oops i forgot to update this. I'm not sure how much I've written of the next chapter so YIKES I'm off to edit that
also you guys should read my new story, a hp fanfiction what would happen if harry got tom riddle's diary at the beginning of second year!

it's only at ao3, as it uses font changes. Please check it out! I've got the same username there as here.

And so their days passed.

Deidara found him teaching several things to Oniyuri. Not only did she memorise the Academy style pretty quickly, she also worked her way through several things he'd learnt in the Academy – such as kunai care and how to move around rocky environments effectively and without sound – but also some ninja tricks he'd picked up so far, such as how to limit trails and so on and so forth.

Oniyuri managed to help him train too. With her powerful hearing and nose, she could track him down with no problem, and it forced him to train extensively in those areas.

But the more he took Oniyuri on these trips, the harder it was to deny they were friends. Best friends, even. Half of him wanted to kick Oniyuri away from him, and the other half held Kur-suten's words in hand and chased after her.

Their time at Tano came to an end, and their duo trips came to a close. However, they could return to the nightly weapons practice with the head guard, Rozu and Dull Rock. After a few days of being away from Dull Rock, he could see that her interaction with the Suisei members had already began to minutely change her. Her wooden naginata was strapped to her back, as she'd gotten into the habit of carrying it around. Furthermore, Rozu had somehow convinced her to get a tongue piercing. The occasional flash of silver when she spoke was distracting for a while. But nevertheless, Dull Rock was slowly losing her career chuunin mindset and gaining a sense of drive.

Deidara could sense a change in himself. Rozu loved to run him into the ground and keep on going, all the while testing his sense of tactics, battle analysis and other mental gymnastics as they trained. He absolutely fucking hated every second of it because Rozu didn't allow him to use his bombs. He did know to achieve jounin he had to stop relying on them so much and to survive as a jounin meant that his mind was crucial in defeating opponents, but it didn't stop him from loathing the older man.

His Royal Dickhead carried on being oblivious about his fruitless attempts to gain Oniyuri's loyalty to Iwa. He still believed that Deidara was half leading her on with his friendship, and whenever he remarked that Deidara was probably getting a little too close to her, Kasuten's words rose up to deliver a one-punch kill. Mentally.

He momentarily cast his gaze over Oniyuri's mother, who was once again, stirring the fire as they waited for Oniyuri to rise for the morning. It was another day of travel between towns, and every morning since that first hiking trip with Oniyuri he'd just didn't know how to deal with her.

"Tell me more about Iwa," she suddenly spoke up.

"What?" he automatically answered, a little off-put by her sudden question. She'd obviously picked up on his wariness of her, and limited their interactions. Until today.

"I know what it looks like, and the nickname business, but I want to know more about the people."

"I, uh," he floundered for something to say. Who could he talk about? He didn't have a genin team – he barely talked to anyone until he was accepted into the Bomb Squad. "I don't… I guess…"

"It doesn't have to be nice." She smiled at him, almost sadly. "My father was a returnee from Iwa."

Deidara blinked at her and tried to go through all he knew of the older generation, but it was hard to say. Kasuten's father would've been part of the ranks long ago, enough time for anyone who knew him to pass on as well.

"What did he talk about?" he found himself asking. He blamed Oniyuri for always talking about history.

"He complained about the paper and guard duties a lot." Kasuten looked down at the fire again. "He'd always bitch about his superiors threatening him with paper and guard duty."

Deidara sat up straight. "That happens to me too! Dickhead knows that I hate it, and is always on my ass about it…" he scowled across the swam of tents to where he knew the rest of the Iwa ninja tents were.

Kasuten smiled, a light chuckle escaping her lips. Then her mood fell. "He also said that…" And then she sighed.

"He didn't like Iwa much. It's why he left as soon as he could."

Deidara frowned. "Huh?"

"He was very clear, Deidara." Kasuten's eyes made clear contact across the space between them. There was a fire, full of sorrow and determination, for a parent long gone. "Iwa actively discriminated against civilians, gave better privileges to higher ranking ninjas, and turned a blind eye against clans using their political power and money to get children teachers and other benefits."

