A/N: Hello my sweet troopers, and welcome new readers! I noticed all my author's notes begin with me apologizing, but I won't this time! However, this chapter was insanely difficult to write so I do want to give a big shout out to Flamingaro for helping me manage and organize my ideas. This chapter is a collection of shorts, just to clear things up. Remember more reviews means more of a kick in the pants to actually get me writing. I am a lazy writer.
Chapter Seven: Bad Kids
"Why?" Deidara repeated incredulously, "Because it's the most perfect form of expression! A brief moment, a flash of perfect imperfection, yeah!"
Sakura responded with a blank, if not unimpressed look.
The blonde sniffed in disdain, "Plebian."
At such a remark, Sakura emitted a huff that was half amusement and half scoff. "So it's your medium-excuse me- the medium," she corrected as she saw Deidara attempt to interrupt, "but how did you even get started in bombing? I'm sure not every teenage starving artist immediately went for the C4." Sakura drawled.
"I suppose not every "teenage starving artist" is as creative as me, then."
"Is that what we're calling it?"
"Have I ever told you you're kind of a bitch?"
Sakura scowled, "Fortunately for you, you haven't; otherwise that pretty face of yours would be sporting a black eye."
A wolfish gleam caught Deidara's eye, "You think I'm pretty, yeah?"
Sakura fought down a blush. She did not mean that. "You're incorrigible."
oOoOoOo
Her notepad sat unused on the cold, metal surface of the cell desk. Every once in a while, when Sakura had caught Deidara in a social mood, the man would open up, and snippets of his past would color the gray cell.
A freelance bombing one day, a low class Akatsuki mission a week later. Stories would make their way to her ears perhaps slowly, but surely.
However, the second she began writing notes he would instantly clam up, and revert to the obnoxious, sarcastic demeanor he so loved to exude, claiming he wasn't going to talk if she was writing about him like was some sort of test subject.
Luckily, Sakura had a decent memory, managing to scramble back to her desk and jot down the gist.
oOoOoOo
A hazy, far away look took residence in Deidara's blue eyes. The boyish smirk that usually graced his features drifted. "I guess I 've always liked the idea, yeah."
Sakura waited patiently for him to continue and explain, but it seemed as if that was all he was willing to say. Lips parting to break the silence, she was about to speak when Deidara's northern accent filled the cell.
"I like how fire cleaned. Anything artificial would be gone in an instant."
Schooling the surprise on her face, Sakura gazed discerningly at the handsome young man sitting on the unmade bed of his cell. She spoke softly, brushing tendrils of hair away from her face. "What needed to be cleaned, Deidara?"
Returning from the memories that had clearly taken him away from his prison, Deidara shot her a hardened look, and kept his mouth shut.
oOoOoOo
"How about you tell me something, and in exchange, I'll tell you something, yeah?"
Sakura wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Yikes, that is not how it works, Hannibal."
Deidara, casually spread in the desk chair smirked, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the ever-constant smirk he wore grew. "Like you have anything worth spilling anyway." He laughed.
"Sorry we can't all be on Konoha's Most Wanted." She harrumphed.
Deidara pouted.
"Men can be such babies. Not that it's any of your business, but I'm not as boring as you think."
His only response was the rise of a skeptical brow.
Pursing her lips, Sakura took the bait. "Fine! Let me think!" A pregnant pause filled the cell. "Shit, I don't have anything worth sharing." She moaned despondently.
Deidara chuckled at her expense, patted her shoulder condescendingly, and leaned back with an air of superiority. However, after taking a look at Sakura's sullen face, he lightly shrugged. "At this point stories about a normal life would be a novelty, boring as hell though, yeah."
Sakura gave a teasing smile, and warmth pooled in Deidara's stomach.
"I'm sure you'd love to hear all about the time I cheated on my book report in the ninth grade."
Deidara gasped in mock horror, "Sakura! How could you? And here I thought you were an upstanding person. My outlook has seriously changed." He tut-tutted, "Cheating on a book report, wild woman."
Sakura couldn't help but laugh, "Or maybe the time I went parking with Inuzuka Kiba after senior prom."
"Oh, parking?" Deidara waggled his brows. "You sure this was you? You weren't in bed by 11:30, yeah? Did you call your parents for permission first?"
"Shut your mouth."
