Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond - Chapter 9
As always, this story had to take a backseat to real life. (But now it's exams so clearly the best time to write.) Apologies! And now, without further ado:
Title: Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond
Fandom: Naruto
Type: Multi-chaptered
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Deidara/Sakura
Word count: 5,557
Summary: Naruto had been bragging all day that his new jutsu was his best yet. Sakura and her new situation beg to differ. Post time-skip. DeiSaku.
“This is possibly the best and worst idea that you have ever had,” said Sakura through a mouthful of pie.
Sitting on the cold ground, her back against the brick wall of an old building, she was glad for both the food and the rest. After stealing their breakfast from the city market that morning and the events in the alley that she was trying hard not to think about, she and Deidara had continued east towards the next town. Following their map, which was by now missing a corner and partially unreadable where bloodstains had obscured the ink, they had managed to find a small, rundown industrial town. By the time they had arrived, the afternoon sun was already fading. Hungry and tired, they’d first passed through a grouping of poorly-kept houses on the outskirts, dodging from shadow to shadow to avoid being seen.
Reflecting on the events that followed, a now pleasantly full Sakura decided that perhaps Deidara’s idea wasn’t as bad as it had first appeared.
“You want to steal a pie off a windowsill?” Sakura had asked incredulously as they paused behind a shed next to a house, from which an inviting smell was drifting from an open kitchen window. “That is so, so...”
As Sakura had searched for the right words, Deidara had volunteered his own with a grin, “So what? So evil? So cliché? You seem to forget that I work for an organization that wants to take over the world, yeah.”
Now huddled against her traveling partner, sharing their stolen pastry, Sakura concluded that sometimes it paid to have flexible morals. Her conscience wasn’t happy with her, but her stomach certainly was. Sitting next to Deidara, their shoulders pressed tight against each other to help fend off the evening chill, they ate with their hands, letting their faces and clothes get stained as though they were children.
Licking the last of the pie filling from her fingers and letting her mind wander, Sakura felt the twinges of unease that she had fought against during the day. It had been less trouble to keep them down as she had leapt from tree to tree, constantly alert to detect the presence of enemies. They’d taken breaks only when they’d absolutely needed too, and stayed in one place just long enough to catch their breath and for Sakura to continue her healing. Unwanted thoughts came easier now that they could take time for a proper rest. In the darkened alley where they sat, Sakura couldn’t help but replay the kiss from that morning over and over in her mind. It didn’t help that this alley was so similar to the one in which those events had occurred. Swallowing nervously, she tried to ignore her surroundings.
She knew that it hadn’t meant anything to him; it had only been another one of his ways to annoy her. There had been no hidden motivations or feelings behind it. It had been like any other banter between them, only he’d replied with an action rather than words. Deidara one, Sakura zero, she sighed mentally, wishing that she could think of some way to get back at him and then move on from the whole situation. Another kiss might work, suggested Inner Sakura maliciously.
Shushing her inner voice while feeling increasingly awkward, Sakura became painfully aware of how close she was to Deidara. The warmth they shared while huddled together was welcome, but with him on one side of her and the tall brick walls of the alley that seemed to box her in, she began to feel trapped. To quell her mounting panic and dissuade her heart from running a marathon in her chest, she glanced over at Deidara in hopes of persuading herself that there was no reason to feel uncomfortable; nothing would change between them if she could just get over her own unease, and he wouldn’t kiss her again.
Afraid that he might have sensed the tension running through her, she was at least relieved to note that he showed no signs of having noticed. As he tried unsuccessfully to clean his sticky hands on the fabric of his shirt, he seemed completely unaware of the problems he was causing her.
“See what works of genius occur when you aren’t so morally uptight, yeah?” he said cheerfully, in a good mood after the meal and pleased that his idea had turned out so well.
Eager for a conversation to distract her and feeling that it was her duty to defend herself, albeit halfheartedly, Sakura replied, “I would at least feel better if we’d left some money in exchange. We’ve got so much of it now, there’s no need to be stingy.”
Giving up on trying to clean the remains of the pie from his hands, he turned his head to face her, giving her a grin. “What kind of an S-rank criminal would I be then, yeah? Doing something honest like that would ruin my reputation.”
Between the closeness of his face to hers and his clear blue eyes that unsettled her emotions, Sakura wanted to look away. She was no coward though, and she held his gaze; it wouldn’t do, either, to have him suspect she was still bothered by the events of the morning.
As they looked at each other, their faces at a proximity that was rare for them, Sakura couldn’t help but notice his features. His eyes were a warm shade of blue, rather than icy like Ino’s, and his nose was almost perfectly straight, oddly well-formed and aesthetic for that of a man. Glancing quickly down at his mouth, she even noticed that his smile was very slightly crooked -- something that she thought suited him well and was so very Deidara.
He was still smiling while waiting for her to say something to his earlier comment, although his expression had faltered for a moment when Sakura had glanced down at his mouth. Sakura smiled too, but not as a response; he had a smudge of pie across one side of his face that he didn’t know about.
Unable to contain it any longer, her cheeks starting to hurt from her grin, she told him, “You’ve got pie on your face.”
He blinked at her, a hand going up to wipe his face, before he smiled even harder and said, “So do you, yeah.”
It was exactly what she needed to break her mounting tension. The first laugh hurt, as all of the stress and anxiety that had built up during the time after that morning had formed a heavy, tangled feeling in her chest. Drawing in a deep breath of air, she broke past the knot and let all of her apprehension be swept away through her giggles. The effect of the catharsis left her with tears in her eyes, which she hastily blinked away before Deidara could see them.
Finally managing to calm herself, Sakura felt along one of her cheeks, trying to brush away the food that was apparently there. Deidara shook his head, still grinning wide, with his face now clean from the remains of their dinner. “No, it’s on the other side.”
Bringing up an arm, he wiped away the purple stain from her face with an overly long sleeve. Sakura froze. His movement brought him too close, their faces just inches away from each other, and all of her previous thoughts rushed back to her. He must have noticed her reaction, because she heard his breathing hitch and, withdrawing his hand, he stood up quickly.
Brushing the dirt from his pants, he picked up their backpack, not meeting her eyes. “We should find shelter for the night, yeah. It’ll be too cold to camp outside with what few supplies we have.”
He was already walking out from the alley as Sakura stood up to follow him. She placed a hand over her heart, as though that would help calm its racing. Catching up to him, they fell into step as they turned onto a main street. Feeling safer in the darkness of the evening and reassured that without the presence of frost they would leave no footsteps, Sakura was at least fairly certain they’d have no trouble from any ninja still following them.
