A/N: Technically, I've been a HSC student since year 11, but year 12 makes no allowance, hence the delay. Sorry if this doesn't hit the mark.
The steam from the cup in front of him rose, caressing his face. Herbal essence flooded the creases of his lungs, and Sasori breathed outward, clutching his left hand around the cup to steal some warmth from the hot drink. He recognized the blue porcelain of the cup he clutched—it belonged to his grandmother, who sat opposite him, eyelids drooped. She must have packed them into a storage scroll prior to leaving their apartment in Akatsuki.
Chiyo-baa-sama... Sasori closed his eyes, taking a sip. The tea was scalding hot, but he still managed to toss it around in his mouth for almost a minute before swallowing.
She wasn't saying anything.
Are you ashamed of me? Sasori couldn't tear his gaze away from the swirling brew in his cup. Idly, he made a mental list of the ingredients he could smell and taste in the concoction.
In a sky that seemed eons away, the sun slowly rose, and the clouds melted from grey to blue. The fire was still burning, miraculously, though on the verge of dying out.
He had not slept all night.
"Grandson." Sasori snapped to attention, and Chiyo grimaced at the visible bags underneath his eyes. "What happened last night? Why... Why did you attack our comrades? Turn the blade to yourself?" Straight to the point as always, his grandmother.
His grip tightened around his cup. His right arm—the grayish-white Zetsu one—hung uselessly by his side. "Why?" he repeated. It cut a blade through him, to admit to the woman in front of him his greatest failings. "Because I deserved it." One out of two was enough.
"Your arm—"
"Was a catalyst," Sasori cut in, his gaze growing colder.
Chiyo drank her own tea slowly. "You are not a monster. No grandson of mine is anything except human."
You hypocrite, Sasori thought venomously. "Actually, baa-sama, you made sure of the opposite."
In the distance, a bird of the morning began to sing.
"I had no choice."
Sasori smirked grimly. "I know." In a way, he was grateful to her—grateful to her for molding him from a would-be victim to the one who inflicted the abuse. There was a silence, Chiyo's lips thinning as she contemplated. He ignored the pensive look on her face, opting instead to have one ear tuned into the songs of the morning birds. Now that the steam from his tea wasn't in his face, he could smell the crisp mountain air, devoid of any kind of pollution. It was strange, for on the other side, enemy soldiers and monsters lurked.
"I saw them," Sasori said when Chiyo still didn't say anything, an odd combination of sorrow and remorse seeping into his prickly tone. "Hatake Sakumo and my mother. My father was dead straight away, as you surely know—"
Chiyo flinched, and a dark part of Sasori enjoyed her pain.
"—but my mother managed to survive having a kunai in her neck." A pause. "Initially."
"Sasori—"
"He wanted to punish me. So he beat her. Made me watch." Calmly, Sasori sipped his tea, as if he wasn't discussing the torture and subsequent murder of the woman who had given birth to him. His heart twisted with every word, but he kept going. "He was crying the whole time. I can see why our Hatake would think that that man could be capable of humanity. I think..." Another sip. "He was disgusted with himself, even as he committed the act. It was watching humanity struggle against a monster; a monster's foot stamping on a human face. He couldn't live with what he had done.
"Last night..." Sasori paused again, unsure of how to really continue. "It was like seeing the second coming of the White Fang. Unfortunately, the Hyuuga happened to have hair that share almost the exact shade of brown as my mother's." He forced the bitter, icy rage into his voice, relishing as Chiyo crumpled under his words, a shock in her eyes that he despised. Quietly, he added, "It won't happen again."
"I didn't know." The words were weak and they both knew it. Sasori had never truly told her of the events that had unfolded that day, and she hadn't been part of the crew that cleaned up the bodies, but so what?
Deep down, he knew that his grandmother wasn't to shoulder the full blame. But he would not regret his sharp tongue right now. Never.
She was not blameless. Never had been.
And he made sure to let her know.
In the end, it was a combination of unfortunate factors. The acolyte who had slaughtered the Empress' male concubines, the threat of being conscripted into a harem of courtesans, Chiyo's meddling, Hatake's fractured mind—
Chiyo stood abruptly, knocking over her tea on the rock. It stained the stone a darker hue. Her eyes were an endless pool of sorrow, and she breathed out and lowered herself again. Then she bowed her head slightly. "I'm sorry. For everything you've ever had to endure."
"... Baa-sama."
The birds continued their songs as the sun peaked.
Sasori stared at her hunched form, a flicker of regret in his eyes. "Get up, baa-sama," he said gruffly, his voice heavy with an old bereavement. As she rose, wavering, Sasori turned his gaze to the rising sun.
A new dawn, to wash away last night's horrors.
Deidara awoke to a gentle hand shaking her. Izumi was kneeling over her, a half-smile on her face that barely reached her eyes. But she was looking noticeably less tired, which was what drove Deidara to blink to the sleep from her eyes.
