Author's Notes: Whoo, that was a doozy. The adventure continues and the NxH begins! I must say though, to reel myself in with a short chapter then blow me-self out of the water with this is cruelty to one's self if anything! But for the glory of fanfiction and my honor as a writer, I present to you this monster, chapter 3 of The Deidara Chronicles by FMASTA9! Enjoy!
Chapter 3: The time was now. Kakashi had been stalled, if only for a minute, leaving Naruto vulnerable. The bird perched on the sideways tree emerging from the valley, pausing for its master to do what he had to do.
Deidara pulled out a wooden hand, a tool crafted for help with one-handed jutsu. He unrolled the scroll and placed it on the back of the bird. He knelt down, bit his thumb, and started doing hand signs, aided by the
autonomous wooden hand. "Forbidden jutsu, transcending time bubble!" The world turned dark, a small circle of light about 10 feet in diameter, Deidara at its center, being all that was left unaffected by the growing
darkness. Everything covered in the darkness ceased to move, frozen in place, untouched by time. Time…had stopped. Naruto didn't notice this as he continued toward the bird and its rider. Deidara folded his scroll, threw it
up his sleeve and tossed the hand as it combusted into dust. Naruto stopped three trees away from Deidara, glaring at him with utter hatred in his eyes. He looked back at the nine-tailed Jinchuriki, a smile growing across his
hidden face. "Hey, give Gaara back!" That bark was getting to him, but he smiled regardless. "Is someone cocking an attitude, that's too bad, I was just going to let you see your friend," Deidara mocked Naruto as he tapped
the bird, causing it to open it's mouth, revealing not the deceased one-tail Jinchuriki, but a young raven haired girl. Naruto was taken aback. This made no sense. When did he switch? Where is Gaara? And why is Hinata
here? To Deidara, the look on Naruto's face was priceless, almost mimicking his art. She lay in the bird's mouth upside down and unconscious. Hinata stared at Naruto with her closed eyes and he was without response.
Deidara laughed at the boy's shocked expression. "Call me uncle, your name is Naruto, correct? I can tell you're totally lost as to what is going on," Deidara boasted, causing Naruto to wake up and turn his attention to Hinata
and Gaara's captor. "This is just too funny," he continued to laugh. "I don't know how Hinata got dragged into this, but you're going to give them both back!" He stopped laughing. His face turned serious. "Of course I am,
one of them anyway. It's part of my mission." This only confused Naruto. What mission? "If you would please cooperate, that would make my job so much easier," Deidara began jumping off the bird, "follow me." His index
finger pointed at Naruto and he motioned it towards him. "You're not going anywhere, me and Kakashi-sensei are stopping you right here and now," Naruto shot back at him. Then he saw it. They were the only three things
moving in the whole area. There was no wind, the birds stopped midflight, and the trees ceased too move. "We don't have much time, let's go," Deidara spoke impatiently before jumping off into the woods, his bird following
suite. "Huh, wait!" Naruto sped after him. When they reached an abandoned cave, he stopped, his bird landing by his side. Naruto, who was not far behind, stopped too. "Well come on, kid, I don't have all day," Deidara said
mockingly as he turned to walk inside. "Hold on," Naruto began to object but was interrupted by Deidara with a sharp, "inside!" He followed his enemy inside. Unaware of his motives, Naruto kept on his guard. The light
turned to dark, but surprisingly turned to light again. The cave was lit by small torches surrounding the walls, the only sound resonating from their footsteps and the water dripping off the stalactites. Deidara stopped in the
center of the domed cavern and turned to Naruto, who cautiously stopped in his tracks. Deidara pulled out a kunai, which made Naruto jump back in preparation for an attack, but was surprised when he severed the head of
his own bird. Who's side was he on? The head dropped to the floor with an echoing thud. Deidara kicked it open and snapped it in half at the jaw line, splitting it in two. The one that didn't hold Hinata was kicked over to face
opposite of her. He unfolded the scroll again and bit his thumb, proceeding by smacking his hand on it and causing a big cloud of smoke to appear. So far, Naruto was out of ideas pertaining to figuring out just what he was
doing, but completely lost it when the smoke cleared, revealing a full spread picnic…for two. Who was this guy…and what was his problem? "It's for you two. Wake her, shut up, and eat," he said in an annoyed tone as he
hopped upon a rock and sat down facing the opposite direction. "Hey, what is this all about," Naruto questioned him. Deidara responded cruelly, not even turning to face him, "Just shut up and do as I said." Naruto complied,
cautiously walking over to the unconscious Hinata and woke her up. "Hinata, wake up, it's me, Naruto." "Na…ru…to…Naru…Naruto!" Hinata awoke frantically at the sight of him, blush visible in her face almost immediately.
