Hey, hey, hey! Chapter 35 is here and ready to play! Sorry for the long wait, but the wait is finally over for a new chapter.

By the way, I don't own Naruto, the characters, and the plot. But I do own Katsumi Uchiha and her backstory, so yeah. Copyright can back off now ;)

Chapter 35: Stuck in the Dark (Part 9)

Kabuto's POV:

"Mm, this dango is so yummy!" Akemi chirped as she happily chewed on her sweets. "Thank you paying this for me!"

"Oh, no problem." I insisted warmly as Hana sat silently on my shoulder.

I watched as the young blonde munched on the rest of the dango while cleaning off the stick. With one gulp, she sighed blissfully then glanced at me.

"So, how long have you and Kat been together...?" She asked me curiously, staring at me with pure innocence.

I jolted bafflingly at her question, which left me blinking vacantly to reboot the gears in my brain. I cleared my throat as I adjusted my glasses, preventing myself from blushing like an idiot.

"W-Well... for a little while, actually..." I answered nervously. "We recently gotten together not too long ago..."

"On a scale one to ten, how much do you love her?" The child questioned flatly.

"Huh?" I gasped confoundedly while my cheeks turned rosy. "T-That's a personal thing to ask, don't you think?"

Akemi simply shrugged. "I know. I just wanna know that you really care about her and that you're not with her just because she's pretty." She defended innocently, tapping the stick on her lower lip.

"Why are you so intrigued by her, Akemi?" I questioned her bluntly, eyeing her curiously. "You barely know her."

The petite blonde shrugged again. "I dunno. I've always wanted a big sister and Kat is all I wanted in a big sister..." She answered uncertainly, pouting her lips in thought.

"Well, considering how protective you are over her... I guess it makes sense." I commented humorously.

Akemi nodded proudly. "Kat is the nicest person I've ever met but she can still be really mean when she wants to. Her personality is so contagious; you either really love her or really hate her. Still, she has the power to draw anyone in..." She gloated confidently, picking up another stick of dango.

I scoffed at the little girl. "I must say, Akemi... you've described the gist of Katsumi from meeting her only once. I'm impressed..." I smiled softly.

She responded with a big grin until it disappeared, being replaced by a mature serious look. I blinked anxiously, waiting in anticipation for what the girl was thinking.

"So...?"

"Excuse me?" I flustered stupidly.

"Tell me how much you love Kat on a scale one to ten!" She demanded eagerly, bouncing in her seat.

I let out an uncomfortable chuckle, then pressed my glasses against my nasal bridge.

"No number can express my love for her." I answered thoughtfully, shutting my eyes so that I wouldn't have to witness her reaction.

Akemi squealed with delight, causing me to wince from her high-pitched voice.

"That's so sweet, Kabu!" She chirped brightly, giving me a thumbs up. "Akemi approves!"

"Thank you." I huffed benevolently.

"So, what are you guys planning for your future together?" She abruptly asked in curiosity.

"Wha—?"

"Are you gonna propose?"

"W-Well—"

"You're gonna marry her, right?"

"Not right now, but—"

"Do you wanna have kids?"

"I haven't really considered—"

"Wait, is she pregnant right now? Is that why she disappeared?"

"God, no—!"

"Did you two even—?"

"Akemi, that's enough!" I exclaimed uncomfortably with my flustered-burning face. "Enough with all the personal questions, alright?"

"Personal questions?" A familiar, monotone voice repeated suspiciously.

I snapped my gaze in the direction of where the voice came from, and I instantly regretted the action the second my eyes graced the appearance of our newcomer. I had a good idea who the owner of that oh-too-sweet stoic voice, yet I had the nerve to verify before a pathetic part of me wanted it to be someone else to spare me from the sheepish tension. My anxiety drastically increased by the sight of the monotone Uchiha who stood by our table with his emotionless onyx eyes.

"Sasuke?" I breathed incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke ignored my question and proceeded to eye me warily. His dark eyes then shifted over to the young blonde who returned the look with innocent pair of blue orbs. She blinked a couple of times, then shined a friendly smile at him.

