Chapter twenty-three.

My my, I'm so sorry for the delay here…what with A2 work threatening to drown me right now, I've had to forgo the writing… and this haven't had many chances to get on and write the final chapter…

However, I just missed it so much I had to write again, so here it is, and I hope you can forgive my failing to update…

Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto!

"Tenten!"

It was Neji who exclaimed, lunging forwards and pushing Deidara off of her, grabbing her shoulders to look into her face as if he couldn't quite believe she was there. His disbelief was justified – she had never looked so unlike her usual severe, analytical self.

Tenten shook him off, considerably weakened but still stubborn and unwilling to be given such a look of patronising sympathy. She moved a few steps away from the two shinobi, before collapsing to her knees and coughing violently, horrified to see the crimson of blood mixed with the phlegm on the ground.

Deidara got to her first, sinking to ground by her and shrugging off his cloak, putting it over her trembling shoulders. Neji stood up, his face clearly showing his resentment that the blonde criminal had got there first.

"She's strained herself too much – combined with the slight toxicity of the chakra suppressing drug she must have received at the facility and how it must have reacted to the physical toll on her body. She doesn't have the strength to cope with much more before the worst happens."

Tenten's mind couldn't quite register the words Neji was saying; everything seemed distorted and her head hurt so much it felt like a kunai had been thrust inside it. She hated to think how weak she must be appearing to them – her hollow cheeks, unhealthily pale skin, bedraggled sweat soaked hair and her eyes so bloodshot and staring they could have belonged to a madwoman.

"Shut up…!"

"I beg your pardon?"

Deidara's eyes were narrowed as she turned to glower at Neji, his rebuke having triggered a puzzled if not angry look on the Hyuuga's face.

"Don't ever talk about her like that again. She has more strength than any of you give her credit for. You haven't even seen what she's capable of. What do you think made her leave you in the first place? Why she despises this village enough to join a rogue organisation like she did? Why she now refuses your advances?"

"Don't take liberties Akatsuki! I won't deny I have feelings for her, but I can't see her in the same light as I did before. She's lost to me now, I understand that much. She is now no more my comrade than you are. But even if she is stronger than I give her credit for, she cannot take much more stress on her body – regardless of any secret training or abilities."

"Don't assume anything…she will make it. I didn't come here without preparation, you know."

Deidara's cerulean eyes flashed dangerously. Tenten looked at him, knowing that he would only get so angry before he snapped.

However, all this was swept aside by her relief at seeing him. He had come for her; he has cared enough for her to get through the whole hidden leaf village to save her from certain death. She felt the despair and hopelessness of her prior situation melt away, some inkling of strength returning to her bones as she sat up straight, before getting unsteadily to her feet, her coughing fit having abated thankfully.

Her blonde shinobi turned away from Neji to look at her, the arrogant smirk that once she had detested so much returning to his lips.

"It seems you've gotten yourself into quite a fix, wouldn't you say, hmm?

She managed to give him a raised eyebrow in return, ignoring the aches all over her body.

"And yet I'm still standing." She replied.

"For now…"

Deidara leaned forwards, tipping her chin back with his thumb and forefinger as he pressed his lips to hers, his hands dropping to coil around her back and waist, keeping her standing as much as anything as he held her close to him. Tenten's heart gave a lurch, and for a second she was about to pull away in shock, but something stopped her. No…she knew what stopped her. She felt the same as he, wanting to express her newfound feelings for him as much as her innate relief and gratitude that she had found him and he her again.

She leaned into his strong arms moving her lips with his, her arms wrapping around his back and shoulders as the kiss deepened, her heart beating faster. She could feel his heart beating through his chest, and held him tightly as they sharing the fleeting moment of perfection.

Neji coughed uncomfortably and looked away, crossing his arms as he glared at an unoffending section of the forest floor, his usually so pale cheeks slightly pink for once.

As their lips parted, Tenten felt a warmth like that of which nothing she had ever felt before wash through her, her face warm and no doubt a blush upon her cheeks. The harsh, cold blue of Deidara's eyes looked as though it has softened a little, a broad grin on his face as he regarded Tenten with genuine desire and affection.

