And now, chapter seven.
Hopefully, Tenten and Deidara will start to get together soon, with any luck! I had my record amount of views yesterday so thank you to everyone who reads this story, I'm so grateful!
Anyway, back to the story:
I do not own Naruto!
The cold air whistled past Tenten's ears as the sky flew past her. Her eyes were shut tight and she was holding onto the clay bird's neck for dear life. Her hair and the long Akatsuki robes ruffled in the wind, the consistent rising and falling of the bird's wings beside her becoming a steady rhythm in her head.
They had been airborne for the last few hours or so, and the constant low temperatures were starting to numb her fingers and toes. She sighed. At least this Akatsuki cloak kept the wearer reasonably warm.
Tenten looked up from here she had been facing into the neck of the bird to stop the wind stinging her eyes and face. She shook her head and smiled as she watched Deidara. The blonde shinobi was standing up on top of the bird he was riding, not even looking the slightest bit anxious about falling. His long hair blew around in the breeze, revealing that strange camera like eye piece that was usually hidden under his long blonde fringe.
"You enjoy it more if you stand up like this." He commented, looking around at her.
Tenten blushed and narrowed her eyes. Evidently he had been aware of her watching him.
"No, thank you. I'm quite comfortable just the way I am." Tenten replied angrily.
"Well," Deidara said as his own bird dropped back so it was level with hers, "If you change you mind I can always give you a few lessons, hmm?"
Tenten give him a murderous look and swiped her fist at him. The blonde wheeled away with a laugh, his mount banking to the side and soaring in a wide arc around Tenten's. The kunoichi yelped as she started to lose her balance having only one arm remaining to hold onto the bird, and flapped frantically as she felt her weight slide from its back.
Suddenly, a strong hand was clasped around her forearm and she was supported, one hand clasping her bird's neck, her other arm in Deidara's tight grip. He smirked arrogantly at her as he pushed her back onto its back steadily and she regained her tight hold on her mount.
"You really aren't very good at this, hmm?" He remarked with a sigh.
"Shut up! I've never exactly done this before." She replied hotly.
She looked forward again, away from Deidara's taunting face. Her cheeks felt hot and she knew as she cursed herself that her cheeks were an even deeper red than before. That stupid idiot may have just saved her from a long fall, but that didn't mean a thing. He was still a stuck-up fool.
"Don't worry Tenten," came Tobi's bright voice from where he sat on his bird, about ten to twenty feet away from hers, "I fell off a few times when I first started riding them…although most of the time senpai didn't catch me…"
Tenten couldn't help but smile at this as she imagined what it must have been like.
Buy now, the land that they had left behind was far way in the distance, not even visible any more. On foot, this journey would have taken more than a day, definitely, and yet in the air they had been going little over several hours.
She lifted her gaze to the horizon ahead. The sun was sinking behind the distant mountains that bordered this particular country, reflecting off of the snowy peaks. The bright whiteness of them contrasted so much with the beige and dull green of the mountain slopes that then bled into the richer green of the forests. She sighed, lost in thought over the snow on those heights, never melting, even when the sun's warmth shone upon them. Never trusting or warming to others. Never letting anyone else know the true self that she hid under the layers of masks she wore.
"Deidara, it will be night soon and these large white shapes will be easily noticeable in the night sky." Tenten pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, you're right. I suppose we have no choice but to land for the night." The blonde shinobi replied reluctantly.
Tenten resisted the urge to squeak with surprise as the bird that was carrying her took a sudden dip and began to dive towards the ground. Below them, the densely wooded forest stretched out in a sea of olive green. She clenched her teeth as the air rushed past her face faster and faster, her robes billowing out behind her as her descent became even faster.
Every second she was able to see more and more detail in the trees below as they came closer and closer, rushing up to meet them at an alarming pace.
"You idiot you're going to kill us!" Tenten yelled at Deidara hysterically.
Deidara laughed loudly, enjoying her discomfort and frustration, letting the moment drag out. The wind was roaring past them now, she could hear little else apart from it screaming in her ears.