Deciding to calm down before she fainted, she noticed her surroundings. "Naruto? Where are we?" "That's not important, just keep your voice down," he whispered to her as he pointed to Deidara. She noticed and dulled her
voice down to a whisper as well, "Who is he? What does he want with us?" She caught on fast. "I don't know, he just brought us here and told me to wake you up so we can eat." She blushed at the sight of the picnic in
front of them. He captured them both for a date together? Nonsense, why would he…"Hinata," Naruto interrupted her thoughts, "do you remember anything, I mean before I woke you up?" She shook her head, "sorry, but
I don't remember a thing. I just woke up here with you." A memory altering jutsu. Had to be, why else wouldn't she remember what she was doing before she got here. "That doesn't matter, what matters is that we get out
of here as soon as possible." Hinata nodded in agreement. Naruto motioned his eyes to the entrance and counted down from three down one with his fingers, both of them dashing for the entrance when he hit one. They
were almost out of the main dome cavern when the entrance ignited in an explosion, causing rubble to collapse it, blocking their escape. They looked back at the sitting man. "No one's leaving without my say so, now be
quiet and eat!" Deidara seemed almost grumpy. Was it because he had to 'babysit' or maybe he was just tired from all of that traveling? Regardless, he didn't move for the next half hour, only getting up to stretch, yawn, and
then sit back down. Naruto and Hinata made the best of it, sitting in their clay chairs dining on…surprisingly, their favorite foods. Ramen, cinnamon rolls, and red bean soup. They made conversation on how things were in
their lives, and even caught a few glimpses of Deidara trying to listen in out of curiosity, or boredom. They laughed every once in a while, but were quickly cut off by Deidara every time with a sharp, "be quiet!" Forgetting he
was even there, they treated the situation like it was a date, just how the plan was supposed to work. About a half hour passed when a grumble echoed about the room, followed by a silent 'shut up!' and what sounded like a
hit to the stomach. The couple stared at each other and then at the sitting figure, almost feeling sorry for the guy sitting there all by himself. They walked up to him together, which caught his attention. "What is it now, I
told you if you have to use the bathroom-huh?" He cut his rant short at the sight of a left over cinnamon roll that was inches from his face, held out by Hinata who had a caring smile on her face (Naruto's expression was
stern despite her smile). Deidara looked at it then at her, but scoffed and turned his head poutingly. "What's the big idea? You think that just because you're offering me food I'm going to let you go free, well you can forget
it." Deidara hopped on his butt, turning 180' to face the opposite direction of them. "It's not like that," Hinata spoke softly. "Despite you being our enemy, we can't help but to not ignore your hunger. We're not as cruel as
you think," Naruto added somewhat coldly. He turned to face them, "What makes you think I'm hungry? I never said I was-." A groan emerged from his stomach that cut him off. He scoffed again, "whatever, I don't need
your pity." "It's not pity, we just figured you're not as bad as you claim to be." Deidara was offended by her statement and stood up, glaring at the couple with anger in his eye. "What gives you the right…to judge me!" His
voice resounded about the room. "You may not realize it, kid, but I am a member of 'the' Akatsuki, the most evil organization in the world! Don't think that because I'm following orders that it makes me any weaker or kinder
than the rest of them!" Silence enveloped the cavern, the trio staring at each other. "It was me…who defeated and kidnapped your friend Gaara, and it's because of us that he's dead! What have you to say about that, fox?"
Hinata gripped Naruto's trembling arm as he regained his composure, "I understand…that you were just following orders." Deidara was getting nowhere with this and it aggravated him. "We shinobi…are not the purest beings
in this world. We all do things that we sometimes regret for the rest of our lives. That makes you…no different from us," Naruto spoke in a serious tone. That was it, they mocked him long enough, "what gives you the right…
to judge me for who I am!" He grabbed Naruto's collar with his remaining hand, which was immediately countered by a palm smack from Hinata and Naruto together. Both hands rested on his arm that gripped Naruto's
collar. "You and I…are completely different." "Why do you seclude 'us' from 'your judgment'," Hinata questioned him softly. "I don't, you are a spoiled brat who can't even speak two words to the person she cares for most,
and you're a Jinchuriki, a demon, a destroyer of families and friends, your very existence makes me sick." Deidara's cold words hit them where they didn't like to be hit: their personal lives. "That isn't true, Hinata isn't
spoiled, and I'm not a demon. She's had a tough life just like me, and I'm not the one who caused all of that destruction, I'm just a seal for the beast inside." Naruto's words countered Deidara's previous statement. It was
obvious; Deidara was outnumbered by one in this argument, something that was not in his professional skills. He released Naruto and backed away. "…Just forget I said anything," Deidara mumbled before sitting back down,
his back to them. A hand was placed on his shoulder followed by another on his opposite. "How about we drop our judgments and learn a bit more about each other," Hinata spoke caringly. Deidara just couldn't understand
why they were being so nice to him; he had done nothing to earn their kindness, their hatred maybe, but not their kindness. "But before we start, let's tend to that aching stomach of yours," Naruto exclaimed, a shadow
clone bringing the picnic basket to their level. Deidara looked at both of them, and then at his grumbling stomach. "Heh…I guess I have no other choice…hm?" He bit into a cinnamon roll while the young couple sat across
from him in a loving embrace. "I was born in the village hidden in the earth…"