Lilacs and Cyanide, Part Neuf
Disclaimer: Naruto (c) Kishimito
Miya (c) AromaticPain [deviantart
Yuka (c) Me [Takika/Manixa-chan"Art..." Yuka thought for a moment, and spoke what she truly thought. "I think it can be anything one finds beauty in. Abstract or realistic..." She zoned out for a bit, trying to gather her words. "I think art can be fireworks, cooking, painting..." She didn't bother to add the last word. Love. That was an art, wasn't it? She kept that to herself though.
Deidara stood. "We'll have to find an open area." He walked out of the shoppe and looked around. As soon as Miya got out of the shoppe, he walked towards the outskirts of the village. The area had a few trees and shrubs, but no buildings to get in the way.
"But fireworks are only there for a moment and a lot of those won't last forever. Painting will last a long time, but it will eventually fade..." Sasori didn't sound irritated when he said that; he merely expressed his own opinion. She seemed to have a pretty... General view on art. At least from what he understood, she didn't think it was something specific, like he thought it was eternal and how Deidara thought it was fleeting.
He wasn't quite sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was her opinion. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd have to respect it, just like he silently respected his own partner's views.
Miya just sort of followed. She was cursing fate for making her forget her weaponry, when she realised she did bring at least a couple of senbon needles. She always found it funny how they called people who used them 'masters of illusion', at least considering her areas of experience.
She looked around the area they had reached. "This feels like training with Aiko-sensei again..." She said, more to herself than to Deidara.
"The memory of the firework's beauty is eternal...paintings don't fade if they are properly cared for..." Yuka stared at the clouds. The sun was very bright, so she looked across the land instead. Several meters in front of her, an extremely large man walked by--he was wider than he was tall. A laugh escaped from her mouth as she covered her eyes. "That is not art." She was in such a fit that she fell sideways on Sasori. It took her three tries to sit up straight again as her laughs consumed her and her body was limp. When she finally got up, her face was beet red from both amusement and embarrassment. "..Sorry...'
"Who?" Deidara asked, but not really caring if he got an answer or not. He found a random spot in the clearing and stood there, then turned to Miya. "It will be much easier if you told me what you already know, un."
Well, she did have a point. Memories would last forever and paintings could be cared for, but still... He didn't think it was compared to the beauty of his puppets. He looked over when she pointed out the rather... Large man. It reminded him of Hiruko when he was human, except the man had been taller than he was wider. "No, it's n-" He didn't get to finish that when Yuka fell on him. If he could, he certainly would have blushed.
She eventually got up, but he was still surprised. "It's alright..." He stated slowly, unsure of what to say. He never really accepted apologies.
"Never mind..." Miya shook her head. Yamada Aiko was one of the least known people in Konoha. The only thing worth mentioning was her killing this one corrupt man that had left the village and later came back, nearly succeeding in killing some people very close to her.
"Well um..." She looked down at her feet. She wasn't used to this sort of thing anymore. "For ninjutsu just... Think... Basic Jounin level."
Yuka calmed down moments later. The man had been so funny looking to her. It was so mean to have laughed but she couldn't help it. "It's probably safer to look at the grass." There weren't any unnaturally large men in the blades of grass.
"Then you can perform a shadow clone," Deidara said simply. He didn't know how to do that, Iwa had their own kind of clones. Clay clones[if I remember correctly. . He put his hand to his chin, thinking. "What are your elements?" He wasn't sure how he was going to help her, he was going to have to wing it, like he did most things.
Sasori watched the man walk off with an angry face; sure, it wasn't his fault, but it wasn't other people's fault either if it was funny. Not that it bothered him. First off, he didn't laugh at random people and second, he really didn't care if they felt hurt. "Not your fault."
"Um... Earth... and Wind..." Miya had no idea how that would help but she answered, anyway. "Just one thing... What do you want in return?" She figured he'd want something, unless he had an astronomic change of heart.