He stood up straight. "What kind of delusions was he under? You're under?" He spat.

Kasuten rose steadily to meet him. Suddenly she wasn't a graceful civilian, she was a towering adult, frowning down at him. It made his gut clench.

"Deidara, you need to listen to me. You say you love your city but I have seen your superiors throw you under the bus at every moment there might be a chance that a mission would fail. They don't want to see you succeed. I do."

How dare she. How dare a stupid civilian make assumptions. She knew nothing of living as a ninja; how every ninja has to struggle to survive in such harsh conditions; how he worked through blood sweat and tears and had been rewarded.

"Don't ever speak to me again," he growled and stormed off.

He kept his chatter with Oniyuri to a minimum for several days and refused to acknowledge That Bitch's presence. He glared away Rozu every time he attempted to approach him and did not take Oniyuri out for the hiking trips.

Deidara did not want to talk to them anymore.

[x]

Except, Oniyuri wouldn't leave him alone.

Well, it was kind of hard to define that, given his orders to keep a constant watch on her. And it was hard to detect.

She'd obviously overhead that stupid conversation, and had also withdrawn all attempts to make him talk to her after the first failed one (he glared at her as soon as she opened her mouth). However, it didn't stop her unspoken attempts.

He'd thought it was luck that Dickhead hadn't picked up on the recent events and thus didn't come to talk to him, but it turned out that Oniyuri was conspiring with Dull Rock, of all people, in order to maintain the usual façade.

She'd also started to bring in food that Deidara had told her was his favourite, and just… leaving them around for him. Sometimes he ate them, most of the time he did not. But no matter, Oniyuri simply just took the plate and said nothing.

There were so many things he'd couldn't count them all. Getting Rozu off his back was another one.

And then one day, while they were stuck in a town, she suddenly turned to him. "Leave a clone and go."

"What?" he growled.

"Leave a clone so Dickhead is fooled and go blow up some shit." She waved her hand in the air. "Go blow off some steam."

Despite recent events, he snatched the opportunity and ran with it. Deidara stifled his chakra, created a clone, and dashed until he was certain nobody from his mission would ever sense him. And he destroyed that area.

And when he came back, he didn't say anything except take his clone's place and quietly sit down next to Oniyuri.

"Tsutsuji says that I might be good to start fighting with him and Rozu!" she grinned happily, bubbling with all the news that had happened since he'd stopped talking to her. To… anyone. "Also, Masuyo recently got noticed by her senpai! I heard them compliment Masuyo on her recent drive to improve herself. You should've seen her that night! She was absolutely glowing!"

Deidara rested his head on his right hand, watching Oniyuri continue to talk. He'd missed this. He missed Oniyuri and her constant talking about other people and her training. Talking about what they'd do on the next hiking trip.

Very, very, very quietly, he whispered "I'm sorry."

Oniyuri just beamed at him. "It's ok! You're like a brother, I'd forgive you for anything."

He smiled back.

[x]

Deidara still refused to talk to Kasuten, but he returned to his usual activities.

Yet her words started to plague him now that he wasn't so angry.

He'd hated to turn around and ask for clarification after spending several days refusing to talk to anyone from the Suisei clan, but the more he started to think about her words, the more it made… sense.

It was the guard duty and paperwork thing that really got him.

He recalled the one time he got thrown into those jobs, first paperwork and then border duty. His short stint as a papernin was not long after he became genin – the first time a superior did not put up with his bullshit and reprimanded him.

Being a papernin was… exhausting. So much writing, running around, begging proper ninjas to complete forms, so many useless forms to be completed, so many to memorise, only to dump it on a regular basis as new forms and other teeth grinding shit was introduced one after the other. Every mistake, no matter how minor, was punished. It was the worst eight months of his life.

