The streets of Iwa were deserted as Deidara walked home. His clothes were still caked in a layer of mud and his hair dripped water down his face. The Autumn air hurled itself at him and his clothes stuck to him in the wind. He shivered as he clung to Hanabi who howled loudly inside his coat every time her namesake, an illegal firework, made its journey into the air. The dogs wet fur soaked Deidara even further, making his teeth chatter as he walked.
The boy was nearly home when a woman with a flashlight shone a sharp white light into his eyes, startling him and making him jump back, nearly dropping Hanabi.
"Thank the Gods" she shouted, running at him and clinging to him. The bony lumps where her hands used to be digging into his back.
"Momoko?" he asked, knowing that he was in for a lecture. His Mother may never punish him or shout at him but her best friend was a different story. Kuroki and Momoko had met in hospital back in Iwa when his Mother and her were both recovering from their injuries. As Kuriko's old friends had drifted away after they became aware of her disfigurement, Momoko and her had just gotten closer.
"Your Mother was worried sick, you silly child. Where have you been all evening?" she screeched, clipping the boy around the ear. Deidara strayed from her hand but the blow still caught, causing him to nearly slip in the mud of the road.
"I… I… fell in the lake" he lied, staring down at the puddles that were starting to form around him. He was so cold that he had barely noticed that the icy rain was beginning to become torrential.
"You're soaked through, look at you! And what's that in your coat?" Momoko demanded, her arms crossed in anger as she stared at the blonde. Her long, curly, red hair either plastered to her arms or whipping around her in the wind, hitting Deidara in the face.
"It's a puppy, I found it… near the lake" he answered, his voice suddenly almost incomprehensible in the approaching storm. Unluckily for him, Momoko had perfect hearing and had picked up every single word of the lie.
"You stole someone's dog?" she asserted, her voice sharp as she asked the question.
"No, I found it… it was no one's dog" he shouted back, clinging to Hanabi. Although he'd only had the dog for a very short time, he knew he couldn't possibly let anyone take her from him. She was his friend.
"Let me see" Momoko stated, now calm as she noticed how attached Deidara was to the dog. She realised that it would be hard to get this dog off the boy but if she didn't take it. Kuroki would happily let him keep the pup, whether it was someone else's or not. Deidara zipped down his hood and the dog immediately poked her head out. The black and tan muzzle pointing upwards as she howled at another firework. She shivered and pulled herself back into his coat as the first of the thunder sounded. Deidara had heard that there was once a bad ninja from Konoha, that could turn into thunder. The stories he had heard about that nin had always scared him when he was younger.
"That's a pure-bred dog Deidara, it's a fighting dog, that is no stray, let me take it home and I'll put posters up around the Village, no need you getting attached to it" Momoko said sighing, knowing that he was indeed, already attached to the puppy. She was hopeful that immediately separating the two would cause the least damage but she was sure she would be taking a crying boy back to Kuroki tonight.
"No! Some man tried to throw it into the lake" the boy insisted.
Momoko looked at Deidara as she rubbed the scars criss-crossing her neck, that stretched down her back. They had itched since the day she had received them, nearly driving her demented sometimes.
"With all those people around? Are you lying to me Deidara? Where did you really find this dog?" Momoko questioned, her grey eyes focused on the boy. Now that she was sure of a lie, she would hunt the truth until the very end.
"A man threw it into the river and I jumped in and saved it" the blonde bellowed, trying to make the truth reach her. If she didn't believe him, he knew she'd take the dog. He only lied so as not to worry his Mother.
"Okay then, I trust you, you're going to catch your death if we stand out here, don't tell your Mother you jumped into that river though" Momoko said matter-of-factly, she was a straight-talking woman and she knew the truth when she heard it. It made sense to why Deidara was soaking wet, shivering and covered in muck.
The small house sat in front of them, warm light shining out from the two front windows. Deidara could see that their bedroom light was on too, as well as all the other lights of the house. That meant his Mother was worried, she only ever forgot to turn off the lights when her mind was preoccupied by something else. It was definitely the smallest house on the street, its roof was also the only one which was thatched with straw which actually made it warmer in Winter than the tiny apartment they'd lived in before.
Deidara ran ahead of Momoko and through the front door. He knew for a fact that the front door would be open. She never locked that when she was worried either. He nearly ran head first into her when he rushed in. She was sitting with her head in her hands, out of her chair, on the stairs up into their only bathroom.
She looked up as he came to a sudden stop in front of her, tears streaming down her face.
He leapt into her arms and hugged her tightly, almost forgetting the puppy who squirmed between them.
"What's that then?" she asked, wiping the tears from her face and smiling up at her son.
"That's Hanabi, some man tried to throw her into the river but I saved her" Deidara answered quickly, completely forgetting that he wasn't meant to tell her.
"I told you not to tell her that" Momoko sighed, as she took off her coat. Balancing it on the ends of her arms and throwing it up on the rack.
"You did what! One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack" Kuroki howled, putting her hands over her eyes in exaggerated shock.
