Yo, It's Ken. I hope everyone is doing well so far, I wanted to give everyone a quick heads up. This chapter is filled with fight scenes and while I had fun writing these out it can be a little everywhere to read back to back but this chapter is focused on the fight and I wanted to let you know that there will be a lot of fighting here.

Now onto reviews.

Alexander4443: As always thanks for reading!

Dragonkeeper10: That is a good question indeed, you know your stuff and I appreciate that hopefully this chapter answers some of your questions the fight ahead will be epic indeed. This chapter will also focus a bit on the more deep-rooted trauma formed by Kurotsuchi during her past with Deidara, look forward to it and thank you again for reading.

Krieger Techpriest: I'll tell you one thing when it does happen it'll be a trip. Here's another chapter for you, thank you again for reading!

TigrezzTail: Thank you again for reading! Deidara was one of those characters I've been wanting to write for a long time I knew it would lead to interesting things so I'm hoping it delivers.

Spellbat: Naruto reading Icha Icha was kind of difficult to write because I had so many different scenarios I wanted to use for that section, but I ended up going the safer route since it made more sense. I'm glad you enjoyed it, now as for the fight ahead I hope you are looking forward to it. Thank you for reading!

Roswell: Thank you for reading! Continue following the story and find out what happens, though honestly (I like Naruto and Kurotsuchi as a pairing as well.) I digress however lol.

Yuzuki476: You bring up an awesome question, to answer that Taiga and Kou are not Uzumaki in a tradtional sense. They are the byproducts of the attempt to create a near perfect body for Orochimaru, a question I'll ask is where did the Uzumaki DNA come from? Deidara is there hunting down the Nine Tails. Thank you so much for reading and leaving your reviews of the other chapter.

Pepper: Thank you so much for reading, also there is no reason to feel bad. Three chapters in one place with little change can feel a little repetitive, I hope to see you in the next one!

zAverage: Thank you for reading!

This chapter and the next mark the end of the first half of the Land of Iron arc and I'm looking forward to writing the next half, thank you all again for reading and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

{...}

Chapter 13: Broken Bonds, Scorching Resolve

-2 Hours Earlier-

Deidara was an artist above all else.

His own personalized style of Flat art was what he specialized in, his life was one where art was what was made in the moment. The essence of art was how it made one feel, the way that his explosions painted a battlefield or any other area with a bold splash of destruction was beauty incarnate.

It felt like freedom to him.

Free from the chains of responsibility, the strings of a shinobi. Fools who live and die by the words of a weak willed dictator.

They deserved death, because they would never know freedom like he has.

The sound of dirt crunching underneath the blonde man's sandals sounded while he looked at the smoking remains of another Sound hideout.

"Yikes, this kid's been busy."

Deidara said while he turned around adjusting his scope on one of his eyes, his vision enhanced allowing him to see far into the distance.

"Trail's a little cold but nothing I can't work with. Judging from the looks of it he's been zigzagging from hideout to hideout, looks like he's trying to throw off the trail he took from that backwater village he left from."

Deidara analyzed before he sighed loudly, "Are they sure this kid is just a Genin? I hate bingo books, they always make things seem way easier than they actually are." The blonde man said while the mouth on his left hand opened, spitting out a large clay hawk.

"I'll just have to make this quick then, that'll show Sasori. This whole organization thing isn't even that big a deal. A brat is a brat no matter what monster he's hiding."

Deidara said while he hopped on top of his hawk and flew ahead into the distance.

Ready to quickly take care of this so-called wandering ninja.

{...}

-Current-

An explosion blasted apart the surrounding area while wind gusted violently shaking the grass uncontrollably. Pink eyes watched the battle ahead of them, the sheer amount of speed the two combatants had was incredible. Naruto slid on the grass, narrowly avoiding another exploding clay bird before he glared at Deidara who smirked.

"Come on! You said you were going to kick my ass, I'm feeling kind of disappointed over here Demon kid!"

Deidara yelled while he threw three more birds at Naruto who dashed toward the birds, the blonde teen weaved through the explosives before launching a kunai at the cloaked teen. Deidara easily deflected the kunai sending it spinning into the air, the kunai transformed into a clone of Naruto above the long-haired blonde.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Axe Kick!"

The clone yelled while Deidara looked up, he quickly dodged the heavy kick and smacked the clone with a clay spider causing it to explode. Deidara quickly looked around, noticing kunai flying around him, the older blonde started throwing his clay creations rapidly at the surrounding kunai.

The explosions blasted away at multiple kunai before others transformed into more clones, Deidara suddenly felt a foot kick the bottom of his chin sending him flying upward.

"From below?!"

The artist yelled while the other clones blasted into the air kicking the older blonde higher into the sky.

"U"

"Zu"

"Ma"

"Ki!"

The clones yelled while each kick sent Deidara higher until Naruto spun above him launching an axe kick into his solar plexus.

"Naruto Barrage 2.0!"

Naruto yelled while Deidara coughed before he suddenly smiled.

"Explosion Style: Suicide Bombing Clone!"

The blonde yelled before Naruto was suddenly engulfed by an explosion, Kurotsuchi watched as Deidara came out of the ground watching the smoke cloud above him. "Neat trick, but your clones ain't all that special. You'll need more than that." Deidara taunted while Naruto flipped in the air landing directly in front of Kurotsuchi while he panted.

"Damn it, I can't even get close."

Naruto said while the girl looked toward him, "This fight isn't possible to win, let's take advantage of his next attack to leave." The girl said while the blonde teen shook his head.

"He's not going to stop Kurotsuchi, he'll keep hunting after us. We've got to do something now."

The blue eyed boy said while Kurotsuchi shook her head, "His Explosion Style makes it nearly impossible to reach him! Even then he'll take advantage of your distance and kill you regardless. It's the perfect combination of both attack and defense." The girl said with a shudder while Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wait… you said Explosion Style? Like a Kekkei Genkai?"

Naruto asked while Kurotsuchi blinked at the boy, "Exactly with a technique like that it's hard to counter." The girl said while Naruto grinned slightly.

"But not impossible."

The boy said before he started walking toward Deidara who was watching the boy from his spot a little further away.

'This kid is clearly a high Chunin level shinobi dare I say even a sprouting Jonin. That combined with his high durability and quick recovery makes him a threat. However, he can still be worn down, a little chipping away before a big blast and the kid's toast.'

Deidara thought to himself while Naruto got closer, "You look confident, what got a second wind? That girl give you the power of friendship or something cute like that?" The older blonde teen asked while Naruto shook his head.

"Nah. I just realized something important."

The blonde said while Deidara scoffed before he immediately launched a high speed clay bird at Naruto.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the bird before he weaved a few hand signs, "Wind Style: Great Redirection!" The teen yelled out while Deidara chuckled.

"Redirection? It's a bird you idiot! It'll just catch the wind!"

The older blonde yelled at the younger blonde in annoyance before the sound of an explosion caused him to raise an eyebrow. He barely had time to react before a foot kicked him hard in the stomach, Deidara coughed before he looked down at Naruto's foot.

'He hit the piece of clay I set on myself directly, why isn't it detonating?'

Deidara thought to himself while the minute Naruto kicked his foot off of the older teen the clay exploded sending Deidara flying backward.

