Chapter Thirteen
'No.'
They were surrounded by shinobi, at least three squads worth of Anbu with no chance of escape, they had nowhere left to run. The shinobi were all of Iwagakure, their faces hidden behind masks but each headband bore the rocks, someone in Taki had sold Deidara out. Nakiro could feel her heart racing, her head whipping around to observe the other shinobi, there was no escape from them, no other route they could take. Deidara was positioned in a fighting stance before her, attempting to hide her from their view while her back was pressed against the trunk of a tree.
"You've nowhere left to run traitor!" an Anbu spat.
"Tch." Deidara scoffed, glaring in the man's direction. "You're still a cocky prick Haru hm."
'He knows these Anbu.'
"We don't have to bring you in alive." the Anbu known as Haru growled.
"Your crimes against Iwa are punishable by death." a female voice added.
"Fuck off." Deidara retorted. "I'm not going back hm."
"By order of the Tsuchikage-"
"And that old bastard can go to hell." Deidara raged, shoving one of his hands into his clay pouch. "You're not taking me back hm."
"You're outnumbered baka! You won't win!"
"Watch me hm." Deidara snarled, Nakiro peaked around him to observe the Anbu.
It'd been a few hours since the first Anbu squad had found them in the field, Nakiro and Deidara had fled as soon as they'd seen them. They'd managed to make it out of Takigakure into the surrounding forest area and had made it a good distance from the village, Deidara had opted against use of his art so as not to draw the attention of the other Anbu but to no avail. The original squad had continued their pursuit and were eventually joined by the other two squads, corning the pair of teenagers. Their backs were against a wall and the only way out, was to fight.
Nakiro could feel her heart pounding against her rib cage at the thought of Deidara being hurt, of him being dragged back to Iwagakure and imprisoned, or worse...being killed. She couldn't lose him, she didn't think her heart could take it, she'd already lost so much in her young life. She'd lost her lover, her family, her voice, her freedom, her home...she wasn't going to lose her partner too. As pacifistic as she was, now was not the time for that, she was more than willing to fight to protect what mattered to her. And in this moment, that was Deidara.
She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins at the thought, determination bubbling up inside her, she knew what she had to do. It had been a long while since she'd faced odds like this, twelve against two. Orochimaru never had sent more than five shinobi at a time to pursue her and she always managed to handle that with ease, she knew Deidara was more than capable of handling himself. The only thing that made it harder, was that they each had someone to watch out for. They'd never been in a situation like this together, Deidara usually dispatched the one squad worth of Anbu or Orochimaru's underlings, they'd never been put in a position where they'd be battling side by side. Her biggest concern, was making sure that Deidara didn't get hurt or taken from her.
"Don't be a fool Deidara."
The voice snapped her from her thoughts, she took hold of the material of Deidara's jacket absentmindedly, focusing her chakra to prepare herself for the battle at hand. She needed a strategy and quick, Deidara was a long ranged fighter so she'd either need to be stealthy with some genjutsu or use ninjutsu so she wouldn't be caught up in any of his explosions. She knew Deidara would never forgive himself if he mistakenly hurt her. They were facing Iwa shinobi so that meant most of their attacks would be of an earth style nature, the best counter jutsu for that would be lightening based. Possibly combining a water based jutsu with lightening would give them the advantage against the Iwa shinobi, however, she'd have to be careful with that considering water was weak against earth; she'd just have to make sure Deidara didn't get caught up in a lightening style attack. Her chakra was well stored up since she hadn't needed to use it for any battles the past few months...now seemed a better time than any to use that jutsu.
"You can't win."
"Baka." Deidara growled, pointing his finger accusingly. "Did you forget who you're facing hm! The prodigy of our generation. Me!"
"Overconfident bastard." a voice grumbled.
"You're going to die if you don't surrender."
"And so will that girl with you!"
Nakiro tightened her hold on his jacket when Deidara looked back at her over his shoulder, their eyes meeting for a brief moment before he turned his attention back to the Anbu. In those short seconds though, she could see how afraid he was for her, how much her cared about her and how determined he was to keep her safe from harm but there was something else in his gaze. He wouldn't...no...he wouldn't surrender just to keep her alive...would he?
'Don't let them screw with your head Dei, you're not the only prodigy here. I can take care of myself.'
"Leave her out of this hm." he ordered, sounding threatening. "She has nothing to do with this hm."
