The first thing that struck Deidara was the fact that Konoha was big. Bigger than Akatsuki was—even bigger than Iwagakure's capital. She tried not to look too astounded as Kakashi pushed her through Konoha's market district.
Before leaving, Sakura had given Deidara a spare set of clothes (hers had been thrown out by the hospital) that hid the burn marks on her arms and leg and the scars across her torso. The blonde was grateful that Sakura had been so considerate (even going as far as to let her keep it)—the cotton white blouse and high-waisted, long green skirt held up better against the cold than the flimsy hospital gown had. Even now, she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl, and her hands were gloved.
The shopping street was noisy, too, abuzz with the same background sound that Deidara had gotten used to back in Akatsuki. It was strange hearing it again—gossiping old ladies and laughing children—and, somehow, it made her heart clench.
"I used to come here all the time as a kid," Kakashi said abruptly. "It was a lot more crowded back then—what you're seeing now is pretty docile."
Deidara had noticed, under their guise of normalcy and humdrum activities, how subdued they were. Everyone seemed to walk a little too hastily, and looked around a little too cautiously at short intervals.
"So, the war has even reached Konoha, hm?"
"Yes. While you were out, we were told that Konoha joined the war as an ally of Amegakure. It's no surprise—we've always had good relations with Konoha, and there were—are—a lot of Konoha immigrants living there."
Kakashi wheeled her over a lengthy wooden bridge, and she peered over the railing to see the river still running despite the cold, water gently splashing over stones and pebbles.
"The Naka," was all Kakashi had to say about it.
They left the market district behind them, entering an area that had more of a... militant feel to it. It wasn't much, but it was there. Weapons shops, bars, official buildings, and—
"Your surprise awaits you over there," Kakashi said, trying to sound more cheerful than he actually was.
"A metalsmith?"
"He prefers the term 'mechanic'."
Deidara turned her head around, giving him a skeptical look, but allowed him to push her into the store. It was warm inside, the building made of sturdy wood. A fire was going in a hearth at the front of the room. She half-expected to see a buff man hammering iron on an anvil, but the place was practically devoid of any life. The only indication that there'd been a person here before them was the still-smoking cigarette in an ashtray.
"Stay here," Kakashi said, ignoring the dry look that Deidara gave him. He went over to a door, pressing his ear against it.
"You don't mix the beer with—!"
"At least take that thing out of your mouth before you start talking at me; you're getting embers on my shirt, dammit!"
"What did you say to me, pal? Wanna say it again? Give me that beer already, you lightweight!"
Kakashi removed his face from the door. "Look's like someone's home after all." He rapped his knuckles on the door once. "Oi, Asuma! Stop trying to get your apprentice drunk and come out already!"
There was a muffled swearing from the other side that even Deidara could hear before the door opened and Kakashi stepped back. A broad man with a scruffy beard and a lit cigarette sitting between his lips came out, another more sullen man—as big, if not bigger, than the bearded man—following him out.
"Jesus, Kakashi, you come at the worst times." 'Asuma' peered around Kakashi's shoulder. "Is this her?"
"Explosion-bitch?" the man behind Asuma blurted out at the same time.
"Explosion-bitch?" Deidara echoed, chuckling in amusement. She'd realized just who the muscular man was as soon as he exited after Asuma. "Nice to see you, too, yeah," she continued wryly, cocking an eyebrow. "Hitoshi-san."
Hitoshi looked half-relieved and half-offended. "So you're Kakashi's secret friend. Damn bastard always keeps unnecessary info from us," Kakashi eye-smiled at him, "but you look pretty good for someone who's been out of it for one week." He scrutinized her. "Just kidding, you look like shit, but so do the rest of us."
Deidara didn't particularly need a reminder of how haggard she looked. "Thanks, asshole. I can't wait to tell everyone about how much of a lightweight you are, yeah. Knew you were compensating for something with that muscle mass..."
He glared at her, and she simply sent him an unimpressed glance before focusing on Asuma and Kakashi instead.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Deidara-san," Asuma said, shaking her hand firmly. "Knowing Kakashi's tendency to withhold important information, you probably have no idea what the hell you're here."
