Chapter fifteen!
Ibiki is going to be a tough one to write for seeing as he's not in the manga or anime that much…ah well, I shall do my best!
I do not own Naruto, but I do own a homemade Deidara plush.
Tenten looked up at the sky again as the ripples of crimson and violet from the sinking sun danced across it. The sticky heat of the sun was quickly fading all around them as a cool evening breeze ruffled the dishevelled strands of Tenten's hair.
They had been walking through the village for a while now, making slow progress due to Tenten's condition. No one spoke to her, and the people that didn't avert their eyes hastily as she passed stared at her with disgust and malice. She tried to look determined and indifferent to those around her, including Neji, Lee and Guy, but this façade was quickly fading.
The cloudless sky was beginning to become blanketed in clouds as the evening dragged on, each minute like an eternity. Tenten had never remembered Konoha to be this big. She guessed it was down to the pain she felt all over her body with each step she took. Most of it wasn't down to any of her physical injuries, but was a result of her immense fatigue and exhaustion.
The snatches of unconsciousness she had taken earlier hadn't nearly been enough to sustain her for this long without consequence, especially seeing as she had had to walk a long way.
The cool, light breeze began to pick up until it whipped strands of Tenten's let down hair into her eyes. She shook her head briefly; soon regretting the action as it made her head pound all the more.
The densely packed houses of the main living area of Konoha began to become sparser, until there were no more houses or shops altogether. Tenten knew that the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility was a little distance from the main village. Oddly enough, she had never actually been there in her life before, despite bringing in criminals often enough with her old team. She imagined tall grey walls, sparse cells and iron bars; the exact opposite of her favourite place – dull, claustrophobic and featureless.
In her seventeen years, the kunoichi had learnt the Hidden Leaf Village like the back of her hand – all apart from this remote area a the base of the mountainside where the prison lay.
She had lived alone much of her life after all, her parents having disappeared before she could remember them – she didn't even have a second name for goodness sake. She had been raised by her grandmother who passed away while Tenten had still been quite young. In this sense, she sympathised with Naruto a little, as like her he had provided for himself for a long time.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea passed over Tenten, and she hunched over, clenching her head in her hands as a spasm of pain rocked her body. Her headache was worse than ever, and she felt like she was about to throw up.
"Nnnnn….." She whimpered in a strained voice, so unlike her usual tone that Neji looked around in alarm – even the two silent green beasts looked taken aback.
Tenten shuddered and sank to her knees, no longer able to support her weight. The exhaustion that she had tried to put at bay all afternoon overcame her and she collapsed forward, hitting the dusting ground with a 'thud'. Perspiration stood out on her forehead as she tried once to push herself back onto her feet before crumpling once more and blacking out.
Neji turned and kneeled down by her limp form, sighing and sliding his arms underneath her before picking her up. She was surprisingly light. He averted his eyes from her pale face as her head flopped lifelessly back, looking instead at Lee and Guy.
"I'll carry her from here." He said.
Deidara cursed as he ran a hand through his long blonde hair, casting around for any further signs of Tenten, or the route her captors could have taken. He had flown back the place in which he had discovered the scrap of her Akatsuki cloak, attached to a claw-like twig.
Thinking ahead, he had left a small clay spider attached to the branch earlier, so that he could track and pin-point the exact location. Deidara now looked around, frustrated, as he tried to spot anything else out of the ordinary that would indicate the enemy had passed through recently.
In the off chance, he glanced absently back at the twig he had found the material attached to. Leaning closer, he could see that it was bent, pointing west. It had been caused by the group brushing past, no doubt. With a grin, the blonde shinobi knew that this was his first pointer.
However, if he was to find any more of these clues, he would have to abandon flying over the forest and travel through it, retracing the path of Tenten's captors if he was going to find any means of tracking them accurately.
Deidara set off, leaping between the branches like he had done with Tenten no so long ago. The thought just increased his determination to find and retrieve her, whether she wanted to be found and retrieved or not. He picked up speed, feet barely touching the branches before he was off again; long black and red cloak billowing out behind him.
Suddenly, he stopped dead as something caught his attention. A faint scent on the air…barely anything but still there. He took a step back on the branch he was standing on, trying to catch it again. There it was…an unmistakable smell of a camp fire. He looked down, noticing he stood in a tree bordering some sort of clearing. In the centre of the clearing, the ground looked…different somehow. Deidara leapt down to the ground, wincing as his ankles protested violently, and walked over to the strange area of forest floor. It was disturbed. He extended a hand and pawed a little through the leaf litter, before he grinned in triumph. Pieces of charred wood and ash lay just below the surface. Evidently, someone had made camp here not that long ago and tried to cover their tracks – if somewhat hastily.
The blonde criminal walked around the clearing slowly, taking in every detail. He crouched down next to the thick truck of a tree, assessing it with a critical eye. The fibres of the bark had been chafed by something, a rope perhaps? In some places, flacks of back had been torn off by something. Clearly, someone had been tied up here.
Unless he was very much mistaken, Tenten's captors had been here. Deidara's blood boiled. They had tied her to a tree. Of all the insults to her, he could think of few more humiliating. No one should even have dared to do that to her…well…apart from himself of course. He then checked himself, calming his thoughts. He smiled; was he getting possessive over that little kunoichi now?
