Bringing out a little bit of changing povs


Operation: Infiltrate Akatsuki!

2.0

Chapter Seven

The Start of Something New

(And Awful)

The Sequel

When I open my eyes again, I assume it's morning. With there being no windows or clock, it's impossible for me to tell how much time has passed.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I roll over onto my feet and try once again to familiarize myself with my surroundings. Everything is how it was before I slept, save for my bag thrown in a corner. My sleeping bag is still bundled ontop, rolled so tight I'm afraid it'll take my head off if I unravel it. Although I'm happy to see some kind of bedding, I'm almost ecstatic at being able to change out of my sweaty clothes.

I yank things out of it by the handful, anxious to reach clean underwear. When my hands grab onto a small bundle at the bottom of the bag, I silently thank my mother for all her pushy overpacking. There's at least a week's worth of underwear in my hands—but what would I do when i've worn them all? I assume that there has to be some kind of washing machine in this deep dark lair, but it doesn't get rid of the fact that I still only have two outfits: my current one and a pair of pajamas. Judging by the way this place gets me sweating, I'd definitely have to wash them every single day.

After a few seconds I decide to let future Shiori handle the problem, standing up and grabbing a small toiletry bag from amongst the clutter and retreating into the bathroom.

Or at least, what I thought would be a bathroom.

I let out a string of curses in my head, angry at myself for not checking where the mysterious door led to in the beginning. It could have been a wild tiger waiting behind the door, starved for food. Or maybe a cliff overlooking the ocean. Why oh why did I, Stupid Shiori, assume that there would be a bathroom and not a sleeping blonde bomber?

He did this on purpose, I think angrily, noticing how much bigger his room is compared to mine. The lamp is on low, casting an orange glow on his sleeping frame. His bed, I notice, isn't a depressing bare mattress, and the open door next to the dresser leads to an actual bathroom.

The betrayal I feel is enough to propel me forward into the room. Without a passing glance at Deidara I defiantly move across the floor and enter the bathroom. Shutting the door behind me as quietly as I can, I dump my belongings onto the closed toilet seat.

The bathroom itself isn't very large, but it's definitely better than nothing. As I undress, I take notice of the assortment of hair care products and bottles lining the overhead shelf. So that's how he does it.

Everything looks expensive and fancy. There's serums and sprays and custards and conditioners and things I have never seen before. I'm so focused on the colorful containers that I abandon undressing, opting instead to read the label of a rather large black bottle clad in nothing but my unbuttoned shorts.

"'Repairing Hair Mask'…"

I run my fingers through my ponytail, feeling the scraggly split ends throughout. An envious sigh escapes my lips and I go to return the bottle back to the shelf when the appearance of a messy blonde head in the mirror shocks me into dropping it. The heavy bottle makes a loud thud as it lands in the sink, splattering some of its contents all over my front.

It smells amazing, and it's almost enough to distract me from my impending doom. Almost.

My eyes return to the mirror. Deidara squints down at me, one arm on the doorframe. He's obviously still half asleep, and I hope that he doesn't mistake me for an intruder and beat me to a pulp.

Even though I am an intruder, and being beaten to a pulp by him isn't that farfetched of an assumption.

Surprisingly, instead of attacking me, he moves me to the side with one arm. I scramble out of the bathroom with my arms wrapped around my chest.

I'm about to run screaming back into my hole of a room, vowing to never shower as long as I'm here, when I'm stopped by the groggy sound of Blondie's voice.

"Don't move," he says. I freeze, trying to ignore the very loud sound of his pee stream. Would I be punished? All a girl wanted to do is not be a sweaty, sticky mess and this is what happens? The world is an unfair place.

Like an idiot I wait for him to finish his business. He takes the bottle I dropped and places it back where it belongs before turning to face me.

Much to my annoyance, I can feel the tips of my ears heating up. He's shirtless, and ponytail-less, the entirety of his long hair hanging down his chest. It's almost to his belly button. I cannot believe what I'm seeing. It's worth noting that he isn't as muscular as I originally thought. Even so, part of me wants him to teach me the ways of the sacred golden locks, and part of me wants to take a kunai to it.

Although I'm almost positive he'd look just as handsome with short hair. Disgusting.

"What are you doing in here, hm?"

I swallow hard, face still heated by both his appearance and the sleep in his voice. "I..I thought it was a bathroom," I say. "I didn't know it was.."