He licked his lips briefly before he turned to the hip bags he always carried, in which he stored his precious detonating clay. Tenten looked on curiously as he brought out a phial of small round objects, and tipped a couple out onto his palm.

"Take these – they will afford you some short term chakra and energy for a while. It should be enough to see us safely out of the Hidden Leaf Village." He explained, still with a slight look of euphoria on his face.

"Chakra pills…why don't you take one?"

"Because I have enough chakra to get by, it's my supply of clay that controls my limits."

"How much is left?"

"Not much, but any significant artist should be able to create a masterpiece, even with restrictions hmm?"

Tenten had to smile at his cocky arrogance, and took the pill gratefully. She swallowed it quickly, feeling herself revitalise throughout her body, as if jolts of electricity had pulsated down her nerves to fill every inch of her. She looked up with a smile, pulling the frayed ribbon out of her tangled hair to rebind it tightly.

"Then shall we?"

"Indeed we shall, hmm?"

Tenten turned to Neji, her smile becoming smaller.

"Thank you Neji. I'm sorry that I hurt you earlier, but we cannot be together. I am no longer tied to this village, and though I will always remember your comradeship, we must never meet again after this…if anyone from the Leaf knew that you were in correspondence with a criminal such as I, you would be punished, maybe even executed."

"Nevertheless, I will travel with you to the Village boundary. Don't worry, I won't be spotted, and if I am I'll say I'm tailing you. I won't regret feeling the way I did for you, but I am in agreement. This is our last mission, Tenten."

He stepped forward and hugged her awkwardly. Surprised at this show of affection she would usually have expected from Lee, she smiled sadly, embracing him back as a friend would.

Deidara looked as if he was trying not to appear irritated, but said nothing.

Tenten sighed, letting Neji go as she turned and looked out into the depths of the woods. All this time, the search and patrol parties had been searching the further reaches of the forest, but she could hear their movements once more; the shouting of men and the baying of hounds.

"I don't have enough clay left to produce a means of transport; we'll have to go on foot." Deidara pointed out, looking over his shoulder at the noises of people approaching their position.

Tenten and Neji both nodded, exchanging looks before the three set off in unison. Admittedly, Tenten could not travel as fast as she would have liked, and despite the energising effect the pill had had on her, she was still weak from her injuries and the after effects of the drug that had been administered to her whilst at the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility. This was not going to be easy.

The sound of their feet impacting the forest ground was far too loud for Deidara's liking, even though it was softened somewhat by the carpet of dead leaves underfoot. He looked aside to Tenten, not showing his concern for her too explicitly on his face.

She was thin and gaunt looking, and he hated to think what she must have been put through at the Leaf Village Prisons. The thought of her entrapped and suffering there made his blood boil, a rage different to any he had felt before. But, he had helped her escape death, and that was surely a cause for celebration. Now all they needed to do was navigate through the maze of a village once more and escape without being captured and certainly killed by the shinobi of Konoha.

"I'm going to disguise our chakra signatures as much as possible," Neji said suddenly, "I can feel sensory type shinobi searching for us as we get closer to the main village. I'm afraid I can't do much more than that for now."

Deidara nodded, focussing his energy on moving faster, the knowledge that sensory shinobi were closer now unsettling him.

"Don't forget about types like Shino and Kiba – you can't disguise chakra from hounds and insects." Tenten said.

Deidara didn't know who these people were, but assumed that there must be ninja with other means of detecting their targets.

"Once we reach the main village, leave it up to me to navigate to the outer walls – I grew up in the centre of the village unlike Neji who was brought up almost exclusively in the Hyuuga house-hold. I spent a lot of time exploring the lesser known streets. I think I can find routes which will take us further out of the way of our pursuers."

Deidara frowned; Tenten sounded confident, but it wasn't as easy as that...his somewhat messy entrance earlier meant there were probably legions of shinobi patrolling every street, lesser known or otherwise.

It took the best part of an hour before they reached the tall towers and buildings og the main Village, having left the confines of the forest behind. Neji had placed a basic illusion jutsu on each of them, making it impossible for an ordinary citizen to know who they were – though it wouldn't fool the more experienced shinobi.

