Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**An Artful Deception**

Chapter I:_ A New Mission_

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She sank down onto her futon with a sigh, looking thoughtfully around her new room. It was fairly small, of course; she was renting in the cheaper of the two inns in the village. Even if Konoha had had the means to afford more, it would have looked very strange for a girl her age to be wandering around, especially unescorted, with more than a meagre amount of money. And the last thing she wanted to do right now was stand out.

There was very little furniture in the room other than the futon itself; it seemed that the people in Kumogakure didn't care much for the niceties in life. The shades drawn down over her single window were plain and undecorated, matching the blandness that was the rest of the room. In any other situation, Ino would have found such starkness distasteful and unbecoming, but she was far too concerned with the specifics of her mission to dwell on it.

She wasn't likely to be spending that much time in her room in any case.

Getting back to her feet, Ino walked over to the half open door and the single bag she'd left draped to the side of it. Shutting the door, she picked up the bag and brought it over to the table in the far corner. Opening it, she began sorting through the things she'd deemed important enough to bring. On a mission like this, she hadn't been able to take along that many things, and wouldn't have wanted to anyway. If something were to go wrong… well, if she had to flee, Ino didn't want to be forced to leave behind anything of real value.

Grimacing slightly, she pulled her hitai-ate out of the bag. Gently Ino stroked the Konoha symbol at its centre, more than a bit uncomfortable at the concept of travelling around without it. She knew that such was impossible, of course, and that had she been truly wise, she would have left the hitai-ate back in Konoha entirely. This mission would be difficult and potentially dangerous enough without unnecessarily leaving proof of her allegiance lying around the inn.

Still, not wearing it was bad enough. Despite the circumstances, not bringing it at all would have felt like a betrayal of Konoha. Ino would have regretted not having that powerful a symbol of her home with her, and she sensed that she might just need the reminder before this mission was over.

Shaking the foreboding thoughts out of her head (and she supposed they were only normal; after all, this was her first really crucial mission since her promotion to chuunin—misgivings were to be expected), Ino straightened up again and dropped her bag unto the futon, hitai-ate still in hand. She was reluctant to simply leave it in her room, but didn't dare carry it outside of the inn to find someplace safe to put it. On her first day in Kumogakure, such behaviour would look suspicious. Perhaps later she'd be able to move it. Surely the shinobi here didn't see the need to search the rooms of all travellers…

Stuffing the hitai-ate back into her bag, making sure it was all the way at the bottom, Ino hoped she wasn't making a serious mistake. She didn't know quite what to expect in the Land of Lightning… and wasn't that why she was currently here, after all? Since the first time she had taken the Chuunin Exam, almost two years ago now, Kumogakure had sent no genin to be tested, and the Hokage, Tsunade, had finally decided that now that Konoha had recovered enough from Orochimaru's attack, steps needed to be taken to ensure that they were aware of exactly what was happening in Kumogakure.

Deciding that she wouldn't get much of anything done by sitting in her room pondering the specifics of her mission, Ino walked back over to the door. Some fresh air would be good for her anyway. She opened the door and walked outside, momentarily shielding her eyes against the rays of the mid-afternoon soon. It was currently the end of spring, and Ino found herself wondering just how often it was likely to rain at this time of year in the Land of Lightning. She supposed she might as well enjoy one of the few sunny days she was likely to see, and worry about her mission later.

A slightly muddy dirt road ran alongside the length of the inn she was staying at, and several young people were standing on the far side of it, in front of a rundown looking house, speaking and laughing rather loudly. None of them wore hitai-ate, and Ino wondered just how many people in this village were successful shinobi. It was certainly something she was going to have to learn during her stay.

She made her way down the street, passing several other buildings in more or less the same shape as the one across from her inn. This was supposed to be one of the five great shinobi villages; Ino couldn't help but feel a bit surprised at the state it seemed to be in. Had something happened here recently? Something they didn't want the other villages to know about for fear of being seen as vulnerable?

Ino tapped her fingers to her lips, wondering what was more likely in this case: enemy attack or natural disaster. She'd done her homework, and realised that the weather in the Land of Lightning was often simply catastrophic. Perhaps that had played a major role in whatever had gone wrong here.

Filing that knowledge away in her mind, Ino continued along the path, wondering where the other inn, the more costly one, could be found. She was soon distracted, however, when she noticed a pair of older men, one of whom was clearly a shinobi, sitting in the shade of a tree and playing a board game. A light smile graced Ino's lips when she recognised the game they were playing: go, which along with shougi was one of Shikamaru's favourite pastimes.

Shikamaru and Chouji. She managed to fight down the wave of loneliness that threatened when she thought of them, but she still couldn't help but wish at least one of them were here with her on this mission. Technically, now that they were all chuunin, they wouldn't necessarily be working together from now on. And as much as Konoha had been able to recuperate after the attack, the village still couldn't afford to send more than one shinobi on this mission. Ino was in this by herself.

The idea had worried her at first, and in many ways still did. She had thought that Shikamaru would be more fitting for this type of mission… she was able to admire his intelligence without bitterness, and knew how much easier a time of it he would have thinking up plans to obtain information, and piecing together the puzzle that arose in the best possible manner.

Ino remembered bringing the question to her father, asking how she could have been chosen for a task for which another was so much better suited, especially since it was her first as a chuunin. Smiling to herself, she recalled his response: "We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and we can never truly know until after the fact what will be most important in any situation. Shikamaru is one of the most brilliant shinobi in Konoha, but his genius is still unaccompanied by any real drive. You, Ino, however… you're intelligent enough in your own right, and know how to observe things. But your true skills lie in understanding people and knowing how to handle them… and that is why _you_, not Shikamaru or anyone else, are suited for this position."

She smiled ruefully, not sure how much she appreciated the idea of her communication skills being the best she had. Ino was a shinobi, not a reporter or counsellor. Would she ever be recognised as such, or would she always be regarded in such a secondary role? She sighed; still, there was more to the life of a ninja than battle alone, as a mission such as this one demonstrated.

Forcefully she pushed such depressing thoughts out of her head. She had a job here, and she was going to accomplish it. And as much as she missed Shikamaru and Chouji and the rest of the village at the moment, it wasn't like she was going to remain alone for the entirety of her stay. Tsunade and Asuma had suggested that meeting and befriending some of the citizens of the village would both help her build her alias as a unthreatening civilian and give her important sources of information.

As good as the others were at observing instead of acting, Ino knew Shikamaru would have been much too lazy to even attempt to meet people here. And Chouji… oh, he was a great guy, of course, but his physical appearance was unfortunate when first impressions were so important.

Now Ino… she knew she was the perfect one for the job. Smiling to herself, assured of her social skills and chances of success, she passed the men playing go and continued along her way, immersed in confident thoughts that kept the fear of inadequacy at bay.

Until, that was, she heard the bang.

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A/N: I've recently become converted (and then addicted) to the concept of DeixIno. So much that I've broken my "one-shot only" rule to write a multi-chapter story on the matter. Feedback is appreciated, of course. ;;

Next Chapter: Deidara is bored. Oh, horror.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

* * *

He was bored. 

This wasn't a good thing.

Absentmindedly, Deidara kneaded a piece of clay between his fingers, annoyed that he was expected to sit here and be quiet while everyone else searched for their jinchuuriki. Sure, he and Sasori had already located the ichibi, and since the jinchuuriki had recently become the Kazekage of Sunagakure, Sasori had decided that as a not particularly mobile target, it could be picked off at any time.

The leader had agreed, unfortunately, and decided that for the moment, Deidara would be more useful at gathering intelligence on the ninja villages, enemies, and potential recruits for once their plan advanced a bit further. He'd been offered his choice of the five main villages, barring Iwagakure (as low as his opinion of his home village was, he doubted they were so clueless that they'd forgotten him already) and Sunagakure (the leader had realised that if he let Deidara go there, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking a crack at the jinchuuriki—a pity, really). He'd briefly considered Konoha, but the idea of spending time in a village that had managed to produce someone as emotionless as Itachi didn't really appeal to him.

He clenched the clay in his fist, half unconsciously beginning to feed it chakra in his anger. The leader had come up with some crazy plans in the past, but this was sheer insanity. And wasn't real espionage the reason Sasori's pets and any other subordinates of theirs were kept around? This was a complete waste of his abilities; if the leader had wanted one of the actual members of Akatsuki to work on this little side project of his, couldn't he have picked one of the other ones?

Sure, from what he'd heard, Itachi and Kisame had apparently redefined the word "covert" on their last mission in Konoha; picking fights with local jounin couldn't possibly fit into any accepted definition of the word. Deidara had even left his cloak and hitai-ate safely hidden in the room he'd rented; as a disguise, the normal Akatsuki garb clearly failed, partly due to the others' escapades.

Zetsu was good at observing things from a distance, obviously, but he was horribly ill suited when it came to actually interacting with people. What this stupid mission required, incidentally. Hidan and Kakuzu… Deidara grimaced at the thought, and briefly entertained an image of the two of them as door to door missionaries (begging for money, of course). No, when it came to keeping a low profile, all of the others were at least as bad as he was. Pity, that.

He was just going to have to live with the situation.

With a startling crack, the clay in his hand exploded. Surprised, Deidara looked down at his now bloody fingers and the shards of shattered pottery that lay scattered around him. Well, he thought, frowning, he hadn't realised he was quite _that_ annoyed with the situation. Clearly he wasn't at all made out for this type of quiet, covert work.

This was going to be a disaster.

"Are you okay?" someone called out, rushing towards him. Deidara barely managed to suppress a curse… he'd been here less than a week and had already managed to screw up royally. Sasori was just going to be a delight when he found out.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine, yeah," he replied, covering up his embarrassment and forcing a smile. Might as well _try_ to not give himself away completely now. His smile soon turned genuine, however, when he saw that the newcomer was a girl, and a rather pretty one at that. She was blonde, her hair tied up in a particularly appealing fashion. Clearly she had a good sense of fashion. Yes, his smile turned genuine indeed.

"You sure?" she asked, caught somewhere between amusement and worry, glancing pointedly at his hand. "I could take a look at that for you; I know a bit about medical jutsu."

Well, that could be useful, since he sure as hell didn't. Offering her his now mangled hand, he asked, "You're a shinobi, hm?" He hadn't thought she was at first; there was an aura about her that was much too cheerful and innocent for the not so pleasant life of a ninja. He hoped she wasn't, knowing that a couple of years as a professional killer would shatter that purity completely. He found the idea more than a bit depressing, but that was just how the world worked. Truly wonderful things didn't last forever, and it was in part their fleetness that made them so beautiful.

"I… um, no. I'm not," she replied, looking a bit off-balance. Inwardly, Deidara frowned. He might not have been the best at reading people, but something was definitely wrong with that statement. In his experience, shinobi weren't so well loved in the countries that people would react well to being asked a question like that, but most people still wouldn't stumble over an answer. She was hiding something.

Quickly she managed to regain her composure, and started inspecting his hand. Turning it over, she blinked at the mouth grinning up at her. Raising an eyebrow, she finished the job, her control over chakra definitely noteworthy. "I don't see that many people with mouths in their hands. Especially mouths that smile when torn to shreds."

