Spellbound Chapter Two: Anxiety

Chapter Two: Anxiety
Aqua woke up the next morning to a knocking sound that wasn't coming from the door. Her ears twitched and her eyes slowly opened as a groan escaped her throat.
"Whoever that is, they'd better have a pretty good reason for waking me up..." She muttered to herself. She got up and slowly walked over to where the sound had come from. It was her balcony window.She pulled back the curtain and threw open the double glass doors, then gasped at what she saw.
About ten feet below the balcony, floating, was the blonde boy from yesterday. Deidara. He was smiling up at her, waving. Aqua took a closer look and saw that he was floating on what seemed to be a bird made of clay.
'Thats right...' She thought, thinking back to their fight the day before and all the creatures he had used against her.
'Whatever jutsu he's master somehow allows him to create life from that clay...'
Deidara moved his blonde hair away from the one eye he didn't keep hidden behind it.
"Morning, Aqua-chan!"
She blushed a little.
'Aqua-chan...? He's known me one day and he's already putting "chan" at the end of my name?'
She sighed a little and leaned on the railing of the blacony.
"Morning. What are you doing down there?" She couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, nothing, just having some fun." He chuckled. "Wanna come for a ride, hm?"
Aqua blinked. "A-A ride...?"
The blonde nodded. "Yeah! Come fly with me!" He patted the spot on his "bird" behind him, expecting her to sit there. Her eyes widened slightly.
"Are you sure its safe...?" She asked, her eyes trailing over the bird.
Deidara nodded. "Its totally safe! I'm an amazing pilot, un!" He held out his hand to her. "Just trust me!"
Aqua looked at his hand then at his face. She still couldn't get over the fact that he had let her live yesterday. All of his teammates. except for Itachi, were shouting at him to finish her off, yet he let her live. Why...? She just didn't get it. When she looked into his eyes she saw kindness. He was unlike the other Akatsuki members. He seemed more human. All of the other members were ruthless with no conscious. Most of them didn't even look human at all, at least not to Aqua. Deidara seemed almost normal to her. He almost reminded her of Naruto. Maybe it was the color of his hair, or maybe it was just his happy-go-lucky attitude. She felt like she could trust him, but she wasn't about to let her guard down completely. She slowly reached out her hand to take his...
Aqua heard her door open and a voice call her name. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Itachi in her doorway, looking at her with a slightly surprised expression.
"What are you doing?" He asked. As he came closer he saw Deidara and glared down at him. Deidara matched his glare with an icy-blue one of his own.
"What do you think you're doing here, Deidara?" Itachi demanded.
"What's it to you, Uchiha?" Deidara spat.
Aqua became confused. Itachi and Deidara were supposed to be teammates, weren't they? Why were they acting this way? She thought back to yesterday again and remembered how Itachi had given Deidara that death-glare for suggesting he fight her instead of him. Did they hate each other...?  She was still trying to put the pieces together when Itachi interrupted her thoughts.
"I just came to make sure you were awake and to tell you that breakfast is ready. Make sure you get dressed and come eat." He glanced at Deidara. "That goes for you too. Don't be late."
Deidara glared at him. "Hmph..."
Aqua watched as Itachi walked away and then slammed her door. She sighed and glanced at Deidara. He still had an angry look on his face. He glanced up at her and his gaze softened a bit.
"So much for that, eh...?"
Aqua sighed. "I guess..."
Deidara shrugged. "Ah well. We can hang out later, right?"
Aqua nodded. "Yeah. Sure. I, uh... I'd better get ready then..."
Deidara looked down slightly, keeping his eyes on her. "R-Right... See you later then." And with that he flew away.
Aqua had to admit, it was an impressive sight. She wondered how a bird made of clay could stay afloat like that. She shook her head slightly and tried not to think about it anymore. She walked back into her room, closing the doors to the balcony. She quickly got dressed and brushed out her hair. She found herself at a standstill when she found her Hidden Leaf headband on her dresser. She picked it up gently and looked at it for a moment. It didn't take long for her to know that she shouldn't wear it anymore, especially not now. Weather she remained with the Akatsuki or not, she was still considered a rogue ninja. Aqua put the headband down and went towards the kitchen Deidara had shown her yesterday. She knew the dining room couldn't be far from there.
