Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond - Chapter 11
Heading back to university tomorrow for my final semester. The next few months are going to be very busy, what with schoolwork and finding a job. I'll work on the next chapter whenever I have the chance / motivation, but it might be a while before it's finished!
Title: Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
Fandom: Naruto
Type: Multi-chaptered
Rating: Pg-13
Pairings: Deidara/Sakura
Word count: 4,281
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.
When she awoke the next morning, Sakura almost believed she was dreaming. She was in a warm, soft bed, and was still slightly full from the food they’d eaten the night before. Her hair smelled of soap and there wasn’t dirt between her toes. Beside her, Deidara was still asleep, radiating heat like a furnace.
Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Sakura felt something she hadn’t had in a long time: calm. Curling closer to Deidara and his warmth, no longer caring about issues of propriety after all they’d been through, Sakura allowed herself to relax.
As Sakura shifted to get comfortable, Deidara mumbled something incoherent but made no effort to move away. Watching him through sleepy eyes, Sakura felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards. He always slept with his mouth slightly open, and no matter how his hair was when he fell asleep, it always managed to end up a complete mess in the morning. Seeing his hair clean was strange to her; the warm gold colour, no longer dull from grime, stood out against the white pillows.
Falling into a half-sleep, Sakura enjoyed the warmth they shared. The smell of breakfast rose from the tavern downstairs, and she could hear the distant toll of bells. Beside her, Deidara yawned and sighed, “This is so nice, yeah.”
Keeping her eyes closed but breaking into a grin, Sakura couldn’t resist. “That’s what all guys say when they wake up next to a pretty lady.”
He gave her a sleepy laugh, and they didn’t bother getting up until the tavern owner knocked on their door, bringing them breakfast.
Setting the tray on the nightstand by the bed, the woman picked up the dirty clothes they’d discarded on the floor the night before. “To clean,” she told them cheerfully, making hand motions of scrubbing before leaving them be.
“They’re awfully nice here,” Sakura commented, reaching over Deidara to take one of the bowls of porridge.
Propping himself up against the headboard and taking a piece of melon, Deidara said through bites, “That’s only because you forked over a ton of our money to them last night, yeah.”
Blowing on the food to help it cool, Sakura shrugged, “I don’t see any harm in it. We should probably get rid of the rest of the coins soon anyway. Didn’t you hear what the woman said last night? ‘Bad money’. It’s a different currency here, I’ll bet.”
“Either that or she knows she we got it from B&E.”
Sakura burned her tongue as she started in on her breakfast too fast. “Bee and what?”
“Breaking and entering.” He looked appalled. “What kind of a ninja doesn’t know that, yeah?”
“An honest one,” she replied in a mockingly superior tone of voice.
When they’d finished the last of their breakfast, Sakura stood up from the bed, stretching, and made her way over to the window. Drawing back the curtains she was greeted with a beautiful view of the village. The wooden roofs of the houses were covered in a thin layer of glistening frost, giving the entire village an almost surreal, crystalline appearance. Her enjoyment of the scenery, however, was cut short by a comment from Deidara.
“What are you wearing?”
Turning to face him, Sakura felt a blush creep into her cheeks. Confused as to why she cared what he thought of her appearance, she replied anyway, “It’s the change of clothes they gave us last night.”
“It’s hideous,” he informed her, very matter of fact.
Sakura knew what he said was true. The long, formless brown dress hung unattractively off her small frame and reminded her of something grandmothers wore.
“Well what else was I supposed to put on?” she replied hotly, trying to cover her embarrassment. “I either had to wear this, those filthy old clothes, or sleep naked.”
Deidara, thankfully, declined to answer and both of their faces turned bright shades of pink. Sakura immediately regretted what she’d said, and busied herself with bunching some of the extra fabric around the waist of her dress into a knot to make it slightly more form-fitting.
“Stylish,” Deidara commented wryly when she’d finished.
“You’re no better yourself, you know,” she shot back defensively as she combed the tangles from her hair with her fingers. “That shirt is huge on you.”
The plain canvas shirt he’d been given was big enough to fit two of him inside, and the pants were just barely held up around his hips by an old, cracked leather belt. Sakura would never admit it out loud, but the effect of the clothes was not a complete disaster; with his long hair and the shirt that hung loose around his shoulders, he looked almost like a stereotypical poet.
“I realize that.” Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he continued, “Which is why I suggest we see what this place has to offer in terms of shops, yeah.”
With that decided, they left their room and descended to the main part of the building. The tavern owner nodded at them in greeting as she cleaned glasses behind the bar.
Seeing an opportunity, Sakura took it. Approaching the counter, she asked, “Excuse me, but do you know how we can get to Konoha from here?”
The woman blinked, confused by the long phrase. “Konoha?” Sakura repeated hopefully.
Uncomprehending, the woman shook her head and offered one of the few words she knew, “Sorry.”
Deidara spoke before Sakura could continue her questioning. “Thank you,” he told the older woman, before taking Sakura by the elbow and leading her out the door. As they stepped out into the chilly air, he explained, “She might speak a bit of English, but it’s not enough to get the information we need out of her. You’ll only end up getting her confused, yeah.”
Dismayed, Sakura nonetheless knew he was right. “So how are we going to find out where to go next?”
He shook his head before replying, “Don’t know, yeah. Let’s take a look - we might find something.”
