AL: Malice Intent

Pez could smell the warm scent of pancakes and syrup as she awoke the next morning. She was happy just by that, and was made even happier to see them on a tray by her bedside, four stacked on a plate and covered in just the right amount of syrup, and a calm, blond artist sitting to the side.

Pez grinned at him. "I'm awake in time for breakfast?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "At least, not by other people's standards. It's noon."

"Then time for breakfast."

Deidara grinned and chuckled as he helped the tray onto Pez's lap, their hands touching briefly before he pulled away. Pez thought static electricity had to be at work in her touched fingers.

"So?" she asked, digging into her meal. "What's up with everyone else?"

"Kisame's been worried about you, un, but he had to go fix the training grounds. He said he'll see you later today."

"That's good. He's not too hurt, is he?"

"Punctured a little, but he's fine."

"What about Itachi?" he mouth was nearly full.

"He's okay - heaven knows his roommate healed him. He's a little nervous about her, though."

"Roommate?" And then it clicked - he meant Natasha. "Hey, how's Natasha doing?"

Deidara gave no response until Pez's mouth was full again. "She's fine. I'm sure. Hell, I didn't think she felt any guilt for hurting you at all."

Pez went wide eyed. "Wha-?"

"Pez, she hurt you!"

"She apologized!"

"Not enough. She wasn't even hurt. She didn't even bother to heal you. Not that I wanted to her touch you anyway-"

"Deidara!"

"Pez, we shouldn't be discussing this," He went, shaking his head.  "She should be apologizing to you, though-"

"Dei, stop," Pez went, her look pleading as she tried to sit up taller. "Natasha is my friend. I mean, I can't really remember, but-"

"Enough, okay?" his voice silenced her. "Let's not worry about it now, alright? In fact, how are you doing? I can still see the marks, but you seem better."

Pez opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped. She was too tired for an argument anyway. Instead, she said, "I'm alright . . . sore, but alright. Better than being dead anyway."

Deidara smiled and touched her hand again. The touch was warm - it stopped her from stuffing more pancake into her mouth. The artist smiled. "I'm glad. I was really, really worried. It scared me when you jumped."

"I didn't mean to scare you . . ." she went slowly, staring at her feet as she remembered what she had said to him. I never had your heart. "And . . ." she continued, "I didn't mean what I said."

Deidara raised a brow for only a moment before his eyes went wide, remembering. "Wait - so you -?"

"I didn't mean to say what I did," she admitted. "I was . . . stressed. I shouldn't have had said it. Especially to you."

Deidara nodded, lost in thought for a reason Pez could not fathom. She finished her pancakes in silence, mulling over what she had been told, her mind wandering to a certain, innocent kunoichi.

Deidara took her tray from her when she finished. "I need to get some things done . . . I'll make sure to come back and check on you later."

He was halfway out the door when she spoke.

"You're not . . . going to hurt Natasha, are you?"

He stopped. Pez's breath held. Slowly, he turned and walked back to her side, his fingers lifting her hair away from her forehead so he could kiss her brow.

"Don't worry about it, un."

He had never said he wouldn't.

* * *


Natasha had been hoping that her day of rest and a good night's sleep would help her feel better. Her muscles had still ached, and healing Pez didn't help her much.

She was wrong. Breaking every rule of a shinobi's sleeping habits, she awoke at half-past twelve. She still felt like she had been beaten with metal mallets.

Her strangled, irritated groan reached the ears of her roommate, who sat before the desk with a book in hand, red frames resting on his nose. In his lap was George, sleeping against his chest. He looked up at her as she tired to burrow deeper into the covers, too irritated to get up, even if it was late.

He smiled. "Did I ever tell you that you look beautiful when you sleep?"

"I may look it, but I don't feel it," was her grumbled reply.

"Yes, I figured you'd still feel like a mess."

To be fair, she did feel bad to have thrown her pillow at him, earning a surprised grunt and a squawk as it made impact. But her only guilt lay in no longer having a place to rest her head.

"I thought you'd be too hungry to do that," he admitted as George squawked in response.

"I'm never too hungry to do that," she replied.

