----- I got Captured by Deidara -----

----- By: Terrier.Z -----

----- Chapter Four: Psychopaths- are People I Relate To-----

I was absolutely thrilled when Deidara had unlocked the chains that wrapped around my wrists- my escape plan was unfolding perfectly! I pretended to be a good little captive and play along; I took off my oversized hoodie, a rather difficult and painful process with only one working arm. After winning the battle to get my sweater off I pretended to stare off into space. In reality I was paying close attention to my surroundings and maneuvering things to my advantage. When I reached with my good arm to merely scratch my head I was actually fidgeting with the knotting in my blindfold. I had gotten it loose enough that I was pretty sure it was in danger of sliding off my face.

Deidara had straightened the upper arm bone -the humerus he called it- into what I was assuming, and hoping, was the correct position for it to heal in. Then he had used rolls of bandage to wrap it into place. Technically it was a poor job, but for the moment I was happy enough with it. I had long since grown accustomed to the constant banging throb in my arm, if there ever was a spike in pain I'd stay calm and wait it out using my anti-pain mantra 'Breathe in, breathe out'. It worked well enough.

Deidara was finishing with my arm and talking about how I shouldn't move it much. Well duuur, it hurts too much to move it anyway. This had me concerned; if I was planning to run away my arm would be moving quite a bit. Ow. While Deidara chattered on I was only half listening to what he was saying though. Well maybe only one-fourth. The other three-fourths of me were back in shinobi mode. I had dredged up every thing I could think of from my training; chakra control, weaponry throwing, the basic jutsu.

Maybe it wouldn't be enough, but it was worth a shot though. If manage to escape then hell yeah! In his face! If I didn't…well I'd have tried my best and I was most likely going to be dying anyway. Oh well, so much for positive attitude.

He was standing up. My muscles tensed and quivered with anticipation. Deidara dusted his hands off on his cloak, making a pat-pat sound. This was it.

Ready. I heaved my weight onto my good hand.

Set. I pushed off the ground then rapidly folded into a crouched stance, like a cat ready to pounce.

And…

GO! I lunged forward ripping my blind fold off and hurtling into a bewildered Deidara.

I took in my surroundings. We were in a small clearing surrounded by the dense woods and underbrush. The sun shone brightly down in patches through the tree's canopy. Deidara had a small heap of equipment piled precariously next to a tree – what did he need so much stuff for? Deidara himself had the funniest expression playing across his features; a mix between surprise, anger and annoyance, also maybe amusement at the fact that I was about to hit him head on.

At the last second I pulled back and intentionally fell backwards. Using reflexes I was sure I would have forgotten by now, I caught myself on my good arm. The impact rattled my make-shift cast; I grit my teeth against the pain. I swung my right leg out, hooking it behind his ankle. As I jerked my foot back I sent Deidara tumbling to the ground. Using the momentum of my right leg coming back, and a heave from my left arm I got back to an upright position. Before Deidara had time to register what was going on I had pushed off and was sprinting for the cover of trees ahead of me.

Pumping chakra to my feet let me run faster that normal. As soon as my foot would touch the ground I would send a pulse of chakra into it. The result was me ripping through the forest's undergrowth with little disregard to the branches and thorns trying to tear me apart. It did snag and scratch my arms; leaving little steaks of red and a stinging sensation. My sweater would have protected my bare arms, but I had abandoned my hoodie in exchange for freedom.

The injured arm hurt brutally even though I was trying not to swing it back-and-forth while running. The running felt good aside from that. Wind rushing all around me, flinging my hair back behind me – my hair tie had been sacrificed to my cause as well. If I hadn't been running for my life I would have walked through the trees, enjoying the picturesque scenery. I could have been running through a child's picture book about unicorns it looked so nice. But, no. I to have had been placed in a horror story, being chased by a murderous psychopath. All I needed was the scenery to change and it would be perfect!

Where I was running? I had no idea; besides far away. So I ran, hoping that Deidara had given up or was too far behind to catch up. I was thanking every god or spirit I knew of for my luck. It was just then an ominous shadow passed overhead with a whoosh, crushing my high hopes back down. Those spirits must really not like me.

Skidding to a halt, I almost fell over, but I managed to keep my balance. Running had failed; Deidara's bird had caught up with me. Time for plan B -…err…never had one.

Whoosh. Need to hide!

Ducking under a snarl of branches coming from an overgrown shrub, I started to decrease my chakra to be invisible to detection. I tried to stabilize my erratic breathing and calm my wild heartbeat to a steadier pace

The shadow and rush of air swooped over head for a third time. Deidara definitely thought I was around here. Cradling my bad arm against my chest, I started cursing all the gods and spirits I could remember for my luck. Maybe they would take sympathy on me and send a knight in shining armor. Then we could fall in love and live happily ever after in a bright and sunny land. I would still much rather be in a mushy romance novel then a horror story told around the campfire- the stories where everyone fighting or even standing up to evil dies. Though I wasn't really fighting, I was more like running for the hills.