"Family trait," he replied, a safer response than "bloodline limit", and almost as accurate. "And they tend to have a life of their own, yeah."

She laughed, not overly disturbed by the discovery. Strange behaviour from a civilian… hell, most _shinobi_ found his hands more than a bit unsettling.

The girl had mildly interested him before; now he was downright intrigued.

Perhaps this little stint in Kumogakure wouldn't be so unpleasant after all. And if this girl really did have some reason to hide the fact that she was a shinobi, there might be a story here that could be useful to Akatsuki.

He'd have to be cautious. Not the easiest thing for Deidara, but he supposed he might as well start somewhere.

"You're not a shinobi, hm? How did you learn medical jutsu then, hm?"

"Not just ninja need doctors, you know," she replied, finishing with his hand. "There was a woman back home who'd been trained, and she taught me a little bit of what she knew. Now, want to tell me what happened to shred your hand like that? You're lucky you didn't lose any fingers."

He laughed at that; it wouldn't have been the first time. "You heard the bang, hm? They shouldn't leave things like that just lying around, yeah."

She blinked at him incredulously, "You mean you just picked up and started toying with something in a shinobi village?" At his nonchalant shrug, she sighed, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, not really," he replied, inspecting his hand. She believed him; that was good. She'd probably have no way to check up on his story either, if she didn't want people to know that she was a ninja. And he was fairly certain now that she had to be; she was clearly familiar with the way shinobi villages were set up, at least.

"Where are you from, then?"

For a moment he toyed with telling her some outrageous, spectacular lie, but soon remembered that he was supposed to be handling this _cautiously_. Sasori would never let him live it down if he ended up tripping over his own lies here, and the puppet master was sure to find out somehow. "Originally from the Land of Earth, but it's been years since I was last there, yeah."

"Why did you leave?" she asked before suddenly laughing. "Look at me… we just met, I don't even know your name, and I'm asking you for your life history. I'm Ino."

"Deidara, yeah," he replied, watching her carefully and wondering if she had access to a Bingo Book. If she recognised his name at this point, she'd be too dangerous to keep around in any case. Then again, he was pretty sure that his face was in it as well as his name, and a girl like this would be more likely to remember faces than names anyway. He hoped this was so; it'd be a shame to end the game too quickly.

She smiled brightly, no hint of recognition on her face. Deidara found himself mildly disappointed at the incompetence of the shinobi villages, sending their people out with no knowledge of the dangers they might be facing. It was shoddy workmanship, but he wasn't overly surprised. That was just the way the villages worked. Or failed to, rather.

"Well, nice to meet you, Deidara-san. You're not busy now, are you?"

"No, not really," he replied. "Did you want something, hm?" He found himself hoping she did; he'd be less likely to set off another accidental explosion with some company to distract him. Speaking of which, he'd better not slip like that again. He doubted he'd be able to as easily explain away a second blast.

"Well, I just got here, so if you think you have time to show me around…?"

He shrugged, "Not really much to see anymore, yeah. The village apparently got wrecked in a storm a bit more than two years ago, and hasn't been the same since, yeah."

"Ah, that explains some things. A shame, really," she replied, looking a bit saddened. He couldn't fathom why. Ninja or not, she couldn't possibly be from this village. The misfortune of one of the bigger villages could only benefit hers.

He only shrugged, "All things decay eventually, yeah. Better to go out with a bang than dwindle to nothing, hm?"

Ino frowned, "Maybe, but I don't think the village was decaying just yet. And a storm is hardly a bang."

Smiling, he opened his mouth to reply. Aside from Sasori, when he started talking about anything not directly related to missions, most people just told him to shut up. Finding someone willing to debate with him was always a pleasant surprise…

"Hey, you two!" someone called out, interrupting his train of thought. Annoyed, Deidara started reaching for his bag of clay before remembering his situation. "Academy students are going to be using this area for training, so you're going to have to take your sister and go somewhere else, preferably home," he concluded, mumbling something about the idiocy of allowing tourists to wander around freely in a shinobi village.

_Sister…?_ Sure, they were both blonde, but the resemblance definitely ended there. Deidara didn't like being told what to do, especially in such a dismissive manner, and by what seemed to be a chuunin. And one with no eye for detail, no less. Especially when he could easily have given the entire a new reason to recover (not that their current architecture was really worth one of his bombs). But before he could decide just how to react, he felt Ino grab one of his hands and pull. "Come on, 'brother.' Let's do what the nice man says."

"_Nice_ man, hm?" he repeated, caught between amusement and disbelief at being dragged through the streets of Kumogakure by a slip of a teenage girl. Nor was he accustomed to people willingly touching his hands. Bemused, he reacted accordingly.

"Self-impressed bastard is more like it, but… Hey, could you stop that?" she asked, a blush rising to her cheeks. It was becoming, he decided. A pity he didn't have the opportunity to spend more time around women; they could be fascinating to watch. Of course, the only one in Akatsuki was at least as unapproachable as Itachi.

"Stop what, hm?" he asked, unable to contain a grin.

"_That!_ Licking my hand," she replied tightly, hurriedly dropping the offending hand.

"Sorry, yeah," he lied. "Like I said, they have a mind of their own, yeah." Which was true, sometimes at least.

"Sure they do," she said dryly, more amused than annoyed. "Well, I've still got some things to take care of, so I'll have to go now. I'm staying at the Akano Inn, in the southern section of the village. You?"

"Ginkawa, in the east," he replied. It was the more expensive of the two inns in the village, and Kakuzu had very nearly killed him when he asked for the extra money. Still, Kumogakure was currently such a dump that he felt entitled to the most aesthetic accommodations they offered.

"Well, then, see you later, Deidara-_nii_-san. I'll have to hunt you down one of these days," she said before turning around and running off.

Watching her disappear, Deidara frowned, not particularly caring for her final choice of words.

* * *

_Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Now, since for the moment this is going to be set in Kumogakure, and we've really got nothing much to go on concerning the nature of that village and country, if you've got any ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Long live the DeixIno. XD _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

* * *

He wasn't a local, that was for sure, and he had a particularly intriguing sense of social propriety, but Ino couldn't help but be pleased by the day's events.

Anyway, if that random, unpleasant Kumogakure chuunin was anything to go by, Deidara was going to be much more interesting company. She was going to have to check up on him a bit more and make sure that he wouldn't be any danger to her cover. The way he'd been looking at that shinobi who had challenged them… well, for a moment, it had been frightening.

She picked up her bowl of miso soup and brought it to her lips, smiling. He was probably about as nice looking as Sasuke had been. And blonde to boot (Ino couldn't really help but be predisposed to blondes). And he didn't have that brooding, depressed edge to him that Sasuke did. She had at one point considered that to be part of Sasuke's charm, but the last two years had given her an opportunity to rethink just what qualities were attractive in men.

And as much as she liked a good mystery, sometimes a guy who actually opened up to you was a nice change.

With a groan, Ino set the bowl back on the table. _What am I doing? I'm here on an important mission, and all I can think about is some guy I just met._ She bit her lip and smiled up at the waitress who had come over to ask if everything was all right.

Well, now she had at least some idea of why Kumogakure had been absent from the chuunin exams lately. It was probably nothing more malevolent than trying to recover from and hide just what had happened here. Ino figured that if Konoha had been able to do so, they would have tried to conceal the exact amount of damage Orochimaru's attack had done. Of course, considering how involved Sunagakure had been in that whole situation, such a cover-up had been impossible. They were just lucky nobody had taken advantage of their weakness.

So that solved one of her problems. She likely wouldn't have to worry about some sort of conspiracy in Kumogakure (at least, it didn't seem probable at this point). If that were the case, this mission would likely be less dangerous than she had at first feared. All she'd have to do would be to spend the next couple weeks keeping tabs on what was going on, and making sure her instinct on the matter really was correct.

Ino frowned. It wasn't like she had expected Kumogakure to be linked to Orochimaru in any way, but it was still a bit of a disappointment to be this far from home and not in a position to learn more about that situation. Well, she'd just have to keep her ears open; you never knew what sort of information you could come up with if you knew how to look. Whether or not Kumogakure was involved in anything unpleasant, even in their current state, they'd probably be privy to some information Konoha wasn't.

She finished the soup and stood up, wishing not for the first time that Tsunade-sama, Asuma-sensei, Ibiki, and the others involved in preparing her had chosen to give her a more complete understanding of what exactly was happening. She realised that considering she was walking into what was potentially enemy territory, keeping her in the dark on things she didn't necessarily need to know was a sound strategy. But she still couldn't help but feel it was inefficient. She could do a much better job here if she actually knew exactly what information Konoha had and what they still needed.

And she _definitely_ knew something big was happening, something too important for chuunin to worry about, despite the missions they were supposed to undertake. She couldn't really understand what had happened with Sasuke; he had always been somewhat unstable, but people didn't just run off and join their enemies without reason. Something had set him off, and Ino wished she knew what it was. Just like she wished she knew why and to where Naruto had disappeared two years ago.

Mystery appealed to her, but there was definitely a point where it became too much.

Mystery. Maybe there was more mystery to that Deidara than she had at first believed. The look he'd given her when he told her his name had been bizarre; he definitely had wondered whether or not she had heard it before. She didn't know what to make of that, had he gained some sort of fame in Kumogakure? Perhaps she should have pretended to at least recognise the name?

She shook her head, leaving the restaurant behind. No, things could have gone wrong very quickly if she had pretended to know something she didn't. In this situation, at least. And that chuunin had obviously not known him. Maybe Deidara was just really vain. Attractive men sometimes got that way.

Or maybe she was reading too much into this. It wouldn't be the first time.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the soft hoot of an owl in the vicinity. She looked up, trying to figure out just where the bird was. It had gotten pretty dark while she had dined in that restaurant, and the street was pretty much deserted. The owl called out again, and she spotted it flying directly over a tree a ways to her right.

Turning and walking towards the tree, she submerged herself once more in her thoughts. Well, she had more important things to worry about than Deidara anyway, she reminded herself again, frustrated that she'd already failed in her resolve to think about the mission instead of men she'd likely never meet again after this was over. Still, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something strange about him. Those hands (she blushed at the memory) were weird, and while she could accept the excuse of them being a family trait, she hadn't never before seen things like that outside of shinobi families.

Granted, she didn't have all that much contact with regular people outside of Konoha, but it still seemed like a safe bet.

_Well, I don't have enough information to go on yet,_ she decided. _I'll have to see him again later and learn a bit more. Then I can decide what's really going on here_. She nodded to herself, satisfied, as she quickly reached her destination. It was time to get a layout of Kumogakure, and figure out what places would be of interest for further investigation. She regretted not getting that tour of the village, but figured she could do a better job of this by herself in any case.

Glancing around quickly, she made certain that nobody was in the area. Fortunately for her, it was getting too dark for most people to still be wandering around, and any patrols Kumogakure might send around at night were currently elsewhere. She smiled slightly, backing up until she stood against the trunk of the tree, receding into its shadows. Hopefully she was well hidden enough that nobody would notice her while she was unable to defend herself.

