A/N: Phew. What a slow update. I'm sorry for that, but it was just a pretty eventful week.

On that note- I hope this chapter isn't bad. I slipped for some reason along the way...

Warning: Language, slight violence, OOC, and whatever else you find needs one.

^-^u

Itachi tiredly sighed as they finally entered the village Shisui had pointed out from in the trees. "Thank…Kami-sama…"

Shisui grinned at him. "Don't look so down. It wasn't that bad."

"You were hardly even there," Itachi darkly growled, feeling something in his neck crick.

Shisui only laughed and moved out of hitting range.

In the time span of two hours, they had been attacked by twelve more groups of shinobi ranging from three to eight men and women. All of which were defeated in a span of thirty seconds to three minutes respectively. It was ridiculous how many ninja the bounty hunter Toshiaki Kaeru seemed to have on his side, and it was giving them no time to rest or even think about where the multitudes were coming from.

As of now the trio wasn't having any trouble in dealing with the ninja and had no cuts or scratches on their skin.

Well, except for Deidara.

But that was from their first encounter in the woods and the thin scar on his cheek was healing into a barely noticeable line. Speaking of the blonde…

Deidara seemed oddly content, humming quite loudly and obnoxiously as they walked through the dirt roads of the peaceful village.

Itachi popped a vein. "Shut. Up."

Deidara smirked at him. "Am I pissing you off un?"

"Yes," the raven said through clenched teeth, finding the annoying little tune already starting to replay through his mind.

Deidara let out a short laugh, turning his head with a coy smile. "Good. My quota for the day has been met then."

Itachi resisted the urge to drop-kick the blonde, instead looking to his older cousin. "Now that we're here, what do you want us to do?" he asked.

"First we should find a place to stay," Shisui said, idly gazing about. "I heard that there was a pretty decent Inn in here. There we can plan our next move and relax a bit. After all, Toshiaki-kun won't be doing anything to your parents. He needs to keep them alive and well if he wants Deidara to willingly walk into clutches. In that retrospect, we need to keep alert for any more shinobi who will try and capture him. If that happens, Toshiaki-kun will have no problem in getting rid of Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-chan." He paused, glancing sideways at the two younger teens walking next to him. "And of course- he'd waste no time in destroying Deidara-kun."

"Ha! As if I'd be beaten so easily!" The Iwa nin cheerfully cheered, looking around the fairly busy village. Most of the villagers seemed to stay close to their carts and shops, but the smiles and crinkle of their eyes showed their happiness and satisfaction with their lifestyles. I wanna be like that one day hmm. After all this is over…

Shisui smiled at the blonde's attitude. "I still think you should be careful. You never know what might happen."

Deidara put a finger to his chin in thought, eyeing the fifteen year old raven beside him. "I'll be fine un. Even if I got into a pinch, Itachi-kun would never let any harm come to me," he confidently said.

"What makes you think I won't?" Itachi uttered under his breath.

"Because-" Deidara grinned, punching him in the arm. "Family sticks together, am I right?"

Itachi stared at him for a while and then scoffed. "Whatever floats your boat," he muttered, trying to quell the warm feeling in his face. To have someone he could depend on like this was strange. Even more so because it's Deidara-no-baka. He had to watch over Sasuke before. But that was before Naruto and Deidara unexpectedly entered. Having the odd desire to keep those he cared for and didn't want to see get hurt, was something relatively new. After all, earlier he only had to really worry about himself.

My family…has really turned into something strange, he thought to himself with a short laugh.

Deidara eyed him. "What's so funny un?"

Itachi looked at the younger blonde and smirked, ruffling the front of his bangs as he said, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Deidara swatted the hand away with a mock scowl. "No touching the hair un!" he shouted before bursting out into laughter.

Itachi felt his lips twitch up into a smile, rolling his eyes and opting to step away from the blonde before the laughter became too contagious and he found himself on the ground.

"Don't run from me Itachi-kun~" Deidara cooed, reaching out his arms.

Itachi sweatdropped in both amusement and disgust. "You sound too much like Orochimaru. Cut it out."

Deidara snickered. "Practice makes perfect un."