I nestled down in my hiding spot and listened to Deidara swoop over head again and again…And again. If he found me why was he taking so long to come down? The suspense of not knowing was going to kill me before he ever did. I peeked up through the mass of twigs and interlocked branches that hid me from the sky. It was a lovely shade of blue today. How could the world around me be so beautiful when I was in such an ugly predicament?

BOOM

The massive explosion had hit not to far away from my spot, a wave of heat blew by me. Sure I could hide great, but I don't think I'd fare so well against his explosions. That must be his attack. Explosions. It certainly would be an effective attack if it hit the target. But aren't ninja supposed to be stealthy? Loud explosions don't really count as 'stealthy'.

BOOM

The next explosion sent good size pieces of wood flying around the thicket near me embedding themselves in the ground and tree trunks. Heat blasted me and my tangled hair blew into my face. One piece of wood shrapnel nicked my neck. Was he trying to kill me?

A thick cloud of dust swirled around me. If he hit again I'd become a nice little pile of charred flesh and scorched bone. Now or never –literally. I rolled in a very ninja-like maneuver out of my hiding spot. I tore away- toward where the last explosion had come from. It took about five steps to reach where the trees had been incinerated.

Deidara's attack had taken a circle out of the woods like a cookie cutter makes a shape from dough. I hugged the shallow crater's rim, using the ever settling dust as a cover. He must be trying to kill me. Unless…unless he is playing cat and mouse with me. Then I just would be fumbling right into his paws…err hands.

BOOM

A third and final explosion rocked the forest where I had just been hiding. I twisted around to look at the damage and… a rock the size of my fist propelled by the blast caught me square between the eyes. The force tipped my head back and I stumbled backwards trying to regain a footing. My eyes rolled up into my head and I tripped on my own feet. I was unconscious even before I hit the hard packed earth. That was a plus since I couldn't feel anything as I landed on my bad arm. Major ow.

----- A little while later-----

Nothing happened in my dreams- that I could understand at least. Everyone was happily talking and bustling around, but I could understand them anymore. It was like they were talking in Pig Latin. Well ixn-ay on the upidst-ay to them too! Lazily I stared at the sky through my one eye. So pretty and clear and blue with fluffy, billowing clouds…

At first I was happy to escape the delusions on my contorted dream-world, but the aching pain of blood pulsing beneath a bruise is not the best thing to awaken to. Nor is the pain of a mangled arm or a bruise over your left eye that is swelling to the size of your fist. I imagine the lump above my eye had already turned a sinister shade of purplish-blue. Those are things I didn't register until later though.

Voices were the first thing I really paid attention to. I could hear voices; they were distant though. It was too hard to make my mind concentrate on the muffled sound so I didn't. Fate, as always, was conspiring against me. Unwillingly I started to decipher and put the words together. At first the ongoing conversation didn't make sense.

"Sheez no 'ood to us dead!" The voice was gruff, had a bit of a snarl to it.

What? Ood? Food maybe? Maybe I was still dreaming. Yea, that's it. I was obviously stuck dreaming about cannibals, how pleasant…

"She's s'not dead, hm! She's only half fed!" The newer speaker had a nicer voice, a nice deep tone- and soft compared to the first speaker.

Ok, so maybe not cannibals. I was just really hungry. When I wake up I was certainly going to have a big breakfast or brunch- probably the later. I could feel the gnawing in my empty stomach as it sapped away my strength. I concentrated harder to make sense of their conversation- no argument.

"Half dead? You little piece of shit! I knew should have I done it myself! You managed to not only break her arm, but let her get all the way out here!"

"She surprised me, hm! I wasn't expecting her to try anything, that's all!"

Who was 'she'? Who was talking? My head throbbed, my body ached. I don't like this dream at all. Maybe I got caught in a genjutsu? I tried to rub my eyes only to notice that I couldn't move my arm very well. Someone had wrapped a stiff cloth around the arm; limiting my movement. Upon trying again I whimpered in pain. So I'll use the other hand then.

Bringing my good hand up to rub my eyes I noticed there were a series of scrapes and scratches winding down along my arm. I fought to regain full consciousness. It was hard; half of me desperately wanted to sleep, I was still exhausted. The half concerned for my well being said wake up.

"I come back and find you examining what looks like her dead corpse! You should have been prepared for an escape attempt."

While the other person replied I took to examining the full extent of my injuries. I started with my feet, wiggling each toe and joint to make sure it stilled functioned correctly. Once I fully noticed my banged-up right arm I realized the people were talking about me.

My memories of the morning came back in a rush of blurry images. Deidara must be arguing with the person he had been waiting for. Using all the strength I could muster, I sat up and stared at the two shinobi. They looked as different as their voices sounded. The new person was short and bulky looking- something about his appearance wasn't quite right. Deidara, on the other hand, was head and shoulders taller with a mane of blond hair, some of which was gathered into a high ponytail.

Both were wearing the same outfit though, a uniform I decided. The two had on heavy, black cloaks that fell to their feet and hide half their faces with a neck band. The sleeves were also long and red clouds outlined by a creamy white appeared several times on the cloth. Their argument seemed to be getting rather heated; so I tuned back into their words.

