I would've made this chapter longer, but I was too impatient lol. I wanted to let you all know that from now on, I'll focus on this fic until I've posted the epilogue. Which isn't that far away.

I just re-read some of the chapters and believe me, the emotions stirring inside me were confusing. This was my first fanfic here, posted six months back. (I've written stories here for half a year :O ) I'm a bit embarrassed at my writing style back then, but at the same time, I'm overjoyed to see how good it has become compared to the first chap of this fic. (For instance, compare this chap to the first chap.)

I was laughing out loud at some mistakes I'd made, like referring to Konan as "him" xD. But that was a typo. The grammar was rather depressing and I can't tell you how surprised I was, when I read that I'd used "un" in Deidara's speech D: (I didn't even remember! I could only recall pissing off my friends by adding un to the end of every sentence while talking lol.) Makes me feel like a hypocrite, for I don't like Japanese expressions in stories anymore. But hell, I was young and naive back then, I'll forgive myself xD

I didn't want to drop this story, since I'd already promised you I would continue with it and if you could tolerate my writing style back then, so can I !


Chapter 12


Deidara was sitting on the backseat of a hummer, together with Sasori, while Pein was driving and Konan was sitting on the passenger's seat. The girl gave him a picture of a person, wearing a sand-colored mask that covered his whole face, making it impossible to identify him.

"That mask is like his trademark. Memorize him, everything about him. His body built, the look in his eyes, everything. He's our target," Pein lectured.

"Oh really," Deidara said, rolling his eyes.

Ignoring the comment, Pein went on. "According to Kakuzu, he's on his way to the King. It's a bar, a two-storey building. Konan and I will cover the first floor, you two will take upstairs."

Sasori and Deidara nodded both and started unpacking their equipment from the sports bags next to their feet. To help them fit in, Sasori slid a flannel shirt over his own clothes and Deidara settled for a remarkably less noticeable denim jacket. Both males tucked a Semmerling in their sock and a knife in the other, pulling jean legs over them. Deidara smiled, when he saw that he'd been packed his favorite gun brand – a SIG SAUER. He looked next to him and saw Sasori loading a Beretta.

"Are we expected to bring him in dead or alive?" Deidara asked in a serious tone, being all business. No time for fooling around anymore.

"Either alive or dead. Won't matter that much, he's up for an execution either way," Konan answered in an easy-going voice like she was talking about gardening rather than someone's death. Being the leader's girlfriend ought to have had an effect on her.

"What did he do?" Deidara asked, finding himself far more interested in the guy's story than Konan seemed to be.

"Not your concern," Pein stated in his usual tone when things came down to inquiring. That is for me to know, and for you to not think about.

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll google him."

There was a short silence, while Deidara could feel the irritation level in the others rise. He counted seconds in his head, waiting for someone to snap. Konan was the one to give in first.

"He broke into a hospital, stealing and destroying countless machines, before setting a fire in a ward. Five people got killed in the fire, seventeen died because the machines stopped working and over a hundred were injured."

Deidara gaped. "But… why?"

Konan shrugged her shoulders. "He's insane."

Deidara frowned disapprovingly. "I was being serious."

"As was I, Dei. He's literally insane, broke out of a mental hospital in Italy."

Deidara didn't know how to response to that.

The car bumped as it went down a road full of holes the sizes of lakes. Deidara looked out of the window and saw an abandoned and poor town they were driving through. Most of the houses had holes in the walls and broken windows, showing emptiness inside the buildings. Two stray cats had been walking down the road, until they heard the car coming and fled to the nearest shelter.

"There are humans around here?" Deidara muttered, more to himself. He began to believe it once they'd driven a dozen more kilometers. There were people walking around the town, though the scenery wasn't any nicer.

Pein stopped the car, when they'd arrived in front of a pub with big glinting letters forming KING on the façade. They all got out of the car and walked into the bar, where smoke and music filled the air. There were people eating at the counters, at the tables, a few of them just lying somewhere, passed out. On the left side of the room, there was a stairway leading to the second floor.

They split up to cover more ground. Sticking to the plan, Sasori and Deidara took the stairs up a floor, finding a hallway of doors waiting for them. Deidara was just about to try the first door, when he heard footsteps coming closer. The blond snapped his heads towards the sound and saw a man coming up, his face hidden under a cowboy hat.

He raised his head the moment Deidara's hand reached behind him, ready to take out the gun. Their eyes locked and for a nanosecond, the blond could feel something in his look. He didn't have time to dwell on it as his mind registered the mask on the man's face, the lower half of it covered by a scarf.

"That's him," Deidara muttered loud enough for Sasori to hear him through the microphone hidden under his bang. In a quick movement, Deidara pulled out his gun, shooting immediately for there was no time to lose. Just like he had made his own conclusions, so had the man.

Thanks to the silencer, there was no sound as the bulled flew through the air towards the target's foot. Deidara couldn't be sure whether he'd missed or not, the man made no sound with his mouth as he leaped for the window and jumped through it, breaking the glass.

Deidara sped towards it, eyeing the man landing on the roof of a silver car.

"Outside, left side," he said into the mic, while taking aim again and shooting, this time missing for sure as the man slid down from the roof and jumped into the car. "Silver Lamborghini, can't see the numbers," he said, shooting the tires until they were outside the range.

"In the car, after him," Pein reported.

Deidara stuck the gun back in his jeans and dashed down the stairs, outside, catching up with Sasori. They both glanced around for a vehicle, when they spotted a line of motorcycles leaning against the wall. Deidara winked at the redhead and sat down on one, fishing out a picklock from his pocket and starting up the engine.

He accelerated, Sasori right behind him, following the tracks left behind in the ground by the two cars. The chase seemed to have gone through the town, off the road. The buildings around them seemed to form a labyrinth with no way out. They both stopped, when they reached a dead end in front of a building that looked like an enormous school house.

"Damn," Sasori cursed. "We lost the track, Pein."

There was a short silence, before Pein talked. "We lost him. He turned back to the town. Scan the area."

Deidara sighed and restarted the bike. They went back the way they'd come from, until they reached a cross-road.

"I'll go left," Deidara said to the microphone and turned left, without much enthusiasm. What were the odds of them finding him, once they'd lost him? The town was a huge maze. There were more chances of getting lost or crashing into a building they didn't see coming than completing the mission. Wouldn't it have been better to take a helicopter for this type of a-?

Deidara stopped rambling in his head, when he spotted the same silver car a few blocks away. The engine wasn't working and if Deidara's guess was right, the man wasn't inside the vehicle. Why would he be? It was more likely that he was in one of the nearby buildings.

"I see the car," Deidara said and stopped the bike, getting off. "Going to check it out."

There was some white noise coming out of the device and Deidara frowned, ripping it off his skin. A solo-mission it was then.


To be continued...