Chapter Sixteen

"Ohayou my love."

A small smile was quick to come to Nakiro's lips at the sound of Deidara's voice and she turned onto her side, snuggling against him sleepily. Her red eyes flicked open at his soft chuckle, instantly meeting his blue one. She felt her cheeks warming up at the sight of his smile, resisting the urge to hide her face in the blankets as best she could when he leaned his face down closer to her. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed, her reserved nature didn't seem to align when it came to the kisses they'd shared the past week. She never could get enough his kisses, was it simply from all the tension between them the past few months and finally giving in, or could it just be a part of her personality she'd never known until now? She wouldn't know the answer but she craved his kisses, among other things that had yet to happen between them.

Her blush darkened at the thought but she was quick to push it aside. She easily leaned up and closed the distance between them, pressing her lips to his eagerly. A low chuckle came from his throat and he moved his lips against hers, his arm going around her waist to pull her closer. She smiled into the kiss and moved her lips against the blonde's, her hand moving to the base of his neck to keep their lips connected. Her tongue was quick to meet with his as the kiss deepened, a silent moan aching to be heard in the back of her throat. His lips broke from hers and moved to her neck, placing light and teasing kisses down her flesh. Nakiro arched her back at the sensation and pressed herself closer to him, their chests touching. A shiver moved through her body when his hand slipped up the back of her shirt, a tongue gliding across her skin.

"Damn it."

Her eyes shot open when he moved back from her and she turned her head in his direction, watching him pull one of his finger-less gloves on. She couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed, their kisses had grown quite passionate over the last week, more with each kiss they shared. They'd previously discussed taking things slow so she understood why Deidara had backed away from her but it was still upsetting. Each kiss brought them closer together but each kiss brought them one step closer to weakening their resolve, after months of resisting temptation Nakiro felt like she couldn't get enough of Deidara. She wanted all of him, as selfish as it was. She'd made him wait for months, just to kiss her and now she just wanted him to give her everything he could give. It wasn't fair of her to think that way, she knew that but she wanted to be close to him, in every way that she could be. Being physical was more than just being physical, it was a bond of both spiritual and physical nature. She wanted that bond with Deidara and the more she entertained the thought, the more she wanted it.

"Gomen." the bomber apologized, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I...forgot about the mouths for a second hm."

She managed a smile at his words, realizing he hadn't cut their intimacy short purposely and scooted across the bed to his side, placing a kiss to his cheek. He chuckled lightly and returned the kiss to her nose before leaning back against the pillows, pulling her into his arms. She sighed inaudibly, feeling content for the first time in a long while and placed her cheek on his chest, smiling again when he smoothed her hair. The greenette hadn't realized until now how safe she felt with Deidara, how comfortable and at ease she felt in his presence. Had it always been that way?

"Love." She tilted her head at the sound of his voice, looking up at him curiously. "As much as I've enjoyed all this alone time together, we should probably get back to work hm."

She could've pouted at the words but ultimately, she knew her partner was right. After everything that had happened back in Taki, they'd all but lost the flow of how they did things. They'd spent right over a week in the inn, they'd hadn't ventured outside to look for work or to gather any information on this Akatsuki organization, if they weren't careful they'd be set back financially and possibly back to square one when it came to Orochimaru. Finding the Sannin was of top priority, all the answers lay with him and Nakiro was determined to find them. The blood mist village could be the perfect place to gather up information, with all the assassins and mercenaries the place was crawling with, she was sure they'd find something of value there. She couldn't begin to understand why Kirigakure had never come to mind before, it was always the most ruthless of all the hidden villages and possessed plenty of valuable information when it came to things of an A and S class nature.

'We should've thought to come here in the beginning, it may have saved us some time.'

