A/N: DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS?! Why, it's the 1 year anniversary of Techie and the Agent! I'm so happy! TvT I never thought I'd see this day! I wanted to post a new chapter on this day for obvious reasons, so I kind of procrastinated writing it until about last weekend. And I managed to finish it earlier today, so...yeah! Thank you to everyone who have stuck with me since the beginning, and those who picked it up along the way and still read it to this day! If I could give a cyber-brownie to all my fans, I would. Next, my goal is to reach 100 reviews, although I have no "due date" or any unrealistic expectations for all those who do leave a nice review. I love any review I get, and although I may not get many, any feedback is enough. Also, thanks to my poll-voters (I had 3, lol), whoever you are, for being honest and telling me what you think. Gaara is NOT in this chapter, however I made up for it...but I can't tell! You just have to read! :3 (Consider this chapter to be the 1 year anniversary gift to my readers! I worked hard!)

I don't own Naruto.

Techie and the Agent

Chapter 15

Scarlet Water

The smoke cleared after a few moments, but Kankuro was unaware of this fact as he was too frightened to see the damage. His arms were folded tightly over his head as he crouched in fetal position, shielding himself from the explosion.

The explosion itself had only taken a tiny fraction of a second to happen—It was the aftermath, the echo of noise ringing in Kankuro's ears—that seemed to last for eternity.

He cautiously lifted his arms and head from the ground, and rose slightly above the blockade of a bush he had dove behind. Unsure of what he was to find, yet confident that his sister had not allowed a simple attack to end her, he pushed his body off of the ground to face the scene. He would not hide.

After a sweeping glance of what lay before him, Kankuro's pulse sped up just a hair. Temari stood, whole and well, off to his right, her giant fan out and at the ready in front of her. The blond man in the scarlet-clouded cloak had a feisty grin on his face, and his hands—the ones which now revealed to have tiny mouths—barred their teeth and lolled their tongues, as if preparing to fight their own battle.

"Okay there, Kankuro?" Temari drawled, not taking her eyes off of the enemy.

Kankuro scoffed. "It's you I was worried about."

Temari gave a soft laugh, and lowered her stance, crouching like a tiger behind her over-sized fan. She called out, not to her brother, but to the strange man who had attacked them.

"What is your name? What is your affiliation with these headquarters?"

The man, in response, flipped some of his long golden hair behind his shoulder, almost as if he was dismissing the pair as nothing more than children in his presence.

Temari narrowed her eyes.

He sighed in disinterest, and perched one of his mouth-hands on his hip. "My name's Deidara, yeah. I don't feel like I should be telling you anything, so that's all you're going to know."

"Are you a part of Akatsuki?"

He glanced down at his attire and chuckled. "I think that may be pretty obvious."

He received a glare from both of the siblings. "Don't play games with us," Kankuro warned.

That didn't faze Deidara, who was currently ignoring the duo while feeling around inside a small pack on his right hip. He looked thoughtful, while Temari and Kankuro exchanged bewildered looks.

"Oh, that reminds me…" He had their attention once more. "Are you planning on sticking around and fighting, or did you just wanna go on your merry way and never return?"

"What kind of question is that?" asked Kankuro in disbelief. "Do you honestly believe we'd turn around and walk away? You probably know why we're here and we aren't about to leave that easily without trying—"

"No," interrupted Deidara, "that's not what I meant." He took a step closer to the siblings, so they could see that his eyes had taken on a morbidly interested look. "What I meant was," he continued, "Do you want to die the easy way, or the hard way?"

Deidara then unveiled his newest creation—a giant clay bird, wings with a 15 foot wing span, talons as sharp as a real bird's own, and a beak larger than Kankuro's head. Deidara perched sturdily on the back of his new weapon, a wild grin plastered on his face. His blue eyes sparkled with delight.

"Art is a bang!"

"Let's stop here," said Yamato.

After some tinkering, they managed to connect to Konoha headquarters with Yamato's headset.

"How's it going?" Shikamaru had asked in a bored tone, sounding like he was preparing for a nap. They heard Ino screeching about something or another in the background, and Shikamaru let out a tired sigh.

