Daybreak
Grudges
"I'll take care of the cameras, un. Just meet me by the door, un." Deidara said, walking off.
"Okay. Let's find Sarah's dad." Megan suggested.
Deidara was simply standing in the frozen food section as if nothing was wrong; little did the people around him know that there was a small clay spider on every camera in the building. Deidara made a hand sign, making each and every one explode. He didn't put as much chakra in these ones; that way they wouldn't cause any real damage. Now he just had to find the room where they kept the tapes of what happened here. Then he could dispose of the video that showed Zetsu eating one of the workers.
Itachi worked his way to the back of the store. He entered the door that said, "Employees Only." He walked around the corner.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be back here!" A worker younger than him shouted. Itachi stared at him for a while, and then closed his eyes. They snapped open, his sharingan activated. Moments later, the boy fell to the floor. Itachi slowly walked forward.
He came across the camera room. Most of the screens were covered with static. He turned off the remaining ones and took out the tape that showed Zetsu eating one of the employees. He snapped it in half and blew fire on it, burning it to ashes.
A door opened from behind him. "I have to do everything around here, un- Itachi? What the hell are you doing here, hm?" Deidara glared.
"Getting rid of the evidence. Destroying the cameras was useless. We only needed the tape." Itachi spoke.
Deidara glared. "What are you saying, hm? That I'm incompetent of a simple task such as this, hm?" Deidara's glare deepened.
Itachi remained silent, but walked by Deidara and towards the exit. He wasn't going to waste his breath arguing with Deidara.
Deidara was twitching with anger. He did not like being ignored. And he hated the Uchiha. He was fully capable of disposing of that tape. He would not be made a fool.
"Teme… Come back here and fight me, un! I will prove to you I'm better, yeah!" Deidara shouted.
"This isn't the right place or time for this. You're letting your anger cloud your judgments. We need to leave before anyone finds us here." Itachi insisted.
"What's wrong, un? Scared you will lose, hm?" Deidara smirked.
Itachi stared back unemotionally. He moved his hair out of his face. "You're not going to let me leave without a fight." He stated.
"You've got that right, un. It's time I proved that I was better than you, yeah. You made me look like a fool in our last fight, but this time is different, yeah. I'm much more skilled and I will win, un." Deidara said confidently.
"I'm warning you. I won't hold back." Itachi spoke. Itachi didn't blink once during their conversation.
"Neither will I, un!" Deidara jumped backwards, throwing clay bombs down at Itachi. Each exploded, destroying the room they were in. But when the smoke cleared, Itachi was no longer standing in his original location. "What the-" Deidara began.
Deidara felt a wave of heat from behind. He turned around to see a fireball coming at him. He jumped to the right and dodged, but then black flames came at him. Deidara sighed, irritated at this. He had to win. He just had to prove that his art was better than Itachi's sharingan. Deidara jumped up and landed on the ceiling. He used his chakra to stay up there. This was good. Now that he had some distance, he stood a better chance. Deidara threw a long clay centipede at Itachi. It wrapped around Itachi's body. Deidara quickly made a hand sign and made it explode. Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke along with the centipede. He used the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"Damn it, un!" Deidara cursed. Itachi was somewhere in the room, but Deidara couldn't sense him. "Stop hiding and fight me, you coward, un!" Deidara yelled.
A kunai flew from the opposite side of the room. Deidara managed to move in time so he wouldn't receive any wounds, but it cut off the strap to his bag. He jumped down and caught it, but now he was standing on the floor again.
"Damn it, Itachi, un!" Deidara glared. Itachi appeared in front of Deidara, making him flinch. Itachi smirked. Deidara's glare deepened.
Before either of them had time to move or say another word. The static from the computers grew louder and a dark figure appeared on the screens.
"Itachi, Deidara." The figure greeted.
Deidara stared at the screens, shocked.
"Leader-sama." Itachi spoke.
"Where are you?" The dark figure known as their leader demanded.
"We're all in America, a strange country unknown to us." Itachi explained. "I don't believe we're in the same world anymore. I haven't sensed a single chakra presence or seen any ninja."