The village was small and consisted mainly of houses and only a few stores, but Sakura certainly found ‘something’ soon enough.
“Shoes,” she crooned adoringly, almost pawing at the window display. Seeing the plain but functional variety of leather boots made her toes ache from the cold.
As they pushed open the door, the shopkeeper greeted them in his own language. “Hello!” Sakura replied cheerfully, “I would like to buy some shoes!”
Seeing the man’s blank stare, Deidara told her, “I think the woman at the tavern was just a special case, yeah. Most people here probably don’t speak any English.” Sakura’s heart fell, but Deidara continued, “Don’t worry, yeah. I happen to know a particular language that works anywhere.”
Sakura gave him a puzzled expression, curious as to what he meant. Giving her a wink, Deidara flipped a number of their gold coins onto the counter beside the till.
“Now who’s being generous?” Sakura teased, although she would have been willing to give double the amount if it meant warm feet.
Becoming animated at once, the shopkeeper rushed to present them with his wares. After a few tries, Sakura found a pair that fit well.
“Good riddance,” said Sakura wholeheartedly as she tossed her old, ruined sandals into the wastepaper basket beside the till. She could have sworn that her new boots, made of soft, supple leather, were the most comfortable shoes she’d ever worn. Deidara had chosen a pair made of tougher, darker material, and his old sandals quickly joined Sakura’s in the garbage.
The only shop selling clothes was almost dismissed outright, as a glance through the windows showed that they’d only find articles similar to what they’d been given at the tavern.
“Wait,” Deidara called, as Sakura began to walk away. “Let’s go in anyway, yeah.”
Shocked, she almost didn’t believe what she’d just heard. “You want to go in that place?”
“Yes,” he ground out through clenched teeth, as though it was the most difficult thing to admit.
“What happened to your supposedly highly attuned sense of fashion?”
“Just for a minute, yeah.” He opened the door and went in before Sakura could say anything else.
Puzzled, she followed him. It wasn’t as though she had anything else to do, and this at least promised to provide good ammunition against him the next time they resorted to taunting each other.
Most of the clothing was thick, winter gear in drab colours. Deidara brushed past all of this, however, and went directly to a shelf displaying a variety of gloves. Waving away the shop assistant and avoiding Sakura’s gaze, he chose a pair of plain black gloves. Paying for them, he made sure to use his hands in a way that would conceal the bloodline limit affecting them.
Seeing his jaw set in that stubborn way of his but also recognizing the faint pink tinge in his face as something bordering humiliation, Sakura immediately felt bad for teasing him. She should have guessed he would need something to cover the mouths in his palms. Although she could almost say that she’d gotten used to them by now, most other people wouldn’t feel the same. In a strange way, him buying gloves reminded her of how she used to wear her hair with thick bangs, hoping to hide the forehead she was so self-conscious about.
“Let’s go, yeah,” Deidara muttered, still not looking straight at her.
“Wait!” Hit with an odd wave of understanding, Sakura stumbled over what to say next. “I... I want to buy some too.”
Deidara narrowed his eyes, on guard for a joke at his expense. “For the cold,” Sakura explained weakly.
Quickly choosing a pair of sheepskin gloves for herself and paying for them, she held up her now toasty warm hands towards Deidara. “What do you think of them?”
“Not bad, yeah.” Sakura was relieved to see his features soften as he realized she hadn’t intended to tease him.
“Stopping in there was a good idea,” Sakura told him, smiling as they stepped back outside.
The other shops in town proved to be less useful. “It’s almost a shame we don’t have a farm, yeah,” Deidara remarked as they passed by a row of stores selling seeds, tools, and livestock items.
The last store they came across seemed to be filled with a variety of random items. Curious, Sakura went in anyway, the chimes attached to the door ringing as she entered.
Inside, the shop resembled the explosion of someone’s attic. Objects were crowded on tables, with no clear organization behind their placement. Colourful plastic toys mixed with ornately carved wooden boxes, and the dull lighting caused piles of cheap jewelry to twinkle attractively. Running her hands over the trinkets and bobbles, Sakura felt like a little kid. The whole store smelled strongly of dust and tobacco. The shopkeeper, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he now had customers, held a pipe in one hand and a book in the other.
“Why would anyone even buy some of this stuff, yeah?” Deidara asked, examining a glass ball that simulated a snowstorm when you shook it.
Sakura picked up an old teddy bear, more than a little worse for wear with one eye missing and stuffing peaking out through the stitches. Smiling nostalgically, she moved to put him back before something caught her eye. Under where the bear had been seated was an old book. Setting the bear down nearby, Sakura brushed the dust from the book’s cover, displaying the picture of a globe. Opening it, her breath caught in her throat. It was filled with maps. An atlas.
“Deidara,” she whispered excitedly, “Look at this.”
Moving to look over her shoulder, he raised an eyebrow and drawled, “I didn’t realize you had such a passion for geography, yeah.”
Ignoring him, she flipped through the pages until her eyes landed on something painfully familiar. The map was a rough sketch at most, the drawn borders both estimated and dating back at least several decades, but to Sakura’s eyes it was unmistakable: the Fire Country. Although it wasn’t marked, Sakura’s gaze landed on where she knew it to be.
The hidden village of Konoha.
