Chapter 16
Waking up to the sound of birds chirping outside of his home, Shinji dragged himself out of bed and tied his hair back, feeling the still singed ends of his hair. Brushing his teeth and changing his clothes, Shinji went over to his upstairs workshop, running his hand over the trial pod and noticing a thin layer of dust had built up on it.
Deciding to leave a few shadow clones at home as he went out, Shinji walked outside and faced the cool morning air. He wanted to crawl back into the warmth of his bed as he could feel the colder months begin to settle in Iwagakure.
Breath visible a few inches from his face, Shinji began walking down into the village, he had one stop to make first though. The sun was still low and cast an otherworldly orange glow over the village as the former ANBU knocked on the building's door that still needed repairs, noticing how there was a red x in the window.
Shuffling was heard on the other side before the doors to the orphanage opened, revealing a woman about three times his age and with short auburn hair. "Good morning honey, what can I do for you?" The soft spoken voice met Shinji's ears as he looked past her and into the orphanage.
"Good morning, my name is Shinji Sato and I'm here to pick up Deidara." The woman was a little surprised, but then giggled. It was a pleasant sound that hit his ears.
"So you must be that big brother he always goes on about. Come right inside." She held the door open for Shinji who walked inside. It was colder than his home, but not sub zero temperatures. Right at the entrance of the building seemed to be a reception area where a front desk lay unoccupied for the time being.
"Stay right here, I'll go get him." Nodding with a smile, Shinji waited in what he assumed to be the lobby. A few minutes pass with Shinji pacing around the small room, going so far as to even pick up a magazine resting on a coffee table.
Flipping through the pages, he found himself appalled. "People read this shit?" he muttered to himself. Caught up in his reading of Shinobi Rox Weekly, he heard the door open and revealed the woman from before with a supremely tired deidara next to her. He looked at Shinji who held an amused smirk on his face. Realization set in on the boy's face as he finally woke up and rushed over, latching onto shinji with a hug.
Hugging him back and patting him on the head he stood back and knelt in front of Deidara. "I got your message little brother, ready to go?" He asked in a kind tone to the little blonde boy.
In response, Deidara looked up at shinji with a single visible blue eye that was sparkling, "Really?" he asked with hope. He received a playful chop to his head as his response.
"Yes really, now go get a jacket it's cold out." Upon the playful words, Deidara looked a little ashamed and looked at the auburn haired woman who had a similar expression on her face.
Shinji understood the wordless encounter. "Skip the jacket then. Go get dressed, you still have drool on your pajamas." a little red faced, Deidara scurried off to go get a change of clothes, leaving the woman and shinji alone in the lobby.
"How bad is it?" Shinji asked, startling the woman a little who straightened her posture. The look of shame returned on her face and she hung her head.
"Our heater has been broken for months and no matter how many times I put in a request for extra money for repairs, I always get told the funds need to be allocated for the shinobi." The woman was at her wits end. She wanted these parentless children to have the best life they could, but under her slowly decomposing roof, she felt ashamed being unable to provide the life she wanted for so many.
Silence reigned between the two, Shinji contemplating what he could do for her, while the orphanage worker stuck in her shame. A poofing noise met her ears as a cloud of smoke shrouded Shinji's hand. "Do you accept donations?" was all he asked with a smirk, holding a large brown bag in his hand.
Some hope returned to the woman's eyes and she stuttered out a reply, "Y-Yes we do."
"Good, wasn't gonna take no for an answer anyway." He handed the bag to the woman's outstretched hands and watched as she almost fell over due to its weight. Her face did not betray her emotions as the shock was evident on her face, if mixed with a little exertion. 'There has to be a hundred thousand ryo in here, at least!' She thought to herself as she felt the small tears begin to well up.
"Hey, no need for that." Shinji relieved her of the bag and put it on the receptionist desk not too far away. "You're doing a good thing you know. A lot of these kids won't grow up knowing kindness. But because of you, they get to have that luxury. I'll be visiting more often and I want to see big smiles on not only their faces, but yours too." Shinji offered a genuine smile to the woman who took care of his 'little brother.'
