Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Whooooooo it's finally up :D  
So, to those of you who've read Mastermind (the prequel) then feel free to continue on (:  
And to those of you who haven't read the first fic, then go read it now.  
And if you don't want to go through 35 chapters of my previous banter, all you really need to read is the first chapter. There's description galore there.  
There's a character info on Layuki in my profile, so that might be helpful.

Thanks to my supporters in the preque!  
Enjoy the first chapter :D

**Disclaimer:** I didn;t own Naruto in the first fic and I don't own now.

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_I'm…almost there…_

Blood dripped from a large gash in her side as Layuki ran to her destination. She could hear people behind her, her supposed friends, shouting and throwing weapons at her.

What was the world coming to?

It took almost all of her will power to keep moving, and dodging weapons and attacks were really pushing her to her limit. She really didn't like being at her limit. It set her in a bad mood for the day.

_Just a little further…_

She swore loudly as a shruiken hit the back of her left ankle, making her trip and tumble over. As quickly as she could, she stood up on her good foot and hopped the last three metres to her destination. She had gotten a good head start, but she wasn't sure if she could make it. After all, she knew her pursuers wouldn't give up until either she was dead or until she made it across the border. With a final effort, she lunged forwards into the safety of the Fire Country.

All the noise had stopped behind her. Layuki rolled onto her back and laughed. "I made it." She took a few moments to catch her breath. "I'm alive, you guys can't kill me now."

"We never wanted to." A tall boy with brown hair leaned down by her side. "Let me heal your wounds." She moved her bloodied hand away from her injury and wiped it off on her shirt.

"Thanks Saturou-chan." She watched as Saturou's hands glowed with chakra as he placed them to her side. "I'm alive." She said again.

On her other side was another boy with flamboyant orange hair and an arrogant smirk. "Man, it's so weird, knowing that you're a girl. I always thought you were kinda feminine; kinda like a transvestite, you know? I should have made my move when I met you." he ran a hand through his brightly coloured hair.

"Wait, hold up, you thought _I_ was a transvestite? Well obviously you haven't looked in the mirror lately." Layuki stuck out her tounge. There was a bunch of 'ohh's' coming from the onlookers. "You're as perverted as ever Kyum, I would never go for someone like you."

The orange-haired boy looked like he was about to punch someone. "What's your name then? Tabashi Shouza is obviously an alias."

Layuki winced as she felt her wound sew itself back together under Saturou's chakra. Then she paused. "Names are a powerful thing, you know. If you know mine you guys might just bring be to the Raikage and I'll never be able to go home." She paused for a moment, "Besides, Saturou-chan knew for quite a while."

"You know we wouldn't do that. And I would appreciate it if you don't bring me into this." Saturou said as he moved on to heal the various injuries on her arms and legs.

Another person poked his head into the conversation. "What? Why did he know?"

"No reason, it was just chance. I'm fine now Saturou-chan, thanks." Layuki winced as she sat upright. "Fine I'll tell you my name. Just so you know, if any of you guys tries to take me back across that border, I will kill you." The three boys, and the several others behind them, made faces, knowing it was no idle threat. "My name is Fuyaku Layuki."

It was silent for a moment. Then uproar came, Layuki knew this was coming, which is why she'd been hiding her surname. They all seemed so excited that the Cloud's prestigious Fuyaku clan had a survivor that wasn't an S-ranked criminal. All the attention she received almost made her blush. Almost though, because Layuki never blushed.

"I thought all Fuyaku were dead!"

"That's so cool!"

"No wonder you're such a great fighter!"

Then Kyum asked, "Can we see your eyes?"

For the past couple years Layuki had kept her bangs long so they covered her eyes. When she received her Kumogakure hitai-ate, she placed it around her forehead so her hair would stay in place. Now, she moved her arms up, slowly because they still hurt, and untied the cloth removing the headband. Moving her hair to the side, she looked straight ahead.

"Wow. I can barely see the pupil." A blonde boy named Gruuno stuck his face in front of hers a little too close for her comfort.

Pushing him away Layuki muttered, beginning to feel embarrassed, "It's not that great. You guys are so fascinated, but it's honestly not that great. You should see the Sharingan, the colour is fantastic." Then she tried to stand up, but when she put weight on her left foot she toppled over again. Kyum caught her.

"Sorry, I forgot to heal your ankle." Then Saturou went to it.

"You know," The orange-haired boy started, "I'm starting to wonder how we missed the fact that you're a girl. Now that I think of it, you have a really hot bod." His hand made its way to her chest area and slapped him in the face.

"Touch me and I'll kill you." Layuki threatened, wrapping her arms around herself. In the just over two years she had been gone from the leaf, her body had matured. She had grown a bit taller then she was before, though she is still no where near average height, and she was no longer had a flat chest. It was no wonder the training camp she had attended figured out she was a female. When Saturou finished healing her ankle, she thanked him. "I kinda feel bad for you guys though, you guys barely get to interact with girls."

Kyum shrugged. "So you really can't blame me, eh?"

"I guess not, but the camp is really good, I'm a jounin now!" the boys groaned, she had been boasting ever since she was promoted, and she reached into her weapons pouch for her wallet. She frowned at its contents. "I don't have that much money on me." She sighed, "I guess the only place for me to go now is back home. Oyabun(**1**) made it clear that if I was ever found in the Cloud again then he would personally kill me. Thank Kami he ordered you guys to chase me."

"Technically he ordered us to kill you," Gruuno said, "He said to give chase until we reached the border between the Fire and Lightning contries. We're not allowed to kill you now 'cause we don't want to start a war." The blonde boy grinned. "But we weren't going to kill you anyways, Layuki-chan. We don't fight our comrades."

She smiled feebly. "Ex-comrade. I'm no longer welcome in the Lightning Country. But I'm keeping the headband no matter what you guys say." She picked up the Kumogakure headband and stowed it away in her pocket. From her weapons pouch she produced her hitai-ate(**2**) with the lead symbol on it and wrapped it around her forehead, this time putting it under her hair. "I finally get to go home. I wonder if Shikamaru will still let me borrow the guest room, or has his mother finally kicked him out of the house?" She grinned at her thoughts. "Never mind though, I'll sure miss you guys."

"We'll come visit you." Kyum promised, "Whenever we have a mission to Konohagakure we'll be the first to take it."

Layuki grinned. "I'll be waiting." She gave them each a tight hug and a punch on the shoulder. Then she walked backwards into the trees, which were now densely spread, and waving. "Keep in touch!" Before long the forest covered up the figures of her friends.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After about four hours of walking, Layuki spotted a small hot spring, which made her spirits soar because her feet were beginning to ache. Delighted, she took a scroll out of her pouch and, with a hand sign, opened it. With a puff of smoke, a fluffy white towel appeared as well as some clothes that she bought earlier that week.

Since she had been planning to leave soon anyways and no longer needed to look like a boy, these clothes consisted of a long, tight, dark red, wide-strapped tank top with a black lightning bolt coming own diagonally from the left shoulder all the way to the left hip. After years of wearing only shades, Layuki'd finally decided to add some colour to her routine. Along with that, was a pair of baggy black shorts similar to the ones she wore back before she left the leaf village but shorter, and there were some undergarments. Also there were bandages, she had made sure she always had a good supply.

Due to the humidity in the Lightning country, there were hot springs located around and throughout it. It was not uncommon for people to carry clothes and towels in the way that Layuki had.

She activated her Hirukagan, which she hadn't used too much over the years, and concentrated on her surroundings to make sure no one was near. When she was satisfied, she stripped her current clothes off and stepped into the steaming water.

Soon enough, she began to feel so relaxed that she lost track of time. So she was surprised when it was suddenly nearly dark and there was a rustling of bushed behind her.

"Man, this is so tiring!" The male voice drifted to her and Layuki's eyes opened wide. Before she had a chance to do something, three people stepped out of the bushes; three people who, coincidently, she recognised. Unfortunately though, it seemed that they recognised her too. Due to that, there was an awkward silence.

Layuki lowered herself into the water and splashed them. "Go away, I need to get dressed. I'll talk to you after." She mainly aimed her glare at the boy with brown hair. When no one moved, she pointed to the two boys. "_Go away_." Then sweetly to the girl, "Hinata-chan, pass me my stuff, will you?"

With a flurry of movement Shino and Kiba quickly disappeared into the trees, but not fast enough for Layuki to miss the dog trainer's bright red face. Hinata handed Layuki her things, her face a light blush. "Long t-time no see, Layuki-chan."

"Ah, you've almost lost your stutter." She grinned at the Hyuuga heiress and got herself out of the water tying her towel around her. "I was just heading back to the village, were you guys on a mission?"

"Yes," Hinata turned away from the other girl as she got dressed. "We're trying to find a y-young boy who ran away from h-home."

"Hm, sorry, I didn't see anyone around here." She frowned as she wrapped her shruiken holster around her left thigh. Then she stood up and pointed the opposite way the three had arrived. "But there's a small lodging about an hour that way. You might check there" She smiled, "I'd show you, but I can't risk going to close to the Lightning Country, I'll tell you later. As of now, I have to murder Kiba."

Hinata made a small smile and followed her through the trees. "Don't h-hurt him too much, Layuki-chan."

Layuki grinned at her. "I'll try not to," Then she spotted a flurry of movement. "Oi, Kiba! Running's no use. I'm faster than you are. Come out and face me like a man." Then she looked up the tree beside her and saw Shino hanging upside down. At least she thought it was Shino, practically his whole face was covered. But there was no mistaking those circular shades "How's it going, Shino-san? Long time no see."

"Long time no see, Layuki." Was all he replied. Since most of his face was covered, she couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not. Nervously she ran a hand through her short hair, deciding to grow it out again. She missed her waist long locks.

"Kiba!" She yelled into the trees. "Come out now or I'm coming after you." Before she had a chance to say anything else, a large white dog leaped on top of her, knocking her over, and started licking her face. It took a moment for her to figure out that it was Akamaru. The dog's master came out eventually and grinned down at her. "Bloody hell, what have you been feeding him, miracle growth or something? Akamaru is freaking huge!"

Kiba frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Really? I don't think I've noticed."

"Was that sarcasm?" She said, finally managing to have pushed the dog off of her. "Kami(**3**), he used to ride on your head!"

The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ha, well…" Then he looked at his teammates. "We have a mission to do, see you back at the village." He was gone before either Hinata or Shino had turned around.

Layuki shook her head and laughed. "Still a coward." Then he turned to the other two. "It was nice seeing you guys again, I'll see you back at the village. She waved her goodbyes and walked off.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Who goes there?" Layuki was just about to push open the gates to the Leaf Village when she heard the shout over her head. Looking up to the guard tower, she had to squint to make out the face. She grinned when she did.

"Forget me already, Ino? I'm heartbroken." Only then did she hear the blonde girl squeal and disappear. Within five minutes the gate was being opened for her and she was attacked by Ino who had wrapped her in a tight hug. "Yeah, yeah, I missed you too. Now get off me please."

The girl let go and looked Layuki over and frowned. "You're still so short! I'm starting to wonder if you'll ever grow."

Layuki frowned and felt a vein starting to pop in her forehead. "I'm not short. Everyone else is just harmoniously tall. Besides, my onee-chan is pretty tall so, due to genetic logic, I'll grow eventually. I do remember my father being a tall man, but maybe mother was short? I heard she was, but I never met her…" Then she stopped her rambling looked back up at the tower. "You were on guard duty? How boring."

Ino agreed. "Yeah, but you'll have to do it too. It's mandatory for chuunins, assuming you are one already." She smirked and pulled her in. "What are you waiting for, I have to show everyone how much you've changed!"

"Sure Ino, sure." Then she grinned mockingly. "By the way, I'm a jounin."

Ino gaped, and before long she was yelling complaints. Layuki ignored her and looked around, spotting a few people she recognised. The village was loud and cheerful, exactly how she remembered it.

_I'm home. _

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**A/N:** So maybe a bit of a cheesy ending to a slow beginning, but eh.  
No matter how many flamers I get, I'm going to keep this fic going _my way_.  
As in 100 percent me. No beta readers, just me, microsoft word, and spell check.  
So there's your answer if you see a whole lot of grammatical errors.

On a side note, I'm a registered beta reader (it looked amusing) so if anyone wants me to look over some of their stuff just message me? :D

(**1**): Oyabun: boss  
(**2**): Hitai-ate: Ninja headband  
(**3**): Kami: God

if anyone has a problem with my random insertions of Japanese words, they can keep it to themselves.

Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get Gaara shaped cookies ;3  
**fanny-kun**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Okay, so this is actually two chapters combined.  
I just couldn't seem to find a right spot to end it.

So don't get used to the long-ness. I'd shoot myself before I write every chapter with 4000 words long.  
So..yeah.

Anywayssss..Thanks to my reviewers :D  
Enjoy chapter 2/3 (:

**Disclaimer:** Nope, not owning.

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Layuki stifled a yawn as she received the third lecture since she came back about how irresponsible she had been. Unfortunately, she couldn't just hit the person to make them shut up, as she did the other two – Ino and Kaoru – because the person fuming at her now that the fifth Hokage herself.

Tsunade, finally catching sight of Layuki's dazed off expression, stopped pacing and sat down at her desk. In a fierce voice, she said, "What do you have to say for yourself."

"I have nothing to say." She let out a grin. "You know, I'm actually kind of proud of myself. I outran seven people – who were all bigger than me, mind you – who wanted to kill me. _And_ I kept up an even stamina to run at a pretty high speed from the Cloud Village to the Fire Country border. That was at least a five-hour run; of course I did stop to rest and hide at several intervals. I think that at least deserves some praise." She paused, thinking of anything else she could use to compliment herself. "Also I avoided a war. Isn't that great? Though, it was mainly because I was a Fuyaku…but still. I never thought my clan would do me any good." Her grin widened. "Are you finished yet, Tsunade-sama? Can I leave now?"

"I see your ego is as large as ever."

"Mmhm, some things never change." Layuki winked. "Oh and I was wondering, where'd Naruto-kun go off to? If I recall he wasn't at the exams last year either."

The Hokage sighed; Layuki's cheek was getting on her nerves. "Uzumaki Naruto has gone off to train with Jiraya. He'll be back in about half a year."

"Ah." The young girl put on a face of mock interest. "You know, that seems kinda unfair. All of Squad 7 seems to be taken in by one of the three Sannin, assuming that Sakura is still working under you. I mean, I know Sasuke went to Orochimaru and all, but still. But my squad, which seemly suffered more, came off less. Karin is dead, _I_ was away for two years, and Kaoru had to adapt to a new 3-man group."

"Karin died as a noble kunoichi, you left of your own free will and I can tell you grew stronger, and Kaoru had been pretty happy these two years. You have nothing to complain about. Emotionally, Squad 7 suffered more."

Layuki snorted. "Yeah, as if. Sasuke" Tsunade noticed that the suffix had been dropped, "left leaving Sakura weeping even though the world knows he would never return her feelings. And left Naruto behind when the two were born rivals. Very emotional. On the other hand, Kaoru lost his twin sister, and only sibling, while I lost a very close friend. We lose Karin permanently mind you, 'cause that chicken ass bastard is still alive."

It was silent for a moment as Tsunade looked over the young girl with her amber eyes. "You. Make sure to let Layuki know she has five minutes to hide before I send guards after her." The girl now had an uncomfortable look on her face. "Also let her know she will pay if she sets a buunshin in front of me again."

"Eh? But how did you know I was a buunshin? The original even made a kage buunshin so she could fool you! There should be no way for you to tell that I'm not real!" The Layuki clone patted itself and pinched its cheeks. "See, I look exactly like Layuki. And you shouldn't be able to tell the differences in kage buunsins!"

"I am the Hokage. Now go." With that, Tsunade threw a book at the still bewildered clone and it popped in a puff of smoke.

On the other side of the village, the real Layuki – who was having a rather pleasant conversation with Tenten – swore loudly, giving the bun-haired girl a start. Before Tenten could blink, Layuki had run off as far away from the Hokage tower as she could get.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki stared down at the people below her from her position sitting in the tree. Shikamaru stood at the base of the tree planning to wait her out. Finally, after several minutes Layuki's patience wore very thin she hopped down sighing.

"I don't know what she'll gain by sending me on a mission when I just got back, but whatever." Layuki walked with her hands behind her head, and Shikamaru followed her, sighing.

"Troublesome. And here I was hoping you'd matured some over two years."

She laughed as she stopped and waited for the other boy to catch up to her. "Goes to show that even genius' can be proved wrong. Plus, there's fun in maturity, Shika-chan. All this bull shit about shinobi supposedly having no emotions, I mean, we're human aren't we? We might as well live life however we want."

Shikamaru didn't reply, instead, he made the correct decision of tuning her out as they headed towards the Hokage Tower. Tsunade hadn't given him any details on the mission, only that it was an A-ranked one. He sighed; an A-ranked mission meant he'd probably be stuck with the annoying little person beside him for at least a week.

"Ino, Kaoru-kun, hey!" Shikamaru looked up at her voice and saw that the blonde and the redhead were, indeed, standing at the base of the tower. They seemed to be waiting for them.

"This is a drag. Will you two be going on the mission with us?" He asked, as he approached them.

Kaoru shrugged. "I don't know. The Hokage said something about two different missions, and something else about them both being in the Iwagakure of the Earth country."

This made Layuki frown. "Iwa? But that's so far! I don't want another long journey, my legs still hurt from running all that way yesterday!"

"Baka, no one made you run." Ino chuckled and shook her head at her friend who had a very angry scowl on her face. Obviously those two years away did nothing good for the little girls temper. Before she could give an angry retort, Shikamaru rapped his knuckles on the door to the Hokage's office.

"Come in."

Wasting no time, Layuki spoke as soon as the door was opened. "I'm not going to Iwagakure. A-ranked mission or not, there's plenty of other suitable shinobi."

Ino once again marvelled at how her friend's cheekiness had not yet gotten her killed.

"You will go to Iwagakure for a mission if I say you will. Now come here Layuki, these are scrolls with the instructions from the person who called this mission. In this bag is the money you have for the mission, I'll leave the percentages up to you." Tsunade beckoned her over but sighed in aggravation when the girl didn't move from her spot. "Well, come get it."

Reluctantly, Layuki move forwards to grab the scrolls. "Uhm, why are you giving these to me?" She knew the answer already, but she really wasn't in the mood to accept it.

"You'll be leading this mission. It makes sense after all; out of the four of you you're the only jounin. Though what the Raikage was thinking when he promoted you, I don't know."

Layuki grinned. "Well you see, I do make quite a handsome guy. And it seemed that Mr. Raikage-sama's sexual orientation wasn't exactly in a straight line. He seemed quite taken to me, and I really don't blame him."

Behind her, the young girl heard her friends groan. But Tsunade continued on as if she were a mere fly buzzing in her ear. "But as I promised, you'll be keeping the rank you acquired in Kumogakure." Tsunade sighed and opened a file up on her desk. "Now, these were originally two separate missions, but since they're both headed to Iwagakure, I've combined them.

"The first task is to steal a certain scroll full of forbidden jutsu. Hired thieves have brought this scroll back and forth from the leaf and the rock; the thieves are you guys this time. They will be expecting us to steal it, so you'll have to be careful. Don't worry about taking any lives; an agreement has been made between our two villages that there will be no war over this. You are not to open the scroll under any circumstance.

"The second thing you have to do, is investigate a village just beyond the Rock Village. There have been reports of kidnapping women and children in this village. _This mission is an assassination_." Tsunade paused to let the words sink in, not looking up at faces. "Ino, Kaoru, this is your first assassination mission, I hope you will not be a dead weight for Shikamaru who's done one already. Layuki, I trust that you've done an assassination mission before; the Cloud gives them out more than we do.

"Anyways, the kidnappers have a bounty on their heads. You're to kill them, and bring their bodies to the head of the village. If the women and children are still alive, then you will bring them home safely.

"You'll be leaving at two o'clock this afternoon, that gives you three hours to get ready. That is all. Any questions?" Tsunade closed the book and stared up at the four, her amber eyes practically daring them to resign.

But Layuki was unperturbed. "Yeah I have a question. If this village is so close to Iwagakure, why are we sent out for this mission instead of the rock shinobi?"

The Hokage sighed. "Because this village has severed bonds with the Rock Village for reasons I don't, and have no right to, know. Anything else?"

"Just one more thing. Since I haven't been here for the past couple years and I'm leading the mission, I'll need to see Ino's, Shikamaru's, and Kaoru's ability folders so I know what they're capable of and what their limits are. You wouldn't want me to overwork them, would you?" She grinned at the bewildered look on Tsunade's face. The Hokage obviously wasn't expecting her to say something to responsible.

"Very well. You stay here. You three are dismissed."

The sound of the door opening and closing indicated that her friends had left. Layuki stood where she was as Tsunade rummaged through her desk. "Oh by the way, Tsunade-sama, would you mind if I have Anken back?"

"Have what back?"

"Anken. The glove thing I gave you before I left. I did research on my family when I was in the Cloud, which was very weird because I saw my name mentioned a few times, and the glove thing is called Anken. Every member of my clan is supposed to get one when they turn sixteen." Tsunade marvelled at how the young girl talked so calmly about her clan when it was wiped out.

It was silent for a moment then the Hokage emerged from her desk with three small booklets and a large box. "Why's it called Anken? Anken means 'hidden blade' and it doesn't look very much like a blade."

Layuki shrugged. "Beats me. But I read up about it and it has some pretty awesome abilities. For example, it can suck chakra out of people." She grinned evilly, "Oh, imagine how much fun I'd have with that."

Tsunade sighed. Maybe she'd imagined Layuki being responsible a minute ago. She pushed the things over to the young girl. "Here. Your Anken is in the box. These are the records for Yamanaka Ino, Rutake Kaoru, and Nara Shikamaru. They do not leave my office."

"Uh-huh." Layuki reached for the box and pulled out her weapon. It was heavier than she remembered, but when she put it on she felt the surge of power she had felt two years ago. After the Anken had snaked its way to her shoulder and had moulded into the perfect shape of her arm, and focused chakra and watched it change shape to her will.

Grinning, the young girl reached for the records on her teammates and flipped through them. Soon, she finished and put them down.

"Okay, so now I've got the basic level of their skill. In the Cloud, it's mandatory for all shinobi to learn the basics in medical ninjutsu. I'm capable of healing very minor injuries and I know the basics to medicinal herbs. I heard it was a rule here to have a medical ninja accompany along with a squad of four or more; ours happens to be Ino. Are you certain her skills are enough?"

The Hokage sighed as she took the folders back. "I've been training Yamanaka Ino myself for a month now. I hope that will satisfy you."

"It does." Layuki paused for a moment, having a debate in her head. Then she let out a sly grin. "So you seem pretty calm of putting the lives of three chuunin in my hands. You haven't tested my skills yet since I came back, so how do you know I haven't betrayed the leaf? This could be part of my plan to destroy the village."

"Of course it is. Now go, I need to get some work done." With that, Tsunade shooed her away with a wave of her hand.

Once Layuki was outside, she ran a hand through her hair. The one good thing about this mission was that it would give her wallet a nice boost, so her rent would be covered for a while.

The young girl sighed and pondered the question hat had been bothering her since morning: between missions and settling in again, how was she going to find time to go see Gaara?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I think I can see Iwagakure!"

"Oh whoop-dee-doo, Ino. At least we know you're not blind." Layuki rubbed her ear, which was beginning to ache from Ino yelling. In all honesty, the three-day journey had really worn her out, it seemed her teammates had an unusually high-energy supply. Needless to say, our favourite black-haired kunoichi wasn't in the best of moods.

But at the sight of the Rock Village gates all four spirits lifted. They were all quite happy that the long walk was over.

Kaoru stopped and looked down at her. "So Layuki, what do we do now? We obviously can't go barging in, cause if we do they'll know we're looking for the scroll."