"I know," Yuka said, getting out her knitting. Her yarn was a yucky off-white color, but it was the cheapest the fabric store had when she had bought it. She heard voices, and looked up to find some kids talking amongst themselves, pointing at her and Sasori. This time it didn't make her angry, because she overheard something about the tree they were sitting beneath. She went back to knitting and was surprised to find a girl approach her. It surprised her more that she sat down beside Yuka and Sasori.
The girl couldn't have been older than seven or eight, as she sported a yellow summer dress and pigtails. "Are you knitting? My grandma does that. I thought only old people did that. Is that a sock? Why don't you just buy one?"
Yuka looked up at the girl. "Because I'm poor."
"Why are you poor?" She glanced at Sasori. "Is your husband an alcoholic and spend all your money?"
"No." Yuka said firmly. "He is not my husband, I highly doubt that he's an alcoholic, and I'm poor because I haven't been working as much as I usually do."
The girl cocked her head. "Why aren't you married? That's what everyone else does."
Had Yuka been speaking with an adult, she would have been mad. But kids asked questions without finding them rude. "Perhaps I am not like everyone else." Yuka said, looking down at the sock she knitting.
"Hey, those are my elements too!" Deidara was delighted, this made it much simpler for him. What did he want in return? "I don't want anything from you. Just pay attention, un." He used a jutsu that unearthed the ground, the piece he was standing on went up in the air a few meters. He knew he wasn't a good teacher, but he figured a good sparring match would help her a lot. While the first jutsu he used was working, he created a clone and his real self jumped back amongst the rocks and earth.
His clone looked down at Miya. "We'll start with a spar, un. You'll have to come after me with the intent to kill. Can you do that?"
Sasori raised an eyebrow at her when she started knitting, but made no comment. He just sat in a less awkward silence, enjoying the morning atmosphere, slowly letting his eyes close. The sounds of children didn't bother him, as he didn't even bother too look at them and thus did not see if they were looking over at them or just playing.
However, his eyes snapped open when he heard a little girl's voice, much closer than the ones that he had been hearing in the background. She had even sat there and what surprised him the most were her questions.
What was wrong with knitting? At least Yuka was smart enough to do so. Then he heard Yuka's answer... And then yet another question from the little girl. With a look directed at him.
An alcoholic? Most certainly not! He thought angrily. However, he refrained from even glaring at the girl. She was just naïve, like he had once been. Like all kids were.
And wasn't she married?
He laughed softly at that one and a small smile crept onto his face. Not because of the fact that Yuka wasn't married, but because of the way the girl had posed that question. It was cute.
"Because she's free like a bird in the sky." He said in a barely audible tone.
Miya was not expecting that. Of course she could do what she asked, but she was unprepared for this... Well, mostly anyway. Though then again, unprepared shinobi could still put up good fights.
... She just had to figure out how to do that now.
"I guess so..." She answered. Security wasn't on her side today, was it?
Yuka thought she heard Sasori say something about birds, but she disregarded it. If he had wanted her to hear what he said, he would have spoken louder.
"But don't you want to get married so you can have babies?" The girl asked, making a small mount in the dirt.
The girl was clearly naive, but she was young so it was expected. "Babies?" Yuka repeated. "Even if I wanted them, I do not have a stable enough lifestyle for them" At one point, Yuka had yearned for children, but staying in one place didn't suit her. Plus, she had never found anyone she could mildly tolerate anyone enough to 'settle down' with them. Any desire Yuka had about such things had been locked away years ago.
Deidara's clone and jumped toward Miya. "Are you just going to stand there, Miya?"
Sasori closed his eyes once again. He knew this type of conversation; annoying kids used to ask him about his family when he was little. He knew how a question led to another and so-on until it became intolerable. However, he once again decided it was best to not even do as much as cast the child a nasty glare.
"I think your friends are calling." He said aloud. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. It didn't matter, really, as long as the kid forgot half the questions she«d most likely ask even if she shouldn't.
Alright so, she wasn't ready. At all.
