This chapter contains mentions and flashbacks concerning rape. If you are uncomfortable with this topic please refrain from reading this chapter. If you would still like to read the chapter, I will add a warning at the beginning of the scene so that you may skip it if you wish to.
I woke up this morning with the feeling that something strange was going to happen. "I have a bad feeling about this…" I mumbled to myself, getting out of bed and going to the bathroom to get dressed in my usual clothes, a black shirt, black leggings, ninja boots and my Akatsuki cloak. I left the room, careful not to wake Konan up and silently closed the door. "Are you ready for the mission today, Aelia?" I flinched at the sound of Deidara's voice.
"Shush…" I whispered, pointing at the door, "Konan-san is sleeping." The blonde nodded and asked his question again, whispering this time. "So, you'll come, right?" I nodded. Deidara, put an arm around my shoulder and guided us to the kitchen to get ourselves a quick breakfast. We were going to leave early in the morning after all. "Aelia. Come over here for a second." ordered Pain, I turned around and walked towards him. "What is it, boss?"
"This is Sasuke. You two know each other. He's a new member." I stared at the Uchiha before me and rubbed my eyes, "Do you see him too?" I asked the blonde. He nodded, clearly displeased. "Aelia. It's been a while." I nodded, it had been about six months since the last time I was seen in Konoha after all, eight months since the time I had become a rogue ninja. "It has indeed." I looked away, a little uncomfortable. "Well it was a pleasure meeting you but Aelia and I have a mission so… see ya." declared Deidara, walking us towards the gate. "Hold on a minute." Sasuke held on to my arm. "
Aelia and I have known each other for longer, therefore worked together for longer as well. She'd work more efficiently with me." I gulped, the two men turned towards me, demanding that I make a choice. "I-I'm not the one making the decisions here guys. Pain is the one setting up the teams." I pointed at my relative to try and throw the responsibility on him. If I were to make the choice, one of them was going to end up pissed at me either way.
"No, I think this decision right here should be yours to make." I glared at the man, shooting him a look that both him and Sasuke understood the meaning of. "Aelia, let's go. We have a mission, remember?" I nodded, "We do…" I mumbled, "I-I'll make my decision known after this mission!" I declared, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "You're going on a week-long mission." said Pain, "Y-yeah…" I said, scratching the back of my neck, "Fine… but you and Deidara will be going alone. Tobi is currently in a sugar coma…" deadpanned the redhead. I facepalmed, "He ate too many lollipops didn't he?" asked Deidara, trying to hold in his chuckle. Pain nodded and scratched his chin in a pensive manner, "I want you two to go undercover as a couple." the blonde and I blushed. "WHY?!" I exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly since the crows that were perching on one of the trees flew away…
"I like making you suffer." I let out a sigh, "Why do you hate me, Pain? I haven't done anything to you…" the man glared at me, mad because I completely ignored the fact that just the day prior, I brought a giant magnet near his face and laughed instead of helping him pry his head away from the metal. "This is your punishment." he said, a sadistic smile on his face. "What did you do to him, Lia?" asked Sasuke.
Lia? He's never used that nickname before… wait a minute… is he trying to make a point? I noticed the two young men glare at each other from where they were, "I'll tell you later." I mumbled, shooting him a look that asked what he was doing. "I'm making a point, now let us men handle this," was what his eyes told me. I let out a sigh and pulled Deidara by the sleeve. "You better be a good boyfriend or I might just dump you by the end of the day." Deidara chuckled and put his arms around my waist.
Please stop… It's not that I don't like it but you really don't have to make a point to Sasuke who's literally like a brother to me... "Don't you worry, I'll treat you well." he smirked, making me blush slightly. "L-let's just go…" I mumbled, leaving with him. I covered my face with my hands the moment we were far enough from the hideout so that people wouldn't hear me scream. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?!" Deidara smirked and pulled me a little closer. "I'm not losing the only useful teammate that I have to some duck looking ass guy."
I let out a sigh, deeming it useless to argue with him. "Since you picked the mission, you might as well tell me what it's about." Deidara got a little uncomfortable. "There's this sex trafficking ring that's been going around recently-" I cut him off immediately. "Please don't tell me that we're helping them with shipment." I begged. The blonde immediately shook his head.
"NO! We're going to bust them and free those girls but for that… I sort of… um… needed a girl for bait?" I inhaled sharply. "Fuck no." and trying to turn around and leave, but Deidara still had his arm around me. "Please? I'll come rescue you in no time. Just one day with sex traffickers? How bad could it possibly be." My face became blank. "I'm going to let you think about what you just said." Deidara let out a sigh, "Alright fair point but come on… it's to help those girls…" My body went rigid. He knows how much of a feminist I am.
"Twenty four hours. If you're even a second late, I will take the matter into my own hands, kill everyone present in the room and then I'll come for your ass." I threatened. The blonde nodded, seemingly satisfied. "I should also advise you… you know… not to fight back if anything happens. It would be safer for you that way." I froze, knowing exactly what he meant. "I-I know… Resisting will only make things worse. I'll behave." I mumbled, the look in my eyes dark. "You're treating me to a five stars restaurant when we get there, and I'm picking the hotel." I said finally.
"What?! I'll be broke!" I shot him a glare that would even scare Pain if he was there. "I'm going through the risk of getting raped for this. The least you could do is treat me well beforehand!" Deidara seemed to consider it. "Fuck I hate it when you're right." he mumbled, taking me to a small train station. "Well then, try to look like a happy girlfriend." he mumbled, "I'm far from happy at the moment." I groaned, annoyed. "Pretend." he said with a smile on his face, kissing my temple. I immediately blushed. "F-fine…" I mumbled as we headed towards the ticket purchase area. On the way there, we hid behind a tree and henge-ed into normal clothes. "Won't people recognize you if you look like your usual self?" I asked, shooting him a weirded out look.
