10

Burning rage of fire

The dry forests feed its ire

But cannot tear through stone

Inazuma fell face first against a hard, rocky ground miraculously free of ice and snow. She picked herself up, pressing her palms against the earth and the scroll that she'd fallen on; a scroll she recognized, that had her clumsily written name on it. She picked it up and stared at it for a long moment, and then looked around, looking for him. Her summoner.

There was earth and stone everywhere, and she realized that she was at the edge of a sort of small gorge, and that there were explosions shaking the earth beneath her. Each BOOM rattled the small stones at her feet and sent waves of heat over the lip of the gorge and into her face, blowing back free strands of her hair.

She dropped to her belly (a reflex from ninja-training) crawled to the edge, took a deep breath, and looked down.

Below her were two ninja fighting, (what else could they be?) nearly impossible to see through the thick, grey smoke. She heard loud yelling and another ear-splitting explosion as an enormous fireball flared up below her. She rolled away from the edge, feeling blistering heat rise towards her, the stones digging into her ribs as she gripped the hard dirt with her hands. She just barely managed to get out of the way of the flames as they poured over the sides of the gorge.

Inazuma crawled behind a large boulder and crouched there, clutching the scroll to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut as BOOM after BOOM after BOOM rose up from the gorge, followed by plumes of fire and steam.

"Where am I?" she whispered, dust sticking to her tongue, just as a thousand needles dripping with purple (poison?) speared into the ground around her and against the back of her boulder.

When the explosions finally ceased, she crawled hesitantly back to the edge of the depression, careful to avoid the needles, and looked down. As the ashy smoke cleared on the wind, she was better able to see what was going on.

There he was, lying on his front. She couldn't see his face, but the red hair was unmistakable.

She scanned her eyes across the barren earth. Where was his opponent?

And then she saw him, a yellow-haired boy several years older than her, gasping as he clutched a gash in his side.

It's poison.

She bit her lip, digging her fingers harder into the dirt. The air was cool and quiet, despite the previous explosions. What should she do? She watched as the boy gasped and groaned, leaning against the boulder. She watched as Sasori lay there, unmoving. Her eyes flitted back to the boy. He probably couldn't move much at all, especially if that wound was poisoned.

She made up her mind.

And before she could change it, she leapt down into the gorge, her feet and rear skidding painfully against the dirt. She rolled to a stop, jumped up, and ran over to her summoner. If I ever need you…

From the corner of her eye, she saw the yellow-haired boy try to stand, but he fell back with a muttered curse.

"Sasori?" Inazuma rolled him onto his back, (his shoulder made an odd clunk against the stone beneath him) and saw that he was smirking faintly up at her.

"So you made it then, brat."

She nodded wordlessly, glancing at the yellow-haired boy who was gasping for breath and glaring at her with a gaze that promised death, as he leaned heavily against his boulder.

"Listen, kid, and do what I say."

"O-okay." Her voice shook as she looked down and gripped the fabric on his shoulders.

"There's a large puppet over there," she looked, and there it was, lying open in two halves, "My bag's in there. Bring it over."

She did, running, her feet skidding against the stones and her toes flexing in her boots.

"This one?"

"Open the pocket on the side, there should be some vials filled with yellow fluid."

"Yeah?"

"See the button on the side of each vial, and the needle on the end?"

She swallowed, nodding, as she examined the no-nonsense needle protruding from the end of the vial.

"Good. Now go over to that brat over there, stab him with the needle, and hit the button at the same time."

Her voice shook, "Will it kill him?"

Sasori looked up at her, his eyes scrutinizing her trembling lip and her fearful, watering eyes. She tried desperately (and unsuccessfully) to quash all signs of her unease and fear. It was the very first rule they taught in ninja academy: never show your emotions. Then, oddly, Sasori smiled at her. In truth, it was more of a pained pull at the corners of his mouth, but it was a smile, nonetheless.

"No, it's the antidote to the poison in his system."

Confusion.

"Wait, wait, what? You just poisoned him, and now you're…"

"…Giving him the antidote, yes. He's my new working partner, and I can't afford to let him die," said Sasori calmly, closing his eyes.

"Then why…?"

"Do what I say. And don't let him kill you." With that, he fell silent and completely still. Inazuma stared. This was insane. She looked at the yellow-haired boy, who leaned against a wall of soot-coated rock, his clothes and hair smudged with dirt. He was clutching the wound in his side with on hand, desperately trying to stem the flow of murky blood that was slowly darkening his shirt. He was watching her every move with his one visible blue eye, a frightening snarl fixed upon his lips.

Swallowing, Inazuma stood, gripping the vial of antidote in her hand, and took one step, then another, toward the boy. When she was just five more paces away from him, he burst out into a fearsome yell.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll blow you to bits, un!"

"I-I need to give you this a-antidote." His bright blue eye glared in response.

"Like 'ell I'm gonna believe that, un."

"Sa-Sasori said I have to give you this antidote or you'll d-die," she hissed, trying and failing to keep her voice steady.

He squinted up at her, clutching the wound in his side. "Who tha hell-re you?" he asked finally, his voice sounding a little slurred.

She took a deep breath and darted towards him, stabbing the needle into his shoulder and punching on the button. He yelled and swatted at her, then kicked her leg, causing her to topple over against him. She tried to scramble back, but he grabbed her by the shoulder and pressed the cold edge of a kunai against her throat. She froze, instantly, eyes unblinking and wide with fear.

"Slit her throat and I'll slit yours, Deidara," Sasori called quietly. Somehow, his voice carried through the gentle breeze from twenty paces away.

Inazuma hardly dared to move. Her knees were digging painfully into the rocks, and she was nose to nose with the boy who had a kunai to her throat. He was breathing heavy, strained gasps of air, but with each exhalation, his breath seemed to become more steady. Finally, he pushed her away. She stumbled back and fell on her rear, keeping her eyes fixed on the boy as he roughly pulled the needle out of his shoulder and dropped it on the ground with a shrill clatter.

"Who is this little seven-year-old anyway, un?" Deidara called to Sasori.

She didn't bother to correct him on her age. It was too dangerous. She just breathed in and out, keeping a steady rhythm, trying not to seem like a threat, trying desperately to blend into the lifeless gravel and dirt of the gorge.

Sasori didn't respond.

Deidara glared down at her, his blue eye flashing, blood seeping darkly through his grey shirt, the pale, watery sun glaring through the cloud cover behind him. He seemed larger than life. In her eyes, he was the very embodiment of power and violence.

Note: Yes, this one is much longer than usual. Perhaps I got a little carried away? :3 Forgive me, please. Oh, and reviews are much loved!