"Hi, my name is Akemi." She introduced sweetly, unfazed by the boy's blank, emotionless gaze. "Nice to meet you."

The Uchiha boy was still reluctant to give any sort of reply to the little girl, prolonging the awkward silence. Rolling my eyes, I let out an obnoxious cough which helped grabbed both of their attention.

"This is Sasuke, Akemi." I informed simply, eyeing said male carefully. "Katsumi's brother..."

"Brother?" She repeated with a squeak, staring at me puzzlingly then glanced at the raven understandingly. "Well, he does sort of look like Kat..."

"Hmph." Sasuke grunted boringly.

"Are you older or younger than Kat?" The little blonde asked curiously, still ignoring the raven's aloof demeanour.

"He's her older brother." I answered promptly on Sasuke's behalf, wanting this to end as soon as possible.

"Oh." She breathed in comprehension. "So, uh...?"

"Sasuke." I cut in.

Akemi nodded thankfully. "Yes, Sasuke! That's a cool name...!" She complimented kindly.

"Oh, Akemi..." I sighed tiredly, begging the earth to open below my feet.

"Hey, don't just stand there. Your feet must be tired." She remarked concernedly then scooted towards the wall and patted on the empty half of the long seat. "Come and sit here, please."

"Uh, I don't think Sasuke—"

"Fine." Said Uchiha interrupted monotonously, settling into the space offered to him.

"Wha—Sasuke?"

"You're so lucky to be related someone as amazing as Kat!" She commented happily, picking up the last stick of dango. "So, what's it like being Kat's brother?"

"Akemi!"

"What? I'm just asking..." She whined defensively, then faced the raven again. "So, were you like super angry that a random guy is dating your sister?"

I gawked prickly at the little girl for referring me as "random". "I've known her long before we got together." I remarked matter-of-factly.

Akemi gave me the shush finger then turned her attention to the raven.

"Do you like Kabu, personally?" She inquired.

"Hardly. He almost killed me." I groused to myself with a frown.

I didn't entertain the possibility of my little comment being heard until the curiosity was replaced with horror on blonde child's face.

"You tried to kill your sister's boyfriend?!" She repeated in disbelief, her blue eyes stretched wide.

"I don't remember asking you to speak on my behalf, Kabuto." Sasuke remarked stoically while his dark eyes bored into mine.

"And I don't remember you being social at all." I countered smugly, pushing up my glasses.

"I take it you guys don't really agree on anything?" Akemi questioned shyly, exchanging glances between Sasuke and me.

"It's nothing personal, really." I disclosed coolly, giving the child an assuring smile. "Sasuke's naturally protective over his sister; he just doesn't want her to get hurt by anyone, particularly men who are interested in her."

"Oh." She mused understandingly then grinned at the raven. "Well, that makes sense. At least I know someone else is watching over her while I'm not around."

"Not as much as I would like..." The raven murmured lowly.

"Huh, what was that?"

"How do you know my sister? Are you a friend of hers?" Sasuke inquired assumedly, hastily changing the topic.

Akemi shook her head. "Nope. The last time I saw her was the first time I met her. She's such a sweetheart; she even gave me her prize! I've always wanted an older sister like her so I'm cherishing her as much as possible… even though I don't see her as much as I want to."

Sasuke grunted at the girl's answer, but not in a way where he expressed his annoyance. It sounded more like he was agreeing with the little blonde. Not to mention, he quietly commented that he didn't feel he took care of Katsumi as much as he liked. That meant he genuinely felt guilty for not being the big brother she needed; he regretted being selfish and self-consumed for his goal.

"You know, Sasuke..." Akemi spoke deeply, thinking to herself. "… you remind me of my uncle..."

"Your uncle?" I repeated in question, cocking an eyebrow.

Akemi nodded. "My mom's brother, Takumi..."

"How so?" Sasuke requested dryly.

