I do not own Naruto.
Thank you for all the love and support! And really, all of your reviews just make me skip like a jolly old fellow. I really do thank you all! The secret behind my fast updates… well… I'm actually a really fast at typing. I type as fast as some of my teachers. So really, there should be no excuse if I don't update… I guess. As long as I have an idea (I have tons). So here's another update brought to you by the Book nerd. Please enjoy.
--Chapter 11: In which the companions go on a camping adventure--
Humans needed to take a break –always. It was the middle of the night, possibly about three something am. I didn't want to just jump through trees with Deidara nonstop, so I found the will to demand a break, "Okay, Deidara, we're stopping."
We both stopped on a branch, and Deidara gave me an annoyed look, "Are you serious? We're stopping, yeah?"
"Well I'm not an s-ranked criminal, I don't have all your magnificent super powers, and you expect me to be able to keep up with you? Ha! You make me laugh. Even if you're not going to take a break, I am. You can go on ahead if getting to Takigakure is so important to you."
No longer possessing the will to just jump down from the tree, I carefully lowered myself to another branch, making an attempt to climb down the normal way. Deidara scoffed at me, grabbing me and leaping down.
Now, Deidara obviously wasn't paying attention to where we were landing, because we both ended up landing in a river with a gigantic splash. Bubbles came out of my mouth as I looked at Deidara, who looked like he wanted to laugh. I swam to the surface, gasping for air. Deidara popped up as well, smirking. He snickered at me as I turned red.
"Damn it Deidara!" I gasped, trying hard to keep afloat. Deidara rolled his eyes, somehow climbing onto the water and standing on it.
My eyes widened as he pulled me up into his arms, carrying me off the river. I gave him a weird look, and he smirked, "What? You've never learned this trick, yeah?"
I glared, pushing away from him and standing on my own. I wrung out my hair, frowning as Deidara snickered in the back round. "You know, this isn't funny. You really should watch where you're landing! We could've been jumping off a cliff!"
Deidara scoffed, wringing out his own hair and clothes, "You don't think I can get out of falling of a cliff, Kaori?"
"No I don't," I said, glaring as I removed my sweater. The water made my wounds sting, but I didn't complain. Instead, I said, "Well, fine. Now that we've stopped, I'm going to get firewood."
"You? Getting firewood, yeah?" asked Deidara, raising an eyebrow and frowning. "Do you even know how?"
"Yes. You find dry little sticks and bring them back here," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Maybe you've forgotten, but I am an adult. I'm twenty-two, and I'm perfectly capable of doing such simple tasks on my own. Even if you lack the maturity of an adult, I do not."
Deidara pushed away his bangs, removing his scope and shoving it into his pack. I saw his other teal eye, and I bit my lip. Damn it. I turned on my heel, throwing my soaking bag next to a tree and walking into the forest. Why had I lied? How the hell would I have known how the hell to get firewood? Was I supposed to cut it off the tree?
I frowned distastefully a I moved past a prickly-looking group of brambles and ducked under a branch. It was stupid that I was trying so hard to be an adventurous person. Actually, it was just plain sad. I was not adventurous. I wasn't a capable woman. Even if I was mature, it didn't mean that I had the most… experience.
Deidara obviously had more experience then I as an outdoorsman. So why was I getting the firewood? Why did I even volunteer so generously? Easy. Because I was embarrassed. He was so nice all the time, and it bothered me. Getting firewood was my only way to get the hell out of there.
Oh yes. I'm smooth.
I stopped when I entered a clearing. There were little sticks that littered the grass. Tempted to let out a sigh of relief, I crouched down and began picking a couple up. After taking as much as I could into my arms, I whirled around and was going to go back to camp, but then I remembered something.
One thing was that I had no idea which way I came from, and another thing was that all the trees were incredibly tall where I was. They weren't this tall when I was with Deidara.
Where the hell was I?
I was sure that even the great lord had no idea. Cursing myself for having poor navigation skills, I peered up into the trees again. I frowned. They seemed too high for me to just jump into. With a loud string of profanities, I paced around the clearing, trying to remember which direction I came from.
