Clay and Puppets - Chapter 3
Chapter 3 down, only 37 chapters to go.
Title: Clay and Puppets
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Sasori/Deidara
Rating: PG for this chapter, eventual NC-17.
Summary: In which, Sasori gains, through a string of seemingly unfortunate incidents, a new partner named Deidara. Though the puppet master is reluctant to form any kind of friendship with the young Iwa missing-nin, Deidara seeks to get to know Sasori, while adjusting to his new life in the 'evil' organisation of Akatsuki.
Disclaimer: This product is meant for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Use only as directed.
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Chapter 3: Welcome to Your New Evil Life
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Deidara felt a shiver wrack his body, the sinister voice that had wafted from beyond the gigantic stone doorway reverberating grimly throughout the tunnel and rooting him fearfully in place, a vice-like grip that held his heart pounding against his chest.
The dark hall behind them seemed to creak and shiver, a peculiar breeze chasing them towards the door that did not refresh nor calm the senses, but seemed to have been placed there to do exactly the opposite; to further frighten and intimidate any who passed through this damned corridor. Deidara, who in Iwa had spent his entire life around rocky caves and stone halls, had never before seen an underground passage that could boast such an unseemly wind.
“Sasori…” The voice called again, coaxingly. "Do not stand at the door..." There was a pause, and then a small sound of sardonic pleasure. "And it seems we have a guest..."
Deidara’s entire body became ridged with fear. He meant him.
Breathing shallow and erratic, Deidara turned wide-eyed to the red-headed man beside him.
Sasori glared back at the boy, and tugged unkindly on his arm. "Come on." He grumbled, and boldly pushed the giant stone door open, walking forward into the darkness of the chamber beyond and leaving Deidara in the hall alone.
The blonde boy felt the chill of the unnatural wind, and the darkness like eyes watching him from unseeable walls, and hastily made after the Suna-nin - plunging himself into the densely shadowed chamber that housed the leader of this mysterious place.
Sasori walked steadfast, his pace unbroken as he made towards the centre of the enormous cave-like chamber, as he had taught himself to do when facing the dark man that lurked within. Deidara felt his fear grow with every heavy step he took behind the puppet master, but did not allow his feet to falter, or the impulse to flee overwhelm him. The blonde was thoroughly aware of the fact that he was at the complete mercy of the man he was to face here, and hoped only that he would survive the meeting.
Halting beside Sasori in the very centre of the gloomy cavern, it was in that moment that Deidara first looked upon the reigning founder of Akatsuki. His face shrouded entirely in darkness, Sir Leader seemed only to consist of a menacingly cloaked body and two glowing red eyes - piercing beacons in the dark that drew and held his gaze. Deidara was absurdly reminded of the horror stories that he had been told as a child, tales of hungry monsters that ensnared and ate little shinobi who had lost their way, and couldn’t quite bring himself to dismiss the idea.
Deidara was shocked out of his frozen state when Sasori’s hand unexpectedly grasped his arm, roughly pulling the blonde down to kneel beside him as the Suna-nin bowed his head.
"Sir Leader," Sasori began, tone level and courteous, addressing but never making eye contact with the shadowed man. "This boy has come from Iwa, a captive from our last mission…" Gesturing towards the blonde, the puppet master added reluctantly; "...circumstances forced us to bring him back with us."
Sir Leader turned his gaze to Deidara, who stared back unthinking, paralysed with fright as his wide-eyed stare locked onto glowing red. Sasori noticed however, and quickly grabbed hold of the guard vest which the blonde still wore, tugging him down fiercely so that his head was bowed towards the floor.
Sir Leader seemed to consider the situation at large for a time, as he did not deign to speak for several long minutes, before finally, to the surprise of both Sasori and Deidara, he addressed the shaking Iwa-nin.
"Who are you?" The voice drawled, a faint curiosity sharpening the insidious edge.
Deidara shivered involuntarily as the man’s words washed over him, and quickly stuttered, his voice rising in pitch; "I-I’m from Iwagakure, un! I’m only a genin, so I work as a guard, but I wanted to leave-"
"Enough." Sir Leader interrupted sharply.
Deidara almost whimpered, and wished instantly that he had not spoken at all, but Sasori understood that Sir Leader's silencing of the blonde’s frightened rambling was not simply borne of disinterest. For though Sir Leader had no doubt been enjoying the boy's fear in his presence, in Akatsuki no questions were asked about one's past and no answers were tolerated. The past was the past, and to all the missing-nin that found their way under the ranks of the red cloud, this was their life now, and what ever they had done to get there was no longer of importance.
Deafening silence filled the cavern for a moment, before Sir Leader chose to break it. "What are your abilities? What special jutsu do you perform?” The orb-like eyes seemed to bore through Deidara, as though searching for something. “Perhaps a blood-line limit?"
