Death.

She swallowed, her tongue feeling dry and heavy in her mouth. The entire area smelled of ashes and fire, and she fought to keep awake, her vision blurring and clearing up in random intervals. Disoriented, she weakly crawled forward, her cheek dragging across the dirt and forming a gash in the ground.

She couldn't feel her legs.

She wanted to scream, but only a low moan of agony left her lips.

"Must," she panted, her words catching in her throat. "Must... my children..."

"I see something...! She's over here!"

Her eyes slowly drooped shut, her form stilling as the last ragged breath left her. "My son... my daughter... Ha..."

"Hana?"

The name left her lips like a whisper on the wind, and Deidara nearly tripped over a stray tile as she processed the boy's face in her mind over and over again. He was young, probably around Naruto's age, and he shared the same facial tattoos as Hana. But how could this be? Were they perhaps part of the same clan?

But questions would come later, preferably once she had retrieved her money pouch and strung the thief on a tree by the balls. Assuming he would have any left once she was done with him.

She ran so fast that the spicy aromas in the air had no time to be appreciated by her nose, her heeled boots tapping against the tiled rooftops of Sickleleaf Town.

I haven't even been here for twenty minutes and I've already been robbed. This better be good... Disgruntled, she did not apologize when she had to use the shade-cloth over a street vendor's stall to bounce herself to the next roof, which was further away. A quick glance over her shoulder as she flew through the air told her that the cloth was starting to tear apart.

Frustratingly, Deidara had to slow down when she lost sight of the creep. Her belt felt painfully light, a reminder that if she couldn't find the thief, she wouldn't have anything to buy lodgings, food, or even the boat back home with.

It was not the worst situation she had been it, but it was a thorn in her side that she wanted removed immediately.

Like a jungle cat leaping from the rainforest trees, Deidara jumped from the roof and back onto the cobblestone path, where people spared her curious, wary glances.

An old male vendor clicked his tongue in sympathy. "He got you, too, huh?"

She whipped her head around. "Excuse me?" So the thief's well known, hm? Then someone might know something. She stepped underneath the umbrella set up over the man's stand, tightening her grip on her briefcase. At least that was still heavy with her typewriter and clothes. But if she got robbed on the first day in this tiny port town, then there was no way she was going to trust anyone here. If she listened to this old man, it was only going to be because she had no one else to give her any clues.

The old man stirred a pot full of porridge, barely glancing up at her as he cooked his wares. "That kid's been troubling everyone here for the past few months. None of us have been able to catch him, nor do we know where he runs off to every time..."

"Then I'll catch him, yeah," Deidara declared, crossing her arms. But how awfully convenient that supposedly nobody knew his whereabouts even though the streets were flooded by people... "Did you see which way he went?"

The old man lifted an arm, pointing upwind of the village. "Maybe that way. It used to be safer around here, and I'm not talking about the kid. Hmm..."

Deidara would have liked to hear the story behind his words, but she had no more time left to waste. She needed to get moving or Hana's male clone would never be seen again.

Dodging the crowd, she ran. Even in long pants and low-heeled boots, she was fast—faster than any civilian meandering in the village, but the little snot was nowhere to be seen. Frustration was building up inside her and ready to explode when she caught sight of a familiar fuzzy hood—there!

And look who it was—

"Shit!" Deidara snarled when it turned out to be a wooden dummy in front of a clothing shop. She gave the owner an apologetic glance before moving on, her fists clenched by her sides. In this crowd, there was no way she would be able to find him by chakra signature, so that was out. She wasn't a sensor like Karin, even if her weeks in the wilderness had heightened her vigilance (not nearly enough, clearly, if she was still able to be pick-pocketed). I only have his face and his clothing. And those strange markings on his cheeks...

Deidara sat down on a nearby bench, propping her briefcase next to her (it took a great effort not to slam it down). Then she pulled out a sheet of paper, using one of the many pens she had brought to sketch out the general shape of the thief's face-markings. It was simple; even a six-year-old could have put it down on paper. When she was done, she was looking at twin fang shapes. For extra measure, she used a red pen to color the lines in.