"Morning, sunshine," Izumi said wryly, and Deidara's heart ached. She smiled anyway. Or tried to. But it was not Izumi's fault—not her fault that she could never perfect the same tone as Shisui when she said the words. "Ready to greet the day? We're leaving soon." The half-smile disappeared. "It was a long night for you. I wish you could rest more, but Konohagakure is just days away."
Groggily, Deidara sat up. "How long have we been out here, hm?" It felt like an eternity since that had left Akatsuki. It occurred to her, suddenly, that they were approaching the borders of Amegakure as well. Her body felt dirty, but there was no river or lake around. Even if there was, it'd be too cold to bathe in, anyway, so the point was moot. She looked around. Where's Danna? Relief entered her chest when she spotted his unmistakable red head on the other side of the fire, which had been reduced to a pile of ashes on stone.
"Nearly a month," answered Izumi.
A month, huh? Her bones felt old and weary as she stood, rolling up her futon. She'd been feeling like the Shinigami had sliced part of her soul out of her body for a while. There was a gaping hole in her spirit, one that grew larger every time it tried to heal. First, Obito, then Hitomi and Ino—she'd realized long ago that she was partially responsible for the extinction of the Yamanaka Clan; perhaps they had distant cousins in Konoha, but that didn't matter—and then Shisui. She wasn't unaware of the wispy, waif-like frame she now had, compared to the toned, muscular body she had had before the war. It felt more prominent than ever to her; her mind and body had been shaken to the extreme, and she wasn't sure what she would do if she lost anyone else.
As she went over to Hitoshi and Gai, who were both talking in muted tones as the latter sealed away bedroll after bedroll, Deidara discretely beheld Izumi's side profile. She didn't want her die. She was sure she'd go to hell for even thinking of it, but if she had to choose between Rin and Izumi, both of whom were her most trusted female companions, she would always choose the Uchiha-born woman.
And to hell she would go, because there was yet another person who she would choose above all.
"You're looking much better today," Izumi remarked to Hitoshi after acknowledging Gai, who sealed away Deidara's futon.
Deidara wasn't sure what she missed, but she didn't particular care for Hitoshi. "Not cowering behind someone shorter than you, for once, un," Deidara said disparagingly. She expected him to snap some insult at her like a mutt, but he merely rolled his eyes.
"Deidara!" admonished Izumi, though there was no real reprimand in her voice.
"I get it, I'm a cowardly asshole," Hitoshi said with a scowl that could match Sasuke's. "That doesn't mean I'm that much of a useless sack of shit." It was true, if only to the most minimal extent. With his big muscles, Hitoshi could carry the tired and the elderly, and he had some experience in hunting. What he'd been prior to all of these events, Deidara didn't know. But she didn't need to ask, as Hitoshi went on, "Before Tsuki invaded, I was a shoemaker in my ma's shop. The best of the best, I dare say, but that doesn't mean I didn't pick up some skills in my downtime. Ma's dead now, but I don't really care."
Deidara raised her eyebrows. "Really, now?"
Hitoshi seemed to reconsider his words for a second before shaking his head with conviction. "No. If she weren't my mother, I would have forgotten her by now." A hunched figure approached them, and the big man recoiled. "I thought I told you to rest! Everything's still getting packed, we're not going straight away."
Deidara and Izumi turned their heads, and the former's eyes widened slightly. Is... Is that Yukari? The teenage girl, formerly bright and domineering even in the face of death and destruction, now looked like death warmed over. Her eyes had that sunken in appearance, her brow and cheekbones protruding from her skin. It was clear she hadn't eaten in a long while. Did... nobody care? She glanced over to where Shizune was checking up on Asagi's mother's cough, and it dawned on her. No, of course not. Yukari was still ill, yes, but she simply wasn't a priority. She was an orphan, had been even before the war, just like Naruto; but the difference between them was that Yukari had no personal connections to anyone here. Deidara had even forgotten about her existence prior to this moment. It filled her with shame, but she pushed it away. She only had Sawako. And now Sawako was dead, because Deidara hadn't gotten to her fast enough, but if she had to be honest with herself, she was glad, in the most horrible way, that it'd been Sawako and not her. Without her quiet twin, however, Yukari had nobody left. Hitoshi did, however, behold the girl with some sort of gruff, impatient kindness.
Yukari muttered something under her breath, and Deidara knew it wasn't for her ears, or Izumi's. So, leaving Gai and Hitoshi behind, the former in the midst of finishing up the seal, she took Izumi away.
A wailing sounded. Izuna. Izumi sighed. "I think Itachi needs some help. I'll see you later, Deidara?" She backpedaled, and Deidara halfheartedly raised a hand.
"Yeah, see you."
