"Gaara!" Naruto screeched again. I closed my eyes for a split second. What an embarrassment. I could hardly stand to appear to be teammates with him. Stop telling Gaara to wake up. Stop telling him to stand up. Stop. Stop. Stop.

He was clearly dead.

Before I could snap at Naruto for his lack of control over his emotions, Kakashi did it for me. "Enough, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered harshly. "You should already know."

I stared at Naruto and wondered if he was truly so innocent, so naive, so idiotic as to think Gaara was merely sleeping, or if he knew the moment we stepped into the cave, as the rest of us did, that Gaara was dead.

"That's right," the blond one mocked. "He's been dead for a while." Deidara reached down, rapping lightly at Gaara's cheek. I didn't flinch. I had done worse to corpses.

Naruto attempted to sprint towards the enemy, but Kakashi stopped him. "If you charge in without thinking," he intoned, "we're all dead."

All? I think I could escape.

"The one on the left is the one who took the Kazekage," I murmured the information to Kakashi quickly. "His name is Deidara. He has a kekkai genkai; explosion release. He's a missing nin from Iwagakure. The one on the right is Sasori, a puppet master. He's responsible for the state Kankuro is in right now. But I think someone," my gaze cut over to Chiyo, "might know more about him than I."

"True art is eternal beauty!" Sasori snapped, pulling me from the conversation.

"Eternal beauty?" Deidara scoffed. "True art lasts only for a moment!"

Naruto threw a large shurikan, which is simply batted out of the air by the puppet tail. Sasori continued glaring at Deidara, not even sparing a glance for Naruto. "Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?" Sasori growled.

"That's why I said this would probably piss you off!" Deidara defended himself.

"You should know what happens when I get angry!"

I grew rigid at Sasori's words, grip tightening on my knife.

"Neither of you are correct," I finally spoke up, monotonous tone catching their attention. "True art is neither eternal nor instant. True art is an art that only you can appreciate, because only you can see it."

"Ehh?" Deidara called out. "What are you prattling on about?"

I transferred my dead gaze over to Deidara. This should throw them off: they seemed to truly care about art, so someone disagreeing with them would make them angrier, more susceptible to manipulation.

"True art," I continued. "Is painting a picture out of real life. It's manipulating a situation to meet your will and watching every single piece fall into place just as you planned, without others even realizing it. True art can only be seen by yourself."

Deidara and Sasori exchanged a glance. "At least we can agree that her definition of true art is wrong, hm?" Deidara smirked. "Besides... true art... is an explosion!"

He tossed a white ball into the air and made a handsign. It transformed into a familiar bird. The bird opened its mouth and made the most ridiculous noise; a high pitched, squeaky cry that almost made me snort. Instead, I maintained my straight face. The bird took Gaara into its mouth and Deidara jumped on, avoiding a strike from Sasori. "Later, master!" Deidara called mockingly.

Naruto would almost certainly run after Deidara. Chiyo would stay with Sasori. Sakura would probably stay with Chiyo: I'd seen the idolizing stares. Chiyo and Sakura could handle Sasori themselves. I'd go after Deidara with Naruto and most probably Kakashi. There would be no stopping Naruto now. Might as well help him take the course of action least likely to get him killed.

Deidara began to soar towards the opening. I sprinted up the rock face and kicked off towards the bird. Deidara dodged but I managed to land a hard hit onto the bird's wing. It cried out once more, and this time I didn't fight the smirk that came across my face. I landed on the water, watching the bird and it's awkward flight as Deidara repaired the wing.

"Wait, damn you!" Naruto shouted, sprinting from the cave. I squeezed the small amount of clay I'd managed to gouge from the bird, observing it.

"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, then sprinted past me to join the chase. "Naruto and I will go with Cashile and take care of the one outside!" Kakashi informed Chiyo and Sakura. "Sakura, Chiyo, I'll leave this guy to you. Don't take unnecessary risks! Wait for team Gai to return!"

"Got it," Sakura nodded, adjusting her glove.

I squeezed the pliable clay once more, studying it. "Cashile?" Kakashi turned to me.

