Visitation Rights

By: firefly

Notes: I can't believe it's been six months since I last updated this. Wow, sorry for the wait, guys. Rest assured though, this fic WILL meet completion because I already have the ending written out. In the mean time, enjoy this very belated chapter. Reviews are love!

Visitation Rights ch.4

Mornings were usually Yamanaka Inoichi's favourite part of the day.

None of the day's stresses were evident at that point and the kitchen was warm and comforting with the smell of breakfast preparation. New, fragrant flowers would be on the table and he, fresh from the shower and feeling clean and relaxed, would revel in the quiet pleasure of having tea and orange juice in the sun-drenched spot by the window.

The newspaper would be there waiting for him and he would gaze fondly upon his lovely daughter and beautiful wife for a few blissful, worry-free minutes before heading off to his blood-drenched, chronically hazardous job as a jounin shinobi.

This morning, however, his wife was absent from the kitchen and his head hurt from lack of sleep the night before. Discovering Ino alone in her room with his criminally insane son after he'd torn the house apart in search for them had left his nerves completely shot. And to make matters worse, his daughter had just concocted the craziest idea he'd ever heard and now sat across from him, smiling triumphantly and awaiting his reaction.

Had it been anyone else, he would have recommended they see a psychiatrist. But this was his daughter so the most he could do was regard her with a troubled look.

"I don't think that'll end well, Ino. Please reconsider."

She pouted and pushed her breakfast away. "Come on, dad, it'll be great payback for everything he's put us through. And I'll be completely safe!"

"Still," he sighed. "Ino, I'm your father. I know how you are. You're only going to get hurt in the end."

"You're underestimating me," Ino sniffed. "Just watch, I'll prove you wrong."

Inoichi merely heaved another deep sigh and began picking at his breakfast again. Surprised at his lack of persistence, Ino's smile faded and her eyes softened in sympathy.

"Mom still giving you the silent treatment?"

"How did you guess?" he mumbled.

"Cheer up, dad. I know we sort of took a step backwards with the dinner fiasco, but look at it this way—" Ino leaned forward and turned his plate one hundred and eighty degrees. "She still loves you."

Even though he'd picked at his plate, Inoichi could make out the smiley face his wife always arranged with his food, a habit she'd started from the first day of their marriage. It took all his manly bravado to stop his eyes welling up and spilling over right then and there.

"See?" Ino said gently, smiling at his expression. "Don't worry about it so much. And don't worry about me, either. Everything will be fine."

Inoichi raised his head and for the first time since this entire mess began, he smiled. "If you make it a promise, I'll hold you to that."

"I promise," Ino grinned, pushing back her chair and rising. "Anyway, I'm off to see Tsunade-sama. Don't wait up for me, I'll be back late later tonight."

"That depends on whether she gives you permission to carry out your plan, doesn't it?" he asked, amused.

Ino smirked. "That's a given. Who could say no to this face?"

30 minutes later.

"Absolutely not," Tsunade said bluntly. "I forbid it."

Ino folded her hands beseechingly in front of her. "Please, Hokage-sama? I mean, it'd hardly be different from him visiting my house. And the ANBU will be with us the entire time, too."

"It's impossible," Tsunade continued, exasperated. "An S-class missing-nin walking the streets of the village? That would pretty much invalidate my efforts to keep this whole debacle under wraps—"

"I'll just say he's a cousin visiting from overseas," Ino cut in hopefully.

"—not to mention, I've had shinobi fight him before! If you think he won't be recognized—"

"Oh, but he won't!" Ino said with a triumphant grin. "I gave him a makeover!"

Tsunade groaned and massaged her forehead. "Ino, the only reason I haven't thrown you out is because I have a massive hangover. Think of what you're saying for one second. It just can't happen."

"Of course it can," she replied innocently. "With your permission, of course."

"Honestly, why the sudden change of heart?" Tsunade demanded. "Yesterday you hated him, and now you want to spend an entire day with him taking in the village. Have you lost your mind?"

Ino's smile faded slightly, eyes growing shadowed . "I can assure you, Tsunade-sama, my opinion of my dear brother hasn't changed a bit. This is not for his or my amusement."

She clenched her fingers into fists. "It's for revenge."

Tsunade stared at her, nonplussed. "Revenge?"

Ino smiled icily. "I'll be blunt. My brother is a massive prick. So to get back at him for ruining our lives, I'm going to act like I'm taking this entire rehabilitation program seriously—like really ham it up with the bonding and all that crap. That way, he'll be begging for the lethal injection before his time's up."

Tsunade gave her a tired look. "It just can't happen. Like I said, the brat's trained himself to counter genjutsu, so all attempts at rehabilitation have failed. Hypnosis is useless without the cooperation of the patient and altering brain waves and lobotomies were proven ineffectual three decades ago. Even your father couldn't get much out of him with the mind probe and he's the best in your clan."

Ino opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. She was perceptive enough to know that she'd exhausted whatever leeway the hangover had granted Tsunade's patience. Anymore from her and the hokage would most likely throw her out by force.