"We're going somewhere that is overflowing with criminals so what's the point?" he asked, taking my hand into his and walking towards the booth. "Two tickets for Zalfari please." the woman nodded, a worried look on her face, "Sir that place is extremely dangerous. The train will drop you off at the outskirts of the town to avoid getting inside. Are you sure you'd still like to go?" Deidara nodded. The woman handed us the tickets, bidding us a safe trip. "Does she not know that most criminal organisations and shit hide outside of towns?" I chuckled going inside the train.
"Tch… Couldn't you have gone for a more… flattering look?" asked Deidara, glaring at my hoodie and pants. "W-what? I'm comfortable…" I argued. "We're trying to get you kidnapped by a sex trafficking organisation. They won't take you if you look… like that…" I glared at him before heading towards the bathroom. "Fine." I mumbled, going inside and henge-ing into a black long sleeved crop top and some short shorts.
"There. Happy?" I asked, sitting next to him, feeling more self conscious than ever." Deidara looked me up and down, a smirk on his face, making me blush. "Yeah. Very." that made my blush intensify. I looked away from him and rested my head against the window, watching the trees go by at incredible speed as we came closer and closer to the infamous town of Zalfari. "Hello sir, ma'am, could I interest you in some snacks or drinks?" I nodded my head, "Do you have some strawberry pocky sticks?" the woman nodded as she handed me a cup, "What about you, sir?"
Deidara scratched his chin, "Some almond tea would be nice." the woman handed her a cup and walked away to the next booth. I opened my pack of pocky and put a stick into my mouth, nibbling on it dreamily. "Are those really that good?" asked Deidara, curious. I shrugged, "I find them yummy. Here, wanna try some?" I extended the box at him. The boy stared at the box for a second before smirking. "What?" I asked, oblivious. "Sure, I'll have some." I extended the box to him again. The blonde looked like he was going to grab the box but he grabbed my wrist instead and pulled me into him, taking a bite out of the pocky stick that was hanging out of my mouth.
"You're right. They're really yummy." said Deidara, smirking at the blushing mess that I was. "W-w-what was that for?!" I exclaimed, hiding my blush behind my hands in embarrassment. Deidara shot me a devilish smirk and ate another one of my pockys. "What? Got a problem?" he asked, knowing exactly what he'd done. "N-no…" I mumbled, looking away. Why did you have to be flirtatious just as I have to pick a new teammate… You confuse me Deidara…
I looked out the window and watched as the train arrived at its first stop. "Oh, we're spending the night on this train by the way." declared Deidara, I nodded, not really knowing what he wanted me to say. "Sounds good." I mumbled, taking another stick. "We're going to have to share a bed again, you good with that?" I shrugged, "Sure. It's not like it's my first time."
"Yeah the inn was pretty weird." chuckled Deidara, rubbing the back of his neck. "That wasn't my first time either." I said a slight smirk on my face. The boy perked up, "Heh?!" he exclaimed, flipping me around to face him. "Who?" he asked, suddenly serious. My smirk grew wider. You've shown me your cards, Iwagakure no Deidara. "Sasuke." I said with a shrug, my face immediately turning into an innocent look. Deidara looked like he was starting to get annoyed. That's right, get jealous. "It's not like anything happened Deidara, we just slept in the same bed, that's all." I shrugged, holding back a smirk.
"How close are you with that guy anyway?" he asked, trying to seem uninterested. So cute… Might you be getting even more jealous, Deidara-kun? I might as well use this to my advantage. "Pretty close…" I mumbled after pausing to think. "People always thought that we were dating back in the village." A look of anger was made clear in Deidara's eyes. That's right, get even angrier Deidara. "Did you?" I shook my head, "I was considering it at some point. I mean, he is handsome after all, and he's super nice and respectful as well." I shrugged, "He was a candidat." I hated lying to Deidara about my relationship with Sasuke but the look on his face is so worth the guilt.
"What? I can't believe that. He looks like an asshole." I shrugged, "Don't believe me if you must but dear Deidara I speak nothing but the truth." I smirked at him and continued watching the scenery, occasionally taking a sip from the whiskey I had put in the flask Kakashi once let me borrow. I never gave it back to him, did I? "What are those initials?" asked Deidara, pointing at the H and K that had been engraved onto the side of the small metallic container.
"Those are the initials of my adoptive father. Before coming to Konoha, I was an orphan at the time and he took me in." I mumbled, not a complete lie, I do see Kakashi as a father figure after all. "You weren't born in Konoha?" I shook my head, "I met Naruto about two years after he died. Then, I moved to Konoha." Deidara nodded his head. The sun started to set, creating a beautiful mix of pink, orange and red in the sky. "So pretty." I breathed out, looking at the sky through the window. "Yeah, it is." mumbled the blonde, a small smile on his face. I tried not to turn my head around and look at him, intead, I focused on his reflection… which probably was equally creepy…
"I hate that you made me change." I mumbled, "These clothes are so uncomfortable…" The shirt was extremely tight and the shorts kept going up my thigh so I always had to pull them down. "Come on now, it's not that bad." said Deidara, staring at my thighs. I covered them up with my arms, "Stop acting like a pervert and help me get the bed ready." I mumbled, pulling at the sofa that was supposed to turn into a bed. "Actually you know what? Since what happened at the inn, I'd rather not have you help me with this." I snickered, pulling the sofa into a bed almost instantly.
