Seriously, I'm on a roll! Wrote this in two days, which is an absolute record for me, but on the other hand: I do not really have another choice. Actually, I have to finish this story within five days, including today. Because school wants to put pressure on me --. But do not worry, I wont rush things! (promise!)
Anyway, what I wanted to say: I'm going to get this story printed out, like in a real book. It's part of the school assignment. I'm gonna draw my own cover and add some extra, deleted scenes, and sketches/drawings of situations in the book. So if you're interested…?
(dunno how much it's gonna cost, depends on the printing prices.)
Oh, and I uploaded another picture of Deidara: shabaku./art/Deidara-art-is-a-blast-86024589
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter twenty: The Cure
It was extremely busy in the heart of Konoha. Message of the disappearance of Sakura and the blond haired Akatsuki member she'd been attached to had spread with the speed of light, and soon everyone had somehow heard of it. People were starting to get frightened with what might happen. After all, Sakura had been a ninja that most people knew of, and the ones who knew her all knew she couldn't be defeated so easily.
She'd proven to be a ass kicking kunoichi!
But now the people started to doubt the safety of Konoha. It was clearly visible: people looked nervously over their shoulders when shopping or just walking through town, and the merchants were extremely cautious with their customers. Naruto noticed as he entered Ichiraku's, and the old man behind the bar kept his distance from him.
"Anou sa, old man," Naruto said unhappily, feeling like the entire town was against him again. Tsunade had called him to her yesterday evening, and today they should've left town to get Sakura. But because of the delayed messenger, it would at least take them another three, four days to leave. He sighed. "It's me, Naruto! What are you scared for, tebayo?" and he hung forwards, a pleading look in his eyes. The old man sighed.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but since that friend of yours got kidnapped out of town rumors started to spread... about Konoha not being safe anymore, and that the Akatsuki and Orochimaru could be on our doorstep with every more day…" the man shook his head. "Really Naruto, you think you can blame me?"
Naruto shook his head, staring at the bar. "Gomen, old man… you know, I had a pretty bad day myself too today, so I can understand how you're feeling, I guess." He sighed and then placed his hands on the desk, shifting uncomfortably on his bar chair. "Tsunade-baachan promised me we would go and search for Sakura-chan and get her back today…"
The old man raised an eyebrow. "But, Naruto, that's good isn't it? If you get her back things will soon settle here in town, I suppose!"
Naruto shook his head sadly. "That's the problem, old man! Tsunade-baachan called me to her yesterday evening and told me we would postpone the search, for at least another week!" he shook his head, ignoring the fact that he was exaggerating the three days Tsunade had said to him. "And that all because that baka messenger from the land of the waves got delayed… If he gets here I'll kill him, dattebayo!!"
The old man laughed. "Now, now, calm down or you'll scare my already few customers away! Besides," and he leaned forwards, half a smile on his face. "If you kill the messenger, they'll have to send another one and you'll have to wait another week. At least."
Naruto pouted and then looked away angrily. "Jeez! Like I didn't know that!" and he kept staring at the curtains for two more seconds before he suddenly turned around again, his eyes big and round and his hands folded in front of him in a pleading way. "Then, then, old man, will you give me free seconds, because I had a bad day? Onegaishimasu?"
The old man laughed again, then shook his head. "Really now, Naruto, you never change!"
Naruto smirked, slowly getting over his depression as usual when he ate ramen. "But, old man, you haven't answered my question yet!"
Several bowls further, Naruto hang fully stuffed on the bar chair, his hands on his stomach and three huge piles of empty bowls in front of him. "Old man," he said with a thick voice, "That was, without a doubt, the best ramen ever, tebayo!"
The old man, nearly invisible behind the piles of bowls, got the bowls of the desk and placed them in the sink so that someone else could wash them later on. "Arrigatou, Naruto, but…" and he smirked. "You still need to pay..!"
Naruto froze and then gulped as he looked up at the old man. "Er, well, old man, about that…" and he, while smiling sheepishly, dug up his old green frog wallet to count the coins. He sighed and stared at the full wallet, already feeling sorry for eating so much and having to spend everything again.
