Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

Chapter Four

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"Judgments prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances."

Wayne Dyer

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Even after they were out of reach of the town, and certain they were no longer being perused, they continued to ride on as fast as their horses could take them. Deidara strayed from the path that extended from the village, and Sakura did her best to keep up. It was clear to her who the better rider was, as they were now riding over terrain that had been left untouched.

The winter had long since passed, and the Earth had become soft from the melted snow and ice. Deidara and Sakura had to be careful and avoid any muddy patches for the horses, since they did not have the proper tools to clean them off if they were to get dirty. Luckily for them, there had been no rain showers since spring began. It had given the soil time to dry up slightly, but the clouds overhead were full from water and dark in color. Sakura hoped it would pass by.

It was more of a hassle to keep Hidan in the saddle when they were on no clear path. There were a couple of times that Sakura felt him sliding sideways, and she had to quickly pull him back into place. As time went on, he seemed to have less and less control over his body. When she thought he had finally settled in, Sakura felt arms wrap around her middle. She nearly fell off the horse herself from being so startled. A quick look at Hidan made it clear he was out of it, and most likely unaware of what he was doing.

That's not good...

Sakura managed to catch up to Deidara so she could ride alongside him. "I think we need to rest for awhile! Hidan isn't doing well, and the horses need a break!"

With a nod, Deidara brought his horse to a walk. Sakura followed suit.

Deidara pointed towards the forest. "There's a river that runs alongside those woods."

"Shouldn't we try to make it to the next town? To an inn?"

Brushing his bangs out of his eyes, Deidara looked back at Hidan who had his head resting on Sakura's back – Sakura was leaning as far forward as she possibly could in the saddle. "Trust me when I say that Hidan recovers much more quickly than a normal person, yeah. He'd be fine if he weren't being so stubborn."

Sakura had been trying to figure out what Deidara had meant earlier as she prepared some cloths to clean Hidan up with. The cloths were torn pieces of their clothing, she had no medicine, or even alcohol to disinfect his wound, and she had no way of boiling the water first. As a medic, this was incredibly frustrating for her.

Before Sakura began to prepare to treat Hidan, Deidara had noticed her hesitation as they set him against a tree closest to the water. He thought it was odd that Saburo, a medic, seemed more preoccupied with taking care of the horses rather than a patient.

Deidara stood beside her as she gave her horse some water. "I don't know what happened between the two of you," he began, patting her horse on the neck, "but I need you to at least go through the motions of treating a patient. Hidan doesn't actually need treatment."

"It wouldn't take a professional to take one look at him and know he most likely isn't going to pull through. You know that, yet you keep speaking as if Hidan has some magical healing ability."

Deidara's jaw hardened. "I think I've been reasonable up until now, yeah. You're in no position to argue with me, and I don't know what gave you that idea. You're here because I decided to let you live, and I could use your help. Either you come over when you're ready to do as I say, or I decide how to dispose of you. Hmmm." With that, he walked over to Hidan, who was propped up against a tree like a rag doll, and Deidara was doing his best to keep him from tipping over.

It took Sakura a moment before she could move. Her legs felt unsteady and her head felt light. Deidara's words made it clear to her the position she was in. There was still a chance for her to make a run for it, but she thought back to the object he kept hidden in his pocket. He wouldn't have to get close to her if he wanted to kill her.

When she calmed down a little, she came to Hidan's side. Before she pulled Hidan's shirt open with trembling hands, she looked up at Deidara, who seemed to be pleased with her decision. She turned away and looked down at Hidan's wound and gasped. While it didn't appear to be too deep, he had let it go far too long without any medical treatment and it had grown swollen and inflamed. Puss oozed from the outer corners, and it looked like he hadn't even bothered to clean out the dirt.

"What were you thinking?" Sakura shook her head. Before getting to work, she rolled her sleeves up so they'd be out of the way, and pushed her hair back into her hat. She carefully began to clean around the wound, making sure she changed cloths regularly and washed them thoroughly in the river.

Occasionally, Sakura would hear a hiss from Hidan, and she would instinctively look up. His violet eyes looked down on her harshly, but he made no protest as she continued her work. Deidara was quiet. Every now and then, Sakura would sneak a glance, but he never looked at her. His eyes were fixated on Hidan's pendant. Sakura, of course, recognized it from her first encounter with Hidan, but was curious as to why Deidara seemed so interested in it. He didn't look to be into that kind of thing.

Clearing her throat first, Sakura quietly asked, "Why do you keep looking at that?" She motioned to Hidan's neck.

"I'm just trying to figure out why he hasn't used it yet, yeah." Deidara reached over and pulled it off Hidan's chest. Apparently Hidan was conscious enough to realize what Deidara was doing and swatted his hand away.

"You say 'use it' as if it were a tool." Sakura stood up to head to the river once again.

"Hmmm. I guess, in a sense, it is." Deidara nudged Hidan's head with his elbow. "What happened all of a sudden, yeah? Not on good speaking terms with your god?"

Sakura kept a close eye on the two as she washed the cloths, curious to see what they would do. When Hidan spoke up, she had to strain her ears a bit to hear him.

"I might have done something that pissed him off..."

"Why don't you just ask for his forgiveness, yeah?" Deidara raised a brow questioningly.

Hidan pursed his lips before grumbling, "It's not something I can do right now!" He winced and clutched his side.

