Authors Note: End of flashback in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto, the world, or the characters. All of these belong to the creator Masashi Kishimoto.
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Chapters 2
The Boy Who Left
"Listen up and listen good, brats!" The Tsuchikage yelled in his genin team's faces like a drill sergeant. Onoki proceeded to haughtily lecture the trio composed of Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi, and Deidara. Though, only Akatsuchi payed any meaningful attention. The boy's teammates were instead quietly conversing with bored expressions.
"You really got the old man to rig the teams for us, hm?" The blonde asked, impressed.
"He really wasn't hard to convince." Kuro replied with a scheming laugh. The three wouldn't have been able to team up without Onoki's strong intervention in the Academy process. Akatsuchi had her eleven year old self beat by two years, while Deidara was only twelve. But, that little difference was easily waived with a rearranging of the genin teams and bumping Kuro up a year.
"Lord Tsuchikage is talking." Akatsuchi chastised.
"More like yapping, hm." Deidara joked, messing with his forehead protector.
Onoki initially disapproved of the blonde and how he influenced Kurotsuchi's rebellious tendencies. At first, the elder tried to lock Kuro and Akatsuchi up in arduous training sessions. Fortunately for the kids, Kuro didn't need any prompting to leave on her own. While a hesitant Akatsuchi always followed, unable to prevent her from ditching.
However, the trio's antics around Iwagakure quickly caused the Tsuchikage to warm up to Deidara. Deep inside, it was obvious Onoki cared for the brats in his own way.
"I said pay attention!" The elder hollered upon noticing their preoccupied positions.
"What ever do you mean gramps?" Kurotsuchi innocently inquired, drawing her head back.
"We've been listening the entire time, hm. I bet you're just going senile, hm." The blonde additionally quipped with a grin. Not even Akatsuchi could hide his small smile from the Tsuchikage's rampant outburst. While Onoki continued to rant on and on, Deidara noticed another team walking out of the academy. He spotted Mari among them. Proceeding to raise his arm with a cocky grin.
Mari noticed her brother's antics and returned a sly smile. She then gestured to her genin teammates and playfully rolled her eyes. Deidara noted they were both from the Koton clan, one of the more powerful clans in Iwagakure. A tall boy stood to Mari's left, and Deidara nearly choked of laughter upon realizing he was Kai - the Koton clan heir.
"I pity you." She saw Deidara mouth to his sister.
"No you don't." Mari silently signed with a flippant mood to her.
"Deidara!" Onoki snapped simultaneously with Mari's mentor calling her name. Both exploding clan genin immediately straightened. Though, not before the siblings shared a smug look between them. Kurotsuchi smiled at the exchange before genuinely listening to the old man's information about their mission.
It would be their first mission as Team Onoki.
—
Four years passed, and they were all given a surprise announcement. Somehow, Mari of the exploding clan and Kai Koton had fallen in love and were to be married. She distinctly remembered the shocked look on Deidara's face upon finding out the news. His mouth were slightly agape, his eyes veiled in what could only be confusion. Kurotsuchi had needed to smack him on the head to snap the teenager out of his daze.
"You look like a fool." Mari had lightheartedly commented with her hand tightly clasped in Kai's. Deidara huffed at the remark before narrowing his eyes at the young couple.
"Are you sure about this, Mari? It's a little early for this sort of thing, hm. You're both only sixteen, hm." The blonde boy criticized with barely restrained disapproval in his voice. In turn, his sister's posture grew stiff and she turned away from him.
"We're quite dedicated to each other, aren't we, Kai?" Mari scoffed. In response, Kai smirked and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Deidara's eye twitched, and with a scowl he marched down the street.
Later, Kurotsuchi found Deidara sitting at the edge of the wedding reception. He had a sombre expression on his normally bright face. And she felt a pang of worry for her jounin teammate. Though, Team Onoki was officially disbanded. Deidara had been inducted into the Explosion Corps soon after their team became chunin. Mari had been offered the same position. But, she'd refused, too enthralled in a bubbling relationship with Kai. Kurotsuchi recalled Deidara being quite upset at that particular snippet of news. He had spent a whole day blowing boulders up in the fields.
Anyways, despite Team Onoki's disbandment the three jounin often found time to go on missions together. The Tsuchikage seemed particularly convinced that they worked better as a trio. And well, no one was complaining even if said missions were as simple as patrols.