He paid for the ramen and then left, walking a bit unsteady because of his full stomach, putting his wallet back in his pocket after counting the pitiful few coins that were left inside. Only 200 yen left… (a/n: about 2 dollar, right?) he should really be more careful with how much he ate and how much money he had!
When he was about to climb up the iron stairs that lead towards his apartment, he bumped against someone and he looked up, right into the dark eyes of Sasuke, who stood several steps higher. "Sa.. Sasuke," he muttered, a bit surprised, while he quickly took a step back. He hadn't forgotten the encounter they'd had before, and he didn't want to get hit like that again. He scowled lightly at the mere idea. No, this time, he wouldn't let Sasuke lay a finger on him. This time, he would fight back!
"I thought we were supposed to leave today. I waited here since this afternoon but you didn't show up." his voice was nearly emotionless and Naruto stared at Sasuke. He probably hadn't heard about the messenger, and Naruto couldn't blame Tsunade for not telling Sasuke. After all, he'd been pissed and deadly dangerous for the entire day, and that was not the time to talk calmly with him.
"No," Naruto muttered. "Tsunade-baachan told me… we're waiting for the messenger from the land of the waves, tebayo. For the cure."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why are we waiting for that? I thought the Hokage wanted Sakura back as soon as possible."
Naruto sniffed. The way Sasuke just said that insulted him, like Tsunade was the only one wanting Sakura back! "Of course she does, tebayo!" Naruto shouted, shaking his head and clenching his fists. "But Tsunade-sama has her own reasons, and she wouldn't tell me why we're waiting for it!"
This time it was Sasuke's turn to sniff. "You're lying, dobe," he spoke, and his lips curled in an awful smirk. "Did you forget that I can see through you lying nearly immediately? Now tell me the real reason."
Naruto frowned. "And what if I don't?" he asked, aware of being on dangerous grounds, already collecting chakra for a quick counter attack if Sasuke decided to attack him.
Sasuke's smirk got even wider. "Then I'll tell everyone that the real reason Sakura left, is not because that Deidara guy forced her to," and his eyes locked to Naruto's. "but because she wanted to escape Konoha after you attacked her."
Naruto's pupil's shrank and his eyes got wide as he stumbled back. "WHAT?" he shouted, panicking. "I didn't do that intentionally, tebayo!! I would NEVER HURT SAKURA-CHAN!!"
"Oh, you wont?" Sasuke asked, getting down the iron stairs. "You really are stupid, Naruto. I knew that Tsunade called you to her to tell you something. I'm not dumb, I immediately knew she was going to postpone the mission." He tilted his head. "But that was not what you wanted to hear, was it?"
"You're damn right!" Naruto cried, tears running down his cheeks. "I thought you were my friend! You KNOW I would never hurt Sakura on purpose!!"
Sasuke shook his head. "The real reason for me to threaten you with this has got nothing to do with us being friends, Naruto." And when he looked at Naruto again, his sharingan had been activated, and Naruto froze, staring at the red eyes which were glaring at him in a pretty menacing way. "I do not want to harm the bond between us, Naruto," he said. "I just want you to say the real reason behind our delay. And I want you to shut up…" he stepped closer, and Naruto, immobilized by staring into the sharingan, could do nothing else than glare at him. "about what happened in Suna."
Naruto flinched. He'd already feared Sasuke would recall that. After all, it had been the reason for the dark haired boy to attack him earlier. "…but, Sasuke," he said, still staring in the red sharingan. "…why did you…?"
Sasuke closed his eyes, for them to be back to normal when he opened them again. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and suddenly pulled him towards him, hugging him quite harshly.
"OI!" Naruto yelled, not able to keep up with the mood swings of his friend. "What are you DOING?"
"Telling you to shut up about it," Sasuke hissed in Naruto's ear. "It was a mistake. A large mistake."
Naruto stared in front of him. "… a large mistake?" he muttered.
"Exactly." Sasuke let go of him and Naruto stumbled back, shivering even though it wasn't all that cold outside. "A mistake, just like you attacking Sakura when she left."
"Then, if that's the case," Naruto said, his brain slowly making up things. "Why didn't you tell Sakura-chan?"
And then, for the first time since Naruto'd met him, Sasuke looked away and shifted his feet uncomfortably and Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Because I didn't want to hurt her," Sasuke muttered, his voice sounding completely different from before. Then he looked at Naruto again and when he spoke, the sudden softness of before had disappeared again. "So do not speak about it."
