Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond - Chapter 10
I so wanted this chapter to have a lot more in it... But it would have ended up far too long! (And now, like our dear heroes, I can finally get some sleep.)
Title: Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
Fandom: Naruto
Type: Multi-chaptered
Rating: Pg-13
Pairings: Deidara/Sakura
Word count: 4,352
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.
“I need some coffee, yeah. I hate the taste of it, but I need it so bad.”
Although Deidara’s gaze was fixed on the forest ahead of them, Sakura couldn’t help but nod weakly in agreement. They’d been running for hours after the ambush at the hotel, hoping that the cover of night would be enough to shield them from pursuit. Sakura knew their survival now hung purely on luck. After almost a full day of travel and no food, she doubted they’d be able to make a stand if their pursuers caught up to them.
“I would even be willing to drink it black, yeah. Black and disgusting, just like how Tobi makes it.” Deidara’s pace was unrelenting and his words were light, but Sakura could hear in his voice that he was reaching his limits.
“Now who can’t keep up, hmm?” she teased her travel partner half-heartedly, as every ounce of her strength went towards matching the speed of his jumps and cursing his long legs.
“Really not in the mood for your comments right now, yeah.”
Hearing his exhaustion in every syllable, she glanced over at him from the corner of her eye. She was tired, yes, but Deidara was something else entirely. Taking in his bloodshot eyes and occasional stumbles, Sakura voiced a nagging suspicion. “You didn’t sleep very much last night, did you?”
“I see the perceptive skills of Konoha ninja are unmatched,” he grumbled, blinking hard to keep himself awake and focused.
Already in a bad mood from the trials of the day, Deidara’s sarcasm was quick to grate on Sakura’s nerves. “You’ve got to take better care of yourself, you know,” she admonished, “Just because you’ve got a medic-nin with you doesn’t mean you can get away with anything.”
“Well excuse me for not finding a concrete floor the most ideal camping spot - which, by the way, was entirely your idea, yeah.”
She ground her teeth in frustration and remarked, “Oh, so I guess they give all of you Akatsuki princesses feather beds on missions, do they?”
Deidara glared hard at her. “You should be thanking me for staying up, yeah. It’s called keeping watch - which is a bit more useful than your sprawling out and snoring.”
“I do not snore! And it’s not like I asked you to stand watch or anything. Your explosives were supposed to keep us safe.”
“My explosives, yeah? And what did you contribute to our defenses?”
Sakura’s reply and her rising temper were both cut off by a sudden, familiar feeling. It was only a tiny spike of nearby chakra, but its presence and what it meant was undeniable. Meeting Deidara’s eyes, she voiced both of their thoughts, “Shit.”
“Goddamned perfect timing, yeah,” Deidara growled, cursing softly.
Praying for her exhausted body not to give out on her just yet, Sakura pushed more energy into her legs, boosting her speed. Her breathing quickened and she could feel her heart pounding, but she wasn’t sure whether it was due to exertion or the beginnings of panic. Beside her, Deidara began to fall behind. As his breathing became ragged, he said, “We can’t keep this up, yeah. They know the territory better than we do and we aren’t in any shape to outrun them.”
Sakura bit back a retort that she could keep this up just fine and that anything else was his problem. This was no time for childish and spiteful remarks, no matter how tired and irritable she was. The ache of her muscles told her that he was right anyway. Eyes scanning the ground below them, she came up with their only other option. “Let’s find a place to hide.”
From a quick glance down, it was clear that the forest floor had little in the way of cover. Trying not to panic, Sakura hopped down anyway to have a closer look. Since it was winter, the bushes were bare and would provide no protection for them. The only remotely plausible option for a hiding place was a grouping of those strange green prickly trees. With no other choice, Sakura dove straight into the tangle of branches and spines. Ignoring the needles that stung her face, she pulled Deidara down beside her and concentrated on masking her presence.
Her nose was beginning to run from the cold night air and she could feel drops of blood inching their way down her face from the new scratches, but she didn’t dare move to wipe them away. Deidara was pressed close beside her, tense and trying to steady his breathing. As the seconds ticked by in silence, Sakura almost dared to hope that their pursuers had lost their track.
When Deidara jerked suddenly, breaking the absolute stillness of the forest, Sakura almost jumped out of her skin. He swore under his breath and Sakura raised an eyebrow in silent question. “Half fell asleep,” he admitted, his face flushing pink. Sakura could have laughed at him, but the mention of sleep made her have to stifle a yawn.
The sudden sound of approaching voices made her freeze, effectively destroying her budding hopes that they’d outrun their enemies. In that one moment, feeling her heart sinking, Sakura could have cried. She knew it was the ninja who had pursued them - there was no other reason for people to be so deep in the forest, and the feeling of chakra was unmistakable.
Hardly daring to breathe, Sakura watched as three ninja appeared from the trees. At least, she thought, trying hard to see a bright side to the situation, they were far enough away that their hiding place would shield them from view for now. The darkness of the night would also help hide them from the ninja, but Sakura knew there’d be trouble if they started snooping around.
“Where’s the fourth one?” Deidara whispered urgently to her, tense and alert for a sudden attack. “Aren’t teams always in fours, yeah?”
A wave of fear washed over her before the more rational side of her brain took over. If their circumstances weren’t so dire, she would have teased him for being so twitchy when he was tired. “We killed the fourth,” she explained, keeping her voice low. “At the hotel, remember?” All the better, she added to herself, dismayed - there was no motivation like revenge. The remaining ninja had yet another reason to be out for their blood.