She was, however, not looking forward to spending the night so close to Deidara. The air between them was thick with too much that was confused and unspoken as they searched for a place to stay. Sakura was sure she’d be too edgy to sleep if they had to share another bed.
Eager to both ease the awkwardness between them and ensure that they wouldn’t wind up in a double bed again, she broke the silence as they passed by a shabby hotel. “We shouldn’t stay anywhere with other people. An innkeeper would report us to the authorities if the news of the break-in has been made public.” Filthy and unable to speak the local language, Sakura knew they definitely counted as suspicious characters.
“I know, yeah,” Deidara replied quietly, still not looking at her, “And we can’t...” He paused, choosing his words carefully, “We can’t ‘forcibly evict’ any owners like I did before - we don’t want to leave behind a trace.”
Sakura nodded in agreement. Slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to take a badly needed shower, she nonetheless recognized that it would be much safer to spend the night in someone’s tool shed. Frowning, she realized that a tool shed was still too small and enclosed to be alone with Deidara. She wanted nothing more than to run off on her own, away from him, and scream and punch and yell until all of her frustrations were vented and she could forget everything that had happened that morning.
Severing those thoughts and forcing herself to focus, she tried to remember anything useful that she’d seen around the town. The answer came quickly to her, even if it wasn’t entirely appealing.
“Hey, since this place is mostly industrial, why don’t we just camp out in a factory tonight?” she suggested, “Everyone will have gone home by now, and we’ll make sure to leave early in the morning.”
Deidara grimaced at the thought of spending the night on a hard floor, mirroring Sakura’s own reservations, but agreed, “It’s probably the best we can do, yeah. We can find something better in the next town, once we’ve put more distance between us and the city.”
They made their way towards an area they’d passed earlier, filled with promising metal buildings, in increasingly strained silence. Sakura hardly even dared to breathe; the only sounds around them were their soft footsteps and her own pulse.
Relieved when they finally arrived, she helped Deidara look for an open window in the complexes. Finding one, Sakura managed to slide through it with the help of a leg-up from Deidara. Landing lightly on the floor below, she took in her surroundings.
It was clearly some sort of warehouse. Shelves were stacked high with various metal pieces, and there were a few forklifts nearby. The whole place was in a fairly sorry state, with the floors stained and old cardboard boxes strewn about at random.
Deidara landed beside her, having slipped through the window after her. He sighed, but seemed resigned to spending the night on the dirty floors. “Let’s go find ourselves the softest looking corner.”
‘The softest looking corner’ turned out to be one that was mostly free from puddles of oil and grease. As Deidara set explosive traps around them just in case, Sakura sent as much chakra as she could into her injuries that remained. They were mostly healed and would probably be fine to mend on their own, but her mind and emotions were still in a state of turmoil and she knew that she needed that extra bit of exhaustion in order to sleep.
Deidara finished his work as the glow of Sakura’s medical chakra faded. “We should be safe to sleep, yeah,” he said as he lay down on a relatively clean area of concrete, “We can’t risk a fire though -- the light or smoke might be seen from outside.”
The effects of using her chakra weighed heavily on her already tired body, and Sakura yawned before replying, “That’s fine. I’m so tired anyways I don’t think I’ll notice the cold.” She gave Deidara a small, feeble smile, and stretched herself out on the concrete, closing her eyes and trying to forget the events of the day. “Good night.”
“Good night,” he replied softly, and as her mind turned itself over to sleep, she heard him shifting restlessly in futile attempts to make himself more comfortable on the hard, cold floor.
**
As Sakura’s breathing became deep and steady, Deidara opened one eye cautiously. Satisfied that she was finally asleep, he sat up quietly, seating himself cross-legged, back resting against the warehouse wall. Even after the long day of travel, his mind was doing too many acrobatics for him to sleep properly.
The Akatsuki’s leader had always criticized him for not thinking his plans through entirely, and Deidara was finally forced to agree with him. What had he been thinking when he’d kissed Sakura? It had seemed like such a good idea at the time; a great way to tease her and get a rise out of her. It had worked in that respect, but it had backfired in more ways than made it worthwhile.
He’d known it was a bad idea the second his lips had touched hers. All of the nagging emotions he’d felt during their journey struck him with their full force. A multitude of little moments had flooded back to him as he’d held her pressed against him in the alley: the self-satisfied grins she wore when she won an argument, her deliriously pleased expression as she lay half-dead just before she’d punched him, the touch of her chakra-laden fingers against injuries, the feeling of her hand against his face in the dark... He’d come to the sudden realization that that small, innocent kiss had the potential to change so much, and he’d known instantly that he was in trouble.
What confused him, however, was why she was still bothered by what had happened.
His own feelings were easy enough to give a name to, but it unnerved him that she was so affected as well. The rest of the day had been agonizingly awkward; he’d tried his best to maintain some semblance of normality, but she’d failed miserably with her blushes and the way her whole body froze any time he got too near. It was humiliating to think that the kiss had really been so awful. Deidara grimaced, nearing as close to ashamed as he would ever get. He wished she could just forget it had happened; it might help him forget as well.
It’s not like it was her first kiss either, he thought, still puzzled at her reactions. Freezing, he had a sudden, terrifying thought: what if it had been her first kiss? But that was impossible, he told himself, crushing most of his doubts; she was too pretty for that to be true.
He groaned and put his head in his hands. Ever since they’d started their crazy adventure, he’d been trying to keep that thought from his head. It was undeniable though: she was pretty. He chanced a quick glance over at Sakura’s sleeping form. Even with her skin pale and smudged with dirt, the dark circles under her eyes undiminished as she slept, and her hair dull and unwashed, she was still more attractive to him than he would like to admit.
This was precisely why he had to get away from living as a fugitive, he thought bitterly, disgusted with himself for such thoughts; he’d clearly been around too few women if he was admiring the waif-ish and filthy medic-nin.
Ordinarily, he wasn’t skittish about admitting attraction. It was true, what Sakura had said a few days earlier: the bloodline limit affecting his hands didn’t make him terribly popular with women. But if he managed to keep the extra mouths concealed, he usually didn’t have any problems. This whole situation with Sakura, however, was far from usual or ordinary. For starters, after all that they’d been through, she’d gained his grudging respect.
She wasn’t catty like many other women he’d met, and she didn’t have the annoying habit of expecting special treatment just because she was a woman. She had her own opinions and would argue with him whenever she saw fit. He could see now that she was indeed the Hokage’s apprentice; she could more than hold her own in any fight and her healing abilities were, to say the least, impressive. She had her ups and downs, her good qualities and her bad, but in the end, she was just Sakura -- Deidara didn’t know how else to define her.
