Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Artless ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc., of Naruto. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.

Artless

A/N: I had fun with this chapter, smirk. (Fate)

Chapter Three

Riffling through the rack, Ino pulled out a sleek pink shirt and stared at it critically. It had a nice cut, but the color was dreadful. It reminded her of a certain kunoichi’s cotton-candy hair. Ugh. Pink really wasn’t her color, anyway. Putting it back, she kept looking.

*Stupid Sakura. Stupid mission.* She hadn’t asked to be here, but she was supposed to be fitting in, so she might as well shop. She was hoping Kotonashi might have something not seen yet in Konoha. It was a trading post, after all, if only a minor one. But it seemed as if there wasn’t anything---oh, wait, this one might have some potential.

Pulling the sleeveless, light blue tank from the rack, Ino held it up to herself. Biting her lip, she wondered if it was too plain. But for casual wear, with a cute pair of jeans, maybe her white half-sweater and some funky sandals, she could pull it off. The simple cotton V-neck might be a little low-cut---she did try to keep her clothes hinting, and not so glaringly obvious, after all. She should probably keep looking---

“You should get it, un.”

Looking up in surprise, Ino saw a young man---a rather good-looking young man, actually---nonchalantly leaning against the next rack. Dressed in a high-collared, red-patterned black trench coat negligently thrown open to show a glimpse of a black mesh shirt and grey-blue pants, his thick gold bangs obscured half of his face. He gave her an appraising look, his eyes slowly wandering up her frame and pointedly stopping on the blue shirt she still held up to her chest before catching her gaze again.

“Matches your eyes, yeah.”

Ino blushed. She was used to compliments, actually, but not from someone so…direct…in his admiration. “Oh, um, thank you, uh…”

“Deidara,” he said, a lazy smile tugging at his lips. Gods, a man shouldn’t have lips like that, he really shouldn’t. And those lashes---any girl would kill to have those lashes. The kohl he wore only emphasized the almond shape of his eyes, which were blue, actually---a smoky, dark blue. Or, at least, the one she could see was. The other was covered by the thick sweep of his bangs. He wore his hair long, a simple topknot and headband tying the rest back over his shoulders. He was blond, like her, but his was the rich color of true gold, not pale like hers.

“Ino,” she replied, somewhat breathlessly. Gods, he was hot, in that careless, don’t-give-a-damn way. Maybe this stupid mission wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“So…are you going to buy it? Because I’d like to see you in it, un.” He smiled at her, and Ino felt her confidence rising. This was a game she well knew how to play.

“Perhaps,” she said coyly. She held it up, pretending to study the shirt critically. “It is a nice color. And you did say it matched my eyes.” She tilted a flirtatious look back at him, deliberately narrowing those same eyes. The maneuver had worked well for her in the past.

His reaction wasn’t quite what she expected. For a moment, he looked almost disgusted, and she blinked. The look was gone, though, so quickly she might have imagined it, and he only smiled lazily. He was rather good at that whole slow, sensual smile thing. “You’ll buy it, yeah. And then you’ll join me for dinner, hmm?”

Wow. He rather had that whole arrogantly-domineering thing down, too. Ino actually liked it. She was more used to bossing around the men---boys---around her. Still, it was never good to let a man think he had the upper hand. So she gave him a slow smile in return. “Perhaps. I am a little hungry.”

Ino was famished, actually, but it would never do to let him know that. Hot girls ordered salad, not steak. She could eat a whole cow right now, but a salad would be better for her diet. She smiled to reassure him that she was willing to join him for dinner, and went and paid for the shirt. Although he didn’t move from his negligent pose against the clothes rack, she was rather conscious of his eyes on her. She kept the self-conscious blush down by tossing her head like she hadn’t a care in the world. She gave the clerk an apologetic smile when she fumbled the coins out of her pouch, nearly dropping a few as she read the woman‘s errant thoughts about young fools in heat. She had to control her shields better, damn it.