Just when Sakura believed the situation couldn’t get any worse, a team of four ninja landed in front of the other three. It struck her as odd that the new team arrived from the opposite direction of the first one, but Sakura’s mind was too busy weeping and cursing fate to give it much thought. Biting her bottom lip nervously, she could think of nothing to do but observe.
Oddly enough, the ninja began to quarrel. Sakura blinked in disbelief, almost certain it must be a trick of her exhausted mind. Watching them for a moment, however, she couldn’t see it as anything other than an argument. Both teams of ninja had their weapons drawn and were facing each other, their stances tense and hostile. The leaders of each group were gesturing and shouting at each other, but again in the language Sakura couldn’t understand. The ninjas’ actions were strange, although something about it struck her as familiar.
Just as puzzled as his travel partner, Deidara nonetheless wasted no time in taking advantage of the new developments. He peered carefully out from the trees before turning to Sakura. “Okay, while they’re distracted, you go around one side and smash them to bits - I’ll get the other side with explosives. If we’re lucky we might be able to take them all out, yeah.”
“Wait!” Sakura interrupted him, keeping a firm grip on his arm as her mind began to connect the dots. “Just watch for a minute.”
What was happening resembled something she’d seen many times herself: a border patrol dispute. Both teams of ninja continued to yell at the other, brandishing their weapons threateningly. Squinting, Sakura was fairly certain that the ninjas’ headbands didn’t display the same symbols.
Newfound hope settling over her, she whispered urgently to Deidara, “Let’s get out of here. Now. Quietly.” Confusion was written all over his face, but there was no time to explain. Tugging on his arm, Sakura mouthed silently, “Trust me.”
She was almost surprised when he obeyed without further question. Dismissing those thoughts, she refocused on the task at hand - they weren’t out of danger yet. Calling on every lesson of stealth she’d ever learned, Sakura backed her way out of the group of trees, not daring to use any techniques in case the chakra was detected. Untangling herself from the branches as quietly as she could, she motioned for Deidara to follow her.
Stepping as softly as she could, Sakura hid herself behind the trunk of the nearest tree. Deidara pressed himself closely beside her, keeping them both hidden from view. The sound of the ninja arguing continued, and Sakura wished to all the powers she could think of that they wouldn’t stop just yet. Taking hold of Deidara’s wrist, she led them cautiously to behind the next tree, in the direction away from the enemies. Her heart beating far too loud, she continued this careful maneuver until they were far enough away that the ninjas’ voices had faded. Sakura glanced behind her - no one appeared to have followed them.
Allowing herself the slightest feelings of relief, Sakura changed directions and tugged Deidara towards the east - the way the team of four ninja had appeared from. “I’ll explain later,” she whispered in response to Deidara’s questioning glances. She still didn’t dare believe they had actually escaped.
With Deidara’s wrist still held in her grasp, oddly comforting, Sakura quickened her pace. Focused only on keeping her footfalls silent and detecting any pursuit, she lost track of how much time had passed. Eventually, Deidara broke the silence. “We’ve walked a long way, yeah,” he said softly, still wary, “We should be safe to start running again.”
Adrenaline mixed with exhaustion made her overly nervous, but Sakura agreed. “No chakra though, okay?” Deidara gave her a pained expression; running without the enhancement of chakra was much more tiring, and they were past their limits already. “I don’t want to risk it,” Sakura explained, half-pleading with him to understand.
Minutes after they started, Sakura wanted to take back what she’d said. Running without chakra was difficult, and she was so tired. Holding out as long as she could, Sakura was nonetheless thankful when she spotted a place to rest. “Let’s stop here,” she panted, slowing her pace.
The hideout she’d found was perfect: an old tree’s gnarled roots were not fully in the ground, forming a small but functional makeshift shelter. Crawling into the hole formed by the tree and the earth, Sakura finally allowed her emotions to take hold of her. As Deidara crawled into the shelter with her, stuffing the backpack in with him, Sakura smiled at him until her face hurt. “We made it. We actually made it,” she said giddily, half to him, half to convince herself that it was real.
Squished beside her into the small space under the tree’s roots, Deidara matched her grin with one of his own as he caught his breathe. “That was...” He laughed a bit before continuing, feeling the euphoria brought on by their escape, “That was absolute, pure luck, yeah. We are so insanely lucky not to be dead. How did you figure out it was safe to go?”
Deidara was smiling at her so completely openly that Sakura’s heart thumped loudly. He was a mess; unwashed for days and sweaty from their recent exertions, with his hair tangled and falling freely from its ponytail, but to see him smiling so freely made her fight off a blush. She had so rarely seen him smile like this - he wasn’t teasing her or smirking, he was just happy. Despite his obvious exhaustion, Sakura could tell the smile was genuine; it showed in his eyes. Hoping he would just pass off the colour in her cheeks as from exhaustion, she explained quickly, “We crossed a border. The three ninja chased us as far as they could, but a border patrol stopped them from going any further. That’s why they started arguing! I’ve seen it happen so many times myself -”
Deidara’s eyes widened as he came to a realization of his own, interrupting Sakura, “That’s why the map ended where it did, yeah!” Pulling out the tattered piece of paper, he showed it to her, overjoyed at his discovery. “See? It’s just a map of the country we were in.”