Deidara ignored her, as per usual. "Did Inuzuka Kiba pop your cherry? Were you in love with Inuzuka Kiba?" Sakura glared. "Did you say, "Inuzuka Kiba, I love you?'" The blonde teased ruthlessly.
"I'm not talking to you anymore." The pink haired woman scooted her chair so she was facing away from her bully, and crossed her arms.
"Would it make you feel better if I tell you mine?"
After a brief pause, Deidara saw the back of Sakura's pink head nod.
Deidara casually spoke up, "I don't know her name. I was at a bar somewhere in Sand. She was hot from what I remember. Great legs."
"Ugh, that's not romantic." Sakura complained, poking her head back around.
"We can't all go parking our senior prom, yeah."
"How old were you?"
"About fourteen I think."
Sakura turned around fully, "That's so young."
"Well, you have to grow up fast living like I do, yeah."
Jade eyes turned wistful. "That's sad."
"Maybe, yeah."
oOoOoOo
Sakura was in his room. When did she get there? The dress she wore was black and slinky, hugging her hips and baring her soft shoulders. Why the hell was she dressed like that?
Deidara went to question the woman before him when she placed a delicate finger upon his parted lips.
"Shush," she whispered, "I'm not blind. I've seen the way you look at me."
Stunned silent, Deidara simply gapped as Sakura ran her finger lightly across his lips before pushing him onto the bed and straddling his lap.
She smiled coyly, taking his hands and kissing both tattooed palms, her tongue peeking out for a quick taste, before resting them on her hips. Their eyes met, and time seemed to stop as Deidara waited for what would happen next.
Sliding his eyes from her thighs up to her face, Deidara felt the tightening in his stomach as the woman sitting in his lap worried a pink, lower lip between teeth.
"Do you want me, Deidara?"
Finally finding his voice, Deidara managed a throaty "Yes" and reached up to the beautiful, infuriating woman. Tangling his hands in her hair, Deidara pulled Sakura to him, crashing his lips onto hers.
Cradling the woman to him, Deidara flipped them over, planting hot kisses to Sakura's neck as she gasped his name, running her hands in his hair, occasionally tugging in a way that made him groan against her skin. Sakura wound her toned legs around his hips, her own grinding into him.
Deidara recaptured her lips, moving his hands to the back of her dress, fumbling for a zip. Her tongue slipped between his lips, as her hands slid down his chest, making their way to the standard issue pants the prisoners had to wear.
Oh god, this is happening.
With one last bite of his lower lip that was quickly soothed with the swipe of her tongue, Sakura pulled back, face flush.
Her voice was breathy, "Deidara, wake up."
With a pant, Deidara opened his eyes. He was alone in his bed. Groaning in frustration, Deidara kicked off his sheets and placed his bare feet on the cement floor by his bedside.
He ran a hand through sweat soaked hair, before scrubbing his face, and gave an exasperated look at the situation that had arose in his pants.
"Shit."
Analysis of his dream could wait. With a baleful look towards his door window, Deidara sighed and set out to finish the job his embarrassingly intimate dream had started. Sliding a hand into the loose pants of his uniform, Deidara closed his eyes as he wrapped his fingers around his length. Recalling what remained of his dream, the way Sakura had tasted, the way her flushed face looked back at him and the feel of her silky thighs. Her pretty green eyes flashed into his mind. He imagined those eyes looking up at him as she kissed her way down his stomach…those full soft lips...what they would feel like wrapped around his…
"Knock, Knock!"
"Fuck!"
Heart in his throat, Deidara jumped up, his hand dropping with lightening speed. In the same moment, he spun around to the door where a smiling Sakura stood, door half open.
Well at least his erection was gone.
oOoOoOo
"So…" Sakura hedged as she sat in her usual chair (she had started bringing in her own cushion) "Why do you hate Itachi?"
Deidara shot her a glare.
"Don't give me that. You already made it perfectly clear that you don't like him, mister."
Deidara didn't respond, rather he focused on his modeling clay, bringing little clay birds to life before squashing them, creating another.
"So it's a sore spot." Sakura guessed. "Personal or professional?"
Still no answer from the roguish blonde man lounged on the bed.
"Want to hear my theory? I'm telling you anyway," Sakura shot as she saw Deidara open his mouth to make a sarcastic comment. "He's an Akatsuki superior, and we both know you hate taking orders."