Around her was the pinnacle of an organized chaos. Shikamaru, and Itachi were studying the map over Shikaku's shoulder, the Nara head pointing to the north with a hopeful yet grim smile on his sharp features. Itsuki, Shogo, and Chihiro appeared to be playing a short game of tag to entertain themselves before they had to leave. Deidara floated about, looking for something to do. Sasori sat at the forefront of her mind, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to approach him yet. Not after last night's happenings. She'd have to—
"Deidara-nee!" Daichi skidded up to her, the heels of his worn shoes chafing the stone. "Have you seen Hikari?!" The boy was frantic, eyes wide and perhaps a little tear-filled. "I can't find her anywhere. Okaa-chan went to look for her, but she hasn't come back either!"
While initially dismissive of his concerns, Deidara straightened at the mention of Rin. "Are you serious?" She took a breath. "Stay here, Daichi. I'm sure they're fine. Where did you see Rin go, hm?" Daichi pointed toward the treeline to the west. "Tell Itachi where I'm going."
"Okay. Please find them!"
To her relief, Deidara had barely left the confines of their camp before spotting Rin appearing over a small hill, holding Hikari's hand. Behind her trailed Itsuki, Shogo, and Chihiro. They must have run off while Deidara wasn't looking.
"Is anyone hurt?" Deidara demanded as she stalked up to them.
Rin shook her head. "Hikari seems a little shaken, but fine."
Chihiro and Shogo looked vaguely confused, while Itsuki, paler than Deidara had ever seen him, had the most sour expression on his face. His tubby arms were crossed across his reduced belly, and the short, wispy hairs that made up his fringe stuck to his forehead with sweat.
"Did anything happen?" Rin asked Hikari firmly. Deidara suspected that it wasn't the first time that she had asked that. "Hikari-chan?"
"It's nothing, okaa-chan," she mumbled, not meeting her mother's gaze.
Rin frowned. "Hikari..." She sighed. "Honey, if something happened, you need to tell me. I can tell you're upset about something."
Hikari closed her eyes. "It's nothing, okaa-chan," she repeated.
As the group of children and women walked back to the heart of the camp, where everyone was about to leave, Daichi caught sight of them and ran to Hikari and his mother. As Rin led her children away, Deidara turned to Chihiro.
"What's up with her, hm?" the blonde asked the little orphan. I've never seen Hikari behave like that before. And she's not one to keep secrets either. "Chihiro?"
"Why can't you just leave her alone?" Itsuki said hotly before storming off.
Deidara stared after him, bemused. The hell is his problem?
Chihiro gave Deidara an apologetic glance. "Sorry about him. We were playing tag, and we got a little ahead of ourselves..." Flushing, she scuffed her foot on the ground, and Deidara gave her a wry grin. "Itsuki disappeared somewhere and Hikari-chan chased after him." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "He said he accidentally scratched himself on a stick and made Hikari-chan not tell anyone who wasn't his friend. Itsuki likes to act tough, I think."
"Boys." Deidara rolled her eyes. "I swear, it's always an inflated ego with them, hm." Not that she had any room to talk, but Chihiro wouldn't call her out for being a hypocrite.
Everything seemed to be going well, until Hanabi yanked Hinata away from Neji after the male Hyuuga got too close. Hinata's little sister pulled her lips back into a snarl, an animalistic growl rising in the back of her throat. Neji had been healed last night, but the majority of his body was covered in bandages. Sakura had healed most of the damage, but a lot of her chakra had been drained thanks to her having to carefully disinfect and sew up each laceration, so his new skin wasn't as thick as it should be. "Don't come near her." Hanabi's voice trembled with rage and paranoia. "You think that I don't remember how you treated her? And then you disappear for months and come back like that!"
People cringed at the reminder of Neji, and the Hyuuga was soon on the receiving end of suspicious glares.
"What do you suggest we do?" Gai asked Itachi. "Should we leave him, or bring him along?"
Or kill him, Deidara added silently, her hands clenching at her sides.
"That wouldn't be wise," Shikaku answered instead, frowning contemplatively. "Do you have any idea how big of a breakthrough his existence is? If we bring him to Konoha, their scientists and medics might be able to find an effective cure for the monsterization process." He dipped his chin to Sakura in acknowledgement, and she nodded back.
"I disagree," Anko said flatly. "We'd be risking the safety of the people if we don't kill him now. You want to set him loose in society? Trust me, Shikaku, bad idea. If Sakura's medicine is capable of stopping Sasori from going off the deep end, then she'll be able to find another one with better technology. Without the monster."
"He'd be restrained," Kakashi pointed out.
"Why don't we take a vote?" Chiyo suggested.
And so a vote was cast, those for exiling or killing Neji separating themselves from those who were against.
Deidara found herself nestled between Kisame and Masami, watching as the younger members of their group deliberated. What was taking so long? She'd already debated the pros and cons of prolonging Neji's livelihood, and had come to the same conclusion as Anko, though not with as much resolve as she would have liked. Shikaku had a good point—if Neji were to be studied, a cure for the monster disease could be cured.
Her eyes narrowed when the youths finally sorted themselves out, and did a head count.
