Reviewer Shout Out: Tauries4597, Inuyasha16451, and The Unapologetic
Aleksandr232: I can't message you through pm, so I'll have to respond through here. I hope you get to this chapter to see this. I really like your idea of having Hinata and Sakura talking about their crushes. However, I can't do it before this chapter, so I'm going to tweak it some and make sure to credit you in the chapter I add it in. Thanks for the suggestion. Keep em coming, I love suggestions (and that's for everyone)!
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Chapter 37: Deidara's Ultimate Art
Normal P.O.V.
"Oh, come one! You've got to be fucking kidding me?!" Naruto yells as he grips his hair in frustration. "Three days and you mean to tell me we can't find this motherfucker?! This is straight bullshit!"
"Stop yelling. You're only going to frustrate yourself more," Sasuke sighs with his arms crossing over his chest. Naruto continues to pull on his hair as his tails swish angrily and his breathing labors. Realizing his mate isn't calming down, Sasuke walks over and places a gentle hand on the blond's back. "Take slow deep breaths. Try to relax,"
The gentle sounds of Sasuke's voice brings peace to Naruto's raging mind. Listening to his mate, Naruto inhales through his nose and exhales through his mouth a few times. When he's calm enough, Naruto straightens up and relaxes.
"Better?" Naruto nods. "good, now let's think logically about this," Sasuke squats down as he pulls out the scroll given to them at the start of the mission, "According to Kakashi's findings, Deidara was last seen around this area, so it might be safe to assume he's probably moved on by now,"
"So, you're thinking he's not even here anymore? Just great. That means we've been, literally, chasing our tails for three days?" Naruto huffs as he falls onto the ground with his legs crossing and his head in his hands.
"Hm. It might be a long shot, but there is a village a few miles from here. We might be able to sneak in there and see if we can get any information on him. Usually, when an Akatsuki member is on an extended mission, we would sometimes stop in a nearby village to restock and rest. However, with at least three days passing since the last time he was spotted, it is possible he could have moved on by now. But, it's at least worth a shot," Sasuke rolls up the scroll before looing at his quiet mate. Thick, blond eyebrows scrunch while four tails swish in concentration. "What's wrong?"
"Deidara… shouldn't be alive…"
"What are you talking about? Deidara has been a live this whole time. What do you mean he shouldn't be alive?" Sasuke asks in confusion.
"No… Kakashi and I killed him when we went to rescue Gaara. But, that was months, almost a year ago,"
"What do you mean? Naruto, you aren't making any sense,"
"After Jiraiya and I finished my training and I came back home from a three-year leave, we were sent on a mission to save Gaara. He had been kidnapped by Deidara and Sasori to have his tailed demon extracted. We managed to save him in time before the One-Tail was taken from him, but Kakashi and I killed him together. So, what's he doing still alive?"
"I… don't know… I didn't even know you killed him during that mission. I know Deidara said something about getting revenge on the people who tried killing him, but he never said anything. Hn, figures it would have been you and Kakashi though,"
"I didn't want to say anything in front of Grandma Tsunade, but I'm pretty sure Kakashi was thinking the same thing as me. Something doesn't feel right,"
"Hn, agreed. But, we won't know the truth until we find him. And besides, knowing that artist nut, he's got something planned," Sasuke straightens up to walk towards the village, "Come one, we have an "artist" to find,"
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The two make it to the village and keep a low profile. With the hoods of their cloaks hanging low on their faces, the two split up and try to find any information on their target. After about an hour or so, the couple meets up to discuss what they're found.
"Anything?" Sasuke shakes his head at Naruto's question, "Damn. Alright let's get out of here,"
Naruto tires to leave but stops when a pal hand grabs his arm. "What's that?"
Naruto looks over to where Sasuke is pointing. Set up a few feet away is a merchant with different clay sculptures. One, in particular, catches their eye. It's a white clay bird. It is similar to the one that Deidara is commonly seen flying on. The couple calmly walks over to question the merchant.
"Hello fellow art lovers. How can I help you?"
"Did you make this?" Naruto asks as he picks up the white, clay bird.
"That? No, it was left here by some bird lunatic with long, blond hair and blue eyes. He stopped by my stand about two hours ago and was admiring my work. At first, he seemed cool, but then he started talking about different art techniques and a bunch of stuff I didn't know about. I only recently started working with clay and making sculptures, that's why these are so small. But, one of the things that caught me off guard the most was when he called me a poser and yelled "Art is an explosion," before running out of the village. He sure was a weird guy,"
"Do you know where he went?" Sasuke asks.
"I think he said something about heading west? All I know is that the weirdo left after I "offended" him. Why? Are y'all looking for him?"
"Something like that. Thanks for your help," Naruto said as they turned to leave.