Shisui grinned, moving away from them with a shining aura around him. "Well, I'm just gonna go check into the Inn we'll be staying at for the time being. You two go on and have fun."

Deidara raised a brow, managing to quell his laughter. "Have fun un?"

"That's right." Shisui's eyes shifted to the side before he shook his head and raised a hand. "I'll leave you two alone now. Ja ne~!"

Neither of the younger teens had a chance to say anything else as the eldest Uchiha vanished in a swift swirl of leaves.

Itachi released a deep breath of air, massaging his suddenly aching forehead. "Why couldn't he just take us with him?" he muttered to himself. "Sometimes he makes no sense at all."

Deidara shrugged, beginning to skip ahead. "Guess we'll just have 'fun' then."

"Not so fast…" a voice spoke from the shadows.

Itachi paused in his walking. "Hm?"

"You two aren't going anywhere."

Deidara and Itachi uninterestedly looked at the group of six that came to surrounded them.

"More of these guys?" Deidara muttered under his breath. "What a waste of time un."

"Didn't Shisui tell you not to underestimate your opponents?" Itachi said, glancing at the younger blonde. Speaking of that baka…I'm going to kill him when he gets back! Always leaving at times like this!

"It's hard not to," Deidara snorted. "I mean- look what they're wearing!"

Yes- the rainbow colored jumpsuits were indeed a bit distracting to look at.

"We have all been informed of your current skill level genin," a shinobi sneered, stepping forward from the pack of six. "And Toshiaki-sama has ordered the capture of both you and your…sensei," he said, glancing at Itachi briefly.

Deidara smirked a bit. "Is that so..?"

Itachi inwardly rolled his eyes. I am so not playing that teacher role again…

"We are the Rainbow Elite! The strongest in this village!"

Itachi deadpanned, looking away. And what's with the name…?

"So why don't you make things easier and forfeit," the shinobi continued, haughtily lifting his head.

"No way un! Someone like you could never hope to take me on," Deidara said. "And you wanna know why?"

"Er-" the shinobi scratched the side of his cheek. "I suppose so."

"Because you're weak!" Deidara laughed, pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out.

"NANI?"

Itachi sighed heavily, covering his face with a hand. "What did I say about provoking people..?"

Deidara turned to look at him. "I was just telling him the truth- Waah!" He was cut off as the insulted shinobi appeared in front of him, delivering a swift uppercut to his jaw and causing him to fly a good amount of feet into the air.

The shinobi cackled madly following him up and swinging back his leg. "Super Kick no Jutsu!"

Itachi looked through his fingers.

Deidara grabbed the ankle of his attacker with angry eyes, spinning around once before throwing the man down.

"What?" the shinobi crashed to the ground in a plume of dirt. He sat up with an aching back, wiping the blood away from his chin. "It's not possible for a weakling like you to counter my super powerful kick and live! You're just supposed to be some pathetic brat student!"

Deidara's visible eye widened in fury, fingers forming fast seals as he turned in the air. "You've…just made me angry!" He paused on the seal of the Tiger, although one of his pointer fingers remained bent.

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare underestimate me! KATON JUTSU!" Deidara yelled.

"U-Uwaah! He's gonna burn us to a crisp!" one of the following shinobi screamed.

"Run away!" another one cried, bumping into several of his comrades as he tried to run away.

"T-Toshiaki-sama must know of this strange development!"

"Hurry!"

Itachi stared as the supposedly elite group of Rainbow shinobi scrambled off into the opposite direction, all the while letting out fearful cries and shouts over their shoulders. Is this Toshiaki guy really strong enough to have captured my parents? he thought with a large sweatdrop. If his followers have anything to say about him maybe we won't have to worry after all…

Deidara landed lightly on the ground beside the thinking Uchiha, smirking broadly to himself. "Well that was easy," he said.

Itachi smacked him over the head. "Baka!"

"Ow! What was that for?" Deidara scowled, glaring at him.

Itachi glared right back, crossing his arms to stare the younger blonde down. "Don't fake a jutsu you can't even do."

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Why not un? It's not like they knew any different."

"I noticed."

