The Mizukage sat before Ao, dark circles beneath her eyes, papers haphazardly thrown across the desk, scrolls littering the floor, and her shoes sitting beneath her desk.
Usually a stunningly beautiful woman, right now she looked haggard and wan, with new lines appearing at the soft points of her face. Stress was a powerful aging tool, he acknowledged, seeing how much her face had bloated in the past few days. So he waited patiently for her to speak, wondering what in the Five Great Nations could've made the Godaime Mizukage look so exhausted. She had his utter loyalty – anything would be better than the previous Kage. Simply by existing, she had earned his faith and respect. And if it came to it, he'd offer his life for her. Not just for the village, but for Terumi Mei.
Rubbing her temples and looking as if she were not sure of what she were saying, she suddenly straightened, looking him in the eye, telling him: "Uzumaki Tenten, A-rank missing-nin, was been taken captive by the Akatsuki."
For a moment, Ao only stared at her. Then he cursed – not aloud, but the slip was near. He hadn't heard from Uzumaki Tenten for months now, but he assumed it was because the little shit was ungrateful. Never would it have occurred to him that she was so busy. She was a kid, after all. What could she possibly be so busy with? Not even a note of gratitude.
But a nuke-nin? How many of those did Konoha produce in a decade? Maybe half a dozen? Unlike Kiri, who could lose twice that many in half the time.
"This happened several months ago, after she was arrested for the murder of Shimura Danzou, one of the councilmen to both the Sandaime and Godaime Hokage, and Hyuuga Hiashi, the Hyuuga clan head."
It took a lot to surprise Ao. In fact, he prided himself on always being on his feet, metaphorically and literally. A shinobi must always be prepared for any outcome. However, it was all he could do to keep his expression neutral at that knowledge. The Mizukage met his gaze levelly, but the stress she felt was evident in her chaotic surroundings.
How had a bratty chuunin managed to create such a mess? he wondered, trying to picture her in his mind. Really, he hadn't given her too much attention – he had other duties on his mind. But the image of their first meeting haunted him – big, dark eyes, cloudy and stormy, all that hair in two round pigtails, a little dragon floating in between her locks, her know-it-all attitude. He remembered she'd told him that the Uchiha had been massacred; as if it weren't an incident that nearly any political player worth his salt knew about! When she'd said it with such sass, he felt a certain compulsion to save her pride. Not just in that situation. But she had spunk, and the hard life of a kunoichi would
She was feisty, but angry. He'd seen plenty like her. But hadn't he seen just as many success stories? Even in Kiri, where there were as many missing-nin as there were registered shinobi. Sure, she was an upstart, and definitely had potential… but to defeat one of Konoha's leading members? He racked his brain. A-rank? She'd been barely a B-level kunoichi when he'd met her. What had happened to her?
"How did we get this information?" It couldn't be true. Not that girl. That's what she was, to him. A little girl. A kid still. He processed the information.
There was something wrong. She'd had the Byakugan. When he'd shown her his own, she looked like she wanted to vomit. He remembered her explanation. She'd said her best friend had been a Hyuuga. So why murder the Hyuuga head? Was there an internal issue over her Byakugan?
And how did she manage to accrue that much power?
She sighed heavily, interrupting his thoughts. "A few bounty hunters from Sunagakure showed up last night, exhausted. They said they'd ran into Akatsuki trouble a few days back and it was all they could do to get here. They told us everything they'd gleaned, since Konoha has this classified as an internal issue, and asked for help acquiring the girl. They included a note from the Kazekage. She's under his protection now."
"They want help kidnapping her from the Akatsuki?"
"I want you to handpick a squadron of hunter-nin to help the Suna bounty-hunters," Mei said flatly. "It will solidify good relations with the Kazekage, as well as with the Hokage. Regardless of her status, she's obviously been privy to some damning information that they don't want Akatsuki knowing about."
He was just going to admit she had a point, when she added, a little snarkily: "And you have a soft spot for her."
If anyone else but his Kage were spouting this bullshit, he'd spit at them. But he had ultimate respect for this woman, and he only scowled. "I would request that I lead this squad, Mizukage-sama." He wanted to get to the bottom of this. He wasn't an idiot. There was something else happening.
She smiled and nodded. "I expected you'd ask that," she said wryly, handing him the mission scroll. "The Suna-nin will be waiting at the West Entrance."
