Finally, this chapter simply wrote itself! I'm kinda relieved because that means that I've got inspiration again, and I missed that a bit on the last chapter… which I still hope is not too much visible ;) But the long awaited BIG change is finally coming, and I really enjoyed writing this chapter. So I hope you enjoy reading it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter fifteen: Questions and answers
They climbed up the iron stairs on the outside of the Hokage building, hearts racing inside of their chests as they both knew that what they were going to do was absolutely NOT allowed. Sakura grinned as they reached the top of the building and the wind blew around her face, and she closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the fact that she was for once breaking the rules.
She opened her eyes and saw Deidara staring at her. When she noticed the stars behind him she frowned. "ano, Deidara," she said, tilting her head while he seemed to be looking for something. "It's this late already?"
He had a happy expression on his face and was panting from the fast climb upstairs when he answered. "well… you fell asleep… and I… kind off..."
She blushed but a hysterical smile had glued itself to her lips and she smiled at him. He looked up from his pockets and when their eyes met he frowned.
"Where did that crazy Hokage of yours leave my clay, hmm?" he asked, and Sakura couldn't help but giggle. He gave her a puzzled look. "What? What's so funny?"
"nothing, nothing," she said before she giggled again, this time louder, and Deidara's eyes widened while he said "Shh! They might hear you!"
As in they were the people staying in the apartments directly beneath their feet.
"Sorry," she said, smiling wider. "It's just… the way you said that…"
He frowned. "Said what?"
"… crazy Hokage." And again a hysterical giggle made its way out of her mouth and she clapped forwards in an attempt to silence herself. She felt that Deidara was enjoying seeing her act like that.
"I must say, hmm," he said, his lips tugged upwards in a playful grin. "I'd never thought you'd get this high of breaking the rules."
"I do nót," she said before she punched him and then pulled him after her, towards the stairs. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "where are you taking me!"
Sakura smirked while she said; "Not so loud, Deidei. They might hear you."
He would've hit her if she had said that before that evening. But something had changed dramatically between them, like a strange barrier that had been in the way all the time had finally come down. They acted more like they would to a fellow Konoha ninja – or, in his case, a fellow Akatsuki member. What he had said to her, the words he had spoken but above all the way in which they had been said, had led to an even closer connection between them.
If that was already possible.
"Since when do you call me Deidei," Deidara asked, and his voice gave away that he didn't really like the name. "I liked Deidara-kun better, hmm."
"Exactly," Sakura whispered while they sneaked through the corridors, towards the sealed room where artifacts or hostile items were held, secure for outsiders. Careful not to make to much sound when they passed Tsunade's room, she didn't continue her sentence until they were far enough. "…and that's exactly why I'm going to call you that more often, Deidei."
He grumbled and Sakura smiled. It was true what he had said. Breaking the rules, sneaking through the deserted Hokage building at night while she should be in bed, being together with an Akatsuki member – it all made her feel giggly and excited and the truth was – she liked it. A lot.
"Here it is," she said, panting lightly while she examined the locked door. Although it looked like a plain door with a normal lock, she was pretty sure it wasn't. After all, there were some pretty dangerous items held here, and she couldn't imagine that Tsunade would just let anyone in.
"I can pick locks, hmm," Deidara whispered and she felt his breath tickle her neck. She looked at him over her shoulder.
"I don't think you can pick this one," she answered before turning her attention back to the door and she placed her hands on the lock, sending chakra through it. "I guess it's a special lock…"
Suddenly her knees trembled and before she knew it she'd collapsed in front of the door, panting heavily while holding onto doorway. Deidara let out a groan as the exhaustion hit him too and he sank through his knees next to her, gasping. "How come you're so tired?" he asked, his voice low.
"The medic jutsu," she whispered, her entire body trembling slightly. "I had to unfold that guys stomach which he had miraculously pinched together to the size of a walnut…"
Deidara nodded. "well, either way, you wont be able to use any more chakra, hmm. Can't I try to pick it?"