The older teen caught himself sliding on the grass while he looked at Naruto in surprise, "You!" Deidara yelled while he summoned two clones, "Suicide Bombing Clone!" The older blonde yelled while they ran toward Naruto who extended his arm outward.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Cutter!"

Naruto yelled, swiping his arm in the air, the wind cut through the clones detonating them both before the teen flew out of the smoke again punching Deidara in the face.

'This kid, he's manually detonating my own explosions!'

Deidara thought to himself before he threw a kick causing Naruto to back off before he smirked at the older teen. "Earth and Lighting… that's what your Kekkai Genkai is made from. Wind doesn't do much to Earth… but it sure as hell beats Lightning!" Naruto yelled while Deidara gritted his teeth, he hadn't thought of that possibility.

Sure he knew from experience that his own worst enemy was Lightning nature since it disabled his explosives somehow. He hadn't thought about Wind nature's effect on his nature, if Lighting beating Earth disables his explosives. Then Wind nullifying Lighting manually detonates his explosions earlier causing them to never reach him from a far distance.

Deidara was never a fan of people who fought using their brains like he did, his eyes then traced to Kurotsuchi before he rolled his eyes.

"Snitch."

The older teen said while Naruto blasted toward Deidara again, the boy threw multiple punches at the older teen while Deidara dodged them.

Two can play at this game.

Naruto swung his fist at Deidara causing the older teen to quickly create a clay spider to catch the punch. As soon as Naruto's fist made contact with it, it exploded. The boy continued his onslaught of attacks before he punched another clay creation that exploded allowing Deidara to gain some space. Out of the smoke Naruto threw another punch, this time Deidara smirked and deflected the punch turning Naruto's back toward him.

"You gotta know better kid!"

Deidara yelled before he brandished a kunai, stabbing it into Naruto's neck.

"Not learning on the battlefield can be fatal."

Deidara said while Naruto chuckled, suddenly wind began to build up around the air before Naruto's body started to glow.

"Wind Style…"

Naruto trailed off while the light grew brighter, Deidara's eyes widened while an explosion engulfed both of them. "Wind Clone Explosion!" Deidara flew through the air again coughing before he crashed into the ground, Naruto meanwhile watched from a little further away.

"What goes around comes around!"

The blonde teen yelled while Deidara laid on the ground with a blank look on his face before he chuckled. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the older blonde before he suddenly picked himself off the ground with an excited look on his face.

"You… you…"

Deidara trailed off while he chuckled, "YOU TOTALLY GET ME, DON'T YOU!" The blonde teen suddenly yelled out while Naruto took a step back.

"That explosion… that was art. To think the very person I'm hunting down was a fellow artist with the same style."

Deidara pondered aloud while Naruto just stared at the man, "How long have you known that jutsu?" Deidara asked with genuine curiosity while Naruto shrugged.

"...I just combined a couple of techniques I already knew and tested it out on you."

Naruto said simply while Deidara's jaw hung at the blonde, "Your first explosion? You really are scary. Creating such an artful piece on your first try, you've got some amazing potential kid." Deidara said while he rubbed his chin.

"I have an idea! You're an Uzumaki right, that means you've got a pretty good chance to survive the extraction. Join the Akatsuki and become my new partner."

Deidara offered while Naruto blinked at the older teen, "Huh?!" The younger teen yelled out while the older teen kept rubbing his chin.

"Another budding artist in the ninja world, I've got to help mold you. We'll start on your level of course but with your talent you should be up to speed pretty quickly."

Deidara continued to ramble while Naruto huffed, "I ain't joining anything, what do you mean survive extraction?" The younger teen asked while Deidara gave the boy a look.

"Oh basically from what I've seen so far it kills the host when the beast is removed. That's not the important part though, as a fellow artist your talents can't be wasted bumming around as some wannabe ninja."

Deidara said while Naruto glared at the older teen, "So you kill them? Just like that?" The boy growled while Deidara blinked.

"You don't seem very interested after that part… they're just containers. Other than that they're pretty much shinobi trash. They are a waste, meanwhile you aren't. That's an honor!"

Deidara yelled while Naruto stopped his foot, "They were people too! They aren't some waste or trash. That's just you." The boy growled while Deidara sighed.

"...So I guess that makes us rival artists then huh? Too bad, from one artist to another I really thought we could be friends."

Deidara said while Naruto started forming hand signs while glaring at the older teen, "Over my dead body." He growled while Deidara revealed more creations.

"Real poor choice of words kid."

{...}

The honor of a first team is always one of the most exciting moments of a young shinobi's lifetime.

She was personally excited by the prospect, since she was a little kid she was always enamored with the notion of becoming a ninja so she could protect her home.

Yet she was also a little nervous to meet her team for the first time, she was on the younger side compared to most ninja in the Hidden Stone but still a little excited.

When she opened the doors to their rendezvous location there she saw them for the very first time, one of the boys had wild looking brown hair, chubby cheeks, and a warm smile.

Meanwhile her other teammate, the one that really caught her eye, had long blonde hair, serious blue eyes, and a devil may care type of attitude written all over his face.

Yet when he saw her she saw a glimpse of a smile, he looked a little scary but he seemed like he was actually really kind.

This was her team now.

These were her partners.

The people she could rely on for anything.

She wouldn't let them down no matter what, she hopes that they could be friends one day.

Kurotsuchi watched as explosions raged in front of her, the trading of blows she watched in front of her was a violent storm.

She had seen her fair share of confrontations in her time as a shinobi, but the level that these two were fighting on was insane. Naruto did a back handspring avoiding an explosion before he kicked the air launching a sharp wave at Deidara who avoided it.

Deidara threw even more birds splitting through the air at high speed toward Naruto who created multiple clones.

The clones launched wind style jutsu at the birds causing them to explode in mid air, Deidara smirked at the clones before he sent his own rushing to meet Naruto's. The clones clashed in the middle of the field exploding against each other sending debris flying everywhere before Naruto blasted through the chaos throwing a punch at Deidara who deflected it.

Naruto spun avoiding slashes from a kunai in Deidara's hand, the boy pulled out his own kunai, slashing it against Deidara's.

The blades sent sparks flying through the air with every exchange, the ninja and the ex-shinobi both formed hand signs summoning clones point blank in front of each other. The clones exploded while Naruto and Deidara clashed in the aftermath, kunai blades sang as their steel clashed.

Kurotsuchi watched from the side only able to see their silhouettes in the explosion clouds, she was only able to see a moment of their clash in each exchange before another explosion went off.

In one silhouette she saw Naruto over hand slashing at the top of Deidara's head with his kunai while the older teen blocked it. In another cloud she watched Naruto block a kick from the older teen, while in another she saw Deidara deflect another blow from Naruto. The two of them were moving so quickly she could only pick up their movements from brief shadow to shadow.

Another explosion went off sending both of them flying away from one another, Naruto pulled out several shuriken while Deidara revealed multiple clay birds.

The two combatants glared at each other before they both started launching their respective weaponry. The projectiles clashed in the middle causing multiple explosions slowly and completely destroying the ground in their wake.

Kurotsuchi kept a hand over her eyes from the brightness of the explosions while Naruto and Deidara kept clashing.