Taking an involuntary step back, her knees suddenly weak, she leaned against Deidara for support. “Don’t you see?” she breathed, “This is exactly what we need.”
Steadying her with his hands on her shoulders, Deidara nodded slowly. “If we can find out where we are now...”
Taking a deep breathe to force down her swirling emotions, Sakura regained her strength and moved towards the shopkeeper who was still immersed in reading. “Sir?” she called softly. He looked up, frowning that he’d been disturbed, and Sakura held out the atlas towards him. “Could you show me where we are now? Where are we on these maps?”
Knitting his eyebrows at the sound of the unfamiliar words, the man shook his head to show he didn’t understand. Swallowing nervously and trying to figure out how to mime her question, Sakura pointed at the ground, then the atlas, repeating the motions several times.
Settling his own book on the table beside him, the shopkeeper took the atlas from Sakura and thumbed through the pages. Studying one of the maps for a moment, he pointed to a small circle indicating a town. The tiny letters above it read: Bergaís.
After leaving the man a large handful of coins in exchange for the book, causing him to choke on the smoke from his pipe in surprise, Deidara and Sakura hurried back to their room at the tavern.
Both of them collapsing on the bed, they poured over the maps, folding corners of important pages and pointing excitedly at certain spots. When at last they figured out where they were in relation to the Fire Country and its surrounding countries, Sakura was stunned.
Deidara stared incredulously at a two-page spread of the world. “How did that brat manage to send us all the way to here, yeah?”
Wondering the same thing, Sakura replied, “I have no idea.” She thought of Naruto, the boy with grand ambitions and a heart of gold, and smiled fondly. “But if anyone could do something like this, it’s him.”
Naruto’s mysterious jutsu had transported them far indeed. Not only had it sent them far north and across the equator, attributing to the change in season, it had also sent them to the west. Far, far west.
Rubbing his eyes, sore from reading small print, Deidara groaned in frustration, “Let me get this straight, yeah. To get back, we have to cross a goddamned ocean.”
Sakura bit her lip and traced their path with a finger. “That’s what it looks like. We’re on a completely different continent - we can’t just walk home from here.”
According to the atlas, the continent they were on now was smaller than the one with the Fire Country. Despite this, the land was broken into more countries and kingdoms than Sakura would have expected. A mountain range ran across the northern reaches, and most of the settlements were towards the south. The village they were currently in, as indicated by the shopkeeper, was placed in the central-eastern region of the continent, fairly close to the body of water that would need to be crossed.
Turning to another page and squinting at the map, Deidara tapped one of the towns with a finger. “This place here is the closest port, yeah. If we go there we can see about finding a boat across.”
The coastal town he’d pointed out was marked on the map by a square, with its name labeled above in decorative letters.
“Cìen.” Sakura found the name rolled pleasantly off her tongue, even though she knew her pronunciation of it was probably terrible.
“It should be about a day’s worth of walking, yeah,” Deidara estimated, stretching out on the bed, “If we leave here early tomorrow morning we can be there by nightfall.”
“If they’re willing to take foreign currency, we can use the money we have left to buy passage on a ship - there must be traders who go to the Fire Country.” From there, Sakura knew she would have no problems getting home. After years of missions and patrols, she no longer needed a map to navigate her own country. No matter what port she disembarked at, it would only be a journey of a few days to reach Konoha.
Sakura lay down beside Deidara on the bed and closed her eyes. Now that they were out of danger and had figured out how to get back, the possibility of seeing Konoha again made her heart ache. Getting back home had always been the goal of this whole journey, but now that she was so close to achieving it and she had a moment of calm, she was hit with a wave of homesickness. Going home would mean seeing her friends again. It would mean hanging out with Ino at the flowershop, continuing the eternal quest to see Kakashi’s face, forcibly correcting Sai’s social blunders, and resuming her medical studies with Tsunade. Not to mention, it would mean wringing Naruto’s neck for his stupid jutsu.
The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, but Sakura couldn’t shake her longing for home. When she went for a walk around the village again, seeing the frosty ground made her wish for Konoha’s sun and warmth. When the tavern lady handed back their old clothes, now patched and cleaned, Sakura remembered how Ino would drag her out shopping if her outfits were even the slightest bit worn. When they were served soup for dinner, Sakura had a sudden craving for ramen and missed her evenings at Ichiraku with Team Seven.
By the time she began preparing for bed, Sakura was more weary emotionally than physically. Aside from being homesick, she began to wonder what her friends were doing now. Were they off on difficult missions? Had anyone found themselves a new romance? Did they miss her as much as she missed them? That last question prompted another distressing train of thought: did everyone think she was dead?
Deidara, who was already stretched out under the covers on one side of the bed, watched Sakura as she brushed her hair absentmindedly.
“What’s got you so down, yeah?” he asked, curious. “This whole day has been pretty much the best thing that’s happened since we started this crazy adventure, but you look like your pet goldfish just died.”
Sakura sighed as she settled herself onto the other side of the bed, taking her pillow and hugging it tight. She was hesitant to tell him what was bothering her; they may have formed a strange, indefinable bond, but they rarely spoke about things like feelings. There was no longer any real malice when Deidara teased her, but Sakura was still reluctant to admit to any form of weakness. “It’s just that… Now that we know how to get home, I can’t stop thinking of...” She bit her lip, taking a deep breathe and closing her eyes before simply saying, “I miss my friends.”