Taking the scroll, he exited the office, closing the door quietly behind him. Before he shut it all the way, however, Mei called out again: "And Ao?"
"Hai, Mizukage-sama?"
"Don't come back until that girl has been arrested," she said, her voice hard. "If it involves the Akatsuki, there's more than meets the eye. Make sure she's recaptured – alive."
The instant it closed, however, he ran a hand through his hair, fisting it and pulling it, sighing at the idea of squeezing into his armor.
"Kami," he groaned to himself, almost silently, suddenly feeling too damn old for this sort of mission. How did she manage to get involved with the Akatsuki? She was just a girl.
x
Temari rubbed her forehead, smearing ink all over herself. She'd been trying to practice fuinjutsu, but had little luck. The beast within her continued to stir, though she didn't suffer from the same insomnia Gaara once struggled with. It was a relief. Her greatest fear was suffering like her brother.
Sunshine beat down onto her back. Daimaru had left a little while ago, after she'd nearly killed him with her temper. Idiots, she thought to herself. She needed someone who wasn't a total moron to come help her. Someone like Tenten, she thought, sighing and slumping down, ignoring the inevitable sunburn, too tired and pissed off to care.
It'd been nearly a week since the Kazekage had sent out dozens of nin and bounty hunters after Tenten. When one of their best messengers had returned with the news, sweaty and breathless and nearly completely depleted of chakra, carrying the black market gossip: "Uzumaki Tenten is currently a captive of the rogue group, Akatsuki."
"Is this from a valid source?" Gaara asked mildly.
Temari could only imagine her brother's horror. The men who'd attacked during the last chuunin exam… who'd nearly destroyed their entire way of life. Her hand tightened across her chest. They'd nearly killed Gaara, they condemned her. And now he was still their target. If anything happened to Gaara while she carried the bijuu within her, she – she couldn't even imagine the possibility without the hateful demon stirring within her. That was the opposite of what she intended. Controlling the demon was out of her reach, but placating him was achievable. But it could capitalize on her fury in a second.
"That kunoichi is under the protection of Sunagakure," he'd announced – an official, Kage announcement to all under his jurisdiction . "I want her returned here, with a great reward to whoever can bring her to the village!"
"You idiot," Kankuro had told Gaara, in private. "We don't have anything to give! We're still in massive debt to Konoha."
Silently, Temari agreed with Kankuro, but she kept her face blank.
Gaara merely looked at him. "The gratitude of the Kazekage will simply have to be enough," he answered harshly.
At that, Temari burst out: "We can't risk the temper of the Akatsuki! They already want us, Gaara!" It was fear and sisterhood and selfishness that motivated her, and when Gaara's dark eyes lit upon her, she felt shame, but no regret.
"The Uzumaki clan is part of our family now," Gaara responded quietly, turning away from her as if he could not bear to look at her.. "And Tenten is our sister. I will do for her what I would do for you, Temari."
Her little brother, the Godaime Kazekage, walked away from her.
She wondered if Tenten would do the same for them. Then, guiltily, she realized that Tenten had already done more.
x
As usual, Shikamaru woke up to his mother shrieking at him. Peeling his eyes open, he stared at her hazily. "Huh?"
"It's three in the afternoon! Even you can't be such a lazy bastard!" Yoshino railed at him, throwing his dirty clothes into a hamper. "The Hyuuga clan head is here to speak with you, and all you do is lay in bed and ignore your alarm clock! I swear, you put your father to shame with that ridiculous attitude of yours. Why—"
"It's my day off, anyway. Why does the Hyuuga clan head want to see me?" Shikamaru mumbled, more to himself, standing, already tuning out his mother's nagging. She needed to relax anyway. Or a mission. Some excitement would do her good. She hadn't been an active ninja in at least four years. It was common for most kunoichi to give up their status after having children, but Shikamaru thought that every once in a while, a trained shinobi needed to exercise their skills. At least, most of them. He knew that he sure didn't.
"Perhaps she just wants to solidify relationships with the future Nara clan head!" Yoshino answered his rhetorical question tartly, tossing him a clean pair of pants.
"She?"
Then he blinked, all sleepiness gone. Hinata was the Hyuuga leader now. Strange, how time passed the way it did. He'd forgotten, in his sleepiness. That was unlike him. He did not leap out of bed, but compared to his usual morning speed, Shikamaru was practically rushing.