Guard duty at least saw some action, but that was only during times of war. And Deidara had been stationed in Iwa – there was no way he'd see anything except the same civilians opening their shops at ass o'clock. There, they were also stripped of time, numbers and entertainment. It was awful.

And he'd picked up on that. He'd cleaned up his act until he wasn't frothing at the mouth every time a more experienced ninja would order him to do something. Which was what was needed in a jounin. But he'd also picked up on that his superiors would easily threaten him with paper and guard duty if he even showed the slightest sign of disrespect.

He hated it. He hated Kasuten for saying it. He hated… himself, for not picking up on it.

Why would they do that? Why would they understaff guard work, why would they overwork paper nins? The importance of both of those sections weren't only drilled into his brain while he was stuck there, but also during his years at the academy.

Deidara was stuck between being blindingly loyal to the country he was born and raised in… or being a true ninja and following the lead of deception and propaganda.

"Deidara-senapi?" Oniyuri lightly touched his shoulder when he suddenly buried his face into his hands.

"I don't know what to do," he confessed, thankful they were somewhere private. "What Kasuten said…"

"Who? Oh, my mother." She paused. "I've heard a little about my grandfather; he really wanted to help Iwa, you know? He became a therapist and tried to coach his colleagues how destructive the system is, but Iwa 'politely' told him to leave before he could do anything. He passed his wish to save Iwa to Hanabi – my mother – and she's been constantly warning not only Suisei members about Iwa but also Iwa nin like you. It's a hit and miss, though. She only wants to see you survive."

Deidara stayed silent thought about it. Oniyuri shuffled around the table until she was able to lean against him and wrapped her arms around him. A hug.

A few minutes later, she spoke up. "Can I introduce you to the library boy?"

Five minutes later, he was watching Oniyuri unhook her mask and hand it over to a small boy, a little older than he was, chattering about books and other nuisances. He was surprised to see fuinjutsu seals bloom under his fingers. After a quick inspection, the library boy returned it to Oniyuri.

"Looks fine! I'll have a black version done soon." He cheerfully said, "Now, who's your friend?"

"This is Deidara, my brother," Oniyuri cheerfully introduced, "Deidara, this is Himawari, the library boy." He grinned and waved at Deidara, from where he sat across the room.

"What can I get for you?" he pulled his sleeve up, revealing a massive summoning tattoo sleeve. It glowed without warning, but even though his awful chakra sensing, he could tell that there wasn't enough chakra to summon even the tiniest bug. A large scroll appeared in sunflower boy's arms. He unrolled it to show even more simple sealed items. Deidara took a wild guess that each seal contained a book.

"Well, I was wondering if you have any books on totalitarianism governments. Maybe some purely academic, maybe some stories about people realising they're in an oppressive government. Hunger Games – or 1984. And don't worry about the language, I'll help him figure it out." Sunflower boy had nodded the entire time Oniyuri was talking and immediately began to unravel the scroll at her suggestions. He muttered to himself, unsealing books, checking the insides and either setting them aside or returning them into the scroll.

Finally, he presented Deidara and Oniyuri with 12 books.

"Just what you requested," he beamed at them, "I also added a book for Japanese people to help them understand 1984."

"You're a blessing, Himawari," Oniyuri took the books and bowed. "We'll be on our way!"

"Please return the books to me before we leave Rock!" Sunflower boy called as they exited. "Or I will be very sad." The last thing he saw was him pouting.

Deidara turned to Oniyuri. "What the hell is 'totalitarianism?' 'Japanese?' 'Hungaa Geemuzu?' 'Naintiin eitii foa?' And what the hell is with your clan's library? That has got to be the most unorthodox method I've ever heard of."

"All will be answered, don't worry," Oniyuri started her way back to her room. "Although, I will have to warn you – these books came from before our clan founder's time, so while the language is like Native, it's very different. With some help though, you'll be able to read just fine."

The language's name was called Japanese and apparently came from a country called Japan. It had kanji and hiragana like Native, but also had terms he had to have explained to him by Oniyuri and also had a whole new alphabet called katakana.