Deidara looked at her warily. “If you start doing any of that girly shit like crying or whatever, I’m outta here so fast--” The pillow Sakura had been clutching hit him in the face.
“Don’t tell me you don’t ever miss people.” Tossing the pillow back at her, he raised an eyebrow and she immediately felt stupid. “Never mind, I forgot the sort you hang around with...”
“Hey that’s just mean, yeah.” He gave her a wounded expression, but Sakura knew it was too exaggerated to be real. “They’re not that bad.”
“No, they’re only the most notorious and dangerous group of criminals around. I’m sure they’re all absolutely charming.”
“No really, I’m being serious, yeah.” Deidara kept his face straight, but Sakura wasn’t convinced.
Sliding under the blankets and making herself comfortable, she asked skeptically, “What, are you going to tell me that Itachi is just misunderstood?”
“No. Itachi’s an overconfident, anti-social, miserable prick through and through. And those creepy eyes, yeah? It’s no wonder no one ever wants to sit beside him at the annual Akatsuki potluck.” Deidara’s expression was completely earnest, but Sakura felt the beginnings of a grin. “Tobi, on the other hand... He can be annoying, but he’s a good kid, yeah. He’ll lend you his cd collection no problem.”
What he was saying was so absurd, Sakura couldn’t help but break into a wide smile. “Hidan’s religious enlightenment should serve as a moral lesson to us all,” said Deidara with absolute sincerity. “Kakuzu is the stingiest bastard on the planet but if you ever do convince him to gamble you’ve already made yourself a fortune. He’s got no poker face.”
Sakura felt all of her earlier worries be swept away by the mental images Deidara was giving her. Ignoring her giggles, he continued, “Kisame writes poetry in his spare time - it’s actually not bad, yeah. And Zetsu’s great if you’re into gardening.”
Sakura shook from laughter, waiting to hear what Deidara would say next.
“And if any of them knew I just made all that stuff up about them, I’d be so dead, yeah,” he finished with a grin, before he reached over and turned out the lamp.
Finally managing to calm her giggles, Sakura waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark, wondering idly why Deidara had told her such outrageous stories. Piecing the reason together, Sakura felt foolish for not having figured it out earlier: he’d been trying to cheer her up.
Rolling herself over under the covers to look towards him, she called softly, “Deidara?”
“Hmm?”
Not quite sure what to say, she told him plainly but heartfelt, “Thanks.”
“...Whatever. Just don’t expect me to tell you any more Akatsuki secrets, yeah.”
Smiling at him in the dark, Sakura was hit with a sudden wave of gratefulness. She was so glad that he was here. Not just because it meant not having to travel alone, Sakura realized with a small amount of surprise, but also because she enjoyed having him around. He could be infuriating, argumentative, and something about him threw her emotions into confusion, but now that they saw each other as people rather than ninja from opposing sides, she liked him. She knew she was crazy for thinking that way about a former enemy, but it was impossible to deny. He had more faults than she could count and they didn’t always get along, but she enjoyed being around him.
The exact terms of their relationship were still muddled and undefined, but Sakura suspected they could be called friends - it didn’t sound quite right, but she couldn’t think of any other word. Their viewpoints were completely skewed - she didn’t doubt that his morals were on a much looser scale than her own - and they still bickered incessantly, yet somehow she didn’t mind. It wasn’t impossible to think that they could fight almost daily and still be friends. Ino and Sai coming to mind, Sakura recognized that she didn’t always get along with other people she considered close friends.
At the same time, Sakura wondered if they had reached some strange new level; not necessarily friends, but something else entirely. They had begun as bitter enemies, but after all they had been through, his presence beside her in the bed was now almost reassuring. Curling up back to back with Deidara, sharing their warmth under the blankets, she wondered how many of her friends back in Konoha she would feel comfortable enough with to do the same.
As she thought about both Deidara and her friends back home, Sakura froze with an unpleasant question. What would happen with Deidara when she went back to Konoha?
When they had first started their journey together, this question wouldn’t have posed her any difficulty; they would co-operate only enough to get home, and later have no problem trying to kill each other. Now, however, the situation was different. She could hit him playfully, knowing he could take anything she threw at him, but she no longer wished him any harm. It was against her better judgment to trust an Akatsuki, but Sakura felt confident that Deidara no longer posed any threat to her either.
So what would happen when she reached Konoha? She couldn’t bring him back with her to the hidden village - he was listed as kill on sight in the bingo book. It wasn’t as though she would even be able to keep in touch with him - any communication with him would be an act of treason. She knew it was irrational to have developed such an attachment to him, but it hurt to think that she might never see him again, that all of the strange bond they’d created would have to be severed. She knew it was pathetic, but she couldn’t deny that she would miss him. Considering her few and depressing options, Sakura was left with the disquieting feeling that she didn’t want to go back to Konoha just yet.
With a mounting sensation of panic, Sakura did the only thing she could think of to calm her mind. Speaking quietly into the dark, she asked, “Deidara? When we get back to the Fire Country... What will you do? Will you go back to the Akatsuki? Will I ever see you again?”
She was answered only with silence.
Sakura suspected that Deidara’s sleep was feigned, but she didn’t push him to answer; she wasn’t sure she wanted to know his response anyway. Turning about restlessly, Sakura was left alone in the darkness, with only her own confused thoughts as company.