"We're stopping in a confidential location for the night, I was hoping we could develop an entrance strategy before morning comes, and then we head out early," said Yamato. He was the leader of the group from here on out; Tsunade had suggested earlier that some of the group should head back to Konoha if they did not meet any other enemies along the way to Akatsuki. Gai, Lee, Neji and Tenten had left the day before.

"Good. The way Tsunade sees it, this mission becomes riskier every day. It can't be long now before Naruto is in real danger, since Akatsuki wouldn't harm him before they needed him."

"Yes, I agree," said Yamato. The agents were listening intently to Shikamaru's words, most especially Sasuke.

"How do you know they haven't already killed him?" asked the dark-haired teen angrily. He had struggled to sleep at night because of constant discontentment. The others were so sure of themselves, so sure that Naruto would be okay, but Sasuke wasn't having any of it. To him, he was the only one who truly cared about saving Naruto, while the rest only wanted to stop Akatsuki. Sure, they went hand in hand, but to them, Naruto was only a variable in this crazy situation; He was only an object that Konoha wanted on their side. They wanted Naruto so they could win.

Naruto was not a tool.

Sasuke ground his teeth as he waited for the lazy genius to answer his question.

After a short pause—"Y'know, Sasuke, you should have more faith in Tsunade. She has highly trusted sources informing her of the situation. You just need to trust her. Can you do that, Uchiha?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Of course I can, Nara, I just feel that we've wasted too much time and it might be too late when we get there."

"Easy, Sasuke." Yamato placed a hand on the youth's shoulder, much to Sasuke's chagrin. He hated people giving him pity. "Getting mad won't solve anything."

Sasuke got up and sulked off to a spot in the grass—away from the rest—on top of a small hill. He noticed vaguely that Sai was also sitting a distance away from the other agents and about 20 feet away from Sasuke, his nose buried in his sketchpad. He didn't even notice Sasuke come near him.

"What are you drawing?" Sasuke's question caught Sai's attention, and he looked up in mild interest.

"Why, Sasuke, I'm surprised you decided to talk to me civilly. You are usually sour and extremely unlikable. I am confused as to why Naruto would spend time with you." Sai let a smile take over his face, his eyes closing lightly to add to the effect. Fake. It was all fake. Sasuke hated that fake smile, since it reminded him of his brother.

Glaring, Sasuke retorted, "I'm not here to chat with you, Sai. I was just curious as to why you hole yourself up away from everyone else like you do. You act like a hermit. I'm confused as to why you even bother coming along with us, if you always choose to close yourself off from other people."

Sai opened his eyes, and blinked. "I never knew you were so observational." He glanced down at his art in thought, absently biting his lower lip. "I guess I sit away from everyone else because I enjoy my privacy, and it makes it easier to imagine things to draw. Artists need their space." Then he added: "And I really do enjoy these missions, for I care about Naruto and I do believe in justice."

"Well," Sasuke reasoned, "I don't try to be cruel, I just rather dislike talking about trivial nothings and I have goals I need to accomplish. Other people and their needs just get in my way. Naruto is the one person who doesn't make me feel like I need to shut everyone out. His opinions matter, and I enjoy having him around. With him, I can just…be me."

Sai unfurled his legs from beneath him and placed his drawings aside. "I suppose we are more alike than we knew."

The Uchiha crossed his arms across his chest. "We are nothing alike."

"Well," said Sai truthfully, "I am better looking than you, not to mention more gifted."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get hurt?"

"Is that an invitation to spar?"

"No, I just really feel like punching you."

Sai smiled yet again. Sasuke huffed and turned the other way. They stayed like that for a while.

"Sai! Sasuke! Please come over here," came Yamato's urgent voice from the bottom of the hill. The two teens dutifully returned to the group of agents waiting for them by a newly constructed fire. They took their seats near the small flame, while Hinata supplied everyone with a warm blanket from the car to ward off the rapidly cooling air.

"Is s-something wrong, C-captain Yamato?" Hinata asked shyly after she returned to her spot.

"No, nothing's wr—there. Did you feel that?"

