Aching Heart

[Sai]

Tikani stood in front of the memorial stone, her gaze shifting over four names. Her mother's, her father's, and her two teammate's. She clutched the flowers in her hand tightly, before setting them gently down in front of the dark stone. She knelt down in prayer position, placing her hands together.

She felt the pitter patter of rain drops on her skin. Tikani let out a ragged breath as she closed her eyes, letting her hands fall onto her lap. She fought back the tears that threatened to fall. "I miss you all so much," she whispered.

[Deidara]

The giant bird's wings flapped once in a while, making no sound as it soared above the treetops. Deidara croutched on the bird's back, the eye not covered by hair searching the ground below. His face was almost completely covered. His hair, the large neck collar of the cloak, and the wide cone shaped hat covered everything except one eye. The signature Akatsuki cloak he was wearing waved slightly from the wind.

His gaze locked onto the girl at the memorial stone. He pushed his hair to the side and adjusted the scope on his left eye with his black-nailed fingers to get a better look.

"Natsuko Tikani... hm..." He let go of the scope and the bird suddenly veered torward the memorial stone. He jumped off of it's back and dropped to the grass about three meters behind Tikani.

"Natsuko. I'm afraid the Akatsuki requires your knowledge hm." Deidara always had a habit of ending sentences with 'hm' or 'yeah', but it just sounded like another part of the word he was saying. He took the side of the cone shaped hat and removed it from his head, then tossed it to the side, revealing the rest of his half up-half down blonde hair. "Will you come willingly, or be forced to, yeah?"

[Itachi Uchiha]

He jumped into another tree with a small brushing sound. His feet only tapping ever so slightly once he hit the branches. Itachi Uchiha. S Classed Criminal and Missing Nin of Konoha, one not to be messed with. As he came about 50 feet away from Deidara and his target he closed his eyes and re opened them, revealing his red and black eyes.

The Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai passed down from Uchiha blood. Unfortunatly only few had this ability due to Itachi's wiping out the entire Uchiha clan, besides his younger brother.

"Look's like Deidara-san already found her. Her... " He thought overhearing them, more so Deidara. Itachi then jumped sdown to the ground and walked a few steps. Much like Deidara having his cloak, hat, and nailpolish, although purple, on. Unlike Deidara Itachi did not remove his hat. He just lifted his head slightly so he could see her clearly though she, nor anyone could see him. He quickly glanced around at the scenery and back at Tikani. Taking in his surroundings.

"Why did it have to be this girl? He thought again, not being much of a talker.

"It doesn't matter -" His cold voice finally reached the surface almost giving the atmosphere a sertant, chill. "- You're coming with us wether you like it or not.... "

[Sai]

Tikani jumped up to her feet, having heard the first voice. The first thing she noticed on the blonde man was the cloak he wore, black and imprinted with red clouds. She had never encountered an Akatsuki member before. She had only heard of them, and how dangerous they could be. Deadly. And her stubborn hate for them kept her from running away.

She remembered vividly the conversation she had with the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama. Tikani had asked him if he knew which of the Akatsuki killed her parents. He felt hesitant to tell her, but he finally did eventually. He informed her that Uchiha Itachi was the one who took the lives of her parents. Knowing that he had slaughtered his entire clan, the most prestigous clan in Konoha, Tikani knew that she would never stand a chance against him on a one on one battle.

Now... two against one. Two Akatsuki, one of them being the infamous Itachi, versus one jounin from Konoha. There wasn't even a one in a million chance that she could defeat them. But there was no way she was going to go without a fight. She pulled out her whip, snapping it once, the material of her weapon glowing a light shade of blue from her burning chakra. "Like hell I'm going willingly with you bastards."

Her hating gaze was glued to the Uchiha, but she was well aware of the other one, keeping her guard up.

[Kakashi Hatake]

While walking with my hands in my pockets towards the Memorial Stone, it just seemed to me another quiet day as always. I let out a sigh, thinking of all the things I still had to do, but let them fly out of my mind, gone with the wind. My slow pace carries me automatically towards the stone. But while coming closer at the stone, a slow feeling of suspicient rises in my chest. With a narrowed eye, I stop walking and look at the road towards the Memorial Stone.