"Actually, I was planning to forgo Iwa for a while. We should go to the other village; Tsunade-sama said it wasn't too far from the Rock. That way, we can finish that mission first and then when we steal the scroll we can just leave the Earth Country right away." Honestly, Layuki hadn't given the missions much thought. She worked best when winging it.

Nobody could doubt that her idea of going to the other village first was a good idea, but Ino and Kaoru weren't exactly ecstatic of heading into their first assassination mission. Ino more so, "Er, Layuki-chan, couldn't we split up? You know, Kaoru and me go find the scroll while you two go and kill those people?"

"Nope. Sorry, no can do. I'm leading, so you do what I say. You got it?"

"Got it." Ino echoed unexcitedly.

A sudden thought occurred to Layuki, making her spin around. She stopped so suddenly that Shikamaru nearly walked into her. "What now? You're so troublesome."

He was ignored. Layuki stared at the blonde and the redhead until they grew somewhat squeamish. "What are you looking at us like that for, eh Layuki?"

"How long have you been made chunnin?"

"Uhm, only a couple months. Since the last exam, why?" Ino knew Layuki too well. This was leading to something.

"And have either of you two ever killed a human being?"

The only one who didn't start at this question was Shikamaru who just sight. "Come off it Layuki, you're scaring them. Troublesome."

"For once I agree, Shikamaru. This is kinda troublesome." Sighing, the girl threw off her backpack and sat down on the ground and motioned for the others to do the same. Shikamaru, on the other hand, walked to the shade of the tree and seemed to fall asleep.

The two chuunins seemed to squirm under Layuki's intense gaze. Kaoru was the first to speak. "But that doesn't really matter does it? Couldn't we just, you know, stand guard while you two do the killings?"

This question didn't seem to quite reach her ears. "You know, chuunins aren't actually supposed to be sent out on A-ranked missions. Those are usually only reserved for the jounins and higher ups. I've been wondering about that ever since Tsunade-sama gave this mission."

"That's because she thinks we can do it!" Ino said, starting to get angry. "Listen Layuki, I don't know where you're going with this but I'm not killing anybody."

"Yes you are. Because I say you are and I'm leading this mission."

Ino stood up, reaching for a kunai. "I'm not listening to anything you say. All Hokage-sama told us was to not be a dead weight on the assassination mission. If we stay out of it then we won't be a dead weight."

Kaoru began to say something, but Layuki seemed calm enough. "Put the kunai away, Ino. It's not smart to raise a weapon at someone stronger than you are."

"Stronger than me? As if. You don't know what I can do; I've spent the past two years training my ass off! I seriously doubt you're stronger than me." She raised the weapon higher, aiming it at Layuki's throat.

But Layuki seemed to be containing her anger rather well, though she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold it in. "You think too high of yourself. In case you haven't realised it, but I'm a jounin appointed by the Raikage himself. I didn't take the jounin exams because he felt that I didn't need to. I was lucky enough to be born with natural talent, Ino. I'm one of those people that can do anything without even trying. Let me ask you again, _have you ever killed a human being_?"

Even that seemed to unnerve the blonde. "No, I haven't. And if you have, then you're a murderer."

This did it. Layuki stood up even though it didn't do much because she was more than a head shorter than into. But before the blonde could blink the shorter girl was behind her and holding a kunai to her neck.

"I'm not a murderer Ino. I am a _shinobi _who does what her superiors tell her to do. That is what being a ninja means, that you follow orders. So tell me Ino, are you a shinobi?" She didn't wait for an answer before she took the kunai away. "Sit down, I haven't finished talking yet.

As Ino sat down, she marvelled at the other girl. Could this cold person really be her ditsy, funny, loudmouthed friend? It seemed like a completely different person than who she was five minutes ago.

"As I was saying. Chuunins aren't usually sent out on A-ranked missions. But out village seems to be an exception because the invasion of the sound two years ago still affects us. It's not easy to replace fallen soldiers, so giving the other soldiers extra work is a simpler solution. She asked you two not to be a dead weight to us due to your inexperience.

"Shikamaru has the abilities to become a jounin, but his laziness gets in the way. You two on the other hand, are barely more capable than genin. I'm going to fix that." She took this moment to take in their bewildered faces. "You two are going to be the ones doing the assassination. We'll make the way clear for you; I want to see both of you kill at least one person. What is it Kaoru?" The redhead stuck up his hand.

"So you're telling us that, without any training, we're just going to go and end a person's life? That sounds kinda inhumane…" At this Layuki actually grinned.

But the other two weren't sure if the smile was a good thing or not. "Of course it's inhumane, this is why people who aren't shinobi aren't sent out to murder people. And about the training," Her grin vanished. "You don't need any training to know how to kill. Just rely on your animal instinct."

"But – " Ino didn't have a chance to talk.

Layuki clapped her hands together. "Now that that ugly speech is finished with, let's get going. I need nutrients, I'm starved." She stood up and walked over to kick Shikamaru. "Wake up, Shika-chan! We're gonna get back on the road now."

"Troublesome."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When they reached the gates of Iwagakure, Layuki had been planning on just walking past. But to her surprise, it was Shikamaru who stopped her.

"I think we should to the assassination mission last. Those two's nerves are really getting on my nerves." He said into her ear. Layuki turned around to see that Ino and Kaoru were both indeed, very pale.

Sighing she said, "Fine. Whatever. We're here anyways. I knew this would happen anyways. Though I didn't expect you to be the one convincing me."

"Troublesome. Always expect the unexpected."

Layuki sighed frustrated, and threw her arms up in the air. "Why does everyone say that? My teammates all said that back in the Cloud. I mean, what's the point of expecting the unexpected? First of all, it's _un_expected, so how on earth do you expect it? And even if you are expecting the unexpected, then what happens when the expected happens, but you didn't expect it because you're expecting the unexpected? The best thing to do is just have an empty mind and go with the flow."

Shikamaru seemed slightly taken aback. She seemed more prone to random outbursts than even before, maybe sending her away wasn't the best of ideas. "That's really troublesome. You seemed to have given that a lot of thought."

"No actually," Layuki started again, talking normally as if she hadn't been giving a spastic speech a moment ago. "I actually made that up on the spot." She patted her friend's arm. "You inspire imagination in others, Shika-chan. Good work.

"We're here." She grinned and turned to the two behind her.

The colour flushed back into their faces so fast it was like switching a light on and off. "So we're not going to kill anyone yet?" Ino asked, a newfound excitement seemingly erupted inside of her.

"Sadly not. You have Shikamaru here to thank."

"Ah." Kaoru stated, he still seemed to have trouble using his voice.

"Sush." Layuki said as they stopped in front of the village gates. "Take your hitai-ate's off and be quiet. Let me handle this."

Everyone obeyed her as she removed her own headband from around her forehead and tucked it in her weapons pouch. Her Anken fit around her arm like a silver glove. When they had finished preparing, a Rock Ninja guard came out to speak to them.

No one was surprised by the unfaltering lies Layuki produced. Saying something about how they were a group of wandering self-trained shinobi who only wanted a roof over their heads for a couple nights. She also said that they promised they would cause no ruckus and pay the same amount for anything as any other traveller.

The Rock shinobi bought her act, either because she was wholly convincing or because Ino was helping her by making flirty faces at the man. Either way, they were allowed permission.

"I thought you hated lying?" Kaoru said, as soon as they were out of earshot of the guard.

The girl shrugged. "That was before. You get used to it when you've been living under and alias and pretending to be the opposite gender for the past two years." Layuki sighed. "Anyways, judging by the position of the sun I'd say we have another hour or so before nightfall. Go have fun, buy some souvenirs or whatever. Just don't tell them you're from the leaf, make up code-names or something. We'll meet at the village centre an hour after the sun goes down. As soon as we steal the scroll, we can carry on to our other mission. Ciao kiddos." And she was gone in a puff of smoke.

But Layuki didn't go far. She only went as far as an abandoned alleyway, and as soon as her friends were out of her sight, she ran at high speed to the Tsuchikage Tower.

There was a chakra there that she recognised, and she was very eager to meet that person.

* * *

**A/N:** Well folks, Deidara AND Gaara are in next chapter :D.  
I know, it's amazing.

Thanks for reading this long chapter of dribble-ness.  
Reviewers are greately loved :D  
**fanny-kun**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** SORRY!  
Actually, it's only been a bit more than a week, so I really shouldnt be sorry..  
But I'm not used to updating late ):

And I do have a reasonable excuse.  
My Internet broke down last Wednesday and I just got it back yesterday.  
And yesterday was spent attempting to sort out my inbox of 80 something e-mails.

And I had rugby.  
Which takes a lot of energy out of me.  
I have a lump on my forhead, because someone stepped on me ):  
It makes me muddy too, and there's like, goose shit on our field.  
I had swimming and soccer too.  
so I didn't even have time to write too much T-T

Well now that this super long author's not is done, you may contiunue :)

Thanks to my super duper wonderful reviewers!  
Enjoy chapter three (:

**Disclaimer:** If I owned, I would no be writing this...

* * *

"Yo, Ino, it's getting dark. We should go meet Layuki now." Kaoru said, as he left the barbeque booth the three of them were at. The blonde girl followed him out but Shikamaru stayed seated. "Are you coming Shikamaru?"

"Whatever. Layuki's already at the tower, troublesome brat." He sighed as he pushed himself to his feet, with apparent difficulty and walked out. "Doesn't really matter though, she could get the thing by herself anyways."

Ino grabbed his arm. "No, we should get going. Knowing her, she's off doing her own thing and has forgotten about the missions already, or something."

"This is too troublesome."

But it was Kaoru who said this. Shikamaru looked at him lazily. "I agree. Troublesome."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki swore lightly as she slid down the wall in an unfamiliar chamber. Her breathing was laboured, and she supported a large slash across her stomach, which was churning with blood. Yet beside her lay a dozen or so bodies of Iwagakure shinobi, all lying in pools of blood.

Normally, she would have been more humane and not injured them quite as much, but when they cut her, Layuki got very angry. When she's angry, she's tough.

"Heh. Some guard. I took them all out." She winced as she stood up. "Damn this cut. Serves me right though."

It did serve her right. Who goes running into enemy territory unprepared? Someone who's going to get hurt, that's who.

Carefully, she focused a small amount of chakra into her hand, moulding it around her wound. But do to her inexperience in medical ninjutsu; the best she could do was just to stop the bleeding.

And Layuki didn't even find the chakra she was looking for. So basically all this was for nothing. And what's more, she was late for her team. And she decided that she might as well just go get the scroll herself.

Which is what she did. Because for once, luck was on her side because the door to leading to the scroll was right in front of her. Grinning despite her injury, she opened the door, but she didn't step inside.

Layuki bent down and placed her palms flat on the ground, sending a wave of her own chakra towards the room. There was a large flash of light and a smell like burning rubber. Only then did she step inside.

Right in the middle of the room was a stand where the scroll was. Personally, she thought it was pretty stupid to leave the target in plain view with no traps set around it.

She reached the scroll and held out a hand to get it. But then the door on the other side of the room blew open. Like blew open, explosion style.

"Sasori-danna, I found it, yeah." Layuki looked up, surprised, to see a blonde man, only a couple years older than herself, standing in the doorway grinning stupidly.

Then she realised that he was wearing the Akatsuki cloak.

He seemed to notice her the same time she noticed him.

"Who are you?" They asked in unison.

"I asked you first." Again, in unison.

"No you didn't, I did." The only difference between their words was that the blonde man added 'yeah's' to his speech.

Before anything else could be said, Layuki took the scroll and pocketed it. "Well it was a lovely chat, sir, but I should get going now. Ta ta." With a sweet smile she turned, only to see a hulking figure blocking her path. It too was wearing an Akatsuki cloak.

"Hand over the scroll, little girl." Came its raspy voice. Startled, Layuki stepped back.

"Who are you calling a little girl, huh? There's not way I'm handing over this scroll. Tsunade-sama will murder me if I lose it, and she'll positively yell at me if I lose it to the Akatsuki." She said, holding on to the paper through the cloth in her pocket.

When she took another step back, she felt herself bump into a body. She turned to see the blonde man. "Wouldn't being murdered be worse than being yelled at, yeah?"

She took a step in the direction furthest away from the two. "Well, you've never seen Tsunade-sama yell, have you?"

The man shrugged. "Probably not, yeah. Just hand over the scroll, kid, and we won't kill you, yeah."

"It's Deidara, isn't it?" She mentally swore as her back hit the wall. "You're a missing-nin from this village aren't you? They couldn't have been too happy to see you back, could they?" Then she turned to his partner. "And your Sasori from Sunagakure. It's a quaint little village, isn't it? I like it."

_Think, think, think!_ She thought to herself. She really was in no condition, or mood for that matter, to go into combat against two S-ranked criminals.

"You know a lot about the Akatsuki, yeah. Maybe Leader-sama would like this little pet, yeah, Sasori-danna?" Deidara stepped towards her.

Just as he said this, Layuki's temper flared. "Pet? You think I would abide to me some person's pet? What the hell are you on?"

"Haha, yeah, she has a temper, this one. Maybe I'll keep her for myself, yeah." By now, Layuki was using all her will power not the pounce on him.

"Shut up Deidara. Can't you tell?" Came Sasori's raspy voice from his puppet. "This is Satsuki-san's sister. She wouldn't be too happy with you if you did something to her."

Deidara looked her over. "Now that you mention it, yeah, she does kinda look like Satsuki. Oi kid, what's your name?"

Layuki didn't answer, instead, she made a hand seal and transformed.

After the puff of cloud cleared, a woman with long, honey brown, hair stood where Layuki stood a moment before. She wore a long white kimono and blinked her large green eyes. "Have you forgotten me already, Deidara-sempai? It's me, Aniki."

"A-Aniki…?" Deidara held out his arm as if to reach for the woman but then stopped himself. He let out a smirk "Heh. You really are Satsuki's sister then, yeah. You Fuyaku's are all stubborn cowards, aren't you? Your sister used the same thing on me when we first met, yeah."

The woman frowned and transformed back into Layuki. "Did she? I didn't know that."

"Yeah. That's what you guys do, yeah? You reach into people's minds to find the most important people to them, yeah. You're messing with people's minds, it's a cowardly way to fight, yeah."

Sasori grunted. "Enough. We should get going, Deidara. If she won't give us the scroll then just take her along."

"Hey! What?! And I get no say in this?" She transformed her glove, Anken, into a long blade as Deidara approached her. "Sorry, but I don't really feel like going anywhere right now."

Then several things happened at once.

First, there was sand everywhere.

Second, yet another door burst open to reveal Layuki's teammates.

Third, both she and Deidara swore loudly at the exact same time, but for different reasons.

He swore because he and his partner were surrounded.

She swore because she saw where the sand was coming from.

"Gaara!" She had never been gladder to see the redheaded kazekage. She was so thankful that she didn't even wonder what on earth he was doing in Iwagakure. The familiar chakra sign now made sense to her.

"Come here, Layuki." He said in is monotone voice as he used his sand to ward off the Akatsuki members. When she didn't move he said, "Now."

Layuki looked at him exasperatedly. "I would love to, really I would. But in case you hadn't noticed, but I'm stuck between a wall and that guy right there." Layuki pointed at Deidara. "I don't think I'm strong enough to break either of them right now, y'know?" She could have sworn that Gaara rolled his eyes.

The next thing she knew she was floating above everyone's heads in a pile of sand. But before she reached Gaara, she heard the Akatsuki conversing.

"Deidara. Let's go. We'll come back for the scroll."

"Okay Sasori-danna, yeah."

Then in two puffs of smoke, they vanished.

Layuki stared at the spot where the two partners were and she didn't notice when Gaara made the sand drop her to the ground. She looked up at him a grinned. "Hey Gaara, long time no see."

"Why did you just stand there?" He asked, his usually stoic voice sounded a touch angry, but she wasn't sure.

"Oh you know, pain in the injuries, blood loss, dizziness so much that I could barely stand. The usual." She winced as she stood up, a hand over her stomach so to keep the blood, which had escaped from her chakra barrier, from gushing out too much more. "Thanks for that by the way."

Before he could answer her teammates ran up to her. She expected to get greeted with worried comments and hugs, but she was wrong. The only thing she was greeted with was a slap on the face.

"You baka, Layuki. Do you know how worried we were?" Ino scolded, as she made to take out ointment from her pouch.

Wincing, Layuki rubbed her cheek. She didn't know Ino could slap so hard. "Worried enough for you to hit me after?"

"Ugh Layuki, you want to tell me why you're a jounin, again?" Kaoru said. But like the old days, he couldn't help but grin at her misfortune.

"Because I get the job done no matter what." She tossed them the scroll. "The forbidden scroll, as requested. I took down quite a bit of people trying to get this too, you know. And it must be pretty important if the Akatsuki is after it. Ouch! Ino that hurts!"

The girl was rubbing medicine on Layuki's stomach wound. "I know I does. This is a really deep cut, Layuki."

"Hm." She turned to Gaara. "So why are you here?"

"A contract with the Tsuchikage. It was requested that I come personally." He said; all the anger vanished from his voice. Layuki must have imagined it.

She winced again. "Ah. I see. Well this is good for me I guess, I was planning on visiting you in Suna soon anyway. I guess this saves me a trip, doesn't it?" She grinned as Ino stood up. "Thanks Ino, I feel better now. I'm beat guys, let's go find a hotel and continue the missions tomorrow, kay?"

"Troublesome, you're always thinking of yourself." By then Shikamaru was already halfway out of the room.

"Haha." Layuki said dryly. Then she turned to pat Gaara's arm. He seemed to have grown again. "I'll see you later, Gaara." Then she ran off to follow her teammates.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was a half moon out at night, and Layuki leaned half out the window to admire it. It was late, and the sun would be coming out in a matter of hours. A towel was slung over her wet hair as she had just gotten out of the shower. Everyone else was asleep, and Layuki was just about to change into her nightclothes to hit the sack too.

She yawned and made her way over to the bed, throwing the damp towel onto the ground.

Layuki was just about to strip off her clothes when a shadow appeared in the window, blocking the light from the moon.

Cautiously, she turned to see a man with long blonde hair covering the left side of his face, squatting on the sill and grinning down at her.

Tilting her head, Layuki looked at him for a few moments and picked up her towel from the ground to throw it at his face. The cloth hit its target.

"You're being a creeper, Deidara. It's not very good for the S-ranked criminal reputation. Aren't they supposed to be hot and sexy bad boys? But all I see of you is a freaky stalker sitting on my windowsill. I'm too tired to deal with you, go away." She turned her back on him and began to walk out of the room.

Instead of leaving, Deidara jumped into the room and grabbed her around the waist, picking her slight body off the ground. "Sorry, not can do, yeah. Sasori-danna told me to get you. We're bringing you back the headquarters, yeah."

"Oh lucky me." Layuki said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. She began to squirm and kick in his grip. "And if I don't want to go?"

"Well then that's too bad, yeah. It's either you come with us, or we'll kill your team, yeah." He gripped her tighter as she struggled some more. "Come on, we'll even let you take whatever you want, yeah."

She sighed in frustration. "'Either I come with you or you'll kill my team'? That's a new line. What happened to that old saying 'we can do this the easy way or the hard way'? Is that too cliché for you guys?"

"I guess, yeah." Then he grinned. "But go ahead and resist, yeah. I really would like to make a beautiful night like this to go out with a bang, yeah."

"'Out with a bang'? Er, exactly what kind of jutsu do you do?"

Layuki had stopped struggling, and Deidara put her down, but cautiously. "The artistic kind, yeah. Bright and popping."

"I see." She said, taking a step away from him. As she did, behind her back, she sprinkled thin black powder onto the wooden floorboards, which would be undetectable in the darkness of the night. "So like explosions. Those are pretty."

Soon, her packet was empty and her back was against a wall. All in all, she was a fair three feet away from the blonde Akatsuki member.

"That's right, yeah. Come on, it's time to leave."

The young girl gave a sweet smile. "Sorry, but I really don't want to go anywhere." She snapped her fingers and large metal sticks erupted from wherever the powder touched the ground, completely blocking Deidara from her view.

Quickly, she took out a piece of paper from her pocket. Having no pen to write with, she bit her thumb hard and scribbled a quick message with her blood. Hopefully, at least someone had woken up to the small noise.

Sure enough, a knock came at the door. And the quiet grunts that came from Deidara trying to free himself from her sudden attack stopped completely.

"Layuki? Are you okay? I heard lots of noise." Ino's voice came through the door, but it was muffled.

Agilely, she made her way to the door and opened it. "Fine Ino, no worries. I'm just testing out a new jutsu," She gestured to the metal spikes, "sorry for waking you. G'night."

Before closing the door, Layuki pressed her note into Ino's hand and shut the door just in time to see Ino's wide eyed expression of shock.

The next thing she knew, she was forced back against the wall.

Deidara's appearance had seen better days. His hair was down and a large cut adorned his right cheek. Layuki was pleased to see that her new jutsu had done some damage.

"You know, you have a cut on your cheek. How'd that happen?" This earned her being rammed against the wall, her head hitting it so hard that she saw little stars.

"You little bitch. What kind of cheap trick was that, yeah? I was being nice to you, yeah!" Deidara was no doubt a little angry.

"You're so mean. And here I was thinking I was going to go with you anyways."

He let her go, surprise evident on his face. He obviously wasn't expecting her to go willingly. "Really, yeah?"

Then the next thing she knew some sort of clay bird swallowed her up.

"What the hell!" She yelled, and her voice sounded very muffled from the outside. "I can walk by myself, you know! Let me out of this thing." She tried punching it, but her hand got stuck in the clay. "I'm going to kill you, bastard."

"Sorry, precautionary, yeah." Came Deidara's reply, barely audible through the clay.

Layuki's retort was cut short as she felt the bird take flight.

* * *

**A/N:** Who loves Deidara?  
I do, I definately do. I was dreadfully sad when he died.  
Damn you Kishimoto!

Ah well.  
Sorries again for the late update!  
Thanks for reading.  
Reviewers get a Deidara plushie (:  
**fanny-kun**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Sorry, this chapter is sort of a filler.  
Dun Dun Duuuunnnnn!

Some Deidara interaction, not too much.

I'm thinking of inserting more OCs  
as minor characters of course.  
Just for random purposes.  
Good idea, yes, no, maybe?

Well thanks to my amazing reviewers :D  
J'ai presente plus l'intrigue. C'est le quatre chaptire. S'amuser.

Sorry, I'm not doing so great in French xD  
Shame that it's mandatory in school here (until a certain extent of course)  
I can't wait to drop it.

Anyways, that was my - I think it's quite accurate - attempt in saying:  
I present more of the plot. It is chapter four. Enjoy.  
:D

**Disclaimer****:** If I owned, I would no be writing this...

* * *

_Abduction._

_Don't come after me_

_Finish missions no matter what. _

_Report back to Tsunade immediately._

_I'll infiltrate._

_-Layuki_

"Er, when she says infiltrate, does she mean infiltrate the Akatsuki?" Kaoru said, looking at the note given to Ino by his other teammate who seemed to have disappeared. "She's not really that stupid, is she? And what does she mean when she says 'finish missions no matter what'? Does she expect us to do the assassination while she's with the Akatsuki?"

"She's too troublesome. She should have just run away." Shikamaru said, sighing as he signed the form for the hotel. "Well, let's go. We'll send a messenger hawk, but the sooner we get the mission done the sooner we can get back. This is such a drag."

Ino looked at the pineapple-haired boy aghast. "You're saying we're just going to leave her, Shikamaru? We can't do that! They only left an hour ago, we can still catch up!"

"No." he answered lazily. "We have to consider the possibility that she betrayed us."

It was Kaoru's turn to look bewildered. "Layuki, a traitor? You have got to be kidding me, she wouldn't do that!"