Sakura hadn’t thought of that, but it only served to prove what she was saying. “Good point,” she conceded, “From what I could see too, the ninja had different headbands. Now that we’re out of the other country, those three can’t follow us. None of that country’s ninja can. Not unless they want to start a war, or manage to work out some sort of deal with this place.” Thinking back to her own experiences, she continued with mounting delight, “And that could take months.”
“So that means we’re -“ Deidara stopped, not daring to say it.
“Safe,” finished Sakura, breathing the word as though she hardly believed it herself.
They both collapsed into fits of laughter. It was too much - their exhaustion coupled with the stress from the escape and the elation at finally having eluded danger put them both in a near-hysteric state. Laughing until her sides hurt, Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes. She was so happy, she could have hugged Deidara. She could have even... Inner Sakura, perhaps too affected by the confusing mixture of relief and fatigue, encouraged the thought of giving Deidara a big, joyous kiss in celebration.
Stomping down on her inner self before things got out of hand, Sakura reigned in her emotions. Deidara’s presence in the enclosed space under the tree began to make her feel awkward, but not the same sort of awkwardness that she’d felt after their first kiss. Deciding that this subject was too much to contemplate at this point in time, Sakura opted for the easy way out. Shushing her giggles, she told Deidara, “I’m going to sleep. Now.”
He was out before she even finished the sentence.
**
Sakura was awoken by the sunlight pouring through the roots that made the roof of their hideout. Blinking against the harsh light, Sakura realized two things. Firstly, she had a terrible crick in her neck from having fallen asleep sitting. Secondly, she was glad she’d woken up first. Sheepishly moving her head off of Deidara’s shoulder, she decided it would be best if he didn’t know she’d been using him as a pillow.
As Sakura tried to work out the cramps in her back and neck, her movements woke up her travel partner. Startled from his sleep, Deidara’s hand flew to the kunai at his belt before he fully took in his surrounding. Sakura grinned at him, knowing full-well the reaction of most ninja when they were woken suddenly. “’Morning. Sorry to wake you.”
Deidara blinked at her, shaking his head to wake himself up. He winced suddenly, putting a hand to his face. “Ow...”
“What’s wrong?” Sakura asked, concerned.
“Not sure, yeah...” Deidara removed his hand, and Sakura noticed that his face was covered with dried blood. Curious, she pressed her hand gently to the side of his face, relieved to note that there was at least no swelling. Deidara tensed, but did not move away.
“Must’ve been those stupid spiny trees, yeah,” he hissed through clenched teeth, wincing as Sakura’s hand pressed against tender skin. “You’ve got blood on you too.”
“I would heal it,” she frowned apologetically, withdrawing her hand, “But I don’t want to risk using chakra - there might be more patrols around. The blood’s all dried up anyway, it’s not like we’re going to bleed to death.”
Deidara nodded. “I agree on the no chakra deal, yeah. Now that we’re safe, let’s keep our heads down for a bit. We don’t want to attract attention to ourselves again.” Stretching his neck to one side, he continued, “Let’s get out of this hole, yeah. My neck is on fire and it feels like there was a rock on my shoulder all night or something.”
Hoping she didn’t look too guilty at that comment, Sakura followed Deidara out of their shelter. Stretching out as much as she could, she breathed in the crisp morning air. “I have a good feeling about this country,” she announced cheerfully. “I like it much better than the other one already.”
Deidara rolled his eyes at her as he worked the knots out of his shoulders. “We still don’t have a clue where we’re going, yeah. And we have no food or water. The ninja aren’t chasing us anymore, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Although she suspected it was unintentional, Sakura groaned at the bad pun. “Can’t you just enjoy things? At least we’re alive.” Her optimism surprised even herself, but she added, “If we just keep heading east we’re sure to hit a road or a town eventually.”
Deidara, however, shared none of Sakura’s early-morning cheer. Looking around them in disgust, he continued, “I can’t believe we also just fell asleep without setting any traps, yeah. That’s so, so... genin.”
Inwardly Sakura of agreed with him, but felt obligated to argue anyway. “It’s fine. We aren’t being chased anymore so it’s not a big deal.”
“I’d still feel a lot safer if we knew those ninja had been properly taken care of, yeah.”
Sakura could guess what ‘properly taken care of’ meant in Deidara-speak. “Don’t worry about it! They won’t bother us anymore, so who cares? Live and let live, right?”
“Should’ve just blown them up anyway, yeah,” Deidara glowered, mostly to himself.
“Akatsuki,” Sakura sing-songed, half light-hearted and half trying to force herself not to be too disconcerted by the eagerness of his suggestion.
Noticing her uneasiness, Deidara shrugged nonchalantly. “Just in case, yeah.”
“Right.” Sakura raised an unconvinced eyebrow before changing the subject, “Anyway, we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do now. We can’t sit around here all day.”
“What choice do we have, yeah?” Deidara asked, resigned, as he shouldered their threadbare and filthy backpack. “We keep going east until we find the next town.”
**
The trek was long and uneventful as they moved cautiously through the forest. Unwilling to use chakra in case it was detected by nearby patrols, they kept to the ground. With their energy not entirely replenished from the few hours of sleep they’d had and their bodies weak from lack of nourishment, their pace was slow but steady nonetheless. Sakura guessed it was past midday when they emerged from the woods and stumbled upon a muddy dirt road
“Oh finally!” she cried, throwing her arms upwards in joy.
Even Deidara had nothing sarcastic to say for once. “Must be getting close to something, yeah. Look, there’re tracks all over the place - carts and people.”
“So which way should we go?” To Sakura, both directions seemed exactly the same - more dirt road bordered by forest on one side and fenced-in, frost-covered fields on the other.
