A child of war

Ch 7: And then there were two

If someone were to ask Deidara where exactly it all went wrong he'd say the day he met Uchiha Shirin. Old witch was the worst thing to ever happen to him.

"Deidara~" the woman cooed as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Happy birthday!"

The blond shrugged her off before glaring at her. "Don't touch me!"

"Ah, sorry." Shirin holds her hand up in surrender. "I just got a little excited is all. It's not every day one of our teammates turn eighteen."

"Yeah, so what about it? Eighteen isn't an important age unless you're a civilian."

Neither of them have been considered children for most of their lives, turning a certain age now doesn't really mean anything anymore.

Shirin shrugs. "Who cares about things like that? We can still celebrate."

The blond points an accusatory finger towards her. "You just want an excuse to buy a lot of sake now that your drinking buddy isn't helping with the costs!"

The former Uchiha heiress scowled. "Tsuna hasn't replied to any of my letters since entering Konoha." She grumbled in dismay. "But even so that's not the reason."

"Oh?" Deidara raises an eyebrow. "Then what's the true reason?"

Shirin grins. "I get to take you on a spa day and our dear leader can't stop me!"

Deidara stands by his earlier statement, he can't fucking stand Uchiha Shirin.

...

"Kakazu--"

"No, your allowance will not increase. No, your workload can't be decreased. Yes, you can eat a cactus but you will regret it."

...what the hell?!

"Are you a mind reader?" Shirin whispers to him.

The man gives her a flat stare. "No, I've just heard you say this so many times that it's predictable."

"I have not asked if I could eat a cactus that many times."

"As I've said before, you've gotten predictable."

Shirin gasped in mock hurt. "I'll have you know that I'm not predictable at all."

The bounty hunter rolls his eyes, still focusing more on counting his money. "Sure you aren't."

"I hope your bounty collector skimps out on your next pay day."

"Well if they do then they can join the target."

"Who's your next target?"

Kakazu started at her. "You, if you don't shut up."

How cruel.

...

"Hm? Whatcha holding kid?" Kisame asks as he spots Shirin's kneeling form.

"None of your business." She snapped, not bothering to turn towards him.

Squinting his eyes the shark-man moved closer to see Shirin holding a young boy, who couldn't be older than five, cradled in her arms and on the verge of death.

The boys eyes glided to him. "Is that...Kisame?"

"Yeah, that him." Shirin responded softly. "He's not different though."

"Oh, ok. Have you met anyone else that's different?"

"Besides us?" The former Uchiha heiress tilts her head. "I cannot say."

"My sister was a little different, never did get to ask her though." He pauses before laughing. "Though now I guess I never will get the chance."

"I'll ask her if you want." Shirin offers.