Naruto summoned a demon wind shuriken before throwing it dashing shortly after it, the shuriken split through multiple birds while Deidara made multiple small clay bugs throwing them at the ground.

Naruto jogged in place avoiding the smaller explosions before he flipped, blasting himself toward Deidara.

The boy threw a kick knocking a clay bird out of his hands causing it to explode next to them, the pair rolled before Deidara prepared another Explosive only to receive a hard kick to the face from Naruto sending him rolling backward.

Naruto and Deidara panted while the older blonde looked around at the destruction they created.

"This is one hell of an art piece we created huh kid?!"

Deidara yelled out excitedly while Naruto glared at him, "You call this art? This is nothing but destruction! There's nothing artful about it!" The blonde yelled while Deidara's look disappeared from his face.

"Nothing artful?"

Deidara asked while he took a step toward Naruto before he looked at his tattered cloak, "You should get it, can't you see it? This piece represents our conflict, these craters tell a story! A story of differing ideals meeting in the middle as pops, splashes, and strokes. This violent brush, this shattered earth, all of this is art…" Deidara explained before he smacked a hand against his chest before he waved the other.

"Art is an explosion!"

Deidara yelled while Naruto grimaced at the excited looking older teen.

"This is a piece that can only be created by you and I, the ones blessed with the ability to be free and express that freedom."

Deidara said while Naruto growled, "You aren't just crazy… You're batshit insane!" The boy yelled at Deidara who sighed in response.

"Here I was having fun… As a fellow artist I'm disappointed. Fine, starting from now I'll fight you seriously, I'll keep you just alive enough to show you the art piece we made once we're finished and hopefully you can finally understand."

The older teen said while Naruto got into his fighting stance, "Fight seriously?" The blonde asked in confusion while Deidara pulled out a bigger clay creation that looked at a statue.

"Hey… No hard feelings."

Deidara said while Naruto went to dash toward the older teen but was smacked with a massive explosion from the statue. While Naruto was flying backward two of Deidara's clones juggled the boy in the air between them before they both exploded sending Naruto flying into the air.

Deidara watched the boy hit the ground from his spot while Naruto quickly recovered blasting toward the older teen. Naruto kicked at Deidara who sidestepped causing the boy to kick his foot into a statue that exploded immediately on contact.

Deidara spun, planting multiple statues in Naruto's flight path, not allowing the boy to hit the ground while he bounced from exploding statue to exploding statue.

Naruto's eyes rolled to the back of his head from the sheer amount of pain he was in before Deidara finally let him hit the ground.

"No time for sleeping kid, we aren't done yet."

Deidara taunted while Naruto quickly threw a kunai that turned into a clone directly in front of him. The clone threw multiple punches that Deidara deflected before he destroyed the clone causing it to burst into smoke.

"You're starting to run out of chakra aren't you?"

Deidara calmly taunted again while Naruto quickly closed their distance engaging the pair into Taijutsu. Naruto swung while Deidara took advantage of the boy's fatigue, dodging his attacks easily before countering them.

Naruto kept trying to hit the older teen only to get viciously countered, the boy took a punch to his face in order to grab Deidara's arm.

Another clone appeared behind Deidara causing him to smirk, the older teen suddenly exploded destroying the clone and sending Naruto flying again. Naruto bounced against the ground while Kurotsuchi watched, "Naruto!" The girl screamed while the blonde teen pulled himself back up to his feet.

Meanwhile Deidara approached with the mouth on his right hand molding something, Naruto yelled while he dashed toward Deidara swinging at him again.

Deidara narrowly avoided the swing before he kneed Naruto in the stomach, Naruto gritted his teeth before he blasted wind from his feet trying to headbutt the older teen.

Deidara punched Naruto again, sending him to the ground before his right hand spat out a clay spear.

"C2."

Deidara said while Naruto roared, forcing out as much chakra as possible in another rush toward Deidara who leaned avoiding the attack.

The older teen then took the spear in his hands, squishing it against Naruto's chest before slamming him into the ground.

A massive explosion engulfed them both while Kurotsuchi looked on in horror, when the smoke cleared Deidara sighed leaving Naruto in the ground in a large smoking crater.

"This art piece is pretty good too."

Deidara said while Kurotsuchi looked at the blonde, she still couldn't muster the strength to move.

She wanted to.

She wanted to move so badly to help Naruto.

She couldn't.

The mere presence of Deidara after everything that she's witnessed then and even now only further proved a point she made to herself a long time ago.

Big bro Deidara couldn't be beaten.

{...}

"Big Bro Deidara."

"Ah, Kuro. What brings you here?"

"I uh, I wanted to check on you… you seemed a bit off since our last mission."

"...Cute, you're worried about little ole me huh? Well there's nothing to be concerned about."

"Bull."

"Quite the bite you're starting to develop there."

"You can talk to me you know… I'll do my best to understand…"

"... Do you… Do you ever feel trapped here?"

"Trapped? Why would I feel trapped in a place I call home?"

"Trapped in the permanent cycle of life and execution… It feels like I've been admiring the art on the horizon for too long."

"Art of the horizon?"

"Yeah… the sun when it sets gets to paint the sky in its colors everyday. While the only thing I can do is wait for another order, fighting for what feels like nothing."

"It's not nothing… this place is beautiful too isn't it?"

"...I always admired that innocence of yours. However, being trapped by death and walls isn't beautiful."

"...Then what is?"

"The abilty to create your own art with your own canvas. Anytime you desire, to chase the things that you want and live the way you want to live."

"..."

"Freedom is what I find more beautiful than anything."

Kurotsuchi looked at the older blonde with pink eyes filled with admiration, this was the man she looked up to. The person she believed in the most. The way his blue eyes looked far into the distance at something she couldn't see.

Made her want to know what exactly it is he was looking at.

"My true freedom is something I plan on gaining."

"That much is certain."

The black-haired teen watched as the older blonde teen approached her, his head shook while chuckling. "Well well, is that seriously you Kuro? Yikes could hardly recognize you with all that hair, inspired by my hairstyle I see. I'm flattered." Deidara spoke while Kurotsuchi reached for her blade but her grip refused to hold the blade while she looked at him in horror.

"You went and grew up a little more on me huh? Still fighting for the village? Is that why you're out here? Killing more people?"

The blonde taunted while Kurotsuchi looked down at the ground, "Big bro Deidara… I…" She tried to muster but was cut off by a light stomp crunching the grass under his foot before a hand tilted her face to make direct eye contact with the older teen.

"I finally did it, Kuro. That freedom I always wanted I've obtained it, the ability to create whatever and wherever I like. I can finally be the artist I want to be, isn't that great?"

Deidara asked while Kurotsuchi looked into his blue eyes, once again they were still looking past her at something more.

"I've never been happier, I'm another step closer to reaching personal enlightenment. Hey? Do you remember what you said? That you would try to understand me?"

The blonde asked while Kurotsuchi closed her eyes before Deidara released her face, she opened her eyes again spotting the almost disgusted look on his face when he looked at her.

"You couldn't. You never really could, something like you was always incapable of understanding someone like me. You're a soldier for your nation, a puppet held up by strings."

