Reviews just poured in for all of my stories these past few days, and as a result I was put into a good writing mood, and I think it shows in this chapter ( a lot more than in the last one, anyway.) Thank you so, so much to everyone who reviewed - I got, like, 10 reviews in one day:) :) Please accept my heartfelt thanks and enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4 - He Defends Them
Pein's surprisingly accurate inner alarm clock told him that it was somewhere around 2:30 AM when he disentangled himself from his blankets and assumed a standing position by his bed. He was not particularly disconcerted to find that Blue had done the exact same thing at the exact same time. This happened quite often, as if the two partners were connected by some telepathic bond. Pein, although not entirely averse to the supernatural (he had seen enough of the world to decide that not everything could have a scientific explanation), thought that they were merely exceptionally in tune with each others' characters.
"What is it, Pein?" Blue whispered. She was a professional, and he didn't notice that she'd drawn a kunai until its polished metal surface glinted briefly in the darkness, but he didn't need to see it to know she was ready to fight. It was just a natural thing for a shinobi to prepare for. Pein himself held no weapon - he had a kunai holster, of course, but his style of fighting was somewhat...unique, and normally required only his body and Chakra. And his quick, strategizing brain, of course.
A chill seeped into Pein, travelling from his bare feet, which touched the icy floor, up to his head, but he allowed it to run through his body and tolerated it as his mind and senses combined their efforts.
"Someone is in the hall, injured. Deidara, I believe," Pein concluded. "Two others have joined him and are tending to him - Tobi and Zetsu. Let's go hear the explanation." Blue followed him out. She no longer marvelled at Pein's ability to gain such comprehensive information through hearing and Chakra-sensing. She had long ago come to terms with the fact that Pein was a marvel.
Sure enough, Deidara stood in the hallway, shoulders sagging. He was panting heavily, and blood gushed from a stab wound that had deeply torn both his cloak and the flesh underneath. Tobi fussed over him with a cloth and some bandages, while Zetsu was attempting to interrogate him.
Tobi and Deidara had been on a mission together, and Tobi had returned without his sempai a few hours ago, saying that Deidara was leading a ninja squad on a detour to prevent them from following him back to Akatsuki headquarters. Apparently, he had finally returned.
Pein stopped in front of the threesome and demanded, "What is going on?"
"Leader-sama!" Tobi-sama exclaimed joyously, his face lighting up like a beacon. "Everything will be all right now, Deidara-sempai - Leader-sama is here!" He suddenly paused and examined Pein critically before smiling slowly and commenting admiringly, "Leader-sama, you have a very fine-toned chest!"
In spite of himself, Pein looked down at his chest. He was wearing a snug black tank top which shouted MUSCLE as if it were printed in capital letters on the front. It revealed the shapely sinew of his upper body. He was also wearing white boxers with rainbow swirls on them, attire that looked rather out of place on a man of his personality, but it was (thankfully, in Pein's view) pretty much bypassed by Tobi's scarlet jumpsuit, which was decorated with an exotic Hawaiian fruit pattern.
For a moment an intense frown flickered across Blue's face as she watched Tobi, then she glanced at Pein with an oddly possessive look in her heavy-lidded eyes. She obviously thought Tobi had crossed the line.
Deidara seemed to agree. "Unnecessary comment, Tobi, yeah!" he hissed through his pain. Tobi immediately looked abashed. "I'm sorry, Deidara-sempai!" he wailed contritely. "I apologize, Leader-sama."
"It's fine, Tobi." Pein brushed the matter aside, wavering between amusement and impatience. Impatience won out as he pressed, "Please tell us your story, Deidara."
Zetsu fetched a chair and Deidara, now patched up with Tobi's handiwork, sat down and told all. "Well, yeah," he rasped, "I led those ninja Tobi better have told you about" - here he shot Tobi a venomous glare- "on a nice chase for a while, but they were better trackers than I gave them credit for, and I couldn't shake them, yeah. So I hid and hoped they'd just pass by me and get lost, but they were too skilled, yeah. Two of them suddenly leaped out from the trees and teamed up on me, and there was a bit of a struggle, yeah. That's how I got this injury. I escaped, but I was bleeding like crazy and I made it back here on the double to be treated. But they must have kept up with me somehow, yeah, because they caught up with me just as I arrived here and almost took my head off with a kunai while I was going in through our secret entrance, yeah."
"You shouldn't have done that," Zetsu's white half rebuked him tonelessly. "You led them right to our hideout, fool!" his black side growled. "We can't have them discover us!"
"Well, what was I supposed to do, yeah?" Deidara snapped defensively. "Run around aimlessly until I fainted from blood loss? Then they'd have captured me and tortured me into giving away all our secrets anyway, yeah!"