"There." I said with a satisfied smile. "All ready," I went to the other sofa and tried to pull it into a bed as well, "That one is just a regular seat," said Deidara, snickering. "Oh…" I said with an embarrassed chuckle. "Alright then… make space." I mumbled, closing the slidable doors to the booth and got into the makeshift bed with Deidara. "Stay in your space." I mumbled, getting ready to drift off to sleep. "We need to wake up early tomorrow, you'll be fine with that, right?" I asked, smirking. "Ugh, shut up, I'm just not a morning person." mumbled the blonde. "Fine. I'll wake you up." I mumbled, turning the lights of and getting ready to fall asleep.
"Good night." mumbled Deidara, his voice already trailing off as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. "No way…" I mumbled, waving my hand in front of his face to check if he was actually asleep. "Holy shit…" I mumbled, chuckling at the fact that the blonde had fallen asleep so quickly. A few minutes passed and soon enough, Deidara wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
I blushed, thanking the darkness in the room for making the redness of my face invisible and pulling away each time he hugged me. Deidara cuddled into me for the rest of the night, occasionally resting his head in the crook of my neck or hugging me from the back. How funny would it be if he actually did that with Tobi. I let out a small chuckle, only to be silenced when Deidara pulled me into him one more time, this time, my head was resting against his collarbone. Comfortable in that position and feeling safe in his embrace, I decided to stay that way, burying my face into his shirt and letting myself fall asleep, lulled by the steady sound of Deidara's heartbeat.
I woke up in the morning, well before Deidara, or the time we were supposed to wake up for that matter. "Three am… We need to be up by seven…" I groaned out, my voice a little raspy. I made myself comfortable in Deidara's embrace once again and closed my eyes to try and fall asleep again. I nuzzled against his chest, feeling a little guilty about the fact that I was taking advantage of the situation. "Aelia…" I looked up to face Deidara, thinking that he was awake. I let out a small sigh of relief, "He's just sleep talking." I whispered to myself, blushing as Deidara's hold on me tightened.
The blonde rested his chin on my head and brought his hands down to my waist. It's not butterflies anymore, it's fucking attack helicopters and airplanes that are flying inside of my stomach. "Deidara, let me go," I whispered, gently shaking him. "Shush…" groaned out Deidara, his voice husky. He held my hand in his and squeezed it. Is he awake? "Deidara… Are you sleeping?" the boy groaned once more which made me assume that he was indeed still asleep. He intertwined his fingers with mine while I was a blushing mess and nuzzled into the back of my hand. W-w-w-what is he doing? Come on, wake up, please!
The sun rose just a few minutes later. It was currently seven am and I had had close to no amount of sleep after being woken up. "Ugh… It's going to be like this for the rest of the time being too…" I mumbled, grabbing Deidara by the shoulders and shaking him gently. "Deidara, we're almost at our stop, wake up." I said in a gentle voice, the boy groaned and put the covers over his head. "Five more minutes…" he grumbled.
I chuckled and pulled the covers down a little, "Wake up~" I singsonged starting to get mildly annoyed. "No~ Aelia, five more minutes and I'm up…" I shook my head even though he couldn't see it. "If you don't wake up I'll…" I tried to think of something that would disgust him to the point of shooting out of bed and getting dressed within seconds. "I'll kiss you if you don't wake up." The boy cocked a brow, "Then kiss me. I'm staying asleep." I let out a sigh and pulled the covers off him. "Evil woman." grumbled the boy as he curled into a ball, "Cold…" he grumbled. I let out a frustrated sigh and went to shake him once more. "Deidara! Come on!" I whined, but as soon as my hand made contact with his body, the blonde pulled me into bed with him and hugged me at an attempt to warm himself up.
"Oi, are you drunk?" I asked, trying to get away from him, secretly enjoying what was happening. "Aelia, your body is like a warm bottle of water!" exclaimed Deidara as he continued to cuddle into me. I let out a small sigh, "Please get up. I don't want to miss our stop." the boy shook his head, "You're so comfortable! Perfect size for hugging!" I let out a sigh, is morning Deidara just a drunk version of him? "Deidara, I'm starting to get mad." I threatened.
The boy finally took me seriously and let me go. "Hmpf. You're no fun." I chuckled and got out of bed, pulling him out with me. "Geez you're so weird in the mornings." I mumbled, pulling out my flask and taking a sip of whiskey. "You're even weirder, you're drinking at seven in the morning!" countered Deidara. "What did I do anyway?" he asked, a hint of pink on his face. "Do you really want to know?" I asked, raising a brow.
The boy nodded, "I want to know how much I need to apologize before you finally forgive me," he chuckled before becoming serious. "Did I do anything that made you uncomfortable?" I shrugged, "Nah, you just cuddled with me and hugged me all night long. At some point you kissed me." the boy's face turned pink, "I kissed you?!" I chuckled, "Relax, you only kissed the back of my hand. It was cute."
I covered my mouth, hoping he didn't hear the last part, "What did you say?" asked the boy, "Oh I said it was funny." I murmured, a little disappointed. "Well if you weren't uncomfortable then I guess I'm glad." said the boy. We waited for the food cart to arrive and give us breakfast. "Hello. Would you like a cheese sandwich or a chicken wrap?" asked the woman. "I'll take the cheese sandwich." I said with a smile, "Chicken wrap please." ordered Deidara, grabbing the wrap and taking a bite as soon as it was offered to him.
"Our stop is in fifteen minutes." I mumbled, taking a bite out of my sandwich. "When did you change?" asked Deidara. I was now wearing a red v neck that showed a considerable amount of cleavage and a black mini skirt. "While you were sleeping." I shrugged while the boy smirked, "You got naked in front of me? My, my, Aelia." I bonked him on the head, "Don't be stupid, I went to the bathroom."