"Takumi didn't like my dad from the moment they met; he just thought that he wasn't right for my mom. He always constantly told her he wasn't a good person and that she should leave him." She explained thoughtfully, recalling what her mother told her. "It was really hard for my mom because they were very close, but she also loved my dad... she basically had to choose between her lover and her brother..."

"How ironic..." I mused smugly at the raven sitting across. "… what happened next?"

"My mom chose my dad and because of that, Takumi never spoke to both my parents until a few years after I was born. He came to visit out of nowhere, but my mom was out at the time, but my dad was at home." She continued warmly. "Long story short, Takumi apologized for his actions. You see, Takumi wasn't really being a great brother to my mom even though they're very close. He kept on dismissing her because he was 'busy' to the point where she basically gave up trying. He felt threatened that someone else walked into her life and treated her amazingly; he felt that my mom was replacing her brother with my dad."

"And because of this frustration, he took it out on your father..." I theorized softly.

Akemi nodded in confirmation. "My uncle felt bad for the way he treated my dad without getting to know him. My dad never took it personally; he understood where Takumi was coming from and that he would do the same for his sister. What made my dad upset though was that it took him years to finally decide to fix things with my mom. At that point, my mom sort of moved on and learned to accept that her brother is no longer a part of her life. My dad forgave my uncle, but he told him that the person who deserved a huge sorry is my mom." She explained as she played with her dango stick with one dango left.

It was then I noticed that throughout Akemi's storytelling session, Sasuke was very mute—more so than usual—but not in the sense where he just didn't care about what was going on. I could sense he was quietly sulking in his own guilt under his usual emotionless mask.

"Did your mother forgive him?" I asked her gently.

"Eventually." She replied nonchalantly. "My mom is the kind of person where she doesn't hold a grudge but never accepts the pain and stress the person closest to her caused. So, she forgave him because they're brother and sister, but Takumi had to work his way to gain back the relationship they had."

The irony of this story was ludicrously vast, I was trying to contain my snarky laughter that was begging to come out. It foreshadowed the possible outcome between Katsumi and Sasuke. Katsumi was at the point where she knew what her time and energy was worth and if anyone dared to waste it, she could easily cut them off for a long time. I never really considered that she would ever cut ties with the raven because they were blood siblings; naturally, there were moments where they wanted to kill each other because they were family. However, it had gotten so bad, the ravenette doesn't even acknowledge her brother like she did before. Not only that, but she also barely viewed him as an older brother which explained why she would act petty towards him after his constructive criticism—or in her words, a douche-licking diss.

As much as I love her, shutting Sasuke out of her life was wrong in her part even though she was mostly in the right. She treated him as if he was just another person walking away when he was more than "just another person". She should at least express her feelings better to Sasuke because even the Sharingan had limitations when it came to these types of situations. Maybe the problem was Katsumi not letting herself to allow Sasuke in on what was happening on her life and because of this, the raven was unable to pinpoint the issue.

Katsumi was someone who could be one of the most compassionate human beings walking on the face of the earth. When she lets down her walls, all you could see was a pure, altruistic, compassionate girl who wanted nothing more than to share her love to anyone. However, this was only the case if someone remained consistent in her life, which was why she was this amazing human being around me; I was consistent in her life giving her that comfort. Before me—and everyone else—Sasuke was very consistent, but it was because of that she was very sweet and loving towards her brother. But ever since his revenge cravings peaked and fleeing the Leaf, he changed so much he shut out every loved one he had, including his sister.

Come to think of it, the boy didn't seem to do it on purpose. He possibly digested that his actions also affected those around him which was why he looked remorseful in front of me and the oblivious little blonde. Speaking of which, he probably wouldn't feel this way if it weren't for Akemi telling us a paralleling story about her parents and her uncle. Maybe it was enough for the Uchiha boy to finally open his eyes and actually see what was actually happening.

Between the two of us, it wasn't likely Sasuke would or even could apologize to me for treating me like dirt and it was just as unlikely that I would be as forgiving as Akemi's father. However, I wouldn't accept his apology not because I was angry at him—even though I was, in a certain way—but because the person who deserved the biggest sorry was Katsumi. As cheesy as it sounded, I refused to forgive him until the ravenette forgave him herself.