Sighing, frustrated with himself and the situation he’d caused, he lay back down on the uncomfortable floor. Closing his eyes and trying to pry his mind away from the kunoichi lying next to him, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep.
**
When Sakura awoke the next morning, she felt slightly better and less emotionally confused. It was a new day and she felt that she could put certain recent, troubling events behind her. Physically, however... Her shoulder and hip that had been pressed against the floor were stiff and sore, so she sent a little jolt of chakra to relieve them. Pressing a hand against her abdomen, she was glad to feel that her previous injuries were mostly healed. Beside her, Deidara propped himself up on an elbow and turned his head away from the rays of early morning light that streamed in through a nearby window. His hair was in complete disarray and the dark circles under his eyes were worse than ever. He looked as though he had barely slept.
“Hard floor didn’t agree with you?” she teased, but decided to soften her comment as he gave her a grumpy glare, “Don’t worry, my vote goes towards a hotel tonight too.”
“I agree, yeah,” he said, his voice scratchy, “At this point, I don’t even care if enemy ninja find us, as long as I’ve had a shower and can sleep on a mattress.”
Sakura nodded, standing up and beginning a set of stretches. “No kidding. Even if it’s an uneven, lumpy, and smelly old mattress, I’d still take it.”
Moving to clear away the explosives he’d set around them, Deidara took this almost as a challenge. “I’d even take bedbugs, yeah.”
Sakura wrinkled her nose at the thought. “We’re so dirty anyway, I don’t think we’d need to worry about any sort of creature wanting to come near us.”
They both grinned widely at each other, and Sakura had a fleeting moment of reassurance; she was so over what had happened yesterday.
This false sense of confidence, however, was quick to be destroyed. After stretching out their stiff muscles and ensuring that they’d left no traces where they’d slept, they both reached for the backpack at the same time. Deidara’s hand landed over hers on one of the straps and Sakura felt her face flush as all of her awkward emotions rushed back.
They both froze for an instant, unable to look each other in the eyes. Breathe caught in her throat, Sakura felt an uncomfortable knot settle in her stomach.
Deidara recovered first, snatching the pack off the ground and swinging it onto his shoulders. “Let’s not waste time, yeah,” he mumbled, already walking away from her.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, she followed behind him. They left from the window they’d come in the night before and made their way in silence through the town’s streets, still deserted in the early hours of the morning.
When they came to the edge of the town, Sakura forced down her discomfort and asked, “Where are we headed next?”
Quickening his pace and not bothering to look at her, he replied shortly, “We keep moving east until we find another town, yeah. We’re still too close to the main city.”
Sakura bit her lip to hold back a sigh as a feeling of dismay settled over her. More travel, more unresolved awkwardness. She had hoped that a night of sleep would help ease the tensions between them, but if anything, their interaction had become even more strained than the day before. Deidara’s neutral expression revealed nothing of his thoughts, but Sakura could tell he felt as uncomfortable as she did. Fighting back the urge to scream in frustration, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pushed away all thoughts of her travel partner as they made their way out of town.
**
The sun was barely visible through the thick canopy of trees, but Sakura guessed it was already about midday. After leaving the town, they’d continued to head east, keeping to forested areas that offered better cover.
Deidara had said nothing during the entire journey, keeping his eyes focused ahead and concentrating on their route as he leapt from tree to tree. Sakura was perfectly content not to hear his irritating comments or encourage further awkwardness between them, but the monotony of the forest whizzing past was starting to grate on her. As much as she hated to admit it, she could use a break and a conversation - or argument, more likely - to ease the boredom.
Swallowing, she gathered her courage to break the silence between them. “Deidara?”
Startled at the sudden sound of her voice but not breaking his pace, he glanced over at her. “Yeah?”
“Let’s stop for a moment.”
“Hhmm? Tired already?” He smirked mockingly, but slowed his pace and allowed her to lead him down towards the ground.
Dropping down onto the forest floor, frosty grass crunching beneath her feet, she glared at him as she began to stretch out the muscles in her legs. “Don’t tell me you weren’t getting bored too - we’ve been traveling for hours. How far away do you think the next town is, anyway?”
Taking off the backpack and rolling the tension out of his shoulders, Deidara replied, “Should be there soon, yeah, from what I can tell.”
Sakura frowned - ‘soon’ wasn’t a good enough answer. Taking a few steps forward, she knelt down and unzipped the front compartment of the pack. “Let’s take a look at the map,” she suggested as she pulled out the tattered piece of paper and settled herself on the ground, ignoring the cold.
As she unfolded it, Deidara sat down beside her; Sakura wished all sorts of curses on her traitorous body as her heart thudded annoyingly loud and the hairs on her arms rose. Forcing herself to stare at the map in what she hoped would pass as concentration, she asked, “Where are we now?”
Deidara reached over and tapped a section on the far right. “We should be somewhere around here, yeah.” Pointing to an area marked as a town, he continued, “This is where we came from, and this...” -- Sakura clamped down on an involuntary shiver as he leaned in closer -- “This is where we should be heading, yeah.”
Willing herself to focus, she studied the area that Deidara had indicated. Although partially obscured by a smudge of dirt, it was drawn about the same size as the town they’d just come from. It looked like any other location on the map, but there was one thing that worried her. Looking up at Deidara and trying to keep the concern from her voice, she asked, “What will we do when we pass this next town? We’re at the edge of the map - we won’t know where we’re going.”
He met her gaze and Sakura resisted the urge to look away. “We’ll figure something out, yeah,” he said softly.
As they held each other’s gaze for a moment more than necessary, a cold wind blew by making Sakura shiver; the sweat she’d worked up during their journey made it feel infinitely colder.
Noticing her reaction, Deidara took the map from her and stood up. “Let’s go. No sense standing around, yeah.”
Stuffing the map carelessly into a pocket, he picked up their bag and swung it over a shoulder before making a chakra-enhanced jump up into the trees. Dismayed by his haste, Sakura nonetheless stood up and gave her legs one final quick stretch before following him.
As she caught up with Deidara and fell into a comfortable pace leaping from branch to branch, she bit back a sigh; although the air was thick with tension between them, Sakura was unwilling to end conversation. She had as much carefully trained mental fortitude as any ninja, but the few minutes she’d had to rest did little to break the monotony of the day’s long hours of travel.
As her mind began to wander, her movements from tree to tree became automatic. Her earlier boredom kicking in again, Sakura swore that she’d see leaves and branches flying by even if she closed her eyes.
With her mind on other things, Sakura barely noticed when she landed on a rotten branch. The sudden snap as it broke brought her back to reality and she quickly threw her weight forwards. Luckily landing on another nearby branch with only a slight stumble, she continued to jump as though nothing had happened. Praying that her slip up hadn’t been noticed, she chanced a glance over at Deidara, only to be met with his taunting gaze.