The woman stood, gobsmacked at this boy who was not much older than the children she took charge of, do away with so much money and act as though it was a drop in the bucket. Wondering just who this boy was, she wiped away the tears gathered and bowed in thanks.
Speaking of the blonde haired devil, the doors to the childrens bedroom opened to reveal Deidara wearing a long sleeve black shirt with red stripes at the base of his sleeves and grey pants. Shinobi sandals were a staple just about everywhere and was very much the case with Deidara.
The little blonde boy's blue eye looked at the matron of his orphanage as she wiped away what he thought to be tears. She looked at him with the same smile she always did, one that was filled with so much warmth, "Go on now, enjoy your day Deidara." she ruffled his straight and thin hair, making some strands poke out in random directions. Soon after the matron went back inside to the orphanage proper, Deidara looked at Shinji who was smirking down at him.
"So what's the plan today?" Deidara asked with an excited smile, practically vibrating in place.
Giving a small laugh and patting his belly, "Breakfast, I'm starving." Shinji said with a toothy grin. The two walked out of the orphanage and shut the doors behind them with the older boy sparing another look at the orphanage.
"Hey so two people came to see me the other day." Deidara began as they continued walking, only now reaching the part of the village that was mainly residential buildings. Looking at his brother, Shinji urged him to continue.
"Cute girl and a big boy with a big nose said you were hurt." The blonde boy looked at Shinji with a scrupulous gaze. "But you look totally fine…what gives?" Deidara asked as they passed a mustard yellow house Shinji once went on a D-ranked mission for.
"I'm a scientist, I figured out how to get better." as the black haired boy beamed with pride, Deidara looked at him with a deadpan stare. Pride crumbling under the gaze of Deidara, Shinji tried in vain to explain. "Im serious Deidara." finally reaching the section of the village with restaurants, aptly named the commercial district.
The scant few restaurants within the village were just beginning to open up for the day. There was one small restaurant, not too dissimilar to Bao-dacious, with a young woman out front flipping the sign from closed to open.
Seeing two potential customers, she dusted off her apron, stood beside the door and put on her best smile and welcomed them both inside. Being met with the smell of food already being prepared for the day, the two boys found a booth to sit at. A waiter came by and asked for their order, with the boys each ordering a heaping serving of omurice.
"So you're getting to the age now where kids would go to the academy, given it any thought?" Shinji asked Deidara who was sipping on a glass of water through a bendy straw. Looking away from the glass and to shinji, he adorned an annoyed expression and crossed his arms.
"Can't go to the academy, says the orphanage isn't 'proper housing' for a shinobi." Deidara huffed to which shinji grew internally irritated. He spent so much time as a shinobi that he overlooked what was happening in the village itself. 'Never realized how bad it was for kids like Deidara.' the older boy thought to himself as he noticed the waiter come back with their food.
"Being a shinobi is overrated." Shinji said as he sipped on his water and watched the food arrive. The previously annoyed expression of the blonde boy turned to confusion at Shinji's comment and remained as such until the waiter arrived.
"Enjoy and let me know if you need anything." The waiter flashed a smile and soon walked off, leaving the two boys with their food. Sounds of eating filled the area around their table and lasted until both plates were sparkling clean. Sitting back and patting their stuffed bellies, Shinji paid for their meal and they soon left the restaurant and back out into the chill morning air.
Noticing how Deidara was shivering, Shinji made the executive decision to go to a clothing store not too far away. Shinji pushed the door open and the bell attached to the frame rang out. A teenage girl walked out from a room not long after, stifling a yawn. After bidding the girl a good morning, Shinji moved to the nearby clothing racks. Deidara was going around the shop and even hiding in the clothes stands, pretending to jump out and scare shinji.
"What do you think about this one?" Deidara held up a jacket that was a few sizes too big on him. Informing his brother of this, he puffed his cheeks in annoyance and put the jacket back. Shinji moved over to the section of the store that was designed for practical wear and spotted a cloak. It was hooded, dark red in color and had a single buckle around the neck.