"Deidara was making pancakes in the kitchen, so I stole some for you," he said, standing to reveal a tray of plain pancakes, covered in cinnamon, on the desk. "I figured you'd want to eat in here, rather than out there. Dei didn't seem very willing to part with these when I told him they were for you."

"I'm not shocked," she went, finally untangling herself enough to roll out of bed. She still wore her clothes from the day before - they were creased and crumpled. Her hair was tangled and in disarray from two days' abuse.

Itachi was kind enough to let Natasha sit and eat in peace through three of her four pancakes. This satisfied her - she didn't mind the question she knew was coming. Indeed, on her fourth hotcake, it came to her ears.

"Is something wrong between you and Deidara?"

Her fork paused in air, pancake and cinnamon coating it. She finished her bite and chewed thoughtfully, hesitant to respond now that it had been said. She swallowed and answered quietly. "He's . . . still upset. And my backhand didn't help. I'm not sure if he knows the whole story."

"You apologized," he went, picking her up and sitting in her seat, letting her rest on his lap. "You apologized, but he's still upset."

"I don't know how long it will take before my apologizes mean anything to him," she said, leaning against him, her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed. "The problem is that I accidentally hurt Pez. He doesn't seem to understand that. And it doesn't help that I wasn't so injured when she saw me earlier."

"He doesn't have the fully story, you mean," Itachi went, taking her fork from her hand and cutting out a bite for her as George leaped into her lap, snuggling against her. She put her arms around him, smiling slightly. Itachi continued. "And he won't listen to you now, anyway. I bet it's because he's just so worried about Pez. Maybe when she gets better, he'll be willing to hear the whole story."

"She won't listen to you, either," Natasha pointed out, stroking George's head, much to the penguin's delight.

"True." He brought the fork to her lips, yet she kept her mouth shut in amusement. Itachi smirked. "Do you really want to try that?"

She nodded.

Natasha's mouth fell open as Itachi kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She had no time to react, much less yelp. He pulled away and shoved the last bite of pancake into her mouth before she could stop him.

He laughed at her disgruntled expression as he put the fork down. "Must you forcibly feed me like that?" Natasha asked.

"Maybe."

"You could at least finish what you started."

"No thanks."

Natasha laughed at his frankness and gave him a hug, which was hindered slightly by a certain intervening penguin. She quieted and held onto him all the same. To Itachi, it nearly seemed like she was hanging onto him for dear life - and perhaps she was.

She spoke in a hoarse whisper. "I hope Deidara forgives me."

"If you tell the truth," Itachi said, holding her as close, "He will."

* * *


Deidara was just finishing washing the dishes in the kitchen when Kisame came in, his cloak on and dry. Deidara turned to him and nodded. "Things fixed down there?"

"Yeah, for the most part," Kisame said, taking his cloak off. "I was more concerned about the area in general. Turns out the storm wasn't so bad that there was permanent damage, thankfully."

"Who caused the most damage?"

"Mostly Pez, although I can't blame her," he shrugged. "As long as she is okay."

"What about Natasha?" Deidara asked, peeling off his gloves and throwing them onto the counter. "How much damage did she cause?"

Kisame stared at him. Deidara stared right back, eyebrow raised. "Well?"

"...Natasha didn't cause any damage, really," Kisame said slowly, eyes narrowing. "Except to Pez. Speaking of, though, how's that cheek of yours? Natasha's backhand looked ferocious."

"I'm more worried about her attacking Pez," Deidara said, yet he still put a hand to his black and purple jawbone. "Honestly, I don't like the damage she caused. Didn't you try to stop her?"

"I did."

"Then why did she still-"

Deidara was nearly slammed against the countertop by the blue-skinned man, the air flying out of him as Kisame got in his face. He looked angry. "Listen, bub," Kisame said, "What's between you and Natasha is none of my business. I'm not the one that's going to tell you what happened, because it's not my deal. But if you hurt Pez, at all, in your doings, so help me.

"Keep in mind, as well . . . we play for keeps. And your ass is mine if Pez gets hurt by all of this."

He backed away, leaving Deidara to sink to the floor. Kisame glared at him from above, before turning and walking out.