Deidara spared her a blasé look. "What, am I wrong?"
With a sigh, Deidara conceded, much to the pink haired doctor's surprise. "You're not far off the mark, yeah."
Sakura gave what she hoped was an approachable smile, "Continue…"
The blonde man shifted and sighed again, "As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm not exactly one for rules. I worked freelance; I was my own boss and I liked it that way. My reputation got ahead of me, and the Akatsuki took an interest." Deidara grimaced. "Itachi was my recruiter if you want to call it that, yeah."
Sakura leaned forward, curiosity piqued. "What do you mean?"
Lupine eyes hardened, "Let's just say I wasn't given a choice."
Now we're getting somewhere.
"So, given the choice, you wouldn't be Akatsuki?"
Deidara moved his gaze up from his clay to regard at the woman in front of him. If Sakura didn't know better, she'd say he looked self-conscious. He shrugged noncommittally.
Not usually one to mince his words, Sakura waited.
"No, I wouldn't." He finally murmured begrudgingly.
Pink brows furrowed, "So why didn't you just slip away? I mean the arsons aren't exactly… subtle, but I'm sure you could have managed."
Deidara barked out a laugh that was neither warm nor teasing. "Haruno, I'm a fugitive, yeah. Akatsuki is the best I'm going to get. I could live like a spooked animal, running from town to town, sleeping in shitty motels with one eye open. Or," He paused, his gaze pensive, "I could have some sort of a safety net. At least something that let's me focus on art instead of running for my life all the time, yeah."
Sakura didn't know if she had anything to say to that.
oOoOoOo
Sakura sat on Ino's desk, heels discarded as she cheerfully kicked her bare feet, sipping her iced coffee.
"Would you kindly get your fat ass off my peer review reports?"
The pink haired woman shot her friend a dirty look, and answered just as bluntly. "No." She took another sip of her coffee with a look on her face that clearly showed how pleased with herself she was.
Ino huffed, and flicked her sleek ponytail in annoyance. Eying her stubborn office intruder with a calculated air, Ino went in for a surprise attack, shoving Sakura in the hopes she would dislodge herself from the (overdue) reports, and if she was lucky, have Sakura spill her coffee just because she was feeling especially vindictive. Unfortunately, Sakura didn't even budge and only cackled in delight at Ino's attempt.
"Kami," Ino complained, "You have the density of a dying star."
Sakura took another sip with a smirk.
"You've been way too pleased with yourself as of late." Ino's demeanor turned suspicious, "Now why is that, Billboard?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, finally getting up from the desk to sit in the perfectly good chair Ino had pointed out earlier, as the blonde greedily snatched up her now wrinkled paperwork.
"I'm not pleased with myself." Sakura corrected, "I just think I've been making some noticeable progress with Deidara." She shrugged.
A lascivious smile curled its way onto Ino's well contoured face. "Oh, Deidara, huh? I wouldn't mind making some "noticeable progress" with him."
"That was a stretch now, don't you think?"
"Speaking of stretch…" Ino wiggled her brows.
"Eugh! Is it tiring being such a pervert? I'm curious."
"I'm a sensual woman, Sakura."
She shuddered. "Please never refer to yourself as a sensual woman in front of me again." Sakura put her drink down, and wiped the condensation on her hands onto her skirt. "Also, why are you getting hot and bothered over my inmate, Pig?"
Ino scoffed, "Like you haven't noticed Deidara is a hot piece of ass."
Sakura crossed her arms peevishly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Hmm, what's that word? It's a river in Egypt?" Ino smirked at Sakura's silence and examined a manicured hand with false indifference.
"Look," the blonde flipped her ponytail, "I'm not saying sleep with the guy, just admit he's a hottie. You don't fool me, you've definitely thought about it."
Mulishly, Sakura jutted her chin, "Of course I haven't, I'm a professional, Ino. Now, I have to go bring Deidara the results of some assessments."
With a glare, Sakura stormed her way out of her friend's office with maybe a bit too much force in her step, muttering about sex crazed blonde women who needed to keep their noses out of other peoples business.
Barreling through security guards, Sakura made her way to the increasingly familiar door of 17B and opened it roughly.