Kurotsuchi felt her eyes water while the blonde sighed heavily, "I always hated that about you, how dedicated you were to rush head first into violence if it meant you could please the people around you. Especially that grandfather of yours." Deidara said with disgust while he shook his head.

"You always disgusted me now that I think about it. How happy you would look after missions of slaughter, eating rice while your enemies laid buried never to eat anything again. All for the sake of some village who doesn't care about your life."

Deidara said while he kept pacing around the girl, "Big bro Deidara, please..." Kurotsuchi spoke only for Deidara to ignore her.

"I'm glad I was able to see you again honestly… it's always good to get a reminder of your past. A reminder that I was right, a reminder that those who are ignorant to freeing themselves will forever remain suffering."

"A slave to your masters, a slave to your people. You are just a weapon, a tool that can be disposed of. Only fated to live and die as others decide for you. How truly pathetic."

Deidara said while Kurotsuchi felt hot tears running down her face, she was speechless.

She couldn't say anything.

He was right.

Her life was for her village and her people, she would never be able to understand a concept like oneself.

Freedom.

The thing that those eyes of his saw that she could never grasp.

Freedom was never the fate of a shinobi.

Only death.

She felt sick, like she was being pulled at by her darkest thoughts. How they clawed at her, how her idol's eyes bore into her soul.

It was always about the village wasn't it?

Could she even personally want anything?

What did she want?

Why did she want?

She couldn't answer those questions, it was impossible.

She isn't like Deidara, she isn't like Naruto.

Those two are at a level far beyond her, they both sit at a pinnacle she could never reach.

They were both free.

She would always be what she is.

A killer.

A shinobi.

"Here's an idea… you should probably die right here."

Deidara said while Kurotsuchi looked toward the ground, her face devoid of any expression while the older blonde sighed.

"I'm going to take the demon brat and pretty much strand you here. I guess if you don't want to go home a failure you can at least let them assume you died as some sort of hero right? Seems fair to me."

"I will continue to move forward and create more art across the ninja world and any and all shinobi in my path will meet the same fate as yours. I'll cut the strings of all of those puppets."

Deidara said while he dropped a kunai right in front of her.

"Now be a good shinobi and die for your so-called home."

The older blonde said while Kurotsuchi stared at the kunai on the ground, her hand moved toward it unconsciously.

This was all that it took wasn't it?

The girl's slender finger wrapped around the handle of the blade before the sound of crumbling caught her attention. She looked up toward kind blue eyes and the feeling of a hand rubbing her hair, Kurotsuchi's eyes widened slightly at the visage.. of Naruto in her mind. Her hand stopped moving the blade before she looked toward the crater Naruto was in where the teen was now standing.

"That's enough."

Naruto spoke while Deidara turned toward the younger blonde, "Oh, you got up way quicker than I thought. Let's fix that real quick." The older blonde took a step forward while the younger blonde took off the headband he was wearing on his shoulder.

"I think I finally get it a little better now."

The boy said while Deidara rolled his eyes, "Get what?" The older blonde said while Naruto pointed a finger at him.

"You."

The younger blonde said before he looked toward his headband, the characters that were carved in it shined in the light while Naruto held it.

"I took advantage of being a ninja to accomplish something I thought I was supposed to. I wanted people to like me and treat me like everyone else so the only solution was to become the strongest ninja ever."

Naruto explained while Kurotsuchi slowly looked up toward him, "Now I realize, what I truly wanted was to not be alone anymore. It didn't matter how many people I needed to fight to have someone to care about me, I would do it. I ended up causing a lot of people harm because of it" the blonde rationalized while Deidara narrowed his eyes at him.

"You have a point about freedom, if I were still in the village I came from I'm not sure if I could have ever grown like this."

Naruto said while Deidara chuckled, "Another point to the fellow artist." The older teen said while the younger teen gripped his headband.

"Here's where you're wrong."

Naruto pointed his finger at Kurotsuchi while a small smile appeared on his face.

"Kurotsuchi isn't a tool."

Naruto spoke while the girl looked toward him with surprise while Deidara narrowed his eyes.

"She can laugh, she can dream, she can get angry for the sake of other people, she can do what it takes to protect the things she cares about."

Naruto spoke while Deidara chuckled, "Cute but-" Deidara was cut off by Naruto turning his attention to the girl.

"The rice bowls of the Hidden Stone are the best in the world, that's what Kurotsuchi said to me. It was because she was able to eat them with her friends. Her current dream is to eat them again."

Naruto said as Kurotsuchi blinked at the boy, "Rice bowls? How does such a crappy dream equate to freedom?" Deidara asked while the younger blonde looked toward him.

"It's because it's a crappy dream that it equates to freedom."

Naruto spoke back while he retied the headband in his hands to his arm.

"That's the thing about dreams, everyone in the world thinks that they have to be grand. Like becoming Hokage or painting a landscape in shitty destruction and calling it art."

"When the truth is a dream is valuable no matter how dumb it is, that's what makes Kurotsuchi who she is."

Naruto spoke while Kurotsuchi dropped the kunai in her hands, still looking toward the blonde boy.

"Even with that fancy scope on your eye, you still can't see. You look at Kurotsuchi as you want her to be, I can't help but see Kurotsuchi for who she is."

"A tool can't shed tears like she has."

Naruto said while Kurotsuchi felt more tears running down her face at the blonde's words. "Nice speech, wasted on nothing but I'll stop delaying the inevitable." Deidara stretched while Naruto kept his eyes toward the pair, there Kurotsuchi saw his blue eyes.

They were looking at something far beyond what she could see.

Blue met pink.

They were looking directly at her.

"Kurotsuchi… I'm sorry I can't protect you as I am right now. Once I would have fought to my last breath to prevent you from having to fight but this time I can't."

Naruto said while Deidara started forming hand signs, Kurotsuchi watched as Naruto didn't even flinch. "I can't do this alone, but I can't force you to do anything you don't want to either. So now you get to decide, fight or run." Naruto spoke while Kurotsuchi watched the boy continue to smile toward her.

"I won't judge you for the decision you make since I have no right to but right here right now your life is finally in your own hands."

"That's the truth to being a person, it's making the decisions you want to make and accepting their consequences both good and bad. It's really hard, I know."

Naruto continued to look at Kurotsuchi while Deidara continued to form another large clay statue. "Looks like your time is up Demon Kid!" Deidara launched the statue at Naruto who quickly moved to deflect it into the air creating an explosion.

"...Quit calling me a demon."

Naruto growled while he looked at Deidara before pointing a thumb to himself.

"Thanks to Kurotsuchi, from now on I want to be a human. That's what I am."

Naruto spoke while Deidara smirked before he went to launch another statue at the younger blonde while blue eyes landed on Kurotsuchi again.

"Whatever you want."

The boy spoke before he quickly moved away from the exploding statue again, the black haired girl watched the mangled boy moving again before she looked toward her blade.

'Whatever I want?'

What heavy words, yet isn't that the core of being human? It was never supposed to be simple or it wouldn't be worth anything.

The struggles.

The desires.

The triumphs.

The failures.

All of these things are what makes someone who they are.

Who she is.

So what does she want?

The only decision she needed to make right now was for herself and Naruto was fighting so she could have that chance. Whatever she wanted. Her thoughts traced back to the look of Deidara's face as the two of them sat on that tower watching the sunset.