Confused, Sasuke leaned in towards his squad leader. "Feel what?"

Yamato's eyes narrowed in concentration. After a few moments, he said: "Someone's here. I can feel their energy."

"How many?" Sai asked coolly. He slowly reached for his pen and paper.

"One. Maybe two. Not very dangerous, but we certainly could be in danger if we're found. Everyone, stay here." And with that, he took off for the forest edge. The sun was rapidly disappearing beyond the horizon, so his figure was hardly discernible past the shadow of the trees.

Minutes passed slowly. The three teens shared equally confused and anxious glances.

Finally, Yamato emerged from the forest with a happy yet slightly bewildered smile on his face. Behind him followed two people, teenagers, dressed in obnoxious purple and orange outfits. They seemed familiar to Sasuke.

Hinata glanced worriedly at her captain. "C-Captain Yamato! Behind you!"

Yamato held up a hand in a calm gesture. "Easy there, Hinata. These aren't our enemies."

"Then who are they?" asked Sai haughtily. He seemed a little disappointed that they weren't in for a fight; His hand dropped from his art set rather sulkily.

"Kids," said Yamato—Sasuke hated when adults treated him like a child; He rolled his eyes in irritation before they settled back onto the strange newcomers who still seemed like from something in his past—"these two are our allies, secret agents who have spied on Naruto those past few months before he was captured to keep him safe."

One of the teens, a female with outrageous pink hair, straightened up and walked over to the group huddled on the ground. She outstretched her hand in a friendly manner.

"This is—" began Yamato, but the girl cut him off.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, and this here"—she motioned to the shaggy haired male behind her—"is Kiba Inuzuka. We're going to be joining your team for awhile."

Sasuke could barely suppress a groan. This Sakura girl already acted like she knew them and that Kiba kid appeared slightly unstable. And—oh—he's got a dog.

Great, thought Sasuke morosely.

The dog yipped, as if it heard what Sasuke was thinking. He shot eye-daggers at it in vain.

After the two newcomers properly introduced themselves to Sasuke, Sai and Hinata, they too took a seat near the fire. It was now dark, and strange sounds emanated from the forest. As it turned out, Kiba wasn't just unstable but temperamental. He got overexcited about everything and completely diminished their food supply. His dog was annoying, too.

Sakura laughed lightly at something Kiba had said (of which Sasuke found no humor), when that strange sensation of recognizing someone came back to haunt his conscience.

"Why do I feel like I know you…?" Sasuke trailed off. He didn't want to sound conversational, but the curiosity was too much and he had a feeling they were related to Naruto in some way, as well.

"Ah! You don't remember me, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, slightly offended. She brushed it off with a flick of her wrist. "Well, I suppose we didn't exactly exchange phone numbers or anything. I mean, we barely shared a few words if any at all. Although I was watching you come in…and walk to the desk… and bend over to tie your shoes…and I could have sworn you waved at me but I might be mistaken—"

Sasuke cleared his throat loudly. Ahem.

A rosy flush appeared on her cheeks as she struggled to regain her composure. "Ah, sorry, I tend to ramble…what was I saying? Oh, yes. I worked with little Naru at TechTeam, along with Kiba, for a few months to keep an eye on him." She gave Sasuke a sly grin and winked. "I just acted helpless. He didn't have a clue."

She cackled, and chills swept up Sasuke's spine. Creepy. He instantly felt pity for Naruto for having to work with such a woman.

Kiba piped up: "Yeah! We were assigned by Tsunade to become employees where Naruto spent a lot of his time in order to keep him safe, especially when Akatsuki decided to make a move." He added, "We were really lucky you showed up when you did; Tsunade really knows how to run an organization."

Sasuke frowned. "If you worked for Konoha Corp., why didn't I ever see you around at headquarters?"

"We didn't live in HQ, instead we preferred to live a semi-normal life away from the chaos involved with being on duty 24/7," explained Sakura. "We were signed to a contract with Konoha never to reveal their location or members' identities, but we told Tsunade we would be on-call until she needed us. And luckily, we happened to have the skills necessary to take on that particular mission. To protect Naruto."

