Kabuto sighed. Not only was he rather unsure of flying this quickly on a clay bird, but already this wasn't working out. True, Hinata had vouched for him, but Deidara didn't even bother to conceal his dislike and distrust. In fact, he was currently glaring daggers at him from his position behind her on the bird's head, while Kabuto was trying to ignore him and continue with her physical check-up. (Actually, he was pretty curious about those nightmares she had mentioned.)

"…You are very undernourished. What have you been eating lately?" Unfortunately, his question was answered as he spied Deidara trying to covertly pop another one of his soldier pills into his mouth. "Soldier pills?!" The Hyuuga girl ducked her head sheepishly, watching as Kabuto stomped over and demanded them from the Iwa-nin. "Give me those. They are meant to be used sparingly, and only in an emergency--in a fight! They are chakra supplements, not food!"

"Ah, but K-Kabuto-kun… We haven't been able to uh, get enough food… Pl-Plus it's much easier just to…" Hinata trailed off under his glare, having finally extracted the case of the pills from Deidara. She hastily stuck out her arms from her sides again, holding still for his examination.

"You are underfed, Hinata-chan. No more soldier pills--except in cases of extreme emergency. Not when you're tired or need a boost of energy." The silver-haired shinobi sighed again, and continued his examination jutsu. He couldn't help but feel a slight surge of pride, however, to see that the internal injuries he had healed years before had been completely restored to their former health. She had a few hastily mended scratches and past injuries, but nothing damaging. Aside from the lack of proper nutrients in her system, she seemed to be in pretty good health. "It looks like you're alright. Just eat a bit more. It hasn't affected your weight much, though it had been getting to the point where it could have affected your fighting ability, reflexes, thinking, things like that. I think it's too late for Deidara." He elicited a small smile from her, but surprisingly, the blonde didn't retort. "It seems that if you just get some proper vitamins and minerals in you, you'll be fine. Though you're nearing the end of your monthly cycle, so also there could be some emotional instability as well, so keep that in mind."

The kunoichi turned as red as he had ever seen her and the bird they were riding on ducked dangerously low. After they had recovered their balance, Hinata apologizing the whole time, Deidara actually asked, "Monthly cycle? What are you two talking about now, yeah?" And he promptly found out that it was possible for her to blush even harder.

"If you don't know by now, you don't deserve to know," the medic replied smoothly, standing shakily back up on the moving clay. He glared boredly at Deidara--until he noticed that he somehow had another soldier pill in his hand, and was grinning. "Where did you get that?!"

"I have another two cases. I stocked up in the last village we visited--you know, before you existed in this team? Yeah?" He cackled, shoving it in his mouth as the Oto-nin tried to get it away from him. Unfortunately that plan didn't work as well as he'd hoped. Kabuto just punched him in the stomach, effectively making him spit it out. "Augh--hey! Bas--I mean, jerk, yeah!" The medic found it only mildly interesting that he cut off the curse.

"Give them to me. Now." He held out his hand impatiently. Deidara looked at it for a moment, then shook his hand gleefully, making sure to lick him thoroughly with the mouth on his palm. Kabuto suppressed a twitch and wiped his hand on his pants. He made another lunge for the blonde--and more importantly, his backpack--but instead this time he jumped off the bird.

"Deidara-kun!" Hinata gave a shout, as both ninja hurried to peer over the edge of the clay bird's body. The blonde was grinning up at them from his own bird, a bizarre, double-winged type that was flitting along just below them. "Oh… Th-Thank goodness…" She sighed in relief.

"Get back up here if you want me to give you any sort of medical attention." It may not have sounded like much, but actual medical attention (especially from a medic as skilled as me, he couldn't help but think haughtily) was worth more than gold or most other things to shinobi. That's why medics were so highly valued. Still, Deidara didn't seem fazed. He just gave him the finger, crossed his legs and sat down on his own bird. "Fine. Starve to death and see if I care."

"Kabuto-kun!" He gave a slight start in surprise, and turned to the owner of the soft voice. "H-He is just…ah…being a-a shinobi. Give him some time…?" She looked at him with her wide, white eyes, pleading. Kabuto supposed he should be grateful; she was the one who had stopped the would-be fight between he and the Iwa-nin. With that look and that tone of voice, he could see just how motherly the Hyuuga was. It also brought back the curious question of the kiss on the top of his head from last night. Was she honestly that maternal of a person? It wasn't very kunoichi-like.