“Can’t keep up, yeah?” he said with his trademark smirk.
Sakura made a face at him in return, willing herself not to be embarrassed. At least, she thought, slightly relieved, there was no malice in Deidara’s expression. By now she was almost used to his habitual taunting. It was exactly what he’d always done, before those disastrous events in the alley had upset everything between them. With a sudden wave of nostalgia for their old dynamic, Sakura grasped at the first idea for conversation she could find.
“Why do you say that all the time?” she asked suddenly.
“Say what?” he asked, confused by her sudden question.
Feeling her cheeks colour as she realized that her question was completely out of the blue, she explained, “Why do you add ‘yeah’ to the end of your sentences?”
He shrugged and refocused his attention on the forest ahead of him. “It’s just the way I talk, yeah.”
Sakura flicked her gaze over to him for a minute, suspecting that he’d added the last word just to tease her, but his expression was earnest. When he didn’t offer any further explanation, she pressed on. “So, it’s just a personal quirk?”
“Mmm... It’s more like a dialect.” Pausing for a moment, he glanced over at Sakura. Realizing that she was staring at him expectantly, he hesitated before continuing, “You know I’m from the Northern Countries, yeah? This is just... the way we talk.”
Unable to help herself, Sakura’s imagination presented her with an image of a whole town full of Deidaras. She kicked the images out of her mind quickly before she risked going insane. Letting out a soft laugh at her thoughts, she told him frankly, “I think hearing that all the time would drive me absolutely mad.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean, yeah? I’d say it’s better than you southerners always adding ‘like’ to your sentences.”
“We don’t do that!” Sakura replied indignantly.
“Yes, you do. And speaking of going mad, if we didn’t get blown out here to nowhere, I think I would’ve developed a twitch by now if I had to keep listening to that. Like like like like like… You have no idea how annoying it is, yeah.”
Opening her mouth to contradict him, Sakura stopped suddenly as thoughts of Ino rushed to her head. And of the admittedly quite annoying academy students. And of, embarrassingly, some jounin.
“Okay, okay... You have a point,” she conceded.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, sounding smug.
Feeling that she should at least offer a bit more resistance, Sakura added, “But hey, at least I don’t do that.”
Deidara gave her an infuriatingly patronizing smile. “Mmhmm.”
Knowing she was free from any poor linguistic habits, she wasn’t too bothered by his taunts. Just play along with it, she decided. He was teasing her just like he used to. Sakura fought back a smile and hoped that her expression looked convincingly offended. “What? Hey! I don’t!”
“Are you, like, sure about that, yeah?”
“Oh shut up.”
**
They arrived at their destination in the evening, just as the sun was beginning to set. The town was in much better shape than the previous one; clean cobblestone streets and shops still busy with customers
It wasn’t long before Sakura’s gaze fell upon a welcome sight. Grabbing Deidara by the arm, she dragged him into the first hotel she saw. Judging by the sparkling white floor tiles and the dark wooden furniture in the lobby, it was fairly upscale. Inner Sakura rejoiced over thoughts of feather pillows and a whirlpool bathtub.
Making a beeline for the receptionist, Sakura dove a hand into the backpack Deidara was carrying and withdrew a fistful of gold coins. The man’s eyes widened in disbelief before quickly swapping the coins for a key. Belatedly, Sakura realized she’d probably given him an absurdly large tip, but found that she didn’t actually care very much when a shower and sleep were so near.
As they stepped into the elevator, Sakura looked at the keys in her hands wearily and realized with dismay that they’d undoubtedly wound up with a double bed again.
Pressing the button for their floor, Deidara cheerfully mirrored her thoughts out loud. “There’s probably only going to be one bed, yeah.”
She knew he was right, but narrowed her eyes at him nonetheless. “You sound pleased.”
“Oh I am,” he replied with an obnoxious wink.
Sakura shook her head, unable to keep a grin from her face. Forgetting about their previous awkwardness was easier when they were both in a good mood from thoughts of a warm bed and a shower.
As they stepped out of the elevator, Deidara smirked to himself and hit the buttons for all the floors. Sakura could hardly believe it. “How old are you?”
Deidara’s reply was cut short by the sound of shattering glass. Adrenaline spiking, Sakura threw herself flat against the wall and barely missed being hit by a flurry of kunai. At the end of the hallway, a ninja crouched low against the floor, speaking quickly into a radio.
“Hit him quick, yeah,” Deidara yelled, explosives forming in his hands, “He’s calling for backup!”
Blood pounding in her ears, Sakura grabbed a kunai from the pouch around her waist and sent it flying towards the enemy. Knocking it aside with the back of his hand, the ninja stood and formed a set of seals. As Sakura swore and began to focus her chakra into her fists, Deidara threw a handful of clay birds. Shielding her face against the explosion, Sakura felt the heat and flames surge uncomfortably near.
Eyes watering from the smoke, she tried to refocus on the enemy. Spotting what was left of him, she looked away, thankful that she hadn’t eaten anything lately.
As Sakura regained her breath, senses still alert for any other sudden attacks, Deidara turned towards her and said, “Twenty.”
Sakura looked at him quizzically. They had just escaped a near-death experience and now he was spouting random numbers? Maybe her reformed opinion of him was wrong; he was completely crazy.
Seeing her expression, he elaborated. “It’s my age, idiot. You asked before, remember?”
So she had... She’d forgotten - but that didn’t give him an excuse to call her an idiot. She reached over and pinched him.
“OW! Fuck! Well I guess I don’t need to ask how old you are! Can’t be more than goddamned twelve, yeah!”
“I’m eighteen, you moron,” she informed him, rolling her eyes.
“Oh? Legal, eh?” He gave her an exaggeratedly lascivious grin.
She punched him playfully in the arm before moving to kick away some of the broken glass along the window, avoiding the remains of the enemy ninja. As much as she felt guilty for leaving the owners with the bill for the damage, Sakura didn’t want to risk waiting around for more ninja to show up. Her heart sinking, she bid farewell to the tempting thought of rest. “Let’s get moving. We have to shake them off our trail again.”
Climbing from the window onto a nearby roof, Sakura lamented their situation. Maybe in the next town she’d actually get a chance to relax.
Hearing Deidara land lightly beside her, Sakura remarked, “I still vote for finding a hotel in the next place we end up.” She sighed softly and thought aloud, “I was so looking forward to taking a bath.”
“I was looking forward to that too, yeah.” Sakura felt the beginnings of a smile at his sympathy before Deidara’s expression turned mockingly wishful. “You’re really starting to smell.”
Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in frustration as they leapt carefully across rooftops. It was going to be a long night.
++
Chapter 10
Title: Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond
Fandom: Naruto
Type: Multi-chaptered
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Deidara/Sakura
Word count: 5,557
Summary: Naruto had been bragging all day that his new jutsu was his best yet. Sakura and her new situation beg to differ. Post time-skip. DeiSaku.
“This is possibly the best and worst idea that you have ever had,” said Sakura through a mouthful of pie.
Sitting on the cold ground, her back against the brick wall of an old building, she was glad for both the food and the rest. After stealing their breakfast from the city market that morning and the events in the alley that she was trying hard not to think about, she and Deidara had continued east towards the next town. Following their map, which was by now missing a corner and partially unreadable where bloodstains had obscured the ink, they had managed to find a small, rundown industrial town. By the time they had arrived, the afternoon sun was already fading. Hungry and tired, they’d first passed through a grouping of poorly-kept houses on the outskirts, dodging from shadow to shadow to avoid being seen.
Reflecting on the events that followed, a now pleasantly full Sakura decided that perhaps Deidara’s idea wasn’t as bad as it had first appeared.
“You want to steal a pie off a windowsill?” Sakura had asked incredulously as they paused behind a shed next to a house, from which an inviting smell was drifting from an open kitchen window. “That is so, so...”
As Sakura had searched for the right words, Deidara had volunteered his own with a grin, “So what? So evil? So cliché? You seem to forget that I work for an organization that wants to take over the world, yeah.”
Now huddled against her traveling partner, sharing their stolen pastry, Sakura concluded that sometimes it paid to have flexible morals. Her conscience wasn’t happy with her, but her stomach certainly was. Sitting next to Deidara, their shoulders pressed tight against each other to help fend off the evening chill, they ate with their hands, letting their faces and clothes get stained as though they were children.
Licking the last of the pie filling from her fingers and letting her mind wander, Sakura felt the twinges of unease that she had fought against during the day. It had been less trouble to keep them down as she had leapt from tree to tree, constantly alert to detect the presence of enemies. They’d taken breaks only when they’d absolutely needed too, and stayed in one place just long enough to catch their breath and for Sakura to continue her healing. Unwanted thoughts came easier now that they could take time for a proper rest. In the darkened alley where they sat, Sakura couldn’t help but replay the kiss from that morning over and over in her mind. It didn’t help that this alley was so similar to the one in which those events had occurred. Swallowing nervously, she tried to ignore her surroundings.
She knew that it hadn’t meant anything to him; it had only been another one of his ways to annoy her. There had been no hidden motivations or feelings behind it. It had been like any other banter between them, only he’d replied with an action rather than words. Deidara one, Sakura zero, she sighed mentally, wishing that she could think of some way to get back at him and then move on from the whole situation. Another kiss might work, suggested Inner Sakura maliciously.
Shushing her inner voice while feeling increasingly awkward, Sakura became painfully aware of how close she was to Deidara. The warmth they shared while huddled together was welcome, but with him on one side of her and the tall brick walls of the alley that seemed to box her in, she began to feel trapped. To quell her mounting panic and dissuade her heart from running a marathon in her chest, she glanced over at Deidara in hopes of persuading herself that there was no reason to feel uncomfortable; nothing would change between them if she could just get over her own unease, and he wouldn’t kiss her again.
Afraid that he might have sensed the tension running through her, she was at least relieved to note that he showed no signs of having noticed. As he tried unsuccessfully to clean his sticky hands on the fabric of his shirt, he seemed completely unaware of the problems he was causing her.
“See what works of genius occur when you aren’t so morally uptight, yeah?” he said cheerfully, in a good mood after the meal and pleased that his idea had turned out so well.
Eager for a conversation to distract her and feeling that it was her duty to defend herself, albeit halfheartedly, Sakura replied, “I would at least feel better if we’d left some money in exchange. We’ve got so much of it now, there’s no need to be stingy.”
Giving up on trying to clean the remains of the pie from his hands, he turned his head to face her, giving her a grin. “What kind of an S-rank criminal would I be then, yeah? Doing something honest like that would ruin my reputation.”
Between the closeness of his face to hers and his clear blue eyes that unsettled her emotions, Sakura wanted to look away. She was no coward though, and she held his gaze; it wouldn’t do, either, to have him suspect she was still bothered by the events of the morning.
As they looked at each other, their faces at a proximity that was rare for them, Sakura couldn’t help but notice his features. His eyes were a warm shade of blue, rather than icy like Ino’s, and his nose was almost perfectly straight, oddly well-formed and aesthetic for that of a man. Glancing quickly down at his mouth, she even noticed that his smile was very slightly crooked -- something that she thought suited him well and was so very Deidara.
He was still smiling while waiting for her to say something to his earlier comment, although his expression had faltered for a moment when Sakura had glanced down at his mouth. Sakura smiled too, but not as a response; he had a smudge of pie across one side of his face that he didn’t know about.
Unable to contain it any longer, her cheeks starting to hurt from her grin, she told him, “You’ve got pie on your face.”
He blinked at her, a hand going up to wipe his face, before he smiled even harder and said, “So do you, yeah.”
It was exactly what she needed to break her mounting tension. The first laugh hurt, as all of the stress and anxiety that had built up during the time after that morning had formed a heavy, tangled feeling in her chest. Drawing in a deep breath of air, she broke past the knot and let all of her apprehension be swept away through her giggles. The effect of the catharsis left her with tears in her eyes, which she hastily blinked away before Deidara could see them.
Finally managing to calm herself, Sakura felt along one of her cheeks, trying to brush away the food that was apparently there. Deidara shook his head, still grinning wide, with his face now clean from the remains of their dinner. “No, it’s on the other side.”
Bringing up an arm, he wiped away the purple stain from her face with an overly long sleeve. Sakura froze. His movement brought him too close, their faces just inches away from each other, and all of her previous thoughts rushed back to her. He must have noticed her reaction, because she heard his breathing hitch and, withdrawing his hand, he stood up quickly.
Brushing the dirt from his pants, he picked up their backpack, not meeting her eyes. “We should find shelter for the night, yeah. It’ll be too cold to camp outside with what few supplies we have.”
He was already walking out from the alley as Sakura stood up to follow him. She placed a hand over her heart, as though that would help calm its racing. Catching up to him, they fell into step as they turned onto a main street. Feeling safer in the darkness of the evening and reassured that without the presence of frost they would leave no footsteps, Sakura was at least fairly certain they’d have no trouble from any ninja still following them.
She was, however, not looking forward to spending the night so close to Deidara. The air between them was thick with too much that was confused and unspoken as they searched for a place to stay. Sakura was sure she’d be too edgy to sleep if they had to share another bed.
