9Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
He found her on a dreary Tuesday night. It was cold and damp and foggy. She was curled up, arms around her knees, by a small river. To a lesser ninja, she could have been just sitting there. But Deidara was not part of the Akatsuki because his observation skills left much to be desired. He saw. In fact, he saw very clearly.
He saw the slight shake of her shoulders.
He saw the short, shallow breaths she would take.
He saw the tears making streaks down her cheeks.
As a missing nin, he had grown accustomed to tears, and, after seeing many tears, was able to remain unaffected by them. As an artist, however, he saw the beauty in this girl.
He saw the strength, lying dormant beneath her sadness.
He saw the love, and the broken heart the love caused.
He saw the expression on her face, the expression of someone who's seen so much in so little time and can't take it anymore.
And he couldn't help himself. So he spoke:
"What's wrong, yeah?"
Her head shot up from its place on her knees. "Who's there? What do you want?"
He sighed. What was with people and those distrusting answers? They talk like everyone that asks the question, 'What's wrong?' is some serial killer. Really.
He jumped from the tree branch he was perched on, infusing a bit of chakra into his feet, and landed on the other side of the river, behind her. He purposely let his feet hit the ground with a muffled thud.
She stood up quickly, ready to fight. Listening closely, she repeated, "Who are you and what do you want?"
He sighed and her ears caught the light sound. She spun around and punched the ground, only backing it with enough chakra to make a crack about seven feet long in the earth. The crack ended just before his feet. With lightning fast movements, he darted forward, grabbing her with one arm. He pushed her against a tree, on the other bank. Making sure to pin her arms to her side, he kept her legs immobile by pushing them against the tree with his own.
If someone were to walk in, they would find a very suggestive scene.
"Deidara, yeah," he breathed into her ear. "My name is Deidara."
He felt her tense.
"And I don't take kindly to people attacking me when I show interest in their state of being, yeah. Now I'll ask again. What's wrong, yeah?"
She snorted lightly. "You're trying to find out what's bothering me by threatening me?"
He shrugged a little. "If that's how you see it, then sure, yeah."
She pretended to ponder it for a moment. "Oh, nothing really," she started, pausing for a few seconds, "just an annoying blond twit that won't go away."
Surprise flickered across his face, and in that brief moment, she let loose a punch. He jumped back, just in time. With a sigh, he grabbed her wrist tightly as she tried to escape and flung her back against the tree. This time, he used his arm to pin her neck, using only enough force to let her know that her life was in his hands. Her feet lifted off the ground a few inches.
"You know, I never got your name, yeah."
She stared forward resolutely, her mouth shut, rebellious despite the fact that he could easily cut off her oxygen supply and kill her.
"But I guess I already know it, yeah. Sakura-chan, right? You're the one that killed Sasori-no-danna."
She stiffened more, if that was possible. "So, what now? You're going to kill me to get revenge?" She let out a bitter laugh. "There's nothing left of me anyway." She stared coldly into his blue eyes, watching the emotions that flickered past them.
He pulled his arm back roughly, and she dropped to the ground.
"Follow me," he said simply.
"Why?"
He turned his head towards her only a little, and there was a tiny smile on his face. Then he leapt off the ground, disappearing into the emerald leaves above.
She stood there for a few silent seconds, contemplating. Making up her mind, she jumped.
"Here's the thing about love," he murmured into her ear, lazily toying with a strand of pink hair in his long fingers. "you never know when it's going to strike, yeah."
She lifted her head briefly to peer into his eyes, then replaced it on his chest, snuggling into his embrace. "Here's the thing about love," she said, a tiny smile playing at the corner of her lips, "it makes you do stupid things for the one you love."
"Yeah? Like what?" he asked.
"I followed you, didn't I?" A small smile creased her brow, and she gently pressed her lips to his.
"Stupid things, indeed, yeah."
This took forever to name. I wasn't sure if I wanted to call it "He Saw" or "The Thing About Love" or "Follow Me". I wanted it to be kind of relevant, but not give the story away. Review and tell me if I picked the right title, or if I should change it. Click the 'review' button! You know you want to...
- Red
edit: okay, so I was re-reading this and I realized that *gasp* I misspelled "Sasori-no-danna". I put an 'o' where the first 'a' was supposed to be in 'danna'. Sorry, sorry! Ha ha ha...