"The authors are also a little crazy," Oniyuri confessed "These books talk about countries that have never existed, languages and events that have no way of occurring," instead of referring to the fiction stories, she gestured to the books she had put in the non-fiction pile, the academic books.

"But don't be fooled. They are very good at their job."

"Fascinating," Deidara deadpanned. "I've been trying to figure out this word for five minutes. What the hell is a Katuniisu?"

"A name," Oniyuri brightly replied. Deidara groaned and continued to read.

The books all talked about different things. Different types of corrupt governments, monarchies and societies. Through the academic books he learnt of 'real-world' applications of countries committing mass genocide without blinking, how a hypothetical government would go from a utopia to a dystopia, broken down in simple, efficient steps. Through the fiction books, he read of people living through all slightly different government, their realisation of the terrible life they are living and their rebellion. Sometimes they succeeded. Most of the time they did not.

"Which one is your favourite?" Oniyuri asked as soon as he pronounced all books read.

He gently touched the one at the top of the pile. "This trilogy, I… enjoyed following Anakin's fall to the dark side and watching Palpatine's plans going on in the background. It was a fucking trainwreck."

"Oh! Star Wars! I love them too. I can ask for the sequels if you want? They aren't really about overthrowing an evil government like Hunger Games. Just a cool story about a Rebellion. You've read it out of order, actually, so the plot twist in the second book you already know. But I still think that it's good…"

Oniyuri carried on as they found sunflower boy and turned in his books. When they returned to her room, Kasuten was occupying the kitchen, chopping up something for lunch.

"You're back!" Oniyuri automatically lit up, rushing over to hug her mother's leg. "How was your last meeting? Get dragged into performing again?"

Kasuten laughed. "That was a one-time thing. I was doing a favour." She turned around and brought a tray of freshly cut fruit. "Are you doing to join us for lunch, Deidara?"

He hesitated. It had been months since he last spoke to her, half of it reading the books Oniyuri got for him. Recently he'd been getting that itch to ask - to ask Kasuten to spill. To talk some more and maybe find what Kasuten's father had warned her about.

To answer, he pulled a cushion from the cupboard and kicked it over to the kotatsu. Kasuten smiled.

Deidara barely spoke as they picked apart the small selection of fruits. When Oniyuri hopped up and returned to the kitchen as soon as the last piece of taken, he straightened and placed his fists on his knees.

"I've been… reading," he started. "And thinking."

Kasuten nodded once.

"Can you tell me a little more about your dad?"

"I first knew him as my therapist, actually. I would have panic attacks every time I felt even the slightest bit cold or hungry. After a while I came to realise he was my dad – my parents died and he took me on as a baby. It isn't a good idea to be someone's therapist while you live and travel with them 24/7. I made sure not to do the same with Oniyuri. But my panic attacks were too big and he was the only therapist in the clan."

Oniyuri returned with a dish of cut apple slices. "I want to listen too," she defended when they stared at her. Kasuten shrugged and continued.

"I wasn't very old when his body began to fail. I'd been studying under him for ages, so he trusted me with his goal: to help as many Iwa nin as possible.

"You see, just like Dickhead is trying to get Oniyuri to come to Iwa, he was also incited when he passed through Iwa, in his youth. He wasn't blind to the fact that Iwa wasn't perfect, but he wanted to help. So he chose Iwa.

"At first it was alright, as he put it. The academy was good and fun, and it was a joy to assimilate into the culture. But the 'cultural differences' became much more apparent after he graduated. He knew that teachers were scarce so he made plans if he didn't get one. He said that it should've been a warning when only clan kids got a teacher.

"My father was alright on his own, in terms of ninja ability. He could focus, sometimes use his head to get around a problem. But being a ninja isn't just about physical skills.

"There was one time when he'd accidentally stumbled upon an opportunity. Young, fresh chuunin could try their hand at leading a squad. But it turned out that it was only open to clan ninjas or ninjas with political pull.

