*Chapter 24: The Spar: Part 4*

I froze in utter shock. His tone sent a surge of chills down my spine.

He was a fast thinker, this one. Due to an instant reaction, I turned my body around, swinging my fist behind me to strike Deidara. He leaped out of the way and landed on the other side of me, grinning as deep as he usually did. This was a tough fight, but I wasn't prepared to lose.

"Ready to give up yet? Face it, you'll never defeat me. Hmm," he mocked me.

I gritted my teeth together. I believe that was when I allowed my anger to consume me because at that moment, I huffed and puffed and charged towards him without worrying about his next move. Absentmindedly, I threw more punches that he dodged, more kicks that he evaded and got my butt knocked down a couple of times. We were getting deeper into the forest as it went on. I was starting to lose more chakra along the way. That was not good.

He continued to toss more clay bombs in my direction, like he was not going easy on me during this fight. Not that I expected him to anyways. Trees and bushes were being damaged in the process as I tried my hardest to dodge the explosives. You would think someone would hear the entire ruckus by then, but I hoped not. I didn't want elite ninja to find Deidara and hunt him down. I cared about him too much to… WAIT WHAT AM I THINKING?!

"Gotcha again. Hmm!," Deidara shouted as he put up his hand sign to activate one of the bombs nearby, but I didn't know where exactly it was this time, until I stepped on the ground and sank in a little.

I panicked as I realized it was one of his landmines planted underneath. Heading for a hasty retreat, I leaped out of the way and felt the impact of the explosion push me back with such force. I rolled across the dirt ground in all kinds of directions, finally stopping once I got knocked against a tree. My body was getting weaker as time went by. I wasn't sure what else to do.

"Where are you Katana? Hmm," Deidara's voice was faint from where I lied, "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

I scrambled to hide behind some bushes that were close by. I needed to think of a plan to get him off his game and stay above him. As I was listening to him searching for me, I formed some hand signs to create two shadow clones of myself, one to burrow underground and the other to take my place lying face down and beaten, while I tried my best to escape into the forest.

Making sure Deidara didn't catch on to me already, I sped off and headed for a tree to climb up on using some of the chakra I had left in my body. Somehow I managed to make it to a branch coated with bunches of leaves, to keep my opponent from spotting me. I waited silently as he approached the bushes below where my decoy was set. I even gave a nervous giggle imagining the possible outcome.

"Boy this is gonna be fun," I thought wordlessly.

Deidara found my clone looking helpless, like I originally intended. I could see his smirk from afar. That very handsome, irresistible… OH MY GOODNESS! I shook my head and snapped back into reality, carefully observing the scene.

"Well, well. It looks like we've come to the conclusion of our battle. Hmm," he said coolly as he beamed over my unsuspecting clone.

He chuckled deeply in the usual devious way, enjoying his brief and false victory. He had no idea what I was desperately prepared to do. As he bent down to hover over her, I watched in amazement as my other clone stuck their arms out from underground and latched onto his ankles, surprising Deidara greatly.

"Jackpot!," I cheered in my mind while forming a fist.

"W-What the-!," he gasped as he glowered over the visible arms and then returned his attention towards the lying clone; his eye wide from being startled.

Then, the beaten clone puffed away and once the smoke faded, there was nothing left.

"What? A clone! Hmm," he spat as he struggled to free himself from the burrowed clone's clutches.

Now was my chance! I leaped from the resting tree and launched myself with all my strength from my legs towards my opponent, fists prepped and ready. When he saw me, he gaped and exhaled almost all of his breath from his lungs from the impact of my body to his.

Suddenly, we were pushed towards the outskirts of the forest and ended up tumbling down the slope of a hill that I wasn't aware of. The pain and pressure of his body crushing me against the rough grassy field really drew some breaths out of me. I could tell it was happening vice versa. It seemed never ending going down that slanted terrain; I literally thought it wouldn't stop.

Until we eventually slowed down on the rolling and I was able to properly breathe again. But the relief was short lived when I cautiously opened my eyes and saw a pair of big blue orbs right above mine. I gasped and knocked him off and pinned him down in a swift move.

"Aha!," I panted heavily as I stared down at Deidara, as dirty and beaten as I was.

It then hit me: I won. I actually won. I beat Deidara! The thought in my mind was exciting me that I foolishly formed a smile on my face. This was just a perfect moment for me. But then it hit me hard. My body trembled uncontrollably and I felt myself collapse on the side of him. The soreness was overwhelming and my chakra level was severely low.

"No… This cannot be happening to my right now…," I winced at the achiness all over me.

A deep laugh was sounded from under me. It was the laugh of humiliation. As I let my guard down, I was flipped flat on my back, facing him and his long sly grin. Man I hated myself then and there.

"My, my. It appears you were close, but not good enough. Hmm," Deidara said with such pride in his voice. I could tell he was indulging in his victory.

It was no use. I had to let him win. I was too weak to fight back. I just let it happen.

