Guardian Bay

Chapter Eleven

"Deidara's gone?"

Itachi winced at the shout of both Tsunade and Sakura, not a good combination when both are mad at one person. Brown and green eyes narrowed at him and all he had for protection was his hair. A fat bunch of luck that would do for him.

It had been three days.

Three days of worry and distress and no still no Deidara.

"I haven't seen him." Itachi muttered, shaking his head. "Not since the lunch with Karin."

"On a first name basis are you?" Sakura growled, hands on her hips. "Didn't know you two had such a close connection. You gonna give her the house now that he's out of the way?"

"Don't say that!" Itachi snarled.

"Well I did!"

"I wouldn't do that."

Tsunade stepped forward. "Fighting isn't going to find him." she moved around her desk and picked up the phone. There was a short pause before she sighed, "Kakashi? Load the brats up and grab Iruka. We have a problem."

Her eyes narrowed, "No. Not that kind of problem. Deidara's gone." Then, she was blinking at the receiver as if it had grown legs.

"What?" Itachi asked, "Are they coming?"

Tsunade set the phone on the hook and smiled, "Yea. He hung up the second I said Deidara's go-." She chuckled, "I didn't even get to finish the sentence."

"HE'S WHAT?"

The three in the room winced at Naruto's loud shout. The door flew open and a very angry blonde, raven, and silver-haired man walked in. Iruka and Gaara trailed behind, one terrified of their wraths and the other glaring at the noise.

"What did you do?" All three shouted, pointing accusing fingers at Itachi, who scowled at them.

"I..."

"He made Deidara run away." Sakura stated, crossing arms over her chest, "And now we can't find him."

"Deidara wouldn't run away." Sasuke hissed, "Where would he go?" He rubbed his temples, warding off the headache that was starting to form. It was bad enough he was dealing with his own blonde problems, he didn't need his brother getting some as well.

"What are we going to do?" Iruka cut in nervously, fearful of someone snapping at him, "Has anyone checked the house?"

"Twice." Itachi whispered. More than twice.

"Hinata's house maybe?" Naruto suggested.

"She would have called and told us." Sakura shook her head, "Hinata isn't one hide someone and make others worry. And besides, she's a bad liar."

There was a long silence, while everyone either glared at Itachi or was off in their own worlds, trying to fix the problem. Where would he go? Sasuke's question kept repeating in their heads. There was no one around outside of Guardian that had even met Deidara.

"Tsunade." Gaara's voice cut through the silence like a sharp knife. The blonde woman grunted from her seat behind the desk, letting him know she was listening. "There was a shift the other day."

Her head lifted slowly, "You sure?"

The redhead nodded, "It wasn't strong, but it was there. It appears..." he shifted, as if uncomfortable. "Maybe it's time to..."

"No." She shook her head.

"Only at the last resort." Kakashi cut in. "It's not worth it."

"Look." Sakura sighed, "Let's just...all go home for the night. I want everyone to think very hard about any place he could be. I don't care about stupid 'shifts' or places we've already searched. Just...find a way to find him."

They all nodded solemnly before everyone filed out of the office. Tsunade turned back in the room and watching sadly as Itachi put his head in his hands. If Sakura thought, they all felt a loss from Deidara leaving, well, their pain was nothing compared to Itachi's.

He was the one connected after all.

The night was cold and cruel. Like it was demanding to place an early winter upon the bay. Sasuke leaned forward against his window, watching the moonrise over the cliffs. Well, as best as he could since his window was on the side of the house. His spare room had the view of the bay, but he was far too tired to walk all the way down the hall.

His eye twitched when he heard music coming from the window across from his own. He knew the song; the exotic beat was one of sensuality and dripped of sex. Didn't the idiot have any form of respect for...?

He turned his head and his breath caught somewhere in his lungs.

The light wasn't on, but a lamp was and the room was slightly dim. Naruto was standing in front of his dresser, which wasn't far from the bed and the window. He was bent over at the waist rummaging through the drawers before taking out a shirt and shorts. Then, he proceeded to pull the shirt he was wearing off. Slow, almost teasing as evenly tanned skin was revealed.