Deidara glared at his retreating back, pushing himself up by the counter.

It would not be Pez getting hurt this time.

* * *


Madara sat at the desk in his own room, the area completely dark. Curtains blocked light from the window, and the door was closed. Only a candle by his workspace left him light to see the paperwork he was filling out.

There's too much of this, he thought, sighing. He leaned back in his chair, giving his eyes the chance to rest. He dimly realized that he should have been out by the training grounds - heaven knows his student would be waiting for him, still wanting to train until he threw her in the dirt and taught her to calm down. Not that he could - she'd be up and running before he could even start.

A scratching met his ears at the door, and he sighed. Pushing the notes off to the side, he got up and walked to the door, pulling it open. George's head poked in, staring up at him with beady, black eyes.

Madara chuckled and kneeled to the animal's level. "What's up, buddy?"

George put a flipper on his lap, as if he was trying to have a serious conversation with him. His head gestured one way, then to another, then a final one - Natasha's room, Deidara's room, outside.

Madara understood. And he wished he hadn't.

* * *


Deidara expected to eventually find Natasha on the lake, and he was right.

He had been waiting on top of the gates for her, watching below himself for the sign of the kunoichi to blame. The sun was only starting to consider dropping, so the sky was still blue. Deidara decided to stay even if it was pitch-black, just in case Natasha emerged.

It took mere minutes for the ninja in question to appear below him, obviously searching for the boy herself. Deidara frowned - she was in top health, it seemed. And that pissed him off.

He dropped behind her, and she turned to meet his glare. He didn't let her speak at all. "I want an apology."

Natasha looked at him oddly, and he had to resist laughing - as if she didn't know what he wanted! She spoke calmly, her brow furrowed. "Deidara, I've been trying to talk to you. Listen, about what happened-"

"What do I really need to know?" Deidara asked. She stopped in her tracks as he continued. "I walked in to see you in perfect health, Pez wounded, and you not doing a thing to help. Then you had the audacity to be so . . . so proud to have the blame. Well, I want you to know this: say your excuses, but I won't listen. I thought you were better than that. I thought you were a friend."

She looked shocked. "Deidara! I-I am a friend! Listen, it's not what you-"

"SHUT UP!"

Her jaw dropped as his fist slammed into her cheek, and she stumbled back. Deidara felt a swelling feeling - pride? - in his chest. Then Natasha stared at him with wide eyes that slowly dropped to the ground, and she left her hands by her sides, her face still turned away and her cheek reddening. She didn't cry - but she hadn't yelped either. She only looked defeated.

...and all of it pissed him off.

She gasped as she felt his spider crawl up her chest, yet she did nothing as it exploded. She flew back screaming - she skid on the lake's surface, rolling as she landed on the other side of the lake. Deidara stomped to follow, hands outstretched as more clay beings appeared from his hand mouths, all circling towards Natasha as birds and spiders. She did nothing, but the skin that he could see - where her shirt had been blown to pieces - was red and blistered.

He had neglected to notice that the scars on her breastbone had opened. The full moon had occurred only the night before, and she was bleeding. Even if he had seen, he wouldn't have cared.

He walked right to the edge of the lake as all of the explosives converged on her, and he readied his hand sign. Natasha stared at him with pleading eyes as the bombs surrounded her. He could feel no empathy.

"Katsu."

She screamed as they exploded, nearly pushing her into the ground as the fire scorched her skin. Deidara walked forward calmly - her skirt was charred, her body was turning red, yet her skirt was still intact at her breasts. He picked her up by the neck - she was lighter than even him - and lifted her off the ground. His hand was already forming a long, segmented centipede around her waist. Her eyes went to Deidara's - they were filled with pain.

He didn't care.

"You know what this means, un?" he asked, his whisper deadly. "This means that if you ever, EVER, hurt her again . . . you'll get worse than even this."

He threw her to the side, sending her across the lake and skidding on the surface of the water. She lay as she was, his centipede still around her waist, and his sign ready to blow her to bits.

He grit his teeth. "Kat-"

Somebody grabbed his wrist.

He was met with Madara's angry face.