Where have I seen this before? Deidara tapped her pen against her jaw. On Hana, obviously, but it ran deeper than that. Somehow... she couldn't help but feel like it meant something important. She was certain that it was a clan symbol, but she couldn't be entirely sure. Her own heritage was clanless, and she wasn't equipped with the kind of knowledge to figure out this kind of thing. The major clans like the Uchiha and Hyuuga were known to all, but the countless number of smaller clans... Deidara's background wasn't exactly spiffing, and she couldn't account for them.

A little hesitantly, she drew back to her memories of childhood in Iwa, where her schoolteacher—pinched mouth, sagging cheeks, but ever-sharp eyes—had lectured them for hours on end on Iwagakure's colorful history. The violent history behind the founding of their country, the multiple treaties, the few clans involved in their politics... Their country had been one of great innovation and invention—they'd had to be, in order to keep up with the other Great Nations, which possessed clans with dangerous kekkei genkais.

She herself lacked a clan background, but she did belong to a very small group of people who had descended from the once great Bakuhatsu Tribe. Different from a clan, but somewhat similar. Like the name suggested, they had specialized in explosions—the mouths she had inherited from her mother were autosomal recessive traits that had been around since long ago.

Exhaling, Deidara leaned back against the bench, the back of the seating digging uncomfortably against her spine. She was vaguely ware of her leg cramping (a consequence of her unplanned sprinting session), but the little movement she was doing now had the throbbing slowly fading away.

She didn't forget that it would always be there.

Her fingers twitched, tapping against the bench.

Then she stood, clutching the drawing she had done tightly and glaring at it. "Now where are you, you little bastard? Hm?"

She was going to get that money back whether he liked it or not. She'd had too many other things happen to her to stand for this—if this ended up besting her when other things could not, then she'd be damned.

Her leg hurt, but she ignored it.

The first person she asked was a young woman running a sweets shop. "Excuse me, have you seen anyone with this marking? Clothes, face, doesn't matter, hm." Deidara showed her the paper, and the woman looked contemplative, her brows knitting together in thought.

"From what I can tell, this looks like the symbol of the Inuzuka Clan."

"Inuzuka Clan?" Deidara's eyes gleamed in interest. I've never heard of them. Must be a small Konoha clan... "Tell me more about them." She paused, before tacking on, "Please, yeah."

The woman held up a lollipop. "Are you going to buy anything?"

Deidara frowned. "Afraid not, hm." She could have told her that she had been robbed, but she didn't want any pity from a candy-shop clerk of all people.

She put the lollipop aside. "Oh well. No harm in telling you, anyway. The Inuzuka Clan used to be based in this town. They're famous for having incorporated their ninken in their fighting styles, and their amazing sense of smell." She spoke of them as if they were no longer around, and Deidara soon found out why. "Since the clan was predominantly made up of males of age, and females who couldn't stand to leave their husbands behind, they were sent off to war. The post they were stationed at..." The woman hesitated, wringing her hands.

"Yeah?" Deidara prompted, inching forward. She hadn't come here for a history lesson, but at least this was somewhat relevant.

"There was an ambush. Everybody... died."

Oh.

Oh.

"Well, almost," the woman hurried on swiftly. "The clan's matriarch and leader survived, and her son was too young to be conscripted at that time, so he was never sent off."

The door to the store's back room swung open then, and Deidara's gaze slid over to the broad-cheated man that was approaching.

"Were you eavesdropping, Yamada?" the woman admonished. They both had golden bands around their ring fingers. Husband and wife then, Deidara concluded.

"Maybe," her husband said teasingly before turning to Deidara. "Tourist, huh? Welcome to Sickleleaf, the name's Akaashi Yamada, and this is my wife, Tsukasa." He shook her hand heartily, a little surprised by the force behind her grip.

"Deidara. The pleasure's mine, yeah," Deidara answered diplomatically.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about the Inuzuka Massacre—"

An exasperated snort from Tsukasa.

"—real tragedy, that." Yamada shook his head sadly. "We were all so indebted to them, too. With the sheer amount that practically volunteered to be conscripted, the rest of us able-bodied men didn't have to throw ourselves into the line of fire. But anyway, what're you here for, Deidara?"

No point not telling them anymore, Deidara reckoned, seeing as they had already gotten each other's names. She lifted her chin, looking Yamada straight in the eye. "I—"

The back door slammed open once again and everybody stared at the wide-eyed girl who was quite obviously hiding something behind her back. Her face went red when she noticed the attention on her. She had mousy brown hair that fell a little below her shoulders.

