Thank you for the last chapter's response! It was really nice of you all. Also, this chapter is SO CLOSE to 20k views! I can't thank you enough!
After a week of straight walking, the Suisei clan arrived at their first destination. There were other towns and settlements they had passed but because of how scattered Stone Country's population was, these pockets of civilisation were too small to even host the clan.
The first town large enough was Tano, which had started as a bar built at a crossroad, intended for travellers who were trying to get to and from nearby settlements. As more and more people passed through the area, more businesses were built around the bar, and now existed as one of Rock country's more popular destinations.
"Also a good spot for the Suisei clan," the brat continued, "it's considered very easy to get to, so people from out in the boonies won't think twice about coming here. Also, apparently, the roads to each villages differ, so only locals know the way, or at least the quickest-"
"Will you ever stop talking?" Deidara groused, scowling down at the nutcase of Oniyuri. Why the hell is she so interested in the history of this backwater place?!
"Excuse me for finding history interesting and riveting!" the brat grumbled, frowning at Deidara over her morning cup of milk.
"When the hell did you learn this, anyway? We arrived late last night."
"I talked to people and they were happy to tell me about Tano. It's also good practice for being a ninja."
Deidara rolled his eyes. Sure it was.
"For one, information gathering, and two, if I ever have to track a ninja down to place like those hard to access areas, I know, now, to check in with a place like Tano to see if my target has passed through here and I now know to ask the local civilians about the trek to these small communities because there's probably a better way I won't be able to find myself."
Deidara scowled. He didn't want to acknowledge the brat had a good point.
"Whatever!" he sighed. "Shouldn't you be preparing for the show?" he had already seen the masses of dance practices currently held in the amphitheatre, the puppet shows conducted in rooms, and the organisers running around yelling and putting up decorations.
The brat slouched in her seat. "I… can't. The audience is too loud."
"Why would that matter to you? Aren't you just a lackey?"
"I was a dancer. And now that I've left, I may as well focus on being a ninja."
Fuck, sad sob story. How did he get himself stuck with this kid? One moment she acted like an intelligent adult, the next she was a whiny brat.
The cause of his ire chose that moment to appear. His Royal Dickhead was surveying the amphitheatre when he caught sight of the two of them, watching everything go by from the back seats. Dickhead began to climb the stairs.
"Fuck," he muttered, already dreading what Dickhead wanted to say.
"Deidara," he called, "come here."
Begrudgingly, he left Oniyuri at the seats. It didn't matter anyway, she could hear every conversation in the amphitheatre clear as a whistle, but Deidara wasn't going to share that fact.
"Sir," he greeted.
"Can you take the kid someplace?" Dickhead began, "Look, I don't know, show her some sights, maybe some Iwa jutsu, you know?"
Deidara raised an eyebrow. Now that he knew why Dickhead was lenient with the brat, he could track the plan he had. And what he had seen so far was far from decent.
"Sir?" he tried to pry. Dickhead waved his hand, gesturing away from the rest of the town.
"Just – take her on a hike, maybe?"
"Alright then," Deidara turned to the kid, waving her over. "Where's your mother?"
"In a meeting," she immediately replied. "I can take you to her!" Oniyuri immediately hopped down the stairs. Deidara, at least, didn't sigh when he followed her. Dickhead was right there, and it was kind of getting boring up the seats.
They couldn't bother the brat's mother while she was in the meeting, but leaving a note for her and telling a guard was apparently all that was needed to be done. "I used to do that in Konoha – we were allowed to roam freely there!"
"Yeah, yeah," Deidara rolled his eyes "Where can we get some packed lunch for you?"
It didn't take long for them to leave. Instead of telling a guard, Rozu referred them to the clan head, the lady with the wrapped head.
When Oniyuri came out of her hotel room, he sighed. The kid looked like a bolder, ready to roll around everywhere with how many layers of clothes she wore.