My voice trails off. Somehow I'm terrified. Somehow it seems like I've committed a grave offense by gazing upon his collection of hair care products.

Deidara gives me a lazy once over with his visible eye and nods in the direction of the shower. "Go," he says, watching me carefully.

"I um, I don't…have a towel or anything."

"That didn't stop you before.."

"Um."

He hasn't moved, and neither have I. I'm almost certain the second I take a step back towards the bathroom he'd attack.

My hands grip my chest even tighter, I'm sure my boobs will pop if something in this standoff doesn't change.

Time to stop being a little wuss, Shiori. I bite my lip and try and listen to my brain. It was time to face the inevitable. I could either allow him to claim me, or be used like a chew toy for every single man in this lair. As much as I don't want to be any of the two, there's obviously a better choice in the former.

But I wonder how much longer I can hold out. It won't be that easy to break old Shiori Takamiya down.

I approach the bathroom again, heart pounding and legs shaking.

He watches me the entire time, face blank, before suddenly flashing a smirk that nearly knocks me out.

"You're so funny, hm."

. . .

I think I've been in the shower for an entire hour. The warm water is heaven on my skin, and I can't bear to leave. That and I'm afraid to face Deidara with nothing but a pair of underwear and a towel.

The sound of the bathroom door opening jolts me out of my watery bliss.

"Are you dead in here, hm?"

"No."

"Get out of my bathroom," he says tiredly. "I can't sleep with all this noise, hm."

It comes out before I can stop myself. "I'm sorry."

Silence, then, "Why do you apologize so much?"

I shrug, even though he can't see me, and try and figure out ways to cover all of my privacy with only two hands.

Before I can figure out the equation, the shower curtain flings open. In a panic I stoop down into a fetal position, hands gripping the rim of the tub.

"I've already seen your little va—"

"—Stop! Don't say it!" I yell, face burning red. "I know you have, okay? That doesn't mean I want you to see it again."

He grabs the towel from off of the closed toilet seat and takes a step forward, towering over me. I feel like a mouse in his presence, despite him not being that much taller than me standing. I'm reminded again of wild animals trying to establish dominance over those that are clearly weaker than them.

As quickly as I can, I stand and grab the towel. My eyes never leave his the entire time I wrap the towel around myself. I don't want him to think that he has total control over me, even if all signs point to it being true. I may be outnumbered and overpowered but I'd definitely put up a fight until the end.

Or at least try to.

Our stare-down is almost a good five minutes before I can't do it anymore, angrily looking past him at the opposite wall in defeat. I step out of the bathtub and roughly bump my shoulder against him as I pass. To my surprise, he doesn't outright grab me from behind as I thought he would. Instead, I get an uncharacteristically gentle hand on the back of my neck that stops me right in my tracks.

"Get dressed," he goes. "And get back in here in 5 minutes, hm."

I turn around to try and get a look at him. "Why?"

He runs a hand through his hair and squints at me. "Just do it."

And so I do, painstakingly putting my sweaty clothes back on, pressed into the far corner of my room. I'm almost finished when a bundle comes flying out of the dark doorway. It lands at my feet. I cautiously pick it up, unraveling it to find that it's fresh clothes.

"That'll look better on you, Stupid Shiori," comes Deidara's sleepy voice from inside the dark room.

"I forgot you guys have an image to maintain," I scoff in reply.

Laying the clothes out in front of me I see that everything is black, like my other clothes. The shirt however is much more form fitting, and long sleeved, and it covers my neck. Something tells me, as I pull it on, that it's definitely Blondie's personal choice. It only stops a little bit below my chest.

I try and shake the feeling that he is most likely watching me from the darkness like a creep, and I'm glad that I already have on underwear. Next, there's the just-as-form fitting thin shorts with the wrap around it that will conceal a weapon pack perfectly—if I had one. The one thing that I noticed first with my bag was that all of my weapons are gone, no doubt confiscated the second I entered the lair.

"Now you don't look like a kid, hm."

His voice surprises me, it's much closer than before. I look up to see him peering at me from the doorframe, eye lazily trailing up and down my entire figure. I'd be lying, unfortunately, if I said they weren't miles better than my other clothes.

I fold my arms and ask, "Why am I supposed to get dressed?"

"Because we have shit to do."

"'We?'"

He rudely yawns without covering his mouth before going, "You heard me, hm."

As I pull my shoes on my mind wanders to Ayame, and whether or not he's close to home. I hope he isn't being preyed on by any big animals. Even though he's a pretty fast cat with a pretty cool ability, I can't help but worry about him. If he gets into trouble, I'm doomed.

