Gift of the Outcast: Chapter 2 (story)

Disclaimer:   I do not own Naruto or any of its subsidiaries.  This is just fanfiction!


Ok, after lots and lots of reformatting, I finally got chapter two posted.  Here's some more lingo that you might need to know:


Konohagakure or Konoha-- a shinobi village in Naruto-verse
Baka -- idiot
Jonin -- highest level of shinobi other than Kage (leader of a shinobi village)
Hokage -- leader of Konohagakure
Shodai Hokage -- first Hokage
Godaime Hokage -- fifth Hokage
Mokuton -- wood release
Teme -- derogatory term, insult
Kami -- god or deity
Hi no Kuni -- Land of Fire.  Where Konoha is located
Pocky -- a popular snack food
Ramen -- a popular Japanese food

                     Chapter 2

“I will ask this again. What is your mission in Konohagakure?” The scarred figure stared unflinchingly down at the blonde Akatsuki member, who glared right back with his own turquoise gaze.

Silence.

The scarred man just kept staring.

Baka. Deidara cursed at his own stupidity. How could he have gotten captured? Him. The passionate, explosive artist of the Akatsuki organization. It was unthinkable, unbelievable.

The blonde rotated his jaw slightly in thought as he recalled the unfortunate mission that lead him into this unfortunate situation.

Leader-sama had sent him and his infernal, idiotic, complete moron of a partner, Tobi, on a surveillance mission of Konoha. Deidara's eye twitched as he remembered the contact they were supposed to meet with. The blonde had sent Tobi to wait in the forest. The orange lollipop incarnate would only have gotten in the way.

So, the artist had continued with the meeting. Then his stupid contact turned out to be a freakin' loyal Jonin and he had invited all of his little Konoha friends to the party, including Kakashi-teme and some guy who could use mokuton similar to that of the Shodai Hokage.

And then, wait for it, the Godaime Hokage herself had shown up for the occasion. Oh, kami, could that woman pack a punch. Deidara winced as he remembered her fist connecting with his gut. He definitely wouldn't be doing sit-ups any time soon.

The blonde had then been knocked out, courtesy of the Godaime, and he had woken up tied to a chair in the middle of some kami-forsaken torture-chamber with this scar guy attempting to weasel answers out of him. Deidara had to admit that he was pretty good, but Deidara was a member of the Akatsuki, the most feared organization in all of the five shinobi nations. He wasn't going to be cracked by some half-wit Konoha weakling.

Never the less, the blonde had been emitting small amounts of chakra for some time now, hoping for his partner to notice and come to his aid. An ordinary ninja would have no hope of sensing it, but Tobi was an Akatsuki. He was not ordinary.

Then again, Tobi was an idiot. The lollipop was probably chasing butterflies 

somewhere in the hills of the Hi no Kuni.

Deidara growled at the thought. Oh, Tobi was so dead when he got out of here.

                                    ___________________________________________________

“Do you have pocky?”

The store owner glanced down at the forest-green haired girl that was currently staring earnestly at him with huge golden eyes. Uncertainty crossed his face as he slowly shook his head no.

Then she was gone.

He blinked his eyes in utter surprise as he stumbled backwards, tipping over his newest platter of ribs. “Ah!”

Kyo appeared at the next restaurant, a rice shop, in under a second. “Do you sell pocky?”

Her question was answered with a shaking head.

She had disappeared before he even stopped his head from moving.

“Do you sell pocky?”

“How 'bout you?”

“Pocky?”

“Any pocky at all. . . .”

The greenette was just a blur among the shops of Konoha, her voice becoming more and more desperate.

Last shop. She stared up at the sign. Ichiraku's Ramen. Inhaling deeply, she reverently stepped into the street-side stand. “Do. You. Sell. Pocky.” She slammed her hands down on the counter, staring the owner of the shop unblinkingly, her voice nearly breaking with expectation.

“Um, no.”

She deflated.

“But we do have pocky-flavored ramen.”

Another one of Ichiraku's chairs was suddenly occupied. “That'll work. Ten bowls please!”

Teuchi, the owner of the stand, raised an eyebrow and a small smile blessed his withered face. “Coming right up.”

Kyo waited impatiently, twiddling her fingers together as she swung her feet tentatively. Her eye twitched as the smell of freshly baked ramen teased her nose like an angel from. . . .

“Hey!”

The greenette was startled from her thoughts by a rather loud, overly-friendly voice. She turned her head abruptly towards the source of the sound, her two side braids whipping violently across her face before falling back into their normal positions.

Her golden eyes met with a pair of bright blue ones framed with a mess of blonde hair. A look of surprised recognition flickered across her face before being replaced by an irritated glare. “What do you want?” Kyo asked, her voice unnecessarily harsh, contrasting greatly with her previous cheer.