After giving a long, stern look at the raven who was busy eyeing the young child, I glanced over at said child who just gulped the last of her dango and reached over to pick up her cup.

'This child is as insightful as she is impressionable...' I thought critically then adjusted my glasses. 'No wonder Katsumi grew fond of her in just minutes...'

"Did your mother and uncle eventually mended their estranged relationship?" Sasuke inquired stoically; he sounded awfully curious than he would usually allow.

Akemi shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly. "I think so. I'm just a kid; I don't know about a lot of stuff and it's kind of boring to care..."

"You know more than you think, Akemi." I complimented amiably. "You'll be just as intelligent as Katsumi when you get older. Maybe even smarter..."

The young blonde blushed at my words while smiling shyly. "Thank you, Kabu."

Akemi then glanced at Sasuke who stared deeply at her. Unfazed, she shined him a sad smile.

"Sasuke, I can tell that you don't like Kabu one bit. And I can tell even more that you hate Kabu falling for your sister. You may have a good reason why and maybe Kabu is a cold-hearted monster, but that doesn't change how much he loves her. It's because of his love for her, he's turning into a better person than he was before." She explained thoughtfully then gazed at me. "That's what love is, right? An intense feeling of deep affection and admiration for another? You'd go to so many lengths just to be with that person. You'd do anything for that person, even giving up everything you have... all because of that emotional attachment. It may sound weak, but a person's weakness can also be their strength."

Sasuke and I shared an incredulous look—well, I showed an incredulous look. Meanwhile, Akemi blinked obliviously at us.

"What?" She squeaked uncomfortably.

I shook my head slowly as I huffed out a smile.

"Oh, the irony..." I scoffed amusedly.

"Hmph." Sasuke grunted dismissively.

Katsumi's POV:

"Deidaraaaaaa...!" I whined lazily as I was being pulled by the arm and dragged by said blonde. "Where are you taking me?"

"Oh, for god's sake!" He groaned in annoyance, stomping towards his desired location. "You'll know when we get there, hmph!"

"But, what if I don't like it?" I groused childishly, trying to use all of my weight to hold the blonde back a bit.

"Ugh, you're such a petty little brat!" Said blonde huffed exasperatedly, glaring over his shoulder at me. "Just shut up already, hmph!"

I frowned begrudgingly at Deidara's behaviour then exhaled loudly.

"You're right, Tobi..." I mused in dismay, eyeing said man-child who was tailing just behind me. "…Deidara is a super a**hole."

"What did you call ME!?" Deidara gawked sharply, halting his footsteps.

Because of the haste stop, I ended up smashing my face against the blonde's back. If it weren't for his grip on my hand and holding me up, this would've been my second time crashing-landing on dirt today. With little effort, he pulled me back up and I huffed him a thanks.

"Now, repeat me what you and Tobi said about me, hm." He requested with a demanding smirk.

I cupped my chin as I playfully made a thinking face. A moment passed and threw him a friendly smile which left him bemused as he stood in front of me.

"How about...?" I trailed then poked his nose unexpectedly. "NOT!"

Frowning irritably, Deidara grabbed my hand and forced it away from his face as he continued gripping it firmly.

"Hey, let go, jerk!" I demanded sternly, attempting to free myself.

"Alright." He cooed mockingly.

I cocked an eyebrow at him for his sudden change in attitude until a warm, slimy, wet substance coated the inner parts of my hand. I immediately yelped in disgust and used my strength to swing my hand away from whatever caused the disgusting fluid. I glared at the blonde who snickered to himself as he held out his hand, showing off the mouth on his palm. The mouth stuck out its tongue in victory as its thick saliva dripped from the wet muscle. I glanced at my hand and held back a gag from the mere sight of literal goo all over my hand then glared coldly at the artist.

"What?" He exclaimed defensively, smiling in utter amusement. "You told me to let go, hm."

"After you slimed me with palm spit, a**hole!" I growled in disgust.

