Chapter 52 "How exactly did you meet her...?"
You admit that you said that because you wanted to see Itachi Uchiha get angry, to make him, who is usually calm and collected, have emotional fluctuations. That's your malice towards him. Back in Konoha, you deliberately said something like that out of a perverse sense of humor, but he always restrained himself and kept his emotions in check.
So what will he say now? How will he react?
He lowered his eyes and said, "So Sasuke said something like that before? I always seem to be the target he chases, whether it was when we were kids or now."
Wait a minute, his words sound like he's trying to make himself look good, and you can't help but find it a little funny. You say, "So that's what you think?"
"Maybe it's the people around him that make him feel that he has to follow his brother's example in everything he does. If he can become a role model for his brother's growth, it doesn't matter if he ends up being resented by him." Uchiha Itachi spoke these heavy words in a light tone, as if he didn't care if he had to give up everything to become his brother's stepping stone.
No way, your intention was to make him angry. He is indeed experiencing emotional fluctuations now, but it's just a self-imagined sense of nobility from sacrificing for his brother.
I really don't know what he's so sentimental about. It must be really tough for Sasuke to be able to stay normal while living with an older brother like that.
You said, "That's not what I meant. You're clearly blurring the lines. I meant that he confessed to me, but that has nothing to do with chasing after you. If you use that to explain all of Sasuke's actions, then you're completely ignoring his own thoughts."
"Ah...did he confess to you?" Uchiha Itachi caught this key point. You saw him purse his lips and then say thoughtfully, "This is really a bit troublesome...Sasuke's personality might not be a good match for you, Akira."
This conversation should have been recorded so that Sasuke could listen to it later and see what his brother was like when he had an attack.
"But I quite like him."
"You like...?" Itachi Uchiha slowly raised his head, his expression mixed with a hint of surprise. His beautiful eyes reflected your interested smile. You said, "Yes, I like it."
Itachi Uchiha tightened his grip on the pen, and after a while, he said with some difficulty, "I see. Well, that was your own choice, Aki. Sasuke is really likable."
You managed to say those words with difficulty, which only made you laugh. You reached out and touched the stray hairs next to his cheek, like stroking a pet's head, and said, "I didn't touch him."
His breath brushed against your palm, warm and tinged with relief—he was relieved you hadn't done that, yet he kept it subtle, finally saying, "I see..."
"Are you happy? You seem completely relaxed." You noticed his change in mood, and Uchiha Itachi replied, "A little bit."
At this point, Haku knocked on the door and said that dinner was ready. His gaze fell on your hand that was touching Itachi's cheek. You withdrew your hand and said, "Is dinner ready? Hmm, I'm a little hungry too. Let's go have dinner."
After a long day at work, you finally relax during dinner. Standing in front of the wine cabinet, you ponder what to drink that evening. Your fingers rub your chin, and you notice a bottle of sparkling wine in the upper left corner—it looks like the one you and Zabuza drank back then. You pick it up, and Bai, seeing the bottle in your hand, realizes you're thinking the same thing. He says, "Isn't this the one you and Mr. Zabuza drank back then, Akihime…?"
"Yes, it's been a while since I've seen him."
As you spoke, you poured sparkling wine into a wine glass. The dense foam floated on top, and the world seen through the pale golden liquid was shrouded in a faint golden hue. At that moment, everything Zabuza saw was also pale golden. He returned to Gato's side with the intelligence he had gathered. Of course, this report had been edited and fabricated; the information inside was a mixture of truth and falsehood. Only such mixed intelligence was most likely to mislead people.
Zabuza stood outside Gato's bedroom door, and with his exceptional hearing as a ninja, he could hear everything that was happening inside.
Tsk, a look of disgust appeared on his face. Sure enough, he still loathed Kado, who opposed you. Kado boasted that he was a wealthy and powerful businessman, so he did whatever he wanted in his territory, and it was nothing new for him to exploit the lower class and plunder the people's wealth. But you have never done these things. You and Kado are completely different.