"He reported that, got laughed at, and was immediately put on guard duty for about a year and a half. I suspect not a lot has changed – he was placed at Iwa itself, no war, all graveyard shifts, always being called in because they were purposely understaffed. And the pay was awful.

"Not long after, war broke out, and instead of being able to properly defend against enemy ninja – and there were some that got to Iwa – he was pulled out of guard duty and sent to the front lines.

"My father said it was a miracle he survived. After guard duty, he was still tired, run down and really out of shape. He had no delusions; they wanted him to die there.

"After a year and a bit, they had to bring him back. He trained a lot, increased his skills and finally made friends. But when he tried to go for jounin, every time he tried to get qualified – correct number of missions, enough references from other ninjas, you name it – he was met with walls and turned backs. And when he finally got all his qualifications, he was immediately shot down. He was definitely jounin standard by then, so he spied on the meeting where they assess applications. His was thrown away as soon as they read his family name.

"Furious, he reported it again, got laughed at again, and was immediately moved to logistics – or, as you know it, paperwork, because the war was not done yet. It's the same story there: overworked, understaffed, and to top it all off, nobody took him seriously anymore because he was a paper nin. While he was stuck there, he realised that the constant new forms flooding logistics was not to ensure everything was done safely or for security – it was to ensure that every ninja there hated it and loathed it, until they were sufficiently scared enough of being sentenced to guard duty or logistics that they bent over backwards in order to conform. Maybe it worked once upon a time – but whatever it is now is far more damaging than useful.

"So my father planned. He had some experience with a corrupt system, thanks to books similar to what you read Deidara, so he planned and gathered evidence, and planned, and gathered evidence until he was released from logistics.

"But when he was called up to the office, it was not only logistics he was released from; it was Iwa altogether. They knew what he was up to and did not like it. He loved Iwa, the morning sunrise, the houses clinging to the mountainside, the friends he made. But he was not allowed to help fix Iwa, and was rudely cast from it instead."

Kasuten paused and looked far into the distance.

"When he told me all this, I'd promised to help the next ninja to join Iwa. But it's useless. Under the excuse of culture they turn a blind eye to everything, and spit in the face of change. I would still be on my warpath only if the first and only three Suisei members I sent to Iwa didn't die. And not because they either were out of shape from guard or paperwork duty or 'unfortunately killed in a training accident.'" She was furious by now, hands clenched and face pulled taut as she glared through the kotatsu.

"I couldn't send people to their deaths, and for a while Iwa stopped being interested in Suisei ninja. So I started warning members interested in becoming ninja against Iwa, and it wasn't before long I began to convince Iwa ninja to run away. Most of them were disgusted that I was even thinking like this. Very few of them listened. I don't know what has become of them."

Kasuten did not open her mouth again.

Slowly and quietly he withdrew a small brown book that was familiar to any ninja. He flipped through the pages until he got to the relevant section.

"This is the Bingo Book. It has nearly all the wanted ninjas across the Elemental Countries in these pages. This is the section of Iwa nin, present and rouge."

Kasuten flipped through the pages, making no sound as her eyes flew through each line of text. Finally, she gently closed the book and rested it on the kotatsu.

"Thank you Deidara," her voice was small but full of relief.

He knew he should thank her but he just couldn't open his mouth. Instead, he took his book, returned it to its pouch and rose.

Judging from the slight facial changes of Kasuten's expression, there were about maybe ten, maybe twelve Iwa nin she recognised, and most of them were at the back of the Iwa section, for all the rogue ninja.

Kasuten was a leak. No, she was a leech. A leech that was attached to the Iwa military and targeted ninja, weakening their loyalty until they abandoned their duty. Deidara should report her. Maybe even kill her. She was obviously targeting him now, filling his mind with magic words and fake stories.

Oniyuri's hand touched his lightly, slipping her fingers around his hand.

