A meeting of criminals [Haku]

[deidara]

The Land of Waves. It was definitely not Deidara's preferred choice of terrain. It had plenty of glistening forests, but the center of commerce, and more importantly bounties, were in the city. And the city itself was located directly on the ocean. Why was that a problem? Well first of all, the smell of saltwater was enough to drive the young blonde away immediately. The people around may have gotten used to it, but coming from the Land of Rocks, the saltwater smell just wasn't something that tickled his fancy. For this reason, and this reason only, he decided to stay as close to the forest as he could get. In this way, he would be able to let the smell of pine trees overrule the constant breezes that smelled of dead fish and salt. Where he was right now though was a little in the open. Basically, it was a small clearing in the woods. If Deidara actually wanted to measure it out mentally, he would probably say that it had a twenty to thirty feet diameter. Nothing to big, nothing to small. But the real reason he was in this clearing was for what was in the ground.

Clay. Though Deidara had plenty back in his numerous bases, he would need an extra supply for some of the bounty missions he was on in the land of Waves. And why collect clay? Because it was Deidara's primary weapon. Of course, the clay itself was useless, but it was Deidara's kinjutsu that would make it come to life. When he collected enough clay, he would w knead his chakra into it, and then force it to explode on his command. Not after forming some sort of clay figure out of it though- that was Deidara's art. He was the only one with such artistic flare in battle, and he would like to keep his reputation just like that. Of course, most would disagree with his form of art, because it was not in the norm. Deidara believed that art was fleeting; transient. It was something that would burn bright in a flash of beauty, and then wither away so that it could only be experienced in the memory. For if it was true art, someone would be able to remember its beauty throughout their lives instead of having to look back at ancient sculptures. Deidara's art was quick, dangerous, and above all- an explosion.

As he kneeled over the small hole he'd dug up at the edge of the clearing, Deidara couldn't help but get lost in his thoughts of art. He was wearing a long, black cloak with white lining, and it was flapping in the slight breeze. Despite that loud distraction, Deidara just sat and stared at the clay in his hands as he slowly began packing it into his pouch. He would knead the chakra into it when he was in battle. That was just his style. Why carry around a bunch of clay minions when you can just carry the clay into battle and make them there? However, he couldn't help but want to make one small little figurine. So, once he was done packing the clay into his pouches, he pulled the bottom of his cloak back so that the pouches on either hip were revealed. He then shoved his hands into them as the mouths began to do all the work. The mouths on his palms took in some of the clay and chewed it, kneading chakra into it slowly. He then held his hands up, revealing two perfectly sculpted bird figurines. "Ha! A true work of art if I do say so myself, hmm?"

[Haku]

Haku hummed as he walked through the woods zigzagging here and there seemingly going no where. He was trying to confuse the trail so that no one would no where their current hide out was. Haku was dressed in his pink outfit looking to the entire world like a young woman out flower picking. He was carrying a wicker basket with flowers and berries and some leaves in it. Some of the things were healing herbs others were poisons but all had a purpose just like him. Haku saw a clearing where some plants grew that he wanted and slowly headed towards it not being at all stealthy about it. He walked seemly obvious to what was going on around him. Haku was walking toward a clearing where a shape moved lower to the ground. The digger was dress like a ninja and he could not afford to leave the unknown be so close to there hide out. He would have to get the guy to leave no matter what it took. He quickly and carefully stepped behind the tree to watch. He saw the man gathering bags of what looked like dirt. He appeared to mold it into a shape. Haku silently back tracked through the trees and started back on the path making no attempt to hide his presence now. He walk straight into the clearing and started his act.

Haku was suddenly face to face with the digger. He gasped and covered his hands with his mouth dropping his basket in the process. The contents spilled all over the ground. Some of the flowers fell into the hole and his weapons which he had at the bottom of his basket were now clearly visible. Oh how damning this was going to be. He thought with an inward sigh. Outwardly he spoke in a frightened voice. “I-I am sorry. I just thought I was alone in the forest and you startled me.” It was time to beat a haste retreat. He was back pedaling franticly and trying to collect his things at the same time. It was all an act but Haku was a great actor and knew the part he had to play. The harmless young maid was his role and he played it well. “Your sculptures are beautiful, sir.” He said very quietly and with some awe in his voice. Haku did not try to touch them just looked.

