AN: (collapses onto floor) OMG! I'm so sorry everyone for getting this chapter out so late. I'm now going through the most horrible stage a writer can have! THE STAGE OF FINISHING A STORY! AH!
Chapter nine
Danger Comes Stalking
Aurora Borealis
Warmth . . . It was the only thing that her body cared about at that moment in time. She could feel the hot sun melt away her softened body, and all her energy melted away when her eyes opened. It was barely silent outside; the bird's chirping songs seemed to have weakened, telling that fall was coming.
Outstretching her hand, she found that the only thing beside her was the comfortable blankets and bed underneath. Her hand went higher to where the pillow lay haphazardly, due to Deidara's constant turns. A small smile graced her lips at the memory they had made last night but her stomach did not share her happiness. It grumbled loudly and, to her own drama, began to hurt rather badly.
Trying to cover herself with her blanket, she sat up in bed and felt as a cool breeze went up her spine. It brought shivers to her arms and she quickly dove under the sheets again. Peering to the empty spot beside her, her hand went to touch the cold fabric again.
He had left a while ago . . .
Turning to put her legs over the side of the bed, she thought the next best thing was to get dressed and start preparing dinner since, obviously, it was too late to make breakfast. Sighing, she uncovered her body and grabbed the cold blue and green fabric of her kimono. Slipping it on and the green obi that held her outfit together, Eos couldn't help the want of falling asleep again. With the right side of her kimono open to show her bare thigh and leg, she could feel the coldness drift into her skin.
Leaving the bed in a complete mess, Eos left the room and made her way to the kitchen. She had no idea what she was going to make, all she knew was that they were running out of food. When she entered the kitchen, she knew all to well that there was another person in there, but to know that Deidara was in there… now that was something she didn't expect.
Standing comfortably against the wooden counter without a shirt and seemingly wet hair, the blonde leaned over a piece of paper. The soft tapping of the pencil in his hand strengthened her curiosity and she proceeded to walk to him.
She almost laughed at how her hand, with a slight touch on his back, brought shivers down his spine.
Muttering softly, Deidara shifted around to face her, "You're cold, un."
Eos blinked and glared up at him, "Of course I'm cold! I wasn't the one who took a bath."
Leaning his face down toward her, Deidara smiled down at her through two amber eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't think that you would wake up so early, since obviously, you enjoy your beauty sleep so much, un."
Her emerald eyes still glowered up at him, scrutinizing him with that always simple glare. Then, with a slight tilt of her head, those same green eyes peered to the countertop where the paper lay, and then looked back up at him.
"What are you doing in here?" she casually spoke which signaled something in the man before her to turn slightly around and glance at the ripped sheet. With a smirk, his amber eyes turned back to her.
"Grocery list." Was his simple reply.
"Grocery list?" She questioned him, raising a delicate eyebrow and eyeing him carefully so as to not lose any information his face would give her.
"Yes, Eos, a grocery list. With you here, we men eat more than we are used to. You women, you're always trying to make us like those feudal lords aren't you… un?" Deidara's lips gently ran across the bare skin of her neck. She hadn't put her hair up into the usual ponytail, but still it refused to drape around her neck. Allowing the movement, Eos only stared at the wall furthest from her.
"Speaking about feudal lords…" she whispered bringing his motions over her to stop abruptly.
"Un?" he immediately replied. Eos could feel the tenseness in his voice, that was the first indication that he was indeed, curious, as to what she was going to say.
"That day . . . when I found you over that feudal lord's body, why did you look so shocked to see me?"
Sighing in contemplation, Deidara raised his wet head to above her and locked with her eyes again.
Looking aside and raising his eyebrows, Deidara coughed, "What feudal lord, that guy was some pig, not a feudal lord, un."
Grabbing his chin with her small hand, Eos forced him to look up at her, "Well, you know, you made me look bad in the end."
"Un?" Perking his curiosity, he straightened and grinned the most self-appreciative grin that she had seen on him yet.
