Chapter 6- Childish

On the streets, as Sakura drug the Iwa-nin from shop to shop; an increasing feeling of unease followed her. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught ANBU watching them, and the Jounin they passed by would stiffen and shift their stances. Chuunin would make almost any excuse, and then leave as fast as dignity would allow. The children weren’t oblivious to either the fear or its source, and thus without knowing the reason, they too avoided the peculiar-looking new stranger. She shot a glare at a new Chuunin, and he sat back down in his seat, rather than leaving; he feared her fist and fury more than the unknown behind her.

At least, thankfully, the civilians in the village were blissfully oblivious to the attention they were receiving, and continued to be of service as if nothing at all unusual were happening.

For that, at least, she was thankful.

Deidara watched his new find with great interest; for someone doing something against her will, she was certainly doing it avidly. He chuckled at the thought; even though it had been against her better judgment to help him, she was doing it to the best of her ability now that she had decided to. Even going to far as to defend him against the Hokage and the villagers… she was definitely a peculiar one. He didn’t really care what other people thought; he would change their minds. That was what he wanted.

To… be a true shinobi… to have a home again…

“Sakura.”

At the same moment, both turned to look at a tall kunoichi with russet hair. She held up a kunai holster disdainfully, her milky brown eyes watching them carefully.

“Tenten? Why are you…? Shouldn’t you be at your smithy?” A rude snort.

“Yeah, I should be, but I had to come see your little souvenir for myself. Lee bet me two hundred that your bringing home an S-class criminal was a false rumor.” She sighed and tossed the pack at the younger girl. “I’m sorry to say that this is one bet I would rather have lost.”

To both of their surprise, Deidara laughed.

“I’m sure that’s what everyone’s thinking. Well, when I asked to be brought here, I didn’t expect things to be easy!”

And neither were really all that surprised when Tenten was left gaping at their backs as they walked away. Sakura called over her shoulder, promising to pay her later for her work, and then they were gone, disappearing into the people milling about the streets.

“You… did you really not have any reason for saving us?” Neither was perturbed by her question. It wasn’t something that was supposed to ruffle any feathers, and if he’d wanted to, he could’ve easily avoided it, and she would’ve let him.

“At the time, all I did was jump in. I couldn’t even really think straight. If you’d gone a dozen or so miles up the road, I’d just got through having to-”

“Destroy a village? I know. The ANBU ops checked it out after we found those weapons in your possession. Shishou was familiar with it, and we sent a messenger hawk to a nearby outpost.” He nodded distractedly in approval of their actions.

“I’ve… never really liked killing. It didn’t bother me too much when it was an adult, especially a man, but women… even more so, children… gave me nightmares. There were so many of them there… then… at that moment…” She noted quietly that, despite his face falling into an impassive look, his hands were fisted and shaking. Strong emotions flowed through him now; even some of the best shinobi failed to hide things that affected them deeply.

Apparently, this man was no different.

The serious atmosphere was abruptly destroyed by a little girl crashing into the former missing-nin, running from her friends in a game of ninja. A glance at her surprised and innocent face almost made him giddy.

A child… I don’t have to betray…

“I’m sorry, mister!” She backed away quickly and bowed, eliciting a throaty chuckle. He knelt before her as her friends stood a little way off, uncertain about the new face. Ruffling her hair, he smiled.

“Don’t worry about it.”

She smiled brightly, and returned to playing with her friends, casting him a second glance over her shoulder as she left. The grin on his face widened quite perceptibly, and it did not escape the attention of his benefactor.

He’s smiling… so brightly… It’s amazing that he smiled like that for her. She recognized a child from the Academy; a first year student. She showed promise as a genjutsu user, actually; it seemed that they were already planning to put her in another cell under Yuuhi Kurenai.

“I think she’d make a great assassin.” The way he said it was very frank, and the medic went pale before she looked at his face again. He winked at her and stuck out his tongue. “She’s got light footsteps, and walks pigeon-toed. Good balance, too. And with a doll-face like that, she’d never be suspected in an undercover op.”

His reasoning thoroughly explained, and her jaw left thoroughly slack, he stood and dusted off his knees and headed off in the general direction of the street corner. In all honesty, he had no idea where he was going, but it was the effect that counted. He could hear the woman let loose a disgruntled growl behind him before jogging to catch up.

“If they see you wandering off, they won’t be happy, you know.”

She was, of course, referring to the ANBU ops strategically observing them. His grin didn’t dissipate in the least.

“And? I knew you’d come after me.” He stopped and turned to look at her, arms folded behind his head and a grin plastered on his face, the few light shopping bags hanging from his wrists providing a colorful background for his canary-colored mop. Right then, for all the world he reminded her of her fox-brother. “Besides, I’d get lost within thirty steps of myself here! I’ve never been in Konoha before. It’s really big!”

She could’ve gawked, as childish as he sounded, but the, seemingly honest, smile on his face was just too amazing to ruin. A sigh, and she could feel an exasperated smile tugging at her lips.

I must be going soft already… Maybe it’s ‘cause he’s kinda like Naruto.

“Anything else you can think of you might need?” With a façade firmly back in place, she gave him a pouting look, hands-on-hips, in an illustration of how unwilling she wished she could be about trusting him. His smile disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful look, which was replaced with yet another, though smaller, smile two seconds later.

“Nope; I think I’m good.”

She turned, walking off to the right- quite the opposite direction from the way he’d intended to head. Without thinking much about it, he quickly followed her receding form down the dusty street. It was wide, but the area was now residential, and not quite as busy as the shopping district. People passed them by, walking, jogging, running, skipping to their destinations, wherever it might be. A few children shot out in front of them from a side alley, kicking a ball around with high spirits, shrieking in delight.

I can… watch them with the eyes of a man… instead of an assassin…

That thought alone left him slightly dazed. It made him… happy…

“Oi, Deidara-san, you’ll be left behind if you don’t move. I’m only responsible for your actions, not what the ANBU ops might do to you.” He startled, and jogged up to her, smiling sheepishly; he hadn’t even realized his delay. To him, her face said ‘What do you think you’re doing, spacing out like that?’

Sakura was actually thinking, He’s too cute. Far too cute. For his good or mine, either one.

She unlocked the door and stepped through, immediately stumbling over an unnoticed piece of clothing, much to her charge’s surprise.

Though it wasn’t quite as surprising when he finally got a good look at the inside of her apartment.

“… For some reason, it’s wall-to-wall chaos in here…”

“I’m only a neat freak when I have to be. Which is whenever I’m on a mission or at the hospital.” Obviously not when she’s at home, considering that the only place that looks to be in decent shape is the bookcase…

Sakura picked her way across the thoroughly messed living room towards the kitchen on the other side, settling down her share of the shopping backs in the midst of her already paper-strewn table, taking the two bags of edibles she’d procured to her relatively empty pantry and half-pint refrigerator. The door closed with a smart whap, and her boots tattled on her as she quickly bounced on tip-toe across the living room again, to where he still stood at her open door. She stopped directly before him, swinging a foot behind and kicking the door shut as she held up an icy ramune to his warm cheek. She stepped back a little and opened her bottle, holding it up in a toast.

“Welcome home, Deidara-san.”

AN: Umm... wow. It's been a while. XP

Yes, it's been 90 forevers. I know. Naruto is depressing anymore because Kishimoto has mangled his own story. But here's the chapter! Like, WOW! Because Belle finally expressed some interest in something at an opportune moment. . Anywho, here it is. Whether I'm back in a groove or not remains to be seen, but it IS here.

Next Time: On Duty