Just Going Through the Motions

"Deidara, someone came specifically to see you today. He left this behind. Take a look first."

Someone had posted a mission today, specifically requesting that a letter be delivered to Deidara.

After being inspected, the letter was naturally delivered to Ōnoki's desk at once.

With his wealth of experience, Ōnoki recognized it at a glance.

It was a secret letter.

Ōnoki's mindset had changed considerably over the years, so he simply took the letter and came to find Deidara.

Deidara accepted the letter suspiciously and took only one look.

He immediately noticed Brother Scorpion's mark on it.

Deidara's face lit up with joy. Following the method for deciphering secret letters from his memories, he decoded it again.

"Old man, it's... it's a friend asking to meet me."

"I want to go out for a bit." Deidara nearly blurted out Scorpion's name, but stopped himself at the last moment.

Ōnoki's expression did not change as he said with a smile,

"Then come back early, and be careful."

"Okay! Old man, I'm off!"

Deidara was extremely excited. He tossed a piece of clay into his mouth and chewed it.

Then he kneaded out a lifelike owl.

After infusing it with Chakra, the owl rapidly grew larger.

Deidara jumped onto it and flew outside.

While in the air, he did not forget to call out to Kurotsuchi. "Kurotsuchi, I'm heading out. I'll be back soon."

The owl was incredibly fast, and it vanished from sight before he had even finished speaking.

Kurotsuchi snorted. "Grandpa, you didn't even stop him."

Ōnoki looked relaxed instead.

"What do you know? What Deidara hates most is being restrained. The more you stop him, the more he'll want to leave."

"As long as you're attractive enough, you won't have to worry about him not coming back."

Ōnoki had been too rigid and harsh back then, causing him to miss several years with Deidara.

Fortunately, Deidara had still been brought back to him. Although Shamu had only told him how to communicate with Deidara,

Ōnoki was no fool. He had also figured out what Deidara wanted.

Besides, Deidara was so smart now. Making some appropriate concessions was perfectly reasonable.

Kurotsuchi had also improved quickly over the past few years, but compared with Deidara, she naturally still fell a little short.

Ōnoki would occasionally criticize her for it.

Kurotsuchi folded her arms. "My control over Lava Release is much stronger than before."

"Don't judge me with the same old eyes."

Ōnoki nodded with a smile. "Is that so? It's been a long time since I tested your ninjutsu. Let me see how much you've improved lately."

Kurotsuchi said confidently, "Fine, let's do it."

Riding the owl, Deidara flew north.

The secret message said there would be markings on a small mountain ten kilometers to the north.

After flying over, Deidara saw an obvious mark on a tree.

He flipped off the owl and landed.

"Brother Scorpion, I'm here."

Deidara quickly found a sign on the tree that only the two of them would recognize.

He kneaded five tiny spiders. The spiders crawled away, setting off explosions of varying lengths.

Soon, a "click, click, click" sound drifted over.

Hiruko slowly crawled out from the bushes.

"Long time no see, Deidara."

"Brother Scorpion! It's wonderful that you're alive!"

Deidara was as happy as a child.

Over all these years, Deidara had been the only person close to Scorpion. Seeing Deidara come to meet him with no guard whatsoever moved him deeply.

They had always worked together flawlessly. Their artistic paths differed, but they respected each other's art.

Although Scorpion had been very cold back then, Deidara had respected him from beginning to end.

Scorpion had also been the most important person in Deidara's youth.

At that time, Scorpion had little desire for anything in the outside world. Only his pursuit of art gave him the motivation to keep living.

And on that path, only Deidara had remained by his side.

Under Shamu's arrangements, the two of them had been captured.

Deidara's training in Dust Release within Iwagakure was naturally top secret.

Meanwhile, Sasori of the Red Sands being imprisoned in the Hidden Sand Village was also top secret.

The ninja world was vast, and neither of them had been active in it. Both had believed the other was dead.

Some things only felt precious after they were lost.

They often thought of this one and only friend.

"Brother, why haven't there been any word from you for so long?"

Deidara could not wait to learn what Sasori of the Red Sands had been doing these past few years.

"I was imprisoned in the Hidden Sand Village for over a year. I only found an opportunity to escape two years ago."

"How did you return to Iwagakure?" In just a few words from Sasori of the Red Sands,

Deidara sensed that Brother Scorpion had changed.

His tone was more lively than before, vastly different from the cold Brother Scorpion of the past.

"A lot has happened, Brother Scorpion. You've changed a lot too..."

Deidara then told him about how the Uchiha had sent him back to Iwagakure and how Ōnoki had placed him under house arrest.

However, after Deidara learned Dust Release, Ōnoki gradually stopped restraining him.

Deidara was now wholly focused on studying Dust Release. Until he had properly mastered it, he had no desire to go out.

Deidara had always been a massive chatterbox who talked an absurd amount of nonsense.

After meeting Scorpion, he rattled on even more, but Scorpion was clearly far more patient than before.

He merely listened quietly as Deidara spoke.

As Deidara continued talking, Scorpion's changes became even more apparent to him.

By the end, he said somewhat wistfully, "Brother Scorpion, you've changed so much."

"Hehehehe..." Scorpion let out a burst of laughter.

"What do you mean?"

Without hesitation, Deidara said, "You're more human than before. Yeah!"

Scorpion naturally understood what Deidara meant by "more human."

Before, he had been more like a puppet. Now that he had emotions, he was more like a person.

Scorpion thought back on the changes of the past few years. "Yes. Once you have a goal, you naturally become more human."

"I'm in the Moon Organization now. Obito wants me to recruit you." Scorpion explained why he had come to find Deidara.

Deidara was somewhat shocked. "The Moon Organization was actually founded by Obito?"

"Brother, you have to be careful. Obito is extremely dangerous."

"He's already become an enemy of the entire ninja world. You shouldn't stay in his organization."

Deidara was much more mature now than he had been three years ago. Seeing that Deidara's first reaction was concern for him also stirred Scorpion's heart.

"We're merely using each other. I only came here to complete a mission."

As he spoke, Scorpion crawled out of Hiruko, revealing his own body.

His voice also changed from an aged tone back into the voice he had in his youth.

Scorpion raised his hand, letting Deidara see the ring on his finger.

This ring was no different from the ones they had worn in Akatsuki.

Besides long-distance communication, the ring could also be used for remote tracking.

In other words, Obito could know Scorpion's location.

That was why Scorpion had specifically made this trip.

Deidara had once been an official member of Akatsuki, so he knew what the ring did as well.

He understood that Brother Scorpion had only come to go through the motions.