Author's Note: Sorry this is late-ish. I got really busy with tests and projects! Also I am so nervous that you guys will majorly dislike the plot/character choices.
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 4
Reflections
"Good to see you too, gramps, hm." Remarked Deidara with a humourless smile.
Kuro gaped but quickly recovered, unleashing her quicklime and trapping the blonde. The smile was wiped off Deidara's face as his body collided with the cave's wall. However, Deidara slowly looked at the encasing, and then back towards them. His lips curled into a nostalgic smirk.
"Some things don't change, hm." He muttered while trying in vain to free his hands.
"Watch out, I bet it's a clone!" Akatsuchi warned in a grave voice, already moving to cover them should Deidara's body explode. Steadily, the Iwa trio backed a few steps away from the blast radius. In turn, the blonde sighed while rolling his eyes. The movement ominous yet tensely silent. A ray of blue light caught the young man's eyes, causing them to seemingly glow among the dim tunnels.
"I'm not a clone, hm." Deidara retorted, having moved on to using his legs to push himself out of the quicklime. Though, he may as well have been trying to wade through obsidian. A frown dirtied his face when his efforts proved futile. But, his annoyance quickly turned to panic upon seeing the weapons in his former comrade's hands. "Hm, listen-" Deidara squeaked, grunting as his arms pushed against the quicklime.
"Listen! You want us to listen after all you've done?!" Onoki roared, stomping on the rock beneath his feet. Kuro and Akatsuchi held similar expressions of judgement. Cracks thundered like lightning, and the blonde flinched at the elder's words. Oddly enough, they weren't attacking even though he was practically at their mercy.
"Gramps! It's not-" Deidara tried to say, a flash of hurt seeping into his features. But, the elder pressed forward as if he hadn't spoken at all.
"How many villages? How many people have you killed while laughing? How many of us did you slaughter with a smile?!" The Tsuchikage furiously ranted, Kuro mutely pondered if the water nin could hear her grandfather's shouts. However, her attention was captured when Deidara snarled.
"THAT WASN'T ME!" He snapped, face contorting into pure malice. Destructive flames danced behind his eyes. The tunnel was silent.
"What…?" Kuro whispered, reeling her head back. "We… literally, saw you during the fight! You were fighting me!" She shrieked, marching right next to her grandfather despite Akatsuchi's attempts to hold her back. Deidara cringed at her tone, at the pain underlying her voice.
"Okay, well it was sort of me, hm! But, it wasn't!" The blonde rapidly spat out. At their dubious looks and slight glints of metal from behind their backs he hurriedly continued. "This cave is weird, hm! I think it's some old artifact or something but it… copies people… hm…" Deidara trailed off as Kuro sharply glared at him.
"Do you think we're fools?" She said so deathly quiet it could've been the wind. Her face was veiled in a heavy shadow, her trembling arms were pressed against her sides.
"Kuro…" Her former friend started before she cut him off.
"Don't." Kuro whispered, resisting the urge to slap him. She could feel the boiling rage in her build and build. She could feel it climbing through her blood and out her skin in a volcanic aura, like a bomb ready to explode. "You lost the right… the right to act like this when you left us" The kunoichi lashed out, her fists red from how tightly she balled them.
"I-" He tried to interrupt.
"And after that, you have the damn nerve to pretend-" Kuro seethed only for him to cut in, his lips morphed into a scowl.
"KURO! That's not me! I'm not him… I AM SANE! Do you think that bastard would go this long without blowing the tunnel up already, hm?" Deidara heatedly argued, hate flowing from his words. "I'm the Deidara from before Mari died…" He hissed in a course voice, head slowly dropping with shame.
"And… who's Mari… again?" She questioned, drawing perplexed looks from Akatsuchi and Onoki.
"Mari… my amazing older sister, hm. She… died the day I left Iwagakure…" Deidara sorrowfully answered, unravelling his hands to reveal barren skin.
"No kinjutsu!" Akatsuchi gasped, unable to stop himself from taking a step forward.
"He's not lying… he's not lying!" Kuro shouted, instantly breaking the quicklime and wrestling the blonde into a bone crushing embrace. "It's really you!" She yelled, a giddy smile spreading across her features. Akatsuchi and Onoki shared a suspicious glance before shrugging. Perhaps they too wanted to believe in miracles at that moment.
"But how…?" Onoki breathed out, moving to stand in front of the blonde. Though, the joy that had mirrored itself on Deidara's face quickly gave way to concern.
