"I think there's something I should lay down so you get the bigger picture," Kisame said. He sat down in front of Sakura's desk, brand new navy hitai-ate glistening on his forehead. He wore something similar to his Seven Swordsmen days—a sleeveless charcoal gray shirt, black pants, gray shin guards, and a waist guard. Sakura leaned forward curiously.
"Oh?"
"This whole Akatsuki a month thing. Like every other member, I have absolutely no idea what Pein-sama's doing this for, but I do know one thing. None of us actively sought out the organization. We were recruited after leaving our villages, some of us being forced after losing a battle. So I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to bring everyone over."
The door suddenly swung open, Tobi rushing in with an armful of papers. He exclaimed various apologies before setting down a small stack of papers on Sakura's desk and jogging back out. Kisame raised an eyebrow.
"Academy graduation is coming up," she informed, motioning for him to continue. "You were saying?"
"Well most, if not all, would transfer over here. The real question isn't if they would leave the Akatsuki. It's if they'd rather follow Pein or follow you. Tobi and I were sold real quick, but as for the others... they might take a little extra convincing."
Day 2
He remembered her. Vividly, if he might add. Haruno Sakura was the one who killed his partner about three years back through sheer strength and a grand enough knowledge to concoct an antidote to Sasori's poison. She was smart, strong, and capable, but she was so young. Eighteen, right? She couldn't be as great as everyone said she was. What could she possibly know about leading a village or controlling a large amount of shinobi at her young age?
Deidara wandered about the village, gazing at the shapes of the buildings and colors. He hummed to himself at the aesthetically pleasing designs of the village. The place gave off a calm, relaxing vibe that he wouldn't mind mingling in—
Someone crashed into him.
"Watch where you're going, un!"
"I-I'm sorry it's just that I'm in a hurry and I had all these papers to..." That someone raised his eye and blinked. "Ah! Deidara-senpai! You're here this month?" he asked with a wide smile. Deidara narrowed his eyes. The voice sounded annoyingly familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Have we met?" he questioned slowly. The person donned a look of pure horror.
"Senpai! I've only been gone for two months!" he cried. "Kisame-senpai knew who I was when he saw me but—but I thought we were friends! You don't recognize me? Wah! Deidara-senpai!!!"
It clicked.
"Tobi?"
Tobi's eye shined. "Oh thank goodness I thought you forgot about me!" he sighed. Deidara's jaw dropped as he narrowed his eyes even further. Two years he spent wondering what was under that mask, and he never imagined him looking kind of like Itachi of all people. Tobi gazed down at his arms, the look of horror returning to his face.
"The papers! Sorry, senpai I have to do this thing so I'll see you later!" he exclaimed. He waved a goodbye before scuttling off down the road. A few kids across the street stared after him.
"Tobi-sensei looks really busy, doesn't he?" one of them sighed.
"Yeah. But did you hear about Masao-sensei? He fell asleep at his desk and he wouldn't wake up so they started drawing on his face!"
"Really? What a dork!"
Deidara's jaw dropped even further. How and when did that idiot become a teacher?!
Day 13
A hawk tumbled through the window of the Otokage's office and crashed into Sakura's desk. It soon popped up, ruffled feathers and all, and offered the note on its leg.
Haruno-sama,
A large portion of our people have been poisoned after being invaded by shinobi, and our doctors are not any closer to finding an antidote. It isn't doing considerable damage to their bodies, but it's sending them into comatose states and has begun the process of very slowly shutting down each of their systems. It has come to my knowledge that your village has some very talented medical shinobi. Please, lend us your help.
Takumi Village Head, Agano Koji
Kabuto scratched the back of his head.
"I... don't think we have anyone to spare at the moment. We've had a recent surge of missions and most of our shinobi are busy. If they're not busy, they're not qualified," he said. Sakura frowned. She gave her word to their leader that she'd help them whenever they asked of it. After all Takumi had done for her and for the village, it gave her an even greater reason to not refuse. She wasn't about to let them down.
"I was able to decode Sasori's poison once," she mentioned. Kabuto crossed his arms.
"You can't go alone."
"I know that."
Kabuto would go, but these were active times. Someone had to stay behind and approve all missions requested and document all the mission reports that seemed to flow into the office by the hour. Kisame couldn't go along with her either. He was one of their strongest assets, and with most shinobi out of the village, he needed to be here to insure that Oto wouldn't be at a loss if someone decided to attack.