“Careful!” Deidara grabbed Sakura by the shoulder suddenly and steered her quickly off to the side of the road as a covered wagon trundled haphazardly past. The driver yelled something vaguely angry at them but continued down the road without a glance back.
Wiping off some of the mud that the passing wagon had splattered on her, Sakura shook her fist in the direction it had gone. “What’s he yelling about? He nearly ran me down! And he didn’t even offer us a ride - how nice is that?”
Deidara shrugged, unconcerned. “I don’t blame him, yeah. I wouldn’t pick us up either.”
“You wouldn’t pick anyone up.”
“True,” he conceded, “But I mean, look at us.” He gestured towards their clothes and Sakura was forced to agree with him. They were definitely more along the lines of filthy peasant beggars than of sympathy-inspiring travelers. Proving his point further, Deidara tried unsuccessfully to run his fingers through his hair, which was tangled and caked with mud. “The sooner we find a town, the better,” he concluded.
Squinting into the distance and considering their options, Sakura had an idea. “Let’s go the way the cart was heading. He couldn’t have been going nowhere - we’re bound to run into something if we follow him.”
As chance would have it, Sakura was right. Passing by a number of farmhouses on the way, they eventually came to a village. Sakura could think of no word to describe it other than ‘quaint’. Judging by the dirt roads, the village wasn’t affluent, but it nonetheless had a certain charm. The stone houses had wooden roofs and shutters. Many had window boxes filled with frost and the remnants of colourful flowers.
“Hhmm.. I kind of like it,” Deidara admitted reluctantly, half-surprised at himself. Sakura grinned and shook her head at him.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she spotted what looked to be a tavern. Opening the door, she was greeted by the inviting smell of food. Mouth watering and her stomach sending sudden pangs to remind her it hadn’t been fed in two days, Sakura fought for her concentration. Glancing about her, she figured they’d be able to find a room for the night here; a staircase led up to a second floor with a number of doors. On the main floor, a few patrons tried not to stare at the newcomers. Approaching the bar, behind which stood a round, middle-aged woman with curly hair, Sakura reached into their backpack for money.
“A room please,” said Sakura as she placed a handful of coins on the counter, ignoring the gawking men seated at the bar and not caring if the money was far more than needed. By now she was willing to pay a premium on food and a bath.
The woman looked doubtfully at the coins for a moment before replying, “Hmm... Bad money.” Palming it nonetheless, her face broke out into a wide grin. “But I take.”
It took Sakura a moment to register what she had just heard. Certain that her mouth was hanging open in shock but not really caring, she turned to look at Deidara just in case her ears were deceiving her. He matched her expression, which Sakura took as a confirmation.
Turning back to the woman, Sakura stammered, “Y-You... You speak English?”
The woman nodded, before making a hand gesture to help explain and replying slowly with a heavy accent, “Little bit.” Still faced with two stunned customers, she struggled for the correct words to explain. “For... Trade.”
Unwilling to try her linguistic skills further, the woman clapped her hands and summoned a young barmaid, conversing rapidly with her in their own language before handing her a key. Sakura was still thunderstruck as the girl began ushering them to their room. Shaking herself from her stupor, Sakura called back to the older woman hopefully, “Food?”
“Si, si... yes,” answered the woman and waved at them to follow the girl upstairs.
After leading them to their room, the young girl went back down to the tavern, closing the door and leaving the two ninja to themselves. Unable to fully comprehend what had just happened, Sakura turned slowly to face Deidara, whose mouth was still slightly open in amazement.
Shaking himself from his state of shock, Deidara summed up both of their feelings, “Holy fuck.”
His words bringing her back to reality, Sakura felt herself flooded with emotions. This time, she didn’t bother to restrain herself. Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms tightly around him. Whether her shoulders shook from laughter or tears, she couldn’t tell. Vaguely aware that Deidara’s arms had encircled her in a hug equally as fierce and desperate as her own, Sakura replayed the scene downstairs over and over in her mind. The woman had spoken English. Poorly, but English nonetheless. Which meant... Which meant... Closing her eyes, Sakura was laughing and crying too hard into Deidara’s muddy shirt to finish that thought. Both of them shaking from emotion, stress, and exhaustion, they held each other, crushed as tight as they could, breaking apart only when the maid reentered their room with food.
“Thank you,” Sakura told the girl as she set a tray with their meals on the bed, followed by a change of clothes for each of them. She had never meant those words more in her entire life. The barmaid looked confused, but curtseyed politely before hurrying from the room. Wasting no time, the two ninja made short work of the first proper meal they’d had in days.
“That was the best the food I have ever had,” Sakura declared when they’d finished.
“For once, I agree with you, yeah.” When Sakura gave him a look of exaggerated surprise, he fought off a yawn and added, “I know - I’m shocked too. Don’t get used to it.”
She smiled at Deidara, who was already half-dozing after the meal, not caring that he was getting dirt on the bedspread. Picking up her clothes, Sakura headed to the washroom for a much needed shower - Deidara might prioritize sleep, but she figured she could keep her eyes open for at least a few more minutes if it meant being clean.
Closing the door behind her, granting herself a rare moment of privacy, she sank down onto the tile floor, hugging the bundle of clean clothes. She could still hardly believe it - finding someone who spoke their language so far out in the middle of nowhere, after all that they’d been through. “For trade,” the woman had said. Sakura buried her face in the bundle of clothes and bit her lip to stop the tears, both of joy and of something she couldn’t define; they were getting closer to home.