"Tamaki," Yamada said, "Where are you off to?"

"I'm gonna hang out with Chibisuke!" Tamaki declared, shuffling around the huddled group of adults. She was a teenager, some years younger than Deidara herself. At the blonde's unnerving stare, she started to sweat. "L-Later..."

Then she was gone, the bell above the door jingling.

"Chibisuke?" echoed Deidara. The lingering scent of delicious home-cooking wafted up her nose.

"Oh, probably one of her animal friends," said Yamada. "Our Tamaki loves animals, especially cats. But about the Inuzuka..."

"No," Deidara interrupted. "Don't bother, yeah, but thanks." She backpedaled out of the store. Now where did you go... Tamaki? Luckily, she hadn't gone far, almost lost in the crowds, and Deidara followed her from a safe distance. Whatever she had been holding behind her back was gone—she was now clutching it against her front and hiding it in her jacket.

Unfortunately, Tamaki was not as sneaky or as subtle as she thought herself to be. It was only when she turned a corner into a narrow alleyway that Deidara picked up her pace, intrigued.

It was when the girl started climbing on top of roofs to get to her destination that Deidara's curiosity practically exploded. Her pace quickened even more as she padded after Tamaki, moving fluidly and soundlessly behind her like one of the girl's feline friends. Tamaki nearly lost balance a few items, but managed to brave it in the end without any injuries.

They emerged into a side street with Tamaki none the wiser of Deidara's presence, the latter crouched on top of a brick wall while the former looped around and trotted down so that Deidara was essentially walking next to her but on a higher level. There wasn't much traffic in this streets. In fact...

Deidara glanced around her surroundings, eyes sharp. This place is totally deserted. Further down the street, there was a man smoking in front of his house, but he didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings, too fixated on the billowing cloud of smoke dispersing in front of his face.

Tamaki turned more corners before her shoulders finally relaxed, and she let out a relieved sigh. Looking around (but not up), Tamaki took a seat, patting down the front of her skirt and the back of her hair. "Kiba, you'd better come out soon... I've been so worried..." She unbuttoned her cardigan, revealing a small sack of bread loaves that she'd been holding against her stomach. They were obviously freshly baked, too, Deidara discovered when she flared her nostrils. She had yet to eat breakfast, and it was an effort in itself not to snatch the bread right from the girl's hands.

Not because it smells just like food from Iwa, she reminded herself firmly, Only because I'm starved.

The blonde made herself comfortable on the wall, squatting and folding her arms across her bent knees as she observed the seemingly mundane scene below her.

To their left was an abandoned building, the exterior's paint peeling away listlessly.

Tamaki continued to wait, her fingers tapping on her knee nervously.

Then—

"Yo, Tamaki-chan!"

The abandoned building's wooden door opened up and a teenage boy with a dirt-stained face poked his head out, grinning. "The old lady told us you were out here! Why didn't you knock?"

Tamaki flushed. "I-I forgot the code, okay?!" As he emerged fully from the building, the girl shoved the sack of bread into his chest, making him blink in surprise. "Here. I was worried about you..."

"You forgot?" The boy was baffled. "You just tap to the tune of o' lady o' lady o! Remember?"

"Well I do now." Tamaki rolled her eyes. "Have you been stealing again? There was a stranger asking questions at my parents' store, and she looked pretty mad. You know," she said pointedly, "like someone had just nicked her savings off her!"

The look on his face was decidedly smug as he chomped on some bread. "So?" he said through a mouthful, crumbs flying toward Tamaki's face. Spitting like an angry cat, the girl cringed away from him and flicked a wet bread crumb from her cheek.

"So?" Tamaki echoed in disbelief, planting her hands on her hips. "You're gonna get in trouble! The locals only let you get away with it because you don't steal their wares unless things get really bad, and your mom was—"

"Tamaki."

The girl clamped up, stiffening.

Meanwhile, the boy was turning away harshly, his eyes half-lidded as he stared at the old building in front of him. "If you came just to scold me, just get outta here."

Tamaki lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. Or come here to scold you." She grabbed his arm. "Kiba! I'm your friend, I'm not just going to leave you—" She cut herself off, sighing. "Sorry. Rambling."

Kiba wiped his nose. "S'fine. Sorry for snapping," he added gruffly. "Wanna come in? Baa-chan been wondering where you were."