They had been trying to look inconspicuous for a while now, as they avoided the crowds of people who were now filling the mid-morning streets. The alleys and side streets provided better cover than the main promenade, not to mention the fact that even with their disguises, jostling a passer-by by mistake could lead to the illusion slipping, and an alarm would definitely be sounded.

It was as they stood at the mouth of a particularly busy street that they spotted them. A group of back-ops, masked and armed, standing at the top of the water tower, surveying the street bellow. These ninja would have no problem spotting them through their meagre disguise.

Tenten suddenly, grabbed Deidara's arm, dragging him into the shadow of a broad roofed building, Neji following at exactly the same time. A pair of shinobi paced down the street through which they had just traversed. It looked as if they had seen them, as the pair were speaking into small transmitters, tensed and looking around quickly to find their quarry again.

"Follow me" hissed Tenten.

Deidara watched and followed as she led them down a disused alleyway, refuse piled on either side of the precinct. It was quiet here, and there were no windows in any of the houses that looked out into this grubby street.

Tenten stopped at large man-hole cover, and squatted down to remove the lid. Deidara helped her lift it away, not quite believing what he thought they were about to do.

"Don't look at me that way – this is the only way we're going to get out of here alive. The security around the village is just too tight. Besides, the underground water-ways and sewer systems of Konoha are the best way to get out of here. They're to be used as emergency escape routes in times of crisis for the village, right Neji?"

"Indeed…" Neji replied, not looking overly enthusiastic.

"More importantly, you're a long range, open air type Deidara. This is the last place they'd look for you."

Deidara was about to protest violently, but stopped himself. There was no other alternative other than death at the hands of some Leaf Shinobi, and he was damned of that was going to happen.

Tenten dropped down the hole first, landing with a thud at the ground underneath. Deidara went in after her, scowling irritated at the algae on the walls as he did so. It wasn't as bad as it could be, he supposed. There was a concrete path a few feet wide to the side of the flowing water, and it was pretty much dry.

However, he couldn't pause to admire the surroundings long before Tenten's footsteps brought him back to reality, and he saw her moving off into the gloom of the sewer. She certainly had an aptitude in moving around in small spaces. She was tall girl after all, but seemed to manoeuvre easily around the sharp corners, knowing exactly where to go. He guessed any Konoha shinobi must be expected to know the layout of their underground escape mechanism, in case the worst happened to the village.

Deidara was breathing heavily how, the swift pace combined with the uncomfortably stooping position he had to take to move through the tunnels and his dwindling chakra was tiring him. His back ached, his eyes felt sore from lack of rest, and his hair was plastered uncomfortably to his sweating face.

With each twist of the tunnel, he though he saw light at the end, but each time found he was mistaken. It was frustrating, and the dim light that only permeated the tunnel from grills or loosely fitted covers in the ceiling made it difficult to see, and the scope on his eye was no help. He reached into his hip bags with both hands, the mouths on his palms biting off chunks of the minimal amount of clay he still possessed; it payed to be prepared.

"The tunnel comes out outside the main walls, draining away down the hills in the forest."

This information from Neji seemed to settle Deidara's agitations a little, as it was good to know they wouldn't have to try and get through any guards posted at the walls.

All of a sudden, Deidara creased his brows…something felt strange.

"Tenten, Neji, stop!" he barked, skidding to a halt himself.

The two looked at him, confusion etched into their faces streaked with grime.

He couldn't put his finger on it…he felt a bizarre sensation, as if some kind of energy was thrumming through him, vibrating the very walls around them. It was then that he heard it – a rumbling hum of energy building up, the pitch and amplitude increasing to a point when –

"GET DOWN!" Deidara yelled.

An explosion ripped open the ceiling of the tunnel, the tumultuous noise amplified by the pipe, deafening and stunning them. Rubble of stone and concrete rained down around them in the chaos, bouncing off of Deidara's arms as he held them over his head, having dived to the floor. He looked up – Tenten had also taken cover, and was now looking around with an expression of panic. Good, she was safe.

Deidara pushed himself up to his hands and knees to see how Neji had faired in the blast, when all of a sudden, pain exploded through his back, rippling up his spine and making him roar out loud.

He saw the blade force its way out through his front, the blood spattering the concrete, and the shadow of Neji falling over him.

With a gasp of pain as the weapon was withdrawn, he crumpled forwards.