Bursting Red

A ghost of a breeze swept against the exposed skin on the back of her neck, forcing an unnecessary shiver to rack down her spine on the hot summers day. It was considered a generally enjoyable day in Iwagakure, the sun was blaring and the breeze kept it bearable enough to traverse the streets during the late afternoon rush. Her mind wandered off to better places as a lollipop stick hung lazily from her mouth and her eyes gently probed every face she walked by with curiosity. She tossed a detached glance behind her as the noise from a familiar group of teenagers hustled loudly by, she couldn’t help but wonder what the joke was as they laughed raucously.

“Hey Nezumi-chan!” Like ice, the girls voice rang out painfully. Generally, she would have acted with some manners but the amount of sarcasm laced in between the girls words held her eyes secure. She kept her head forward, neck straight and unwavering. “Hey! Mouse, I’m talking to you!”

‘Mouse’ had been an unfortunate nick name for her growing up, thanks to her mother naming after said creature, it was a fate she couldn’t escape.

The blonde haired female suddenly cut in front of Nezumi, her hands on her hips and her face tilted upwards smugly. The lanky girl took the lollipop out of her mouth and let it dangle downwards between two fingers dangerously. “Can I help you?” Her voice was taught, quietly shifting eyes from one girl to another as she realized she was being circled by the swarm of girls that followed the blonde around on a daily basis. Why now, she thought harshly, I‘m late as it is. Social skills weren’t something she cared much about. Other people only seemed to be brought down with their worldly values and detached emotion, something she looked down upon. Nezumi drug her eyes up the girls body, taking in lightly her defensive stance and watching as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“Heard you dropped a bowl of miso on the Tsuchikage’s secretary yesterday. Real impression you probably made. It’s a good thing you didn’t decide to become a kunoichi, that would have been awful to watch.” As much as she hated to admit it, her words got to her. A fierce blush crept into her cheeks as the females muttered sharp words under their breath.

“It was an accident.” she muttered “She wasn‘t angry about it and besides, I think the village harbors enough kunoichi to spare me the trouble.” With a loud laugh, the blonde girl shook her golden tresses about. Nezumi raised an eyebrow, curious as to why the other girl was acting so flamboyantly for no apparent reason.

“Right, well we should thank you for feeling that way.” She took a step forward, grinning at the wide eyed girl that stood in front of her. “Well, good luck making yourself useful at that little restaurant you and your family own, mouse. Really, I bet you’ll show us all up.“ The timid girl cut her eyes downward and waited until the girls retreated, not sparing her the luxury of leaving without more insults. Once they left she took in a deep breath, suddenly thankful for the clean air that filled her lungs. Swiftly, she stuck the candy back in her mouth and weaved in between people, hoping she wouldn’t catch too much trouble for being late.

As soon as she entered the glass doors she grabbed an apron and slung it around her neck, tying it tightly to snugly fit her lanky build. “Kaa-san, what’s the special today?” Her voice called out through the double set of doors. Biting against the candy in her mouth, she retired the stick and simply chewed the rest.

“Tekka Donburi, served over a seaweed salad!“ A severed voice called out from the back room. She nodded to herself and took a sharp turn out into the main dining area, but not before grabbing a writing block and utensil. The main area was busy, more people now than there had when she had left for her late day break. Halting in front of Rio, she quickly found out her table seats and headed off with a sigh.

“Konnichiwa.” Nezumi bowed to her table, averting her eyes before she could meet theirs. “What can I get for you today?” A typical day in her constant and dull schedule.

Not more than three hours into it, her head was beating like a never ending drum inside her head. “Oh Kami,” she moaned, placing a palm gently to her forehead. Turning towards her mother she delivered a pout and peered up through her lashes. “Kaa-san, my shift ended forty minutes ago. It‘s not very busy and I‘ve cleaned all that has needed to be cleaned. Would it be alright if I headed back home?” Her mother gazed down at her with a small smile before casting her eyes upwards.

“Get out of here child.” With a swift bow, Nezumi untied her apron and cast it back on the hook. Books in hand, she waved goodbye before turning into the now chilling night air. The rush of the breeze carried the scent of rain and a smile met her lips when she realized tomorrow had a good chance of it. Copper colored strands whipped around her face in the air, coming loose whenever she tried to tuck it behind her ear. Suspiciously, she cut her eyes around the deserted streets in search of any possible sign of trouble. Technically, it wasn’t safe for a woman her age to be wandering around the streets this time of night, crime had jumped up a few notches in the last few months and unfortunately she couldn‘t defend herself if it depended on her life. Which it did, she considered darkly. A black cat ran in front her feet, causing the girl to jump away in slight fear. “Damn,” her eyes relaxed and she shook her head in slight embarrassment.

“Hey, onna!” Her head whipped around, startled by the voice that broke through the silent night air. A boy stood less than seven feet away from her, waving in his hand what appeared to be a tab of paper. “You dropped this, un.” Slowly, he advance and Nezumi couldn’t help but wonder if his intentions were as it seemed. As he got closer she realized it was her silk woven bookmark her Tou-san had given her less than a year ago for her sixteenth birthday, the same one that had been in her pocket when she had left the restaurant.

“Arigato” she muttered while taking the bookmark from his slender hands. Curiously, she glanced up at him, looking straight into the only visible light indigo eye she could see. As she averted her eyes away she couldn’t help but notice his hair was long, well past his shoulders, and very blonde. A shinobi headband was wrapped around his forehead, so he was a ninja, she thought. “Well, I best be on my way.” With a quick smile she turned on her heel and frowned as soon as he couldn’t see. Two steps sooner the boy decided to speak again.