Once she found it she looked around at the members who were already seated. The Leader, Pein, was there, seated next to the only other girl. Sasori was there, sitting across from Deidara. He wore the same expression on his face as he did yesterday. Something about him unsettled Aqua, and she decided she was going to stay away from him if she could help it. She decided to sit next to Itachi and keep to herself. Deidara smiled a bit when she came in and she glanced at him for a moment, but her attention was really on Pein. Yesterday he had told Deidara to kill her. He had said she was weak. What would he do now...? Soon enough the other members of the Akatsuki arrived and everyone began to eat. For a while there was nothing but an awkward silence, but then Pein decided to finally speak.
"Now, I know you all can see we have a new addition at our table this morning." He said after wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Yeah... Didn't she get beaten by Deidara yesterday?" Itachi's partner, Kisame, asked, eyeing her.
Aqua had recognized him immediately, though she had only seen him once when Itachi had returned to the Hidden Leaf. She got the feeling that he didn't like her, but that was fine with her. She didn't care for him either.
"Yes, that is true, but after his win Deidara also made a very good point." Pein said to Kisame before looking at Deidara. "What was it you said?"
He looked up. "Hmm? Uh... That she'll get stronger with us...?" He guessed, trying to think back to the previous day.
Pein shook his head. "No. You said she had potential." Pein smiled at Aqua as if he had already become very fond of her, but she could tell there was some sort of ulterior motive behind that look. She couldn't believe he would let her stay after her loss yesterday, and if he did, then what was the reason? The whole seemed suspicious. Pein went on, to clarify for the other members.
"Deidara was right when he said the girl had too much potential to get rid of. She will stay here with us, and train to become stronger to be a valuable member of this organization."
"But Leader-sama, shes just a kid!" Kisame interjected once again.
"That is the point, Kisame." Pein said a bit angrily, before giving Aqua that smile again.
"She is young, and I'm sure she is very willing to train. She is at the perfect age to be taught new jutsu and new techniques."
Kisame backed down, knowing there was nothing he could say to change Pein's mind.
"She will fight, and train, with us." Pein said with finality in his tone. He then looked Aqua straight in the eyes.
"That is what you want, isn't it?"
She knew she must give an answer. So, she looked right back at Pein and nodded.
"Yes... I need to get stronger."
Pein nodded. "And why is that?" He asked.
Aqua looked down and her hands clenched into fists.
"There is someone... I must defeat. I will leave it at that."
She could feel everyone elses eyes on her as she gave the vaguest answer she could. None of them had to know what her intentions were. Who knew what they would do if they were to find out? Part of her told her it wouldn't matter, yet another part told her she couldn't be too careful. Better safe than sorry.
To kill Orochimaru and rescue Sasuke before he could be killed for Orochimaru's reincarnation jutsu. That was Aqua's secret goal, her dream and wish. That was why she had left her village and everything she had known. Then again, what had she even known anymore? When Orochimaru had attacked the Hidden Leaf with the help of the Sand Village, it was as if her entire world had been turned upside down. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Orochimaru had told her, basically, that her entire life had been a lie. The family she thought she knew wasn't even her family at all. He was. She still wasn't sure she believed it, but whether or not she did didn't matter. What mattered was that he was her enemy. She had to defeat him, once and for all. If she was really allowed to stay here, maybe she could. Only time would tell.
"We'll then, it is settled." Pein announced. "Aqua Akurano, from now on you are a member of the Akatsuki. You can expect your first mission in about a week."
Aqua nodded. "Yes, sir."
"As for the rest of you, you all have your assigned missions."
Everyone nodded and finished eating, beginning to relax a bit.
"And one last thing."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to the Leader.
"Aqua, Itachi, and Deidara, come see me in the meeting hall right after breakfast."
After saying that last announcement, Pein got up and left. Deidara sighed, wondering what it was the Leader wanted with him.
All the others left the dining room and Aqua, Itachi, and Deidara headed towards the meeting hall to see Pein. Deidara was called in first, alone. Aqua moved close to the door to see if she could hear any of the conversation. She couldn't catch much.
"Why didn't you do as you were told? I told you to fin-"
His voice cut off, then Deidara's voice could be heard.
"You just said I made a good point in saying we should keep her around, Leader-sama! Besides, I-"
Again, the voice was cut off. Aqua started feeling anxious. Was Deidara about to get punished for sparing her life...? To her relief, Deidara soon came out of the meeting hall. He had an annoyed look on his face, but other than that he looked fine. He glanced at Aqua and Itachi before walking away.