Taking her bagged purchase, Ino turned back around with an airy smile, purposely trying to ignore the bitter old maid’s sour look as Deidara came to join her at the door. He courteously let her go out ahead of him, and her heart lightened. Nothing could come of this evening but a bit of idle flirting, but gods, she could certainly use the distraction. Reading the clerk’s idle thoughts had reminded Ino of just why she didn’t want to be on this stupid mission in the first place. She could take this night off, at least, to just be an ordinary girl who had met a hot guy who was interested in her. She didn’t have to be a Yamanaka mind-spy all the time, damn it.

“So…where are we going?” She looked up at Deidara through lowered lashes, determined to have some fun. He was half-a-head taller than her, and she liked that. So many of the guys in her village were still her own height or only a few inches above it. But those were just boys. This guy wasn’t a boy, by any measure. He wasn’t old either, which would have just been downright creepy---although, Ino had had plenty of older men interested in her. She was a good-looking blonde, after all, who knew how to keep her herself fit and her hair perfect. But their thoughts were too…embarrassing, actually. Funny, but she couldn’t read this guy---his thoughts were oddly self-contained, almost as if he were shielded. She liked that, actually. It was…restful…being around him.

Deidara shrugged. “I don’t know this place that well, un. Just arrived, yeah.”

“You’re from out of town?” Ino queried, trying to start a topic. Most people in Kotonashi were.

“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t press. She wasn’t about to offer her own history, after all. This night was just for fun, and she wasn’t going to waste her time asking him questions she wasn’t willing to answer herself.

“I’m not from around here, either,” she admitted with a warm smile and a slight tilt of her head in his direction as she teased lightly, “We have that in common, yeah.”

His eye narrowed, as if he was deciding whether or not to take offense.

“Hey! Don’t be so serious!” she admonished, her blue eyes looking up into his with warm reassurance as she deliberately nudged him with her shoulder. Ino hated to see in others what she so often felt herself. “It’s just in fun. You shouldn’t be so self-conscious. I rather like the way you speak. It’s different---distinctive.”

“Self-conscious?” He stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk, as if the thought was foreign and somehow novel.

“Or not,” she shrugged, casting an apologetic look behind them as a man grumbled about them being in the way. “We should probably keep walking.”

“What? Oh, yeah.” He absently started forward, and Ino had to stop him from nearly running over a little kid who darted out of the doorway just in front of them. Deidara blinked, looking incredulous, as she waved at the kid, who blurted a half-heard apology even as he kept going.

“No problem! Just watch where you’re going, okay?” she called after him, turning back to smile at Deidara, who had that baffled look on his face again. She couldn’t help giggling at it. He really was absent-minded, wasn’t he? It was rather cute. He seemed so intense, but this little quirk made him more human and approachable.

She nodded toward the door the boy had just come out of as the grouchy man behind them pointedly went around with a glare. “Maybe we should just go in here before we get run over. It looks kind of cute, don’t you think? I like the flowers. Adds a sweet touch, doesn’t it?”

Tugging on his upper arm, she pulled him after her. Looking amused, he let her lead him inside.


Deidara didn’t get it. This girl couldn’t be as shallow and weak as she seemed, could she? He was completely baffled as to how such a flighty flirt could have survived his beautiful masterpiece. Such a trusting little innocent should never have escaped his art, and he still had no idea how she had. He might have said it was pure, dumb luck---if he believed in such a ludicrous notion. Now chance, yes, he believed in chance, and whim, personal whim, not that of some ephemeral idea of fate or whatever other fools called circumstance. But one made their own destiny out of the skills they had, (or the stupid mistakes they made,) and either learned from them or didn’t. But this girl…

She was artlessly beautiful. He had seen the incredible potential of that beauty from afar, had been taken with it enough to expend some of his own creative energy on it. He had even composed the perfect masterpiece to claim that beauty for his own in the fleeting transience of true artistic expression. But no matter how perfect her face or the soft lines of a body much too seductive for one so innocent, he couldn’t wrap his brain around the fact that she was just so seemingly clueless.

There had to be more to her than what she was showing him. She was a ninja, for crying out loud. She had made chunin, so that meant she had to have some talent or skill that he hadn’t seen yet. She was certainly a fast runner, and had hit that damn tree below him with her tagged kunai, but it took more than physical prowess to pass the Chunin Exams. At least, it had in his old village. He didn’t think the Leaf’s standards had fallen that damn low.