Still, his mission wasn't to ponder the girl's personality.

"I'll see to him when he calms down. …Still, he's acting more like a child than a ninja. How do you deal with such immaturity?" He easily changed the subject, pocketing the soldier pills and making a note to go through Deidara's stuff at the first chance he got for the rest. "Or have you had practice with Kiba and Naruto these past few years?"

Kabuto couldn't help but smile a bit when she reddened. He silently congratulated himself on bringing up the old names; mutual acquaintances would help her to trust him further. Hinata hadn't changed at all these past few years.

-.-.-

The medic-nin was mostly silent for the rest of the day, just gathering information. He and Hinata had had to switch over birds; she obviously wasn't used to controlling her own creation for as long as she had. Deidara hadn't been happy about it, though his bizarre double-winged creature was almost twice as fast as the Hyuuga's just-as-bizarre dove-like creation. The wind whistling past his ears for hours on end was staring to irritate him and mess with his mind a bit. (The whine it's like the death cry it's like a death machine it's going to drive me crazy, his thoughts in confused fragments. Memories usually didn't mix with his conscious mind that well.) Kabuto also had to wonder if that's what happened to Deidara.

He learned just of what they had gone through since Deidara killed Orochimaru. Contrary to his prior belief, he hadn't taken the kunoichi right after he killed the Sannin. Kabuto listened intently, analyzing this valuable information. They had already fought Itachi and Kisame, though they had met Kakuzu and Hidan as well. From his previous time under Orochimaru, he had briefly met each of the Akatsuki, though Hidan stood out rather brightly in his memories. He wasn't a character you forgot easily.

Interesting… Hinata has suffered through the Tsukuyomi, the Oto-nin thought slyly, resisting the urge to smirk. I wonder what she saw…

Kabuto also learned that they were severely behind schedule, and that there would be several sleepless nights ahead of them. They would have approximately three to three and a half weeks left to get to Amegakure; it would be quite a stretch. (Plus they had to find the damn thing.)

It was nearing sundown when Kabuto made his first mistake. He asked, "Deidara-san, why do you want to join the Akatsuki so much?"

The blonde, once again sitting dangerously on the bird's head, went rigid and the clay beneath them shuddered slightly. He slowly turned around to look at him, the chill wind whipping his hair around his face. "…You were in the Akatsuki, under the snake, weren't you? Why don't you tell me, yeah? Come to think of it, why don't you tell us both about some of the other members, the ones we still have to fight?"

He knew instantly that he was on dangerous ground. Deidara still suspected him of several things, and this had to be one of them. Obviously he really was a genius to draw that conclusion so quickly and be able to vocalize it so carefully. (Hinata, on the other hand, just blinked and slowly turned her head to stare at him as well.) "Well… I was mainly just with Orochimaru… I didn't see much of the other members, truthfully," Kabuto stated calmly, though his mind was racing. These were very dangerous waters. He couldn't lie much without getting caught in it, but he couldn't give too much away.

Deidara's expression clearly replied "Bullshit you don't know."

Continuing, he pushed his glasses up further on his nose, and instead turned his gaze to the Hyuuga. "There are now only nine members, since you killed one. Presumably, the leader of Akatsuki would prefer for you to replace him; you're the most likely candidate at this time."

"We already know that, yeah," the explosives expert said crossly, narrowing his eye.

"Wh-Who else is in it…? We've already fought two of them… an-and met two others…" Hinata added softly, pressing her fingers together nervously. Kabuto raised his eyebrow at that, thinking that that habit of hers had been long gone.

"And whom did you fight, then?" he asked evenly. He could still talk himself out of this.

"Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. And we've met Hidan and Kakuzu." Deidara was obviously losing his patience. He was bound and determined to get some straight answers that he liked, and Kabuto could see that.

"There's only nine. You've met four. You'll still need to fight those two, Orochimaru's old partner, the leader and his partner, and then one other pair." He was restating common sense, but it was buying him time. Did he want to give out names? "The other pair, I believe, would be Zetsu and his partner, Tobi. I'm not sure about the leader or his partner, but I do know a bit about Hidan and Kakuzu's fighting style and abilities."

