Blood.

A light groan was barely heard in the abyss of complete isolation. A hand shot up from the pile of gravel and sharply-edged rocks. Grabbing the top of the pile, the hand hoisted its owner up. More rocks fell. Bruised and beaten, with blood and dirt covering nearly every inch of normally tanned skin, Deidara of Iwagakure slowly stood up. His blood-matted hair fell in front of his face, his head bent towards the ground. Haunched over, Deidara slowly lifted his head to look at his surroundings.

There was no life to be seen minus the few vultures soaring for their next prey. Desert, a barren landscape and giant boulders encompassed him. He wiped the blood out of his eyes. 'What the hell had happened?' He wondered. 'Where am I? Near Iwa, I suppose, un.'

He heard shuffling. He snapped his throbbing head to his left. Nothing. His head burned with pain with that action. Slowly, with more care, he turned his body to the right and gasped at what he saw. A girl, blood-red hair with blonde streaks and light blue eyes was laying on the ground, partially submerged by bedrock, with her body in a way a human body should never be.

He rushed as fast as he could towards her. Who was she? She wasn't someone he knew, rather, she was from the leaf village...her headband showed it. "Are you okay?!" He asked, frightened. 'What the hell had happened' is a question that needed to be answered; quick.

"D-Deidara?" She managed to whisper. His eyes widened.

"How do you know who I am, un? Who are you?" he managed to croak out. Her eyes filled with tears and she looked crestfallen.

"Deidara...it's me...Ino. Are you alright?"

Deidara was utterly confused. "Do I…know you?" he asked, bending down to help the girl called 'Ino' up.

"Deidara…we…were assigned on a mission together…to protect a scroll. We've been friends our whole lives. And…wait. The scroll!" Ino looked around once she was on her feet. She hadn't bothered to move her arms and when she had to put a hand over her eyes, she screamed in pain.

"What?! Are you alright, yeah?" He pulled her to him, examining her apparently broken arm. "I think it's broken, un."

"No…really?!" she sarcastically shouted at him. His eyes widened and he took a step back.

"S-sorry yeah…" He mumbled, his hands in front of his face in mock defense.

"Sorry. No, it's alright. We need help, Deidara. We somehow fell from the cliff and lived…everyone probably thinks we're dead, that's a safe bet, which means that the enemy won't be looking for us. C'mon, help me wrap my arm up in a sling…then we'll start walking." Ino said solemnly.

Deidara nodded, taking his ripped shirt off. He made a sling out of it along with their two hair bows, which were barely hanging in their hair. Ino thanked him and slipped her right arm in it. Sweet relief.

"Oh wait, the…scroll, un?" Deidara said uncertainly. Ino blinked. 'Right, the scroll.' She looked around the rocks and picked one or two up with her left hand, then tossed it aside.

"It has to be here somewhere. Help me." Ino said, wincing as she bent down to move a rather large piece of basalt. She heard shuffling and more rocks being moved. She groaned when she moved the volcanic rock but what she saw made her day seem better. The scroll; they didn't fail.

"Deidara, I found it. It's underneath this boulder. I need your help." She informed. He came over and looked down. It was at the bottom of the two-foot-high pile and was three-fourths covered by a rock the size of his pillow at home.

They got on their knees and started moving smaller rocks around it, getting ready to hoist all of their remaining strength into the rock. Three hands were not going to get this up easily.

"I don't know how this is going to work, yeah." Deidara sighed, his head bowing in defeat.

"Deidara. You are a genin; a ninja of all sorts…and you are on a very important mission. You cannot let anything stop you from going to the top. You dream of being an ANBU…you can do this. We…can do this." Ino looked into his eye.

Deidara nodded and put a look of pure determination on. "Right, yeah. We can do this. He put two hands under the rock and heaved, but it just barely moved. Ino quickly went to help, her left hand trying to grab the other side.

Minutes passed and they were getting nowhere. "Oh, why didn't I think of this before? Deidara…you can bomb the rock. Gosh…I guess in the state of what happened, one can't really think right. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah…" the other blonde sighed. Oh right…she forgot…he had caught some case of amnesia. But that wasn't going to deter them. She would make sure that he remembered her, kami bless his soul, and she was going to make sure that he remembered the…love…they share. Sadness engulfed her entire being. He doesn't know that they are in love…she held back her tears. She wasn't going to mention it…not yet anyway.