Deidara felt dim and useless under the scrutiny of that gaze, before he started nodding frantically. When Sir Leader seemed to become agitated with this, the Iwa-nin blurted;
"I make bombs, un! I use my clay, and I-I make clay animal bombs! And I can fly! And I guess my blood-line limit, un.... I have these...." Deidara lifted his hands and presented them to Sir Leader, palm-mouths opening wide and tongues rolling rudely at the shadowed man.
Sir Leader leaned forward, intrigued, the red glow of his eyes seeming to grow in ferocity as he examined the Iwa-nin from a distance. Sasori himself stood slightly amazed, as he silently put two and two together and thought back to the tiny bombs the boy had used.
Eventually, Sir Leader seemed to lose interest in Deidara's peculiar bodily trait, as he leaned back in his seat once again, and the blonde lowered his hands, a little uncertain. Chancing a look at Sasori, who promptly ignored him, Deidara wondered what would become of him now.
After another long and thoughtful pause, Sir Leader spoke again. "And how is it…" He asked, tone curious; "that you managed to withstand, intimidate and manipulate what are, arguably, my three best Akatsuki subordinates into bringing you here to my domain?"
Deidara felt distinctly in that moment that perhaps it had been a mistake to come here, that this 'Sir Leader' might not welcome an open threat against his obviously valuable recruits, and that despite all this he had no choice but to answer honestly, even if it meant his life.
"My bombs." The blonde answered quietly, straining to keep his voice from shaking. "I planted them on their bodies and.... threatened to blow them up, un." Deidara blushed fiercely, diminishing in fear before the red-eyed man.
Sir Leader seemed only thoughtful, though, and did not reprimand Deidara, instead plunging them once again into sinister silence. Sasori took this as his opportunity to speak, not entirely out of place on his part, as his exhaustion had worn his patience quite thin.
"What are we to do with him?" The puppeteer asked darkly.
Deidara felt his heart sink at the way in which Sasori spoke of him as though he where no longer there, as though the answer to that question, and his fate, were already grimly sealed. But the fact that Sir Leader's eyes had not yet left him, red gaze still sizing him up and down, made the blonde boy feel that it was actually the opposite, and that perhaps he stood out far too much in the darkened chamber. Like a new vase that had yet to find it's place in a household, Sir Leader seemed to be deciding where to fit him.
Finally, Sir Leader’s voice reached Deidara once again through the darkness, the tone no less chilling for its decidedly softer delivery.
"What is your name?"
Deidara swallowed past the lump in his throat as he answered hastily; "D-Deidara, sir!" Unconsciously reverting to his drill training, he almost raised a hand to his forehead in salute.
Sir Leader seemed pleased all of a sudden, whether by Deidara's respectful answer or reasons of his own invention, not even Sasori was sure, but it seemed then that the shrouded man had come to a decision.
Adopting an immediate air of the cat who caught the canary, Sir Leader hailed, rather louder than was strictly necessary; "Sasori."
Sasori looked up, marginally surprised to be addressed in the wake of what appeared to be an announcement, and held himself at the ready. 'Perhaps he wants me to kill the boy?' He thought, and wondered at the disappointment that it filled him with.
It felt, even though it could not be seen, as though Sir Leader was smiling - not kindly, but purposefully, as one did when at last they found the only remaining piece of a puzzle. There was a distinct resolution to the pause that stretched between them as the man nodded, only once in finality, eyes noticeably closing for a moment, before opening wider and sharper than before, red light consuming the chamber around them as he declared;
"Meet your new partner."
Deidara felt as though he were in a daze, as mere minutes later he walked behind a brooding Sasori back down the strange stone corridor from which they had come, a new standard-issue uniform and signature heavy black cloak slung over his arm. Thoughts of the dark chamber and Sir Leader haunted his every step, and he replayed the scene over in his mind of how he had, in his fear and enthusiasm, somehow managed to join this strange organisation...
"Deidara..." The disembodied voice of Sir Leader had called to him, as he stood frozen in the cavern, Sasori’s expression a picture of disbelief beside him. "You have agreed to join the ranks of Akatsuki, a missionary organisation focused on personal gain... that of both its members, and its clients. This is correct?"
Deidara nodded, "H-Hai, sir, un!"
"You will be expected to give show of your betrayal to your home country, as we in Akatsuki hold no allies outside of ourselves," Sir Leader continued, something of a smile twisting in the shadows. "Sometimes not even to ourselves.”
Deidara felt himself swallow thickly, but his head bobbed in the affirmative.
