Disclaimer: See 1st chapter
Warning: See 1st chapter
ColdCatz - Thank you very much for your review. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave one. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much :). I appreciate the feedback. And I will finish this story even if I don't get reviews. I'm too close to the end not to finish it.
Autumn - Thank you very much for taking the time to leave a review. I am glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Chapter 29
Don't Despair, Yet
It was dark, dank with an almost musty smell. He was sure there must have been mold down here at one time or perhaps it was the thin brown blanket. After he'd gotten a good whiff of the article – which smelled old, dusty and slightly moldy he couldn't get the scent to leave him. But it was the only warm item he had save the thin white sheet on his bed. Surprisingly he'd been gifted with a small bed in his confinement.
At first he had adamantly refused to even sit on it but before long he gave in to the temptation, it was better than sitting on the hard, cold and slightly rough stone ground.
The bed was a much better sitting place and even better to sleep on, and a good part of him was surprised and shocked at the semi hospitality, he hadn't been expecting anything, certainly nothing comfortable. What he had expected was to be chained up and bound and yet he was given free rein in his small cell. Though on one wall, there were manacles and he'd been not so nicely informed that if he didn't behave and if he tried to escape he would be strapped in. Not a very appealing concept.
And he was immensely grateful... at first. As soon as he'd thought he'd been lucky, and they foolish a thick black collar was strapped to his neck. It was a chakra collar, it prevented him from accessing his chakra and without being able to use it, he couldn't very well make an escape. Not to say that he had given up it just made things infinitely more difficult.
Besides the relatively comfy bed he was given two meals a day, though the food really wasn't that worthwhile. It was usually bread and water. Some days he was lucky to get some soup. But he took it over nothing, when he had first been locked in here; he had been given nothing to eat. Three days had passed and he had not seen nor heard a single sound from another soul, it was quite lonesome and deathly silent.
To keep him occupied he had attempted to remove the chakra collar, two things resulted, it tightened with such force it felt like he would suffocate, a mere warning, he was sure it was designed not to actually kill him seeing as they needed him alive to extract the kyuubi safely. The other, it gave a small shocking jolt, like someone took a piece of lightning and zapped him with it. They were two very discouraging defenses.
After that he tied to stick his finger in it and gauge what he could get away with, there wasn't much leeway. A few days, at least he thought it had been a few days before someone had finally come done and given him food. To his utter shock, though he shouldn't have been quite so, his deliver was Kisame, the ex-mist nin who had given them the slip on the island.
At first he had pointedly refused to eat the offered food, and so it had sat there, growing cold, before the wonderful aroma of the soup (he'd been fortunate to have soup for his first meal trapped in his cell) reminded him it had been far too long since he last ate and he was starving. He had been weary to eat it though, since it could contain poison before chiding himself, really why would they poison him when they needed him alive? His other small dilemma had been whether he should eat. The only reason they were feeding him was so that he didn't die. If he didn't eat... he'd get weak, lose energy and lose out on formulating away out, so really he'd be hurting himself and damaging his cause then theirs, seeing as a person could go longer without food then water. So he finally caved in and downed the tasty soup.
It didn't take him long to realize that Kisame was also his watcher, he would often check on him, clearly making sure he was still here, which was strange since he couldn't very well leave with the chakra collar and yet he supposed they simply weren't taking any chances. Kisame would often lean against the wall, nearest the flickering light that was a dull amber glow with his cell on his right.
Long thick bars of gray kept him away from the outside world, but they were straight and enabled a good view, it also allowed Kisame to simply slip his food through the bars so that he didn't have to open the cell. That was unfortunate as it took another opportunity away to make an escape. Though he had a niggling concern about his whole escape in general, even if he did get out of his cell, he didn't know the layout, he could easily get lost... he hadn't been expecting that they would practically seal his chakra. He'd been thinking of using his resangan and blasting a hole in the wall and as many walls as he needed but now...