She hesitated, wondering what to say as Tsunade muttered unintelligibly under her breath and searched through her drawers for more sake. Something suddenly clicked, a brilliant idea forming in Ino's mind as Tsunade gave up and slumped back in her seat.

"You're right, Hokage-sama," Ino suddenly said, having the decency to sound abashed. "I let my emotions get ahead of me. I don't know what I was thinking."

Tsunade looked taken aback by the sudden change of heart. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Ino…"

"Really," she said earnestly, bowing and backing away towards the door. "I won't bother you about it again. Thank you for setting me straight."

Before Tsunade could reply, Ino bolted out the door and hightailed it towards the nearest liquor shop. It only took a simple transformation technique (her choice being some random, middle-aged man she saw ambling down the street) to waltz in and purchase the largest, most potent bottle of alcohol on stock. Once she had the booze, Ino had it wrapped in pretty blue foil and set in a basket. Then she quickly attached to it a sticky note that read:

To Tsunade-sama. Thank you for all your hard work!

Once the gift was prepared, she waltzed back into the hokage tower, climbed the stairs to Tsunade's office, set the basket outside the door, knocked three times, and ran like a bat out of hell.

1 hour later.

"So, Tsunade-sama," Ino said innocently, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. "Do I have your permission?"

"Indubitably," the woman slurred, sprawling over her desk. She waved the half-empty bottle of liquor, her mouth stretching into a wide, wan smile. "You have my support. I think…I think family is very important, Yamanaka. I had a family once. Very nice people."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Ino agreed, trying to resist cackling in triumph. "Still, I'll need your signature on this permission slip."

She slid the form across the table. It was faded and yellowish in appearance, one of the original forms drafted more than sixty years ago in regards to visitation rights. After the ANBU had returned and escorted Deidara back to his cell, Ino had taken a trip to the library the very next morning and browsed through the historical archives until she'd found what she was looking for:

Request slips to spend supervised time with the incarcerated outside of the home.

Back when the forms were drafted, granting permission for such a thing hadn't seemed so far-fetched when shinobi were in low supply and missions were scarce. But now the idea seemed ludicrous with their strict security measures and their inability to finance ANBU protection from the village budget.

Ino knew this and watched Tsunade with bated breath, fingers tightening into fists behind her back when the woman raised the sheets to read.

"Of course, of course," Tsunade mumbled after a moment, squinting down at the paper and oblivious to Ino's subtle, gleeful jig. "Er, where's my pen…"

Ino promptly handed her one from her own bag and watched as the inebriated woman scrawled her signature over the bottom of the form and sloshed a bit of liquor onto it for good measure. Then, for indisputable authenticity, she stamped it with the hokage seal three times.

"There!" Tsunade exclaimed, shoving the form toward her and leaning back in her seat. "You have my, the hokage's, permission. I'm important like that, you know? Those council members are nothing without me."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," Ino said soothingly, bowing in gratitude. "Thank you very much. You're a wonderful leader."

Tsunade stared at her, jaw slack. Then her eyes filled with tears and her voice cracked. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome," Ino said hastily, backing away towards the door. "Um, perhaps you should take a nap, Tsunade-sama. You look a little flushed."

"Yes," the woman sniffled, clumsily sweeping the materials from her desk and sending them crashing to the floor. "I think I will. Goodnight."

And with that, she slumped facedown onto the tabletop and immediately began to snore.

Ino quickly left the tower again, breaking into a conniving grin as she strode towards the interrogation building. It was only 11 AM and she was rather early for her appointment, a fact that was reflected by the guards' surprise.

"You're early, Yamanaka. Want to get it over with?"

"Not quite," Ino chimed, handing them the permission slip. "I need you guys to let my brother out for some fresh air."

One of the guards laughed, thinking she was joking as the other raised the paper to read. Almost immediately, the colour drained from his face.

"T-This is—" he stammered.

"All you need to know is that it's signed by the hokage," Ino interrupted, pointing to the signature. "I'm allowed to take him out for the day, so go get him."

As if doubting her honesty, the other guard grabbed the slip and peered closely at the signature. Then he wrinkled his nose and sniffed.

"Is that…alcohol?"

"Hey, a signature is a signature," Ino said defensively, snatching the paper back from him. "Tsunade-sama signed it herself. You can ask her if you think I forged it."

"But this is unprecedented!" they protested. "We can't let an S-class missing-nin wander the village. It's too dangerous!"

Ino gave them a dubious look. "Have you seen him? The guy can't even walk a straight line. Besides, it says to summon four ANBU members to keep us company, so unless you want me to go complain to the hokage that you're not doing your jobs—"

She emphatically jabbed each of them in the chest. "—one of you go get my brother, and one of you get us our ANBU escorts. Got it?"

They stared at her, mouthing wordlessly. Then they slowly exchanged glances of resignation.

Ten minutes later, Deidara found himself standing outside in the blinding sunlight, squinting and looking like a wraith after having gone more than two weeks without exposure to the outdoors. To Ino's amusement, his hair was still done up the way she'd styled it with the bandana, though he'd been relieved of the leg straps and stood only wearing his jumpsuit and straitjacket.

Giving him a moment to overcome his shellshock before going over to greet him, Ino glanced at the four ANBU members loitering behind her.

