Reunion

Deidara's POV

I'm glad that Nishi doesn't hate me anymore, but I still feel kind of bad about making her lonely when I did leave. I know that nothing can be done about it now, and she does have friends, but I still felt a little guilty. Not only that, but the silence between us as we walked was beginning to feel awkward but I didn't know what to say. Then a question I had been wondering for a while now came to my mind.

"Hey Nishi un, do you forgive me?" I asked.

"Well, no, I'm still a little angry so I can't just forgive you," She said.

"Ok un," I sighed.

I knew it was probably too much to expect that she'd just immediately forgive me if she was that upset about my leaving; but at least she didn't seem to hate me. And even if it's not before we bring her to the village, she may eventually forgive me. Too bad I'll probably never see her again. I looked to the side at the seemingly endless expanse of forest as we walked down the path. I knew we would soon be entering the mountain range signaling the borders of Iwa.

I turned my vision back to the expansive dirt path in front of us. But of course Leader-sama would want to have the base somewhere almost completely secluded; otherwise anyone could find us. And we couldn't have that, especially with all of the kinjutsu scrolls Leader-sama has had us retrieve over the years.

Then another thought came across my mind. Now that Nishi knows where our hideout is, she could tell the village about us. I know she no longer hates me, but I also know that she is loyal to Iwa. And since Akatsuki is considered a threat to pretty much everyone but us, they would want her to tell them about us, and our location. But would she really do that? I want to know, but I can't just ask her, then she would think that I don't trust her; I am trying to get her to forgive me, and accusing her would do nothing to help. But I probably should ask Sasori-no-danna, he would know what to do better than me.

Sasori's POV

The brat had been quiet for a while now; he and his sister had only had that one small conversation. I wonder if he really is ok; he probably did still feel guilty about making her upset. But I'm sure he'll be fine. At least they had stopped fighting after all.

Still, this week-long trip was not something I'm looking forward to. Even though they've stopped arguing now they'll probably talk my ear off the whole way. I guess I might as well enjoy what little time they stay silent….

Looking up at the sky, I noticed that the sun had almost set, meaning we'd have to stop pretty soon. I wanted to continue on as long as possible so we could reach Iwa sooner, but, we couldn't walk all night, and the others would need sleep

"Okay guys, we'll stop here for the night," I said pausing and turning to the two blondes following me.

"Alright," they said, settling down for the night. Even though I didn't really need any sleep tonight I also sat down.

"Hey, danna un," I heard Deidara whisper after about an hour or so.

"What is it brat?" I asked, also keeping my voice down. Nishi was already asleep and I didn't want to wake her up and have two brats irritating me.

"Do you think that Nishi would tell the village where our hideout is un?" Deidara asked.

"I don't know Deidara, besides, there's not much we could do about it brat," I answered. Usually something like this wouldn't be a problem, but I couldn't hurt Deidara's sister. For now we'd just have to trust that she'd forgiven him enough to not tell the Tsuchikage.

"Oh, un," he said. I guess this must have been something that's been bothering him for a while, meaning he would want some kind of explanation.

"Listen brat, if she doesn't hate you then she probably won't just rat you out. Why don't you ask her?"

"I don't want her to know that I doubt her un. She would just get angry at me again," he muttered.

"Then you'll just have to trust her," I said.

"Okay un." I was never very good at giving advice on things like this; I hope I said the right thing. Then if something happened the brat would blame it all on me.

"Dana, are we there yet un?" Deidara whined from behind me.

"Does it look like we're there yet brat?" I answered him. This is probably the tenth time that he's asked me this question since we've past the mountain range that was Iwa's border.

"Of course not Deidara, we are obviously not there," his sister said.

"Well how am I supposed to know that un?"

"Why don't you just look up?" Nishi smirked back at him.

"Maybe I don't feel like it un!"

"Then don't bother me!

"I didn't bother you un!"

"WELL I'M BOTHERED!"

"WELL TOO BAD UN!" he screeched, throwing his hands in the air.

"WILL BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!" I shouted, losing my temper. They had been arguing over such stupid things since after that first day and it was really grating on my nerves.

"So, when will we be there un?" Deidara asked.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up brat?"

"But I want to know un."

"We'll be there in about an hour or two," I sighed. It wasn't any use arguing with him, he would just keep pestering me until I answered anyway.

Deidara's POV

I walked along quietly, but I was actually a little nervous. I had finally settled things with my sister just to have to leave her again; which was pretty much the whole reason she was angry with me in the first place. But I knew I couldn't stay, I was an S-class nukenin, and she couldn't come with us because she was loyal to her village. Also, I wouldn't be able to visit her ever again; it was kind of sad having to drop her off and just leave. But I guess, it would be ok, just as long as Nishi was happy.