I pocketed the clay. I would make sure it was properly analyzed later. "We're losing ground," I responded. Kakashi nodded, and we both sprinted from the cave, after our reckless beast of a teammate.

I narrowed my eyes at Deidara once he was in my field of vision, hovering above us on his bird shaped animated lump of clay. I was never one for major use of chakra—it was just so messy—but his skill depended on his chakra entirely.

In other words, take away his chakra and his power was gone.

I noticed his eyes narrowing at myself and Kakashi in annoyance. Obviously he wanted Naruto, and he wanted to face him alone.

"Kakashi," I warned.

"Yeah, I see it," he immediately replied. "He's provoking Naruto. He wants the nine tails."

Deidara's eyes shifted once more to the cave before glancing back down at us. "My teammate is strong, stronger than me. Your kunoichi are done for," he bragged.

I raised my eyebrow at him while Kakashi nervously glanced back, hesitating to leave Sakura and Granny Chiyo to Sasori without any form of support.

"He's baiting you, Kakashi," I drawled. "Those two will be fine." And so what if they don't defeat Sasori? The real fight is here.

Sacrifice was a part of the game. We lose something to gain something. Common sense, rules, logic and all. Am I the only one that made sense to?

Probably.

"Gai?" Kakashi ignored me, channeling Gai through the headset.

"You're wasting your time. They aren't idiots to make breaking the seal so easy," I murmured. Kakashi sent me a glare as he realized I'd suspected there would be a trap on the seals and hadn't warned them.

If I had, Kakashi would have insisted we support one another, further slowing us. I couldn't afford to allow Kakashi to drag the mission down due to his guilt.

Those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum.

You're worse than scum, Kakashi.

"Bastard!" Red-eyed Naruto yelled, having again been so easily  provoked  by our opponent in the sky.  I blinked, focusing on the present. He leaped towards Deidara, who only flew farther away, leading us away from the cave. "Give Gaara back!"

I sighed and leaped after Naruto. A tension rang still in the air for a moment before an explosion ripped through, knocking me slightly off guard. I glared at Deidara, who was getting further away. Explosions, of course. Did he have anything else up his sleeve?

"Art," he bragged, continuing to slide just out of our grasp. Naruto chased him past the logs while Kakashi and I stayed close behind.

"He isn't thinking rationally," Kakashi sighed.

"I have a plan," I replied. "This one is a long range fighter. None of us specifically specialize in that, so we need to slow him down. There are three of us and one of him. I'll run past you three and lie in wait for him to come to me."

Kakashi nodded. "I have the perfect weapon to slow him down. Hopefully you won't need to cross him at all, with what I have in mind."

Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his left eye. He opened it, showing his sharingan—only it wasn't his normal sharingan eye. The pattern was different.

"A new technique?" I asked, interest piqued.

"Mangekyo sharingan, it's called," he replied.

"Are you sure that's the smartest idea? Remember the last time you overused your sharingan?" Were we not in the situation we were in, I would have snickered, remembering the Zabuza fight and how Kakashi had passed out in the aftermath.

"I've been practicing," Kakashi replied defensively.

"The Uchiha clan trains their children from birth to withstand the effects of using as much chakra as the sharingan requires," I taunted, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't tell you my plan so you could argue with how skilled I am," Kakashi snapped. "I'll take the rear, go on ahead."

"Aye aye, captain," I muttered. "I'm leaving a clone behind. Don't let him discover it's a clone." Kakashi nodded as I did the necessary hand signs then dropped below the logs and picked up speed.

It wasn't far after that I heard the multiple explosions above me. I kept forward until I found a decent spot far enough from the three behind me. I chose the most advantageous spot with all angles of visual and lay in wait for my prey. Time ticked on as I tuned my hearing, listening for my queue.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted up ahead.

"Nice job, Naruto," Kakashi applauded. It seems he got Naruto to listen to his plan.

I was on the move and now had my opponent and two comrades in sight.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled, continuing to punch Deidara's lights out. Looked like he had lost an arm, too... Another one.

Naruto and his clones dropped Deidara like a sack of potatoes and started clawing at the white beast that held Gaara.

Gaara...

