Deidara's Story

Clay Hearts Molded

Chapter 6: 'Til Death Do Us Part

Deidara idly sat on the top cover of the moving carriage, allowing a butterfly to flit around his face and head. Calling it back to his hand, its wings flapped gracefully with every small breath of air or wisp of wind.

"Deidara-kun? We will be stopping for a short break soon. If you wish, you may come down and talk with the men," Yodae said, smiling up at him.

Deidara sat where he was, gazing down at the man with uninterested eyes. "No, I'll stay up here. It's more peaceful than standing around drinking with those guys, un." Yodae sighed, but gave up, shrugging and turning around to get back to the head of the column. Laying back, Deidara allowed the butterfly to once again be on its merry way, flapping through the day sky, keeping in sync with the men below.

Ever since the talk he and Shizune had had, he never had been at ease. True, his past was still a mystery to him. He could only vaguely remember bits and pieces of it. The reward on his head, though not troubling, was more perturbing than anything. A rogue ninja looking for some cash may try, but as Shizune had said, the bounty had been placed many years ago, and so far, none had had the gall to try and claim it. Suddenly, the wagon came to a stop, and gratified voices began to permeate the air. Grunting, Deidara slowly sat up, surveying the surrounding area. They had stopped by a lake, a large one to the looks of it. The tranquil waters teemed with insect life, and Deidara blew a gnat from his nose.

"If it isn't made of clay...it's annoying, un." Hopping down from the carriage, Deidara quickly went to the lake, sitting down by it and getting into a more relaxed position. They had been carrying on almost non-stop for an entire afternoon, so he was sure that he would have a chance to meditate a little longer than most times. Humming slightly to himself, to achieve a higher form of peace, he smiled. The buzzing of insects and the gentle lapping as the wind played with the water's surface made it relatively calm.

"Dei...Deidara-kun?" Opening one eye, Deidara looked up at where Shizune's form stood, looking down at him. "Are you alright?"

"Hn. Just meditating, Shizune-hime. What is it?" Shizune smiled, sitting down and crossing her own legs.

"I was just lonely...and a little bored."

"Yes, it can be boring inside that carriage, I imagine. You may meditate with me if you wish, un." Closing his eye again, he began to hum once more. Shizune smiled, almost coming to a giggle. She hadn't realized how calm the blond could be, what with his hyperactive explosions and his fighting style. Closing her own eyes and getting into his position, she hummed with him, and soon, the men around the carriage eyed the pair sitting by the lake, cross-legged, humming.

After an hour or so, Deidara smiled, opening his eyes and standing. "Well, that was a good session. But come, Shizune-hime. It is time to begin the journey once again." Shizune didn't immediately open her eyes, so Deidara stood politely by while she finished. Slowly, she indeed came out of it, smiling and standing.

"That is most relaxing, Deidara-kun. Thank you." Deidara bowed, indicating the open carriage, which Shizune went to, entering and closing the door behind her. A few hops, and Deidara was also on top, pointing towards the road. The men took the hint, saddling back up and beginning the journey towards the Lord's manor once more.

However, the small brigade didn't get very far. Evil looking clouds again began to stir in the East, and Yodae glanced at them every moment he had a notion. Deidara was also looking at them, knowing that before the day was through, the clouds would open up, creating another maelstrom. "Man...I hate the rain."

His prediction became true, as torrential torrents of water began to spew from an angry sky. Lightning cracked the peace, and Deidara stood, ultimately drenched, on top of the carriage. Hugging his jacket and cloak about him tighter, he signaled down to Yodae, shouting to be heard above the wind. "Hey! We can't go on much farther like this, un! We have to get out and find shelter for the night!" Yodae looked up at him, much worse for wear.

"Hai, Deidara-kun! Let's find a grove of trees. We'll rope the horses and begin again in the morning!" Deidara nodded, sitting back down in the rain. He hadn't really thought that it would rain that much on one trip. But of course, much like him, he figured the weather was still just...winging it.

It was fortunate for the group that the lake shared boundaries with a large copse of trees. Large, stately members rose into the heavens, being buffeted this way and that by the wind and rain. Deidara chose a spot that seemed better than the rest, shorter trees that would give better refuge from rain, wind, and if it happened, lightning. The carriage pulled into the stand, and the men began getting off their mounts. Tents were erected in moments, some men having trouble as the wind made tent erecting difficult at times. Deidara merely created a bunshin and had it help him. When he was satisfied, he dissipated the jutsu, getting inside the tent and smiling to himself at the rate the other men were going. "They'll be soaked to the bone before they have a tent pitched. Maybe I should go help them? Hm...maybe not. They're not paying me to help with tents, un. Heh he..." Closing his eyes, the shinobi soon found himself in a state of sleep. The trip had taken more of a toll on him than he had thought, so it was less than easy to slumber amid the noise.