++
Chapter 12
Title: Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
Fandom: Naruto
Type: Multi-chaptered
Rating: Pg-13
Pairings: Deidara/Sakura
Word count: 4,281
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.
When she awoke the next morning, Sakura almost believed she was dreaming. She was in a warm, soft bed, and was still slightly full from the food they’d eaten the night before. Her hair smelled of soap and there wasn’t dirt between her toes. Beside her, Deidara was still asleep, radiating heat like a furnace.
Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Sakura felt something she hadn’t had in a long time: calm. Curling closer to Deidara and his warmth, no longer caring about issues of propriety after all they’d been through, Sakura allowed herself to relax.
As Sakura shifted to get comfortable, Deidara mumbled something incoherent but made no effort to move away. Watching him through sleepy eyes, Sakura felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards. He always slept with his mouth slightly open, and no matter how his hair was when he fell asleep, it always managed to end up a complete mess in the morning. Seeing his hair clean was strange to her; the warm gold colour, no longer dull from grime, stood out against the white pillows.
Falling into a half-sleep, Sakura enjoyed the warmth they shared. The smell of breakfast rose from the tavern downstairs, and she could hear the distant toll of bells. Beside her, Deidara yawned and sighed, “This is so nice, yeah.”
Keeping her eyes closed but breaking into a grin, Sakura couldn’t resist. “That’s what all guys say when they wake up next to a pretty lady.”
He gave her a sleepy laugh, and they didn’t bother getting up until the tavern owner knocked on their door, bringing them breakfast.
Setting the tray on the nightstand by the bed, the woman picked up the dirty clothes they’d discarded on the floor the night before. “To clean,” she told them cheerfully, making hand motions of scrubbing before leaving them be.
“They’re awfully nice here,” Sakura commented, reaching over Deidara to take one of the bowls of porridge.
Propping himself up against the headboard and taking a piece of melon, Deidara said through bites, “That’s only because you forked over a ton of our money to them last night, yeah.”
Blowing on the food to help it cool, Sakura shrugged, “I don’t see any harm in it. We should probably get rid of the rest of the coins soon anyway. Didn’t you hear what the woman said last night? ‘Bad money’. It’s a different currency here, I’ll bet.”
“Either that or she knows she we got it from B&E.”
Sakura burned her tongue as she started in on her breakfast too fast. “Bee and what?”
“Breaking and entering.” He looked appalled. “What kind of a ninja doesn’t know that, yeah?”
“An honest one,” she replied in a mockingly superior tone of voice.
When they’d finished the last of their breakfast, Sakura stood up from the bed, stretching, and made her way over to the window. Drawing back the curtains she was greeted with a beautiful view of the village. The wooden roofs of the houses were covered in a thin layer of glistening frost, giving the entire village an almost surreal, crystalline appearance. Her enjoyment of the scenery, however, was cut short by a comment from Deidara.
“What are you wearing?”
Turning to face him, Sakura felt a blush creep into her cheeks. Confused as to why she cared what he thought of her appearance, she replied anyway, “It’s the change of clothes they gave us last night.”
“It’s hideous,” he informed her, very matter of fact.
Sakura knew what he said was true. The long, formless brown dress hung unattractively off her small frame and reminded her of something grandmothers wore.
“Well what else was I supposed to put on?” she replied hotly, trying to cover her embarrassment. “I either had to wear this, those filthy old clothes, or sleep naked.”
Deidara, thankfully, declined to answer and both of their faces turned bright shades of pink. Sakura immediately regretted what she’d said, and busied herself with bunching some of the extra fabric around the waist of her dress into a knot to make it slightly more form-fitting.
“Stylish,” Deidara commented wryly when she’d finished.
“You’re no better yourself, you know,” she shot back defensively as she combed the tangles from her hair with her fingers. “That shirt is huge on you.”
The plain canvas shirt he’d been given was big enough to fit two of him inside, and the pants were just barely held up around his hips by an old, cracked leather belt. Sakura would never admit it out loud, but the effect of the clothes was not a complete disaster; with his long hair and the shirt that hung loose around his shoulders, he looked almost like a stereotypical poet.
“I realize that.” Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he continued, “Which is why I suggest we see what this place has to offer in terms of shops, yeah.”
With that decided, they left their room and descended to the main part of the building. The tavern owner nodded at them in greeting as she cleaned glasses behind the bar.
Seeing an opportunity, Sakura took it. Approaching the counter, she asked, “Excuse me, but do you know how we can get to Konoha from here?”
The woman blinked, confused by the long phrase. “Konoha?” Sakura repeated hopefully.
Uncomprehending, the woman shook her head and offered one of the few words she knew, “Sorry.”
Deidara spoke before Sakura could continue her questioning. “Thank you,” he told the older woman, before taking Sakura by the elbow and leading her out the door. As they stepped out into the chilly air, he explained, “She might speak a bit of English, but it’s not enough to get the information we need out of her. You’ll only end up getting her confused, yeah.”
Dismayed, Sakura nonetheless knew he was right. “So how are we going to find out where to go next?”
He shook his head before replying, “Don’t know, yeah. Let’s take a look - we might find something.”
The village was small and consisted mainly of houses and only a few stores, but Sakura certainly found ‘something’ soon enough.