"Deidara, I- oh…"
Blue eyes met green as Deidara got up from his crunches, wiping his hands off on his pants. His shirt had been discarded on his bed, and a sheen of sweat covered his bare, muscled chest
Not that Sakura would notice such a thing. Obviously. Just like how she didn't notice that 'V' that trailed into his pants leading to…
"My B.!"
Sakura visibly cringed. Why the hell did I say "My B."? I never say my b.! Am I fifteen? Oh Kami, this is all Ino's fault.
"Um, I'm just gonna…bye!"
With an awkward fumble, Sakura shot out the door, closing it roughly behind her.
Smooth.
From inside the cell, Deidara stood, completely puzzled as to what just happened.
oOoOoOo
"Ta-dah!"
Deidara regarded at her flatly. "Don't look so pleased with yourself."
Chastised, Sakura lowered her arms from her enthusiastic display and glared. "I'm doing you a favor, bud, try to be a little more grateful."
"But then I wouldn't be me, yeah." He smirked.
"Who said that was a bad thing?"
With nothing to say to that, Deidara eyed Sakura's 'favor' as the rosette looked on smugly.
Two easels sat placidly, pots of paints dotted around the cell.
Practically buzzing with excitement, Sakura waited impatiently for his reaction.
"I mean, it's a poor substitute for real art, but I suppose it'll do for now, yeah."
Knowing that was the best she would get for her hard work, Sakura huffed, and shot his a peevish look.
"You are such a brat."
Deidara grinned wolfishly, and motioned towards the easels. "Why are there two?"
"I'm going to paint as well. Probably do me some good too, having to deal with you."
"Isn't this supposed to be my art therapy time?"
"Oh shut up, I'll be quiet. And the budget didn't cover this so I had to foot the bill. I get to draw then."
"Well how can I argue with that then, yeah?"
"You can't. So get to painting."
Deidara raised a brow, but quickly forgot her waspish attitude as he surveyed the supplies in front of him.
While nowhere near his desired medium, the same focus encompassed him as he set to discovering what the blank canvas before him wanted to be.
With careful decision, Deidara selected a brush and a deep burgundy, lost in the world of his thoughts.
"How do you know what to paint?"
"I thought you said you'd be quiet, yeah?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, but surprisingly didn't say anything else, returning to her noticeably blank canvas.
Deidara watched her from the corner of his eye, focusing on the way she worried her lower lip as she attempted to pick a color.
Deidara replaced the burgundy and picked up a nearby pink.
A few hours later- time really did speed by-Deidara gazed at his finished product, perturbed with what he found looking back.
"What did you paint, Deidara?"
The innocent question floated towards Deidara, and he scowled to himself.
"Nothing, yeah."
Sakura peeked from over her easel to get a look at his. For just a moment he debated whether he should cover it, but deemed himself too cool.
"Is that me?"
Deidara grunted in neither confirmation nor denial.
Something indiscernible flashed behind green eyes, but it was quickly gone and Sakura smiled.
"It's beautiful!" A haughty grin painted Sakura's face, "You think I'm lovely, don't you? Am I your muse?"
At that, Deidara snorted. "Don't flatter yourself, you're the only thing in this room. Unless you'd rather I paint a still life of my toilet?" He gestured towards said toilet in the far corner of the cell.
The smirk remained on Sakura's face, "Uh huh."
Deidara scowled.
"Can I have it?" Sakura asked plainly, eyes still taking in the lines and curves of her portrait.
"Sure," the blonde shrugged. "It's not like I want it, yeah." He turned his gaze to Sakura's canvas.
"Kami! What the hell is that?"
It was Sakura's turn to be on the defensive. She frowned, "Hey! Don't be mean." The pink haired doctor moved to cover her painting.
Unwilling to let such an opportunity pass, Deidara quickly maneuvered his way around the woman, wedging himself between her and her artwork. He used the term extremely loosely.
"It's a landscape!" She defended.
"No, it's a crime scene." He deadpanned, trying to hold back laughter.
Sakura made a shrill noise of frustration and stamped her foot. "Fine, I'm taking both the paintings."
"Good." Deidara guffawed, cracking, "Get that thing out of here!"
oOoOoOo
As always, they were in his cell. Sakura was sitting in her chair, cushion tucked beneath her. She sat with slender legs tucked under her.
Deidara sat quietly, eating the little, bruised apple he had been given for lunch, and watching his doctor shuffle around notes and organize assessments she had collected from him.