"Surrender and the girl is free to go, you have my word she won't be harmed."
She blinked dumbly when Deidara looked back at her once again, red meeting sky blue, her heart dropping when she saw the feelings in his gaze. He was worrying about her far more than she liked, he wasn't thinking rationally. She could've slapped him when she saw the look on his face, he was contemplating it and she couldn't begin to understand what had caused this sudden change in him. He wasn't the type to back down from a fight, even if the odds were against him she knew that he would do whatever it took to win but now...was she his weakness?
'Don't you dare.'
She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, her gaze hardened as she shook her head once. She wasn't going to let him just surrender, he had his whole life ahead of him and she refused to step aside and let him throw it away. He was underestimating her, he'd never seen what she could do in a fight, she'd just have to prove to him that he didn't need to put her safety before his own. Nakiro felt her heart drop into her stomach when Deidara turned his head back to the Iwa Anbu, his fighting stance not as profound.
'No Dei.'
"You swear she won't be harmed hm?" he questioned, her heart was pounding.
"You have our word as fellow shinobi of Iwagakure."
'Don't do this.'
Her eyes widened when Deidara nodded his head once and moved his hands to his belt, loosening it from his waist, his clay pouches falling to the ground with a soft thud. The teenage girl could feel her lungs tightening in her chest, oxygen barely making it to her lungs, she couldn't breathe. The blonde bowed his head and raised his hands slightly, Nakiro's body was shaking.
"I surrender."
'No.'
Tears were brimming at the corner of her eyes at his words, emotions washing over her as her soul seemed to collapse inside her body. This was all her fault, she really was his weakness, she was the reason that he'd just thrown his life away. Everything he'd done from the moment they'd met up until this point, had been for her and now, he was doing it again. He was sacrificing himself and his whole life, for the sole purpose of keeping her safe. She could feel the warm tears slipping down her cheeks, her heart was breaking for the second time in her life. She couldn't lose him, she wouldn't lose him, not this way, not yet.
She tightened her hold on his jacket and tugged at it with all her might, forcing Deidara to face her. Blue met red instantaneously as the pair of teenagers came face to face, a combination of different emotions visible to her in his gaze. She could see every single one, the shame he felt, the guilt, the concern, his devotion...love. More tears slipped down her cheeks as she held his gaze, all the feelings she'd been suppressing finally making their way to the surface. She couldn't deny the way she felt any longer, she didn't just care about him...
"Kiro." His voice snapped her from her thoughts, more tears rolling down her cheeks at his broken tone. "Gomen nasai." he murmured, almost too quiet for her to hear. "Get out of here hm."
A cold feeling washed through her at the words, panic rising in her chest, she could feel herself falling back towards that familiar black abyss. She shook her head vigorously as she stared up into his visible eye, she wasn't going to let him face this alone. Her heart couldn't take it, she would never leave him, she loved him.
"Kiro, pleas-"
Without thinking, Nakiro threw her free arm around his neck and tugged him closer, her lips colliding roughly against his. Her heart jumped inside her chest at the contact and within an instant, his lips were moving feverishly against hers in a desperate kiss, his fingers knotted in her turquoise locks. Time seemed to stop in that moment, she was overwhelmed with the passion she was feeling as their lips molded together. Her head was spinning, she could hardly breathe, her heart was fluttering in her chest; she really was in love with him. She could feel her stomach flipping as he moved his lips against hers desperately, beginning to lose herself in the beautiful moment. It was all too quick to end, the blonde broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes with the utmost dedication.
"Better late than never I suppose." he mumbled, a sad smile graced his lips.
Her heart was thumping in her chest at the words and she tightened her arm around his neck, intent on not letting him go. He'd felt the same way as her after all, he'd finally had admitted aloud the words that had been hanging in the air for months, how could she let him go after something this beautiful had happened between them?
'They're not taking you from me.'
"Deidara." Nakiro snapped her head in the direction of the voice, her eyes void of emotion as she stared towards the Anbu. "You've said your goodbyes, time to go."
The former Konoha shinobi turned her eyes back to her partner and slid her arm from his neck, finally managing to release the death grip she had on his jacket. She was ready to protect what mattered to her and she would do it with every ounce of strength she possessed, no matter what the cost. She could see the crestfallen look in his visible eye as he turned from her and took a step towards the Anbu, moving his hands up behind his head as a form of surrender. With adrenaline rushing through her veins she focused her chakra, the familiar warm feeling moving through her body as her appearance shifted, her body taking on the form of a former kunoichi of Kumogakure she'd faced during her time as an Anbu.