"Un." She confirmed sternly, "and plus, I ran off after you to make it look like you were the bad guy… but… it appears that I have just ran away for no apparent reason causing some ninjas to come after me."
The grin only grew more with each word.
"You're a jerk, Sensei." She said with a slight scoff, releasing his chin and laying her hand on his chest. It was feeling so awkward between him and her, getting so much attention from the man who saved her and trained her, who took her in when she was in desperate need and then tossed her away. She was in love with the man who had changed her life, and she didn't care.
Watching as her eyes turned from strong to soft was a relatively strange occurrence to catch and Deidara concentrated on her wandering face. Why hadn't he seen that expression before with her, an expression that appeared at peace but at the same time, worried.
Deidara laughed, "I thought you were ugly… so maybe I am a jerk . . . un."
Eos's gaze returned to him, "Sensei, what if she comes?"
Frowning, Deidara leaned in closer to hear her mumbled words, "What?"
Taking a deep breath, she looked away from his stare, "What if Nami comes?"
Nami, that's right, the woman wanted to kill Eos . . . and only because Eos supposedly killed their mother. It amazed him how naïve she was but how strong she was at the same time. She was a worthy enemy for Eos, but nothing more than an amateur to him. He wouldn't ever let Nami near Eos, he couldn't any longer let Eos place herself in danger until everything was cleared up.
Deidara mused to himself about what the Kyuubi boy had said to him before, how he wanted to protect his important people. So, did that mean Eos was important to him now?
Obviously.
"Forget about Nami, Eos, she won't ever find the Akatsuki base. You can't leave this place, so Nami can never come in."
This comforted her, and he smiled as her fears were assuaged. However, a thought crossed his mind and, without even thinking about it, Deidara raised the small woman into his arms. A surprised yelp and a few pushes was all that he faced, but that could be easily dealt with.
Eos stared at the mischievous face of her sensei and frowned when he looked at her through happy amber eyes.
"So, my student, would you like to have another lesson?"
Oh, the blush that swept over her face at the moment could've made any man love her more.
"In what may I presume?" Her hesitant voice hitched unsteadily as he walked her out of the kitchen.
"Oh, nothing much, just a lesson in bathing… un."
"Wait, what!?"
Somewhere in Rain Country
"Here's your apple ma'am." Courteously the elderly man handed the dark figure the red fruit, letting it rest in her hand. She stared at its shiny texture; dark spots of red blotted the surface. Only the skin of a concealed center that when bitten into delivered the sigh of delicious victory. Grabbing a couple more apples, she paid the man the proper amount of money and made her way through the crowded marketplace.
Wearing a black coat that stretched down to her knees, her blond hair drifted in the air as she walked forward. Amber eyes glaring at any individual who dared to threaten or speak to her.
She had received information that the Akatsuki base was somewhere in the country of rain, which made her laugh. To think that her brother was so close to her most of the time was just humoring. However, this inner mission was not made for just pure amusement…
Okay, maybe it was…
Nami was determined to destroy a single woman's life, she was determined to teach her brother what it meant to be a member of the Kuchi family. Had he not forgotten the pride in the family, he would've never stooped so low as to fall in love with the girl who had killed their mother. Eos was a spawn of evil, an annoying splotch on a clear window. This time though, Nami would change all of that, even if her father disagreed.
What would he care?
He would rather have her become a breeder than a kunoichi.
Taking an apple and kunai from her pack, she sliced off the rough skin and tossed it to the ground, then took a deep, satisfying bite from it.
With all her might, she forced the image of her brother glaring down at her, his amber eyes dark and foreboding.
"If you lay one hand on Eos, I will follow you into Hell and torture you, myself, un."
A small grin relinquished itself from her lips as a soft chuckle began to shake her body. Stabbing the kunai into the wall beside her, she glared into the near forest and laughed.
"I'll take you up on that challenge, Deidara. I'll make you regret the day you took that murderer in and make you suffer."