Well, in a job like this, you had to take some risks. And Ino was fully aware that being discovered was only part of the danger she now faced. In theory, what she was about to do was possible, but she had only had a little bit of first hand experience with it, and wasn't overly confident. Picking out her target, the owl that had just landed in one of the upper branches of the tree, she performed her signature mind transferring jutsu.

With a shock, she found herself looking through a strange pair of eyes, perfectly adapted to see in the darkness. Ino blinked them a few times, trying to get accustomed to the radically different way of perceiving things. An entirely alien mindset enveloped her consciousness, and more a moment Ino found it difficult to simply _be_. Forcing the foreignness surrounding her to fit into her own awareness, Ino seized control of the strange mind.

She watched as her own human body, inadequately concealed from an owl's vision, collapsed against the tree. A morbid curiosity that was not at all hers threatened to overcome her, and Ino had to fight it back. She had had enough experience with the minds of humans that the relatively minor differences in the way another person's mind was wired didn't throw her off that badly, but an avian brain was completely different. Uncomfortable in this strange new body, she stretched out her wings and took flight.

Soaring over the buildings of Kumogakure, Ino looked down, noting the restaurant where she had just eaten, and a bit further south, the inn where she was currently staying. _This is incredible_, she thought, overwhelmed by the prospect of flight. The last time she had tried this jutsu on a nonhuman, it had been a dog. She had only remained out of body for about half a minute; her father had warned against maintaining the jutsu any longer, and Ino had listened.

But being able to fly… smiling internally, Ino turned sharply and circled back the way she had come, taking in all of the landscape below. She saw several more restaurants in varying degrees of reconstruction and a couple of compounds that seemed like they could belong to some of the more influential shinobi clans in the village. Near the centre she made out another complex that seemed suitable to hold a public event as large as a chuunin exam, though she knew that nothing of the sort had been held in Kumogakure for several years, at least.

Over there, ahead a ways, looked like it could be their academy. There wasn't all that much to it, though, and she quickly lost interest. What was the name of the inn Deidara was staying at? Genka… Gingaya… something like that. She couldn't remember, and didn't think it was overly important anyway. Names were such arbitrary, useless things anyway. An image was enough.

She could find Diadera… or whatever his name was… easily enough. She wheeled around, aiming towards the eastern part of the village… or was it the west? Not important, she'd have to check it all anyway. Territory was territory. She soared eastward, looking down at those strange constructions beneath her.

What was she looking for again? And why was she looking for anything at all? She gazed down at the muddy lines on the ground. Should she land on top of that heap of… was it dirt? She couldn't tell. Not important. She edged downward, finally noting a tree that looked particularly appealing.

She was hungry. She needed to hunt, to eat. She studied the ground. Ah, there was something. Scurrying around, looking good to eat. She swooped down towards it, talons extended. A moment too late. She saw another bird—_damn it! My territory!_ she screeched to herself—dive for it. Kill, she wanted to kill that bird that would dare…

No. No, she was hungry. Fighting wouldn't help. At all. Something was wrong… something was shouting "danger" at her, but there were no predators. None able to take her down at least. What was dangerous?

Maddened by the out of place cry of danger, she flew back the way she had come. Where was she going? She didn't know, but she had to…

What was that? A strange, big creature bent double over another one… A body… _Her_ body…

With a shock of horror, Ino ended the jutsu, shocked that she'd managed to slip so completely in such a short period of time. It hadn't been so hard last time, with the dog. She was going to need a lot of practice before she could be certain that this could be used on a mission.

"Hey! Are you okay, miss?" someone called out, worriedly shaking her.

Damn it, she had been discovered after all. Though perhaps it had only been the danger to her actual body that had pulled her out of the owl's mind enough to escape. Blinking her eyes rapidly, Ino looked up to see a young woman with long light hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a hitai-ate that announced her as a shinobi of Kumogakure, and peered down at Ino with concern.

"I… what happened?" Ino asked, feigning ignorance. Perhaps she could pass this off as a simple medical problem.

The other woman frowned, "You fainted, I think. A strange place to choose to do so, though…"

"Hey! You think someone can _choose_ where they want to faint?" Ino asked, channelling her anger about the incident into something more productive. She sighed and drew a hand swiftly across her forehead. "Thanks for the help. I'm surprised you could see me…"

"I have good eyes for darkness," the other woman replied. "And don't worry about it… though I doubt anyone else in this village would have bothered," she added dismissively. "Do you need any further help?"

"No, I'll be okay now, thanks," Ino replied, shutting her eyes against a building migraine.

"Oh, I doubt that," the other woman replied. "Let's get you home. Where are you staying?"

"The Akano Inn," Ino replied, allowing the other to lead her back to the hotel. Well, she was doing fairly well for her first day. She had met two people (each time in a rather traumatic manner, no less), and managed to risk discovery the exact same number of times.

If this was any indication of how this mission was going to go, Ino could be fairly certain that it would either be a complete success, or an utter nightmare.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay... final exams happened, and over 40 pages of philosophy papers temporarily sapped my desire to write anything whatsoever. ;; I'm hoping to be able to update fairly regularly from now on. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

"You really shouldn't be wandering around a shinobi village late at night, you realise. If a patrol had found you instead of I… well, things might not have been so pleasant," the other woman remarked curtly as they reached the inn.

"I lost track of the time," Ino replied. "Thanks for the help, Miss…"

"Nii Yugito," the other answered.

"Thank you, Yugito-san. My name is Ino. Would you like to come in for a bit…?"

Yugito shook her head, "Not tonight, unfortunately. I'm busy. Was this your first day here? I don't think I've seen you around before now."

"Yes, it is. Too much excitement, I suppose," she added with a grimace. While that wasn't the reason behind her collapse, obviously, it was true. She _had_ had a bit of trouble getting into the country unnoticed, though she had managed to "convince" a local daimyou to give her documents proving that she was one of his citizens.

Yugito smiled slightly, "You should probably arrange to speak with the Raikage soon, especially if you're planning on staying here for a while."

"I'll take that into consideration, thanks," Ino replied.

Yugito frowned, "On second thought, perhaps you should get yourself checked out at the hospital. Fainting spells aren't all that normal."

"I…" Ino started to decline, before wondering if this might be one of those opportunities of which she should probably take advantage. But announcing her presence to a whole bunch of people at the same time in such a manner wasn't a risk she really wanted to take just yet. Smothering a yawn, Ino shook her head, "If it happens again, I will. But right now I think I'd rather rest."

"All right. Have a nice night," Yugito replied, running off and disappearing into the night, leaving Ino in front of the door to the inn.

Ino stared after her for a moment, deciding against doing any more work tonight. She knew she'd have a difficult time explaining why she was wandering around if things went poorly again. A pity she hadn't been able to get Yugito to stay, however. She probably would have been able to get a lot more interesting information out of her than she had managed with Deidara, who hadn't been from here any more than she had.

Still, it was better to take things slowly with a mission like this.

She turned around and opened the door to the inn, quickly making her way back to her own room. Upon reaching it she frowned, glancing around. Something was wrong, she sensed, but she couldn't figure out exactly what. Her bag was still sitting on the table in the corner, but was that the exact angle at which she had left it?

_Damn it_, Ino thought. She was supposed to be trained to keep track of things like this. Irrationally nervous, she walked over and opened the bag, checking to see that nothing was missing. One glance inside the bag and she bit back a curse. She had a peculiar way of packing things; how to pack bags in a specific, signature manner had been one of the first things her father had taught her. While you could not necessarily stop someone from going through your things, you could ensure that you could always tell whether such an invasion had occurred.

Grimacing slightly, Ino noted how every item in the bag was in a slightly different position than it had been before. Whoever had gone through it was certainly good at what they did: everything was almost perfectly placed. However small hints that only Ino would have been able to pick up on were still there.

She quickly sorted through the items, making certain that her hitai-ate was still there. There was no reason to think it wasn't, of course. Any shinobi careful enough to almost perfectly memorise the order in which the items had been placed wouldn't undo all of his work by stealing something so obvious, but Ino still breathed a sigh of relief upon finding her forehead protector at the bottom.

She pulled it out again, cursing herself. She'd been an idiot leaving it like that; what was she going to do now? She was afraid to leave it in the bag, in case someone else chose to look through it again in order to ascertain something, but she was more wary of taking it out. If the shinobi of Kumogakure knew who she was now, her only advantage would be that they didn't know that she knew.

Assuming, of course, that it had been Cloud ninja who had searched her room. She could not imagine who else might be interested, but she still knew that such could be a dangerous assumption to make.

With a weary sigh, Ino returned everything to her bag and pulled out several kunai. She hadn't slept that well or often on the journey from Konoha to Kumo, and had had a taxing time of getting clearance to enter the foreign village at all. The soul transfer jutsu was an incredible advantage when it came to such goals, but it definitely had its shortcomings. She couldn't have simply used it heedlessly on random custom officials and have expected to pass unnoticed, of course.

The episode with the owl had also taken its toll on her, Ino realised. She was exhausted and rather low on chakra. She didn't know how easily (or how safely) she was likely to be able to sleep tonight, but doubted she would be able to function all that well tomorrow if she didn't get any rest. And if her cover had been blown, as was almost certainly the case, she doubted she'd be able to survive that much longer without a clear head.

Determined to decide how to continue in the morning, Ino locked and carefully booby-trapped the door and window, unfurled the futon and hid a pair of kunai under the pillow. It wouldn't be that great an advantage if she was stormed during the night, but it still made her feel a bit safer. In any case, she figured that if anyone had been ready to take immediate action, they would have already been waiting for her when she reached the room earlier.

Thus attempting to reassure herself, Ino climbed into bed, fighting back her fears and uncertainties.

Sleep was a long time coming, and dawn even longer.

* * *

When morning came, Ino was happy to find herself still alive and undisturbed. Eating a quick breakfast, she tried to figure out what she was going to do now. Even though someone in Kumogakure must have figured out that she was a shinobi of Konoha, this didn't necessarily prove that she was here for any particularly nefarious reason. If she could throw off the suspicion that she was here as a spy, she could probably still finish her mission.

Easier said than done, she realised, knowing how difficult it was going to be to get something done while she tried to convince everyone around her that she wasn't trying to do that very thing.

She would have to figure out just who had gone through her bag, and how far the news had spread. If most of the powerful or influential shinobi in Kumo now realised that she was from Konoha, it might be the best course of action to simply identify herself as a Konoha nin on vacation. Or perhaps even on the run, she considered, thinking of Sasuke. That would probably make more sense after having hidden her hitai-ate.

She didn't want to have to resort to such a plan except as a last resort, and certainly not unless her identity had become common knowledge.

Finishing her breakfast, Ino gathered herself and left her room and the inn, trying not to look suspicious. It was a doubly hard façade to manage, since she had to both fool the people who didn't know who she was, without being careful enough to indicate that she realised that somebody had already discovered her origin.

_Well_, she thought to herself, _at least they have no way of knowing about the signature Yamanaka jutsu._ Of course, considering the fiasco of the night before, she didn't really trust herself to use it again just yet. Not to mention how difficult it could be to hide that jutsu. She doubted she would be able to continue to pass it off as a fainting spell indeterminately.