Before the two were out of ear shot, the merchant spoke again, "Be careful if you find him. He seems really sensitive about his art. I would hate to see the guy to insults his art. They might be in actual trouble,"
"Thanks… We'll keep that in mind," and with that, Naruto and Sasuke set out to search for their target.
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After, what seemed like hours, Sasuke started to recognize the landscape. He holds an arm out to stop Naruto from going any further. The blond tries to question his mate, but the raven feline holds a finger to his pale, thin lips. Naruto watches as his mate squats to the ground and touches it. With his eyes closed, Sasuke tries to focus his mind.
"We're by a Hideout,"
"Really? You recognize one this place?"
Sasuke nods before standing up, "Close by is one of the hideouts the Akatsuki made. If the merchant was right and Deidara is around here, then he might be in the hideout,"
"Or, he could be right behind you,"
The couple whirl around in shock to see their target standing above them on a tree branch.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this my lucky day: the Nine-Tails and Sasuke Uchiha. Two people I've been dreaming about getting revenge on for a while now. I must've been a good boy for Santa," The couple glare as the blond bird chuckles to himself, "What's the matter, Naruto-kun? Sasuke got your tongue,"
"Shut up! I've had enough of you! You're not even supposed to be alive right now! I thought Kakashi and I killed you when you tried to take the One-Tail from Gaara, so how the fuck are you still here?" Naruto questions with clenched fists.
"Oh, yes, that was a tragedy. Yes, you "tried" to kill me, but you ended up killing a clay clone instead. First rule of murder or assassination: "always make sure your opponent is dead before leaving the sight","
"Damn you…" Naruto growls through clenched fangs.
"Deidara, it's time for you to die. We've come here to kill you. But, before we do that, tell us the Akatsuki's plan for the upcoming war," Sasuke says, stepping forward.
"Blunt as ever, Sasuke Uchiha. Dumb too. You really think I'd tell you and your friend over there our plan? Fool, you won't get shit from me other than the revenge I promised you both,"
"Revenge? What are you talking about? What revenge could you possibly want from us?" a glaring Sasuke asks.
"Well, for starters, your blond friend over here tried to kill me, and he helped damage my beautiful wings during our last fight. On, on the other hand, you killed some of my team members. That's something I can't forgive. But, thanks for coming to me instead; saves me the trouble of searching for you. Now, how about we get this party started, shall we?"
The couple ready themselves as the blond bird reaches into his pouch to grab some clay.
"Watch out, for his explosive clay," Sasuke whispers while activating his Sharingan.
"Don't worry, I'm very familiar with it. You be careful too,"
Deidara opens his palms to reveal several C1 bombs. He throws them at the couple. Sasuke summons lightning chakra to his hand and uses the bolts to push them back. Naruto makes his move and jumps towards their opponent. With his fists cocked back, Naruto goes to punch him, but the other blond catches the fist. Naruto tries his other fist, but Deidara catches that one too and they become locked in a glaring contest.
"Now Sasuke!"
The confused bird turns back to see the raven feline above him with his sword in his hand, ready to strike. Thinking quickly, Deidara releases Naruto's fists, headbutts him, and jumps off the branch. Surprised by Deidara's disappearance, Sasuke crashes into Naruto and the two falls to the ground. Naruto grabs onto his mate and uses his body to cushion the blow.
"You idiot! You could have landed on your feet!" Sasuke yells.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. And I'm not a damn cat, Sasuke. That's you!"
"Hey, over here!"
The two look up to Deidara throwing more bombs at them. The two try to roll out of the way, but get injured when Deidara unleashes a mild explosion. The two pant and hiss at the slight burns they gained from the explosion.
"I'm not done yet! Take this!"
Deidara reaches into his pouch again and unleashes large amounts of clay from his hands. The clay stands up and forms two clay-like monsters. Seeing them come for them, Sasuke readies himself.
"Child's play,"
"Sasuke, don't~"
But it was too late. Sasuke rushes towards the clay monsters and attacks. The feline brings his sword across and is shocked when his sword gets stuck in the monster's torso. He tries to free his sword but abandons it to fight the other monster. Using tiajutsu and his lightening chakra, Sasuke defends himself against the monsters. Naruto eventually joins in with his own tiajutsu. Sasuke finally frees his sword. The couple stand back-to-back as the larger monsters were cut into serval smaller monsters.
"I was trying to tell you that if you cut the clay, it'll multiply,"
"I can see that now, Naruto," Sasuke returns annoyed.
As the smaller clay monsters emerge, Naruto starts to panic, "What are we going to do?"
"Give me time to think," Sasuke's Sharingan eyes search their surrounds before finally landing on the forest to their right. "In the trees quickly,"
The two take off into the trees before some of the creatures explode.
"Oh no you don't!"