He stood up straight again, staring off into the gathering darkness of the forest, here and there the shafts of golden sunset light piercing the gloom, illuminating the many clouds of tiny insects as they swirled around one-another. If he just continued in this direction, he was sure to find another camp site like this one sooner or later, and from there he could predict where Tenten's captors were heading. After all, the route they had taken so far could have led to any number of villages and towns around the area – he needed more verification before he embarked on a full scale rescue mission.
The cool breeze began to strengthen until it became a draught of wind, ruffling his honey blonde hair so that it flew into his face and obscured his vision. Frustrated, he crossed the clearing and within a short space of time was once more up in the thick branches, making his way – if a little more carefully than before – through the boughs, searching doggedly for his next pointer.
The sterile white light glared down at Tenten accusatorially as the kunoichi in question opened one eye. For a moment, she thought she was back in the Akatsuki medical room, and wondered whether she hadn't been captured by her former team-mates after all but had dreamed it all whilst unconscious from her time spent at Orochimaru's base.
Unfortunately, as her eyes became used to the harsh light and she looked around, her heart sank. The room was painted plain white, back there were stains and marks here and there on the walls.
There were no windows to the outside world, and very minimal furnishings in the room, apart from one cupboard, a sink, and the bed on which she lay. The bed in question had a plain metal frame, the metal dull in some areas, and white sheets. Someone had dressed her in a basic white top and trousers, but her hair was the same – if not worse – than it had been earlier.
She was alone in the room, but as her eyes travelled around the space, she noticed that one wall was mostly taken up by a large glass sheet through which she could see into another room. This separate space was also empty, but she could see the backs of heart rate monitors and cabinets that she guessed were stocked with medical supplies and ointment.
As she swung her legs over the edge of her small bed, she looked down and noticed both her arms had been re-bandaged, all the way down to her fingers. She could smell the pungent burn ointment the medic must have applied and wrinkled her nose.
She stood carefully up, cautious not to put to much weight on one side incase she didn't have the strength to support herself. Allowing herself a small smile, she found she could stand quite easily, and walked once around the bland room before seating herself once more on the bed. The bare bulb that provided the room with that sterile light was humming softly, the only noise in the room.
Tenten stood once more, pleased that her strength felt like it was already starting to return, and crossed over to the small sink and mirror in the corner. She kneeled in front of it, and sighed at the mess that was her hair. Someone had wiped the soot and blood from her face, and her pale skin contrasted with the dark brunette tangles. With yet another sigh, she decided that since she didn't feel too much like sleeping and no-one was coming to see her, she might as well try to sort the mess out.
The kunoichi ran some of the cold water from the single tap, and slowly the basin filled up. She then bent over and scrubbed her hair thoroughly in the water, wincing with disgust as soot, mud and dried blood discoloured the liquid. After she repeated this a few times, and was happy enough with her hair, she stood back and shook her head like a puppy, drops of water flying everywhere. She then walked over to the bed once more, took one of the white sheets and used it to dry her hair, the domestic activity serving to calm her frenzied thoughts somewhat. She was definitely no Ino when it came to personal appearance; never have cared much about it, but it felt nice to be grime-free.
Tenten then tore two long and thin strips out of the white – and now rather damp – sheet, each about twenty centimetres long. She then bundled up the lengths of her hair into the two buns that were her customary style, tying them secure with her two new 'ribbons'. She had never been that concerned with her appearance, unlike Sakura and Ino. In that sense, she was far more of a tomboy than either of them – after all, she spent much more of her free time training herself and spent her money on weapons and polish rather than shampoo or beauty products.
What would happen to her now? Would she be taken to Ibiki and the rest of his squad and have her memories forcibly extracted? She had never seen how the Interrogation force had rifled through peoples minds, but from the impression she had got of Ibiki all that time ago from the Chunin exams, she anticipated that it would be very painful.
Tenten suddenly looked around as there came the unmistakable sound of a door opening. Somebody had come into the room next to hers – the one separated from her by the large glass window. It was clearly a medic ninja, judging by the general attire, and Tenten looked at them, making her face go blank.
The medic looked at her coolly and lifted a small hatch in the middle of the door that led from the room behind the glass into hers. He put his mouth to the small opening and said:
"You are needed now. Here are some clothes you can wear – I'll slide them under the hatch at the bottom of the door."
Tenten looked down as another hatch that reminded her of a cat-flap opened at the bottom of her door and pair of a plain black trousers and top were pushed through.
"I will wait outside. Knock on the door when you are ready and I will escort you to the interrogation Squad. I reiterate that there are many armed shinobi patrolling this end of the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility, who will not hesitate to kill you on sight if you try to run." He continued, before turning and leaving the joined rooms.
Tenten looked at the new set of clothes, recognising them to be the standard prison uniform. She changed slowly into them, her heart hammering in her chest as she thought about what was to come.
She didn't want anybody intruding into her mind. She didn't want them to know about her bitter resentment towards the village, her old feelings for Neji, or her involvement with Akatsuki…with Deidara. She shook her head, wondering why her thoughts had slipped to him in particular. The feelings she had used to hold for her Hyuuga team-mate burned brightly as she thought about the blonde criminal she had known only a few days. She remembered his laugh, how they casually fought with one another his…no. She was definitely NOT thinking about that. She shuddered as she realised that Ibiki might unearth this irrational desires.
Having changed into her dull black attire, she knocked once on the door, her voice catching in her throat as she tried to use it.
"I'm ready." She said.