_It would probably be best if I took it easy for today,_ Ino thought; at this point anything she could learn about Kumo or her own precarious position wasn't worth the risk of destroying her chances once and for all. No, she'd be better off spending the day relaxing and trying to throw off suspicion.

Ino wished that Yugito had told her where she lived. She thought it very unlikely that the other woman knew who she was yet (unless Kumogakure shinobi had a penchant for midnight meetings), and realised that if she was going to have to build up a plausible back-story, she was going to need an unsuspicious audience.

Ino wandered through the ill-kept streets of Kumo, trying unsuccessfully to banish her nervousness. The roads were much more crowded than they had been the day before, and a vague sense of being observed plagued her. Every time she couldn't stop herself from looking, however, everybody nearby seemed to be ignoring her. Perhaps too much. _I'm going crazy_, Ino lamented, wondering how much of a disappointment she would be if she simply fled the village.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw several shinobi training. Another pair on the corner was doing something that didn't remotely involve practice, and Ino felt herself blushing. Everyone was much too busy to be paying any attention to her, but the feeling of eyes persisted.

_Think,_ she ordered herself, forcing herself to get a handle on the situation again.

It wasn't as if Yugito was the only person in Kumogakure she had met, she reasoned. Deidara might not be as ideal a candidate, considering that he wasn't from Kumo either, but if she hadn't been here to gather intelligence, she would have wasted no time getting to know a good looking stranger. Such behaviour wouldn't get her very far in learning anything new, but would probably be one of the better ways of throwing off suspicion.

Not to mention, it would be a lot of fun.

Feeling better about her situation for reasons she didn't care to look at too closely, Ino continued down the street, better able now to ignore the vague sense of being watched that still refused to disappear entirely. She remembered the basic location of the Ginkawa Inn; she'd reached it in the few brief moments before she had lost all control whatsoever of the owl's mind. Ino shook that particular memory away; she'd been an idiot to try to use that jutsu in that manner already, and couldn't afford another blunder like that.

Observing the buildings from the ground was considerably different than looking at them from the sky while losing grip of her sanity, Ino noticed. As she moved to the northeast along the dirt roads of Kumogakure, she watched in fascination as the quality of the structures around her slowly began to improve. She wondered if the southern section was a lot poorer than the rest of village, and why, in the wake of such destruction, nobody had bothered to put enough effort into rebuilding it.

_Whoever owns these houses is rich, at least_, she thought, stopping in front of a side road that led to a group of similarly constructed buildings, all of which seemed to bear a family crest. Her first thought was of the section of Konoha once inhabited by the Uchiha Clan. More than once in her childhood, before tragedy had befallen them, at least, she had been curious about where Sasuke had lived, and had followed him home.

The thought was unpleasant, and Ino tried to force it out of her head.

Unfortunately, she couldn't as easily force herself to move away from the spot. She didn't have the faintest idea who lived here, but she found the contrast between this section and the rest of the village she had seen so far disturbing. Ino frowned, now reminded of the Hyuuga clan back home, and the horrific story about it that had come to light during her first Chuunin Exam. Did this family possess some sort of advanced bloodline as well, and did they suppress their own clansmen because of it? _Perhaps not, but I'd bet that they control the rest of the village_, she decided, biting her lip.

_Well, I'm not here to investigate clan politics. Not yet, at least._ The feeling of being watched returned tenfold, and once more Ino could help but turn around to figure out who else was around. Yet again, she was greeted by the sight of an empty street, and forced herself to calm down and move on.

Luckily for Ino, right next to this clan's compound was a small flower shop. Delighted at finding something so familiar in this alien and hostile place, all thoughts of politics fled her mind, and without even stopping to wonder what a flower shop was even doing in a disaster ridden village, she went over to see just what they had. Part of the shop was open air, and there appeared to be a mixture of live and planted flowers and the cut variety. The shopkeeper, a middle-aged woman reading in a corner, looked up at her curiously before turning back to her book.

_The climate here must be really good for plants_, Ino decided, noticing how much bigger some of these were compared to the ones she grew back home. She wasn't overly surprised, though. She supposed they got more than enough rain in the Land of Lightning, even if there wasn't as much sun as was theoretically ideal. She recognised most species, though there were several that were likely local.

"I like this one best, yeah," a familiar voice rang out. Surprised, she turned to see Deidara standing in front of a plant with marvellous purple blossoms. He was wearing the same black outfit that he had the other day, and Ino found herself wondering what he'd look like in a different colour.

She forced the ridiculous thought from her mind, far more concerned with where he had come from, and how he had managed to come upon her unawares. So far, he hadn't really acted much like a shinobi, but she didn't like the concept that a normal person might be able to sneak up on her like that. _Well, at least I won't have to go all the way to the Ginkawa Inn after all_, she thought ruefully.

Moving closer to get a better look at the flower he was still watching, she said truthfully, "It's beautiful." Ino didn't recognise it, but had to admit that it was one of the lovelier flowers in the shop.

Deidara smiled—well, on anyone else, it would be a smile. In his case, she actually wasn't sure yet whether that expression was a smile or a smirk. He reached out and plucked one of the flowers, twirling it thoughtfully between his fingers. "It only blooms for a day, you know," he told her, his tone a bit too intrigued to be matter of fact. "One day, and then it fades and dies, yeah."

Ino wasn't overly surprised (though his rapt manner was a bit disconcerting); it was hardly the only flower with such a short lifetime about which she had heard. She watched in silence for as he continued to admire the flower for a moment more before without warning crushing it in his fist and letting it fall to the floor. She frowned, staring at the ruined blossom, "Hey, why did you do that?"

For an instant he looked surprised at the question. "Why not, hm?" he asked, with a slight shrug, his surprise settling into mild amusement. "It was going to die anyway. At least you'll remember it now, yeah."

_That's for sure_, she thought to herself, reanalysing her earlier conclusion that Sasuke was the more mysterious of the two. Shaking her head, she said, "Still, that wasn't necessary. There are ways to preserve flowers, you know, to keep them looking fresh for a long time, even if they only bloom for a day. It's not that hard for a florist."

She wondered why she was having a conversation about floristry with an almost complete stranger, but oddly enough found herself rather enjoying it. Her closest friends back home had very little interest in the topic, after all—Chouji was only interested in plants that were edible, and Shikamaru saw no point in discussing them at all. The finer details in life just weren't of interest to most shinobi, she thought ruefully.

The dangerous look in Deidara's visible eye drained all enjoyment of the situation from Ino, however, and almost made her reach for the kunai she'd hidden away (possible blown cover or not, she didn't feel remotely comfortable walking around a foreign shinobi village completely unarmed). What had she said to offend him?

The look was gone as quickly as it had come, however. "How are you going to preserve something, hm? Strip away everything that it is, leaving just an empty shell? Something of beauty isn't meant to last forever, yeah. It can't," he finally said, much more mildly than she'd have expected a second ago. Trying to keep up with his rapid mood swings, Ino felt slightly stunned. What did flowers and shells have to do with one another anyway?

He misinterpreted her confused look, and continued, "You think you can keep something beautiful forever, hm? Well, you can't. How long do you think you'd have continued to look at that flower and see beauty, hm? How long before you'd have stopped seeing it as anything at all? Either it fades to nothing in reality, or it fades to nothing in your own mind, yeah."

The volume of his voice was slowly escalating, and Ino found herself looking around nervously, hoping he wasn't making too much of a scene now. He seemed to realise how loud he was getting, because when he continued, he was considerably less manic. "Better to just destroy it. That's the only way you can make it worth remembering, in the end." Coming back to his senses, Deidara hesitated for a moment before saying softly, almost to himself, "What's the use of surrounding yourself with undying beauty if you're no longer alive enough to feel any of it, hm?"

Ino stared at him speechlessly for a moment. Sakura would probably take this opportunity to call him crazy, but Sakura was far too book smart and not nearly perceptive enough. Shikamaru was by far the most intelligent person she knew, but she had never heard him say anything remotely like that. Sasuke had been hot, and definitely mysterious, but she wondered now how much of that mystery had been illusory, her own desire for something exotic.

This… Ino hadn't yet decided whether or not she agreed with him—any knowledge she had had concerning the nature of beauty revolved around its various uses in accomplishing missions. Philosophy wasn't of much use in the shinobi trade, after all. She couldn't imagine someone with such an outlook coming out of a ninja village, and decided that despite his various peculiarities, he had to be just a commoner. A rather eccentric commoner.

Oddly enough, the thought fascinated her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

For just an instant, the young girl who gravitated towards the one oasis of beauty in a desert of mediocrity became indistinguishable from the boy who, seeking eternity, had unmade himself.

He hadn't planned on this spontaneous aesthetic debate; discussing art with anyone other than Sasori was really a novelty. Truth be told, recently sincere discussions on the matter, even_ with_ Sasori, had become rare. "What's the use of surrounding yourself with undying beauty if you're no longer alive enough to feel any of it, hm?" Deidara murmured to himself.

The moment passed.

Blinking, he noticed that Ino was staring at him, her expression dazed and more than a bit startled. It was a familiar look to Deidara—nowadays people tended to wear similar expressions after encountering him. In any other situation, that sort of reaction might have satisfied him; his art was _supposed_ to be shocking, to say the least. But oddly enough, he wasn't remotely pleased with the look on her face.

Deidara liked reactions, but in this case he hadn't been trying to get one. Disturbed, he wondered if somehow, without him realizing, years of interacting almost exclusively with members of Akatsuki (each a more outrageous social misfit than the one before) had destroyed his ability to hold anything resembling a normal conversation. Deidara was a social outcast by choice, not necessity. Even if he had no desire for human interaction at any real level, the thought that somewhere along the line he had become incapable of it was disconcerting.

Ino pursed her lips, the stunned expression fading from her face. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Deidara-san," she finally said, her features relaxing into a smile.

"I don't doubt it, yeah," he replied offhandedly. Well, he hadn't managed to scare her half out of her mind yet. That was good. Apparently his social skills weren't as rusty as he'd feared.

Turning away for a moment, Ino called the shopkeeper over and bought a pair of the flowers he'd shown her. "Now, you can do whatever you want with this," she said, handing him one of them with a dazzling smile, "but I like to keep souvenirs to remember things by, even if they're not guaranteed to last forever."

Deidara stared at the flower in his hand as if it might try to bite him. He could barely remember the last time a girl (or anyone, for that matter) had given him something she didn't expect to blow up in his face. He wasn't sure how he felt about this change, and found himself wanting to finish this stupid mission and return to being able to handle situations in a satisfying (and conclusive) manner.

Realizing how ridiculous he must look, he hid his sudden frustration behind a slight smile. He asked, "Are you implying that you'll need that flower to remember me, hm?" It wasn't that he never left behind souvenirs, though they didn't tend to be of the floral variety.

"Hardly," Ino replied dryly. Raising an eyebrow, she turned and started towards the road, beckoning him to follow her. Before he could think to wonder why he was allowing himself to be lead around by this girl, Deidara had taken a few steps. _Well, it's not like I have anything better to do, yeah,_ he reasoned. The instructions he had gotten from Akatsuki had been so vague that he wasn't sure what he could do at the moment other than watch and wait.