Who's 'against'? Hinata, unsurprisingly. Tenten. I didn't expect that. Shikamaru, Shikaku, and Sakura and Shizune. Naruto and his gang of twelve year olds. Should they be allowed to vote? Hanabi's 'against', but she doesn't look happy about it. Asagi, her mother, Shogo... She removed the children from her head. Even so, there were more people than she had expected on the 'against' side.
But even then, 'for' won out.
Neji watched them carry out their affairs with silence, his moon-like eyes observing each and every one of them carefully. There was a crease in his brow, and he was clearly upset, but he did not voice his distress. As if he knew that would denounce any credibility he had.
"So, I guess we're leaving him," Chihiro said, a little sadly.
I hope he starves, Deidara thought bitterly. "Let's just go, hm. If he follows us... we'll kill him."
A silent, morbid agreement hung heavily in the air.
"No," Hinata protested. "Please, don't do this. Please r-reconsider."
"Nope, too late!" Anko grinned maliciously. "If you want to keep defending him, then fine, but don't drag the rest of us into it. Some of us actually want to get to Konoha in one piece."
"He did help Kakashi wrangle Sasori back under control," Shikamaru stated, and Deidara stiffened.
"Yes, that was... unfortunate," Itachi said, treading delicately over his words, noticing Deidara's reaction. He tried not to let his facade crumble away more than it already had, and only Izumi taking his bloodstained hand and squeezing kept him from shattering. "But that doesn't mean anything, in the end." Shisui's death was fresh in his mind, and his Sharingan made sure that he would never forget what had happened.
Biting her lip, Hinata looked at Neji, who was standing with his head slightly bowed. "Neji-nii," she said, more serious than ever, "you have to tell them what you told me!"
Eyebrows were raised, and Neji's default frown deepened.
"Tell us what, exactly?" drawled Sasori, and if tensions hadn't been running high before, they certainly were now. Sasori pushed past the people in front of him, stepping up to Neji and looking him straight in the eye. The Hyuuga boy had straightened by now, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he regarded Sasori with an equally cold stare.
Hanabi made an unpleasant noise from the back of her throat. "Come clean already!" she barked at Neji, her lips pulling back into a snarl. "I would have told them anyway, so it doesn't matter."
Neji took a deep breath, and Sasori drew back a little, eyes narrowing. "We are not alone in these woods."
Yeah, no shit, Deidara thought sardonically. But she waited for him to continue anyway, and he didn't let her down.
"Between Konoha and where we are now," Neji went on, enunciating each word clearly. "There lies a camp of over one hundred strong." Ignoring gasps and sharp intakes of breaths, he added, "I've only heard rumors from my... commander. My... group was to head there and add to their ranks once we..." He looked around, trailing off.
"What." Anko stared at him, brows raised and looking outraged. "Is... Is this your idea of a joke?" A muscle in her face twitched, making her look almost manical. "Don't fuck around with us. I'll—"
They never got to find out what Anko would do, as at that moment, a group of birds burst out of the tree, wriggling in the air before falling out of the sky in one grotesque, feathery heap. They were bleeding black pus from all of their orifices, and everyone instinctively stepped away. The smell of rotting infection instantly flooded their nostrils.
Deidara swore. When she tore her gaze away from the birds, she found herself looking into Neji's pale, milky eyes.
"Do you believe me now?" said the Hyuuga boy. He looked north-west. "They know we're here. If you want any hope of getting to Konoha's walls in one piece... you'll need to strike first."
They made good time, and had traveled almost half the distance to Konohagakure from the mountain, before Neji recommended they stop. Immediately after setting up a small camp in a discreet area, their swiftest members, Kakashi and Itachi, set off to the west with Neji to search for the elusive monsters' base. No—Zetsu—that was what they were called. It meant nothing to them, yet everything at the same time.
"We'll have to tough it out with rations tonight," Izumi was saying to Gai. A few metres away, Rin was clutching a calm Izuna to her breast. Izumi's plain cheongsam, once whole, was dirty and worn, and she had her sleeves rolled up to reveal too-skinny forearms.
"Right," said Gai, "We can't afford to send anyone out looking for food, especially..." He glanced to the right, past the flowing brook and to a copse of trees. "Lee!" He whipped around to his mini-me. "You and Tenten start handing out the rations! Give the largest portions to..." Gai, in a moment of unusual solemnness, listed off the people who needed to eat the most, and Lee dutifully recruited Tenten to carry out Gai's orders.
A fire was promptly made as well. Warmth was needed, and whether they made one or not made no difference to the monsters lurking in the west—they would be able to smell them out with or without smoke and light.
None of them even considered the possibility of there being any enemy soldiers around. They were too close to Konoha, and an even deadlier foe was ever present.