Shikamaru merely gave him a weary glance. "How do you know? She's been abroad for two years."

"So? Two years is nothing! Layuki doesn't seem like someone who would turn their backs on her friends, as snotty as she might be, she's a good person!" Ino said, slamming her fist onto the table.

"Did Sasuke seem like the person to turn his back on his friends?" Shikamaru said coldly, bringing up his teammates old crush. "What makes them so different? He and Layuki are really alike, after all."

Flabbergasted, Ino's mouth opened and closed much like a fish's. "It's not the same. Sasuke-kun left to kill his brother. Layuki…wouldn't do that. She loves her sister." She was running out of defences. "Aren't you Layuki's best friend, Shikamaru? Why are you trying to make her a traitor?"

"Yes we're best friends, we've been through a lot. Stop being troublesome. I don't want to make her out as a traitor, but it's a possibility. Like you said, she loves her sister. So why wouldn't she join the Akatsuki to be with her sister?"

Before Ino could reply, Kaoru interrupted. "Let's just…let's just have some confidence in her, okay? We'll send a messenger hawk, or something. But just stop talking about her like she's betrayed us. There's no proof."

"That's right." Ino said, calming down. "Innocent until proven guilty."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Or maybe guilty until proven innocent. That's what Layuki always went by."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was very hard to breathe inside of the clay bird. The material allowed no moisture through the barrier, and the air was awfully dry. Not that Layuki could do anything about it. She actually couldn't do anything at all, not even scratch at the itch that was irritating her nose.

This was because she had struggled so hard to attempt to break free from her enclosure that both her arms and legs had sunk into the material that was no doubt moulded with Deidara's chakra.

She now sat in a rather uncomfortable position and trying her hardest not to suffocate herself by accident. Since yelling at her blonde-haired captor had proven to be of no use, Layuki had clomped her mouth shut and was waiting for the bird to land.

After what seemed like an hour, which it just might have been, a 'soft' thud indicated the clay creature's landing. Sure enough, she clay soon disappeared and she fell unceremoniously into the ground.

"Damn it. Remind me to kill you later." Layuki swore through gritted teeth as she stood up to stretch her stiff legs. "I pity the woman who ends up with you."

"Oi, shut up. You're at the Akatsuki HQ, yeah. Show some respect."

Layuki snorted. "Respect? Yeah right. Just a piece of advice, when you want someone to show you respect I suggest you don't stuff them in a clay bird. And if you do, put air holes in it." she looked at the cave's opening. "This is the Akatsuki head? Somehow I imagined it to be more…grand."

"Well, we're criminals Layuki dear, we can't just have mansions built up wherever we like. I think that just might attract some unwanted attention."

At the sound of the voice, Layuki's head twisted so fast that she heard her neck crack. She ignored it.

Sitting against a rock was a woman who looked quite a bit like Layuki. But she was taller and her limbs were longer. Her ebony hair reached her shoulders in two pigtails that made her look quite innocent despite the Akatsuki cloak that hugged her thin body tightly. In her right hand, she absentmindedly held a squeaking mouse by the tail. The look in her eyes suggested that she liked watching it struggle.

"Satsuki-nee!" Layuki grinned and ran to her sister, much like a small child running to its mother. She had lost all traces of her earlier irritation.

Satsuki used the hand that wasn't holding the mouse to move her bangs aside from her face. On her forehead she wore the Konohagakure hitai-ate with a line through the leaf symbol. Her eyes were the exact same as her sister's: a dull grey with the tinniest pupil. "Hello Layuki. It's been a while."

She stood up to meet her younger sister, who was about a head shorter than herself and had just enveloped her in a hug. She patted the smaller girl's head.

"Deidara, we have a rodent infestation." Satsuki held up the small grey mouse in her hand. It looked as if it were panting, having used all its energy in the struggle. "I don't like rodents. They ate my cheese."

"What do you want me to do about it, yeah? Fix it yourself. Blow up their minds or something, yeah. You _can _do that, can you? I mean, with your doujutsu, yeah." The blonde Rock Shinobi had just finished putting clay back in his pouches.

Shrugging, Satsuki tossed the mouse at him. It hit him square in the face. "Blowing stuff up is your specialty, Deidara. It's your art isn't it?"

Deidara threw the rat off his face and walked into the cave, muttering something inaudible.

The sun was just above the horizon now, making it past dawn. Layuki thought this was rather ironic, since 'Akatsuki' is translated into 'dawn' or 'daybreak'.

Layuki turned from her sister to examine the cave entrance. There was a rock in the opening, yet somehow Deidara had just walked through it, without a hand sign or anything.

"Satsuki-nee, do you have any idea what I'm doing here?" She said, curiously etched into every word. "I mean, it would be kind of pointless to take me to the Akatsuki, right? I'm only fifteen."

"Don't think too highly of yourself, dear. It's not that unusual to have members bringing random people here. They usually end up dead anyways, for this reason or that." Satsuki looked down at her sister, who was still admiring the large boulder. "You don't seem very scared. Everyone else had practically wet their pants, one person even did."

Layuki didn't reply. She reached a hand out to touch the rock and felt solid stone. "Not really, onee-chan. I actually don't care what happens." She jumped as Deidara reappeared through the stone, as if it were a mere curtain.

"Watch where you're standing, yeah. Sasori-danna would've crushed you if you were in his way."

She stuck her tongue out at him and resumed her inspection. "Anyways, onee-chan, I've already planned eons ahead – it's kind of a habit when your best friend is a genius. I decided what to do if I was ever captured, or was a target for a capture.

"I would have three choices. Run, hide or die. If it came down to that, then I would choose death." Now an intense look entered her eyes. "But I wouldn't die without a fight. So Satsuki-nee, if I were to go downhill from here, I would take as many people down with me as I could. You too if I could manage it."

It was silent, and the only thing that could be heard was Deidara's chuckling. "She sounds just like you Satsuki, yeah. So you have to be sisters, there's not doubt, yeah."

Without a word, Satsuki whisked herself away, walking through the boulder as if it weren't even there. On her way, she gave her sister's shoulder a pat as if to say 'good speech'. Nothing could have made Layuki beam even more.

"So Deidara – "

"Hey, show some respect, yeah? It's Deidara-sama to you."

" – how do I get through this thing, hm? The only opening I can find is that one way up there." She pointed to the top right corner, speaking as if there had been no interruption. "And that's like, tiny."

He walked up next to her and held out his right hand, on the index finger of each was a red ring with the kanji for green on it. "You need a ring to get in, yeah. Either that or someone has to carry you in, yeah."

She raised an eyebrow. "So how am I going to get in?"

"Well I sure has hell aren't carrying you, yeah. I have a bruise from where you hit me last time."

"Good." She tilted her head to the side. "Can I see the ring closer?"

Reluctantly, Deidara held out his hand again. Layuki bent so close to it that she looked like she was about to kiss his hand.

Quickly, she slid the ring out from his finger and ran through the entrance before he even got to see what was happening.

As soon as she was on the other side, Layuki grinned. Men were so easily fooled.

But as soon as she took a look around the room, her grin vanished and she wasn't even aware of Deidara's shouting anymore.

In front of her, including her sister, there were five Akatsuki members staring at the young girl. She recalled meeting everyone except for one, they guy with the green thing on his head.

"What's this? Can I eat her?" A raspy voice came out of the green object that had a similar look to a Venus-fly trap.

"No you may not. She doesn't particularly want to be eaten, thanks." Layuki said, her voice came out surprisingly strong for someone who was confronted with quite a few S-ranked criminals.

The man, whom she now remembered was named Zetsu took a step forwards and Layuki's nerve completely failed her.

She turned around and ran back outside, managing to run into Deidara and knock them both down in the process. She was still too shocked to be even the tinniest bit sorry, not that she would be normally.

"Watch it, yeah! And give me my ring back!" he yanked the ring out of her hand and replaced it on his finger. "I'll murder you next time you try that, yeah." Then he noticed the look on her face. "You okay, yeah?"

"Uhm…are all the members of the Akatsuki…human?"

Confused, Deidara stuck his head inside the rock and pulled it back out within a couple seconds. He was grinned.

"You mean Zetsu-san, yeah? I was never really sure myself. He's an odd one, that one. But you haven't even met the Zombie Twins yet, yeah."

"Ah. Sounds lovely." Then she took Deidara's proffered hand to help her stand straight.

Almost immediately after she touched his hand, she let go.

"Shit, what the hell?! Is that a _mouth_ on your hand? Do you know how creepy that is?" Layuki eyes were wide, as if she wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into. Which, in fact, she didn't really."

Deidara grinned and held his hand up. The mouth on it stuck its tongue out to lick its lips. "Get used to it kid, there's more creepy than me in this organisation, yeah."

Layuki very nearly groaned.

She was talking to a guy with mouths in his hands. She had just seen a guy whose head was a Venus Fly Trap. And she had just heard something about 'zombie twins'. And she thought she was out of the ordinary.

To top off her list, she hadn't even gotten the chance to say good-bye to Gaara.

* * *

**A/N:** So, like I said, filler chapter.  
There will be more romance in this than in Mastermind.  
I'm just trying to figure out where to put it in.  
Some interaction will happen soon ;)  
Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get (since the Deidara one was so popular) a Gaara plusie :D  
**fanny-kun**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Deidara interaction! -squeals-  
Nothing romantic yet, I'm still trying to fit that in somewhere.  
So, Gaara's going to come back in...two chapters...?  
Maybe even the next one.  
I'm excited to write about his death :D

Anyways, thanks so much to my wonderful reviewers!!  
Enjoy chapter five (:

**Disclaimer:** I shall own only when Kishimoto decides to give up the copyright to me.

* * *

On her first day, Deidara had told her that since she was here, there would be no way for her to get out. And if she tried, it would just end up worse for her.

Layuki eventually discovered the truth in his words.

After being told why she was here – actually not really, because she didn't find out the reason. All she realised was that the people liked to talk a lot – our young kunoichi had caused quite a fuss. Refusing to wait for the Akatsuki to put her to use, and attempting several attempts at escape people eventually took pity on her.

But since these were S-ranked criminals, their version of pity wasn't exactly like everyone else's.

Cutting it short, they had thrown her into a damp cell in what seemed to be the basement of their cave – she didn't really understand how a cave could have a basement. To make sure she wouldn't do anything else, they had chained her left hand, after removing her Anken, to the wall and sealed it so she was unable to use chakra at all.

Layuki hadn't even been capable of fighting back, these were Akatsuki members we were talking about. Though she did manage to place a nice punch onto Kisame's cheek.

A couple days later Layuki was still in the cellar and she was beginning to feel bored.

Just as she was beginning another feeble attempt of breaking free of her confinement, the door opened – as it did three times each day, signifying someone, always Deidara, bringing her food.

"Why food, Deidara? Couldn't you bring me a book or something? Do you have any idea how awfully _dull_ it is in here? And my sister's right by the way, you do have a rodent infestation." Layuki said grimly as he set down her food. As if on cue, the scurrying of mice could be heard in the background.

"You're not eating, yeah. Just so you know, we're not trying to kill you yet, yeah. So there's no point in starving yourself." He stood a couple feet in front of where she sat, glaring at him in an amused sort of way. There were no bars where she was; it was just an empty room.

Layuki raised an eyebrow at him. "Not trying to kill me _yet_? That is _so _reassuring." She stood up and walked towards him as far as the chain would allow her. She ended up about a metre away from the man. "Let me out Deidara. Please. I'm really starting to get sick of this place. And I mean that literally, it smells like shit."

When he just looked at her she sighed in frustration, turning around and walking back to the wall.

"Then at least tell me why I'm here! I don't know why you would want me; you already have my sister!" Layuki hadn't been able to use her Hirukagan lately, mainly because it needed chakra and the chain wasn't allowing her to use any.

"I thought you were smarter than that, yeah. In what way would you think you're important to us, yeah? In what way would you help us get out goal, yeah?" Deidara sneered at her back. He was beginning to get tired of her attitude. "Why do you think we'd need you, yeah? Definitely not because you're going to do us any good in the long run, yeah."

She stopped walking and turned back to him. "What are you…?" She trailed off as realisation dawned on her.

The blonde smirked, apparently amused. "Now you're using that brain of yours, yeah. Good work."

"You're disgusting. That's why _you're_ always looking after me, right? You want to use me to get to the Ichibi jinchuuriki." She spat in his direction. "And after you use me to get Gaara, you're going to hand me over to someone else so I can get Naruto-kun for you guys, right?"

"That's right, yeah. I think it's quite a nice plan." He took a step closer to her. "But if you cooperate, we won't kill you, yeah."

Layuki glared at him with dangerously narrowed eyes. "That's too bad for me then, isn't it? Because I'm not the kind of person who just sits around while their friends are being hurt." She stepped back as he took another step forwards. "Holding a hostage is what a coward does. You're being hypocritical, don't you think? As I recall, you called me a coward the first time I met you."

"I'm not being a coward, yeah. I'm being resourceful. This is much easier than working for something, yeah." Deidara shrugged as he bent down to her food plate and picked up a shiny red apple. He turned it over a couple times in his hands and then pulled it up to his mouth to bite it. "This is good, yeah."

"Well it's not resourceful if you didn't do your research properly, is it?" Layuki hissed. "Because if you did, then you would know that Gaara doesn't care for me enough to risk his life. He doesn't care about me…the way I do for him." She said quietly, turning her back on the Rock ninja to face the wall.

Deidara took another bite of the apple. "What do you see in him, yeah? From what I know, he's just an uncared for kid, yeah."

"I don't need you getting into my personal life now."

He laughed, throwing the apple core to the ground. "Are you a kunoichi or not? Shinobi aren't supposed to have personal lives, yeah, you should know that. Their duty is to serve their masters, yeah."

"I am who I want to be. It's none of your business."

The blonde shrugged. "I still say that Shukaku kid is worthless, yeah. You'd be better off with another guy."

Layuki turned around and walked up to him. Since he had taken those steps forwards, she was now face to face – well, almost, seeing as she was quite a bit shorter than him. "Do you now? And where do you think I'll get a decent guy when I'm stuck down here with this chakra chain stuck to my hand, hm?"

Deidara laughed and spread out his arms. "You're looking at one, yeah."

"In case you didn't hear me, I said I wanted a decent guy. You're far from, come back after some counselling and we'll talk, okay?"

"Ooh, harsh. Come on, yeah. You can't deny that this face is good looking."

She looked at him and frowned. No, she couldn't. Deidara had an undoubtedly handsome face: young looking, yet obviously older than herself. His long blonde hair was in a high ponytail and long bangs covered his left eye. The uncovered eye was in a deep shade of forest green outlined with black.

As far as she could tell, the only thing out of the ordinary about him were the mouths on his hands, which Layuki still hadn't gotten used to the thought.

But still, she didn't want him to know what she was thinking.

"You wish. Cut off your hair and take off the eyeliner and you _might_ look less like a girl. Hate to break it to you, but I'm quite straight. As in, I'm not interested in girls, or girly looking men at that." She smirked at him and turned away again, walking to the wall and sitting down.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Man, that Ichibi kid doesn't know what's in store for him, yeah. You're a bitch, you know that?"

"Mmhm, and quite proud of it, thanks." Layuki leaned her head and closed her eyes. "How about just letting me go, Deidara? Using me as bait won't do anything. Gaara's not going to come after me or anything; our relationship is completely one-sided. You're just wasting your energy."

"Sorry, yeah. I'm going through with this plan. Maybe you'll feel better when that kid is dead, yeah." Deidara pushed the food tray towards her with his foot. "Besides, you should eat. You're getting pretty thin, yeah."

But Layuki had stood up once again and completely ignored the food. Instead of the cold-hearted glare from earlier, she was staring at the man in front of her with utter disbelief.

"_Kill_? You're going to kill Gaara? I thought you only wanted the demon? Couldn't you take it out without hurting the container?" Her voice was very nearly begging.

He looked at her wearily. "Well we obviously have to kill them, yeah. The demon is part of their soul, isn't it? We can't just take out a soul without killing the container, yeah. Why does he mean so much to you anyways, yeah?"

"That's none of your business. But I swear that if you so much as hurt him, I'll kill you. I swear I will." She was once again very near to him, and her fists were shaking.

"Now, now. Didn't your parents ever tell you swearing is bad, yeah? Just so you know, Gaara doesn't stand a chance against us, yeah."

Layuki opened her mouth to retort, but then took a deep breath to calm down.

Gaara was Kazekage. He was strong, probably stronger than anyone else she knew – ignoring the fact that he lost to Naruto. Gaara wouldn't lose to the person standing in front of her. It was impossible. No, he was safe. He would not be captured.

"And what are you guys planning to achieve? What's the point of collecting all these tailed beasts?"

"I'm actually not sure, yeah. But I'm sure Leader-sama has a plan, yeah."

"Ah. So you're just in this for the fun of it, I see." Layuki made a move to go forwards, but that was stopped when a tug came to her hand. Without thinking, she focused chakra to her wrist to pull herself free, but instead of freedom, a white-hot burning sensation appeared at her hand. "Ouch!"

Almost immediately after she disconnected her chakra flow, the cuff began to cool down. She slid the metal as far down her arm as it could go and examined her wrist, on which the skin was bright red and raw. It hurt at any touch, a layer of skin having been burnt off.

"That wasn't smart, yeah." Before she had a chance to throw some insult at him, Deidara grabbed her injured hand. "Hold on, yeah."

With the hand that wasn't holding on to her, he went into one of the pouches on the side of his waist then took it back out. Hid palm-mouth appeared to be chewing something.

After a moment, a white ball of clay popped out of the palm-mouth. Deidara flattened it and pressed it onto Layuki's burn.

A cooling sensation instantaneously covered the burning pain, as if an ice pack had been placed on her instead of a mound of clay.

Pulling her hand out of Deidara's, Layuki mumbled, "Thanks."

"Hm." With that, Deidara turned on his heel and walked up the stairs and out of the cellar.

With her hand pressed to the clay that was moulded with his chakra, Layuki's sharp eyes followed his leave with a quizzical glance.

* * *

**A/N:** Ooh akwardness ;)  
first sign in a relationship..hmm..

anyways Thanks for reading!  
I've run out of stock for now, so currently reviewers will recieve my eternal grattitude :D  
**fanny-kun**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** There's a little bit of fluff in this chapter (:  
I haven't written fluff in a long time, so forgive me if it's somewhat cheesy.

Anyways, Gaara comes in the next chapter!  
I'm excited to write that ;)

Thanks a million to my reviewers!  
Hope everyone enjoys chapter six!

**Disclaimer:** I do now own, it's quite simple actually.

* * *

Layuki sighed as she turned on the stove. She was seriously considering putting poison in their food, but Sasori being a poison master and all, it wouldn't really work.

In all honesty, our young kunoichi would rather be in the damp cellar than be working as a servant for the Akatsuki with a threat of death hanging over her head if she didn't make food good enough.

As it seems, the S-ranked criminals had no idea how to cook – except Satsuki of course, but the elder Fuyaku's whereabouts were currently unknown.

To add to that, she wasn't even allowed to take any breaks because Deidara was keeping two watchful eyes on her at what seemed like all times.

Well one watchful eye to be exact, Layuki wasn't even one hundred percent sure that he even had two eyes.

Finally, the timer went off and Layuki set the plates on the table. When she was finished, Layuki grabbed a kunai, which was lying hazardously on the table, and sat herself in a corner, trying to be invisible.

She took no notice of Deidara looking at her in a strange way. Knife in her right hand, she began to attack the little metal bracelet around her left wrist that didn't allow her to use any chakra. Even if it was over two weeks since she came in, she wasn't any closer to escaping,

"You know that's not going to work, yeah. You'll just end up hurting yourself." Deidara grunted as he leaned back on his chair, watching her with an amused expression. "There's only one way to get that thing off, yeah."

"And you're not going to tell me that, are you? So I suggest you shut your trap before I throw this kunai at you. Trust me, even without chakra, my aim is pretty good." Layuki said, angrily jabbing at the unrelenting metal.

An idea came to her. Layuki slid the kunai tip under the metal, which was only a couple millimetres loose from her skin, and pushed up. She was so concentrated that she barely noticed the line of blood that was slowly trickling down from her hand.

"Stop that, yeah! Are you trying to commit suicide or something?"

Deidara got up from his chair and walked over to Layuki, who was doing a rather nice job of ignoring him. He grabbed her non-bloody hand and dragged her to the entrance of the cave, dutifully ignoring her protests.

Once they were outside, Deidara changed his direction to the small stream that was nicely placed beside the hideout. Layuki's lungs nearly burst at the fresh air. This was her first time outside in a couple days now.

"Sit." Deidara ordered, pointing to a rock. Layuki obeyed, mainly because of the fact that she was defenceless other than the kunai in her hand. "Give me your arm, yeah."

When she didn't listen, Deidara sighed and grabbed her arm anyways. He took some clay out of his pouch and held it inside the stream for a couple seconds. When he took it out, Layuki watched fascinated as his palm-mouths opened and swallowed the clay. It spat it back out and he pressed it along her cut, which was now bleeding profusely.

"You don't have to do this you know, it doesn't hurt." She winced as he pressed harder. "Too much anyways."

"A 'thank you' would always be nice, yeah." Deidara said, taking the clay off and checking the gash. It seemed miraculously smaller.

Layuki titled her head to the side. "I've been meaning to ask. _Why_ do you have mouths on your hands? And why did your clay just randomly gain healing powers? Is it a kekkei genkai? Is there anyone _normal_ in the Akatsuki, like human without a bloodline limit? What are you guys planning on doing with the tailed beasts?" All the questions that were bugging her just leaked out. "Why do you say 'yeah' at the end of almost every sentence?"

He sighed. "It's a kekkei genkai, yeah. If I add certain things to it then certain things happen. There is no one normal in the organisation; some aren't even human, yeah. I don't know why we need tailed beasts, yeah. And I say yeah because it's a habit and it makes me, me, yeah." He took the clay off and her cut had vanished. "What are all those scars on your arms from, yeah?"

"Nothing but stupidity." Layuki answered, pulling her arm away and examining her own pale scars. She remembered the day she had started cutting herself quite clearly, but she'd gotten better.

"You do them yourself, don't you, yeah?"

"And if I do?"

"Then you're right, it is stupid, yeah." Deidara replied, wringing out his clay. "You're wasting your life, yeah. Just stop."

Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't asked why she cut herself to make her answer "Okay."

Or maybe it was the fact that it was him telling her to stop, and not anyone else. But that was stupid, wasn't it? It's not like he meant anything to her.

Deidara whistled. "Wow. What's that big one on your leg from?"

Layuki looked down to see the long white scar that reached from her foot to a couple inches above her knee. She unconsciously traced it with a finger. "Surgery. My bones got crushed, Tsunade-sama gave me an artificial one."

She wasn't lying, she just wasn't telling the whole truth. Aka, the part where Gaara came in.

"On a mission, yeah?"

Layuki didn't know what it was about Deidara that compelled her to tell the truth. "Kind of. We were in Sunagakure and I guess I kind of got Gaara mad." She looked up at him. "Why do you care?"

"Don't flatter yourself, yeah." He smirked. Standing up. "I don't care. It's curiosity and nothing else, yeah."

"Oh, sorry." Layuki herself made to stand up. As she was about to step off the rock, her foot slipped and she started falling, managing to land on an off-guard Deidara in the process.

And just to her luck, she somehow managed to land directly on top of him. "Hey, watch it, yeah." He growled.

Layuki glowered at him through narrowed eyes. Her mind was currently in over-drive. The only thing she hated about being a teenager was the hormones. "Shut up, it was an accident."

But a part of her didn't want to get up. Deidara was very warm.

"Get off, will you, yeah?" He said, frustration etched into every word.

"You're warm." Oh damn, she was beginning to voice her thoughts. That was never a really good sign.