If he couldn't get the collar off he needed to come up with a something else, and unfortunately he couldn't think of anything. They never opened his cell door and Kisame was checking on him from time to time and the times varied. Some days he didn't even check on him, simply brought his food, left and didn't return until his next meal time.
He didn't know what to do... he had tried convincing Kisame to let him use an actual bathroom the first day he showed up but had gotten a toothy smirk and the words, "you've got your bucket." It was quite humiliating to have to use the medium sized bucket to do his business, even more humiliating was the fact that it was taken out every several days and cleaned, he was left with the stench and the knowledge that someone was left cleaning up such a thing.
And the few times Kisame lingered they stayed in silence, at first he had simply tried to get the other talking but Kisame wouldn't fall for such a thing. And then a sharp thought pierced his brain with such force that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought to ask sooner. After what he thought was at least a couple weeks, he had stalked up to the gray smooth bars, leveled a determined expression onto the blue male leaning against the wall, his beady eyes staring at the lightly swaying light and asked, "let me talk to Deidara." Surprise had flashed onto the shark like face but he merely gave a firm, "no."
Kisame had straitened and walked out leaving him very disappointed. He had thought to demand why and even thought about asking to see Sasuke but Sasuke wasn't the one he wanted to see right then, he was also pretty sure that Sasuke wouldn't set him free and help him escape. Granted Sasuke was a better chance than his brother. But he had another reason for wanting to see the older blond. He wanted to talk to him and maybe, just maybe he could convince him to help him. And if that yielded nothing in the end that at least he would have gotten the chance to talk to him, to get to know him just a little. Then he would try Sasuke, though he was sure that they wouldn't even bring him down here seeing as the last time he saw Sasuke he had managed to crack some of the wall around the Uchiha, and Tobi was bound to not want to risk it cracking farther.
So each time he saw Kisame he demanded to talk to Deidara.
Naruto grimaced lightly coming back from his deep musing as he sat with his knees to his chest and the thin brown musty blanket wrapped around him, the frigid chill in the air had dropped and it was more unpleasant than usual, most of the time it was a pretty warm climate and he couldn't help but feel agitated at the sudden change. His eyes drifted up from the floor to the lightly swaying light, he liked to stare at this the most, it was kind of hypnotizing.
A heavy sigh escaped him, though his eyes remained fixed to the amber light, Kisame had just left an annoyed look on his blue face. He had once again asked to see Deidara and had been refused, he didn't know how to convince the former mist nin.
Huffing Naruto fell onto his side, saying another silent prayer for reinforcements to find him and drifted into an uneasy and another restless sleep. For each passing day, he knew the extraction day drew nearer.
Naruto was jolted from his sleep by a loud bang that startled him so bad that he tumbled off his bed with a thump and a speeding heart.
Kisame chuckled as he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms across his chest.
Naruto looked up with a frown and a smoldering glare, before settling his gaze onto his meal. Slowly he shifted into a sitting position, the blanket tumbling off his shoulders to pool around him. He sluggishly rubbed an eye, he felt as if he had just fell asleep, but clearly it was not so seeing as his next and final meal of the day was here.
He dropped his arm with a loose sigh and for a few moments simply stared at his meager meal, as usual bread and water before pursing his lips and slowly, determinedly getting to his feet.
He walked up close to the gray bars and for a time merely stared at the swaying light, then his eyes dipped closed and he gripped onto the cold, smooth bars and turned his head, though his eyes remained on the light.
His mouth parted and in a soft, slightly pleading tone whispered, "please, let me talk to him."
Kisame let out an airy sigh, "Look kid," he began. He was rather fed up with the constant asking to see Deidara. And he couldn't figure out what the kid hoped to achieve by talking to him. "You can't see him."
Naruto's mouth dropped, a small breathless noise escaping him, and he turned wide blue eyes to the former mist nin, "Why!?" he shouted, his hands clenching tighter to the bars, his knuckles turning white. A few silent moments ticked by and Naruto grimaced and asked softer, quieter, "Why?"
Kisame shook his head and refrained from answering that and instead asked, "why do you want to talk to him so bad?"
