I was considering making this a mini-arc by itself, serving as a 'filler episode' since it deviates slightly from the main storyline- but decided against it. There are too many relevant things in this chapter to make it a filler. So, if you'll excuse the chapter name...
Bonds of Trust: Part Three:
Bonds of Love
A tanned, wrinkled hand grasped a small, hot cup of green tea with surprising delicacy. The hands owner took a sip of it, and lowered the cup to the floor once again. A little wisp of white steam rose from the translucent green liquid and curled in the air. The man contemplated his tea for a minute, then slowly reached out for a packet of sugar. Before his fingers reached the sugar, however, they froze in place, then retreated. The wind howled outside, and with a creak the shutters keeping the lone window shut snapped open. Danzō casually took hold of the sugar again and dumped the entire packet into his tea, swirling it around, eye fixed on the open space in front of him.
Two seconds later, two masked shinobi appeared in front of him, kneeling at attention. One had spiky black hair tied up in a ponytail behind his slightly smiling mask; the other had a rather mournful-looking mask and his head was covered by the thick beige hood of his cloak.
"Hyō, Terai." Danzō greeted them. "I have called you two here for a rather unfortunate business that I wish you to take care of."
"No matter how unfortunate it may be, Danzō-sama, we will handle it for you." Hyō replied, whilst his companion merely nodded.
"It is a situation that we have never dealt with before, and I will not tolerate it." Danzō carefully took another swig of tea, and as he did so reached into a deep front pocket of his robes, searching for something. What he finally drew out was a small square slip of paper, with someone's photo on it. This he held out to the pair. Terai took it and stared at it silently, while Hyō looked over to the side in order to see who it was.
It is said that Foundation members' emotions are so far suppressed that they are nonexistent, but as the spiky-haired man saw the face in the picture he could not stop the flicker of shock that ran through his body.
"And our orders, sir?" He questioned, returning his pale lilac gaze to his superior. Danzō regarded them coolly.
"It should be clear. The target is a danger to Konoha. I want you two to eliminate him."
"Yes, sir." Hyō bowed his head, while Terai just nodded again, ever-quiet.
"However, this must be done in absolute secrecy." Danzō warned. "It must never be discovered who the perpetrators are, so you are to secure a disguise of sorts before and during the mission. You especially, Hyō, must find something to hide your eyes. Now... go, and do not fail me."
Sai strolled down the street, black eye bright and a jaunty spring in his step. When inviting Sai out for some ramen, Naruto had agreed that he could bring Deidara along. He was surprised, but didn't question this sudden change in heart.
"Hey, Sai-kun!" someone from behind him shouted. Sai turned around upon hearing his name, and let Rock Lee catch up to him. The boy leaned forwards with his hands on his knees, catching his breath, then straightened again. "Have you been well? Are you recovered?"
"Yes, thank you." Sai answered.
"And is Deidara-kun fully recovered, too?" Rock Lee asked, oblivious to the impact of his words. Sai searched Lee's huge eyes for any hint of sarcasm or malice, but there was none.
"He has. It was nice of you to ask." Sai gave him a smile. "How can I help you?"
Rock Lee's eyes darted from side to side and he shifted nervously. "Sai-kun, do you know Sakura-san very well?"
"I believe that we are friends, yes." Sai acknowledged. "What is this all about, Lee-kun?"
The green-suited boy fidgeted some more before he threw his shoulders back, straightened his arms, and bowed from the waist.
"Please teach me how to win her undying affection!" Lee shouted, staring at the tips of his shoes. "I beg of you!"
Sai blinked, but other than that he remained composed. "What gave you that impression? I think that my help would only make things worse, not better."
"But a lot of girls like you." Rock Lee insisted. "Please, Sai-kun. I have faith in you!"
"Well..." Sai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His dark eyes appraised Lee. "I do not see anything wrong with you. Perhaps I can give you a tip from some of my books- they are very informative. Apparently, a woman will become 'moved' if you sacrifice yourself for her. The book said that worked all of the time."
Rock Lee whipped out a minature notebook and began scribbling in it, writing down everything that Sai said. "I see!" He nodded vigorously. Sai held up a finger for silence, warming to his task.
