Chapter Three
"I want you girls to make a good impression, the Hontaru and Uchiha are often teamed up together on a squad. If you're lucky Kuriko, you could get teamed with Uchiha Itachi." Kuriko sighed dramatically at her father's words, glancing at Nakiro with a smug expression.
"Itachi-kun is the most talented boy in our class." she swooned, boasting to her younger sister. "And so cute, too bad you're still too young to go to the Academy." She smirked at her sister walking beside her, Nakiro tried her hardest to ignore the look as she followed behind her parents.
"Oka-san, is it true that Itachi is the Uchiha prodigy?" she questioned, tugging on her mother's sleeve. Maaya smiled down at her youngest daughter, nodding her head once.
"That's right, Mikoto told me he performed a fireball jutsu after watching Fugaku one time." she said, turning her head in her husband's direction.
"He's quite proud." Eiji agreed, leading the way through the Uchiha compound. "Itachi is one of the most talented shinobi I've seen in many years. Work hard Kuriko so you can end up on a squad with that boy."
"Hai Otou-san." she agreed. Nakiro took her mother's hand, holding it tightly as they came to a stop before a door, Eiji knocking three times. A beautiful dark haired woman opened the door, smiling widely at the family.
"Maaya, I'm so glad you could make it." she greeted, hugging the woman tightly. Nakiro stared at the woman curiously, she seemed nice enough, she wondered what Itachi was like. "Please come in, Fugaku is in the dining room with Itachi."
She stepped inside her home, Nakiro followed behind her mother silently through the house, her father was walking beside Mikoto. She almost pouted when her mother released her hand, watching as she placed it on her older sister's shoulder. She huffed silently and slowed her pace, going off down one of the other hallways. It's not like they would notice, they were too caught up in trying to get her sister in with the Uchiha boy, she was tired of being invisible. She wasn't stupid, she was five and she knew what was going on. They prized her sister above her because she was the one that had more of a chance to get in the favor of the Uchihas, all because she was in a class with Itachi.
She blinked curiously when she heard a soft whining coming from another room, moving down the hallway quickly. She came to a stop at a door and quietly slid it open, a wide smile coming to her lips. It was a baby, a little more than a year old. He was standing in his crib, moaning softly and crying, swaying on his feet. Nakiro stepped into the room and slowly approached the crib, smiling softly at the baby.
"Hi there." she greeted. "I'm Nakiro." The boy stopped crying instantly, looking at the girl with a curious expression. Nakiro's smile widened and she stopped at the crib, holding her hands out to the baby. "Would you like me to hold you? We can go outside and play?" The young Sasuke cooed happily and reached for the five year old, who picked him up easily and placed him on her hip. "Let's go then."
Nakiro walked across the room slowly, holding the baby close to her and exited the room, heading down the hallway towards the back exit. She was sure there was some type of yard or garden back there, something that would help keep her and the baby occupied, they could have fun out there together.
"Were you left all by yourself?" she asked, sliding open the door. Sasuke gave her a curious look, the girl smiled. "I get forgotten a bunch too." she commented, taking a few steps onto the deck. "What would you like to play?"
She placed him on his feet, waiting for him to gain his balance before she slid the door shut. She watched as he made slow steps towards the edge of the porch, going around him and off the side. She turned to face him and reached her arms out, waiting for him to reach for her. She giggled softly when he toppled into her arms, managing to hold him up before planting his bare feet against the grass. There were all sorts of trees back there and tons of flowers, a small pond, they had plenty of different games they could play.
"Do you want to play chase?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. The boy cooed in agreement before racing off across the grass as fast as his legs would carry him, Nakiro giggled quietly and followed behind him slowly, trying to give him a bit of a head start. "Oh no, you're getting away." she fake groaned. Sasuke let out a shriek of laughter, trying to book it away from her. She took a few large steps, tapping his head once and ran away from the toddler. "You're turn!" Sasuke turned around, trying to get to Nakiro who just kept just outside of this reach. "Missed me, come on, you got this, get me." Her eyes widened when she felt a finger poke her side, turning her head to see a black haired boy around her age standing behind her.
"Got you." he laughed, she smiled a little.
So this must've been Uchiha Itachi, she agreed with her sister that he was really cute. He had shaggy black hair and onyx eyes, they seemed so warm and gentle as she gazed into them. There seemed to be something else about him though, something that drew her in, what was it? She almost shook her head to herself and shrugged off the thought as best she could, maybe she could figure out what kind of person he was through talking to him. She took a seat on the ground, smiling widely up at him as she crossed her legs.
"Well that's no fair." she joked. "I didn't know you were playing."
"I'm playing for Sasuke." he said in a kind voice, looking over at his younger brother. Nakiro smiled when she saw Sasuke run to Itachi's side, hugging his leg as he nuzzled against his side. "It wouldn't be fair to him that your legs are faster."