Itachi and Aqua were called in next. The doors shut behind them and Aqua looked around the room. It was a lot like the training hall, just with no training equipment. It seemed awfully empty for a meeting place.
Pein looked from Aqua to Itachi before he spoke.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I assure you I have my reasons for allowing you to stay with us."
Aqua turned her attention to Pein. She knew he must have had some ulterior motive for all of this.
"You must work hard, and do whatever I say in order to stay here, do you understand?"
She nodded. What other choice did she have?
"As for your training... Let's just say you will have your own special training regimen."
That surprised Aqua as much as anything else. Not only was he letting her stay there, but he was giving her special treatment? This was all wrong. Pein took a step closer to her and Aqua's anxiety only intensified at what he said next.
"I know about your "powers", Aqua, and we have great use for them. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. The beings inside of you... The Winged Beasts, equal in power to any Tailed Beast."
Aqua's eyes grew wide and her heart began to pound. So that was it... That's what he wanted. Aroura and Damion. She hadn't heard from either of them in a while, but Aqua knew how similar they were to the nine-tails that was inside Naruto and the one-tails that resided within Gaara. The Winged Beasts, Aroura and Damion, who fought long ago with such force that they needed to be locked away. One stood for good, the other for evil. Both resided within Aqua, and each granted her power at crucial moments in the hope that she would sway towards one of their sides. She hadn't heard either of their voices since she left with Itachi, and she thought that might have meant that they were both angry with her for coming here. Now she saw why.
"I can train you to better harness their power to gain strength. In return, you must use that power to help this organization."
Pein was still staring down at her. Aqua felt trapped, but she knew what she had to do. She bowed her head to the Leader of the Akatsuki.
"I accept... I will do whatever training you you see fit and fulfill any missions that are assigned to me."
Pein grinned, "Good. You are a smart girl. Itachi will find you a cloak, and I believe you have already found yourself a room. You will begin training tomorrow after you've settled in, so rest while you can.."
Aqua nodded and left with Itachi. They walked in silence to his room, where he pulled out an extra cloak like the one he and the other members wore and handed it to Aqua. She tried it on and cringed.
"Its too big..." She said, sounding a little disappointed. The cloak dragged on the floor a little and the sleeves went far past her fingers. Itachi frowned.
"I realize that, but its all I have. You're by far the youngest member here." He turned her back on her to close his closet.
Aqua looked down, knowing he was right. Had she really made the right choice in coming here...?
"Thank you, Itachi..."
"Don't mention it... Now go unpack your things and try to rest before tomorrow."
Like that was possible. She listened to him anyway and headed towards her room.
On her way there, she saw Deidara. He walked up to her and leaned against the wall next to her.
"Hey. So, you get to stay, hmm? That was good news. I was worried the Leader wasn't going to let you."
Aqua nodded slightly. "Yeah. Guess I got lucky."
Deidara examined her new cloak and a grin spread across his face. He tried not to laugh.
"Isn't that a bit big on you, Aqua-chan?" He asked.
Her teeth clenched in anger and embarrassment, mainly embarrassment.
"Yes, but this is my only option."
Deidara chuckled a bit and came closer to her.
"At least roll the sleeves up. Here, let me help."
He took the long sleeves of her cloak and rolled them up until she could see both of her hands again.
"Thanks..."
"No problem, un."
Aqua looked up at his grinning face and couldn't help but ask the question that had been on her mind since their fight ended.
"Deidara-san... Why are you being so nice to me...?"
The boy blinked, taken back by her sudden question. He then shrugged and a thoughtful expression took over his features.
"I dunno... We don't get new members very often and I guess I was just hoping that someone would finally come along to this place that I could actually get along with."
He turned his face back to her and his smile returned.
"And I think I was right when I thought that person would be you."
Aqua's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't know what to say. She slowly began to relax and a laugh escaped her lips. She smiled back at Deidara and nudged him playfully.
"I hope you still think that once you get to know me."
Deidara chuckled. "I'm sure I will. What do you say we go for that ride now?"
Aqua looked down and sighed.
"I would, but I'm suppose to unpack and prepare for my first day of training tomorrow..."
Deidara frowned. "Oh, right... Well, we'll just have to go later then, hm? How does that sound?"
Aqua smiled a bit then nodded.
"Sounds good."
Deidara patted her on the back and turned to leave.
"Get some rest. If I can, I'll be there to help you train tomorrow."
Aqua watched him leave then went back to her room to prepare for the long day tomorrow, and for the rest of her time as an Akatsuki...