14 Get Jinxed

Art and destruction had always gone hand in hand. At least, to him, that was the natural way of things. What better Trojan Horse than a masterpiece of massive destructive power? The thought sent tingles of pleasure down his spine.

Deidara knew why he was here. He suspected that not one of the Akatsuki that had survived didn't understand, on some level, why they were confined in this institution. Apparently, they needed help. Tsunade believed she could fix them, as if they were broken. Deidara snorted at the thought, his fingers itching with the need to mold clay into his next masterpiece.

Yeah, he knew that somewhere along the line, Akatsuki's path had shifted. But it happened so slowly, subtly changing without their awareness, that by the time they realized what was happening, they were already on a warpath, with Madara, courtesy of Tobi - no, Obito - at the center of it all. Somehow, he had become just another puppet on a string, and had fallen beside all of them. And when Madara - that bastard - had finally fallen, alongside his monstrous Ten-Tails, he and the others, barely clinging to life, were taken from the mud and given another chance.

He didn't pretend to understand the logic or reason behind Tsunade's course of action. In all honesty, it baffled him. But he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of that particular piece of knowledge. She could figure it out herself.

Yet, he couldn't help but admit, from what little he'd seen outside this ridiculous cage, that others in this institution were faring much better than they had before. Sure, there was the special case of Sasuke Uchiha, but he'd always been flawed. No amount of sculpting could turn him into a masterpiece. No, Sasuke's firing had happened too soon - there was no salvaging anything from his broken mind.

The slot in his cell rattled as a tray was pushed through. It happened four times a day - despite years of lean meals and gnawing hunger, Tsunade's compassion as a healer overruled her sense as the Godaime Hokage. Thrice a day, meals were delivered, but the fourth delivery was entertainment. Well, when he thought about it, perhaps the others didn't see it quite the same way he did. After all, he was already salivating at the thought of molding art between his fingers.

Though the old hag never delivered the clay he preferred, always unlaced with explosives and tags, Deidara still jumped at the children's clay, boring as it might be. Yet the sensation between his fingers, rolling and thinning as he willed it, filled him with pleasure so intense he thought it possible to drown in it. The joy of creativity could not be understated, he mused. It came only second to the happiness and exasperation of visits with Tobi.

Twisting and smoothing the material, it began to take the shape of his destructive imagination. A grin twisted his face maniacally; Tsunade, for all her planning and perceived superiority, was not as clever or thorough as she cared to think. Despite the ingenuity of the chakra-restraining bracelets on his person, there were always ways to bend or break the limitations imposed. Funnelling explosive chakra through his fingertips was tiring, surely, but also dangerous and exciting. The butterflies began to shift under his ministrations, fluttering their wings. And as the first explosion rocked the cells, weakening bars and destroying doors, Deidara chuckled.

A/N - Hello, lovelies. Perhaps not the longest update in the history of me, but I've overcome significant life obstacles and general useless writer's block to deliver this chapter. Work is crazy at the moment, with scheduling that is ridiculous on a good day and aggravating on a bad day. As such, after a long shift on my supposed day off, I finished "Get Jinxed" and wanted to share it with all of you as soon as I could. I know it's been a long time, but I am incredibly thankful that you all have waited. I hope that I don't disappoint you - I won't make any promises for scheduled updates, because life and work is only going to get crazier, and after the new year, college begins again.

I hope that you enjoyed Deidara's slightly-longer foray into Heathens - please tell me what you think. I'm often unsure if I keep characters in-character enough... I have trouble separating out motivations at times. It helps immensely to hear thoughts about such things, and even to receive small encouragements and your own thoughts about how I've done.

Thank you for being patient with me. I'll see you next chapter.

AT