"I'm sorry" Deidara whimpered, hugging her close to him. Forgetting that he was too old to be sitting on his Mother's knee and cuddling her.
"You were brave to save Hanabi but never, ever do that again, you could have died" she answered, rubbing fresh tears from her eyes.
"I nearly did, the current sucked me under and then I realised that if I followed the current it would spit me out again and it did, so I dragged myself onto the bank… and then I passed out" Deidara stated bluntly.
"By the Gods… just go and put on your pyjama's and eat your dinner, it's nearly cold and it's past your bed time already" she chided as Deidara jumped off her knee. He went to run into the kitchen, quickly changing direction and heading into their bedroom.
"Where are you going Deidara?" Momoko asked as she sat down beside her friend.
Kuroki looked as though she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
"I have to tuck Hanabi into my bed first and bring her up some food" Deidara insisted.
Kuroki began laughing, having made her decision to not cry again tonight.
Momoko just nodded slowly.
"Well okay, just make sure you have some dinner left" Kuroki added quickly.
Deidara overheard the conversation as he tucked Hanabi into his bed. Her head poking out from above the covers as she wriggled a little before falling straight to sleep. Deidara had forgotten that the dog was covered in mud and now looking at the once completely white sheets, he remembered.
The voices drifted in from the hallway, "What possessed him to do that? He nearly died" his Mother whispered but not quietly enough.
"He's sure your son Kuroki, tell me you wouldn't have done the same." Momoko answered laughing loudly.
That night.
Deidara woke up suddenly to the sound of his new pet sneezing. He jumped up and hugged her tight to himself, terrified that she was sick. The dog just wriggled out of his arms and shook herself awake, walking over to the door to their bedroom. As Deidara looked around the room. He noticed that his Mother wasn't in her side of the bed and the time on the clock said it was four thirty in the morning.
He got up and followed the dog to the door, she was sitting patiently, waiting to be let out. Shaking her little stump of a tail and peering up at him with her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Deidara was about to open the door, when he heard talking coming from the kitchen. He usually wasn't one to eavesdrop but tonight it seemed like a good idea, with the lies today and now this, he was starting to wonder if he was a bad person. The first voice was definitely his Mother and that other voice sounded like Momoko.
"If he hits you, you have to leave him".
"I will, it's just he's so high up in the police force. They'll come after me."
"I'll tell them you're not here, you can stay in the attic. The entrance is hidden. I made sure it was".
"For me?"
"Of course"
"It's just after I lost all those babies, it started, I feel like it's somewhat my fault"
He stood away from the door and lay backwards down on the bed. Sometimes they just forgot he was there and talked openly about it. This was an old conversation that Deidara had heard over and over again. He knew the whole story and his stomach filled with rage. He'd known Momoko forever and her husband beat her up. He came back from the war after she had and when she got out of hospital, his Mother had said he was never the same, had started drinking and gambling away all their money. The blonde still felt guilty about eavesdropping but leaned against the door a while later after the dog had started to whine to see if the discussion was finished. The conversation had taken a different turn.
"Kuroki, if the Tsuchikage ever finds out he'll kill you, you'll be branded a traitor, are you ever going to tell Deidara?"
There was a long pause then, which was filled mainly with Hanabi's soft whining.
"I will tell him…. when he's old enough to understand"
Deidara crawled back into bed after that and was plagued by so many questions that he couldn't sleep. By the time he finally fell asleep, it was nearly time to get up again.
That morning
The sun blinded him when he woke up. His alarm rang shrilly beside him and he hit it forcefully and dragged himself out of bed. The daylight filtering through the blinds and onto himself and his Mother who was snoring quietly beside him. As he pulled himself out of bed and threw on his clothes, he wondered about what he'd overheard. He trusted his Mother. He wanted to tell her that he didn't think she was a traitor but he knew if he did that she'd realise he was listening in. He decided it was best to just have his breakfast, go to school and come up with a way to talk to her about while he was bored in class.
As he placed his empty cereal bowl in the sink, he noticed an envelope sitting underneath his small satchel. On it, was his Mother's perfect writing. It said 'Take Hanabi with you, if Takahashi doesn't like it, give him this".
Deidara smiled as he ran too school, how was his Mother a traitor when she let him take his dog to school?
The large steel gates of the Iwa Ninja Academy rose in front of him as he came to a halt. Hanabi sitting beside him and leaning into his legs. The dog suddenly started to growl and he leaned down to pet her but the growling just got worse. She jumped back as a pair of hands gripped Deidara's throat and forced him against the fence.
"Ya think we'd forget about ya, did ya?" spat Kin as he pushed Deidara into the fence.
He could feel the cold steel numbing his back and he was tensing himself up for when the punches would start.
"No, I didn't, let me explain!" Deidara stated, he tried to force some confidence into his voice. What came out instead, was something that sounded incredibly apathetic.
"Let him explain, Kin" Aiko interjected from behind the two, the honey-blonde saving Deidara from a beating for the time being.