Deidara looked around his workshop, noticing the amount of metal arms and legs he had on display. "I have a pretty good guess, hm." It wasn't even a guess—she'd known as soon as 'mechanic' had come out Kakashi's mouth. She felt a sudden surge of gratitude toward Kakashi that nearly tipped her off her wheelchair—something that she wouldn't be using anymore if Asuma was as credible as he seemed.
In response, Asuma presented to her a sleek metal prosthetic leg before placing it on his worktable and making some minor adjustments. A soothing harmony of mechanical clicks and whirls eased her soul, the way he probed at the thing reminding her of cogs and clockwork.
"I'm going to need you to stand up," Asuma said, not unkindly. "See if I got it right..."
She did, her cheeks flushing when she wobbled on her single leg, her balance skewed. But still, years of taijutsu training helped her adjust and not fall on her face.
Asuma grinned in satisfaction. "Look's about right. I still got it. Okay, you can sit back down now—I'm going to fit this onto you."
She obeyed, watching curiously as Asuma lined up the prosthetic to the stump of her thigh. He glanced up at her apologetically. "I'm going to numb this area, but you'll still likely feel mild discomfort. Hitoshi, put my tools here while I wash my hands."
"Yes, shishou."
"Shishou?" Deidara shot Kakashi a questioning look.
The silver-haired man shrugged. "What can I say? There's no demand for shoemakers around here. He did all that he could by getting Asuma to tutor him."
"Asuma-oji!" Suddenly the door slammed opened, cold wind blowing through the workshop. Little Konohamaru shoved the door closed, panting. "I got the groceries you wanted—" His jaw dropped when he saw Deidara and Kakashi. "You're awake!"
"And you have a lot of explaining to do," Deidara retorted, bemused. "Aren't you an orphan?"
"Yeah! But when the officials registered my name, I was matched with oji-san, kore!" Konohamaru beamed at her, no longer the scared little boy hiding in the Sycamore tree. He was finally safe now, and he relished in it. The lines underneath his eyes from sleepless nights told her that he had not forgotten, however. He was simply trying to make the best of his situation, and it was turning out rather well for him. "He's my only living relative, so I'm staying with him."
Asuma's hand glowed with ever-familiar medical chakra as he numbed the stump of Deidara's leg, her green skirt scrunched up around her hips. "If only chichiue hadn't died last winter," the bearded man said wistfully. "We clicked immediately, y'know, Konohamaru and I."
As the metal limb was fixed to her thigh with the help of minor surgery, Konohamaru chatted away about what had happened while Deidara was out, the blonde woman listening attentively. To the side, Kakashi was reading his orange book, dedicating half an ear to Konohamaru's mostly one-sided conversation. Asuma listened, too, even when he dabbed blood away and wrapped a bandage around the tender area where the prosthetic met her flesh ("It'll be achy for the next few days," he warned). It fit like a glove, and Deidara felt her chakra pathways connecting with the artificial ones in the new leg.
"And then that stupid military police guy punched Masami-san in the face when we tried to stop them from taking Sasori-sama!" Konohamaru growled. "She was bleeding from it—she might even scar, kore!" Deidara remembered how she had punched Masami in the face, and winced guiltily. She'd knocked out a tooth—personally, she still thought that the woman had deserved to be smacked, but not with a chakra-laden hand. "Masami-san is wearing her hair kinda like yours now, covering her injury. But it's on the right side of her face."
Hitoshi handed Deidara a hot chocolate. "Here," he said gruffly, "you look like you need it."
"Thanks, yeah." She took it, breathing in the pleasant aroma.
"Feel free to stay here longer," Asuma said, leaning against a tabletop. "It's cold out there."
"Some of us managed to connect with family members, too," Konohamaru went on, now snacking on some bread he'd bought from the baker. "Choji's uncle runs a newspaper, so he went to work and live with him. They're going to be extensively covering Sasori-sama's trial, kore, so you'll see them sitting together. His uncle's real fat. Even bigger than Choji. Sakura's mom lives here, and she's a citizen, too, so she's covered as well." He swallowed the bread. "Shizune owns property here, too."