Around the crackle of the fire, Deidara sat cross-legged with her back against the thick, knotted trunk of an alder tree. She leaned into the wood with her arms folded across her chest, trying to collect as much warmth as possible from her position. A particularly cold breeze caressed her cheek, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw Sasuke across the fire, holding up Izuna with a contemplative frown on his face. He didn't seem to be hearing Rin's explanation on changing diapers until the brown-haired woman smacked him across the back of the head. It would have been comical, Deidara mused, had Rin's expression not been genuinely vexed. She spoke to him without kindness, without the gentleness that Deidara had known her for. She spoke to him only for Izuna's benefit.
"Deidara-nee..." Deidara had seen her coming from the right. Hikari scuffed her feet for a while before plopping down in Deidara's lap, her back pressing into the blonde's chest.
"Hey, Hikari-chan." Deidara undid her hair so that brown locks cascaded down her back. "Good grief, your hair's grown so long, hm. What a pain."
"But your hair's even longer," Hikari replied smartly.
Above them, the clouds parted to reveal the moon as Deidara chuckled. "Yeah, and it's an absolute mess." She passed her hand through her hair, grimacing at the dirty, oily feeling. Hikari hummed as Deidara left her own hair alone and started to finger-brush hers.
"Can you make it like yours?" the little girl asked.
"Sure, but you have to tell me what happened today while I do it." Placing the hair-tie between her lips, Deidara continued to groom Hikari's hair, parting the top layer from the bottom layer.
"Oh... You mean with Itsuki-kun?"
"Oh, was that his name?" The hair-tie somehow managed to stay in her mouth.
"Deidara-nee! That's rude!" After some huffing on Hikari's part, which Deidara strongly suspected was meant to stall, the girl reluctantly began to recount the events of that morning. "Everybody was packing up and telling us not to get in the way, so Itsuki-kun said it would be more fun to play in the nearby trees."
Deidara made a noncommittal noise. "Uh huh. Keep going..." She gathered up the top layer of Hikari's hair in a ponytail and held it in place with one hand, using the other to grab the hair-tie.
Hikari quietened, unsure of how to continue. "Aniki didn't want me to go but I managed to lose him. Chihiro-chan came with us, so I thought it was okay, since she knows how to fight a little." The best Chihiro could do was throw kunai, but Deidara held her tongue. "Shogo-kun became 'it', and we all ran in different directions." She bit her lip. "That's all."
Deidara frowned. "Are you sure?" In her lap, Hikari stilled eerily, and Deidara was sure that if she could see the girl's face, it would be white with fear. "Hikari-chan, what did he say to you, hm?" She was vaguely aware of another figure leaning against the side of the tree, just out of Deidara's periphery, and the smell of food wafted up her nostrils.
"Nothing. He didn't say anything," Hikari stressed, shaking her head. Deidara waited for her to continue, finishing up the ponytail. She divided half of her attention to the loose bottom layer of her hair, untangling knots with deft fingers. "When I found him, he..." She faltered in time with Deidara's working hands. "He looked at me. He was so mad. I knew he didn't want me to tell anyone what happened. That he fell over and got scratched."
"By a stick," Deidara said, admiring her handiwork. She'd been careful not to let her mouth-tongues touch any air.
"A stick?" Hikari looked confused. "Well, that's what Chihiro-chan thought, but Itsuki-kun only mumbled something, so we don't really know if it was a stick or not."
Deidara blinked slowly before frowning. "Then what do you think it was, hm?"
Hikari's shoulders went up, then down, in a small shrug. "It could have been anything. Does it really matter? But he was really scared about not letting people know. It's okay to be scared, but Itsuki always likes to be brave..."
"Huh." Deidara leaned into the alder tree. "Okay, I'm done. Why don't you go show your mother?"
Hikari touched the back of her hair, gasping lightly when she felt the ponytail. "Okay. Thank you!" In the firelight, her eyes glowed in pleasure, but there was a lingering darkness that Deidara couldn't quite place. When Hikari was gone, Deidara tilted her chin upward, feeling her ponytail get squashed between her head and the tree trunk. "You can come out now."
Sasori melted from the shadows, standing close to Deidara. He was holding a can of... something. He then sat, holding out the can to Deidara as some kind of offering.
"Was it really just a stick?" Sasori mused as Deidara took the can, her dirt-covered fingers scooping up some meat. She held his stare, hardly wavering, before looking forward instead.
"Doubt it. But he's still alive, right? His skin isn't peeling away or anything."
He nodded shortly, using his left arm to reach across for the can. Wasn't that inconvenient? Deidara wondered briefly. He'd be better off using his right arm—
Her eyes landed on the white Zetsu arm, long, monstrous fingers clinging to the grass as he ate.
"Sorry," Sasori said dryly, not sounding sorry at all. "Last night would have been a shock to you."
Deidara's hands clenched, and her throat was dry as she enunciated, "Why?" The rest of the question hung in the air.
He exhaled. "There's a lot of things you don't know."
"Maybe, but there's one thing I do know." Underneath the moon's watchful gaze, Deidara whipped her head around to look him in the eye, the firelight flickering in his brown pupils. "You're a lot of things, Danna, but you aren't a monster."