"I wouldn't call working at a minimum-wage technology store a skill," said Sai with a smile. Sakura smirked.

"That shows what you know."

Kiba rubbed his belly happily. "Thanks for the sausages, Captain Yamato! They really hit the spot!"

"You are very welcome."

"How did you k-know where to f-find us? I thought our location was confidential," stuttered out Hinata from behind her heavy fleece blanket.

"Didn't he tell you we were coming?" asked Kiba in confusion. He had already taken a liking to the shy light-eyed girl, as Sasuke had observed, and he had let his dog Akamaru sit on her lap.

"Who's 'he'?"

Yamato laughed. "I think I've got an idea…" He caught Sasuke's questioning stare. "Well, Kakashi, of course."

Her chest heaved in exhaustion as she attempted to calm her racing heart. Never before had she been challenged this way in a fight. Temari knew that Kankuro was not fairing any better; She had always beaten him in scrimmages by a good amount.

Kankuro wiggled his fingers, trying to regain feeling after straining his chakra channels in the appendages in order to reach the long-distance-fighter's body. Deidara was proving to be much more dangerous than they had previously predicted.

Deidara hadn't gotten by unscathed, either. He was nursing a deadly gash on the left side of his torso from Kankuro's puppet's long claw-like fingers. He had narrowly avoided Temari's wind gusts, instinctively knowing that if he got caught in the whirlwind, he'd be sliced and diced. His clay supply was basically at zero, too.

After realizing that he had one small piece of clay left and little to no chakra remaining in his system, Deidara decided it was now or never. He had to end this before these amateurs actually beat him.

He'd never admit it to someone like Sasori or Hidan, but he had vastly underestimated the siblings. They were some wicked sparring partners, that's for sure.

Kankuro met his sister's knowing look with one of his own. "Ready?" he asked. She nodded.

"Wind and Puppet Combination: Sand Sibling Strike!" they shouted in unison. Deidara could only watch with wide eyes.

Temari's fan whipped through the air faster than you could blink an eye. The wind traveled through the space remaining between Deidara and the siblings, aiming for Deidara's right side. He ducked and leaned to the left, his injury slightly stunting his movement as he realized too late that the choice to dodge had risked tearing his wound even further. His clay pack was ripped from his clothing easily, landing who knows how far back behind him into the forest. He was completely defenseless.

Kankuro's miniature puppet, Slash, was built for sneak attacks. It was visibly smaller and lighter than his other puppets, and it's speed coupled with a smaller target equaled a more deadlier weapon. It was embedded with poison needles that could shoot out of it's torso if need be, but the main attack was the razor-sharp sword encased in the entire length of the body. All it took was a flick of Kankuro's finger, and it would extend and plunge into even stone. His chakra only reinforced the strength.

Deidara landed to the left with a thud, one hand clutching his wound tightly as every nerve in his body stood on end. Damn, he thought as he lifted the hand to see scarlet blood coating his fingers, I should have been more careful.

He heard a clacking, but in his disorientated state he could not place the location. He flung his arms up in front of his body in the last resort for protection, but it was too late.

He looked down his body to see the small puppet and its deadly sword peeking out from his body, deeply embedded in his body. A shockwave of pain laced through his system, starting at the point of entry right between his ribs. Before he knew it, he was on his knees.

Temari doubled over from lack of energy. That last attack was her final move. She and Kankuro had been working on that combo attack for months, and she was rather glad she could use it now to help save their brother.

She watched as her enemy collapsed from the pain and blood loss, but she did not feel pity.

He was the reason her brother was here. He was the reason her family had suffered so much. And he would pay for what he did.

"You know," Deidara said breathily, barely able to stay conscious, "your brother was rather hard to capture. He put up quite a fight, yeah."

"Yeah, that's the Gaara we know and love," replied Kankuro, a wistful look on his face. It was then replaced with a deep loathing, hatred so deep it was unheard of. "That's the Gaara you took away from us, you bastard."

Deidara smiled ruefully. He managed to shift his body onto his back. The bleeding would not stop, nor did Kankuro expect it to anytime soon.