I blocked the image of his dead body out of my head. The mission took precedence. There was nothing I could do. I jumped from the tree above, letting my foot rest on the ground near Deidara's head.

Revealing my twin swords, I grabbed Deidara's shirt and held his throat to my blade.

"Tell me about the Akatsuki," I demanded.

He smirked at me. He wasn't going to tell me anything of use. I could see it in his eyes.

"You think you could withstand the torture I would put you through to get the answers I want?" I questioned softly, allowing the blade to press into his throat, just shy of drawing blood.

"Torture? Konoha?" Deidara laughed, "right."

"Maybe not Konoha," I replied, "but what about The Rising Phoenix?"

For the first time, real fear entered his eyes.

"Do you believe me now?" I murmured. My blade nicked his neck.

No blood streams from the cut.

A snarl lifted my upper lip, baring teeth. A substitution. I scan the ground. He would be long gone, burrowing away under the earth.

In a sudden bout of uncharacteristic anger, I growl and stab the clone in the chest.

"Cashile!" Kakashi shouted from a tree branch above.

Instead of blood, Deidara's entire body turned to clay. I pressed my finger into the substance.

"We could have extracted information," Kakashi glared.

I shrugged my shoulders. "He was useless.  A substitution."

"You couldn't have known that," Kakashi argued.

I gave him a pointed look in response.

"Gaara, answer me, please!" Naruto yelled in denial. An orange glow began wrapping around his body and I felt Kakashi tense instantly behind me.

"Can you take care of him?" I nodded towards Naruto and the chakra covering him.

"I have something that should work," he murmured, still staring at Naruto.

"Then I'm going to track Deidara," I inform.

"He's long gone," Kakashi replied. "Unless you suddenly developed the byakugan?"

I bark out a laugh. "Have some faith, Kakashi," I scoff. "I'm probably one of the best trackers in Konoha."

He narrows his eyes, considering me for a long moment. "Fine. But do not engage if you catch up, understood?"

"If you don't allow me to engage, there's a seventy two percent chance that he will manage to escape," I informed.

"I'm the team leader here," Kakashi replied, asserting his authority over me. "You will listen and obey my orders. Do not engage solo with an Akatsuki member."

Glaring, I give a sharp nod. "Fine. Take care of the nine tails."

I tilted my face up, focusing on the direction of the wind. Psychologically, he would be more inclined to escape north, the current direction of the wind which rustled the leaves and branches. Everyone liked the wind on their back.

As Naruto's shadow clones started wailing in pain, I leapt onto the nearest tree branch in the direction of north. I bit my thumb, drawing blood with ease. "Summoning jutsu," I murmered after making the appropriate hand signs.

Dozens of miniature spiders appeared at once, as I had summoned them to. "The target is bleeding. You'll be able to smell the scent of his blood. The general direction should be north. Five of you separate east, south and west of here for safety measures, in case my predictions turn out to be inaccurate. Report back immediately upon locating the target."

"Yesss," dozens hissed, dispersing speedily. The ones that could used the wind to their advantage, creating silk strands to cling to as they floated with the wind.

Within seconds, the spiders which had been sent north were scurrying back. "The target isn't far, just up ahead. He is hiding within the tall grasses," one of them communicated in a raspy voice.

"Well done," I nodded, giving them permission to return to their home, Yami no Pitto.

I jumped in the direction I was verbally directed to. Sure enough, the Akatsuki member was kneeling in the grass, spying on Naruto and Kakashi.

So he wasn't far away after all.

I released my twin blades from my sleeves, making sure there was no noise as I prepared myself. I slink to a close branch. Breathe in, breathe out. Target shifts slightly. Circle downwind in response. Breathe in, breathe out. Lean forward. Forward. Forward, until gravity and balance fight for control and gravity wins. Don't even push off the branch; it would rustle or snap or move and the target would be alerted.

Blades in hand, falling through the air, I am the deadliest shinobi in this forest. This, I think, is true art.

I hold Deidara's life in my hands, and I'm not feeling generous.

__________________________

Heyyy.

I know it's been super long since the last update. Please don't hate us XD we've been super duper busy.

Good news is we're already working on the next chapter and have a lot planned! So comment super long super inspiring comments to help us work faster!

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