Deidara spoke about freedom.

He inspired her.

She couldn't grab her weapon because deep down she still looked up to him ever after everything.

She couldn't bring herself to hurt the person she wanted to be.

Kurotsuchi found herself looking at a younger version of herself crying, the smaller girl rubbed her eyes from the tears with a glare in her expression. The black haired teen looked at the young girl for a moment before she took a breath and approached her. She gently placed her hand on the back of her younger self's head and pulled her into an embrace.

The girl cried louder while Kurotsuchi rubbed the back of her hair.

'Hey there little Kuro, it's ok.'

The girl spoke to herself while the young visage cried even harder, Kurotsuchi looked at the sight behind the smaller girl.

There stood the image that haunted her.

Her hero standing on the back of a clay hawk after destroying part of the village she called him, right above a burning rice bowl stand. Her eyes narrowed into a glare before she placed her forehead against her younger self.

'It's time to move forward, ok?'

She gently told her younger self as the crying came to a stop, the visage then slowly faded before Kurotsuchi stood up with fresh tears on her face. She walked through the image in her mind of Deidara on the back of that hawk causing it to shatter around her.

"Here comes another one!"

Deidara yelled while he went to launch another statue but he quickly looked to the side before he moved.

The spot he was standing in was quickly filled with rock spikes, the blonde man appeared out of the ground further ahead. His eyes widened with surprise while Naruto looked toward the approaching girl with her sword in hand.

"Naruto, I made my decision. I need a favor."

The girl asked while Naruto nodded his head eagerly, the tears on her face started to evaporate while she lifted her blade, she exhaled releasing smoke from her mouth.

"Would you mind helping me kill my past?"

The girl asked while Naruto nodded his head again, gathering his chakra ready for another round.

"Then after that…"

Kurotsuchi trailed off while Deidara made another pair of clay statues.

"Let's try being human together."

{...}

Blonde hair and blue eyes, the sight should have made her cringe. They should have reminded her of Deidara. They should have reminded her of the reason she fought so hard in the first place, she didn't know him so he must have also been her enemy.

She had to destroy all of her enemies.

She had to destory her weakness.

Her pain.

The remanants of that girl who could only sit by and do nothing.

Yet the way he cupped her face in his hands, his wild blonde hair, and a smile that could only belong to someone who knew nothing of conflict only brought her a brief moment of peace.

She watched him fight, she watched the way he moved across the battlefield he seemed unstoppable. There was nothing any of these shinobi could have done to defeat him, he was strong so if she had to fight him then it would be difficult.

"It's a ninja kill ninja world."

"It doesn't have to be with me."

Those words coming from someone with so much strength made no sense to her, yet she believed them when he said them. She didn't doubt them once even a little bit.

She wanted to kill them.

The villagers that watched that bloodied boy get thrown into the dirt, she was currently handicapped, but she would have mustered up any strength she could have to do it. The only thing that stopped her from expressing her rage was Naruto.

The mixture of heartbreak and fury in his expression.

As far as she had seen so far those expressions should have been impossible for the boy yet he wore them in a twisted mixture.

That made her curious about the blonde.

She admittedly had fun with both of them, Kou and Naruto. She watched the two of them try their best at whatever they did, she was amazed at how Naruto was able take this boy dipped into despair and put a smile on his face.

He had that effect on people.

That scared her.

Naruto scared her because of the way he made her feel like she could trust him, he made her feel like she was safe with her back against his. She didn't want to trust anyone else after Deidara destroyed a part of her home and looked at her like she was another piece of garbage on the pile. He was her closest friend and he betrayed her.

Naruto could easily do the same.

Then she watched him turn into a monster, she watched him rampage against Sound shinobi and brutally fight them in a manner that even shook her.

Admittedly, she was kind of glad.

As a Jinchuriki she should have killed him but she was glad he was some kind of monster because it felt as if she was no longer alone in feeling that.

Then she watched him take on all of the hatred of those people for the sake of some boy they had know for a few days.

She saw the look in his eyes and noticed they looked like hers.

He was a demon and she was a weapon.

They both had no purpose other than being harbingers of death. However, she didn't like seeing that look in Naruto's eyes.

It didn't fit him.

So betraying herself she told him the things she wanted to hear deep down. She didn't even know but throughout the time she spent with Naruto and fighting with him over the last couple of days that she had already let him in.

He was already there.

He already had her back and was protecting her.

She just hadn't embraced it yet.

Now.

Against every piece of her broken heart.

She would.

Kurotsuchi was going to let Naruto in to have her back, to finally help her become something more than what she thought she was.

So she can finally see what was so far beyond her sight.

A large explosion blew apart the ground while Naruto and Kurotsuchi dashed on opposites sides away from the fresh crater, Kurotsuchi weaved hand signs while Naruto glared at Deidara, "Wind Style: Wind Clone!" Naruto yelled while three clones appeared alongside of the running frame of the boy.

Deidara narrowed his eyes while he threw more clay birds, the long-haired blonde looked to his left narrowly avoiding a rock spike from hitting his head before he launched a clay bird at the black-haired teen.

"Fire Style!"

The girl yelled while one of Naruto's clones intercepted the explosive causing it to explode away from Kurotsuchi who took in a deep breath, Deidara grimaced while Naruto spun beside the older throwing a punch while one of his clones rolled off of his shoulders kicking at him. Deidara kicked the clone causing it to explode.

The wind blasted him away from Naruto's position sending him rolling through the grass while Deidara growled, he started molding more clay but Kurotsuchi broke through the smoke on his side.

"Fireball Jutsu!"

Kurotsuchi yelled while blasting a large flame out of her mouth, Deidara threw a clay bug at the ground causing an explosion between himself and Kurotsuchi giving him a chance to retreat only to catch a punch to his cheek from Naruto who blasted in from afar.

Deidara growled before turned punching Naruto in the face before slapping a clay creation to his chest detonating it, the explosion launched Naruto into the air while he turned his head again. The older teen pulled out a kunai quickly blocking the blade of Kurotsuchi's sword, the impact pushed him back before the girl pushed against him.

Deidara traded blade strikes with Kurotsuchi sending sparks flying from their metal weapons while Deidara gritted his teeth, "Looks like that bit has been growing in nicely huh?!" Deidara taunted while the teen girl roared while swinging her blade cutting into Deidara's kunai.

The older teen took a step back while Kurotsuchi advanced toward the blonde, Deidara narrowed his eyes with a smirk on his face, "Come on." he said while the girl descended on him with her blade pointed downward. Deidara used his kunai to deflect the blow causing his kunai to snap in half, he discarded it while the black-haired teen swung again.

Deidara smoothly avoided the sword swings before he pivioted on his heel elbowing Kurotsuchi in the back before sticking a clay bug to it, "Sayonara!" the older teen yelled while he kicked her further away. The girl recovered trying to take off the clay bug only to look up to a large clay statue flying toward her, her eyes widened while the clay detonated.

The older blonde smirked before his cheek was quickly caved in by a clone's fist, meanwhile his eyes widened at Naruto blasting through the smoke with Kurotsuchi mostly unharmed in his arms.

