43. Deidara

                                    

                                          
It has been a good 10 days since Hiyori made sure Orochimaru was gone for good. Getting rid of Danzo wasnt in her plan but thanks to Shisui, she was free of future work load. That old geezer always pissed her off. She started going back to work a few days ago. She was back from work when she saw a toad sitting on her balcony window. 
She then got changed and made her way to an abandoned building a little far away from where she lives. "Yo!" She greeted the yellow haired male waiting for her. "Hey! How are you Yori?" Minato asked with a small smile on his face. It has been some time since they both met. 
"I am doing good old man. How about you? How is Aunt Kushina?" Hiyori asked with a smile of her own. "We are perfectly fine." Minato replied and then both of them got serious. "An anbu unit was sent out to investigate the location you gave us but none of them made it out." Minato said making Hiyori sigh. 
"So we dont have any leads as of now?" Hiyori asked. "I believe the Yagami are somehow connected in this." Minato said making Hiyori think. "Hosen Yagami's name has been heard in the black market quite a few times now. There is something they are hiding." Minato said. "Yagami huh? That old man left everything in his son's hands quite a while ago. I will be attending an event in a few days. I am pretty sure Hosen Yagami's son, Hirata will be there. I will look into it." Hiyori reassured. 
"Yes. Thats is exactly why I asked you to come. There are rumours about a basement in the Yagami mansion that contains their dark secrets. They are not shinobi so there shouldnt be any skirmish to reveal us." Minato warned her. "I know old man. I will handle it smoothly." Hiyori said with a smile. They talked for a bit and soon left. 
~ 
Hiyori was beyond pissed to see all the dead body guards and an empty safe. These Akatsuki move faster than aniticipated. She made her way to the Yagami mansion sacrficing her precious sleep only to find nothing. Great! Now she has to sit through a lecture from none other than the former Hokage. 
Minato is a really caring man. A fatherly figure to her who often reminds her of both Shigure and Jiraiya. But his lectures can be pretty annoying. Today was her day off and she took off to meet Minato to inform him on what happened. She reached a small cafe which belonged to an old couple. Its not that popular and never too crowded. Its the best place to not draw attention and be discreet. 
Hiyori reached there and ordered a cup of coffee waiting for the Yellow flash wondering about Mina talking in the phone with Shizune about the attack on the Suna research facility. She didnt hear much but only a few words on how Kakashi was hospitalized. Hiyori knew Shizune had a massive crush on Kakashi. Even Shinya knew that. But Kakashi was as oblivious as ever. 
It wasnt long before she felt the presence. Minato sat in the table just behind her, their backs to each other. "Did you get it?" He asked hoping to get a positive answer since they lost certain resources in Suna facility. "No. They were fast. They got their hands on it before I could. The safe was broken when I got there and it was empty." She replied gritting her teeth. 
There was a moment of silence as soon as she mentioned that she failed to do what she was supposed to. Hiyori really wasnt in the mood for a lecture now. "What about the Yagami?" He asked. "He wont remember a thing except for the fact that he tried to do me and got his ass kicked." She replied since she managed to erase his memories the very last minute before Hana showed and heard a sigh. 
"I heard about the Suna facility. What exactly happened?" Hiyori asked. "Yeah. It was Sakura Haruno and Lady Chiyo, they killed Sasori." Minato said. "I see. What about Deidara?" She questioned. 
~ 
Hiyori met Deidara a few months after she graduated high school. She was training in the middle of the woods when she was attacked by a few B class deviants. She would have killed them in an instant but she sensed chakra nearby and didnt want to risk getting caught. So she just ran but soon heard explosions and turned around to see the deviants dead. 
Great! Now that they had seen her she had to put up an act. Hiyori panted heavily with her back against the tree with a terrified look on her face as the man made his way towards her. What caught Hiyori's attention was the robe he was wearing. It was a black robe with red clouds. Hiyori has been investigating the possible suspects for breaking the seal. 
The only lead she was able to find so far was that they called themselves the Akatsuki and had matching black robes with red clouds. This could be a big chance for her. "Are you okay? What are you doing in the middle of the woods at this time hn?" She heard a voice. As soon as he enterted her line of sight, she immediately recognized him. 
He was a wanted rogue from the city of Iwa. Deidara! Hiyori always had the names and faces of rogues in the Bingo books thoroughly memorised. "I.. I .. was just..." Hiyori stuttered as tears brimmed her eyes. Someone really has to give her an oscar.
"Thank you!" She whispered hoping he would drop the topic of why she was there. Soon they both heard another voice making Deidara curse. He immediately carried Hiyori bridal style which caught her completely off guard and made it to a top branch of a tree and gently put her down with her back against the trunk. 
"Stay here and keep quiet." He said as he jumped down and soon another one came into view. Hiyori carefully took on what was happening. Was the other person actually a human? There was this clattering noise she heard everytime the other one moved. "Come on Sasori my man! Explosion is the true art." She heard Deidara say as they conversed. 
Sasori? As in Sasori of the red sand? The great puppet master? The wanted rogue from Suna suspected for killing Suna's chief from like 20 years ago? This was getting interesting. Hiyori waited patiently as she saw them part ways. After Sasori left, Deidara made his way towards Hiyori and brough her back to ground. "Sorry about that. He would have killed you if he saw you." Deidara said as he rubbed his neck awkwardly which Hiyori found oddly cute. 
"Its okay! You saved my life twice. Thank you so much." She replied putting on the brightest smile she could offer. "Are you not going to ask any questions?" He asked curiously. Deidara was intrigued by the girl infront of him. She didnt look older than him. He knew that she wasnt a shinobi since there was no ounce of chakra in her. She had no clue what deviants were or who he actually is but instead of running away she was thanking him. Seeing her smile made his heart flutter in a odd way. 
"I do have many questions. But I really dont think I can take any more than I already have for today. I need some good sleep. But I would really love to know your name and meet you again to thank you for saving me." Hiyori said hoping he would take the bait and lucky for her he did. 
After that Hiyori hung out with Deidara a few times. She knew he was interested in her but she pretended to be oblivious. She just broke up with her douche bag of her boyfriend in high school a few months ago. She isnt ready for a relationship that too with a wanted criminal. Deidara also introduced her to his friends Hidan and Kakuzu. 
Despite all that, getting useful information from them without using chakra or force was by no means an easy task. One wrong move and if her identity was given away, everything would have been for nothing. So she did what she could without comprimising her cover. 
~ 
"He escaped. He was put in a bad position by the Copy Ninja and Naruto Uzumaki. He pretended to detonate himself and made a run for it." Minato explained. It has been a really long time since she contacted Deidara. "What about the hideout?" Hiyori asked. "There was no one in the hideout at that time except for Sasori and Deidara. There werent any other traces either. Nothing could be found." The man said. 
"Starting to make open appearances I see. I guess it wont take that long after all." Hiyori said leaning back on her chair with a small smile hoping this shit will be over soon. She was really getting tired of all this secret meetings "Yeah. It wont be long. You are an important part. So dont be reckless and.." Minato was about to get started with his usual lecture only to be interrupted. "Yeah yeah. I get it. I know what I am supposed to do. Be careful with what you are doing. Dont underestimate them." Hiyori said and left.