A/N: So sorry there ended up being so many chapters, but every time I want to actually continue with the story I get another idea and it ends up getting squeezed in. Hopefully it isn't too boring ^ ^
Chapter 8 – Fight With The Master
My eyes flew open in shock as I felt lips being pressed to mine, but immediately relaxed and closed my eyes again when all I saw was a wave of blonde hair and a Rock forehead protector, and ran my fingers through Deidara-kun's hair.
When he finally pulled away, he smiled down at me for a moment, "Good morning, un."
"Morning," I said. He stared for a moment more before pointedly looking sideways. I followed his gaze and smiled when I saw Yume-chan limply clutching a blood red rose. I looked at the doorway, which was empty.
"Where's Tobi?" I asked softly.
"He didn't feel like listening to Naresome yelling again, and he doesn't like it when you're sad, un," he replied.
"Please call her Yume," I said, "And when you see him again tell him I'm sorry for freaking out last night."
He nods once and kissed me again. I glanced sideways at Yume-chan's sleeping form.
"Wake her up," I whispered with a grin. He grinned as well and reached into the bag strapped to his side, and his hand emerged seconds later with three fingernail-sized clay birds, which flew until they were about two feet above her face.
"Katsu," he said calmly, and the birds exploded with a noise that would've woken the whole building up.
Yume-chan woke up with something between a gasp and a yell and began swearing and cussing and cursing Deidara-kun, throwing rude hand signs in the process until she finally set eyes on me. I was laughing my head off.
"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, DAMN IT?!" she yelled.
"You should've seen your face!" I said through laughing fits, and she froze.
"You're talking in front of Faggot-Face," she said simply.
"Don't call him that," I said sternly.
"Ahh, I see," she said knowingly, then her face twisted into suspicion, "What were you two doing before I woke up?"
Deidara-kun sighed, "If we were doing anything worth mentioning, why would I have woken you up, un?"
"Good point," she said, "Now get out."
"Oi!" I said, glaring at her, "This is my room, too."
"Then both of you, get out."
I stuck my tongue out at her before looking at the clock on my bedside cabinet. It was nearly noon. "Is Kisame-san back yet?"
"No," he replied, "He and Itachi-san are out on a mission. They won't be back for two weeks or so."
"That'll give me some time to heal again," I said.
"Heal?" Yume-chan asked, "What do you mean?"
Deidara-kun glanced at me, and I lightly shook my head before looking at her again, "I'll tell you later. Anyway, we'll be down for breakfast in a minute."
He nodded and kissed me once before leaving, and I told Yume-chan about the previous night's events, and she looked at me dejectedly. At her request, I showed her my bandaged left forearm, knuckles, knees and the bridges of my feet.
"It's all my fault," she said, "I'm so sorry. If I didn't say those things, none of this would've happened."
"Oh, cut that out," I snapped, "You don't have to blame yourself every time I get hurt, you know. I know you have a bit of a foul mouth when you're tired, so I'm sorry for overreacting. Just try and get some proper sleep, yeah?"
She nodded and smiled, and we got dressed and went down for breakfast. Kakuzu handed me a pair of crutches without a word when he saw me limping with one arm around Yume-chan's neck, while all the others looked at me with wide eyes.
"Did you try to catch a fucking Bijuu single-handedly or something?" Hidan asked.
"No," Yume chuckled, "She—uhm—fell down the stairs."
A few days later, with Kakuzu's help, all my wounds were fully healed, but he couldn't do much about the scars. I now had ugly marks on my knuckles where the bone had poked through, and my forearm was full of scars where the glass had cut me.
For the following few weeks, I trained with any Akatsuki member who was at the base except Deidara-kun and Tobi; I couldn't bring myself to try and hurt them. I still couldn't talk in front of half the Akatsuki; the only ones I didn't stutter in front of was Deidara-kun, Tobi and Kakuzu. Finally, after a lot of waiting, Kisame and Itachi returned during dinner.
"Look who decided to show up!" Hidan exclaimed, "Fucking finally!"
"Hn," was all Itachi said, and a wave of irritation shot through me when he didn't even greet Yume-chan. Of course, I couldn't point it out.
"You two ready for your training?" Kisame asked. I nodded.
"Yeah," Yume-chan said, "We're gonna kick your asses. Yoku's on equal ground with Konan, and I can almost counter Kakuzu."
"Almost," Hidan chuckled.
"Oi, we kicked your ass in, like, four days," Yume snapped.
"That's because he's the slowest one here," Kakuzu said, causing a few people to chuckle and Hidan to throw out a series of cuss words.
"So, what's this?" Kisame asked with a grin, looking at mine and Deidara-kun's entwined fingers. I flinched at being addressed directly.
"They've been together since you guys left," Hidan said, "They can't keep their fucking hands off each other."
"Don't lie," Deidara-kun said, "You're just jealous."
