Chapter 25: Retreat

Warnings; N/A

A/N: I had planned to finish this by and post on Christmas, but being the procrastinator
I am, it never happened, haaaa. I know I'm still pretty slow when it comes to updating
but I'm trying! Anyways, a belated Happy Holidays everyone!
& it's almost a New Year! Did you guys like 2010? Looking forward
to 2011?

Enjoy the chapter!

Ino's face met the Akatsuki's chest as he pulled her to him, nestling herself into the depths of his cloak. "D-Deidara..." She managed to murmur, her lips wavering with what felt like shame and lust. She wanted him so badly... The comfort and safety of his arms wrapped and rested against her as she breathed small pants. The tears flooded the corners of her eyes as she buried her face into his cloak, hands clutching with need.

"Are you hurt, un?"

She hesitated, taking the time to steal a whiff of his smoky clay scent. "No," she lied. "just t-tired..." The kunoichi couldn't shake off her fear. She had to get out. She had to get to safety. She was indeed hurt; the back of her head throbbed painfully, creating flickers of deluding flashes. Her hips ached badly, from being thrown down so many times.

"What happened?" He whispered, voice reaching a hissing note. "Who?"

Against his body, her lips pursed. "I..." She croaked. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Konoha, right, un?" He muttered. "God damn bastards...! I'll kill th-"

"No!" She protested. "...wasn't them."

Deidara's eyes widened, the gloss creating a dark sheen. "...You weren't... um," his voice was strained and began to crack. "like... raped, were you, un?"

"No, of course not..."

"Then...?"

She shook her head. "Just... give me a moment," Ino murmured, closing her eyes as she absorbed the event.

He turned away from the figure cradled in his arms. The compulsion was raiding him. He had to say... something about how he... felt. "Sorry," he grumbled.

"...For?"

She could feel him shift with discomfort beneath her. "...being rude, un." He hesitated. "I should've treated you better after you came open with... your feelings, un."

The shock swam across her body. "O-oh. That..." Ino bit her lower lip, teeth digging into the flesh nervously. "...I'll get over it. Don't worry."

Rocks shuffled across the ground but he ignored it. That wasn't the response he wanted to hear; he didn't want the situation to be closed in such a way. "That's not the thing... I... Ino. There're things I should sa-"

"Deidara..." She whispered, a fear swamping her voice. "I-it's Tobi..."

His jaw tightened - this was how she was going interrupt him? "What about him?"

"Tobi's the one... wh-who... brought me here."

"You mean... the walk, un?"

"No... He's the one who hid me here."

He could've snorted and rolled his eyes, but the trembling quake in her throat made him skeptical. "Are you... sure?"

She nodded before her eyes scanned the floor warily. "Do you... hear that? The rocks?"

"Mm, yeah."

"Is it... hi-"

"Senpai!" A voice blared through the walls of the cave which made the pair flinch. A tall, bouncy silhouette launched into sight as Ino shrieked fearfully at the sight of him. "Hehehe, so you... found her, huh?" He chortled giddily. "Welp, we should get going then! Let's goooooo! Konoha shinobi are around as Sasori-sama said! The three of us should leave quickly!"

Deidara cocked an eyebrow as he glanced at Ino questioningly.

"N-n-no! H-he...!" Her jaw jerked back as her eyes flared with horror. "He knocked me out! He's n-not... not nice! Not goofy!" She sputtered, Ino's words near intelligible.

"What are you saying, Ino?" The blond Akatsuki hissed.

He lips trembled as she forced the words. "H-he wants to kill me... or hurt me, or something!"

"Ino-chan?" Tobi cocked his head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

Deidara evaluated their responses; who was right? Was Ino? Tobi? Tobi being, well, him couldn't have done it to Ino. He was worthless, silly and childish. And Ino... was she deceiving him? Was she making this up? He swallowed, throat parched. Repeating the deception and outcomes of it wasn't something he wanted to happen. The blond stole a glimpse of the girl embraced against him. She looked... grave. Truthful.

"Tobi..." He steadied pensively. "What'd you do to her?"

"Nothing Senpai! She's lying!"

"Whaat?" Ino screeched. "Y-y-you..."

Her head whipped back to lock her eyes on Deidara's. "D-don't let him hurt me..." She mustered, the tears spilling from her eyes and rolling onto her cheeks.

"Ino...?"

"Don't..." She whispered, pressing her face against his shoulder, hiding her face as the crystal tears streamed. I've had enough of this... What's happened to my life?