“Shoes,” she crooned adoringly, almost pawing at the window display. Seeing the plain but functional variety of leather boots made her toes ache from the cold.
As they pushed open the door, the shopkeeper greeted them in his own language. “Hello!” Sakura replied cheerfully, “I would like to buy some shoes!”
Seeing the man’s blank stare, Deidara told her, “I think the woman at the tavern was just a special case, yeah. Most people here probably don’t speak any English.” Sakura’s heart fell, but Deidara continued, “Don’t worry, yeah. I happen to know a particular language that works anywhere.”
Sakura gave him a puzzled expression, curious as to what he meant. Giving her a wink, Deidara flipped a number of their gold coins onto the counter beside the till.
“Now who’s being generous?” Sakura teased, although she would have been willing to give double the amount if it meant warm feet.
Becoming animated at once, the shopkeeper rushed to present them with his wares. After a few tries, Sakura found a pair that fit well.
“Good riddance,” said Sakura wholeheartedly as she tossed her old, ruined sandals into the wastepaper basket beside the till. She could have sworn that her new boots, made of soft, supple leather, were the most comfortable shoes she’d ever worn. Deidara had chosen a pair made of tougher, darker material, and his old sandals quickly joined Sakura’s in the garbage.
The only shop selling clothes was almost dismissed outright, as a glance through the windows showed that they’d only find articles similar to what they’d been given at the tavern.
“Wait,” Deidara called, as Sakura began to walk away. “Let’s go in anyway, yeah.”
Shocked, she almost didn’t believe what she’d just heard. “You want to go in that place?”
“Yes,” he ground out through clenched teeth, as though it was the most difficult thing to admit.
“What happened to your supposedly highly attuned sense of fashion?”
“Just for a minute, yeah.” He opened the door and went in before Sakura could say anything else.
Puzzled, she followed him. It wasn’t as though she had anything else to do, and this at least promised to provide good ammunition against him the next time they resorted to taunting each other.
Most of the clothing was thick, winter gear in drab colours. Deidara brushed past all of this, however, and went directly to a shelf displaying a variety of gloves. Waving away the shop assistant and avoiding Sakura’s gaze, he chose a pair of plain black gloves. Paying for them, he made sure to use his hands in a way that would conceal the bloodline limit affecting them.
Seeing his jaw set in that stubborn way of his but also recognizing the faint pink tinge in his face as something bordering humiliation, Sakura immediately felt bad for teasing him. She should have guessed he would need something to cover the mouths in his palms. Although she could almost say that she’d gotten used to them by now, most other people wouldn’t feel the same. In a strange way, him buying gloves reminded her of how she used to wear her hair with thick bangs, hoping to hide the forehead she was so self-conscious about.
“Let’s go, yeah,” Deidara muttered, still not looking straight at her.
“Wait!” Hit with an odd wave of understanding, Sakura stumbled over what to say next. “I... I want to buy some too.”
Deidara narrowed his eyes, on guard for a joke at his expense. “For the cold,” Sakura explained weakly.
Quickly choosing a pair of sheepskin gloves for herself and paying for them, she held up her now toasty warm hands towards Deidara. “What do you think of them?”
“Not bad, yeah.” Sakura was relieved to see his features soften as he realized she hadn’t intended to tease him.
“Stopping in there was a good idea,” Sakura told him, smiling as they stepped back outside.
The other shops in town proved to be less useful. “It’s almost a shame we don’t have a farm, yeah,” Deidara remarked as they passed by a row of stores selling seeds, tools, and livestock items.
The last store they came across seemed to be filled with a variety of random items. Curious, Sakura went in anyway, the chimes attached to the door ringing as she entered.
Inside, the shop resembled the explosion of someone’s attic. Objects were crowded on tables, with no clear organization behind their placement. Colourful plastic toys mixed with ornately carved wooden boxes, and the dull lighting caused piles of cheap jewelry to twinkle attractively. Running her hands over the trinkets and bobbles, Sakura felt like a little kid. The whole store smelled strongly of dust and tobacco. The shopkeeper, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he now had customers, held a pipe in one hand and a book in the other.
“Why would anyone even buy some of this stuff, yeah?” Deidara asked, examining a glass ball that simulated a snowstorm when you shook it.
Sakura picked up an old teddy bear, more than a little worse for wear with one eye missing and stuffing peaking out through the stitches. Smiling nostalgically, she moved to put him back before something caught her eye. Under where the bear had been seated was an old book. Setting the bear down nearby, Sakura brushed the dust from the book’s cover, displaying the picture of a globe. Opening it, her breath caught in her throat. It was filled with maps. An atlas.
“Deidara,” she whispered excitedly, “Look at this.”
Moving to look over her shoulder, he raised an eyebrow and drawled, “I didn’t realize you had such a passion for geography, yeah.”
Ignoring him, she flipped through the pages until her eyes landed on something painfully familiar. The map was a rough sketch at most, the drawn borders both estimated and dating back at least several decades, but to Sakura’s eyes it was unmistakable: the Fire Country. Although it wasn’t marked, Sakura’s gaze landed on where she knew it to be.
The hidden village of Konoha.
Taking an involuntary step back, her knees suddenly weak, she leaned against Deidara for support. “Don’t you see?” she breathed, “This is exactly what we need.”