++
Chapter 11
Title: Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
Fandom: Naruto
Type: Multi-chaptered
Rating: Pg-13
Pairings: Deidara/Sakura
Word count: 4,352
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.
“I need some coffee, yeah. I hate the taste of it, but I need it so bad.”
Although Deidara’s gaze was fixed on the forest ahead of them, Sakura couldn’t help but nod weakly in agreement. They’d been running for hours after the ambush at the hotel, hoping that the cover of night would be enough to shield them from pursuit. Sakura knew their survival now hung purely on luck. After almost a full day of travel and no food, she doubted they’d be able to make a stand if their pursuers caught up to them.
“I would even be willing to drink it black, yeah. Black and disgusting, just like how Tobi makes it.” Deidara’s pace was unrelenting and his words were light, but Sakura could hear in his voice that he was reaching his limits.
“Now who can’t keep up, hmm?” she teased her travel partner half-heartedly, as every ounce of her strength went towards matching the speed of his jumps and cursing his long legs.
“Really not in the mood for your comments right now, yeah.”
Hearing his exhaustion in every syllable, she glanced over at him from the corner of her eye. She was tired, yes, but Deidara was something else entirely. Taking in his bloodshot eyes and occasional stumbles, Sakura voiced a nagging suspicion. “You didn’t sleep very much last night, did you?”
“I see the perceptive skills of Konoha ninja are unmatched,” he grumbled, blinking hard to keep himself awake and focused.
Already in a bad mood from the trials of the day, Deidara’s sarcasm was quick to grate on Sakura’s nerves. “You’ve got to take better care of yourself, you know,” she admonished, “Just because you’ve got a medic-nin with you doesn’t mean you can get away with anything.”
“Well excuse me for not finding a concrete floor the most ideal camping spot - which, by the way, was entirely your idea, yeah.”
She ground her teeth in frustration and remarked, “Oh, so I guess they give all of you Akatsuki princesses feather beds on missions, do they?”
Deidara glared hard at her. “You should be thanking me for staying up, yeah. It’s called keeping watch - which is a bit more useful than your sprawling out and snoring.”
“I do not snore! And it’s not like I asked you to stand watch or anything. Your explosives were supposed to keep us safe.”
“My explosives, yeah? And what did you contribute to our defenses?”
Sakura’s reply and her rising temper were both cut off by a sudden, familiar feeling. It was only a tiny spike of nearby chakra, but its presence and what it meant was undeniable. Meeting Deidara’s eyes, she voiced both of their thoughts, “Shit.”
“Goddamned perfect timing, yeah,” Deidara growled, cursing softly.
Praying for her exhausted body not to give out on her just yet, Sakura pushed more energy into her legs, boosting her speed. Her breathing quickened and she could feel her heart pounding, but she wasn’t sure whether it was due to exertion or the beginnings of panic. Beside her, Deidara began to fall behind. As his breathing became ragged, he said, “We can’t keep this up, yeah. They know the territory better than we do and we aren’t in any shape to outrun them.”
Sakura bit back a retort that she could keep this up just fine and that anything else was his problem. This was no time for childish and spiteful remarks, no matter how tired and irritable she was. The ache of her muscles told her that he was right anyway. Eyes scanning the ground below them, she came up with their only other option. “Let’s find a place to hide.”
From a quick glance down, it was clear that the forest floor had little in the way of cover. Trying not to panic, Sakura hopped down anyway to have a closer look. Since it was winter, the bushes were bare and would provide no protection for them. The only remotely plausible option for a hiding place was a grouping of those strange green prickly trees. With no other choice, Sakura dove straight into the tangle of branches and spines. Ignoring the needles that stung her face, she pulled Deidara down beside her and concentrated on masking her presence.
Her nose was beginning to run from the cold night air and she could feel drops of blood inching their way down her face from the new scratches, but she didn’t dare move to wipe them away. Deidara was pressed close beside her, tense and trying to steady his breathing. As the seconds ticked by in silence, Sakura almost dared to hope that their pursuers had lost their track.
When Deidara jerked suddenly, breaking the absolute stillness of the forest, Sakura almost jumped out of her skin. He swore under his breath and Sakura raised an eyebrow in silent question. “Half fell asleep,” he admitted, his face flushing pink. Sakura could have laughed at him, but the mention of sleep made her have to stifle a yawn.
The sudden sound of approaching voices made her freeze, effectively destroying her budding hopes that they’d outrun their enemies. In that one moment, feeling her heart sinking, Sakura could have cried. She knew it was the ninja who had pursued them - there was no other reason for people to be so deep in the forest, and the feeling of chakra was unmistakable.
Hardly daring to breathe, Sakura watched as three ninja appeared from the trees. At least, she thought, trying hard to see a bright side to the situation, they were far enough away that their hiding place would shield them from view for now. The darkness of the night would also help hide them from the ninja, but Sakura knew there’d be trouble if they started snooping around.
“Where’s the fourth one?” Deidara whispered urgently to her, tense and alert for a sudden attack. “Aren’t teams always in fours, yeah?”
A wave of fear washed over her before the more rational side of her brain took over. If their circumstances weren’t so dire, she would have teased him for being so twitchy when he was tired. “We killed the fourth,” she explained, keeping her voice low. “At the hotel, remember?” All the better, she added to herself, dismayed - there was no motivation like revenge. The remaining ninja had yet another reason to be out for their blood.