Sakura sighed. "you can try," she muttered, her voice still very weak. "But I don't think that…"
He already stood and carefully observed the lock, bowed forwards so that Sakura wouldn't have to hold up her arm. As she watched him she remembered how darn hard it had been at first for them to get used to the chains, and to how far away of each other they could go.
And now we act like the chains are a part of our body, she thought, smiling weakly. The fact that Deidara was actually bowing forwards because he knew the limits of the chains was one example of that.
Then she heard a clicking sound and she looked up, slightly startled by the sudden loud sound. When she saw Deidara standing in front of a very open door her mouth fell open and she gazed at him with an astonished expression on her face. "How did you…?"
He grinned. "I told you I could pick locks, hmm," he said. "You should bear more trust in me!"
She rolled her eyes and then got up shakily, helped by Deidara a bit. "And you're sure that my clay is in here?" he asked while they stood in the doorway, staring in the dark. The delirious feeling of minutes ago had drained away and now they were left behind with an empty sensation in their stomach pits, and suddenly Sakura hesitated for a second.
"Of course," she said, still a bit shaky. "And there you go and say that I should bear more trust in you…"
It was very dark inside of the storage room. Sakura didn't really like the darkness and she grabbed Deidara's hand on a whim, completely aware that he didn't like it when she did that. But she needed to feel that he was close to her – even when she had to touch his jucky bloodline limit for that.
"Can you see something, Deidara?" she whispered, walking closer to him.
"Not really, hmm… don't you guys here in Konoha have light switches or something?"
"We can't turn on the lights, they'll see us," Sakura hissed and the second after that she walked right into a cobweb. The sticky substance clang onto her face and she shrieked, slapping it off her and stepping a step or two back in pure terror. If there was something she hated, then it were spiders. Without a doubt.
"No, of course that won't get their attention," Deidara said sarcastically. Sakura tried not to pay too much attention to it.
"Shouldn't you be looking for your clay instead of picking on me…?" she retorted, still wiping off her face to make sure that there wouldn't be any more cobweb left. He sniffed and they walked on, their eyes slowly getting used to the dark.
"Is it this?" Sakura asked as her eyes fell on a small, beige bag that lay in one of the cleanest corners of the room. "It looks like it hasn't been here for long… there's not so much dust…"
Deidara kneeled slowly, and Sakura quickly did the same to allow him to examine the beige bag. He picked it up from the floor, looked it over and then carefully opened the zipper, staring inside. Then a wide grin nearly split his face in two and Sakura felt a thrill of excitement shoot right through her stomach.
"…and?"
He looked up from the bag and then attached it to his belt. "Let me show you how good my art really is, hmm."
She didn't know how fast they got up the stairs, without making any noise which was quite an accomplishment. Then when they reached the rooftop again they stopped walking, both staring at the stars, knowing that they would soon be flying through that same nightly sky.
Then Deidara put his hand in the bag of clay, a highly concentrated look on his face, and soon Sakura felt the faint feeling of his dehydrating chakra which he was using for molding his clay. "It doesn't have to be explosive," she warned, panting slightly.
"I know, hmm," he said, "That's exactly why this is taking me so darn long…!"
Then he got his hand out of the belt and started kneading the finished clay, a drop of sweat running down his neck. Sakura caught herself staring at it and she quickly looked away, her breath hitching in her throat.
Then a soft poofing sound made her look up again. She saw an enormous bird, nearly the same as the one on which Deidara had flown away from her and her fight with Sasori, folding its wings and looking at her with a rather intelligent look in its black eyes. The wings were long and snow white, the details were cut out sharp and the majestic paws looked nearly real.
"Deidara," she gasped. "It's awesome…!"
He blushed slightly and then grinned. He didn't answer but Sakura hadn't been expecting that. She had never heard Deidara say 'thank you' to anyone. "Is it…" she muttered and she carefully took a step closer. "Can it carry us??"
He laughed out loud and Sakura looked up, startled. "Shh!" she hissed, eyes wide. "You might…!"
