18

"I say we better get going"

"Yeah, h'mm"

Dawn was breaking in, and they had spent nearly 3 hours on the same spot in silence. They walked through the forest and into the trail the leader had given Deidara. It didn't take them too long before reaching a small household where the man was supposed to live, all they could do now was wait.

After a few hours they were finally able to hear something.

A man was approaching.

As branch fell in front of him, setting off one of the traps, the explosion bursted out and Hozuki got into a fighting stance.

Aline came out of her hiding spot and took out two katanas off her back. Hozuki swung his own weapon and ran towards her, setting another explosion off, he yielded an enormous sword and used it flawlessly, if she wasn't careful things could get ugly.

They called him Wrath of the Hidden Mist and he was a rather dangerous member of the 7 Swordsmen, his control over the blade was amazing, but it appeared he had found his match.

Deidara could tell they were both growing tired, setting so many traps hadn't been such a great idea, Hozuki seemed to have study the terrain and knew it like the back of his hand. He also seemed to know "feel" where some of the traps were and a couple nearly caught Aline several times. However, they had anticipated this and used it to their own benefit. Aline did a couple of hand seals when he got distracted by an explosion and yelled:

"Fire!"

Hundreds of tiny spiders crawled on Hozuki and a second later it was over. Aline gave him the final blow and cut his head off with one blow.

"That was easy, yeah"

She looked at him and almost smiled which made him smile back, giving them a relief from the former tension. He made one last clay bird and sent it off to Zetsu so he could come get rid of the body.

Aline had a couple of cuts and bruises were Hozuki had hit her and was lying on her knees, however when she tried to get up her legs weren't able to support the weight.

Deidara hurried to her side, forgetting their current status and helped her up.

"Are you alright?"

"I thought I was"

Truth was they hadn't eaten in 2 days, and the fight had exhausted her. She had brought plenty of soldier pills, but there seemed to be none left.

Deidara grabbed some more clay from his pocket, feeding it to his mouth, seconds after a giant clay bird was in front of them. Aline was still in his arms and hoped he wouldn't feel her heartbeat. Why did he have such strong power over her?

The frail figure snuggling into his warmth, sent shivers down his spine, he could tell her heartbeat was raising and a smile crossed his lips. Not everything was lost after all.

He stepped on the back of the bird and sat down, holding her tight, her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn't asleep, he held her closer and the bird took off. They couldn't travel like this for long though, after all they had to keep a low profile and such a strange sight could be dangerous.

It was a beautiful feeling to have her in his arms enjoying such an artistic view, it made him wish he would burst it into fire, like his heart did. Aline had finally given in and rested her head on his chest sleeping. His right hand was rubbing her side trying to keep her warm as the fingers of his right hand curled her hair. They had been away from the Akatsuki's headquarters for a few days, and this was the closest they had been since the day he had been with Otamu.

Deidara hadn't meant for things to be this way. Otamu was a girl he'd met long before he'd met Aline, and he'd been seeing her regularly during the first months Aline joined the Akatsuki. However, he hadn't seen her at all since the night he and Aline had kissed by "mistake".

He still didn't understand why their lips had met in such a strange way, of course he had thought about doing it for a long time, but that kiss was just too spontaneous, almost like a mistake, had it been all a mistake?

And then, that night she had pushed him into the wall and kissed him, had that been the effects of alcohol? A small flask fell on the floor and landed next to him. He got his hand off her hair and picked it up, eyeing it suspiciously. The bright green color of the remaining liquid told him what it was. Absinth.

She'd been running on soldier pills and alcohol for this whole time, was it really so difficult for her to be with him? He felt his body reject her, which made her wake up. She got off him weakly, her limbs still fighting to support her weight, but this time Deidara didn't help her up. The bird landed softly on a clear spot on the grass, just in front of a lake.

Deidara jumped down and sat near the lake, leaving Aline alone on the clay bird. Clumsily she emptied her pockets, trying to find a pill she could take. A smile crossed her face, there was one left, she put it in her mouth and started looking for her trusty flask, the one she'd never go out without, it wasn't there. Had she lost it? Suddenly a glimpse of steel met her eyes, there it was, she grabbed it and swallowed the pill after talking a sip. Deidara had a strange look on his face, not his usual cocky grin, he looked kind of annoyed actually. She stepped off the clay bird and walked over to him, they weren't on speaking terms but after all he had taken care of her.

"What's wrong?"

"You are wrong, yeah-"

He looked at her with an unpleasant face, which surprised her a little, she was the one who was supposed to be angry, not him.

She raised her eyebrows and backed off. What the fck was his problem?

"-you can't deal with me when you're sober, h'mm"

"What the fck?"

"You can't get close to me if you're sober, yeah"

"Whatever"

"Like that time, when I first saw you, when we kissed, when you kissed me, this whole fcking week, and probably right now too." The words had come out of his mouth as if he'd been waiting for a long time to speak.

"What the fck is your problem?!"

"You're my problem, you could try being sober for once, then I wouldn't have to take care of you, yeah."

That was enough, who the hell did he think he was?

"And what is it to you?"

"It's not h'mm"

Aline walked away, he hadn't even bothered to look at her when he talked.

"You're right, it's not"

The effects of the pill wouldn't last for too long, a little over 8 hours at best, then she'd probably be too exhausted to move again, but if she could get as close as possible and then wait for her chakra to hold back up she could heal herself, and make it back with no problems.

She ran at a steady pace until it was too dark for her to continue, hopefully she wouldn't get lost. Being found by the enemy in such conditions could not be a good thing, and on top of everything Deidara now accused her of being an alcoholic! He could go fck himself now or anyone else for all she cared, go to his beloved girl, fcking bastard.