Miraculously, Yoshino left them alone, but only after checking on Hinata's tea.
Leadership suited her, he noted, putting his head in his hand and blatantly analyzing her. Before, that would've triggered a huge flush and maybe a faint or some stuttering. Now she met his gaze evenly, with a slight blush and small smile. Despite the grief of loss and the obvious stress, there was a sparkle in her eyes he'd never seen before. Hinata was one of the few people he found interesting. Her weird obsession with the even weirder Naruto was… weird.
So he watched her, trying to figure her out.
As far as he could see, Hinata was simply a good person. But he didn't trust that – after growing up at the tyrannical hands of his mother, and then in turn being bullied and babied by Ino, he mistrusted women as a whole. Why Asuma was infatuated with Kurenai, he didn't understand. She was too pretty, just like Hinata, and that guaranteed trouble.
"Hello, Shikamaru," Hinata said sweetly, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Good morning, I presume?"
"Sounds about right," he yawned for effect, but watched her closely, focusing on the rim of her cup where she gripped the slightly chipped cup. If his mother saw that, she'd have a hernia. The idea amused him and he smirked. "So what's up?"
Looking at him directly – something strange and new, since she'd always found eye contact extremely difficult – Hinata said, simply, with her new, adult voice: "I may have information on Uzumaki Tenten's arrest and disappearance."
He stared back. "Troublesome," he sighed, standing. "Let's go."
x
It took them forever to sneak out of the city limits. Tenten was soaked and pissed off by the time the clouds began to lessen. It'd been nearly half an hour – an entire war could be won in that time, she thought to herself furious, staring at Deidara murderously. He didn't seem to be any happier to be stuck in her company, but that didn't make her feel any better. She was a fucking ray of sunshine compared to the bloodthirsty idiot in front of her.
A few hours. If they could just travel for a few more hours, she'd have enough chakra to overpower him, even if it were momentary. Take him by surprise and kill him. Or at least distract him so she could bolt. The faint sun that was beginning to appear felt strange on her vitamin D deprived skin, and it was the only enjoyable sensation she currently felt.
Tenten rested on the clay bird, counting seconds and feeling residue drying on her cheeks, caking her skin so that it hurt to change her expression. She sat, staring hatefully at Deidara, and wondered where everything had gone wrong.
Of course, there hadn't been much right in her life before, but she wondered what would've happened if the village hadn't been attacked back then. Before Sasuke had defected.
If Gaara hadn't injured Lee. If she'd passed the chuunin exams, and none of them had to go back to Suna. If she'd never met Deidara, stolen a sacred kekkei genkai, ruined her eyesight.
It was strange, watching the stock-still Deidara from her right eye, but seeing his chakra flow with her left. Her leg was throbbing, but less so than it had been before. And she would swear that a few more of her limiters had burst. She felt stronger than she had in weeks, and she was just itching to fight this bastard, for real. Her hair was down, feeling greasy against her chalky skin. A bath could wait until after she spilled Deidara's blood all over herself, she decided spitefully. That she was stuck with him now seemed a cruel twist of fate. The man who had killed Neji. Neji, whose mother had been Shisui's sensei. Who had battled Ao, and lived to tutor her, to teach by example just what a non-Hyuuga could do with a Byakugan.
How close was this world tied together? Was there no escaping? She felt like the red thread of fate was twisting around her, rendering her immobile to her destiny.
Tears began to burn her eyes and a ball of fire grew in her throat. Destiny. Kami, she missed Neji. And Lee. And Gai-sensei. She wished she were home, wished she could go back to the weeks before the chuunin exam, when Lee had been whole, Gai had been healthy, and Neji had been her closest friend. Before her stupid crush on Kakashi, before Naruto had left the village, before the Sandaime had been killed, before she'd learned the hiraishin or how to summon Ryuusei. Kami, she'd been beyond thrilled that Genma had given her any attention at all.
In retrospect, life seemed idyllic. The alienation she'd experienced felt like nothing compared to the isolation she lived now.
There were tracks on her face from the tears, and she prayed in her heart, with the exhausted helplessness of someone who has lost hope, that everyone she loved was safe and that they'd emerge victoriously from battle.
"Stop moping, yeah. It's depressing me."
She wanted to ask him if he'd ever had nothing. If he'd ever lost everything, if he'd ever been hopeless and lost and friendless.
