Sunrise, Sunset

A/N- Kicking in walls relieves stress, just don't make my mistake and be sure to do it in your own room/house.

Chapter Six: Fighting Fire with Fire

"Visits always give pleasure, if not the arrival the departure." -Portuguese Proverb

His opponent was a member of Akatsuki, Deidara. What little they had on file proposed that his weapon of choice was explosives though he was proficient in all areas of combat. He was a genius at combat strategy, but he rarely put his all into fighting. Exactly how he did what he did, which Kiba quickly found out was making clay sculptures explode, was unknown. Possibly a bloodline.

There was a running file on all Akatsuki members open to the public and all shinobi were required to read it; just in case. It was hard to miss them though as all members wore the red and black cloaks that screamed 'I am up to no good/ I am an evil badass.' Still, Kiba was starting to wish that he hadn't utilized his clans excellent sense of smell to track the scent of the S-class missing nin. The smell was earthy and smoky probably from his favored jutsu, and similar to another blonde he knew; the smoke part at any rate.

"Katsu."

Kiba dodged beneath a tree as the spider bombers exploded sending fire and wooden shrapnel everywhere. Akamaru had taken cover up high in the branches of a larger tree. Their blonde opponent was scary with the amount of damage he could do. Almost as scary as a another explosives expert he liked to work with. Where is she?

Kiba palmed a steel cylinder developed by the new research and development team and began running to evade the small suicide bombers the kidnapper was sending after him to keep the dog and man apart. The brunette was pretty sure Akamaru would be fine; most people figured if the ninja was eliminated the summons or partner would stop and so the main attack force was after him. Damnit, Ino! Where the fuck are you?!

A hidden spider exploded as he touched down on a branch, and Kiba barked out a string of curses into the canopy as pain registered in his hand. Luckily it wasn't the one carrying the small canister, if it was there wouldn't be anything left of him.

"What do you think of my art, un?" The Akatsuki member asked as he reached into the pouch at his side for more clay. He was sitting comfortably on a white clay bird, hovering as if he had all the time in the world, but his missing arm belied that fact. Gaara had gotten in a good hit that would have –should have!- been fatal on anyone else without medical attention. Deidara certainly earned his rank, and Kiba was far below him. The dog users only saving grace was that his style was unusually quick and somewhat erratic making him a tough target when moving.

Kiba licked his injured hand and grimaced as the raw feel, there would be some scaring no matter what, and watched for an opening. He could smell Akamaru so he knew the dog was still alive and moving but he couldn't see him. It worried the Inuzuka.

Kiba spat out blood and braced his thumb against the top of the metal vial. "I think it sucks."

The blonde just shrugged with a smile. "Simpletons never appreciate true genius. Un." He opened his palm to reveal a crude sculpting of an egg with a face. "This little baby stopped your precious jinchurriki cold. I wonder if you'd fair any better?" Deidara leaned forward as if curious. "You wouldn't happen to have an absolute defense, would you?"

"Heh. You must mean Gaara, Naruto would just eat the damn thing, no matter how ugly it is. Tsuuga!" Kiba spun toward the target at high speed. Deidara frowned and easily moved out of the way of the main attack, but didn't avoid the droplets of liquid that landed on and around him.

His face flushed red as he noted the liquid, Kiba stopped and smirked. "You're disgusting! Un! It's bad enough that stupid dog tried pissing on me, but for you to do the same?! I'm not waiting any longer, Sasori better be done with his fight." The bird burst through the canopy, knocking down branches in it's haste to get clear, leaving Kiba hopping frantically from falling log to log in pursuit. He wasn't sure what the Akatsuki member had in mind, and they needed to get Gaara back. Cowards. Wait till he's alone with kids to protect. Fucking pathetic.

"Kiba-kun!" Ino appeared next to him, impeccably dressed as always, and his lips quirked in a grin making the burned skin crack. About time she got here. "What happened to you?"

"What have got for me?" Ino was part of the new division and passed him a new volatile mixture.

They broke into the sunlight to find the Akatsuki waiting for them with a captured Akamaru. "Oh? The mutt found a bitch to help out?" Deidara laughed, he was confident he'd win. Already he'd run the pest of animal partner off and half fried the boy; but he might keep the girl. She was cute and he adored her hair.

"Kiba! Did you spread it?" Ino whispered, her pupil-less eyes watching the enemy carefully. She was wearing a shirt with loose long sleeves that fell past her hands. It was easier to conceal what she was holding and what she planned to do with the big clothes, and she made them look good. The dog user, and a majority of the Konoha population, found her an incredibly attractive girl. He nodded to her question and shifted his position to better move when Ino have the signal.

"Good." Ino ran along the branch, her long hair whipping behind her, and leapt for the hovering ninja. A set of what looked like water balloons emerged from her sleeves. The sheer incredulity of having balloons fired at him gaze Deidara pause, but then he recalled that these were the people that literally pissed on their opponents, and moved out of the way while sending mall explosive mites after the girl.

Ino didn't waste his hesitation, small as it had been, and spat out a series of needles. They punctured the balloons releasing a chemical powder that wasn't harmful itself, but the Akatsuki had attacks which utilized powder himself and suspected the compound could be chakra activated and went higher.

Ino brought her hands together to perform her family jutsu and seized up in pain as she hit a defense that had been designed to resist Sharingan. Deidara's primary concern Itachi Uchiha was happily dead but he didn't drop the training out of practicality. Ino fell towards the forest rapidly; too fast for the injured Kiba to rescue. Her form was soon lost amid the green leaves, only the faint sound of dangerous impacts drifting up through the foliage.

"Yamanaka, Un? Pity. She was pretty. Un."

Kiba saw red. Ino was one of his best friends. She was good at thinking tactically and always listened to his complaints without judgment or brushing them off. He grit his teeth and snarled. The small container in his hand groaned under pressure. Chakra surged through him, marginally healing his wounds, when the sharp scent of smoke and vanilla soap with the distinct musk of Akamaru came to him though the overpowering smell of burning wood. She's okay. Akamaru caught her.

Kiba darted out of the way and began moving in to get close enough to deploy the smoke bomb. Leaping frogs exploded in mid air, the Inuzuka twisted and shielded his head with his arms, broke through and hurled the round container up as it activated and released streams of gas.

Deidara covered his nose and mouth, wary of breathing the unknown in, and tried to get distance when his arm began burning in spots. "Shit!" The chemicals from earlier mixed with the catalyst contained in the gas and formed an acid that began eating through his clothing and skin. Without another arm to clean it off his options were limited and the pain increased.

"Give up, bastard." Deidara looked up to see the cute little blonde from earlier above him straddling the boys pet, one arm thrust out so he could see a strange metal tipped tube strapped to the side of her arm. It continued down her shirt into a small canteen in her weapons pouch. She smiled in anticipation, "Katsu."

The following explosion set a good portion of the forest on fire. It wasn't enough to kill the hardened terrorist, but once backup arrived it was a moot point.

END.