Naruto: Lost In Kishimoto - Revenge [Book 2]

Chapter Seven: Art is an Explosion!

Beth POV

As the events of the fight in Sungakure flooded inside my mind, I felt my body tense. Flashes of my actions echoed, my body flying to attack Deidara as he attacked the Sand village again and again. I remembered Gaara protecting the village, his sand creating a large shield with which he used to block the explosive clay scattered by Deidaras hand. But then Gaara was captured, his body limp as Deidara attacked him, scooping him up into the clasps of his clay bird. That was when I attached myself to Deidaras bird, my chakra keeping me attached as Deidara attempted to shake me off. Spectators watched in horror as I fought to protect the Kazekage. I hoped they didn't recognise me, or if they did at least thought I was working for the enemy. But I couldn't think about that, what I needed to do was save Gaara.

Deidara could've thrown me off at any point, and yet he allowed me to tag along, his explosive beetles stealthily crawling onto my body. I had become a hostage without realising it. I was foolish.

As I looked up at the dawn, I could feel the blood pouring out of me, like I was a leaking bucket full of water. I felt weak, tired, helpless, whimpering as I felt my lifespan shorten.

"Not going to ask where we're going, huh?" Deidara asked me in a smug tone. My hands pushed against my injury as hard as I could manage, the pain soaring throughout me. Gaara's unconscious body was being clutched by the clay bird we were flying on. I scoffed and looked at Deidara with eyes of hatred.

"I know exactly where we're going, so there's no need to ask." Deidara flinched and looked straight at me, without another word a loud explosion occurred. I screamed as a small clay beetle exploded on my right thigh. The explosions were small, but when attached to bare skin did a hell of a lot of damage.

Birds sang out in horror when my screams sounded, as if they could feel the pain that I felt. My blood soaked the white clay of the bird. Deidara simply laughed.

"Maybe we shouldn't be so rude, yeah?" I coughed; small trickles of blood sliding down my chin.

Looking at the injury I could just make out how serious it really was. The flesh was burnt and charred, and bone was now visible. The area felt as though it was on fire, every nerve ending screaming at me to find a medical ninja who could heal me. I hated to admit it, but I needed Kabuto.

I tried to look around me, and determine where exactly we were in relation to the Akatsuki hideout. I didn't know much about it and I'd never been there before, but Orochimaru had told me the locations of all the hideouts he knew of, which had helped me when I had been in charge of spying on them for information.

I could only barely make out the edge of the Land of Wind as we approached it. I knew that the large rock formation a few kilometres from where we were now was the area in which I expected Deidara to stop. Sasori would already be there, twitching at the lateness of our arrival. I knew that I had to get Gaara out and about before we arrived and I had to deal with Sasori as well. I tried to think through my situation. Location, on top of a big arse explosive bird. Objective, incapacitate an S-ranked Akatsuki criminal and free the Kazekage. Chances of succeeding, ten percent... and that's not without serious injury.

I couldn't think about it for too long. Gaara didn't have the time I needed to make an informed decision, so instinct would have to suffice. I watched for Deidara to scope his surroundings, my eyes never leaving his body language. When he finally let his guard down, I moved.

As fast as possible, I raised my hand and flicked as many of the explosive beetles off my body as possible. Beetles on my chest and on my head were the ones I targeted first and only barely was I able to flick one off my hands before he pulled the trigger. Deidara turned swiftly at my movements, his eyes wide and angry. As the rest of the beetles exploded, blowing up different areas of my body, I charged at Deidara, using any adrenaline I could to push myself through the pain. My sword still hung at my waist in its case. I swiftly took it out and before Deidara could react, slicing off one of his beloved clay making hands.

With a sharp and rather painful sounding scream, Deidara lost control of the bird which started falling to the ground beneath us. Deidara was screaming at the loss of his hand, while I took the opportunity to go and pull Gaara free.

I could feel my vision fading, my power lessening, but I had to persevere. I had to save Gaara. I could no longer rely on the actions that occurred within the Naruto manga. I couldn't just rely on Naruto and the others. I had to help as much as I could.

Jumping off the back of the bird I managed only barely to grab hold of the tail, giving me access to Gaara. The clay bird was still clutching onto Gaara's body with a great deal of force, making it difficult to break through. Gathering whatever chakra Kabuto's formula had allowed me to generate, I created a Chidori with a sharp enough point that would allow me to break through the clay and yet avoid hurting Gaara.

The clay broke like glass, sending Gaara flying to the ground. My eyes widened as I watched his body descend, without thinking I tossed myself off the bird and flew towards the body.

When I opened my eyes again I couldn't feel anything. It was as if my whole body had been shattered. Blood soaked my clothing. Although the injuries weren't in vital areas, the amount of damage impacted, caused my body to lose much of the blood it needed to survive.

Gaara was still unconscious as he lay on top of me. I didn't remember what I had done after flying off the explosive bird but I had obviously managed to break Gaara's fall with my own body. Gaara was much taller and heavier then I was, and even with my body being mainly muscle it didn't stop Gaara from causing my body a great deal more damage.

I felt a tear drip down my face. The pain had finally settled in. I could hardly bear it.

"Gaara." I managed to croak. His body moved slightly. "Gaara, please." I continued. He flinched once more but his eyes didn't open. "Gaara!" I managed to yell. We were out in the open and I couldn't see anything around me. If Deidara hadn't blown himself up then he was definitely coming after us, and if Sasori had seen explosion which I suspected that he had, he would be too.

His eyes slowly creaked open. He seemed unharmed with the exception of a few cuts and bruises, which I was thankful for.

It took a while for his eyes to focus on where he was, which was understandable considering the events of the last 6 hours. But as he realised where he was and what had happened, he then took a good look at me.

"Beth!" he exclaimed. "You're...!"

"Look, I managed to get you this far but now you have to go back to the village as fast as you can. Either that or go and hide because Deidara and Sasori will be here any second." Gaara shook his head and stood up.

"You're body. If I leave you you'll die." Same old Gaara.

"If you don't leave me you'll die. You're a hell of a lot more important than I am Gaara. Everyone in Sunagakure needs you. Go!" I yelled, blood spurting from my throat.

"No." Sliding his hands under my shoulders and knees, Gaara picked my feeble body up and looked around. "If I left you for dead then it would be as though Naruto never changed me, and I can't go back to how I was." I looked into his dark eyes and rested my head against his body.

"They'll be coming. You have to hurry." With that Gaara flew off, moving as fast as he could.

Once again I'm dragging everyone down.