But that was a stupid question. Whatever she thought she knew of who he was meant less than nothing. Deidara was a member of the Akatsuki. He was an S-class rogue-nin, and as crazy as he was, he'd more than likely been through just as much as she had. Maybe even more.
Granting him humanity within her mind did not acquit him of his crimes. Instead, she wanted to knock him off his bird for being an asshole. It was worse that he were fallible, that he were human too. Then he was less evil and more gray. He was capable of feeling the same thing as she was. And she was capable of being just like him.
"Whatever," she mumbled, flopping over and ignoring him like the teenager she was, watching the clouds begin to separate, their vessel slowly leaving behind the rain. "Where are we going?"
"Why would I tell you? Akatsuki top secret shit, yeah."
"I hope all your teeth fall out," she said, but her words lacked venom, now that the wind flew through her filthy hair and sunlight warmed her skin.
"I hope you go blind," he answered cruelly, not knowing quite how accurate his words were.
Tenten squeezed her eyes shut, pretending that she could not see because her eyes were closed.
x
The warzone erupted immediately as Deidara had left.
The Akatsuki were no honorable shinobi. They simply appeared, already mid-attack. A kunai was lodged in Genma's arm even before he heard it, and he stared at it in mild shock, the rain soaking him, blood running down his arm, the shadows coming at them already, the clanging of metal and the chakra filling the air.
It would be foolish to underestimate the Akatsuki, but it seemed they still had.
x
"Sasuke. Cease this foolishness," Itachi ordered, ignoring the battle beneath them. He noticed them individually – particularly Hatake Kakashi. An old almost-friend. Every time he saw this man, it seemed his plans did not play out the way he imagined.
Shisui was panting, out of shape compared to Sasuke. Weeks in captivity took their tool on even the greatest of shinobi, and Itachi knew that his cousin was trying not to harm Sasuke. Nonlethal takedowns were difficult for Shisui, particularly when he was tired, and he appreciated the restraint he showed. Not just because he knew Shisui respected his feelings and his destiny, but also because he knew that Shisui could kill his otouto in seconds if he desired to do so.
"You!" Sasuke screamed, in a rage beyond recognition, face contorted. Likely the strain of holding back his feelings for weeks had triggered this meltdown. That his once sweet, sensitive little brother was capable of such pure hatred bothered Itachi, even as he acknowledged it was his own fault. A cough began to work its way up his body, but he modulated his breathing to subdue it.
"I'll kill you! You evil bastard!"
Sasuke flew at him, chidori already sparking and spitting in place as he sped across the roofs, the heat of his attack warming the rain around them. The words no longer hurt. They were simply a dull ache, the same as whatever was eating away at him internally. Occasionally, he entertained foolish thoughts. If destiny had taken him down a different course, would he be well? Or was he always doomed to die young, regardless of how or why?
He almost accepted the chidori. But he knew Sasuke would not be so easily satisfied. Besides, he would need to exhaust the boy, lest he attack Shisui. And Shisui, though he had once been considered the jovial one, had always been deadly in a fight, even without the Sharingan. Perhaps especially without the Sharingan. There was a reason his cousin was not known as Shisui of the Sharingan, but instead as Shunshin no Shisui. If there was ever a shinobi within the Uchiha clan that had honed all of his ninja abilities, it was Shisui.
Two separate battles raged, barely hundreds of yards apart. But they were not so different after all. Family bonds were universally felt, and the pain of their tearing engendered the same fiery reactions.
x
Filthy and sweaty, Sakura stopped running. She'd managed to end up nearly half a mile from the thick of the battle, trying to lure away Kakuzu's masks. But he'd been distracted by one of Naruto's shadow clones, and she used the brief respite to catch her breath.
There was no time to be afraid, the way she'd been during the chuunin exams. This was not like their mission to Nami no Kuni. This was more like their time in Suna. Bloodier.
A cough caught her attention. Transforming from a fighter to a medic, Sakura immediately stood straighter and forgot her own aches. Scanning the area, she saw a body covered in the Akatsuki robe. Scanning the area, she searched for signs of an opponent. Nothing, not for at least half a mile. And from the looks of his position, he'd skidded a long way to land here. Cautiously heading closer, she saw the same alabaster skin and dark hair she knew so well.