The greenette finally nodded her agreement and wiggled out of her partner's arms, making her way across the bed to her bag. Deidara had moved to sit up as he watched her rummage through her bag, before she finally pulled out her sketchbook. From the information they'd obtained through the file the Taki shinobi had put together, Nakiro had made a point to sketch out any and all information she'd deemed of value. The important information was as follows, a detailed sketch of the intended target (Orochimaru) and a red cloud that seemed to be the symbol of the Akatsuki organization; unfortunately that was really all they had to go on. The file had mentioned something about cloaks with the cloud pattern on them but the former Konoha shinobi had opted against trying to make a sketch of something she hadn't yet to witness, she hoped what they had would be enough to got some answers.

"You think we should show around your sketches hm?" he guessed, she nodded once in agreement. "Sounds good, maybe someone's seen that weird cloud somewhere."

'Exactly, these guys can't be ghosts.'

"Alright, we'll head out in a few then hm."

Nakiro nodded and dug through her bag for her outfit, thinking it would be best to have that shinobi edge for the day. Granted, staying under the radar was important for the pair's safety but they couldn't go around looking like weaklings in a place like Kirigakure, that would just make them a target. Deidara had made his way off the bed and was heading towards the balcony to retrieve her conversations book, she took the moment to quickly change her clothes and make her hair look presentable for their outing. She debated a change for a moment as she stared at her reflection before finally deciding against it, she highly doubted they'd run into any of Orochimaru's shinobi all the way in Kiri and she'd have a much easier time keeping her chakra hidden in her true form if it came down to it.

It had been months since she and the blonde had begun working together and as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't feel as if they had gotten any closer to finding Orochimaru. It had continued to be setback after setback, tips that never led anywhere, whispers that were merely rumors and all the like. The only solid information they'd come across had been back in Takigakure and even that wasn't much to go on when it came to the Sannin's whereabouts. Granted, they did have a decent enough list of known jutsu used by the snake but she wasn't even sure how accurate that was. They'd been going in circles for so long, it was more than tempting to just give up on the task and accept her muteness forever. However, Nakiro knew that giving up wasn't in her nature. Accepting that she may never get her voice back was one thing but finding out about her clan was on a whole different level, for all she knew some of them could still be alive and she had to find out one way or another.

'I can't give up until I know the truth, I just have to keep pressing forward.'

"Kiro." She turned away from the mirror at the sound of the blonde's voice and found he'd already changed his clothes, both her books under his arm. "Ready to go hm?" he asked, she nodded in agreement.

Nakiro swiftly crossed the room to his side, her cheeks immediately going warm when his arm went around her waist, she did her best to avoid his visible eye in an attempt to control her blush. He was all to quick to notice her pink cheeks, his lips forming a smirk as he guided her across the room and out the door. She did her best to shrug off the bashful feeling as they walked down the hallway together, silently reminding herself that his cockiness was one of the many reasons she'd fallen for him, even if it did embarrass her over half the time. What they had together was still so fresh and new, she was sure it wouldn't be nearly as bad as time passed but at the same time, she wasn't sure that was accurate either.

Even before feelings had been admitted, Deidara had always taken any opportunity he could to make her blush or teasingly flirt with her; she knew him well enough to know he'd never stop doing either of those things. He had quite the bold personality and she'd been so unsure of him in the beginning, he was quite different from the people she usually surrounded herself with. When she'd been back in Konoha, Shisui had always been the most outspoken in their small group and even he couldn't compare to Deidara. When she actually thought about it, she'd always surrounded herself with more introverted people and deep thinkers; she surely would've never approached Deidara back then. At this point, she found herself completely comfortable in the blonde's presence and in a sense, it reminded her of the simpler times in her life.

"Otou-san said that fire style was an Uchiha specialty."

Onyx met onyx at the words, Nakiro smiled softly at Sasuke's enthusiasm. She was sitting at the edge of the dock, watching Sasuke as he repeated the handsigns over and over again for the Fireball Jutsu. From what Itachi had told her, Fugaku had demonstrated the jutsu for Sasuke the day before and was highly disappointed when Sasuke was unable to produce anything close to what his older brother had years prior. It had upset her to think that Sasuke was being shunned by his father just because he wasn't a mini clone of Itachi, it almost made her understand how her elder sister must've felt when her own parents praised Nakiro so much. Perhaps it was the proper time to finally talk to her sister, make peace. She hated to think Kuriko felt the same as Sasuke, overlooked and ignored.