She kept babbling while he was lost in thought, seemingly unaware of his intense scrutiny. Although, now that he looked for it, she was blushing a bit, and wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. Her hands, too, were a dead give-away, plucking so nervously at the napkin on the side of her plate. She had barely eaten a bite, and he didn’t know if she was just picky or he just made her that nervous.

Now, wasn’t that a satisfying thought. Settling back against his chair, Deidara picked up his tea and watched the play of light across its golden surface as he swirled it gently. He took a negligent sip and came to a decision. This was getting him nowhere, and it was more than time he took matters into his own hands. Leaning forward, he put his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his palm as he fixed her blue eyes with his.

“Hey, why don’t you and me get out of here, hmm? Go some place else, some place I can get to know you better, yeah.”

Subtlety had never been his strong suit.

Her eyes---well, the one he could see, since the other was mostly covered by the feathering spill of her long bangs---widened, and for a second, she looked frightened. He found that kind of sexy, all the more so since it was a real reaction, and not just another pretense.

The revealing expression was gone though, almost as quickly as it had come, and she was suddenly wagging a finger at him, those pouty, pink lips showing just how sexy a pout they could form as she said mock-sternly, “Now, now, Deidara-kun, what kind of girl do you take me for?”

That was exactly what he was determined to find out.


“C’mon, un,” he said, shoving his chair back and standing up. Fishing a wad of bills out of his pocket, he negligently threw them down on the table and held out his hand. Ino stared at it, startled by the mouth on his palm that grinned up at her. A tongue waggled at her before licking its---uh---lips.

She blinked.

Deidara’s expression suddenly became no expression, and he pulled back his hand, his fingers folding over to hide his palm. He carelessly shrugged, turning his head away so that she could only see the jagged fall of his ruddy bangs.

Ino’s eyes softened.

Slipping out of her chair, Ino went around the table and lightly touched his arm. His head turned back towards her, but she still couldn’t see his face behind all that hair. Her fingers gently brushed his wrist, trailing down his palm and slipping inside his curled fist to cup his palm.

Not wanting to make more of the gesture, and intuitive enough to know his touchy male pride would be all mixed up in it, she put a light note in her voice as she coaxed, “Okay, Deidara, let’s go explore!”


He let her drag him out of the restaurant, his eyes on their joined hands. She didn’t seem to even notice how the simple gesture affected him, and she was filling the poignant silence with idle chatter, as if giving him time to recover himself.

The idea of such thoughtful consideration was so startling to him that he couldn’t wrap his brain around it, or the strange feelings it evoked within him. He wasn’t one for much self-examination, so he finally gave it up with an uneasy shrug. Ino had hauled him down the street by then, threading their way past all the slower people, and he almost plowed into her when she suddenly stopped. He caught himself barely in time to avoid knocking her over with his heavier weight, and frowned irritably. Whether it was from his distraction or her abrupt pause, he didn’t know.

“Wow! That isn’t what I think it is, is it?”

He stared over at the shop window as she put her free hand on the glass, almost pressing her nose against it so that the reflected glare of the street lights wouldn’t interfere. He didn’t get the appeal---it was just a bunch of flowers arranged in various displays. There was nothing special about any of them, just the same, typically boring baskets and vases he had seen in other shops. There was even a stupid bear with a bunch of freakishly cheerful balloons tied to its fuzzy paw. He glared at it, even as she determinedly pulled him inside the god-awful place. Leave it to a girl to want to go into a flower shop---he bet she’d want him to buy her something trite like a red rose or some stuffed atrocity.

But she ignored all the inane displays set out to entice the artistically clueless, marching straight to the counter that separated the front of the shop from the back. Half of it was covered by a variety of potted plants and bundled flowers, and she bent over one with obvious delight even as a short, fat, balding man in a dirty apron appeared.

“Excuse me, but isn’t that a quinquennial cereus repandus?”