“Wait, what are you doing walking alone this time of night? How stupid can you be, that’s dangerous, un.” His voice rang out impatiently and the sudden insult he slung at her took her by surprise.

“Excuse me?” He cast an intransigent look in her direction and grunted. With a tilt of his head, blonde hair rushed sideways and revealed an equally probing blue eye to further pierce her defenses. Naturally, she looked to her left and inspected a piece of crumpled paper carelessly tossed away.

“You’re going to get hurt” throwing his arms upwards he sighed and shook his head. Nezumi blushed and drew her feet inwards, who did this guy think he was. “I guess it’s my responsibility now to make sure you don’t arrive home injured, or worse.” He strutted up to her and grinned haughtily, “come on now onna, I’m walking with you, un.” They walked wordlessly forward, Nezumi keeping her eyes attracted to the ground in front of her and trying to force away the screaming panic in her head. A soft noise left his lips and he turned to examine the thin girl who walked beside him rigidly. “Don’t talk much, huh?”

“I guess” she replied flatly, casting another dry glance at him. Before she turned them away he couldn’t help but note the alluring color of her eyes. Almost similar to that of a sea foam green, they shimmered in the moonlight and left him staring wordlessly. With a note of sudden disdain he turned away from her and continued walking in step. It wasn’t much longer before she stopped and bowed to him politely. “Good night and arigato.” She said before turning away to unlock her house door but before she could he made another impatient noise. Looking over her shoulder she met his narrow eyes and fastened her teeth on her bottom lip. “Nani?” She asked, curious to his sudden harshness.

“I went through all the trouble of making sure you made it home safe and I don’t even get to know your name.” Like a child, he crossed his arms impatiently and pulled his face into a tight frown. She couldn’t help it, a faint smile came to her lips before she up righted herself and faced him.

“Ah, my apologies. My name is Manami Nezumi.” She cast a bright smile at him with closes eyes, “and your name?”

“Deidara.” On a mental note she locked it away before bowing deeply again.

“Well goodnight again Deidara-chan.”

“Night Nezumi, maybe we can talk more some other time.” He flashed her another haughty grin before turning away as she groped for the doorknob behind her back. After re-closing the door she slumped backwards, a sigh escaping her lips before opening her eyes tiredly. “Now that I’m alone“, she whispered, “I can finally relax.” She regained her composure and walked past her window, sparing a glance outwards in case the boy was still in sight. To her relief, he wasn’t. With a shake of her head she retreated towards her room, the only place that made her feel like she was doing something productive with her time.

Yawning, she fell back onto her bed, wisps of her copper hair flying forward and landing over her bright features. Wandering eyes fell on the hand drawn pictures and painted canvases that adorned her walls, barely visible in the blue moonlight. A totem to the hours she spent at her desk drawing away her life. She wasn’t a mere waitress, she was an artist. Slowly losing consciousness Nezumi stripped herself of her uniform and in turn put on a silk nightgown that hung loosely over her body. She didn’t need to wait for her parents to come home, not tonight anyway.

As her body slid under the cold satin sheets and her eyes drifted shut her mind wandered to that strange blonde boy who had walked her home. Nobody talked to her willingly, not that she minded. Nezumi was always one to prefer the company of a brush and canvas. She found people to be cruel and ignorant, something she didn’t feel the need to adjust to. But this boy interested her. He might have forced himself along side her, but he didn’t seem to see the world like everyone else did. He held honor to his name and frankly, he made her smile.

Something she didn’t do for just anyone.

Slowly her thoughts slipped away and she was under the spell of her dreams till morning broke through her window.

Nezumi opened one eye, peering through the rays of sunlight to frown at her open curtains. Something she had forgotten to do that night. A horrible way, she thought, to start off my only free day this week. Stretching her thin arms above her head she rolled out, clumsily stumbling across her floor with closed eyes. Her parents had already left for work, leaving a note in the kitchen reminding her to go to the store and get ingredients for the dinner she was to prepare tonight. Tossing it aside nonchalantly, she dug through the shelves for food. An apple would suffice, she grabbed the red fruit and wobbled back to her room. “It’s much too quite here isn’t it?” Her eyes washed over the white cat that rubbed against her ankles, tilting his head up to complain about something Nezumi didn’t care enough about. “Always whining” she muttered as she looked around the room. It was another nice day, slightly disappointed at the lack of rainfall she opened her window and let the warm rays wrap around her.

Today was a painting kind of day, she considered before biting into the shining fruit. As she chewed she debated on what she would paint today, eventually deciding on a vision her dreams had held to her last night. A flock of white birds flowing into the sky like some kind of backwards stream. The sky itself a bursting sort of red that reminded her of something grim, it was a beautiful and yet a terrifying sight to behold. Upon finishing her breakfast she changed into a pair of tight fitting, black training pants that came up right above the crook in her knee and carelessly tossed an oversized long sleeved casual shirt over the bind she had fastened. The shirt had been splattered with different shades of blues and reds, paint dripping and drying in droplets, forever reminding her of the dedication she made towards her art.

Her cat curled itself in a small ball on top of a stool near her, watching her with bright blue eyes. Nezumi brought the brush down on the canvas, smiling softly at the sound, it was something that had always strangely soothed her taught nerves. Before she knew it she had lost track of time and her back was beginning to pain from the position she had been slumped in for the past three hours. “So you’re a painter I see. A very talented one at that too, un.” Her head snapped towards the somewhat familiar voice that floated in from her window only to rest her eyes on the shinobi from the night before. He stood there confidently and examined her with interest.

What a surprise.