"He's definitely right about that." Nakiro finally agreed, sweeping her black hair over her shoulder. "No fire style is more powerful than an Uchiha's."

"Is that why you look like one now?" Sasuke questioned, pausing his handsigns.

"Well." she said slowly. "If you need help then it's better for me to take the form of an Uchiha."

"Hmph." the young boy huffed. "I don't need your help."

"If you say so." she agreed, unphased by the slight hostility. "However, I'm still here if you change your mind."

"Just watch me." he exclaimed.

The girl watched quietly as Sasuke made the signs, not surprised at how quickly he'd caught on to them, his speed of weaving had increased dramatically just by practicing the signs repeatedly; he was definitely an Uchiha through and through. He completed the last seal and inhaled deeply, she discretely crossed her fingers in hopes that the jutsu would have decent output. Her face remained unchanged at the sight of the fireball although she mentally praised him, for his age he'd definitely done an impressive job.

"It's not enough." Sasuke gasped, Nakiro blinked dumbly. Not enough? Why would he think that? Being able to perform the jutsu at his age and chakra level was more than amazing, especially when most of the other children weren't even attempting ninjutsu yet.

"That was great Sasuke." she stated, not understanding what he meant.

"No!" he snapped, his eyes had narrowed into a glare. "It's not good enough."

"How is it not good enough?" she pressed gently, his glare deepened.

"It's not big enough." he grumbled; she could've smiled at his determination.

"Sasuke." she said slowly. "Listen to me, please." He groaned at the request and went back to repeating the handsigns, she took his silence as a go ahead. "As far as I know, you're ahead of everyone else in your class right?"

"I guess." he mumbled, still sounding aggravated.

"So that means you're the strongest doesn't it?" He shrugged at the question, not looking at her. "At your age, being able to perform the fireball jutsu at the magnitude that you just did just proves your talent. You're advanced for your age Sasuke so I don't understand why you believe that wasn't good enough." she admitted, tapping her cheek.

"It just wasn't, okay?" the boy snapped, she pursed her lips.

"Then help me understand."

Nakiro hoped he would open up to her, she could tell something was seriously bothering him and weighing heavy on his mind. Maybe Itachi could say something to his father if she found out why Sasuke was so determined to keep going; he was going to exhaust himself at the rate he was going and run out of chakra, what would he do once he wasn't capable of performing the jutsu?

"It's not like you care anyway." he mumbled, she moved to her feet at the accusation.

"Don't care?" she repeated. "Why would you think that? You mean a lot to me Sasuke, you were the first friend I made." He scoffed at the words, she raised an eyebrow. "You were, I met you before I met Itachi. When everyone else was ignoring me, you were playing chase with me."

"So what?" he challenged.

"So as your friend, I want to understand what you're thinking and why you feel your jutsu is inadequate." she stated, he huffed when she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Sasuke, please. Help me understand, I love you."

His onyx eyes met hers at the words, his lips were stretched into a thin line as he stared her down. She wasn't sure she'd manage to get an answer out of him, his guard was higher than usual but she wasn't going to give up. Just as Itachi was important to her, so was Sasuke and she'd do whatever she could if it would help him feel better.

"It has to be perfect." he finally mumbled, she nodded hesitantly.

"Is there a specific reason?" she asked, he nodded.

"I-I just want Otou-san to be proud of me."

'He finally admitted it.'

"He's very proud of you Sasuke." Nakiro said gently, he shook his head.

"Everything's always about Nii-san." he murmured, the girl could feel her heart break at the words. "I'm trying as hard as I can and Outo-san doesn't notice me."

'So this is how he feels, ignored.'