Taken aback by the enthusiasm in Ino’s voice, Deidara glanced at the pokey-looking plant even as the man smiled smugly and simpered, “Why, yes, it is. You know it?”

“Who doesn’t?” Ino demanded, though, hello, one was standing right there beside her. Deidara didn’t see what was so special about the ugly plant. It wasn’t even a flower, just a single, prickly-looking blob in a bowl of dirt. Certainly nothing to get excited over, though Ino was positively hanging on every word as the bald little fat man described in minute detail how he had gotten, potted, grown and tended the little flower in the ridiculous hope that it would win at the Kotanashi Garden Club’s Annual Spring Fair.

Deidara was about to die of sheer ennui. Ino was all but gushing in her praise of the man’s accomplishment, reassuring him that she was sure it would take first prize. Deidara was rather annoyed that she was paying more attention to a damn plant than she was to him, and demanded impatiently, “What’s so great about it, hmm? It hasn’t even bloomed, un.”

Two pairs of incredulous eyes turned on him, and Deidara looked back with cool disdain. Ino’s eyes softened, and she said gently, “But, you see, that’s what is so great about it. The quinquennial cereus blooms only once every five years.”

She touched the pot with reverent fingers, and her voice held the same fervency as his could when speaking of his art. The recognition of that passion surprised him, and he actually listened as she explained softly, “A flower bud like the quinquennial cereus only has the potential for beauty. One cares for it, and nurtures it, hoping that it will blossom into that perfect symmetry of color and scent that is what makes a single flower truly beautiful and unique all by itself. One doesn’t know, really, if all his hard work over the last five years will pay off in that one, single night when the cereus blooms. The life of the quinquennial is so transient and fleeting, lasting only for a few hours before dying, that only the truly dedicated would even bother to try. It is only in that one, single instant when the flower unfolds will he know if all his time and effort were wasted.”

The little bald man smiled with benign indulgence as Deidara stared at the ugly little plant with dawning respect. His voice was low as he said slowly, “So its true glory only lasts for that one, single, fleeting moment? And the florist doesn’t know until that instant if it will blossom into beauty or utter ignominy?”

Ino shrugged, almost careless in her reply, though her eyes spoke different, “It’s all in the art of flower-growing, really. One won’t know until then.”

“Art, un.” He stared at the pot, admitting with grudging surprise, “I never looked at it that way before, yeah.”

Ino smiled. “If you think about it, art---or maybe, I should say, beauty---is all around us. You can find it in the most unlikely places.”

She blushed, looking away, and then suddenly, absurdly, giggled. “Like a great pair of shoes to go along with the cute new shirt you just bought.” She patted her big purse, where she had stashed her purchase, and gave him a wink.

It was Deidara’s turn to look incredulous, and her brow knit in puzzlement. “What?”

“You’re…not what I ever expected,” he said, still baffled by the enigma she represented to him. She could be so real one moment, and so vapid the next. He truly didn’t get it, and that vexed him no end. For he never bothered trying to understand other people---hell, it had never occurred to him to even care to. But she…

“You’re not what I expected, either,” she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she tossed her long ponytail over her shoulder. Letting go of his hand, she skipped over to a bunch of dyed chrysanthemums and fell to talking with the shopkeeper about the techniques he used. Folding his arms, Deidara watched her for a while but soon grew bored with the conversation, which he had no interest in, and wandered idly around the small shop. He couldn’t name half the damn flowers, though it was easy to recognize the familiar ones: roses, daises, some type of dumb fern. An ugly, busy-looking thing he couldn’t remember the name of, and lilies in various shades.

He paused, his gaze drawn to the scarlet lilies that lay among the others in a tube of water. His eyes cut to the girl, who was still talking animatedly with the dumpy little florist, her hands fluttering all around as she airily demonstrated something. A smile hovered over Deidara’s mouth, a cruel smile, and his eyes glittered as he plucked a single, blood-red lily out of the tub. Water dripped from the bottom of the long stem, making soft splats on the ground like the patter of blood.

