Chapter fourteen.
I know it's been a while, sorry about that but my workload is threatening to fall over and bury me as it is. However, I will continue to update when I can, please have patience!
I do not own Naruto, or enough time on my hands.
Deidara scowled darkly as a small insect collided with his face. He was travelling quickly through the air on his large owl-shaped transport bird, having decided that speed was very much of the essence. The lazy afternoon sun glowered at him, almost trying to increase the anxiety he already felt as its heat caused beads of sweat to rise up on his brow before they were blown asunder by the wind whistling by his ears.
Wiping the remains of the unfortunate insect from his face with disgust, he clenched the scrap of black and red material tightly in his palm, eyes scanning the densely packed trees below for the earthy patch that marked the base. His eyes narrowed with satisfaction a he saw the trees give way to the training area as he leapt from the bird carrying him to the ground after a swift descent.
Deidara hit the ground running, literally, as he turned and watched as his clay transport bird descended, alighting by the cliff face, looking at him with those empty holes of eyes. He decided he might as well leave it here, seeing as he hoped he wouldn't be inside the base for too long, and after all, detonating clay wasn't cheap or easy to come by.
He approached the part of the wall that was hidden under the disguise jutsu and made the hand-seal that leader had specified to open the secret entrance. There was a deep 'clunk' somewhere from inside the lair beyond and the rocky surface of the entrance wavered like a hologram for a moment, before it disappeared to reveal the door handle. Deidara grasped it and slipped inside the base, shutting the door behind him as he entered.
His footsteps echoed through the twisting tunnels of the lair as he walked, eyes set and fists clenched. He knew what he had to do; he had to convince Leader to let him go back out into the field and rescue Tenten. He didn't know why he felt so resolute about this goal, but that one thing was certain. He didn't want her to be killed; during the few short days he had known the girl, he had come to admire her artistic flair and unique personality, her character unlike any other woman he'd known – and being an infamous and not to say an attractive criminal, he had gotten to know plenty of women.
"Deidara-sempai! You're back – I've been waiting for you!" chirped an all too familiar voice.
"Tobi you bastard!" Snarled Deidara as Tobi's cheerful greeting provided the spark to ignite his anger, "You up and left us you cowardly son of a -"
Tobi raised his hands defensively but too late as Deidara pinned him to the wall by his throat.
"Hey hey, sempai, I was just carrying out orders and reporting to Leader!" croaked the masked Akatsuki member as Deidara's hands tightened around his neck.
"You snivelling little…you didn't come back! It's your fault Tenten had to go in there alone!"
"Oooh, are you getting attached to that kunoichi a little then?"
"Argh, get out of my sight!" Deidara spat as he threw Tobi away from him, carrying on up the corridor, although stomping slightly more than he had been earlier.
"Wooow….Deidara-sempai sure is cranky." Tobi commented to himself, massaging his throat with one hand and pushing himself to his feet with the other.
"Wake up." Said the voice, "wake up, Tenten!"
Tenten blearily opened her eyes, having realised she had fallen into unconsciousness yet again. Mentally cursing for her carelessness, she blinked in the late afternoon sun as a fat bee hummed past her ear. The burn on her left arm felt slightly better, but whether she was just imagining it or the ointment had actually started to work she was unsure. The wound in her right arm however, was just as sore and throbbed painfully. She wondered nervously whether it had been infected.
Suddenly, she felt hands press against her back, steadying her as she tried to sit up. Tenten shied away from the touch automatically, realised with a groan that her hands and ankles were still tied.
"Don't be an idiot. You can't stand up on your own in this state." Neji sighed as he moved away from her, looking at the kunoichi with disdain.
He reached down and turned his attention to the bindings that held her ankles together. Tenten's look of venom dropped into one of curiosity as he undid the tight rope.
"What are you doing?" Tenten asked.
"What does it look like? You can't walk with you're ankles tied together now can you? You should, after all, be healed enough to walk on your own two feet by now."