Suddenly, sensing several chakra presences, we all stopped, looking around for the enemies. Several kunai came from the trees followed by only about five ANBU. After easily deflecting the kunais, we turned to the ANBU who had already taken out more weapons. I began to form some clay birds as Sasori danna took out a few puppets and Nishi pulled out a kunai. I threw my art at the center of them, smirking as it went off. The ones who didn't get affected by my explosion were soon taken down by Sasori's puppets. There was only one remaining, but this one seemed a little stronger than the others. Running towards us, I prepared to defend when he suddenly took a sharp turn and grabbed Nishi.

"Hey what are you doing!?" She screeched as we chased after the escaping ANBU.

"I'm saving you, they're Akatsuki you know," he told her. Of course, this guy must think that we'd kidnapped her. But I couldn't let them take her, at least not yet. If they brought her in for questioning they might find out that she actually wasn't kidnapped and then ask her questions about Akatsuki. I didn't want Nishi to have to go through that…

But how am I supposed to get her away from the ANBU? If I sent one of my clay creations or tried throwing a kunai it might end up hurting her too. Grinding my teeth together in annoyance, I ran up closer to the ANBU and tried throwing a punch at him. I knew that right now I was going to have to use taijutsu, but considering I'm a long range fighter, it wasn't exactly my strong point. I was about to punch him again when I noticed he had stopped moving. Upon closer inspection, I could see almost invisible chakra strings connected to him. He let go of Nishi and then Sasori-no-danna hit him with a volley of poison senbon.

"Thanks danna un," I said, smirking at him.

"Are you okay Nishi un?" I asked, turning towards her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered.

"Alright you two, let's try and get there before dark," danna said as he began to walk away. As we followed him I glanced up at the sky. He was right; the sun was already beginning to set. A small part of me hoped it would delay us another night, but I knew that Nishi wanted to go home. I sure will miss her when we leave…

Sasori's POV

The brat had been unusually quiet even since the ANBU attack. I honestly didn't know what could be wrong; we got his sister back from the shinobi. The only downside to not having emotion was that I could never seem to understand it either. I still didn't completely understand why Deidara had been so crushed over what his sister had told him either, or why she was even so angry with him. Usually when a ninja goes rouge, they would have already broken any ties; not only with their village, but also with the people they were close to.

It was never a good idea to actually care about someone that you might end up having to fight in the future. Even with my spies back in Suna, I knew that if something should ever happen where their loyalty to me sways, I would have to fight and kill them. Emotions were definitely a dangerous thing… But it was probably also dangerous to not understand emotion. Maybe I should work on that a little if it would mean that missions would go by easier.

I looked over at my partner to see that he looked kind of sad, depressed even. Again I was confused by this. Why would he be so upset if his sister was going to be safe and happy in her village where she belongs? I guess he might miss her, but that didn't seem like something that would make someone look this sad. Oh well, he'd have to get over whatever it was he was upset about, it wasn't like we could do anything about the current situation anyway. But I am a bit curious as to why he seems this way; I guess I'll have to ask him after we drop Nishi off at her village, which would be soon as we were approaching the village borders now.

"Alright Nishi, this is where we'll leave you," I said as we all stopped. But she didn't move, her and the brat just stood there staring at each other.

"Bye Deidara. I'll miss you," she said, running up and hugging him.

"Bye Nishi, I'll miss you too un," he said, hugging her back. I waited somewhat awkwardly as they stood there. Then, after pausing slightly, Nishi turned and walked away towards the village. Deidara just stood there watching her leave until she was out of sight before turning around, with an unreadable expression.

I hesitated slightly before asking, "Are you ok brat?"

"Yeah," he said, walking past me. I silently followed after him, deciding I probably shouldn't ask him any more until later.

It was night now and I was setting up a fire while Deidara just sat against a tree and watched with a blank stare. I guess now would be better than any later to ask him about it. It just didn't seem right that he mope around so much, it just wasn't natural.

Deidara's POV

I was happy that Nishi was now safe in her village, but I still felt a little bad about leaving her again. Especially since that was the reason she was even upset with me in the first place. I sighed quietly as I thought about how she might just start to hate me for leaving her once again.

"Deidara, are you sure you're okay?" I heard Sasori ask as he sat down next to me. I was a little shocked at the fact that he had actually used my name instead of calling me brat like he usually would. I was thinking about just telling him that everything was fine again but decided against it, he would just continue to ask me considering he bothered to ask twice already.

"No un," I mumbled.

"Is this still about your sister?" he sighed.

"Yes."

"Didn't you two make up?"

"Yeah, but I'm leaving her again, which is why she was angry with me in the first place un," I muttered.

"I'm sure she understands brat, it's not like you could have stayed in the village," he said.

"I hope so un…"

"Either way, I don't think she would want you to mope around like this," he said.

"Yeah, you're right un," I admitted. Danna did have a good point, moping around and worrying about it wouldn't solve anything. And Nishi had a good life in the village now, so she'd be happy. I shouldn't have to worry about her, we had settled things and now understood each other a little better.

"Thanks un," I said, giving a small smile.

"No problem brat," he said, smiling back slightly. Yes, whatever happened now, I won't have to worry about Nishi, because now things are finally settled between us.