"Listen, he's going to try to separate us. We can't give him a moment to breath or any distance whatsoever. I'll use my wind style to take care of the explosions, lets keep him engaged in Taijutsu."

Naruto planned while Kurotsuchi looked at the boy with a surprised expression before it quickly faded being replaced with a determined one, "Right!" the girl agreed while Deidara destroyed the clone.

His hands moved to grab more clay but a change in air pressure caused him to lift his arms up to block a a swing from Naruto, the punch pushed back the older teen. He pushed Naruto off before he pulled another kunai swinging at the boy, Naruto avoided the swings while he struck back at the older teen with his fists.

Deidara deflected his attacks turning to attack Naruto only to catch a kick across his face from Kurotsuchi, his eyes shifted to her only for a fist to punch against his stomach he coughed while Naruto spun punching the back of his head. The older teen then felt a knee smash against his nose from Kurotsuchi causing blood to fly out of it.

His hands tried to reach for his clay pouch but another punch hit him across his face, Kurotsuchi threw two more punches into his chest before she crouched slightly allowing Naruto to roll off her shoulders into a high kick from his fellow blonde, Naruto then turned grabbing Kurotsuchi's wrist turning himself to add to the momentum of her own kick.

Deidara kept trying to regain his ground but attack after attack from the pair simultaneously kept his hands preoccupied. His eye narrowed before he spotted an opening , he deflected an elbow from Naruto before he kicked Kurotsuchi away. His hand went to reach for his pouch again only for two arms to wrap around his waist.

The older teen felt himself get hoisted from the ground, Kurotsuchi yelled before she slammed the long-haired blonde into the ground. Deidara coughed from the hard impact pushing Kurotsuchi off of him to recover he got back to his feet throwing a statue he made only for Naruto to blast through it with wind allowing Kurotsuchi to jump through the smoke to re-engage the blonde in Taijutsu.

The blonde did his best to deflect and counter the attacks coming from the younger girl, he swung and broke Kurotsuchi's flow from her onslaught. He went to stab the girl with a kunai but felt two feet smash into his side from a drop kick, Naruto then kicked off of the older blonde sending him rolling into the grass ahead.

Naruto and Kurotsuchi dashed toward the downed teen who opened his palm revealing a large hawk that blew the both of them backward away from his position before the hawk fly into the air with him on it's back. Deidara looked down at the two of them with a glare before he took his hand and wiped at his face looking at the blood on his hands.

"I'm not... one to make assumptions but... IT REALLY FEELS LIKE YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Deidara yelled from on top of his hawk while Kurotsuchi pointed her sword at him, "That's because we are, now you do me a favor and die!" the girl screamed back while the older blonde huffed.

"Touchy."

He huffed before he smirked opening up his palms and launching large clay statues from his hawk in the air, Naruto and Kurotsuchi dashed avoiding the large explosions. The black-haired teen launched multiple shuriken causing them to stick into the wings of the hawk barely effecting it.

"Naruto!"

Kurotsuchi yelled while the blonde nodded, he started forming hand signs while Kurotsuchi placed two fingers beside her mouth. "Pheonix Flower Jutsu!" the girl yelled while flames shot toward Deidara who avoided them.

"Fire isn't working on anything here Kuro! Now, you're just being annoying!"

Deidara yelled before he launched a large statue at the girl before he used his scope to look around for Naruto, his hawk turned to avoid a large fireball while he growled. "Nobody like a diehard!" Deidara yelled while he threw a swarm of the small clay bugs at the girl who was quickly moving to try to avoid the explosions giving Deidara a moment to look around.

"She's probably buying time for Naruto to recuperate since he's the only real way they can avoid my explosions, I need to take care of him as soon as possible... Should I use C3... No those bastards need him alive or we'll lose the Nine Tails. Shit."

Deidara swore while another fireball flew toward his direction, "I'm getting real sick of your fire ba-" Deidara was cut off by a heavy impact hitting the wing of his hawk, his eyes slowly widened as he watched a clone of Naruto cut through the wing in one shot.

The older teen looked around in panic while trying to find Naruto, "There's no way, even with that justu there should be no way he could reach this height in the air!" Deidara yelled while another clone cut through the other wind sending the older teen and his creation plummeting toward the ground.

The older teen abandoned his creation to explode while his feet landed on the grass, his arms immediately went to block stopping a kick from Kurotsuchi, Naruto kneed the older teen in the back causing his guard to break. Kurotsuchi rapidly threw punches into his core while Naruto followed up with another heavy knee to his jaw.

Deidara's vision was blurring from the repeated blows from both younger teens, neither one of them was letting up not even giving him a chance to retaliate, 'It's like...' The older teen thought while a kick hit his side followed up with an elbow to the side of his head. Flashes of Naruto and Kurotsuchi rapidly attacking the older teen came to his head while a hard uppercut slammed against the bottom of his chin.

'These two are in perfect tandem!'

Deidara staggered backward while he coughed, his head looked up toward Naruto he summoned a clone a little further away before he started running toward the older teen. Deidara started forming hand signs while he watched the clone do a somersault while wind began to build up around its legs.

"I... have to... the ground..."

Deidara struggled while he formed hand signs faster, Naruto did a back flip towards his clone who did one more somersault kicking it's leg against Naruto's feet. "Earth Sytle: Hiding like Mole-" the older teen couldn't even finish uttering his jutsu before he heard an explosion.

The speed of sound is approxiamtely 343 m/s or 767 miles per hour meanwhile when an object reaches the speed of sound or even faster than it it has reach what is called Mach Speed. Once an object reaches Mach Speed or faster it generates a phenomenon where air becomes pressurized around the object and makes an extremely loud noise to indicate that the sound barrier has been breached.

This phenomenon is known as a Sonic Boom.

Deidara's world seemed to slow down as he looked at Naruto who was directly in front of him, his eyes then shifted to the dissipating sonic boom the boy left in his wake. This sensation was unlike anything the older teen felt before, he watched as Naruto's two fingers lined up with the center of his chest.

"Wind Style: Gale Step Rail Gun."

Naruto closed his punch slamming it against Deidara's chest smashing into it the force generated from the sonic boom his movements launching the older teen into the dirt creating a giant crater while the impact sent Naruto smashing into the ground as well.

"Naruto!"

Kurotsuchi yelled while she made her way to Naruto's side, the blonde boy groaned while he looked up toward the girl. "Did I get him?" the teen asked while Kurotsuchi looked toward the other large crater ahead of them.

"Yeah, I think you did."

The girl said while Naruto chuckled, "Hell yeah." the blond tried to push himself of the ground but he noticed his other arm felt a little numb.

"Damn, I must have dislocated it with that last hit."

Naruto said while Kurotsuchi went to relocate the arm but a noise caused her to lift her head, she looked over and noticed a large clay statue smash into the ground in front of them before it detonated blasting the area they in in apart in a massive explosion.

{...}

The sounds of ringing echoed through Kurotsuchi's head while her eyes slowly opened.

She looked around while she blinked slowly, her hearing slowly coming back to her. She looked over at where Naruto was. She saw Deidara kicking the boy from where he was laying on the ground.

"You!'

"Stupid!"

Bastard!"

"I almost!"

"DIED!"