"I thought you didn't mind my mouths, hm..." He purred jokingly, smirking widely.

"Well, congratulations... I f**kin' mind them now." I sarcastically applauded as I wiped the saliva off my hand with a hankie Tobi offered.

"Aw, I feel so bad for doing such a thing to my wonderful friend." He sulked mockingly, returning the sarcasm before rolling his blue eye then continued walking.

The inner child in me resulted in me sticking my tongue out at his back, then caught up to him while Tobi followed closely behind us. After a long moment of walking in silence, I parted my lips to allow a begging question out in the open.

"Deidara. There's something I wanna know..."

"What is it, hm?" He asked casually.

I regarded him strongly for the weird tone he presented then I took a deep breath in, expecting the worst answer possible.

"Why is the Akatsuki so determined in capturing Jinchūriki?" I inquired sternly, demanding an answer from the blonde.

I figured Deidara would be a bit willing to answer my questions and clear my curiosity since he had stated more than once that he was forced into the organization rather than joining himself. Thus, leaving him to have conditional loyalty to the Akatsuki. Considering he also wasn't really fond of some of the members and disliked the others, he probably wouldn't give a damn about spilling some beans.

And my assumptions were right.

"It's not that we want the Jinchūriki themselves." He claimed dully as he looked ahead. "We want the tailed beasts inside of them, hm."

"And how do you obtain them?" I questioned skeptically. "They're chakra supplies is off the charts and they have a huge habit of going ballistic."

"By extracting all of their chakra, that's how." He answered, glancing at me blankly. "Then we sealed them in the Gedo Statue, one by one."

"Gedo Statue?" I repeated confusingly, cocking an eyebrow.

"Deidara, I-I don't think you should be telling Miss Katsumi this stuff..." Tobi cut in worriedly as he earned an annoyed look from his partner. "Lord Pain wouldn't be too happy about that..."

"So, what, hmph?" The blonde scoffed bluntly. "I know my value and I'm worth a lot for the Akatsuki; he won't hurt me because I'm a big asset."

"Y-Yeah, but still—!"

"What's the worst it could happen, anyway? She can't do anything about it whether if she has the chakra to do it or not, hmph." He interrupted abruptly then immediately turning away. "Plus, she's a rogue ninja just like the rest of us, so why would she stick her neck out for any of them, hm?"

"Back to the point." I announced firmly. "Why does the Akatsuki want with the tailed beasts' power?"

"Beats me." Deidara shrugged in response.

I gaped at his answer. "What do you mean 'beats me'?"

"Lord Pain and Konan barely clarify their intentions." Deidara noted briefly. "I'm not even entirely sure what the Akatsuki's goal is because of that, hm."

"So, you're just following Pain's commands like a good little servant without knowing anything?" I scoffed in disappointment.

"Yep."

I didn't hold back in face-palming because this information was too sad to let it slide. First Kabuto, now Deidara. Even my own brother was doing his "Leader's" bidding willingly—not to mention, blindly.

'What's with people reducing themselves to being lapdogs these days?'

"Alright, so you guys get the tailed beasts and seal them in some statue." I surmised brusquely then narrowed my eyes at the blonde.

Said blonde took notice of this and halted his footsteps to face me completely. It was as if he was expecting me to say more. We stood there in silence and that allowed the tension to make itself known between us, forcing itself on us as if something was trying to push us off balance.

"Once a beast is extracted, what happens to the Jinchūriki?" I questioned flatly, furrowing my brows.

Deidara not answering immediately was enough to make me feel hesitant in hearing the cold hard truth; something that even he was uncomfortable about was enough for me to lose it. Even his pursed lips gave that away as it physically restrained the words from leaving his mouth.

He was also hesitant to answer my question, which made me both anxious and impatient at the same time. I could feel myself growing colder the longer his reluctance remained.

"Deidara, answer me already." I urged promptly.

"They end up dead, Miss Katsumi." Tobi perked suddenly by which earned him a death glare from his partner, warning the kid to shut his trap.