Suddenly, Tenten found herself surrounded in a dense could of thick pale smoke, as the bird that had been carrying her to her doom exploded, but without the pyrotechnics. She then panicked, finding that without the bird, she was free-falling towards the rapidly approaching ground. However, she didn't shout or scream, refusing to show weakness even though she was terrified.
She narrowed her eyes. Had it been Deidara's plan all along to kill her here? Had this whole mission been a sham so that the Akatsuki could dispose of her after all? She couldn't tell where the blonde shinobi had got to due to the swirling smoke that was at last starting to clear around her.
However, this was the least of her worries as she could now plainly see the tips of the trees directly underneath her. She was falling too fast! She was going to hit the ground and die then and there. Twigs and branches whipped past her face, scratching at her skin and hair and clothes. She didn't have enough time to prepare chakra strings or wires so she could attach them to a branch and save herself, it was too late.
Just as she was about to hit the ground beneath, the wind was knocked out of her as a pair of strong arms gripped her under her knees and around her waist. She gasped for breath, coughing violently and shaking as she looked up into the eyes of the one who had saved her life and was holding her close to their chest.
"You know, you're pretty light for such a fighter as yourself, hmm?"
Deidara's cerulean blue orbs reflected her white face back at her, creasing in amusement, those thin lips tilted slightly in a smile. Her face immediately flushed a deep crimson. She winced and shuddered. She could even feel those disgusting mouths in his hands!
"DEIDARA YOU SON OF A –"
"Hey, is that any way to thank me for saving your life?" He asked innocently, but not putting her down.
"If you don't release me this instant, you'll be the one in need of some one to save your life!" Tenten snarled, her scarlet face contorted in fury.
"Aaw, but where would be the fun in that?" He teased.
Tenten struggled and kicked in his arms, and eventually he sighed and dropped her to the ground. The Kunoichi winced in pain as she stood up muttering darkly to herself. She looked around at the clearing that they had 'landed' in. It was small, only ten or so metres across, but most importantly it was hemmed in on all sides by towering pine trees that seemed to soak up the diminishing light like a sponge; it was semi-dark down on the forest floor.
Tobi came wandering up to Deidara and Tenten from behind a tree to their left, causing Tenten to jump and her hands to fly to her scrolls and weapons.
"Whoa, easy!" He said, "I was just checking for any enemy shinobi, but we appear to be in the clear for the moment."
Tenten looked at him, suddenly realising that in this instance, enemy shinobi also countered her own old comrades, the leaf-village ninja she had once treated as her family and close friends.
With a sigh, the kunoichi removed her bag from her hip hidden beneath her robes and pulled out a small sleeping mat for herself. She unrolled it and lay it upon the forest floor before straightening up and looking around the darkening forest.
"I'll set some traps; just incase we get any unwelcome visitors during the night. After all, at our current location, we must be pretty close to Orochimaru's lair shouldn't we? Therefore it only makes sense that he will have ninja under his command in the surrounding area." Tenten observed as she constructed a delicate and almost invisible network of wires and chakra strings around the edge of the clearing connected to kunai and senbon that she camouflaged in the undergrowth.
Deidara looked at her approvingly, as if he was judging a piece of artwork. She sure was quite a tactician when it got down to it, and definitely had quite the sharp mind.
Tenten sighed when her work was done, examining her intricate trap with a critical eye.
"There, that should be sufficient. At least if it fails to turn them into a pin-cushion, it will certainly wake us up. Even so, I suggest we take turns acting as watch." She suggested, looking at Tobi since she refused to even meet the blonde's eyes after that embarrassing incident several minutes ago.
Tobi was already asleep on the ground.
"Grrr, you good for nothing…" Tenten hissed under her breath as the masked Akatsuki member snored loudly.
"Hey, I'll take first watch, hm?" Deidara said after a while.
Tenten brought herself to look at him, her eyes suspicious but showing a possible hint of gratitude.