Pulling out the kunai and finally putting it back into her pouch, Nami continued to chuckle as she ate the apple. Her eyes looked down at the part of the fruit she had been tearing apart with her teeth and her grin lost its strength.
"Nami-sama! Wait up, please!"
Eos…
"Hey, Nami-sama, we should go and pick on that little boy."
Why?
"I think its best that we stop for today, what about you Nami-sama?"
Crunch! Without even realizing it, her hand had been squeezing the apple to kingdom come. Her amber eyes stared at the smashed pieces of apple in her hand, watched at the juices leaked away from her fingers to only drip sadly to the ground.
Sighing in utter defeat, Nami wiped the juices onto her coat and continued down the road. Deciding that gaining some more information on the Akatsuki's whereabouts might as well be the best plan.
"Deidara-senpai?"
"What?"
"Deidara-senpai?"
"What!"
"Deidara-senpai!"
"What, un?!"
"Are you going to tell me about your night with Eos?"
Deidara gave Tobi a deep glare, "No."
Sighing, Tobi complained once more, "But, I was the one who lent you all those tips! Didn't you use them?"
Stopping abruptly, Deidara held back the urge to kill the man right there on the spot. Sadly enough, he had used the stupid tips that the masked man had given him and had ultimately saved the relationship between him and her. Still, couldn't he act a little more like an adult in the situation?
Wait, this was Tobi . . .
Of course he couldn't . . .
"I said no, idiot."
"But that's what you told me last time!"
Throwing the list at the man in black, Deidara grinned, "And I plan on telling you that again and again, un!"
Pointing angrily at the blond, Tobi yelled, "You cheapskate! That's the last time I give you any pointers!"
Deidara paused as he looked around; people in the streets had stopped all movement and began to watch them. Then again, it didn't help with them wearing the Akatsuki cloaks.
Stretching the laziness out of her limbs, Eos fell back onto the wooden floor of the porch. She never realized how incredibly bored she could get when she wasn't cooking. No wonder she never went stir-crazy in the base, she was always cooking it seemed. If not for the men who occasionally stayed there, then for the leader who was always locked up in his room.
Giving a stiff glare toward the direction of the Akatsuki leader, Eos recalled the memory or him talking her down so easily. She had found a new respect for him, a new reason to keep all questions about him at bay. It would be wise not to aggravate the leader of a group of S-rank criminals.
Lifting herself off of the porch, she balanced the stare at a strange rock a few feet ahead.
This… is… boring!
Slouching with the lack of energy to do anything, Eos drawled out a long, easy sigh.
"Eos, you over there, un?"
Quirking her head up, she turned toward the direction of the cave and smiled. After all, they really didn't need that much stuff in town, so it wouldn't take them any length of time to get back.
"Yes?"
There was an awkward silence afterward that quickly erased all happiness.
"Good, why don't you come out here? I got something to show you, un."
Wait, go outside the base?
Wasn't that off-limits?
Or was this . . .
No, it couldn't be. Deidara was just simply going to ease her pain of being bored. That was it, nothing more, nothing less. He told her that she had nothing to worry about, that she'd be fine.
But that was as long as she stayed inside the base.
Walking slowly toward the entrance of the cave, she abruptly stopped and looked back to see if the leader was watching her. When there was no one in view she continued down the dark tunnel. Strays of light beamed down from the newly opened doorway.
Well, if he was going to let her go outside, then why not?
Lifting the last remaining barrier of the base, she hesitantly peered behind down the tunnel. Seeing no one was there to glare down at her, Eos took one brave movement and slowly raised herself out of the square hidden doorway. An awkward feeling of freedom swept over her torso and she froze as she stared out to the glistening leaves surrounding her.
She had forgotten what the outside of the base looked like compared to what she had been living in. It was like to completely different worlds, one with life and one with darkness and fear. Standing up, Eos slightly wobbled from the uneven ground beneath her. Streams of sunlight beat down on the grass patched ground, illuminating the pathway that the members tread to get to the spot. Tall grasses pushed away and a dying patch of green leading to the doorway.