Naruto opened his mouth to retort swiftly because he was his brother but a small rational part told him to think before he spoke as this might be the only true chance he had to convince Kisame to let him to talk to the older blond, he needed to be careful otherwise he would blow it. Think things through and chose his words carefully and come off as genuine as possible, not that he wasn't genuine for the most part.
"I just," Naruto started, pausing, his eyes straying to the light, "I want to meet him. I know I've seen him before but that was before I knew." He turned soulful eyes to the shark nin, "wouldn't you want to talk to him if you had learned of your relationship to each other?"
Kisame scoffed, yet he understood what the kid meant, still he didn't think that was much of a reason... and yet...
"You're just gonna keep asking till you get your way, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. He already knew the answer.
Naruto hummed a small smile on his face.
Kisame sighed heavily, and pressed off the wall, his arms dropping from their crossed position and made for the door.
Naruto jilted and opened his mouth to snap 'hey' but before he could Kisame spoke, "I'll see what I can do." He wasn't doing this because of what the kid said; he was doing it simply to stop the pestering. And he doubted Deidara had any interest in seeing the kid, if he had wanted to surely he would have by now... Of course..., Kisame sighed and let the thought die.
Naruto worked his mouth a few times before a brilliant grin stole across his face and he jumped up, a fist shooting into the air, "yes!"
~88
"Dei," Kisame asked through the door after knocking several times. He hadn't had much opportunity to see the artist since returning with Kakuzu's ring, of course it didn't help that the artist stayed pretty much holed up in his room, hardly ever venturing out, though he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do. Did he want to keep the rift between them? Or did he want to try and have some kind of relationship with the sculptor? He doubted things could or would go back to the way they were, and yet in a way it could. Did he begrudge the artist for trying to kill him? Or did he move on and forgive?
He was here, siding with Tobi, he couldn't truly think of a good reason to not try and mend things. After all killing other members was a common occurrence, if Pein had said to kill Dei he would have followed through, though not without some pushing and prodding about changing his mind. So really, why shouldn't he try and mend things?
Kisame shrugged and pushed his musing to the side for another time as he gripped the door knob, after a few minutes of no response and pushed the door open a little.
"Dei," he called into the dark room, the small glow of the white light flickering rapidly as if it was a firefly before settling his gaze on the prone form on the bed, the white sheets tangled around the lithe form.
"Dei?" Kisame asked for a third time, slight impatience seeping into his tone. He took a step into the room when the form on the bed didn't move and his mouth parted again, only to hear a soft inquiry, "what is it, un?"
Kisame remained silent for a moment his beady eyes going to the artists head, only to find that he couldn't see the lightly tan face since it was partially pressed into a white fluffy pillow and the rest of his face was covered with the long blond hair.
"The kid keeps asking to talk to you," Kisame thru out blandly.
Deidara's eyes slithered open, his heart skipping a beat. He had been trying to forget the fact that Naruto was somewhere holed up here.
"I don't want to talk to him, hm." Deidara uttered softly, almost too quietly.
Kisame wasn't surprised, "why not?"
Silent moments ticked by, yet Kisame waited patiently, knowing not to push on a subject like this.
Deidara fisted his mouthed hand into the white sheets, and squeezed his eyes shut, "go away."
Kisame sighed loudly, "Dei-"
Deidara shot up in bed, a hand angrily brushing his hair out of his face as he hissed, "leave!"
Kisame studied the furious face, while crossing his arms, giving the impression that he was too stubborn to heed to the blonds order. "The kids been pestering the hell out of me," Kisame informed.
Deidara's lips curled, scoffing he snapped, "So?"
Kisame frowned at the rather closed off face, the anger was there but Deidara was clearly feeling something other than anger, but what?
"You know," Kisame hummed out thoughtfully, "you were so adamant about seeing the document, about seeing the proof that I kind of expected that you would at least be somewhat curious and interested in meeting him."