"Also, what always elicits a reaction from any woman is getting close to her and whispering her name in her ear. If you want, I can give you any number of 'pick-up' lines that my book suggested, although I cannot see why you would want to pick up a girl. What if she is heavy?"
"You do have a point there, Sai-kun. Thank you!" Rock Lee bowed once more. "I will not further distract you from your daily activities!"
"No, it was a pleasure being able to help." Sai nodded to him and continued on his way, sticking his hands in his pockets as he went reminiscent to Kakashi's lazy manner. He had discarded the Root jacket that day for a faded buttoned black longsleeve that was his typical wear on days off. He was getting much better at maneuvering the busy streets, able to avoid hitting anybody even if they were running past. Spotting Ichiraku Ramen, he made his way over. He noticed that Naruto had taken a seat next to Deidara instead of one away, indicating that the boy was more comfortable around the bomber than before. Feeling as if a weight had been taken off of his heart, Sai sat down on Deidara's other side. The man was wearing a dark blue jacket and pants. Where his scratched Iwagakure headband had once been, there was a plain black one without a metal plate or insignia.
"Heya, Sai." Deidara greeted him cheerfully. "Took you enough time to get here, mm."
The old, slightly heavy man behind the bar smiled at Sai in welcome. "Hello again, Sai-kun. It's good to see that you're doing well." Teuchi said.
"What do you want, Sai?" Naruto offered. "I earned five free ramen tickets from an old lady some days ago. We can each get a small bowl with a max of five toppings."
Sai raised an eyebrow. "Five toppings? So if there are twenty five different toppings... that would make..." He did the math quickly in his head. "Over two hundred different choices. Perhaps you could pick for me?"
"Sweet, I get to make you try my favourite combo!" Naruto cheered, almost dancing in his seat with delight. "And you, Deidara-k... ehh, Deidara?"
The blonde scrutinzed the menu carefully. "In all honesty, I haven't had ramen before. Cooking is too refined of an art for me, mm. It's so much more intricate than clay moulding, requiring just the right combinations of heat, ingredients, time, and of course skill to make something. None of us really bothered with it. We just ate canned food, mm."
"So now's your chance to try real food." Naruto poked him on the shoulder playfully, and Deidara shot him a glare which went ignored. "Cmon, just pick something already!" Teuchi waited patiently for them to start their orders.
"Fine." Deidara sighed. "I'll try the ramen with shrimp, garlic, and onion. Sounds like it'll be exploding with taste."
"Ohh, that one's good. I've had it before. Hey, Teuchi, d'you think you also can get us two small bowls of ramen with pork and parsley?" Naruto handed over three ramen tickets to the man, who turned around and began preparing their orders, occasionally calling out to his daughter to fetch him something- bowl, packet of noodles, or leaves of parsley. It was done fairly quickly, and three steaming bowls were set before them. Sai handled his chopsticks daintily while Naruto fairly gulped his ramen down.
"This is ramen?" Deidara said disgustedly, placing his chopsticks back down. A noodle dangled off of the edge of the bowl, dripping soup onto the table.
"Got a problem with it?" Naruto demanded. "It's the best food in the world!"
"Like hell it is, mm! This stuff tastes like Inuzaka dogshit! I- oh." Deidara broke off awkwardly as he noticed the shop owner still standing behind the bar. "No offense to you, but... it's not exactly my thing, uhh..."
"Teuchi." the man supplied. "It's quite all right, Deidara-kun. Ramen's not for everybody. And Sai-kun, I'm glad to see you back safely."
"Thank you, Teuchi-san." Sai replied politely.
"Hold on, mm." Deidara stood up. "You know who I am?"
Teuchi looked at him oddly. "Of course." he finished toweling off one clear glass and placed it carefully in a drying rack. Deidara slammed his fist on the table, making the bowls shake. His eyes were wide with distress.
"Then why," he asked, "Why didn't you kick out out, mm? Why don't you shun me like all the other freakin villagers here?"
The elderly shop owner kept drying off another glass as he spoke, back turned to them.
"This place has always been a haven for young'uns." he said, voice faintly nostalgic. "I remember a little blonde one much like yourself who was always shunned and turned away, but he always had a place here." Naruto looked down at his bowl, suddenly embarassed. "There's no reason why you should be any different."