Just when Sakura believed the situation couldn’t get any worse, a team of four ninja landed in front of the other three. It struck her as odd that the new team arrived from the opposite direction of the first one, but Sakura’s mind was too busy weeping and cursing fate to give it much thought. Biting her bottom lip nervously, she could think of nothing to do but observe.
Oddly enough, the ninja began to quarrel. Sakura blinked in disbelief, almost certain it must be a trick of her exhausted mind. Watching them for a moment, however, she couldn’t see it as anything other than an argument. Both teams of ninja had their weapons drawn and were facing each other, their stances tense and hostile. The leaders of each group were gesturing and shouting at each other, but again in the language Sakura couldn’t understand. The ninjas’ actions were strange, although something about it struck her as familiar.
Just as puzzled as his travel partner, Deidara nonetheless wasted no time in taking advantage of the new developments. He peered carefully out from the trees before turning to Sakura. “Okay, while they’re distracted, you go around one side and smash them to bits - I’ll get the other side with explosives. If we’re lucky we might be able to take them all out, yeah.”
“Wait!” Sakura interrupted him, keeping a firm grip on his arm as her mind began to connect the dots. “Just watch for a minute.”
What was happening resembled something she’d seen many times herself: a border patrol dispute. Both teams of ninja continued to yell at the other, brandishing their weapons threateningly. Squinting, Sakura was fairly certain that the ninjas’ headbands didn’t display the same symbols.
Newfound hope settling over her, she whispered urgently to Deidara, “Let’s get out of here. Now. Quietly.” Confusion was written all over his face, but there was no time to explain. Tugging on his arm, Sakura mouthed silently, “Trust me.”
She was almost surprised when he obeyed without further question. Dismissing those thoughts, she refocused on the task at hand - they weren’t out of danger yet. Calling on every lesson of stealth she’d ever learned, Sakura backed her way out of the group of trees, not daring to use any techniques in case the chakra was detected. Untangling herself from the branches as quietly as she could, she motioned for Deidara to follow her.
Stepping as softly as she could, Sakura hid herself behind the trunk of the nearest tree. Deidara pressed himself closely beside her, keeping them both hidden from view. The sound of the ninja arguing continued, and Sakura wished to all the powers she could think of that they wouldn’t stop just yet. Taking hold of Deidara’s wrist, she led them cautiously to behind the next tree, in the direction away from the enemies. Her heart beating far too loud, she continued this careful maneuver until they were far enough away that the ninjas’ voices had faded. Sakura glanced behind her - no one appeared to have followed them.
Allowing herself the slightest feelings of relief, Sakura changed directions and tugged Deidara towards the east - the way the team of four ninja had appeared from. “I’ll explain later,” she whispered in response to Deidara’s questioning glances. She still didn’t dare believe they had actually escaped.
With Deidara’s wrist still held in her grasp, oddly comforting, Sakura quickened her pace. Focused only on keeping her footfalls silent and detecting any pursuit, she lost track of how much time had passed. Eventually, Deidara broke the silence. “We’ve walked a long way, yeah,” he said softly, still wary, “We should be safe to start running again.”
Adrenaline mixed with exhaustion made her overly nervous, but Sakura agreed. “No chakra though, okay?” Deidara gave her a pained expression; running without the enhancement of chakra was much more tiring, and they were past their limits already. “I don’t want to risk it,” Sakura explained, half-pleading with him to understand.
Minutes after they started, Sakura wanted to take back what she’d said. Running without chakra was difficult, and she was so tired. Holding out as long as she could, Sakura was nonetheless thankful when she spotted a place to rest. “Let’s stop here,” she panted, slowing her pace.
The hideout she’d found was perfect: an old tree’s gnarled roots were not fully in the ground, forming a small but functional makeshift shelter. Crawling into the hole formed by the tree and the earth, Sakura finally allowed her emotions to take hold of her. As Deidara crawled into the shelter with her, stuffing the backpack in with him, Sakura smiled at him until her face hurt. “We made it. We actually made it,” she said giddily, half to him, half to convince herself that it was real.
Squished beside her into the small space under the tree’s roots, Deidara matched her grin with one of his own as he caught his breathe. “That was...” He laughed a bit before continuing, feeling the euphoria brought on by their escape, “That was absolute, pure luck, yeah. We are so insanely lucky not to be dead. How did you figure out it was safe to go?”
Deidara was smiling at her so completely openly that Sakura’s heart thumped loudly. He was a mess; unwashed for days and sweaty from their recent exertions, with his hair tangled and falling freely from its ponytail, but to see him smiling so freely made her fight off a blush. She had so rarely seen him smile like this - he wasn’t teasing her or smirking, he was just happy. Despite his obvious exhaustion, Sakura could tell the smile was genuine; it showed in his eyes. Hoping he would just pass off the colour in her cheeks as from exhaustion, she explained quickly, “We crossed a border. The three ninja chased us as far as they could, but a border patrol stopped them from going any further. That’s why they started arguing! I’ve seen it happen so many times myself -”
Deidara’s eyes widened as he came to a realization of his own, interrupting Sakura, “That’s why the map ended where it did, yeah!” Pulling out the tattered piece of paper, he showed it to her, overjoyed at his discovery. “See? It’s just a map of the country we were in.”
Sakura hadn’t thought of that, but it only served to prove what she was saying. “Good point,” she conceded, “From what I could see too, the ninja had different headbands. Now that we’re out of the other country, those three can’t follow us. None of that country’s ninja can. Not unless they want to start a war, or manage to work out some sort of deal with this place.” Thinking back to her own experiences, she continued with mounting delight, “And that could take months.”