Well, that was hardly new. How many bijuu had they managed to catch in the last half a decade or so? He had known that this would be a long-term project when he first joined, and hadn't been at all bothered by the realization. True masterpieces could take years or decades to engineer. In any case, he'd been doing very little at the time except playing hide-and-seek games with ANBU squads.

"You weren't following me, were you?" Ino said, breaking him out of his reverie. The humour in her voice indicated that the accusation wasn't a serious one.

"I saw you outside of the Inazuma Clan's compound, yeah. But you didn't seem all that talkative, so I left you alone."

"Inazuma…" Ino began, confused, before realising who he was talking about. "Oh, them! So that's their name." She didn't seem particularly interested in the topic.

"Yeah," Deidara replied, slightly distracted. He'd wasted a couple of hours of his time trying to figure out who was in power in Kumogakure, and had been neither overly impressed nor surprised by the results. The Inazuma were one of the key players here, along with several other major clans who were too busy involved in interfamilial rivalries and concerns to notice that their village was falling apart around them. It was pathetic, really, and he found himself wondering if society was even going to need Akatsuki's help in tearing itself apart.

"You don't care for them, do you?" Ino asked, clearly paying more attention than he'd thought. _Perceptive._ She probably had the mind to be a pretty decent shinobi; Deidara wondered what she was doing stranded up here in Kumogakure.

"Not especially, yeah," he answered. "They're a bunch of unimaginative, self-impressed idiots. Though I guess you could say the same for anyone, yeah."

"Unimaginative? How so?" Ino asked.

"You saw those buildings, hm?" he reminded her, scornfully adding, "Not the slightest bit of aesthetic value between them, yeah. Whoever designed them might as well have been blind."

Ino laughed, "You're judging them solely on their artistic taste? Isn't that a bit unfair?"

_Unfair? Hardly._ You could really tell a lot about a person based on what they felt about art. Take Sasori, for example. If you knew anything about his unchanging, eternal view of art, you could guess what an inflexible control freak he'd be. Then there were people like Kakuzu. It didn't take much guesswork to figure he wouldn't be worth much in a conversation at all.

It really was a pity; she was intelligent and attractive, and had very good taste. He was disappointed that she couldn't understand such a simple concept. _But it's to be expected, yeah. Shinobi villages never were much for art appreciation_. Grimacing, he shrugged, "It's all interconnected, yeah. Would you want to live where all the houses were almost identical, hm?"

"Maybe it shows solidarity," Ino replied with a smile.

"More like unoriginality, yeah," he replied disdainfully.

"So is this all just theory, or do you know anything about them?"

He made a face, "Of course I know about them, yeah. This isn't the best place to discuss it, though," he added, raising an eyebrow. Ino had managed to lead them closer to the centre of the village, and they weren't alone on the street anymore. The people (including about half a dozen shinobi) nearby weren't paying them much attention yet, but all the same, a pair of strangers having an in-depth conversation about one of their more prominent families was unlikely to go over well.

"Oh!" Ino gasped, blushing as she came to the same realization. Deidara decided he'd have to make her do that more often.

_Why the hell did I just think that, hm?_ he wondered, frowning. He didn't normally look at relationships as long-term at all. His interactions with most people were usually short, and often violent. Ironically enough, he normally didn't start fights; even if the leader hadn't disapprove of wanton violence while his plans were still being put into motion, people simply had no artistic taste, and unless he were in a particularly creative state himself, a demonstration would have been wasted on them.

Even within Akatsuki, he never really had much to do with the other members. Most were too mired in their own empty pursuits to be of any interest. Itachi had intrigued him at first, but Deidara had long since learned not to pry too deeply beyond the Uchiha's cold exterior. He doubted it was worth the effort anyway.

Even with Sasori, he was more of a spectator than a participant in any sort of relationship at all. Sasori had secluded himself within his own self-contained world, and none of Deidara's attempts to provoke him enough to break that shell had worked. Sasori remained untouchable.

_What the hell do I care?_ He thought, irritated at himself. It was bad enough that he was letting himself get distracted by this girl; to find himself thinking about things like this was just depressing, really. _If any of this really mattered, I'd have just stayed in Iwagakure._ Which wasn't exactly the truth, but definitely showed that after just a couple days of masquerading in a village, already he'd started thinking like them again, at least a bit.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ino asked, coming to a stop and looking at him curiously.

"I'm fine, yeah," he replied, pushing any concerns out of his mind. It wasn't like he was going to have to worry about any of this for that long a time. Fitting in at all might actually be of some benefit, and keep him from getting aggravated enough to do something that would get him into serious trouble with the leader.

"Well… if you're sure," Ino said, still a bit doubtfully. "So what were you doing before you decided to go flower shopping?"

"I was not…!" he began indignantly, before being cut off by her sudden laughter.

"Well then, before you started stalking me, if you prefer," she suggested dryly.

"That was only coincidence, yeah," he replied sourly. As interested as he'd been in the girl after meeting her the day before, he hadn't yet had the opportunity to do anything remotely resembling stalking. At least, not in regards to Ino. Whatever the leader thought might be of some benefit to Akatsuki in Kumogakure, Deidara wanted to find quickly. The place was as confining and uninspired as he'd remembered shinobi villages to be, which, added to its lack of any artistic appeal whatsoever, made it utterly unpleasant.

"You didn't answer my question," Ino chided.

"I don't see why I have to be the one answering questions," he replied flippantly. He had no intention of explaining how exactly he'd spent the morning, but wasn't sure that claiming to have been sightseeing would cut it; the girl was pretty smart, and he didn't want to risk her deciding to dig up any dangerous information. Deidara doubted she was in much of a position here to cause him any real danger, but he'd rather avoid any unnecessary complications.

Anyway, it'd be a waste to have to kill her; he felt as though he'd only scratched the surface of the girl. There was no splendour in destroying something you hadn't yet come to fully appreciate.

"Well, you haven't been asking any of your own, now have you?" Ino pointed out matter-of-factly.

"All right, then. Where are you from, hm?"

Ino hesitated for a split second before replying, "A small village further north." She shrugged casually, "You've probably never heard of it, since you're not from Kaminari no Kuni."

She wasn't that bad a liar, really, despite the brief pause. The problem was that she hadn't researched her story enough for it to be even remotely plausible. Deidara wasn't the best at being inconspicuous, but he'd survived exile long enough to have some idea of the things that could get you killed most quickly.

"Is that so, hm?" he commented wryly, coming up right beside her and appraising her pointedly. Ino had definitely found clothes in Kaminari no Kuni, but the country was fairly large, and there was still a difference between how people dressed in the northern and southern sections of it. "You're going to have to find something a bit warmer to wear if that's your story, yeah."

For a moment, her face couldn't decide whether to go bright red or deathly pale. The transition, as it finally decided on the latter, was really quite fetching. She turned around sharply to face him, "How…? I mean, what are you talking about?"

"You're dressed too lightly, yeah. Nobody from further north would wear something like that, really," he pointed out easily, reaching out to tug on the cloth of her sleeve. "This is much too thin," he added with a slight smirk.

Deidara saw Ino's hand twitch slightly, and wondered if she was about to attack him. He found himself almost wishing she would; he was intrigued to see exactly what she could do. Whether she'd been sent by another village or had fled to Kumogakure, he doubted she would have gotten this far if she were wholly incompetent. A part of him wanted to make her realize the fullest of her potential, to watch her blossom completely for one glorious moment, to make her burn so brightly that nothing remained…

With a bit of effort (though not as much as would normally have been the case), he managed to still those desires. He couldn't really afford to get himself run out of Kumogakure just yet, and he knew that the establishment would be incapable of appreciating his artistic endeavours. "Attacking me isn't going to help you, yeah," he told her, failing to loosen his grip on her sleeve. "Anyway, it's not like I have any reason to tell anyone, yeah."

Ino didn't relax at all. Irrationally, Deidara found himself annoyed; hadn't he told her the other day that he wasn't even from Kumogakure? Narrowing her eyes, the girl asked, "How do I know you're not going to blackmail me, or something like that?"

_Blackmail…? _"Well, now that you suggest it, that sounds like a great idea, yeah," he replied angrily, though he wasn't certain which of the two of them he was the cause. He actually could have kicked himself for _not_ thinking of blackmail, and for notrealizing immediately how opportune the situation had just become. He'd been so enthralled in thinking about this girl whom he had never before met, that he had lost sight of exactly what he was supposed to be doing here. _Damn it._

Something of what he was thinking must have been showing on his face (the girl really was much too perceptive for her own good), because Ino's tenseness suddenly melted away from her. "I think I have a better idea," she murmured, twisting the hand whose sleeve he was still clutching enough to entangle his forearm in the loose fabric. Deidara had about a split second to notice the small, devious, much too seductive smile on her face, and remember just why a kunoichi could be so dangerous (especially to a man who had had no real contact with humanity—much less a woman—in years), before she grabbed his other shoulder and leaned forward enough to kiss him.

At that point, completely shocked, he ceased to think at all.

* * *

A/N: Yes, well, that wasn't actually supposed to end like that at all, but Deidara wasn't cooperating with me too much (hence the delay), and Ino decided to take matters into her own hands. If you think that was too fast, keep in mind that it's just Ino being Ino, and getting in over her head. ;) 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

Well, at least it had _seemed_ like a sound strategy.

Ino knew she couldn't actually claim any real experience with this sort of persuasion technique; after she had failed so miserably in her attempt to seduce Hyuuga Neji during her first Chuunin Exam, she had been reluctant to try it again. In any case, it was an uncertain tactic at the best of times. Being rejected so completely and abruptly had shocked her more than she cared to remember.

Until this moment, Ino had not even realized that success was the more dangerous outcome in seduction than rejection itself. It came with a whole new world of risks and difficulties with which she was not remotely ready to contend.

Ino knew she was supposed to keep herself calm and clear-headed, but all other concerns had been chased from her mind by one question: did having three mouths give him an added advantage when it came to kissing, or did he simply have a lot of experience at this? She found herself blushing at the random thought, desperately hoping that she wasn't about to lose control of the situation.

_Damn it,_ she berated herself mentally, _what was I thinking?_ She knew she had surprised and thrown him off balance at first, but the shock had apparently lasted only a few seconds. He had been able to quickly adjust to the sudden shift in the game they were playing—_game?_ Ino thought, finally realizing that this was indeed a game, though one of paramount importance—and regain some semblance of control over the situation.

Disturbed and certain that she had gotten herself in way over her head, Ino reached up and firmly pushed him away. She took a hasty step backwards, trying to control her breathing (or at least hide the fact that she was only a technicality away from gasping), fighting the unprofessional instinct to flee the scene.

"That's pretty rude, yeah," Deidara complained, though she noted that his voice didn't have the same drawling element she'd come to associate him with. It seemed somewhat caught between amusement and annoyance, and there was a slight hitch to it. He wasn't quite as composed as she had at first assumed, Ino recognized, the realization helping her to overcome a bit of her own panic.

"I changed my mind," Ino replied lightly. Sensing that he was about to explode at her in a rather unpleasant fashion, she quickly changed the topic, matter-of-factly adding, "Now, are we going to check into getting me some heavier clothing, since this is apparently too light?"

