Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's note: HA! Look! It's done! Okay, so I apologize if Deidara seems a TEENY TINY bit OOC in this chapter. Not my fault. Enjoy!
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"Kill herself?! You say she killed herself?!" Deidara stood on his knees, his hands firmly and angrily planted on the table in front of him.
Akira continued sobbing and nodded slightly. "Y-yes…she killed herself…"
Deidara didn't believe it. "B-but how? How could she have killed herself?! She just walked right in looking perfectly fine!"
Akira stopped her crying for a few moments to explain everything to Deidara. She took in a deep breath before she did so, and let it out slowly. "Deidara-san, listen carefully. Kii did kill herself. But she did so in a different manner than you are thinking of. She did not physically attack herself."
Deidara kept still, barely breathing to keep quiet enough to hear every last word of Akira's.
"She shut herself down."
He froze in pure shock, his sapphire eyes turning almost gray.
Akira stopped and looked down, then continued while staring at the floor. "You see, Arahashi's, the members of the blood clan, have control over their own blood as well as others'. And Kii was literally dying inside at the thought of you hurting her. She didn't believe and she never wanted to believe it. She kept telling herself 'No, it's not true. This is just a dream. A nightmare!'"
Deidara slammed an angry fist on the table, making Akira flinch. He kept his head down, not showing her that he was almost on the verge of tears.
Akira lay a soft, trembling hand on his clenched fist. "Deidara-san…I'm so sorry.
"Akira," he spoke up. "How did she shut herself down? Why would she do that?"
She gasped, but answered his questions without hesitation. "W-well, she just sort of used the last of her chakra and stopped her blood flow. I'm guessing she did this to stop her heart from hurting so badly. The pain was just probably too much for her bare; too much to survive with."
Deidara accidently let a tear fall to the table. 'Damn it all.' The salty liquid formed a small droplet of water on the surface, so clear that Deidara could see his pathetic, sobbing reflection.
"How is she alive now? How is she surviving?" His voice almost a whisper.
Akira looked up at him with a sad expression plastered on her face. "Mm…I was so selfish. I didn't want my big sister to die. I wanted her alive with me, even though she was suffering so badly on the inside. I wanted her to stay with me, surviving in a world of pain."
Deidara lifted his head a little and almost glared at her in disgust. But his gaze softened again as he realized that she was sobbing in her hands. He placed a gently hand on her right shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She reacted to this in an unpredictable way: she shot towards Deidara and buried her crying face in his shirt, sobbing her eyes out.
"I'M SO SORRY, DEIDARA-SAN! I AM SO SELFISH! I NEVER THINK ABOUT ANYONE OTHER THAN MYSELF!! I'M SORRY!! I'M SO SORRY!!" She wept hysterically in his chest, choking on her own tears. She coughed and hacked her throat sore.
Deidara felt as if he could do nothing for her. So instead he just wrapped his welcoming arms around her trembling body until she stopped crying, or at least settled down a little.
"Akira, what did you do to Kii?"
She cringed at his words, but didn't allow herself to remain quiet. "I r-re directed her blood stream, as so she could continue living physically. A-and I e-erased her m-memories…so she could continue living mentally," she stuttered.
Deidara sighed loudly and released his warm hold on Akira. She sat with her legs under her knees, staring at the wooden floor.
There was a very uncomfortable, heavy silence. Almost five minutes passed before either of them said anything.
"Well, I suppose I should thank you," Deidara quietly told the quivering fox-demon.
She looked up at him with hope in her icy eyes. "What? What do you mean, Deidara-san?"
He didn't miss a beat. "If it wasn't for you, Kii wouldn't be with me right now. She would be in a place where I can't follow here…where I can't even reach her."
Tears threatened to pour out of Akira's eyes, and she gave in, letting them spill down her pale cheeks. "O-oh, Deidara-san! Thank you!" She couldn't help herself but give him a friendly hug as she wept in his hold once more.
He smiled softly. "Yeah…"
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"Deidara! Hey, Deidara!!" Kii called his name with happiness in her voice. She really had forgotten everything.
The blond looked up at the mention of his title. He instantly saw Kii running up to him with a large, innocent smile on her perfect face.
"Deidara! Let's go get something to eat! My treat!" She stopped suddenly with a disgusted look on her face, confusing Deidara.
"What's wrong, yeah?"
Kii smacked a hand on her forehead and frowned. "That rhymed, dammit."
Deidara gave a laugh and pulled her into a warm embrace. His face rested in the pit of her neck, smelling her green tea-scented hair.
It was at that moment that he realized he had shed another tear, one that landed on a strand of her hair. He wasn't ashamed of himself this time; Akatsuki or not.
It was for her.
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Author's note: Yup! That chapter was UBER short! But don't worry! The next one is UBER long! So yeah! I actually already have half of it done. I quit my stupid summer job at Starbucks and I'm SOOO PROUD OF MYSELF!!! KYAAA!! OMIGOD!! I FEEL 1,000 TIMES BETTER!!! So now, I have LOTS of time to write! XD