"Has she?" The brunette girl sounded bewildered. "But Baa-chan never wonders."

"Beats me. She just said that something's happening soon, and that you probably wanna be here for it."

"Huh." The two started toward the entrance of the abandoned building. "What could she mean—"

"Oh, I'll tell you what this means." They couldn't even gasp before Deidara landed in front of them, glaring down at them as though they were the cause of her shitty mood. Which they did happen to be. Before Kiba could run, she grabbed him by the furry hood of his jacket, yanking him toward her. "What this means is that you're going to be giving back all of my money and fucking off to Suna, yeah."

Kiba winced. "Ah, shit."

The morning had begun not long ago, but the streets were already filling with locals and foreigners alike. The smell of rich Iwa-inspired food wafted through the air and dissipated into the atmosphere.

As the sun rose higher and higher into the air, Tamaki, Kiba, and Deidara stood tensely in front of the old abandoned building in a side street somewhere. Deidara's grip was firm on Kiba's, and Tamaki was frozen, unsure of how to deal with the sudden intruder.

She settled for shouting, "H-hey! Let him go!"

Deidara ignored her, pulling the hood down and Kiba with it. The clothing article was surprisingly sturdy, the seams not even coming apart with the force she used. Kiba winced when he landed on his rump, tilting his head backward and eyeing his attacker defiantly.

"Money?" Kiba chuckled, as if she weren't responsible for knocking him on his ass. "Sorry, lady, but the money's all spent!"

"What?!"

"Yep." Faking a yawn, Kiba dug through his ear with his pinkie flippantly. "Thanks for the food, though. Hope you come again."

"Kiba!" a horrified Tamaki cried. "Don't goad her!"

"Maybe you should listen to your friend, hm," Deidara advised, her tone caustic. "You'd better cough up that money, kid." she yanked his hood again, making the front of his zipped-up jacket press against his soft throat. He choked, his fang-like pupils darting back and forth. "That was half a month's worth of lodgings and meals that you stole from me. Well?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kiba rasped. "Easy there, okay?! I don't know what you're talking about."

Playing dumb? Deidara frowned. At this point? It almost seems... It almost seems as if he's stalling for someth—

"ARF!" Out of nowhere, a pair of powerful jaws clamped down on her leg, and Deidara whipped her head to the side to see a medium-sized dog with brown markings on his floppy ears growl as it tried to pierce her leg.

Unfortunately, the dog had bitten her prosthetic, which was made out of too hard a metal for a mere dog's teeth to even dent. Not to mention all Deidara felt was a slight twinge in division between her flesh and the suction cup of the prosthetic leg as her chakra channels were briefly disrupted.

It did leave some holes in her pant leg though, which was an annoyance in itself.

"Yeah!" In the commotion, Kiba had managed to wriggle out of his jacket. "Get her, Akamaru!"

Unimpressed, Deidara grabbed the dog by its scruff and tore it from her leg. "Yours?" she inquired dryly, a part of her unashamedly relishing in Kiba's slack-jawed expression. "Listen, Kiba," she stepped forward, Akamaru still dangling from her hand. The dog was yipping in distress, trying to bite her hand but failing due to how she held it. "Just give me back my money and I'll let your dog go, hm."

"And... what if I don't?" Kiba started to sweat. She won't hurt him, will she?! If she did, he didn't care how strong she was, but he was taking her down in a fight to the death.

Deidara glanced at the squirming dog. "Then I'm afraid he'll be staying with me, yeah." She jumped backwards back onto the wall, then to a nearby roof, tucking the dog between her side and the crook of her elbow. Poor Akamaru looked more bewildered than anything else, too confused to even bark.

"WAIT!" Kiba shouted, stepping on the bench Tamaki had been sitting on just minutes ago and climbing up the wall. While he could move swiftly and deftly on the ground, it was clear that he didn't have Deidara's balance—or even Tamaki's for that matter—to efficiently traverse the rooftops of Sickleleaf Town. He glared ferociously at her, baring his teeth. "I wasn't lying!" he bit out. "I really did spend all the money..."

Tamaki's throat bobbed as she observed the scene from the ground. Kiba... Just tell her what you did with the money... Maybe then she'll understand... The bread loaves she had so painstakingly made and brought to Kiba were now lying on the ground, abandoned and collecting dust.