"Why don't you tell her about Naruto?" Kakashi suggested.
"Uzumaki?" Deidara leaned back in her chair, sipping her drink.
"Try walking on it before it starts hurting," Asuma interjected.
As Deidara tested her new leg, Konohamaru took Kakashi's words to heart.
"Oh yeah!" Konohamaru was practically buzzing with excitement at the mention of his senpai. "It turns out...!" He took a deep breath. "Naruto's mom is alive! Her name's Kushina, and she's arriving by boat tomorrow morning. It turns out that Naruto was separated from his dad while they were together on a trip to Iwagakure. His dad was the Hokage, and he took his son to one of his diplomatic missions! It was peacetime back then, but Iwa waited until they were out of their borders before assassinating them."
Deidara stared at the boy, pausing the loop she was walking in. The leg was strange and totally alien, something that she would have to get used to over time. "You're serious? What happened after, hm?" It was a little embarrassing that it was her country that had committed such an atrocity, but nothing that stopped her curiosity.
"The official report was that both were dead," Kakashi chimed in, taking over from Konohamaru. "But Naruto made it, somehow, and wound up in Akatsuki. It was a pretty traumatic experience for a kid—he was four—so he's likely repressed his memories of the event. Since it happened outside of the country, Iwa couldn't be blamed for it, lest they start a war. Konoha was still recovering from its war with Suna, so another one was a pretty bad idea. But everybody knows who was really responsible—Onoki hated Minato." He sighed. "If any deserves to have a parent back, it's Naruto."
Deidara hummed thoughtfully. "Then besides the ones that you named... the rest—?"
"The refugee centre. It's not as bad as it sounds. I live there myself actually, and they all make sure that we're comfortable."
"Where are they keeping Sasori, hm?"
"He's detained somewhere, but not anywhere where we know about. Likely underground."
"And Neji!" Konohamaru jumped in again. "They took him away to be tested, but Shizune's looking after the progress. She's making sure that they don't hurt him."
But Sakura said that everyone was okay except Danna. She must have known that I'm not exactly fond of Neji, so she omitted... She wasn't really sure how to feel about that. Neji had saved her life, proving his humanity and loyalty to their ragtag group. Deidara chewed on the inside of her cheek, mulling over her view of him. She would always be wary of him, but perhaps a little forgiveness was needed. Neji shouldn't be exempt from having a future. In a way, the Hyuuga boy was much like Sasori—unwillingly (or so she assumed for her Danna's case) put into positions that required them to commit horrible crimes.
"Take me to them," Deidara said in the end, sitting back down in her wheelchair. Asuma had recommended her let the subsequent pain go away before walking. "I want to see everyone again. Especially Rin and Itachi." She downed the rest of the hot chocolate in one gulp, the beverage now cooled enough for her to do so.
"I don't see why not," Kakashi said agreeably. "It's a little past lunch time now, so all of them should be in the centre rather than wandering the streets."
"The military police let them do that?"
"Haruno Mebuki is a powerful woman, Deidara," was all Kakashi had to say on the matter.
"Hm."
The two said their goodbyes, leaving Konohamaru, Hitoshi, and Asuma behind.
"I'm starving," Konohamaru declared. "Hey, Hitoshi, set up the table."
"Oi, don't talk to me like your slave, brat." Hitoshi fixed him with a glare. "Just because you're uncle's my boss, doesn't mean you—"
"Both of you set the table," Asuma ordered, giving them a mock-stern stare.
"Oji-san!"
Konohamaru and Hitoshi went to the back room, bickering all the way. Asuma knew that they weren't fond of each other (Hitoshi was a real prickly bush to deal with), but they'd just have to get used to interacting.
Sighing, Asuma pulled out a small photo he kept in his back pocket. He smiled fondly at the soft faces that greeted him. "Yo, Kurenai. Just a few hundred more sales and I'll be able to live with you full-time." His eyes shifted to the baby that the woman in the photo had in her arms. That picture had been taken four years ago. "Mirai's five this year... isn't she?"