I let out a shaky sigh, and Deidara notices.

"What's wrong with you," he asks, although it comes out more like a demand than a question.

So many ways to answer that. For starters, I was sold and kidnapped. Plus the fact that I hadn't eaten in about two and a half days. Can't forget the knowledge that I'm to be used as a tool most likely with no hope of escape that doesn't involve death.

"My cat," I mumble, standing up. "I'm worried about my cat."

He gives me a doubtful look before retreating back into his room. I follow him, hesitantly sticking close to the wall and out of his grabbing range. I watch him get dressed, just like he watched me, making sure to be staring into his eyes whenever he glances at me. I'm sure it's not causing the same type of reaction, though.

I continue watching him as he brushes his teeth in the bathroom, and even when he starts brushing his hair.

He doesn't finish primping himself for what feels like an hour. By the time he leaves the bathroom I've nodded off about five times. I stifle a yawn and ask, "Do you always take that long to do your hair?"

No answer.

"Do you use all of the things in your bathroom on your hair?"

No answer.

"What—"

Third time's the charm, and I finally get a reaction. Deidara reaches out and presses a finger to my mouth, going, "Shh. You talk too much."


By the fifth time he's sent her flying, the sun is high in the afternoon sky. With a little bit of "friendly" coaxing, he's managed to send Shiori into a pure rage—finally allowing him to see her average combat skills. Although he's sure she can do better than this, he's eager to see what she has to offer with actual sleep and food in her stomach.

He's deep in his thoughts, too deep to react in time when she comes flying at him. They both go tumbling down into a ditch, landing on the lumpy earth with a hard THUD. She's ontop of him with her forearm pressed against his neck, breathing like one of her lungs is missing. She looks feral and crazed.

Cracking a small smirk, he says, "That's enough, hm."

He rolls Shiori off of him and stands, brushing the dirt off of his black pants. Despite the fact that she was purchased solely for her memorization skills, it's been made clear that her offense needs work—what good is a mole that can't properly defend themselves? Still, he can appreciate how nimble she is, and how quietly she can move.

Suddenly, he gets an idea. Just how nimble is Stupid Shiori, anyway?

When he asks, she glares, rubbing her sore knees instead of replying. So he decides to take it into his own hands. It's really a shame how every ounce of confidence and fight in her leaves the second he touches her in a foreign way. She's clearly a virgin, he guesses, because as he leans over to bend her right leg closer to her head, her entire face flushes.

It'd be cute if it weren't so funny.

To his surprise, he's able to push her leg all of the way up towards her face. When he tries to take it a step farther and make it touch the ground under her, she winces.

He'd be lying if he said her flexibility didn't excite him.

"I'm sorry," he says, mimicking her meek apologies. Shiori squints at him and looks to the side, something he notices she does whenever he looks at her. She's stubborn, but he knows that she's attracted to him.

It wouldn't be long before she gave in, and that he is sure of.


I'm sore all over by the time afternoon falls. I suppose the impromptu sparring session that lasted all morning is to test my skills, and see where I am. Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't the best idea to completely fly into a rage and try and destroy Deidara. Acting like a complete buffoon and tripping over my own feet would have probably made him see me as weak—and maybe the Akatsuki would deem me useless and leave me alone. Too late for that now.

Still, it felt nice to finally be able to release my frustrations. It even allowed me to observe Deidara's way of fighting. He's a long range fighter, that much is for sure, but up close he's an iron wall of defense—it'd be amazing if it weren't so frustrating.

We walk in silence, moving through mist covered trees. It's hard for me to breathe, and I am absolutely starving. What little energy I had was completely spent within the past hour and it's starting to become difficult to keep up with his pace. By the time the entire world is spinning, a hand catches my arm and hoists me back to my feet.

"Are you hungry," Deidara asks, his question once again sounding like a command.

I nod and try not to trip as he drags me along. I can't even remember the last time I actually ate a proper meal. Soon, beautiful images of buns and soups and meats are swirling around in my head. I can almost smell them, and the thought of even tasting something remotely edible has my stomach roaring like an angry tiger.

We approach Deidara's artificial bird after a long, horrible walk. Its vacant holes for eyes are staring blankly ahead at nothing, truly frightening. I briefly wonder as I climb on top what could possibly possess him to design his clay animals so terrifying.