"Oh, really?" Deidara stepped backward, further up the rooftop. "Don't worry then, I'll be sure to treat him well, hm. When you have the money, come find me."

"AKAMARU!" Kiba screamed as Deidara disappeared. The last thing he saw of her was her suitcase, which she had somehow managed to hold on to the whole time. He slammed his closed fist on the top of the wall. "DAMMIT!" That stupid cow...!

"Kiba," Tamaki lifted her hands to her mouth in shock, "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize she followed me... I'm sorry, Kiba!"

"No..." Kiba wanted badly to blame her, but he knew it wasn't her fault. That woman was clearly operating at a higher level than himself or Tamaki. Tamaki was purely civilian with no fighting expertise—there was no way she could have detected Deidara following her. As for Kiba, his former clan had been renowned trackers due to their abnormally powerful sense of smell—it was merely bad luck that the wind had been blowing Deidara's scent in the wrong direction, and that Kiba had been too focused on calming his rumbling belly with Tamaki's delicious-smelling home-cooked bread. "S'not your fault, Tamaki-chan."

She was still ashamed, and Kiba sighed, hopping off the wall and punching her awkwardly in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For being stupid," Kiba said. "I already said it wasn't your fault! It was just bad luck, okay? Don't beat yourself up over it." He bit his lip. "I'm going to get the money back. She wasn't the only tourist to step off those boats."

More stealing? Tamaki's heart felt heavy, but she knew it was necessary. "Okay. Just be careful, okay?"

Kiba nodded, grabbing his jacket, which Deidara had thankfully left behind.

He was about to set off when the door of the old building opened.

"Now," said a wizened woman with tan, weather-beaten skin, smiling, "Don't be too hasty. I have a better idea."

"Baa-chan?" both kids said at the same time, blinking in surprise.

"Geez..."

Below her, the streets were somehow even busier than they had been before. Vendors were crying out their wares, while children skipping school were running amok the streets. As if her depth perception weren't screwed up enough, even with the eye-scope, she was also holding up Kiba's dog in front of her, blocking most of the view.

The dog had tried to bite her multiple times during her escape, but he seemed to have calmed down for now. The dog seemed wary of her, but seemed to instinctively know that she wasn't a danger to him.

"I really don't think," Deidara leaned back when Akamaru tried to nip her nose, sweatdropping, "I thought this through enough..."

By taking the dog, she had leverage over Kiba and a moderate chance of getting her money back, but—

How the hell am I going to look after a dog?!

She glared at Akamaru as if he were the problem, and her true problems weren't an unfortunate combination of bratty street rats, strange townspeople, food and smells that reminded her too much of Iwa, and her own rash thinking and temper.

Akamaru yipped.

"Ugh."

The way the dog was looking at her...

Frankly, Akamaru was simply adorable.

She forced herself to think of the pants that he had ruined.

Then Akamaru licked her nose, and she felt a part of her simply melt.

Shit.

Grumbling, she set the dog down and hugged it toward her side to make sure he wouldn't escape. Then she made a mental checklist of what she needed to do in this town.

Number one was getting her money back and checking in at an inn with decent food. Number two was finding Inuzuka Tsume—if what the Akaashi couple had said was true, it meant that Kiba was very likely the matriarch's son, which meant he was her best chance of tracking down the elusive Tsume. Surely, being a scion, he would have to know most, if not all, of his clan members, right?

Wait.

She sat up straighter, Akamaru yelping at the abrupt movement.

Tsukasa said that all the clan members were dead except the matriarch and her son. And if Kiba is who I think he is, then that means...

Deidara swore so loudly that Akamaru actually whimpered. "I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

Tsume was the goddamn matriarch of the Inuzuka Clan.

The same matriarch who was also in a coma. Chances of getting to interview her were about zero. This entire trip had just been a massive waste of time. All she needed to do right now was get her money back and just leave, because unless Tsume decided to wake up, she wasn't going to be able to do anything for the paper.

But if all of them except Tsume and Kiba were supposed to be dead... This raised another question: Who was Hana?

She groaned in frustration. Every time she felt like she had figured out something, the answer just raised more questions.

Akamaru let out a low whimper, pawing at her thigh.

"What?" Deidara ground out.

Wordlessly, the dog set his chin on her leg and curled his fluffy tail around her. Akamaru had sensed her distress and was... cuddling.

