*Chapter 20: Closer To The Challenge*

"Did Rina really do that?," my cousin Sabia asked surprisingly.

I had spent the night at my Aunt Makoto's house in the Hidden Sand Village for the next few days, hoping to relax and forget all my problems, at least that's what I thought before my fight with Eriku's ex-girlfriend Rina about three nights ago. I had felt quite better since then, but not entirely.

"Yes, she literally slapped me first, talked smack to me and then when I returned the favor, she attacked me," I explained to her.

"Wow that's crazy, but that's to be expected of her. I also heard that you broke her entire arm in one punch. How did you do that?," she wondered with great interest.

The face she was making out of curiosity made me laugh a little. We had already talked about it within these few days, so it shouldn't sound too surprising for her, but I guess she hasn't gotten tired of hearing the same things yet. So I smirked and formed fists with both my hands, preparing to demonstrate, though I wouldn't really reenact the event.

"Easy. I waited for the right moment, built up enough chakra into my fist, then when she threw the punch, I threw mine and clashed with hers. I felt the bones in her arm busting and cracking as I inflicted the hit. I did learn to have monster strength from the Hokage after all," I described.

She seemed flabbergast by my explanation and looked like she had imagined it in her mind, wincing at the thought of the bones in Rina's arm breaking.

"Gosh, you are something Kat," she said as she took a sip of hot chocolate from her pale brown mug.

I chuckled at her comment before I took a sip from my mug. We were chilling outside that morning in the front of the house like last time, wearing our pajamas with no care of who saw us. We just wanted to enjoy our morning drinks and the cool refreshing weather in peace. We felt so lazy that morning and we liked it that way.

"So are you going to talk to Eriku and the others again?," she asked curiously.

I gently placed my mug to the side of me and exhaled a large amount of breath, trying to gather my thoughts in their proper places as I stared straight forward at some other houses across from us.

"I'm not sure actually. Who's to say Rina won't try to pick a fight with me again?," I questioned in a rhetorical way.

Sabia looked displeased with my remark and took another sip of her drink before putting it down and firmly meeting her solid dark brown eyes with mine.

"Katana, I know Rina threatened and harmed you, but Eriku had nothing to do with it."

"That may be so, but he didn't throw himself in the middle to stop us either. He cowardly stood on the sidelines pleading while he let Rina attack me and I had to defend myself on my own. What does that tell you?"

"The guy was probably in a state of shock. He must've been confused and stuck not knowing what to do. I think you should accept his forgiveness and allow him back into your circle of trust," Sabia suggested.

I had to think about to myself. Should I forgive him and allow him back into our new friendship or should I shun him from my life because he had an insane and obsessive ex-girlfriend who definitely had beef with me? Eriku was a good guy, but I didn't want to deal with crazy former girlfriends or chicks that want to be their girlfriends. But I shouldn't blame him for someone else's actions towards me. Decisions, decisions, yet it was very hard to figure out so quickly. Of course, I planned to take my time about it anyways. I sighed before I glanced at my cousin and then faced forward.

"I'll think about it," I answered solemnly.

I never checked to see what expression Sabia made, but from the sound of her exhale, she was content.

"Alright," she only said calmly.

After a few more minutes of peaceful silence, I began to hear a quiet crumbling noise coming from the dirt ground below my feet. It was rather peculiar and I was on alert for whatever it could be. When a small patch of the surface formed a tiny crater of touched dirt, a small yet very familiar animal crawled out of the hole and looked up at me with its beady eyes. I immediately dropped my guard when I recognized them.

"Kori," I whispered as silently as I could.

"Katana, I came as fast as I could and I have brought you a letter from Deidara," she notified me as she turned her little body to show me the small rolled piece of paper that was tied to her.

A letter from Deidara? How interesting, I thought.

"Excellent. Hold on one moment," I said as I let her crawl on my hand and covered her with my other hand, "Sabia, I'll be right back. I gotta use the bathroom."

"Alright. Just don't take too long and stink up my restroom," she commented as she laughed and took another sip of hot chocolate.

I nodded and laughed a little as I got up from my seat, opened the door and walked inside the house, heading straight for the bathroom. Jiro and Juro were watching cartoon movies as usual, the other two boys were off inside their bedroom and Aunt Makoto was in her room while my Uncle Daisuke was at work again, so no one would notice I had a tiny blue scorpion in my hand. If the twins saw her, they would drag and throw her around like a rag doll.

Once I reached the bathroom, I opened the door and checked if anyone was inside. The coast was clear so I entered, still with caution and locked the door behind me as I closed it. I flipped the light switch on and then I walked up to the sink so I could gently place Kori on the surface.

"So I assume the delivery was a success?," I asked in hopes I got positive feedback.

"Yes. I managed to make it to the Akatsuki hideout thanks to recognizing Deidara's natural scent. However, I did come across certain traps that set off when I got further into the lair's territory, but I got out of them real easily. Once I found and entered Deidara's room, I tried to approach him first and hoped to give him the present without any complications, but when he caught a glimpse of me, he actually tried to blow me up with him bombs. Luckily, I managed to evade his attacks and when the present slipped off my back, he became curious, so he picked it up and barely realized it was his gift from you. He then apologized for his rude actions and decided to write a letter for me to give to you once I returned," she explained thoroughly in her squeaky voice.

I couldn't believe he tried to blow up one of my favorite companions. He would surely pay for it, I thought.

"I see. Don't worry, I'll get after him soon enough for nearly killing you," I ensured her as I lightly poked her back and smirked.

"That's good to hear. He could've blown off my stinger if I didn't move in time!," she exclaimed in an adorable tone.