However, Deidara's reaction couldn't compare to my reaction after hearing what I just heard. The blonde shifted his attention back to me and gritted his teeth frustratingly as I gave him a nonplussed look.

"They die once the beast is extracted?" I rephrased waveringly, then sharpened my gaze at him. "Is this true, Deidara?"

Said artist sighed roughly in defeat, confirming my concern and I could feel my stomach turn while my anger built within my chest.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me this?" I questioned coldly. "Why would you hide this from me?"

"Because it's none of your business, that's why." He answered bluntly, unfazed by my hostile attitude. "Plus, it was never brought up in any conversation, hm."

My head hung low depressingly with my bangs covering the hurt in my eyes. I clenched my fists angrily, trying to prevent myself from screaming and cussing out loud for everyone in town to hear.

"So, you just kill innocent people who already endured hell throughout their early lives?" I grumbled rhetorically as I bit down my lip so hard it drew blood.

"I know it sucks, but why do you care so much?" He huffed apathetically.

I snapped my head quickly as my Sharingan was subconsciously activated through sheer anger. I was so taken in by my emotions, I wasn't aware that my body was exhausting itself from the urge to circulate chakra.

"Katsumi?" Deidara muttered warily. "You're kind of scaring me, hm..."

"Why do I care so much?" I repeated threateningly, earning anxious looks from the blonde and his immature partner. "It's because my childhood friend is a Jinchūriki."

Both men winced at my reason then I instantly continued.

"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki... Naruto Uzumaki… I already know you guys tried to capture him once before…" I told them bitterly, furrowing my brows. "I also know that you [Deidara] tried to take him down by all means necessary..."

"I'm not denying anything, but—"

"You guys are trying to hunt him down... and I can't just stand here and let you do that..." I hissed determinedly.

Deidara obnoxiously grunted at my behaviour then did the unexpected... he placed a hand firmly on my head. I secretly prayed that the tongue in his palm doesn't touch my hair in conjunction to debating on whether I should smack some sympathy into him.

"Listen, we've only captured three tailed beasts so far and we're capturing them by order, meaning your friend is at the bottom of our list." He explained in assurance. "And besides, the Leaf is protective of the kid—unlike the others—and even if we target him, the Leaf won't back down without a fight, hm."

"And you expect that would make me feel any better?" I questioned incredulously.

"No, I don't obviously. The brat is a friend of yours..." He admitted in slight guilt. "But, what do you expect me to do? It's not like you've never killed someone for a superior, hm."

F**kin' s**t, he made a good point. I was accusing him of hurting innocent people when I had too for someone else. On top of that, I sort of had an option to do it since I didn't have any respect for the Snake Sanin one bit whereas Deidara had no choice but to follow orders.

F**k you, Goldie Locks.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Let's just go..."

With that, I brushed past the artist and walked ahead while not caring if the pair were following behind me. Suddenly, I felt a strong hand gripped my wrist firmly but not tightly. This stopped me from walking any further and I had no other choice but to turn my head and looked over to see nothing but the self-proclaimed artist.

"Are you that mad at me, hm?" He asked shockingly, giving me his sincerest look.

"Why should I be? You made a solid point..." I responded matter-of-factly. "I'm not gonna stand here and act like I'm innocent when I'm not."

"Your friend will be alright... for now..." He assured gingerly.

I scoffed at his 'reassurance'. "Thanks!"

With that, I proceeded to march away.

"Oh, c'MON!" He whined exasperatedly as I resisted the temptation to laugh. "You're such a petty child, hmph!"

"And you're a jerk!" I spat back as I continued to stomp away.

"STOP!" He suddenly yelled.

Grunting irritably, I turned my heel and glared impatiently at him as he quickly caught up to me.

"What!?"

Deidara flung his arm around my shoulder in a friendly manner and beckoned me to look to my left. When I did, I squinted my eyes to examine the structure in front of me.

"Is this a club?" I guessed curtly.

"Close, but no." He replied in a chuckle. "It's more of a pub, hm."

"A bar, you mean?" I critiqued obnoxiously, cocking my eyebrows.