"Don't you know how to regulate your temperature?" Deidara said as he tossed her outer layer off her. The brat blinked up at him, questioningly. "Just, ya know, keep a constant stream of chakra going around her body. I guess that's your first Iwa jutsu – keep it going that you don't need to focus on it." He was so adept that sometimes it happened without him knowing. All Iwa ninjas were, with living up in such high mountains with little vegetation as windbreakers.
The brat focused for a bit. "I think I've got it. Thanks, Deidara!"
Now a little better prepared, they set out. The town outskirts bypassed them very quickly, the surrounding forest ring swallowing them. They were only a little bit from the border, so it was still common for small clusters of pine trees to grow and thrive.
Despite Deidara's previous bitching about the town, he knew the area quite well, just from running through the area. A few missions ago they'd travelled through a fantastic plateau area that might be good place to train and show off. But now that he was thinking about it, it might be easy to access… for a ninja.
"Wanna run?" he questioned.
"With chakra?!" the brat gasped, eyes widening with glee. "Fuck yeah!" she darted ahead and Deidara could already see that she was running like a civilian with boosted speed, not like a ninja.
Deidara sighed. He had a lot to teach, and a load more to iron out of her. He quickly caught up.
[x]
The plateau was where he remembered it, and now that he could observe it longer, he found that the clearing had a wonderful field of grass that overlooked a small valley.
"Alright, what should we do first," Deidara speculated the area. It would be a shame to rip up the grass, so maybe his more destructive techniques could be, when possible, directed to over the valley.
"What's that up there?" the brat suddenly questioned, pointing upwards. Further back, where the plateau stopped being so flat and resumed being a mountain, there was a patch of white.
"Snow," he answered, "sometimes it's cold enough for it to survive, all year long." Other mountain peaks around them and in the distance, also had white hats as well. The brat continued to stare upwards, even though he'd already explained. Just as he was about to ask her if this was her first time seeing snow, she suddenly turned to him and smiled.
"What are you going to show me?"
Deidara scratched under his jaw in thought. "What do you know?"
"A little taijutsu, but only Konoha's academy style." She widened her stance and raised her arms. Taijutsu? That was a little unexpected. Every other child intent in becoming a ninja always wanted to do the cool ninja tricks and not really getting down and dirty. Even he himself as a child was more fascinated in ninjutsu, although he was only interested in one specific type of jutsu.
Deidara settled into Iwa's Academy style, something he could already feel lacking. But it was probably for the best with Oniyuri anyway.
Already he could see the style differences. Deidara had his right arm raised above his head, while Oniyuri didn't even have her hands in fists, just up and ready.
He began by swinging at her with his right leg, intending to hit her from the side. He wasn't going nearly as fast he could, so she easily jumped backwards, out of his reach. Her next move was to run forward at him, and he was thankful she wasn't dumb enough to try and grab his leg, because she just didn't have any strength for that.
Instead, she continued past him until she was behind him. He let his momentum from the kick spin him around, facing Oniyuri as she threw a punch at his stomach. That was a good idea for someone so young, but for him, all he had to do was catch her wrist with his hands and send the punch elsewhere.
And so on and so forth.
Oniyuri really tried, but it was useless against him. Even though their styles were equally basic, Deidara was just faster and more experienced, and also able to pull off some heavy-lifting moves.
Once he was sick of it, he threw Oniyuri away from him. She surprised him back by saving herself from a face plat by turning it into a cartwheel. When she spun around to continue, she paused at his raised hand.
"I'm done with taijutsu. What did you learn?"
"Iwa's Academy style's traits are strength, a mix of block and redirect, harsh, focused on kicks, and really stationary."
"What?"
Oniyuri didn't pause. "You also had considerable advantage over me, due to being taller, stronger, faster and just overall more experienced." Oh thank fuck, he was getting a little worried there.
"Yes, exactly." He paused to consider his next words, but Oniyuri was already blabbering away.
"I felt that your speed and experience was the most obvious. Obviously, I'm young, so I don't have any muscle or height, but I could – theoretically – get faster and gain more experience. So, all in all, in the future, while adapting to foreign taijutsus utilising a definition system is an advanced skill, the ability to outrun an opponent in both speed and experience is has a higher chance of letting me control and best a confrontation."