"Thank you, Deidara…but don't think this makes up for earlier." She said.
"Of course…" The blonde sighed, rolling his eyes as he sat down heavily onto the bare earth of the forest floor.
"In the morning, we'll eat and come up with a strategy for infiltrating Orochimaru's base, hmm?" Deidara said.
"Yes, I agree. That would give us the most suitable amount of time to stage our sabotage mission." Tenten replied.
Tenten sighed and lay down on her sleeping mat, pulling her Akatsuki cloak tightly around her body to keep in the heat. Much like that time she had been taken out by Sasori a few days ago, this night was cold and she hoped it wouldn't start to rain as she hadn't had any room to pack a tent. That night seemed like a world away from her now, deep in the recesses of a memory that belonged to some else, to someone who was still loyal to her comrades. Tenten shook the though out of her head quickly. Perhaps she may have remained loyal to her comrades if they had been loyal to her, but no. She regretted nothing.
She tried to keep her dark eyes open, resisting the pull of sleep as much as she could. However, within a few minutes her own soft breathing mingled with the sound of Tobi's as she drifted into sleep's warm arms.
Deidara sighed as he looked around at the brunette kunoichi sleeping peacefully behind him. He had to admit, as much as he hated it, that she was actually quite good-looking. Not only that, she had real courage and determination as well as no fear of the rest of the Akatsuki. She was a truly unusual girl.
He found his thoughts drifting into how artistic she looked when fighting, her lightness and her lithe figure that so efficiently dispatched the enemy. Still, she had scarred his pride which was something he could not forgive. He smirked and turned away from her. She couldn't have looked more different when she was asleep; so peaceful and…cute, to be honest.
The blonde shinobi leant against a tree lazily as the minutes passed silently by, staring off into the black depths of the forest that surrounded them on every side. Attack could come from anywhere at any time, so they had to be prepared.
Idly, Deidara reached into one of the bags that were tied to his belt, and drew out a small amount of detonating clay. He smiled as he kneaded it into shape, a long necked bird with slender legs and long pointed winds. Then, he squashed the small figurine back into a ball and started again, passing the time in the silent forest.
Tenten awoke slowly; her heavily lidded eyes blinking back the vestiges of sleep that threatened to overcome her again. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes with the back of one hand. A light mist had crept through the woods, reducing all colours into a ghostly pale state that seemed ethereal.
"Hey Tenten, it's your turn to be on watch duty, hm?" Deidara said softly.
The kunoichi nodded sleepily and stretched, shivering with the cold as goose bumps rose up on her bare arms. She hastily put her cloak back on and wrapped it tightly around herself.
"Its a few hours past midnight, so if you don't mind I'll be getting a bit of sleep now. Can I use your sleeping mat?" Deidara asked.
"Huh…? Oh yeah. Hang on, it's what? How long have you been on watch? You should have woken me sooner!" Tenten said in surprise.
"Oh be quiet, kunoichi, hm?" Deidara yawned as he lay down on his back where she had been sleeping as she moved over to lean against a nearby tree to take her watch.
Tenten sighed, shaking her head at Deidara. If he wanted to impress her with his stamina, he was not going the right way about it. He was just going to make her worry; not because she had any true concern for him, but because if he was tired and not up to his usual abilities it would affect the mission as a whole. Even so, his actions made her smile slightly. After a while, his slow breathing blended into the sounds of Tobi's snoring and the faint rustle of the leaves every now and again. In a few hours it would be dawn and the forest would be filled with the sound of the animals waking to the new day.
She rested her chin on her knees, watching Deidara's features absent-mindedly, a lock of hair falling back over his usually covered eye and onto the ground by his cheek. Tenten looked up at the dark sky, the faintest traced of that strange translucent grey that heralded dawn beginning to appear.
Soon, it would be time to begin their mission in earnest, but right now in the quiet and calm in the forest clearing, she just wanted to sit back and enjoy the peace while it lasted.