It was silent for a moment, and Layuki's body still made no move to move, even though her mind was telling her to. Deidara, on the other hand, had apparently never been called 'warm' before.

"Well I'm kinda of warm-blooded, yeah. Don't we have to be warm, yeah?"

The young girl would have blushed, if she were the type to blush. But Layuki never blushed, so everything was good. "Yeah sorry."

She made to stand up, but Deidara put a hand on her back, not allowing her to do anything.

"You're kind of warm too, yeah."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Then I'm afraid I have no choice, Shikamaru. Layuki is now declared as a missing-nin until further notice." Tsunade announced, putting her head in her hands.

The chuunin nodded solemnly, agreeing to what was happening. But the two next to him weren't as willing to take in the news.

"Tsunade-sama, please! Just give us more time! Layuki will come back, she's not a traitor!" Ino said, slamming her fist onto the table. "Just some more time."

Amber coloured eyes belonging to the Godaime Hokage rested on the protesting blonde. "We've given her over two weeks, Ino. I can't afford any more time. We're short on hands as it is, and I can't keep sending out search parties. The village can't do it."

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but I really don't think that two weeks would be enough time for anyone, even Layuki, to get away from the hands of the Akatsuki." Kaoru said, putting a hand on Ino's shoulder to calm her down. He himself spoke in a rather steady voice.

Tsunade sighed. "I'm sorry, you three. I'm going to ask you to leave now, try and get this business out of your heads. I have a mission for you tomorrow."

Before either of his two friends could reply Shikamaru nodded and dragged both of them out. He managed to ignore Ino until they were outside the building. "You two are best friends, Shikamaru! Are you even listening to me?"

"Quit being so troublesome. Her being my best friend has nothing to do with this. This would be happening even if she were my sister. So just quiet down Ino, and stop being such a drag." He sighed, leaving the two behind and making his way back towards his house. He would honestly rather face his mother than Ino in the mood she was currently in.

After five minutes of peace and quite, Shikamaru began to relax.

After a nanosecond, his relaxation was completely ruined.

"Oi, Shikamaru!"

He turned to see a blonde kunoichi coming towards him. She wore a long black kimono with a red sash around her stomach. Tied on her back was a long folded up fan. But it was the four pigtails on her head that made him groan. With all this business about Layuki, Shikamaru had completely forgotten that today was the day that Temari was arriving in Konohagakure.

And he was to be her guide.

"Hello Temari." He sighed, stopping and allowing her to catch up.

She nodded at him. "What's all this I'm hearing about that kid, Layuki, going missing? I didn't know she was back yet."

"She was back for a day. Then she went missing on a mission. It's troublesome." He tapped his chin. "And now the chuunin exams are about to start again."

"Hm, that's too bad. I kind of liked her." Temari said, falling in pace with the boy who had started walking again. "I hope she's not dead, she was a good kid."

Shikamaru smirked. "You're only saying that because you want to get back at her for beating you a couple years back. Troublesome."

"Shut up, you lazy bastard."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Deidara."

The said man looked up from his hands, in which he was sculpting a small bird with his clay. It was the middle of the night and the hulking figure of Sasori's puppet could be seen as a dark shadow standing just out of the reach of Deidara's lit candle. "Yeah, Sasori-danna?"

"We leave for the Ichibi tomorrow. Make sure you and the girl are ready. The journey will be two days in length." Sasori turned and was heard moving away.

After a moment of staring at where the puppeteer stood a minute ago, Deidara looked towards the wall where Layuki sat hugging her legs, apparently asleep.

She was obviously in love with the Ichibi jinchuuriki, and he wondered how she was react when he told her that they were going to Sunagakure tomorrow. He sighed.

"Tomorrow then, yeah."

* * *

**A/N:** Oooh, the romantic interference is finally beginning!  
dun dun duuuunnnn!

So, sorry if the timeline is a bit messed up.  
I know I said that it began a couple months before shippuuden, but yeah.  
Carry on.

I have a special plan for Deidara in a couple chapters ;)

Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers are greatfully worshiped!  
**fanny-kun**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** It's the chapter we've all been waiting for!  
Gaara's been kidnapped ;)

Re-reading this, it's come to my attention that Layuki isn't really _doing _anything.  
Except being in everyone's way, of course.  
But as the main character, she'll do some stuff eventually. :D  
Besides, I plan to make this fic long (as long as the prequel, perhaps? O:)

Anyways, some of you might have noticed that I changed the summary.  
it WILL come into play, just a warning to ya'll ;)

Thanks soooo much to my amazingly wonderful reviewers!  
Hope you like chapter Seven :D

**Disclaimer:** I will own as soon as I start dreaming again.

* * *

"And take this back too." Deidara threw the bewildered young girl her Anken, despite the fact that she was already holding a rather large weapon's pouch. "What are you looking at me like that for, yeah?"

Layuki took her time putting on her Anken and re-attaching her weapon's pouch. "I thought I was like, a prisoner or something? Do you guys usually arm your prisoners?"

The blonde rolled his eye. "We're going on a mission, kid, yeah. We're wanted criminals, and if we're attacked we won't have time to worry about you, yeah. Just try not to die, that's all I'm asking. We need you to get the One-Tail, yeah."

"Oh. I see. So what if I decide to just…run away or something?" Layuki said, flexing her fingers in the metal glove.

"Good luck with that, yeah. In an hour we'll be surrounded by desert."

She shot him a glare. "Then let's get going, shall we? Seeing as I have to spend two days with you guys, I might want to get this over with."

"Whatever, yeah."

As predicted, Layuki had a very long two days. To make things worse, she hadn't even been able to convince Deidara to take the chakra seal off of her wrist. Though he did grudgingly agree, after much complaining on her part, to lessen it so she could focus enough chakra to prevent her skin from burning under the blazing sun. It was better than nothing, at the very least.

But as planned, before dusk on the second day they had come in view to the gates of Sunagakure. Sasori stopped them when they were close enough to keep an eye on the entrance, but far enough away so the village would not recognise them.

"Deidara." Came his husky voice. The said man turned his attention to Sasori, leaving Layuki to muse at how ironic it was that it was the puppet who was giving orders to the human.

Before she had too long to ponder, however, a large-ish straw hat with dangling pieces of white cloth was shoved onto her head.

"Let's go then, yeah." Deidara said. The young girl glared at him through the gap in the cloth.

"Do we have to? Couldn't I just stay here and…you know, not do anything?"

Neither of them answered, which made the response quite obvious. Sighing, Layuki had no choice but to follow, it's not like she wanted heat stroke or anything. The only plus side to this was that she could practically feel Gaara's presence.

Once they had reached the gates, they were met by one of Sasori's spies who let them inside. Deidara then conjured a large bird from his clay; he then held his hand out to Layuki to help her up.

She stared at his hand for a moment, and then directed her pale grey eyes to his face. Layuki scowled and slapped him in the face.

"You touch Gaara, and I will murder you." With that, she was gone.

Deidara began to move after her a moment too late. Layuki was surprisingly fast. "Ugh that little bitch, I didn't think she'd run on us, yeah."

"Deidara, stop talking and go already. The girl is headed to the Kazekage tower, no doubt. Meet her there." Sasori's eyes turned to his partner, "And hurry up. I don't like to be kept waiting."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Kazekage-sama, the messenger hawk has returned. Temari-sama has reached the Leaf Village two days ago with no casualties along the way." A messenger said while kneeling down. He looked rather afraid to be alone in the same room with the redheaded man opposite him.

But Gaara didn't even look up from his paperwork. "Thank you, Rosaki. You may leave now."

"Y-yes, sir!" Rosaki made his way out of the room, nearly tripping over his own two feet in the process. Hastily, the man righted him self and walked out so fast that he was nearly running.

As soon as he was along, Gaara sighed and put down his pen. People still didn't trust him. He looked out the window; it was sunset and the sky was a beautiful magenta colour.

But something wasn't right…

As if on cue, a large bird flew into his sight. It was an off white sort of colour, and was far too big to be remotely real. A second later there was a loud bang and the door to his office flew open.

"Gaara!" Before he knew it, a rather small body bombarded the Kazekage. "Oh thank Kami you're still here. I thought he'd gotten here before me."

"What are you doing here, Layuki?" His monotone voice unwound her from around him.

She took a deep breath and dragged him outside his office. "They're going to take you away, Gaara. They're going to kill you."

Before the redhead had a chance to ask whom she was talking about, the young kunoichi had stopped. It didn't take a genius to figure out why, as there was a man kneeling in front of them on a giant clay bird.

"Come here, kid, yeah. I would really get it from your sister if I killed you by accident, yeah." Deidara said, climbing off his creation towards them.

An angry retort was about to roll off of Layuki's tongue, but Gaara stepped in front of her before it could. Without a word, a jet of sand was directed at Deidara, who dodged and flew up into the air with it.

Before she knew it, Layuki was soaring through the sky right beside Gaara right on the sand. Despite herself, she grinned. Gaara knew that she hated being left behind.

"Tch. Bad idea, Layuki, yeah. You'd be safer with me over here, yeah. I would really regret killing you." Deidara yelled, soaring around them in circles.

Gaara raised his hands into the air, causing a large noise in the background. Turning around, Layuki saw what she thought was the whole desert flying up into the air. With another wave of his arm, he sent it flying towards his opponent.

The said was obstructing Layuki's view, but she heard Deidara yell "_Katsu_." (**1**) And several small explosions occurred disturbingly close to them.

Layuki began to teeter on the pile of sand. But when she looked at her feet, she saw that they were lodged into the material. She grinned. Gaara also knew that she had horrible balance.

Three enormous arms of Gaara's sand were now chasing the clay bird Deidara was riding on. Yet despite that, two smaller clay birds managed to get past them, making Layuki gasp.

In an instant, it was pitch black. And it took Layuki a moment to recognise this as Gaara's sand shield. She heard him muttering something beside her and then, "Can't you do anything for yourself?"

Layuki frowned. Somehow Gaara's voice seemed harsher than before, or maybe she was just so used to hearing Deidara's playful tone that she had nearly forgotten what he sounded like. "Sorry to disappoint, but this thing on my wrist doesn't let me use any chakra. Trust me, it would be a dream come true if I could do anything."

She heard Gaara sigh and the shield opened the smallest fraction so light could come in. A tickling sensation on her left hand made her look at it and wasn't very surprised to see a trickle of sand floating around. Miraculously, the metal seemed to dissolve and Layuki could feel herself getting re-energized by the return of her chakra. She smiled at Gaara as a thank you, and took a look outside.

What she saw wasn't very pretty, as it rarely ever was.

She saw, just in time, Deidara freefalling from an enormous pile of sand. The drop to the ground sure wasn't short; there was no way he would survive if he hit the earth. Layuki gasped. "Oh no."

Gaara gave her a side-glance, and the frown on his face seemed to deepen. He looked away and waved his arm again. Sand caught Deidara's left arm and he stopped falling.

Layuki let out a sigh of relief, which turned into another gasp before it wasn't even over.

"_Sabakukyu_." (**2**) With that one word from Gaara, Deidara's arm let out an audible crack as blood soaked into the sand.

"Deidara!" But Layuki seemed more concerned about Deidara than he himself was. With a hand sign, the blonde summoned his clay bird again, and sped away from where she and Gaara were floating. When he was a fair distance away, he turned to face his opponents. In his one arm, was another clay model.

Even from the distance they were at, Layuki could see Deidara grin. With a hand seal, the man dropped the clay doll, and it seemed to grow as it rocketed towards the Village Hidden in the Sand. Beside her, she could feel Gaara go rigid.

The next second, a large explosion took place that seemed to shake even the air. Once she looked down, Layuki saw, not a ruined village, but a large shield of sand. Next to her, the Kazekage was breathing heavily.

"Shit, Gaara." She breathed. "That's amazing."

"Sorry Layuki, yeah." She heard Deidara say it, but she didn't turn to face him fast enough. "_Katsu_."

The force of the explosion sent her careening until her back hit the sand sphere, hard. But surprisingly, she was still in one piece as Gaara's sand had moved fast enough to block the detonation.

But all was not well.

Before Layuki could re-adjust herself, she heard Gaara swear – the feat itself was extremely out of character for him.

The next thing she knew, she was falling through the air. As soon as she landed on the – surprisingly soft – sand that had shielded the village from Deidara's earlier attack, she watched in horror as the sphere Gaara was in rumbled and began to fall away before her very eyes.

Yet the Kazekage was still suspended by the smallest amount of sand. He raised his arm, and Layuki began to fall slowly through the layer of sand as it hovered away from the village. She freefell for only a minimal amount of time before someone caught her.

Layuki got to her feet, giving a brief thanks to Kankorou, and ran as fast as she could to the approximate location where Gaara floated.

"Please," she said quietly, "Please Deidara, don't kill him. Please don't."

Just as Deidara caught the redhead with his bird, Layuki jumped to the nearest building and focused as much chakra to her feet as she could. Then she jumped.

She was just about to reach them, when Deidara looked down at her. Their gaze met for a fraction of a second, but then he turned away and she started falling back to earth.

The whole way down, the chakra at her feet slowed down Layuki's fall to a safe pace. As soon as she was on the ground, she sunk to her knees.

"Damn it."

* * *

**A/N: **dun dun duuuuuunnn!!

the kidnapping has finally begun!  
So what happens next, hm?  
To Deidara, to Layuki, to Gaara?

Who knows?

(**1**) Katsu: explode;detonate  
(**2**) Sabakukyu: desert coffin

Anyways, I have some free time on my hands now (it's very hard to come by these days)  
So I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP!

Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get Gaara-made cookies ;)  
**fanny-kun**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Ah. It's been a while.  
So, maybe I lied when I said this chapter was going to be ASAP!  
Well, a week isn't really long for some people, so you might not understand why I'm going on like this..  
But I have issues when I don't update.  
Which is weird, because I know exactly what's going to happen...(to an extent xD)

So, sorry for the wait!  
Precious time is so hard to come my now.  
And to think, exams are coming up next month TT

Anyways, I didn't like this chapter too much.  
Still, thanks so much to my awesomely awesome reviewers!  
But I hope you enjoy chapter huit!

**Disclaimer:** Copyright belongs to Kishimoto...unfortunately for me.

* * *

"Bastards."

Layuki looked up to see Kankorou start to run past her. A moment later, she got up and grabbed onto his shirt.

"Don't be stupid, Kankorou. If Gaara couldn't beat him, do you really think you can?" She said quietly, looking down to the ground. "This village has already lost its Kazekage, I doubt you'd be helping at all if you go and get yourself killed.

But to her surprise, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her grip off of him. The angry look on his face widened her eyes. "You were up there, weren't you? But you didn't do anything to help, did you?" He breathed heavily. "You're talking about my brother as if he's already dead. He's not, and if there's a chance I can save Gaara, I'll take it. Just because you don't care about him, doesn't mean no one else does."

"No, that's not it…" Layuki said, her voice trailing away at the Sand ninja's unjust accusation. She let her arm fall limp and he let go. "Fine, whatever. It's not like you're going to be a loss or anything." She turned around to leave, but then at the last minute she looked over her shoulder. "Deidara's partner is a puppeteer, just so you know."

With a nod, Kankorou was gone.

After a minute, Layuki put her head in her hands and groaned.

Was she willing to fight Deidara to save Gaara?

Or would she rather leave Gaara to die at Deidara's hands?

Finally making up her mind, Layuki ran in the direction that Kankorou went. She was going in pursuit of the Akatsuki, whether she really wanted to or not.

Soon, she reached the gates of the village, taking care to step over the bodies that were sprawled across the floor. She saw Kankorou standing just outside the gates, apparently at a loss of where to go.

She took a stop next to him and activated her Hirukagan. It took longer than it should of to feel their presences, having not used her kekkei genkai in a while. But within a couple minutes time, she found one mind, not too far away, which was followed by two other ones that she couldn't seem to touch.

"From our current location, they're two miles northeast from here. I'm fairly certain they're still alive." She reported.

Just as they were about to take off, a hand wrapped around Layuki's ankle. She looked down to see a dying shinobi looking up at her with pleading eyes. Sighing she said, "You go ahead. I'll take care of anyone here who's still alive."

She heard Kankorou leave, and she kneeled down to check on the man who's eyes were slowly beginning to roll to the back of his head. She put two fingers under his jaw to check the heartbeat, only to find it depleting dramatically. Focusing chakra to her hand, she placed it on his chest and slowly let out a flow of her own chakra. Slowly, the cuts on his skin started to sew back together and his breathing regulated. When she could feel herself weakening, Layuki stopped and sat the man up and leaned him against the wall. He wasn't completely healed, but he would live.

Layuki began to make rounds over the fallen bodies. Only finding two more people alive. One person was far from being able to be saved – he was nearly severed in half from the waist – and quite unfortunately, he was still conscious. She put him out of his misery very quickly, saying an apology as she did so.

The other person was unconscious and suffered only a gash in his forearm. She bandaged it up quickly. When she was finished, Layuki stood straight and formed her hands into signs. Putting a finger to her mouth, she blew a lightning bolt up to the sky. These men needed medical attention.

Then she turned on her feet and ran towards the direction where Kankorou had gone.

When she was within a viewing distance of their fight, Layuki turned on her heel and made a detour around the two puppeteers. Deidara wasn't with them, and he was the only one she was interested in.

And soon enough, she saw the figure of a large clay bird flying very slowly only a metre above the ground.

"Deidara!" She called, and he slowed to a halt, turning around and looking at her with a very exasperated expression.

"What are you doing here, yeah? Are you really that desperate to die, yeah?"

She stopped too, and stood straight. "You really are a coward aren't you? You only went to get Gaara with me as your bait, and then you just leave with him."

"Call me whatever you want, Layuki. But all I'm going to say is that I'm no fool, yeah." He looked down at her. "If you'd challenged someone at Kage level and you weren't allowed to kill them, what would you have done, yeah?"

Layuki scowled. "Well I'll never know, will I? Because I'm not stupid enough to take on someone that much stronger than I am."

"But the Ichibi wasn't stronger than me if he ended up like that, yeah?" He gestured to Gaara's limp figure that was secured in the tail of the clay bird. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "And by the way it sounds, you want to challenge me, yeah? You obviously are stupid enough to challenge someone stronger than you are."

"I'm not challenging you. I'm just here to ask – or beg – you to let him go." Layuki said quietly, "Please."

Deidara looked at her and sighed. "If you ask me like that, you're making it really hard to refuse, yeah. Just turn around and walk away, please. Then I won't have to do anything I'll regret, yeah."

"Selfish, aren't you?" Layuki said coldly, lifting her Anken, which had taken the form of a katana. "Then I'll have to use force."

He sighed and shook his head. "This is what I meant about not wanting to do anything I'll regret, yeah." Layuki swung at him, and he flew upwards, out of her reach. "Sorry, I'm really not in the mood."

Layuki made a face at him. "I really hate you right now, you know that? Seriously, I do."

"Keep telling yourself that, yeah." Deidara grinned mockingly at her, and then turned his gaze at something behind her. "Took you long enough, Sasori-danna!"

Before Layuki could even turn around, something large and metal caught her around her waist and threw her up into the air. "Shit, what the hell! Put me down, you bastard!"

As the words left her mouth, she was sent hurtling towards the ground – and even though she landed on the soft sand, the air was completely knocked out of her as hit the ground head first while struggling to remain conscious.

Out of the corner of her eye, Layuki saw Sasori's metal tail point towards her. Still in no position to do anything, she closed her eyes and braced for the pain.

"Sasori-danna…" Deidara said quietly, and she saw Sasori's tail reluctantly retreat after a moment of whispered conversation.

Just as she stood up and turned around, something white flew into her face and exploded. The last thing she saw was Deidara's remorse face; then everything went black.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"She's awake! She's awake!"

Layuki groaned as she opened her eyes to see a blurred figure looming over her. "So kid, you're finally up."

Propping herself up on her elbows, Layuki rubbed her face – quite surprised to find that it wasn't bandaged up. "My head hurts."

"Yeah I'd think it would, seeing as some kind of firework went off in your face." Temari smirked. "You've been out for a while though."

This caught her attention. "How long?"

The older girl thought for a minute. "'Bout three days, I'd say. Haruno-san fixed you up, which is why you're not a blistered pod right now. Everyone else left for Gaara only a couple hours ago." She said the last part bitterly.

"What?! Three days?! And you're saying that Gaara's not back yet?" The look on Temari's face was answer enough. "Shit! This is bad."

Layuki jumped up off of her hospital bed and made for the window, it was faster than through the door. Just as she stepped on the sill, she was pulled backwards by Temari.

"Woah, calm down. You're not in any condition to do anything. You'll only get in the way."

She really was not in the mood to have this conversation. A short debate in her head decided what she was going to say next. "I'm going, Temari. Just because you don't care about Gaara, doesn't mean nobody else does." She regretted going as slow as to use Kankorou's own words to her against his sister, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

But Temari didn't react properly. "Stop being a little bitch, you brat. Don't you dare suggest that I don't care about my own brother, and don't think that you care about him more than I do."

"Then why am I talking to you right now? Shouldn't you be going out and helping your brother instead of being here arguing with me?" Layuki didn't really like to play the sibling card; even she didn't usually go that low.

Her words earned her a slap to the face.

"Because, unlike you, I do what's needed for my village. I believe there's this rumour going around that you've been fraternizing with the Akatsuki. What's wrong, my brother not good enough for you?" Temari smirked at the other girl's suddenly bewildered look. "Don't look like that. It's kind of obvious that you adore Gaara."

"Listen Temari, my life is none of your business. Whether I'm needed in my village or not isn't up to you to decide. Who I _fraternize_ is has nothing at all to do with you." Layuki fumed, her temper rising. "And don't you dare patronize me about Gaara when it's disgusting how completely obvious it is that you're absolutely fallen for Shikamaru."

Temari's mouth opened to retort, but no sound came out. It seemed that both girls had a very short-lived patience. Finally, she growled. "Fine, get out. Just don't expect me to do anything for you when you're on your deathbed."

"Likewise, whenever that'll be."

Layuki stepped back onto the windowsill, and threw herself out. She landed gracefully on the desert ground, and ran at a pace she could keep up for hours.

Most likely was that they were heading back to the headquarters Layuki had stayed at. That would be a couple hours' journey along the way, considering there were no casualties.

But as Layuki headed out the village gates, she couldn't help but wonder how long a time three days was.

She had never been very punctual, but was she too late this time around?

* * *

**A/N:** Layuki's a little bitch, isn't she?  
ahaha, I love her.

Well I think you'll all be glad to hear that this isn't even the climax.  
I know, it's shocking.  
I plan to make this looonngg.  
Because I think long fics have more meaning. (:

Well thanks for reading!  
All my wonderful reviewers will recieve hugs and cookies!  
**fanny-kun**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I was actually planning on updating tomorrow,  
But out of the kindness of my heart, I was like "ah, what the hell."  
Because I like this chapter :D  
The ending at least...

So since it's the long weekend, I'll TRY to find time.  
But don't count on it (:

Just in case anyone was wondering why I titled this fic 'Jester'  
(because I know it's not the most obvious title)  
It's because Jester also means 'Fool'  
And Layuki really is a fool.  
So yeah...

Anyways, I love all your predictions of how Layuki's going to act xD  
Keep sending in the feedback, you wonderful people!  
Thanks for the reviews!!

**Disclaimer:** -insert witty disclaimer here-

* * *

Layuki wasn't exactly sure what she had expected to come across when she'd heard the racket, but it certainly wasn't this.

In front of her very eyes, there appeared to be two Hyuuga Neji's fighting each other. _Two_! One Neji pissed her off quite a bit, and at the appearance of a second one, she nearly forgot about her plan to go and rescue Gaara.

