I finally wrote this. Geh...I'm tired. Stressed. And mother dear wants me to join JROTC. Should I? I guys help me decide, haha. Ah well, enjoy.
Deidara did not usually sleep on the cold, stone floor of a basement. Nor did he usually have his hands handcuffed to the bars on a low window. In fact, none of the things currently happening were what he usually did.
There was a slam and Deidara awoke from the light slumber he had been somewhat enjoying. In the tiny amount of time between awaking and opening his eyes, he remembered what had happened the previous day and hoped it had been all just a dream. In opening his eyes, he was horribly disappointed. He was sitting on the floor of some kind of dark room, his hands handcuffed to what seemed like a little window with bars, covered by glass on the other side. Why would they have a window? Deidara had no time to think up the answer to this question when the person who had awoken Deidara burst into the room, carrying a tray. As the person began coming down the stairs, a bit of light from the light bulb above (which did not make much light in the first place) illuminated their face and Deidara saw that it was the long-haired man from before.
"Breakfast," was all he said. He released Deidara's right hand but not the left and then sat at the bottom step, watching the blonde.
Well, Deidara thought, they could have not fed him at all. He picked up the spoon on the tray and began to eat the soggy cereal before him. It wasn't that bad.
"So what's your name?"
Deidara looked up, his spoon halfway to his mouth. "D-Deidara."
"Ah, strange name," said the man.
Deidara continued to eat the cereal cautiously, not wanting to seem too hungry. They might not feed him again if he did.
A few minutes later, Deidara was done. He put the spoon down and faced the man: he was much braver with a full stomach. "Why am I here?" he asked.
The man said nothing. He stood up, re-handcuffed Deidara's hand, took the tray, and left the room. Deidara sighed and remained sitting on the floor. Hours went by and nothing had happened, no noises at all. Deidara was just beginning to doze off when-
"No, please no!"
Someone wrenched open the door and ran inside, closing the door behind them. They ran down the stair as quietly as they could and, when they spotted Deidara, stopped. "Shh!" said the voice, a woman's. "Don't tell him I'm here!"
Deidara nodded and saw the outline of the woman in the dark heading under the stairs. Her small sobs quickly died down and then the door burst open again. A thin man with long, shaggy hair charged into the room, running down the stairs at full speed. Having only five more steps to go, the man decided to jump. He landed on the dusty floor and looked around.
"You!" he shouted at Deidara. "Where is she?"
Deidara shook his head wildly. "I-I don't...th-there's no one e-else..."
"Better not be," the man growled, running around the room, looking around. "Come on out and play..." he murmured in a sickening sing-song voice.
There was a whimper as the woman was dragged out from under the stairs by the ankle. The man threw her with all his might against the wall where she collided with the cold stone, emitting a sickening crack. She slid down onto the floor, unconscious. The man turned to Deidara, red with rage and quite opposite to Deidara, who was now white with fright and struggling against his handcuffs.
The man was now standing over Deidara, who whimpered softly and gave up on trying to free himself. "Liar," said the man.
All Deidara could do was look up at him, shaking with fear. The woman on the floor stirred. "Akiko..."
"Mina...you stay put," Akiko replied, not even lookin at her. "But you..."
He squatted down to Deidara's level and the blonde tried to back away, which was impossible as he was against the wall. Akiko grabbed Deidara's chin and forced the blonde to look up at him. "Liar..." he repeated.
Deidara did not answer, he was finding it very hard not to bring up his breakfast right in the man's face. Trying really, really hard.
"I told you if someone was here, and you- lied!" Akiko yelled furiously, punching Deidara in the stomach at the last word.
Deidara coughed and gasped for air, not really getting any. He swallowed hard and began to cry loudly. The blonde struggled against the handcuffs again, earning him yet another punch. He was no less prepared for this one than the last one and was once again struggling for air. Tears cascaded down his cheeks and he sniffed loudly.
"Akiko..." Mina whispered from the floor, she sounded like she was crying. It was too dark to tell, the lightbulb above barely gave enough light to see Akiko's face. "Akiko...he's just a child...."