Naruto stared bluntly at Sasuke. Pieces were slowly falling together in his already slow mind, but the longer he thought, the clearer it got: Sasuke didn't know how to ask Naruto to stop about it in a friendly way, so the only way to keep his name clear was by threatening him. "You know, tebayo," Naruto said slowly, not looking at Sasuke directly. "You could've just asked me that, instead of scaring me with threats."
And he walked up the stairs, past Sasuke, towards his apartment. He needed time to sleep and think things over, this was too much information at once. "Sasuke," he said when he'd reached his front door and he turned around. "It's okay. Don't make a…"
But the dark haired boy had vanished from the spot, with faint traces of smoke still hanging loosely in the air. Naruto sighed. Typically Sasuke to disappear after telling him something like that! He touched his left eye, which still felt slightly swollen – even though the nine tailed chakra had taken care of a lot of the damage already – and he shook his head.
The next day started sunny, with the sky blue for so far the eye could see. This time, even no white clouds rimmed the horizon, leaving the blue untouched. Naruto took a deep breath as he woke up and then stretched out. Today he had to help Tsunade on the preparations, so that, as soon as the messenger arrived, they could leave immediately.
Several miles distanced from Konoha, and Naruto didn't know that, a young man was already running non stop, his feet thumping on the sand path he used to get to the city. In his left hand he clutched a heavy looking scroll, with fancy jutsu symbols written all over it in a curly handwriting, and around his shoulders hung an empty backpack. He panted as he started to climb up one of the very much hills surrounding Konoha, increasing his grip on the scroll.
He had been carrying it in his backpack, but the feeling of the heavy scroll bumping up and down with every step he took had driven him nuts, forcing him to carry it by hand even though it was nearly as heavy as a large rock…! But, I have no time to slow down, he thought, sweat running down his neck and back in large amounts. I've wasted enough time, right now I need to hurry up! It's light already…
He reached the top and slowed down momentarily, but not for long as his feet started to run on their own again after seeing the city lie in the valley in front of him. Finally, he had gotten over the last hill! Running down was a lot easier and he nearly flew as his speed kept increasing, and he laughed out loud as he jumped in the air and traveled at least ten feet before coming down again. This was nearly flying!
He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath even though his body needed all the air it could get. Then his feet contacted with the ground again and he opened his eyes, increasing his speed on sheer will, now running so fast that the few people on the path had to jump away in order not to get hit. He heard an old lady scream some shocked threats to him and he put up his free hand, shouting some apologies over his back. He couldn't slow down! He had a delivery to make!
The gates became bigger and bigger as he came closer and closer to the town he'd been desperate to reach for the last four days. When he had left the country of the waves it had been raining, but as the day started to build up he felt the sun burn heavily on his bare shoulders and face, and he was sweating so much that you could see large wet spots on his shirt.
The guards beneath the gate saw him coming and jumped up from their seats, knocking over the small table with two glasses on it in front of him, hurrying towards the gate to meet with the fast running stranger. As soon as the young man reached the gate, he tripped over his own feet and had hit the ground if not one of the guards leapt forwards and caught him just in time, getting him to his feet again after that.
"The scroll," the boy panted, but the guards shook their heads, a puzzled look on both their faces. The messenger couldn't get to speaking and he sank through his knees again, forcing the guards to support him towards the shade.
"You okay?" One of the guards asked, while the other disappeared inside the guard house only to come back out of it with a large glass with some yellow green colored liquid in it. The messenger nodded while leaning back against the tree they had put him against and he sighed. He took the glass gratefully and emptied it in one go, feeling the sour taste of the lemon juice tickle on his tongue.
"What I was saying earlier," the young man spoke, feeling a bit better after the drink and the shadow. "Is about this scroll… it contains information for the Mizukage…"
The guards shared some looks. Then one of them took the scroll from the boy. "I'll take it to the Hokage," he said, looking at the messenger. "I'm sure she'll hand it over to the Mizukage. Is that okay with you?"
The man, unable to argue about it, nodded. "Yeah, that's fine…" and the guard ran off, carrying the scroll with both arms to prevent it from falling. The other guard sat down next to the messenger, taking his empty glass from him, smiling at him.