No harm done if I state the obvious here…killing two birds with one stone, he allowed himself a mental sigh (in relief) as he thought. The blonde bombshell visibly relaxed, and Hinata actually did sigh in relief. "Well… Hidan is immortal. He is a sadistic, cruel shinobi who also happens to be a masochist. Most attacks won't faze him in the least. Kakuzu is also unable to die, though in a more technical sense. I never did get any of the details…"

"Hurry up with it, yeah." The Iwa-nin didn't seem irritated or anxious any longer. He just leaned forward slightly, visible blue eye wide with curiosity. Apparently he was taking mental notes on his upcoming enemies and potential allies.

"Kakuzu is the powerhouse of the two. He will take out Hidan to get to his enemy--and he usually does. In fact, they fight each other more than their opponents in many cases…" He was losing his own patience, with Deidara's incessant questions and demands. The silver-haired medic readjusted his glasses again to compensate for the minor agitation.

"We-We already know that…" Hinata stated beside him, hardly audible over the rushing wind. He just spared her a curious glance and continued.

"Most likely you will be challenged by them next. Be extremely careful of Hidan's jutsu--most of it is very lethal. His favorite is some sort of bonding jutsu; any attack done to him is also done to whomever he casts it upon. There are a few stipulations, but basically, if he has you in that, you're as good as gone."

Deidara smirked in a twisted way. No doubt he thinks he has a strategy to counteract that…if he even is a strategist…

-.-.-

Kabuto was carefully quiet for the rest of the day, and even into the night. Deidara stayed awake, as he was controlling their bird, and he waved it off as nothing when asked. Apparently his suspicion decreased significantly toward the Oto-nin, or at least he acted less reserved and snippy toward him. He just frequently stared at the sky with an interesting expression on his face.

Hinata just informed him that he was in love with the sky.

Kabuto decided to agree with that. (He thought it was a bit odd for an Iwa-nin to be a pteromerhanophile, all the same.) Otherwise, aside from the slight nod he gave to her, he was content to watch, observe, and study them. But there wasn't much to study. Hinata hadn't changed, and as far as he was concerned, Deidara was an open book. On the other hand, the medic still hadn't gotten the opportunity to give him the physical he needed. He was such a strange mixture of emotions and shinobi coldness, but at the same time, he wasn't at all difficult to read. (Almost as if it's a façade, to keep me thinking that he's like that… Kabuto mused. He liked mysteries. It wouldn't hurt to give his mind something to play with, either.)

The night went uneventfully, at least as far as shinobi went.

At least they weren't attacked.

Kabuto stayed awake, not trusting Deidara enough to fall asleep in his presence, wanting to keep an eye on Hinata, and still keeping his mission goals in mind. Deidara also stayed alert and awake, thought his eyes were glued to the stars. (It was a beautiful, if crisp, clear night out. The stars twinkled brightly overhead as their breath came out in a mist.) The kunoichi of their team was conscious as well, though looking the sleepiest. She sat slumped against the bird's head at Deidara's feet, white eyes staring off into space and memories. Every time she did doze off, however, she woke not five minutes later with either a gasp, a squeak or a jolt. Kabuto surmised that these were the nightmares she mentioned, though at least she hadn't woken up screaming.

The Oto-nin didn't say anything when Deidara offered them both soldier pills for the caffeine, though his medic senses were shouting and screeching at him. Especially since he and the Hyuuga both took one. (Ah, hypocrisy is such a wonderful thing.)

It was a good thing they took them. The sun was just peeking over the far, flat horizon when the attack Kabuto had been expecting ripped up through the air. Sleep-deprived, their reflexes and reaction time suffered. The pillar of earth took the wing off of their bird, and suddenly all three were wide awake as they spiraled downward.

Unfortunately, their assailants didn't even wait for them to hit the ground before attacking again. This time a fireball roughly the size of a house came instead of the earth, and it only confirmed Kabuto's fears on who they were facing off against. Only now they were free-falling with flaming bits of clay raining down around them, with no way to stop or even slow their descent.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Can those three fight as a team, even to save their own lives? And even if they can manage, could they take on their newest Akatsuki opponents?