He watched the blonds face darken, his hands fisting tightly into the white sheets and added as he turned towards the door, "He's going to die, and then you won't have the option to talk to him anymore."
He waited a few moments, yet he still didn't receive a response, "fine," he shrugged and left the blond to his thoughts.
As soon as the door shut behind the mist nin, Deidara fell back onto his side, arms wrapping around Tobi's pillow and burrowed his face into the soft object.
He was well aware that he had a limited amount of time, but Tobi had forbidden him to talk to Naruto. Though if he was truly honest he knew that, that wasn't the only thing stopping him from marching down to where the kid was being held and seeing him. He didn't give a fuck if Tobi didn't want him to see the kid, he didn't need his permission!
So then why didn't he...? He knew why. The thought of seeing and knowing the kid, his brother for a few moments ate at him. On one hand if he didn't see the kid then it would be like he never really existed, well as his brother. He would be like his parents, a simple knowing a simple word. But on the other hand, if he met with the kid... then who knows? He didn't know how he would feel, didn't know if he could accept the kid's death.
He pressed his face farther into the pillow, trying to will away the words Kisame and said with little success. He had been doing relatively fine, ignoring the fact that the kid would die soon. It was like he was aware the kid was here and going to die and yet not. But now, Kisame's words kept repeating in his head like an ill mantra and the spell was broken.
Why did he even care?
He'd only met the kid once and at the time he hadn't known. So what if they were brothers? They were on opposite sides and even if the Kyuubi wasn't in the equation, how could they be brothers when they both had different ideals, different lives, and different goals?
He bit his lip, though not hard enough to pierce the thin skin. He cared because he had grown up without a family, without knowing who they were. In a way he wanted to know how things would have been, what it would have been like.
Deidara exhaled heavily, his arms coming closer, hating the corner he was in.
What should I do?
~88
Naruto sat on his bed in high hopes, praying that the next time Kisame came that Deidara would be with him. He had tried to sleep but he was far too excited and to anxious at the prospect, so instead he ate his meager food before settling on his bed to stare at the swaying light, his ears perked for an echo of steps that signaled another person, since he couldn't see down the dark hallway despite the other amber glow of lights.
His stomach was filled with butterflies and his heart kept pounding, he almost felt as if he would hear it. He prayed that he came, he prayed that this worked. Because if it didn't... Naruto shook his head, be positive! He'd worry about it only after...
As the minutes ticked by he began to slouch and before long he stopped shaking and righting himself.
The soft sounds of footsteps coming closer alerted him, and his eyes snapped open. Inwardly he cursed as he rubbed at his left eye for having nodded off. He held his breath as the person drew near. Despite the sound of only one person it didn't mean that it wasn't Deidara.
In a matter of seconds the figure came into a view and his hopes dashed rapidly flying away like a waterfall, his posture slumping down in visible disappointment.
Kisame took in the sagging form before retrieving the empty tray and replacing it. He had waited till today, for his first meal of the day to deliver the news.
"Sorry kid," Kisame stated, watching similar blue eyes lift to look at him, "he doesn't want to see you."
Naruto's hands fisted and he couldn't help but wonder if Kisame and really talked to Deidara. Yet he couldn't see why Kisame would say he'd see what he could do and then lie about it when in the past he'd always told him no or ignored him. Granted the unspoken deal was that if Kisame told Deidara then he would stop pestering him about it.
"Did you really..." Naruto couldn't help but mutter.
Kisame scoffed, "I don't see why you'd believe me either way." He shook his head irritated but said "yea, I really told him." Not truly caring if the kid bought it or not. Really how could he believe him when he said he would see what he could do yet not when he told him Deidara had no interest in coming?
Naruto stared blankly at the white sheets, completely ignoring the sounds of Kisame leaving.
What do I do now?
~ End Chapter
I don't overly like they way this came out, especially the talk between Dei and Kisame. Unfortunately I'm leaving it this way as I'm done messing with it. I couldn't seem to grasp the emotion I was aiming for with Dei
One chapter left.
Posted 12/5/2016
