The Exiled Namikaze

Chapter 30

Akatsuki activity did indeed begin picking up and Ami cut down drastically on how often she visited Tsunade. Pain captured the 6 tails while others were closing in on the 2 tails. Konan and Pain locked themselves away for days to seal the beast, leaving her temporarily in charge of the city. Fortunately she'd observed Konan's work often enough that this task was not difficult.

One day when arriving home from the hospital after a long shift Konan informed her of the death of Asuma Sarutobi - Hidan and Kakuzu had done it, and she couldn't even go after them because the Leaf Shinobi had already killed them both. They'd managed to kill the immortals. It was impressive. Apparently Kakashi and Naruto had worked together to bring down Kakuzu while a previously unknown Chunin called Shikamaru single handedly destroyed Hidan. Kakuzu was one of the few that she would miss least, though she hadn't disliked him. Sure Kakuzu was money obsessed but he'd taught her a lot in their time knowing each other. They'd shared a mutual respect for each other. Hidan was annoying, always talking about Jashin, but was always fun to drink with or go out and try ridiculous things with. It was weird realizing that they wouldn't have any more of those fun times or her personal favorite, their colorful arguments. As she was an atheist Hidan had tried his best to convert her, both in blood and in other activities. He hated the fact that she'd be with Deidara over him, but his annoyance made it even better. She'd miss their back and forth bickering.

Not long after the immortal's deaths Ami began going on missions just out of pure boredom, taking down annoying people. Hell, she even began doing it with minimal jutsu to add to the challenge. Just her and her trusty kunai, some of which had her teleportation seals on them. How many can I take down at once? 5? 20? 50? Yes to all of them, and still bored. Fear of the Black Wolf grew once again, a fact that she kind of enjoyed. Once again Ami was given a ring, though not her original. She now wore Kakuzu's. Deidara came with on these missions at first. Apparently Pain had ordered it but Ami knew that Obito called the shots. Whether this precaution was for her benefit or in assurance that she wouldn't betray them she wasn't sure. Oh well, she wasn't complaining. Both she and Dei (as she sometimes called him when they were alone) were just enjoying destroying things. She tried her hand at sculpting but was terrible, causing him to tease her worse than ever.

Watching her try and sculpt he'd gotten an odd far off look on his face and had casually said words that she'd never expected to hear.

"Ami, when this is over we should get married."

"What?" She replied incredulously, accidentally smushing her piece of art.

"We should get married after this shit is over, yeah?"

"Deidara, I thought you understood that we aren't dating."

"I know that." He said, wrapping his arms around her. "And I know you think I'm too young for you but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I've never had so much fun with someone before."

"Deidara, you deserve someone less broken. Besides, isn't Fumie pregnant?"

"Yeah she is, but I love you Ami and she knows it."

"I can't love, Dei."

"I can deal with that."

Looking at his confident face she sighed.

"Fine then, if we both make it through this I'll marry you, but don't go telling everyone yet alright?"

He wrapped her in a hug that quickly escalated while she wished she was able to feel love toward him.

They traveled different areas on the coast and whenever he had the chance he carried her, just to piss her off. This was beginning to have an opposite effect, as she now knew he wouldn't drop her, so every once in a while he'd do it just to mess with her. After these moments they'd always spar, Ami trying to get revenge for the fall. Deidara's confident attitude made her feel almost normal as they went about their tasks. It was a fun time, almost like a vacation, but not one that could last. A few weeks in he was called back to go on a mission with Tobi. She was given a new mission and they split paths temporarily.