Turning on her heel, she could see that the trail kept on going over the doorway back into the forest. A smile tugged at her lips.
Of course the Akatsuki wouldn't allow themselves to be found so easily.
"Deidara?" Eos whispered carefully, so carefully as to keep silent from any predators.
The moment of solemnity didn't last however, as an almost inaudible rustling came from her left. In an abrupt action she watched as one sharp piece of metal came flying toward her. Quickly jumping back from the spot, Eos fell back into another trap and was immediately entangled with wires.
Wriggling in the wire trap caused more pain than it should as the wires began to pierce her skin. Biting her lip, she grimaced as she could feel her own skin break to the strands of metal.
"That was easy."
Her heart stopped and cautiously, her eyes found a pair of amber orbs mockingly watching her. If it weren't for the instant strain on her body, Eos would've run for the exit. She cursed herself for leaving the base, knowing that Deidara would've never called out to her.
Shakily, Eos spoke, "Nami-sama…"
Those same amber eyes now narrowed into thin slits as she smiled down at Eos from the branch above.
"Eos." She happily spoke, and then jumped from the branch to land before he newly caught prey. "How is my brother doing?" Tilting her head to her side, her eyes shot daggers at the woman hanging.
She wanted to laugh, as a matter of fact; she could feel herself chuckling at her situation. Closing her eyes she could feel an inner fear inside of her raise once more, the same fear that Deidara had tried to quell. Tears gathering up in the corners of her eyes, she knew that this day would come sooner or later. Eos laughed at the new predicament that she had placed herself willingly into. She really was…
…A stupid student.
"What are you laughing at?" Swiftly raising a kunai to Eos' throat, Nami watched as the smile on the woman's face soften to a smaller smile. What was she so happy about, was she glad to die?
"It's funny . . ." Eos whispered as her throat now threatened to clench harder.
Nami frowned and held the kunai level to the woman's throat, "What is?"
Opening her eyes, she looked back at the girl with some resemblance of Deidara. A stray tear managed to break free from the corner of her eye.
"He said he would protect me . . . from you . . . and now look where I'm at." Again she sadly giggled as the fear once again made itself known.
Nami sighed, "My brother makes a lot of statements . . . but never a promise. You made the mistake to believe in him, and now look where you are. Tied to two trees with a wire clearly keeping ahold of you and a kunai held to your throat."
A sudden memory, rather peculiar, jumped through her mind with one the highest of whistles and replayed in her mind's eye.
Eos's head spun toward him, her emerald eyes wide with surprise. She leapt of the rock and turned her body toward him stiffly. Both of her arms held behind her back, almost suspiciously. Nervously, she smiled at him and closed her eyes to hold back some of the emotions that were easily draining out of them.
Deidara smirked, "Damn, I was so close. I could've stolen you purse, un."
The giggles went an octave lower and she took a deep breath, "Don't suppose you wanna steal my purse too?"
She really does want to die, doesn't she? Nami thought that the Eos she had known in the past was just going to be a so-called damsel in distress. It appears that in the deepest horror Eos was able to find some humor.
Like her brother . . .
He was always pulling jokes . . .
Relaxing a little under Nami's weak stare and smiled, "Really, Nami-sama, the least you could do is let me fight back."
Nami smiled, "Fine, but either way you're dead."
In the village
"Let's see, we got the rice, the beef and the spices. Now what is left?" Pondering over the list, Tobi walked back and forth in the street as Deidara just merely glared at the people walking in the street. Smiles on their faces and unaware of the danger next to them, they were all so free. Leaning on one hand, he averted his eyes to the man walking a hole into the ground.
Sighing, Deidara frowned, "Ya' know, you act like a woman when you shop, un."
Tobi turned to Deidara and scoffed, "But, Deidara-senpai! If we don't get all these supplies then Eos-kun can never make us a wonderful meal!" Bringing his hands together, he sighed, "just the thought makes me hungry."