[deidara]

As Deidara held out the sculpture figurines, a strange feeling came over him. 'Thought I was alone. I guess someone's paying me a visit, hmm?' he thought to himself, before suddenly coming face to face with someone who looked like a young woman. He immediately stood and took a step back, a bit surprised, but it seemed that the other was even more surprised. So surprised, in fact, that she dropped her basket into the hole he'd been digging, leaving behind an assortment of flowers and.. 'weapons?' Deidara thought to himself as he took yet another step back, his clay figurines still in hand. So this woman was a ninja, most likely just disguised as a flower maid. Well, frankly, he couldn't expect any different. The Land of Waves seemed to be filled with all sorts of criminals, and this woman was just one trying to deceive him. After all, having weapons proved she was a bounty hunter, most likely a ninja, and a ninja wouldn't be so easy to run into someone else in the middle of a clearing. This hypothesis seemed to be correct, but Deidara would have to take a few steps and examine the situation further before doing anything too risky.

However, when the young woman complimented his art, he couldn't help but laugh a little, with a friendly smile on his face. "Heh. This isn't the final stage of my art." he said, before releasing the birds as they came to life and fluttered into the air, flying high above the woman's head. "My art is a bang" he stated calmly, making a hand sign with one hand and muttering a command as both of the sculptures exploded in magnificent beauty, even sending a few different colored sparks into the air. Admittedly, Deidara was trying to show off. But he couldn't help himself. His art was his pride and joy, and therefore, he would try and at least let the woman in front of him enjoy the show. But that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down. There was something about this person, something that actually bothered him. Perhaps it was the weapons she had just been concealing, or even more, the flashy pink outfit she was wearing.

"So" he started, taking a couple steps back to distance himself from the woman as he leaned back against a tree, his left bang flapping in the wind a little as it revealed the scope on his left eye for a split second. "What's a woman like you doing all the way out here? You shouldn't stray too far from the village, yeah?. There are dangerous people out here." he commented, an eerie tone accompanying his short speech. He didn't mean to make it sound so... sardonic, but he couldn't help himself sometimes. And basically, the woman was in a bit of trouble. Right now, she was standing before the world's greatest explosive artist! Or so Deidara called himself. But just like his explosions, he was quick- and impulsive. If she made one wrong move, Deidara might just try to end her life. Why? Well, he didn't really care much about the human life. Only his art. And besides, taking her out would be a synch. She was just some maid girl from the village, and they were so far away from the village that she wouldn't be discovered for a while. But right now, with her comment on his art, she was on his good side. For her sake, she should probably keep it that way.

[Haku]

Haku ducked involuntarily as the clay figures exploded into colored sparks. His mouth dropped open in awe. Inwardly he was calculating what his chances were of escaping unharmed. They weren’t good if the clay had the ability to fallow you back home as this clay seemed to. “It’s alive? How far can it go until it goes off with a bang?” Haku spoke with a little fear mixed in this time and was impressed with the power of the other. He brushed his hand through his hair freezing the sparks as they land on him. Haku shook lightly and they softly fell to the ground looking like tiny shards of glass. He ground a few into the dirt as he shifted. It was summer and even on this moist island it didn’t freeze in the summer. He hoped the other wouldn’t notice anything. “It is very pretty but isn’t that dangerous? What if it goes off in your hand? Or it explodes to close to some one else’s?”

What he really wanted to know was what as the sculptor’s purpose here. That and does all his clay explode or just that portion. Haku was intrigued by the display. He knew the man was dangerous but was confident that he could escape the blast by encasing himself in ice. “Can it kill?” It was almost tempting to rile him if only to see what would win. Tucking the basket against his hip he managed to clap lightly at the show. He notice the scope as it appeared and hid his surprise fairly well. He replied to the question with a half truth. “There is no food in the village and I must feed my family so I will take my chances, thank you. And I’m armed for just such event, though I’m more likely to hunt rabbits then bandits.” He smiled at this and got a good look at the man before him. His hair looked like it got in the way a lot. This was true the poor village was being strangled. Haku didn’t want to draw too heavily on their resources if he could find his own. That was really why he had come out here today. His goal was to catch and find what he needed.

[deidara]

Deidara couldn't help but smirk lightly as the other ducked. It was predictable. No one really appreciated his art as much as they feared it. And who could blame them? It was dangerous. And it's explosive powers were devastatingly beautiful. His ears perked up as he heard the young woman speak again. How far could it go? Well, however far the target went. That was the most fun part of his clay- if he ever needed his figurines for covert operations, they were extremely useful. They could basically sneak into enemy bases undetected- and what was better, he had so many different animal figurines to choose from! Underwater base? Improbable, but if there was, he would simply create clay fish to infiltrate it. Underground base? Perhaps a clay centipede, or even clay spiders. And what was even better was that they were intelligent, and could act properly, ripping apart a target with intense explosions when they were requested too. Of course, with the help of his scope, he was even able to command them from afar if necessary. But overall, if he really needed them to travel a long distance, they could probably manage. "My art can go very far before creating the necessary bang it needs, hmm? Basically whenever I command it."