A voice that wasn't Deidara's or Tobi's cut past. "I-Ino?"

All three of their faces darted to meet the bearer of the voice. Ino gasped, recoiling her hands from Deidara and clasping them over her mouth. "Sh-Shikamaru... Choji...?" Against her, she could hear the echo of Deidara's low, throaty snarl and the cuss under his breath.

"Y-you're alive!" Choji uttered, the disbelief tying across his features. "You're okay!" He breathed, a smile of relief breaking across his lips.

She didn't know what to do. Her heart seemed to stop, the air no longer existing. The kunoichi merely trembled, leaning back against him as she drew a wispy breath. The sound of Deidara's breath flaring with rage mingled against her ear, but she did nothing. Oh my God...

"Calm yourself Choji," Shikamaru cleared his throat. Within the darkness, she saw four silhouettes - Shikamaru, Choji, Izumo and Kotetsu. "...Why are you with him?"

"What?" But as the word was released, she realized what he meant. Oh. Deidara.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "Ino, the Akatsuki... You're not..." he hesitated. "you're not aligning yourself with the Akatsuki, are you?"

Before she had time to think and respond, Deidara's voice blasted through the cave. "Shut up, un! Get your shitty faces out of here now!"

"Deidara..." She whispered, her hand reaching out for his.

"Ino!" The Nara's demanding voice halted her movements with a jolt. "Please... don't. Answer the question."

Another voice intruded. "S-Senpai! I told you they'd come!"

She felt her eyelids flutter wearily, her head dizzy as the anxiety, heat and tightness knotted around. Beads of sweat trickled down her temples as her thick, foggy breaths lingered past the air. The tears began to flood the corners of her eyes, but yet, they felt frozen and stiff. Her stomach churned painfully, mustering a twisting, strong and ill queasiness, the nausea drowning her senses. Tobi tried to- My teammates- Deidara is-

"Answer!"

they're here- Tobi he's dangerous- Choji Shikamaru- Deidara's behind me- angry-

Her body wavered. An ill, queasy sensation rushed into her stomach; she felt like she was going to puke.

A voice whispered into her ear. "Ino... " There was almost a hopeful touch to Deidara's words. Little did she know that Deidara was suffering with turmoil, driving his tensity to the limits as he repressed his impulses with every passing second. He didn't want her to say she wasn't. That'd be worse than betrayal. If her wants were so strong that she'd lie out of shame of associating with him, it'd... hurt. More importantly, if she did deceive them, he... didn't want her to leave him. And he would've had commanded her to keep quiet, but he felt... hopeless?

Ino twisted her neck to level her eyes with his. He looks like he's... pleading. And that was wrong. Deidara was always firm and durable. Seeing him so dependent wasn't right.

"Help," she wheezed.

He blinked before clearing his throat and turning back to the Konoha-nin. "I told you bastards to leave, un!"

"...Shikamaru," Kotetsu leaned into the Nara and murmured. "She's obviously affiliating herself with them..."

"Yeah, I know."

Ino drew a shaky breath.

"Tobi, come here." She heard Deidara call from behind her. The words rendered her rigid. Don't... don't come here... What the hell was he thinking? Didn't he understand what she had just told him? His tall figure began to stride over, but he flinched as an air slicing sound whipped across the air. Tobi yelped and leapt away from the kunai Choji had maneuvered.

"Get away from here, un." The blond murmured cautiously into her ear.

The gut wrenching feeling raided her abdomen. The thought of separating on her own -even for her safety- made her wince.

"What are we... gonna do with her then?" The Akimichi probed dubiously, the will bleeding from his words. She braced herself for the response, her heart stopping.

Shikamaru hesitated. "Just... follow my lead."

She ignored Deidara's insisting pats and gentle shoves, shifting her weight against him until he growled in frustration. A cloak of silence dawned on the cave, each eye wary and cannily analyzing. The sensation of his breath behind her made her flinch, and suddenly, he uttered on word.

"Katsu!"

A rupturing detonation blasted behind her old comrades, their yelps and grunts reverberating throughout the den as their bodies flew forward. All Ino could was gawk, but suddenly her body jerked with his arm. He leapt pass the shinobi, holding Ino against him, the walls of the cave travelling past them.

"Tobi, hurry up!" Deidara called as he sprinted out the cave.