Deidara blinked at his partner's words . . . Eos wasn't that great of a cook, she mainly only made rice and soup. Sure, sometimes the food was good, but it was never anything to be made perfect. He just hoped Tobi was over-doing it to get on his nerves.
Well, it was working.
"Would you stop pacing and sit down, un!"
Tobi waved off Deidara's comment and continued to wear that hole into the rocky soil. Leaning back onto his hands, Deidara stared out into no where.
He could be annoying Eos right now…
BANG!! The world around him shook so violently that it sent Tobi to the ground. Nearly falling off his seat, Deidara's eyes shot to the area where the noise had come from. A cloud of dust and debris scattered the sky for a short moment before clearing to reveal a relatively jagged piece of earth sticking above the trees.
"OW! What was that?" Grabbing his head, Tobi rubbed the area of impact and groaned at the pain that throbbed. Glancing up at Deidara, Tobi was shocked to find Deidara's expression change so quickly. One moment shocked, and the next a glower.
"Um… Deidara-senpai?"
"Tobi, see that jagged mountain over there?"
The black haired man turned to see what his partner was glowering at and surely enough, there was an ominous mountain in the forest.
"Yeah?"
"You know where that is, un?"
"Um, the forest?"
An angry amber eye glared at Tobi, "It's the Akatsuki base, you idiot!" With that said, Deidara's leg did the rest of the talking as he sprinted off.
"Hey! Deidara-senpai, wait!" Jumping from the ground, Tobi followed in slow pursuit.
The noise stopped, all he could hear was his thumping heart. His mind was no longer processing the images in his head. Everything now lay around that mountain in the forest.
What was worse, he had left the base completely unprepared. There was no inkling of the thought that there was going to be an attack while Tobi and him was away. The mountain however, was deemed more ominous than he wanted to see. It was the same jutsu that Nami had last used on him, and though he barely managed to get out of that situation alive, he knew Eos would never make it.
That was the forbidden jutsu of the first tsuchikage, a jutsu that could only be passed down by blood. The question was how she attained such a destructible jutsu. Deidara certainly didn't know, but he did know that on foot it would take far too long to reach the base.
Kami, don't let him be the incompetent one for a change…
Pain . . . She knew a part of her body was severely damaged due to the increasing numbness. Pushing herself off of the ground with her right hand, Eos coughed in agony. She could feel the dirt scattered over her body, and in her eyes. All sound in the forest had become inaudible because of the ringing in her ears. Slightly opening her eyes, she could see the towering jagged rock that she had barely dodged. Though, she knew she was already badly injured from the attack.
The ringing in her ears slowly died away as she pushed more to place herself in a sitting position. Looking down at her left side, she could see the newly formed gash in fabric and her blood slowly soaking it.
"Peh, you really are weak. How could Deidara ever love a person like you?" Said Nami as she stepped into Eos' range of view. She frowned at her from the scattering dust that still had yet to settle.
Tightening the glove on her right hand, Nami proceeded to stride toward the woman bleeding on the ground.
"I won't show any mercy to her." She thought as she let her hand fall to her side while her other hand raised behind her head for another blow.
Without another movement, Eos grimaced, "Why, Nami, why are you doing this? I don't understand."
Nami blankly stared down at the woman she held firmly in her hand, and with carelessness, threw Eos away to pillar of rock.
Yelping in pain, Eos quickly grabbed her injured side and slid down to the dirt covered grass. Biting her lip, she tried to ignore the throbs of pain shooting through her body.
"You killed her."
Emerald eyes slightly opened to the ground below, though her face still contorted due to the pain.
"That's all I need to say."
Looking to her side, Eos groaned, "I didn't kill your mother."
Dangerous amber eyes once again shot daggers at her, and she knew another word would most definitely damn her. Stepping quickly up to Eos, the blonde once again grabbed her with a fisted hand to level their faces.
"Nami-sama, you know that I couldn't have killed your mother… Since, she was technically treating me like another daughter… So to speak, I don't think I could ever allow myself to kill that woman, not even in my dreams."