"Sasuke?" she gasped, rushing over to the body, seeing his dark hair strewn about. He was filthy, wrapped in a dirty Akatsuki robe, looking taller and stronger than she'd remembered. Her immediate panic guaranteed that it had to be Sasuke. Her heart trembled more than her fingers, thudding unevenly in her chest. Nobody else could've ever made her feel this way.
Summoning the last of her chakra, she began to heal him. There was blood spilling from the side of his mouth, and she noticed that most of his injuries were superficial. But he coughed as if he were a dying man, as if he'd fallen ill instead of been attacked.
"You're okay," she murmured to him softly, automatically. "You're gonna be just fine, okay?" Despite her avowals of growth, of understanding, she flushed at seeing his lips covered in red. Now was not the time though, and she began to search for the source of his pain, checking his throat, his heart, his lungs.
His chest felt thin and hollow. She wasn't surprised. He'd always been on the thinner side. This seemed to be more, though. Malnourishment. The kind of emptiness that came from near-starvation. The realization made her angry. At one point, he opened his eyes – the Sharingan. She'd never seen it up so close before, she realized, heart stuttering in her chest.
Red and black, feral and ferocious, the foggy gaze stilled her. But his eyes did not seem to see her. They bore into her, beyond her, as if she was not truly present with him. He stared past her, and she stared into his eyes fascinatedly, his face filthy and sallow, almost unrecognizable.
There wasn't much she could do to help, but she eased the pain a little. She could take him from the thick of battle, back to the small base they'd set up last night. There, she could nurse him a little. It would be a miracle to bring him home, and now she had him.
She had another, selfish reason. When she'd shamefully sobbed, begging Naruto to bring him back, she'd been weak. Weak no longer, Haruno Sakura decided that she could bring him back herself – for Naruto. They had switched roles, somehow, and she wasn't sure when or how it happened.
Scooping up his surprisingly light frame in her arms, she carried him back to the makeshift base, losing sense of time. Had they been fighting for a half hour or for three? She could no longer tell. All that mattered was that she brought him home, that he was safe and tucked away until she returned to the battle. She was worried he'd go after Itachi – a pulse of chakra calmed him, slowed down his system.
"I… a... traitor," he said faintly, his voice more adult than she'd ever heard it. Something about it was strange. Sasuke did not speak this way. Did he think he was dying?
She couldn't deny the truth, even to soothe him. He deserved better than that. He was smarter than that. So she remained silent, holding him closer, gently.
"They will kill me." His voice was lower now, nearly gone.
"Don't sleep," she told him, her heart aching, knowing that the more he fought the sleep, the quicker it'd come. "Stay awake. I won't let anyone hurt you."
He smiled at that, almost. "What could you do about it?" The slight derision in his tone was far less than she expected, and she was half surprised and half grateful for it. There was a familiarity in his words. Hadn't he called her annoying? The memory brought a bittersweet smile
"I would sacrifice my life to protect you." It was a promise. It was the truth. Even after everything she'd been through, she'd die for Uchiha Sasuke in a second. Not just for him, or even for her own old romantic fantasies. For Naruto.
He did fall unconscious then, but she used her chakra to keep his heart moving, to keep him breathing evenly. Her own energy levels were falling – she'd expended a lot of energy in battle with one of Kakuzu's masks. Her calves ached, and the wounds on her legs were paining her with every quick step. She wished for Naruto's strength, for Tenten's speed, for Kakashi's skill. For Tsunade's bravery. For Rock Lee's determination.
She made it to their tiny wooden cabin that Tenzou had designed, hidden within a small cave. To the average onlooker, it was a misshapen tree trunk that had fallen.
Placing him there, she pulled out some bread and water they'd left there, popping the hard, stale pieces into her mouth and chewing, using water to make the pieces softer. Just filling her stomach made her feel stronger, and she continued healing him, ignorant to what was occurring less than ten miles away, praying that he'd live so she could return to the battlefield.
x
The second Tenten was no longer close, Naruto knew it. He knew it because of the rage that exploded within him without warning. There was no sign of Sasuke that he could see, and the lack of the two people he needed most right now infuriated him. Scanning the skies, ignoring the battle raging around him, he sniffed, until he found it. Somehow, he just knew.