Sai looked up at Deidara, expecting the man to protest at being called a 'young-un', but to his surprise his friend was silent. Deidara stared at his ramen. Slowly he pushed it forwards.
"Thank you for the ramen, Teuchi-san." he said, turning away. "I'm going to go take a shower, Sai, Naruto. You two catch up, mm."
As he walked away with shoulders slumped and hands loose at his sides, Naruto turned to Sai.
"Should we let him go?" Naruto whispered to him. Sai smiled, looking after the blonde with understanding in his dark eye.
"Yeah." Sai said, and took another sip of the soup. Far above, invisible to anyone below, two ANBU left their station behind a chimney and silently leaped to the next house roof, keeping Deidara in their sights.
Deidara made a left turn into an alleyway, hardly watching where he was going. He needed to get away from the accusing glares of the passers-by, needed some time alone to think. However, he wasn't sure what to think. Was he happy? He supposed so. 'Great, so at least one guy trusts me.' he thought. 'That makes well, not counting Sai, of course... a total of four people who trust me now. Naruto, that girl...Sakura? Kiba, and that old guy Teuchi. Doesn't make me feel a whole lot better, though.'
He was so absorbed in his thinking that he almost passed by a huddled figure sitting against the wall with a light blonde head buried in their arms. Deidara heard a small sniffling and then doubled back. A girl- long blonde hair with bangs, purple top and skirt with fishnet elbow sections that were apparently supposed to be fashionable. He remembered what Sai had told him about his friends back in Konoha- and recognized Yamanaka Ino, a chunin-level kunoichi. His first impulse was to continue on his way, but as his conscience scolded him Deidara gave a resigned sigh and crouched down so he could talk to the girl face-to-face.
"Hey, what's wrong, mm?" He questioned. Ino's head shot up and she glared at him with a tear-streaked face.
"What do you want, creeper?" she demanded, but her voice cracked. "Go away, and stop bothering me, you and that bastard Sai..."
Deidara immediately dropped his sympathetic tone. "What do you think you're doing, calling Sai that? I'm fine with it if you choose to hate me, but you're supposed to be his friend, mm! What did he ever do to you?"
"For one, he called me-" Ino broke off with a sudden sob. She had intended for it to be an angry retort, but as the memory shot back to the forefront of her mind her cloudy blue eyes welled up with tears once more. Bewildered, Deidara gaped at Ino's weeping form for a minute, before self-consciously sitting down across from her. He enjoyed the concept of fleeting and epheremal, but he hated seeing it in people, especially girls, whose emotions were as fleeting as butterflies. Perhaps that was why he had formed such close bonds with Sasori, and now Sai- they were reliable, they were predictable. Them being artists also had helped, for sure.
"Called you what, mm?" Deidara prompted, striving to make his voice as gentle as possible.
"Called me ugly!" Ino wailed.
The man stared at her, then a slow grin spread across his face and he began laughing. Ino's teary eyes opened wide with anger.
"What's so funny?" she demanded. "Go away! I don't need to talk with someone like you!"
"Ino- that's your name, right? You're so stupid, it's funny, mm! Sai told me that after Sakura punched him for calling her ugly, he decided that women must hate being called what they really are, and love being called the opposite!" Deidara's laugh echoed in the narrow alleyway. "Okay, so you didn't know, mm. Tell me what you did- did you slap him?"
"No!" Ino protested. She seemed to have forgotten that Deidara was once a criminal, talking as comfortably to him as if he were her own brother. "Of course not! Why would I? I ran away!"
"Poor, poor Sai... he must have really thought you were beautiful if he gathered up the courage to talk to you like that, mm." Deidara shook his head slowly. Ino looked down, ashamed of herself, and the man glanced at her. "Hey, are you blushing? Do you really like Sai?"
Ino started twisting a lock of hair around one finger. "Maybe..." she muttered, face growing redder and redder. "Not like I'll ever be able to talk to him, though. Not after that."
Deidara shrugged. 'Sai, I think now I'll finally be able to pay you back at least one of the favours I owe you. Besides, this girl looks like she really could use some help.'