It took her a moment for her mind to process the order to jump back, which she did just in time to get away from his clone. She made two clones of her own, her eyes darting around for a spot where she could start a genjutsu. It's what she always did.
The little girl glared at Sasori, her bottom lip protruding. "You're just saying that so you can make out with her."
Yuka all but dropped her knitting. "What?"
"Don't act like you don't know." The girl said. "My sister does that to me all the time." The girl left with a huff, leaving Yuka in a slightly disturbed state of shock.
Deidara deflected the genjutsu, and after numerous jutsu signs and hand-to-hand combat, he panted, slightly bent over with his hands on his thighs. "I must say, you were a bit better than I expected, un. The only thing is...you need...to adapt to the situation."
Sasori's eyes snapped open and he couldn't help but glare at the girl now, more out of shock than actual anger. He wasn't, by any means, her sister and he certainly did not share the same kind of personality.
Unlike Yuka, he didn't say anything, knowing very well that he'd probably say exactly what he shouldn't. And luckily for him, she ended up leaving.
"... Kids." He grumbled.
Miya had ended up sitting on the floor, breathing heavily. She had a couple of wounds, yes, but nothing like being stabbed or anything even remotely related. She looked up at the blonde and smiled. "Thanks... And yeah, I guess I really do. But it's just that... I learned in a different way when I was a kid."
True, when she was little she was the 'support' part of the team. His teammates had done most of the hand-to-hand combat, not because she was weak but because her strength rested elsewhere.
Yuka wasn't really disgusted with the girl, but a little annoyed. That annoyance made her in a too foul a mood to finish knitting, so she put away her sock. "That was interesting..." She said a bit dully, not knowing what to do now. She stood and stretched. "Is there anything else we can do to pass the time?" By 'we' she mostly meant herself, and in no way was she implying what the little girl had. She was just a bit bored.
Deidara frowned. "But it's different now, un. You have to be able to take care of yourself, without any help from anyone else." He glanced around. "I should probably find Danna now. You can come if you want."
"Get ready to leave." Sasori answered as if the question had been in his mind long enough for him to answer it without thinking. He slowly stood up and without another word started walking back to the inn, ignoring any looks he'd still receive.
"Yeah, I should." Miya nodded, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind. She quickly tied her hair in a rather messy ponytail before she got up. "Do you want me to?"
Yuka nodded and headed back to the inn, ignoring people in general. She had better things to concentrate on, like breathing...it didn't require concentration at all, but it kept her mind and attention off the annoying villagers. She supposed ignoring them helped, as she arrived to the inn in no time.
Deidara shrugged. "Sure. I think we're headed to the same place right now anyway." He started walking in the direction of the inn. "My rendezvous point with Danna is the inn," He explained.
At least the street where the inn was located wasn't as crowded and as such, neither of them had to deal with the villagers acting like they were creatures from a completely different world. He calmly went in, but didn't go to his room; he'd wait for his partner in the lobby.
"Alright then." Miya followed quietly. She didn't mind him as much now, but still something in her mind told her she shouldn't get too attached. What point was there when she wouldn't see him again as soon as she headed off to another town?
Yuka didn't have anything in her hotel room. She carried her belongings with her at all times. It wasn't like she carried much on her anyway. While Sasori waited for his partner, Yuka checked out from the hotel. She nearly cried out in dismay when she found that the fees she owned nearly took up all her money. She tried to brush that off. She had plenty of weaponry at the moment, and she had enough rations to last her about four days if she ate sparingly. After she counted out the money she owed, she stood idly beside Sasori.
Deidara walked casually down the street with Miya, his fists shoved in his pockets. He couldn't find much to say to Miya. She made pleasant company, especially compared to Tobi, but since she had turned down both his offers of being his pet and his 'Bonnie', he figured the next time they crossed paths-if they did-they wouldn't be allies or even in the neutral. He held the door to the inn for her, and when he walked in, his jaw dropped, and he was hysterical. "Danna? You haven't been waiting too long, have you?"