"Nani?"
"The hell?"
"What is she?"
Nakiro's eyes rose from the ground, now a deep violet color. Her skin tone had darkened to a lighter shade of brown, while her black hair hung around her chest in a dreadlock type of style. Her eyes flicked to Deidara as his arms moved away from his head slightly, his head turned back to look at her. She watched as his visible eye widened in what she assumed was terror when he noticed her changed form, she knew him to be worried for her but she didn't have time for that. She had to end things quickly before any other possible Anbu showed up. Without blinking, she focused chakra into her feet and launched herself into the air, easily jumping a few feet before her blonde partner. This way, he would be protected and wouldn't manage to get caught up in her jutsu. As her feet hit the ground, Nakiro made some quick handsigns, hoping she'd manage to react quicker than the Iwa shinobi.
'Lightening Release: False Darkness.'
Nakiro opened her mouth as the last sign cast, lightening erupting in the form of multiple spears, shooting out towards the Iwa shinobi. She watched closely in that short second, each lightening spear hitting it's mark with ease, all twelve of them. She relaxed her stance, cocking her head to the side, waiting for the mess to follow. Within an instant, blood began erupting from the twelve Anbu, the lightening spears buried in each of their chests. Knees hit the ground in soft thuds, some bodies fell backwards, other's forward, violent hacking coughs suspended in the air. She'd won, it was almost like the chunin exams all over again. Nakiro released her temporary form, watching her hair as it untied itself, slithering down her body back down to her hips, the coloring lightening back to the dark turquoise. Her skin morphing back to it's original color and the extra muscle mass she'd obtained melted away, she turned to face the blonde when his hand went to her shoulder, trying to her hardest not to collapse from the overexertion.
"Kiro." he murmured, she bit down on her lip nervously. "How...never mind. We don't have time for this hm."
She nodded in agreement, knowing there'd be plenty of time for his questions later. For now, they needed to escape in case there were any other Iwa shinobi in the area. Deidara quickly grabbed his clay pouches from the ground and looped his belt back around his hips, has hand disappearing inside one for a moment. Nakiro grabbed her bag from the ground, trying to stay steady on her feet as Deidara worked on sculpting a bird for travel, she tried her best to tune out the dying coughs of the shinobi as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. The fact that she'd been put in a situation to use a technique like that was beginning to bother her, she hated that she'd had to take lives that way. She would've gladly done it again to save Deidara but it didn't sit well with her pacifistic nature, she truly hoped she wouldn't be put in a situation like that again, it made her feel all the more uneasy.
"Let's go love, before anymore show up hm."
Nakiro easily snapped away from her thoughts at the sound of Deidara's voice and nodded in agreement, hopping up onto his creation without a second thought, the blonde right behind her. She plopped down tiredly, trying her hardest not to show how much her jutsu had affected her as the bird began flapping it's enormous wings, taking off towards the dark sky. Deidara took a seat next to her as they flew off in the direction of the moon, placing his arm around her shoulders.
"Nakiro." Her red eyes met his blue one in an instant, wondering what was going through his head. "Arigato." he murmured, she blinked curiously. "You didn't have to save me hm."
'Of course I did baka.'
She rolled her eyes at the words and raised an eyebrow, he chuckled softly. How could he even think it was okay to say something like that to her, after he'd saved her countless times over from Orochimaru's followers. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do to protect him and keep him safe.
"Ano, what I mean is hm. I just...no one's ever done something like that for me." he admitted, she could feel the confusion return instantly. "I've never had someone risk their life for me like that hm. It...it really means a lot to me that you did that Kiro."
'I'd do it a million times over...for you.'
She nodded, understanding where he was coming from and leaned her head against his shoulder. As the bird flew further across the sky, no words were exchanged between the pair. They had finally come to an understanding and they knew where they stood in each other's lives. They had fallen in love and put each other above anything else, the former Konoha shinobi hoped it would always be that way. However, Nakiro only hoped that giving in to her feelings, wouldn't lead her down the same path she went down with Itachi. The path of losing him.
Author's Note: Whew it's finally out. Only took 13 chapters but we finally made it to the first kiss! Gosh I'm just so happy about this that I could scream. Please continue following my story! We only have more to go from here guys!