"If you want, I can talk to him for you." he offered. "He's too clueless to figure your reaction out on his own. Though really, all you need to do is ask him to go for a walk somewhere, and he'll accept. He loves taking strolls through somewhere quiet the most- I'd suggest the park, in the afternoon. Trust me- he would never refuse you if you asked."
Startled, Ino raised her head and met Deidara's gaze. There was not the slightest shadow of malice or malcontent there. In fact, with his ponytailed blonde head and crooked grin, he looked like a younger version of her father. She rubbed away the last tears and gave him a watery smile.
"Alright." she agreed. "I'll trust you."
Kakashi peered through the leaves of the tree. He was a master at camoflauge and staying undetected; the two would not be able to see, smell, hear, or otherwise sense him. Normally, the jonin would not involve himself in such matters. But this time was different. He had to see for himself.
"What the hell's this?" Deidara glared down at the black and white round ball. It stayed innocently still. He crossed his arms and glared at it harder.
Sai would have appeared oddly blank to anyone who didn't know him, but though his mouth was in an even line and his voice calm, his eyes actually bore a faint twinkle in them.
"It's called a football." He said. "Look." He jogged over to where Deidara was standing in the small field, and kicked the ball slightly to one side. Running after it, he stopped it neatly with the side of his foot and then waved to a puzzled blonde. "See? You kick it."
A delighted grin spread across Deidara's face, and he nodded eagerly. Thinking that he had gotten the message, Sai lifted his left foot and used the side of it once more to kick the ball in Deidara's direction. As it bounced through the grass, Deidara twirled around and kicked it in mid-air, sending the ball flying with such force that it bounced off Kakashi's tree and would have hit Sai if he hadn't dodged. Deidara burst out laughing at Sai's slightly exasperated expression.
"That was just precious, that expression on your face, mm!" He said through his hilarity. "Man, I coulda' killed you back there with that thing!'
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. 'Interesting...' he thought, continuing to watch. 'His personality seems so much different than when I fought him. He seems younger, less embittered, less impulsive.' Stealthily, he leapt out of the tree and into a different one, heading away.
Deidara glanced at the tree where Kakashi had once been. Good, the jonin was gone. Not that he minded him spying, really, but he felt that what he had to say next concerned Sai alone.
"Going anywhere this afternoon?" he asked casually. "I was wondering if you wanted to do some sunset training, mm. They're letting me keep some explosive clay now."
Sai fiddled with the end of his ponytail. "I'm sorry, Deidara." his voice was slightly sheepish. "But I'm going to the park today with someone later on."
"A girl?" Deidara pretended to be surprised; he had always been a good actor. "Now that's news. Are you sure it wasn't Naruto using a concealment technique?"
"You offend my skills as a shinobi." Sai pretended to be affronted. "But... when I talked to her today, I had the strangest feeling. It almost made me... what's the word."
"Giddy. Happy. Overjoyed. Those are a few, mm." Deidara supplied. "Sai, my man, you like the girl. Giving it some time, you love her. But hey, what am I saying? Who's the lucky one?"
"Ino, Yamanaka Ino. She once was loud and obnoxious, but now she's really kind and attentive and... She's changed from when I last saw her. Maybe it was the death of her team leader that triggered it, but whatever happened, it made her beautiful on the inside as well as out." Sai fell silent, acutely aware that he had said far more than his original intention. But Deidara was nodding, nodding if he had expected such an answer.
"But there's no way you can go like that, mm. Without my help, you'll mess everything up." Deidara said confidently, and clapped Sai on the back. "So that's why I'm going to be a nice guy and help you out!"
One brown leaf, shaken by the brisk wind, finally gave up its life and broke off of the branch it once called home. Sai watched it fall. His long ponytail blew a little ways to the side, each strand dancing in air. His hands grew cold, and he stuck them in his pockets, feeling with his hand the reassuring little box that was resting in his left pocket. Squirrels were running around all over the place dashing from tree to tree and helping the birds fill the air with noise by adding their unceasing chittering. However, the skies were a bright, clear blue with no clouds marring their purity. Slightly nervously, Sai reviewed his books and what Deidara had told him.
'Hmm.. "If meeting with a girl, it is typical to give her a gift, usually flowers or jewelry." Check. "Sai, you gotta be poetic, mm. They love that." ... poetic? I was never one for being eloquent...' He looked at the sun, judging the time to be around five o'clock. Even as he did so, a sweet voice called his name.