It was late at night when Deidara felt an uneasiness awaken him. The storm was still raging outside his tent, and he groped his face, willing himself awake. He couldn't hear anyone else outside, so he figured they were all asleep. Quietly, he exited the tent, holding a cloak above his head to ward off the rain. Gazing about, he saw the carriage in a small stand a little ways off, sheltered against the leeward side of the storm. "I'll check on Shizune-hime. That will help set my mind at ease, un." Fighting the wind, he began a game of push-and-pull, one foot at a time planting into the mud that the storm had created. Finally, he made it to the carriage. Pulling himself up, he looked inside. "Shizune-hime?" However, nothing was inside the carriage. The lamp was gone, along with Shizune's only clothes and Shizune herself. Startled, Deidara turned towards the darkness, calling out for her. When nothing answered, he grumbled to himself. "Shizune-hime...if you are going to the bathroom, then I'm sorry, but it isn't funny, un." Looking down on the ground, he found a set of footprints leading away from the carriage. Following them like a bloodhound, he tracked her to the edge of the woods, leading towards the mountain range in the distance. "Shizune-hime..." He took the initiative, bounding through the trees in search of his princess.

Shizune was busily crashing through the bushes, her clothes bag in her right hand, her lamp in the other. Strange noises pervaded her senses, and at times, she had to withhold screams of fright when animal eyes peeped at her from within the nearby woodlands. She hated running like that, but she didn't have any other alternative. She had to get as far away as possible in one night. Surely, Deidara-kun would still be asleep until the morning, and by then, the storm would wash all tracks of her away. She would send her father a ransom note, saying that she had been kidnapped and killed, but her body was for sale. He, of course, wouldn't pay to just have his daughter's body back. In fact, he would probably go find a new woman to be his wife to make him a new daughter to set his mind at ease. That would be perfectly fine with her. She didn't need to be the wife of a man that she didn't even know, anyways.

"I...I just have to get...get away! I...I don't want to marry anyone. I...AIIIIIEEEE!!!" A pair of large, yellow eyes batted at her, and she recoiled. The owl hooted at her, then flew off into the surrounding trees. "Oh, how I wish father had given me survival training." Turning towards the North, she began making her way through the dense patches of trees and thickets. Her eyes shut tight whenever a thorn or vine lashed her legs or arms. Her skin was wet with sweat and rainwater from having fought her way through the wilderness. She was soaking, cold, miserable, and scared. If it hadn't been storming, she may have fared better, but as it stood, the storm was the only reasonable way for her to escape. If she didn't, then...

She shook her head. She didn't want to contemplate what would await her at the Lord's manor. She would be the trophy wife. Nothing in her future but babies and...more babies. The good of the land, right? The land could burn for all she cared! She didn't give one iota for the land or her rich father's boundaries.

Crying out as a branch caught her across her knee, she stumbled, sitting down on the cold, wet ground. Rubbing her knee ruefully, she sighed, keeping her lamp close to her. A hiss behind her made her freeze, and she turned, putting her lamp out in front of her so she could see. A large snake, red and black banded, stood in her path, hissing dangerously. Two very large fangs reared from its head, and it eyed her with a deadly intent. Screaming, she tossed her lamp at it, picking herself up and hobbling as fast as possible in a different direction. Tearing through bushes and tree groves, she fought madly to extricate herself and get as far as possible from the terror on the ground.

She hadn't been watching where she was going in her blind madness, however. She felt her foot slip slightly, only then taking the opportunity to look down at where she was stepping...which just happened to be over a cliff. She screamed again, twisting and catching herself on a root. There, she hung grimly on, not having the strength to pull herself back up. Her voice caught in her throat as the wind whistled in her ears. Looking down, she gulped. In the darkness, she couldn't see the bottom of the canyon. Still hanging on grimly, she sighed to herself. So...this was it, huh? Well, at least this way, she wouldn't feel it. The impact would crush her skull and vital organs, causing her death in less than a few seconds. This was a better ending to her life than to be locked up in some castle, rearing babies until she was an old maid, then being put out to pasture like all the man's other wives.