I giggled a little, though I didn't purposely want to. Kori had a temper sometimes and though I was supposed to take it seriously, I found it quite amusing, since she had that cute high pitched voice that sounded like an innocent little girl. She was just so lovable, which is why I sometimes don't take her seriously.

She stared at me for a good couple of minutes, which made me wonder what she was thinking. I couldn't figure out what her dark beady eyes were telling me, but I had a hunch that she seemed concerned.

"Katana?," she called me softly.

"Hmm?," I responded quickly.

There was a few more seconds of silence before she took a step forward towards me.

"What happened to your face? There are bruises on your cheeks," she pointed out.

My injuries had been healing pretty well since the fight with Rina not too long ago, but it did leave deep and dark colored bruises on both sides of my face. Aunt Makoto and Sabia had to help clean them up once I got back as frustrated as I had become. It was a struggle to hold completely still for them to treat the wounds.

Remembering the event, I lightly glided my fingers on one of my cheeks and kept it there for a short while before letting my arm hang by my side again. I wasn't sure if I should tell her about the ridiculous situation between Rina and I. It would most likely remind her of my fights with Takuna in the past and she would probably be disappointed in me.

"It was nothing," I lied, "The twins threw their hard toys at me."

She actually bought my fake explanation from the looks of her gesture.

"Oh! You can grab the letter now from my back," she informed me as she turned to face the side where the rolled letter was to me.

When I spotted it, I approached her, bent down and started carefully untying the tough string that wrapped around her little body. After getting it loose, I snatched the letter from her and sat down on the cold to the touch toilet seat. I inhaled then exhaled before I prepared myself to unroll the piece of paper. I started from the bottom edge of the paper, dug my thumb into the inside of it and began to slowly unroll it. It revealed words written in black ink as I continued to open it. Once I had it opened all the way, I wondered why the words looked funny. It was like they were switched around and they didn't make any sense.

"Um Katana? It's upside down," Kori informed me.

I finally snapped to that comment, noticing how it was upside down. I smacked the side of my head out of shame for myself, flipped the paper so it was facing the right way and recognized the words correctly. I glanced at Kori before looking back at the letter.

"Indeed," I told her, feeling slightly stupid.

All that aside, I inhaled another good amount of breath and began reading to myself:

Dear Katana,

Thank you for the pleasant Christmas gift you actually decided to give me. I really appreciate it and can't wait to start wearing it. It smells really good, great choice.

I know, I know.

Also, I would like to let you know that I am done with all my assignments for now, so we can take on our little wager, I should say on the 30th in the morning. I will be waiting for you outside of the Sand Village.

Deidara

P.s, be prepared to give me that juicy kiss. ;)

"Ugh! That boy," I shouted out loud as I crumbled the paper in my hands.

He sure is a real tease. But at least I was aware that tomorrow was the day he wanted to do this bet of ours, so I needed to gather my things by tonight and prepare for one of the fights of my life. Well, not really. Because I believed I could beat him in a matter of a few minutes! That's how hubris I was. I'm surprised it hasn't killed me yet.

"What does it say?," Kori wondered.

She had no idea about the bet Deidara and I had made earlier, so telling her now could make it worse for the both of us. Mainly because I didn't want to hear her rant on in lectures about how I needed to be careful around him or how getting involved with criminals is too risky. Like I haven't heard all those things constantly before? I was fully aware of what I was dealing with when Deidara returned, which is why I try to keep it on a down low, even from my friends. I had some loud mouth friends.

"Nothing, he just thanked me for the Christmas present and made a smart comment," I semi-lied to her.

I was halfway true about the letter, but I didn't need to tell her the rest of it. The less she knew about my involvement with Deidara, the better and the safer she will be. I would never want my friends to get punished for my actions.

I turned to face Kori as she stood on the sink counter. I smiled brightly at her as I lightly patted her back.

"Thank you so much for your help Kori. I don't know what I'd do without you," I gratefully thanked her.

"You would probably be dead without me," she joked.

That seemed more depressing than funny. After I faked my laugh, I pulled out the scroll I had her sealed in from my pajama pants. I had it stored there just in case Kori did return from her delivery trip. I laid it flat and open on the sink counter, ready to seal her back into it, though I hate to have to depart.

"Thank you again for all your help," I thanked her again.

"It's no problem. If you need anything else, just summon me," she said as she crawled onto the scroll and centered herself.

"Will do," I said as I performed the appropriate hands signs.

I watched as she was covered in a large puff of smoke and once it cleared, she was gone. I noted that she was finally back in her scroll, since the symbol that was missing before when she was summoned was back in its place, at the center of the sealing.

Still smiling, I rolled the scroll back up and placed it back into my pants, glad that things are arranged properly.

"Hey Kat! Are you done in there? You've been taking a long time in the bathroom! Are you taking a dump?!," Sabia nagged on loudly for others to hear.

"Uh, yeah! But I'm almost done! I just need a few more minutes," I shouted to her.

"Alright then," she confirmed.

I heard her footsteps faded, noting that she walked away. I sighed of relief that she didn't catch me talking to my scorpion companion or she'd think something's up. I didn't need to tell anyone else about my business.

So after a couple of minutes of sitting on the toilet seat, I stood up, turned to face it and placed my hand on the handle, pushing it down and hearing the toilet flush and make splashing noises inside the bowl. I then washed my hands, dried them with a purple hand towel they had hanging on a rack by the sink and unlocked the door, leaving the bathroom and heading for the guest room, where I stayed. I had to start gathering my belongings so that the next morning, I would be ready to leave and take on Deidara, in secret.