Lazily fishing a few ryou out of his pocket, he handed them to the surprised florist even as he casually threw an arm over Ino’s shoulders to get her attention. She looked up at him, surprised at his abrupt intrusion, and he whispered huskily, “Close your eyes, yeah.”

Giving him an uncertain look, she did as he bade. What a trusting little innocent she was. He felt a delicious stab of anticipation as he gently drew the soft petals of the flower down along her cheek. A pale blush stole across her creamy skin, and she breathed in the scent. Her knitted brow cleared as she recognized it, and he gently laid the flower in her palm, curling her fingers around it before letting go. She smiled, a sweet smile, as she slowly opened her eyes.

And froze.

“What’s the matter, hmm?” Deidara breathed into her ear, trying to pretend dismay and failing miserably. He wondered if she even noticed.

“Ah…” She bit her lip, and turned stricken eyes up to him, trying valiantly to hide the flash of fear with a weak laugh and airy wave as she nervously moved away from him. “Eh, heh, um, you just caught me by surprise is all.”

“Don’t you like lilies?” he goaded, quite delighted with her reaction. Finally, something real he could grab on to! She did remember him and his art. Not that the experience could ever be forgotten by anyone…


“I like lilies,” Ino said staunchly, though her flat voice lacked conviction. She hid a shiver. *Just not red ones. At least, not anymore.*

He wouldn’t know that, though, and it would be rude to ruin what was, after all, a rather sweet gesture. Trying to make up for it, Ino leaned up and gave him a shy kiss on the cheek. His brows went up and he looked surprised.

“Thank you, Deidara-kun. That was really sweet.” She deliberately buried her nose in the lily, trying to hide her blush. It wasn’t like she went around kissing guys all the damn time. She really liked him, though. For all his strange silences and careless attitude, he had a refreshing honesty about him, even if it could be a little too direct.

Like now, when he stared at her with a heated look beneath lowered lids that made her heart start fluttering inside her chest. Tingles raced across her skin, raising goose-bumps in their wake as he reached over and took the flower from her hand. Her eyes dropped to the flower as he neatly pinched the stem a few inches below the base. She watched in fascination, her breath catching, as he pushed the small, blonde wisps back behind her left ear, gently threading the lily among the silky tendrils.

“Suits you, un,” he said, his smile almost dreamy. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss just above the flower, on the sensitive skin of her temple. The feel of his warm lips lingered even after he leaned back. Ino blushed, and he smirked.

“Let’s go, yeah,” he said, grabbing her hand.

“Okay,” Ino agreed, trying to ignore the tickling sensation as the mouth in the center of his palm nibbled lightly on her skin. She turned to wave goodbye to Masuo-san, but jumped when a warm, wet tongue lightly laved the same spot. She almost dropped Deidara’s hand in her surprise, but his fingers tightened on hers.

He met her wide eyes with a wicked look, and negligently flipped two fingers at the amused florist as they left the shop. Ino wondered just where he was taking her. He walked so determinedly, sauntering down the middle of the sidewalk with her in tow. She had to quicken her steps to keep up with his longer stride, and they kept bumping into people. Deidara ignored them, leaving Ino to toss chagrinned looks in their wake.

“Hey!” She tried to catch his attention, and she had to forcefully grab his sleeve with her free hand before he would look down at her. Slightly put out by his arrogant behavior, she scolded breathlessly, “Can you slow it down some? I’m about out of breath here!”

He shrugged. It was probably the only apology she was going to get. Ino didn’t know if she should be miffed by that or not, but he did shorten his stride, so she chose to ignore it. At least his hand had stopped kissing hers. The absurdity of that thought made her want to giggle and shiver all at the same time. “Where are we going?”

“My hotel room, yeah,” he said that so nonchalantly, not even looking at her but at the on-coming traffic as they paused before crossing the street.

“Your what?” Ino stopped dead in her tracks, jerking her hand free of his.

He turned, his eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t go to your room,” she said, horrified that he would even think she would.

“Why not, un?” He folded his arms over his chest, oblivious of all the people who had to go around them. Ino was too agitated to notice them, either.