Deidara kicked Naruto again before he tripped slightly falling to a knee, his cloak was completely torn apart while Naruto groaned. "A last-minute hand sign or two can save a life. Remember that." the older teen said before he picked Naruto up from the ground the younger teen struggled while Deidara dragged him.

"I don't think I want to be friends with you anymore, you bastard. What a waste of an artist."

The older teen complained while Kurotsuchi forced herself to her feet before she took a couple of breaths, "Deidara!" the girl roared while she charged at the older blonde.

"Holy shit, you crazy tool!"

Deidara yelled while Kurotsuchi tackled him to the ground causing him to drop Naruto, she straddled on top of the older blonde before she started throwing punches, Deidara's whipped back and forth from the punches he was taking while Kurotsuchi growled with each punch she threw.

"You betrayed us!"

"You left everything behind!"

"You blew up our favorite stand!

"And for what?!"

"Some shitty art!?"

"Some shitty freedom?!"

"You were my friend!"

Kurotsuchi roared while she punched Deidara again, the older blonde just gave her a look from behind his narrowed eyes. The girl huffed while she growled swinging another fist.

"You we're the person I looked up to the most!"

"You were my hero!"

"Then you just destroyed everything and left! I... I couldn't leave you behind. I couldn't let you go. I couldn't see you for the bastard that you were. I didn't want to... I didn't want to hurt my friend!"

"Then look at what you did!"

"Was it worth it?! Was it fun!? Did you make the art piece of your shitty dreams!?"

Kurotsuchi lifted up her bloodied knuckled while Deidara spat blood out to the side, Naruto looked at the girl from the ground with surprised expression his face as she lifted another fist.

"ARE YOU FREE NOW?!"

Kurotsuchi screamed as she slammed another fist into Deidara's face, the older teen groaned before he looked at the girl and scoffed, "I've been free for a long time little Kuro. You should've died with everyone else in that explosion." Deidara said while Kurotsuchi looked at the older teen in horror. He then pulled her face closer to his headbutting her and knocking her off.

Deidara got back to his feet and threw out another large bird, "Looks like this is going to be my last one for today huh?" Deidara chuckled grimly while he turned toward Kurotsuchi and Naruto with a glare.

"Kurotsuchi!"

Naruto yelled while he used his other hand to blast over to the girl knocking her out of the way, the large clay bird's chest opened up rapidly launching multiple clay birds bombarding the field with explosions. Kurotsuchi got back to her feet and pulled out her sword to try to deflect the approaching birds but Naruto stood up.

"Wind Style: Great Redirection!"

The blonde yelled while he used his one good hand to blast wind at the approaching birds creating a shield for the both of them from the explosions. "Naruto!" Kurotsuchi yelled while Naruto looked back at her.

"I can't use the Rasengan with one hand yet, I was going to save it but it looks like I can't. I'll try to get as many of these explosives off of you as possible, but it'll be up to you."

Naruto spoke while Kurotsuchi looked at the blonde before she looked at her hands, "I know... It's hard to let go of the past. You can't move forward while looking back though. I don't want to ask you to do this but I don't have any choice and I trust you. I know you can do it." the blonde said while Kurotsuchi looked toward Naruto's grin.

"Let's take care of your past and move forward into the future."

Naruto said while Kurotsuchi pulled out her sword, "I wanted to say my goodbyes anyway." she said while Naruto nodded at her while she formed hand signs before she looked at her katana breathing fire onto it.

"Fire Style: Dragon's Fire Blaze Jutsu."

The girl said while he blade was covered in flames, Naruto let down the wind blast before he dashed launching wind jutsu at a lot of the swarm of birds while Kurotsuchi followed behind the boy, Deidara scoffed while he watched the pair fight against the swarm of explosive birds.

"You two are idiots! It's pointless, just lie down and let this end!"

Deidara yelled while the intensity of the birds increased, Kurotsuchi deflected the birds but couldn't cut through them causing them to explode near her knocking her off balance. Naruto further ahead kept attacking before he looked back at the downed Kurotsuchi, "Kurotsuchi!" the teen yelled while she got back to her feet.

She shook her head before she dashed forward deflecting more of the birds pushing her way forward, her sword felt heavy in her hands the amount of exertion was starting to get to her. Kurotsuchi deflected another bird while one slipped past Naruto and flew directly toward Kurotsuchi's face.

The girl braced for impact, but the explosion was stopped just in front of her by Naruto taking it to his back, a shadow clone now in the spot that Naruto was originally in. Kurotsuchi looked at the boy in surprise while he looked at her, "You ok?" the blonde asked while her pink eyes blinked before she looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Oh this? This is just a flesh wound, I've had way worse."

Naruto spoke while Kurotsuchi chuckled at the boy, "Even at a time like this, you're still trying to lighten the mood." the girl pressed her forehead against his while she closed her eyes.

"I wanted to say this to you too... Will you listen?"

The girl said while Naruto nodded his head, she took a deep breath before a smile appeared on her face. She took one of her hands off of her sword to cup Naruto's face.

"I'll finish this... Believe it."

The girl said causing Naruto to look at the girl with surprise while she held her blade toward him, Naruto slowly took his hand and held it over her blade weaving chakra over it.

Deidara's eyes narrowed at the sudden bright light that emenated from where the pair was standing, meanwhile the clone in Naruto's spot was destroyed, "Final push!" Deidara yelled while the birds flew freely, they all suddenly exploded from a small line of flame while the older teen looked at the smoke with surprise.

Kurotsuchi jumped through the smoke with a blade covered in vibrant red flames instead of the orange they originally were while Naruto jumped out beside her, her sword was now cutting through the birds with ease while Deidara gritted his teeth. "Fire Style can't do that! Unless..." the older teen trailed off while Kurotsuchi cut through more birds.

"True Scorch Style: Dragon's Flame in the Breeze!"

Kurotsuchi yelled while she pushed forward meanwhile Naruto was opening up a path for her, "No way... They used their chakra to form a Kekkei Genkai?!" Deidara yelled while he jumped backward staying close to the large bird that was launching birds at the pair.

Kurotsuchi kept moving forward while Naruto cut through the middle he opened up a larger path for Kurotsuchi who weaved her way through cutting down the birds, Deidara watched the moments of the pair in almost awe. The way that the flames danced along with Kurotsuchi as she weaved her way towards the older teen caught his attention.

He hated to admit it.

He hated the fact that he even acknowledged it, but the beautiful flames, the unique pattern, and the concentration of the pair. Kurotsuchi... a shinobi slave, a puppet on strings.

Created Art.

Deidara went to retreat but he watched Naruto somersault building up wind chakra "Wind Style: Gale Step Rail Gun!", before he launched himself at Deidara. The older teen flinched at the devastating attack but blinked when it never came instead, he was looking at a weak looking Naruto with a hand to his chest.

"Just kidding... She ain't though."

Naruto said as he pushed Deidara backward, the push was nothing major if anything it could be called petty but that moment, that instant of broken stature. Was all his attacker needed.

Kurotsuchi closed the distance slamming her blade against Deidara's neck, the older teen leaned his neck allowing the blade to be caught by clay that hardened immediately under the sheer amount of heat from her sword. Deidara struggled to keep his neck protected while Kurotsuchi pushed her blade against the hardened clay.

"True freedom, that's what I'll attain no matter what..."