Deidara snickered before nodding, not mentioning the genjutsu that I had cast on my chest and arms. Maybe he could just tell there was a genjutsu but not know where it was? "Why do you have a genjutsu on your arms?" I froze. How did he know? Why are the gods proving me wrong all the time?! "Oh, it's to hide the sigil that was burned onto my skin." the blonde nodded, "But why on both your arms then?" I gulped, "I'm a shinobi Deidara, I'm bound to have scars. I'm hiding them with a genjutsu so that I can look more… appealing I guess." I shrugged, finishing the remaining of my breakfast.
"I see." he mumbled, getting up from his seat right after our stop was announced. "When do you plan on getting kidnapped?" he asked jokingly, "Whenever I get a chance." I snickered, leaving the room before him, swinging my hips left and right as I hopped off the train. We walked side by side towards the town of Zalfari. Since the town was so dangerous, the train let us go at a stop that was at the outskirts of the town. We walked into the town, side by side, and walked towards the hotel I had booked while on the train.
"I thought you'd pick out a five star." chuckled Deidara, "I was going to but there was a fire and the owner got arrested for arson." the blonde let out an "Oh," and entered the hotel with me by his side. "That doesn't mean I didn't book the best room here though," said with a devious smile. "Room? You only booked one?" asked Deidara with a smirk, "Aelia, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you have the hots for me." I cringed, he isn't wrong though, "Oh please, we've been married for a year already, Anata, you can stop with jokes." I said as we approached the receptionist.
"Oh, you're Sumi-san right?" she asked, pointing at me, I nodded, "Then this must be your husband, Reo." Deidara nodded, "Pleasure to meet you." he mumbled. I took his arm and wrapped it around me, "Your room is on the top floor, you're lucky, you'll be able to see the sea but none of the bloodshed." I gulped while Deidara cocked a brow, "Thank you ma'am, have a nice day." I said with a smile on my face, pulling Deidara with me as we got our suitcases to the room. "Married, Aelia?" asked Deidara with a smirk as soon as we entered the room, "Ah, dear husband, weren't we ordered by our boss himself to pretend to be a couple?" the boy chuckled, "Yes but why say we were married?" I cleared my throat.
"There was… a different room available in the Unmarried Couples wing." the boy cocked a brow. "It was a love room okay? There I said it." the boy choked on his laughter as he fell on the floor and started laughing. "L-love room?!" he continued laughing while I put my stuff on the shelves. "Which side of the closet do you want?" I asked. Deidara came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, making me blush, "That side looks alright." he mumbled, nodding towards the left side of the closet.
"W-what are you doing all of a sudden?" I asked, flustered. The blonde shot me a smirk, "What? You're my girlfriend for the time being, so I'll treat you like one." the blush on my face intensified as I let him do his thing. "You're taking this way too seriously…" I murmured. "Well this is a mission based on how believable we are. We may be watched any time, you know…" I let out a small sigh. Mission based on how believable we are my ass, you're trying to make a point to someone who isn't even here. "If you say so…" Deidara gave me a small squeeze before kissing the top of my head. "Is that really how you would treat a girlfriend?" I asked, snickering. The boy blushed, "W-well of course! If I like a woman well enough to ask her to be my girlfriend, I'll make her feel loved, un!" I snickered, "Oh wow, lucky me! Being your first and probably only girlfriend for a week!" Deidara's blush intensified, "First?! Ha! If anything, I'm your first boyfriend." I shrugged, "You're not wrong. But unlike you, I've been in a relationship before. Turned into shit, but I still have experience." I snickered.
"Oh right. I forgot about your girlfriend." I wasn't talking about that but okay, "Yeah. Anyways, let's change the subject… hm… what should we talk about…. That's right! Date night!" I exclaimed, a small smirk on my face, "W-what?" asked Deidara, suddenly scared. "There's a ball tonight. I managed to steal a couple of invites. That's why I changed our names back there." I shrugged while Deidara cocked a brow, "Why exactly are we going to a ball?"
I chuckled, "One, because I want to, and two, because there's always a creep who'll spike a girl's drink during those kinds of events. There's only one sex trafficking ring in the Elemental Nations and that is The Syndicate of Silver. They're a company that sells custom made weapons to cover up their illegal work. I've been trying to bring them down for a while and just managed to dig up enough dirt on them to have them… you know… blerg…" I said pretending to slash my throat with my thumb. Deidara nodded, urging me to continue, "Anyways, my source told me that most of their men would be there tonight so we might as well sneak in."
"Who is this mysterious source you trust so much?" asked Deidara, a little suspicious, "Oh, just an old friend of mine." I said with a slight smirk, "It's a masked ball so you'll need to hide your face with something other than your hair. Could you do that for me, Anata?" I asked, trying not to laugh. Deidara chuckled and kissed my cheek before letting go of my waist and grabbing a tux I had packed for him.
"Anything for my wife, right?" I giggled before grabbing the red tight dress out of the closet. It had long sleeves and had a slit up to the thigh. I looked at the time. "We still have until eight thirty pm to get there. There's no point in getting ready now. It's not even noon yet." I told Deidara as I put my dress away. "What kind of mask did you bring?" he asked, looking at the white mask that was going at the upper side of his face.
I raised the mask high enough for him to see. The mask was black and made out of something similar to porcelaine, the upper sides of it had horn-like designs that made it look like there were horns sticking out of my head. "Flashy." commented Deidara with a smirk, "I like it." he said in the end, causing me to smile. In truth, I had designed that mask to resemble one of the masks that my babushka had hanging on her walls. The sheer amount of masks scared me as a child but my babushka said that it was a metaphor. Not too long after that, she gifted me my first mask, telling me that this mask represents who I am in her eyes.