Testing out the cloak Shinji was met with the soft and cozy feeling from the interior of the cloak and found himself smirking. "Perfect." the boy said to himself as he inspected his reflection in a nearby mirror. Seeing Shinji pick out a cloak and move around with the fabric billowing behind him caused deidara to go wide eyed. 'That's so cool!' the boy thought to himself as he resumed his search for something similar to his brother's choice.
Shinji was fiddling with his cloak and that was when he was summoned by the voice of his little brother. Looking over, he saw the blonde haired boy equipped with a dark, almost midnight shade of blue, cloak with a fur lined hood and a decorative buckle around the neck. The boy had his hands on his hips and tried to make the cloak billow, but it only managed to cause the boy to almost trip.
"Hey not bad, gotta work on the cool factor though." With a smirk, Shinji pulled the cloak off the boy and brought his own and Deidara's choices to the front counter. Paying the teenage girl, still ready to fall asleep right at the counter, the boys left the shop and put on their new purchases.
"Do we look cool?" Deidara asked as his and Shinji's faces were both covered by their hoods. Looking down to his companion, Shinji was silent, mulling it over.
"Damn right we do." He said resolutely as he stuck out his fist for deidara to bump. Hesitant at first, he raised his bandaged hand and bumped knuckles with Shinji. With that, the boys continued on their day through the village, cloaks billowing behind them the whole time.
A couple hours had passed since Shinji and Deidara and the two boys found themselves on a bench not too far away from the main hustle and bustle of the market area. Mr. Watanabe even gave them two dragon fruits on the house. As Shinji peeled away the leathery red skin of the fruit, he noticed Deidara had some issues.
Without a word said, Shinji handed deidara a spare kunai, "I trust you know how to cut a fruit right?" he asked with a shit eating smirk.
"Shaddup of course I do!" came the indignant shout from Deidara. With a shaky grip on the kunai, the boy began to peel the skin of the fruit and bit into the white meat, savoring the mildly sweet flavor. Shinji had yet to take a bite and was still staring at the boy's bandaged hands.
"So what's with the bandages?" Shinji asked, voice laced with curiosity and nothing more. It wasn't uncommon for kids to have wild fashion choices, hell he'd seen plenty of that in the academy. "S'it just a fashion thing?"
He didn't notice how Deidara went still as stone, but he did hear the kunai fall to the ground and saw the speck of blood on the blade. Looking over, Deidara was nursing a cut on his finger, caused by the kunai slipping from his hand, partially caused by Shinji's question. His hood shielded all inclination to his reaction, but Shinji could tell Deidara was thinking of a response. Picking up the kunai and wiping it off, Shinji finished his fruit and paid his full attention to deidara.
"Don't laugh." as all the hooded boy said as he began to unwrap his bandages. Shinji actually found himself sitting on the edge of the shared bench, watching as the bandages began to reach the ground.
One finger was revealed, and then another, soon enough Deidara's hand was completely bare for the world to see and Shinji was left, utterly bewildered.
"Woah." was the smart word that escaped the older boy as he inspected the mouth on deidara's hand. Further than the mouth and full set of teeth that accompanied it, was the tongue that flicked about, seemingly looking for something. Deidara however, did not see this as fascinating or intriguing or anything positive.
'I'm a freak.' the words ricocheted inside his skull, filling his head with a desire to hide his horrible hands away from everyone. He stared at his hand, the extra mouth seeming to taunt him all the time, whispering dark thoughts.
He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked over to see his older brother smirking down at him. "I can read your mind, you know."
"Wha-" deidara began only to be interrupted.
"'I'm a freak.' That's what you were thinking, wasn't it?" Shinji did not chuckle, make fun or look at him any differently. So what he had an extra mouth, seemed everyone did with how they ran theirs. Smirk in place, Shinji shook his head in denial. "You shouldn't hide yourself from the world because you think you're a freak. You should embrace it because you're a freak."
The expression on Deidara's face began to sadden and Shinji realized his mistake, "Okay, poor choice of words. What I'm saying is-" however it was Shinji's turn to be interrupted now.
"I already know. The matron says it all the time." Deidara was crestfallen as he said this. Reciting from memory, Deidara continued "You should be proud of who you are. Pfft yeah right." His vision seemed to be lost in his palm that was grinning up at him. "I don't even know my family name.'' The whisper was quiet, so quiet, Shinji had to strain his ears to hear it.