"Sai!" Ino was running his way, up the cobblestone path. She was neatly dressed in a violet sweater and skirt, her small slippered feet stepping noisily on crinkling leaves. Sai mentally prepared himself.
"Hello, Ino. Your eyes look bluer than the sky today." While she was pleasantly distracted by his compliment, he took out the box and opened it, holding out to her a small bracelet. "I read that most people appreciate gifts when you meet up with them, so I got this for you." Ino accepted it rahter shyly and ducked her head, murmuring thanks. Her eyes flickered to Sai's face and then back down to the ground again. The boy was confused, and nervous. He had prepared for all kinds of reactions, but not this. As the silence stretched out, he asked, "Do you not like it?"
"No, no, it's beautiful. It's just that... I've never seen you wear anything other than black before. It looks good." Ino glanced over Sai's dark green turtleneck.
"Deidara pressured me into wearing it." Sai admitted. "I don't know why, when all my clothes serve me so faithfully, but he seemed to think it was a necessary addition to my closet." Ino began walking, and he fell into step beside her.
"The Akatsuki guy, right?" Ino asked. Sai winced at the mention of the name and nodded. "Like, I don't see why everyone thinks he's so bad. I talked to him today- he seems kinda hot-headed but at the same time, he's really nice."
"He is a bit loud sometimes. But he's a great friend." Sai agreed.
"Shikamaru's like that too." Ino added. "Not loud, but like, annoying some-"
"Troublesome." Sai interjected, and Ino smiled at the joke.
"Yeah, troublesome's the word. Still, he and Choji are amazing teammates. I remember this one time I was bored out of my mind at the flower shop, sales were going slow and all, since I have to work certain shifts there. It's my family's store, you know, so it's not like I have a choice. And so Shikamaru and Choji came by, asked me if I wanted to go see a movie, and when they found out i couldn't then they sat with me and helped out." Ino's eyes were distant, with the glaze of someone reminiscing about days long gone by. Sai listened with interest, taking in every word that she said. "There was this other time, too, when we were little. This was before you joined Naruto's team. We had to fight these huge guys, and we worked together so well, it was like our first real solo fight. Of course we couldn't win against them back then, but it was a close thing." She looked up at him, and then seemed to realize something. "Oh, sorry!"
"For what?" he asked.
Ino seemed sheepish. "For talking too much. I must be boring you, but I can't really help it."
"No, that's quite all right." Sai smiled. "I like hearing your voice." A faint blush crept across Ino's cheeks and her right hand started to toy nervously with the new bracelet on her left wrist.
"So do you draw a lot?" Ino asked.
"A good deal, actually. I also paint, and I've experimented with pottery, but after a few tries I've decided to leave that particular line of art to Deidara. If you saw the shapeless lumps of clay I made, then you'd agree." Sai's smile widened slightly as Ino giggled at his second joke of the day. Finally, he was getting the hang of 'humour'.
Deidara waved a good-bye to Teuchi and turned away, heading down a smaller, empty street. The shadows were growing ever long, and the light in the sky was dimming. Stars were beginning to shine far above in the heavens, while the sun dipped below the horizon. Unconsciously, his steps quickened as the dark grew. Following stealthily behind was another figure, coming ever closer...
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Sai offered. Ino shook her head.
"It's all right, if you really want to stay for a while longer here then you don't have to make the long trip to my house. I'll be fine- the town's busy on Thursday nights." Ino waved at him as she left. "See you!" Another thing occured to her mind and she amended herself. "Tommorow, and the days after that!"
Sai laughed, and continued waving until she had gone out of sight. His hand dropped to his side and he plopped down on a wooden bench by the side of the path. 'Some day...' he reflected. 'But I feel full, a kind of quiet, cozy full, not an eaten-too-much full.' He sat in the dark for a little while longer, enjoying the slow chirping of crickets and the occassional hoots of an owl. It was getting chilly.
Sai rose to leave.
Deidara strode torward the opening of the street, where he could see lanterns and people walking about. Not that those particular people would want him to be in their midst, but at the moment he just wanted to get out of that alleyway.