"Don't worry, Zetsu," Pein said. He kept his voice carefully even, without emotion, but Blue noticed that his eyes seemed to have become narrower and the skin was drawn more tightly over his face. She saw his gaze flicker to the gash in Deidara's side and guessed why. He can be really overprotective of them sometimes, she thought. The sight of their blood spilled by someone else makes him angry. And that 'someone else' usually doesn't end up all that lucky.
"The ninja who followed you are probably ANBU, judging from what you say of their abilities," Pein observed. "In that case, I will take them."
"But there are at least eight, yeah!" Deidara objected. "Eight ANBU? Isn't that a bit much? And besides, what if they see your face, yeah? I know you try to keep your identity a secret, yeah. Meaning no disrespect, Leader-sama."
"Rest assured," Pein said, and his voice certainly sounded assuring, menacingly so, "they will see my face for approximately two seconds before their existence is wiped out."
"If you say so, yeah, Leader-sama," Deidara said nervously. Highly concentrated killer intent radiated from Pein, and Zetsu, Tobi, Deidara and even Blue felt perspiration break out under its redoubtable influence.
Pein inclined his head in Blue's direction before vanishing. The four he'd left behind stared at the empty space he'd been occupying a moment ago, straining their ears to hear any sounds of battle. But only silence weighed on their eardrums.
"Hey, Blue...san," Deidara said, quailing under the look she gave him and adding the respectful suffix, "Can Leader-sama actually beat eight ANBU shinobi, yeah?"
"I have never known Pein to be overconfident," was all the Leader's indigo-haired partner would say. But the way she squeezed her lips together and squared her shoulders suggested that she didn't know the true answer to Deidara's question, and this obviously worried her.
"Leader-sama can do it!" Tobi said assertively. He raised his voice to a deafening volume and yelled, "LEADER-SAMA, I BELIEVE IN YOOOOOU!"
"Shut up, Tobi!" Deidara said disgustedly. He wondered why Tobi's noisiness hadn't brought any other Akatsuki members running. Blue didn't. She guessed (rightly) that most of the others weren't stupid enough to get themselves into anything that involved Tobi in pyjamas yelling at the top of his lungs.
A moment later, Blue felt a few strands of her hair lift lightly as a cool wisp of air caressed her skin. She spun around, just a little late - Pein was already in front of her. His abrupt appearance stole the voices of his four onlookers for a moment, and when they had retrieved the ability to speak, they could only stare at their Leader.
It wasn't that he looked particularly different from prior to his battle. In fact, he didn't seem to have changed at all, and that was what was so shocking. There wasn't so much as a smudge on Pein's clothing, or a scratch on his face, arms or legs. His breathing was perfectly steady as well. All in all, he looked like he'd just woken from a refreshing night's sleep, not like he'd been out fighting a team of experienced ninja. Pein appeared calm, collected and...invigorated?
"The bodies are all yours, Zetsu," Pein said. "Although I strongly advise you to wait until breakfast."
"And brush your teeth afterwards, yeah!" Deidara added, looking revolted. Zetsu's cannibalistic diet had never quite agreed with him. Then the force of what Pein's words implied hit him, and he reacted as if someone had just kicked the back of his chair, jerking forward and nearly falling off. "What...what...you beat eight ANBU in, like, three minutes??!!"
"There were nine, actually," Pein said in a deadpan voice. Blue almost rolled her eyes. Almost, but she was too relieved.
"Are you all right, Deidara?" Pein asked. Deidara started, and seeming embarrassed by his leader's concern, muttered, "Unh, yeah."
"Good," Pein said, in a brisk tone. "Tobi, help Deidara to bed. Zetsu, you are dismissed as well. Everyone get some sleep." Pein turned and walked back into his room, holding the door open long enough for Blue to slip inside and then shutting it on Deidara's muffled complaints ("No, Tobi, I don't want any of your so-called help! Just let go of - OW, watch where you're dragging me!").
Pein rolled himself fluidly back into bed with a brief "Goodnight, Blue." Blue traced patterns on her covers with one hand, lost in thought. Sometimes, she thought, it's like Akatsuki are helpless children and he's their keeper. A self-appointed position. Still, taking on nine ANBU...Blue was impressed. Even for a high-class, above-Jounin level shinobi like Pein, nine Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai members were a feat. Why does he tax himself, though? He defends them so conscientiously, it's like he has some ulterior motive. Maybe he enjoys the challenge. Maybe he considers any insult to one of his subordinates an insult to him. Or maybe, he's like the rest of us, and he just likes to know for sure that everything is going to be okay.
Blue let her body relax and sink into the mattress. "Goodnight, Pein."
I'm reasonably happy with the way this chapter turned out - it stuck pretty close to what I meant it to be. I hope you agree :) if yes or if no, leave a review and make my day, please!! I would like to apologize for the shortness of the chapters, though. Long chapters have never been my specialty. Also, I hope you noticed the subtle (or not?) hinting of PeinBlue after Tobi's "fine-toned" comment, Moonmagicks, because it's for you!
Once again, thank you, and please continue to leave those amazing reviews that sate my writer's appetite!