That's why he chose to follow you. You are different from those people, you know that, and you also know how to treat the people around you as your own. Even though he is a ninja, he can still earn your respect. Although you always say sarcastic things, he can feel the respect hidden behind them.
Yes, you are respecting him, not just him, but all the other ninjas as well, treating everyone the same.
That's precisely what makes you so valuable.
After an unknown amount of time, the bedroom door was opened from the inside, and Gato's men led Gato's disheveled lover out of the room. The smell of extravagance wafted out of the room, which made Zabuza frown slightly. After a while, Gato, still in high spirits, let Zabuza in to see him.
Kado's shirt was open, revealing his excess fat, and his expression was somewhat excited. He said, "You've gathered information on those Akatsuki members?"
“Yes, it’s all here.” Zabuza was about to hand over the document when he said this, but Gato waved his hand and said casually, “I don’t want to see it. Read it to me.” His attitude clearly treated him like a servant. Zabuza paused in his hand holding the document, but quickly composed himself, opened the document, and read out the contents word by word.
Kado grew impatient as he listened. That's how little patience he had, or rather, he simply didn't have much patience for ninjas. After all, who would have patience for a tool?
"Alright, let's summarize and stop rambling." Kado took another sip of wine. "Among the people you mentioned, that guy named Deidara blew up two of my factories last time. I'll double your reward for the mission; go and take care of him."
Just like that, he casually changed the mission's content with a single sentence, turning it from an intelligence gathering mission into an assassination mission, and the target seems to be one of your lovers. Now he feels he needs to tell you.
Zabuza agreed expressionlessly, then turned and left. In fact, he had encountered Deidara before meeting Gato. Deidara was not with Sasori of the Red Sand, but with another Uchiha. Zabuza, who had run into them, didn't say much. Instead, the Uchiha who called himself Tobi ran over and greeted him loudly.
"Oh my—isn't this Zabuza, the one who's always with Miss Akari? Why isn't he with Miss Akari? Hmm, are you on a field mission? Hmm... you look really tired!" Obito Uchiha, wearing a mask, spoke with his usual exaggerated and boastful manner.
Deidara, who was traveling with him, had tolerated him for a long time, but he still couldn't get used to his way of speaking. He was sure that this guy was definitely not like this in front of you, so this could only mean that this guy was pretending.
Deidara hates pretentious people the most, and the thought that such a pretentious person could become your lover makes Deidara even angrier.
No, why? Because he's pretentious? That's not fair at all!
Zabuza's reaction to the Akatsuki member's enthusiastic greeting was indifferent. In fact, if this guy hadn't taken the initiative to greet him, he wouldn't have planned to say anything to them. However, out of respect for them, Zabuza's attitude towards them wasn't too bad; it was just barely acceptable.
He gave a reluctant reply and then tried to leave, the whole process taking less than ten seconds.
After Zabuza left, only Deidara and Obito Uchiha were left looking at each other. Deidara said, "Alright, are you satisfied now? He was completely disgusted by you, huh."
Sigh, I really can't understand why I'm doing this mission with this guy. Deidara couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and couldn't help but miss his previous partners. They just had different goals in pursuing art, and they had a lot to talk about at other times. But this guy in front of him, Deidara sighed as soon as he looked at him.
They couldn't see eye to eye at all. The other person kept pretending to be crazy, and Deidara said impatiently, "How long are you going to keep pretending like this? Are you like this when you're with Aki?" Surely not.
Obito Uchiha turned around. He sensed Deidara's impatience, but what could he do about it? He smirked, a disdainful expression appearing on his face hidden behind the mask. Why should he tell him how he treated Deidara? He had no desire to share these details with this potential rival.
He said, "Ah, these kinds of love-related topics should be paired with sweet desserts, right? And they should be discussed during afternoon tea, hmm, it would be even better if it were a girls' gathering!"
Deidara rolled his eyes, knowing immediately that the other person was just spouting nonsense again. He pursed his lips, realizing he couldn't get any useful information out of his new partner, so he gave up for the time being. He turned and continued walking away, but Obito Uchiha quickly caught up, chattering, "What? Senpai, are you angry? Oh, don't be angry, it'll affect our teamwork!"