Now that I think about it, she always used to say that I was nothing but a воплощенный дьявол (voploshchennyy d'yavol) which meant devil incarnate. "That woman really hated me didn't she…" I sighed as I let out a small chuckle, "But dear babushka, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree so in the end, you were calling yourself the devil incarnate all along." Deidara stared at me weirdly while I glared at the mask. "You okay?" he asked after a while. I nodded, "Yeah, just remembered something." I said with a smile as I put the mask away. "Ah~ How much I hate that mask…" I mumbled. Deidara cocked a brow, confused since it looked like he knew how much work I put into it.
"But didn't you make it? Didn't it turn out how you wanted it to?" I shook my head, "It did turn out the way it was supposed to. I just don't like what it represents. I shouldn't have made it in the first place." I said with a sad smile, "I don't like the metaphor it's a part of." Deidara nodded, though he seemed confused. "Anyways…" I started, trying to change the subject, "What would you like to do now?" Deidara seemed to think, "I don't know… I'd say walk around the city but it's a dangerous place and we're undercover." I shot him a kind smile before taking out some tickets to an art exposition.
"When did you have the time to get these?!" he exclaimed, grabbing the tickets from me and hugging them to his chest, "Oh, you know…" I mumbled, going to the door, "The exposition starts in thirty minutes. We can make it there if we hurry." Deidara nodded and grabbed my hand as we ran through the alleyways and into the building where the exposition would be happening.
"Gotta hand it to this place, for a town that's ruled over by criminals, it surely just looks like any normal village." I stated. The blonde next to me nodded, stopping in the middle of the road to stare at a building. "Deidara?" I asked, looking at where he was staring. "Isn't that the cafe you always wanted to go to or something?" he asked, pointing at Dango Palace. I could feel my mouth watering but I remembered Deidara's art exposition was about to start. "We'll come some other time. We'll miss your exposition if we stay here for too long."
Deidara shot me a thankful look before holding my hand in his. "Then let's get going shall we?" he shot me a closed eyed smile that brought a blush to my cheeks. "Y-yeah… let's." I really have to think about who I'm going to choose as a teammate when we get back. Worst case scenario either Sasuke will have to partner up with Kisame or Deidara and Tobi will loathe me for life. "Are you okay? You seem pensive." It was then that I noticed we were inside the building, not only that, we were in front of one painting of one of Deidara's favorite artists according to him that is.
"Hm? No don't worry about it, I was just thinking about how unique the way artists think is." I said with a smile. "That's a stone cold lie and you know it. What's going on?" he asked, genuinely curious. Ugh… why does he have to make it so hard for me to choose? Why can't he just go back to being an asshole? "I-it's just… I feel a lot of pressure from both you and Sasuke about this partner choosing thing." Deidara cocked a brow, "I haven't talked about it since we left the hideout and Sasuke isn't even here."
I let out a sigh, "Sasuke has his own ways of pressuring me. Just like you." I said with a small chuckle, "I just… whoever I choose, one of you is going to be sad and I don't want that." Deidara nodded before wrapping an arm around me, "You shouldn't worry yourself over that. Chances are, Pain already made the choice for you and this is his way of taking revenge on… the incident." I nodded, "I hope you're right." The boy kissed my temple in a soothing manner, "Let's have fun for now alright? We're going to a ball tonight, you shouldn't be moping, un." I chuckled, squeezing his hand.
"I noticed you've made your hand mouths disappear." I teased, the boy blushed, "L-like I said. You're my girlfriend for the time being so I'll try to please you as much as I can." I cringed at that, "That is weirdly sexual in nature." the boy chuckled before bonking me on the head gently. "Come on, that one over there is the last piece, we'll go to the Dango Palace right after this." I nodded, glad that we could spend time together like this, even if it was fake.
"Do you even know courtroom dancing?" asked Deidara after we left the exposition. I nodded, remembering all those lessons mother made me take, "Sadly. It's boring as hell." Deidara snickered, "I just might change your mind tonight." I raised a brow at that, "Really now? You can dance?" the boy nodded, "I'm pretty good if I do say so myself." We spent the rest of the time in the cafe, staying there until we had to go back to the hotel so that we could get changed.
"Come on Aelia, it's been twenty minutes. Just get out of there." I forced the door shut. "Never! It's too embarrassing!" Deidara let out a sigh, "Come on… I'm sure that you look just fine." I let out a sigh, crossing my arms over my chest, "'Fine' isn't good enough!" the blush on my face intensified as I waited for Deidara to say something else. "I'm sure you look like a bad bitch now can you please get out of there?" I gulped and turned the handle of the door. Upon seeing that, Deidara grabbed the knob and pulled it so hard I thought my arm was going to rip. I stood there, face red, looking slightly more mature due to the little bit of makeup that I used. "You…" started Deidara before getting into a fit of laughter.
I let out a small whimper and went back inside the bathroom. "W-wait!" exclaimed Deidara, still laughing, "I was just shocked that's all. Please come out, we're going to be late." I let out a sigh and fixed my hair before getting out of the bathroom, putting my light chestnut hair into a half up half down hairstyle that had been held together by two french braids, I had also readjusted my hair to put on the illusion that I had bags so that I could hide my face as best as I could, finally, I put my mask on and left.
"You look amazing." tried Deidara, only to receive a glare from me, "You should've said that before laughing, asshole." Deidara chuckled before giving me a side hug. I pulled away from him, crossing my arms and sticking my nose in the air. "Aw come on don't be mad." said Deidara, his hesitant tone replaced by a childish one. I continued facing away from his until we reached the venue. There, I immediately latched onto his arm and snuggled into it. "That was a quick change in character." mumbled Deidara, sweat dropping behind his mask, "Shut up." I said in between my gritted teeth.
