A/N: Gah, some of my plans for this chapter were delayed...
I'll have to write them next chapter. :p

Well, enjoy.

Eyelids flapping open was enough to completely blind her from the instant, flashing darkness that served as a darker light. Ino squeezed them shut, unwilling to start her day and forcing herself to fall back into slumber. But despite her efforts, it was completely for nothing. Sleep was unattainable now that she was awake. Groggily heaving herself up, she glimpsed around.

Disappointment struck her. Deidara was nowhere to be seen.

But that was supposed to be a good thing, right? Her tummy roared, demanding food and nutrients as she winced from the tight pain of her abdomen. The cloths were doing no good - they were basically a way to get the areas they were draping over warmed up and concealed. She examined her body; arid blood still coating in strange designs, bruises turning an unwelcoming purple with tinges of yellow and blue. Taking a whiff of herself, she cringed at the horrid odor radiating from her body! Taking a long, wide rag, she curtained her whole figure with it, unable to endure more moments of having to look at herself. And, hopefully, it might trap the odors or possibly replace it with its own.

Perhaps sleep was acquirable after all; her day would not start. There was no such thing within a hell like that.

With a dreaded sigh, she weakly fell back against her bed of tattered fabrics. Ow! Her head banged against the rock floor, creating a whimper to come out.

Knock, knock.

As fast as she could -which was quite slow, considering what she normally could have done- she raised her body, her mind racing with the possibilities of what would happen within the next elapsing moments; possibilities that were real and unreal, bad and good. "Deidara...?" Ino called, finding that she had spoken the name plenty of times before.

"Sasori." A low, very low, deep, chilling voice replied back from the other side of the door.

No! What could she do? "W-what do you need?" She asked hoarsely.

But there was no response. Instead, the door flew open, slamming into the wall behind it which shattered and crumbled a few of the walls portions, creating dusty pebbles that fell lightly, landing on the cold ground. Rather than seeing a bodily figure walk in, she gawked at the short, hunched creature. It hauled itself in, garbed in an Akatsuki cloak that traced the round features of it's...back. The body was huddled together, displaying a large back that hunched against the head. No arms and legs were fully seeing, being hidden by the large, loose cloak. It's hair was wild; dark hair like sticks and shards curved around the head like a broken fan.

It dragged itself forward, closer to her, but not quite close in direct terms of distance. Dark, cold eyes slid around, observing the room.

"He's not here?" The monotone voice growled. Ino flinched; it was Sasori.

"...um, no..." She responded, referring to Deidara and hoping that he was too.

He let out one last snarl before dragging back out of the room, door left open. Just as he left, he shot her one cold look - a glare that pierced through her, sending wicked chills all over her skin. "For future reference, do not anger me the way he does."

She was alone once again, and this time, it was a relief.

Future reference? That means he's going to keep me alive, right? No - he just wants to...turn me into a puppet. Deidara said that he believes in eternal beauty, meaning that I have to be alive in order to be that. But...that doesn't change the way that Deidara feels! He still doesn't know whether he wants to kill me, and he didn't mention if he was going to either! Ino swallowed. And what if the leader guy doesn't approve of it? He has control, doesn't he? The leader would want me to be killed. Deidara...She lay against the mountain of dirty rags, mind wandering about the current situation.

"...Deidara." She whispered, echoing the her thoughts.

"Yes?" The voice made her jolt, springing up, as painful as it was. Under the door frame of the open door she could not reach to shut, the very man that owned the name she had just spoke was standing there.

"No, it's nothing." She shook her head weakly, a new thought popping into her head. "Sasori was looking for you." She added.

"Hmph, I already talked to him, un."

Her heart fluttered as he approached her slowly, getting closer. Though she didn't want to say it outwardly, she also didn't want him to be in disgust once he got near. "I-I, um, I'm not clean..." She stated bluntly.

He stopped, studying her from a short distance. "You're right; you're quite dirty, un. You can get cleaned up."