"Could you possibly stop gawking and make yourself useful, Fuyaku?" One of the Neji's said as he dodged a punch that the other one had sent at him. Oh she really hated that guy, and for no specific reason either. He was just one of those people.

She smirked. "Sorry Hyuuga. I'm tight on time right now. See you, please try to die." She waved cheerily and continued her running, hearing him mutter some kind of curse at her before sending another attack at his clone. She hoped they would kill each other.

As she ran through the forest, trying to avoid hitting any branches, Layuki couldn't help but think about the possibility that Gaara might already be dead. If you looked at it outright, three days could qualify as quite a long time.

But before Layuki could think too much more, she was caught completely off guard when something orange landed on her.

"Aughmff." Was the sound that came out of her mouth as she began to fall face first into the river that she was just about to run onto. She was about to fall in when the person who fell on her held her up.

"Layuki-chan? What are you doing here?" She turned to see Naruto looking quizzically at her. She was about to greet him when she noticed something; the blonde's face wore a mask of pure serious-ness, something that didn't suit him at all.

"Naruto-kun?" She said, confusedly, convinced she was seeing things. "Long time no see, buddy. What are _you_ doing here? I thought you'd run off to train with that Sannin dude."

Before he could answer, however, something else grabbed her arm and pulled her up into the sky. Swearing loudly, she was swung and landed on something soft and white.

"You baka. Why didn't you just stay somewhere safe, yeah?" Deidara muttered, as they flew higher up. Below them, Naruto and Kakashi – who appeared out of seemingly nowhere – chased after. "Hang on, yeah."

"Hang on to what? There's no grip on this thing!" Just as she said that, the clay bird swerved in mid-air. Layuki felt herself slide sideways and she grabbed onto Deidara's cloak just before she fell off. "Shit! What the hell are you doing?"

Deidara sighed in frustration. "In case you haven't realised, yeah, we're being pursued. So I'm doing what any sensible outnumbered criminal would do, yeah, I'm running away, yeah."

"Uhm actually," Layuki started, still grabbing on tightly to his cloak so she wouldn't fall. At an extremely high speed and height, tumbling off would be a bit of a pain. "_We're_ technically not being pursued; _you_ are. I'm just along for the ride apparently. And _technically_, you're not running away, you're flying away. You know, being on a giant clay bird and all…"

"Could you just shut up, yeah? I'm trying to think." He growled.

Layuki frowned and poked him in the back. "No, as a matter of fact, I can't shut up. Hey, by the way, what'd you do with Gaara?"

Silence. Then, "Ah."

The next poke was considerably harder. "What do you mean 'ah'? Is 'ah' supposed to mean something?" The grim look on his face answered everything, but Layuki didn't have time to do anything.

Her hand, which was gripping Deidara's cloak tightly, retreated as she let out a cry of surprise.

Deidara's body appeared to be vaporizing. He had suddenly become blurry, as if she were seeing him through an unfocused glass. A black hole-like thing had appeared in his arm, and it seemed to be sucking the rest of him into it.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Layuki yelled over the side of the bird. "Stop it! Please, stop!"

And then Deidara's arm exploded, and everything seemed back to normal, minus the bleeding limb. She gave a sigh of relief and reached out hesitantly to his arm, but she stopped herself as he went blurry again.

This time though, she could feel her own head to dizzy. It stopped though, as Deidara leaped away from the bird very fast.

Naruto suddenly appeared by her side, cutting off the bird's head in his process. He made three shadow clones, which grabbed the head of the bird and landed it safely in the trees. The original grabbed Layuki by the waist and took her with him to another tree where Kakashi was sitting.

"What the hell are you doing, Layuki?!" The part of her mind that was listening to him vaguely took in that he had dropped the 'chan', "He's an Akatsuki! He killed Gaara! Why were you with him?"

That caught her attention. "Killed? As in Gaara's dead?" When no one answered, she swore loudly and made to move to the tree where the other three Naruto's were, assuming that Gaara was there too. Kakashi grabbed her before she could do anything. His grip was weak though, having used much of his energy for the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"I'm sorry, Layuki. But I'm afraid I can't let you do anything. You're disappearance caused the Hokage to pronounce you a missing-nin. Therefore, you're privileges of a Shinobi of Konohagakure have momentarily been suspended. Allowing you to do anything, _anything_, right now would be a violation of rules on my part." Kakashi said grimly, tightening his grip on her. "I wouldn't like to hurt you, so please, do as you're told."

"I will not!" She growled, "I've been doing as I've been told for too long now. I'm tired of watching everyone fight, and not doing anything. I'm sick of always being the one that has to be saved. I'm _no_ damsel in distress, thank you very much!"

Kakashi sighed. "I'm sorry – "

"I don't give a damn if you're sorry or not!" Layuki yelled, resisting the urge to slap the jounin. "If I'm in trouble with Tsunade-sama already, then what more can disobeying _you_ do? Who are you to tell me what to do? I know Deidara better than either of you and he's – " _Shit_! Layuki mentally slapped herself. She wasn't supposed to be on a first-name basis with the enemy. She wasn't supposed to be on _any_ basis with them.

The hand on her arm fell back. "Go. It's your own future you're ruining. I hear you're already banned from one of the great shinobi villages…"

Ignoring him, Layuki sped towards the tree where Gaara was. With a quick apology, she pushed the Naruto clone – the one that wasn't currently beating up Deidara – to the side and yanked open the bird-head's mouth.

What she saw made her catch her breath.

With a shaking hand, she moved to touch Gaara's cheek. Even through the second skin of his sand barrier, his cheek was cold. His face too, looked extremely pale.

Could it only be three days ago that she had last seen him?

"Dammit Gaara, who said you were allowed to die?" She whispered quietly.

With the help of Naruto's kage-buunshin, she removed him from the confinement of the clay and gently set him onto the ground. Only then did she turn her head back to the fight. She half hoped it wasn't over; she really needed to punch someone. Anyone.

Deidara was nowhere to be seen, and Naruto seemed overly exhausted to have just been fighting for five minute's time.

Yet despite of obviousness of the matter, Layuki couldn't bring herself to blame Deidara.

Because if it were her mission to assassinate someone who was close to one of her friends (were she and Deidara even friends?), what would she have done? Being her, she would probably have followed through, no matter what. Besides, there was nothing more important to a shinobi than their duty.

She was snapped out of her daze when Sakura arrived, supporting an old woman. Layuki tilted her head to the side in thought, letting Gaara's body lean against her. So those two were presumably fighting Sasori.

Layuki was impressed, in the least, at the strength of the woman. Out of past experiences she knew Sakura wasn't exactly the best fighter – but she could have improved in the past two years – but for those two to have defeated Sasori of the sand, she was speechless.

And then she remembered. Where was Deidara anyways?

All the commotion of the new arrivals gave her the distraction she needed to sneak away stealthily. After almost no searching, she saw him crouching in the hedges.

"You're not very good at hiding, you know." She said quietly.

With more effort than should be necessary, he got up and looked at her. "I'd like to see you try with no arms, yeah."

"Oh. I forgot." Layuki took a step forwards. "Will you be okay?"

"To an extent, yeah." He sighed. Then he looked up at her and she noticed that his hair was moved aside, revealing what seemed to be a metal eyeglass. "Come closer for a sec, yeah."

Without thinking twice she took another step. Once she was close enough, she was bracingly caught off guard when his lips met hers.

Layuki closed her eyes blissfully, parting her lips slightly giving him full access.

Deidara responded.

It wasn't her first kiss – she had shared many in Kumogakure; she needed to have _some_ fun if she was going to live with guys for a couple years. It wasn't even her best kiss – some of the guys in the cloud really knew how to work their tongues. But for some reason – a reason _very_ unknown – she liked this one more than any other.

Then all too soon, Deidara ended it. Things took a sudden turn. Layuki hitched her breath when she was shoved harshly into a tree, his shoulder pressing her neck.

"I'm guessing we won't see each other any time soon, yeah. So just a little present, yeah." He whispered right beside her ear. "Now, act unconscious please, yeah."

For some reason, she did as he said. Layuki forced her body limp and closed her eyes. As soon as she did so someone, very familiar, said "Nicely done, Neji."

Deidara's weight on her disappeared, and she fell to the ground, still faking unconsciousness. A pair of hands caught her and held her still. It took all her will not to open her eyes to see who it was.

A lot of noise happened and she heard the person holding her swear.

And then everything went quiet.

As Kakashi explained what she did, the person holding her began to shake her. "I know you're awake."

She opened one eye to see Neji glaring down at her. Apparently, he was still alive. And then she saw his activated Byakugan. "Shit." This explained the 'Nicely done, Neji' earlier.

He smirked. "Shit is right. You have some explaining to do."

Layuki stood up and grabbed his collar, pulling him down to her height. "I don't. It's none of your business, and if you tell anyone, _anyone_," She tapped her head. "I'll know, because you're not the only one with a special bloodline. And if I find out, I'll kill you. You'll find I'm very good at framing deaths."

Neji didn't respond and Layuki let go, walking back to Gaara's body.

Why did her life suddenly have to take such a big turn?

* * *

**A/N:** ah, romance!  
But is it love, or lust?  
hmmmm

Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers are showered with wonderfullnessss!!  
**fanny-kun**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** God, this chapter is so short it disgusts me.  
But I felt it was a good place to end it...  
so yeah.  
But I'll update either tomorrow or the day after to make up for it (:

And my some of my reviewers seem to be missing.  
I hope they didn't get hit by a bus, that'd be sad ):  
But thanks to the two who DID review! Means alot :D

Enjoy the tenth installation!

**Disclaimer:** Layuki: I DO NOT OWN!  
fanny-kun: uhm...what are you doing here?  
Layuki: Saying the disclaimer, duh. Anyways, sup?  
fanny-kun: Ah...well continue on people, continue on...

* * *

"It's no good, he's gone?"

Layuki's head fell when she heard Sakura say the words next to her. Subconsciously, she took Gaara's hand, as if that would make him wake up.

It was disconcerting to see him just lying there, as if asleep. It was something she'd never thought she'd see in her lifetime, or any other.

Not even when Naruto started yelling did she take her eyes off of Gaara. Not even when she felt Neji's glare on the back of her head. Next to her, Sakura tilted her head, emerald eyes piercing into her. "It's okay to cry, you know. Ino told me that you liked him."

"Did she, now?" Layuki said, a small smile prying onto her face. "I give credit to her for being observant then." With a deep breath, she threw her head back and sighed, looking up at the sky. It seemed wrong that it was sunny and clear, that no one up there was mourning the death of the Kazekage. At a time like this, it should be raining, even in the desert.

"That's Ino-chan. But it looks like you want to cry, and it pains _me_ that you don't" Sakura said cautiously.

To her surprise, Layuki let out a small uncharacteristic giggle. "How does it pain you, Sakura? You have no idea how hard it is on me right now, and don't say you understand, because you don't." She looked at the rosette out of the corner of her eye. "Sasuke is still alive, and Gaara isn't. That's why I can't cry, Sakura. Because I promised myself that he's the only one that's allowed to see me cry. With Gaara gone…"

It looked like Sakura was about so say something but then the old woman leaned over Gaara's body, hands glowing.

"Chiyo-sama! That justu…!" Sakura seemed to have a pained look on his face. When Naruto asked, all she said was, "Chiyo-sama…is bringing Gaara back."

"She can do that?" Layuki said quietly, watching in awe. She squeezed Gaara's hand in hers. "That's amazing. Really amazing."

Just then, Chiyo seemed to be struggling. "Use my chakra." Naruto said.

As she opened her mouth to reply, Layuki pushed Naruto to the side. "No Chiyo-sama, please use my chakra. Please."

The old woman looked at her for a moment then nodded. "Put your hands on top of mind." Layuki did as she was told and once she touched the elder's hands the woman shivered. "Goodness child, your hands are cold."

Layuki smiled as a reply, and then immediately felt the effects of her chakra draining out of her. As she hitched her breath, Naruto put his hands on top of hers and the pressure downed a little. She nodded in thanks and looked at Gaara's face as Chiyo said some words to everyone else.

"Help Gaara out. Both of you." Layuki turned to face the old woman once she heard these words. But before she could do much as look at Chiyo, the woman was dead.

A miniscule feeling lurched in her stomach, but Layuki felt no remorse. Why would she? She had known the puppeteer for but a few minutes, yet in those few minutes, she had done Layuki a favour larger than any other.

She had brought Gaara back.

"Thank you, Chiyo-sama." Layuki whispered, just as she felt Gaara's hand squeeze hers.

Gaara sat up, and Layuki felt even more like crying than she did when he wasn't awake. As commotion started around them, she tuned everyone out – like she so often does – and placed her head on his shoulder. "Welcome back, Gaara."

She heard girls squealing, and before she knew it she was pushed aside roughly. Looking up, she saw a couple girls fawning over Gaara and Temari trying to make them shoo away.

Any other time, she would have made those girls go away one way or the other now. But right now, Layuki was tired, so she sat up and rested her elbows on her knees, listening to Kankorou's explanation of Chiyo's life-transfer jutsu, which sounded quite interesting.

Soon though, everyone was standing up and Layuki began to, as well, just because she felt left out. A hand reached to her, and she looked up and smiled, taking Gaara's hand. "Thanks."

"Your hands are cold." He said, letting go.

She chuckled. "Coming from the person who was just dead." She paused. "What's being dead like, Gaara? Is it painful?" She half expected him to ask her what pain was, like so many years ago.

"I don't remember." He said quietly, and then, completely turning away from Layuki, "Everyone, say a prayer for Chiyo."

They did, and soon, everyone began to scatter.

Before long, it was just her and the Kazekage, everyone having begun the journey back to the village.

Gaara began to turn back too, and Layuki followed like a little puppy dog. "Hey Gaara?" He gave no sign that he'd heard her. But none that he hadn't either. "Thanks."

"For what?"

She probably could have worded her answer better, but hey, she was Layuki.

"For not staying dead."

* * *

**A/N:** See, it's grossly short.  
But oh well.

Anyways, this is the last chapter following the manga line.  
Starting next chapter it'll be free for all again.  
she's not going to see Sasuke or anything...  
Just letting you know (:

Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get cookies!!  
**fanny-kun**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** The lack of Gaara saddens me.  
He dissappears after this chapter again ):  
BUT HE WILL BE BACK!  
Fo sho.  
Soon, there will be chapters on end about Gaara :D  
Now we return to the mysterious past of Deidara.  
(this where ya'll go 'oooh' and 'aaah')

Anyways, maybe I lied a little as to when I was going to update.  
only a little though (:  
This is still so much earlier than usual, and you know it.

Thanks to my awesome reviewers!!  
Enjoy chapter Eleven 8D

**Disclaimer:** I'm getting kinda tired of continuously stating 'I do not own'

* * *

"Gaara."

The redhead looked up from his paperwork to look at Layuki who had rested her chin on her hands and her elbows on his desk. She had a small frown on her face as she stared at him. "What?" He growled.

She smiled sweetly. "Nothing." Gaara looked back down at his paperwork, and a minute later she said, "Gaara-kun."

"What is it?" He said, not looking up this time.

"Nothing." she repeated, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. "Gaara…san…?"

With an agitated sigh, Gaara put his pen down and stared right at her. "_What_?"

"Nothing!" Layuki said defensively. "I'm just seeing which suffix goes best with your name. You're allowed to ignore me you know, Gaara-sama." She paused, tilting her head in thought. "You're weird, your name sounds kinda bad with _any_ suffix."

He shook his head a picked up his pen again. After a minute he added, "Gaara-dono doesn't sound too bad."

Layuki scoffed. "Ha. As if. 'Dono' is a suffix of utmost respect. The only people I'll call 'dono' aren't even human. Sorry Gaara, bad luck."

"Hm." He said, trying his best to tune her out.

And she was silent for a minute, even though he could still feel her staring intently at him.

"Hey Gaara," Layuki began, "I was wondering. What happened to the Shukaku? He's gone, isn't he? Because you're aura seemed different…does that make sense?" She paused for a bit, but not long enough for him to answer. "And you're mind is becoming less painful to read. Not that I'm prying or anything, just letting you know." She smiled sweetly.

Gaara put down his pen and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "He's gone."

"Is he? Then I'm confused. If your body isn't shared with a demon anymore, then how come it still hurts when I try to look into your head? It doesn't hurt as much as before, but it still feels like some kind of acid is being splashed into my eyes." Layuki said, blowing away the strand of hair, which had fallen back onto her face.

"Don't ask me about your kekkei genkai." Gaara said, picking up his pen once again.

She yawned and stretched, leaning back into her wooden chair, hearing her back crack comfortable. "Then tell me about your sand. Can you still control without the demon?"

"Yes." Gaara seemed to hesitate for a moment, not too certain whether or not he should tell her the rest. He eventually decided on doing so. "However, it no longer reacts out of my will."

Layuki's face broke into a grin. "_Really _now? So that means that I can do this," She leaned over and poked him hard in the forehead, "Without the sand stopping me. Well, I can certainly enjoy this."

Gaara sighed in frustration, and waved his hand. "You're annoying." A small flow of sand suddenly appeared and wrapped around Layuki's mouth, making it impossible for her to talk. She knitted her eyebrows together and glared at him as best she could with half her face covered in sand.

It had been nearly a week since Gaara's 'death'. And out of a whim of kindness – with much pleading and prodding on Layuki's part – he had sent a message to the Hokage stating that he would like the girl to stay in Sunagakure for the time being; something about testing her skills and blah, blah, blah.

In that week, there had rarely been a moment of daylight in which the young kunoichi had left the Kazekage's side. He didn't exactly mind her presence, but he felt a little time away from her would do some good to his mental health.

A half-hour later, Gaara had finished the day's paperwork and removed the sand from Layuki's mouth. She cracked her saw and rubbed it. "Would it kill you to loosen that up a bit? I swear that cut off my circulation."

"Obviously not enough if you can still talk." He replied grumpily and strode out of his office, not surprised that Layuki followed immediately behind. Once outside the Kazekage tower, they changed their course to the training grounds. "I haven't seen you training these past few days."

"Yeah, well." Layuki started, speed walking to keep up with his long strides. "I'm hoping if I slack off enough, I'll seem so weak that Tsunade-sama wouldn't have the heart to murder me."

The corners of Gaara's lips twitched. "That's too bad then. I have a mission for you."

"What?!" Layuki said, stopping. He walked a few more steps before he turned around to face her. "What do you mean, 'you have a mission for me'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"No." She said, beginning to walk again. "No, no, no, no, _no_. I'm not doing anything, _anything_, you understand me? I'm a shinobi from the Leaf, and you're not the Kage that I take orders from. I'm not doing a mission."

She turned around and Gaara tossed a cloth into her face. She took it and saw a hitai-ate with the Sand symbol on it. A scowl donned her face.

"Welcome to the Sand's shinobi." Gaara said, monotonously, walking past her. "Rules and guideline are the same as that of the Leaf. Follow me, I'll show you your squad for the mission."

Layuki tossed the headband to his back, which it hit then fell to the ground. "That's even more of a turn off. If I'm going on a mission – which I haven't agreed to – I'm not going with a squad. I'm not a people person."

"I can tell." He said, making another turn. The training grounds were now in sighed. "Don't worry. You're only in partners."

"What? Damn it Gaara, I don't know anyone in this village, unless your count your siblings – who I don't think like me very much, mind you. And I don't work well with anyone I don't know." When she didn't reply, Layuki's scowl deepened. "Hey! Don't ignore me when I'm – oh."

They had reached the training grounds, and three figures stood, well one actually sat, at the fence. When Temari saw her and she sent a glare her way and promptly looked away. The other girl, whom Layuki vaguely recognised from who knows how long back merely cast a bored glance towards her.

Shikamaru's reaction was the most predictable of all. He looked her way and then put hit head into her hands and mumbled something that sounded like "Troublesome."

Since she and Temari were obviously not on speaking terms, and Shikamaru looked rather 'troubled' Layuki opted to stand as far away from the two as possible.

"Layuki, this is Hashigiwa Kyoko. Hashigiwa, this is Fuyaku Layuki." Gaara said, boredom dreadfully clear in his voice. "You two," Layuki sighed in relief when she heard that she wasn't going with Temari "are the squad for this mission. Any objections?"

"Yes actually – " Layuki began.

"No? Good. Meet at my office in three hours. Make sure to know each other well, this will be a long mission." With a final glance at her, Gaara turned around and walked away. Layuki sighed. He was sure used to giving orders.

The four stood in awkward silence until Temari and Shikamaru stood up to leave together. Layuki threw a mocking smirk in their direction, which she was sure that Temari saw, and then she turned back to the new girl. "Hashigiwa-san right?"

"Call me Kyoko. I hate most suffixes, and unless you want to call me 'sama', then I suggest you don't use any." She looked Layuki up and down with her surprisingly green eyes, taking in the other girl's petite figure, short boyish hair, and nearly pupil-less eyes. "I see you're on a first name basis with Kazekage-sama." Layuki opened her mouth to speak, but Kyoko turned away. "What? Aren't you going to walk with me?"

Layuki clenched her teeth. She really didn't like this girl's attitude. She moved onto the grass and sat down. "Nah, I don't feel like it." She looked up to Kyoko just standing there and grinned. "What? Aren't you going to sit with me?"

Both girls were silent as they stared at each other, and Layuki took this opportunity to take in the other's appearance. Despite both being rather short – she grimly noticed that she was still shorter – they were very different in looks. Where her hair was short and black, Kyoko's fell to her waist in long, thick, honey-brown curls. Where her skin was rather pale, Kyoko's was bronze. Where her clothes battered, Kyoko wore a simple, clean, long-sleeved short kimono with leggings. Where she actually looked like she'd been through a lot, Kyoko looked like a pampered little girl who wouldn't know what a shinobi did for a living.

"Fine, I'll walk." Layuki said, beginning to stand up.

"Fine, I'll sit." Kyoko said, taking a step forwards.

They looked at each other, obviously thinking the same thing. Despite obvious differences in appearance, the two's attitude was rather similar. Layuki grinned and stood up. "Let's walk, shall we?"

"Layuki, is it okay if I call you that?" The brunette began.

"It's my name, isn't it?"

Kyoko smiled. "Could be. But it could be an alias too, who knows but you? Anyways, like before, you seem to be on a first name basis with Kazekage-sama…"

Layuki quirked an eyebrow. "Gaara? Yeah so? What, you jealous?"

"Ha! As if. But don't you find him…sort of intimidating?" She lowered her voice. "I even heard that he's a _monster_."

The way she said it made Layuki frown. Maybe they weren't as alike in personality as she'd thought. Though she did recall also being intimidated by Gaara when she'd first met him. "All shinobi are monsters in one way, aren't we? We brutally kill people we don't even know, only because we're getting paid for it. Doesn't that sound kind of monstrous to you?"

"Hm. I guess you're right…"

"Good guess. Maybe you've got some sense in you after all." Layuki looked around them. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you? I don't think I'm too familiar with this village."

Kyoko grinned, "Yeah, no worries."

The two girls spent the next two and a half hours just talking, poking into random shops and causing mischief. When it was time, they went to the Kazekage tower together.

"Come in." Gaara said, once they knocked on the door.

"Yo, Gaa-kun." Layuki strode in, frowning. "That sucks. Your name can do nicknames either."

He sighed. "It'll be nice to have some quiet when you're gone."

"You know you'll miss me. So anyways, what do you have for us?" She said and looked over at Kyoko, who seemed rather uncomfortable with their familiarity.

"It has been discovered that the Akatsuki," Layuki winced, she had really been hoping she wouldn't have anything to do with them. "Has a hideout near the border somewhere along the Fire and Lightning Countries. I want you two to find them, and nothing else. Hashigiwa is a jounin, so I trust you two will do fine."

Layuki sighed in relief. It sounded easy enough. "Will do, buddy. We'll be leaving now."

"That's not all. I want you to look for one specific member. The blonde bomb specialist." Gaara said slowly.