We were allowed in as they checked our invitations, I immediately headed towards the snacks bar, getting myself a drink. "Aren't you too young to drink?" I smirked as I recognized the voice of my informant, "Ah, Kabuto. Such a pleasure to see you here." I said with a sweet smile on my face. Suddenly the music changed and turned into a classic courtroom dance session. This dance was for the waltz. "May I have this dance?" asked Kabuto, kissing my knuckle, "My, my, but of course, kind sir." I noticed Deidara staring at me from a distance but I ignored him.
"Found yourself a new plaything I see." said Kabuto, chuckling as he nodded towards the blonde. "Plaything? I really do wonder just how you see me, Kabuto-sensei. Now then, what do you have for me?" I've been paying Kabuto to do all kinds of work for me ever since I left Orochimaru's side so he knows to get straight down to business by now. "The theme the Syndicate of Silver chose for their group mask is birds. Any man wearing a mask with feathers on it is one of them." I nodded while Kabuto pulled me closer and whispered.
"I don't know why you're trying to get kidnapped by them or why you'd even bother destroying an entire ring but this better not bite me in the ass." I shrugged, doing a small spin, "You owe me quite a lot, sensei, I think you should just shush and do as you're told." Kabuto glared at me, "You manipulative bitch." I chuckled at his poor excuse of an insult, "Facts aren't stated to hurt people, Kabuto." I pulled away from him just as the song ended, "Please keep up the good work." I said with a smile, "You know what happens if you don't." Kabuto glared at me but curtsied before leaving just as I did nonetheless.
"What was that all about?" asked Deidara, an annoyed look on his face, "What? Information exchange?" I patted him on the cheek, "Don't you worry anata, I would never do something as distasteful as cheat." as smirked while he just groaned. "Learn anything?" he asked finally. I nodded, "Any man that's seen wearing a feather on his mask is part of the Syndicate of Silver." Deidara nodded as the two of us walked towards a group of men that were wearing masks just like that. "Really? How much are we talking?" I asked Deidara as we approached the bar the men were sitting near.
Wait… fifteen different types of wine and champagne? I didn't know there were more than three! "Oh you know, about forty million ryo." I gasped, grasping the fake gold necklace I had won at a fair along with Sakura about a one or two years ago. I got myself a glass of champagne and set it behind me, giving the men plenty of time to spike my drink. Deidara walked away so as not to intimidate the group and watched from a distance as the men approached me one by one.
"Hey there," said one of them, clearly old enough to be my grandfather. "Hello sir. Quite the amazing ball don't you think?" I asked, taking a sip from my champagne, already starting to feel a little dizzy but dismissing it. "Yes, you are quite right, but it isn't as beautiful as you." said one of them, a blonde boy with piercing red eyes. "Why thank you." I said, taking a seat, the dizziness overcoming me.
Thankfully, I can just fix this when they try to kidnap me, but for now, I'll have to make do. "Are you alright?" asked one of the men, pushing the chair under me, "Yes, I think I might've had one drink too much." I mumbled, fighting away the urge to fall asleep. "Perhaps we should take you home." proposed a man, "You are most kind," I said with a thankful smile, taking the hand of the blonde as he guided me through the crowd and out of the venue. "Some fresh air might help you." suggested one of the men. It won't. Whatever this drug is, it becomes even more powerful in a highly oxygenated area. "Perhaps you're right…" I trailed off, falling on the floor and watching as the scenery around me soon turned black.
I woke up after what I assume to be a few hours, in a cage with about a hundred different women. "Ah, the newbie is awake." exclaimed one of the girls. She was probably about my age, perhaps even younger. "What's your name?" she asked, a worried smile on her face, "S-Sumi… yours?" the girl hesitated before answering, "Yosano. It's nice to meet you." I smile at the girl, she had pretty long black hair and beautiful green eyes. "It's nice to meet you too, Yosano-san. Tell me… where are we?" I asked, looking around.
A random woman came over and dragged the girl away, "Yosano, you shouldn't talk to people like her. Look at what she's wearing, she's just an aristocrat! Mommy and Daddy will probably come and save her in a few minutes. Just like last time." I shot the woman a smile. "First of all, lady, my parents are dead, second of all, I assure you, I am no aristocrat, I don't even know the first thing about etiquette, and third of all," I glared at her, "Yosano-san is old enough to make decisions for herself, it is not up to you who she talks to." The girls in the room all glared at me while Yosano sent me a thankful smile.
I ripped my dress and took out the kunai that I had been hiding in there. "As always, having weapons on you is going to help you at some point." I mumbled, forcing chakra into my hand and smashing it, making the kunai into a makeshift senbon. I put the needle in my hair and waited for someone to come in. "Oi! Ratface! I'm hungry!" I called at the guard. The man turned around and snickered. "You really think you can just demand stuff here?" he asked, unlocking the door. Wow, I'm going to get assulted already? The man walked towards me in a determined manner and grabbed me by the hair.
I didn't move, just let him have his way as Deidara advised. "What is it? Not going to resist? You're a slut aren't you?" I let out a sigh of annoyance, "Will a 'no' satisfy you?" the man chuckled, "So you like talking back?" He pinned me against the wall, bringing his disgusting hand on my thigh. "Get your dirty hands off me, asshat." I said calmly, stabbing his hand with the makeshift senbon. "Yeah! Beat his ass, Sumi-chan!" screamed Yosano. Idiot, you're going to suffer the consequences too now!
The guard screamed as he fell to the floor. His comrades or underlings… probably underlings… came into the room and immediately dragged me and Yosano to a separate cell. The guard took out a baton and hit me in the ribs with it. I grunted but didn't say anything much. He then moved over to Yosano but I pulled her back just in time and got the hit for her.