For a moment, he just stared at her, and Ino was suddenly certain that she was but a single thought away from a particularly gruesome demise. Glancing around nervously, she saw that several locals, two of whom wore the sorts of accessories that Ino would have associated with jounin back home, had taken notice of the spectacle and were now watching them with mild interest.

Deidara seemed to have seen their new spectators as well, because he suddenly relaxed a bit, his stance becoming a lot less threatening. _So he's reluctant to draw attention to himself. Interesting,_ Ino noted, filing the thought away to examine later. "Do you have any money, hm? Because I'm sure as hell not lending you any," he replied flatly, unceremoniously turning around and walking away, offering just the slightest gesture that she was expected to follow.

"How very ungentlemanly of you," Ino complained, hurrying to catch up. Before she even finished the statement, she regretted the words. She was trying to keep the situation from escalating into something she couldn't control, not alienate him completely.

Oddly, the comment seemed to please him more than anything else. "Didn't you ever hear that chivalry is dead, hm?" he drawled thoughtfully. "Now we're just waiting for the rest of civilization to catch up." Ino laughed slightly, but the prospect seemed to have sincerely cheered him up, and driven away lingering resentment over the earlier incident.

_I swear his mood swings are more sudden and radical than… Sakura's_. The sudden comparison took Ino by surprise; she tried to think of her former friend and current rival (though rival over _what_ exactly, she couldn't say) as little as possible. The topic was a painful reminder that sometimes knowing what to say and even how to say it wasn't enough. Even with her family's special techniques, one only had so much control over relationships with other people. There was no method of wiping someone's memory; the past couldn't be taken back.

"What's wrong, hm?" Deidara asked, glancing over at her with an expression Ino couldn't quite define. Real concern, perhaps, along with something more… calculated, perhaps. A moment later, it was gone, and Ino momentarily wondered if she were going crazy. _No, _shedecided._ He shows more than he means to, but he's also capable of wearing façades, when he bothers to… which isn't often. But he's learning. I wonder why… A dangerous game, for both of us, that's for sure._

"Nothing," she replied, thinking quickly. How much did he know about her, and how much did he guess? How much did she dare give away? And why did she have the sudden intuition that playing these games of deceit with him were going to be more difficult—and potentially more rewarding—than her official mission in Kumogakure? _Damn it, I'm getting carried away again._ "Just thinking about home," she allowed.

"Your mysterious village not quite in the north," he drawled. "You don't really seem… bizarre enough to be from Kirigakure, yeah," he added thoughtfully. "No fangs, no gills… though I guess those might not actually be common features…"

"You're hardly one to call other people bizarre," she replied dryly, glancing pointedly at his hands.

He grinned broadly at that—with all three mouths, no less—but wasn't diverted from the original subject. "Which village are you from, hm?" he asked relentlessly.

She considered lying for a split second, or at least refusing to say anything at all. Remembering again how carefully her room had been searched, Ino suddenly wondered whether the investigator had been a shinobi from Kumogakure at all… She wasn't certain that Deidara had the skills necessary to pull off such a meticulous search, but decided that caution was definitely warranted. Under the sudden suspicion that Deidara's knowledge might come from more than simple guesswork, Ino realized that she was going to have to come as close to the truth as she dared.

"Konohagakure," she admitted, infusing enough distaste into her voice to make her opinion of the village clear. Whoever Deidara was, he was clearly observant enough to have some understanding of the political structure of shinobi society. While it was dangerous to masquerade as a missing nin at any level, the only other certain option left to her was to admit to being a spy, and that really wasn't an option at all.

Deidara brought his hand up to brush stray bangs out of his face, and Ino saw that his eyes were alight with laughter. She couldn't fathom why, and the strong pride she held for her home caused her to burst out and demand, "What's so funny?"

"Konoha," he replied with a shrug. "You hear a lot of good things about them second or third hand, but everyone from Konoha I've ever met seems to hate the place, yeah. Though that could just be the type of people I know… the type who'd hate any place, just on principle, yeah," he concluded with a nod, still smiling.

"Who do you know from Konoha?" Ino asked, interested despite herself. Had her village sent other spies up to Kumogakure in the past? Did that mean there was probably something here concrete she should be seeking?

Deidara shrugged again, though the gesture was a lot less careless than it had been a moment earlier. The need for caution seemed to overcome his natural loquaciousness, and she could sense how hedged his answer was, "It doesn't really matter, yeah. It was so long ago that you probably didn't know them anyway…" he trailed off, and Ino knew that she wasn't going to get anything more from him on the topic. Mentally filing away this new titbit of information, Ino decided to try to turn the conversation away from Konoha; she hardly felt comfortable purposely scorning her own village. "You said earlier that you were from Tsuchi no Kuni, right?" she asked.

"You have a good memory, yeah," he observed.

"It was just yesterday," she countered, wondering why she was unwilling to even accept a compliment. "You never told me why you left," she added.

He gave her a noncommittal shrug, seemingly bored with the topic, and replied, "You haven't said why you left Konoha, yeah."

"You didn't ask. You just laughed," she responded, a bit more sharply than she had intended. Seeing his eyes flash with sudden anger, she smiled winningly, forcibly pushing away the memory of her last failed seduction attempt. "So why did you?"

"Artistic differences," he replied simply with a self-satisfied smirk, and Ino found herself wondering what sort of artistic differences could make someone move to a different country. She supposed it wasn't all that difficult to get into trouble with a feudal lord, especially with ideals as… _unusual_ as Deidara's seemed to be. She didn't know much about the Land of Earth, other than that it had been involved in a war against Konoha about a decade or so ago, and hadn't been the most pleasant of enemies.

"I can't imagine what sort of… artistic differences could force you to leave everything behind," Ino admitted after a moment's thought.

Deidara laughed at that—a laugh that was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, that held a world of meaning and possibilities behind it, and yet offered none. For a stretch of time after that, he was uncharacteristically silent, seemingly focused on his own thoughts, and Ino soon despaired of getting any other sort of answer.

"They have no vision, yeah," he suddenly commented, surprising her. "And if you stay long enough amongst people who can't see, you can't escape going blind yourself, yeah," he explained, without a trace of sadness or regret in his voice to accompany the discouraging sentiment.

Ino glanced up, seeking to meet his gaze, but found his eyes lost in a memory, focused on a truth she couldn't see. He stared right through her, his attention centred on a point beyond her, beyond anything immediately before either of them. She had the sudden intuition that whatever he saw was inherently different from the reality she knew. Oddly enough, rather than being repelled by the thought, she found herself further drawn to him because of it.

_If I were to look out through your eyes, what strange new world would I see?_

Ino had never had any moral qualms with using her mind transferring technique, whether to aid in an official mission, or for her own curiosity. It would be simple—oh, so simple—to quickly perform the jutsu, to enter his mind and appease her sudden fascination…

Irrationally, Ino found herself regarding the notion with acute distaste, and rejected it out of hand. Her strong reaction was vaguely disturbing to her: never before had felt such disgust at the thought of using her technique on a near stranger, and a clearly dangerous one at that. She had the absurd feeling that such an act would inevitably strip from her the very possibility of understanding him…

"You know, if you ask a question, you should at least listen to the answer, yeah," Deidara objected plaintively, snapping her out of her self-contemplation. Quickly filing away yet another unsettling thought for further study, Ino turned her full attention back to him.

"I _was_ listening," she protested, frowning.

"Right," he replied sceptically. "Well, what story are you going to tell, hm?" he asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

Simultaneously shrugging and rolling his eyes ridiculously, Deidara explained, "I know you're not going to tell me the truth, yeah. So what are you going to come up with, hm?"

"You… you're not upset with the idea that I wouldn't be truthful?" Ino asked, too confused by his tone to deny his claim, despite its veracity.

Deidara smirked, "The lie would probably be more interesting, yeah."

To that, Ino had no reply.

_Well, I can play this game too_, she thought, moving forward again without another word on the subject. Hearing him quickly catching up again, she tossed a question over her shoulder, "Well, if I'm going to keep from any undo attention, what would be the best place to get new clothes? This village hardly looks… prosperous enough to have some sort of shopping centre…"

"You didn't answer my question, yeah," Deidara pointed out bluntly, though he seemed more amused than annoyed about it.

"Why should I? You won't believe me. I'm not your personal storyteller, you know," she retorted. "So where should we go?"

"And what do I look like, hm? A shopkeeper?" he countered, less amused than before.

She eyed him a moment before replying, "I get the feeling you'd scare all the customers away."

He grinned at that, not remotely displeased at the thought. She wasn't surprised by his reaction, already coming to some sort of understanding about his particular perceptions about complements and insults. "How much money do you have, hm?"

"Not much," she admitted reluctantly.

"Of course not," he replied dryly. "Well, I'm still not giving you any, yeah. How many people have you told this story?"

Ino thought about it for a moment, trying to remember exactly how much she had told the local shinobi who had asked about her background. She was vaguely troubled by how long it took her to remember the details—had this meeting with Deidara confused her that much? "The customs official, and that's it," she finally answered. "The innkeeper I only told that I was from a civilian village in the country."

"Oh, well that's easily dealt with, yeah," Deidara replied with a satisfied nod.

She glanced at him askance, wondering what exactly he was planning. He noticed the look and smirked, "What sort of shinobi are you, hm?"

_And what sort of civilian artist are you?_ Ino suddenly wondered in return.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay, everyone. It was partly due to schoolwork, partly due to frustration (and recently mild worry, I suppose) with the series, and partly due to acute laziness. Don't worry, I haven't given up. The next update should be much more quickly, hopefully. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning:** This chapter is more than a bit darker than things have been so far. Deidara's an incredible character, but not at all benign. So beware of some violence and disturbing imagery.

* * *

**Chapter VII**

Under the cover of night, Deidara decided, Kumogakure was almost passable. It didn't possess the grand majesty of one of the healthier villages, and the ruin that had been visited upon it could never fully be disguised, but there was something almost aesthetic about watching dusk fall over a barely functional country. At the very least, it spoke of the promise of utter destruction still to come.

However, as much as he would have liked to stand around and contemplate the village, Deidara knew he had a job yet to do. Several, actually, and the sooner he completed them, the better things would go.

With more than a bit of reluctance, he took a final look at the village from his perch on the roof of the inn, and jumped down. There would be no flying today—he could ill afford the attention that such a vantage would surely bring him. Instead, he made his way on foot towards the centre of the town, attempting to appear as unthreatening as possible. He did not see any shinobi openly in the streets around him, but doubted that a village as wrecked as this one would be stupid enough to leave themselves unguarded at night.

He dipped one of his hands into a pocket, chewing surreptitiously at the clay concealed within. He expected trouble tonight.

In fact, he rather counted on it.

He had learned much earlier in the day, before, during, and after his encounter with that girl from Konoha. _Strange that he would order the events of his day around that particular reunion… _

He brushed that thought out of his mind, unwilling to consider what it might entail.

By and large, Deidara had long since decided that Kumogakure had very little to offer Akatsuki. He figured that anyone of any value would have already long since left the village. Those loyal or desperate enough to remain in such a wrecked city were barely worth anything even as fodder, and he didn't relish the prospect of staying around and trying to convince such uninspired fools about the advisability of joining Akatsuki.