The boy looked taken back. “I just wanted to ask who you were! I haven't seen you around here before and I was just wondering. . . .” his voice trailed off.

Her eyes softened slightly.

“No need to get so annoyed!”

She winced, rubbing her ear with the back of her hand. There was that loudness again, just without the over-friendliness. Definitely not him. . . .

“None of your business, blondie.”

“Well, excuse. . . .wait, what did you just call me?!” He stood up roughly, attempting to 

intimidate her with his more than ample height.

Kyo shot up as well, and though she barely came up to his shoulder, she still gave him an impressive death glare. It was enough to freeze most Jonin in their tracks. Like I care. “You heard me, blondie.”

“Why you little. . . .”

Of course, this guy was to much of an idiot to realize the danger he was in.

The greenette hissed menacingly under her breath, but it went unnoticed.

“Of course, I would never hit a girl, especially if she's not a shinobi.” The blonde puffed up his chest proudly, flashing his Konohagakure headband in the sun like he was the king of the world.

Her eyebrow twitched. Baka. “And what makes you think I'm not a shinobi?”

He snorted. “Isn't it obvious? All shinobi have a forehead-protector, even missing-nin. And, last time I checked, you didn't.” He thrust his face into her own seething one.

In a flash, the blonde was groaning on the floor with a rather large, still-growing bump on his forehead. Kyo sat on top of his chest, eyes sparking indignantly as a vein pulsed relentlessly on her temple. “How dare you! Of course I'm a shinobi, you idiot. I'm in a freakin' shinobi village!” She pulled her fist back, charging it with a rather menacing ball of fire. . . .

“Order up!”

The boy blinked as her eyes switched from murderous to sparkling without warning, and then, she was gone. However the scream of “POCKY!” did accompany her disappearance.

He glanced around frantically until his eyes fell on the green-haired figure currently employed in shoving ramen into its mouth. Flipping cautiously to his feet, he tip-toed behind her, peering over her shoulder.

He grimaced.

Heck, this girl made him look like a proper gentlemen. How did she swallow all that food?

“What'cha doing?”

The blonde jumped backwards, blue eyes wide.

The girl was glaring pointedly at him, hands on her hips.

She isn't even wiping her mouth.

“Well? Are you going to answer or what, blondie?”

He scowled. “Don't call me that!”

“I'd rather not. . . .blondie.”

Still scowling, he raised his chin and stalked to a seat at the other end of the bar, not making eye contact with the smirking Kyo.

Teuchi glanced warily between the two, narrowing his eyes suspiciously in Kyo's direction. She growled under her breath.

Why do people always automatically blame me? Not everything is my fault!

Uh, yeah, most of it is.

But they shouldn't just assume that. . . .

Kyo quickly bit off the end of the thought. SHUT UP!

The greenette's fingers twitched slightly as the corners of her lips turned downward in a tense frown. Distraction. “My supplies blew up.”

“Huh?” Teuchi angled his body halfway towards her, surprise written clearly in the wrinkles.

She rolled her eyes. Good. “I'm talking to blondie.”

Said blonde glanced up at his nickname before quickly scowling down at his ramen. 

“So what?”

“You asked me what I was doing here. My supplies blew up in a. . . .jutsu gone wrong. I'm restocking. . . .” The line of speech dissolved into indignant mutterings. Something about pocky.

Shock fluttered across his face, but it was quickly replaced by an indifferent stare. 

“Hm.”

Kyo leaned back slightly. “I volunteered info, now it's your turn.”

“What'cha want to know?” His sapphire eyes blinked almost expectantly.

She twiddled her thumbs. “Let's start with something easy. Name?”

“Yours first.”

Her lips stretched into a grin. So he's not as dumb as he looks. “Kyo.”

“Naruto.”

She cocked her head, her visage openly bemused. “Fishcake?”

“Wha'? No!” Hurt flickered across his face as Naruto glared at her, muscles 

contracting as he prepared to leap from his seat.

She raised her hands defensively. “Hey, hey, don't take it so personally, blondie. I didn't mean anything by it.”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!”

“Would you rather I called you 'fishcake?'”

After a moment more of defiance, the blonde slumped backwards in his seat. “Whatever.”

“Okay, then, it's settled. Nice to meet you, fishcake!”

“IT'S NARUTO!”

“So you prefer blondie?”

“. . . .fine.”

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How'd you like it?  I'm a page or two into chapter three, so I plan to update in about two weeks, possibly earlier.  


Here's chapter 3 (yes, I know its a weird address, but that's what it is!):  http://kobalt-board.blogspot.com/2010/12/ello-folks.html

And chapter 1: http://kobalt-board.blogspot.com/2010/11/working-title-chapter-1-story.html

Peace out peoples!

KobaltWolf