“So that means we’re -“ Deidara stopped, not daring to say it.
“Safe,” finished Sakura, breathing the word as though she hardly believed it herself.
They both collapsed into fits of laughter. It was too much - their exhaustion coupled with the stress from the escape and the elation at finally having eluded danger put them both in a near-hysteric state. Laughing until her sides hurt, Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes. She was so happy, she could have hugged Deidara. She could have even... Inner Sakura, perhaps too affected by the confusing mixture of relief and fatigue, encouraged the thought of giving Deidara a big, joyous kiss in celebration.
Stomping down on her inner self before things got out of hand, Sakura reigned in her emotions. Deidara’s presence in the enclosed space under the tree began to make her feel awkward, but not the same sort of awkwardness that she’d felt after their first kiss. Deciding that this subject was too much to contemplate at this point in time, Sakura opted for the easy way out. Shushing her giggles, she told Deidara, “I’m going to sleep. Now.”
He was out before she even finished the sentence.
**
Sakura was awoken by the sunlight pouring through the roots that made the roof of their hideout. Blinking against the harsh light, Sakura realized two things. Firstly, she had a terrible crick in her neck from having fallen asleep sitting. Secondly, she was glad she’d woken up first. Sheepishly moving her head off of Deidara’s shoulder, she decided it would be best if he didn’t know she’d been using him as a pillow.
As Sakura tried to work out the cramps in her back and neck, her movements woke up her travel partner. Startled from his sleep, Deidara’s hand flew to the kunai at his belt before he fully took in his surrounding. Sakura grinned at him, knowing full-well the reaction of most ninja when they were woken suddenly. “’Morning. Sorry to wake you.”
Deidara blinked at her, shaking his head to wake himself up. He winced suddenly, putting a hand to his face. “Ow...”
“What’s wrong?” Sakura asked, concerned.
“Not sure, yeah...” Deidara removed his hand, and Sakura noticed that his face was covered with dried blood. Curious, she pressed her hand gently to the side of his face, relieved to note that there was at least no swelling. Deidara tensed, but did not move away.
“Must’ve been those stupid spiny trees, yeah,” he hissed through clenched teeth, wincing as Sakura’s hand pressed against tender skin. “You’ve got blood on you too.”
“I would heal it,” she frowned apologetically, withdrawing her hand, “But I don’t want to risk using chakra - there might be more patrols around. The blood’s all dried up anyway, it’s not like we’re going to bleed to death.”
Deidara nodded. “I agree on the no chakra deal, yeah. Now that we’re safe, let’s keep our heads down for a bit. We don’t want to attract attention to ourselves again.” Stretching his neck to one side, he continued, “Let’s get out of this hole, yeah. My neck is on fire and it feels like there was a rock on my shoulder all night or something.”
Hoping she didn’t look too guilty at that comment, Sakura followed Deidara out of their shelter. Stretching out as much as she could, she breathed in the crisp morning air. “I have a good feeling about this country,” she announced cheerfully. “I like it much better than the other one already.”
Deidara rolled his eyes at her as he worked the knots out of his shoulders. “We still don’t have a clue where we’re going, yeah. And we have no food or water. The ninja aren’t chasing us anymore, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Although she suspected it was unintentional, Sakura groaned at the bad pun. “Can’t you just enjoy things? At least we’re alive.” Her optimism surprised even herself, but she added, “If we just keep heading east we’re sure to hit a road or a town eventually.”
Deidara, however, shared none of Sakura’s early-morning cheer. Looking around them in disgust, he continued, “I can’t believe we also just fell asleep without setting any traps, yeah. That’s so, so... genin.”
Inwardly Sakura of agreed with him, but felt obligated to argue anyway. “It’s fine. We aren’t being chased anymore so it’s not a big deal.”
“I’d still feel a lot safer if we knew those ninja had been properly taken care of, yeah.”
Sakura could guess what ‘properly taken care of’ meant in Deidara-speak. “Don’t worry about it! They won’t bother us anymore, so who cares? Live and let live, right?”
“Should’ve just blown them up anyway, yeah,” Deidara glowered, mostly to himself.
“Akatsuki,” Sakura sing-songed, half light-hearted and half trying to force herself not to be too disconcerted by the eagerness of his suggestion.
Noticing her uneasiness, Deidara shrugged nonchalantly. “Just in case, yeah.”
“Right.” Sakura raised an unconvinced eyebrow before changing the subject, “Anyway, we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do now. We can’t sit around here all day.”
“What choice do we have, yeah?” Deidara asked, resigned, as he shouldered their threadbare and filthy backpack. “We keep going east until we find the next town.”
**
The trek was long and uneventful as they moved cautiously through the forest. Unwilling to use chakra in case it was detected by nearby patrols, they kept to the ground. With their energy not entirely replenished from the few hours of sleep they’d had and their bodies weak from lack of nourishment, their pace was slow but steady nonetheless. Sakura guessed it was past midday when they emerged from the woods and stumbled upon a muddy dirt road
“Oh finally!” she cried, throwing her arms upwards in joy.
Even Deidara had nothing sarcastic to say for once. “Must be getting close to something, yeah. Look, there’re tracks all over the place - carts and people.”
“So which way should we go?” To Sakura, both directions seemed exactly the same - more dirt road bordered by forest on one side and fenced-in, frost-covered fields on the other.