"Do you want to die at our feet, or should we end it for you quickly?" Temari asked. She regained her breath, but could not shake the intense exhaustion caused by lack of chakra. She would need time to recuperate, but she knew she did not have that privilege. They would have to enter the castle and rescue Gaara.

This brought a laugh—which morphed into hacking up more blood from his damaged lungs—from Deidara. "Sounds like what I said earlier, yeah? Only now it's the other way around."

He looked between Temari and Kankuro thoughtfully. "You two actually beat me…" The tongues on his hand lolled out of their mouths lazily, like they had no more strength than their host body did. Deidara spent a long moment completely silent. Contemplation.

"Kill me, yeah," he said resolutely. "I'm an artist, and I believe that art comes and goes as it pleases. What do I have left to live for now, yeah?"

"Don't you have any family?" Temari asked, trying to find something human about her enemy.

"Nope," he said. "I was a rogue ninja after blowing my village up. They're dead."

"Don't you feel remorse?" Kankuro demanded. "Don't you feel at least a little bit guilty at all?"

"I think you—" he coughed harshly again, "—know the answer to that question."

The brunette man scoffed in disgust. Deidara gave him a blank look.

"I do miss them, yeah." His blue eyes angled up to stare at the even brighter blue sky. "I wonder if they would be happy with what I've done?" A small smile played at his lips, as if he was unsure what emotion he was supposed to have. He tensed as another pang of hurt swept through his system, breaching his mental barriers to block out the pain that he had put up as a ninja. The heat intensified, swirling around his wound but also in his heart. It beat quickly, then slowly, feebly trying to keep up a steady rhythm. His heart was hurting, too. He felt it's beats slow once more, but they did not pick up. Soon it was a second between each heart beat, then two. He waited for it to stop.

He felt the last bit of life leave his body, felt the mouths on his hands close and his legs go numb. This is it, he decided. In the end, he had deserved it. The murder of his entire village at his skilled hand had caught up to him, and karma dealt a blow that would serve the dead their justice. With a last look at the sky, which shined so blue and bright and artistic, Deidara closed his eyes. The artist had made his final masterpiece. And with his final show, he died.

As Deidara always said, art was a bang.

"We should go in now," Temari suggested. Kankuro nodded before taking a final look at their fallen enemy. There was no point in moving the blond man. Maybe, in some sick twisted way, his body could represent its own beauty. A work of art even after death. That, thought Kankuro, was what he would have wanted. No, there really was no point in moving him.

He stiffened instead of following Temari into the castle. Someone was watching him...

"Yo." A tall man with an unusual silver gravity-defying hairstyle walked up to him from behind a large tree. The sunlight glinted off a tiny badge on his green athletic sweater. 'Konoha Corp., Jounin', it read. Kankuro relaxed.

"What is your name?" the puppet master asked. Temari heard his voice and turned, raising her eyebrows at the newcomer. She seemed to trust Kankuro's judgment, and as he was not particularly worried, she was not either.

"Kakashi Hatake. I'm from Konoha, and I'm here to help." He turned to look at Temari. "Let's go save your brother."

The more the merrier, she mused.

A/N: That last part might have seemed rushed, but that's because it WAS rushed. I wrote that in last minute because I realized I hadn't included that scene in my original draft. But it's necessary, so...I hope you don't mind. Anyways, good chapter? Bad chapter? Weird chapter? Let me know! Vote in my new poll on my profile page, and tell me what you think! Now that I got this whole deadline thing over with, I can relax and get back to writing when I feel like it. The way an author should be! :D

I started school again, blechhh. But it's actually much more interesting than last year, as far as classes go. I'm going to be swamped with homework from here on out, I know that much. But I'll still write as much as I can. Also: I'm taking Drawing class, since I want to learn how to draw people. XD I usually tell people I'm the writer, not the artist, but it's funny how this chapter was so Deidara-based (therefore art-based) when I'm learning new things every day in art class. Who knows, maybe I'll be good enough to actually draw fanart? :D A girl can dream...But I drew a pretty dang good Konan picture, so it's not impossible!

(PS: If anyone knows where I got the chapter title from, you win a...well, you win something! XD)

Until next time! -Strudel