ok, Ok I got it. You're busy and don't want my assistance cause you think I'd get in the way! Hmph." Ino scoffed at this, adding in a dramatic hair flip before letting go and going around him. "Well, I'll see you later then?" There was an undertone in that certainly meant something else, causing Deidara to look up at the sky as if asking why he had to suffer this torture.

"Probably not." That was the simple truth, it was almost as blunt as telling the girl he wasn't interested in having a relationship with her. Chikorita situated itself better on Deidara's head, all but ignoring the girl, knowing full well that Deidara was just as uncomfortable as it.

Ino gave a small nod, biting her lip before replacing it with a fast smile; spinning around she turned onto a side street that led to her house. Deidara watched her go for a second, almost half betting that this was some kind of ruse, and she'd scream: "SIKE" and rush back with another hug, and probably try and kiss him.

The blonde repressed a shiver of horror, trying in vain to unimagine the image he'd just envisioned of someday kissing Ino.

"No, just no," Deidara muttered, bringing up one arm and bending the hand back across the shoulder to allow the bags to come to rest against the middle of his back in a lazy manner as the blonde shook the distaste away and continued on.

The pantone sandals only met the ground twice before a loud cry of the word stop filled the air with the harshness of nails on a chalkboard.

But before Deidara could even take three steps, there was a loud cry.

"Houndour, use ember!" There was shriek from the way Ino had gone.

There was only one person who had a Houndour that Deidara knew about; narrowing his eyes the blonde turned to gaze down the street. Ino was backed up against one of the apartment buildings, a circle of flames around her sandals, clutching at the wall in a futile way to escape those wild-fire shots that now tried to lick at her. The attacker had his black hood up, flames outlining the brim of it; even though the face was not facing his way, Deidara knew-without a doubt-that it was Hidan.

"Alright blondie, I fucking need you to come with me." Deidara sighed, definitely Hidan.

Ino turned her frightened stare up from the flames that were beginning to dissipate around her legs, bottom lip trembling she screamed at him.

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would you shoot flames at me you jerk!? Get a life!"

"Don't play dumb with me, blondie. Just cause you changed your part doesn't mean I wouldn't, damn well, recognize you!" The hood was pushed back, leaving Hidan's face bare as he smiled, seeming proud to see through such a basic disguise Ino had; Deidara was about ready to throw all morality aside and attack this guy himself. He thought Ino was HIM!? The blonde wanted to do a massive face-palm at the idiot, it certainly was the same Hidan, no mistaking it.

Ino seemed just at a loss, staring at him with a shocked expression as if not knowing what to say in this situation.

There was a part of Deidara that wanted to just walk down there and intervene, but he couldn't stop the grin spread over his face as the bags were dropped and his hands went to the back pocket, producing a stink bomb and the silver lighter with the curly D engraved beautifully on its smooth surface. The lighter caught the sun's light for a second as it was flicked open and a flame produced from its opening like a greeting.

"Heads up," muttering these words, Deidara lit the fuse with the grin still in place, and chucked it to Hidan where it plopped and rolled, coming to a stop at the back of the albino's shoe.

Ino-who had managed to see Deidara and his smoke bomb-jumped over the flames, the tallest almost catching her sandal, but she landed safely on the other side and took off in the opposite direction.
"What the fuck," Hidan yelled. "Get the hell back here, blonde bitch!" Turning around to follow Ino, the albino caught site of the smoke bomb instantly backing up as the explosive blew and smoke spewed everywhere.

Unlike its master, Houndour was smart enough to rush out of the smoke, coughing with loud chokes as it plopped down, panting to wait for the struggling albino who was cursing.

Grasping the grocery bags again, Deidara walked down the street, coming to a stop in front of the column of smoke that was barely beginning to dissipate in the mid-afternoon light.

"How many times are ya gonna come back here, Hidan? Can't you just leave us alone!?" Deidara grit his teeth angrily, Chikorita squeaked, peeking over the thick locks to stare at the smoke but still hide its nose as the stink reached its nose.

"Bitch (cough), shut up! (hack, choke)" There was so much choking and hacking that Deidara almost couldn't hear the insult, but who said that was a bad thing?

The wind rose at this second, rattling the bags in the blonde's grip, and blowing off the smoke into the blue sky where is vanished, though the smell remained settling around the street, seeping into the cracks and into the two's noses.

"What is with you and those damn, fireworks?!" Exasperated and tired from coughing Hidan glared at Deidara, wiping his red eyes with a sleeve of his Akatsuki jacket.

"They're art in a 3D form, perfectly perfect and the best way to deal with nuisances such as yourself." Blue eyes lingered longingly on the empty canister of the smoke bomb, stray wisps of smoke lifted off the charred top.

Hidan's eye twitched at the others words, obviously not caring what the blonde had to say about the annoying fireworks.

The longing gaze on the dead firework was shattered as the albino crushed the canister under his feet with a growl; Deidara's eyes twitched as they pierced Hidan's with anger that surprised the albino into thinking he'd somehow insulted the others art again, but that was only half the reason Deidara was ticked off at the Akatsuki member.

"You thought…that, she was me?" Purple eyes followed Deidara's gaze, finding them locked onto Ino who was a few buildings down, leaning against an open doorway with a glare set onto the albino; the girl seemed to have regained some confidence by having a decent amount of space between her and Hidan.

The albino's mouth gaped open for a few seconds, opening and closing like a fish as his eyes widened, staring between the two blondes who both sent him glares. Deidara sighed, Hidan truly was an idiot, no matter how cool he tried to act.

"Hey Ino," perking up, Ino turned her light blue eyes to the blonde. "What happened to not talking to strangers?"


Author: So Hidan has returned to Littleroot and seems to be trying to get Deidara to come with him for some reason!

Hope you're liking the story so far, I sure am!

See ya, Love ya

-Jinx of the desert