"So you're the boy from the country of the waves, heh?" he said, more confirming than asking a question. The boy smiled back and nodded.
"Yeah, I am."
The guard stared at him. "Then you ran a long end here!"
This time a smirk appeared on the boy's face. "It sure was. I could've done it faster, though." He paused to take a deep breath, his body still not completely recovered from the long run. "There was some commotion on the border, with people talking about some organization called "Akatsuki", or something like that… they didn't allow me in until they received the written permission of your Hokage." He sighed. "Really. I could only start running as soon as I'd passed the border!"
"But you're earlier than expected. I heard the Hokage talking about a delay of… dunno… about four days."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "Four days? Hey, I'm not THAT slow!"
The other guard, the one carrying the scroll, ran over the still calm streets with a pace that was nearly dangerous. The scroll in his arms felt especially heavy and was still a bit slippy with the messenger's sweat, so he pressed it firmly against his torso, increasing his speed slightly. That that boy carried this scroll the entire way from the country of the waves to here was an extraordinary accomplishment, especially for someone as young as him.
He reached the Hokage building and nearly knocked someone over on his way in, not even bothering saying an apology as he dashed up the spiral stairs in the center of the room, nearly flying up, feeling the muscles in his legs burn as he reached the floor with the Hokage office. He ran towards the Hokage door, knocked once, opened the door and stumbled inside, placing the scroll on the desk with a loud thump. The people in the room, Tsunade, Dotongu, Mizura and Gaara, looked up with a start from their deep conversation, but as soon as Mizura saw the scroll her face lit up.
"Isss thisss the ssscrol from my country?" she asked the guard, who nodded, unable to speak. Tsunade made the link quickly and then nodded to the guard, a smile on her face. "You can go now, thank you very much! Oh, and make sure that the messenger gets a comfortable place to rest. It was surely a long trip." The guard bowed and then left the room, leaving the Kages alone.
"So that's the scroll with the solution?" Gaara asked, showing no clear evidence that he cared. Mizura nodded, placing her slim hand on the jutsu signs, whispering some words to break the jutsus that secured the contains of the scroll, and then it rolled open, revealing some very difficult kanji and a lot of text. Dotongu sighed and Tsunade looked at him.
"Something wrong, Dotongu-san?" she asked, and he nodded while blushing slightly.
"Yeah, er, well, I've never been… eh…" he cleared his throat. "I've never been very good at reading kanjis… hehehe… So if it's not too much of a trouble, would you like to read them out, un?" and he looked at Tsunade with a look that was so begging that Tsunade nearly burst out in laughter. The fact that the Tsuchikage couldn't even read kanjis properly was funny, but having him pleading her to read them out to her like he was a small child really worked in on her laughing muscles…!
"Ah, found it, here they are," Mizura suddenly said, getting the attention of Tsunade and Dotongu back. Gaara showed no sign of hearing whatsoever, but Mizura ignored him and showed Tsunade the passage with the information. "Sssee? There are the glasss chainssss… the type of chakra rock, detailed information, posssssible sssside effects…" she waved with her hand. "The lissst isss ongoing."
Tsunade smiled at her. "Mizura-san," she said, "I do not know how to thank you!"
The Mizukage smiled back at her, a very rare event as she was said to be a very strict and serious woman who nearly never smiled. "Do not thank me already," she said, handing over the scroll to Tsunade. "Read it firssst, and if the information you need isss in there, you can thank me."
Tsunade took the scroll and started reading. "…The glass chains are special. Not is there not only one piece of them, they also contain the strongest binding technique currently known in the world. There does not exist a physical key to these chains, and the technique used to unlock them is very complicated but does nearly never occur, since the chains will automatically unlock as the person being bound dies." She took some time to get air. "Also, there are some strict prohibited ways of using these chains. One: Do not use the chains to chain an animal. It will cause damage to the nerve system of the animal and the chains were not made for that purpose. Two: never use the chains to bind two people to each other. Not only will the binding technique be dangerous for them, the effects can be so deep that the humans in question might tend to kill themselves, which will result in a double kill. For more information, see ad two. Three…" she coughed, her eyes flying over the scroll in order to find the spot.