Oh God. Sasuke swallowed thickly, his fingers curling on the sill. Then the jeans came off and were tossed somewhere Sasuke was sure wouldn't be found for a week at most. Dammit, he wanted to turn away, get into bed and think of ways to find Deidara.

He had a feeling Deidara wouldn't be the one in his dreams tonight.

The blonde paused in slipping the clean shirt on, Sasuke didn't want it on. The boy looked much better without it.

The dark-haired boy froze as Naruto turned around, blue eyes moving to the window. He was caught and in a flash, he jerked from the window, closed the curtains, and fled for his bed.

Had the house always been this dusty? Itachi wondered, running his hands over the railing of the oak staircase. It had only been three days, why did everything look as though no one had lived here for years? The cabinets almost bare and dishes done, the remote even had dust on it.

It was as if...Deidara hadn't been here at all.

Like he no longer existed.

Or maybe he didn't exist and they were all just going crazy.

No. He refused to think like that at a time like this. It was just normal to think it a dream when someone is gone. To hope that it was never real and that he could move on with no pain.

However, how could he keep living without sleep? For every time he closed his eyes, he was faced with a memory of his best friend. Those gray eyes laughing, or crying or angry. The determination that the blonde had when he wanted something or his support of Itachi's choice of schooling.

His knuckles turned white as he held onto the made-up bed in Deidara's room. He had just wanted...to spend time with him. School was going to take up so much of his time once fall fully arrived. He would have seen less and less of him.

Now he wouldn't be able to see him at all.

"Why...?" He couldn't finish it aloud. A question that weak just couldn't come from his lips.

Why did you leave me?

The sound of a branch snapping made him jump up and run down the stairs. It was foolish hope that filled his chest on the journey down. He pushed open the front door, hoping to see Deidara standing in the grass.

However, it wasn't.

There, standing at the edge of a scattering of trees, was a white wolf. It stood with an air of mystery, head turned to him and eyes cutting through him like the sharpest blade. Itachi knew instantly that this was the wolf from Sasuke's favorite story.

The last of the white wolves, searching for its lost lover. Cursed to the cliffs of the bay, watching and waiting for a second chance at love.

Itachi couldn't move, he was frozen in the archway of the door, eyes locked onto silver as if by force. Then, the wolf's head tipped back and a howl dripping with sadness escaped.

But not in the form of what most howls sounded like.

Itachi realized, with fearful wonder, that it was a song.

It was about that same time when Sasuke was awakened by a weight on his chest. It wasn't a heavy weight, but a comforting one; however, it woke him all the same. He lifted his head slightly and blinked in confusion at the ball of orange fur curled up over his heart.

"You're back." He whispered and the Fox's head lifted, red eyes opening drowsily. Sasuke lifted a hesitant hand and set it on the animals head.

It let out a rumbling purr once again at being touch. The small form shivered as the pale fingers scratched down its back. Sasuke chuckled, "You've never gotten this close to me."

There was no answer, just a slight tilt of the head before the fox curled up again and went back to sleep. Sasuke did the same, but could swear while he slept, someone was singing. A song lost in the sands of time and from a distance, another voice was joining in. Locked together in an ancient tune, lost...and waiting.

Once again, by morning, it was gone.

To be continued...

And the plot thickens...whooooo.

lol

Wow. I got chills. This was an angsty chapter, but not too bad. They story is about to get much better and wow...I've fallen in love with my wolf. It's just so...magical. I'm working on actually writing a song...would y'all like that?

It might take time, but i'm sure I can come up with something.

And while I wrote from the Sasu/naru type scene to the end(don't worry...I have a surprise for you in the next chapter...a REAL good scene between them) I was listening to 'Ring my Bells' by Enrique Iglesias. Listen to it, I LOVE the song. It's sensual, sad, and beautiful.

Hope you Enjoyed!

Blessed Be,

Angel