I recovered about a day into our journey and was able to continue without further assistance from Naruto. I decided to run a top the trees while the team ran below me. Temari had looked at me with a curious look on her face but I said nothing. She was already worried about Gaara as it was and I didn't wish to worry her further. Apparently, she couldn't let her curiosity go and joined me at the top of the trees. She realized that I was looking for something...or someone...and asked me what it was that I was looking for. I hesitated before telling her:
"The man that probably has your brother. He rides on a clay bird."
Her eyes widened at this revelation and decided to stay with me, determined to keep an eye out on the man that I had mentioned. The first half of the second day of travel, it went uneventful. However, the closer we got to the Village Hidden in the Sand, Temari spotted two figures out in an open field, just outside of the desert. I recognized their cloaks: The Akatsuki. Deidara was the one on the clay bird, I told Temari, and that was when I saw Gaara being held by the bird's tail feather. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura joined us at the top of the trees. I told the rest of the team which member was whom and what they were capable of. Temari was definitely listening closely as I explained their abilities, with her hand on her fan. I knew that handing this information over to the team would serve all of us well.
We waited.
Gaara.
Kankuro had shielded himself and two other Sand shinobi from the team that had been sent after him, using his puppets. That was two more unnecessary casualties in the pursuit of the Akatsuki. He was pretty sure that Gaara was far away from where he was, but he was determined to go after him. The Kazekage, his brother, was very important not only to the village but to him as well. He left the two rescued shinobi with Medical Nin before he made his dash out of the village. To his dismay, he came across three different sets of tracks, each heading off in different directions. The puppet master wasn't sure what path to take when he detected some odd looking sand on the middle path. It stood out from the desert sand. He picked it up and examined it closely.
This is Gaara's sand!
The puppet master dashed off and followed the second path. He was met with another set of differing tracks, but he looked for Gaara's sand and continued on his way. He caught up with them eventually at the same time that Team Kakashi arrived. He didn't expect Temari to be with them, much less an unknown kunoichi with the team but it was a welcomed sight. Now he had more allies that he could work with. He was prepared to fight. The two men stopped in their tracks and saw the group of ninja surrounding them.
"Looks like we got company, Sasori." Deidara said.
"Hm." Sasori grunted.
Sasori faced Kankuro while Deidara faced the other group of Ninjas. He recognized the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon and most of Team Kakashi. He recognized the third sand sibling but not the pretty kunoichi that was clearly part of the Leaf Village. He smirked as he prepared clay bombs with the mouths on the palms of his hands. This was going to be a bang!
I observed Deidara closely as he stood on his clay bird. His hands were inside two bags, which clearly held his clay. I warned the rest of the team to be careful since he was preparing something explosive. I had to refrain from using the word 'bang' since Deidara used it. The team prepared themselves to fight. Kakashi actually removed his mask and revealed his Sharingan eye. Now I knew that the timeline had changed. Kakashi didn't reveal his Sharingan eye again until later in the series but here he was revealing it.
"I've never seen you before." Deidara said to me with interest. "Leader made no mention of you. Hn."
I stood my ground, my face blank. There was no way I was going to let this creep intimidate me. As a matter of fact, he kind of reminded me of one of my father's young companions. A little feminine and had a tendency to come on to me and that was exactly what Deidara was portraying. I shivered but the very thought of calling him a girl made me want to giggle, but I bit my tongue. This guy was a freaking terrorist that had been recruited by Itachi Uchiha, which clearly indicates just how dangerous he was. When he launched his first attack, I countered with my Fire Spin Jutsu.