I cross my arms and then I dissapear in the forest. Inside the forest I run silently towards the Memorial Stone, not making a sound. Wondering if my hunch was right, I slow down while coming nearer at the Memorial Stone. While I kneel down in the cover of the leaves, I observe closefully the Memorial Stone.

My eye widens in shock and surprise, never expecting nor believing what my eye is showing. "One....two Akatsuki members standing in front of a Konoha Jounin which I barely know. Nevertheless, what do they want from her?" I think. It seems the Konoha Jounin is preparing for a fight. Then my eye narrows on Itachi. "Kso!" I swear inside my head while considering a move, not betraying my location.

[Itachi Uchiha]

"This fight will be trivial... " Itachi started and glared back at Tikani slightly. He then moved his hand slowly up to his hat and took it in his hands removing it from his head revealing part of his face. He then tossed his hat on the ground and unbuttoned a few buttons on his cloak revealing his full face and a bit of his neck and chest.

He paused having known something, rather someone was also in their pressance.

"Kakashi, Hatake... " Itachi turned slight to when Kakashi was hidden and slightly glared at the bushes.

Without removing his eyes he spoke "Deidara, let's make this quick, if any more Jonin arrive I don't want to have to fight a whole war... Do as you wish... " Itachi spoke indicating for Deidara to fight with no holds back.

[Deidara]

A grin formed on Deidara's mouth, his gaze not moving from Tikani. He laughed briefly and deeply. "Whatever you say, Itachi-san hm..."

He croutched down then jumped into the air. The giant clay bird he'd used before swooped down and Deidara landed easily on it's back, croutched. The bird's large wings flapped once powerfully, launching into the air again. As it flew, Deidara's hands slipped into a pouch underneath the cloak he was wearing. The mouth on his hand chewed up the clay inside of it.

The bird circled around sharply and launched itself back in the direction of Tikani. "Let me show you what real art is..." He took his hand out of the pouch in a fist, then opened it to reveal two small clay birds with long necks and fragile wings. Deidara smirked at them like an artist proud of his artwork. His smile dissapeared. He threw them both at the same time with one hand. One of the miniature birds aimed itself at Kakashi, who Deidara was aware of hidden in the woods, and the other flew torwards Tikani. "Explosions!" He shouted, giving no warning to Itachi.

[Sai]

Tikani cracked her whip, wrapping it around the bird, using her chakra to keep it from exploding. Within a split second, she brought her weapon back and whipped the tiny clay bird back at the one known as Deidara. She released her chakra to allow the bird to explode. She jumped back, creating distance between her and both Deidara and Itachi, to avoid most of the impact of the explosion. She searched briefly around the woods for her jounin comrade, Kakashi. She knew him from talk around the village. He was supposed to be one of the most skilled jounin in Konoha.

Tikani gripped her whip as her gaze flicked back to Itachi. She knew if he decided to come into the battle, she'd be doomed.

[Kakashi Hatake]

While cursing Itachi because of his good senses, I walk out of my shelter of leaves. My eye darts from the one to another and watches Deidera carefully when he leaps up his bird, not undertaking any action yet. When he let's the bird fly towards him, I throw a kunai towards the bird to let it explode. I look at Tikani's action, impressed by her brief but strong action.

Now I fastly appeared next to Tikani while I reveal my Sharingan eye. "It's better to leg it" I tell Tikani while keeping a close eye on Itachi. I don't inform her any further and grab her hand to pull her with me in the woods, knowing Itachi and Deidera will be most likely on our heels, or intercepting the escape. No matter what, I don't want them to take away a leaf ninja so I decide to do the best I can. While I'm running, I'm scanning around for Itachi, expecting some kind of surprise attack or explosion, not counting Deidera out.

The worst case scenario plays in my head. If the worst case scenario hasn't already come to pass.

[Itachi Uchiha]

While not showing any emotion at all Itachi jumped forward in flash steps following Tikani and Kakashi. At the same speed if not faster he was about fifteen feet behind them but decided to take the scenic route and go around them.