"Ah." Layuki gulped, she knew whom he meant. "You just want us to look for Deidara?" She mentally noted Kyoko's small reaction at Deidara's name. She would have to ask about that later. "No problem."

Somehow she knew Gaara's answer before he said it.

"I want you to kill him."

* * *

**A/N:** Uhm, OMG!  
what on EARTH is this cliffhanger doing here?  
like, why would someone be so evil as to put one in?

Sorry if Gaara's a little OOC.  
I always have trouble with him.

Anyways, I hope you're all suspense-ified :D  
Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get a one way flight to Suna to see the Kazekage ;)  
**fanny-kun**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** You guys have no idea how terrible sorry I am.  
it's been like, amost two weeks.  
I'm a horrible person, I know, my deepest apologies.  
I do have an excuse though! (however frail it might be)

It's getting close to summer, meaning exams, the end of the spring sports season, exams, banquets, exams, school assembly planning meetings, summatives, rich assessment tasks, AND exams!  
How horrible is that?  
plus my computer died for a couple days.  
SO not my fault.

Anyways, skipping by that.  
I really dislike this chapter.  
It's important yes, but I feel I have rushed it (greatly)  
But the girl introduced, I HAVE mentioned her before.  
Check chapter three, middle-ish if you're confused.  
This is slightly longer though (:

And my reviewers seem to have dissappeared again.  
-Sigh-

Thanks for those who reviewed,  
and thanks for tolerating my super long author's note.  
Enjoy number 12.

**Disclaimer:** nuh-uh.

* * *

"Stop right there, ladies. Hand over all your money and we won't break your pretty little necks."

Layuki glanced up from her conversation with Kyoko and stopped in her tracks. In front of them were four rogue ninja, presumably bandits. She smirked. "I wondered when you bastards were going to come out. If you guys want to try stealth, I suggest you learn how to, you know, be stealthy."

A vein popped in the closest man. He was heavyset, but would have a handsome face if it weren't for the mud. "Cocky, aren't you, little bitch? I like my meat like that."

"Disgusting." Kyoko snorted, shaking her head. Then to Layuki, "Should I take them, or do you want to?"

"Pleasure's all yours. I'm not in the mood." Layuki yawned and stretched as she sat down next to a conveniently places tree beside the path they were on. "Plus, I wanna see what you can do."

The four men laughed, sending sneering remarks their way. Kyoko took something out of her pouch, threw it, and did a hand sign. There was a blinding flash of light and within the minute, the men were unconscious on the ground, their clothes scorched.

From the tree, Layuki gaped at the scene for a moment, and then shut her mouth. She stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder again. The other girl was already several paces ahead and she jogged to catch up. "That was pretty sweet. Interested in telling me what you just did?"

"You could call it a type of gunpowder." Kyoko grinned and took out a small bottle to demonstrate. "It's a hell of a pain to make, you don't want to know the details. But with the right amount of chakra, it goes boom."

"Boom. Yeah, that's for sure." Layuki said, vaguely reminded of Deidara's explosives. Then she remembered she needed to ask Kyoko something. She'd ask later. "I knew someone who worked with explosions. They're really pretty."

"They are. I love the colour they make. It's like art."

With a feeling of déjà vu, Layuki said, "Really now? I've heard that somewhere before. It's quite an explosive art."

"Mmhm. Art is a bang."

Now where had she heard that before?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Four days after they left Sunagakure, and two after the bandit incident, the two girls could start to see the thick forest of the Fire Country slowly turning into the grassy fields of the Lightning Country, meaning that their destination was close.

Layuki sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Hey Kyoko, since we're here, do you wanna ditch the mission and say we did it anyways?" When she got no reply, she waved her hand in front of the other girl's face. "Hello…? Anyone home?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What did you say?" Kyoko replied, apparently coming out of her daze.

"Never mind, it was nothing." Layuki put her hand over her eyes and squinted. "Hey, I think I can see a village. Let's stop there and ask the people, you game?"

Kyoko nodded, and they stopped at a large rock, putting down their backpacks. Ten minutes later, they were dressed in kimono's – different from the one that Kyoko originally wore – their hair, in Kyoko's case, was down, and they began to walk to the gates, like normal un-shinobi travellers.

"Hey Layuki, can I ask you something?" She began quietly.

"You just did, genius. But I will allow you to ask me one other thing." Layuki replied, trying to pay attention and not trip over the hem of her long robes at the same time. "Jeez, how the hell do you walk in these? They're like freaking death traps."

Ignoring the last part, Kyoko said, "Can you keep a secret?"

Layuki paused for a moment to think. "That's a pretty general question. Are you asking if I'm able to keep a secret, or if I _will_?"

"Er, both?"

"Then yes. I can. And assuming that you're going to tell me a secret, think of this. I've known you for four days. I don't know your past, you don't know mine. We're not exactly friends yet, mere acquaintances." She paused to let her words sink in. "How many people are in on this secret?"

Kyoko grinned sheepishly, "Well, Layuki, I only want to tell you the secret because of something that you said earlier. And…well, if I tell you three people will know. I think." She said.

Layuki regarded the brunette wearily. "I don't want to know." She said, looking up to the sky. "Because, I'm assuming this secret is important – three people can only keep a secret if two of them are dead. (**1**)I'm not liking those odds, sorry."

The other girl giggled. "You make no sense."

She smiled. "I do in my head. You shouldn't trust people so easily."

Kyoko stopped laughing and adorned a serious look. "What if I tell you the secret is about Deidara?"

A heavy silence fell over them. "Well, see, that changes things." Layuki said, in an equally serious voice. She looked over in the direction of the village; it seemed further away to start with. Obviously, they weren't going to make it before this conversation ended. "If you want to tell me, then shoot. I'm all ears."

"My real name isn't Hashigiwa – well my surname is Hashigiwa, but anyways – my real name isn't Kyoko." She paused and looked at the other girl with piercing green eyes. "I'm Hashigiwa Aniki."

Layuki tilted her head. "What's that got to do with Deidara?" She looked directly into Kyoko's – Aniki's – eyes, and her mouth suddenly made a near perfect circle. "Oh."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Deidara-sempai! Deidara-sempai! Let's stop here!"

The blonde sighed and put his head in his hands. "Tobi we don't have time to stop, yeah. We still have to find your jinchuuriki, yeah."

Tobi frowned – well, Deidara assumed he frowned, but the orange mask allowed no facial expressions. "But Deidara-sempai," He whined, "we've been walking for _days_ and I'm tired. I don't wanna sleep outside again."

"Fine." He grunted. "We'll stop here. Only until tomorrow though, yeah."

After both putting on their straw hats, the duo walked into the quaint little town on the border of the Lightning and Fire Countries.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Right, so – " Layuki started.

"Anyways – " Aniki said at the same time. Both girls looked at each other and gave a crooked smile. "You first then."

Layuki nodded and tried to choose her words carefully, which she usually never did. "So you're Aniki, not Kyoko." When the other girl nodded, she put her head in her hands and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh Kami, this is problematic. I wondered why you looked familiar. Seriously though, I never wanted to meet you. Ever."

"You're so sweet." The brunette replied dryly. "It's still a mystery to me what he sees in you. You're just a little brat that can be found on any street."

Layuki scowled deeply. "Should you really be calling me a little brat? You're fifteen too, aren't you?"

Aniki furrowed her eyebrows. "What gave you that idea? I'm nineteen, the same age as Deidara."

The other girl's eyes widened. That was unexpected. "Well then. So I'm actually kinda surprised that you haven't, you know, attacked me or anything. Or are you still in the process of planning that?"

"Nah." Aniki smirked. "I don't care. Me and him are though."

"Really?" Layuki said quietly, "Because you're still the most important person to him. You should have seen the face when I was you."

"Excuse me?"

Layuki smiled weakly. "Oh right. The first time I met Deidara, I henge-ed into you. It's kinda a thing between my and my sister, we're sorta the types to make people feel bad about themselves. 'Cause if you had a special bloodline, you might as well use it, right?"

"Yeah, me and Deidara…we kind of have a history." Aniki started. "Well not really, but we were really good friends when we were your age."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_"Dei-kun?" A slightly younger Aniki called out. She stopped in front of a closed door and hesitantly opened it. She sighed when she saw Deidara. "What are you doing now?"_

_The blonde stopped halfway out the window and grinned back sheepishly at her. "I'm going out, yeah. Okaa-san took away my clay again."_

_Aniki sighed and leaned her thin body against the doorframe. Her hair was shorter – just past her shoulders – but it was still styled in honey-brown curls. The tan of her skin was only slightly lighter than the mahogany wood behind her, which made her green eyes even brighter and more catlike than normal. She still wore a fighting kimono, except now it was longer and a pale green rather than white._

_Fifteen-year-old Deidara looked virtually the same. Slightly shorter and minus the Akatsuki cloak and nail polish. His hair was shorter as well, but still in the same high ponytail. He wore a simple netted shirt and pants, both in a neutral bluish beige colour. Yet his Iwagakure hitai-ate hung slightly off his belt instead of on his forehead. _

_"You're going to get in trouble again." Aniki said, sighing. "You're mother is going to kick you out soon."_

_"That'll be an improvement, yeah. At least then I'll be able to make my art in peace, yeah." He said, stepping off the windowsill and back into his room. "What kind of mother is she, anyways?"_

_"She's better than having no mother at all." _

_Deidara looked over at the girl. "Sorry. I forgot, yeah."_

_Aniki rolled her eyes. "Like you so often do. Besides, where'll you go if you do get kicked out? Last time I checked you haven't heard from your father in years."_

_"I haven't, yeah. Though I wish I could contact him to figure out what good these things are for, yeah." He leaned against the wall and held up on of his hands, making the mouths open in a vicious grin. "Other than biting people's ears off, yeah." The girl giggled at the memory of their last mission. "And as to where I'll stay, yeah, I'll move in with you."_

_"Then I'd better make some space." Aniki said jokingly. "Because now that you're a chuunin, it won't be as easy to lie about your missions as before. Why don't you just tell her anyways?"_

_Deidara scoffed. "Cause she'll disown me for sure, that's why, yeah. You know okaa-san hates shinobi, yeah." He looked out the window six stories above ground, which overlooked the Village of the Rock. _

_Aniki tilted her head and walked over to him. She grabbed his arm and led him out. "Come on. I'll buy you some clay, my treat. Besides," She grinned. "You'll get in trouble it you steal anything else."_

_-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

_"Aniki!" _

_The sixteen-year-old girl looked up from her work on her exploding concoction at the sound of her name. Deidara had burst through her door and was breathing heavily. Taking off her work goggles, she said, "What is it now?"_

_"I found out, yeah. I found it out!"_

_"Found what out?" She was genuinely curious now. Deidara grinned and proudly showed her a clay model of a bird – much better than usual, even when they were usually nearly flawless. "Wow, how'd you do that?"_

_Still grinning, he held out his hand and showed her the mouths on them. "They're finally good for something, yeah. The kinda just eat the clay and spit it back out like that, yeah."_

_"Sweet. I bet you could make money out of that."_

_"I could, yeah." He grinned. "But that's not all I figured out, yeah."_

_Aniki tilted her head. "What else?"_

_Deidara grinned and re-swallowed the bird. Once the mouth spit it back out, he did a hand sign and said "Katsu." There was a large red flash and a wave of heat. Aniki had to practically throw herself in front of her gunpowder so it wouldn't get over heated and explode. _

_"Shit, Dei-kun, that's some fancy business." Aniki said, dusting herself off. _

_If possible, his grin widened. "Art is a bang, yeah."_

_-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

_"What do you mean you're going away?" Aniki said asked quietly. The two were eighteen now, and much had happened in the last two years. First of all, Deidara's mother had found out of him being a shinobi, it wasn't pretty. After a year or so, he disappeared for a while, and returned as a terrorist. Aniki on the other hand, was a jounin and a successful one at that. "You mean you'll be back, right?"_

_Deidara shook his head. "Nah. I'm joining the Akatsuki, yeah. There's no coming back from that." He grinned, but sadly. "Take care of yourself, yeah. I hope we'll see each other again, yeah."_

_"Yeah…" Aniki repeated with a weak smile. She stepped forwards to hug him. And then moved her face up for a kiss. Nothing unusual, they'd been together for nearly a year. "I'll see you. _

_"Look happier, won't you? It's not like the village will miss me, yeah." He said, patting the top of her head. _

_She snuggled up next to him. "No, but I will."_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"We saw each other again a couple times, two or three. The last time was almost a year ago, and I called it off then. And that's that." Aniki finished. She sighed. "Looks like we're finally here."

Once inside the village, Layuki said, "Then I guess that only leaves one course of business left uncovered."

"And what's that?" Aniki said, stretching her arms above her head.

Layuki smiled wryly. "To decide which one of us will have the honours to finish this mission."

* * *

**A/N:** (**1**)"Three people can only keep a secret if two of them are dead." That's actually a quote my Benjamin Franklin. I liked it, so I put it in (:

Anywayssssss  
I know, it's a twist.  
What happens now?  
And what about Gaara?  
OOooh the suspense!

Thanks for readingggggg!  
I will try to update soon!  
And the more reviews I get the sooner I will update!!  
Ciao,  
**fanny-kun**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I was thinking of updating on friday.  
You know, chapter thirteen on friday the thirteenth?  
But whatevs, I didnt feel like waiting (:

OMG guysssuhhh!  
have you seen the humidex?  
Monday was a 40 degrees celcius in the beginning of JUNE!  
What's happening to the worldd!! T-T

I actually kinda like this chapter, and I actually kinda think I have writers block.  
So until I come up with a good idea, gorge yourself in this chapter.

AND  
I'm utterly dissapointed. My reviewers are like, gone.  
Seriously! Where'd you all go?  
Well thanks to _Grim Goodbye_ for reviewing :D

And enjoy chapter thirteen!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own.

* * *

Layuki swirled her glass around a little bit, watching the clear liquid swish back and forth. Then she poured it into her mouth and smacked her lips, savouring the taste of the saké on her tongue. She loved the taste of alcohol, but – due to the fact that she'd been in an intense academy for the past few years – this was her first time drinking any in quite a while.

"More please." She said to the bartender. He gave her a suspicious look, but have her another glass anyways. Layuki grinned. Sure she might be underage just a _little_ bit, but life's more fun without following the rules. Bedsides, she had a fake ID, so it was all good.

Aniki and her had split up, to try and gather more information. Layuki tried, she honestly really did, but she got tired and stopped at the local bar.

Wanting to feel useful, she called out to the barman. "Hey, mind if I ask you a few questions? I'm part of a recon team." Well, it wasn't too much of a lie at least.

"Sure kid, shoot. I'll answer what I can." The man said sounding rather bored.

"Have there been any individuals wearing black cloaks with red clouds and straw hats on been seen around lately?" She said casually, taking another sip of her drink. It was her fifth glass and she was beginning to feel a little more than a little unfocused. Screw low alcohol tolerance. "Or have any odd crimes been reported lately?"

"Well, not that I know – ugh." Before the man could finish, he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Layuki peered over the counter at him and began to giggle. Okay, so _maybe_ she was more than a little tipsy. "Oh my." She shook her head and covered her mouth, trying to stop laughing and start thinking straight.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for me, yeah, would you?"

The sudden familiar voice made her jump slightly. She grinned crookedly at Deidara. "Now what would give you that idea?"

Deidara grinned and shook his head. He wasn't wearing his cloak now; instead he was dressed plainly in a netted shirt and pants. When the girl got up and walked to the door, rather unsteadily, his eyes followed her as she flipped the sign on the door window around so now on the outside it said, 'Closed.' She closed the drapes on all windows so the room darkened and giggled as she slid down the wall. Now the only light in the room was coming from a flickering old light on the ceiling that looked like it would go out any minute.

"Had one too many drinks, yeah?" He asked, smirking as he walked over to her. He kneeled down in front of her. "Your face is all red, yeah."

She put a finger to her lips. "Shut up, I'm trying to think of a way to escape from you without you knowing. So sush, I'm trying to think." She stood up and made to push him aside; when he didn't budge she ended up tripping over her own two feet. "Haha. Oops."

"Did you grow, yeah? You seem taller." Deidara said, holding on to her shoulders so she wouldn't topple over.

"It just looks like that because I'm trying to make myself average height by stepping on my tippy-toes." Layuki grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck and hoisted her feet off the floor so she was dangling around him. "Though I feel much taller like this."

Deidara put both hands on her waist to support them, and closed the spot between her body and the wall. He pressed his body to hers so she was trapped, not that she was sober enough to care. He lifted her up slightly so that her face was level, if not a little higher, than his. Grinning he said, "How tall do you feel now, yeah?"

Layuki wrapped her legs around him and smiled seductively. "Very."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Aniki sighed as she leaned against a wall in the middle of the village. The small town was bigger than she'd thought, and trying to find someone who could possibly know about the Akatsuki was more difficult than she'd imagined.

Finishing her short rest, she made to go to the building nearest her, only to find that the sign said 'Closed' and all the drapes were pulled shut. Something told her that there was no one there, so she continued her expedition.

Many shops and questions later, Aniki returned to her wall and ran a hand through her long hair, sighing again. She gave up and began to walk back to the inn, when she caught her foot on something and began to trip. Before she hit the ground though, someone caught her.

"You okay, miss?"

She looked up to see a young man – well she guessed he was young based on his voice and his build – wearing an orange mask. He wore a simple black outfit, and due to the amount of weapons he carried Aniki presumed he was a shinobi. Unless he was just a normal person who enjoyed carrying around weapons. That could be it too.

"Yeah thanks." She looked him up and down. If he was a shinobi, then… "Do you know anything about the Akatsuki, by any chance? I need information for a recon mission." Whaddya know, great minds think alike.

The stranger tilted his head to the side and it began to irritate Aniki that she couldn't see his expression. "My name's Tobi, miss."

"That's nice." Aniki said impatiently. "But I'm asking about the Akatsuki."

"Will miss walk with Tobi?" He said, holding an arm out. She hesitated to take it, having seen a glint of an eye through the hole in his mask. It wasn't a pretty glint. "Tobi can tell you about the Akatsuki."

That decided things. Aniki grabbed his arm and walked along pace with Tobi. "So what can you tell me?"

He looked down at her, and another glint could be seen through an eyehole in the mask. "Tobi is in the Akatsuki, miss."

Aniki stopped dead in her tracks. This person's playful tone had changed into a somewhat malicious one in a mere sentence. She didn't think he was joking.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki grabbed Deidara's face and collided her mouth to his, allowing his tongue in as she ran her hands through his long hair, untying the ponytail. Deidara groaned quietly as he pushed her harder against the wall with his own body, kissing her harder while running his hands up and down her sides.

After a moment they came up for air. Layuki readjusted so she was more comfortable and then dove in for another kiss.

His hands pulled the kimono she was wearing so it came off her shoulders slightly, revealing the thin tank top she wore underneath, then he began trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone.

"You're amazing, yeah." He breathed.

Biting her lip, Layuki kept quiet, not quite trusting herself to speak. Just as she closed her eyes, a loud bang made her re-open them again. Two of the side doors in the bar swung open, revealing two people. She felt the pressure of Deidara's body come off of her and she slid back to her regular height.

"Shit." The four people said at once.

Layuki was the first to speak. After a small glance in the direction of the man wearing an orange mask, she eyed Aniki directly. "I can explain Aniki. I really can. It's not what it looked like."

"Really?" Aniki smirked and leaned against the doorframe. Her catlike eyes darted between the young girl and her old acquaintance. "Because it looked like you were just about to stab Dei-kun with that kunai you have there."

"Oh." Layuki said, not daring to look at the blonde man beside her. "Then yes, it was exactly what it looked like."

Deidara began to laugh. "What are you talking about, yeah? So you really weren't drunk?" then he looked to Aniki. "It's been a while, yeah."

"Oh sure, trust _you _to laugh when you were that close to dying." Aniki said, rolling her eyes.

Grinning, Deidara approached Layuki and took a hold of her chin, pulling her face upwards. "Someone like you, yeah, wouldn't have the guts to do it. I know that much at least, yeah."

"Well good for you." She said pulling away angrily. She walked out of the bar passed Aniki who didn't even look at her.

Just as she was outside the building she heard Deidara say, "So, Aniki…"

With a deep breath she started walking back up to the hotel, she willed herself not to do anything rash.

Once back into the room, Layuki took out her kunai and held it to her arm. It's been a habit for years now; cutting herself would make her feel better whenever she did something stupid. But now, her hands started to shake so much she couldn't get the metal to her skin.

_You're wasting your life, yeah. Just stop._

"Fuck you Deidara." She said sighing and walking out to the balcony. Hanging over the railing, she considered what it would feel like free-falling the ten stories to the ground. With a small smile, she said to herself, "Nah. Not a good idea, Gaara's not here to catch me."

Below her, a mother was taking a walk with a young boy who kept saying things like. "Mommy, what will we do tomorrow?"

At times like this, Layuki did kind of wish she had a mother to talk to. She wished she had someone motherly, someone caring and understanding and someone that she could just spill out her problems to.

But her mother was dead, and she was the one who brought her mother to the other world – which was the reason her father never looked directly at her without any scorn, not even once in her life.

Layuki wished her mother, Fuyaku Nataki, was still here this day to help her figure out her problems, and her feelings.

She was quite certain that all she felt for Deidara was lust and nothing more. But why wasn't she willing to kill him for Gaara, whom she swore that she loved?

Breathing deeply, Layuki laid her forehead on the cool railing. She was very careful not to let even a singly tear form.

"Okaa-san," She said quietly, her voice cracking, "What do I do?"

* * *

**A/N: **Ohh and now starts the angst.  
I think, I havent really planned that far yet.

What to do, what to do?  
Wait and see y'all ;)

Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get to borrow my Gaara-kun (:  
You must give it back though.  
**fanny-kun**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** So, it's a short chapter.  
I do sincerely apologise.  
Very sincerely.

Well, I'm kind of in the middle of exams right now (:  
So finding time is kinda tricky.  
I'll try to get another chapter up by next week :D

And I'm happier about my reviews!  
Thanks a mill to my amazing reviewers!  
Enjoy chapter fourteen!

**Disclaimer:** would I be writing this if I owned?

* * *

"What are you doing?"

By now, Layuki was already halfway out the window. She stopped to see Aniki standing staring at her with her hands on her hips. In the back of the mind, she wondered what the older girl did when she was alone with Deidara.

Layuki sighed and said, "I'm running away. What's it look like?"

Aniki tilted her head. "What are you running away from?"

"Life." Layuki responded, with no hesitation.

"To where?"

She smiled sadly. "That's a good question."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The door to the Kazekage's study burst open and Layuki invited herself inside. Gaara merely glanced at her before returning to his paperwork.

"You're back early." He said after finishing his sheet several moments later. He looked up at her with his insomniac eyes. "Where is Hashigiwa?"

"Off being an over achiever." Layuki answered in a heartbeat. She smiled and threw a scroll onto his desk. "Here is your mission report. It was a failure. Deidara is still alive and the Akatsuki lair remains hidden unless Hashigiwa found something. Is there anything else you would like, Gaara?"

The redhead didn't reply at first, but continued to stare at Layuki who had seated herself in a chair and was doing her best to avoid his gaze.

"What is your relationship with that shinobi?"

Now she looked in his direction, but not at him. Her eyes hovered at a spot somewhere about his right shoulder. "What shinobi? I know a lot of people Gaara, you can't expect me to remember every face I see."

"You're on a first name basis with the bomb-specialist. Deidara."

Layuki rolled her eyes. Still not looking at him. "Because he doesn't have a last name, obviously." She paused, twirling a short strand of her hair – which had grown quite a bit since she returned from the Cloud – in her fingers. "I'm on a first name basis with you too, aren't I? You can't exactly call that normal."