Her books flooded into his mind. None of them were a direct example of Iwa; some were much more unforgiving; some were only a 'peaceful' society where military might wasn't as a huge presence as it is here, in the Elemental Countries. But he could pull information from both the academic books and fiction books: Iwa's system was designed to crush those without political power or money.

But Deidara was stuck. He couldn't just… fight back. The mere thought of it made his palms shake and heart thud in his chest. He didn't know where to start. And he wasn't a role model for the system either, so he couldn't push for change through the correct channels. And he couldn't just… leave, either.

"What am I going to do?" he leaned against the wall heavily, sliding down with a small thump. Oniyuri appeared beside him instantly.

"You'll always have a place here, with the Suisei clan," she said.

"Oniyuri – I can't – I can't just go."

"Nobody said anything about running away now," she leaned on him and released a small sigh. "And, to be pessimistic, I don't think you're skilled enough to leave. As a rogue, you have to fight so many people who are trying to kill you, and you won't have a safe place. The Suisei clan is only civilian."

Deidara snorted. "I don't think you're old enough to know the word pessimistic." He dragged his head out from between his knees and gave her a wary look, catching Oniyuri mid-eye roll. "That doesn't really give me any confidence in joining."

"In the off-chance of you failing to understand more complex speech, then I can simplify it for you: git gud."

He was in mid-chuckle when he realised that Oniyuri was onto something: he had to get better to survive. The only notorious ninjas that could go years living on their own outside a village were those powerful enough to scare enough bounty hunters and other ninjas away. The Sannin were the first to come to mind. Not only was Orochimaru constantly stepping on every village's toes, but Tsunade also had enough sway to be left alone as she wasted away in gambling dens and bars.

He flicked Oniyuri's ear, which sent her into a whining fit. He then sighed, leaning his head back on the wall.

"Alright then," he mulishly said, "Time to 'git gud.'" Oniyuri lit up at his slightly confident tone.

"Let's go bother Rose now!" she beamed, and hopped up, scampering down the hallway. Deidara heaved himself up, soul almost groaning at the thought of the larger man.

"Hey come on, that's a little too quick, I was just having a meltdown two seconds ago…"

Oniyuri's body wiggled in glee as he plucked her off the ground, using his chakra to throw her over his shoulder. "Not today," he firmly said, wiggling his fingers at her sides, until Oniyuri was breathless from laughter. They re-entered Oniyuri's room, and he threw Oniyuri at her bed. She bounced spectacularly, a burst of laughter filling the room.

Deidara turned to see Kasuten awkwardly leaning away from the kitchen sink, trying to catch a sight of whatever they were doing. There was still a plate hanging in her hands, soap bubbles sliding dangerously down to the lip. When their eyes met, Kasuten smiled warmly and resumed her task. Oniyuri caught his sleeve, and his hand automatically reacted, gripping her ankle and lifting it up, right at the perfect level to start tickling mercilessly.

[x]

Oniyuri's legs batted the air, arms tight around her torso. Her feet, he noticed approvingly, returned without fail to the same position in the grass, a sign of mastery over the style. She'd mastered Iwa's Academy Style ages ago, but this was their evening routine.

Deidara fake yawned. "Well done, blah blah. You need to find a new style, fuck."

Oniyuri rolled her eyes, but continued with the katas, moving through them with the powerful movements that followed Iwa styles right up to the most feared and complex styles. If she even had a little bit of strength behind her arms and legs, Oniyuri could give someone a solid shiner.

That done, Oniyuri went through some stretches before picking up her wooden bo. As usual, rather than immediately jumping into some bo katas, she started a small dance that brought her closer to the log Deidara was perched on.

"Ta-da!" she brightly said, posing just before him. He rolled his eyes and waved her away.

"Stop bothering me." He grumbled but didn't say anything when she bounced over to sit next to him on the log.

"What are y'all doing over here?" Rozu boomed, white grin peeking between the magnificent beard clinging to his face. "Hopefully not lazing about?!" Hearing Rozu say those words used to trigger a flight response. Now he flipped him the middle finger and continued to lounge on the fallen log.