"Sakura-sama, might I make a suggestion?"
Day 14
"I'm sorry for troubling you with this, you know, not being an Otogakure shinobi and all."
"It's fine, hm. I was getting bored anyways."
Deidara was the best bet she had. All she needed was someone to go with her just in case there was an instance of coming across rogues or hunter-nin. Once they arrived, she would find an antidote, make sure that all affected shinobi were in stable condition, then return to Otogakure quick and simple. No delays. Soon, the two of them came to a fork in the road. Sakura made a step towards the right side.
"What are you doing, un?"
She spun around on her heel. "Um... going to River Country?"
"It'll take longer down that path. Going down the left side will take us right through Fire and cut us about two days of travel, hm," he said. Sakura bit her lip and considered her options. Going through Fire would run her a far greater chance of being seen by Konoha shinobi, leading her to a high risk of getting captured. But if she went the other way and wasted those two days, the poison would be talking more lives and she would be the one at fault. With Deidara at her side, she supposed that he would help her out if worse comes to worst.
"You're right. Let's head that way."
Their travels were made mostly in silence, and it was really starting to get to Sakura. It was hours into their journey and Deidara had kept that same bored face the entire time. He wasn't particularly bothered at anything, and when they took breaks, he spent that time molding small sculptures with his clay. At nightfall, they sat in silence on opposite sides of the campfire. Sakura cleared her throat.
"So, uh, you really like art, huh?"
Smooth.
He shrugged. "It's a hobby, un."
"Any... future masterpieces?"
He shrugged a second time. "I'll go out with a bang."
They went into another long bout of silence, nothing but the sound of burning wood filling the seemingly empty woods. Deidara was creating some sort of spider and Sakura took to staring into the fire. The quiet was unsettling, but it only seemed to be bothering her.
'Oh, like you'd ever get him on your side.'
Sakura resisted the urge to rip out her hair. 'You've kept your mouth shut for an entire year. Why are you back?'
Inner laughed. 'What do you mean? I never left. I've always been here, crawling through your thoughts like a wraith, looking for something interesting to munch on. Looks like I've found one.'
Sakura flexed her fingers, not seeing the stare that flickered over to them for a split second.
'Ah, Deidara. Akatsuki's very own pyromaniac. Do you think he'll blow you up for kicks? Seems like the type. And he even managed to get you in Fire country. You're going to get caught, you know? I guarantee.'
She decided to humor her. 'What makes you so sure?'
Inner laughed again, this time borderline hysterical. 'You know what Kakashi-sensei used to say. Use your senses.'
Sakura and Deidara's heads shot up at the same time, eyes locking in a moment of knowing. Fourteen chakra signatures closing in. Fast. Too fast. Something came out out the bushes and shot towards Deidara. He flipped out of the way to avoid it and got his clay packs snatched off his hips in the process. He and Sakura retreated to the opposite end of the clearing, back to back, kunai firmly in their grasp. The shinobi made themselves known, each armed with weapons Sakura easily recognized.
"So you're the bunch that decided to steal from Takumi Village and poison their people," she mused.
"And you're the help," the leader noted distastefully. "Typical. Though I never imagined an Akatsuki and a missing-nin would come to the aid of a mere weapon's village. But no matter. We could take you two in and be filthy rich with the bounties on your heads."
Deidara scoffed. "You're way in over your heads, hm. Even if I still had my clay, I wouldn't need it to take you down, un."
Sakura said nothing as she slammed her heel into the ground. The earth broke beneath their feet, ground caving in several meters before her. Deidara smirked. "Not bad, hm."
"Nice to know that you approve."
They launched into battle.
These shinobi really were more talk than bite. They were high-chuunin level at best and were no match for either Sakura or Deidara, much less the two of them working together. The fourteen were down in no more than an hour. Sakura picked up one of their swords and examined it, grimacing at the purple liquid that collected at the tip.
"Deidara-san, did you get hit—?"
She turned around to see Deidara leaned against a tree, hand to his forehead and a thin red line on his cheek. "Deidara-san!"
Sakura ran towards him and caught him as he dropped forward with half-lidded stare.