"Sumi-chan, stop!" exclaimed, Yosano, in tears already. Right… Sometimes I forget that commoners aren't used to the sigh of blood or any of the gross things I see on a daily basis. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, just focus on not getting hit, alright?" The girl nodded as she hid behind me, wincing every now and then every time I got hit. "Why don't you fight back?" she asked after the guards left. I wiped the blood off my nose and the corner of my mouth before answering. "With men like that, you should know by now that resisting will only make things worse."
She nodded, "Then there's no point in me answering." I ripped my dress some more to make movement easier and gave one of my kunai to the girl. "Did they touch you yet?" I asked. The girl's eyes widened as she handed the weapon back to me, "I can't kill." she mumbled, "And you shouldn't as well." I chuckled at that, "Everyone gets their hands dirty at some point. Only use the kunai as a last resort." A few hours passed and we finally arrived at a port. I hadn't even noticed we were on a ship. "Where are we going?" I asked, "Black market." answered the girl, suddenly shaking all over.
"S-say… how long has it been since I've been here?" I asked, wondering if Deidara still had some time. "About three days." I widened my eyes, "I was unconscious for that long?!" I should've just fixed the issue and pretended to be under the effect of the drug… Deidara where are you? "Y-yeah… Listen, I don't know how I should tell you this but when you were unconscious… they…" I gulped, forcing away my tears. "I-I see… Thank you for telling me." the girl nodded as she sat down in the cell, resting her head in her hands.
"You kept calling on someone…" she said, "Or perhaps you were just talking gibberish… I don't really know, but you would wake up every so often and they would just give you the drug again, I saw you fight back once… you were pretty good, even though you had the drug in your system. They managed to knock you out somehow." I nodded, getting back to the subject, "What did I say?" I asked. The girl hesitated before opening her mouth to speak, "You kept repeating Dei… Dei...something… sort of like "danger"…" she mumbled, rubbing her chin, "Do you mean Deidara?" I asked, my eyes widening as I realised what I said.
Why did I call for Deidara when he isn't even here? Why would I do that? "It's nothing… don't worry about it." I mumbled, racking my brain to find out just why I had called to Deidara. The boat came to a stop as the guards put metal collars around our necks and pulled us out of the boat, ordering us to line up. "Close your eyes. Don't open them until I tell you to." the girl nodded, a somewhat fearsome look in her eyes.
One. I lined up in front of the many lines of buyers. Two. I clutched the kunai that I was holding inside of my pocket. Three. I waited for all the men to be distracted. Four. I healed all of my wounds secretly. Five. I waited for the head guard to announce the first person up for a bargain. Six. I watched as she walked to the front. Seven. I got into a discrete stance and watched as a man bid seven hundred thousand ryo for the woman. Eight. I looked around and spotted Deidara. Nine. I made the presence of my weapon known. Ten. One by one, I killed each and every person that was present, Deidara helping me with the ones that tried to escape. Their bodies falling on the floor with nearly silent thuds. A few minutes passed and I had even killed the men that had tried to escape. I smiled at my accomplishment and went to the stand. Deidara picked the locks of the metal collars and freed the women.
"You can open your eyes." I said to Yosano. The girl rushed over to me to try and help me with my wounds but her own kept her from moving. "It's okay. The blood isn't mine." I said with a blank face as I healed her wounds, my hand glowing a minty green as the wounds on her body quickly disappeared. "Y-you killed them." she said, getting away from me, "H-how could you?" I rolled my eyes at the girl, "The world isn't as pretty as you think. It was either them or us in this situation." the girl shook her head, "You even killed the ones that were there to buy."
I slapped her in the face, "Do you honestly believe that the world is just rainbows and unicorns?! If those people hadn't died, this ring would never end! You and countless other women would be a part of this ring for the rest of your lives! Is that really what you want?!" Deidara put a hand on my shoulder. "Let's just go. I'm sorry I was late." I nodded, jumping from roof to roof with Deidara by my side.
"Why were you late?" I asked, trying not to blame him for what happened to me, "I got help up. One of the men kidnapped a woman that looked almost identical to you. I decided to save her before coming for you." Nodded, "Wise choice." I mumbled, accelerating a little. "Did something happen while I was gone?" I nodded, "It's not important though. It doesn't matter." I said with a smile.
Deidara nodded, though he seemed skeptical. "Who was that girl?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "Just a girl I shared a cell with." Deidara nodded before coming to a halt. "What's going on?" I asked, a brow raised. "Let's go that way. They rent out triangle gliders. We can get to the hideout faster." I nodded, agreeing with him and heading towards the place to "rent" one of his gliders. We paid the guy and immediately jumped off the cliff, Deidara summoned some wind to help us stay up for a long amount of time. Within two to three hours of nonstop using our chakra and gliding, we finally arrived at Amegakure and got struck down by lightning.
"Should've expected that." chuckled Deidara as he scratched the back of his neck. I chuckled and nodded. "You killed everyone in that organization so we didn't have to hand them in." said Deidara. I nodded. "We killed the buyers as well." I mumbled, looking down, feeling disgusted with myself. "Seriously, Aelia, what's wrong? Did something happen while you were in there? Did someone hurt you?" tears gathered in my eyes as I let them fall, memories of what had happened flooding my brain.
Start of flashback (rape scene ahead, please skip if you are uncomfortable.)