Gaara got up a bit from his chair, showing interest for the first time since he entered the meeting that morning. They'd actually been arguing about the team to send after Deidara and Sakura the entire night and he'd fairly quickly lost his interest, but now there was actually a part he wanted to hear.
"Ah, found it. Ad two: In order to untie the two people from each other, another technique is used than for the normal usage. This technique needs the full corporation of both the involved human beings or else it will be useless." She stopped talking and glared sideways at Dotongu and Mizura. "I guess that'll be a problem already," she whispered. Dotongu nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We know, un. But for now, better read on and see what it exactly means. Perhaps there's more to it."
Mizura gave her a supporting nod and Tsunade continued talking. "…or else it will be useless. Also another piece of chakra rock will be needed." Her eyes flew over the page. "there are a lot of pictures here," she said slowly, looking at them one by one, placing down the scroll on the desk for everyone to see and rolling it out further. "I guess they show how…" her voice died away as her eye had fallen on the utmost right picture, the last one, with the two people standing next to each other, both hands out in front of them, with no chains on them anymore.
Dotongu let some air escape through his teeth, making a slightly whistling noise, Mizura ran her slim hand through her hair, Gaara fell back in his chair, and Tsunade stood, bowed over the scroll, her arms shaking.
"Is this," she muttered, "the only way to…"
Deidara's cabin, same time as Konoha (three days further) –
"Kisame-san? Kisaaaame, why is it so hooooot?" Tobi tugged Kisame's cloak, complaining in a tone that irrated Kisame to the limits. "Tobi feels sick, Kisame-san! He's hungry, and thirsty, and soooo warm…" and again he tugged Kisame's cloak, now crossing Kisame's already fragile line of self control.
"Will you STOP IT?" he shouted, pushing the boy off him with a bit more power than necessary, catapulting him a few feet away. "I KNOW it's hot, and I'm ALSO hungry and thirsty, but at least I do not complain about it!" he shook his head. "And if ya really want something to drink then go and make yourself useful by finding us some. Here," and he tossed the empty saké bottle towards Tobi, who caught it just before it hit the ground.
"But, but, Kisame-san, Tobi doesn't know where the water is!" Tobi cried, creeping towards Kisame again, holding out the saké bottle like it was the holy grail or something. Kisame sighed deeply, closing his painful eyes for a moment.
"That's the entire idea, you MORON!" he roared, scaring the hell out of Tobi, who nearly flew back with shock. "NOW! YOU GO AND FIND US SOME GODDAMN WATER!"
Tobi nodded quickly, and kept nodding while getting up and then turning around to run away on top speed, holding the bottle against him carefully, disappearing out of sight while yelling: "Tobi will find water for Kisame-san, because Tobi is a very, very good boy!"
Kisame clenched his teeth on each other and then yanked his head back towards the group of trees, staring at them again like he'd done for the past three days. Not only did his eyes hurt, his backside felt numb from sitting the entire time and he was thirsty and hungry like hell. He'd eaten less before, but he hated waiting so much that he simply had to do something to get his mind off the hunger.
He shook his head. What if the group of trees they were staring at were simply a cover for a tomb or something? Cause if that was the case, they could wait forever without the owner showing himself, and when he even thought about that possibility he felt light in the head. He forced himself to concentrate on the trees again and blinked several times, feeling his eyes burn with the dusty heat.
Tobi had checked the genjutsu line but had come back empty handed, except for confirming what they'd already suspected: there were indeed bombs attached to several spots around the line and they had no possibility of getting in at all.
Just when he was about to give up hope and sink away in sleep, he heard a sound and he yanked his head back, staring at the group of trees. He had been in the forest for long enough now to know which sounds belonged here and which ones did not, and the sound he had heard definitely didn't belong here. It had sounded like a squeal, or a yell of disgust, but he couldn't find the source, even when he got up to get a better sight.
"Dammnit," he whispered, realizing that it had probably come from behind the jutsu line, and thus being out of his sight. He got down again and stared at the trees again, even following the movements of the bugs on the plants close to them. Finally, there had been a sign of life coming out of the jutsu protected area, and it was encouraging him to stay where he was, waiting for a trace of life.