Of course I had to get lost. It was just the way things were with me. Horrible luck, horrible circumstances. In this particular circumstance, well, I was obviously lost. So what would one do when lost?
I weighed my options. Screaming for help at the top of my lungs? Hell no -that was much too degrading. I could just not go back. I had a compass and map that would lead me to Takigakure anyway, so I could just go ahead by myself. I also had my bag and pills with me, so I technically didn't need Deidara's help.
But for some reason I just didn't want to go without him even with the full knowledge that I could. I was that pathetic.
It could've been my horrible fighting abilities and bad arm and bruised, tortured back and that I just wanted someone to protect me. But really, yeah right. Deidara would not protect me in a battle, would he? For some reason, I doubt he would. The fat people were an exception because they were… disgusting. But in an actual battle against highly skilled rouge-ninjas where even his own life was at stake?
As if he'd waste his time saving some pathetic woman's sorry ass.
So it wasn't because I wanted Deidara to protect me. I hated to admit it, but it was because I wanted to be with him. I wanted to travel with a man that could get me thrown in jail for the rest of my life, who had tried to kill me plenty of times, had inflicted pain upon me more than I can say, and the person whom I've told I hated.
I sure know how to choose them.
But how was I supposed to get back? I looked up into the trees once again. If only I could jump that high…
Well then again, I'd never know if I didn't try.
Feeling like a complete and utter idiot, I dropped all of the little sticks that I was carrying and concentrated all of my chakara to my feet. I counted to thirty in my head, readying myself to jump.
And I jumped.
I jumped high into the trees, and struggled as I grasped out to grab a branch. On the bright side, I did end up grabbing a branch with both hands. But… there's always going to be something bad about everything I do.
It was the weakest branch ever. I was right on the end. And I was so high off the ground it'd be like jumping off a cliff.
The first thing that popped up in my head was a vile obscenity. Son of a bitch! I meekly peered down from where I was hanging and vaguely wondered if falling from this high was enough to kill me. And that was a question that I didn't want to be answered.
"Shit!" I cursed again as the branch crackled under my weight. Was I really that fat? If I lived through this, which I most likely wouldn't, I was going to start working out again.
The branch creaked once more, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Anxiety rushed through my body, my stomach churned, and the voices in my head gasped as suddenly, the branch broke.
Death wasn't something that I liked to think about. It was something that I often dreamed about, but really, who controls my dreams? But anyway, death didn't sound too good. I didn't know where I was going to end up, that was one thing. Heaven or hell? I was sure that heaven wouldn't want some random idiot that started crushing on an s-ranked missing criminal. And hell? No way. I wouldn't handle hell's harsh conditions. And I think I've said that before.
I was falling, but it felt like I was floating. It took an eternity, and air whizzed past my ears. What happened next was not what I was expecting.
"Oof!" grunted a voice.
I realized that I had successfully managed to fall… and land on top of Deidara. He was right below me, flat on his back, glaring at me. I was straddling him. I was too grateful that he had been there at that exact moment to be embarrassed and get off, "Thank God."
My head pounded with pain, and I groaned suddenly and collapsed on top of him. I could just imagine Deidara smirking, "You know, it does look like we're doing something else, yeah."
Realizing the major faux-pas that I had just committed to, I jumped away from him, managing to wipe the furious blush of my face before he could see. I looked ugly when I blushed, and I wasn't just saying that. Red really didn't go with light brown, "Shut up."
"I was just telling you," said Deidara. He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be mad at me and then narrowed his eyes again, getting to his feet, "And where the hell did you fall from, yeah? And why the hell were you there in the first place?"
Not wanting to admit that I had gotten lost, I lied, "… I... there was…" cliché little excuses would be good at the moment, "… a cat stuck in the tree."
I pointed upwards to the tree that I just fell from. Deidara narrowed his eyes, examining the tree closer. He averted his glare towards me again, "Kaori, that was a shitty lie, yeah… I don't like it when people lie to me."