"We're going to fly on top of that thing," he whispered, smirking at her and also ignoring her completely. "Of course it can carry us, hmm. What reminds me, you'll probably have problems getting up…"
And then he suddenly scooped her up in his arms, ignoring her cries of protest, walking towards the bird. "Deidara!" she yelled, punching his chest with her free hand, completely forgetting that they had to be silent. "Lemme go! Let me go you jerk!! Let me down now or I'll scream so loud that they will hear us and-"
He silenced her by placing his lips on hers and kissed her passionately. All the air got sucked out of her lungs and throat by surprise and when he removed his lips he had achieved what he wanted. She was silent and simply stared at his face, which was still very close. "Could you stop…" she whispered eventually, her lips barely moving. "Making a habit out of that… please?" He smiled and then kissed her again, this time softer and longer, until a sudden yelp of surprise made them both look up.
Naruto stood on the edge of the rooftop, near the iron stairs, his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped to the floor while his pointed out finger was trembling. "S-Sakura-chan? With D-Deidara?" he asked, his voice hoarse. He stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief. "No… no this can't be, this cant be, this must be a bad dream or something…" then his eyes focused on Deidara and in a flash Sakura saw the air around him change. "Temee," he grunted, and chakra started to leak out of his body. "I will not…" more and more chakra leaked out, now crimson colored, and as he spoke his pointy teeth were visible. "…let you take Sakura-chan with you…" he bowed forwards slightly and then let out a howl of pain when suddenly an enormous amount of chakra shot right out him, surrounding his body and forming tails behind him. When he looked up again his eyes were wide and blood red.
"…And I cannot forgive you for letting yourself in with a guy like him, Sakura-chan!!"
Then the seriousness of the situation started to sink in as Naruto launched himself towards them, roaring a wild battle cry and with his fist ready for attack. At the moment for impact Sakura felt the somehow comforting click inside of her, signing that their lv2 connection had just been activated, and they both jumped back, landing perfectly before dodging another furious attack coming from a now wild Naruto.
"Naruto!" Sakura screamed as his fist nearly hit her face, barely missed it in inches, and he stumbled past her. "Stop this! What do you think you're-" her eyes widened as he launched himself at them again and she ducked while Deidara stepped left. Naruto flew over Sakura and was for a split second completely unable of defending himself. Deidara pulled back and hit Naruto, but the fox cloak dodged his attack completely and Deidara got swooped back by its power. Sakura got pulled with him and they both crashed into the floor, groaning. Another furious howl made them get up quickly and there was Naruto again, his fists accompanied by the Kyuubi's claws. One slash of those and I'm out, Sakura thought panicking when his fist missed her stomach but the claws scratched her skin lightly.
She stumbled back together with Deidara and then they both jumped up in the sky, surprising Naruto slightly. Deidara got down faster and tried to hit Naruto, but he jumped away, to the side. Sakura got down a split second later and landed in front of Naruto, fist back, and then smashed her fist right in his face, where she hoped that the fox' cloak was the weakest.
He let out a roar of pain and held his face in his hands while he stumbled back, right against Deidara who was waiting for him. Sakura froze when she saw how Deidara kicked Naruto to the floor and then continued kicking him until all the crimson chakra was gone, and then he kicked him once more, shooting him away. "Stop it Deidara!" she yelled, trying to get to Naruto. She had only planned on making him stop, that's why she hadn't used her chakra to punch. But he pulled her back, making her unable of reaching her best friend who lay unconscious on the edge of the roof, blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth.
The click went off and Sakura nearly sank through her knees again, hit by a sudden heavy exhaustion. Deidara grasped her shoulders and then dragged her with him towards the clay bird, and Sakura, who was too tired to even move, couldn't stop him. He got up the bird and placed her in front of him, wrapping an arm around her, and then the bird spread its enormous wings, ready for takeoff. Then suddenly Sakura realized that something was terribly wrong.