To Ino, the area was a blur but her eyes pushed past the fuzziness to see an enlarged sculpted clay bird -or two at that- in front of her. The blond cradling her hopped on and before she could register the retreat, they had already began to rise. In the distance, her eyes could register Tobi launching onto the secondary bird as well and she could already feel her insides clench as her body huddled over with her hands clutching his cloak.

"Nobody's near us now," The blond criminal murmured after a long moment had elapsed. "Tell me what happened, un."

"I-I..." Her throat cleared with a hoarse rumble. "Wait, why are you letting him come with us?"

He sighed. "I won't let him hurt you, Ino. Whatever the case, he's still an Akatsuki member. un. If I leave him behind, especially with how naive he is, I'll be the one held responsible." He churned his neck to lock eyes with hers. "Now explain, un."

"He said we were going on a walk, and... well, he sorta dragged me over to the path," Instantly, her head snapped with paranoia back to see if Tobi was listening, but he seemed more occupied with scrutinizing the floor meters beneath. "And then I heard a different voice... and turned around and it was him. Tobi." She whispered, eyes shifting to glimpse at him once more. "A different voice - a manly, low one... I know this sounds stupid but I'm seriou-"

"Hey hey hey Senpai! Did you see that huge bird?" The giddy, fervent voice from behind them cried out.

Deidara sucked in a wading breath. "Are you sure? It could've been a genjutsu or..."

"I'm sure!"

"Tobi doesn't have any reason to hurt you, un."

"But he did! He brought me to that cave in a rush and knocked me down so many times when I fought back!" Her adamant clamoring made it hard for him to doubt. Her voice suddenly dropped to a low, quiet note. "...Or at least tried to... He's a lot stronger than he looks - He does have a purpose in the... Akatsuki. I just don't know what."

The blond male's lips pressed into a tight line as a moment of silence caped them before he parted his mouth to speak. "I'll talk to Leader about this, un. We'll sort things ou-"

"No - don't!" The kunoichi asserted with large glossy eyes.

"What the hell do you mean no, un?" He hissed against. "Don't you want help?"

She hesitated before feigning a weak response, "Which side do you think your leader? An actual member or a subordinate?" I still don't understand why they're accepting me...

Deidara snorted with displeasure. "Tobi's worthless... I doubt the leader would take his side on things."

"I just told you about what he did to me." She pressed with a grimace. "I mean, he's in the Akatsuki for something."

"Stop fussing, un. Even if he doesn't take our side," Her skin jolted at the sound of our. "that's not going to do any harm."

"Don't..." She whimpered, voice viscous with plead.

He sighed, the frustration swamping against his breath. "Why are you so against this, un?" He snapped the words as she recoiled herself away.

"I just..." Ino hesitated, her eyes crooning. "If you did, he would take Tobi's side of things. And... if this problem was disturbing him, it's obvious who would be on the lower-hand. He'll realize who started this problem - me. And then... well, you know." She shook her head. So she's afraid of death again... But his mental assumption was declared wrong from the following words that wove from her lips. "I don't want him to kill me... That would separate me from you." The syllables spilled from her lips and she felt herself burn. I can't believe I just told him that. Pursing her lips, her thick breathing morphed into something more needy and... breathless as she dropped her gaze.

He was stricken with a sudden shock of panic - what would he say to that? It melted him, a lot. But he didn't want to deflate her, like last time. The regret made him wince. He wanted to tell her about how he felt, but it seemed stupid. She would think so too, wouldn't she? It'd exasperate her, or weary her out. But he wanted to.

His instinct was to glance at Tobi, who was now asleep and flying meters away from them before his eyes flickered back to hers. "Ino, am I... really that significant to you, un?"

"...What do you mean?"

"What you just said, un... Am I truly so important that you'd be more afraid of the aspect of being detached from me than you are of dying?"

"...Yeah." She admitted bleakly, turning her head away. I got over dying when he constantly threatened me a while back.

A malicious silence strung past the air once again. Tell her now. The inward voice urged, though he couldn't scour the courage to utter the words, much less open his mouth. Meaninglessly clearing his throat, the breeze from gliding rolled against his cheeks, sweeping his bangs out of his scope-concealed eye and bringing a chill with it.

"D-do you hear that?" Ino conveyed abruptly, causing him to flinch as he turned to glance at her.

"Hear what, un?"

The heat was drowning her cheeks, probably. "Th-the leaves crackling...?" And then she recognized how stupid she sounded.

But Deidara was there to even confirm it too, much to her dismay. "We're up high from the ground, what do you mean there's leaves crackling?" As he said these words, she huddled smaller and flushed. "I think you're being paranoid, un." And he was right. Even she herself knew that. But it was also an excuse to break the silence.