"I would've let him win." she stated, a small smile on her lips. "He's good." Itachi smiled softly, patting Sasuke on the head before taking a seat on the grass across from her, the toddler moving to lay in his lap. "I'm Nakiro."
"Itachi." he said politely. "I didn't see you in the dining room."
"I'm invisible." she admitted, trying not to be bothered by it. "Demo, that's okay because I can get a head start on training without anyone noticing."
"You want to be a shinobi?" he guessed, Nakiro nodded.
"My parents told me I have to but I want to help save people, make the world safer." she commented, Itachi nodded as though he understood.
"I think they make the school for it too easy." the boy said honestly, Nakiro blinked curiously.
"Why would they do that?" she pressed, he shrugged.
"I don't know but nothing is a challenge for me." he told her. "I have to ask my Otou-san to teach me new jutsu."
"Can you teach me some?" Nakiro inquired, Itachi nodded a little.
"Okay but only because Sasuke likes you." he said, sounding serious. Nakiro blinked dumbly, not understanding what he meant as a smile came to his lips. "He usually doesn't let anyone play with him but me."
Nakiro slowly opened her eyes when she felt a prodding sensation against her shoulder, wanting to fall back into that beautiful memory. She yawned silently when she felt the prodding continue and turned over on her side, silently shrieking when she came face to face with Deidara. She quickly sat up and scrambled backwards away from him across the bed, holding the sheets up to her eyes in terror.
'How did he get in here? Is he here to kill me?'
"Ohayou love." he purred, falling back on the bed. "Sleep well hm?" She blinked dumbly and nodded her head once, holding onto the sheets tightly as he stretched out on the bed. "I figured you wouldn't mind that I let myself in hm. We've got a busy day hm."
She nodded hesitantly, wondering when they'd be starting this mission as she lowered the covers from her face. Deidara placed his hand behind his head as he looked over at her, a smirk came to his lips at the sight of her blush. She could feel her cheeks burn hotter as he looked her over, unsure of what to do with herself as his visible eye wandered over her.
"I think my art should blow up during the night so that means you need to get it in there before the day is over hm." he began saying, crossing his legs at the ankles. "I have ten that you need to hide in various locations. While you're doing that, I'll be gathering information on your friend hm." She nodded in agreement to his plan, trying to come up with the best strategy for herself.
'Disguising myself as Yama shinobi could work, I'd gain easy access to all the village. It wouldn't be suspicious.'
"Once you get all my art hidden, come find me at that pub down the street hm. We'll have to make sure it detonates together, and then get out of here." he finished.
'That's right, we need to escape together so we aren't suspect to what happened.'
Nakiro bit her lip in thought, contemplating how she'd manage to go off on her own after she and Deidara escaped. She didn't know if he'd willingly let her go, especially when she would be the only living eyewitness after the bombing and the only one to know the truth. He wouldn't kill her would he? Her brow furrowed at the thought, she shook her head to herself slightly. He didn't seem like that type of person, she truly believed he would be true to his word and honor their arrangement.
"Everything alright hm?"
His voice snapped her back to reality and she nodded slightly, moving her eyes to his visible one. She tapped her throat once, he easily moved up from the bed, recognizing what she needed and went across the room to retrieve her bag. She could've smiled to herself when she saw him toss her bag over his shoulder and make his way back across the room to her. He hadn't even bothered to open it, she was surprised that he was enough of a gentleman to respect her privacy and belongings.
She felt her cheeks go warm when he handed her bag to her, their fingers brushing just slightly. She hadn't blushed this much in years and it was all over a man she barely knew, she couldn't begin to wrap her head around the situation she'd gotten herself into. It was nice in a way though, having human contact and conversation again. She knew that it couldn't last forever and as much as she would miss the company, it was for the best that she make her way on her own after she'd helped him with his contract. As much as she hated to admit it, she was already fond of his company and his attitude was a breath of fresh air in its own way. Could it be possible that she was meant to run into him?
She almost shook her head to herself and dug through her bag for her book, Deidara resuming his lounging position on the bed next to her as she pulled out a pen. She tossed her bag onto the nightstand without so much as a glance and uncapped her pen, biting her lower lip in thought. She flipped her book open to a clean page and began to write, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear absentmindedly as she focused on wording everything correctly. After a few seconds, she showed the page to Deidara, watching quietly as he read over her words.
"Well, once we're out of the village we'll be going to meet the shinobi that hired me hm." he said easily. "It's a great deal of money and I decided I would give you half of it."
She blinked dumbly, not understanding his generosity as his blue eye met her red ones. He was already going to be gathering information about Orochimaru for her, she hadn't expected him to half his earnings with her. As much as she needed the money, she didn't feel as though it were right of her to accept it from him, that hadn't been part of their initial agreement and she didn't want to take advantage of him. He was the first person she'd had contact with in a year and he'd been kind enough to help her with her goal, she didn't think she was capable of accepting anything extra. She turned her eyes back to her book and began writing, trying to decline his offer as politely as possible. She held the book out to him when she'd finished, watching his visible eye scan her words before flicking to her face.