The yell he had heard, had indeed been one of disgust, coming from a teenaged and very messed up girl, completely confused by a way too high amount of hormones racing through her blood. And if Kisame had listened very carefully, he could've heard the sound of a lower, male voice shouting something back in a tone that was so obviously irritated that Kisame's arguments with Tobi faded into darkness.
"What's the fucking problem with those jeans?! They're perfectly fine, hmm!"
"No, they're NOT, and I will NOT wear these! Not in a thousand years!!"
Deidara sniffed. He had actually been locked outside his own bedroom, his hand clamped between the door and it's post, with Sakura standing inside, going crazy over things Deidara could not understand. No, he had already concluded that he didn't know a lot of women. But if he had gotten to know one in her monthly period before, he would have gotten to the conclusion that he indeed knew nothing about women. Like, for example, how the obedient, nice and calm hostage he had in his home had frighteningly enough changed into a screaming and constantly panicking monster who screamed, cried and then laughed within the blink of an eye, making Deidara completely confused.
And now she refused to change into a pair of jeans he'd picked for her!
"WHY NOT?!" he shouted back, feeling very irritated. His wrist was starting to hurt from being clamped between the door, and having Sakura tugging the chains with walking around all the time didn't help at all.
"Because they're MEN'S JEANS!!" Sakura roared back, face red with anger. Why didn't he understand how she was feeling?! (actually, I don't think anyone can at the moment) Why didn't he understand that she was going through a harsh time, having to use toilet paper to make sure that the clothes she wore weren't getting bloody all the time? She stared at the jeans on the floor, and then to the belt next to it, a brown with bluish green stripe. Normally she would've liked it, but now she hated everything, especially if it had got something to do with a certain blonde haired person sitting outside of the bedroom.
"Then let me inside so I can help you pick some other ones!!" Deidara cried back desperately, not knowing what to say back. The dresser with clothes was on the other side of the bedroom and Sakura could never reach it with him locked outside. No, in order to reach it, she would have to let him in. he smirked at the mere idea. At the moment, she was probably standing in his bedroom, wearing nothing more than a shirt and some underwear, a desperate look on her pretty face…
But Sakura's shouting voice shook him not completely gently out of his daydream.
"IN YOUR DREAMS, PERV!!"
Deidara flinched. She shouldn't have called him that! But as he stared at the carpet, he felt his neck and his ears burn with red, creeping up his face… he shook his head forcefully, desperate to get the images which were now floating through his mind out of sight. He wasn't very successful.
"Then what DO you want me to do, hmm?!" He yelled in a lame attempt to keep the conversation going. He had the faint idea that she might rip his arm of in an attempt to reach the dresser with clothes if he didn't continue speaking, and as he felt her tug the chains slightly, he felt sweat dripping down his back.
"…I don't know! Just… just DON'T come in!"
She had already tried to get to the jeans, but it had proven to be way too far for her to reach, even when she went on tiptoes and hung fully on his arm, knowing that she was straining his muscles to the edge, feeling her own wrist hurt as well. "dammnit," she hissed through clenched teeth before looking around her, towards the door. Then she sighed. Even though she felt confused and a bit dizzy, she knew that she would simply have to let him in. There were actually two choices: One, let him in and get a good pair of jeans with the chance that he peeks, and two: do not let him in and be forced to wear the ugly jeans he had offered her.
She looked from the jeans on the floor to the door, back to the jeans, then to her own bare legs, and then she hung her shoulders. She had no other choice. Wearing the jeans he'd given her was absolutely out of the question, so…
"…okay then, I'll let you in."
Deidara's face lit up. "You do, hmm?" he asked, quickly wiping away all the evidence of happiness of his face and trying to get up already.
"Yeah, I do, but on ONE condition…"
He heard footsteps and then he could vaguely see her face through the small gap between the door and the wall. "No. Peeking. You understand?"
He blinked and then wove with his hand, saying 'of course I do!', but Sakura obviously didn't trust him as she pulled the chains by stepping back from the door again, folding her arms in front of her chest.
"And let me remind you that I can feel it whenever you're peeking."
Deidara hung his head.