I'm about to ask when I'm stopped by him turning to face me as we ascend.

"What do you want to eat, hm."

"Everything," I reply in all honesty.

He gives me one of his infamous head to toe looks and turns back around. "There's this place," he says. "Master Sasori and I go to a lot. They have pretty decent food, hm."

I try and ignore the fact that we're hundreds of feet above ground and nestle myself into the spongy back of the bird. "Why do you call him 'Master'?"

"Why do you call anyone, 'Master'?"

Good point. My guess is that it's a respect thing. Although judging by the way they bickered like children I'm surprised that Deidara gives him such a high title.

We fly in silence for a little while, the only sound being my crying stomach and heavy breathing. There's nothing but miles and miles of trees below us—once again my mind goes to Ayame. He's somewhat of a smart cat, but the exact location of the Akatsuki hideout remains a mystery. The only thing I remember seeing as we left the underground lair was trees. Trees and trees and trees and more trees, lush and green in the summer heat.

"Are you guys together?"

I have no idea what prompts me to ask, but it slips out before I can stop myself. I sheepishly look up at Deidara's back. Would he get angry? I can't exactly defend myself at the moment, but I brace for impact anyway.

Instead, he scoffs, back still turned to me.

"No."

"Oh…Have you ever been with a guy?"

He still doesn't turn to face me, so I can't read his expression. It's a mystery, my sudden interest in his love life, but I'm so tired of the constant silence that always surrounds us that I'll use anything to fill it.

"No," he says again. There's a finite tone to his voice, which lets me know to drop the subject.

But I can't help it.

"If you have that's cool, but I'm just wondering. I mean, it's just a bunch of guys in Akatsuki rig—"

He has me in a headlock before I can finish the sentence. Maybe intentionally provoking him wasn't such a good idea. His hold only tightens the more I weakly struggle against him, no energy left in me.

"Okay!" I gasp out. "I'm sorry!"

Deidara's chokehold loosens, much to my delight, but instead of completely letting me go he tosses me, right off the edge.

Eyes screwed shut, I'm prepared to be tumbling at a million miles an hour through the sky, completely disintegrating once I hit the ground. Instead I land in 2 seconds flat, knees digging into the soft earth. I open my eyes and look around wildly trying to figure out when exactly did we begin a descent.

Deidara lands perfectly on his feet, motioning me to follow him down a dirt path. Up ahead there's a tiny shack of a restaurant, the only sign of its operation being the steady stream of smoke pouring out of the roof. It looks like it's been there since before my grandparents were born.

Almost immediately the intoxicating aroma of barbecue hits me full on in the face and I'm running towards the restaurant with drool dripping down my chin. Deidara catches me round the waist before I can pounce on the small building, and sets me behind him.

"Whaaaat?" I groan, trying my best to wriggle out of his grip.

He squints down at me, a small frown on his lips. "Calm down. You're too excitable, it's annoying, hm."

"I thought you found it 'funny'," I reply with a roll of my eyes. Who was he to start lecturing me on how to act?

"It's only funny when I tease you," he says with a 100 percent serious tone. "You need to act cooler in public, hm."

I only stare at him in reply, in complete disbelief at his words. It's something I'd expect a kid to say—but it's not at all unbelievable. I could tell from the very beginning that Deidara is a childish individual.

Slumping my shoulders forward with a heavy sigh, I say, "Okay fine. I'm sorry for being so uncool. But I haven't eaten in like 3 days so excuse me if I get a little excited that there's food right in front of—"

For the second time that day, I get a finger smushed against my mouth.


He watches Shiori vomit up most of the food she'd eaten with disdain. Watching her gorge herself like an animal was almost as disgusting as this. Almost.

After a final retch, she stands on shaky legs, struggling to hold herself up on a nearby tree. There's bile on her chin, and he nearly throws up himself at the sight of it.

"Disgusting," he mutters as she wipes her face with the back of her sleeve.

With a heavy sigh he decides that her body won't be up for another sparring match. He really hates that he's been put in charge of her, but then again he's glad to bring her closer to him. To spitefully dangle her body in front of the others, untouchable to them is something he can't wait to do. He especially can't wait for Hidan's stares, angry that he can't have the woman right in front of him. Although Deidara wouldn't really call her a full-fledged woman per se, at the end of the day she has what most women do. And it's something that they don't get to have very often.

He cannot wait to claim her.

"Can we stop again? I…I think I feel that barbecue coming back up."

"Disgusting."