Deidara's mind almost swam with the words she was spitting. He was pretty sure that kids Oniyuri's age just did not speak that technical and complex. "Ok yeah, that's my lesson – speed and experience outweigh anything else. But what the hell are you going on about traits? And definition system?!"
"Gai-sensei taught it to me! It's something all taijutsu masters use." She beamed at him. He looked at her warily. She did say that while it was an advanced technique, it wasn't going to allow her to win matches, but to Deidara that sounded like a waste of mental energy for a real fight. Whatever. She was the one returning to Konoha, they can deal with it.
"Ok, so next…"
"Can you teach me Iwa's Academy style?" she copied his opening stance, which was pretty good for someone who'd only seen it once for ten seconds. It was her background in dancing, the ability to pick up a dance quickly, that helped here. It would be a fantastic ability for her future too.
Deidara shook his head. She already chose Konoha as her hidden village! She was no doubt going to be a future enemy, and he shouldn't be complimenting the enemy.
And along that line, he really shouldn't teach her the Academy style. But Dickhead also said to teach her, so if anyone should get in trouble, it would be him.
He regarded her again. What kind of child was so interested in taijutsu, why couldn't she be normal and like ninjutsu?
"Fine." He huffed. Oniyuri automatically cheered. "Shut up! Go back to the opening stance!"
"Yes, Deidara-sensei," she grinned.
"Don't ever call me that," he gritted out, gripping her shoulder and squeezing hard. She folded up at the painful grasp, but she was still laughing away.
"How about senpai?" she teased when he stepped away.
"How about you hold your quips for when you can actually evade me." He snarked back, pulling her right arm down. "We're taught a little more than the stances. A dance, if you will. First, your arms must come together at your chest and expand into the opening stance. Try and curve your arm. No, not like – ok yes, that."
The Iwa Academy style was only that simple. It didn't take them long for Oniyuri to be able to flow through them one by one by herself. Deidara was definitely going to check in a few days to see if she remembered it, but for now, it was good enough.
"Alright, next," Deidara scuffed the earth. "Iwa jutsu that aren't too exclusive, because you've already decided where to go…" She'd already learnt the basic chakra control exercise, the body warmth regulator, and probably would need some time before moving onto the next one. What else could she teach him? What was a jutsu, fundamentally Iwa's, but so common that she'd probably learn it anyway in Konoha?
"Earth clone," he decided. "How well do you know your hand signs, Oniyuri?"
"I've memorised them, senpai!" she simply grinned at him when he sent her a sharp look.
"Ram, monkey, horse and ram." At his words, the brat quickly ran through them. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she didn't have to think about it too much, which was pretty good for a not-even-academy student. On the field, though, it was still too slow. "Good enough for now. Ease comes with repetition. Now, with your chakra, feed it into the ground below, through your feet."
She closed her eyes, which was a sign of how untrained she was, and focused. Through his limited chakra sense, he could clearly feel her chakra seeping into the ground. Ok, so she had better control over her chakra than he did when he first tried this jutsu, whatever. He wasn't mad.
"Try and get the same size as you." After a little while, Oniyuri opened her eyes and nodded at him. "Now try it with the hand signs." The chakra in the earth returned to her body, and she ran it through her hand signs.
Her chakra naturally conformed to the hand signs. The jutsu wasn't as simple as doing a few hand signs and shoving the chakra into the earth and hoping for the best. You had to shape it, give the clone something to do, a directive, and then draw the clone out of the earth. But Deidara wanted Oniyuri to fail the first time around.
But, her chakra was reacting weirdly to the earth. Cautiously, Deidara took a few steps back. Her eyes were closed and she was focused so Oniyuri wasn't aware of what he was doing. He took another step back.
Interestingly enough, she figured out that letting it vanish into the earth was not the answer, and very slowly tried to work out a way to bring the mound of earth up.
The ground bulged, and then, just as Deidara predicted, erupted. Oniyuri was quick enough to cover her face with her forearms and jump away. The earth didn't have anything deadly in it, so all Oniyuri was covered in was fat chunks of soft damp earth.