Shortly after speaking, he heard the woman speak again and.. what she said was hilarious. Were his creations dangerous? Ha! Of course they were- at least, to anyone else. If he didn't want his clay to explode, then his clay would not explode. It was as simple as that. His clay exploded on command, and Deidara would never be stupid enough to set off one of his figurines whilst holding it. Perhaps he would one day detonate himself- but that was his ultimate art. He was going to save that for much later. For something important. And what if his figurines exploded next to someone else? Well, that was kind of the idea. Of course, if he told this woman that, she would know right away that he was obviously a bounty hunter, or dangerous ninja of some sort. But then again, he didn't actually care very much. Hell, if she wanted to raise an alarm, then so be it. He would just have to stop her. Impulsive actions would cause him to just blow her up then and there, but thankfully he was in a good mood. "It'll never go off in my hand- I command it to blow up when I want it to, yeah? As for exploding near other people... well, with my art, they better keep their distance." He said, a small mocking smile gracing his lips.

The next question. Could his clay kill? Of course it could. But he would play it off a little more innocent than that for now. "Well, I suppose it could if someone got near enough, hmm.. it is pretty dangerous. But still beautiful all the same. Hmm." he stated, stuffing his hand into his clay pocket. It was concealed from the woman, so she wouldn't see what was going on. Deidara wondered if she had seen the mouths on his hands yet. Perhaps he would show her 'accidentally' just so she could get a feel of what would come if she... decided to reveal him to anyone. With a slight stretch, Deidara held his right arm high above his head, his palm facing the other 'coincidentally'. As soon as it reached the full length, the mouth burst open and the tongue came out, licking all around the hand. It was a rather creepy display, but something Deidara liked to show people just because he thought it was so... fun to see their reactions. In any case, the least she would do would be to ask about it. He'd make up something when he got there. Or better yet, he'd tell her the truth.

A little further into the conversation, the woman revealed that she was out hunting for food. That wasn't too abnormal in this area. After all, Gato the shipping magnate was depriving the people in the Land of Sea of their food. For what reason, Deidara didn't really know. All he knew was that... well, Gato paid a good price to have certain 'unsavory' people around him. And Deidara could use a little money. As for the rest of what the woman said, she also revealed that she could take out a bandit if necessary. That was a brave thing to say. Normal women didn't have that kind of courage- or so Deidara thought. She must have had some sort of ninja training. After all, those weren't just standard knives in her basket. They were senbon. Ninja tools. "Well, with those senbon I'm sure you'll be more than protected, yeah? The bandits around here have an awful lot of bark, but little bite. Just show those knives and they'll head for the hills." he said, brushing his bangs aside for a moment as the scope revealed itself once more. "Oh, and you're a bit far out in the woods for someone who's coming from the village. What sort of things do you expect to find out here, hmm? There's more wildlife back in that direction, at the river near the village." Deidara stated, pointing calmly towards the direction of the small port town. He was actually quite curious as to why the woman came all the way out here. There was just the same amount of food everywhere else.

[Haku]

Haku covered his mouth in genuine shock and surprise. That didn’t really happen all that often but the guy had a mouth in his hand. That just wasn’t normal, Haku made a face of disgust not trying to hide his revulsion. This will make an interesting story at home he thought to himself. He unconsciously began lowering the temperature in the clearing. Ice started forming in the air as it always did when Haku was deeply shocked or afraid. He had a very good reason to be a little worried at the moment. It was reflex and self preservation that created such spontaneous displays. He knew that this man was not one to trifle with and he was not stupid enough to think that he could out run this clay worker’s art. He had seen the scope and knew that by the guy’s own admission he could control it long ranged possibly he was a master of such work. “what’ here he pause for breath and tried to tone down his own display‘- was that?” Haku looked around and released he had frozen everything in the clearing including his own basket of herbs and cuttings. It was only a light layer of ice but it was present. He was a little embarrassed but tried not to show it. It had been years since his last display of this sort and he thought that he had mastered it with the creation of his own jutsu. He had but apparently not as well as he had first thought. He could now fix it however he had learned over the years how reverse the process and defrost things that he had previously frozen.