“What kind of girl do you take me for?” she demanded, furious that he would even consider it. The jerk had just ruined a perfectly nice evening, and all because he assumed she was some stupid bimbo willing to go along with whatever he wanted. She was incredibly disappointed. She’d really started liking this guy, even with all his goofy silences and weird expressions. And just like every other guy, he had to go and ruin it by thinking with the wrong head.

“What’s the big deal, hmm? I just want to go somewhere private so we can talk, yeah.” The hot look in his eyes said different. The leisurely glance down to linger too long on her breasts sure didn‘t help. He even took a step closer, as if thinking she would fall for that Tarzan tactic of trying to coax her with his superior male self. Ino wasn’t an idiot. She couldn’t believe he actually thought she would buy that stupid line. Two could play this game, though.

Pasting a vapid look on her face, Ino said brightly, “Oh! Why didn’t you just say so! I know the perfect place we can go and talk.”

He gave her a wary look, but let her grab his hand and march him on down the street. Ino kept up a rapid-fire, one-sided babbling bonanza calculated to throw him off balance. It had worked well for her in the past, especially with Asuma-sensei and her teammates. “I am so glad you want us to get to know each other better, Deidara-kun! Most guys, I find, don’t even want to try and get to know a girl. They really just got a one-track mind, y’know? And there’s so much you don’t even know about me, so much I could tell you! Like, would you believe that my favorite color is purple? Well, I mean, I am wearing a purple shirt, so maybe you could guess. Though I could have just put on any old thing this morning, for all you know, right? So I guess it’s great that you want to get to know everything about me.

“Like how lousy a cook I am, or what kind of shampoo I use. I’ll tell you a secret, I actually use a special horse shampoo to help make my hair grow. Though you can’t leave it in too long, or it will strip away vital nutrients. And then where would I be? Split-end city! That’s where! That’s why I have to be careful about what conditioner I use, to counteract the harshness of the mane and tail shampoo. I really like the new Pearl product line, how about you? It makes my hair so soft and shiny! I don’t use their soap, though, it can really clog the pores…”

His eyes had glazed over long before they reached their final destination. Several of Kotonashi’s merchants had grown fat on the new trade passing through their town and had used some of their new-found wealth to build an ugly fountain in the middle of the one square the town boasted. They hadn’t paid for its upkeep, though, and the town council was still arguing over whose responsibility it was. In the meantime, the fountain was left to wind and weather, and the occasional use by some drunk as a public bathroom. Litter and leaves filled the murky brown water, which stank to high heaven.

Some of that new-won wealth was what Ino was supposed to be investigating while she was here, and she found it quite ironic that her mission debriefing had given her the perfect way to deal with this jerk.

“You know, you should only wash your hair every other day, so as not to destroy all the essential oils. But I think you should, at least, take a bath every day.”

It was almost too easy. He hadn’t even noticed the fountain, though he finally realized that they had stopped after she dropped his hand. Those hands were now trying to come around her, and he looked like he was about to try and kiss her, the jerk. Probably hoping it would shut her up. She put a light hand on his chest, and ignored the warm beat beneath her palm. She gave him a coy look.

“I’m so glad we had this chance to talk, Deidara-kun. We should really do it again some time!”

Hooking a neat foot behind his knee to throw him off balance, Ino smiled sweetly as she pushed him over. He went down with a surprised yell and a satisfying splash.

“Or not,” she reneged.

Plucking the stupid flower from her hair, she tossed it in after him.

“Jerk,” she muttered, stomping off with her head held high.


Deidara sputtered angrily as he shoved the sopping hair out of his eyes. He immediately removed the scope over his left eye, afraid it had been damaged by the ignominious dunking. He ran his fingers over the buttons, testing for damage, and was relieved when it answered him, though he glared when it took his picture. Like he needed any reminder of the utter humiliation he had just suffered.

His fists tightened, the teeth on his palms grinding loud enough for others to hear. The lily, somewhat soggy, floated by and he glared at it hard enough that it should have burst into flames. He raised his eyes to where the girl had disappeared, and his look was dark enough that the few people who had stopped to laugh at him suddenly found reasons to leave, and quickly.

He was going to kill that crazy bitch!