"You think I'd lie?" I asked, trying hard to be serious. It wasn't hard. After something that embarrassing, it was hard not to try and cover it up.
After glaring at me for the next couple of minutes, Deidara finally let out an annoyed sigh, and then turned away from me. I scrambled to pick up the sticks and followed after him. Lie accomplished.
We returned to camp rather quickly. Apparently, I wasn't that far.
-x-x-x-
After eating fish caught and cooked by Deidara, we sat silently beside the fire, opposite of each other. I crossed my arms over my chest, glancing up quickly at Deidara who leaned against the tree and stared up at the stars.
If I had been feeling a little bit more secure that day, I would've said something -anything. But my mind was a complete and utter blank. I couldn't think of any words that would be reasonable to say at the moment. Who would've, anyway?
So what would you say if you liked a person that tried to kill you but at other times is really nice to you but you and then you're stuck with him sitting at a fire?
It's a real thinker, that one.
Luckily, my thinking wasn't required. Deidara decided to start a conversation, "It'll take us four and a half days to get there… yeah."
I crossed my legs, resting my chin in my hands and nodding slightly, "So what do you want to do?"
"Don't care. I get all the time I need for my mission, yeah."
I frowned, "What is your mission, anyway?"
Deidara narrowed his eyes slightly, as though checking to see if I'd say anything about it. It irked me, since I would never get involved with such matters. Deidara replied cautiously, "I have to assassinate a spy there that's working as a candy shop owner, yeah. And then I have to locate a certain hidden scroll within the village and bring it back."
"And I'm guessing you're not going to explain any further?" I asked tiredly.
"Yeah," said Deidara, smirking. "I thought you'd bother me about it, I guess not."
"I don't care, Deidara," I replied, averting my eyes to the dancing flames, "I… don't care what you do as long as you don't harm innocent people."
Rolling his eyes, he threw a stick into the fire, causing me to jump at the sparks that flew up. Deidara smirked, saying casually, "You know Kaori; you're going to have to get a job when you get there."
My head snapped up, and my eyes widened, "What?"
"I went on Jounin training before, yeah… it says that you have to find a job in the bottom right-hand corner of the map. It isn't that hard, yeah," said Deidara, shrugging. He smirked as I paled.
"A job? As in I have to send out a resume? And… and sit through an interview?" I asked, paling the more I thought about it.
I hated getting jobs. The only job I've ever wanted was to be a dentist, and that dream was in shambles. Sending out resumes wasn't something I was good at because… there was nothing I could do. There weren't many people that would hire random ninjas -they'd go to the village leader and ask him to hire someone for them. So I'd have to get an actual, civilian job. And I had no idea how.
"But… but what would I say on my resume?" I demanded, panic erupting.
Deidara rolled his eyes as though I was making a big deal about something stupid and frowned, "Stuff that you know how to do that would benefit you during the job, yeah."
"… Dinosaur impressions?"
"Really? Let's see, yeah!" said Deidara, grinning. "I'd pay to see that."
"You know what? You're an asshole."
"… Well I'd pay to see that, yeah," said Deidara, frowning and rolling his eyes. "Is there seriously nothing else that you know how to do?"
I scowled, thinking about all the stuff that I've done other than be a lazy failure ninja. Let's see… I pulled out weeds once for my friend's aunt, I had to watch over my neighbor's horrid smelling rodent, I had to wash an overgrown cat, and… I baby sat my friend's kid.
My eyes widened as I suddenly thought of the thing that I could do. I blurted, "Babysitting."
Deidara stared at me incredulously. After a few seconds, he snorted, "You're kidding. You're going to baby sit, yeah? I bet you'd pop a brain vessel after fifteen minutes with a kid, yeah."
"That's probably true, but there's nothing else that I could do! I could just be a nanny. It's pretty simple, I think.
"You think."
"I've had to baby sit my friend's kid before, and it wasn't all that horrible. She was a good kid, easy to feed, and easy to take care of!"