Ultimately, he never intended to cooperate with him, right?
Deidara said, "Don't try to get close to me, we're not that close!"
"But weren't you just envious of my relationship with Aki-chan? I thought we could become good friends too!"
Deidara hadn't even considered the concept of good friends or bad friends; all he could think about was the mission. So, he put one hand on his hip and said, "Alright! I don't want to continue this boring topic, hmm!"
After saying that, he strode forward, leaving his annoying teammate behind.
Obito Uchiha smiled and followed Deidara's footsteps.
*
Itachi Uchiha stayed with you for a while. On a rainy day, he said he had to go back to Konoha. You didn't try to stop him. Since he was leaving, you saw him to the door. It was raining when he came, and it was raining when he left, just like fate had arranged it.
Standing at the door, Uchiha Itachi didn't leave immediately. He asked again, "Mingxi, is there anything else you want to say to me?"
It sounds like a question, but it's actually an imperative sentence. You say, "Have a safe trip."
Is that all? You saw a disappointed look on Itachi's face. He probably guessed that you did it on purpose, that you said it that way to see him disappointed. So he asked again, "Besides that? Is there anything else?"
You said, "Goodbye."
Upon hearing this, Itachi Uchiha smiled, took your hand, and whispered, "Then goodbye."
As soon as he finished speaking, he let go of her hand, turned around and walked into the rain. You lingered at the door for a while until Bai came out and said, "Mingxi, Zabuza wrote a letter."
Ah, you were just complaining a couple of days ago that you hadn't heard from him in a long time, and now he's written a letter. You turn around and walk into the villa, and Bai closes the door for you, still holding that letter in his hand.
This is a very short letter with simple content, but the simpler the letter, the more important the information it often contains. When you open the letter, sure enough, you guessed right. The letter says that his client, Gato, changed the mission at the last minute and asked him to assassinate Deidara.
—I think it's necessary to tell you.
Zabuza added this last sentence, and just by looking at it, you can imagine his expression when he wrote it. He must have been a little impatient, or even annoyed with Deidara. He's never been nice to your lover, and you're used to it by now.
But not giving you a nice look is one thing; when something really happens, he will still take the initiative to report to you. That's why you think Zabuza is a very qualified, no, you should say an excellent employee.
After all, you can't judge a book by what he says, you have to look at what he does. Everything he's doing now is for your benefit, so you're very satisfied with him.
The next time you see him, you can praise him properly; think to yourself that.
Bai still doesn't know what the letter says, but judging from your expression, you seem to be in a good mood? So it shouldn't be bad news, right? Bai looked at you suspiciously and asked, "Mingxi, what does this letter say?"
You said, "Well... it means that Gato wants to take Deidara down first, and he commissioned Zabuza to do it."
You put it succinctly, and after listening, Bai said, "Why would Gato suddenly attack the Akatsuki? Isn't he afraid of their retaliation?"
"When someone's life is going too smoothly, they feel that everything in the world should give way to them. In their eyes, the Akatsuki organization is just a low-level criminal gang. They hate anyone who infringes on their interests the most." Having had a few encounters with Kado, you had already figured out his true nature: he was only after profit.
While it's wrong to label everything based on self-interest, taking things to the extreme like Kado certainly makes people dislike you.
"So, Mingxi, what are your thoughts?"
What else could you think? Of course you'd stop it! Deidara is your right-hand man, and Gato is targeting your excellent employee, isn't he? You can't tolerate that anymore.
So in your reply to Zabuza, you told him to find an opportunity to take action against Gato.
You don't know when this letter will reach Zabuza. You stand by the window, watching the carrier pigeon carry the letter into the distant sky. Your gaze also lingers on the horizon, on the edge of the sky blurred by the rain.
You're not the only one who hates rainy days; Deidara hates them too, especially when it rains while on a mission with people he doesn't like. It's like all the things he hates come together at once, and he's in a low mood the whole time. What's worse, his new partner seems oblivious to how annoyed he is and keeps coming over to ask him why he's not talking.