"I won't go along with that hm." he declared, propping himself up with his elbow. "You're doing half the work so you get half the reward." She shook her head, wanting him to understand where she was coming from. He groaned softly and sat up in the bed, inching closer to her. "Look hm." he started, leaning his face towards hers. She felt her cheeks go warm again at his closeness, their noses were almost touching, what was he doing? "I understand you have pride and you don't want to accept handouts, that's not what this is hm. By helping me, you're earning your half and I won't take no for an answer."
She could feel her heart skipping a few beats in her chest at the intensity of his gaze, her breath caught in her throat when his nose bumped against hers. His boldness was something that greatly confused her, how did he manage to have so much confidence in himself without a shred of fear? She swallowed the lump in her throat, managing to nod in agreement and watched as a grin spread across his face, he leaned back away from her.
"Once we have our earnings we can travel towards Kusagakure hm." he began saying, a cocky smirk on his lips.
'We?'
"I figure we'll have to leave this area as quickly as possible, especially since it's so close to Iwa hm." he continued. "They've been on the lookout for me for months but I had to come this way for this contract, it was more than all the others I was offered as of right now hm."
'So he's from Iwagakure then. I was wondering where he was from, considering he's not wearing a headband.'
"I figure it'll be easier to tell you what I find out while we're traveling hm. Here won't be too safe for us after my art goes off, I'm sure someone will alert Iwa so we'll need to book it once we get our earnings."
Nakiro nodded slightly in agreement, understanding where he was coming from. Even though she planned to go her own way, she very well couldn't until she learned everything he found out about Orochimaru for her. However problematic it would be to find someone to help her in each village she stopped in, she knew it would be for the best. She didn't want to drag Deidara into her troubles and put his life at risk, especially if he found her. She knew that Deidara would be killed without a second thought and she didn't want to endanger his life. Orochimaru had been more than willing to have her whole family killed just to get to her, she knew that Deidara's fate would be no different than the rest if she stayed with him.
"By the way hm." His voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she moved her eyes to his visible one, watching as he began molding something from the clay in his hand. "Where are you from?"
She turned her eyes to her book and flipped through the pages, finally coming across the words, Konohagakure. She turned her attention back to Deidara, a small smile came to her lips as she watched the small clay bird fly out of his hand, circling the room slowly. She moved her eyes to his face, watching his expressions as he observed his creation. She could clearly see how much pride and dedication he had for his work, perhaps that was the reason she enjoyed his company so much, he was different than most of the men she'd met in her life.
She felt her spirits drop at the thought, her brain going back to the same place it always did, back to Itachi. She lowered her eyes and let out a inaudible breath, trying not to let it cloud her judgment. She couldn't be thinking of him right now, she had to keep it together for this mission. She'd have plenty of time to reminisce once she was on her own again, for now, she had to keep a clear head.
"Konohagakure hm." Her head snapped up at the sound of Deidara's voice, he chuckled softly at how he'd startled her and grinned widely. "You're pretty far from home hm." he commented, she nodded a little. "Ever plan to go back?"
She shook her head, knowing that it wasn't possible for her to ever return. Even if she did manage to wipe out Orochimaru, she knew she'd never be able to go back. Once he was out of the way, she needed to find Itachi and reunite with him. She knew that it would never be possible for him to return after what happened to the Uchiha clan and if that meant being with him somewhere else, she was more than willing to do that.
"Same for me hm." Deidara told her. "I'm never going back to Iwa, I want to see the whole world."
She nodded in agreement, smiling a little at his openness. Visiting each hidden village had been on her bucket list for years, she was surprised it was something Deidara was interested in doing as well, maybe she would run into him again after they parted ways.
"Alright, I'm going to get started on Orochimaru hm." he stated, moving to his feet. "There's a bag on the couch with my art inside it, I suggest you go ahead and pack up your stuff before you start hm." She nodded a little and closed her book, watching as Deidara head across the room to the door. "I'll see you at the pub around nine hm." She waved a little when he looked back over his shoulder after opening the door, blushing darkly at the smirk on his lips. "Be careful Kiro-chan." She blinked dumbly as he shut the door behind him, a small smile coming to her lips.
'Kiro huh?'
Author's Note: Hey guys, so here's chapter 3 and I hope you enjoyed it. Flashbacks are one of my best friends with this particular story. I think it makes things easier to be explained while keeping up with the present day. I hope everyone's as excited about this story as I am, it's one of the only ones I have left that i consistently work on so I really hope things continue to flow nicely. Let me know what you think in the reviews!