74. Treachery

"He's, I can't believe it, he's." It was a constant mutter that came from Saori, who hiccuped in between mumbling and crying. Deidara had been annoyed she took so long, especially with Toyotomi, a member of a family he despised. He had been delighted for a moment when he found out Toyotomi's status was in the balance, but that all quickly faded away when she refused to leave Iwa. No, she had jumped off his bird in a risky quest to find someone to bring medical help to Toyotomi before he died. She had found Mikaiyo by a ridiculous stroke of luck. She had been surprisingly cooperative, ordering Saori to leave, for the woman Deidara had known. For him, it only got worse. She was reduced to a ridiculous girl.

"Why the hell won't you leave, hmm? There's nothing you can do here. I'll find out for you later if you want, let's just go. We can't stay here, they knew we were coming, hmm!" Deidara roared.

"Then go! I'm staying here, I won't leave," Saori replied.

"You're fucking sick in the head, you know, hmm! Sick! He's one guy, one God awful guy, get over it! You killed him, it's done, hmm!"

"It's not done! Why do you have to be so against him? He really is better than the other Ootowari, he's not like them!"

"You think I don't know him? We were in the same graduating class at the academy, hmm! He was a big show-off, and scorned my art. Scorned, hmm! I know exactly what he's like, better than you do, hmm!"

"You know what, I don't need to ask, I know why. You just hate that I like him better than you, isn't that it? That after the time we've spent, after all we've done, when it comes right down to it, I will still like him over you. That's what bothers you, Deidara!" she retorted, knowing she only spoke lies. No, that wasn't why Deidara was bothered. It was that she gave him more attention to his hobby than any other had and she taken away that attention in an instant, a slap in the face of an artist.

Deidara cruelly laughed. "I told you, didn't I, hmm? I told you about the night I left Iwa, that best friend I had? I didn't leave Iwa because she was killed in an accident, hmm. I left because I blew her up that night, because she betrayed me, just like you, hmm!" Natural instincts sent her hand flickering with fire, but nothing was fast enough to avoid injury. Deidara whipped out a kunai, a clay bird forming in his other hand - not that she had known. Her Second State Mind's Eye activated. It was only because of that was she able to move from a vicious attack of his kunai. She dodged backwards, compromising her chest and torso to further damage - but she saved her aorta, which from his mind, she knew he had full intentions of cutting.

She was too focused on his kunai; so focused, she could not even read his mind. The bird was large, larger than the kinds he used for single-man explosions. If he detonated that, he'd blow half her body off. She fueled her legs with chakra; her mind-reading speed offered few but precious, life-saving seconds. "Katsu!"



deception [link] (in my gallery as well)
100 flash folder [link]
art & story *Saisuki
ookamika saori *Saisuki
naruto masashi kishimoto