"R-really? I can?" Her eyes lit, flaring brightly.

Deidara nodded, motioning for her to get up and follow. She hastily scrambled to rise, her knees shaking wobbly with her arms weakly supporting, abruptly clutching his arm for support. Ambling limply behind Deidara, Ino began to gaze around, seeing nothing but darkness and stone fused together. After several moments of walking down the corridor, he halted and she mimicked his stop. The door was invitingly open, begging her to step in. Despite the pain that occurred whenever she made movement, Ino gladly walked into the small, sanitizing room.

Shutting the door behind her, she briefly observed the not-so-spacious room. Like the other bathroom, it was quite small, though bearable. Lifting her arms, she grabbed her shirt and pulled it off her body, rushing it to stop the soreness that irritated her skin. She let out a small, soft groan as she continued to strip herself down, enduring the deep pain. She glanced at her naked body in the mirror, which was even worse than what she thought. After taking the tie of her hair out, her head whipped around, allowing the lengthy, blond, luscious strands to curtain her face.

Hastily, Ino initiated the water of the tub, allowing it to rise until it was good enough for her preferences. She didn't have to be rushed, right? Obviously Deidara wouldn't rush someone who was injured, would he? Brushing off her thoughts, she blissfully stepped into the warm water, absorbing the relaxing heat. Ino let her body sink to the bottom of the tub, the water just below her bare shoulders. "Mmm..." She murmured, allowing her eyelids to shut.

A tingling sensation dominated her smooth skin, fighting against the retching, dry blood and soothing her at the same time. As time went by -she wasn't sure how long- the tingling turned into...tickling - tickling that poked at her skin, transforming into an irritating annoyance. Her eyebrows narrowed over her closed eyes just the slightest bit as she let out one last sigh. The tickling began to strengthen, turning into something that completely barricaded the relaxation away from her and disturbing her even more. Ino was burning now. An unpleasant, searing pain attacking and puncturing in a strange pattern.

Her eyes flew open, glancing around at the water. Ino gasped, realizing the situation. The formerly transparent water now had streaming streaks of soft, cherry red liquid flowing through it. And it was way too much to be just the dry blood. Her eyes wandered through the tub, searching for the source though she already knew. Her eyes fell onto her body. Through the ribbon-like dancing of her blood, she could see them flowing out of the slices that had scathed her curvy figure.

Cuts, slices... Blood seeping out of them. Her body stung - stung quite badly. Along with the sores and aches of her body, this was now added to the building pain, completely afflicting her with much force.

She cringed as each elapsing second forced the stinging to get much stronger. Wincing, she propped her hands onto the side of the tub, pushing force onto her palms so that she could rise. It didn't end up very well; her arms had suffered far too much from the movement of the day and fell over, causing her to collapse back into the water and sending swishes and waves of water splashing. With a groan, she pulled herself back up into her seating position, the stinging just worsening and really smoldering her.

Her torn, weak muscles did not help at all either. Trying to prop herself onto her feet, she once again fell over, frailly. Perhaps it'd be best to let Deidara help her... "D-Deidara... um," She croaked, hoping that he'd still be out on the other side.

"What, un?" She heard him call, relief and regret striking her.

Was she really going to ask him! Almost calling him to aid her while she was naked! "Uh, n-nevermind!" She called back hoarsely, wincing from the non-stopping and tormenting gripe of the pricking burn. Having it mix with her current injuries was absolute hell.

Deidara, on the other side of the wall, snorted. What the hell was going on?

With one last sigh, Ino again, attempted to pull herself out of the tub to get away from the deadly water. She let out a muffled cry of relief as she was able to escape it, pulling herself over and out of the bathtub, though it did not stop the pain that stabbed her. Glancing at her wet body, she could see the wet blood trickle down her figure, mixing with the water and creating more realms of pain. Her damp body crashed into the wall, leaning against it as she panted heavily. Whoa, how could just one bath do all of this to me? But the explanation was obvious. She was a medic-nin after all.