Deidara pulled out a small piece of clay, probably the last of it, scraps from their previous battle. He allowed his hands time to slowly chew the piece of clay; he wasn't going to make them rush when everything had gone so wrong. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, a small C-1 bomb was made in no shape at all. Their chakra was nearly completely drained and it was getting dark. They had to hurry. Deidara placed the small sphere of clay on the boulder and dragged Ino back with him.

He whispered 'katsu' and they watched as the boulder blew into small pieces, leaving a charred scroll behind. Deidara picked it up and placed it in his weapon pouch.

"Okay, let's go." She whispered, getting up and walking ahead with a limp, while Deidara trudged behind, towards the setting sun.

A Sand ninja walked around the perimeter, canvassing the scene. He thought about what he had been told. The scroll had fallen off the cliff, with Leaf and Rock enemy ninja. They needed that scroll. The whole Sand village depended on that scroll. Sighing, he bent down and peered over the cliff, scrunching up his eyes. 'It can't be…' he thought. He glared in realization. They had survived.

Ino knew that Deidara had memory loss, but his personality was wacked up. There was something different about him…he was more solemn, more conserved. That's not the Deidara she grew up with, that's not the Deidara she loved.

It was dark now and the sound of rushing water and their footsteps were the only things that were heard. "There's a waterfall not far ahead. We can make camp by it." Ino said, pointing towards the sound of delicious water. Deidara nodded; he hadn't spoken since the scroll incident.

Once they had passed through a small venue of trees, a clearing was seen with a stream leading from a waterfall. The waterfall was falling down a pretty small cliff. "We're in the fire country, I'm guessing. I've been here before yeah…I think we might be near Konoha, un." Deidara stated, staring blankly at the cliff.

Ino nodded and bent over to take off her sandals. "I'm going to undress." She said bluntly, setting her sandals aside and unwrapping the bloody bandages on her legs and thighs. Deidara just stared at her.

'I don't even know this girl and she is going to get naked in front of me?' He thought, with a small blush aligning his cheeks.

Ino slid her skirt off and managed to get her shirt and the rest of her bandages off over her head without putting her arm through serious pain. Times like this she wished she was studying medicine ninjutsu. She took the sling off and sighed as she emerged her nude form in the cool waters.

She washed her body with her one hand and didn't look when Deidara decided to come in the water himself. She didn't want to see him naked yet, not until they were ready to embrace their relationship in a more passionate way; and that couldn't happen until he remembered who she was.

"THEY'RE ALIVE! I found them! Come over here, quick!"

Ino moaned and opened her eyes to see the sun being covered. She blinked a few times and realized that a ninja was standing above her, directing other nin. She knew they weren't enemies when she spotted the Leaf Village's trade-mark headband on this man's thigh. They were saved.

Ino tried to sit up, but the man held her down. "It's alright, Miss Yamanaka. You're safe. We are going to get you and Deidara-San home."

"He has amnesia. He can't remember a thing past the last few months! I don't know if we can heal that, but we'll have to see if the third Hokage can do something about it. Is she alright?" A distant ninja asked, sounding highly professional.

"Are you alright, 'mam?" The man above her asked.

"Y-yeah." She groaned out. "But my arm…" She whimpered when the man touched it.

"She's got a broken arm but we can fix that easily. Hiro, come here and heal her, please." He said, standing back up. "It's alright Ino, you'll be home shortly. Just go back to sleep…go back to sleep…go back…" the man's voice drifted away as Ino passed out.

Deidara awoke in a white room, oblivious as to what happened hours previous. His headache was exponentially better and he felt no pain at all for the rest of his body. He looked to the bed next to him and saw that Ino was sitting up and staring at her hands.

"Hey…" Deidara whispered. Ino looked at him and smiled. Did he remember? Does he know? "Listen, yeah. I'm sorry about not knowing who you are…but I just…don't remember, un. Maybe your Hokage can help, yeah?" Deidara sounded hopeful, but it didn't make Ino's mood any better. He didn't remember…

"Hopefully…" she sighed, an invisible tear sliding down her cheek.

"Ino, Deidara. Your parents will be coming to visit soon, Ino, and Deidara, the Tsuchikage will be coming for you. But I want to say something first," the Hokage started, looking from Ino to Deidara and back, "when you two were searched and cleaned, we found the scroll you were protecting. A very ancient, very dark scroll. I didn't expect it to be so important, as the Tsuchikage didn't speak much of it. A level C mission is what it was supposed to be…but I put you, Ino, into far danger. I apologize…this will never happen again. Deidara; the Tsuchikage thinks very highly of you and he thought you could handle it. I am sorry to say that he underestimated you, Deidara. You two are only genin and this mission was intended for a jonin. Luckily, you two survived and luckily, the Sand think you two didn't make it."