“Careful!” Deidara grabbed Sakura by the shoulder suddenly and steered her quickly off to the side of the road as a covered wagon trundled haphazardly past. The driver yelled something vaguely angry at them but continued down the road without a glance back.
Wiping off some of the mud that the passing wagon had splattered on her, Sakura shook her fist in the direction it had gone. “What’s he yelling about? He nearly ran me down! And he didn’t even offer us a ride - how nice is that?”
Deidara shrugged, unconcerned. “I don’t blame him, yeah. I wouldn’t pick us up either.”
“You wouldn’t pick anyone up.”
“True,” he conceded, “But I mean, look at us.” He gestured towards their clothes and Sakura was forced to agree with him. They were definitely more along the lines of filthy peasant beggars than of sympathy-inspiring travelers. Proving his point further, Deidara tried unsuccessfully to run his fingers through his hair, which was tangled and caked with mud. “The sooner we find a town, the better,” he concluded.
Squinting into the distance and considering their options, Sakura had an idea. “Let’s go the way the cart was heading. He couldn’t have been going nowhere - we’re bound to run into something if we follow him.”
As chance would have it, Sakura was right. Passing by a number of farmhouses on the way, they eventually came to a village. Sakura could think of no word to describe it other than ‘quaint’. Judging by the dirt roads, the village wasn’t affluent, but it nonetheless had a certain charm. The stone houses had wooden roofs and shutters. Many had window boxes filled with frost and the remnants of colourful flowers.
“Hhmm.. I kind of like it,” Deidara admitted reluctantly, half-surprised at himself. Sakura grinned and shook her head at him.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she spotted what looked to be a tavern. Opening the door, she was greeted by the inviting smell of food. Mouth watering and her stomach sending sudden pangs to remind her it hadn’t been fed in two days, Sakura fought for her concentration. Glancing about her, she figured they’d be able to find a room for the night here; a staircase led up to a second floor with a number of doors. On the main floor, a few patrons tried not to stare at the newcomers. Approaching the bar, behind which stood a round, middle-aged woman with curly hair, Sakura reached into their backpack for money.
“A room please,” said Sakura as she placed a handful of coins on the counter, ignoring the gawking men seated at the bar and not caring if the money was far more than needed. By now she was willing to pay a premium on food and a bath.
The woman looked doubtfully at the coins for a moment before replying, “Hmm... Bad money.” Palming it nonetheless, her face broke out into a wide grin. “But I take.”
It took Sakura a moment to register what she had just heard. Certain that her mouth was hanging open in shock but not really caring, she turned to look at Deidara just in case her ears were deceiving her. He matched her expression, which Sakura took as a confirmation.
Turning back to the woman, Sakura stammered, “Y-You... You speak English?”
The woman nodded, before making a hand gesture to help explain and replying slowly with a heavy accent, “Little bit.” Still faced with two stunned customers, she struggled for the correct words to explain. “For... Trade.”
Unwilling to try her linguistic skills further, the woman clapped her hands and summoned a young barmaid, conversing rapidly with her in their own language before handing her a key. Sakura was still thunderstruck as the girl began ushering them to their room. Shaking herself from her stupor, Sakura called back to the older woman hopefully, “Food?”
“Si, si... yes,” answered the woman and waved at them to follow the girl upstairs.
After leading them to their room, the young girl went back down to the tavern, closing the door and leaving the two ninja to themselves. Unable to fully comprehend what had just happened, Sakura turned slowly to face Deidara, whose mouth was still slightly open in amazement.
Shaking himself from his state of shock, Deidara summed up both of their feelings, “Holy fuck.”
His words bringing her back to reality, Sakura felt herself flooded with emotions. This time, she didn’t bother to restrain herself. Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms tightly around him. Whether her shoulders shook from laughter or tears, she couldn’t tell. Vaguely aware that Deidara’s arms had encircled her in a hug equally as fierce and desperate as her own, Sakura replayed the scene downstairs over and over in her mind. The woman had spoken English. Poorly, but English nonetheless. Which meant... Which meant... Closing her eyes, Sakura was laughing and crying too hard into Deidara’s muddy shirt to finish that thought. Both of them shaking from emotion, stress, and exhaustion, they held each other, crushed as tight as they could, breaking apart only when the maid reentered their room with food.
“Thank you,” Sakura told the girl as she set a tray with their meals on the bed, followed by a change of clothes for each of them. She had never meant those words more in her entire life. The barmaid looked confused, but curtseyed politely before hurrying from the room. Wasting no time, the two ninja made short work of the first proper meal they’d had in days.
“That was the best the food I have ever had,” Sakura declared when they’d finished.
“For once, I agree with you, yeah.” When Sakura gave him a look of exaggerated surprise, he fought off a yawn and added, “I know - I’m shocked too. Don’t get used to it.”
She smiled at Deidara, who was already half-dozing after the meal, not caring that he was getting dirt on the bedspread. Picking up her clothes, Sakura headed to the washroom for a much needed shower - Deidara might prioritize sleep, but she figured she could keep her eyes open for at least a few more minutes if it meant being clean.
Closing the door behind her, granting herself a rare moment of privacy, she sank down onto the tile floor, hugging the bundle of clean clothes. She could still hardly believe it - finding someone who spoke their language so far out in the middle of nowhere, after all that they’d been through. “For trade,” the woman had said. Sakura buried her face in the bundle of clothes and bit her lip to stop the tears, both of joy and of something she couldn’t define; they were getting closer to home.
++
Chapter 11