Finally, Deidara said impatiently, "I'm not talking because I don't want to, and you—can you shut up? You're so noisy!"
Obito Uchiha's awkward posture was deliberately displayed, which made Deidara even more displeased upon noticing it.
Completely ignoring Deidara's impatience, Obito Uchiha said, "Ah... if you get angry like this, it might affect your health, senpai."
Feeling utterly powerless, like punching cotton, Deidara took a deep breath, reminding himself to calm down.
Whew, stay calm—yes, stay calm.
Having composed himself, Deidara walked to the only inn within a hundred miles. If it weren't raining, he could have camped in the wild, but now the rain was incessant, and camping in the wild would only result in getting soaked. So even members of the Akatsuki organization were picky about their living conditions.
Deidara went into the inn first, followed closely by Obito Uchiha. He stood under the eaves of the inn, shaking the water droplets off his sleeves, muttering to himself about how heavy the rain was tonight.
"I've heard that humans tend to get drowsy in rainy weather," Obito Uchiha, who had been under the eaves just moments before, suddenly appeared behind Deidara and said in a low voice.
Deidara jolted, almost instinctively punching the other man, but thankfully he restrained himself. He took the room key from the hotel owner and asked in a low voice, "Did you do that on purpose?"
Obito Uchiha changed the subject, saying, "What? I was just lamenting how awful the weather is tonight. No wonder you're in such a bad mood, senpai."
What? A big part of his bad mood is because this guy keeps muttering weird things, right?
Finally, they arrived at his room. Deidara stood at his door. He had booked two rooms, and Tobi's room was next to his. Deidara gripped the doorknob, glanced to the side, and realized that Tobi didn't seem to be going to his room. So Deidara patiently reminded him, "Your room is next door. This is my room. Don't follow me."
"You're too kind, senior. I thought there would be some kind of late-night chat, but there isn't? Ah... what a pity." Uchiha Obito drawled out his words.
The affected tone made Deidara smirk. "What do you mean by 'night talk'? There's no such thing as a 'night talk'!"
After saying that, he opened the door and then slammed it shut, leaving the guy outside.
Finally, can we have some peace and quiet?
Deidara let out a long breath and walked straight to the bathroom in the room. His hair and clothes were soaked when he was traveling. After changing out of his wet clothes, Deidara suddenly remembered what you said to him when he went to the Land of Rope to find you last time.
You still seem to treat him like a child, but comparing him to this new partner clearly shows who's more mature, right? You can favor this guy, so why can't you?
Deidara was still completely baffled.
He walked out of the bathroom after washing his hair and taking a shower, his hair still dripping water, but he didn't care, since his hair would dry naturally overnight.
The next morning, Deidara was not awakened by his biological clock, but by the enthusiastic greeting from Fei in the next room.
Yes, this guy took it upon himself to go to his room, and then woke him up as if it were perfectly normal. When he questioned him about what he was doing, he replied innocently, "Eh? Isn't this the hotel's wake-up service? I'm serving you, senior."
"What kind of service is this?!" But it has to be said that Deidara was indeed suddenly awakened by Tobi's appearance, and he was no longer sleepy at all. He sat up and said, "I didn't ask for any wake-up service!"
"Don't be so angry. Look, I've already brought breakfast to your room, so come and eat now!" Obito Uchiha clasped his hands together.
Deidara's mood was like a rollercoaster ride. In the end, he still sat down at the small table and took a sip of barley tea. Meanwhile, Tobi, sitting opposite him, didn't seem to be eating. Deidara noticed that the other person didn't seem to have much of an appetite. However, given that his previous partner was Sasori of the Red Sand, a character who had transformed himself into a puppet, he could accept this little habit of his partner.
While Deidara was quietly eating his breakfast, Obito Uchiha across from him was observing him. After a while, Deidara suddenly asked, "How did you two meet?"
The conversation eventually circled back to you, which didn't surprise Obito Uchiha. He said, "Are you interested in this, senpai? But this is my secret about love."
How disgusting! He regretted asking that question.
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