"That's because you're an Uchiha un. You already know what the jutsu's supposed to look like." Deidara turned away, grinning and heaving his shoulders a little. "Who knows- maybe I'll have the Sharingan next time."

Itachi's eye twitched and he lunged at Deidara, tugging on the corners of the Iwa nin's cheeks from behind. "Yeah right! In your dreams you little brat!"

"Ugh! Let go you stupid troll!"

"Who's the troll? Fat blonde monster!"

"Speak for yourself fatass un!"

"Pest!"

"Ugly!"

Itachi popped a vein. "You're the ugly one here- you cow."

Deidara grinned, although the throbbing vein on his head betrayed his anger. "Better than being a beached whale un."

"Effeminate boy!"

"Who the hell are you calling an effeminate boy hmm? Damn bastard!"

"Ano…" Shisui sweatdropped, holding a hand up to the bickering pair. "What are you two doing?"

Itachi tore his gaze from Deidara to pop several more veins in anger at his cousin. "And where the hell did you go? Always disappearing right before a fight!"

"Itachi…" Deidara darkly muttered. "OFF OF MY FOOT- NOW!" he yelled, stomping on the older teen's foot.

Itachi fought back the urge to shout as a tingle of pain ran up his spine. He felt his fingers clench and unclench, giant flames rising up behind him with a bright gleam in his eye. "Dei-da-ra…"

*Jab*

"Itai, itai, itai! Are you trying to make me blind un?"

"Well- hey watch it! I actually need my eyes Deidara-no-baka!"

"Why you-"

"You two are drawing quite the crowd," Shisui interrupted, deadpanning.

Deidara and Itachi blinked and then stepped away from one another, looking around to see the small ring of villagers who had gathered to watch them argue.

"Aw, why'd it stop?" a little girl asked, tugging on her mother's skirt.

The mother sighed. "I dunno, but now our entertainment's gone."

"Boo! I wanted more!" an elderly man shouted.

"Yeah, yeah!" several more of the bystanders exclaimed.

Itachi felt a brow quirk as the crowd dispersed, a few of the villagers throwing coins at them. "Do we look like some kind of show to them…?" he asked aloud.

Deidara harrumphed, opening the eyelid of his right eye and allowing it to dry out and water. "I think they're trying to tell you something un. Maybe you should join the Circus."

Itachi whirled around, several tic marks plastered to the back of his head. "Shut the hell up!" he raged.

Shisui raised both hands to stop the pair from quarrelling again. "Alright, cut it out you two." He couldn't help but smile when they scowled and moved closer to him. With a squeal, he lunged and pulled them into a tight hug full of sparkles and sunshine. "You guys are just so cute~!" he excitedly exclaimed.

"Too close for comfort!" Itachi and Deidara shouted in unison, drop-kicking the older Uchiha.

"Owie!" Shisui moved away, holding a hand to his smarting nose. "You're so mean to me…"

"Hn. Nevermind that," Itachi said, fixing the front of his bangs that had gotten mussed in his temporary fit of anger. "Where did you actually go when those guys attacked?"

Shisui blinked and then lowered his hand. "Oh that. Well- I've discovered the location of our bounty hunter. We'll head to the Inn I got us a room in and then I can further explain things."

Deidara cocked his head to the side, staring imploringly at the seventeen year old. "Kaeru-sensei? You found that out so fast and got us a room?" How scary… Just how strong is he? I've never really seen him fight, have I? For some reason...I get the feeling he's a lot stronger than me...

"That's right. Let's just say I'm light on my feet." Shisui grinned, turning around and motioning for them to follow him down the street. "Shall I fill you in on what your ex-sensei has been up to during his seven years out of Iwagakure?"

Itachi and Deidara exchanged a glance before running after Shisui.

It didn't sound like anything good.

And Itachi had a strange feeling of foreboding in his gut.

He had been getting this sensation of trouble lately, and though he hadn't bothered to bring it up. He knew the ominous feeling he had was going to lead to something potentially troublesome for all of them. But how troublesome was unknown.

I just hope none of us end up getting hurt...

A/N: Oohhh...I wonder what's going to happen.

Lol, I should know since I'm writing right? But the story kind of goes on its own...

Anyhow, let me know what you think :D