"I see. That Jutsu that they used must've sent you there. Unfortunately, the ninjas died shortly after using it, so I don't know how to bring you back." Leader said.
"Are you saying we're stuck here forever, un?!" Deidara shouted.
"We still have our Jutsus and abilities even though chakra doesn't seem to exist in this world. We found a group of girls that know each and every one of us. They claim we're from a TV show. They know everything about us. They're offering us a place to stay for now." Itachi explained.
"Good. Take them up on their offer and find out more about where you are. Don't kill any of them. They may be useful to us. And learn more about this show they're speaking of. Konan and I are trying to find you a way back in the meantime. Stay low and don't draw attention to yourselves." Leader ordered.
"Yes, sir." Itachi answered. The computers shut off.
"That was weird, un. I wonder how he got in contact with us, yeah." Deidara pondered.
"I don't know." Itachi said before walking towards the exit.
"I wasn't talking to you, un. And where do you think you're going, hm? I'm not done fighting yet, yeah!" Deidara followed him.
Itachi remained silent. He opened the door and walked out of the "Employees Only" door.
Gary, the girls, and the Akatsuki stood by the exit of the building, waiting. Finally Itachi and Deidara were in their sight. Itachi was walking towards them with his usual unemotional expression while Deidara was glaring at his back.
"I wonder what happened." Sarah mumbled.
"It's about fucking time!" Hidan complained.
"Deidara Sempai!" Tobi ran over to Deidara to embrace him in a hug.
"Don't touch me, un." Deidara glared, stopping Tobi in his tracks. Tobi sulked and walked back next to Tia.
"Sorry. We got distracted." Itachi spoke.
"Distracted? By what?" Sasori asked.
"I'll explain later." Itachi told them.
The girls looked at each other, wondering what was going on and why the Akatsuki wanted to keep it secret, but they knew not to ask.
They all exited Sam's Club and put the groceries in the back of the truck. "I'll go drop these by the house. Where do you want to meet at?" Gary asked.
"The mall." Sarah answered.
"Okay. I'll call you when I get there." Gary said before getting in the truck and driving off.
The Akatsuki piled into Kiya's father's truck. Sarah sat between Itachi and Deidara. She could feel the tension in the air between them. It was suffocating. 'What happened back there?' She wondered. She knew that Deidara held a grudge against Itachi. Sarah knew why he held a grudge against him, too. Sometime after Orochimaru left Akatsuki, he was located by Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Sasori, who were under the orders of the leader Pain to recruit him. He refused at first, but was forced to join after being defeated by Itachi's Sharingan. He still hated all the Uchihas for that one loss against Itachi though.
The red truck started and Kiya drove out of the parking lot. Sarah looked over at Deidara. He was looking at his bag. The strap was ripped. "What happened?" Sarah asked.
"Nothing, un." Deidara scoffed.
Sarah frowned and looked down at her lap. She didn't feel comfortable back here with the Akatsuki anymore. Something had happened at Sam's Club and now Deidara was angry.
She felt eyes on her. She looked to her left to see Itachi staring at her. She smiled nervously at him.
"What's the mall?" Itachi questioned.
"It's a shopping district. They have food, games, and lots of clothes they we can buy. It's a fun place to hangout at, too." Sarah explained. "You all need clothes and probably are hungry by now." Itachi nodded.
"I'm fucking starving."Hidan grumbled.
The mall was now in view and the Akatsuki stared in awe at their surroundings. They weren't used to so many buildings. And there were so many cars. Kiya opened the back up. Sarah sighed in relief. She'd finally be free from the tension in the air.
"So this is Joplin's mall, huh?" Sally studied the building. It was only one story high for most of it. A couple stores like JC Penny was two stories high though. It was a pretty long building though.
Tobi sprinted for the mall with excitement, not looking both ways before he crossed the street. A large hummer honked at him, surprising Tobi and making him stop in his tracks. Tobi looked to his right to see the hummer coming right at him. The hummer couldn't stop in time. It…