"Then you make a name for yourself." Instantaneously calling the gaze from Deidara who cocked an eyebrow from behind his hood. Shinji leaned over, arms on his legs and looking outward into the crowd of people clamoring around the shops. "Family isn't just blood, Deidara. It's the people you choose to be around, the ones you care for and gain strength from. And your hands?" Shinji looked back and down to the mouthed hand. He grabbed the wrist and a marker from his pocket.
"What're you doing?" Deidara asked, a little nervous. The lid of the marker popped off and the black tip was brought to just above the mouth on his hand.
"You make the best out of a bad situation." Shinji said as the marker was brought away and Deidara noticed a pair of stupid looking eyes above the mouth. He didn't want to admit it, but it did look pretty funny with both eyes looking in opposite directions and drew a small, almost imperceptible smirk.
"Besides, you never know what could be a blessing in disguise." Silence fell between them with Deidara continuing to look at his bare hand, the mouth attached slowing its movements. There was something on Shinji's mind, and even though Deidara was young he could tell. He had the same face the matron did every time she was denied another payment.
"Is…everything okay?" He asked his older brother, to which the older boy just remained silent. Getting on his nerves, the silence was broken when Deidara hopped off the bench and stood in front of Shinji, demanding an answer.
"I just showed you my freakin' hand mouths, tell me what's wrong." Deidara's arms were crossed and his face was shadowed by his hood, but the azure eye that was visible held an angry edge that surprised Shinji. Deidara was silent as he watched Shinji stand.
"Not here." And the older boy began to walk off in the direction of his home. Deidara followed Shinji to his home and was taken aback at the sight of the well kept building. Standing at the foot of the doorway, he realized this was his first time ever seeing his older brother's home.
Shinji opened the door and walked inside, taking off his sandals at the doorstep and looked back to see Deidara still standing at the foot of the walkway. "You coming?" was all he asked before walking further into his home.
The door began to swing close and Deidara rushed to the door, mimicking his brother and taking off his sandals. He was hit with the faint smell of crude oil for some reason and something floral, like he had a garden in his home. Shinji took off his cloak, put it on the back of the couch and walked into his workshop. Deidara kept his cloak on and followed his brother into the workshop.
In the workshop, Deidara realized why he smelt oil with the large machine taking up a majority of the room. "What's that thing?" he asked as he pointed to the trial pod.
"In due time, now keep up." In an unseen move, Shinji grabbed the black remote from under the floorboard and opened the hatch to his lab. Face resembling that of a goldfish out of water at the sight and sounds of the hatch opening, Deidara watched as Shinji just dropped down the hole.
Shinji heard the sounds of his brother coming down the ladder and waited for him to arrive. Watching as deidara dropped down the final step and smirked when the boy looked around at all of the test tubes, beakers and multiple experiments running at the same time.
However, the boy clapped his hands to his face and focused on his original question. "So are you going to tell me?" the blonde boy crossed his arms again and waited for an answer.
"I'll answer your question with another question." This time it was Shinji's turn to cross his arms. He stepped forward and crouched in front of deidara, getting on his level and holding a serious expression on his face.
"How would you react if I told you I wanted to leave the village?" His eyes did not blink, he did not move, instead Shinji waited for the expression on Deidara's face to fade and for him to react. Silence greeted Shinji, who kept his unblinking gaze on the widening azure eye.
"W-What do you mean?" the hooded boy asked, sadness creeping into his voice. "You can't just go-"
"Deidara, calm yourself and answer the question. How would you react?" Shinji interrupted his little brother with the same serious tone as before. He would wait to hear his response as a contemplative gaze evolved from the sad look in Deidara's visible eye.
The younger boy took a deep breath, and then another, mulling over the question landing on a response that wasn't so surprising to him.
"I-" he began with a stutter, shaking his head, and calmed his speech. A not so subtle amount of determination filled the boy's visible eye. "Take me with you."
A smirk formed on Shinji's face as the hard gaze lessened. He placed a hand on Deidara's shoulder, "If that's the case little brother, then we have work to do."