He followed the faint figure in the sky, mindless to everything else. Despite his best efforts, he forgot about his promise to Sakura. He forgot about Sasuke, about Pein, about Jiraiya and Sai and Kakashi and everyone else. Nothing else mattered except getting close enough to the thing in the sky to attack. To grab Tenten.
Though, in the thick of battle, most of his symptoms went unknown, except to Tenzou. The older warrior immediately noticed the thickening of the chakra in the air, of the fire.
Naruto set off running, full speed, nearly galloping, and Tenzou could not hope to keep up with the boy, whose legs moved so quickly it was almost as if he were galloping.
He knew, however, what was truly at stake, and paused for a precious moment, watching the orange blur disappear into the distance, his chakra seeming to become more vibrant the farther away he got. It was a terrifying, hair-raising feeling. He saw Kakashi notice too, but was distracted by an attack, dodging back, Naruto lost to his own choices.
x
Legs pumping rhythmically, Naruto watched the creature fly away, feeling himself gain on the bird. It could've been hours or seconds, and he didn't care. There was nothing but a buoying feeling of joy and excitement bubbling over as he slowly managed to get closer, seeing the contraption focus, come into detail… until he saw her.
"Tenten!" he screamed with all his might, feeling his face bulge with the effort, the veins in his neck popping out, exposed and purple, his eyes closed, his throat close to bleeding. "Tenten-nee-chan!"
Then, when he didn't get the reaction he wanted, the response he desperately needed, he did it again, with all of the breath in his lungs, throwing back his head and screaming with all the impotent rage and frustration he felt, mixed with the excitement and the joy and happiness and the love he felt so powerfully.
"Tenten!"
Jolting up and rolling over, Tenten immediately knew who it was. There was no time here for a teary-eyed reunion or the slow beam of realization to come over her. Instinctively, her heart knew who it was, and before Deidara could even see who was screaming, though the chakra signature made it obvious, Tenten took a running leap and went over the side of the bird, feeling herself immediately go into freefall.
Falling.
Not flying.
Not using her chakra to protect herself, the wind chapping her already torn skin, Tenten felt her heart hiccough with the terror of being parallel to the ground, her abdomen wide open to the hard ground beneath her. But as she fell, Naruto drew closer, screaming his head off still, and Tenten laughed, suddenly hysterical with joy, barely able to breathe as the cold wind cut through her, waiting for the moment, trusting with her entire heart that if anything else were to happen, if she were to be killed in the next ten minutes or if she lived to a ripe old age, that Uzumaki Naruto, her cousin, her brother, and the boy she loved more than anything else, would catch her, everything else be damned.
In the moments as she dropped from the sky like a weight, she lost all sense of urgency or fear or worry. Every second of stress fell away from her, erased by the biting air, left behind by gravity.
"Naruto!" she screamed back, less from desperation and more from sheer happiness, the lighthearted joy that he was there.
"I'm here, nee-chan!" he screamed, as caught up in the excitement as she was, hair matted back from the wind, the ends of his hitai-ate flying from his speed, his features becoming more detailed by the second, until she was hardly feet from the ground and saw his knees bend as he jumped, forcing himself forward and up, catching her in his skinny-muscular arms, his hand going around her head just as she did the same, and they rolled into the dust, the sand and dust rising up around them like a cloud, each protecting the other until they stopped.
Standing, Tenten didn't lessen her grip. "I missed you."
She felt Naruto's grin on her temple as he kissed it, an ugly sloppy kiss - that of a loving child's. "I missed you more."
After another moment, she let him go, watching Deidara's ominous pause in the sky. "This is gonna be a rough fight."
"I'll handle it, nee-chan," he said confidently.
"Shut up," she said derisively. "I'm not letting you fight my battles. Especially not now. I want my revenge."
"This isn't just your fight! It's personal," he argued earnestly, seconds before several bombs began to fall around them.
Grabbing him and moving as quickly as she could, Tenten could feel the explosions bursting over her still-damp clothes, the fire hot against her back and unexposed skin.
"Fuck off!" she shrieked at Deidara, his blond head bobbing in the sky above the clay. "You're not getting him, and you're definitely not getting me!"
It was better that Naruto had left the thick of the battle, she supposed. Better that she and he were alone, with Deidara, rather than surrounded by the enemy. Here, she could protect him better.
x
Hozuki Suigetsu was close. He could smell it. Luckily, too, the scent was taking him towards the wetness. As he moved up a small stream, he could taste the chakra in the air. Standing up straight, stepping from the stream, he licked his teeth, feeling their sharpness.