"They last for a second and nobody who experiences them can really register them as anything. That's why your explosions aren't art Deidara!"

The conversation had shifted to debating their views on art. Definitely psychopaths. Hey, that means I should be able to relate to them a bit!

Both men seemed to be rather annoyed. I smirked. Mission annoy them at any cost was going great- it might actually be successful! My stomach grumbled with considerable volume. I decided my number one priority was food. I was really getting hungry. So since these people seemed to want me to be alive, if only for the time being, they must have food for me then. If they didn't well… well then they were dumb idiots too! Like the Short One said: Shinobi are supposed to be prepared for anything- which includes feeding their prisoners.

"Yea, hey! I'm kinda hungry."

I waved my good arm in the air. They both turned to stare at me like I was an oddity. Ok, so maybe I was. I probably was, but I'm informing them of my needs. That's the thing with boys they aren't mind readers, if you want something you have to tell them. I sighed. I hoped I wasn't going to have to spell everything out for these two.

"I. Am. Real-ly. Hun-gry. Give. Me. Food."

The short one didn't have any noticeable expression change, not even an eye twitched, inwardly that bothered me. Outwardly Deidara looked thoroughly pissed off.

"We aren't dumb you know, hm!"

"Really? You could have fooled me, and that's rather hard to do." Deidara clenched his fists and for a moment I thought he might come over here and hit me. The Short One started to look pissed. Uh, oh. "Pretty please?" I asked sweetly.

Deidara sighed and mumbled something incoherent, but none the less started to walk toward me. He didn't look aggressive so I didn't try to move. The Short One moved off to attend to his own business. I didn't care though; all that matter was that Deidara was getting me food!

'Food' turned out to be some sort of rice paste. Flavorless and watery. I resisted the urge to tell them so. We sat in silence. No one felt the need to talk or couldn't find something to say that wouldn't piss off someone else.

While eating I took the time to observe my captors my closely. Deidara was watching the clouds drift by while the Short One meticulously examined a summoning scroll. The weather was turning colder. I envied the two for a second. The cloaks looked pretty thick- though I didn't get chance to confirm that since I definitely wasn't going to invade their personal space anytime soon. To my amusement they both had painted their nails the same deep purple color.

The three of us were still on the edge of one on Deidara's craters; where I had been unconscious. Stupid rock. Deidara stood up and collected a stuffed knap sack. The Short One (I still couldn't tell if had been was sitting or standing) started to move toward me. I edged away.

"Clary you said your name was?"

Once he turned toward me I saw what I had been waiting for- his village's symbol. To my surprise a line had been drawn through the symbol- a missing-nin. Formerly he had hailed from Sunagakure. Deidara turned toward me also, I checked his forehead protector, and Iwagakure's symbol was engraved there, and again, crossed out. A missing-nin organization! Had I not been captured by them I would have thought this was getting to be a pretty interesting and exciting adventure.

"Doesn't look like she likes you either, Sasori-Danna, hm."

Sasori was it? I certainly did not like him. Something about Sasori's appearance irked me. I stood there longer then what's considered polite as I glared at him speculatively. I could push Deidara's buttons but not this guy's. I didn't like that at all. I took note that Deidara called him "danna". Was he subordinate then to Sasori? My brain started ticking; Sasori sounded familiar.

Rolling his eye's Deidara started walking. "Come on, Clary, hm."

Obediently I stumbled after Deidara. I was too busy thinking to care. My legs hurt; they were sore from running and had a variety of different scratches on them despite my pants which now hosted several rips. At points the world seemed to be spinning and I was, painfully, aware of a steady throb in my forehead like the beating of my heart. I didn't care then though, I was processing Sasori's name. I just knew I had heard it some where.

We had been walking twenty minutes or so –I'm not too great about judging time- when it came to me. Back in Sunagakure an old lady had said her grandson had abandoned the village some eighteen or so years back and that his name was Sasori- Sasori of the Red Sand. He had been a genius in the art of puppet warfare.

A shiver ran down my spine, once I realized just who I was walking with. Glancing over at his odd shape he didn't seem to resemble his grandmother at all. He moved in an awkward shuffle forward. So, for unknown reasons, I had been captured by missing-nin. Maybe it's their form of amusement…I hope not.

Several moments later I had a second epiphany. My blood ran cold-so to speak. My train of thoughts had led me to a horrifying conclusion- Akatsuki. Traveling meant I picked up a lot of gossip. Recently when I passed through The Land of Fire some people had been talking about a group of missing-nin, all S-rank level. I had shrugged it off as some rumor, but…this, this obviously wasn't a malicious rumor about band of deadly, rouge shinobi, whose motivations are unknown. It was real. Akatsuki was real.

It took another moment or two to sink in. As soon as it did I stopped dead in my tracks. For certain now, I'd be lucky to even see the end of the week! So for the greater good of humanity I had to do all that I could to foil whatever Akatsuki was scheming! I was not going to cooperate one bit! If they wanted me to go to where they were going they would have to drag me there!

-----End-----

----- Word Count: 3,281 -----