Deidara sat, hunched over for warmth. It had been a month since he had arrived at the Village Hidden in the Stones, and he didn't really have anything. He was still coping with the loss of his mother, his house…his old life. A tear ran down his cheek, and he wiped it away with a dirty hand.

"I wish I had something to eat right now, un," he said, mostly to himself. He hadn't really eaten anything since he had arrived. It was mostly what he had managed to scrape up out of dumpsters and trash cans. Unappetizing, but it allowed him to live. He shivered, looking up at the rain that fell from the sky. He brought a mouthed hand to his face, smiling as it smiled back. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from his left, and he looked up. A woman, portly, old…and probably rich. That was the easiest target. He waited for her to get to him, sitting forlornly on the street.

"Please…ma'am…I'm so hungry," he said, staring at her with his huge, blue eyes. She looked down, and seemed unsure of what to do. Then, she smiled kindly, reaching into her purse and pulling out some change.

"Here you are, young man. I hope it buys you something yummy," she said. He smiled back at her, reaching his hand out. However, she saw the mouths, tongues lolling out. She screamed, dumping the change on the ground and running off. Deidara watched her run for a second before stooping over and picking up the precious money. He counted it. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy something to eat.

"Well, at least she didn't put the money back in her purse, un," he said to his hands. They panted at him, and he walked away, looking for a store of some sort to purchase some food at.

"Where? When?" A voice from behind him caught his attention. He turned, staring at the two men who were talking.

"About ten minutes ago. The cave just collapsed. Its solid rock for at least forty feet," the other said. The man who had talked first, an older man about fifty, cursed under his breath.

"Take me there. Inform the Tsuchikage about this. That mine is to valuable to lose…and the people…" He started to say something else, but he stopped. The other man saluted, jumping away. The former began running down the street. Deidara watched him running, and decided that food could wait. He hadn't had any entertainment for a while, so this was interesting. He followed as closely as he could, until he lost sight of the man. But, when that happened, he had no need to follow him, because he could follow one of the other myriad people that were running in his direction.

Deidara gained a slope, glancing down the hill. There were shinobi keeping people from getting to close to a mine shaft, which was blocked by large rocks and rubble. Deidara crawled down the hill, getting to the edge of the crowd.

"People, please move back! We don't want anyone getting hurt here!" A shinobi in the front, one with a mask, was keeping people at bay. Deidara weaseled his way in, getting to the front of the crowd. He was wide-eyed, watching as the shinobi were valiantly trying to move the debris from the entrance. It was no good. As soon as they moved it, more moved in. It was too much for them to handle.

"Sir, it's no good. We can't move it all," said one, coming up to the one with the mask. There was a sigh, and then he turned, going to the pile. He put his hands together, and from what Deidara had picked up in town, he was gathering chakra. Then, he began making hand-signs, faster than Deidara could follow. He had learned a few, but had never tried any of them…much less tried to perform a jutsu. He looked at his hands, which were closed shut at the moment. If only…

"Earth Style: Earth Crush Jutsu!" The man threw his hands out in front of him, and the earth, boulders, and rock crumbled. Then, it fell inward, creating more of a blockage as shale and boulders cascaded down off the cliff the entrance lay under. The man stared for a second, and then turned again.

"It's useless. This will never work. We need explosives," he said. Deidara perked up. Explosives?

"Sir, we don't have any. The closest village that has any in the magnitude we need is about two days from here. By that time…" he said, trailing off. The workers in the mine had been trapped now for two hours, and after two days…the air supply in the mines would be…

"I know, but I can't see any other way," the other man said. Deidara turned, walking slowly away. This was none of his concern. Besides, to help would call attention to himself, and he didn't need any. He walked up the hill again, turning one last time to view the crowd. There were women crying, along with children…children of the trapped men in the mine. Deidara, his face softening, turned, continuing his path up the hill. At the top, he stopped. A tear fell from his face, and he clenched his hands together.