"Sasuke." she whispered, he lowered his eyes. "Sasuke you're going to be an amazing shinobi one day, you're so smart and talented. I know you want Uchiha-san to notice how hard you're trying demo...if he won't then it's his loss." The boy met her eyes again, she smiled sheepishly. "His loss is my gain, I'm already your biggest fan if you couldn't tell."

"Tch, don't be stupid." he grumbled, she giggled softly.

"Wanna blow his mind then?" His cocked his head curiously, her smile widened as she smoothed his hair. "I'm gonna help you until you can perform the best fireball justu in the village, is that okay with you?" He rolled his eyes at the question and smacked her hand away, his cheeks a light shade of pink.

"Just don't get in my way."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

And for the next few hours they practiced the jutsu together, over and over again until it was well passed dark. She agreed to come back the next day after Sasuke got out of his classes to work together again, she was going to do whatever she could to help him achieve his goal. Fugaku was missing out, Sasuke had a bright future ahead of him and if his father was too blind to see it then she'd help Sasuke prove it. Perhaps she'd keep this from Itachi and let Sasuke surprise his whole family, after all, some secrets were meant to stay that way.

"I wonder where the best place to go would be hm."

The greenette snapped out of her thoughts at the words, looking up through her bangs at her partner. It seemed they had exited the inn and were walking down the main street in Kiri, she mentally thanked Deidara for leading her around while she'd been lost in her memories. The question had her stumped though, where would be the best place to go to get information? There were always two sides to the larger villages, the side where everything was out in the open and the side where things were hidden in the shadows. The real question was, where was the shadow side and how did they find it?

"This is gonna be a pain." Deidara groaned, looking around the streets. "We don't even know where to go hm." She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, was he really going to give up that easy? "Gimme that look again and I'll kiss it off your face hm."

'The flirt.'

She rolled her eyes at the playful threat and turned her attention to scanning the side streets, maybe an alley would be a good move to make. She knew there was a black market in Konoha, well it was more of a secret market than a black market. People sold special items that were from other villages there, nothing illegal, just hard to come by items. In order to find the one in Konoha there was a specific alley you had to go to, maybe there was an actual black market in the blood mist. If there was then it would probably be down an alley, or maybe they could find the answers from someone in an alley. She tugged her book out from under the blonde's arm and flipped it open, writing down her thoughts.

"A black market hm." he repeated, she nodded. "Could be a good idea, let's see what we can find out."

She nodded again in agreement, walking next to him down the main street as he scanned the alleyways. Nakiro felt all the more impatient as the minutes ticked by, this was by far the most frustrating thing they'd done up to this point. The alleys were too empty in her opinion, perhaps something big was going on behind the scenes. If that were the case then there would be thugs positioned to stop people from coming down the alleyways, Kirigakure's shinobi were well versed in silent killing methods and silence in general so if they were going to find anything, they'd have to go on a mini adventure.

'Time to change tactics.'

Nakiro took in a slow breath and moved out of Deidara's touch, heading in the direction of the alley closest to her. They'd have to venture into the alleys if they wanted to make any progress, it was more than obvious at this point, Kirigakure's underworld was on guard. The blonde was quick on her heels as she walked into the alley, his arm going back around her waist instantly.

"You should tell me when you're doing that hm." he commented. She rolled her eyes and gave him an amused grin, tapping her throat once. "Psht, smartass."

She could've giggled at his tone and shrugged her shoulders as they head further, taking the left turn. She could feel a distant chakra further into the alley labyrinth, it was growing stronger the longer they walked. It wasn't impressive by any means but the teenager knew most of it could be suppressed if the shinobi was skilled, they'd have to be on their guard as a precaution. She took in a slow breath when she felt the chakra move, side-glancing at Deidara; he'd already noticed the movement and shoved his free hand into his clay-pouch. It was growing closer, whoever the chakra belonged to had noticed their presence and was heading their way fast.

'Here we go.'

Author's Note: Geez guys, I'm really sorry I'm so behind on updating. Life just got in my way there for a bit but we're back to it finally. Thank you all for patiently waiting. I appreciate it so much and I'll continue working towards getting back to weekly updates!