The Hokage paused and took a deep breath. "But the two of you are alright, and that is what matters at the moment. Now the next thing; Deidara the med-nin have informed me of your…disability (for the time being) but I think I can help. Amnesia is no serious curse. It can be fought and won over with well, things that could trigger old memories."

Ino and Deidara clearly showed confusion as the Hokage explained, "We will be showing you images of old memories to help you move along. Ino, you will need to help him as well. I am aware of your friendship…and more…well, you know what I mean." The third Hokage unceremoniously winked.

Ino blushed and looked away, but Deidara remained confused. "Sessions will start after your visitors leave tomorrow evening. Now, please, rest." The Hokage smiled and nodded, then swept out of the room and shut the door.

"What…?" Deidara started, but Ino held up her hand as to silence him and leaned back, smiling to herself.

*Click*. Deidara blinked at the screen. A picture was shown and held next to none for sentimentality. The girl, Ino he presumed, was not too young, about the same age as she is now, and she was wearing a two-piece swim suit, holding up a half-a-heart and blushing. Next to her was himself, completing the heart and looking away, clad in swim trunks. They were at the beach.

Anko looked at him and he shook his head. She sighed and *Click*, she changed the picture. Were they lovers? Were they dating or even married? He looked at his hands as Ino had a few weeks ago in the hospital. He saw nothing; no ring nor any signs of ever wearing a ring. They weren't married, then. Were they crushes then? 'We must have liked each other…We're blushing mad, yeah.'

Another picture came up, this one just had Ino and himself at a restaurant, chatting nonchalantly, but each had a smile on their face. It was a candid photo, taken from behind the cashier's counter. This one is more recent than the last. Judging from the small scar on his right hand in the picture, it was only in the last few weeks.

He shook his head. Nothing. *Click* It was a dark photograph, this one. You could hardly see the two subjects in the photo, only the outlines of frail bodies. They were in a living room, watching a movie. A white light outlined the two figures. He remembered this. Deidara and Ino were watching Moulin Rouge. It just came out on VHS about a week ago and they were excited about it. Wait…he remembered this. He remembered this! He grinned and nodded his head vigorously. "I know this!" He shouted, earning a small smirk to form at the side of Anko's mouth.

"What happened that night?" A voice said from the back of the room. He knew that voice…he could, ironically, never forget that voice; Ino.

"We watched Moulin Rouge. It had just come out, yeah. You…and I watched it together, un. We…" he faltered and blushed.

Ino smiled encouragingly. "Go on, please."

"I don't think…" he stopped mid-sentence and blushed even more. It made sense, though. The blushing, the hand-shaped hearts, the holding hands…he liked her…no, he likes her. Everything came rushing to him like a hurricane. He told her that he loved her…just before their supposed deaths. He loves her. Deidara is in love with Ino…and she loves him back.

Deidara jumped out of his chair and ran to the far door where Ino stood. She blushed as he lifted her chin up. "I remember, yeah. I love you…I love you, yeah. We were going to die, un…but we lived and here we are. We've been best friends our whole lives! Ino-Chan, hmm!" he grinned and held her close, tears falling from both of their eyes. The lights flicked on just as Deidara locked lips with his true love.

Overwhelmed with joy, Ino threw her arms around his neck and toyed with his blonde ponytail. She deepened the kiss when he pulled her body as close as it would go up against him. A small cough was heard and they broke their heated lip-lock. They looked into each others' eyes with small blushes painted permanently on their faces. Anko shuffled uncomfortably before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, to tell the good news to the Hokage.

"Thank you. Thank you kami." Ino whispered over and over into Deidara's ear.

He smiled and whispered, "I love you, yeah."

She cried into his neck and whimpered back, "I love you."

"Sir, we have urgent news. The scroll we need is in the hands of the Leaf Village and is going to be transported to the Mizukage by dawn. The two genin, Deidara from the Rock and Ino from the Leaf, are alive and recovering rapidly. Their suicide mission gained us nothing as we have lost the scroll once again. What do you want us to do?"

"Hmm…" The Sand ninja thought, tapping his desk with his fingertips. "We do the only thing a rational ninja would do," pausing, the fourth Kazekage laughed and turned around, facing his ninja, "we attack at dawn."