"Same difference." He defended cockily as he used his grip on me to pull me closer towards him. "They both serve alcohol beverages, hm."

"Why did you bring me here, Deidara?" I questioned solidly.

The blonde shrugged at my question then scanned the building himself.

"Well, I figured being kidnapped by a dangerous organization and forced to do slave work against your will can sort of traumatize a person, hm." He explained nonchalantly then threw me a friendly smile. "Plus, I assumed you wanted to get away from your brother, so I thought I would do you the favour."

"You do know nothing gets past Itachi unless he allows it, right?" I deadpanned coolly. "Hate him or not, no one can be slick around him; he can smell you bulls**tting from a mile away."

"But you don't seem to be worried about it." He pointed out amusedly.

"That's because I don't give a f**k if he busted us." I scoffed in annoyance.

"Ah, that's my girl, hmph!" He applauded in acknowledgment, pulling me in for a tight hug.

"I'm not a hugger, blondie." I hissed as I tried to pull myself free from his embrace. "Get off of—"

"YAAAAAYYYYY, GROUP HUG!" I heard a child-like shriek and we both looked over our shoulders to see Tobi running towards us.

Before either of us could do anything, Tobi took us down with a spear hug and latched onto us for dear life. Deidara reacted in a way that was considered erratic; he was thrashing his arms around, trying to free himself and attack the boy at the same time. Meanwhile, I attempted to loosen his tight grip around my neck, so I could breathe better. I didn't really mind about Tobi hugging me as much as the blonde did, though we both roughly shared the same low tolerance of dealing with big personalities like the masked man.

"Get off, Tobi!" He demanded coldly, trying to push the boy at arms' length.

Either Tobi blanked out on his partner or he heard his request loud and clear but decided to ignore it. I went with the latter since the man-child had the habit—or joy—of purposely pissing off the blonde. Then again, I could understand why since it was oddly entertaining seeing him in distress or angry in most situations. I said most because the self-proclaimed artist of explosions would get furious to the point where he would go on an exploding spree. This begged the question: how piss angry Deidara had to be in order to go to that extent? Also, how many times had Tobi achieved that? Considering how bad his temper and patience was towards his partner, it was surprising the boy was still alive today.

'Though I doubt in the near future, Tobi won't be let down this easy if he keeps this up. There's only so much the blonde can take.'

"Tobi, let go please." I requested sternly as I started to get annoyed.

"Okay, Miss Katsumi!" He chirped delightedly, immediately retracting his arms from us and stood up.

Deidara shot up to his feet while grunting curse words towards the boy though his partner didn't seem to take it personally. Meanwhile, I remained on the ground, dusting myself off from falling hard on the ground. I exhaled tiredly then gasped to see the artist's hand extended at my direction, offering me to take it. I glanced up only to make eye contact with his one exposed blue eye which reflected the sun rays, giving it a glossy, sparkly complexion. I stared back at his hand suspiciously, waiting for something to happen. As if he read my mind, Deidara chuckled lowly.

"Don't worry, hm." He assured knowingly. "I promise I won't let my mouths lick you with 'palm spit', hm."

"Hmph." Was all I had to say then grabbed the male's hand.

Immediately, he pulled me up from the ground but was reluctant to let go of my hand. I did nothing to free my hand from his grip; I just stood there like an idiot while gazing into his lone blue eye.

After a moment of silence and eye-gazing, Deidara abruptly smiled big then used his grip on my hand to pull me closer to him. He flung his arm around my shoulder in a friendly matter as I was too lost to process what was going on.

"Well, what are we waiting for, hm?" He asked brightly, grinning wide.

"Um, nothing?" I answered questioningly.

"Then, let's go!" He cheered then hastily pulled me inside as Tobi followed behind.

Once again, awfully silent.

Took sooooo long to write this but finally done. So many things are in the way, but I refuse to stop. I've made that mistake before and regretted so I'm doing my damn best to pull through. Hopefully the next chapter will be done more sooner than this one, and maybe longer since this chapter is kind of on the shorter side. We'll see, but until then!