"A lot of people would say otherwise."
Her lips quirked upward, almost sadly. "They don't know what they're talking about, hm... Yeah, so what if I don't know what kinds of moles you have in weird places?"
Sasori almost smiled. Almost. "That's not what I—"
"Bad analogy aside, I know you, Danna. Even if it's not all of you, the part that I do know, no matter how minuscule..." Her eyes lowered before she closed them, a crease appearing in her brow as she frowned. "It's enough to assure me that you aren't a bad person."
For a few seconds, Sasori didn't say anything, merely stared at her side profile. The wind blew through the trees, whispering their sorrows and regrets for all to be heard. Across the bonfire, Sasuke gave them a quick glance. "You know, brat," Sasori eventually said, "You're awfully optimistic about me." She opened her mouth to retort, but he went on, "That's not so bad."
"That's it?" she demanded after giving him an incredulous glance. "You're not gonna say something disparaging?"
"Hmph. Look at me." Sasori held out his arm. "Do you really think I have any room to judge?" He turned away, making eye contact with Chiyo, who was sitting some distance behind Sasuke. "We all have our faults, Deidara. I think mine are a lot worse than yours."
The only noise that could be heard then besides the backdrop of crackling fire and murmuring voices was the wet slide of Deidara's oil-smeared finger against the bottom of the can. The label of the can was faded, but if one looked close enough, they would be able to tell that it was luncheon meat.
"We do, don't we?" she said finally. "But I don't really care about that, yeah." She slid down the tree trunk, putting her hands behind her head and gazing up at the night sky. There was looming sadness in her eyes, and Sasori let out a small, barely audible sigh as he turned his eyes up at the heavens as well. Her eyes were fluttering open and shut, he noticed, and if the dark circles around her eyes were any indication, she was about to doze off any moment. Her breathing evened out as she slumped against him, her head propped on his shoulder. Her warm body was a welcome feeling, and the crown of her head fit snugly in the crook of his neck. There was no uncertainty on the lines of her silhouette, and he said nothing of it, allowing the intimate silence speak for itself.
The warmth soon enveloped his body, and he found himself drifting off, too, but he quickly snapped himself out of his sleep induced stupor when the trees rustled, and Kakashi, Itachi, and Neji reappeared, all of them looking grim.
Beside him, Deidara stirred. "Danna?"
"Get up, Deidara." He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what the scouts were about to say.
She awoke fully almost instantly, a consequence that had arisen from recent events. Her blue eyes were alert, almost glowing in the dark. "What? They're back?" Deidara got up and stretched just as Sasori patted down the back of his garb to brush off any grass and dirt.
Everybody seemed to be gravitating naturally toward where the three men stood, and Sasori and Deidara were no exception. A noticeably wider berth was given to the pair—or, rather, Sasori—but neither of them cared enough to address it. Whatever animosity and trust issues that were still present among the group would have to be abolished soon, but now wasn't the time.
"How many?" Hitoshi asked, sweat beading on his temple despite the evening chill. He clenched and unclenched his large, meaty hands periodically.
And Itachi, looking more world-weary than ever, coughed abruptly and replied, "Over three hundred strong."
It wasn't just a rock in their stomachs now.
It was a ball of ice.
"That can't be right," whispered Hinata, almost like she was trying to convince herself. She probably was.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-sama," said Neji, but she dismissed his apology, telling him that it was all right.
"The camp is large," reported Kakashi, drawing a map in the dirt with a stick he had acquired from nearby. "Located in a gully, here," he used his stick to mark the camp with a triangular symbol, "and stretches up until here."
"Wait," Anko interrupted, eyes widening in disbelief. "That puts them almost directly in between us and Konoha." For the first time, she allowed herself to be almost completely vulnerable. "Oh, are you serious?" She clutched the bridge of her nose. "This is bullshit..."
"What else did you find?" Shikaku inquired, his mind leaping ahead to hypothetical situations and solutions.
"Yes, a Tsukigakure supply post not far from here, but it seems to be freshly occupied," answered Kakashi.
"Freshly occupied?" Sasori echoed. "Elaborate, Hatake-san."
"I mean that there are still fresh bodies outside, and you could smell the blood from miles away. There were at least ten monsters in the surrounding perimeter."
"Zetsu," Neji put in helpfully, "They are called Zetsu, named after their progenitor."
"That was very likely the last enemy post between Ame and Konoha," Itachi put in softly. "Tell me, Shikaku, what is the latest form of weaponry that was developed between the last war and the one being waged right now?"
"Explosives," Deidara answered out of turn. She crossed her arms, and everybody paid attention, for she was an expert in this subject. "The most effective are ones that use chakra to detonate. My clay is one such material, and the other is..." She glanced knowingly at Shikaku, almost as if she were apologizing for stealing the spotlight.
The elder Nara surmised, "TNT. Itachi, you think that they have TNT stores in that supply post?"
