Chapter twenty.
Finally, my story has passed the fifty thousand word mark! I don't know why that feels like much of an achievement, but is seems like a worthy milestone to me! Anyhow, please enjoy the next chapter and don't forget to review!
Sorry for the huge wait for this one, but I have been much busier than I anticipated!
I do not own Naruto, and never will.
Tenten sat hunched against the wall, her back turned on the thick steel door that stood between her and freedom. The light in the cell changed very little, so she guessed that her cell must lie within some other larger building seeing as the vestigial light filtering under the door was cold and white; artificial.
Her arms hugged her knees to her chest, and her hair that she had tamed into her usual neat style ealier in the medical cell had fallen loose – stray locks falling across her face, sticking to the salty wet tracks of the tears that had dampened her cheeks.
Tenten didn't care about them any more; what difference did make now, with her death approaching with the arrival of the sun. However, she found now that she didn't fear it as much as she had expected. She guessed it had something to do with the fact that all her life as a shinobi; death was just part of the job description. She had seen many comrade buried in the village's graveyard, including the third Hokage.
No, she just felt hopeless. So alone. It was obvious to her that none of the Akatsuki would be sent to retrieve her. She was just their rookie member, her abilities not worth risking a reckless rescue mission.
Not only that, but her conflicting feelings for Neji were buzzing in her head like a nest of hornets. She found it all so unbelievable; a metaphorical slap in the face for her preconceptions that no-one in the village recognised her existence. Now that her old crush had as good as told her he was in love with her; that made her reasons for betraying the village in the first place seem material, unimportant.
However, that did nothing to change the fact that Neji could not…would not help her now. She was Akatsuki now after all, and saving her would certainly mean the shame of his clan, disowned by his own family. Besides, the notion that he would just sweep her off her feet and run away with her was a girlish fantasy that she had done away with years and years ago. No, Neji would not be coming for her if it meant sacrificing his clan and pride.
How long now until she was lead on the agonisingly humiliating parade to her execution, with people she had once known and cared for watching with malice? To them it would make not one scarp of difference that she ha spent most of her life in service to the village – it was only the here and now and the Akatsuki member that mattered to them.
It wasn't long before these heavy thoughts exhausted Tenten's already strained mind, and she drifted off into a dozing, fevered sleep, her head lolling onto her shoulder, curled up in a defensive ball at the foot of the metal cell door.
The village flew by below like a map as Deidara soared above, the gentle rising and falling of the clay bird beneath contrasting with the angry gusts of wind that made his hair and cloak stream out like banners behind him.
With a smirk, the criminal swung his ride to the left, avoiding a barbed harpoon-like weapon that had been launched off of the nearest building below that had the intention of taking his head off. Shinobi down on the ground yelled orders and Konoha villagers milled about in a state of semi-panic. Deidara had to admire the way the shinobi all seemed to stay reasonably calm however, amid the chaos.
Deidara's aim was not however to attack the village, unless of course one of its members got in his way, so he had spared minimal chakra for creating light explosives that would not do that much damage, but still buy him some time.
Up here in the sky, although he had most certainly lost his cover, he could at least see the layout of the village a lot more clearly. He marvelled at how it was built almost like a maze – the architectural prowess was truly astounding. However, he could see now that in his time traversing the city sized village by foot, he had covered less that half the distance he thought he had, due to the twisting and winding streets – if he had carried on that way, he would have taken forever.
However, from his vantage point far above the avenues of Konoha, he could at last see what his intuition told him was the Strict Correctional Facilities. That cluster of cold grey buildings in the distance, set apart from the others and devoid of decoration could surely not be for any other purpose that the detaining of dangerous criminals. Like Tenten.
The sight of her prison made Deidara all the more determined to get her out of there. He smirked as he imagined her scowling at him, hands on her hips, berating him as she had it all under control.
Then again, as the blonde shinobi took in the sight of the heavily reinforced steel building structure through the zoom function of his eye scope, he realised it would be suicide to try and force his way in, all guns blazing.
Deidara put on an extra burst of speed, leaving the Konoha forces behind as he dropped silently below the line of trees that enclosed the main part of the village on the mountain side, hiding him from view. However, he had to move quickly – in less than no time the enemy would be upon him, and Akatsuki would loose two members.
He didn't have far to go now, but he also had no plan, and a very short amount of time to complete the mission. Even as he thought this, the first light of the new day was creeping into the sky, cold grey finders reaching over the mountains to the east.
Deidara looked once more around the edge of the bush behind which he hid. Confident that the Konoha shinobi were still a little way off, he smirked and stood up, turning to head towards the prison – almost walking straight into a man with empty ashen eyes who was regarding him with interest.
Tenten was shaken forcibly out of her slumber as the harsh knocking of a fist on her door shattered her stupor. Her eyes snapped open and she scrambled back, getting to her feet, the remains of restless dreams clouding her mind.
She winced as her muscles; stiff from having slept curled up on the hard floor, protested against the sudden movement. She calmed her breathing from the surprise, and looked up expectantly at the door. A harsh male baritone ended the silence.
"You have five minutes. At the end of that time, your escort will arrive to take you to your execution. That is all." Said the guard before the retreating sound of footsteps told Tenten he had walked away.
The kunoichi blinked to herself, her heart quickening once again. It was hard to remain calm with the end of her life drawing so near. However, she was damned if she was going to give the guards and whoever else would be attending the execution the satisfaction of seeing her fear and anticipation. She would not deny to herself that, yes, she was very afraid; that would be childish, but she was resolute that she would not show it.