A solid piece, about the size of his hand, slowly fell off her head as she straightened up and dropped her arms. "What the fuck!"
Deidara laughed. Flecks of dirt and grass were smeared up her clothes and skin, and she just would not stop saying "What the fuck!" in such a personally offended voice.
When he regained his breath, he saw that Oniyuri had tried her best to shake loose pieces off her, but hadn't really bothered with trying to rub off the streaks on her skin and clothes. She was smiling at him, and then suddenly stooped down to pick up a chunk of earth.
"AARRGH!" she roared, and dashed towards him, using chakra to boost her step, the hand with the earth reaching towards him. Surprisingly, he didn't move, even though he could. The earth met his right cheek and continued past, smearing a thick line of chilled dirt. "Got you!"
Deidara slapped his palms on Oniyuri's cheeks and rubbed vigorously. "Ajfndajngnru-" Whatever Oniyuri was going to say was lost.
"What the hell is with your chakra?!" he laughed "I've never seen that happen!"
Oniyuri began to giggle along with him. He dropped her, scooting over to the hole in the grassy plain, leaning over it for a better look.
It kinda looked like what one of his own clones looked like after he fought that lightning nut in the chuunin exams. "I think you have lightning natured chakra. But you can't be a civilian – this is extreme affinity."
Oniyuri tilted her head. "My dad might be a ninja."
"Might?"
"Hanabi wanted me, not a husband. She just took the first consenting man."
Ok that was weird. But Oniyuri wasn't a typical child, as her intelligence and… this… suggested. Deidara stood up again and shrugged.
"I can't help you there – I've only just begun to learn my first affinity. It might be easier because of lightning triumphs earth, but I have no idea." He turned around to see Oniyuri frowning down at her hands. "Don't worry, your sensei at Konoha can help you. It's not important to learn it now – I'm surprised you had the chakra to even attempt it."
Oniyuri stuck out her tongue. "You set me up to fail!"
"Failing is important for a ninja." He argued back. "I'm chuunin and you're not even academy – shut up."
"Yes, Deidara-senpai." She rolled his eyes at him. "What are you going to do next."
"I guess – show off?" he opened his pouch and sorted through the bombs he'd already created, carefully not choosing any with shrapnel. Not too small – he had room now. "This is Iwa's specialty." He wandered over to the edge of the cliff, waiting for Oniyuri to stand by him. With a little oomph (AKA chakra) behind his throw, he hurled the golf ball-sized clay bomb over the valley.
It soared high. At the peak of its trajectory, he held the rat sign and murmured "Katsu!"
FWOOOOOOOM!
High in the sky, a great big ball of orange exploded into existence, heat and displaced wind lashing out to the trees below. Great masses of birds fled from their perches, screaming as they flew. The explosion mostly faded away immediately but the smoke lingered in the air.
Deidara swallowed his pounding heart. Explosions always excited him – but other people didn't agree.
Crap. Oniyuri. He turned to check on her expression – eyes wide, mouth open. She didn't blink. Fuck. Deidara couldn't choose between fearing her reaction and wondering why he wanted her approval so desperately –
"That was amazing," she said breathlessly, "Holy shit." Deidara broke into a grin, a little too wide than normal because the energy from the explosion was still running through him.
"Wicked, isn't it!" he laughed. Oniyuri looked up at him, eyes shining.
"Can you do more?" she demanded as she tugged his sleeve.
"Of course!" once again he didn't pick any with shrapnel, but this time he picked out three clay bombs, slightly smaller than the one he sent out first. Placing a little bit of chakra in them, he hurled all three in different directions in quick succession. "Katsu!"
Deidara couldn't help the laugh bubbling out of his chest. It had been so long since he was able to explode his bombs for absolutely no reason at all. Next, he dug out his tiniest bombs, no bigger than his thumb. These little guys didn't need him to use chakra to throw – in fact, he designed them for the opposite.
He lobbed them, inserting chakra at the last second. As soon as he felt them leave his fingers he averted his gaze away from the valley.