A hand touched his shoulder, and he whirled around.
The man's fighting stance mirrored his own. After a moment, both of them relaxed.
"Hatake Kakashi." Deidara acknowledged. His voice was neutral. One could practically feel the tension crinkling in the air- what could someone say when they were facing someone who had previously torn their arm off using an interdimensional warping technique?
"Have you seen Sai?" the jonin drawled. He looked remarkably unruffled about the encounter, slouching as always. "Naruto wanted Team 7 to go for a movie."
Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Hm? Oh, well, he's on a date with Ino."
"Really, a date with the Yamanaka girl? Sai?" Kakashi said keenly, obviously interested. "Ah, nevermind. I'll ask him about it later. I just saw her skipping home a few minutes ago, but I can't find him anywhere."
"That's weird, mm. He should be back already." Deidara was puzzled. "It's getting real late."
Kakashi's grey eye glinted in the moonlight as he glanced up at the sky. "That it is." he said quietly. He appeared calm and collected, but his mind was racing far ahead. All of a sudden, the bits and pieces of information and hunches that he had been brooding on made sense. "Where did they go?" he asked sharply.
Deidara noticed his tone and caught on immediately. His eyes widened at the implications.
"The east park. Do you think...?"
"I don't know." Kakashi was already running. "But I have a bad feeling about this."
Sai took another step forward, and as soon as his foot brushed the tips of soft grass jets of water rose up around him, cutting off all escape.
"Hōryū: Raika no Jutsu!"
A jagged bolt of lightning danced out from under the shadow of the trees and hit the water, emitting a large crackling noise. Anything- or anyone- within the wall should have been electrocuted to death.
Two shinobi leaped down from their respective trees. One of them had dark, spiky black hair in a ponytail; the other had dark blue, almost black hair sticking out from underneath a bandana. Both of them wore headguards labeling them as being missing nin from Kumogakure, as indicated by the circle and waving shape on the metal plate, with a gash cut across it. Neither of them bore any sort of expression, but both of them for some reason wore heavily tinted sunglasses despite the darkness of the night time.
"Did we get him?" the black-haired one asked his partner, who shook his head and pointed to a spot of earth several metres away. Understanding, the former placed his hand on the ground. Lightning crackling from it, traveling through miniscule cracks in the earth torward the indicated area. Just before it reached, the earth in the spot crumbled and a dark shape shot out, landing safely out of range of the missile of energy. Sai appraised his two opponents.
"Kumo...gakure?" he wondered aloud. "Ah, I see. Defectors. What brings you to Konoha?"
"Our village has long had a history of trying to secure unique shinobi for their own use. The higher-ups would never admit it, but we know better from the past attempted capture of Kushina Uzumaki and the failure to retrieve Konoha's Byakugan. If we bring you back, a shinobi who utilizes an extremely versatile information-gathering skill, we will regain acceptance into our village." The spiky haired man said tonelessly. Sai attempted to read his eyes through the sunglasses, but it was impossible.
"You seem quite nonchalant for someone who has been banished from their village." Sai noted, preparing to fight. They weren't amused by his implied sarcasm. The second missing-nin tapped his partner on the shoulder, who nodded and leaped backwards. The remaining shinobi held his hands out above the ground. As Sai watched, water began streaming out of the earth, gathering as dozens of little droplets in the air. The grass withered, dirt beneath it becoming dry and cracked as each wisp of water left it with a little squelching noise.. Thinking quickly, Sai whipped out his scroll and began painting. He finished just in time; the man made a sweeping motion with his arm and the water droplets sped his way like bullets. A multitude of snakes made a vertical tunnel around Sai, the water harmlessly hitting their scales and rolling down.
Sai's ears caught the crackle of lightning. 'They wanted me to create a shield, so I could box myself in and make myself vunerable to an attack from the lightning-user.' Slightly exasperated by the stupidity of his opponents, he directed the snakes to shift slightly. Placing his foot on the miniscule steps they made within the tunnel, he jumped out of the ink enclosure and into the air, just as a wave of lightning hit the snakes.
There was a blinding flash of light. For a single, fleeting moment the night was illuminated; then it was gone. The two shinobi stood unaffected while Sai fell to the ground. He managed to land on his feet, but nearly fell over doing so.