Haku barely managed to stifle a laugh at the fact that bandits would run from a ‘woman’ with senbon. He would have to test that little theory out then next time he was actually in town. Most likely they would look dumb found for a moment and then charge. Then they would be in real trouble as he was dangerous. Also he was one of the ‘bandits’ or at least connected with one anyway. The more accurate term in this case might be assassin or hit-man in their line of work. “Oh I don’t live in the village, never said I did actually, you just assumed that part. I live in the forest here with my family.” It was not a complete lie but pretty close. He smiled softly but was backing a way into the relative shelter of the trees. It was time to make the hasty exit he had been planning. He willed into existence a flat sheet of ice with a mirror like surface. This would be his escape route and while it was not as strong as the demonic ice mirror trap it could with stand fire fairly well and he hoped explosions too. The weakness of his will-created mirrors was that they didn’t hold up well to large feats of brute strength, such as those Zabuza was capable of. If you hit them hard enough they will shatter like glass.

[deidara]

Deidara let a smirk spread across his lips. It seemed that the other hadn't been expecting him to have mouths on his hands. Typical. Not many people would expect it, actually. But Deidara wasn't focused on the other's surprise at the moment. He was focused on the wildlife around him beginning to freeze. Even he felt a bit cold. Was it a kekkei genkai? "Hn. Nothing but a fool born with good genes' he thought to himself. Would it be wrong to take out this woman in the middle of a clearing? Probably. But Deidara just decided to take it all in stride. He would answer questions first. He lifted both of his arms, palms facing the woman as the tongues in the mouths on his hands stuck out. He too followed suit and stuck his own tongue out, smirking. "This is my kinjutsu. These mouths on my hands knead chakra into the clay I gather to give it a rather artistic bang, yeah?"

He then proceeded to stuff both of his hands in the clay pockets on either side of his body. "These mouths create my art." he stated dryly, lifting his hands so that the other could see the mouths chewing the clay. Shortly after, each mouth spit a wad of clay out. He held up his right hand as he closed his fist, molding the clay into the shape of a bird. His left hand, which was now behind him, was molding it into a centipede that slowly crawled down his back and into the ground. "Tch. Art in a matter of seconds." he said, holding out the clay bird triumphantly. He then brought his left hand forward and held the bird in both hands, merely waiting.

However, he decided to speak and keep up the little act of believing that this person was just some woman, but he was confident that she was a shinobi. With a neat little trick like freezing everything, who could blame him? He was a bit surprised, however, when she said she didn't live near the village. That was a first. But considering she lived out in the woods, Deidara couldn't help but be suspicious now. Just who was this person? He wanted to find out, but he saw the other slowly retreating towards the trees. At first it didn't bother him, but when he saw a layer of ice trying to cover her retreat, he snarled. "Where do you think you're going? We're not done talking yet, hmm?" he yelled, releasing the clay bird in his hand as it flew into the glass and exploded on contact. But that little display was just a distraction. Whether it broke the ice or not, he really didn't care. What it was distracting the other for, however, was the clay centipede that had burrowed underground earlier. It now burst from the ground by the other's feet, aiming to wrap around her left foot.

[Haku]

Haku saw that the man had stuck both hands inside his jacket. He also saw only one hand being used to make the bird figure what was the other doing behind his back there. All his common sense was screaming at Haku to get way. He didn’t trust what he couldn’t see and most definitely if that some thing was exploding clay figures that were long ranged. Making a fast exit would be a good idea right now but he had to keep up the ruse. He could use his mirror technique to escape though that might be the only thing that could stand up to the artist’. He saw that the man had notice that he was trying to get away and sent the bird after his ice mirror. It cracked badly and would have broken with the explosion but held only because Haku himself was still conscious. It wouldn’t survive another such attack. Tensing he waited for the other figure to show itself. His mouth dropped open from shock as the ground beneath his feet moved and the figure made its presence known. It was a clay bug and what surprised him was the bug came from under the ground.

All his previous creations had flew Haku calculate in the seconds that it took for the bug to rap around his ankle that he couldn’t get way. He would lead it back to the hideout and that wouldn’t do at all. He could have moved his foot out the way but he still needed some surprises up his sleeves.” You caught me, now what do you want?” He snarled back in his feminine voice. Not daring to step out from behind the ice shielding him he stared at the man. Slipping his right behind his back he preformed the hand seals for the thousand Ice senbon techniques which he planned to stalemate the man with. The shards of ice formed in the air above the man and around him as well on all sides. He brought his hand back into view. Softly smiling at Deidara through the cracked and dented ice he began to consider what to do about the creature around his ankle before it blew up. En casing it or his own foot in ice might help but he had never tried freezing earth or himself before. Haku wasn’t willing to try now and set it off. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. “Well what did you want to say so badly that you felt it necessary to rig me with a bomb in order to get me to listen?” He tapped his right foot in an impatient gesture. This man was dangerous and he knew that could be interesting.