"I thought you would hate me, hm," the blonde said, absently patting Akamaru's head. "I did take you away from your master, after all." It'd been necessary, and she'd do it again if she had to, but Akamaru was just unfortunate and had gotten caught in the crossfire.

"There you are!"

Deidara whirled around to see an out of breath Tamaki standing a little behind her. With Akamaru's animal therapy, she hadn't noticed the young girl sneaking up on her. Then again, Tamaki's chakra signature was pretty insignificant in the first place.

"Tamaki-chan, right?" Deidara said drolly. "To what do I owe you the pleasure, hm?" Did they get the money already? That was quick. Or... Tamaki could have foolishly come up here on her own to try and convince her to return Akamaru without getting anything in return. From the way her knees were wobbling, the latter seemed more likely at this point.

"No," Tamaki admitted. "But hear me out! You need a place to stay for two weeks, right? And food? We can provide all that, free of charge."

"Can you?" Deidara stood, lifting Akamaru up with her. "That's a pretty shit alternative, yeah. I'm not going to stay at your parents' for two weeks." In fact, since she was going to take the next boat home, all she needed was the money she had been robbed of, or else the Leaf Gazette would suffer an unnecessary blow. Not to mention she wasn't going to let some dog-brat get away with stealing from her.

She was going to turn around and walk off to another rooftop when Tamaki took a deep breath. "It's not at my parents'. You... work for a newspaper, right? We'll let you talk to whoever you need to!"

How did she—? Deidara shook her head. Never mind that. "Unless you can get the comatose to start talking, we're both out of luck. I'm keeping Akamaru," she patted him on the head for the sole purpose of mocking her, and definitely not because she enjoyed the sensation of his soft fur beneath her calloused hands, "until you can get the money."

And then she was going to get the hell out of here—

Thunder boomed and suddenly the winds picked up, nearly knocking both of the girls down.

In the horizon, they could see lightning striking the ocean, waves kicking up, and sickleleaf trees by the dock swaying dangerously.

What.

It'd just been sunny an hour ago! Deidara glanced at Tamaki, who seemed just as surprised as she was at the sudden change in weather. Below, people were shouting as they frantically tried to find shelter, street vendors hastily taking apart their stalls and hiding their wares. Fishermen and boatmen quickly grabbed whatever they needed and ran toward town.

Ping.

"Attention," an announcement boomed over the town when it began to rain, especially loud where the speakers were attached to, "we are currently experiencing a sudden level-three hurricane. Do not be alarmed; everybody head to shelter. All boats are grounded until further notice. The Sickleleaf Town Council apologizes for the inconvenience."

Ping.

The rain started to pour heavily then, plastering their hair to their heads and faces. Scowling, Deidara pushed her hair from her face. "Who sent you?"

Tamaki managed a weary smile.

Blub. Blub.

"Meeeooowww," a fat white cat yawned as he curled up on the table against Kiba's arm, yellow eyes closing contentedly. The boy was clutching a hot tea, the cup three-quarters full of the soothing liquid.

"Baa-chan," Kiba said lowly, "Are you sure Tamaki-chan will be okay?" The thunder boomed outside and he cringed. "It's suddenly storming... and what if something happens to her, huh?"

"Be calm, Kiba," the old woman sitting opposite him smiled, a teapot with an intricate pattern sitting in front of her. She lifted the pot to fill Kiba's cup to the brim again. Blub. Blub. "She will arrive soon."

Thunder crackled again, making Kiba's spine stiffen.

"Ah," the old woman said, "here they are."

And then the door swung open loudly, slamming against the wall and making the wood above the brick foundation crumble. Two sopping wet figures stepped in, the taller one throwing the door shut behind her. Then Deidara proceeded to grab her ponytail, twist it, and squeeze out the water, forming a puddle on the floor. Tamaki merely shook her head to rid of the water, her hair much shorter than the blonde's.

"Kazebaba-san!" Tamaki greeted, lifting an arm. "I'm back, and look who I brought!"

"ARF ARF!"

Deidara didn't even have the energy or shits to give to pull Akamaru back from pouncing on his owner, who absolutely laughed with joy and relief, hugging the dog tightly. Even if she wasn't dripping wet or exhausted, she suspected that she might have just let it be anyway.

She'd just make Kiba make up for her loss in another way.