Deidara hadn't been planning on taking her on a romantic 'trip to the stars'. He had just been waiting for an opportunity to make his leave out of the city. Her eyes widened as she slowly realized that everything that he had said to her, heck, everything that he had done – had all been an act. It had all been a lie. All the tenderness, the few romantic moments they had had together, the fun they'd had together, had all just lead to this one moment. Tears ran down her face as the bird sank through its paws and then launched itself in the sky, air whirling around them.
How could I've been so stupid? How could I've let him make me believe him so easily…?
His arm around her waist suddenly wrapped itself more tighter, making her gasp for air, and a half sob, half cry made its way out of her throat. Then she felt his nose against her ear, and as the bird got higher and higher, she also felt his breath stroke her cheek lightly. "I guess you found out, hmm," he said, and she froze completely as the tone he had used was completely different from before. It was cold, heartless, but above all distant and filled with something that she could only define as joy. It reminded her of when they had first met.
"You sadist," she hissed with the little air she had left. He chuckled and then kissed her earlobe softly, making her close her still crying eyes while a tear dripped down her cheek and landed on her collarbone.
"I like it when you're angry," he whispered and she let out a loud sob. "…And I don't really hate it when you're sad as well, hmm, hehehe…"
A tear made its way down her cheek and dropped on his hand.
- The next morning -
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and blinked against the sudden light. He groaned when he tried to get up and felt bruises all over his body, making him fall back to where he had been. How the hell did I get here? He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before making another attempt on getting up. This time he succeeded and he bit through the sharp pain coming from his ribcage, sitting up, panting. He felt dried up blood on his down lip and chin and wondered how it came there.
Then he remembered where he was and why. The memories shot through his head, and his eyes widened while his irises shrank miraculously small. He didn't hesitate nor did he mind the pain as he got up as fast as he could and then nearly fell of the rooftop when he missed the stairs. He ran down, skipping as much steps as possible, landed with a loud thump on the iron deck and then ran towards Tsunade's room, pounding on the wooden door as hard as he could. "Tsunade-baachan!!" he shrieked, his breath hitching in his throat every second. "Get up!! Sakura's… Sakura's gone!!"
He heard a loud thump, then the sound of footsteps and then the door swung open, revealing Tsunade. If things hadn't been messy Naruto would've burst out in laughter seeing the Hokage in her pajama's: a silk small dress which barely fit the description of pajama, so small. Her face though was as serious as he had thought it would be.
"What do you mean, Naruto!" she yelled, grabbing his collar, forcing him to rip his gaze off her pajama. "How do you mean 'Sakura's gone'!"
Naruto made a gurgling sound and then Tsunade dropped him to the ground. "…she left," he gasped, still searching for air. "…she left together with him… yesterday evening…"
If Tsunade hadn't already been looking shocked than that would've happened right now. "What?! She left with Deidara?! Why didn't you hold them back, for god's sake!"
Naruto was about to say that he had been kind off outnumbered by two outstanding ninja when Tsunade smacked him out of the way, racing down the Hokage building stairs in her pajamas, her face white of shock. Luckily it was still early so no one saw her, but at that very moment she couldn't have cared less if she had been naked.
Only one thought repeated itself again and again, forcing her to run even faster, forcing her to think on top speed to find a solution. Sakura left with Deidara. She actually left.
She reached the streets and sprinted over the main street, knocking over some vendors and their merchandizing, not paying any attention to their loud yells at all. Most people didn't even had the time to scream, as they were enormously distracted at the fact that the woman with probably the largest cupsize of the city was running through town in a mini dress, pushing over and running into everyone she met.
She stopped in front of hotel Konohagakure and tried to open the door. She roared out in anger and frustration as she found out that it was locked, then pulled her fist back and smacked the entire door out of the way, waking everyone up with the sound of breaking glass and ripped apart wood. She jumped inside and dashed up the stairs, digging in her memory to remember where Dotongu was staying.