No thanks to you…thought Tenten.
"Do you want me to help you up?" Neji asked.
"No. I can do it myself. I am an Akatsuki member after all; I think I can manage to stand up on my own." Tenten replied.
Neji narrowed his eyes and turned away in disgust.
"Then get a move on. We are close by the village now, so it will only be a short walk. Once we arrive you will remain in our team's custody, and will then be escorted to the medical sector of the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility to be properly treated, before you are handed over to the Torture and Interrogation force. The Hokage will then decide whether…you are to die or not." Neji explained.
Tenten's eyes searched his briefly for a second as the Hyuuga hesitated. She decided she must have been imagining things however, as his cold exterior mask was up once again.
"Very well." Tenten said, trying to make her voice sound resolute and confident despite the threat of, not only death, but perhaps worse; the Torture and Interrogation force.
Tenten struggled to her feet, realising how hard that simple action was when your hands were tied, and averted her eyes from Neji. She instead looked up at the azure sky above them, admiring the sepia tinge that foretold the coming of sunset. She cast her mind back to how it had felt flying through that sky, the wind caressing her face along with the rising and falling of wings below her.
"What are you staring at?" Neji asked.
"Nothing…" Tenten replied, bringing herself abruptly back to reality.
"Follow me, do not attempt to run away or we will be forced to kill you if necessary." Neji continued.
Tenten didn't reply, but followed him through the trunks of the towering pines that clawed out at the sky above. Presently, Lee and Guy joined them, walking a few feet behind Tenten as a sort of guard. Neither of them spoke, and the very air felt tense.
As they walked, Tenten kept her head high and proud, refusing to look weak or subdued to give her...enemies the satisfaction of knowing they had broken her – which they hadn't…yet. At every pace, the kunoichi's swift mind was working overtime to pick out any possible means of escape from her captors, although in her present state it was a hopeless pastime.
Ahead of them, the trees could clearly be seen to disperse to make way for the wide man-made road that lead up to the main gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, the only such main route that existed in these parts. It was empty, a fact for which Tenten was grateful, as she was dreading the looks she was certain to receive once entering the village.
The group turned onto the road, their footsteps softened into melody by lazy afternoon atmosphere. However, Tenten's mind was anything but lazy at that moment, as the looming gates in the distance were forming a pit of trepidation in her stomach. She wondered if this was how all missing-nin felt on their way to their execution, as to be honest, this was what she was facing after all.
As the once friendly gateway drew closer, Tenten fixed her gaze solidly on the back of Neji's head. The fabled 'Team Guy' would of course be heralded as they entered the village, much as they always were when Tenten had been a member, but the commotion when the people realised that one of its own had turned traitor would be unbearable.
The throbbing heat of the afternoon sun was dying slowly now, as it began to sink reluctantly down behind the distant mountains, chased by a hurried wind that had started blowing from the east. At least the cool breeze was helping a little to sooth the ache in her head.
As the shadow of the towering gateway passed over her, Tenten looked up once more, staring straight ahead, eyes set. She had chosen this path for herself, chosen Akatsuki rather than 'honourably' faced death, as Lee or Guy would have put it. She had felt wanted and needed in Akatsuki, demonstrated by how they chose such a difficult task for her as a rookie. However, the fact that she had pulled it off except this minor set-back gave her the flame of pride she needed to carry on. Ah well, at least she wouldn't be ignored anymore.
The shinobi guarding the gate, Kotetsu and Izumo, immediately leapt to their feet as the group of four passed them. Tenten didn't look at them, or even blink or show any recognition towards them at all. Kotetsu, the one who wore the strange band across his nose, dropped his eyes to the singed red clouds decorating Tenten's cloak, and then sprinted over to Guy.
"What is going on? Why is Tenten…"
"There has been a complication. I sent a messenger bird to the Hokage informing her of the details."
Guy's voice was clipped and revealed nothing, highly unlike the usual, what-you-see-is-what-you-get attitude he showed.