"Hmm...so, you find that hanging off the side of a cliff at night is better than a cozy carriage, un? What is it that you were trying to accomplish, Shizune-hime?" Shizune blinked, looking up as Deidara stood looking down at her.

Shizune opened her mouth to talk, but the wind took the breath from her lungs, so she just closed her mouth once again. Deidara smiled. "Seems to me that you don't really want to go get married. Is that it, un?" Bending down, he continued. "Of course, my mission constitutes that you have to arrive safely to the Lord's manor. If you die in a fall, my mission is null and void, and I don't get my money. Do you see the quandary that I'm in here, Shizune-hime?" She looked up, a tear coursing down her face. Deidara instantly regretted his words. Reaching down, he grasped her hand, smiling. "Don't worry. I won't let you fall, un." He began to pull her forward, when she stopped him, planting her feet in the side of the wall.

"I'm...sorry Deidara-kun. I'm so sorry. Please...forgive me!" With a wrench, she pulled back hard, releasing Deidara's grasp on her and making her plummet to the ground below. She withheld her scream in her lungs, hoping the ground was hard enough to kill her as instantly as she thought possible. Down and down she plummeted, until she thought that there may not have been a bottom to the gorge. It was a just a big, empty hole...kind of like her life.

She screamed out suddenly as she was caught mid-air. Two arms grasped her, and an angry pair of blue eyes met her own. "What the hell were you thinking just then, un? Trying to kill yourself? What do you think I am?" Her mouth moved of its own accord, but no words came. Looking down, she saw herself flying on a bird made of clay. It was having difficulty staying in position as the wind buffeted it about. Sending it back up, Deidara and Shizune quickly found the ledge again. Hopping down with her, Deidara turned, sending his bird skyward. "Katsu!" It exploded beautifully, the light from the explosion casting a pall upon the scenery. Looking around in the split second he needed, Deidara spied a small cave set into the cropping of the mountainside. Knowing that both were in need of slumber, he grasped Shizune's arm, pulling her towards the mountain. She didn't dare struggle, knowing the lengths the blond would go to keep his mission from failing.

Soon, they were huddled in the cave. Deidara started a small fire with some dry moss he had found in the back of the small cave, along with a small chunk of clay that set the spark. The fire roared to life later as the wet sticks he added dried, crackling merrily against the dank background. Deidara sat the girl down on the inside cave area of the fire, setting himself on the opposite side nearest the cave mouth.

"Now, Shizune-hime. You will tell me what you hoped to accomplish with this. What were you planning on doing, un?" Shizune sat, entranced by the fire. She was thoroughly wet, her clothes sticking to her like an outer skin. She was also quite tired, having run half the night. "Well!?" She snapped out of her delirium, looking up at the blond, who was glaring daggers at her.

"I...I..."

"You what? Wanted to get away? Stop acting like a foolish two year old, Shizune-hime. It's time you started acting like an adult. This mission is for the good of the country, you said so yourself."

"Good of the country!? Whatever did this damn country do for me?" Deidara blinked, taken aback by the girl's words.

"What? This is your country, Shizune-hime! You were born here, this is yours by right! You protect it by going ahead with this matrimony, un!"

"What do you know of what is right for the country and not, huh? You're a shinobi! You were brought up thinking that the country and everything in it needs protecting!" Shizune was shouting now, her voice echoing around the cave. "But, this country does nothing but take! It takes and takes, and gives nothing back! The aristocrats are the only ones who benefit from people like me and you who give everything to keep the country together! We get nothing from it! Screw this country! I hate it!" She huffed, turning her back on the shinobi and the fire, instead finding quiet warmth with her resolution.

"Shizune-hime..."

"No! I don't care anymore! I never wanted this marriage!" Still turned away, tears began to fall unchecked. "You don't know what it's like. Being told that you have to marry someone that you don't know. I've never even seen his face. I don't know what the man looks like. He's a stranger, and I'm supposed to love him because people tell me to? What kind of life is that? I'm...I'm not that strong. I can't live that way..."

"...So you decided to run away? Even to take your own life?" Deidara sat back, pondering. The life she was talking about would be rough, but then again, he wasn't in that quandary. "But, Shizune-hime, why didn't you say anything?"

"Do you really think it would have mattered? Do you think that it would have really mattered what I wanted? My father only cares about one thing...the bottom line! You're just like him! All you want is the money! That's all you ever were in it for!" Her hand was at her face, brushing tears away slower than she was shedding them. "I cried myself to sleep every night, ever since my father told me what he had in store for me. I...I never got to play with other children. My father thought that if I did, I would gain relationships...I would feel things that he didn't want me to feel for anyone else but...but..."