Steadying her with his hands on her shoulders, Deidara nodded slowly. “If we can find out where we are now...”
Taking a deep breathe to force down her swirling emotions, Sakura regained her strength and moved towards the shopkeeper who was still immersed in reading. “Sir?” she called softly. He looked up, frowning that he’d been disturbed, and Sakura held out the atlas towards him. “Could you show me where we are now? Where are we on these maps?”
Knitting his eyebrows at the sound of the unfamiliar words, the man shook his head to show he didn’t understand. Swallowing nervously and trying to figure out how to mime her question, Sakura pointed at the ground, then the atlas, repeating the motions several times.
Settling his own book on the table beside him, the shopkeeper took the atlas from Sakura and thumbed through the pages. Studying one of the maps for a moment, he pointed to a small circle indicating a town. The tiny letters above it read: Bergaís.
After leaving the man a large handful of coins in exchange for the book, causing him to choke on the smoke from his pipe in surprise, Deidara and Sakura hurried back to their room at the tavern.
Both of them collapsing on the bed, they poured over the maps, folding corners of important pages and pointing excitedly at certain spots. When at last they figured out where they were in relation to the Fire Country and its surrounding countries, Sakura was stunned.
Deidara stared incredulously at a two-page spread of the world. “How did that brat manage to send us all the way to here, yeah?”
Wondering the same thing, Sakura replied, “I have no idea.” She thought of Naruto, the boy with grand ambitions and a heart of gold, and smiled fondly. “But if anyone could do something like this, it’s him.”
Naruto’s mysterious jutsu had transported them far indeed. Not only had it sent them far north and across the equator, attributing to the change in season, it had also sent them to the west. Far, far west.
Rubbing his eyes, sore from reading small print, Deidara groaned in frustration, “Let me get this straight, yeah. To get back, we have to cross a goddamned ocean.”
Sakura bit her lip and traced their path with a finger. “That’s what it looks like. We’re on a completely different continent - we can’t just walk home from here.”
According to the atlas, the continent they were on now was smaller than the one with the Fire Country. Despite this, the land was broken into more countries and kingdoms than Sakura would have expected. A mountain range ran across the northern reaches, and most of the settlements were towards the south. The village they were currently in, as indicated by the shopkeeper, was placed in the central-eastern region of the continent, fairly close to the body of water that would need to be crossed.
Turning to another page and squinting at the map, Deidara tapped one of the towns with a finger. “This place here is the closest port, yeah. If we go there we can see about finding a boat across.”
The coastal town he’d pointed out was marked on the map by a square, with its name labeled above in decorative letters.
“Cìen.” Sakura found the name rolled pleasantly off her tongue, even though she knew her pronunciation of it was probably terrible.
“It should be about a day’s worth of walking, yeah,” Deidara estimated, stretching out on the bed, “If we leave here early tomorrow morning we can be there by nightfall.”
“If they’re willing to take foreign currency, we can use the money we have left to buy passage on a ship - there must be traders who go to the Fire Country.” From there, Sakura knew she would have no problems getting home. After years of missions and patrols, she no longer needed a map to navigate her own country. No matter what port she disembarked at, it would only be a journey of a few days to reach Konoha.
Sakura lay down beside Deidara on the bed and closed her eyes. Now that they were out of danger and had figured out how to get back, the possibility of seeing Konoha again made her heart ache. Getting back home had always been the goal of this whole journey, but now that she was so close to achieving it and she had a moment of calm, she was hit with a wave of homesickness. Going home would mean seeing her friends again. It would mean hanging out with Ino at the flowershop, continuing the eternal quest to see Kakashi’s face, forcibly correcting Sai’s social blunders, and resuming her medical studies with Tsunade. Not to mention, it would mean wringing Naruto’s neck for his stupid jutsu.
The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, but Sakura couldn’t shake her longing for home. When she went for a walk around the village again, seeing the frosty ground made her wish for Konoha’s sun and warmth. When the tavern lady handed back their old clothes, now patched and cleaned, Sakura remembered how Ino would drag her out shopping if her outfits were even the slightest bit worn. When they were served soup for dinner, Sakura had a sudden craving for ramen and missed her evenings at Ichiraku with Team Seven.
By the time she began preparing for bed, Sakura was more weary emotionally than physically. Aside from being homesick, she began to wonder what her friends were doing now. Were they off on difficult missions? Had anyone found themselves a new romance? Did they miss her as much as she missed them? That last question prompted another distressing train of thought: did everyone think she was dead?
Deidara, who was already stretched out under the covers on one side of the bed, watched Sakura as she brushed her hair absentmindedly.
“What’s got you so down, yeah?” he asked, curious. “This whole day has been pretty much the best thing that’s happened since we started this crazy adventure, but you look like your pet goldfish just died.”
Sakura sighed as she settled herself onto the other side of the bed, taking her pillow and hugging it tight. She was hesitant to tell him what was bothering her; they may have formed a strange, indefinable bond, but they rarely spoke about things like feelings. There was no longer any real malice when Deidara teased her, but Sakura was still reluctant to admit to any form of weakness. “It’s just that… Now that we know how to get home, I can’t stop thinking of...” She bit her lip, taking a deep breathe and closing her eyes before simply saying, “I miss my friends.”