"I'll explain later, hm. But right now we need to hurry it up, hm! They're getting better at navigating." He warned, giving the old man a light shove. Afterwards, the three unsurely followed their old comrade back through the tunnels.
"By 'they' you mean Akatsuki?" Onoki pointedly asked with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, gramps. Has old age dulled your mind so much that I need to spell everything out, hm." Deidara smirked, a light cackle escaping his lips. Kuro and Akatsuchi tensed but were able to stop a similar reaction. Though, the elder simply scoffed.
"Not again… My granddaughter's bad enough…" The Tsuchikage grumbled while crossing his arms. In turn, Deidara's eye twinkled.
"Good job keeping the fossil in check, Kuro, hm!" He brightly quipped. The kunoichi maintained an aura of dignity about her; she warmly smiled nonetheless.
—
"He's good." They curtly told the curious Kirigakure team, who'd been about to charge the tunnel after hearing their previous shouts. Deidara had a hood and sunglasses back on to obscure his face. Though, Kuro silently laughed as she realized how he physically struggled to not 'hm' in every sentence. Kuro felt lighter than air, as if she were flying through clear skies in those mountain depths. The relief of having her dear friend back so great.
"H-How long have you been down here?" Chojuro innocently questioned as they walked.
"Few weeks." Deidara curtly answered, quickening his pace while forcing them to follow along. He seemed bothered by something, though she couldn't place what that something was. His cheer has quickly evaporated the closer they got to the water nin into a brashness.
"That means you've known Akatsuki has been here for quite some time. Why haven't you already reported their presence?" Ao suspiciously interrogated, blatantly not trusting Kuro and her company's word.
"I have my reasons. Right… Lord Tsuchikage." Deidara coughed, loath to refer to Onoki by his Kage status.
"Indeed." The elder parried with an eager smirk. After some time, her blonde-haired friend suddenly paused near a bend in the tunnel. Slowly, he turned towards them with a slightly tense posture. Kuro tilted her head, wondering why Deidara was nervous. She presumed it was fear that the Kiri nin would discover his identity. The blonde let his arms fall limp as he spoke.
"Okay, before we go in, h-heh." Deidara bit his tongue at the near-slip up. "Before… we go. You're going to see some pretty shocking things. And, I'm saying right now that it's not what you think it is. What 'it' is I will explain as long as everyone stays calm. Got it?" He lectured, gaining both intrigue and distrust from the Kiri nin. It was good to note that the blonde was specifically looking at said Kiri nin.
"Y-You trust him, right?" Chojuro repeated to Kuro, who resolutely nodded.
"Go on, boy." Onoki ordered, and Deidara nodded with a scoff. However, before they even made it five steps a chilling, boisterous bellow stormed down the tunnels. They froze, and before anyone could blink Ao was charging down the shadows.
"Hey!" Deidara shouted, but was pushed aside in the older shinobi's haste. "Dammit, bloody mist!" The blonde muttered under his breath before giving chase, the rest quick to follow. Kuro was briefly blinded by a pulsing light before feeling something wet beneath her feet. She looked down to find a growing stream of water flowing past them.
"It's a trap!" Ao was shouting, his gaze locked on another figure.
"Oh, come on! I'm not that bad!" They grumbled with a disappointed sigh, revealing shark-like teeth.
"Kisame?!"Kuro and many others found themselves gasping. Her eyes slowly traversed the cavern they now occupied, finding various other Akatsuki members staring them down. A spike of fear reverberated through her spine, and she felt herself tense. Her hand instinctively curled into hand signs before she realized their enemy wasn't engaging. Instead, they had weapons ready but no hint of bloodlust or malice; they looked almost bored. She felt her heartbeat returning to a normal pace. Afterwards, the kunoichi picked up that the Akatsuki were missing their distinctively cloaks and were all dressed in their former villages' uniforms.
"Wait…?" Kuro mouthed, slowly comprehending the situation.
"STOP! STOP! CALM! I said to stay calm!" Deidara's exasperated shouts drew her attention. Unfortunately, Ao was more focused with slaying Kisame than arguing with him. In a snap decision, Deidara glanced from her to them and ripped his hood and glasses off. The blue-haired shinobi abruptly paused, head comically taking him in. The moment lasted a second before he turned to her.
"Iwa! You knew?!" Ao accused, the skin around his visible eye scrunched up in anger.
"Here we go again, hm." Deidara grumbled before she answered.
"Yes, we did." Kuro diplomatically responded, folding her hands behind her back.
