A Little More Than This (Discontinued)

Chapter 47

Mei quite enjoyed the walk back. Gai and Lee were racing with extra luggage, Lee with everyone's bags whilst Gai carried both his bag, Kakashi's and Kakashi. Mei actually found it quite entertaining, watching the idiots race ahead whilst she, Sakura and Tenten talked and giggled at them.

The girls strayed towards the back, watching Naruto and Neji look on in both disgust and disappointment. The girl took their time to gossip and tell each other anything that the others had missed. But Mei's mind wasn't quite on the subject at hand. She was thinking back to the mission trying to unfry her nerves as much as possible.

She had fought against her father, if she had gone full force she may have even won. It was something that had scared her, Kisame had always been unbeatable in her mind, the strongest of the strong, and yet she had come so close to beating him. It sent chills down her spine. But nowhere as much so when she thought about Deidara. She knew for a fact Deidara had survived and was using a dummy for the explosion, and she knew that he had hung around afterwards and seen her.

She sighed a little as she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. 'Who am I kidding? It's Deidara, of course he'll do something stupid'  she thought, rubbing her temples with her forefingers. "Earth to Mei! Earth to Mei! Come in Mei!" Sakura called, shocking Mei out of her thoughts. "W-what?" Mei stuttered looking up and finding herself in the middle of Konoha's food markets.

"Shikamaru wanted to talk and you completely ignored him, you never ignore him. Did you two fight about something?" Sakura asked, tilting her head and crossing her arms. "He-What? Oh shit! Sorry gotta go!" Mei cried, turning on her heel and running off. Sakura grinned at Tenten, who was shaking her head in disappointment.

"Those two need to stop beating around the bush" She sighed, causing a light chuckle from Sakura.

Mei rounded a few corners before skidding to a halt, looking around. She had ended up at the front gates and heard a snicker of laughter. "He went for a walk, that-a-way" Kotetsu called, pointing to his right. Mei thanked him and ran off in the direction he pointed, looking g for the lazy ninja. She sighed and looked around, spotting Choji off in the distance.

"Hey Choji!" Mei called running over to him and beaming. "You seen Shika-kun around?" Mei asked, panting a little. "Yeah we talked for a bit then he headed in that direction" Choji answered through a mouthful of chips, his hand pointing down an alleyway. Mei bowed quickly and started running down the ally, keeping an eye out for Shikamaru.

The ally opened to the food markets and Mei tried not to get swept along with the crowds. She looked around for a while before ducking into another ally, deciding that Shikamaru would've given up right away. Mei sighed and began to walk away, deciding to check one of his cloud watching spots a fair way into one of the forests.

She sighed and began to make her way there, still keeping an eye out for Shikamaru.

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Deidara sat leaning against the gravestone that shone slightly in the late afternoon sun. He didn't know what to do with himself, weather to blow the thing up and march into the Leaf Village and forcibly remove Mei or to tell Pain and have him do it. He sat there playing with his explosive clay, remembering all the times Mei would ask him to play with it.

He fiddled with it for a moment before squishing it and pounding it into the ground out of frustration. He glared at the gravestone behind him, the lie that had caused the organisation, no his family, so much pain throughput the long years since Mei had been taken. This lie had hurt them for 8 years, and it still stood strong enough for him to lean against.

He stood up and clicked his tongue, his glare not wavering from the grave. Deidara sighed and crossed his arms, his gaze softening as he impatiently tapped his finger against his arm.

"Dinner was served an hour ago" a voice called, startling Deidara. "I'm getting her back so there's no need to put those stupid flowers on her fake grave, Itachi-san" Deidara hissed, glaring at the raven haired man. Itachi jolted, trying to mask surprise as he thought about the situation quickly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Mei died when the base collapsed 8 years ago" Itachi sighed, moving past the blond and placing the flowers on the grave. "No she didn't! The Leaf kidnapped her! She was there when they saved the Kazekage! I saw her!" Deidara yelled, stomping his foot impatiently. "No, myself or Kisame would've seen her, we fought against both teams" Itachi lied smoothly, causing Deidara to falter.

"She could've used a transformation or something" Deidara tried, not sounding quite sure of himself. "Are you suggesting that Kisame, or myself for that matter, are incapable of sensing a simple transformation?" Itachi asked, a hint of annoyance to his question. Deidara when to open his mouth to agrue more but Itachi cut him off.

"It was just a figment of your imagination, you thought you saw her. You hoped you saw her. She died, don't salt old wounds. And don't go raving on about your hopeless illusion in front of Kisame" Itachi's sighed, shaking his head as Deidara dropped his head in disbelief. "I know what I saw and I saw Mei. I don't care what you say or believe, I know she's out there" Deidara hissed back, sighing a little as Itachi clicked in tongue in annoyance.

Itachi walked away, crossing his arms and thinking. He sighed and shook his head, he knew that Deidara was going to do something stupid.

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Mei found Shikamaru sulking in a library. She crept up to him and surprised him with a hug from behind, giggling as he cloaked back a shout and whipped his head around to stare at her. Mei waved her hand and Shikamaru managed to awkwardly hug her back.

"I'm sorry I was thinking, I've been looking for you for hours" Mei apologised, releasing Shikamaru from her hug. "Yeah, um~ let's talk somewhere I bit more private" Shikamaru replied, grabbing her hand and dragging her from the library. They walked along the streets, Shikamaru leading her out of the village and into a secluded clearing a fair ways into the forest.

Mei looked around in amusement, squeezing Shikamaru's hand, which was still intertwined with hers. "Private enough for you, Shika-kun?" Mei giggled, shivering slightly as a cold breeze flirts past them. "Yeah, I think so" Shikamaru nervously replied, sitting down and pulling Mei into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"W-what's going on?" Mei stuttered, a thick blush coating her cheeks as she tried to look at him. "I thought long and hard about this. Hell it took me two years to get over the shock of your dad. But I've come to a conclusion, and I think you need to know about it" Shikamaru mumbled, loud enough for Mei to hear, but still muffled as he had his face pressed into her back. "What is it? Nothing too bad right?" Mei joked, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"I, and I think this is the best way to put this, I love you. I think I have since we were kids, but I do. I love you so much it hurts sometimes" Shikamaru told her, his face turning as red as the setting sun behind them. Mei jolted, her face turning an equal shade of red as she tried to respond, only managing total gibberish to his confession.

She tried to speak again and earnt a chuckle from Shikamaru, who for some reason found this amusing. Mei ducked her head in embarrassment before tugging on his sleeve, signalling to him that she wanted to be free. Shikamaru released her and watched as she turned around and hugged him properly.

"I, uh~ l-love you too. I, geez why is this so hard?" Mei whined, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Shikamaru laughed, relief flooded his face as he hugged her tighter.