Deidara sends his creatures after them, making sure to explode some along the way. As they continue into the forest, Sasuke buys them sometimes by cutting a few tree tops down. However, by doing this, Sasuke manages to get captured by some of the clay creatures. Naruto tries to pry them off, but they attach to him too. Thinking he had them, Deidara unleashes a series of explosions.
"Ha! I got 'em,"
As the smoke settles, the two manage to use a Substitution Jutsu to escape and jump to freedom. Naruto has one of Sasuke's arms slung over his shoulders as he carries his mate to safety.
"You alright?"
Sasuke nods as stands next to his panting alpha.
"Hm. I see you managed to escape. But, I expect nothing less of the Nine-Tails and Sasuke Uchiha. Here, why don't you try these on for size," The two watch as a large clay dragon forms, "This is my C2 Dragon! Try fighting this off!"
"Damn, I'm betting that thing can fly too,"
"Sasuke, we've got to end this soon before one of us blows up,"
"I know. Let's let me think,"
But, before he has time to come up with a plan, the dragon opens its mouth to unleash another clay creature. The creature shots towards them. They separate to escape it. They try to out run it but ends up exploding by them.
"That was basically a missile. Damn, what else can that thing do?" Sasuke thinks to himself.
Tired of the games, the couple runs towards the dragon. It's large wings flap and it starts to lift off the ground. Sasuke tries to pierce it with his lighting bolt, but it just slips out of his range.
"So, his range is 5 meters? Interesting,"
"I'll give you credit for being able to control the lightening element, but not for stealing Kakashi's jutsu. Hn, are all of you Uchihas jutsu copiers?"
"Shut your mouth! Don't ever disrespect my clan's name!"
"Don't worry, you won't be around long enough to hear it anymore. I'll give you your end soon enough," The dragon opens its mouth to let out another creature, "Be careful, this one packs more of a punch than the last,"
The creature heads towards them with great speed.
Sasuke manages to jump out of the way in time, but Naruto can't escape the explosion.
"Naruto?!"
Both Deidara and Sasuke stands still, waiting to see in Naruto was hurt or worse. When the smoke clears, Naruto stands there. Sasuke sighs when he sees Naruto isn't harmed and his Sage Mood is activated.
"So, you've survived? And you have makeup on? No matter. I'll make sure to end it today,"
"I've had enough of you, bird brain,"
Naruto jumps up from the ground, creating a crater as he takes off, and appears before the shocked blond. Naruto punches his opponent in the face before landing one in his gut. Naruto continues to attack Deidara while Sasuke finds a way to attack the dragon. Thinking quickly, Sasuke activates his Cursed Mark 2 and transforms. Using his wings, Sasuke flies towards the dragon and uses his lighting bolt to slice off the wing. Before the dragon lands, Naruto uses two kunai to pin Deidara to his dragon and hops off. The two watch as Deidara and the dragon lands on the ground. Sasuke thrusts his wire towards the dragon and uses his fire jutsu to ignite the dragon and its master. But, right before the smoke clears, the couple gasp when they see Deidara emerge without his Akatsuki robe and on another flying bird.
"You damned brats… If you think I'm going to lose to the likes of you, THEN YOU'RE FUCKING WRONG! THIS WILL BE MY FINAL ATTACK!"
Deidara reaches into his pouch again and pull out a large amount of clay before devouring it. Naruto and Sasuke can't believe their eyes as the lunatic eats his own explosive clay. Not knowing what to expect, the couple stands back and watches as the blond bird throws up the clay and forms something extremely large.
"What the hell is that?" Sasuke gasps.
Naruto and Sasuke look up in fear and amazement of the over-sized clay figure of Deidara himself.
"Does he plan on blowing himself too?" Naruto asks in fear.
"Behold! This is my C4 attack! I was planning on using this to kill your bother, Sasuke. But, since you did the job for me, I'll honor you with a death I was saving just for him. Now, prepare to die by my art!"
"Naruto run!"
"But~"
"Don't fight with me, just go!" Sasuke screamed.
Seeing his mate like this caused his distress, but he did as he was told. Sasuke stood his ground while Naruto escaped unnoticed.
"It's over! My art will destroy you both!"
Deidara unleashed his attack and watch as Sasuke and all the creatures around them disintegrate. Laughing manically at his "victory", Deidara searches the area for his opponents. When he doesn't see them, his "victory" is celebrated.
"I told them that I would win! I told you, my art triumphs over everything! I have won!"
"Think again!"
Deidara gasps as a Chidori passes through his chest, "What but I saw you~"
"I used my genjutsu to escape. I saw what your attack was going to do, so escaping was easy. Now, I've avoided hitting your heart, but you're gravely injured. This is your last chance to tell me the Akatsuki's plan before I kill you," Hearing Sasuke's threat make Deidara laugh hysterically again. "What's so damned funny?"