"Kakashi."
"Hm?"
Deidara glanced up at him. "Kakashi, stop, hm."
He ceased pushing the wheelchair, frowning when she unsteadily tried to stand.
They were in the corridor, outside the room which they kept everyone in. With the war, there was a sudden influx of refugees into Konoha, and the officials had been forced to move everyone into one big room with beds.
"I don't want them to see me like this," Deidara explained quietly. "Just let me do this, yeah." She grunted in frustration as she nearly lost balance, hastily righting herself. She stood still, getting a feel of her new leg. The numbing agent was starting to wear off now, and she could feel a bit of the pain that Asuma had warned her about. She exhaled. "Okay."
Kakashi left the wheelchair in the hallway, placing himself next on Deidara's left as they stood outside the door, ready to catch her if she fell.
She palmed the knob.
And twisted.
The door opened, revealing the faces that she hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity, all of them clean, and fresh; some of them were playing cards on the carpet, others talking, reading, sleeping or enjoying the peace—
She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt her tears pool at her chin, dropping like stars onto her leather shoes.
Daichi noticed her first. "DEIDARA-NEE!" The boy launched himself at her, nearly knocking her over as he wrapped his arms around her forcefully. Deidara could feel tears start to stain her shirt, and, automatically, she palmed the boy's head, curling her fingers through his hair. It'd been cut, she thought absently.
"Daichi," Deidara uttered.
"You're okay," the boy sobbed. "You're okay! I thought you were going to die—I thought that my big sis was gonna—" He hiccuped, hugging her tighter.
Kakashi stood back a little as all of them swarmed toward the blonde, some of them smiling with all their teeth and others struggling not to cry. Not one of them kept a straight face, however. But even those who had not been close to her, even on the journey they had all taken together, rejoiced at her return.
It made him smile, just a little, underneath his mask. You would have liked to see this, Obito.
He watched as Rin embraced her friend, tears freely falling from her chocolate brown eyes. She was crying the hardest out of all of them, her bottom lip trembling as she buried her face in the crook of Deidara's neck, her shoulders shaking with each sob.
"You're alive," Rin kept whispering, "You're alive—thank god—oh, thank god—"
Deidara let her whisper, let her cry.
Not all of them are here, she realized once everything had calmed. Who's missing? Itachi, Shikamaru, Karin, Naruto, Tenten, Kagami... She said as much, and it was Sasuke who answered, surprisingly.
"My brother had business to attend to," the younger Uchiha brother said stoically. "I don't know where Kagami went, but Tenten is getting checked at the hospital. Shikamaru's gone to the Leaf Gazette to meet Choji's uncle, and Karin and Naruto..." There was an underlying sorrow in his voice that Deidara didn't miss. "They went to visit the Fourth Hokage's grave. His father's."
"Karin? Why Karin, hm?"
"Karin's an Uzumaki, too," Rin told her. "We didn't know until she had to give the officials her name. As soon as he knew, Naruto latched onto her." Sasuke snorted with dry amusement at that. "She's going with him tomorrow to the docks to greet his mother as well."
Deidara's lips quirked up, albeit a little sadly. "Lucky kid."
Nobody questioned if she meant Naruto or Karin.
As they included her and Kakashi into their group again (the latter mostly just read his book), she was glad they didn't notice how awkwardly she was walking. If they did, none of them expressed it. Her green skirt was long enough to conceal her entire prosthetic up to the ankle, where her shoes went up to.
She wanted to keep her composure, wanted them to think that she was okay. Deidara wasn't sure if her pride could take it if they all started pitying her right then, knowing that she would never be able to fight again or produce her art to the fullest extent—
It was going well until she saw Asagi nursing a child, the babe suckling on her breast.
Izuna.