Eager to both ease the awkwardness between them and ensure that they wouldn’t wind up in a double bed again, she broke the silence as they passed by a shabby hotel. “We shouldn’t stay anywhere with other people. An innkeeper would report us to the authorities if the news of the break-in has been made public.” Filthy and unable to speak the local language, Sakura knew they definitely counted as suspicious characters.
“I know, yeah,” Deidara replied quietly, still not looking at her, “And we can’t...” He paused, choosing his words carefully, “We can’t ‘forcibly evict’ any owners like I did before - we don’t want to leave behind a trace.”
Sakura nodded in agreement. Slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to take a badly needed shower, she nonetheless recognized that it would be much safer to spend the night in someone’s tool shed. Frowning, she realized that a tool shed was still too small and enclosed to be alone with Deidara. She wanted nothing more than to run off on her own, away from him, and scream and punch and yell until all of her frustrations were vented and she could forget everything that had happened that morning.
Severing those thoughts and forcing herself to focus, she tried to remember anything useful that she’d seen around the town. The answer came quickly to her, even if it wasn’t entirely appealing.
“Hey, since this place is mostly industrial, why don’t we just camp out in a factory tonight?” she suggested, “Everyone will have gone home by now, and we’ll make sure to leave early in the morning.”
Deidara grimaced at the thought of spending the night on a hard floor, mirroring Sakura’s own reservations, but agreed, “It’s probably the best we can do, yeah. We can find something better in the next town, once we’ve put more distance between us and the city.”
They made their way towards an area they’d passed earlier, filled with promising metal buildings, in increasingly strained silence. Sakura hardly even dared to breathe; the only sounds around them were their soft footsteps and her own pulse.
Relieved when they finally arrived, she helped Deidara look for an open window in the complexes. Finding one, Sakura managed to slide through it with the help of a leg-up from Deidara. Landing lightly on the floor below, she took in her surroundings.
It was clearly some sort of warehouse. Shelves were stacked high with various metal pieces, and there were a few forklifts nearby. The whole place was in a fairly sorry state, with the floors stained and old cardboard boxes strewn about at random.
Deidara landed beside her, having slipped through the window after her. He sighed, but seemed resigned to spending the night on the dirty floors. “Let’s go find ourselves the softest looking corner.”
‘The softest looking corner’ turned out to be one that was mostly free from puddles of oil and grease. As Deidara set explosive traps around them just in case, Sakura sent as much chakra as she could into her injuries that remained. They were mostly healed and would probably be fine to mend on their own, but her mind and emotions were still in a state of turmoil and she knew that she needed that extra bit of exhaustion in order to sleep.
Deidara finished his work as the glow of Sakura’s medical chakra faded. “We should be safe to sleep, yeah,” he said as he lay down on a relatively clean area of concrete, “We can’t risk a fire though -- the light or smoke might be seen from outside.”
The effects of using her chakra weighed heavily on her already tired body, and Sakura yawned before replying, “That’s fine. I’m so tired anyways I don’t think I’ll notice the cold.” She gave Deidara a small, feeble smile, and stretched herself out on the concrete, closing her eyes and trying to forget the events of the day. “Good night.”
“Good night,” he replied softly, and as her mind turned itself over to sleep, she heard him shifting restlessly in futile attempts to make himself more comfortable on the hard, cold floor.
**
As Sakura’s breathing became deep and steady, Deidara opened one eye cautiously. Satisfied that she was finally asleep, he sat up quietly, seating himself cross-legged, back resting against the warehouse wall. Even after the long day of travel, his mind was doing too many acrobatics for him to sleep properly.
The Akatsuki’s leader had always criticized him for not thinking his plans through entirely, and Deidara was finally forced to agree with him. What had he been thinking when he’d kissed Sakura? It had seemed like such a good idea at the time; a great way to tease her and get a rise out of her. It had worked in that respect, but it had backfired in more ways than made it worthwhile.
He’d known it was a bad idea the second his lips had touched hers. All of the nagging emotions he’d felt during their journey struck him with their full force. A multitude of little moments had flooded back to him as he’d held her pressed against him in the alley: the self-satisfied grins she wore when she won an argument, her deliriously pleased expression as she lay half-dead just before she’d punched him, the touch of her chakra-laden fingers against injuries, the feeling of her hand against his face in the dark... He’d come to the sudden realization that that small, innocent kiss had the potential to change so much, and he’d known instantly that he was in trouble.
What confused him, however, was why she was still bothered by what had happened.
His own feelings were easy enough to give a name to, but it unnerved him that she was so affected as well. The rest of the day had been agonizingly awkward; he’d tried his best to maintain some semblance of normality, but she’d failed miserably with her blushes and the way her whole body froze any time he got too near. It was humiliating to think that the kiss had really been so awful. Deidara grimaced, nearing as close to ashamed as he would ever get. He wished she could just forget it had happened; it might help him forget as well.
It’s not like it was her first kiss either, he thought, still puzzled at her reactions. Freezing, he had a sudden, terrifying thought: what if it had been her first kiss? But that was impossible, he told himself, crushing most of his doubts; she was too pretty for that to be true.
He groaned and put his head in his hands. Ever since they’d started their crazy adventure, he’d been trying to keep that thought from his head. It was undeniable though: she was pretty. He chanced a quick glance over at Sakura’s sleeping form. Even with her skin pale and smudged with dirt, the dark circles under her eyes undiminished as she slept, and her hair dull and unwashed, she was still more attractive to him than he would like to admit.
This was precisely why he had to get away from living as a fugitive, he thought bitterly, disgusted with himself for such thoughts; he’d clearly been around too few women if he was admiring the waif-ish and filthy medic-nin.
Ordinarily, he wasn’t skittish about admitting attraction. It was true, what Sakura had said a few days earlier: the bloodline limit affecting his hands didn’t make him terribly popular with women. But if he managed to keep the extra mouths concealed, he usually didn’t have any problems. This whole situation with Sakura, however, was far from usual or ordinary. For starters, after all that they’d been through, she’d gained his grudging respect.
She wasn’t catty like many other women he’d met, and she didn’t have the annoying habit of expecting special treatment just because she was a woman. She had her own opinions and would argue with him whenever she saw fit. He could see now that she was indeed the Hokage’s apprentice; she could more than hold her own in any fight and her healing abilities were, to say the least, impressive. She had her ups and downs, her good qualities and her bad, but in the end, she was just Sakura -- Deidara didn’t know how else to define her.
Sighing, frustrated with himself and the situation he’d caused, he lay back down on the uncomfortable floor. Closing his eyes and trying to pry his mind away from the kunoichi lying next to him, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep.