"… How old was she?"
"… Zero?"
"Kaori, they're going to have you baby sit ten year old brats, yeah. No good comes out of having a kid -or taking care of one."
"And how would you know?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes. Deidara shrugged.
"I didn't think a person like you would want to have kids, yeah…"
"Well, not until I'm happily married -which by the way I'm not. And besides, I'm not saying I want kids, I'll just be taking care of kids! Taking care of other people's children is fine by me. I think I can handle it, Deidara, because I've done it before."
"Fine," said Deidara, frowning.
"Fine."
He suddenly rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. At least he wasn't going to try and kill me. I decided that it would be best if I just tried to be his friend, just for a while. It's better than Deidara trying to kill me. I'd try not to annoy him, I decided. But that'd be hard, since it was getting easier and easier to pull his strings.
Bored, I decided to ask, "What's wrong with having kids, anyway? Do you have something against it?"
Deidara scoffed, "Hn. Kids are mostly annoying little brats, yeah."
"Oh really? And what if it was your kid?" I asked. And then it occurred to me how personal of a question it was, but I decided that I was too interested in hearing his answer.
Maybe I didn't have the greatest sense of humor, but Deidara's expression was priceless. He narrowed his eyes, scowling. He looked confused, annoyed… and what's the word for it? Like he was trying to think of a good response. Either that or he was actually thinking of how he was going to answer my question.
But then I remembered that s-ranked criminals don't have kids. Because if you have kids with someone, that means that you have to sleep with them, and if you sleep with them, you have to like or love them, and evil criminals don't love anyone (to my growing disappointment). Wait, no I didn't just think that.
I was surprised when Deidara spoke, "I don't know, yeah."
Looking up, I realized that he was a little calmer looking, face almost expressionless. It looked weird on him, especially since he's usually smirking, grinning, scowling, or snarling at me. But now he was just a blank? I didn't know how to reply.
But Deidara quickly shrugged it off, scowling and rolling his eyes, "I'm probably not going to have kids anyway, so it doesn't even matter, yeah."
It was almost as though he was being an ass to cover something up. I couldn't help but get a jab from it, "… Are you trying to cover something up?"
"What are you talking about, Kaori?" Deidara demanded, glaring at me.
Or was he? I suddenly wasn't sure, "You're embarrassed about something. What is it? Do you have a secret kid?"
"I'm not trying to cover anything up, yeah!" snapped Deidara, scowling at me.
Is he? "Fine, be an ass. Why, is it because you secretly, deep down want to have your own child?"
Deidara's expression changed to emptiness once more, and I paled. Say something, you bastard! Say anything! Deidara didn't speak, but instead looked up towards the stars again and muttered, "Go to sleep, yeah."
Could he be more obvious? He wanted kids.
It made my insides bubble slightly because it's… a really interesting fact, actually. Deidara just had such a major ego, was so short-tempered and hot headed, and was so stubborn, so why would a person like him want to have kids?
And he says he didn't expect me to want kids? Him wanting to have kids is way crazier.
Really, an s-ranked criminal, sadistic arsonist wanting to have a family? Cute (my soul died as I admit this), yet very strange.
But before I said that s-ranked criminals don't have kids. Because they have to like someone. So if Deidara likes someone he obviously has a person in mind? She will rue the day when I discover her name and address and ninja status. Anything below Jounin and that bitch was so dead.
No wait Kaori. Jealousy is bad. I usually didn't get jealous, because… I never really seriously felt this way about someone… wait. Did I just… shit!
I lay down, covering my face with my hands and peering through the gaps at the stars. If there was anything that I'd wish for, I'd wish to get over this little thing with Deidara… before it got worse.
-- Author's Notes --
Haha! Short chapter. The next couple of chapters are going to be mostly fillers. I want to get to at least… seventy-thousand words before I start writing the real good stuff. Or will I? I don't know yet, just review and next chapter will be out soon! I hope.
Please review! Reviews are love, really.