"Yeah, you're right," She nodded and he turned back.

By this time, the spherical moon was illuminating in streams of pure, white light. The contrast of the moon and the sky seemed to blend in what seemed to be a magical portrait, or what you would see in books.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, suddenly. She couldn't help but feel her insides perk at his sudden question.

But no, she wasn't. "Not really."

"Tired, un?"

"Sorta." She admitted with a subtle nod - though she knew he wouldn't see it.

"We should rest then," He delivered. "I don't think they'll catch up to us anytime soon; we should take this time to regenerate ourselves."

"Mm, right... Are we staying out here, or in a building...?"

Deidara spoke fluidly, "Hotel, un. It's a little safer in there."

"Oh, okay." She nodded blankly. "...I wonder where Sasori is."

Her comment made his mind spike... Not in a good way. "Sasori?" He snorted a laugh, "Probably out somewhere playing with the wooden toys that he calls 'art', un."

"Do you think he's mad? That we suddenly disappeared?"

The Akatsuki member bound his golden eyebrows together. "Why would you care if he was mad, un?" He gritted the brittle words, turning his head with expectancy.

"No reason, really. Just a wonder."

"Did he warm up to you or something, un? So you care about him now..." He murmured gravely, the pensive touch present.

She shook her head, "Err, no. The opposite, actually." Is he jealous? Her stomach fluttered with rapacious, cynical hope. Was he always this paranoid about Sasori and I - about how I'm his subordinate? Or... maybe I'm just being a dreamer.

"Heh." He chortled humorlessly, suppressing a smirk. Good. The thought that she was his property, which was established before the Ino-goes-missing mess, and not Sasori's made his content burn pleasurably.

Ino herself hid a smile. Maybe he didn't love her the way she did him, but she meant something to him, right? The thought was bubbly, but it was also quite upsetting, if she looked at it in a way.

Once they had arrived at a decent looking hotel, the fear swarmed back when Tobi woke up. Afraid of what Tobi would do, why he wanted to... But Deidara remained all but anxious. He had shadily bought two rooms, one for Tobi and one for himself and Ino - thank goodness. What made things better was that Tobi's room was located on a different floor, and she could feel that he intentionally had done that.

They had ascended to their room -two single beds-, Ino washing up in a steamy shower while Deidara did whatever he usually did. This time, she cautiously reminded herself to bring her clothes with her into the bathroom. After completing her cycle of grooming, they had swapped positions - Ino dawdling whilst he cleaned up himself.

But she didn't exactly have a hobby... Flowers were an interest, but she wasn't supplied with them. And it was fun flirting, but with Deidara... it seemed too wrong all of a sudden. Like she should've done more. The kunoichi shook off the pensive thoughts before glancing around the room, scouting for inspiration.

"Hey, we have a balcony?" She asked inquisitively, only for a dead silence to unwind after. Ino turned. Oh yeah, he's in the shower.

Setting onto foot, she ambled closer to the door stuck against the far wall and peered through the glass as her hand twisted the doorknob and pushed forward. She stepped onto the balcony to be met by a rush of frosty wind and clutched her sides, the thin pajamas wrinkling beneath her fingers. The night was still innocent and she leaned against the ivory railing. It was what you would see in a fairytale, but it certainly didn't feel like one; she was currently escaping from her former teammates -who probably loathed her now- whilst juggling the humiliation of being a cowardly fool in front of the man she was attracted to.

"Ino?"

She yelped at the voice and leaped back to register Deidara's puzzled face. "Oh my God, don't do that next time!"

He paused before snickering. "Whatever, un."

"You're done your shower," She commented, peering at his damp hair which was not tied and wholly done. "Nice." A blunt word.

"What're you doing out here?" He inquired, glimpsing at the contours of her cheeks. "It's cold and you're turning pale, un."

"O-oh! Yeah, heh, I guess I'll go in now..." She began to shuffle past him meekly, nearing the open door before she felt a hand clasp around her wrist in an instant.

Her neck twisted to lock her eyes onto his figure. "Ino, I want to tell you something, un."

The Yamanaka arched an eyebrow at his eerie phrase. "Tell me what...?"

Tell her how you feel. Say it now. He inwardly urged. And took a deep breath before parting his lips.

A/N: Nope, Ino was real.
& sorry for making Deidara a little cheesy, haha.
Thanks again for reading!

Reviews are great Christmas presents !