This was a request by Rayray2314. This also, actually might be my longest oneshot yet. I also wanted to make this more serious, so there might not be any humor...
Also, someone reviewed one of my stories anonymously. They called themselves "lalala" and said,
"Cute fic, you only made one common error. Deidara, contrast to popular belief, is female. She's the only girl of Akatsuki. It was a good fic, but please do more research on any charactor's you plan on using in a fanfic."
Now, I know some people think Deidara is, in fact, female, but don't be saying it so confidently. It's UNPROVEN whether Deidara is a male or female, and episode 135 is leaning towards male.
So, lalala, maybe YOU need to do more research on the characters. Besides, I know, that in my fanfics,most of the time they're all OOC!
Though, this one is a little more in character...
Well, happy reviewing.
Deidara grit his teeth in anger as he pulled himself behind a bush.
'Damn. I almost lost to that group of Sound-nin, yeah. Too bad I couldn't finish them off before they escaped, yeah.'
He breathed a heavy sigh as he lay against a nearby tree, and he drifted off to sleep, hoping his wound would heal in the amount of time he rested. He couldn't keep the Leader waiting, even if there was nothing to say…
OOOO
Hyuuga Hinata hadn't really been on any real missions lately, and to her, this one wasn't real either. It was merely a delivery and pickup, and that couldn't be any more dangerous, especially since the objects being picked up and delivered were both plants. She felt that, ever since she decided to become a medic-nin, like Tsunade-sama, her father had been holding her back on purpose, as if he thought because of her decision, she wouldn't be able to fight back with enough strength. She disliked that thought, and tried her best not to let it get to her…
After going awhile, she decided to turn her Byakugan off for a while, since no eye jutsu can last forever, even though some hone theirs to last much longer. But Hinata, being fifteen already, had learned the lesson of preserving strength, and did not want to rush things.
She stopped when she saw something strange in her normal range of vision. She jumped into a clearing, where shuriken, kunai, and various other weapons lay scattered amongst the fallen leaves and trampled green grass. She noiselessly took a step forward, wary of traps and wires that may be hidden. But then, to her bewilderment, she heard a soft snore coming from on of the bushes to her right. She hastily made her way there, and gasped to see a cloaked figure lying against the tree, a small puddle of blood next to their hand. Hinata scanned the figure for injuries, and realized the wound was in the side of the ribcage, where a bone seemed to be sticking out of the skin.
Hinata cringed at the sight, and then recognized something about their clothing. She racked her memory banks for something, but could not recall ever seeing anyone with that cloak on before, but it seemed as though she should recognize it. She shrugged off the feeling of impending doom as she dug through her pouch for her medical ointment, since she wanted to preserve her chakra for as long as possible.
Bending down, she silently wondered whether this person was male or female. Her pride and morality kept her from checking… down there… with her Byakugan, so she thought that she's have to check the chest instead. She was a nurse, of sorts; so in her conscience, the chest was perfectly fine to look at, though it still made her blush…
She opened the cloak, and found that the person's shirt had been completely soaked with blood. She hurried to cut open the shirt with one of her kunai, and to her slight embarrassment, found it was a man. She gulped down the blush with all her might, and began to take out the bandages and creams and things from her pouch. She hastily applied the cream, and then carefully wrapped the bandages around the torso. She sat back with a sigh of relief, hoping he had not lost so much blood. But a sudden, loud yawn made her jump in fright, making her scream in the process.
OOOO
The blonde man stretched, cringed from the pain, and lowered his arms again. He pulled back his long blonde bangs from his right eye, and looked at his surroundings. That is, after he looked at where the pain was coming from.
"Well I'll be damned, I did heal in that time, though not as I expected, yeah. Though I doubt the bandages, which have been wrapped so artistically and gracefully, could not have wrapped themselves around me, yeah."
He realized he was talking to himself, and immediately stopped his chatter. He looked around, and his eyes fell upon a young girl, a Konoha forehead protector around her neck.
'Konoha…'
"I'm s-s-so s-s-sorry!" the girl stuttered, getting up and bowing so low that her long indigo hair fell in flowing spirals on the grass. She looked up shyly, and Deidara noticed that her eyes were pale lavender, and her face was glowing like hot coals. He noticed the scattered medic-nin necessities, and the creams placed neatly to her side. He looked at his torso again.
"Are you the one who healed me, yeah?"
Hinata looked up, blinking rapidly. Her face seemed to turn redder, if possible. She bowed low again, this time hitting her head on the dirt, causing the instinctive reaction of rubbing where it hurts. "Y-Yes, I-I d-d-did. Y-You were b-b-bleeding, and b-being a medic-nin, I d-d-did what I f-f-felt n-needed to be d-done…"
A vein popped on the blonde's head. "Don't stutter, yeah. It makes you sound stupid, yeah."
She blushed again, not as brightly though, and apologized, though it took her a minute before she could say the word without repeating a letter. He inspected his torso once more, and was glad to see the bleeding had ceased. He felt like he could run again, but the sly little devil inside of him told him to keep faking for a while, just to see what happens.
"Are you a Hyuuga, yeah? You're eyes give it away, yeah."
Hinata's ear perked up, and she nodded quietly. 'I really ought to start wearing my headband around my eyes…' She didn't want this guy noticing she didn't have a curse seal either, because then things would become dangerous…
"I didn't know the Hyuuga taught any of their members anything but the Gentle fist taijutsu style, yeah. You must be very disliked, since the Hyuuga pride runs deep, yeah."
"O-Oh… uh… yes. Sorta." She inwardly sighed in relief.
"But I must say, that you have the magic touch, as some would say, yeah. You've become good enough at healing that it's become an art form for you, yeah. It's become something you enjoy doing, and still want improve, while at the same time, it suits your needs, like a hobby, only in a more creative view, yeah. Do you understand?"
