Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Being back at the base was like we had never even left.
"Fucking asshole!" Hidan's yell roared throughout the hollow cavern, "You ate the last slice of fucking pizza!"
"I was hungry, what do you want from me!?" Deidara yelled back, his words slurred together thanks to the sheer amount of pizza in his mouth.
"Izumi? What are you doing back already?" Sasori was the first to notice me walk in.
"Zetsu didn't tell you?" I asked as I plopped my bag onto the couch and pulled my cloak off, letting it fall in a heap.
"Whoa!" Hidan exclaimed from behind me. I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and looking me up and down.
"What?" I asked awkwardly, trying hard not to shy away.
"I just never realized you had tits, let alone an ass." My mouth dropped as I stared at him, horrified. "What is your problem?" I asked while crossing my arms in a huff. He mischievously raised an eyebrow at my chest. I looked down and quickly slapped my arms against my side, realizing that crossing them only made things more apparent. Hidan began to laugh manically.
"What is so goddamn funny, Hidan?" I asked, frustrated.
"You face is so fucking red right now."
"Alright I think that's enough," Sasori said while taking me by my shoulders and pushing me into the kitchen.
"Thank you," I said with relief. "Of course," he gave me a small smirk.
"You know what's wrong with this picture, un?" Deidara strolled in nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes and didn't even bother to ask what, I knew he would tell me without any prompting on my part.
"You're in the kitchen. But you're not cooking." He smirked as my brows came together in anger.
"You know what Deidara, why don't you just shut your mouth for once, all of them." I glared at him.
He looked back at me with a pout pasted on his face. Our eyes didn't break from each other for a long moment. Finally I sighed and threw my arms in the air.
"Okay fine! What do you want?" I huffed as I opened the pantry door.
"Chicken wings, extra hot. Oh and cut up some celery and put a bunch of bleu cheese in one of those little dishes, un." I laughed under my breath at his sudden giddiness. He just seemed so excited for chicken wings.
"You know, as good as that sounds, I'm afraid I can't do it." I shrugged as I leaned against the counter coolly.
"Why not?!" he cried while looming over me, nearly smothering me in the process.
"Calm down, geez. You don't have any ingredients I need to make chicken wings, genius." I said quickly as I pressed my palms against his flaring chest, pushing him back at arm's length.
He looked at me before staring hard at the floor. I could tell he was deep in thought.
"We're going shopping," he announced abruptly while grabbing my wrist and pulling me behind him. I stumbled as I tried to keep up.
"Deidara, Deidara! You really need chicken wings that bad? The nearest town is hours from here," I whined while digging my heels into the ground.
He turned to me and flashed a sly grin, "By foot."
"What do you mean by foot? How else do you propose we get there? Fly?" I flapped my arms mockingly and shrugged while giving him an incredulous look.
His grin spread like wildfire, "Exactly." I cocked my head and looked at him perplexed. "Just trust me, un," he said as he grabbed my wrist and tugged me behind him. I gave up trying to resist and just focused on keeping up at that point.
The wind blew fresh on my face and ran child-like through the grass, making it dance in its own rhythm. I stood there in the empty field just outside of the base, Deidara next to me, his grip no longer around my wrist. His hand was in the bag that hung from his waist. I waited, watching him intently. He smirked as he held his hand out before him and uncurled his fingers, palm up.
"Are you watching?" He glanced between me and his open palm. The light reflected off his hair, sending the sun's rays back where they came, creating his own aurora borealis like a halo that hung over him. It was beautifully unfitting for him.
The mouth in his hand curled back its lips to reveal a malformed lump of clay. He clasped it in his fingers and opened his palm once more, exposing a tiny clay bird perched in his hand. I watched in awe as he threw it in the air and it suddenly expanded into this massive flying creature. Strong gusts of wind wrapped around me as it beat its wings and touched feet to ground. It lowered one wing to the earth and looked at me. I stepped back bewildered and looked at Deidara.
"Why is it looking me?" I asked nervously while taking a step behind him. He laughed at my wary expression and walked towards the bird, stroking its neck.
"He wants you to get on, un" he said, gesturing towards its wing that acted like an entrance ramp onto a plane. I stared at him like he was crazy and took a step back.
"Come on it'll be fine, see?" he said as he stepped up onto the bird and held out a hand towards me. A gust of wind blew fiercely at my back as if pushing me towards the bird. I stepped forward and gave Deidara an apprehensive look before taking a hold of his hand. He gripped me hard as he pulled me up onto the huge clay bird. I thought I would be scared, but once on the creature, I felt at ease.
"Hold on," Deidara cheered as the bird began flapping its wings. I immediately dropped to all fours and crawled to the edge. I peered over and watched the detail of each blade of grass disappear and mesh into one giant sea of green.
"Sure beats walking, un?" Deidara said as he stood, staring out at the horizon thoughtfully. The view was beautiful, the lush greenness of the forest reflected off my crystal eyes and into my heart. It swelled inside my chest. I smiled widely up at Deidara, my hair whipping around my face wildly.
"Yeah," I agreed as I shakily pushed myself up to my feet, my arms out to help keep balance. A small chuckle sounded from behind me.
"What?" I moaned as I turned to face him. He shrugged as he stifled another laugh.
"What?!" I threw my arms in the air as I stared at him.
"I'm just thinking of when we first found you. To think we actually thought you were a ninja, un."