"Guys, do me a favour and go incognito for the day, okay?"

They shrugged and did as she'd asked, instantly vanishing though the weight of their watchful eyes could still be felt against her back.

Ino rolled her shoulders to loosen up and adopted a cheery expression before strolling over to where Deidara stood by the gate.

"Why, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"

He stiffened visibly before turning around, eyes instantly narrowing at the sight of her.

"What's going on?" he demanded. "Why'd they let me out?"

"You know, you could be a little more grateful after all the strings I pulled for you to come outside," Ino said, crossing her arms. "I wasn't joking when I said we had a lot of catching up to do."

Deidara gave her an alarmed look when she suddenly clasped her hands under her chin, eyes shining with delight. "So today is our day! We're going to take in the whole village and do the kinds of stuff siblings do. Aren't you excited?"

"What?" he said blankly.

"I'm taking you out!" she declared, getting behind him and pushing him towards the open gate. "We're going to have so much fun. This place is a metropolis compared to the backwater burg you're from, so I'm sure you'll love it."

Despite his apprehension regarding her true intentions and the fact that he honestly didn't trust being alone with her, the prospect of finally getting some sun and fresh air outweighed his concern. Though he still felt a shiver of foreboding as he recalled the night at her house and the unnerving smile she'd given him. That smile had said one thing and one thing only: I'm bringing misery and I'm bringing lots of it.

Ino waved goodbye to the apprehensive guards, ushering Deidara onto the street where he immediately stopped dead, expression dissolving into a scowl as passing pedestrians took notice and began to stare.

"You did this on purpose, un," he muttered as she flounced up beside him, smiling obliviously.

"Don't worry about them. Just think about how much fun we'll have and you'll be fine."

As he snorted in disdain and looked down the street, Ino got a good look at him. This was the first time she'd seen him standing on his own two feet outside the cell and she was surprised to discover he was rather diminutive in height, standing only two inches taller than her. She pressed her lips together to stifle the impending giggle.

Looking at him, it was difficult to associate the formidable name of Akatsuki with someone so...puny.

Feeling her stare, Deidara turned around and frowned. "What?"

"Nothing," she said with a grin. "Let's get going. We've got a ton of stuff to do."

With that, she started off down the street, grabbing him by the straps on the straitjacket and pulling him along. He stumbled initially but eventually caught up, throwing her an irate look.

"I'm not a dog, un. Let go of me!"

Ino ignored him and instead pulled a list from her pocket. "Let's see, let's see. First off, some boutiques! Then we'll wander the village a bit, go to a park, and end the day with a picnic. The village will be having a fireworks show tonight to celebrate its independence. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

"What are you trying to pull?" Deidara snapped, jerking himself out of her grip. "Don't insult my intelligence by thinking I'm going to fall for any of this."

"Fall for what?" Ino inquired innocently. "I really do want to do all this stuff with you because I think it's something we'll both enjoy. I can't understand why you wouldn't want to…unless you think they're all euphemisms for me dragging you away to a secluded bunker somewhere and sawing off your limbs with a hacksaw."

She laughed. "Because that would only be fun for one of us."

Deidara stared at her as if she was completely insane and was suddenly thankful for the ANBU members tailing them from behind.

They'd only walked ten minutes when Ino came to an abrupt stop. Deidara looked at her questioningly, against the idea of stopping at all since it gave the villagers an opportunity to gawk at him. Growing impatient, he peered over her shoulder and up at the small bridge she was staring at; it stood over the river and there was a lone figure—a teenage boy—leaning against the railings.

"What is it?" he finally demanded.

To his surprise, Ino giggled, then pressed her hands to her cheeks in a way that instantly made him feel sick. "Nothing, it's just...that's Kyo. He's this shy guy who does deliveries for our flower shop. Kinda dorky but totally adorable, and it's so obvious he likes me. Wait here a minute, I'll be right back."

With that, Ino skipped up the bridge and left Deidara standing there with a scowl on his face. Despite his aversion to being in Ino's presence in general, he couldn't help feeling as though he'd been ditched, a transgression made all the more offensive considering the complete loser she'd ditched him for.

Muttering epithets to himself, Deidara leaned against the railing and waited, twitching every time Ino's high-pitched giggles floated over to him and the boy made agonizingly cheesy attempts at flirting.

After ten minutes passed, Deidara decided he didn't want to wait anymore.

"So what I'm trying to say..." Kyo said somewhat bashfully, scratching the back of his head. "Well, um…"

He turned away from her and leaned into the railing, gripping the bars to steel himself as a blush formed on his face. "I was wondering, maybe, if you wanted to go out with m—eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Ino gasped in horror as a foot connected solidly with the boy's backside and Kyo toppled off the bridge. Gripping the railing, she leaned forward to see him fall headfirst into the river.

"Finally," she heard Deidara mutter behind her. "I thought he'd never shut up, un."

She turned furiously towards him. "What the hell was that for?"

Deidara shrugged. "I got tired of waiting. And hearing him gush over you for ten minutes was enough to make me vomit."

"You are so selfish!" she cried, stomping her foot. "And he was just about to ask me out!"