"You will, from now on, refer to me only as Sir Leader, your master and the epitome of power within Akatsuki. You will show loyalty first to me, and secondly to your fellow members.”
Deidara nodded once again, emphasising his submission by replying with; "Hai, Sir Leader, un!"
"Sasori is now your partner." Sir Leader informed him, and his tone suggested this was perhaps what was most important. "You and he will go on missions on my orders, and mine alone. He will guide you, and teach you the ways of Akatsuki. Partnership here is binding, and you will not be reassigned so long as you both live, do not forget this."
Deidara turned to look at Sasori, but received no glance in response.
The voice chuckled menacingly from the darkness.
"Welcome to Akatsuki."
It was incomprehensible. That he, a mere Iwagakure genin and dunce of his academy graduate class, would end up in a secret evil organisation for the most elite S-Class criminals - Deidara simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Although, with no where else to go and nothing to his name, he felt nevertheless elated to find himself suddenly with a new home and purpose, questionable though it might be.
Deidara let his gaze hover on the cloaked back of the red-headed puppeteer, Sasori, his new ‘partner’, as he led them out of the dark hall leading away from the gloomy chamber of Sir Leader. There were so many things that the blonde wanted to know, about this place and the people here, but didn’t know if he was allowed to ask.
Once Sasori had reopened the door leading out into the entrance hall of the hideout, Deidara felt immediately relieved, glad to leave the unnaturally lightless corridor behind them. Standing in the suddenly cheerful-looking stone tunnel between the two doors, Sasori too, now seen in a better light, seemed more at ease.
Raising his hand to rest on the knob of the other, far more pleasant-looking door, the puppet master’s gaze momentarily flickered to Deidara, the blonde evidently standing on tenterhooks in his excitement to see what lay behind it. Sasori wanted nothing more than to go straight to his room and sleep off the exhaustion this mission and its fallout had awarded him, but knew at the same time that this would be a defining moment for the now ex-Iwa-nin, and that left the puppet master little hope of shaking off the blonde in favour of a bed. He supposed it was his duty to at least inform the brat on the bare basics of the hideout - details could come later, when he was well-rested and ready to deal with this new nuisance.
Feeling a headache coming on, Sasori suppressed the urge to groan, instead pushing open the blue-painted door to reveal the Akatsuki main quarters, bright light spilling around them into the dark tunnel.
Deidara was drawn into the illuminated dwelling like a moth to a flame, the home-like style of the surrounding rooms surprising him in their friendliness. Very much like a normal front room, except for the rough cave walls, there was a large dining and kitchen area, a sourceless sunlight filled the room, and the floor was wooden and warm except for where the kitchen was tiled with a neutral brown slate that seemed to have been carved from the cavern’s floor.
The kitchen itself consisted of all the usual fixings - tall fridge and pantry, sink and stove, a small oven - convenient mechanisms lining the long counter that covered one side of the room, a symbolic mosaic depicting the red Akatsuki cloud stretching the length of the wall, and not a single torture device in sight, if the colour scheme didn’t count. Directly in front of the island counter was placed a round dinning table with ten mismatched chairs, remnants of dirty dishes and failed cookery filled the kitchen sink, and a pot that might once have been a kettle sat in the very centre of the room, full of bright yellow pansies. It was, to say the least, not what Deidara had expected.
Sasori, after a patient moment of allowing the boy to rake his gaze over the place, tugged him aside just as Deidara noticed the stone hallways which lead away from the front room. One doorway, which immediately turned a corner away from the kitchen, Deidara could make nothing of. Then there was the opening directly adjacent the kitchen counter and dining table, which seemed to lead into a room with a couch. Lastly was the doorway Sasori was pulling him towards, the beginning of another long and winding corridor that Deidara could fairly assume led deeper into the hideout.
With one last, lingering look at the luminescent front room, the blonde followed obediently.
Walking down this dim and vacant hallway, where the untraceable sunlight of the main room seemed to end, Deidara thought that he might have been afraid, had he not already experienced the darkness of the entrance hall and far darker tunnel beyond the black door. Indeed, as though in compensation, these corridors had flame-torches placed little more than a foot apart, and maintained a consistent warmth to ward off the clinging chill of the stone.
After an eternity’s worth of patience, at least by the Iwa-nin’s standards, Deidara threw caution to the wind and spoke.
"Er..." The blonde began eloquently, and Sasori turned his head, a light glare reprimanding the boy for breaking the uneasy silence.
"What?" The puppet master snapped, impatiently.
Deidara hesitated, but decided to ask anyway. "Where are we going, un?" His eyes flickered to each side of the stone hallway in emphasis.
"I am showing you to where you will be staying," Sasori stated tersely, "and then I must rest. You have now gathered an accurate understanding of the location of the main room, I assume?"