**
When Sakura awoke the next morning, she felt slightly better and less emotionally confused. It was a new day and she felt that she could put certain recent, troubling events behind her. Physically, however... Her shoulder and hip that had been pressed against the floor were stiff and sore, so she sent a little jolt of chakra to relieve them. Pressing a hand against her abdomen, she was glad to feel that her previous injuries were mostly healed. Beside her, Deidara propped himself up on an elbow and turned his head away from the rays of early morning light that streamed in through a nearby window. His hair was in complete disarray and the dark circles under his eyes were worse than ever. He looked as though he had barely slept.
“Hard floor didn’t agree with you?” she teased, but decided to soften her comment as he gave her a grumpy glare, “Don’t worry, my vote goes towards a hotel tonight too.”
“I agree, yeah,” he said, his voice scratchy, “At this point, I don’t even care if enemy ninja find us, as long as I’ve had a shower and can sleep on a mattress.”
Sakura nodded, standing up and beginning a set of stretches. “No kidding. Even if it’s an uneven, lumpy, and smelly old mattress, I’d still take it.”
Moving to clear away the explosives he’d set around them, Deidara took this almost as a challenge. “I’d even take bedbugs, yeah.”
Sakura wrinkled her nose at the thought. “We’re so dirty anyway, I don’t think we’d need to worry about any sort of creature wanting to come near us.”
They both grinned widely at each other, and Sakura had a fleeting moment of reassurance; she was so over what had happened yesterday.
This false sense of confidence, however, was quick to be destroyed. After stretching out their stiff muscles and ensuring that they’d left no traces where they’d slept, they both reached for the backpack at the same time. Deidara’s hand landed over hers on one of the straps and Sakura felt her face flush as all of her awkward emotions rushed back.
They both froze for an instant, unable to look each other in the eyes. Breathe caught in her throat, Sakura felt an uncomfortable knot settle in her stomach.
Deidara recovered first, snatching the pack off the ground and swinging it onto his shoulders. “Let’s not waste time, yeah,” he mumbled, already walking away from her.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, she followed behind him. They left from the window they’d come in the night before and made their way in silence through the town’s streets, still deserted in the early hours of the morning.
When they came to the edge of the town, Sakura forced down her discomfort and asked, “Where are we headed next?”
Quickening his pace and not bothering to look at her, he replied shortly, “We keep moving east until we find another town, yeah. We’re still too close to the main city.”
Sakura bit her lip to hold back a sigh as a feeling of dismay settled over her. More travel, more unresolved awkwardness. She had hoped that a night of sleep would help ease the tensions between them, but if anything, their interaction had become even more strained than the day before. Deidara’s neutral expression revealed nothing of his thoughts, but Sakura could tell he felt as uncomfortable as she did. Fighting back the urge to scream in frustration, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pushed away all thoughts of her travel partner as they made their way out of town.
**
The sun was barely visible through the thick canopy of trees, but Sakura guessed it was already about midday. After leaving the town, they’d continued to head east, keeping to forested areas that offered better cover.
Deidara had said nothing during the entire journey, keeping his eyes focused ahead and concentrating on their route as he leapt from tree to tree. Sakura was perfectly content not to hear his irritating comments or encourage further awkwardness between them, but the monotony of the forest whizzing past was starting to grate on her. As much as she hated to admit it, she could use a break and a conversation - or argument, more likely - to ease the boredom.
Swallowing, she gathered her courage to break the silence between them. “Deidara?”
Startled at the sudden sound of her voice but not breaking his pace, he glanced over at her. “Yeah?”
“Let’s stop for a moment.”
“Hhmm? Tired already?” He smirked mockingly, but slowed his pace and allowed her to lead him down towards the ground.
Dropping down onto the forest floor, frosty grass crunching beneath her feet, she glared at him as she began to stretch out the muscles in her legs. “Don’t tell me you weren’t getting bored too - we’ve been traveling for hours. How far away do you think the next town is, anyway?”
Taking off the backpack and rolling the tension out of his shoulders, Deidara replied, “Should be there soon, yeah, from what I can tell.”
Sakura frowned - ‘soon’ wasn’t a good enough answer. Taking a few steps forward, she knelt down and unzipped the front compartment of the pack. “Let’s take a look at the map,” she suggested as she pulled out the tattered piece of paper and settled herself on the ground, ignoring the cold.
As she unfolded it, Deidara sat down beside her; Sakura wished all sorts of curses on her traitorous body as her heart thudded annoyingly loud and the hairs on her arms rose. Forcing herself to stare at the map in what she hoped would pass as concentration, she asked, “Where are we now?”
Deidara reached over and tapped a section on the far right. “We should be somewhere around here, yeah.” Pointing to an area marked as a town, he continued, “This is where we came from, and this...” -- Sakura clamped down on an involuntary shiver as he leaned in closer -- “This is where we should be heading, yeah.”
Willing herself to focus, she studied the area that Deidara had indicated. Although partially obscured by a smudge of dirt, it was drawn about the same size as the town they’d just come from. It looked like any other location on the map, but there was one thing that worried her. Looking up at Deidara and trying to keep the concern from her voice, she asked, “What will we do when we pass this next town? We’re at the edge of the map - we won’t know where we’re going.”
He met her gaze and Sakura resisted the urge to look away. “We’ll figure something out, yeah,” he said softly.
As they held each other’s gaze for a moment more than necessary, a cold wind blew by making Sakura shiver; the sweat she’d worked up during their journey made it feel infinitely colder.
Noticing her reaction, Deidara took the map from her and stood up. “Let’s go. No sense standing around, yeah.”
Stuffing the map carelessly into a pocket, he picked up their bag and swung it over a shoulder before making a chakra-enhanced jump up into the trees. Dismayed by his haste, Sakura nonetheless stood up and gave her legs one final quick stretch before following him.
As she caught up with Deidara and fell into a comfortable pace leaping from branch to branch, she bit back a sigh; although the air was thick with tension between them, Sakura was unwilling to end conversation. She had as much carefully trained mental fortitude as any ninja, but the few minutes she’d had to rest did little to break the monotony of the day’s long hours of travel.
As her mind began to wander, her movements from tree to tree became automatic. Her earlier boredom kicking in again, Sakura swore that she’d see leaves and branches flying by even if she closed her eyes.
With her mind on other things, Sakura barely noticed when she landed on a rotten branch. The sudden snap as it broke brought her back to reality and she quickly threw her weight forwards. Luckily landing on another nearby branch with only a slight stumble, she continued to jump as though nothing had happened. Praying that her slip up hadn’t been noticed, she chanced a glance over at Deidara, only to be met with his taunting gaze.