Deidara looked unimpressed. "You say that like I care."

Ino balled her fist and could have knocked his block off that very moment if she hadn't caught sight of something pink moving towards her. Instantly, her fists loosened and her stomach dropped into her feet.

"S-Sakura," she stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"I was at the pharmacy and could hear you screeching from a mile away," Sakura replied, coming to a stop next to her and looking concerned. "Did something happen, Ino?"

"No," Ino assured her, slightly calmer now. "It was nothing. I was just—" She stopped suddenly, growing pale when she took notice of Deidara's expression. She didn't have to ask to know that he'd seen Sakura somewhere before.

Shit, Deidara thought inwardly, fighting back a grimace. This is the brat that helped beat Sasori no danna.

Sakura took notice of Deidara and offered him a passing glance. But then she blinked and looked at him again, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Have we met...?"

Ino panicked at the sight of Deidara's dismay and how recognition was gradually dawning in Sakura's eyes.

"Of course you haven't met!" Ino blurted. "He just...has one of those faces, that's all! Plus he's never visited here before, so…"

"Oh," Sakura said, features relaxing. She gave Ino a sly look. "Then who is he? Your boyfriend?"

"Um, ew," Ino said incredulously as Deidara's expression simultaneously flattened. "Way to jump to conclusions, Sakura. He's my br—er, my cousin. Yeah. My cousin Ryuu from overseas."

Before Sakura could ask any more questions, Ino grabbed her arm and moved into a corner, speaking in hushed tones.

"He's a little crazy," she whispered. "Has this delusion he has bugs under his skin and he keeps trying to scratch them out, hence the straitjacket."

"Wow," Sakura murmured, slightly alarmed as she glanced back at the scowling Deidara. "I was wondering about that. Is he on...?"

"Medication, yeah. Heavy stuff, too. I'm taking him out for the day so he can relax a little."

"Good call," Sakura nodded, before pulling back and smiling widely at Deidara. "It was nice meeting you, Ryuu-san. Have fun with Ino."

Deidara didn't reply and merely narrowed his eyes at her, wondering what Ino could have said to possibly account for that sickeningly sympathetic smile the pink-haired girl gave him before she walked away.

When Ino was certain they were alone, she whirled to face him, looking at him in amazement.

"You've met Sakura?"

"Not formally," he retorted. "Let's just say I got really close to blowing her team to kingdom come. Shame I didn't get the chance, un."

For a moment, it seemed as though something resembling loathing and disgust welled up behind her eyes, but then she blinked and smirked, tossing her hair at him in passing.

"Pfft. And you call yourself an S-rank criminal?"

Deidara glared after her, wishing more than ever he had his clay with him, but he was forced to keep quiet and follow when one of the invisible ANBU members nudged him none-too-gently in the back. They'd tolerated his kicking that dork over the bridge (probably because they wanted to do the same), but he doubted they'd grant him leeway if he aimed any of his malcontent towards his sister.

So he reluctantly followed her, and much to his bewilderment and growing suspicion, Ino seemed to get over the incident on the bridge rather quickly, returning to her buoyant demeanour as she stopped before a frilly-looking boutique.

"Our first stop! Tell me if you like anything—I might even buy it for you if you're on your best behaviour."

"I'm staying outside," he said flatly.

She didn't even bother arguing with him and grabbed him by his ponytail, ignoring his curses as she dragged him into the shop.

Once they were inside, Deidara quickly found himself overwhelmed by the effluvium of perfume and lace and girlishness, realizing he wasn't alone in his distress as one of the ANBU members coughed uncomfortably from somewhere behind him.

Disoriented by the blinding pink walls, he stumbled onto a couch in front of the changing rooms and sat down, resolving to keep his eyes closed until their next destination.

After all, how long could a teenage girl spend in one clothing store?

An hour later, Deidara found that he was actually close to crying, he was that bored.

Jarring himself awake for the umpteenth time, he forced himself to straighten from his sliding position and tried not to doze off again. For some reason, it seemed to take Ino twice as long to dress herself as any other normal person, and he had the suspicion she was spending the majority of the time in there admiring herself in the mirror.

After what felt like forever, the changing room door swung open and Ino flounced out in her third outfit, doing a little twirl to show it off.

"How's this one?" she asked, beaming. "It's cute, isn't it? I think ivory's a good colour for me."

Deidara didn't even bother lifting his head from where it was lolling lifelessly over the back of his seat.

"I don't care," he groaned, closing his eyes to the blinding lights overhead. "I want to leave. Now."

Ino pouted. "Hmph, typical. But this is the last one. Just give me your opinion and then we can go."

Fighting back another exasperated groan, he lifted his head off the back of the seat and squinted at her.

She was wearing a cream-coloured, cotton babydoll dress over black tights, looking deceptively innocent as she held the hem of the dress and turned this way and that in front of the mirror.

When she noticed him paying attention, she turned around and put her hands on her hips.

"What do you think? Best of the three?"

"Yes," he said quickly. "Buy it so we can get the hell out."

Ino frowned. "You're just saying that! Quit being so selfish and give me your honest opinion."

"Why is my opinion so important?" he said irritably. "You're the one wearing the damn thing."