"Don't avoid my question, Layuki." Gaara said, emotionlessly.

Maybe it was the use of her name that made Layuki look at her feet in shame. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "The relationship between Deidara and I is nothing more than the relationship between a predator and it's prey. He is my hunt. I feel nothing more than indifference towards him."

"Predator and prey?" A taunting voice said. Both people turned to see Kankorou swagger into the room. He grinned at her. "Why don't you look at my brother and say that with a straight face? Because by the way you make it sound, Layuki, the lion has fallen in love with the lamb."

"What do you want Kankorou?" Gaara said, keeping a steady voice. Layuki wondered how, because she was currently clenching her teen and holding onto the edge of the chair so hard that her knuckles were white.

The puppeteer grinned. "Nothing little bro. Just letting you know that the chuunin team you sent out yesterday are back. Three are resting and one's in the hospital with a fractured wrist."

"Thank you. You may leave now."

"Nah." Kankorou grinned. "I'd rather stay here and listen to you two talk."

"That wasn't a request, Kankorou. It was a command."

Now, even Kankorou knows when enough was enough. He shrugged and walked out the door. "Alright. Have fun you kids."

Gaara sighed. He looked back at Layuki and his eyes widened a little in surprise.

She was sitting here, with her head down on his desk and cluching her hair at the same time, as if trying to pull the hairs out of her head. She seemed to be breathing heavily.

_The lion has fallen in love with the lamb. _

_The lion has fallen in love with the lamb. _

_The lion has fallen in love with the lamb. _

_The lion has fallen in love with the lamb._

"No." Layuki started, she'd been telling herself the same thing for days now. "It's not true. It's not true. It's not true."

And she kept repeating that to herself.

"Layuki…" Gaara began. It was the first time that day that his voice did not sound monotone.

"It's not true."

He sighed and walked around his desk to stand beside Layuki and bending over to his face was level with hers. She looked so small. "Layuki…"

"It's not true!"

"Layuki, listen to me!" he said, finally getting frustrated.

She was silent. Then quietly, "Please Gaara, it's not true. He's nothing. _Nothing_. Compared to you…I don't know what to do."

Then for the first time, she looked at him. Gaara was surprised to see that her usually unreadable eyes now showed everything: confusion, sadness…and lust.

But Gaara didn't know what love was, much less lust.

"I'm sorry Gaara. I have to know."

Before he had a chance to ponder what she was going to say, Layuki had grabbed the back of his head and pulled his face to hers.

For the first moment, he kissed back. But then he felt her tears falling on his skin.

"No." He said against her lips, using his sand to push her away. Then he walked out the room, his sand trailing behind.

Layuki watched him go and licked her lips. That kiss had meant to much more than either of Deidara's.

When the door closed, she felt her heart break.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Shikamaru sighed as he heard the knock on his door. Assuming it was Temari again, he opened the door. "Look Tem – "

It was then that he realised that the girl on the outside of his guest room in Sunagakure was indeed _not_ Temari. Instead it was someone that he wasn't expecting to see again in his life. He stared for a moment and moved away to let her in without a word.

Aniki grinned. "Nice to see you too, Shika-chan."

* * *

**A/N:** -sniff- I smell a cliffie.  
How does Shikamaru know Aniki?  
Hm, who knows?

Me thinks the drama begins now ;)

Your comments and omgs and complaints are greatly wealcomed :D  
Reviewers get a Gaara wind-up toy with real floating sand!  
Thanks for reading!  
**fanny-kun**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:**Heyyy guys!  
I've had a realllllllyyyy kinda not-so-major-but-still-there writer's block.  
And I've been busy.  
SO there's my excuse for ya :D

Anyways. I think I've decided on the pairings (officially)  
And I think I'm going to add a little KibaHinaNaru fluff on the side just for the sake of it.  
And because I like that triangle (:

Oh and it's Canada day!  
Happy Birthday to our favourite (and only) country with a maple leaf on it's flag!  
woohoo.

Well let me blabber on no more.  
Thanks soooo much to my amazing reviewers!  
Enjoy chapter quinze!

**Disclaimer:** I think the fact that this is a fanfiction speaks for itself.

* * *

"Shikamaru," Layuki called out heading towards the door that a maid told her belonged to her friend. "I didn't know you were here. Let's go home now, I'm sick of the desert." She stopped in front of his door and opened it. Upon seeing the scene inside, she raised an eyebrow. "What's this? You two know each other?"

Aniki lay with her arms behind her head on the bed while the leaf's genius shinobi leaned casually against the corner. Layuki noted that her friend seemed to be standing as far away from the other girl as the small room would allow, coincidentally or not.

"Hey Layuki! Me and Shika-chan were just catching up a bit." Aniki said, grinning while propping herself up on the bed.

Layuki tilted her head. She hadn't heard any talking when she was outside the room. Confused, she looked at Shikamaru who sighed.

"This is troublesome. There's no need for an introduction since you two already know each other. Layuki, Aniki – or Kyoko. Whichever you want to call her – is…well I guess you would call her my cousin." He said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Layuki opened her mouth and gaped.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hey bro. How's it going?" Kankorou said while lounging on his chair has he polished up his puppets. Gaara had just walked into their living room. "Where's your little girlfriend, huh?"

"Shut up, Kankorou." Gaara growled, sitting down in a free chair and waving away a maid that had come to ask him if he needed anything.

"Whoa, what happened? Did she dump you?"

Even though he knew it was a joke, the redhead's eyes narrowed. "I told you to shut up."

Kankorou smiled – yes smiled, and not smirked – and paused in his polishing process. "Don't worry man, I was just playing. But seriously though, are you okay. You seem kinda…down. Even for you."

Gaara did not reply; he was focused on his thoughts. He and his siblings weren't _close_ per say, but he did know that he could rely on them. Though on Kankorou and for advice, he wasn't too sure. Then again, his older brother _has_ brought many a girlfriend home over the past years. Maybe the puppeteer wasn't too bad of a source for information.

The Kazekage opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. This was his _brother_ he was thinking about. And his brother was, well, his brother.

"Kankorou," Gaara started, "I have this feeling." Kankorou's face made some sort of a cringe.

"Oh no. I thought those feelings were over. You're not going to go on a murderous rampage again…are you?"

Gaara didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. He compromised by pursing his lips. The very same lips that…no. He would not think about that. "No. I don't know how to describe this feeling. It's like," He paused to find the right words. "When someone has something you…want. And need."

His brother's mouth formed a rather comical 'O'. Then the puppeteer grinned. "I get it now. You're jealous, aren't you? Of that guy that little brat is smitten with, right?" When Gaara didn't answer, he grinned. "Aw, it looks like my little brother is finally growing up."

Ignoring his brother, the redhead looked out the window. The sun was beginning to set. "Do you think…there's anything I can do?" He asked.

"Well I'm a little biased, I guess. I really don't like that kid." Kankorou said, leaning back in his chair. "But I can tell that she really likes you. Chicks like that…they just need some time."

Gaara smiled. "I have to go now."

"Kay. See you later bro." Kankorou said, returning to the process of polishing his puppets.

The Kazekage made his way to the door. Then he stopped. "Kankorou…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Cousin!?" Layuki repeated, still shocked. "You two are _cousins_?"

Shikamaru sighed. "You're giving me a headache already, troublesome. Yes, we're cousins. I believe I said that already."

"But you two can't be cousins!" She sputtered, through her surprise she barely managed to make coherent words.

"Oh? Why not Layuki?" Aniki said, grinning as if the scene was amusing her greatly, which, it probably was. "Because I never told you? Because _Shika-chan_ never told you?"

Layuki very nearly blushed. The reason she thought they couldn't be related in any way was a very narrow minded answer. And she wasn't about to embarrass herself saying it. Instead, she settled on something that would blame Aniki who was really pissing her off these past few days. "He doesn't like to be called Shika-chan."

"I know. That's why I call him that."

The said boy sighed, again. "He can hear you."

"Shut up Shikamaru." The two girls said together, then they turned back to their glaring contest.

Layuki was the first to look away. "Cousins…" She muttered under her breath. "They're cousins."

"Why is that so hard to believe, dear?" Aniki asked, still grinning.

Her temper flared. "I'm _dreadfully_ sorry if this offends you, but look at you! You're…you're…"

"I'm…" The older girl prodded. This was amusing her more and more by the second.

"You're black!" Layuki finally said, trying to hold back the flush that she could feel coming on. "There I said it." she then took a deep breath. "Sorry, I just sounded really bratty and racist there. Sorry."

But Aniki on the other hand, wasn't offended at all. She burst out laughing. "Oh you're so naïve."

Layuki dug her nails into her palm so she could keep calm. "And you're laughing at me! I apologise and I get laughed at! _This_" She emphasized, "is why I hate being around people."

"Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have laughed." Aniki said, catching her breath. "My okaa-san is Shikamaru's aunt on his mother's side. My father's a part of the Hashigiwa clan from Iwagakure. Everyone in that clan has dark skin.

"So that's why I grew up in the Rock Village. Then I got transferred here to secure the alliance between Iwa and Suna. So that's my story." Aniki finished. Then she grinned, staring directly at Layuki. "So I've known Deidara for _years_ now. Maybe from before you were even born."

Layuki clenched her teeth. She didn't like the turn that this conversation was taking. "You're only four years older that me."

Aniki's grin looked more malicious. "Four years is a long time. Four years ago, I was the same age you are now whereas back then you barely knew anything about being a shinobi. You get me?"

Before she could stop herself Layuki pounced and grabbed Aniki's neck with her hands, having left her weapon's pouch in her room. She pinned the older girl against the wall. "I really hate you, you know that?"

"Temper, temper." She smirked.

Then Layuki suddenly felt a strong tug at her waist and was unexpectedly pulled away. Shikamaru then grabbed both her arms and held her back, even though she wasn't putting up any resistance.

"Layuki, you need to calm down." He whispered.

She was about to reply when the door opened and Temari walked into the room. The blonde frowned at the scene. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing at all." Layuki said, surprising Shikamaru when she got out of his grip without him noticing. "Everything's fine Temari, and even if it wasn't it's not any of your damn business.

"I'm going home Shikamaru. Tomorrow morning." Layuki said without turning to anyone when she talked, even though she could feel Temari's glare on her. The window in the room said that it was already dark. "It's for the better anyways. Obviously, everyone in the Sand hates me."

Actually, it was only the people she had gotten angry who hated her. But that was quite a few people.

In an angry huff, Layuki pushed her way out of Shikamaru's room and walked quite a far way down the hall to get into her own. Once she was there she went to her backpack, which was on the bed, and took out her nightclothes. She stripped off her current outfit and put on the tank and shorts. After making sure there was a good supply of weapons under the pillow – just in case – she threw herself onto the bed and attempted to sleep.

With no prevail.

Grumbling angrily, Layuki lifted her head to look at the digital clock. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet, no wonder she wasn't tired. She didn't usually sleep until two, and even then she woke up around six. Layuki never got too tired and she tried to sleep as little as possible – she hated feeling so vulnerable for that many hours.

Sighing, she turned on her back and mumbled several incoherent words that sounded like some sort of chant. After that, she seemed to calm down.

Turning on her side, Layuki hugged the pillow – grabbing a kunai hilt in the process – and went to sleep.

And it wasn't until around four hours later that her sleepiness started to drift awake, bringing her back to the world of the living. Fully awake now, Layuki was about to turn the lights on when she felt someone watching her.

She tightened her grip on the kunai knife and slowly turned around. Someone was sitting against the windowsill, and who it was surprised her so much that she fell off the bed with a yelp.

"Shit." She breathed, when she landed on some soft sand instead of on the hardwood ground. With aid from the material, Layuki clambered back on her bed. "Damn it Gaara. Don't just sit in my room like that, it's kind of creepy." She ran a hand through her hair and suddenly wondered if it was long enough now to tie back. She'd have to test that out sometime. "What are you doing?"

"You were talking in your sleep." Gaara replied after a moment.

Layuki scowled. "I've been told I tend to do that." She paused. "Did I say anything…weird?"

"All you said were weird things. None of them were actually words." He said as simply as if it were very common to drop in on people in the middle of the night.

"Hm." She put the knife down next to her and sat cross-legged. "Is there a reason you're here or do you enjoy watching people sleep." Then she thought for a moment. "Hey, why aren't you asleep? Now that the demon is out of you and all."

"I can sleep now. But I don't like to."

She tilted her head. "So you don't get tired or anything? Still and insomniac." He nodded. "Weird." She muttered.

There was a pause in which neither of them spoke, or had nothing to say. Yet the silence wasn't very comfortable, not like usual.

"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time. "About earlier."

Another pause and Layuki laughed, even Gaara let out a small smile. She walked up to the window and stood next to him. It was a full moon outside. "You know, sometimes I wonder if there's something out there. Like, if there really is a man on the moon. Or something."

"Who knows?" Gaara answered. Then he turned is aquamarine eyes to the girl, and soon met her nearly pupil-less grey ones.

The next thing, their lips met.

* * *

**A/N: **So I didn't like that ending (or the chapter even) all too much.  
But oh well, it's about time, ne?  
And then they're separated again. Oh the angst :D

Oh and I have a new fic :D  
It's a Harry Potter AU Draco x Ginny.  
I'm testing it out to see the reception, it'll be fun to write.  
So check that out if you please (:

Thanks to y'all for reading!  
Reviewers will get something. I'll figure it out  
Ciao!  
**fanny-kun**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** So I think it's about time you got some good length-ed chapters.  
And finally, here's one!  
God, you guys have no idea how bad I am at writing long chapters. I had to try really hard to make this chapter both kinda long and flowing.  
So voila!

Gaara's not in this chapter (unfortunately)  
but I will elaborate more on him later ;)  
Actually, both guys kinda dissappear from Layuki's lives for a while.  
Just to give her some time to herself :D

Oh, and there will be a possible update tomorrow or the day after.  
Because I'll be at my cottage with no computer and internet access for a week (:  
I'll make sure to leave you off with a cliffie :D

Anyways, thanks so much to my awesome reviewers!  
Enjoy chapter sixteen!

**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto has yet to give me the copyright, so I do not own.

* * *

Layuki breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw the gates to Konohagakure. She had just walked three days from the sand, and before that she'd walked four days and back to go to a random village by the Lightning Country. Needless to say, she was getting a tad tired of travelling so much.

It was Ino who was doing the gate keeping duty when she got there and the blonde greeted her enthusiastically at first. "It's been such a long time, Layuki! What, two months, three? Anyways, we need to catch up."

"No," Layuki groaned. "No catching up yet Ino. First I want to get something to eat then I need to talk to Hyuuga Neji. And there's no doubt that Tsunade-sama will want to yell at me about one thing or another. Besides, what's there to catch up on? There's nothing I need to tell you." The key word was 'need'. Ino didn't need to know what she'd been doing since the last time the two saw.

"Oh but Layuki I need to tell you something!" Ino seemed incapable of holding her excitement in. "Kaoru and I are going out!"

The black-haired kunoichi raised an eyebrow. Then she looked up and saw Kaoru at the top of the watchtower. So they were doing shifts together. "Weren't you two always going out?"

"Well yes, but it wasn't official until last month. It was unofficial before."

Not feeling in the mood for a lecture on relationships, Layuki didn't even bother to ask her the definitions of official and unofficial. "Wait, I thought you had a thing for Shikamaru?"

"Oh Layuki, so naïve." The shorter girl scowled at being called naïve twice by two different people in the same week. "That was _years_ ago."

"Right." She muttered. "Anyways Ino, I gotta run. We'll chat later." She began to turn away, then looked back at the blonde with a grin. "And don't you and Kaoru-kun do anything too naughty, because I'll know if you do." Grinning even wider, she tapped her right temple to say that she had a special kekkei genkai.

Walking towards the ramen stand, Layuki realised that it had been a while since she'd used her Hirukagan. She would have to get back to that soon.

At Ichiraku's, she was not the least bit surprised to see an orange clad figure already sitting in the booth slurping up some ramen. She sat down next to him. "Hey Naruto."

The blonde looked up at the sound of his name, ramen still falling out of his mouth, and semi-smiled when he saw Layuki. "Hi." Then he was silent for a moment.

"So," They both began at the same time.

"Sorry. You first." Layuki said.

Naruto nodded. "Right. Layuki-chan, I was wondering about that time you were with the Akatsuki – "

"Naruto! There you are!" Sakura interrupted, holding up the curtain with one hand. "I found him, Sai! I found him!"

At this, Layuki gratefully noted that her conversation with Naruto had seemingly ended. Despite her grumbling stomach she slipped out of the booth unnoticed so no more questions would be asked.

Walking down the village streets Layuki raised a hand to her hitai-ate, tracing the leaf symbol with her finger. Then she realised that it wasn't the leaf symbol she was tracing. Confusedly, she took the headband off and looked at the hourglass on it. She was wearing the forehead protector Gaara had given her. Sighing, she placed that in her pouch and took out the proper one that she should be wearing. Before putting it around her forehead, she hesitated and wrapped it around her neck. It felt most comfortable there.

Not really watching where she was going, Layuki pulled her hair back to see if it was long enough to be tied. It wasn't, but it was long enough to be tied into two pigtails. She took out a long piece of string from her pocket and bit it in half. Then she tied up her hair and brushed her bangs to the side.

She scowled when she caught a glance of herself in a window. She looked like a little kid. But it was different, so she kept it in.

After all that not paying attention, Layuki found herself in front of the Hokage tower. She hesitated, not really wanting to feel the wrath of Tsunade this soon, but it would happen eventually so she gathered all her courage and made her way towards the woman's office.

Funny how she was fine with living with S-ranked criminals, but got the shivers at the mere prospect of seeing the Hokage.

"Come in." A voice said, when she knocked on the door.

With a deep breath, she poked her head in. "Hi."

"I've been waiting for you." Tsunade said, putting down her pen. "Close the door and come have a seat. We need to talk."

"That's what I was afraid of." Layuki muttered, sitting in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk. "Listen Tsunade-sama, I can explain everything." Then she thought for a moment. "Actually, no, I really can't. But you have to trust me that I would never betray the village. I wouldn't even dream of it."

Tsunade looked at the young kunoichi for a moment. "I know."

"But you don't understand!" Layuki protested. Then she closed her mouth. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I know you wouldn't betray the Leaf."

Layuki blinked a couple times to make sure she heard right. "Oh. Then that makes things a lot easier on me, I guess." She laughed uneasily. "You sure know how to give a person the frights, Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage smiled in a thin line. "Don't let that make you think you're getting away scotch free." Layuki groaned. "I am to understand that you were in the hands of the Akatsuki for some time, correct?"

"Correct." She said through clenched teeth.

"Right. Then I want you to write up a report, by tomorrow, for me about each member in the organisation you came in contact with. Also, I want you to explain as much as you can about the goals the Akatsuki has.

"On a separate scroll, I want to know exactly what happened to you while you stayed there. Understand?" Tsunade finished.

Layuki nodded grimly. "Write about Akatsuki members, goals, and what happened to me. Gotcha." She began to run a hand through her hair, and then remembered that it was tied up. She would need to get over that habit. "Is that all, Tsunade-sama?"

"For now." The Hokage replied. "I will have something else for you tomorrow when you return with the scrolls. Think of that as your punishment for disappearing for so long. You'll really hate what I give you."

Layuki scowled. "I'm so excited." She said sarcastically. But she wasn't worried, nothing the Hokage would give her could be worse than what had happened to her in the past two months. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."

With a mock salute, the young girl turned and departed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Layuki stopped in front of the large doors leading to the Hyuuga clan compound. She'd only been here once before – years ago with Hinata. Some how back then, the gates had seemed less…menacing.

Or maybe it was just because she just really didn't want to go in. That could also be a possible reason.

Just as she was about to push the doors open, someone called her name. "Hey Layuki! Long time no see."

She spun around to see Kiba and let out a small smile. The last time she saw him his team had walking in on her in a hot spring and Akamaru had attacked her. "Hey Kiba." She said, assuming Kiba was going into the compound as well and she was relieved that she wouldn't be by herself. Then she noticed the absence of his large companion. "Where's Akamaru?"

"I left him with Shino and Kurenai-sensei to train. I'm here to get Hinata." He said grinning. Layuki couldn't help but notice that he'd grown quite a bit better looking since they were kids. He dressed better too, having ditched the Eskimo hood. She also couldn't help but feel the slight jealousy she felt when he talked about his teammates, the ones he's been with for years. Her team was…well, not a team anymore.

"Well you're here to pick up Hinata-chan." She stepped to the side and presented the door to him. "After you, good sir."

Kiba looked confused. "Wait, then why are you here?"

"To murder Neji." She mumbled. Then she winked at him. "But don't tell anyone please, I don't want to turn into a rogue nin."

He chuckled "Glad to see you're the same as always." He stepped forwards to knock on the door and Layuki scowled at just how much taller he was than her.

The door opened slightly to reveal a child no older than eight years standing at the door. He puffed out his chest, glaring at the two with pale eyes. "What business do you two have here?"

The way the boy spoke – as if he were a high authority figure – made Layuki smirk. She wasn't a big fan of kids.

"Shiro! What do you think you are doing, boy? Let our guests in, if you please." An older, wiser voice spoke. Grudgingly the boy stepped aside to let the door open. Layuki's eyes widened at the compound; it was so lively, and nearly everyone had the same dark hair and white eyes. The Hyuuga clan symbol was everywhere.

An old man holding a wooden cane came to the door and Layuki made a surprised sound when Kiba forced her head down into a sort of small bow. "Good morning, Hyuuga-sama."

"Ah, Kiba-kun. Hello. And who might this be?" He said, staring at Layuki. She recoiled slightly, but no one seemed to notice. Those pupil-less eyes on an aging old man looked quite disconcerting.

"Ohayou. I'm Fuyaku Layuki." She said, getting the point that this man was important. Then she added. "I'm here to see Hyuuga Neji."

He nodded, a slight frown on his face. To Kiba, he said "And I'm sure you're here for Hinata. Well come in, come in. Do show her to Neji, will you, Kiba-kun?"

"Yes sir." Kiba said, and pulled on Layuki's arm. When they were out of hearing distance he whispered to her. "Stay close to me. Hyuuga's don't tend to like strangers, especially those from other clans."

She mumbled something inaudible, which sounded something like 'arrogant bastards'.

They came up to a rather large house that told her where the main branch members lived. Hinata came running out of the building.

"Ah, Kiba-kun! I'm s-sorry you had to come g-get me. I was running a little l-late. Gomen." She bowed her head.

"Hinata-chan, I really don't think Kiba's someone you should bow your head to. It'll enlarge his already inflated ego." Layuki said. And then at that moment, she spotted Neji training out of the corner of her eye. She then looked up at Kiba and found that he was blushing slightly. She grinned. "How cute, you have a crush on Hinata-chan. Make sure not to tell her that you like kissing guys."

Next thing she knew Kiba had her in a headlock and was grinding his knuckles into her head. "You're more annoying than I remember." He paused. And then added, "That was one time and I was drunk. Years ago, a forgotten memory."

"Mm-hm. Ouch! Now stop that, it hurts!" Wincing she kicked his shin, which made him let go with a yelp. She turned to Hinata while fixing her hair and smiled at the other girl's flushed face. "Sorry Hinata-chan. Didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Don't worry, Layuki-chan. W-what are you doing here a-anyways?"

She tightened the string on one of her pigtails. "I need a chat with your cousin." She jerked her head in Neji's direction. "Just need to blackmail him about something. Which comes to this point. Neji hasn't said anything about me…anything out of the ordinary." Hinata shook her head. "Good, the guy might not be so bad after all. Well bye, Hinata-chan! Bye Kiba!" The Inuzuka had stood up by now and was glaring at her.

She turned her back on them and jogged to where Neji was. She hopped the fence to the training area and leaned against the mannequin he was kicking, waiting for him to speak first.