Limply grabbing a white towel at the corner, she slowly wiped herself with it. The feel of the texture gently grinding against her skin did no good; it just made everything worse. Having it touch the cuts pricked her like a needle... as much as she hated to admit it yet another time, she was a weakling. She was a shinobi and a bath was taking her down. But things were different; shinobi work and life work were different things and surely, she couldn't compare herself like this to a death situation.

Ugh. Her mind was messing with her. Steadily, she began to allow the towel to absorb any liquids, taking in the immense pain that shot at her. Ino was exhausted; there was no denying it. Taking a bath at the time she did in her current state was a terrible idea. She fell down, her body slumped against the wall as she weakly tried to wrap the towel around herself, thankfully able to tuck it in. But still, it didn't change much. "...Deidara..." She groaned, flopping her hands on the smooth floor. "Deidara...!" The Yamanaka called louder, surrendering to the debating of the notion from before.

"Yeah?"

Reaching her hand up to the side as the weight of her arms almost brought them back down, her hands slipped on the knob. "C-come help me...please."

Her chest beat madly as the knob twisted with clicking sounds, opening forward and in stepped the cause of all her injuries. He glimpsed around, eyes landing on her body which was draped half on the wall, half on the floor, quite shamefully to add. Quickly, he registered the leaking blood that blended with the water along with her bruised body, most of her hidden behind a wrapped towel.

On reaction, Deidara crouched down by her, allowing her to sling her arms over his shoulders and letting him haul her back up onto her feet, arms remaining around her as he help support her balance. "Nrnngggg...!" She protested, insisting on another method.

Sighing, he scooped her whole body up, rendering her mind dizzy. It took Ino a long moment to realize that her surroundings were not the bathroom, that she was in the hallway and that her body was floating with something supporting her up. Turning her head, her face met his chest, Deidara's cloak being oddly warm for her. She inhaled deeply, taking in his dark, clay scent. The flickering burn was beginning to tame, soothing out and giving her obvious relief. Ino liked the feeling of him carrying her - the boldness of his rough arms cupping below her body.

And just as she was about to fall into another feel of bliss, things ended too soon. He gently laid her back on the familiar bed of cloths. Ino's eyes were soft and Deidara's eye met them. Despite his bangs and scope blocking everything, she could feel his eyes smolder into her. Draping her arm around her neck to prop herself up, she gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks." She commented, recoiling her hand back to hold onto the towel. Maybe if it had been cloaking her whole body, besides being wrapped under her arms, it would've been safer to reach. "Um, c-can you get my clothes...?"

The kunoichi smiled to herself as he left the room.

A thought crossed her mind - what was going on between them? Yes, they were still recovering from that incident (and Ino was not going to let it go either), but... did he feel affectionate about her? Did he still carry those lovely feelings? She felt herself sigh for what seemed like the tenth time that day. And... how did she feel about Deidara?

As if on cue, he strode right in, carrying a bundle of clothes. She had almost called him when she had trouble in the tub... The very thought of Deidara seeing her naked was enough to completely make her grow red and shift undecidedly in her seat. One side of her was relieved that he saw nothing, yet another was quite disappointed... Maybe she co-

"Well?" His voice interrupted her lewd thoughts. Ino's head snapped back to Deidara, slightly flustered. Her arms wrapped tighter around the towel, secretly tucking the end in more securely. One slip, and she could have everything -every part of her- revealed.

Deidara gazed at her. He had never seen her that exposed; it may not have been much, but that towel didn't have that much protection compared to her regular clothing. Quite a weak way to conceal yourself also... From the moment his foot had stepped into the bathroom, while helping her, his heart had panged with an unfamiliar temptation, but was somehow engulfed by the bitter alertness that spread across him. But that was done now. She was there. Only a towel. Bare He bit his lower lip, urging himself not to let his thoughts wander onto new lewd, lustful thoughts. "I'll leave you now, un." He said, leaving the room to give her some privacy.