"…Damn it!" He yelled, turning around and belting back down the hill. He was going to face some sort of retribution from this, he was sure of it. But…

He stopped, looking around. Hill sides, and mines, usually had a source of clay nearby. He got on the ground, digging with his hands. Soon, he found what he was looking for. Hard clay, not the type he needed, but it was worth a shot. He peeled layers of the stuff away, trying to get as much as he could. Taking two large handfuls of it, he spat on the substrate, rubbing it in to moisten it. It took about twenty minutes of hard, strenuous pushing and pulling before the saliva worked itself into the clay, and it was soft enough to use.

"Ok, guys. Open wide, un!" He began feeding his hands clay, bit by bit. They greedily licked and lapped the mixture, wrapping a pink, slimy tongue around it and pulling it in. He waited, trying to use what he had learned to concentrate chakra into the clay. He had never done this on purpose before, so he didn't really know if it was working. Suddenly, his hands belched, and two slimy lumps of clay emerged. He took them, hoping that he had done something right. He molded them, making them into one large piece. This he molded into the form of some sort of flat bug.

"Well, this is worth a shot, anyways," he said to himself. He ran back to the crowd, pushing and tugging his way to the front again. When he made it, he saw the shinobi lined around the hole. They all looked like they had given up. Deidara set his face into a grin, striding up past the people.

"Hey, where do you think you're going, little guy?" said a voice from his left. He ignored it, still walking up to the hole. "Hey, you can't go in there. Come back!" He still wasn't listening. He was only twenty feet from the shaft entrance. A hand grabbed his shirt, picking him up. He struggled, and in the process, the clay dropped from his hand. Slowly, it came to life, crawling straight to the pile of rocks.

"Ok, boy. You have to get out of here. This is big people business, and you don't need to be here!" A shinobi, young but powerful, held him. He kicked and lashed out to no avail. His short, stubby legs wouldn't reach. The shinobi laughed, setting him down and pushing him towards the crowd of people, who were watching him with interest.

"Go on, get out of here," he said, turning back to the mound. Deidara took a glance behind him, seeing if he was free. Noting that the shinobi had his back turned, he raced back, shooting past. He heard the yell, but was still running. The shinobi in front of him turned, masked faces pointed in his direction. Deidara stopped, making frantic hand gestures.

"Damn, why won't this work? It works for them, why won't it work for me?" He was still making hand signs like mad when a shinobi picked him up, bodily taking him back to the line. Deidara, his hands working like he was crazy, looked ridiculous, and the crowd was laughing. A tear fell from his face, his hands still madly making hand signs.

"Damn it…WORK!" He yelled, and suddenly, without knowing what he had done, or what signs he had made…it did.

The explosion rocked the ground, making the shinobi drop him. He stared, fascinated, as rocks and debris fell around him. That was cool! He was still thinking inwardly of his artistic blast as a large boulder descended on him. He had time to look up and make one frantic scream before…the shinobi that dropped him smashed the boulder into pieces. Visibly shaken, Deidara sat on the ground, breathing heavily. The shinobi glanced at the hole the young boy had made, and then back at him.

"Sir, the entrance is open. We have begun the extraction," said the shinobi on his right. He nodded, still looking at the boy. He kneeled down, putting a hand on Deidara's shoulder.

"How did you do that?" He wanted to know the answer, but Deidara didn't know. He shook his head, tears streaming down his face. This was the part when he got hit. The shinobi raised his hand, and Deidara closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to come. Instead, he felt a hand running itself through his hair, ruffling it. He looked back at the shinobi, who had taken off his mask and was…smiling at him? He was actually smiling at him, after seeing what he could do. Deidara grinned.

"Sir, what do we do about the boy?" said the shinobi again. The man stood up, looking at him.

"Extract the workers…I'll take the boy to see the Tsuchikage. He will be…interested to meet him."

Man, I was going to call the leader of the Stone Village, like, Leader or something. But, thanks to I found what I was looking for. Yea for fan sites.