"You don't get women," she huffed, turning towards the mirror again. "This would be so much more fun if you were a girl."

Deidara began to feel the initial throbbing of a migraine taking root in the left part of his brain. Realizing he wouldn't be getting anywhere until he'd indulged her ridiculous demands, he forced himself to speak through gritted teeth.

"Fine. I hate this one the least. The first one made your butt look big and the second one clashed with your hair. Happy?"

Ino looked outraged at the first remark, but then she grew contemplative as she glanced at her reflection over her shoulder.

"So..." she said, in a tone that suggested she was nearing a final decision, "do I look pretty?"

Deidara snorted derisively. "You—"

He paused, catching himself and forcing back the diatribe when she caught his eye. He cleared his throat and muttered, "...you don't look hideous."

"Really?" she asked, eyes sparkling.

His brow knit low in warning. "Don't push it, un."

Pleased, she darted back into the change room. Five minutes later, after she'd finally paid for her items, they emerged back outside and Deidara almost collapsed at the sudden influx of clean, unscented air.

"Wasn't that fun?" Ino asked brightly as he leaned against the side of the building, trying not to fall down. "I'm really starting to feel a familial vibe coming on. You know what this means?"

"It means you leave for the day and I get to go back to my cell?" he asked, not without some genuine hope.

Ino grinned. "It means we test it out on the next eight shops to make sure it wasn't a fluke."

The rest of her shopping spree passed in some nightmarish farce of 'bonding time.' His brain mercifully shut down by the time they made it to the fifth shop and the next three passed in a blur, his only contribution to the experience being to serve as someone to pile her clothes on top of when she went to find more.

The entire process was agonizingly slow, and never, not even on his most gruelling, tedious mission, had he felt so completely and utterly dead.

Mercifully, she ran out of money at some point and decided to spend her last few dollars on a memento. He knew it was pointless to deny her, but he felt he had to anyway to spare at least some of his dignity.

"Hell no," he said flatly.

"What are you, camera shy? With that adorable little mug?"

He gave her a look of complete loathing before directing the same look at the photo booth they were standing next to.

"I'm not going in there."

Ino merely smiled.

Ten seconds later he found himself bodily dragged inside and forced to sit as Ino deposited the money and quickly swept in to sit beside him.

The flashbulb went off periodically and she made stupid faces and cute poses while he sat stiffly next to her, trying to stem the impending brain aneurysm. When it was over, she eagerly snatched the photos from the slot and forced him to look at them with her.

Frame 1: Ino playfully sticking her tongue out and Deidara scowling.

Frame 2: Ino holding two fingers over Deidara's head as bunny ears and Deidara glaring at her from the corner of his eye.

Frame 3: Ino slinging an arm around his shoulders and Deidara baring his teeth at her hand as though considering biting it.

Frame 4: Ino holding a lock of Deidara's hair to her upper lip like a moustache and Deidara squeezing his eyes shut and hunching his shoulders in the effort to prevent the vein bursting in his forehead.

"These are great!" she squealed. "I'm so getting that last one enlarged. I mean the straitjacket kinda kills the mood but still—"

Deidara tuned her out, making a mental note to prioritize the destruction of those pictures before attempting an escape. Before he could finish filing the thought away, Ino grabbed the straps on the straitjacket again and began hauling him into the opposite direction.

"I don't know about you," she called over her shoulder, oblivious to his grimace when he saw where she was leading him. "But I always envied those kids who went to playgrounds with their brothers and sisters."

Needless to say, that was exactly where she was taking him, with swings and a slide and a seesaw and everything. Fortunately, Deidara was granted the small mercy of finding the place absent of snivelling kids and he relaxed minutely when Ino went out to the swing set and took a seat on one of them.

Before he could even consider going over to the nearest bench, she glanced over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue.

"Take a swing, loser."

Deidara twitched.

"How am I supposed to do that..." he began lowly, voice escalating into a snarl. "When I can't move my damn arms?"

"Yeesh, calm down. You wanna make a good impression on our ANBU babysitters, right?" Ino peered thoughtfully at the sand pit beneath her dangling feet. "How about you push me."

"Push you," Deidara repeated.

"Yeah. Better than just standing there doing nothing."

Deidara almost laughed hysterically at the audacity of her suggestion, losing himself in his anger long enough to stomp over from behind her and knock her off the swing. But when he was within two feet of her, a telltale and warning snap of a branch next to him reminded him of the ANBU's presence and he forced himself to a halt, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Ino glanced up at him, surprised to see him actually standing behind her.

Without giving her a chance to say anything, and more importantly, to dissuade the ANBU from tackling him to the ground, he swallowed his pride and leaned forward enough to give her a small nudge.

The swing moved forward a few inches and back, so he put a little more force into it the second time, hating her all the more for the self-indulgent smile that spread over her face. After a while, she'd only progressed to swinging forward a few feet, her progress hindered by his obvious lack of arms. Not to mention, the medication had muddled his senses and made him clumsy, and he was annoyed to see he couldn't quite get his footing right in the shifting sand.

"You call that pushing?" Ino complained. "Put your weight into it."