Disappointment washed through her, along with the after waves of embarrassment. Sighing, she took the bundle of clothes in her arms that was left on the ground, pulling them apart, taking her towel off and struggling to get the attire on. After taking several minutes squirming into her garment, Ino was finally able to pull her hair back up, allowing her bangs to fall and drape over her half of her face. It wasn't a complete clean-up... but it was better than what she was before.

Hmm, when Deidara said he was going to leave me alone, did he mean as in for the whole time? Dammit! Instinctively, her heart pulsated dubiously, taking her chances of receiving even more disappointment, or more relief. "Hey...are you there?" She called.

Darn, he's gone.

Ino had had quite a fantasizing dream, one that was strung to the bathroom incident earlier that day. She woke up, flushing with a deep shade of crimson as the dream replayed through her mind. In search for the towel, she caught sight of it on the ground. The shade of her cheeks strengthened - it had been a while since she had a dream that... intense.

"Ready to eat, un?'

Ino yelped at the voice that sliced the silence. Glimpsing around, she saw Deidara sitting casually in one of the corners, a tray of food by his side. Her eyes widened at the warm aroma that spread across the air. He let out a light chortle at her absorbed expression, taking the plate and rising. With only a few steps to get to her area, he set the food down, watching her with his own enraptured expression. Eagerly, she began to slurp the noodles of ramen into her mouth, a face of delight plastered.

Though for some strange reason, she could feel a thrill about knowing he saw her clothed in only a towel. The excitement bounced inside of her, giving her quite an enthusiastic vibe. It was such a twisted, depraving feeling but it wouldn't wipe off. She swallowed the last of it, pushing the tray away from reach. Deidara cocked an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

"I don't want you to leave." She whispered, a tone of exhilaration visible, despite the soft volume.

The golden-blond laughed. "Mm, I wouldn't leave that easily, un." He voiced, taken back by the comment he had just made, but yet, how very true it was.

Ino found herself giggling lightly, flushing with smooth embarrassment. "Ah, I...heh." She smiled sheepishly, smoothing her skirt out. Oh how she wished she could've been wearing the towel at the moment... Pain or not - it was so worth it. Again, the Yamanaka inwardly scolded herself for such thoughts.

She was falling asleep... her eyelids drooping over her eyes. Maybe cuddling with Deidara tonight would be possible...

Deidara said nothing; what was there to say? Ino abruptly noticed the silence, finding it the perfect moment to ask one single question that could shatter the semi-beguilement of the moment. "My death..."

He sighed, eyebrows binding. "What, un?"

"I-I...well, I was just wondering..." She looked down, arms wrapping around her stomach. "Did you...plan on killing me...when you tried to?"

"...What do you mean?" How could two simple words change their silent conversation into this?

Ino sucked in the air. "Did your leader order you to kill me...recently? Or did you...try to your own?"

"...I was planning to before consulting with him, un. After speaking with him, he told me to murder you like I had planned...beforehand."

Her heart fell, faltering lifelessly. "Oh."

"Don't worry," he whispered, "You're alive now." When in his life had he ever felt so sympathetic? If never?

"Now." She repeated, eyelids finally claiming the ability to shield her eyes shut. No...Don't fall asleep. She impulsed herself. Deidara could see her exhaustion, getting up and backing away. As much as she would've liked to defy his movements, Ino slowly collapsed, falling into a deep sleep.

"Now..." The male blond repeated after her, pensively.

A/N: That was a real crappy ending.. ^^ Hmm, I wonder how long it will take for me to put some M-rated content in this as I planned in the beginning. ;D
Know this -- it will come sometime, though I'm not sure when. Tehee.
I'd also like to mention that the next chapter may come out a little later than my usual timing.. I just re-read
my first few chapters and realized how much they sucked. ^^ So i'm gonna work on them a tiny bit. :]

Review, please . xoxo.