"He's a liar! I don't even know why we got him, only on Nagato's orders," Akiko retorted, standing up.
Wait a minute...Nagato?! No...it couldn't be. Surely not.
Deidara's loud crying was reduced to soft sniffs and he soon quieted down, pain still shooting from where Akiko had punched him.
"I...asked him to lie. Akiko, he's just a child," Mina pleaded.
"Heh...you defend him like you did Kumi," Akiko muttered, turning to face Mina, who was trying to stand up. Akiko's anger had been replaced by something else...jealousy, perhaps?
"Don't you...dare! Don't you dare mention, K-Kumi-chan!" Mina yelled shrilly, suddenly angry. She finally managed to stand up.
They had completely forgotten about Deidara, it seemed, and the blonde could not help feeling grateful at the sudden turn of events.
"Why not?" Akiko said, and he sounded angry again. "Don't like the memories? Are you afraid this brat will die here, too, like your daughter- that traitor who-"
"Shut up, no you can't talk about her like that! She didn't know what she was doing! She was only a child, children make mistakes!" Mina yelled, her voice rising hysterically.
"Mi-Mistakes?!" Akiko laughed, turned around, and seized a handful of Deidara's shoulder-length hair. He turned Deidara's face to the outline of Mina and shook him hard. "It was not a mistake, she...Mina-chan knew what he was doing. And so did he!"
Mina was breathing very hard. "You don't- you never...don't!" she shrieked.
"Kumi got what she deserved! And so will he!" Akiko yelled, his voice louder than hers. He brought his fist down on Deidara's mouth, knocking out two teeth. Blood dribbled down Deidara's chin, and he spit out the teeth. They landed on the floor and Deidara was unable to see them.
"He's just a child!" Mina screamed.
Deidara, meanwhile, had begun to cry again. His head was swimming, shooting pains were traveling from his mouth to the rest of his body. Akiko released Deidara's head, which hung facing down, unsupported by an unwilling Deidara.
Suddenly, the door burst open and there was light coming from a flashlight. It illuminated the whole room, revealing Mina and Akiko. Mina was a short, skinny young woman in her early twenties with bright green eyes and lank brown hair that hung around her in parted curtains. Her fuzzy pink nightgown hung in folds around her frail frame. Both her and Akiko looked up at who had come into the room, and backed away into a corner.
A tall, muscular man with hastily-cut black hair and piercing blue eyes stepped into the room, shining the flashlight all around. The light stopped as it hit Deidara and the man walked down the stairs, not keeping his eyes or light off the blonde.
"What's happened here?" he asked in a deep gravelly voice.
"Aiko-san!" Akiko breathed, backing away further. "Nothing- nothing has happened!"
"Explain," Aiko said, pointing at Deidara, who squinted back at him because of the bright light. His lip was now swollen and there was blood on his chin. There was also the fact that he was shaking uncontrollably and had clearly been crying a moment before.
"Ah!" Mina exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at Akiko and jumping up and down on the spot. She suddenly looked extremely happy. "Explain, yes, explain! Explain how you beat this innocent child, how you made him cry!"
"Quiet..." Aiko said threatningly and Mina suddenly stopped jumping, looking rather apathetic. "Yes. Do explain, Akiko. How did this child sustain these injuries?"
"I- I...he lied about the whereabouts of Mina! She was hiding and he told me she wasn't here!" Akiko attempted to explain, his voice shaking with something that sounded much like fear.
Aiko's icy eyes narrowed. "He's eight years old...what did you expect him to do?"
Akiko's retort was lost and he merely stared at Aiko, his eyes wide with fear.
"Don't ever do it again," Aiko said coldly. "We need him alive."
With that said, he went back up the stairs and closed the door with a sharp snap behind him. Akiko turned to look at Deidara, a scowl on his face. He grumbled darkly under his breath and turned to Mina instead.
"This is your fault..." he muttered.
Surprisingly, Mina smiled and was looking on the brink of laughter.
I had fun with this chapter for some reason. Although it is sort of confusing but the next chapter explains all...or some...mwahaha. Ah well, R&R please!! Arigato.