Scouting the area, he thought he sensed something familiar. A chakra signature that he knew. Trailing it, Suigetsu found a little cave opening, entering unceremoniously. A pink-haired woman was there, leaning over an injured man. This was the familiar chakra. Sort of. It felt… wrong, though. Familiar, but not. The feeling was strange and hair-raising.
"Hey, who're you?" he demanded, licking his lips as he saw her turn, dirty and exhausted, sweat dripping from her chin. He noticed immediately that she had a big forehead.
"Who are you?" she demanded back. "What are you doing here? Leave, or I'll kill you."
He didn't doubt for a minute that she thought she could do it, too. He liked spunk in his prey. "That's not a polite way to speak to company," he reasoned. "I want information. That's Uchiha there, right?"
The look she sent the limp body confused him. There was such emotion in her expression. He frowned. The hands on the chest, covered in the Akatsuki robe, were exuding chakra. She was a medic-nin.
"None of your business," she answered tightly, but he ignored her, coming closer to observe the guy. But he was startled by her quick movement, her hand held to block his way. "Like I said. If you touch him, I'll kill you."
He was unimpressed by her threat. "Yeah, whatever, we can fight in a minute. I'd like to spill a medic's blood. A nice twist. Feels ironic."
Leaning over to get a better look at the guy, he frowned. What relationship did this girl have to him? How could they have a relationship at all? She didn't look particularly important, and here she was, feeling up the chest of an Akatsuki.
"How do you know him?"
"I'm a Konoha shinobi," the kunoichi answered stoutly, green eyes flashing. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm one of Orochimaru's experiments," he said, baring his sharp teeth, hoping to get a reaction out of her. "I've come for my prize."
Instead, she eyed him levelly. "You're from Kirigakure." That startled him. "I can tell."
"How?" he demanded indignantly.
"I'm not an idiot," she replied testily, looking as if she were holding back the urge to roll her eyes, but tensed, as if waiting for something, peering outside, behind him. "Do you—"
"THE POWER OF YOUTH WILL PREVAIL!"
The girl burst from the small alcove, dragging him behind her, away from the Uchiha. Suigetsu allowed her to grab him, since her touch seemed to have no killing intent, but what the fuck was happening?
"Gai-sensei!" she cried out in shock and surprise, shoving past Suigetsu, to his indignance.
A green-suited man, about twenty yards to the left, stopped and turned, seeming to stop in mid-air, freezing and shooting them a double-thumbs up. "Sakura-chan! My dear enemy Kakashi's beautiful flower of youth!" He bolted towards them with incredible speed, a blur of green across the barren landscape. "Have you not come to join the battle? We are going to reclaim my own springtime blossom!"
Without waiting for an answer, he yanked them along, laughing wildly the whole way.
Dumbstruck, Suigetsu lost his footing, practically flying through the air, wondering what the hell he'd just gotten involved in.
But the part of him that wasn't in complete shock understood a fight was nearby. He didn't care who he was fighting – and he'd maybe figure out where Kubikiribocho was. He could taste the trail.
x
"I have an idea," Tenten said quietly to Naruto as Deidara zoomed closer. "I can only do it with your help though. He's pissed, and he gets sloppy when he's angry."
"What is it?" he demanded eagerly, eyes glinting as he watched his current target of rage.
It would take too long to explain Deidara's pathetic attempts at fuinjutsu, so she only said: "I'm going to send him to Ryuusei and Nagareboshi-sama."
"What? Why?" He sounded outraged that the honor was being bestowed so easily on a criminal
"They can handle him," Tenten promised with a grin, thinking at how furious the impetuous idiot would become. "I don't have enough chakra to do it, but if you're here…"
He grinned. "I need a minute to meditate. Can you hold him off for a few minutes?" His easy acquiescence told her how much he trusted in her ability to do so. It was refreshing. For a moment, she forgot she was a missing-nin, that she was technically a kidnapping victim, that she was dirty and tired and busted up worse than the Valley of the End.
Despite it being her idea, the sentence that came out of Naruto's mouth threw her. A calm Naruto, who could meditate, who could sit back for a moment in a fight? It was unheard of. But perhaps Jiraiya had been better for him than she'd given the man credit for.