'My eye...' he thought, one hand over his normal black eye as it gave a painful throb. 'It's only temporary, but that lightning flash must have blinded it. I guess I have no choice- I'll need to use the other.' Moving quickly before his enemies made any further attack, he pulled off his eyepatch and stuffed it in his pocket, startled by how clear his vision was now. It was still pitch black, but there were the strangest flickerings of colour... his gaze shifted and he was met with a glowing red, yellow and orange figure. Nearby him was another, taller one with a slightly different outline.
'What? Ah- I see. Orochimaru must have used a snake's eye for the transplant back then. Their infrared vision allows them to hunt prey in the dark... very fitting, right here, right now.' A strange feeling crawled it's way into Sai's body and he gave a tiny grin. 'Well, let's see just how well I can hunt my prey!'
He bent his knees, then launched himself forward with renewed speed. They both ducked under his kick and rolled to opposite sides. The taller one who lacked a bandana stayed in his field of vision while the shorter one went to the side, presumably trying to get into his blind spot.
"Ah, a pity..." Sai muttered, a curious gleam in his golden eye. "Shinobi from Kumogakure are usually far better than this... and there I was expecting them to give me a good fight." Executing a midair flip to hide the hand seals he made, he muttered, "Sūiton: Mizukiri!" Blades of water erupted from the ground to his left, cutting across the legs of the other water user and making them fall to their knees. He wasn't done, however, and drew three ink tigers in succession, who cornered the lightning-user. The man got rid of them quickly, but the tigers had bought Sai all the time he needed to dissapear into the earth again using an old Root concealment technique. He tunneled through the ground for half a minute, then popped up right behind the wounded water user. His opponent, seemingly panicked by the turning tides of battle, whipped out a multitude of explosive tags and tossed them wildly. Sai leapt backwards, easily dodging the explosion.
'They're going to have to do more than that!' he thought somewhat contemptously. His eye sought out the tell-tale heat trails that the Kumo-nin would have left behind in trying to escape... and found that he couldn't find them. Amid the dust, smoke, and debris, there was a multitude of red and orange particles that indicated heat everywhere. 'The explosion- they weren't trying to blow me up, they knew it would obscure my vision like this! To have made such a deduction, so quickly...'
There was a familiar squelching noise, and Sai spun around, seeking it out. Five shuriken appeared from the now dispersing dust and he sidestepped to avoid them before the smoke behind him parted underneath a barrage of the bullet-like water droplets. Any normal shinobi would have been able to see them, but Sai, hampered by the confusing mass of heat signatures around him and still-blinded left eye, could not see a thing. Some of them passed by, but the rest hit him full-on in the back.
Sai pitched forward with a small cry of pain and shock. The world around him dimmed then brightened once more, and he shook his head furiously, keeping his footing with a supreme effort of will. The smoke was fading now and he could begin to see once more, but it had done its job. Growing dark circles were spreading across the back of Sai's brand new green sweater, staining the woolen cloth.
'Why aren't they attacking...?' Sai thought, perplexed. 'I'm obviously in a bad enough state... they could drag me away to their village quite easily by now...'
His ears perked up, catching some barely audible whispers.
"I'll see what it is, hold on... Byakugan!"
Sai's eye widened. 'The Byakugan is a Konoha-only doujutsu... a shinobi from Kumogakure shouldn't have it...' Then the Byakugan-user spoke again, and all of his suspicions- and fears- were confirmed.
"Terai, how are we going to take him out now? There's something strange going on." That settled it. Sai recognized Terai's name from several years back, when he had been paired with him for an espionage mission upon Kirigakure. He allowed them to continue talking, taking the chance for a brief respite and fooling them into thinking that he hadn't caught onto their true identities. Byakugan Root shinobi... it had to be Hyō. He had never seen the man without his mask, but he had known that unruly hair from somewhere... Sai took a deep breath, trying to ignore the fiery pain from his back and shoulder blades.
"What is it?" Terai spoke for the first time. His voice was soft and quiet, almost like a girl's. If not for seeing his strong face and dark blue chin stubble earlier, Sai would have mistaken him for one.