Growling in rage, Deidara glanced at the chakra-dense space encompassing the vigilant ANBU members before taking a few steps backwards. He waited for her to swing back towards him, then planted his foot on the back of the seat and kicked forward.

"Higher!" she called as she swung forward from the momentum, inwardly amused when he staggered and nearly face-planted into the ground. "Make it a big push this time!"

"Big push?" he repeated furiously once he'd straightened. "You want a big push? Fine, I'll give you a big push."

This time he dug his feet into the sand for traction, readying him for the moment she swung back down, then rushed forward with what he hoped was enough force to knock her off the swing.

Instead, his shoulder connected with the back of the swing at the exact right moment and sent her soaring high with a squeal of glee while he stumbled and nearly fell over.

"Finally!" he heard her cry from above as he regained his footing. "It's about time you—ohmygodgetoutoftheway!"

By the time he made sense of the incoherent shriek and tried scrambling back to his spot, she swung back down and collided straight into the back of his head, sending him flying.

Ino ground her heels into the dirt to stop the swing, jumping off and rushing to where he'd landed facedown five feet away. When she reached his side, he was trying to roll onto his back, cursing and spitting out clumps of sand. Before she could even attempt helping him, she took one look at his face and choked back a giggle.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately, clearing her throat as he finally struggled into a sitting position. "It's just—haha, the look on your face when—hahaha—"

Deidara stared at her, clearly unamused as she dissolved into a fit of hysterical laughter, laughing so hard her face turned red and tears started in the corners of her eyes. Eventually she collapsed sideways onto the sand, clutching her stomach.

Every time she attempted to get a hold of herself and stop, she'd look up and catch his exasperated expression and start laughing all over again, repeating the process until he stood up with a growl of aggravation and stalked off.

"W-Wait!" Ino called, gasping for breath and eventually composing herself enough to go after him.

Deidara ignored her, stomping through the grass until he reached the park bench and sat down. This had gone way too far. If she was attempting to get back at him in some crazy, passive-aggressive way for ruining her life, she had gone well and beyond the calls of duty. He had never felt so mentally and physically abused in his life.

In fact...good God—he was even beginning to miss Tobi.

He looked up when he heard her approaching and narrowed his eyes into a vicious glare.

"Come near me again," he began warningly, no longer caring if the ANBU heard, "and I swear I'll blow your head off, un."

Ino put her hands up in a pacifying gesture, stopping a few feet away from him. "Okay, okay, just chill out. We'll leave since it's starting to get dark, anyway, but there's still the fireworks in the park. That's the last stop of the day, I promise."

Deidara opened his mouth to retort, but arguing took far more effort than he was capable of in that moment and he closed it again. Feeling fatigue stiffening his muscles the longer he sat there, he muttered something unintelligible under his breath and slowly stood up.

"Is that a yes?" Ino ventured.

"Just move it already," he snapped.

Grinning triumphantly, she gathered her things and took off at a brisk pace past him, barely giving him time to catch up. It was below him to ask her to slow down so he forced himself to match her pace, even if the effort was costing him whatever energy he had left. Nonetheless, he persisted, ignoring the way tremors started in his legs as the sun gradually sank behind the trees, casting long shadows over the winding footpath that led to the park.

Eventually, the sound of civilian-bought firecrackers could be heard popping in the distance and Deidara felt his legs buckle in relief when they rounded a bend and found themselves overlooking a vast expanse of grass and trees. He surmised that Ino had led them to a overhanging pass, which explained why he felt so damn tired after walking uphill for the past fifteen minutes.

The spot they were at offered more than enough of a vantage point, but Ino continued on towards a steep hill ascending up from the pass. By this time, she'd forgotten her resolve to make every moment of the day as miserable as possible for Deidara, climbing the hill with the sole intent of getting the best view possible. It didn't occur to her to check behind her to see if he was following when she reached the top, and she became occupied with pulling a linen sheet from her bag to drape over the grass.

"This is perfect," she remarked, taking a seat and leaning forward to gaze down at the hundreds of people reclining on the grass below. "We're lucky we got here first."

When there was no answer, Ino glanced over her shoulder and blanched.

Deidara was nowhere in sight.

In a panic, she jumped to her feet, starting forward and about to jump clear off the hill until she heard a muffled curse.

She glanced down and almost laughed when she discovered Deidara lying on the side of the hill just below the summit. His eyes were screwed shut and he was straining in the effort to dig his heels into the ground and push himself up the slope, looking like a giant, squirming worm. Eventually he collapsed back against the grass, gasping for breath as she carefully stepped onto the incline and stood over him with her hands on her hips.

"What's the matter?" she said teasingly. "Did our trip tire you out?"

Up close, she could see that he was absolutely exhausted. The sky had grown dark, but enough light remained to highlight the sweat beading on his forehead and give his skin a ghostly pallor. He opened his eyes to squint begrudgingly up at her.

"Shut up. It's the damn sedatives." His tone grew sullen and he kicked a nearby rock, sending it skittering down the slope. "Can't even climb a stupid hill…"

"That's fine, because you have me to help you out," Ino said, reaching down to grab the straps on the straitjacket. "And no complaints. I don't wanna miss the fireworks."