Deidara looked at her warily. “If you start doing any of that girly shit like crying or whatever, I’m outta here so fast--” The pillow Sakura had been clutching hit him in the face.
“Don’t tell me you don’t ever miss people.” Tossing the pillow back at her, he raised an eyebrow and she immediately felt stupid. “Never mind, I forgot the sort you hang around with...”
“Hey that’s just mean, yeah.” He gave her a wounded expression, but Sakura knew it was too exaggerated to be real. “They’re not that bad.”
“No, they’re only the most notorious and dangerous group of criminals around. I’m sure they’re all absolutely charming.”
“No really, I’m being serious, yeah.” Deidara kept his face straight, but Sakura wasn’t convinced.
Sliding under the blankets and making herself comfortable, she asked skeptically, “What, are you going to tell me that Itachi is just misunderstood?”
“No. Itachi’s an overconfident, anti-social, miserable prick through and through. And those creepy eyes, yeah? It’s no wonder no one ever wants to sit beside him at the annual Akatsuki potluck.” Deidara’s expression was completely earnest, but Sakura felt the beginnings of a grin. “Tobi, on the other hand... He can be annoying, but he’s a good kid, yeah. He’ll lend you his cd collection no problem.”
What he was saying was so absurd, Sakura couldn’t help but break into a wide smile. “Hidan’s religious enlightenment should serve as a moral lesson to us all,” said Deidara with absolute sincerity. “Kakuzu is the stingiest bastard on the planet but if you ever do convince him to gamble you’ve already made yourself a fortune. He’s got no poker face.”
Sakura felt all of her earlier worries be swept away by the mental images Deidara was giving her. Ignoring her giggles, he continued, “Kisame writes poetry in his spare time - it’s actually not bad, yeah. And Zetsu’s great if you’re into gardening.”
Sakura shook from laughter, waiting to hear what Deidara would say next.
“And if any of them knew I just made all that stuff up about them, I’d be so dead, yeah,” he finished with a grin, before he reached over and turned out the lamp.
Finally managing to calm her giggles, Sakura waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark, wondering idly why Deidara had told her such outrageous stories. Piecing the reason together, Sakura felt foolish for not having figured it out earlier: he’d been trying to cheer her up.
Rolling herself over under the covers to look towards him, she called softly, “Deidara?”
“Hmm?”
Not quite sure what to say, she told him plainly but heartfelt, “Thanks.”
“...Whatever. Just don’t expect me to tell you any more Akatsuki secrets, yeah.”
Smiling at him in the dark, Sakura was hit with a sudden wave of gratefulness. She was so glad that he was here. Not just because it meant not having to travel alone, Sakura realized with a small amount of surprise, but also because she enjoyed having him around. He could be infuriating, argumentative, and something about him threw her emotions into confusion, but now that they saw each other as people rather than ninja from opposing sides, she liked him. She knew she was crazy for thinking that way about a former enemy, but it was impossible to deny. He had more faults than she could count and they didn’t always get along, but she enjoyed being around him.
The exact terms of their relationship were still muddled and undefined, but Sakura suspected they could be called friends - it didn’t sound quite right, but she couldn’t think of any other word. Their viewpoints were completely skewed - she didn’t doubt that his morals were on a much looser scale than her own - and they still bickered incessantly, yet somehow she didn’t mind. It wasn’t impossible to think that they could fight almost daily and still be friends. Ino and Sai coming to mind, Sakura recognized that she didn’t always get along with other people she considered close friends.
At the same time, Sakura wondered if they had reached some strange new level; not necessarily friends, but something else entirely. They had begun as bitter enemies, but after all they had been through, his presence beside her in the bed was now almost reassuring. Curling up back to back with Deidara, sharing their warmth under the blankets, she wondered how many of her friends back in Konoha she would feel comfortable enough with to do the same.
As she thought about both Deidara and her friends back home, Sakura froze with an unpleasant question. What would happen with Deidara when she went back to Konoha?
When they had first started their journey together, this question wouldn’t have posed her any difficulty; they would co-operate only enough to get home, and later have no problem trying to kill each other. Now, however, the situation was different. She could hit him playfully, knowing he could take anything she threw at him, but she no longer wished him any harm. It was against her better judgment to trust an Akatsuki, but Sakura felt confident that Deidara no longer posed any threat to her either.
So what would happen when she reached Konoha? She couldn’t bring him back with her to the hidden village - he was listed as kill on sight in the bingo book. It wasn’t as though she would even be able to keep in touch with him - any communication with him would be an act of treason. She knew it was irrational to have developed such an attachment to him, but it hurt to think that she might never see him again, that all of the strange bond they’d created would have to be severed. She knew it was pathetic, but she couldn’t deny that she would miss him. Considering her few and depressing options, Sakura was left with the disquieting feeling that she didn’t want to go back to Konoha just yet.
With a mounting sensation of panic, Sakura did the only thing she could think of to calm her mind. Speaking quietly into the dark, she asked, “Deidara? When we get back to the Fire Country... What will you do? Will you go back to the Akatsuki? Will I ever see you again?”
She was answered only with silence.
Sakura suspected that Deidara’s sleep was feigned, but she didn’t push him to answer; she wasn’t sure she wanted to know his response anyway. Turning about restlessly, Sakura was left alone in the darkness, with only her own confused thoughts as company.
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Chapter 12