"Those weapons were poisoned! What the hell kind of shinobi are you to get hit like that? I don't have any supplies with me right now so you better keep your eyes open or I swear I'll kick your ass!" she hissed. His eyes grew a little wider, not expecting that angry outburst.
"What...?"
"Keep your eyes open for as long as possible, you understand?" she demanded. "I won't allow you to succumb to the poison here! Takumi Village is half a day away... Oi! If I'm annoying enough, will you stay awake?"
He slowly raised his eyes up to her. "...Huh?"
"You know, annoying! If I keep nagging or something, will that keep you awake? 'Cause I can get loud if I want," she said. Deidara let out an amused huff.
"What are... you, an idiot... hm?"
Sakura grinned. "I've been called that once or twice."
She hefted him over her shoulder, grabbed his clay bags, and leapt into the trees.
Unfortunately, she was unaware of the other shinobi she would encounter that day.
Day 17
Deidara cracked open his eyes to the sound of a heart monitor and the sight of an IV drip. His head suddenly flooded with the memories of what he saw before he passed out, lips tightening into a thin line. He didn't look up when the door to his room opened or when someone walked up to his bedside to check his vitals.
"It seems that the antidote is working as it should," Sakura smiled. "You should be up on your feet by tomorrow and we can make our way back to the village. So, how are you feeling? Any discomfort?"
He finally looked up at her. "You could have turned me in," he said quietly. "He made you an offer and you could have gone back with him."
Sakura smile faltered. "How would that benefit me? Otogakure is my home now. Besides, what would have happened to you? I needed to get the poison out of your system or else you would've died. Why would I let that happen?"
After writing down Deidara's information, she placed the clipboard at the foot of his bed and went to check on the other patients.
"... Is he dead, hm?"
"I didn't check. You lost consciousness and I had to get you to Takumi Village."
He hummed and closed his eyes. As Sakura shut the door behind her, Inner's psychotic laughter unrelentingly resonating in her head.
'I can't believe you! I can't!' Her laughter grew even louder. 'He could be dead right now and you chose Deidara instead!'
Sakura felt sick.
'I can't believe you listened to me! You left him to die! You left him to die!'
She couldn't hear anything anymore. Not the bustle of the hospital. Not the cheery talk of the doctors and nurses. Not the thanks she was given for finding the antidote. Just Inner's shrill voice piercing her skull.
'You left Asuma to die!!!'
Day 30
Deidara stared down at his old Iwa hitai-ate as he ran his thumb down the deep gash through his previous village's symbol. Wanting to return to his old village wasn't a new thought, but it was always some far away dream ever since he joined the Akatsuki. Even if he could someone break the ties with the organization he was forced into, Iwa would never welcome him back. Not after stealing their kinjutsu, bombing much of the village, and killing a good number of his former comrades.
But here...
Otogakure was a good village. The people were nice enough and they had their own artistic abilities through music. Tobi and Kisame were already here as well, and he wouldn't be the known as the first Akatsuki to give in, which was a plus. And that leader, Haruno Sakura.
Well, she was just as screwed up as he was but somehow managed to keep a good heart. She saved him without a second thought.
Pein would have never done that for him.
Mind made up, he dragged himself to the Otokage's office. Kabuto, Tobi, and Sakura were in, discussing who knows what about the Academy. Sakura smiled at him.
"Hello, Deidara-san! What can I help you with?"
"I'd... like to stay in the village. If that's cool, un."
Tobi glowed, tears brimming in his eyes as he ran towards him. "SENPAI!"
Kabuto whispered something in Sakura's ear, making her grin and nod in agreement. She reached for some files on her table and a hitai-ate and handed it over, not minding that Tobi had turned into a heap on the floor due to a sharp kick to his stomach. Deidara took the offered items, curiously reading the tabs on each folder
Isaribi
Shiin Menma
Yukimaru
"What's this, hm?"
"Your first assignment as an Otogakure shinobi, of course!"
Deidara's brow furrowed. "And that would be...?"
Kabuto opened one of Sakura's drawers and pulled out a champagne popper. He tended to keep them in there for mocking purposes or if he wanted to wake Sakura up from a nap he didn't authorize. He pulled the string and sent small green flakes of confetti to rain over Deidara's head.
"Congratulations. You're a genin-sensei."
Sakura had never seen someone look so mortified.
::
Agano Koji as an OC, as the current head of Takumi Village isn't named.
::
EDITED 2.18.18