"It was very well hidden," Kakashi said abruptly. "We wouldn't have found it if it wasn't for the blood, and the high density of Zetsu monsters outside of the camp. I wouldn't be surprised if we came across something as deadly as explosives. And this close to Konoha as well?"
Shikaku nodded in agreement. "Yes, it does seem like too much of a coincidence..."
"Let's not forget that this is just an assumption," Sasuke intoned, the default frown on his face more pronounced than ever. "Are we really going to risk our lives for supplies that we don't even know are there or not? And, hypothetically, if we do pull through and get our hands on TNT, what exactly are we going to do with it?" The narrowing of his eyes showed that he already had some idea.
"It's simple," Itachi said. His chin lowered, and the fire crackling in front of him was reflected in his dark orbs, sending shivers down spines. "We're going to make their world burn."
No one could sleep well that night. Plotting, planning, arguing—under the stars was a flurry of excitement, hot tempers, and stubbornness, traits that had helped them all survive this far.
First and foremost, it was an adult thing. Which left the kids relatively in the dark, left to their own devices.
In the early morning, in their own little corner around the steadily burning fire, those kids were entertaining themselves, talking quietly. Of course, they couldn't be allowed to be completely left alone, so Masami, Itsuki's mother, Shogo's grandmother, and Yukari sat with them, staying mostly quiet. Shogo's grandmother was almost completely silent as she was sleeping in her family's shared futon, her breathing ragged. Sakura had checked her over an hour ago. The sickness was still prevalent in the old woman, as it was with Itachi, and Yukari. The latter's cough was undoubtedly worse.
All Yukari had were the clothes on her back and a blanket that was far too thin to fight the cold away. She was almost all skin-and-bones now, unable to keep down much food. Her face was gaunt, and her eyeballs had practically receded into the bony sockets. She was murmuring quietly to herself, and Masami was trying her best not to look uncomfortable, making small talk with Itsuki's mother, Mikoko.
Then Yukari coughed, and Itsuki shirked away, clutching his hand.
"Cover your mouth!" Mikoko whirled on the girl almost instantly. "I don't want you infecting my son again when he's just recovering." She tried to draw him into a hug, but Itsuki managed to get away. "Son?"
"Can we go play?" Itsuki said loudly, standing up. "I'm bored."
Yukari's head snapped upward, her eyes haunted, but Mikoko talked over whatever she'd been about to say. "Don't go far, sweetie. Make sure that you can still see the smoke and the river."
"I'll look after them," Chihiro promised, helping Shogo up.
"Um, are you sure, lady?" Moegi asked Mikoko. "Isn't it dangerous?"
Udon placed a finger on his chin. "I'm not gonna play, but I doubt there are any Zetsu close by. And even if there were, we have people to defend us. And they're pretty good at their job."
"Tell that to all the people that died," Daichi said bitterly.
"None of that!" Mikoko glared at Daichi, though she checked around the perimeter for Rin before scolding him. She was with Deidara, talking seriously about something. Nearby, Asagi was scrubbing her hands clean in the river to help Shizune with something.
"I want to go," Hikari said, her voice barely a whisper. The hairstyle that Deidara had put her hair into last night had been changed back to her original short ponytail.
"What?!" Daichi shouted, moving so that he was halfway between standing and sitting. "No way, imouto! In fact, none of you should be going."
"Mikoko said it was fine," Masami said, her voice slightly muffled by her swollen cheek. "If you want, I can come with you?"
"Oh, Masami, do stay," Mikoko insisted, but Masami was a bit more careful about leaving the kids by themselves than her, and declined.
Having an adult there did little to convince Daichi of Hikari's safety, but he would have to physically restrain his little sister to keep her from going. So, sighing, he agreed to accompany them, ready to whisk his sister away at the first sign of danger.
So off they went, Masami the only adult with a group of children: Chihiro, Shogo, Daichi and Hikari, and, of course, Itsuki. Konohamaru had wanted to attend, but Moegi and Udon both convinced him to stay, taking him by either arm and dragging him down. He pouted, but quickly started a game with his pals to pass the time.
In spite of the cold, crisp morning air, Daichi felt like something was wrong about the environment.
"We should go back," he told them as they stepped over a fallen tree. "Masami-san!"
"No!" barked Itsuki, his eyes wide and he whirled around. "I said I want to play!"
Daichi recoiled at the sheer panic and desperation in his tone. "Dude, what's your problem?" He marched right up to the younger boy and shoved him in the chest, Hikari's protests falling on deaf ears.
"Don't fight," reprimanded Masami. "Why don't we do something that we can all agree on?"
No, you airhead! Daichi wanted to shout. Can't you see anything wrong about this?! His fingers twitched, and he grabbed Hikari. "Come on, we're leaving."
"No!" Hikari snapped. "Itsuki-kun...! He...!"
"Itsuki?" Chihiro's uncertain voice broke the argument. The boy in question had their back facing to them, and he seemed to be trembling from the cold.