"Break!" Oniyuri replied.

"You've barely started!" he said, affronted.

"Come off it, Bara," Dull Rock piped up, appearing from behind Rozu. It was not hard to hide behind him and his large shoulders. "You're leaving tomorrow."

Deidara suddenly looked out over the forest surrounding them, not quite ready to face the truth just yet. But it was no lie: tomorrow the Suisei clan was finally exiting Rock and entering Grass. Deidara would have to say goodbye to Oniyuri and return to Iwa.

Rozu rubbed his beard with one massive hand. "How about we talk for a little bit then?"

"Oh?" Dull Rock tilted her head, interested. "What about?"

"Our plans for the future, or more specifically, you two." He gave long looks at Dull Rock and then at Deidara himself. He did not want this conversation, certainly not with another Iwa nin listening, but he had no way of redirecting the conversation to something else. Dull Rock created some stumps of rock for Rozu and herself to sit on. Deidara had to admit – she was nowhere near the dull career chuunin he knew just eight months ago. Deidara withdrew from what was basically a long training grind for a few months, so he wasn't as good as he could've been, but Dull Rock had been at it the entire time.

"You going to serenade your crush now?" Deidara quirked his eyebrow at her, satisfied by the light blush blooming on her cheeks. She opened her mouth to reply but then had second doubts.

"Don't worry, you can share. We don't care," Oniyuri piped up. To Deidara, that was all he needed to hear before he knew that she not only knew who it was, but had listened to every interaction the two of them had. Dull Rock, however, had miraculously never discovered Oniyuri's freakish smell and hearing sense, which made her words very weird.

"Well," Dull Rock paused. Rozu leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and joined his hands at the wrist, and planted his chin at the edge of his palms. His hands framed his face, and to complete the look, he blinked rapidly and sweetly at Dull Rock. She stifled a laugh but continued nevertheless. "She talked to me today about my naginata, and said it was a good match with her sais, so we might be pairing up in the future! Deidara, thank you so much for recommending naginatas."

He blinked but waved off the unknowingly misdirected acknowledgement. "Think nothing of it."

Rozu sighed, pleased. "That's so romantic. I remember when Kakashi bought me some kunai. He tried to play it off as an apology for using mine during the last mission, but I've got eyes, honey."

Oniyuri started spluttering. "You- you- you and Kakashi-senpai?" Rozu nodded once, smug, and Oniyuri immediately lost it, nearly falling off the log from the laughing fit.

"Oh, how is your quest of seducing Saburo?" Dull Rock looked back over to Rozu, who immediately lost all smugness and switched to disappointed.

"I've never met a man so straight," he gloomily mumbled, a pout that had no business being on a face that masculine appearing. "But I think I've finally got across the point that harassing someone to date them is not romantic. Besides, a man with that mindset must be a worthless fuck."

Dull Rock grimaced.

Oniyuri picked herself off Deidara's side, from where she was pressing her face into his arm to muffle her giggles. "I'm gonna learn all the Academy styles!" she declared, one fist in the air.

"I can help, although it might have changed in the past years." Rozu stroked his majestic beard comically. Dull Rock kicked him in the shin, used to the stupid antics from Rozu.

"You'll have to beg help from ninja of other villages though." Deidara pointed out, then remembered that Rozu wasn't the only returned ninja in the clan. "Hang on, the other ex-ninjas might be able to help." The group lazily echoed their agreements.

"Any other new news?" Deidara inquired.

"Oh, I'm going to have a little sibling soon," Oniyuri said. The group collectively turned to face her. "It's true! Hanabi is pregnant again, although I don't think she realised it yet. It is a bit strange, she did say she didn't want another kid… maybe just fell in bed at the wrong time."

She then turned her head up at him. "Don't worry, you'll always be my number one bother."

Deidara's cheeks slightly burned. He didn't mind Oniyuri declaring their sibling bond around Kasuten or Rozu – because let's face it, all Suiseis were fuckin' weird – but having her say it in front of Dull Rock hit some kind of weak point in his defences. Despite that, he smiled down at her.