Tenten resisted the urge to yell; 'well if you had treated me as more of a useful member of the team rather than a target holder, I may not be in this position right now!' very loudly.
That was the way it was, she guessed. A 'complication' was how Guy had always seen her – not a wonderful, bright little star like Lee, or a mature and sensible yet equally as 'destined for greatness' Hyuuga.
"But why is Tenten...?"
"She deserted the Leaf-Village, what more is there to understand?" snapped Neji, a tone of impatience clear in his voice. However, he regained his cool, composed himself, and continued, "It will be dealt with, return to your post."
Tenten's skin crawled as they continued onwards through the streets, Neji ahead of her, Guy and Lee at her sides. The skin around her wrists under the tight rope felt raw and uncomfortable, but she ignored this, refusing to show any emotion on her pale face, some of which was still marked with soot. With her hair out of its characteristic buns, it was a wonder anyone even recognised her. However, it was clear from all of their faces that they all knew what the red splashes of colour on her cloak meant.
She had expected sneering and hissing and general hate to rain upon her from all side. This she received plenty of, but not as much as fear. For every person who yelled obscenities at her, there were those who shrank away into their houses, closing the windows as if she was the harbinger of bad luck.
A small boy, no older than five ran out across the road that had miraculously cleared to make way for her and her guard, staring up at the missing-nin, too naive innocent in the ways of the world to understand what she was. Within a few moments, the mother of the child ducked out of the building the boy had run from and scooped him into her arms, not looking up at Tenten before disappearing back to her home.
As they walked, the quiet crowd that made way for them closed behind them, returning to the busy, if slightly more subdued, market street it had been prior to their arrival.
"Leader…?" Deidara asked as he stepped into the Akatsuki leader's office, the door shutting behind him with a mournful creak.
"Pein is not here at this moment. What is it you want, Deidara?" asked a familiar feminine yet authoritative voice as Konan stepped into the light, her unreadable eyes…well…unreadable, as usual.
Deidara took a couple of steps closer, and it was clear from the sweat on his forehead and the way he was still breathing hard that he had run the last few stretches of corridors on his way there.
"Was the mission a success? From the news of Orochimaru I have heard in recent hours it sounds like it was." She continued.
"I…uh…"
"Where is your partner?"
Deidara licked his lips, wondering how he was going to break the news that Tenten had gone missing, but not died, and had been captured by an unknown enemy and taken who knew where…
"She escaped from Orochimaru, having completed her task, that I am sure of, but I don't know where she is now." He said.
"But how do you know she is still alive?" Konan asked.
Deidara held up his hand, the scrap of black and red material lying limply in his palm, sooty and burnt yet obviously Akatsuki.
"I found this en route back here to the base. I want to request, seeing as I am granted some time of leave after completing the last mission, that I can return to the place I found this and try to track her whereabouts." Deidara said.
"We can't rule out the possibility that she used the situation as an opening to run away from the organisation." Konan pointed out.
"In which case, it is necessary that I be sent to…kill her so that she doesn't reveal any of our secrets. However, I'm sure that isn't the case. Konan – you saw her face as I did when she cut through the symbol of the Leaf Village on her headband. She knew what she was doing and came willingly to us." Deidara said, his voice softening slightly towards the end of his speech.
"It's funny…I've never heard you use that tone of voice before, Deidara." Konan said after a pause.
"What are you talking about?" Deidara asked defensively.
"You feel something for Tenten, don't you?"
"That's ridiculous! I regard her as a skilled and useful comrade!"
"And yet you've never shown this consideration for Sasori – a skilled and useful comrade."
"Look, can I go after her or not?"
"It is your rightful leave of absence for completing a mission…I care not how you chose to spend it."
Deidara didn't pause to thank the blue-haired kunoichi as he turned, out of the office in less than a moment. As he strode through the winding corridors, heading for the exit, he suddenly thought to himself; had he seen a knowing smile on Konan's lips as he departed?