Her mind had automatically driven her towards him as he was at the moment the only one capable of knowing what Deidara might do, or where he might go to. And she couldn't afford loosing Sakura like she had lost Sasuke back then, nor would she be able to handle Naruto if that happened. He was so hard to control even when all his friends were just healthy and all in town…
Then she reached the door of Dotongu's room. Deciding that she might as well go on with ruining everything that stood in her way, she lifted the door out of its hangings and then threw it on the corridor, stepping inside. "Dotongu!" she yelled, hurrying towards the bedroom. "Dotongu wake up!! Doto-…"
Her voice died away as she reached the bedroom and found him sitting in front of the window, fully dressed, even with his hair combed. "I'd already suspected you to come, Tsunade," he said without turning around. "Since they've left, haven't they, un?"
"how do you know?" Tsunade stuttered, a shocked expression plastered on her face while her body slowly started trembling. Dotongu turned around painfully slow and looked at her, and Tsunade's heart missed a beat as she saw the incredible sad expression on his face.
"I saw them leaving," he whispered. "but I couldn't do a thing as soon as they had gotten airborne, un. I guess I were too late, as always."
Tsunade looked at him and then she slowly seemed to realize that she was actually standing in front of the Tsucikage with a dress made out of so less fabric that it was a disgrace that she had paid so much for it.
"But I take it that you'd like my advise, un?" he asked, his eyes locked to her face. "About Deidara? About his directions?"
Unable to speak, Tsunade nodded, staring at Dotongu. She hadn't expected him to be so emotionally hit by the event, nor had she expected him to actually see the event take place. When he smiled sadly she felt her stomach become of stone before it sank towards her feet.
"I'm afraid I know even less about Deidara than you do, Tsunade-sama." He sighed and then suddenly his eyes got fierce. "But that doesn't mean that I wont help you find him, Un. But before we go and get them back," and he got up from the chair and led Tsunade to his dresser. "you get yourself something to wear and then we'll talk with the ANBU… also, Mizura is coming back to town today so you might want to talk with her first."
Tsunade merely nodded and randomly picked something out of the dresser. She had no idea of what she had done if Dotongu hadn't been in town. If he hadn't been here then the situation would've gotten out of hand and she would've probably dealt more damage to the city than helping them with their problem.
"Dotongu," she whispered when he gently shove her out of the apartment after she had dressed, and he hang the door back into the hangings, trying to remove the slightest bits of damage. "Thank you, I mean, you shouldn't have done this, it was…"
He shook his head. "Thank me later if we've found your kunoichi. Keep your head clear, Tsunade-sama."
He's even using the sama suffix. She nodded as quick as possible and then followed him down the stairs. As soon as they'd gotten down, she noticed the mess she had made and she blushed slightly.
"Clean this," she ordered to one of the still astounded body guards who nodded as if his life depended on it, probably afraid of what she might do to him if he even dared to argue with her. Then she and Dotongu got out on the street, bumping into Naruto and Kakashi who had probably been waiting for them.
"Tsunade-baachan!"
"Tsunade-sama."
She nodded at them. "This is Dotongu," she said, quickly introducing him to them. "He's the Tsuchikage from the North and he's helping us. Kakashi, I take it that Naruto has informed you about what happened?"
Kakashi nodded, bowing quickly for Dotongu who bowed back. Naruto didn't but that was to be expected.
"Naruto told me the outlines," he said while he tried to make Naruto bow as well. The blonde shook his hand of and then gasped with pain. Kakashi didn't notice it. "So it's true that Sakura actually left with Deidara?"
"…unfortunately, it is," Tsunade said. "But I do not know any more about it than that to be honest. Naruto, tell us, and tell us everything. From out the moment that you saw them."
Naruto nodded weakly. "I'd like to, Tsunade-baachan, but that Akatsuki bastard hit me pretty hard…" and he spat out blood. "Speaking hurts, dattebayo."
Tsunade frowned. "You didn't let out the Kyuubi chakra did you," she asked, her voice angry as she already expected the answer. He bowed his head in shame and Tsunade raised her hands towards the sky. "When do you finally realize that that's not the way to solve you problems, Naruto! Now come here and I'll heal you, but then you'll tell us everything."