"Man, you really are Itachi's younger brother. You two fight just alike. I'll have to remember to thank Itachi for this later,"
"What are you talking about? Have you gone insane?"
"I fought your brother a long time ago. And you know better than anyone what his main attack is: genjutsu. So, of course I anticipated you trying to put me under a genjutsu. I figured out a way to train my left eye to avoid the Uchihas' famous genjutsu," and just at that moment, the clay Deidara turns white while the real one appears from the body of the bird and grips Sasuke's foot, "If that attack couldn't kill you, then try a close range one,"
Sasuke lightly panics as he is engulfed in another C4 attack. Trapped inside, Sasuke uses his Sharingan to analyze the situation. Using what little chakra, he had left, Sasuke manages to escape and fly towards a falling Deidara. Lightning engulfs his hand as he tries to catch up to the falling blond. Knowing he is out of Sasuke's rang did not worry Deidara, so he readied another, final attack. An explosion erupted as Deidara hit the ground hard. The sky above him is clear and victory is finally his, or so he thinks.
"I've won. I've finally won," the blond says as he struggles to stand. I've told those bastards I would win, and I did! Ha! Take that~"
Just as he started to cheer, Sasuke appears and punches him in the face. Deidara flies to the ground with a grunt.
"Shut the hell up…" Sasuke pants.
"How? How are you still alive?!"
"Did you forget? Lightening is weak to earth style. You should really hide your signs out of the line of my Sharingan. I noticed that all of your attacks used the Earth Style and I also knew that if I used my Lighting jutsu, I could deactivate the C4 in my body. Your "art" was no match for me," Sasuke explains while panting.
Hearing Sasuke's explanation pisses Deidara off even more, "That's what I hate about you and your stupid brother. You both think you're so cool, calm, and superior. Well guess what? You ain't shit! You and your fucking clan were never shit! I've had enough of neither one of you acknowledging my art! You and those damned eyes are always judging me and my art! Neither one of you even considered acknowledge my art! I'll never be able to forgive you or those fucking, sadistic eyes! You both looked at me as if I am inferior to either of you! Well guess what, I'll show you who's the inferior one!"
"Grow up. I don't care about any of that, and I'm pretty sure neither did Itachi," Sasuke smirks.
"Then allow me to show you my finally, ultimate art,"
Deidara uses the last of his strength to rip off his shirt to revile a symbol and stitches on his chest. He reaches into his pouch and uses the teeth in his palm to break the stich. As he pulls out the rest of the stiches, another mouth emerges. Lines start to spread over his body and turn his skin a brownish color.
"This, Sasuke Uchiha, is my final art. I will use the reminder of my clay to detonate myself. I'll take you with me. I've already killed Naruto but killing you… will be my ultimate sacrifice. I will receive more admiration for my art than ever before. I will be remembered throughout the land as the artist I've always known myself to be,"
"You're insane,"
"Art is insanity! Now, prepare to die!"
"I need to get out of here," Sasuke tries to stand, but his body is too weak. He can't move. "Damn, I'm stuck here,"
"No use in running! This explosion will cover 10 kilometers! Now bare witness to my art. For my art…" Deidara unleashes the last of his chakra and blinding white light engulfs their surroundings, "IS AN EXPLOSION!"
The blinding light engulfed everyone and everything in a 10-kilometer radius. Not having anything else to rely on, Sasuke closes his eyes and allows the explosion to take him. But then, two strong arms and something warm surrounds him. As the light and the explosion ends, a weakened, reverted Sasuke opens his eyes to see Naruto holding him into his chest and Kurama's chakra surround them.
"I thought… I told you… to stay away…" Sasuke pants.
"And let you die? Haven't you learned your lesson?" Naruto chuckles as he lifts Sasuke in his arms, bridal-style, and covers him with his cloak. "So, why did you choose to fight him alone. I could have taken him with you,"
"No, you couldn't have. He was an Earth style user. That's what his explosions were based off. You don't know how to use Lightening style. That's why I told you stay away. If you didn't, then you would have surely died. You wouldn't have been able to see what his C4 attack was and how to escape it… Thanks for listening this time…"
"This is probably one of the rare times I will. The look in your eyes told me that you had a plan I wasn't apart of. Are you ok?"
"Yeah… a little damaged, but I'll managed…"
"Don't worry, I'll heal you on the way home. Just rest. I've got you,"
Sasuke sighs as he feels Kurama's chakra seep into him. Fatigue over comes the damaged raven as he leans more into his alpha. Soon, Sasuke's breathing evens out and he falls asleep to the silence and in the security of his alpha's arms.
"Good job, Sasuke. I'm proud of you,"
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To Be Continued…