She nodded in approval, her eyes widening at the wisdom in his words. The blonde could've chuckled, since he'd never said something like that to anyone he never really knew before. Sasori was the only one he ever ranted on about art to before, so he found it amusing to think he would say things of great value to someone he didn't know he could trust, even though her face had 'innocent and trustworthy' written all over it.
"I would continue healing, yeah. You could become almost, or even greater then, your teacher, who I presume is the current Hokage, the great legendary Sannin, Tsunade."
Without waiting for a reply, he stood; ignoring the pain in his ribs, and began to walk away. But before he could even walk ten paces, he was dragged down to the floor by great strength, and he found the girl latched to his arm. "Y-You are not w-w-well. You should rest l-longer. I can p-p-postpone my m-mission for a couple h-h-hours of so. And b-besides…" She slightly blushed as she spoke the last words. "W-We have not y-yet… properly… introduced o-ourselves… y-yet…"
Deidara stared at her, many thoughts going through his head.
'What else is that Hokage of theirs teaching?'
'How can this girl have pulled me down?'
'How come she doesn't even recognize the Akatsuki cloak I'm wearing?'
'Where the heck IS my Akatsuki cloak?'
And most importantly…
'Who does this girl think she is…?'
OOOO
Before Hinata could do anything, she found her face caught between two hands, which was weird because she thought a hand had licked her cheek, and her head tilted upward by force. The man had moved quite fast, so fast, that she never saw him move until he had her. They were both standing, and Hinata realized how much taller he was than her: probably a whole foot apart from head to head. Fear rose in her gut, and that sense of impending doom came again, only this time, she knew what that doom was.
The man looked down at her, his long bangs flowing in the wind, mixing with her indigo locks. His face was stern, and his eyes showed no evident emotion. She felt his chakra leap from power level to power level, like a roller coaster you thought would go up, and then suddenly it went down, and then up again, in a never-ending pattern.
"W-What…?" she spluttered, unable to say anything more. To her utter horror, he smirked, showing fine, white teeth. She knew something big was coming, and she was scared for her life. Her chest heaved up and down, falling in tune with the beat of her heart, and with the hyperventilating breaths escaping her mouth. It was a mixture of unrelated sounds, and to her, it was the music of death…
"My name…" he said, inching a bit closer to her ear so she could hear his voice, which had softened, "… is Deidara. Remember it." And he ran. She could not even se him anymore. The only proof of his presence was the puddle of blood on the grass. She collapsed onto her feet, and panted, relief flowing into her.
She had not been that fearful for her life for a long time. After the impending threats from Hiashi and other Hyuuga members, she had gotten used to their harsh words and comments, for she knew they would not really do anything harmful to her, with the exception of Neji, who she HAD to battle in the prelims that fateful year. But this man was not her family, and would not hesitate to kill her, with the absence of laws and rules and honor in the woods. Anything could happen in the woods…
She put a hand over her heart to calm herself down, letting a small amount of chakra help, in case she got into a coughing fit. She looked at the small gap of sky that shown through the clearing trees, and sighed heavily.
"Deidara… Who are you?"
OOOO
Deidara was running, but now in the opposite direction, back to the clearing. It had been two days now, and his gut told him to go back, as well as his hands. He narrowed his eyes as he came within fifty meters of the place he had been, and stopped as he came closer.
Her presence was gone.
He sighed, and decided to continue the rest of the way by walking. He knew she wouldn't have been there. She had said she had a mission after all, and what duty she had to her village was her own decision. He would not keep one so artistically talented in the healing arts from her line of work and leisure.
When he got to the clearing, he picked up some kunai on the ground that he recognized as his own before looking behind the bush. He merely glanced at the ground, before his heart stopped. But it wasn't a bad thing. It was good.
An unfamiliar kunai was stuck to where he had been lying on the tree, a piece of paper pinned between the bark and metal. Also, a small cylinder was underneath it, as though it were waiting for him to pick it up. His Akatsuki cloak was next to it, without a single trace of blood on it.
He took the cloak first, and put it back on. He beamed at the softness of the fabrics, and wondered why he did not take it with him when he departed. Then he remembered he had actually run away, so he mentally pushed the subject to the back of his mind, where it would be forgotten.
He then took off the kunai, inspecting it for traps first. After he cleared it, he stuffed it into one of the pockets on the inside of the cloak. He then took the cylinder, reading, 'Medical Cream: Leaves no scars. Keep warm.' He stuffed that with the kunai.
He then took regard for the note, and opened it as well, making sure it wasn't a heat activated explosive tag, even though he liked explosions. They were very artistic…
"'My name is Hinata.' Hmm…"
It only had that one sentence, but it gave him a thousand thoughts. He folded the paper, putting it with other things she had left him inside the cloak. He headed off again, back to the base. He had nothing new to report, but he wanted some time to himself in his apartment that he shared with Sasori. The puppet user wouldn't be there, since he was on some weird mission, going on about an old hag and pink-haired monster.
He looked to the sky, and watched as the clouds wafted by without a care in the world. He thought he saw a face in one, of a small Hyuuga girl, which looked like Hinata, but dismissed it as an illusion of the eyes. His wounds healed, he ran through the forest, a heavy smile on his face.
"Hinata… who are you, yeah?"
Califoria was great. I was able to get a crapload of Naruto stuff, as well as two episode guide and character profile books from the Chuunin Exam Arc through the Runaway Sasuke Arc. Very cool!
If anyone is going to California, I reccomend going to Little Tokyo somewhere near Hollywood Mountain and Korea Town, but i'm not sure where. you might wanna get a map, because I wouldn't know how to get there, cause I wasn't the one driving.
Please review!
P.S. In case you didn't know, I take requests!