"W-What?" Even his voice shook.
"What game do you wanna play?" Shogo didn't really know what else to say.
"What about we just explore?" Masami tried to smile. "Come on, let's walk."
"I'm not going back," Hikari whispered harshly to her brother. The fact that she sounded wide awake chilled Daichi to the bone, and he tightened his grip on his sister's wrist. "Aniki, please."
"Why do we need to be here, huh?" Daichi hissed back, ducking his head when he saw Masami's cat-like gaze slide over to him.
"I think there's something wrong with Itsuki-kun, and I have to be there with him."
"No you don't."
"Yes! I do!"
They got to a huge log that was far too large to scale, and that was the end of their expedition. Masami addressed them all, "Alright, children, we should all go back now, so please—"
Itsuki suddenly smashed his face into the log, bone crunching against bark, and Masami shrieked.
Chihiro's eyes widened as blood began to trickle from the space between his face and the bark. Slowly, she reached her hand out to tap his shoulder. "Itsuki?"
A low moan echoed through the forest, as if the very trees were creaking around them.
Hikari had gone completely white, and while her mouth moved up and down, sound was barely coming out. "No... I thought... was... wrong... It wasn't a stick after all... I thought I dreamed it up..."
"Imouto?" Daichi demanded. "What's going on?!"
Birds burst through the trees, cawing a discordant song just as Masami pulled Chihiro out of Itsuki's range, the boy having turned around and snapped—literally snapped his jaws—at where Chihiro's nose had been. The woman and the girl tumbled backward, sending grass flying up in tufts.
Itsuki let loose a growl deep in his throat, black bleeding into his eyes. Spittle flew from between his growing teeth, and his hair was plastered to his face in sweat.
"Wait!" Hikari had thrown herself between the hunched-over Itsuki and the fallen Chihiro and Masami. "Itsuki, it's me..." She swallowed a lump in her throat. There was a bruise already starting to form on her wrist from her when she had broken free of her brother's iron grip. "It's me, Hikari-chan. You... Do you remember me?"
Itsuki fixed his beady black eyes on the little girl's form.
"IMOUTO!" Daichi screamed, lunging forward. "GET BACK!"
Itsuki snarled, clutching his head, and suddenly the blackness bled out of one eye and the corresponding side of his face drooped. "Hikari-chan? Am I..." Tears flowed out of his human eye. "Am I gonna die?" His voice darkened then, and Hikari took one step back, walking straight back into Masami and Chihiro, who were now standing, before Daichi pulled her backward even further. "Please," Itsuki's voice trembled, "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna. If I go back, they'll kill me. They'll kill me. Shogo!"
The boy jumped at his name being called.
"Shogo, you're gonna save me, right?" Itsuki's eye started to blacken again, blood continuing to trickle from his misshapen nose. He hid the top half of his face behind his hands and smiled; it was a horrible thing, lined with fear and desperation. Then his fingers parted to reveal fully darkened scleras. "Right?"
The young boy balked, too shocked to even cry at the sight of his best friend in such a state. "It-Itsuki..."
Daichi grabbed Hikari's hand then, yelling at the top of his lungs, "RUN!"
Masami didn't need to be told twice, completely forgetting about the kids as she sprinted back the way they came from. The children were close behind, Daichi dragging Hikari along, and Chihiro doing the same for Shogo, who was still trying to regain his bearings after going into shock.
Roaring, Itsuki lunged after them, not even wincing as his shoulder thudded painfully against a particularly hard tree after turning a sharp corner.
"Chihiro," Daichi panted as he let Hikari pull in front of him, the girl sobbing. "He's gaining on us. Do you have any kunai?!"
"Y-Yeah, three!"
"Give one to me!"
The girl fumbled, but managed to pass one to him, gripping the other two tightly. "Daichi... what are you doing?" Chihiro gasped as Daichi skidded a stop, turning around with that kunai in his hand just as Itsuki jumped over a fallen tree. The others had vanished into the trees, not even looking back. "Daichi! What—"
"Am I doing?" Daichi finished. He shifted his stance into one that had hadn't used in a very, very long time, holding out the kunai in front of him. Itsuki howled as he crouched on the log, fully gone. He tried to smirk reassuringly, but his false confidence was detracted by the chronic trembling of his entire form. It's the same reason as why I started learning kenjutsu under that man... "I'm going to protect my imouto. Even if it kills me."
A flock of birds flew past, and Rin glanced skyward, a niggling feeling in the back of her mind. When Mikoko, with her shifty, conniving eyes, had told her that Masami had taken some of the kids to go collect water a bit further down the river, that feeling had began to make itself known.
Deidara eyed her. "Rin? What's wrong?"
"I..." She stepped backward.
Suddenly, there was a piercing scream from the foliage.
Hikari?!
Her veins were ice, but her body felt as light as a feather in that moment.
"I have to go!"
A/N: *collapses from exhaustion*
Guh.