Heading to the Northwest aside their North Itachi went even faster and made it at least twenty more feet in front of them. Though still running he took out five kunai and shot them several feet in front of Tikani and Kakashi, in a 'u' form so they would have to go a ways around. Although when the first hit the ground followed by the rest it errupted with a huge explosion of fire and smoke, building a sence of a fire wall infront of their way. He then took out four shuriken unseen and kept them under his sleeve for when needed.

[Deidara]

The giant clay bird Deidara was riding was forced backwards in the air by the pressure of the explosion. Deidara squinted his eye and looked away from the bright light when it exploded, oddly with a smirk still on his face. The bird used it's wings to stop itself from skidding backwards in mid-air and Deidara looked forward again, watching Kakashi and Tikani start to run and barely caught a glimpse of Itachi chasing them as well.

"Very creative, Natsuko hm," The bird waved it wings again and Deidara pursued after them. Soon after, the kunai Itachi threw exploded and trapped Kakashi and Tikani from running. Deidara tossed about a dozen frog-like clay figurines behind them, then the bird swooped upward and to the opposit direction. He couldn't help but smirk as he held up a single handsign. "Katsu," He commanded, and the clay frogs behind Kakashi and Tikani bursted into flames, exploding only about a meter away from them.

[Sai]

"Oh, shit," Tikani breathed, her eyes darting around the fiery circle that trapped both her and Kakashi. She glared through the flames at Itachi, her fists clenched. She bit into her thumb, breaking the skin. Blood dripped out of the small wound. She created a chain of hand seals before slamming her palm against the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" she muttered.

In a large puff of smoke, a raven, the size of a full grown oak tree, appeared before them. Tikani grabbed Kakashi's arm and hopped onto the birds back, taking him with her. She knew that her main persuer now would be Deidara, seeing as he also had the ability to take flight. The raven lodged into the air, flapping its wings and gracefully, but speedily, flying through the sky. Tikani looked back to see if Deidara was following. So far, she couldn't see him. But she wasn't taking any chances. "Faster, Kisa!" Tikani commanded, and the bird obeyed, jetting through the air.

[Deidara]

Deidara was up higher in the air than Tikani was. He glanced down to see her and the raven she was riding on with Kakashi. He created three more clay birds with the mouths on his palms, then held his hand in front of him as he croutched. The miniature birds took off into flight, speeding ahead of them both without anyone noticing.

The giant bird Deidara was perched on lagged back and dived closer to the ground; now he was behind Tikani and a bit below. Deidara's clay bird was smaller in size compared to Tikani's raven, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. His gaze locked onto Tikani's as she looked back to check if he was following her. He held up the same handsign he'd used to detonate the frog bombs.

Suddenly, three explosions that could be compared to grenades went off. The small clay birds Deidara created had flown ahead of them. They surrounded the front of the raven stealthily, the handsign caused them to explode.

[Sai]

The explosion was devistating. It knocked Kisa completely off course, making her fly back, sailing through the air. Kisa's wing was wounded badly, keeping her from using that as a brake. She squawked before spiraling toward the ground. Tikani's grip on her was almost immediately was lost and she began to free fall as well. God knows where Kakashi would land. There really wasn't anything she could do about it, she was horribly injured as well. Bleeding burns covered her exposed arms and legs, as well as her chest and shoulders. The rippling impact from the explosion didn't help, for it had knocked the wind right out of Tikani.

Kisa had disappeared in a puff of smoke before she could make contact with the ground. Tikani wasn't so lucky. She hit the ground hard with a bone crushing fall. She let out a scream of pain, blood dripping down her chin from her mouth. Despite the circumstances, she considered herself somewhat lucky. If she had fallen straight down, instead of at a spiraling angle, she probably would have died. The impact of the fall was much more merciful as she slid across the grass to a stop, sparing her with some bruises, scrapes... and two broken ribs.

She was surprised she was still concious. She wished she wasn't. The pain shattered through her entire body and her head felt like to was close to bursting. She couldn't move. She was paralyzed with pain. "Fuck..." she muttered.