"Oh, that's so cute," Rozu sighed, both palms pressed flat over his chest, right where his heart was. "Ya'll so cute-"

"Shut up," he growled, but Rozu pretended to not hear him. "Ugh, fine. I wanna become an S ranked ninja. Any tips you can pull out of your ass, Rozu?"

The man straightened, beaming. "As a matter of fact, I…" he stopped and blinked. "… Might? When I was fighting for Konoha during the Third Ninja War, we had to fight Iwa a lot. One of the ninja everyone dreaded to face was some lady with mouths on her hands. Apparently she could quickly create those Squad bombs, faster than recorded, and practically forever. I myself never faced her, but she was feared."

Now it was Dull Rock's turn to pipe up. "Oh, that's an old permanent jutsu. It is powerful and anyone can use it, but it has a kinjutsu element to it, so the Tsuchikage is hesitant to hand it out. There's a third mouth over the heart and the resulting bomb completely decimates the landscape for kilometres." Deidara met Oniyuri's eyes at once, an unspoken message instantly passed through them. This was probably what he was looking for. This was probably his key out of Iwa.

"You're a long way off from even being considered being the next user," Dull Rock smirked at Deidara, cocking her head in a challenge.

"Fuck you," he automatically replied. "If they aren't foolish enough to see I'm the best one for it, I'll simply take it." And flee immediately either way.

"As Masuyo said, you need more training, so let's get to it!" Rozu hopped up and reached for Deidara. He quickly scrambled over the log, out of his reach.

"Whoa what the fuck do you think you're doing-"

There was a glimmer in Rozu's eye, and he leapt over the log easily and made for another swipe.

"I'm moving! I'm moving!" he yelled, running up a tree and bouncing through the branches to widen the gap between them. Thanks to Rozu, a tree-hugger, he was almost as skilled in moving through trees as he was moving through rocky geography and earth.

But make no mistake; Rozu was the ex-Leaf ninja, and therefore always somehow could outstrip Deidara in the branches. That he rediscovered within minutes.

Rozu also loved to toss him over his shoulder at every chance, something he was reminded every time Rozu decided to train – or really, toss him about – Deidara. He did not want to admit that his skills significantly improved with Rozu guiding him.

Oniyuri and Dull Rock had begun their weapon's respective katas, not sparing the two of them a glance as Rozu dumped him on the ground and told him what they'd be doing today.

Deidara couldn't help but watch Oniyuri fiercely go through the motions. It was strange to consider someone his friend, stranger to be so close someone who he was fine being called senpai and brother. He could make arguments that Oniyuri's cute appearance left his defences weak for her high intellect – he was almost certain kids at four just shouldn't know exactly how babies were made – but for once Deidara was alright with her.

Oniyuri was… kind, and although her mother was happy to turn his life upside down with no qualms, Oniyuri was at least alright with just being there, not challenging every way he thought he knew his home village. And maybe he was a little thankful for having the cotton snatched from his eyes, but sometimes he kind of wished for that ignorance. Right now he dreaded tomorrow and the run home.

Deidara would see Oniyuri for the last time around about midday, and then be home in Iwa the next day. What could he do then? He was hesitant to return to the same schedule he performed prior to this mission. It made no sense. Why would it matter if Iwa was just going to crush him? But his mind also screamed fuck Iwa! Rozu's words of the famous Iwa ninja still bounced around in his head, sounding more appealing with every second passing.

He carefully did not think about how he had already given up on Iwa or going through the official pathways.

Rozu snapped his fingers. "Honey, to me. We've only got one night left!"

Deidara just stared tiredly at the man. Right then and there, he decided that tomorrow that Rozu was going to get one (1) thank you, before he was going to absolutely smother Oniyuri. Or whatever he counted as smothering.

If… if he was going to leave Iwa and then join Konoha, it would be a long time before he would see her again.

He was not religious, but he prayed that he survived long enough.