"And you were foolish enough to-" Raion, the scout yelled while jumping into a fighting stance. Though, he was silenced by her unforgiving glare.
"As of now that Deidara is a separate person from the one who stands in front of us now. This Deidara, I wholeheartedly trust with my life." She passionately declared, lifting her head high.
"Are you mad-" Ao started before Deidara walked in front of him, his open palms in the air for all to see.
"Sane, and no kinjutsu, hm." The blonde monotoned, rolling his eyes at the pooling shock. "Us four are in a similar situation, hm." Deidara added, grimly motioning to the other Akatsuki members. Questions immediately bombarded him, but he waved his hands around to silence them. "I was getting to that, hm!" Deidara groaned, jogging over towards the wall. His eyes were averted to the side, oddly avoiding eye contact with his former comrades.
"Don't even think about it." Kuro threatened the Kiri scouts who were contemplating a backstab through sign. Deidara stood in front of one of the many blue cracks lining the cave. His hand hovered over the faint light.
"Avoid pools or breaking the walls, hm… It won't go well for any of you…" He lectured in a resigned voice, retelling his tale…
—
*Flashback* Three weeks earlier…
"Kuro…"
"Mari…"
Deidara gasped, coughing as he stood up. Where was he? What was happening? Shadows coiled around his arms and all he could see was darkness. The shinobi didn't feel completely there, like his mind was split. Instead, Deidara felt wet, and bitingly cold. His hands hit cold stone, and he loudly exhaled a shattered breath. A hard chill slammed into his side and he fought the urge to curl in on himself. It was as if the wind were knives stabbing into his flesh. He felt fragile.
"-damn, why does that-" Someone asked in a scratchy voice, and Deidara squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly, a nauseating headache overcame him and he went still like ice.
—
A moment passed before he could see, beads of colour fluttering into his vision. However, when the shinobi came to he was no longer in the cave. Deidara was… walking? A slither of confusion leaked into his mind. After which he attempted to move his arm only to mentally yelp.
"Is that a mouth?!" Deidara incredulously exclaimed. Only, his voice was muted. At that, he realized he wasn't in control of his own body. The only thing he seemed able to do was watch and ponder. Reluctantly, Deidara pushed his worry away to try and figure out what was going on. Though, his thoughts froze when his body walked near a clear stream. His reflection stared back at him in frightening clarity with a lopsided, mad smirk. There was a crazed gleam in his eyes and a twitch wracked his dishevelled limbs.
"What to do now, hm? What should I make?" His lips moved on their own, stunning him with the glee in his voice.
"That's me?" Deidara blearily wondered, wincing as his mind began to burn. He cursed as memory after memory overlapped. Yet as they did, grief similarly began to build. "Dammit! Stop! Don't-" He would cry at every crime his body, no, his other self committed. Deidara could only watch, helpless as they destroyed and burned and exploded, before everything turned ashen black.
—
They were still talking when Deidara finally snapped awake. His pale hand immediately flew to a sweaty forehead. Confusion muddled with guilt. However, a voice that he was both painfully familiar and deaf too struck him. Ever so slowly, with the last of the memories pulsing through Deidara's brain, he turned. Staring down at him, was his other self. A curious look painted over the mad blonde's features.
The Deidara clad in a shinobi's dress furiously snarled, staggering to his feet. He felt heavy, too heavy. A sob threatened to overcome him but he sunk the sorrowful feelings of loss deep down like pebbles in an ocean.
"DAMN YOU!" He screamed, allowing his anger to blow the cave to rubble.
*Flashback End*
—
"Akatsuki was searching for some lost artifact I think. Something about recreating the past, hm." Deidara continued, glaring at the walls. "Crazy me stared at an open pool of this stuff and his reflection - me - came out, hm. But, I was different; a mirror version of him that wasn't insane, hm… That happened to all of us, hm." The young man explained, finally turning with a visible slouch.
"S-So… you're all basically opposites of the actual Akatsuki?" Chojuro nervously asked, though intrigue lined his voice.
"I guess…" The Hidan reflection shrugged. His silver hair was swept over his extremely youthful face.
"And you all disagree with what your counterparts are doing?" Ao pressed as Deidara ground his teeth together.
"Not disagree per se, but don't see any point in getting involved…" Kakuza's reflection grumbled while crossing his arms over each other. "Seeing our futures aren't the same as living them. But, it's not really our lives anymore." He calmly explained, a sad look in his eyes. Kakuza was without his trademark body modifications the Akatsuki version wore.