[Kakashi Hatake]

(Now I remember why fighting on forums is so damn confusing ^_^)
Looking at the kunai in surprise, I want to jump over them for an instant but thought about that it could contain exploding tags or so. When the kunai exploded, I blinked in surprise. Detecting Itachi somewhere around I noticed Deidera came up and join the fight too. "How to evade this?" I think. The explosion and fire of Itachi surprises me and I try to jump away while grabbing Tikani, but she already seemed to thought of an idea. Seeing her making a summoning jutsu with incredible speed, I tried to hold off the explosions, which Deidera created with his clay birds. "Suijinheki no Jutsu!" I said while making the hand seals. I made a water wall in front of us to give us more space to evade the attack.

Seeing Tikani summoned a raven, big enough to carry us, I get soon enough pulled on the bird by Tikani. I hold on tight while we escape into the air. While looking down onto the forest, I'm feeling a bit more relieved because I never heard of an Itachi Uchiha who can fly. Noticing Deidera on our tail, I try to think of something to let him back off. As soon as I think of something I glare over at Deidera, not watching the front. When I want to make my move, I notice in the corner of my eye some birds and hear their little wings flapping. Cursing out loud I try to make another water wall to keep the bird unharmed. "Suij" is the only thing I could say. "Too late" I think in frustration while the birds explode and the bird's wing takes damage. I got thrown back by the explosions impact, burning in my side. Trying to evade the other explosions I jump up desperately while watching Tikani is injured. When I land back on the bird's back, the raven is already spiraling down wards. I grab the feathers, spiraling down is always better then making a free fall. Somewhere before the bird would hit the ground or 'poof' away I abort, aiming for some trees to brake my fall somehow. I use both my arms, making a x form in front of my face to protect it.

I soon make contact with with the branches and leaves of the trees. I grab for a thick branch, leaving my x formation with my arms. Because of that, some branches scratch my face and I feel warm liquid streaming over my cheek. The first idea was trying to swing myself upon the thick branch but hearing the branch crack, that action is out of the question. The speed was too great and made my mass much heavier, because the branch could've supported me, if it wasn't for the speed. While I try to think of an option in a second I fall down with the tree, seeing the ground coming close real fast. I was sure I couldn't do any ninjutsu in such a small amount of time.

The idea popped into my mind while I accidentally knocked my leg against the thick branch. The branch gets knocked to wards the tree and kind of bounced of the tree, now changing the way it's falling. I looked at the tree and before hitting the ground, I kicked the tree and changed my direction in the same speed of the falling speed. I swing now horizontal with the ground to wards a group of trees. My eyes widen and I crush only with my shoulder in one tree. Now I'm reaching out with my hand to make contact with the ground. I make a salto in front of another tree which is blocking my way. While flying in the salto I put my legs to wards the tree to break the crash. When my feet make contact with the tree, I hear a snap in my ankle. The tree splinters totally and I crash right through it , sliding and rolling after the crash.

Dust is swirling around me and now I'm lying on my face, not moving. After a while I raise my head and look around me, somehow expecting Itachi to jump out. When he doesn't I slowly get up and put my mask back on its place, covering up my bleeding lip and the cut on my cheek. I rub my shoulder which is aching real badly, realizing the collar bone might be broken. My ankle is a bit swollen because I didn't make my feet land on the tree at the same time, so my right ankle got hell lot of a more impact. Thinking of the Konoha ninja, I look at the direction where she probably fell. First, I get in a sitting position while holding my ankle, kind of expecting the ligament to be torn. I uncover my ankle and I see a small dent on it. The ankle is turning blue and I curse myself for my stupid action.

I cover up my ankle and stand up with difficulties, avoiding my right ankle. I´m only able move it slightly. Ignoring the pain, I run off in the direction of Tikani, somewhat limping. The impact of the fall of Tikani is seen in the environment and I rush over to her. When arrived at her side, I kneel to see if she's okay. Seeing her bad cuts and injuries I close my eyes, knowing that it's now lots easier for the Akatsuki to fight a limp and someone who's barely conscious because of the pain. Running away would be also a lot harder, being obviously spotted by Deidera and Itachi. "Better try to get away anyway" I say to Tikani and pull her up and I put her over my shoulder. I scream out in pain, because I forgot about the aching collar bone. "No time to correct the mistake" I think while my shoulder is hurting badly.