“Can’t keep up, yeah?” he said with his trademark smirk.
Sakura made a face at him in return, willing herself not to be embarrassed. At least, she thought, slightly relieved, there was no malice in Deidara’s expression. By now she was almost used to his habitual taunting. It was exactly what he’d always done, before those disastrous events in the alley had upset everything between them. With a sudden wave of nostalgia for their old dynamic, Sakura grasped at the first idea for conversation she could find.
“Why do you say that all the time?” she asked suddenly.
“Say what?” he asked, confused by her sudden question.
Feeling her cheeks colour as she realized that her question was completely out of the blue, she explained, “Why do you add ‘yeah’ to the end of your sentences?”
He shrugged and refocused his attention on the forest ahead of him. “It’s just the way I talk, yeah.”
Sakura flicked her gaze over to him for a minute, suspecting that he’d added the last word just to tease her, but his expression was earnest. When he didn’t offer any further explanation, she pressed on. “So, it’s just a personal quirk?”
“Mmm... It’s more like a dialect.” Pausing for a moment, he glanced over at Sakura. Realizing that she was staring at him expectantly, he hesitated before continuing, “You know I’m from the Northern Countries, yeah? This is just... the way we talk.”
Unable to help herself, Sakura’s imagination presented her with an image of a whole town full of Deidaras. She kicked the images out of her mind quickly before she risked going insane. Letting out a soft laugh at her thoughts, she told him frankly, “I think hearing that all the time would drive me absolutely mad.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean, yeah? I’d say it’s better than you southerners always adding ‘like’ to your sentences.”
“We don’t do that!” Sakura replied indignantly.
“Yes, you do. And speaking of going mad, if we didn’t get blown out here to nowhere, I think I would’ve developed a twitch by now if I had to keep listening to that. Like like like like like… You have no idea how annoying it is, yeah.”
Opening her mouth to contradict him, Sakura stopped suddenly as thoughts of Ino rushed to her head. And of the admittedly quite annoying academy students. And of, embarrassingly, some jounin.
“Okay, okay... You have a point,” she conceded.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, sounding smug.
Feeling that she should at least offer a bit more resistance, Sakura added, “But hey, at least I don’t do that.”
Deidara gave her an infuriatingly patronizing smile. “Mmhmm.”
Knowing she was free from any poor linguistic habits, she wasn’t too bothered by his taunts. Just play along with it, she decided. He was teasing her just like he used to. Sakura fought back a smile and hoped that her expression looked convincingly offended. “What? Hey! I don’t!”
“Are you, like, sure about that, yeah?”
“Oh shut up.”
**
They arrived at their destination in the evening, just as the sun was beginning to set. The town was in much better shape than the previous one; clean cobblestone streets and shops still busy with customers
It wasn’t long before Sakura’s gaze fell upon a welcome sight. Grabbing Deidara by the arm, she dragged him into the first hotel she saw. Judging by the sparkling white floor tiles and the dark wooden furniture in the lobby, it was fairly upscale. Inner Sakura rejoiced over thoughts of feather pillows and a whirlpool bathtub.
Making a beeline for the receptionist, Sakura dove a hand into the backpack Deidara was carrying and withdrew a fistful of gold coins. The man’s eyes widened in disbelief before quickly swapping the coins for a key. Belatedly, Sakura realized she’d probably given him an absurdly large tip, but found that she didn’t actually care very much when a shower and sleep were so near.
As they stepped into the elevator, Sakura looked at the keys in her hands wearily and realized with dismay that they’d undoubtedly wound up with a double bed again.
Pressing the button for their floor, Deidara cheerfully mirrored her thoughts out loud. “There’s probably only going to be one bed, yeah.”
She knew he was right, but narrowed her eyes at him nonetheless. “You sound pleased.”
“Oh I am,” he replied with an obnoxious wink.
Sakura shook her head, unable to keep a grin from her face. Forgetting about their previous awkwardness was easier when they were both in a good mood from thoughts of a warm bed and a shower.
As they stepped out of the elevator, Deidara smirked to himself and hit the buttons for all the floors. Sakura could hardly believe it. “How old are you?”
Deidara’s reply was cut short by the sound of shattering glass. Adrenaline spiking, Sakura threw herself flat against the wall and barely missed being hit by a flurry of kunai. At the end of the hallway, a ninja crouched low against the floor, speaking quickly into a radio.
“Hit him quick, yeah,” Deidara yelled, explosives forming in his hands, “He’s calling for backup!”
Blood pounding in her ears, Sakura grabbed a kunai from the pouch around her waist and sent it flying towards the enemy. Knocking it aside with the back of his hand, the ninja stood and formed a set of seals. As Sakura swore and began to focus her chakra into her fists, Deidara threw a handful of clay birds. Shielding her face against the explosion, Sakura felt the heat and flames surge uncomfortably near.
Eyes watering from the smoke, she tried to refocus on the enemy. Spotting what was left of him, she looked away, thankful that she hadn’t eaten anything lately.
As Sakura regained her breath, senses still alert for any other sudden attacks, Deidara turned towards her and said, “Twenty.”
Sakura looked at him quizzically. They had just escaped a near-death experience and now he was spouting random numbers? Maybe her reformed opinion of him was wrong; he was completely crazy.
Seeing her expression, he elaborated. “It’s my age, idiot. You asked before, remember?”
So she had... She’d forgotten - but that didn’t give him an excuse to call her an idiot. She reached over and pinched him.
“OW! Fuck! Well I guess I don’t need to ask how old you are! Can’t be more than goddamned twelve, yeah!”
“I’m eighteen, you moron,” she informed him, rolling her eyes.
“Oh? Legal, eh?” He gave her an exaggeratedly lascivious grin.
She punched him playfully in the arm before moving to kick away some of the broken glass along the window, avoiding the remains of the enemy ninja. As much as she felt guilty for leaving the owners with the bill for the damage, Sakura didn’t want to risk waiting around for more ninja to show up. Her heart sinking, she bid farewell to the tempting thought of rest. “Let’s get moving. We have to shake them off our trail again.”
Climbing from the window onto a nearby roof, Sakura lamented their situation. Maybe in the next town she’d actually get a chance to relax.
Hearing Deidara land lightly beside her, Sakura remarked, “I still vote for finding a hotel in the next place we end up.” She sighed softly and thought aloud, “I was so looking forward to taking a bath.”
“I was looking forward to that too, yeah.” Sakura felt the beginnings of a smile at his sympathy before Deidara’s expression turned mockingly wishful. “You’re really starting to smell.”
Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in frustration as they leapt carefully across rooftops. It was going to be a long night.
++
Chapter 10