Something stabbed her in the heart then, ripping through her soul painfully. Just as she thought she had finished crying for the day, more tears welled up in her eyes and she ducked her head, allowing her unbound hair to fall around her face. Izumi—oh my god, Izumi, she's—
"I..." Deidara trailed off before shakily getting to her knees in front of the bed Asagi was sitting on, everyone staring. Suddenly, pride didn't matter anymore. There were things more important than that. Her skirt moved upward a little to reveal the metal that made up her left leg. "Can I hold him? Please."
Asagi's eyes softened. "Of course," she whispered, choking up. "Of course."
Beside her, Shogo watched with astonishment as the blonde woman gingerly took the baby from his mother's arms. Izuna didn't cry when Asagi's nipple was removed from his gummy mouth, blinking curiously up at the woman that now held him. "Where's she taking my little brother?" Shogo asked.
His question went unanswered as Deidara carefully hugged the child to her chest, her head bowed as she cried silently. Izuna, bemused, cooed and tugged on Deidara's hair. It only served to make her weep harder, faster. He felt so fragile, so breakable in her arms. In a way, he was just like her.
There was a presence behind her, then Deidara saw Rin kneel beside her from her periphery. Someone else did the same on her blind side, which alarmed her for a moment before she just let it be. It was Gai, from what the chakra signature told, and he was sobbing freely with them.
In seconds, the previously joyful mood had plummeted into a somber one, everyone sobering as Deidara mourned for Izumi and the child she had left behind.
For Ino, for Shisui, for Obito, for Hitomi, for everyone who had died meaninglessly—
Rin swallowed a lump in her throat, wiping her eyes. "We're going to be doing something at the Naka River at sunset. To remember the dead. Shikamaru and Choji—they—they're bringing lanterns back as we speak. Will you come?"
A tear skimmed Izuna's cheek, and he blinked slowly at Deidara's scrunched up expression, still confused.
Deidara took in a deep breath, brushing away her tears with her sleeve. "Yes," she said hoarsely, "I'd like that, yeah."
"Are you ready?" Kakashi asked her.
Deidara didn't look at him, merely staring at the horizon, where half the sun had already disappeared behind the clouds and hills. "As ready as I'll ever be, yeah."
Each of them held sheets of lantern paper in their hands; some were folded while some weren't.
She looked up and down the bridge. There was the lively market district in the west, and the clinical military district in the east. The only thing separating them was stretches of road and the Naka Bridge.
Nobody was coming.
She wouldn't have cared if anyone else showed up or not.
Taking it in, she could see that Itachi had returned, though he was standing beside his brother, far away from her, his hair curtaining his face as he placed a tealight candle in the middle of the flat planks of wood at the bottom of the paper lantern he held.
It wasn't just him who had come back.
Naruto and Karin.
Shikamaru and Choji.
Shizune and Sakura.
Tenten, her nose crooked and her part of her lip scarred.
Even Hitoshi had shown up, bringing with him Asuma and Konohamaru.
All of them had come to honor their departed, and send them off to the next realm.
Strangely, no tears came to her this time. It was as if she'd cried them all already.
The names of many on her lips, she followed Itachi's example, placing her tealight candle in her now-folded lantern.
Deidara leaned over the railing of the low bridge, slipping the lantern in. It bobbed down the river, more following in its wake.
"Izumi," Deidara said quietly.
"Obito.
"Shisui.
"Hitomi.
"Ino.
"Sawako..."
A murmur of voices joined hers, reciting names that were both alien and familiar to her.
"Careful, Udon," she heard Konohamaru say when the bespectacled boy nearly fell over trying to put his lantern into the water.
The names nearly got caught in her throat more than once, but she continued.
In the end, she watched the lanterns float off into the distance with nothing more than a heavy, resigned weight in her chest and the pain in her leg to keep her grounded.
Deidara didn't know how long she stayed there.
They were long gone by the time she got there.
Her footsteps silent in the grassy riverside of the Naka, she stopped to feel the wind blow against the back of her neck.
Then she knelt, slipping a lantern into the river and pushing up her mask.
"Goodbye, Shisui."
A/N: This update came a lot sooner than I thought it would. Surprise, I guess?
About Choji's uncle, who was mentioned here a few times... he's going to become quite important a bit later on. But as friend or foe? Hmm...