Then the door opened. The blood in his wrist started to flow again and he rubbed it absentmindedly while getting up, his eyes focused strictly to the floor, following every single line in the carpet he could find. "Okay, now stay like that," Sakura said, and Deidara looked up for a moment, seeing her bare feet and ankles standing on his carpet, before looking down again, blushing fanatically. He clenched his eyes shut.
Stop it, Deidara. You're driving yourself crazy, hmm. Whatever way you turn it, thinking these things will definitely not help you…
"What jeans were you talking about anyway?" he asked while they shuffled towards the dresser very slowly, testing Deidara's self control, which seemed to be harder than he had imagined. They stopped in front of the dresser and Sakura got something out, before hanging it in front of his face.
"This one."
Deidara's eyes flew open. The trousers she'd chosen were nothing less than the jeans he favored most, and also the ones he hadn't worn in years since he joined the Akatsuki. He blinked and then suddenly, Sakura wove her hand in front of his face, getting his attention. "You all right?" she asked, getting the jeans out of his sight again. "You kinda spaced out, you know."
Deidara didn't know what to answer. The pair of jeans had brought up memories of the time before the Akatsuki, the time in which he used to live calmly and secure under the caretaking of the Tsuchikage…
"Okay, you can look again!"
His gaze went up and then traveled over two legs, put in his own jeans – which were way too large for her – and then to one of his own shirts – also too big – to Sakura's head, which was smiling at him. "Could be worse, couldn't it?" she asked, turning around slightly for as far as the chains allowed them, showing him how the jeans fit her backside. Deidara swallowed. Was she doing this on purpose?
"N-no," he muttered, determined to keep up with his bad guy role. "I think it looks bad on you, hmm. Really, nothing ever looks."
That was mean. He felt something shoot right through the pit of his stomach and then to his forehead, making his head turn red with embarrassment. He looked away from her pouting face, face still flushed red, a stubborn look on his face. He didn't want to admit that, indeed, the idea of Sakura wearing his clothes actually turned him on slightly. One way or another, they were hostage and hostage taker. They were in no position to become friends – or more.
"That wasn't very nice of you."
Deidara froze. Oh no. Was that… he yanked his head back to Sakura and his fear became truth. Her face was red with anger and a vein was pulsating dangerously in her neck, giving her a very, very pissed off look. His eyes widened. A mood swing again!
Suddenly she stepped forwards, pressing him against the wall with one arm, pushing him slightly in the air by sheer force, feeling the pressure of her arm on his cheek as if she was doing the same thing to herself. "I'm no longer the obedient hostage you take me for," she hissed right in his face, ignoring the suffocating feeling in her throat. And then, suddenly, the expression on her face softened and she leaned in further, bringing her mouth close to his ear. "What were you planning on doing with me anyway, bringing me here, and not to your fellow Akatsuki friends?" she chuckled. "You are indeed a naughty boy…!"
Deidara didn't know how he had it. She was doing this on purpose, he could feel it and hear it clearly as it echoed through her head, but that didn't help the feeling that rose up inside of him. And it wasn't very comforting to the fact that she was actually suffocating him.
"And why should you care, hmm?" he snapped back, trying to stay in his role. "You don't have any right on even knowing what I might be planning. Not even the slightest bit." He laughed even though it hurt his throat. "you're unbelievably stupid if you think that I might even have planned something with you, hmm!"
He expected her to react angrily, shocked, or at least scared or hurt, but neither of that happened as she chuckled softly again and shook her head, suddenly dropping him to the ground, allowing the air to run through his airway normally again. "I didn't say you planned anything, did I?" Sakura said, her voice teasing him to the edge. "I said you might have had plans, like, hearing me out here, and then bring me to the Akatsuki…" she smirked. "But seemingly, I was wrong."
Deidara blushed. "What are you talking about, huh?" he shouted, feeling his self control slip through his fingers faster than water. "Why do you even think you can talk to me like that, hmm? What makes you think that I wont hurt you?"
This time Sakura laughed out loud and before Deidara could react, she had suddenly placed her lips on his and kissed him swiftly, retreating so fast that the event nearly didn't even happen. He stared at her face, completely silenced, and Sakura's grin got even wider.
"That's exactly what makes me think you wont."
…what to say? Ehh, review if you like, also tell me about things you didn't like or things you think I should add, because I'm going to start on the next chapter now!
-Shabaku