"What's so funny about that?" I asked while crossing my arms defensively.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" He retorted.
"Do you want me to slap y—" I let out a yelp as I felt myself falling backwards. Deidara rocked for a second before catching his footing as well from the unexpected turbulence. His eye widened as he watched me fall backwards like we were in slow motion. I reached my arms out, grasping at the air that slipped through my fingers.
A scream caught in my throat as Deidara's fingers wrapped around my wrist. My stomach returned to its usual position within my abdomen rather than in my throat as he pulled me up into him. It all happened so quick, if he hadn't caught me at the last minute…
"Oh my god…" I breathed out deeply as I clutched Diedara's cloak between my small fingers. My heart raced inside my chest like a wild horse. Deidara pushed me back lightly with his hand on my forehead.
"Are you alright, un?" he asked while pushing some strands of wild hair from my face. I swallowed deep and nodded my head, "I think so."
"We must have hit some turbulence, I should have been paying more attention," he said almost apologetically as he released me from his hold. I was a little shaken up as I moved away from him and took a seat by the head of the bird. I could see the village in the distance. Deidara wasn't kidding about being quicker than on foot.
"You gave me a scare back there, un," he joked as he sat beside me. What was it about me and near-death experiences?
"Hah, yeah that kind of thing has been happening a lot lately."
"What do you mean?" He looked at me attentively, waiting for my answer. I told him all about the mission with Kisame and Itachi and why we had to come back early.
"He knew your name without you telling him, un? And why was he watching you at the spring? He could have seen you, un!" His voice went from a dull roar to a lion's growl.
"I don't know what's going on either!" I shouted defensively as I tucked my knees under my chin. Things were quiet until we touched ground a few minutes later. The bird landed at the outskirts of town and let its wing rest against the grass.
"Shall we?" Deidara asked playfully with his elbow out. I looked at him and laughed.
"You wish," I stuck my tongue out and slid down the wing with my arms in the air. "And that's how it's done," I said while pretending to brush off my shoulders. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"You are one strange girl, un," he mumbled as he jumped from the bird.
-
"This village is really busy today," I remarked as we weaved through the people. Deidara took note of this as well and looked back at me, "Yeah, make sure you don't get lost. And put your hood up, un."
"Come on, it's hot out," I whined. He glared at me gravely. I quickly shut up and pulled the hood over my head, sending shadows to play across my face. I followed Deidara closely as we bobbed through the seemingly never-ending packs of people that drove onward down the streets like mindless cattle.
"Here we are," Deidara grinned as we arrived at 'The Chicken Shack'. Once inside, Deidara was all business and no play. He negotiated vigorously with the man behind the counter until he ended up with everything he wanted—A giant sack of uncooked chicken wings and three different types of hot sauce.
"Do you feel better now?" I asked sarcastically as we left the shop.
"Be quiet," he commanded sternly as he pushed me against a wall. My back cracked against it roughly and I stared up wide-eyed at Deidara, who wasn't even looking at me, but rather glancing over his shoulder.
"What are you d—" he clapped his hand against my mouth and narrowed his eyes at me. "I said be quiet, Izumi." My eyes went from annoyed to frightened, unaware of why he was suddenly treating me so abusively. When he glanced down at me, his angered expression dropped slightly and he removed his hand.
"Someone is following us," he whispered as he searched my face for something. Several moments of tense silence passed between us as he continued to stare at me with a look of unease on his face.
"Izumi, please don't look so scared," he said pleadingly as he brushed my bangs from my eyes.
I looked up at him, the frightened expression leaving the through my pores. I understood he wasn't angry with me, he was only trying to protect us. I nodded my head in understanding.
"Stay close," he ordered as we made our move to leave. His walk was brisk but I kept up for fear of what would happen if I didn't. My eyes darted from building to building, searching for anything suspicious.
And there he was.
Smiling at me, just sitting there smiling at me through the crowd. He wasn't even trying to be discrete as he sat cross-legged at the edge of a ramen shop roof with his hands buried child-like in his lap. He rocked back and forth slightly with the wind that blew madly through his hair. When our eyes connected his smile grew even wider.
I felt a rough tug on my wrist.
"What are you doing?" Deidara hissed under his breath. He looked at me with frustration before following my eyes to the man on the rooftop. The man's smile drooped into a look of confusion as if wondering why we had stopped, and particularly why Deidara was looking at him. I heard a low growl erupt from deep within Deidara's throat when the man suddenly looked chipper once more and waved at us.
"Who the fuck does he think he is, un?" His voice was rough and shaky as he spoke. His eyes were knife-like, narrow and dangerous, hoping to spill blood. I tugged lightly on his sleeve but he didn't even acknowledge me.
"Deidara please," I pleaded while tugging on him with more of my weight. He snapped out of it and looked at me with fire in his eyes.
"That's the guy isn't he, the one from the spring? I have to get him, Izumi," I could feel the heat in his voice, every word igniting from his lips.
"It's too late Deidara."
"What?" He exclaimed as he looked at the roof of the ramen shop—empty. Deidara whipped his head in every direction, desperately searching the crowd.
"He could be anywhere, let's go," He said quickly while grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the woods. Once there he created a bird to take us home.
Rahhh Chapter 10! Anyways, the reviews have been lovely, please keep them coming, they give me that fuzzy socks feeling in my tummy, if ya know what I mean. Probably not, but nevertheless, I appreciate them :)