With that, she dragged him up the rest of the incline and onto the summit, pulling him over to the picnic blanket before releasing the straps. As Deidara struggled into a sitting position next to her, Ino pulled a pair of binoculars from the bag and raised them before her eyes.

"It should start any second now."

She'd barely finished the sentence when the first firecracker shot into the air with a piercing whistle, the sound nearly tapering into silence before it exploded in a shower of vibrant gold.

The audience in the park below could be heard applauding and gasping their appreciation as the second firecracker was immediately followed by a tremendous bang and spiralling blue lights. It continued in that fashion, the explosions eventually revealing a choreographed pattern of colours and size.

Ino lowered the binoculars to take it in, inwardly relating the pattern to the changing notes in a song.

"It's so beautiful," she said appreciatively. "Like seeing music."

When there was no reply, Ino glanced at Deidara from the corner of her eye and found him staring fixedly at the fireworks. She certainly didn't expect him to find the show so riveting, let alone interesting, assuming he'd react with the same scorn he'd shown towards everything else they'd done today.

To her amazement, his lips gradually curved into something resembling a smile, eyes bright and vividly reflecting the raining sparks in the sky. The smile changed his appearance completely, and for a moment Ino felt she was looking at the person behind the missing-nin, someone capable of feeling joy and appreciation towards the same things she did.

She blinked herself out of her reverie, realizing she was smiling because he was smiling, and the feeling left her unsettled.

S-class missing-nin, she reminded herself, moving her gaze back to the sky. Akatsuki member. Terrorist. The list goes on, Ino. Don't be so naive.

The last firework exploded a moment later, raining red sparks down to earth as the audience in the park broke into applause.

With that, she took a deep breath and looked at him again. He'd assumed his look of apathetic disinterest now that the fireworks were over and had moved his gaze elsewhere. At the sight of the familiar expression, she felt the faint stirrings of kinship dissipate and took another deep breath before resuming her façade of cheerfulness.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic container.

"I brought dinner," she said, prising the lid off. "You have to be hungry after running around the whole village with me."

He snorted in disdain and looked away.

She pouted. "Come on, how am I supposed to eat all this myself?"

"I don't want anything," he said frigidly.

To his great shock, Ino reached out and shoved him, not hard enough for it to hurt, but with enough force to send him keeling back over onto the ground in an undignified heap.

"God, you are such a baby!" she exclaimed, oblivious to his murderous expression. "You and I both know you're starving to death. What is it with you and your pride?"

When he managed to get back up, his glare was intense enough to melt lead.

"One look at my situation should make that obvious enough," he hissed.

Ino rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, only to have him cut her off.

"You're just a pathetic, mediocre chuunin, but I used to be feared and respected—both as a shinobi and an artist. And you Konoha bastards took that away from me." His voice grew quiet and bitter. "I'd rather be dead than humiliated like this."

Ino looked taken aback. "Aren't you overreacting a bit? How is this any worse than what you'd do to a captive?"

He stared at her in disbelief before his eyes narrowed. "How is this any worse?"

He jerked his arms inside his constraints in frustration, voice escalating into a shout. "I'm in a straitjacket, damn it! The only freedom I have is to decide if I want to eat or not! Do you know how demeaning that is?"

Ino blinked, about to speak again when he interrupted her.

"Of course you don't—not with your fawning parents and retarded friends spoiling you the way they do. Do you know what I go back to when the day's over? I go back to a cell where they feed me once a day in a dog dish and drug me until I can't move. I'm not even allowed to go to the bathroom by myself! I'm using fucking Play-Doh as an artistic medium!"

Ino reared back in alarm when he moved to his knees and leaned forward, the veins in his neck standing out from the force of his shouting.

"So you, your family, and everyone else in this crappy village can go to hell if you think I can't make this bearable by sparing whatever's left of my pride!"

The silence that followed the outburst was deafening.

Ino merely stared at him, wide-eyed and vaguely aware of the foliage rustling slightly to signal the ANBU getting ready to intervene. Before she could form a response, Deidara's shoulders suddenly slackened and he tilted backwards, collapsing onto the grass.

The sight of him falling over was enough to startle her into reacting. She hesitated a moment, looking over at where she'd heard the rustling bushes, but then she cautiously crawled forward and leaned over him.

His expression was contorted in a grimace and he was gasping for breath, blinking perspiration out of his eyes. The fact that he couldn't even muster a glare at her when her head came into view revealed he was completely and utterly spent.

It took all her effort to refrain from making a disparaging remark, but the urge faded anyway once she took in his exhausted appearance.

"You know," Ino said after a moment's silence, "Instead of bottling it up like that, you could've just told me earlier and spared us both the psychotic episode."

When he didn't reply, she sighed and shook her head, reaching out to grab the straps on the straitjacket to pull him up. When her fingers encircled the bindings, she paused, glancing back at him and not missing the fleeting expression of misery that passed over his face.

Reconsidering, she released the straps, hesitating only momentarily before slipping an arm around his shoulders, decidedly gentler than she'd been in her previous efforts. He was practically dead weight and didn't have the energy to resist, allowing her to lift him into a sitting position.