Nor did he particularly care to force them to that decision. His art would be wasted on such sightless men.

He had momentarily considered bringing Ino back, but was not exactly sure how to justify it to Pein. "She's interesting," after all, was hardly the best reasoning for inducting someone into Akatsuki at any level. He had not yet even determined what abilities she had.

And a small but growing part of him found the idea of Ino as part of Akatsuki fully revolting. That part refused to see her embroiled in the thousand petty schemes and agendas that defined the existence of all the other members. She was a part of _his_ world, an oasis of beauty at the centre of the glorious chaos that was _his_ being. Deidara fully intended to own her death, to make of her a work of art that would surpass everything he had already done; but until then, he was determined that her _life_ be his alone.

However, he had another death to look forward to tonight, and the prospect filled him with no small amount of pleasure. Dropping a handful of tiny explosives back into his pocket, Deidara grabbed another mouthful of clay and continued his moulding.

His only regret was that he was not yet quite done with Kumogakure. Even now, there would be some need for moderation. Deidara's lips curled with scorn at the thought: compromise had no role in vision of any kind. What he did tonight would likely be artless and ultimately unrewarding.

Still, there was a certain appeal in being able to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Taking a bit more care in keeping himself out of sight, Deidara edged closer to the buildings in the centre of the village, quickly picking out which one was of most interest. He replayed in his mind the snatches of conversation he had overheard throughout the last few days—the comments that, by themselves, didn't mean all that much, but put together…

Kumogakure seemed to have a collective fear of cats.

Deidara remembered the short conversation he had overheard soon after his encounter with Ino, when they had gone to find the customs official with whom she had previously talked. The girl had been unwilling to take the necessary action (an endearing reluctance, if entirely unrealistic), but the short trip had still been worth the effort.

"…Damn freak. Says she's leaving the day after tomorrow," he had heard one of the men, the one whom Ino had met, say.

"That's two days too long, if you ask me," another nameless man had replied with a harsh and humourless laugh.

"I'll take what I can get, if it means getting that _thing_ out of here."

It hadn't been much, but it had been enough to make Deidara re-evaluate all of the other curious comments he had heard and wonder if maybe—just _maybe_—there would be something real to gain in Kumogakure after all.

Ino's customs official would be working his shift well into the night, and he would be doing so alone. Two birds.

Deidara finally reached it: a two-story building constructed with grey stone, as beaten and sorry looking as the rest of the village. He briefly considered a stealthy, second story entrance before discarding the idea. His original plan was far more feasible, if not more colourful. And if nothing else, it would give him the perfect opportunity to work some kinks out of one of his newer creations.

He walked openly through the door, abandoning all caution but not pretence. He slowed his pace slightly when he saw another shinobi approaching him: a normal guard, most likely. Apparently the customs official wasn't as alone as he was supposed to have been.

Deidara was not overly worried or bothered by the revelation. Pulling his hand out of his pocket, he crushed a smooth, spherical piece of hardened clay in his fist, and then let the dust fall to the floor. The guard, idiot that he was, didn't notice a thing.

Not that noticing would have saved him. It would only have made the next few moments a bit more difficult for Deidara.

"What business do you have here?" the guard asked, his pose almost casual. His hands were close enough to his weapons that he would have been able to defend himself from any minor assailant, but nothing more.

"I recently arrived in Kumogakure," Deidara replied. "I believe I'm suppose to check in with some official, yeah." Unlike Ino, he hadn't been foolish enough to announce his presence to the authorities upon entering the village. Of course, he also wasn't trying (and failing) to build up any sort of false identity.

"Of course," the guard responded, relaxing completely. Deidara had to fight to keep the scorn from his face at the man's nonchalance. "Go talk to Akayama," he gestured vaguely to the room behind him, "he's in the next room."

"My thanks, yeah," Deidara replied with a forced smile, brushing past the man and into the other room.

The customs official, Akayama, was no more impressive than his guard, or the rest of the village at large. He sat behind a table in the corner of the room, practically asleep. He blinked watery eyes a couple times, looked up at Deidara, and jerked to his feet in a most ungainly manner. "It's not often we get visitors in the middle of the night," he complained gruffly.

"It's a wonder you get visitors at all, yeah," Deidara observed. "Especially with the sort of monsters you have living here."

"What are you talking about?" Akayama asked, his eyes narrowing.

"The cat demon," Deidara explained almost patiently, reaching into his pocket to grasp several more pieces of clay. "How dangerous would you say she is?"

Subtleness might have given him more information, but it wasn't really Deidara's style. Anyway, considering the sort of hatred and fear everyone in the village seemed to feel towards this mysterious girl, he almost expected Akayama to willingly offer information.

By the way the other man's eyes widened, Deidara knew his guesswork had been correct. "How did you—?"

"It's pretty obvious, yeah," Deidara broke in, bored with the official's denials. "That's not the sort of secret you can keep easily, yeah. You've got the feudal lords more than a bit worried about it."

Akayama simply stared at him, his face as bloodless as the rest of him was soon to be.

"Now, do you have a picture of the girl anywhere, hm? My lord would like to feel safe the next time he needs to come speak with the Raikage, yeah."

Akayama's eyes darted briefly to his right, and Deidara followed the gaze to a closed cabinet. He almost laughed—they were making this _much_ too easy. "I… why should I believe you're from one of the lords?" the official finally asked, his tired mind finally catching up with the situation.

"Well, you're smarter than you look, yeah," Deidara commented, finally flashing a less than pleasant smile. "I'm from an organization that has a vested interest in the jinchuuriki. If you would like for us to take her off of your hands, all you have to do is stand aside and let us."

Akayama's hand darted toward the kunai in his vest, but never quite made it. A muffled explosion ripped through the air, and he was soon staring at the bloody, tattered remains of his forearm. "I don't really care whether or not you cooperate, yeah," Deidara told him, caught between excitement at the prospect of a battle and indignation that this worthless excuse for a shinobi had tried to attack him.

Still staring in horror at his arm, the official seemed to waver for a minute. Deidara wondered if he would somehow find enough solidarity with a jinchuuriki to defy him. He doubted it—these damn villagers were all the same. They'd create a monster, and then they'd hate it and fear it, and eventually do everything in their power to destroy it. Deidara almost regretted killing jinchuuriki and prematurely ending such an interesting existence. However, from what he had seen so far, they never realized their own possibilities. They never rose above their own bitterness and hatred, or sought to be anything more than what the villagers considered them. The lack of vision was disgusting.

"Her name is Nii Yugito," Akayama finally admitted, obviously deciding that this battle was far beyond him. "Young, blonde girl. Hope you two monsters kill each other."

"Thanks for the well wishes, yeah," Deidara replied with a smirk. "There's another blonde girl who came through customs a day or so ago. Do you remember her, hm?"

Akayama stared at him blankly, still looking more than slightly ill.

"She probably said she came from further north, yeah."

The official finally seemed to be remembering. He frowned, a light of recognition coming into his eyes, "Pretty girl, a bit vague on her reason for…"

"Have you told anyone about her, hm?"

"Maybe I told the whole village, maybe I told no-one," Akayama replied, attempting to bandage up his arm. He seemed to be considering attacking again, but hadn't yet worked out how to effectively do so.

"You want to hear about one of the most beautiful things, hm?" Deidara asked. "A building, exploding, yeah. But not all at once this time. Piece by piece, slowly, from bottom to top, from sides to centre. Its few windows bursting one by one, practically shrieking, while the cement and rock and mud blast out hollowly. Soprano and bass. It's practically a symphony, yeah." His voice grew faster and more animated as he recounted the experience, "And the most marvellous thing is that the top of it is still standing for a brief moment after everything else has fallen. Defying gravity, common sense… And defying reality, maybe that's really what art is about, hm?"

The Kumo nin was just staring at him, his face paler and eyes more horrified than before. "You're mad," he breathed.

Deidara laughed shortly, "You know what they say about genius, yeah. Now… I'm not really prepared for it right now, but I'd love to see if the effect would be the same with a human body."

"I made a report," Akayama said quickly, his voice rasping. "I always do… I said only that she was slightly suspicious, and recounted the story she had told me."

"Did you make any mention of what she was wearing?"

Akayama looked puzzled as well as terrified for a second—an intriguing mix.

"A smart omission, yeah," Deidara commented. "Well, thanks for your time, that's all I wanted."

He headed back towards the doorway, leaving the official staring at him in confusion. Deidara counted his steps as he retreated. Five—four—three—two…

"You're actually going to let…?"

Akayama never finished his sentence. The not quite negligible amount of C4 that Deidara had earlier released into the air triggered, tearing up both the official and the guard from the inside out. Not particularly explosive, but quite dramatic in its own way.

Deidara walked around the ruined body of the guard and out of the building. He never looked down.

* * *

"Was that necessary?" 

Deidara had been halfway back to his inn when a shadowy, spectral copy of Sasori, ensconced inside Hiruko, had appeared. The puppet master had stared at him, every aspect of his being (even a being as ethereal as this one) expressing disapproval.

Deidara bristled at the tone. "What's the point of living if you only care about necessity, hm?"

"What's the point of a brain if you never bother to use it?"

Deidara barely bit back a reply, knowing the likelihood of being overheard if he started screaming at Sasori. Their arguments seldom ended any other way. "I wanted to check out a suspicion I had, yeah. The nibi is here."

"Pein will be pleased," Sasori commented, a bit sourly. Deidara knew that he didn't care much for Akatsuki's grand plans—or for anything at all outside of his little puppet show. Deidara often wondered why exactly Sasori had chosen to join the organization. "Anything else?"

"The village is a wreck. Natural disaster or something like that, yeah. They're practically useless."

"In that case, you should withdraw now. There's more work to be done."

"Wonderful, yeah," Deidara mumbled.

He watched as the image of Sasori disintegrated, weighing his options. He would leave Kumogakure, and the sooner the better. His… fascination with Ino was becoming stranger and stranger, and he looked forward to the opportunity to be alone with his art. However, he was not ready to leave quite yet.

And he had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for sticking with me for so long. Many apologies for the delayed update. I would have updated a while ago, but managed to develop a case of tendonitis in my hands and wrists about half a year ago, which makes extensive typing incredibly difficult. But I've got the rest of the story at least partially planned out now, so I can promise that there _will_ be updates, if not timely ones. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

When dawn came, Ino (now dressed in considerably warmer garb) had already decided upon her activities for the day. By mid morning, she had scrapped her plans and chosen to improvise. Unintentionally, she had overheard a discussion on a potentially interesting topic, and realized that there was far more to gain by pursuing information than by sitting back and waiting for it to come to her.

She had been standing at the flower shop again, engaged in a lively conversation with the shopkeeper. Ino had decided that building a new cover as a trader of some sort might be beneficial, and, given her area of expertise, fairly simple. Enjoyable as well, she found, since she took great pleasure in admiring flowers and discussing arrangements.

So when a pair of shinobi had walked by, quietly discussing matters of fairly great importance, they did not spare the girl more than a quick glance. Momentarily distracted from her conversation, Ino had overheard the words "council meeting" and "dangerous," and quickly come to the conclusion that she had more important things to do today than wander around the village.