"Terribly," Yume-chan said sarcastically, and I glared at her, causing her to chuckle.
"You're still not talking, huh?" Kisame asked me, and I shook my head shyly. I just needed a little time to get used to him again.
"She's talking in front of Faggot-Face, Tobi and Kakuzu, though," Yume-chan said, "It's a mental thing she has. She needs to be absolutely certain the person won't hurt her before she can talk to them."
"I didn't know that," Konan said thoughtfully.
"So, what?" Hidan asked me irritably, "You're fucking scared of us?"
I clicked my tongue irritably and shook my head, glaring at Yume-chan, who said, "She's not scared, per se. It's 'cause she trains with you guys, and obviously you'll try to hurt her enough so she'll withdraw from the spar. Like I said, it's a mental thing."
"Fuck that, it's too confusing," Hidan said, shaking his head.
"Will we be learning new techniques?" Yume asked, then glared at Itachi, "I can perform enough Phoenix Fire to blast your ass to hell."
"We'll see," he said calmly.
"We won't actually be training together," Kisame said, "You'll see tomorrow morning. Be at the lake at ten."
"Ugh, you never let us sleep in," Yume said.
Deidara-kun woke me up, as always, with a kiss, before opening the curtains for Yume-chan to wake up. When she didn't, he let a few tiny birds explode over her head, and she woke up groggily.
"Why're you so dispirited?" I asked.
"Stayed up late last night—uhm—reading," she said.
"You were stalking Itachi, weren't you?" I asked dejectedly. She just glared at me silently.
Little less than an hour later, Yume-chan and I went to the lake with Deidara-kun and Tobi as our escorts, my dual-bladed sword in one hand, and Yume's scythe strapped to her back.
"Aahh, I can't wait to see what Itachi-san and Kisame-san are planning!" Tobi said excitedly.
"I hope it's something easy," Yume-chan said as we broke through the trees and saw Itachi and Kisame standing side by side in front of the lake. Deidara-kun gave me a brief kiss before he and Tobi backed away, sitting on the grass. "So, why are we here together?"
"Just to see what the two of you have learned so far," Itachi said simply.
I still didn't like his voice: it was so deep and intimidating, and I found myself pretending to be Yume-chan's shadow again.
"That really won't do anymore," he continued, glaring right at me, "Stand beside Yume."
"Just leave her alone," Yume-chan said calmly.
"If you want to be a part of Akatsuki, you can't be cute and shy anymore," Itachi snapped.
"Tell him that I won't have to talk if I kill someone," I whispered irritably in Yume's ear, and she relayed the message.
"Yes, but what if you're sent out on an information gathering mission? How will you manage that?" he asked irritably.
"I'll drag you along," I whispered to Yume-chan.
"I won't let her go on a mission alone," Yume-chan said, "If the Leader decides we're ready to join, the two of us can be partners. There would be no problem."
"Step out from behind Yume-san," Itachi said dangerously, and I found myself flinching, "Come, come, we don't have all day."
"I told you to leave her the hell alone," Yume-chan said, just as dangerously. I sighed and forced myself to stand beside her. There wasn't any need for a fight. She glanced at me, but I just forced a smile. "What're you gonna teach us?"
"Before we teach you anything, we want to see what you're capable of," Kisame-san said lightly, "Surely you trained while we were gone?"
"Don't underestimate us," she replied with a smirk.
"Good," he said, "You'll be fighting me. Yoku-san will be fighting Itachi."
Say what?
"Why?" Yume asked, seemingly just as confused as I was. After a moment's silence, I nodded with understanding.
"It seems you know the answer," Itachi said, making me flinch, "Why don't you say it out loud?"
"Itachi, I swear to Jashin, I will rip you apart if you continue pestering her," Yume said irritably.
"It might be good if she answers, though," Kisame said, then he pointedly stared at me, "We won't hurt you."
I frowned as the lump in my throat lifted somewhat. With another gulp, I was able to hurriedly say, "You know my basic fighting style, and Itachi-san knows Yume-chan's, and therefore you won't really be able to determine our strengths, so you swapped."
"Excellent," Kisame said with a grin, "Correct."
"Come, come, we don't have all day," Itachi said and, without warning, he rushed forward so that I barely had time to lift my dual-bladed sword to parry his attack. Before Yume-chan had time to take a snap at him, Kisame attacked her, as well.
I put as much strength as possible into a hit and evaded behind a tree, hurriedly molding chakra and whispering, "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu," so that fifteen Clones appeared and surrounded me. I had taken care to give an even amount of chakra to each of them so as to conceal my presence. As one, they walked past me so that they masked my presence and stood before where I had left Itachi.
"Come out from behind the tree," I heard his deep voice say clearly, while my surroundings heated up considerably and Kisame and Yume's battle raged on noisily.