"Alright, alright, go on retard, tell me where ya were yesterday?" Kin answered, scowling at Aiko who just took a few steps back not wishing to be the one hit.
"I took Emiko and we kissed" reported Deidara calmly as he stood with his arms folded, forcing a smirk.
"Emiko, the hottest girl at the Academy? You kissed her. Don't make me laugh" Kin answered, laughing despite his comment.
"I did, I swear" Deidara smiled, leaning against the fence and looking through the bars, pretending to look for Emiko. It was then he noticed that Hanabi was behind him and he nearly tripped over her. She was cowering under his legs.
That seemed to calm Kin down a bit as he turned and grasped Aiko shoulder "Well me and the loudmouth here will investigate, we're genin so we'll find out if you're lying".
As the two walked out of sight and into the Academy, Deidara slumped onto the path and tried his best to think of a solution. Thankfully, one presented itself to him in the form of three girls who wandered up to him and poked at him gently.
"What's wrong Deidara?" the tallest one asked, making sure to pronounce the syllables slowly so he could understand.
The blonde took his head out of his hands and looked up, the girls all had short pink hair and were dressed nearly identically.
They had spread rumours about Deidara before and because of that he despised them. Although they caused him nothing but trouble, he decided that they were an obvious solution to his problem.
"I kissed Emiko at the festival and now I think she found out I was in 'The Special Class' and doesn't like me anymore" he answered, pressing his face into his knees again and pretending to cry loudly.
The shortest of the pink haired girls screeched at this fake piece of gossip and shouting, "That's why she didn't go to the festival with Daiko!"
There was quiet for a while as the leader of the group once again spoke to Deidara before they walked off. "We won't tell anyone Deidara, I promise". The strolled off then, giggling amongst themselves.
He waited for the playground to quiet down again before he walked up to his class. The dog trailing behind him. He tried not to be mad at her for being such a scaredy-cat but he was a little angry anyway. He gave her a bit of his sandwich outside the door that he meant to keep for lunch because he felt a little bad.
That was four lies he'd told in two days, the most lies he'd ever told. His Mother wasn't a traitor but maybe she'd raised a rotten son. As he pushed open the door and the dog walked in with him.
Takahashi was distracted for a moment from shouting at him for being late. "Kinta Deidara, why is that mutt here, get it out of my classroom immediately" he bellowed, spit flying from his mouth and into Deidara's face.
He winced as Takahashi took a step forward but then remembered the letter his Mother had given him. He pulled it out of his bag and handed it to his Sensei, holding it as far away from his body as was humanly possible.
His Sensei stopped as he tore it open, reading it out loud as if it was a note that Deidara had been caught trying to pass to another pupil.
"Sensei Takahashi, Please turn to page 13 of the Iwa Academy Rulebook that I have enclosed". As he turned the pages his scowl just got bigger. Deidara didn't think he'd also read the rule but surprisingly he did. "When applicable, any ninja at any level of ability may bring a trained hound with them to class as long as 1: The dog is not disruptive and 2. The dog has already imprinted on its owner".
His Sensei's face went red with rage and he just grabbed Deidara's wrist and pulled him forward, then giving him a harsh shove towards his desk.
The rest of the day went smoothly. Yusushi still wasn't friends with him and each hour went by slowly as Deidara felt more and more awkward. Lunch went by quickly because the pink haired girls had not kept their promise and many people Deidara had never met before were rushing up to him and asking him if the rumours were true. Yusushi was not one of them and sat in the corner they used to sit in together, when Deidara tried to speak to him, he just walked away.
Eventually after another few hours in class, Deidara sent him a note asking if they were still friends. Yusushi just stood up without reading it and placed it in the bin at the top of class. Takahashi barked something at him for leaving his seat but Yusushi just ignored him as usual.
After school, he walked out in the playground and sat with Hanabi beside his tree. The sunlight filtering through the branches and caused his bright blue eyes to water slightly. He closed his eyes and nearly fell asleep, there in the sunlight when he was once again lifted to his feet.
"Oi faggot, so you kissed Emiko then did ya?" asked Kin, his voice quiet but filled with murderous intent.
Deidara nodded his head under the strain of being lifted off his feet.
"Well then…" Kin said, leaning in close to his face.
Deidara could smell his breath and it stunk like rotten food. He was waiting for the punches to land when suddenly Kin dropped him and roared, "Welcome to the Warriors of the Rock".
The blonde boy stood up properly and smiled wildly. Aiko smiled back but Kin was too busy jumping from foot-to-foot in mock celebration and hitting them both forcefully on the backs.
As Deidara looked off into the distance and noticed Yusushi standing staring at him. The brunette gestured for him to come over but when Deidara began to walk, he was stopped by Kin.
"Hey, ya don't have to hang out with people like dat anymore, come on with us" Kin said bluntly, pointing towards the village.
So Deidara turned and walked away with the two boys, leaving his quiet friend alone.