"Hey, stop let me go!" I screamed as one of the men pulled at my dress. I felt so weak, I couldn't even do a thing, let alone summon enough chakra to heal myself. "Stop it! Stop it, let me go!" I continued screaming as I kicked one of the men in the crotch and punched another one in the face. "She's a feisty one, I like her." said one of the men as he pushed me against the wall and licked me from the bottom of my neck until my ear. "Gross! Get away from me you perverts!" I screamed as I tried my best to get away from the man's grasp. Soon enough, I was shackled to a wall with about five men ganging up on me, ripping my clothes and cutting my skin with their pocket knives. I held in my screams, not wanting to give any of them the satisfaction of hearing me.
"If you scream I might consider just fucking you." said one of the men as he snickered and slashed my stomach, "I'll kill all of you!" I screamed, trying to kick them away even though both my feet and hands were shackled down. Something sharp went inside of my neck as I felt a burning liquid rush through my veins. "N-no…" I managed to croak out as I felt my eyes get heavied. "Tranquilizer." smirked one of the men, "Now let us take care of you." he said, ripping off my bra and grabbing my breast roughly, I let out a groan of pain and didn't react as he licked and sucked on random places of my body along with his friends.
After not getting much reaction out of me, one of the men left, only to come back with an iron rod and a new companion. Deidara? I thought, only to push it away. Deidara's eyes were blue, this man bore red eyes. "Deidara… please save me…" I croaked out, tears running down my face, only for the blonde to grab my face and lick the tears away, making me cringe. "Deidara… stop…" I begged, only now realising that I had called that man Deidara.
"You should be happy you're getting any attention at all you whore!" screamed one of the men as he ripped off my panties and slammed his dick into me. Making me gasp out in pain. I didn't say anything after that, didn't protest, I just let them have their way with me. This went on for about three days, the same blonde man coming to the cell and raping me, hitting me, torturing me and insulting me every minute of the day. Each time he would inject me with something even stronger and more painful than the last drug. Tears would roll down my cheeks non stop and every now and then, I'd make eye contact with one of the girls in the other cells who'd just shoot me a look of pity and look away.
End of flashback.
"Aelia." said Deidara, starting to get worried. I fell on my knees and cried, shedding tears for the little bit of innocence that I had left, leaving as well. "Aelia, tell me what happened." ordered Deidara. I shook my head, not wanting any more memories to resurface. Deidara's eyes widened. "They touched you didn't they? Those bastards laid their hands on you!" I didn't say anything, just sat there and let the tears fall, they have to stop eventually anyway. I felt something warm on me and noticed that it was Deidara's arms.
I stiffened a little, remembering the cold eyes of the man with red eyes and his striking resemblance to Deidara. If his eyes were blue, they would be identical. "P-please get away…" I said, starting to get a panic attack, "STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!" In that moment, Deidara pulled away, pure shock in his eyes. But his eyes weren't blue, they were red and his shocked expression was actually that of glee.
"Aelia? Are you alright?" The image disappeared just as quickly as it came. "U-uh yeah. Let's just head back." I mumbled, doing my best to stay away as far away from Deidara as I could. "Aelia." Deidara grabbed me by the wrist and forced me to look at him. My eyes widened in fear as flashback after flashback came toppling over. "Why are you scared of me?" he whispered, his hurt obvious in his tone. "I-I'm so sorry…" I said as more tears filled my eyes. I leaned against him despite being terrified, "I'm so sorry Deidara.''
The boy wrapped his arms around me, giving me a comforting hug, but all I could feel was nausea. "Tell me," he begged, pushing me away slightly so that he could look into my eyes, his hands never leaving my shoulder. Blue quickly turned to red as a wave of panic crashed into me "He looked like you…" I finally whispered out, shivering slightly. "He looked so much like you it terrifies me." Deidara looked at me, hurt and disgust written in his eyes.
"Do you think I'm disgusting?" I asked, tears rolling down my cheeks, "I'm nothing more than damaged goods now." I said with a smile. The boy shook his head, reaching out to hug me only to stop himself. "You're not disgusting." he said as if he was sure of this one thing more than anything in life, "I'm disgusted something like this happened to you? Damaged goods? Don't fuck with me, you're still Aelia, aren't you?" I shook my head, "The Aelia you know is dead." I mumbled, looking down, "There's nothing more than her weak husk standing in front of you now." Deidara shook his head once again, looking at me as though I was stupid. "Weak? You're far from that. Something this horrible happened to you yet look, you're still alive." I shook my head, letting out a humourless laugh, "Barely." I said in the end.
"Do you really think that you're damaged goods? Because I don't." he said decidedly, "Prove it." the blonde's hand hesitantly reached out to cup my cheek, I let him do what he wanted as he slowly pulled me into him by the waist. My body went rigid as I met his eyes, not being able to see anything other than red instead of blue. "You are far from being damaged Aelia. No matter what happens." I nuzzled into his palm, trying to calm myself down a little. The boy kissed me softly before pulling away, thinking he had triggered something in me. He had a faint blush on his cheeks as he quickly apologized before adding, "Y-you should join Sasuke's team." he said in the end, looking down, "You said that I looked like the bastard that did this to you right? I think you should keep your distance for a while, take some time to think. Then come back to our team alright?" he shot me a smile, a smile that made me believe everything was going to be okay. The smile that didn't get tainted by the image of the crimson eyed devil. "Let's head back inside." said Deidara in a serious tone. "There wasn't anyone that looked like me in the crowd so that man probably got away."
My body went rigid upon hearing that, "Do you think he'll come here?" I asked, my fear evident in my voice. "He's have to be really dumb. You're part of the Akatsuki, remember?" I nodded, heading inside the hideout. "Can we… not tell anyone about this?" I asked in the hallway. Deidara looked like he was going to protest but held it in, deciding that he would trust my judgement. "If you don't want me to, then I won't tell them." I thanked him and plastered a fake smile on my face.
"Ah there they are. You guys finished your mission two days early."