Five minutes.
Tenten quickly crossed the small room to the tiny bathroom, turning on the half-hearted light with a flick of her finger at the switch. If there was one way to distract herself from what was to come, it would be to busy her hands with some menial task.
The face in the mirror looked back at her in way that almost seemed to be mocking her. Her skin was too pale, and dark circles weighed down her eyes, the pupils fully dilated to make use of the little light available. As for her hair, the pair of buns that were her customary style had fallen almost completely loose, stray strands sticking to salty dried tears on her face. What wasn't stuck extruded at strange angles that made her look like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards.
Tenten tutted to herself, as she thought of how horrified the immaculate person she had been a month ago would have responded to seeing her in this state.
She didn't have time to wash her hair, but she thought she might as well tame it back into place. If turned up to her execution looking like this, everybody would think she had given up hope, and she hadn't done that yet…had she? She found herself unsure of the answer to that question, but put it to the back of her mind before the despair sank down upon her shoulders once more.
She worked quickly, letting her hair fall so she could brush it through with her fingers before teasing it back into the two buns. It was by no means a perfect job; there was still loose hair sticking out here and there, but it was a darn sight better than it had been before. Next, she reached out and turned on the cold tap to wash her face clear of the tear tracks and crusted salt. No water came out and Tenten scowled. She tried the hot tap, and although the water did flow this time, it certainly didn't warm up.
When she had finished, she looked back at her reflection, and sighed. It was a little better. She could do nothing about the drawn cheeks, the pasty complexion or her dark eyes, but it would be enough.
The knocking came again, and the kunoichi turned and faced the offending door, her arms crossed and head held high. She adjusted her plain black shirt and trousers that were the prison uniform and sighed, finding herself wishing for the warm comfort of her cloak – her Akatsuki cloak. She certainly didn't feel like an infamous criminal heading to her execution – more like an animal heading for slaughter. It was an odd thought, but donning her cloak would at least make her feel more purposeful, as if there was meaning to this whole circumstance.
"Akatsuki, your time has come."
Deidara's hand immediately flew to his kunai, but the man before him had already prepared to fight himself. The pair circled one another in silence, eyes guarded and revealing no intention. Deidara's eyes fell to the man's right had, which was raised in an offensive stance, a faint blue light emanating from it.
The criminal took in his adversary's appearance. He was tall, about the same height of himself, but he could see from his face that he was the younger by a couple of years. He wore the familiar leaf insignia on his headband, and his curiously long hair – almost as long as his own, fell loose around the shoulders of his white shirt. And then there were those eyes – pale and devoid of pupils. They were blank and expressionless, but Deidara thought he could detect an undercurrent of sadness behind them. Deidara thought he recognised this man from somewhere…
Deidara clenched his teeth. He didn't have time for this. He had to find Tenten and get her out of trouble before dawn had fully arrived. Even now, tendrils of glowing red had crawled across the sky from the east; it would be a truly beautiful sunrise.
"I see by your apparel you are Akatsuki." Commented the man.
His tone was neither accusatory nor fearful, merely informative.
"So I am, hmm?" Deidara replied, keeping his kunai trained on the man's throat.
Suddenly, a small light seemed to take hold of those empty eyes, and the man abruptly dropped his hand, the faint blue light extinguished immediately. Deidara didn't drop his weapon, and his cerulean eyes took on a hint of suspicion.
"I know why you're here. You're after Tenten, aren't you?" He asked after a moment.
Deidara's brow furrowed.
"You knew – know her? Who are you?" He asked, ever conscious of the Konoha forces that undoubtably would be closing in before long.
"My name is Neji Hyuuga. I am a…friend of Tenten's." He replied.
"I remember now. You were part of that Kazekage rescue squad the leaf sent out. Funny – I don't remember her mentioning you at all. She never really spoke much of Konoha apart from the fact that she resented its indifference to her. Either way, you must be some friend if you're content to let her die." Deidara said accusingly.
"You were close to her then?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Deidara smirked as some colour came into Neji's pale face, but knew there was no time for idle conversation. He took a step forward towards him and motioned with the kunai in his hand.
"Look, I'm in a hurry, hm? So I suggest you either help me or get out of here or I will kill you like I did the last Leaf ninja who stood in my way." He said urgently.
Neji looked conflicted for moment. No doubt he was weighing up the consequences of helping an Akatsuki member and his own honour against saving his friend – and Deidara could see from his expression that there was likely something more than friendship between the two. He would make a point to badger it out of Tenten when he got her safely away from here.
"Fine. I'll help you. Do you even have a plan on how you are going to get her out of there? Her execution is scheduled for only a few minutes time. Unless you have any ideas I'd say you've already failed." Neji pointed out sardonically.
Deidara scowled.
"Not exactly the most encouraging of people are you hmm? I know what I am doing. You forget, I am an S-rank criminal."
He smirked once again and held out his hand, palm up. Neji looked disgusted as something white and gelatinous crawled out f the open mouth. It opened its wings and took the shape of a small bird, long and streamlined with two pairs of agile looking wings. It stayed motionless for a moment, before taking to the air and disappearing almost to fast for Neji to follow with his eyes into the forest.
"It will find Tenten and create a big enough disturbance nearby to give us some more time to get there. What do you think – artistic hmm?" Deidara said, looked at his new comrade.
"I think," Neji said, "That we haven't the time to admire it."
"Agreed." Deidara replied.
"So now we go."