She healed him rather quickly and he cracked a few of his joints to check them before he smiled at them all and cleared his throat.
- Flashback, with Naruto's point of view -
"Well, I lay in bed, sleeping, like everyone else, when suddenly I remembered letting something behind in your office, Tsunade-baachan. At first I thought, 'ah, well, I'll get that tomorrow', but I was awake and I couldn't stop thinking about it so in the end I decided to just get it. You know, to get it over with."
"Naruto! Less details!"
"Gomen! Anyway, I went to the Hokage building and it was really dark outside. There were some stars but it was still very cloudy and I had trouble finding the right building. You'll all have to believe me if I tell you that I nearly entered the building next to it – it's just that everything looks the same in the dark.
Well after that I entered the right building and I got to your office. The door was open and I found that suspicious since you always lock the door behind you, Tsunade-baachan, so I entered really carefully. When I got in I also noted that the door to their special apartment was open as well.
But I was sleepy so I didn't really pay much attention to it and just got what I came for…"
"Which was exactly?"
"Errr… nothing important! It has nothing to do with the story, dattebayo! Ahem… eh… oh, yeah. After that I was just about to leave again when I heard Sakura-chan scream. I know it when she screams because I've heard that a lot, and I dropped whatever I'd been looking for and I ran up the stairs, since the voice had been from above."
Tsunade interrupted him. "How did the scream sound like? Angry, sad, happy?"
Naruto had to think about that slightly. "… more as if they were playing some game and he had won or something. I don't know how to describe it but that was how it was like, but she was still screaming, you know. And when I ran up the stairs I could make out what she was saying. She yelled 'let me go', so I got even more angrier at that temee.
But when I got up the stairs I… I saw them…"
His voice died and he looked away, blushing fanatically. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and so did Dotongu, but Kakashi had the faint feeling that he knew what Naruto had seen. The blonde seemed rather troubled by it and they decided to go to the Hokage building again, to sit down in a private room without all the other people on the streets listening in.
They got there pretty quickly and Kakashi went away to get the ANBU together while Tsunade and Dotongu sat down in front of Naruto to listen to his story. The blonde nodded, cleared his throat again and then continued speaking with a deep blush on his face.
"… when I got up I thought he might have had hit her, but as soon as I could see them that was absolutely out of the question. They were…. They were… they were kissing." He swallowed while all the color swept out of Tsunade's face. "…and not in the way brothers and sisters do, dattebayo… And I… I don't know… I got a bit hysterical, you know, and I let out a cry of surprise. But I'm sure everyone would've… I mean, who had ever seen that coming?!"
Tsunade looked to her feet. "Naruto," she said, "you were aware of the plan to interrogate Deidara through Sakura, weren't you? If I remember correctly then you even agreed with it."
Naruto's eyes grew wide and then he jumped up from his chair, hands on the table. "You mean that that temee has taken advantage on Sakura-chan?!"
Tsunade shook her head sadly and Dotongu, the gentleman, put an arm around her shoulders to calm her down. "It's okay, Tsunade-sama," he said. "No one saw this coming, as Naruto-kun already said. So you shouldn't blame yourself for this."
She sobbed. "but I do," she muttered. "I knew something wasn't right when I checked their room tapes lately… they acted way too nervous around each other… I should have done something.."
Then Naruto bowed over the table and smacked Tsunade in the face, snapping her head sideways with wide open eyes. Dotongu stumbled back, amazed by the rudeness of the ninja, and stared at Naruto. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-baachan," he panted. "But I cant let you do this to yourself. We must act now instead of sob in self despair." He smashed his fist on the wooden table. "And I will get Sakura back. Even if it takes me another four years, I will eventually retrieve her, like I did with Sasuke." His eyes shot fire as they met Tsunade's. "And that's a promise of a lifetime, dattebayo."
Phew… long chapter! Nine pages! Which reminds me to tell you guys that we've nearly hit the one hundred! Three more and we're there…. See you all next time!