Oniyuri squawked. "That was a flash bomb!"
Deidara smirked and flashed another one at her, held between the V of his fingers.
"It sure was!" he smugly said. "These babies are for fighting and I just want a small distraction. No katsu, just put a little chakra in and throw. But be warned, there's only a second delay." He could clearly remember when he first invented them and was trying to integrate them into his fighting style. It was a little hard to forget bright bursts of white.
"Oh, it's the same type as the one I gave you." He absently added, only to be surprised when Oniyuri rooted around in her bag and brought out his little flash bomb with a flourish. "Uh, yeah, that one…"
"It's easier to carry around things that can't go into the sealing scroll at all times." She explained, flicking it up in the air with one hand and catching it with the other. "But you can't take it back! It's mine now."
Deidara rolled his eyes but paused. "Tell you what," he said and deposited another two of the flash bombs into her hands. "Take another two. It'll give the Konoha nin such a shock they will have no choice but to kick you out. Then you'll have to come to Iwa."
Oniyuri giggled.
Deidara looked at his pouch. It was… probably not a good idea to use any more explosives. He was supposed to be fully prepared as a ninja, especially on a mission, and he'd already scared enough of the wildlife. With a sigh, he sat down, legs dangling off the edge of the cliff.
"Unfortunately, showtime is over." He said but continued to stare out over the valley. Oniyuri joined him too and even leaned on his arm. Maybe he allowed it because he was still crazy over being able to Blow Shit Up With No Excuse, or maybe… he finally admitted that she wasn't so bad.
Oniyuri suddenly sat up. "You have to stick with me at all times, right?"
"Yeah?" he gave her a raised eyebrow.
"You won't be able to see our show!" Now that she mentioned it, Deidara wouldn't. And maybe he was a little curious, but it didn't really matter overall. He shrugged.
"It's only dancing and some puppet shows. I don't care."
She gasped in offense. "It's more than dancing or puppet shows! How else could we come and go through countries with ease if we weren't a little unique?" she wiggled backwards until there was enough room to stand, and pulled his shirt until he submitted and turned around too. "I can't show you the full experience, but this is a dance I made myself!"
She walked a little further up the plateau, and stopped, facing away from him. Deidara got comfortable. He guessed it was time to be entertained, not the entertainer.
Oniyuri started with her hands crossed over her chest. When she extended her arms, he could see strips of – was that water? – extending further.
It was water, and that became apparent in her next move. She shifted her weight over to her left leg and raised her right arm high, the stick of water fanning out to a ginkgo leaf's shape, the water on her left going the same as she raised that hand to shoulder height.
She spun, right hand dropping and then swinging both arms high up, water spreading out into one long pole that she clasped with both hands. Oniyuri quickly went through some boujutsu-esque poses, but they weren't the ones she was taught just recently. They were more…stylistic, made for dancing, more of an idea of boujutsu.
It was still impressive, especially when she dropped the stiffness of the stick and let the water flow from one move to the other. She finished in a pose with her hands spread wide, left leg pointing straight, and the water bent over her head like a blue rainbow.
Deidara clapped. "Is that your bloodline limit?" The curve collapsed into her hands, and he watched as the water ran up her sleeves, disappearing.
"Yeah! I can't produce the water; I can only control it though." She lifted her shirt to show him a band of water pressed tightly around her stomach. There was so much it had a hue of blue. Deidara stared – did she carry that all the way here, use chakra for running, practised taijutsu and even attempted a clone jutsu?
"How the hell aren't you tired?" he demanded. Oniyuri grinned, but it was a little sheepish.
"I might… not be able to run back." He scrambled up to get a closer look. She was exhausted, almost teetering were she stood. Deidara sighed.
"Well there's nothing we can do here anymore." He crouched down, waving her over when she didn't move. "Come on, get on my back."
"Oh!" she said, and quickly did so. "Thank you Deidara-senpai!"
"Fuck you," he muttered at the stupid nickname as he looped his arms around her legs. "Let's get going, alright? Dump that water you have, I don't want it wetting me if you fall asleep!"