Raising her hand angrily, Nami glared, "You're lying! I saw you Eos! I saw you next to my mother's body covered in her blood! You pulled a wall over my father's eyes but not mine Eos!"
She was bearing her teeth now, and her amber eyes were starting to resemble those of an inborn killer.
"Now, you're with my brother! Do you realize how long I've been trying to find him Eos? Do you? Ever since he left, ever since he was dragged out of my home and pulled to the ground by that horrible man, I've wanted to see him since then! I thought that maybe being a ninja would help me find him, somehow, I would see him again! But you…"
Eos begun to bite her lip and bringing enough chakra to her hands for protection, she readied her body for the assault.
Nami continued, "You destroyed that possibility! I will never see my brother again, not like how he used to be!" Now, both hands clenched the woman's throat and Eos tried in vain to remove those very hands, "How many people must you take away from me until you're happy! You're nothing more than a demon in disguise!"
It was then that Eos released her chakra into Nami's hands, causing slight holes to puncture the girl's skin. Taking this chance, Eos jumped back from the now leering girl holding her hands. Nami's eyes had taken an uncharacteristic turn to bloodthirsty.
She really was dealing with a killer, wasn't she?
Taking a deep breath, Eos tried to calm her frazzled nerves.
"Nami-sama, do you remember how ill she was?"
Glowering, she screamed back, "Of course I do!"
Nodding, Eos continued, "Of course, do you think… if placed in the same situation… you could allow yourself to slowly die?"
"My mother wasn't dying!"
"She was," Eos explained, "and she knew that being kept to that bed was going to drain her of the life she had left."
It was in that distinct moment that Nami's form slackened.
"It tore her, Nami-sama… She didn't want you see her slowly slip from the world . . . she told me that she couldn't bear placing that burden on her very own daughter . . . she said that her daughter didn't need to see the darkness of the world so soon."
Turning her face away, Nami continued to be silent, to hear out a reasonable explanation.
"Then, as it would happen, you mother . . . killed herself . . . I guess in a way to protect you."
Eos was also now feeling a little numb, but she knew that the next subject was going to be a more painful feeling. Still, if she was going to die any way, maybe it was the best thing to do.
"As for your brother . . . his personality is constantly changing. One moment he's the kindest of men, the next moment . . . a serious artist ready for the attack… Then, he can be a mischievous person secretly plotting how many ways he can embarrass you." Eos laughed, "I really tried not to care for him, to hate him with every fiber in my body but . . . well . . . you see how that went."
Nami's lips twitched and Eos saw it, "when he said…" Taking a deep breath, she persistently calmed herself down, "when he said that he loved me, that he would protect me . . . I kind of . . . broke." Again she laughed slightly but quickly grimaced from the damage on her left side.
Nami gave Eos the wickedest of glares, and Eos, knowing that something had suddenly gone up Nami's sleeve, took a step back.
Snickering to herself, Nami straightened her body to look toward the female before her. Amber orbs, concealing something sinister within them, stared at her.
"Sorry when I say I don't believe you." Said Nami as her hand raised into the air.
"One other thing Nami-sama…"
Frowning, Nami paused her movement for the final attack, "what?"
Eos smiled as she felt the last shiver of fear fight its way through her, "I really did . . . look up to you."
Nami's facially expression saddened, "Don't worry about a thing Eos . . . it won't hurt for long."
Throwing her hand down to the ground only gave Eos a second to react.
AN: BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! I hate them but love them… Just like I loved writing this chappy but hated it at the same time . . . yep . . . I'm starting to dislike Nami alllll over again. Anywho! Please review! They keep me going! Also, I'm thinking of a separate arc for this story . . . call it a sequel . . . don't quite know the name of it yet but I have an idea! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please don't hurt me……..
Next Chapter
The last petal of a flower falls as the green color in the sky turns red, and a man tries to capture that last fleeting moment of beauty. Next chapter of Aurora Borealis . . . "I'm Sorry"
Fanfic by ione