Suteta - (Akatsuki fanfic)

Part 26

A large white bird landed at the edge of the territory, and it was Deidara who descended from its back. He had only just returned from the other side of the perimeter and was investigating the sudden uproar that came prior to the security alert. What was stange...was that it came long after it should have.

Earlier he was on patrol, keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity as per usual. And he could have sworn he caught sight of someone attempting to flee while keeping cover beneath the thick canopy of trees to the east.

No... He knew he saw someone. A female ninja dressed in grey and brown to obscure her shape among the deep shadows of the woodland landscape, confirmed by his eye scope. The oddest thing though was that in spite of all his efforts he couldn't pick up a chakra signature, as if she were some kind of ghost. He followed her regardless for some time, and eventually intervened before she reached the outer perimeter by dropping his smaller clay explosives in her path to cut her off. Deidara was certain he had the ninja cornered and was prepared to capture her.

Yet...when he came to a swift landing to intercept the intruder...she was gone. No footprints, tracks, signs of life, or chakra residue. In fact, he couldn't sense chakra from anywhere in the forest. Not even from the perimeter locks. It was then he saw the distant commotion back near the main entrance of the hideout, closest to the border where Hanaki had been found weeks ago. Soon after, he received the alert from Zetsu and Tobi.

What the heck was going on?

Deidara cut his losses and chose to forget the unusual encounter and head for the scene of the fight. Which eventually brought him to where he stood now. By the time he arrived the battle that had taken place was already over and no one was around. Not that the area didn't show significant signs of damage. Trees were blasted to pieces, some parts of the battle zone was waterlogged and in shambles, and he noted a crater, all of which could have only been Kisame's doing. Even the shallow and precise gouges marking up the area were identifiably a result of the shark skin sword's scales.

What he didn't recognize were deep fissures splitting the earth where tree roots were literally uprooted, blackened and frayed, mutated to be discolored and warped with what looked like glowing infected blisters in the bark. They were posed as if in mid-strike, except now they were frozen in place. In another stretch of the field were entire branches sticking out of the ground like spears, shorn of their leaves and their ends sharpened to pierce through boulders thicker than he was tall without shattering them.

Among the wreckage more than a few splatters of blood stained the field. Some appeared random on account of Kisame's attacks, but others were on the trunk of a tree where someone had clearly been pinned by the roots during the fight, largely dying the rubble nearby, and creating a trail that led off toward the border. Anything else, he guessed, had been washed away by the water.

Whatever happened it escalated quickly, and was over in a hurry, he thought. Since he didn't see a body it was a fair assumption neither party was killed despite being confined to the dense area. And it was obvious that shark hadn't gone after the retreating enemy. If he had, Deidara would still be hearing the combat. He hadn't been that far behind.

Besides, if Kisame of all people didn't pursue the intruder to the end, they had to have been impressively formidable.

He continued his survey, temporarily leaving his clay bird behind as he took to the trees to follow the blood trail. It didn't indicate significant blood loss, but it did suggest a number of injuries. Perhaps it's too much to hope they're still inside the perimeter though, he thought. If Kisame had a hard time killing them they're probably long gone by now. And I certainly wouldn't want to run into them myself, hm. He didn't exactly consider himself a genius in close combat.