"Damn it…," I panted in defeat.

Deidara won the wager. I couldn't believe I allowed it to end this way.

"I win. Hmm," he told me, causing me to growl silently.

"Yeah. Yeah, you win Dei… Now will you get off of me?," I asked in a demanding tone.

His face was only a few inches away from mine. It made me so uncomfortable, it was like my personal bubble had busted between us. As much as I might have secretly enjoyed it, I didn't need it then.

"As you wish," he replied as he attempted to gently push himself off of my body.

But then he paused, which puzzled me because I didn't know why, until I felt a tug around the back of my neck.

"What is going on Deidara?," I questioned him curiously.

He didn't reply. His focus was on what was between us; the look in his eye was a bit amazed. I wanted to know what he saw, hoping it wasn't my breasts, otherwise I'd slap him off his legs so hard, the top half of his body will be broken.

A pair of strings floated in the middle with an object centering it all. It was connected both ways. I observed it and gaped from the recognition. It was the Yin & Yang combined. Our necklaces were stuck together through the magnetic pull built inside the charms was preventing us from prying apart. I had to admit, it was sort of awesome that it worked, but the more I honestly admired it, the warmer my cheeks began to feel.

What made it even hotter than the temperature outside was when I remembered that Deidara was still on top of me, just as impressed as I was about our necklaces uniting. His bright blue eye met with mine; a tiny yet noticeable twinkle filled it. I was almost innocent I thought and it seemed like time was going by slowly.

"What is this? This feeling?," I said in my mind, curious and worried about it.

I gulped and Deidara broke eye contact with me.

"Well, at least we know the magnets in the charms function, huh? Hmm," he mentioned the obvious.

On that note, I snapped back into focus and lightly shoved him off of me, detaching the necklaces from each other. Only lightly because again, I was pooped from our fight. I didn't have enough in me to kick him into the sky like I'd love to.

"Y-Yeah, I can see that. It's a good thing, I suppose," I commented in a low stutter.

I turned away to catch my breath before returning my attention towards my blonde friend/enemy. My face was still hot and the breeze did little to cool me off from this event. Meanwhile, Deidara sat back on the ground relaxing and peering up at the cloudy sky. He looked like he barely got touched by my attacks during our battle. There was no doubt about it. He was incredibly stronger than back then. If we had gone into deeper combat or were pure enemies, I could be severely injured or worse: dead.

A chill ran down my spine from the imagery. That was when he took notice of my gesture.

"What are you thinking about over there? Hmm," he wondered, sitting straight up to listen.

I stayed silent for a short moment, gathering my thoughts so I could respond correctly. I was usually the type to not admit to failure or that I was wrong about things. I hated being wrong. But I figured I'd be nice about it for once. I inhaled deeply and exhaled before facing him.

"I must admit, you are WAY stronger than I pictured you'd be. Much more skilled than you were as a kid," I told him waving my arms around, "I can't believe you defeated me… Again…"

I buried my face into my hands in shame. My god it was painful to say that. I felt sort of like a drama queen whining in my mind about losing a clearly difficult fight. The realization of the outcome caused a small tear to form in the corner of my eye. Am I about to cry? In front of him, again? Please stop Katana…

Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my waist and pull me back delicately. When I looked up quickly, I was for some reason stunned. Deidara had me in his hold and tight enough to not let me go or hurt me. He beamed down with that familiar smile across his mouth, but only this time, it differed. It seemed more gentle and sincere. His eye grew softer and the light returned inside it. In my eyes, he was like the Deidara I used to know.

"Don't take it too hard Kat. If anything, you're a lot more skilled than you used to be. Hmm," he admitted as he gazed at me.

"What?," I said flabbergasted. Did he really mean it?

"I know we really didn't put out our full potential in the fight. I think if we did, we'd be dead. Hmm," he chuckled before continuing, "Only cuz we'd be low on chakra. Hmm."

It was true. It was only a mere spar between two old friends. I didn't want to have to bring out any of my stronger tools against him and I could only imagine what his would've been. I didn't want to find out then.

"But overall, I'm quite impressed with you Katana," he grinned as he lightly shook me.

I couldn't help but give a half smile towards him. It was actually good to know he was complimenting me on my stances, even though I knew some of them were no good against him. But that didn't matter right now. I was starting to be happy. Happy by Deidara's side. Seriously, what was happening to me? Why was my heart racing while I was with him?

"Now, wipe those crocodile tears away. Because you need to be in great shape to give the winner's kiss. Hmm," he said as he gave a cunning smirk and poked at his cheek a few times.

I was taken aback and my eyes grew. I couldn't believe he killed the mood! I was getting annoyed so suddenly and decided to give him a piece of my mind. So I forcefully latched onto the closest cheek I saw with my hand and pinched hard, causing him to whine and complain about the pain.

"Oh, I'll give you a kiss alright. After I make your cheeks so numb that you can't feel it!," I growled as I continued to squeeze his skin harder for a good while.