He scanned the room, hiding a disgruntled lament as he eyed the walls that were slowly driving him mental. His skin was itchy and tight, like he was too large for his own body, too large for this room.
Time was a strange thing. Seconds could feel like hours and days could feel like moments. His time is this cell was a bizarre mix of these ebbs and flows, and he felt as if he had been here forever, yet in the same breath he felt as if he had just lost freedom.
He took another bite of his apple.
The skin was soft and the flesh grainy, but it eased the path of the paper he had just swallowed.
Another slip of paper had been carried with his meager excuse for lunch. Another message sent.
West wall 2:30 am.
Perspicaciously, Deidara slide his gaze back to the pink haired doctor sitting at his desk, the desk adjacent to his west wall.
In that quick moment he had looked at the paper's message before swallowing, Deidara had breathed a sigh of relief. A 2:30 escape meant Sakura would be sound asleep, safe in her apartment.
They wouldn't have to kill her.
"Deidara?"
The sound of his name drew him out of his thoughts.
"Hn?"
Still looking at whatever papers were in front of her, Sakura brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear. Her gaze moved up to meet his.
"I need you to tell me about what is was like growing up in Iwa. I shouldn't say this, but it could help with your case."
White.
Sterile.
Pills taken dry.
His mother's hands slipping out of his own as he tried futilely to call for her.
He was all of six again, waiting for his mother to show, to come back.
Other children, some just as despondent, others angry and bitter, but none of them spoke to the new kid.
Another move, just as fear was being replaced by resentment.
White.
Sterile.
Pills taken dry.
"Leave." Deidara bit out.
"Deidara…"
"Leave!"
Sakura's face hardened, and a disconcerting look slide over her normally open face. "You can't push everyone out forever, Deidara. You'll end up alone."
"I already am alone."
oOoOoOo
June 26th, Patient: Deidara.
Deidara continues to withhold information regarding his past, and becomes especially hostile when asked questions specifically about childhood. His behavior is not openly violent but familiarity with attending physician (i.e., myself) is a possible factor for lack of violence.
The patient has been more open with myself in the past few weeks, and latest discussions have shown that arson may be related to past trauma as a coping mechanism.
No debilitating psychoses have been found in any assessments given, including (BPRS) scale, and (SOFAS) scale, though scores on the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS-M) are higher than average.
Deidara is articulate and clever, charming when comfortable and extremely intelligent. His cockiness however seems to be a defensive mechanism for underlying insecurities, and is aggravated when he feels himself to be invalidated or threatened. Physician concerns involve his recklessness when placed in such a position.
A major concern still being investigated is his unwillingness to discuss his new and continuous bruising. Further insight will be needed.
Sakura hesitated.
Given the existing data and observations, it is my professional opinion that Deidara is mentally sound, and an insanity plea is unsubstantiated.
oOoOoOo
Once a week, weather permitting, Deidara was allowed out of his cell.
That's where Deidara found himself. Outside, in a glorified dog run on the roof of one of Konoha Tower's connecting buildings.
There were at least seven heavily armed guards surrounding his pen.
Deidara meandered towards the edge, smirking as the guards tightened their grips on their guns. Casually, he looked over the edge. Too far of a drop to be a useful escape. Not if he wanted to get out with no broken bones.
He heard a guard pull the safety of their gun. He scoffed. The guards were too trigger-happy anyway.
He kicked a sandaled foot against the mossy roof and dislodged a clod of dirt. Deidara smoothly bent down to pick it up, and began to toss it like a baseball, throwing it up into the air, and catching it back in his hand.
Something moving in one of the few windows he was able to see caught his eye.
About two floors up that bit of pink that caught his eye moved again.
What ridiculously bright hair.
Deidara smirked to himself, and looked back down at the clod of dirt in his hand. He kicked some more roof debris off the edge, distracting the guards with the noise it made as it fell. With a careful arm, he threw it at the window, and with a quiet thwack against the window, he hit his target.
He waited a moment, but was rewarded with no response.
Rolling his eyes, Deidara gave it another try, again kicking some moss against the run to distract.
He saw her turn her head and puffed up proudly at finally having caught her attention. He gave her a flash of a grin when she looked out the window, green eyes meeting blue.
A dazzling smile pulled Sakura's lips and she waved.
Deidara waved back.
A/N: There you have it! Title is Bad Kids by Black Lips.