"There are little trails of chakra in his blood... it's almost as if his chakra network was once severely damaged, and now leaks into his bloodstream. I know of jutsus that could affect the tenketsu, but the entire network?"
An idea occured to Sai. He felt strangely alive, as awake as if he had drank several cups of caffeine. Instead of making his thoughts muddled, the pain made them clear as day. He rolled up his sleeve and watched the blood stream down his arm, before holding it out in front of him and wiping as much as possible off. He took out his brush and dipped it in the blood-soaked sleeve, painting a creature on his arm. 'If I infuse my ink with chakra... what would happen if I used my own blood?' It was difficult going, but he wasn't a talented artist for nothing. As soon as he finished the last ear-tuft, the shining red lines rippled and rose off of his pale skin, growing in size. The deep red tiger crouched on the ground, tail flickering back and forth. Its eyes, instead of being the blank white spots that were normally present on Sai's ink animals, were glowing red. It had a voice, too, as proved by its rumbling roar. Immediately it leaped at a tree to his left, chasing out the two Foundation shinobi. Hyō tried to cut through it with his lightning, but instead of exploding harmlessly like an ink tiger would have done it simply shook off the attack and continued its lunge, tearing at Hyō's face and throat before dissapating in a blaze of lightning.
Heedless of the possible risk, Sai drew two more tigers. Terai was more cautious now and drew his tantō, cutting off their paws in several exceptionally swift strokes. The tigers roared in unison, falling onto their sides, but they did not dissapate just yet. As soon as Terai ran past them, one tiger began to dissolve, its lifeblood becoming part of the second, who assimilated it and leaped after Terai.
The man had no idea what was coming. He went down quickly with dripping fangs in the back of his neck. Sai stared blankly as the last beast melted into a pool of blood, mingling with that of Hyō and Terai's. His eyelids flickered and he smiled, at last falling to his knees.
'I did it...' he thought numbly.
Footsteps. A cry.
"Sai! Hey, mm!" Someone took him in their arms, but he recoiled with a small cry as his back was brushed against and the arrival immediately adjusted their grip to avoid hurting him. "You bastard, you're supposed to wait for your partner before fighting, mm!"
"Sorry, Deidara..." Sai mumbled. "I had a fun date, though..."
"No doubt it was very eventful." Kakashi knelt down in front of Sai, his grey eye intense. "Was it just these two Kumo-nin who attacked you?"
"Not Kumo." Sai managed to rasp. "You can't see now, but one had the Byakugan. They're from the Foundation. Danzō-sama must have ordered them to attack me... Kakashi-sensei, Deidara... he can't know. He can't know that I know."
"I get it." Deidara was uncharacteristically serious. "Let's get you to the hospital and have you fixed up before your next date with Ino, alright?"
Sai finally let himself relax as he switched his gaze from the face of his old teacher to his best friend. He was lucky to have such friends that he could trust to keep his secret safe.
"Alright."
Alright, I know this sounds cheesy, but I wanted to list and thank all the reviewers who keep coming back =) It's making me embarassed, but I just wanted to do it, so... thank you to Tamuril2, Lucathia Rykatu, Dr. Stilla Live, EVA-Saiyajin, Candygirl999, and (last but not least!) Glitterthorn. I was considered making up nicknames, but I wasn't quite sure how they would be taken. (Well, at least I'm better than Sai at making them up =S Then again, anyone's better.)
Argh.. corny things that make me want to hide in a closet aside, I've got a few announcements.
Nice and fluffy chapter I hope. Except for the ending fight, which was anything but fluffy, I enjoyed writing it all. I wish to make a sincere apology to all SaiSaku fans or SaiHina fans or SaiNaru... etc. So no worries- romance won't be a major part of this story. It'll definitely be there, but not a feature.
Gotta say that was the longest fight scene I've written in a while, though... how was it? I had to take a lot of liberty in the powers of the two Foundation members, since unfortunately the only fight scenes we get from the Foundation are those involving Sai (which are in themselves too skimpy in the series, he could have a lot of potential). It's sorta the same with the ANBU- you always hear of their exploits, never see them, and have to judge by their reputation. The only real ANBU-level fight we got in the series was the one during Pein's attack on Konoha. Now that was some impressive collaboration jutsu!