"I only got here yesterday… So, I'm still figuring this all out…" Kisame explained after wandering back to his corner in the cave. Ao glanced at him suspiciously before backing off towards the main group.
"I'm… trying to kill insane me, hm." Deidara sternly answered, flicking a small circular rock in the air. Kuro watched as his eyes seemed to hyper focus on the mineral as he spun it at a stalactite. Around them the others froze. In turn, causing her blonde friend to scoff. "Come on, you guys came here to do the same thing, hm? What's the big deal if I do it?" He heatedly questioned.
"Um…" Akatsuchi was going, causing Deidara to vigorously shake his head.
"Forget it, hm! That moves onto our other problem… did you idiots make your own tunnel to get in here, hm? And, did you leave someone behind to guard it, hm…?" The shinobi asked, causing the Kiri nin to trade an alarmed look. Though, Deidara caught it and groaned, rubbing his irritated eyes.
"Why do you ask?" Onoki went, the lines of his head squished together in concentration.
"Mr. Crazy Scythe got his hands on your scout and tore them up. I found their body near the tunnel entrance and destroyed it, hm!" The blonde speedily pushed out, as if ripping off a bandage.
"WHAT?!" Raion hollered, marching up to the bomber without thinking.
"Tunnel opening, I blew the tunnel up, hm!" Deidara quickly clarified upon seeing the venom in the scout's gaze. "S…Sorry for your loss, hm…" Deidara later tried to soothe, forcing his gaze downwards.
"Wh… where's the body…?" The scout mumbled quietly, his eyes wide and glazed over. "I said, where's the body?!" Raion repeated, as if possessed. Surprisingly, something in her friend softened like talc at his words. But, Deidara held himself back and steadily stepped away.
"I'll show everyone when you get out of here, hm." He softly explained, leaning against the stone.
"Get out of here?" Kuro exclaimed, eyes contorting.
"Hm, I'm trying to stop anyone else from coming in like you idiots, or them from leaving!" Deidara shouted. "They don't care about what happens to them, hm!" He rattled, pointing at the other reflections and then himself. "And I really don't either… I just need to kill that bastard, hm… And, it'll be a lot harder to do that if there are actual people in here…" Deidara finished, the sudden spark leaving him in droves. His eyes drooped. "I need to check the tunnels. Rest up, hm. Don't kill each other…" The blonde retreated, hurriedly forcing himself down another passage before anyone could speak.
A moment passed in utter silence.
They stared at each other, and then at the various reflections of their enemies.
The reflections stared back.
Kuro gulped, awkwardly wringing her hands before nodding to her comrades. She took one shallow step towards the tunnel Deidara had vanished into, and then another. Afterwards, the kunoichi sprinted down as well.
"Deidara!" Kuro hissed, finding the blonde sitting against the wall.
"Kuro." He greeted, eyes lighting up before diluting once again.
"Are you alright?" She asked, crouching down next to him.
"Hm, you?" The blonde deflected.
"I-What did you mean back there? That you didn't care about what happened to you?" Kuro snapped in an accusatory voice, his face fell further if that was even possible.
"…It's true, hm. What happens to me doesn't really matter, hm…" Deidara sighed but continued before she could interrupt. "That guy's insane… He's ruined my name, hm! It's just like Onoki said, Kuro… He murdered people…" Deidara softly bemoaned, hair hiding his face. "I'm technically not even real, hm. Just a stupid reflection of the past." He mourned, staring at his hands as if they would shatter into glass. "I have to stop him, hm. None of this would've happened if I just controlled myself, dammit!" Her friend lamented, kicking a hole in a rock. Kuro stilled at his words, her face turning dramatically pale.
"… So… you remember… everything, then?" She questioned, feeling her fingers shake against her side. At that one tiny moment, a whole canvas of emotions flickered across their faces. A secret that only they two knew was passed. Deidara caught her eyes and held them there, his eyes so similar to that fateful day. She wanted to go back. A part of her thought he did too. They both wanted to change so much about that fateful day in the cave.
"Yeah… I remember, hm…" Deidara whispered like a lion in a field.
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Author's Note: Honestly, this was a little cramped for my liking. But, I liked most of my dialogue despite the pace. I hope you guys caught all of my reflection, and mirror nods. Anyways, next chapter will be mainly another (final) flashback chapter which reveals all my little backstory hints. I hope you guys are liking the story so far!
Until next time! Have a great day anyone!