Who was he kidding, she was totally going to fall asleep. He watched as a sheet of water spread out across the grassy plateau and dropped all at once. He looked back at Oniyuri – she seemed to be only seconds away from sleeping.
He rolled his eyes but couldn't help the small smile growing across his face. Quickly – but not too quickly, because he wasn't that concerned – he set off, returning to Tano.
[x]
"Oh, there you are. Welcome back," Oniyuri's mother sighed in relief as Deidara stepped through the entrance to the inn the clan is staying at. He quickly bowed hello at her, and she helped Oniyuri off his back.
Looking at her now, knocked out and head lolling as her mother tried to manoeuvre her to sit on her hip, she suddenly did look like a four-year-old.
"Deidara! You've returned." Fuck. He tried to suppress the reflex rolling of the eyes and turned to face His Royal Dickhead. "How did it go?"
"Good." He replied, voice flat. "I showed off a lot. She liked my explosions."
Dickhead cast his eyes between Oniyuri in her mother's arms and Deidara. A great grin began to stretch over his face.
"Thank you for letting Deidara take her out for a bit!" Dickhead smiled at Oniyuri's mother. "Seeing as she's asleep, I think I'll take Deidara for the rest of the afternoon." The mother bowed and bid them good afternoon, vanishing further into the inn.
Dickhead had the audacity to clap him on the back. "Well done! I think that went better than I expected!" His grin was hideous.
"The fuck you on about?" He grumbled, taking a solid step away from Dickhead.
"You've obviously bonded if you carried her back." Dickhead smirked. "She'll follow you anywhere, do you think?"
"Sure," Deidara's mouth felt strange speaking those words. "I guess."
"Have the day off, why don't you?" He waved Deidara off. He spat out some goodbye and broke away from His Royal Dickhead, and returned to the inn's entrance.
The inn had shitty, worn chairs set out for waiting for customers near the door and for the sudden clearing of his schedule they looked rather inviting.
As he took a seat, he realised that he was feeling… conflicted. Not only did he actually bond with a little brat, but Dickhead picked up on it straight away. He picked out one of the flash bombs he always carried with him and rolled it between his fingers. His eyes were on the bomb but he did not truly see it.
Why was he so… worried about her? Suddenly Dickhead's 'cunning' tricks and plans didn't seem so hilarious anymore. He didn't even use Oniyuri's name once when speaking, just referring to her with pronouns.
He straightened from being hunched over his knees, only to lean backwards, over the seat's backrest.
"Deidara?"
It was Oniyuri's mother again. The little brat was nowhere in sight.
"Shouldn't you be looking after Oniyuri?" he demanded, refusing to rise from the seat to greet her.
"She's fine." Her mother smoothly took a seat two down from his own. Thank fuck she didn't try to sit next to him. "What's got you in a bad mood?"
Deidara looked away. How could he say that he was afraid of his relationship with Oniyuri to her mother? He didn't reply.
"Is it about Noa?" It took him a few seconds to place the name. Despite his grievances with Dickhead, he still needed to know his name for when other people referred to him. He grunted.
"Is it alright if I pry?"
Is it alright if I pry? What kind of fucking question was that? No, thank you very much! He did not want to share his thoughts with some forgettable civilian mother. He was a ninja of Iwa and this bitch was from a wandering civilian clan that danced for money. Not only was it demeaning, but it was also a risk of security. Fuck that, fuck this bitch, who the fuck did she think she was!
And yet, he simply shrugged in answer.
"Tell me about what's worrying you, I might be able to help. I've got experience."
He didn't want to look at her. Some part of him believed it would break the spell.
"…he knows that I'm… alright with Oniyuri." He didn't want to say attached. Why did Dickhead make it sound like a dirty word? You're attached, Deidara, his mind whispered with Dickhead's voice, isn't that great!
"And what do you think of Oniyuri?"
"…She's alright." He thought back to earlier, when her eyes shone as he blew up a bomb high in the air. "She even likes my bombs." She also didn't like Dickhead, didn't mind laughing with Deidara, didn't mind his bouts of temper, and he was pretty sure she viewed him as a friend.