"Welcome, welcome," Kazebaba said warmly, standing up and holding out a towel and blanket for Tamaki. She did the same for Deidara, who warily took the items from her. "My name is Kazebaba, Deidara-san."

Deidara regarded her even more cautiously than before. "And it looks like you already know my name, hm..." Who are you? The woman didn't feel dangerous, even when her chakra signature was a bit unusual, but it was best to be wary. Still, she took a seat at the only table in the downstairs area, where a fire was burning nearby. Strange. She hadn't seen any smoke coming out of the chimney when she'd been outside with Tamaki.

"Your name's Deidara?" Kiba said, cocking his head to one side. "Ain't that an Iwa name?"

"And so what if it is, hm?" Deidara said gruffly, side-eyeing him as Kazebaba poured her a cup of tea.

"Nothing. Yo, Tamaki-chan," he turned to the girl, "How did you get her to come?"

"Oh! There was a storm, you see, and, well, it was just convenient for both of us."

Kazebaba chuckled.

And Deidara's countenance darkened.

"You still owe me a debt," Deidara reminded him frostily. "Make sure you don't forget me, dog-boy."

Kiba's expression soured. "Yeah, yeah... What do you want me to do, huh? Beg and grovel for forgiveness?" he tacked on sarcastically.

At that, Deidara lifted her suitcase on the table and clicked it open, taking out her bronze typewriter. She closed it and put it back on the floor before Kiba could catch sight of her undergarments or her copy of Sarutobi Sasuke's diary. The boy stared at it curiously, eyes widening at all of the complicated keys.

"Why don't you start," Deidara said mock-professionally, emphasizing every word out of spite, "by telling me about your mother?"

Bang!

Tamaki gasped when the tea that spilled from Kiba's cup nearly scalded her hand, flinching away. Kiba didn't even notice her surprise, pushing his chair back with a screech and storming up the stairs.

The fat white cat meowed in annoyance, Akamaru whined before following his master upstairs, and Kazebaba's gaze grew sad.

Deidara's fingers twitched, feeling a little bad for purposefully provoking the kid. It wasn't a good thing she had done, and she knew it, but did Kazebaba really have to keep looking at her like that? Deidara stared back at her distrustfully. The woman was nothing but a stranger.

"You know," Kazebaba mused, "You need to be less hard than the bronze machinery you carry around. He'll come down when he's ready, Tamaki-chan," she nodded at the cat-loving girl, whose lap was now the new resting place of Kazebaba's fat white tom, "As for you," she turned her strange, sharp gaze onto Deidara, who immediately felt the scrutiny as she packed her typewriter away, "There's a room waiting for you upstairs. Stay as long as you need to, Deidara-san."

Dear Rin,

Sorry that you didn't get this sooner. The post office is closed due to a level-three hurricane that's ravaging the town, but I promised to write to you and keep you posted, so here it is.

The boat trip was uneventful, but everything after that was just a circus. It turns out that my first client, Inuzuka Tsume, is currently in a coma and not waking up anytime soon. I can't go back home because the boats are grounded, so I'm staying with an old woman called Kazebaba. Hopefully, the storm clears up soon so I don't have to stay here for too long. There's something about her that I don't trust. What's her motive behind all this?

If I'm dead, then you know what happened.

There are other occupants in this household. One is Inuzuka Kiba, the son of Tsume who is also the reason why I'm not staying at an inn. Long story short, he stole from me, and I kidnapped his dog for leverage in return. It amounted to nothing in the end, but at least I'm not wet and starving. The other guest is Tamaki, whose parents' own a shop here in Sickleleaf, but it's too dangerous now for her to go home now that the hurricane is so strong. Her only defining trait seems to be an abnormal love for cats.

Tamaki's okay, but Kiba seems to be prone to bursts of anger. My best guess is his mom, but there seems to be something more to it.

I spoke to some of the townspeople as well. They seem nice enough, but a little... skittish? Not exactly, but there's something going on that I don't know about.

I'll see you soon, hopefully. Tell the others I said hi.

Yours,

Deidara

"Kiba," Kazebaba murmured to herself as she closed the door of Deidara's room. The girl had left it open, too tired from today's events to care about closing it. "You are not the only one who has lost a mother."

A/N: Finally. It's been a while, but exams are over and I'm finally posting again.