"Jeez," Ino said, raising her eyebrows at his pallid face. "That tantrum really took it out of you."

"Just stop talking," he muttered, staring sightlessly at the ground. "And let go of me."

"I don't think so," she said, grabbing the food container with her free hand. "You're going to eat and you're going to eat now, even if I have to shove it down your throat."

He seemed ready to protest again until he saw what was inside the container.

"It's bakudan," she said, using her free hand and a knife to cut it into pieces. "That's your favourite, right?"

"...how did you know that?" he asked blankly.

"Dad picked up some useful tidbits after looking through your head," Ino shrugged, grabbing chopsticks to pluck up a piece of the bakudan. "Now open up."

When he said nothing, she looked up and found him regarding her warily.

"Why are you doing this?"

Ino narrowed her eyes. "Look, do you want those ANBU to carry you on the way back? You need to eat if you want the energy to walk."

His brow furrowed and he looked resignedly at the food held before his face. With great reluctance, he opened his mouth.

Ino resisted the urge to cry "finally!" and decided to feed it to him in silence, slightly wary of his unpredictability and ridiculously sensitive pride now that she'd experienced an outburst firsthand. But then again his feelings were understandable; she could see herself reacting in a similar way had she been in his place.

After a while, she unscrewed the lid on a water bottle and held it up in front of him.

At his disgruntled expression, she narrowed her eyes and shook it slightly. "You didn't drink anything all day. Dehydration's only going to make you worse."

Ino resisted rolling her eyes when he eventually complied, looking for all appearances as though he was drinking cyanide. When she pulled the bottle away and some of the water seeped out over his chin, she dabbed it away with a napkin and ignored his slightly uncomfortable look.

"You don't have to mother me, un."

"I don't have to do a lot of things," she said, pressing the lid back onto the container. Then she looked him over critically. "Can you stand up?"

He tensed in effort and moved away from the support of her arm, eventually managing to stand on quaky legs.

She rose with him, instinctively keeping her hands out just in case she had to catch him. Only when he was steady did she drop her arms, and rather hastily at that, reminding herself it would only serve him right if he fell over again.

Though it was dark, she was still capable of making out the dispersing crowd on the grass below the summit. The sight of them leaving was enough to make her realize just how tired she was, and not just from running around all day.

Her face hurt from forced smiles and there was a mental weariness she could only attribute to reacting with emotions completely opposite to those she naturally felt in his presence.

If she wanted, she could have dropped the act and resumed what felt natural, namely contempt and loathing. But she had energy for neither so she merely gathered her things and led him back down the incline in silence, this time slowing her pace so he could keep up.

The walk back was awkward and quiet and mercifully short as the ANBU led them along a shortcut. For some reason, the silence felt just as unnatural as forced conversation, and this troubled her far more than she expected.

What did she care if he was moody and upset? Why should she care, knowing who he was and the sorts of things he'd done in the past?

She asked herself these questions repeatedly on the way back to the interrogation building, wondering why she couldn't find a concrete answer. By the time they got there and crossed the gate, she gave up, resigning herself to contemplating the questions another day. She was tired, she told herself decidedly, realizing she was walking him back to the main door when she could have just left him at the gate. She was being soft because she was tired and not thinking straight. That was it. Nothing more.

The ANBU cast off their jutsu and reappeared to talk to the guards. At the same time, the front door opened with a dull clang and a guard made to follow Deidara to return him to his cell.

Deidara took a step forward, misjudging the location of the step in the darkness. The noise of the resulting stumble was immediately followed by the sound of metal ringing as the ANBU surrounded him, swords raised above their heads, and Ino realized with a wave of shock that the only thing that stopped them from swinging down right then and there was her stepping out to catch him.

Frozen, she stared between the blank mask of the nearest ANBU member and the shining point of his sword before quickly looking back at Deidara. His face was unreadable and he was oddly still. Despite this, she didn't miss the fleeting look of surprise that passed over his face when he realized that it was her arm steadying him around his shoulders and her hand braced against his chest.

Ino quickly moved away. She gathered her things in a hurry, not looking back as she heard the swords being sheathed and the footsteps of the guard leading Deidara back to his cell. She didn't look back even as she hurried past the gates and back to her house, greeting her parents in a rush before running upstairs to her room.

As soon as she entered, she dropped her bags to the floor and immediately went over to her bed to sit down. When she reached up to feel her neck, her pulse was racing.

They would have killed him, she thought repeatedly, staring blankly at the floor. They would have killed him if I hadn't covered him. They would have killed him right there in front of me.

And because she felt the need to counteract these misplaced concerns, a part of her kept rebutting with a mindless mantra of: So what? Who cares? So what?

Before she could think any further, her mother appeared in her doorway and gave her a concerned look. "Are you all right, sweetheart? You look pale. Have you eaten?"

Ino stared at her for a moment in silence. Then she stood up, went over to her and hugged her.

Her mother wordlessly hugged her back, and Ino decided she'd save the thinking for tomorrow.

At least that way, just for the night, she could continue fooling herself into thinking she hadn't felt that brief moment of fear when the prison door had clanged shut behind him.