"But for someone that you didn't even know." Deidara gazed into the fire, the story becoming clear. "Without knowing your own kind of love, you would only know the kind he wanted you to. Love...that is forced. Interesting concept. Never would have worked...but still interesting." She sniffled, turning around.

"But, what do you care? You've succeeded in stopping my demise. But let me tell you something, Deidara-kun! I don't care. I'll escape as many times as it takes. When you're asleep, I may borrow your kunai one night! You won't be able to rescue someone who has no blood!" Deidara sat, nervous and edgy. Suddenly, he sighed. Opening his pack, he took out a kunai, glancing at it as the light began to play on its edge. Shizune glanced at it as well, then back at him. "What are you doing?" Deidara smiled, tossing it to her.

"Here. If you're going to do it, better make it quick." She blinked at the knife in her hand, then back at him.

"But...your mission..."

"My mission is to see you to your wedding. If you truly wish to stop it, this is the only way you can. However, since I have not failed a mission, ever, my track record will be ruined, and I can't live with the shame." Taking out another kunai, he smiled at it. "The minute your blood hits the ground, I will mingle mine with it. That is the shinobi way of honor." Placing the weapon to his neck, he smiled. She screamed out as the kunai grazed him lightly, leaving a small trail of blood in its wake. He coughed, but didn't otherwise move. Pressing a hand to it, he fingered the wound, looking at the blood on his fingers. "Hurts more than I thought it would." Turning to her again, he pressed the kunai back to his neck. "Well, Shizune-hime. Ready when you are." She grimaced, looking down at the weapon in her hand. Nodding, she placed it to her neck, then looked back at Deidara, who was still smiling.

The seconds ticked away like hours, as each passing moment saw them, sitting in that position. Suddenly, Shizune sighed, putting the kunai down. Deidara's eyebrow rose. "I...I can't do it. Not if you kill yourself when I'm gone, Deidara-kun. I...couldn't live with myself."

"That's the beauty of the plan, Shizune-hime. You won't be alive anymore, un." She looked up, aghast as to what he was saying.

"You have something to live for, Deidara-kun! I don't! You shouldn't have to die because I do! That's not right!"

Deidara smiled back at her, the kunai still at his neck. "Shizune-hime, I would rather kill myself because of an honor code than kill myself because I saw you do it, un." She blinked. Picking the knife back up, she looked at it.

"I have contemplated killing myself for months. I almost did it tonight. Almost." Then, she smiled. "But, you reminded me of the things that I have to live for. The things...that I need to do still." Throwing the knife back to him, she sat, splaying her legs out. "Thank you, Deidara-kun. I...had lost sight of purpose. I have that purpose back again." Deidara smiled, replacing the kunai back into his pouch.

"That's why I'm here, Shizune-hime. I protect you from others...but I also protect you...from you, un."

She smiled back at him. "Thank you, Deidara-kun. I think...I'll take a nap now." Laying down, she pulled herself up into a ball, closing her eyes. About a minute later, she began to shiver, feeling the cold creeping up on her despite the fire. A large object hit her, and she looked up, seeing the cloak on her. Deidara, wearing nothing but his t-shirt and long, baggy pants, went to sleep near the cave mouth.

"I'll sleep here. You can take the fire. It will be easier and safer that way." Putting his back to the cave wall, he closed his eyes. He was soon shivering as well, the cold from the outside cave mouth making his already wet body cool down by fractions. Shizune heard his teeth clatter together about ten minutes into the night, and she smiled to herself.

The dawn rays of the sun broke the Eastern sky the next morning, heralding in the new day. Skylarks and jays flitted gracefully through the trees, singing out their songs of the morning. Already, the forest was coming alive with activity, as all over, animals began cleaning up burrows and nests from the storm the night had brought. Of course, all of this was lost to the inhabitants of a certain mountainside cave. Deidara was still asleep, his cloak draped about his shoulders. Next to him, Shizune was snoring peacefully, the otherside of his cloak draped over her...and her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

A/N: A tiny bit of fluff for those who like fluff! More stuff to happen next chapter!

Next Chapter: A fight breaks out once again, and Deidara and Shizune find themselves against the enemy. But, much to Deidara's pleasure...Shizune knows how to fight! Next Time: Roadside Ambush, Hidden Ability!