Shortly after noon, she strolled through the central sections of the village, grateful for both her bird's eye reconnaissance and the small amount of information she had been able to get out of Deidara concerning the layout of the town. After that, it did not take her long to pinpoint the exact building in which this important meeting would take place. As soon as half a dozen different shinobi independently entered it, each looking somewhat less than casually interested, she was certain that she was correct.

Retrospectively, it was probably not the best plan. In her defence, however, she had not had much time to think about it, and wasn't quite accustomed to this sort of thing in general.

Sitting under the shade of a tree a decent distance from the building itself, Ino shut her eyes and made herself comfortable. Not for the first time, she wished that she had not been sent alone. She even regretted not having been able to find Deidara before trying this. She didn't quite trust him, but when it came to Kumogakure, she believed him to be a neutral party, and didn't really expect him to betray her to the Cloud nin.

When she heard approaching footsteps, Ino knew that her time for regret was long past. She opened her eyes and quickly picked out her victim—a young man, alone, undoubtedly making his way towards the council meeting. She understood that it was a bad idea—a _terrible_ idea—to speak with a person before using a mind controlling jutsu on him, but she had absolutely no choice, and could only hope that he would not remember her afterwards.

"Onii-san!" she cried out, standing up and waving at the man. "I'm a bit lost. Could you show me where the nearest café or diner is?"

The man turned towards her, looking a bit startled. With a somewhat sheepish grin that she decided didn't belong anywhere near the face of a shinobi, he replied, "Um… I don't really have the time right now."

Ino pouted prettily, "That's too bad." Only years of practice kept even a trace of a smile off her face as she watched his face turn bright red. "Could you at least give me directions?"

"I'm afraid not," he stammered. "I'm not from around here."

"Really?" Ino didn't have to hide her disappointment. She needed a _shinobi_, someone who would be accepted and expected at the meeting. "What are you doing here, then?" she asked, her curiosity unfeigned.

The man shrugged, "The village elders requested my presence. I… can't really say more," he added, looking more than a bit embarrassed.

"Well, thanks anyway," Ino replied courteously, sitting back down in the shade of the tree, giving herself three seconds to think through her options. On one hand, this could be the best opportunity for getting away with this type of trick. However, as she wasn't sure what sort of information they were expecting from the man…

_Well, I'm certain I can stammer my way through it as well as he can_, she decided, and without a second thought, performed the mind transferring jutsu.

Glancing at her own body, resting easily under the tree in a semblance of sleep, Ino wished she could spare a few moments to hide herself. However, she knew that she couldn't maintain the transference for a long period of time, and wasn't even sure when the meeting would start. Sifting through the contents of her stolen body's pockets, Ino continued forward.

It did not take more than a moment for her to find what she had been seeking: an identification card. _Nagori Konomi_ from the Land of Earth, she read, and wished that she had had time to learn more about the various ninja in the village, because there was absolutely no way this was actually going to go off smoothly.

She entered the building, trying to decide between looking confident and scared out of her mind. Considering the demeanour of the man whose body she now inhabited, Ino figured that some bizarre mix of the two would not be too far out of character. Walking through a hallway, not at all certain where she was going, Ino sighed with relief when she came across a shinobi lounging by a doorway.

"Nagori Konomi?" he asked, looking halfway between interested and bored out of his mind.

Ino nodded. "I was told I was expected…?"

"Yeah," the shinobi said, gesturing at the doorway behind you, "They've already begun, though most of it has no bearing on you."

Ino nodded and walked forward, picking up on the last few words of whatever conversation had been ongoing: "…do something about that demon, rather than…" Seeing her entrance, the speaker, a middle-aged woman standing besides a younger man wearing the clothing of a kage, abruptly stopped speaking. The woman frowned slightly and took her seat, her gaze shifting from Ino to the kage.

There were little more than a dozen people in the chamber, all of whom wore the trappings of a shinobi. Probably all were the equivalents of jounin, though it was impossible to be certain. Each glanced thoughtfully at Ino before turning their attention towards the kage, a dark haired, calm looking man who was easily the youngest person present (barring Ino herself).

"Nagori Konomi?" the Raikage queried, his dark eyes boring thoughtfully into her. For an uncomfortable moment, Ino wondered if someone so powerful might be able to see through her jutsu.

There was little she could do to hide her discomfort, though she imagined that the man she was impersonating would have shared it. "Yes, sir?" she asked, grateful that her voice was somewhat calmer than she was.

The Raikage smiled slightly, "We seem to have a bit of a situation, and I'd like to have some information concerning the Land of Earth verified. Sorako, would you care to explain?" he asked, glancing towards the woman beside him.

With a tight nod, she began, "Rumours of a… particular organization have come to our ears. The details are unimportant at the moment, but we have seen the need to closely monitor any visitors to the village." She hesitated for an instant, possibly remembering that Nagori Konomi himself must have been such a visitor. Ino frowned slightly, realizing that this was probably the reason why her room had been searched soon after she had arrived.

"A man who arrived recently has been of particular interest, though until now, we saw no evidence to connect him to this information. However, things have changed." Sorako fell silent, glancing at the kage again.

"How familiar are you with renegades from your country?" the Raikage asked after a moment. When Ino only stared at him blankly, he sighed and continued, "I do not trust official reports from foreign ninja villages, but the existence of such a dangerous criminal would certainly be brought to the attention of the feudal lords of a country, and those related to them."

_Feudal lord?_ Ino had a hard time accepting that the timid man she had possessed was actually kin to a lord of his country, but it would explain why the Raikage of Kumogakure wanted to speak to him.

"Tell me," the Raikage ordered, the pleasantness in his voice suddenly tempered by the force and power of a kage, "is there a criminal from the Land of Earth who prefers the use of explosives to more traditional means of attack?"

No amount of training helped Ino keep her eyes from going wide, or her face from paling. _No… he's an artist… he can't possibly…_ Seeing her expression, the Raikage smiled again. "So I see. I'm going to ask that you repeat everything you may have heard about him. The smallest detail may be helpful in learning more about Akatsuki."

Ino stared at him for another moment, trying to force her mouth to start working. "Deidara…" she finally managed, her stolen voice little more than a squeak. "He's… an artist…"

She saw the Raikage's eyes narrow briefly, and then the world spun. She pressed her hand to her head, squeezed her eyes shut…

And when she opened them again, she was in her own body, laying under a tree, one arm twisted under her, and a stranger staring down at her. Seeing her awake, he frowned, "You're not supposed to be here."

"Sorry, sorry! I don't know what happened…" Which was true, since the jutsu should have lasted at least a bit longer than that. Perhaps her own shock had jerked her out of it. "I'm sorry," she said again, jumping to her feet and absently rubbing her arm. Her mind was a thousand worlds away from the man in front of her. _Criminal? Akatsuki? I'm not sure what's going on, but there's got to be some sort of mistake_.

Waving at the man, she sped off, hoping he wasn't planning on following her. She rolled the word over in her mind, feeling like it was something she _ought_ to have recognized but didn't. _Akatsuki. That means "dawn," doesn't it? Weird name for a criminal organization, if that's really what it's about as well._

One thing was for certain: the elders of Kumogakure believed that this was what Deidara was, and whether or not they were accurate, she couldn't allow them to do something about it before she herself discovered the truth. _No_, she corrected herself. _They can't be right. Sure, there are things about him that don't fit together well, but there has to be another way to make it work. This is just ridiculous_.

Criminals don't sit down and talk civilly with you. They don't joke around, or lick you with tongues that they shouldn't have at all. They don't complain about village politics, passionately discuss art with you, or act so unconcerned about everything. They don't give you tips on how to keep your own cover, they don't _smile_ like that, and they certainly don't _kiss_ you.

No, criminals abandon their villages for whatever reasons they may have, and never look back. They hurt their friends along with their enemies, and the stigma of it hangs over them like a curse. They don't act normal because, now outside of the order of things, they _can't_ act normal. They're obvious at a glance, even when they're trying to blend in, because they're so _eaten_ by something—probably they're own malice—that it's impossible to hide it.

No, Ino decided. The Raikage couldn't possibly be correct in his assessment. If Kumogakure had become so paranoid that they would monitor and suspect everyone who was a stranger, surely they would jump to conclusions that didn't quite fit. Whatever disagreements Deidara might have had with his country, they couldn't have played out like _that_.

Almost without realizing what she was doing, Ino walked towards the Ginkawa Inn, where she remembered Deidara was staying. She knew that she shouldn't be doing this—that she had her own mission to accomplish, and at the very least should probably learn more about this Akatsuki that the Cloud nin mistakenly believed Deidara was a part of… but she couldn't stop herself. _Some things transcend the needs of the village_, Ino decided as soon as she found herself standing outside the door.

Remembering what room Deidara was staying in, Ino quickly made her way through the inn. It took only a few moments to reach the room, and she only paused when she realized the door was already open. _It's not like him to leave his room open like that,_ she thought, edging cautiously closer.

"…well, he's not here," she heard a male voice say from inside.

"Obviously not," another, female this time, replied dryly. "We'll just have to wait for him to come back."

The first speaker sniffed slightly before calling out, "Hey, Eisaki, are you finding anything over there?"

"Not yet," a third voice said, distractedly. "I've got to give it to him, the bastard's careful. I doubt we're going to find anything incriminating in here."

"That reminds me," the woman said, "what about the girl? The one apparently from Konoha? Is anything to be done about her?"

"How should I know?" Eisaki complained. "Do I look like the Raikage?"

"Stop complaining like third-rate chuunin," a fourth voice suddenly chimed in. "You're supposed to be the village's elites."

"Yes, sir," three voices replied immediately, and Ino had heard enough. Not bothering to wonder what exactly they expected to be done about her, she quickly decided that she had better leave Kumogakure as quickly as possible. If these people could come to the conclusion that Deidara was a criminal based on what seemed to be no evidence whatsoever, what would they make of her?

Certainly they would think that she was either a spy or a renegade, and Ino wasn't sure which possibility was worse. She backed away, ready to abandon all her possessions in her room if necessary.

"This isn't exactly who we expected to show up," someone behind her noted, and Ino jumped, nearly crashing into the wall. "But if you're also connected with them, the Raikage will want to speak with you as well."

By the time the speaker, a smirking man wielding a katana and radiating power, had finished talking, the four ninja who were in the room had joined them in the hallway. Ino, her hand surreptitiously edging for the kunai she had brought with her, knew that in a fight this lopsided, she didn't stand a chance.

* * *

**A/N: **And it only took what… five months? My apologies. Since I'm getting as tired of the slow updates as you must be, I'm going to attempt to get this done more quickly. And now that school's over, I'll have more time (in theory, at least, since I need to find a job ASAP. Something I should have done before graduation, but whatever). I'm actually hoping to have the next chapter done by the end of the week, though no promises.

So Ino's in denial. Understandable, since I imagine the world she's painted for herself is more than a bit black and white. If you caught mild allusions to Sasuke in her ideas about criminals and missing nin, you're on the right track, since I don't think anyone in Konoha is getting over that one anytime soon.


End file.