"Are you afraid of being friends with Oniyuri?"
"I don't know."
She'll follow you anywhere, do you think?
"I guess… I'm afraid for Oniyuri." He muttered. At the other woman's silence, he carefully continued. "Dickhead doesn't see her as a child, just as… a tool for Iwa."
"And what do you think of that?"
"…I should view her like that too." In fact, he realised, the only reason he didn't was because he knew it was a lost cause. Oniyuri already had her heart set on Konoha and she did not seem the type to switch just because of Deidara. He'd spent so long laughing at Dickhead's attempts at manipulating Oniyuri with her that he'd stopped seeing her as a mission. He quietly shared that to the other lady.
"Well, if you know it's a lost cause, what's stopping you from being her friend?" he could almost hear the head tilt. "Having friends isn't a bad thing. Humans need social interaction, and friends are a vital part of being happy."
But Dickhead was so quick to almost belittle him for that.
"Why are you weighing in his opinion if your nickname for him is Dickhead?"
He took a deep breath. She wasn't wrong, but his head was too much of a mess to try and figure out his course of action right now.
"I'm alright if you take Oniyuri out while we're stuck in one place. Normally she just practices on her own, so maybe together you could do something?"
"Alright." He replied. "Thanks, I guess. What's your name again?"
"Hanabi, but you may call me Kirsten." He heard her stand up again. "Have a lovely evening Deidara. If you want to talk about anything, you can always find me."
"Kur-suten?" he tried to fit his mouth around the foreign name. She was such a weird lady. "Yeah, same to you, good night."
She left him in the inn's entrance. After a few minutes he stood up and made a beeline for his room. Normally he would try to train while working through that conversation, but he was just so tired and all he wanted to do was faceplant on his bed.
The next morning, he knocked on Oniyuri's door, as per expected of him. Last night he wallowed over the fact he would have to face her so soon but when the door opened to reveal the child herself, he suddenly didn't feel so scared.
"Morning, Deidara-senpai!" Oniyuri grinned at him. "Do you want to come in?"
"No," he instantly replied. No way was he going to get close with Kasuten, not after yesterday. "…I just came to ask if you want to go on a similar hike, like yesterday's?"
Her eyes lit up. "Absolutely!"
"Good." He didn't know how he'd survive today, trapped in Tano, if she said no. But he didn't say that out loud. "Come find me once you're ready. My room is 231."
"Ok then! See you then!" Deidara stalked away, not gracing her with even a goodbye wave. He'd already finished eating breakfast, as per his morning routine, so when he returned to his room he gathered some clay and his bomb materials and quietly worked on replacing the bombs he used yesterday.
Preparing bombs was relaxing for him, but so many times he'd run out of bombs mid-battle and had to rely on the rest of his ninja skills to survive. If only he could create a jutsu that would allow him to create bombs mid-battle… not only would he never run out, but he would be able to create bombs perfect for each situation.
A knock on the door drew his attention away. "Come in," he grunted, and Oniyuri came through. He squinted at her from where he sat. She was too short to reach the handle, but she solved that using her bloodline.
"If we're going out today, you need to drop all that water," he dryly commented. "You had chakra exhaustion yesterday – use too much today and there'll be real consequences." She looked like she wanted to argue, but sighed and nodded, finding the sink in his hotel room and dumping a load of water down the drain.
She then joined him at his table. She did not, thankfully, try to grab anything, but he wouldn't have let her in the room if she was dumb enough to do that. "Are you making bombs?"
"Yeah,"
"Sick," was all she said, and fell silent. He worked until he finished the bomb he was working on, then packed everything up.
"Alright," he stood up, Oniyuri copying his movements. "Today won't have any more demonstrations of my bombs or your bloodline. Just some running practice and I'll check if you remember the Academy Style."
"Yeah!" Oniyuri grinned at him. "Thank you Deidara-senpai. Let's go!"
Review to get a reply from me full with japanese emoticons. (´,,•ω•,,)