"It's because it's a crappy dream that it means freedom!"

"Whatever you want."

"Hey Big Bro Deidara... I finally figured out what I wanted..."

Kurotsuchi spoke while Deidara felt the blade cutting into the clay towards his neck, the black-haired teen grounded herself before she pushed in her swing even harder.

"I wanted to say thank you... For inspiring me. For being one of my friends... For having crazy dreams. For allowing me to finally decide what it is I wanted for myself."

Kurotsuchi spoke while Deidara felt the blade break through the clay cutting into his neck, "KURO!" Deidara yelled while Kurotsuchi's eye glared at the blonde.

"Sayonara."

The girl said before she put all of her might into a big push cutting deeper into Deidara's neck, the sword would have gone through, but it was stopped by Kurotsuchi being knocked backward by Deidara's large clay bird releasing the older teen. Deidara immediately placed a hand on his bleeding neck before he rolled onto the back of his creation.

The bird then started to fly into the air while Kurotsuchi watched it taking off, "Deidara!" Kurotsuchi yelled into the air while the wounded teen glared at her and Naruto.

"This ain't finished!"

Deidara yelled while Kurotsuchi growled before she pointed her sword at the teen in the air, "I'm moving forward now! The next time we meet, the one that kills you..." Kurotsuchi pointed a thumb at herself.

"Will be me!"

The girl yelled while the bird flew off carrying Deidara on its back. The girl watched the bird fly off into the distance while she dropped to the ground sprawled out next to Naruto.

Kurotuschi took deep breaths while Naruto chuckled, "That was... insane..." the blonde said while Kurotuschi nodded her head. "It's over for right now, that's the important part." the girl spoke while Naruto nodded his head.

The two teens laid in the grass while staring at the sky, it colored the sky in splashes of dying orange and red transitioning into faint blues and purples further down the horizon. They both admired the slow arrival of night before Kurotsuchi smiled before a harsh chuckle came out of her mouth the chuckling became laughter while Naruto kept his eyes on her.

Tear slowly flowed out of the girl's eyes while she laughed, Naruto almost felt as if he could understand her. She was just freed herself from one of her biggest burdens in her life, a source of constant fear and regret had suddenly became nothing.

She felt both happy and sad about letting go.

The blonde stared at the sky listening to the laughter of the girl, before it slowly died down into light sniffles. Her pink eyes glanced toward the sky as well while Naruto chuckled.

"So what's next?"

The blonde asked while Kurotsuchi smiled, "Whatever we want I guess, your words not mine." the girl joked while Naruto rolled his eyes while exhaling through his nose.

"You wanna know what I want right now?"

"What?"

"A bath."

Kurotsuchi turned to give Naruto a curious expression while he nodded his head, "A nice long soak, good food, a view of the night sky, and a comfortable palce to sleep." the boy imagined while Kurotsuchi nodded her head.

"That sounds awesome."

Kurotsuchi said while Naruto looked toward her, "You mind if we take quick detour to rest up? I know a place." the blonde offered while the girl blinked at him from her spot.

"Of course you do... Let's go then."

Kurotsuchi said while Naruto nodded slowly picking himself off of the ground, "Easy, you're more wounded than I am." the girl complained while Naruto helped her to her feet.

"Yeah, but I heal faster. Not to mention you look like you're suffering from light chakra exhaustion, it's ok. You can lean on me."

Naruto said while the girl stood beside the blonde, she wanted to protest however instead she grabbed his arm and pressed herself against him. The boy gave her a smile while he began to walk with a slight limp, he then felt the black-haired teen's own arm supporting him as well.

Blue met pink before a mutual nod was had, the two teens supporting each other while they made their way to their next destination.

'So... This is what it feels like?'

{...}

"You look like garbage."

"Sasori my man, what harsh words for your dear partner."

Deidara and a red-haired young man exchanged while the blonde winced while a bandage was placed on his neck, "The good news is it will scar." Sasori said dismissively while Deidara narrowed his eyes at him.

"Oi, how is that good news?"

Deidara growled while Sasori returned his own glare toward the blonde, "This will be a permanent lesson as to why we work in pairs." Sasori said while Deidara huffed.

"He was just one kid, if it weren't for the fact that I got jumped then I would have been back with him."

Deidara lazily tried to defend himself while Sasori groaned, "A single Jinchuriki is capable to destroying an entire village, while we are all specialist in our own rights that doesn't mean we are able to take on one by ourselves. You failed because of a mixture of your hubris and underestimation of the Nine Tails Jinchuriki." Sasori scolded while the blonde rolled his eyes.

"Whatever man, the kid had a little talent. Excuse me for wanting to probe his art, his skills are nothing like we were informed they were going to be."

Deidara said causing Sasori to raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" Sasori asked while Deidara huffed standing to look at the horizon from the perch him and his partner found themselves resting.

"That prick Danzo gave us bad information or at least outdated. We've been a step behind the brat since he left his damn village, the land of waves was supposed to the capture point and his skills were supposed to be trash. It was supposed to be an easy task."

Deidara complanied while Sasori looked to the side, "He couldn't have possibly known the Jinchuriki's exact position or thoughts, the Land of Waves at best was merely a tip, expecting him to stay in that one spot was our error. As for his skills, I would have been surprised if he didn't pick up a thing or two in the 6 months we've been tracking him. We can't blame Danzo for that." Sasori calmly explained causing Deidara to scoff.

"I will anyway, if he really wanted to get rid of the kid then he could have very well just handed him off to us outside the village gates. I don't know what it is but I have the sneaking suspicion that that old bastard doesn't really want to hand over the kid."

Deidara said while Sasori gave her partner a look, "You mean to say that Danzo has some sort of ulterior motive with the Nine Tails Jinchuriki?" Sasori asked while Deidara nodded his head.

"The first thing that caused me to smell something fishy was how eager he sounded to be rid of the Jinchuriki, last time I checked they were weapons. Something has got to be up if they were willing to drop something so powerful off in the woods to be captured. There could be more to this goose chase then we can see."

Deidara theorized while Sasori shrugged, "Until we get concrete proof then it's nothing we can work off of. For now we stay the course, his capture is one of our main priorities. Who knows we could get lucky and find another Jinchuriki while we're at it, at least some part of our mission will be completed." the red-haired man said causing Deidara to flinch.

His hand went to his neck as he looked at a streak of red across the sky while the sun continued to fall, his blue eyes looked at the horizon even closer taking in all of its colors before he spoke.

"Oi Sasori..."

"What?"

"What art do you believe represents freedom?"

Deidara asked the question while his thoughts went to the dancing bright red flames from Kurotsuchi's sword before she swung her blade toward him, in that moment what he had thought to have been impossible became possible. Someone trapped within their duty had made something that he could consider beautiful.

An art piece made by someone who wasn't even an artist.

It felt almost blasphomous to him.

Yet it happened.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing... Don't you worry about a thing Sasori my man. I've just learned something new, I don't plan on letting something slip past me again now that I can finally see."

Deidara spoke while his hand gripped into a fist, the next time they crossed paths he would take them both as they were instead of what he wanted them to be.

When they meet again, Deidara assured himself that he would be the one who gets his payback.

He couldn't wait even a little bit.