I refused to step out from my shelter and instead went to another at the same time as when I sent my Clones to attack Itachi.
Damn it, why had I not asked Kisame to teach me more techniques? My melee combat sucked ass, and Itachi's Sharingan could see me too easily. I rubbed my temples, trying to come up with some kind of plan. I knew I wouldn't be able to defeat Itachi—not in a million years—but I had to try my best.
I knew it would be no use to try and not look into his eyes while fighting, because he uses his hands to trap people in a hallucination, as well. Once I was caught in a hallucination, there would be no escaping, and I would lose in any case.
His chakra element was fire, and mine was water, but that still didn't help me much, seeing as the only technique I knew was now failing so badly against him. I nearly cried out in frustration, but clutched onto my sword tightly to prevent myself from doing so.
"Still hiding?"
I put my sword up just in time to parry a blow to the face, and jumped from where I had been standing and onto the branch of a tree. I swung the sword wildly, hoping to land a hit while I tried coming up with a strategy.
I tried thinking of everything that might help me against him: his tone, fighting style, any weapons or objects he was carrying … I could see no flaws in the way he attacked me. There were absolutely no patterns. I knew he was a Genjutsu-type person, so why has he not trapped me yet? From what I could see, he carried no objects of significance, his tone was always calm, and he never betrayed any information about himself.
Damn it. How was I supposed to fight against someone like this?
I transformed one of my Clones into a dual-bladed sword matching mine, and fought wildly, anger blinding me when I realized what a weak match I was. I felt my ears and tail appear, and surprise engulfed me when I felt a sharp pain on the insides of my mouth. My canines had grown slightly and were now just as sharp as my blades, and they were tearing at the insides of my mouth.
"That's enough, un!"
I gasped as I was pushed roughly to the ground. My Clone-sword disappeared along with my wolfy effects. After taking a few deep breaths, I realized that it was Deidara-kun who had cried out, and he was pinning me to the ground, a look of concern etched on his face.
"Yoku-chan, are you alright?" Tobi asked from somewhere behind Deidara-kun.
"D-Dei-kun?" I stuttered, wincing at the pain in my mouth. I tasted blood.
"What's wrong?" Yume-chan's voice asked from Deidara-kun's side, and she appeared within my vision, "What happened?"
"Her temper got the best of her," Itachi said carelessly, walking away.
"What did he mean?" I asked Deidara-kun, sitting up, "Why did you interfere?"
"You were going to hurt yourself," he replied, "I told you, I'm not going to allow that anymore, un."
"Yoku-chan, you shouldn't get so angry," Tobi said. I rolled my eyes irritably and got up.
"We're not continuing the fight," Itachi said when he rested his eyes on my hand tightly clutching the hilt of my sword, "We've learned enough."
"I want a rematch," I growled angrily, freezing when I realized what I had done, and widening my eyes when a wolf-like growl escaped along with my voice.
"You are weak," Itachi said from a little way away, "I have no time to spare for weaklings."
I shoved Deidara-kun angrily out of my way, and then Tobi, but before I could grab Itachi's shoulder and turn him around, he did so by himself and slapped me on the cheek.
"I have no time to spare for weaklings," he repeated while I clutched my burning cheek, "You are a hundred years too young to be trying to touch me without my permission."
I watched as he disappeared and reappeared beside Yume-chan and, after grabbing her hand roughly, disappeared along with her.
"I'm going now," Kisame said, "Yoku, meet me at the usual time and place."
I knew he meant the room with the pool at noon. I didn't even react when Deidara-kun pointedly glared at Tobi, who followed Kisame back to the base. I glared sideways at the tree beside me and pulled back my arm, releasing all the force I could muster.
I gasped when my knuckles connected, not with bark, but with Deidara-kun's face. I heard a faint crack when his face roughly snapped to the side before he looked back at me. He relocated his jaw with another faint crack.
"Why would you do that?!" I cried.
"I told you I won't let you hurt yourself anymore, un," he replied simply. He cupped my burning cheek and kissed me once before holding me tightly to him, "Don't let Itachi-san's words get to you. He means well. You're very strong, and he knows it, un."
"Strong, my ass," I argued, "I could barely get near him, leastways try to hurt him."
"Your strength doesn't lie in melee combat: it lies in chakra control and strategising," he said, "Yume-san only used techniques left and right, swinging her scythe blindly, not even bothering to try and come up with an idea. You, on the other hand, did splendidly."
That night I woke up, as I had hoped, little after midnight. I had remembered the words Deidara-kun had told me the afternooon we had seen that beautiful sunset: The Village of Konoha is not far from the other side of those mountains.
I was going to ask Sakura to make me a medical nin. They specialise in blocking attacks and perfecting their chakra, which was nearly all I needed to at least evade Itachi.
A/N: I apologize if this was a bit boring: I had major writer's block because school just started and my brain is super tired =.=ll