Beginning to run away from Naruto, who sat in a position that would've done Neji proud, she stared up at Deidara. "Get over here, asshole!" she screamed at him wickedly, enjoying the release of her anger. Her words were not particularly flammatory – that's exactly how she spoke to him when she was captive and he was captor. But she was weak, and she was tired, and the quicker he got through with her, the quicker he could get to Naruto.
She had no weapons, no tools, but she had a few ideas left. Grabbing a fistful of hair, she forced chakra onto them, straightening them, turning them hard and straight and brittle… almost like senbon. She grinned, thinking of Genma.
Shoving them one by one through the half-healed holes in her ears, she prepared for the clash. He was seconds from her, half a second, then—
Launching her makeshift weapons at him, she also ducked down from his fist, sending her foot flying up in his face, diving to the side to miss his other hand, rolling away and standing, quickly, sending a fist swinging just shy of his face, feeling his foot collide with her ankle, shoving her down.
Grabbing him, she brought him down with her, swinging a few fists at his face, stabbing him with her hair. As a final insult, she yanked out a tuft of his hair, hardening it into a point, turning the chunky lock of blond hair into a kunai.
They wouldn't do as much damage as a normal weapon would, or especially a poisoned one, but it would make him bleed, and that's what she needed. The more skin opened, the better for her, even if her wounds were more substantial than his.
Io would be proud of her, she thought suddenly, missing her weapons more than ever. They'd probably been destroyed in the explosion. She should've died. Ao had given her chakra modulating hairpins. But they'd probably been blown away from her by the force of the first explosion before they could kill her.
The bone in her leg was beginning to ache, badly, but she ignored it, kicking Deidara off her, feeling his mouth-teeth slapping at her, a bruise that would form soon above her eyebrows.
"Tenten!"
She slapped Deidara, smearing some of his blood on her hands, ducked his retaliatory kick, and bolted towards Naruto, feeling Deidara on her heels. He lunged, but she felt him coming and feinted right before turning left and bounding away, using her three or four second advantage.
Naruto was seated in position, the chakra he exuded almost physical, something she could feel, like water flowing around him, defying gravity. She grabbed his shoulders, suddenly feeling herself become overwhelmed with the feeling of fullness, popping a few tenketsu in the process, her chakra networks suddenly charged for the first time in weeks. Grinning, remembering the lessons on chakra conservation from Ao, Tenten turned towards Deidara just as he came at her
"Get over here, you bastard!" she shouted at him, belligerent and bloodthirsty, suddenly more ready to fight him now than she'd ever been to do anything else in her life. He killed Neji. He kidnapped her. He was a rotten bastard and she wanted to teach him a lesson. He was mere yards from her, and his grin was as wild as hers, as ready to spill blood and break bones as she was.
They clashed, meeting as equals. And the kunai he broke out of his robe had no effect – she was as quick as he was now, but her advantage was that he didn't know the extent of her ability. To him, she was weak, drained, a captive. Now she was at her full strength – better than, thanks to Naruto. Lunging forward, she quickly completed the seal, his blood across her fingers and his fist in her abdomen, and began to laugh at her joke as the fist disappeared before the force behind it could follow.
"Did you do it?" Naruto demanded. "I can't sense him anywhere!"
Tenten began to laugh harder, her stomach cramping, until she doubled over, nearly toppling as she rested on her knees, feeling tears come to her eyes as she laughed uncontrollably at her revenge. Naruto watched her from a distance, worrying that her sanity had been broken. And perhaps it had been, but that wasn't why she was in hysterical giggles. Naruto stared at her, dumbstruck by her reaction.
Finally catching her breath, Tenten wiped the tears away, grinning still at Naruto. "Sorry. It's just – I put him where he can't cause us any trouble. He doesn't get fuinjutsu at all – he's fucking terrible at it," she added smugly. "And he has this whole spiel about how art is fleeting and shit… and I sent him to the Dragons."
Eyes wide, Naruto began to grin, understanding dawning. The Dragons were a race of eternity, of immobile wisdom and patience. Deidara of the Akatsuki was going to lose his shit in a place like that. Even better, he couldn't do any damage there. He had no access to resources, no way of leaving, and his attacks were nearly useless against the ancient species. "Tenten-nee-chan," he said, his tone solemn with respect, even as his eyes twinkled, from one prankster to another. "That is genius."