"Deidara." Kurotsuchi alerted, carefully sitting next to him on the Koton household's pristine steps.
"Kuro, hm." The blonde quietly responded while fiddling with a piece of clay.
"You alright?" She asked, looking behind them to see the radiant couple greeting their various crowds upon crowds of guests. Though, it appeared that Kai was doing more of the talking. However, Mari seemed content with such an arrangement. A soft smile stretched across her lips. Her hair was tightly knotted behind her head and she spun in fancy silk apparel.
The once apathetic girl seemed happy.
Kurotsuchi supposed her blonde teammate was having trouble accepting that.
"Yeah, hm." He muttered, stabbing the clay with a kunai. Deidara glanced over his shoulder to see Mari staring at them. There was a hopeful curl on the older girl's face. "This isn't a good idea." The blonde mouthed and scowled when Mari merely tilted her head, perplexed.
"Mari looks happy." Kurotsuchi tried to say while awkwardly folding her hands over her lap.
"She… does, hm," Deidara grumbled. A moment passed with only the sound of the reception filling the void. Suddenly, her friend stood and chucked the clay down the stairs. "Dammit!" He snapped at the night sky. She watched him rage with an unflinching expression on her face, allowing the boy to get it out his system before engaging.
"You really don't like him." It wasn't a question.
"Hm, I just-he's just-he's horrible!" Deidara hissed, kicking at the stone beneath their feet. Afterwards, he stormed off into the village. Kurotsuchi watched him leave with concern painted over her features, and wondered what about Kai annoyed the boy so. She listened as the smoke from an explosion fogged up the stars.
—
Some more months came and went. Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi casually made their way back towards Iwagakure. The former of which held their mission's purpose safely in her pack. A thief had miraculous infiltrated Onoki's office and had made off with a certain valuable. One that the Tsuchikage insisted they retrieve at all costs. Luckily, the thief hadn't been particularly skilled in things unrelated to stealth. So, the duo had done quick work of them and were returning.
"Wonder if Deidara's back from that bandit report yet?" Kurotsuchi idly chattered as she kicked a pebble along the trails.
"Probably, it's Deidara we're talking about. He probably blew their entire base up while laughing." Akatsuchi replied with a hearty chuckle, which she swiftly joined, allowing their voices to fly in the wind.
"-Then dragged their leader all the way back while describing how amazing it was destroying them." Kurotsuchi added, increasing their laughs.
They entered Iwagakure still giggling, and Kurotsuchi bid her teammate goodbye as she delivered her report to Onoki. As she jogged through the familiar setting, the jounin couldn't help but grin at the peacefully pleasant atmosphere. Children laughed in the corners, citizens went in and out shops without issue, and couples roamed the streets. Kurotsuchi much preferred such activities over the painfully complex drama of the clans and Tsuchikage.
"Kuro, hm!" Deidara called out to her as she approached Onoki's office. His bright blue eyes shimmered in the light like a clear sunny day. She smiled, waving her friend over.
"Hey! Did you just get back from the bandits!" Kurotsuchi questioned, playfully punching him in the shoulder.
"Yup, hm!" He confirmed, taking a swing at her in turn, which she skillfully dodged. "Made it go sky-high in a glorious display! Art is an-" Deidara started before she interrupted with a smirk.
"-Explosion, yadda, yadda. We've all heard it before!" The black-haired teen sassed as he artfully avoided her kick.
"You steal back the old man's junk, hm?" He asked as they play-fought through the hallway.
"Wasn't even hard! I still can't believe the fossil let that guy get away with it in the first place." Kurotsuchi teasingly mocked.
"You should tell him that, hm!" Deidara encouraged with stars in his eyes. She eagerly nodded as they approached her grandfather's office. However, Deidara stilled upon seeing another duo approach from the other hallway. "Mari?" He asked-
Whispers…
Shouting…
Screaming…
Explosions…
Everything was wrong…
Mari and Kai were dead…
Suddenly Deidara was a missing-nin.
And Iwagakure smelled of ashes and soot.
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Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait, I started and finished a long fit for a different fandom while writing. I'll try my best to get Memoriae done now though! Anyways, this chapter was pretty short as I thought the flashbacks would be longer. Plus, I'll be expanding on these flashbacks in future chapters to reveal some context that will be important. So, some of the vagueness is on purpose.