Complicated Love

Chapter One

"So what is it, un?" Deidara asked.

It was rare that he got called to Pein's office. He had just been thinking about the next assignment, should the leader grant him one ever again. Nowadays, most missions were given to Itachi and his partner Kisame ontop of their regular assignment to locate and bring back the Seven Tailed host. Ever since Tobi had become his partner, the blonde felt as if the rest of the organization underestimated him. Tobi had the maturity of a toddler, which never fared well with missions as serious as those that were delegated from week to week. They had failed the last two missions that were assigned to them last year, and it looked quite embarrassing on the blonde's record.

At the most, Deidara was always assigned patrol, which was a burden in and of itself. On occasion, he was sent to gather intelligence from various villages but none of those espionage undertakings permitted him to make his presence known for obvious reasons. This meant the artist also wasn't able to use his clay as he so wished, which was irritating.

He longed for a task more exciting that could restore his leader's faith in his abilities. Without Tobi, of course.

Pein tossed him a single manila folder, which the blonde criminal caught with ease. He flipped the cover open, not expecting much. Inside were sheets of paper and a single picture attached to the top one. Perhaps an assassination mission?

"This is Yamanaka Ino's profile," explained the orange haired leader, "she is a kunoichi from the Leaf village who possesses the mind transfer abilities we need in order to capture the demons."

The blonde gave his leader a look of surprise. So it wasn't an assassination mission after all. He was a bit disappointed, as this would have been a perfect opportunity to shift himself back into Pein's good graces. Deidara had heard the surname before. The Yamanaka clan was known for their abilities to manipulate minds and a good number of them dominated the Interrogation department in the Leaf Village. Closing his eyes, he vaguely recalled seeing her a couple times with the pink haired kunoichi who had trained under Tsunade. Was that who she was?

Aside from that, the artist knew about as much as her as the papers in front of him did.

So the leader was looking to recruit a girl into the Akatsuki? That would make two, including Konan. He seldom saw the blue haired member, aside from when she was scolding him alongside Pein. Deidara heaved a sigh. All the glum and gloom swirling around the organization's base was not going to be remedied by the presence of a new member.

Part of him wondered why there was a sudden need to forcibly recruit another person. They, collective, had been making great progress. The Five Tails had been accounted for, and from what he had heard, the other cells were close in the capture process. There was nothing to worry about.

He and Tobi had come close to Isubo, the Three Tails but their capture had been unsuccessful due to constant arguing and an unexpected chase which left them empty handed upon return to the base. Pein had been furious and suspended their mission, mulling over who to reassign the Three Tails' capture to.

Was the leader starting to think his past failures were weighing everyone down?

"Oh, okay un. So what do you want me to do, Hatafuri-sama?" Deidara inquired, studying Ino's picture. It was only now that he could see what she looked like up close.

She was on the younger side. No more than two or three years than he was. Flax colored locks cascaded down past her shoulders with bangs draped over the left side of her face. Her eyes sparkled like crystal as her full lips stretched in a smile. She was dressed in a two piece royal purple outfit, leaving her midsection exposed. Her skin was the color of porcelain and appeared free of scars and blemishes. It puzzled him how one was able to take such good care of themselves whilst living the exhaustive life of a shinobi.

Where had his leader gotten this picture? She was a work of art.

Pein gave him a weird look as his subordinate stared at the target's picture for a bit longer than necessary.

"Your task is simple." Pein said, clearing his throat which jolted Deidara back to present time. "All you have to do is bring the girl back to Akatsuki headquarters. Alive, of course."

"No Tobi, un?" The orange haired man shook his head smiling, as if reading the artist's thoughts. "I figured even partners need time away from each other."

-x-

The blonde Akatsuki member watched as she closed and locked the door to the flower shop. He watched her as she walked home down the empty streets. He had been watching her every move for three days now, keeping a careful eye on the target and making note of her daily routine. It had been rather mundane, with the target only leaving her house to spend hours training in the fields or working in the flower shop. Now that he had her schedule roughly memorized, the artist was confident in his ability to not screw this mission up. Sure, he had performed far more dangerous tasks in the past, but this target was vital to the future of his organization. If he ever wanted Pein to have faith in him again, he had to take this seriously.

It was actually genius of the leader to choose the target that he did. A kunoichi from the Leaf Village on their side was going to be the easiest path to the Nine Tails. He hadn't been told anything about the timeline regarding the Nine Tails' capture but it would most likely involve more than one cell's work. How this girl was going to be utilized by Pein to do this, Deidara had no idea yet.

Deidara followed her, adjusting his mechanical eye, and being extremely careful not to make even the slightest sound. Each step he took along the dusty road felt heavy, despite his feet being sandaled, but it was far too risky to dress in his normal civilian clothes. If anyone recognized him, it would be over. Instead, the blonde opted to dress in layers, so as to pass off as a traveler. It would be far less suspicious, especially since the Hokage knew that the Akatsuki were currently on the hunt for the resident Jinchuriki. However, with the nighttime heat, Deidara was now regretting it. The cheap fabric was beginning to make his skin itch. After Konoha, their next stop would be Sunagakure, a place with undoubtedly worse climate. He was not looking forward to it.

Ino turned a corner and unlocked the door to her house, a typical looking Konohagakure house that appeared to be the same as every other dwelling in the village, other than that hers had a bed of lilies growing across the front. The lights turned on, and Deidara heard the sound of a shower running. Briefly scanning the streets for any onlookers, the artist swiftly crossed the street and leaped onto the roof.

His chakra had been carefully masked for days now, and this phase- the capture, was the most delicate and required extreme caution. The blonde artist didn't sense any other chakra, and breathed a sigh of relief that she was the only one currently home. It would be far too messy to have to deal with exploding houses tonight. He frowned, noticing that all the windows were securely locked. The challenging part came next. Getting in.

A/N: This is my first story. I've recently been quite obsessed with the anime pairing Deiino. There's chapter one! How was it? Please leave a review!

Sparkle^^