"Why not, yeah?"

Hidan didn't answer. He leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.

Deidara stroked his chin and examined Hidan's injury. "Hmmm. This looks pretty serious. You could actually die this time, yeah."

"Like you actually give a damn."

Deidara smirked. "I don't, yeah. But you do." He jabbed a finger at Hidan's head.

Hidan tried to shove Deidara away with what little strength he had left. Realizing that that was a bad move, Hidan hunched over mumbling to himself. When the pain eased, he pulled gently at the cord around his neck till it gave. He placed his necklace on his opposite side away from Deidara.

"Seems like I don't have much of a fucking choice."

Deidara had already been walking towards Sakura. "Fine. Lets go, Saburo. Give him some time on his own, yeah."

"But, I still haven't-" Deidara had grabbed Sakura by the elbow, despite her protests that she was capable enough to walk on her own, and began pulling her towards their camp where the horses were kept. It was further within the woods where the light was thin and the sun couldn't dry the ground. When they reached their camp, Deidara carelessly pushed her into a tree. He sat down at the base of another directly across from her.

Sakura's fists balled at her sides. "If you want my help you should listen to me! We need to go to the next town so I can get proper supplies to treat him. He's going to die if-"

"I told you already, yeah. Hidan will be fine once he prays to his god."

"Praying isn't going to do anything!" Sakura snapped.

Deidara sighed irritably. "Jashin isn't like any other god, and Hidan isn't just any other follower, yeah. I've seen it happen before. He prays to his god, makes a blood sacrifice, and he's healed. I don't know how it works, but that's all I know and all I can tell you, yeah. Don't tell Hidan I told you anything," he warned.

It was a farfetched for Sakura, but Deidara seemed to believe it, so she guessed she would have to as well. "Ok. I won't say anything."

Deidara crossed his arms and tilted his head back against the tree's trunk. "Hmmm. You've got to promise."

"I promise, alright?" Sakura plopped down with a frown onto the ground and instantly regretted it. The forest floor was soaked.

"Ugh!" She sprung back onto her feet. Sakura tried wiping her pants dry in vain. Curious as to why Deidara didn't seem phased, Sakura looked towards his bottom and found him sitting on his saddle blanket. He smirked at her.

"We'll be spending the night here, yeah. You'll want to get comfortable."

Sakura made a face before going to her horse to retrieve her own blanket.

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When Sakura woke, night had fallen. The hum of crickets filled the air, and a cool breeze rustled the leaves overhead. Deidara never lit a fire – the wood in the area was too damp and he didn't want to risk it being seen. Rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm up, Sakura stumbled towards the river. The light from the moon strained its way trough the dense foliage. The further she went, the outlines of the trees became more clear to her, and soon enough she was out of the woods.

Sakura initially thought she'd be able to clean up a little now that they were asleep, but when she looked ahead to where the river laid, she saw Hidan standing in its current. He had removed his blood stained shirt and rolled his pants to his knees. The way he was turned made it impossible for Sakura to see if his wound had actually healed, but she was worried that if she moved he'd hear her. So Sakura remained still, silently observing Hidan.

It had been after a few minutes of watching Hidan just stand there in the current and occasionally splashing water in his face that Sakura figured it was best to just go back to sleep. It was apparent that Hidan wasn't planning on doing anything. Before she turned away, Hidan turned to face the moon, and Sakura very clearly saw that his wound had completely healed.

The sight made her mind run a blank. How could what Deidara had said earlier be true? She frantically looked around for Hidan's pendant and found it laying besides the tree she had left him at earlier. Dried blood was smeared across its silver finish. Sakura's heart was drumming in her chest.

I should probably leave before he notices I'm here.

Sakura had carefully made her way back. Once she found her tree, she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes, trying to focus on the chirps of the crickets.

Evidently, she was not destined to get a wink of decent sleep that night, Sakura thought miserably. It looked like Deidara had not moved at all since she last saw at him. At least he looked more comfortable than she felt. He had one knee against his chest, and both arms were wrapped around him tightly since his only blanket was shielding him from the wet ground.

Sakura began to stand when she heard a noise come from the deeper end of the woods. She quickly crouched down.

"Deidara..." Sakura grabbed a twig next to her foot and threw it at Deidara's arm. "Please wake up," she pleaded. When he didn't budge, Sakura began to creep towards him.

Someone knocked her hard onto the ground after she took a few steps. Sakura's heart almost leapt out her chest, and her body was shaking so much that she was having a hard time controlling herself.

"G-get off me!" she shrieked, flailing her arms and legs in a desperate attempt to protect herself. A foot planted itself firmly into her stomach. Sakura gasped and sputtered. With the wind knocked out of her, she could only look up to see who her attacker was.

Hidan's beautiful pale face was grinning down at her. His eyes were no longer the purple she couldn't get out of her mind, but a deep shade of maroon. Resting against his leg was his sword. He brought it forward and placed the tip on the hollow of her throat.

"Please... don't."

Hidan's lip curled into a smile before he plunged the blade deep into her throat.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short .-. I promise the next one will be much longer. I'm already working on five, and I hope I can post that in a week or two... most likely two. Let me know what you're thinking – I love hearing from you guys :) It helps me get ideas as to what I should put into future chapters.

Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favorited or put this fic in their alerts. Special thanks to YouStoleMySocks and misscheekiness.

Total words: 2255

MaXdana