"What do you want?" He said finally, deliberately missing the dummy he was supposed to be hitting and aiming a punch at her. Which she ducked easily.

"You know what I need to talk to you about." She said, following him as he walked away from the training field and into the midst of the compound.

Neji scowled when she made pace with him and didn't speak again until they were outside the Hyuuga property. "I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"Yes you do." Layuki growled, getting annoyed.

"Alright. So I do. I haven't told anyone yet, by the way." He glanced down at her and she decided she didn't like the Hyuuga eyes on the people she hated. They were rather intimidating. "But I might unless I get a reasonable explanation. He was a member of the Akatsuki, after all."

"If you do tell anyone, then I'll have a murder I'll need to commit. The kiss with Deidara was a one time thing." She muttered, knowing the lie wouldn't show on her face. She'd told so many lies, that it was second nature to her now. "Spur of the moment."

He was silent for a moment. "And if I don't believe you?"

Layuki scowled. Then she noticed that they were headed to the village's training fields where she saw Neji's teammates waiting for him, watching their conversation. Upon laying eyes on Tenten, she activated her Hirukagan for a minute on both the brunette and Hyuuga. "You will. Or else I'll find something horrible to tell Tenten about you." She said through clenched teeth. She hated how cowardly she was being.

Neji stopped. "And where will you find something that horrible?"

"You're not the only one with a bloodline limit. And it seems mine can come to be useful at times too." She walked a couple steps in front of him and turned to face him, looking up slightly because of the height difference. "You don't want to know what I can do to you. I can ruin you. Do you want to live a life where no one will look at you without disgust?"

He looked at her for a moment and smirked. "All right. I won't tell."

Layuki gave a tight smile. "Thank you. Keep in mind I'll know if you do."

"But," Neji said, a mocking smirk forming on his lips. "It seems you always try to get what you can't have, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Layuki said, forming fists with her hands and feeling her fingernails dig into her palms. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Neji stared directly at her, and she felt his pale eyes could see straight through her. "First that missing-nin – was his name Deidara? – and I saw the way you looked at the Kazekage of the Sand. You're always biting off more than you can chew, aren't you?"

He narrowly avoided the kunai Layuki threw at him. "Fuck you Neji. You're an arrogant bastard, you know that? I don't know what I've ever done to you, and I don't care. I swear, one day, I will kill you. I will wipe that smirk right off your face.

At this point, Tenten and Lee had started coming over with confused faces. Once they reached the pair, she thought it would be a good time to leave.

Layuki spat at Neji. "Go die."

"You know I'm right." Neji said, monotonously.

"What's going on with you two?" Tenten asked, cautiously stepping between her two friends. "I mean, I know you hate each other but…"

"Nothing, Ten. It's fine." Layuki said, turning around. "I'll be going now."

She walked into the forest and once she was deep enough in the trees, she hit a trunk really hard and it cracked. She took a couple deep breathed to calm herself down and sat against a different tree.

From her pouch she took out a scroll and a pen and began to write.

_Members of the Akatsuki..._

* * *

**A/N: **So I'm thinking of going along with some manga plot again, even though I said I wouldn't.  
I will possibly make Layuki go on the mission with Naruto and Kiba's squad to find Sasuke.  
Possibly.  
And make her be there when Deidara dies because I'm evil.  
Or should I twist the plot and make Deidara live?  
Do give me some options (:

Well thanks for reading!!  
Reviewers will get adorable Akamaru puppies for keeps (:  
**fanny-kun**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** I know, I know.  
It's been a while.  
Strangely enough, despite it being summer vacation, I'm not finding much time (at all) to write.  
If I give you all my reasons, you'll be bored to death even before you get to read the chapter.  
So, try not to expect another chapter for at least a week.

But the important thing is that I AM updating.  
which is more than I can say for my other fic.

So sorry again for the late update,  
and once again I'm wondering where all my reviewers have dissappeared off to.  
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** if I owned, I would not be writing a fanfiction.

* * *

_  
Members of the Akatsuki (that I know of):_

_Uchiha Itachi – Rogue nin from the leaf (there's a lot of those, ne Tsunade-sama?) brother of Sasuke, that emo kid who left the village years ago on a sure-to-fail rampage of power. He has long hair and those funky Sharingan eyes. The swirls in his eyes are different, something about a mangekyou thing. I'm sure you know this, but he has two lines, maybe they're scars, on the side of his nose. It's really ugly and makes it look like he's wrinkled. I swear, this guy acts as if he were ancient. I didn't see him do any work either, so I'm guessing he's kinda feminine. His hair doesn't repel that theory at all. His partner(s) are Hoshigaki Kisame and my sister, Fuyaku Satsuki. _

_Hoshigaki Kisame – for some reason, this guy is a fish. Like, he has blue skin and scales and gills, it's kinda creepy. Rogue from the Village Hidden in the Mist. He has a giant sword named Samehada its as blue as he is and spiky. He's tall with beady little fish eyes and laughs like a manic, well, they all do. Partners with Uchiha Itachi and Fuyaku Satsuki. _

_Fuyaku Satsuki – my very own onee-chan. She looks like me, but tall. Not just taller, but tall. She got the good genes. I'm pretty sure you know everything else knowable about her. Because, after all, she did make herself quite clear when she left._

_Zetsu – Plants, puppets and fish, oh my! This guy's head is a fucking Venus flytrap and he actually asked if he could eat me! Definitely the creepiest person (does he even qualify as a person?) there. From what I know, he has a split personality and his face is half white have half black. Literally, I'm not being racist or anything. Oh and he can melt into walls. I know, its pretty cool. He's the only one that's partner-less that I know of. I have no clue where he's from._

_Sasori (deceased) – hey, did you know this dude made himself into a puppet? It seems like the Akatsuki is more of a mad house than a criminal organisation, doesn't it? Killed by the hands of Sakura and some old woman from the sand, I'm guessing mainly by the old woman, no offence to your apprentice. He usually travels in a huge chunky ugly puppet, but without that the puppet he made himself into was quite cute. Just letting you know that if he was human and he was a good guy, I would totally hit on him. Except for the fact that he was kinda old. He's a rogue from the sand as is partners with Deidara and originally with Orochimaru, what do you know, it's a small world after all. _

_Deidara – he's quite the lady's man, and quite a man lady himself. Honestly, I thought he was a chick at first, but he's really hot after you get past the long hair. I'd say he's the best looking one I saw there. Oh but I wouldn't want to ruin the weird creepiness of the Akatsuki. He has mouths on his hands. Seriously, they open and close and they have tongues and teeth. He's a bomb specialist and not too dandy at taijutsu, but the explosions he makes are really pretty. And from what I know, Deidara's pretty strong. Like strong enough to beat Gaara, the Kazekage of the sand in a one-on-one battle. He works with clay and makes pretty little birds. And his clay has healing powers sometimes. During the time I was there, Deidara was in my company the most. _

_That's all the people I met. Apparently, there are four more, but I'm not gonna say anything else because you told me to write only about the people I came in contact with ;) _

_Written by, Fuyaku Layuki._

Tsunade sighed and held her head when she finished reading. Without looking at the grinning girl in front of her desk, she said, "Please tell me this isn't the actual report. It's beyond my mind why you are a jounin and I'm beginning to wonder if I should strip you of that position."

"No worries Tsunade-sama," Layuki laughed. "I'm just pulling your tail. I just wanted to see what your reaction would be if you thought that's what I was actually handing in. It was really funny, I wish I had a camera." From her pouch she produced another scroll and tossed it over. "That's the real report."

Cautiously, Tsunade opened it and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was properly written in detail, what she would expect from one of her high-ranking shinobi. She nodded and placed it in her desk. "Now for the rest of your punishment."

Layuki's face fell. "You're serious? There's more? Man, that sucks. And here I was thinking I'd have time to relax now that I'm at home." She sighed. "So what's it gonna be? A mission? Stripped of my shinobi privileges? I can handle something like that."

"Which is why I'm going to give you something you're not going to handle very well." Tsunade smiled and snapped her fingers. The doors to her office opened and in came three kids who, by the looks of it, had just been made genin.

There were two boys and a girl – just like the usual genin squad. The tallest boy was only half a head shorter than Layuki and had spiky blue-black hair and he stood with an arrogant air about him. The other boy seemed calm and collected with a shock of white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes. The girl seemed somewhat timid. She had dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail and her chocolate brown eyes kept straying to the boy next to her with the very blue eyes.

Layuki smirked. That group vaguely reminded her of younger versions of Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Then suddenly, it dawned on her. She looked at Tsunade with wide eyes. "No. You're not serious. If you're thinking I'm going to do this, then you're insane."

"You're going to do what I tell you to. Layuki, this is Ootaki Misa," the girl, "Irikaku Shaan," the tall boy, "and Amase Kaname." The other kid, "their jounin sensei is currently in the hospital for major injuries and will be out of service for a month in the latest. Your job is to supervise their training, and possibly even accompany them on missions. Understood?"

"Not understood, Tsunade. Don't make me to this. You know I work alone; I can barely even deal with leading missions with my _friends_! You cannot expect me to work with these kids, not if you want them back in one piece!" She slammed her hands on Tsunade's desk. "I'd rather have my shinobi privileges stripped. You can even take away my rank; I'm fine with being a chuunin! Tsunade!"

Tsunade smiled. "You start as their instructor in one hour. You are dismissed." With a scowl, the younger girl turned and began to walk out of the room. "Oh, by the way Layuki, I would appreciate it if you _try_ to go easy on them. They're only genin."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Kay kids, so I'm Fuyaku Layuki. You'll call me Layuki, all right? No suffix's and do not call me sensei, that makes me feel old." She frowned at the three in sitting in front of her. "Any of you have anything to say?"

"Yeah," Shaan, the tall black-haired boy spoke up, "How old are you? You don't look like a jounin."

"Looks can be deceiving, kid." She smiled. "For example, you look pretty tough."

Shaan flushed a pinkish colour as his teammates let out a laugh. Layuki had taken it to herself to examine all the kids before the meeting with her Hirukagan. To her luck, she'd gotten the 'traditional' squad, which had both the academy grandaunts with both the highest and lowest scores. Three guesses who was who.

"That's not true!" the boy protested. "I'm going to be Hokage one day and I'm going to beat him!" he pointed to the other boy, the blonde one with the blue eyes.

Layuki sighed and put her head in her hands. Now, where had she heard the Hokage line before? This was typical traditional team behaviour. The one with the worst passing grade swears that he is stronger than the one with the best grade. Examples? Naruto and Sasuke, Lee and Neji. Enough said.

"Blah, blah, blah. Kid, you talk too much. You have some tough competition if you want to be Hokage, so I suggest you prove to me that you have a chance to turn your words into reality." She stared him down. "Give me 50 push-ups, now."

"No way! You can't tell me what to do."

She sighed. "I can and I am. No complaints, and I'm making it 70. Go." She turned to the girl in the squad. "Misa, right? Count for him."

"Hai, Layuki." Misa said, apparently excited that she could watch her teammate suffer.

Then Layuki turned to the last member. Kaname was watching the scene with both amusement and boredom. "You're from the Amase clan, eh? I've heard a lot about you guys, and I'm expecting a lot from you. Especially with your bloodline gift." She looked down at him.

He nodded briefly and didn't reply.

"Layuki! Shaan stopped! He only got to 36." Misa said excitedly.

"Only 36?" Layuki smirked, "Well then, I see there's lots of work to be done. For all of you."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"So, I heard that you've got a squad now." Kaoru laughed. It was getting dark, but his squad was still training. Layuki had joined them, claiming she had nothing better to do. "Poor kids. I feel bad for them."

Currently, the two were sparring and she quickly ducked a punch he threw her way. "Glad to see you have so much faith in me. It was actually kind of fun, you know, getting to order people around and all." As she took out a kunai from her pouch, she ducked a kick. "You've gotten better since the last time we sparred."

"Thanks. So what are the kids like?"

Layuki was about to reply when a very small bird landed on her. It distracted her enough for Kaoru's shruiken to hit her. Very luckily, the shruiken hit her hitai-ate, scratching it slightly, but leaving he unharmed. Still, the force was strong enough to knock her to the ground.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, both at the surprise of the attack and at the bird.

Kaoru held out a hand for her. "Sorry. Why do you have a bird?"

"No reason." She paused. "Listen, it's getting late and I still have something to do. I'll see you around." With a quick smile, she turned to walk away. She knew she was being more than a little suspicious, but she couldn't stay there.

The bird that had landed it on her was made of clay.

* * *

**A/N: **Ah, you gotta love cliffies.  
And just when Layuki thought she'd had things figured out (:  
Just so you know, the new kids will probably have an impact on the ending of the fic.  
Don't worry though, I'm far from done. :D

Thanks to you all for reading!  
Reviewers will be given a key to my room of Naruto plushies!  
**fanny-kun**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** You know, I think I've come up with an explination that somehow makes sense in my twisted mind as to why I've not been updating as usual.  
Because it's summer vacation.  
I know, I know, I should technically be updating more because of that fact, but I have logic to put behind it.  
At least, I think it counts as logic.

You see, during the two months of July and August, the season of 'summer' takes place.  
Hence, people like me (hormonic children of the school that gets high...er...high school) have nothing to do and actually have time of their hands.  
And _because_ they - or shall I say we - _have_ time on our hands, we think it's all right to procrastinate (and not botherint to check how to spell that word correctly) in our writing of the fanfictions.  
Therefore, we do not write because of the mere fact that we can write. We would much rather spend time writing on the computer during the school year when she should be doing homework.  
It makes us feel rebellious that we're writing fanfictions when we're not supposed to be, and the feeling of rebellion makes us happy.  
Happy teenagers, equal updating, equal happy readers, equal reviewers, equal happy world.  
SO if the readers of fanfiction bear with us for the summer, it shall soon become a win-win situation as soon as the unfortunate month od September begins.

So folks, there's my excuse (which, for the record, I did NOT make up on the spot -cough-) for not updating.  
That, and the fact that the Olympics are on (:

So thankyou for standing this long author's not which most of you did not read anyhow.  
Thanks to my awesome reviewers  
Enjoy chapter numero one eight :D

**Disclaimer:** ...no

* * *

Layuki read the message that came with the clay bird. Twice, actually, for good measure, "That fucking idiot!"

Her cry caused quite a few heads to turn to her, something she should have expected since she was walking down one of the busiest streets in Konohagakure, despite the fact that it was quite dark already. She heard a woman muttering "Kids these days!" but only one person actually asked her what she was talking about.

"Who's a fucking idiot?" Shikamaru said, falling in pace with her. Layuki quickly stuck both the clay bird and the message inside her pouch.

"Right now, I'd say you are." She growled glaring at him. "How come you didn't tell me that you're spending half your time in Suna right now? How come you haven't told me that you've spent more time with Gaara and his family than I have?"

Shikamaru sighed. "You're so damn troublesome. How could I have told you anything if you haven't been in one place for more than a week for the past couple months?"

"Well you…you…" Layuki stuttered, trying to figure out how to retort. Finally, she gave up. "Sorry. It's just, you caught me in a really bad mood."

He scoffed. "It's a rarity if you're ever in a good mood. I think you have to be the most troublesome person I know." He paused, waiting for her snotty retort. When nothing came, he said, "Who's that letter from anyways?"

"No one." Layuki's voice cracked on the last syllable. Slowly she took it back out and read it over. It looked like a normal letter, and not one that was from a member of the Akatsuki. It turned out Deidara was smart enough to cover himself up – at least he didn't add any of his 'yeah's' to his writing. She looked at Shikamaru to see him staring back with a raised eyebrow. Sighing, she handed the letter to him. "Just from someone back in Kumogakure." She lied quickly.

Shikamaru nodded slowly and read it.

_Hey kid, how's it been? _

_I'm stopping by you're village later with a friend, just letting you know so you're ready for me. _

_See ya soon._

_-D_

"So this D guy is why you've been more troublesome than usual?" He smirked. "Well make sure not to introduce us, I have enough problems on my hand."

"You're so sweet." Layuki replied sarcastically, taking the letter back from him. "I'm glad you two aren't meeting, he'd probably annoy you so much you'd kill him." She paused. "Well that might actually not be a bad thing."

"I'm not the one with the anger issues." Shikamaru joked. "I gotta go, but there's something I should tell you."

She was quiet for a moment, wondering what he was going to say. "What, you need an invitation to tell me?" He sighed and shook his head.

"The Kazekage is in the Village."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Okay kids. Today is a beautiful day, and a day like this doesn't come around too often. So I have something special planned for today." Layuki said, smiling as she guestured to the cloudless sky. It was a nice temperature out, warm enough to be comfortable, cool enough to train excessively without getting too sweaty. A day like this didn't come around all the time.

The three genin looked at her excitedly. Shaan punched the air. "All right! Today's going to be fun for once!"

"Oh, it's going to be fun, alright." She smiled. "For me at least."

--

The kids were groaned as they entered the empty classroom. Layuki already long ago silenced their complaining of not being outside. Reluctantly they took a seat and slumped onto the desks. Layuki came in shortly after. "Kay guys, it's lesson time."

"Why couldn't we do this outside?" Misa complained.

"Actually, I was just about to explain that." The black haired girl walked to the desk at the front of the room and swung herself up to sit on it, rather than on the chair behind it. "How often does a day like this come around? Not very often right?"

They nodded, and they began to continue.

"And on a day like this, training could actually turn out to be fun. I don't want you to experience the ease of fighting on a clear day. As a shinobi, you should never rely on anything if you can help it, and especially never rely on something extremely unpredictable, like the weather for example.

"Because of the invasion a couple years ago, the village is still short on shinobi. That means as soon as you guys are chuunin, you'll barely have a moment's rest. So the chances are, on future nice days, you could be up in the snow country. You could be locked in an enemy prison. You could be in the hospital recovering from an injury. Or, you could be dead.

"In any of those situations, you'll likely be staring outside, wishing you could enjoy the weather." She finally paused. "But since I'm nice, I'll let you guys out later. But for not…"

Layuki jumped off the desk and moved to the chalkboard. There, she wrote each of their names and separated them with lines. Under Shaan's name, she put five lines. Under Misa's, four, and Kaname's, one.

"Aw, sweet! I own! I totally have the most lines." Shaan said excitedly.

She ignored him and made her way back to her desk. "These are the times that you guys have looked 'longingly' out the window. I'm keeping track, and whoever has the most suffers the most."

Shaan's face immediately fell.

She smiled sweetly and continued her lesson. "Okay then, now – "

"Excuse me?" Someone interrupted from the door. Layuki looked over to see a young man, a few years older than herself, standing in the doorway. He was no one that she recognised. He was tall and well built, obviously a shinobi. With short blonde hair, slightly tanned skin and green eyes he looked like he'd walked straight off the beach. Despite the fact that Layuki really didn't like what his look suggested his personality would be like, she had to admit he was very good-looking.

"I'm sorry, sir, but in case you haven't noticed I'm in the middle of a lesson. I'd appreciate it if you went to someone else for whatever you were going to ask." Somehow, she'd managed to make herself sound somewhat polite. She looked away and was about to address the kids again.

"I'm sorry too. Because you see, I've been looking for you," He smirked, "yeah."

Layuki spun her head to look back at him. It couldn't be…could it? Then she caught his eye, the very same forest green as Deidara's – the only other person she's seen with that eye colour.

"Ah." She sighed. "Well that changes things. Shaan, Misa, Kaname, we're done for the day. But I want you guys up and early tomorrow morning. Shaan, I swear, if you say a word you'll be running laps around the village tomorrow." The black-haired boy scowled and shut his mouth. Then the three left the room.

Layuki activated her Hirukagan and was silent until she was positive that there wasn't a person's soul within hearing distance. She began to speak, but Deidara began first.

"Hey, don't look at me at that." he held his hands up in a mocking surrender when he caught her glare. "Don't say I didn't warn you, yeah. You did get my message, right?"

"I got it last night. You just put a new meaning on short notice."

He smirked. "You know me." There was silence for a moment. "Oh, and there's something else I should tell you, yeah."

"If it's possible, spare me." Layuki muttered, jumping off her desk and pushing past him to leave the building. "You being here is so problematic, that you don't even know. Is it too much to ask to spend a couple weeks without seeing a member of the Akatsuki?"

Deidara followed her outside the building to the perfect weather. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, well that's the thing, yeah." He paused, wincing as he searched for some words that wouldn't get him clobbered. "I'm actually not here alone."

She ogled at him for a moment. "You've got to be kidding me, I – "

"Hey! Layuki!" Two voices called to her at the same time.

Ino and Aniki both came running up to her from opposite directions. Layuki was speechless for a moment. "Uhm…hey…?" she said quietly, still at a loss for words. To Aniki, she said, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm here with the Kazekage. The Hokage summoned him along with a couple jounin. And here I am." She grinned; still seeming completely oblivious that one of the people next to her was her former boyfriend in disguise.

"Gaara," Layuki groaned and put her head in her hands. She had completely forgotten what Shikamaru had told her yesterday, about the Kazekage being in town.

Then a bunch of people started talking at once. Ino said come sort of compliment about Aniki's hair, and the two girls started gushing at each other. Deidara said something to a newcomer that Layuki didn't recognise, but assumed was another Akatsuki member.

But the new girl looked somewhat familiar. There was something about her angular face…

"Satsuki…?" Layuki mumbled too quietly for anyone to hear. But her sister did, and she smiled, putting a finger to her lips.

Layuki walked a couple steps away from the group of for people. Of those four, there were three of them that she didn't want to see anytime particular time soon. Guess who those were.

She groaned and hit her head lightly against the wall. Could this day get any worse?

And of course, whenever that sentence is said, things always get worse.

"Hello Layuki."

The young girl almost didn't want to turn around; there was absolutely no mistaking that voice – even though it seemed more buoyant than the last time she heard it. Slowly she twisted to the direction of the voice and even though she already knew who it would be, she could stop the jolt she felt every time she met those sea green eyes.

There standing in front of her, five steps away from two members of the Akatsuki – both of whom she'd had a history with – was Gaara in all his magnificent Sabaku-ness.

And despite the fact that she was happy to see him, she couldn't deny that this day had just gotten worse. Within and arms reach of her were the four people – Aniki, Satsuki, Deidara, and Gaara – that she never ever wanted to see at the same time, same place. Ever.

But here they were, and Layuki concluded for the millionth time that the world truly did hate her.

* * *

**A/N:** -insert Jaws theme song here-  
or woud the 'Dun Dun Duuuunnnn' be more appropiate?

I have nothing to say in the A/N, now that I think of it.  
But I'd love to hear guesses on what will happen (:  
It's awesome to see your story from a reader's point of view :D

Thanks for reading!  
This time, reviewers shall get to use my uber awesome device that will teleport them into the Naruto world.  
But it's up to themselves to get back (who would want to anyways? With school starting soon and all...)  
**fanny-kun**


	19. On Hiatus

Hey guys, sorry this isn't an update, but it is important. So I suggest you don't overlook it as you probably do most of my Author's Notes.  
School starts soon, and the next few weeks are going to be really busy for me, I won't even have access to a computer half the time.  
There's just so much happening right now that I have to try really hard to overlook my exhaustion and haul myself to the keyboard.

So I've decided not to take away writing for a little while so as to not add anymore stress for myself in the next month or two.  
Jester will be on Hiatus for a couple weeks. Try not to expect a new chapter until October.

I know, I'm sad about stopping it now too (especially after I left you with a semi-cliffie)  
But I really would rather wait and write properly than have the plot seem really rushed.

Again, I'm sorry for doing this on such late notice, especially since I haven't been the best updater as of late.

But I will like to really thank everyone who has reviewed thus far.  
I hope no one loses faith in Layuki, and everyone will come back and see her to the finish.

So I will see you all again in October!

Thanks, and sorry again.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Romance