Deidara nodded, although Sasori did not bother to look, and they turned a corner.
"You may get yourself food or water, if you have need. We will talk tomorrow of your expectations within Akatsuki, and your loyalty ceremony."
Deidara nodded again, eyes glued to the back of Sasori’s flaming red hair as the man led them through the seemingly endless hall, turning a few corners and tripping more than once on the long trail of his new cloak, before finally stopping in front of one of the many doors they had passed. Apparently, this was their destination.
The door was alike to all the others in design, a sudden arc of wood in the rough stone wall, painted the same bright blood red of the Akatsuki cloud. Deidara was reminded of two opposing doorways in the entrance hall, the only difference being the two paper exploding notes placed on the front of this door - which read to be names, as Deidara could see the word 'Sasori' in katakana written on one of them. It startled the Iwa-nin when, a moment later, he realised the other note read ‘Deidara’.
Sasori pushed the door open without lavish, revealing a large antechamber filled with more of that untraceable sunlight, cupboards and dressers and, most importantly, beds furnishing the space. It was a bedroom, Deidara realised, in the most normal and un-evil sense of the word. A bedroom for two.
Quickly making his way towards the far left side of the room, where he immediately dropped his travelling pack and equipment pouches, Sasori relished in the familiarity of his own space, feeling suddenly as though he had been gone for weeks instead of days.
Deidara, however, was still rather awkwardly standing in the doorway, gazing in at the (in his opinion) far too well organised room. It appeared that only the left side of the antechamber was being used - one bed, sheets repeating the predictable pattern of black with red clouds which Sasori currently sat upon, one chest of drawers, surrounding bookshelves filled to the brim with books and miscellaneous objects, and a working bench lined against the wall. Large sheets of wood and metal sat on and around this work station, which Deidara found curious, while an organised pile of heavy-looking scrolls sat at the end of Sasori's bed.
The other side of the room, while equipped with much the same - a bed, this one fashioning red bed sheets with black clouds, a chest of drawers, bedside table, a bare bookshelf, and small working station - were all empty and obviously unused, as though it had never been occupied before. Perhaps it hadn't.
"I didn't know we would be sharing a room, un." Deidara stated absent-mindedly.
Sasori glared at him, and the blonde was hit with the familiar feeling that he had said the wrong thing.
"Well," the Suna-nin grumbled, but let it slide, as he concerned himself with preparing to sleep. "You, obviously, will be using that side of the room." He pointed to the vacant bed, slipping his own heavy cloak off and beginning to fold it. "Use your space as you wish. You will sleep here, every night you are in Akatsuki. You will deposit your personal possessions here, any that you have..." Sasori finished, throwing a sceptical look at the boy, still dressed in his guard’s uniform, with few pockets large enough to store anything valuable.
Deidara frowned slightly. It was true, he had brought nothing with him when he left, and he certainly wouldn’t be getting anything back now. Making his way towards the empty half of the room, he sat down on the soft mattress, and tried not to think of his tiny apartment back in Iwa. He felt very tired all of a sudden.
"We will be turning the lights out soon." Sasori stated, in a tone that suggested this was not to be questioned.
The blonde sent his gaze over the room. Without a single fire-torch, nor any bedside lamps, Deidara wondered again where the light source was coming from, and how the other could go about extinguishing it.
"An illuminating jutsu," Sasori answered, sensing the unasked question. "Triggered by a control word."
Deidara nodded his understanding, though he was not facing Sasori and doubted the other man would have seen it.
"Prepare for bed." Sasori instructed then, exhaustion seeping into his tone.
Deidara looked down at himself, and muttered; "Guess I'll just sleep in this, un..."
Sasori sighed irritably from his side of the room. "Check your drawer, brat."
Leaning over, Deidara was surprised when, upon opening the first draw, he found a pair of plain red pyjamas, folded and pressed as though waiting for him to discover them.
Quickly extracting them with a small squeak of delight, Deidara, without thought for his companion, began to strip and change.
Sasori, a little surprised by his new partner's utter lack of propriety, hastily turned around. It occurred to him that he was very unused to having a new partner, or any partner at all for that matter, it having been almost half a year since Orochimaru’s disappearance. He had certainly never had a partner like Deidara before, in any case.
When the blonde turned back around, he saw that the puppet master had changed too somewhere along the line, into a pair of black pyjamas.
Deidara felt strange deep inside, his life had been turned completely upside down and all that he had ever known was now hundreds of miles away from him - but most oddly, he couldn’t find it in him to mind. Tiredly, he crawled under the sheets of his new bed, in his new room, and thought about his new life, as exhaustion took hold.
In later years, Deidara would say that what he remembered most vividly of his first night in the hideout of Akatsuki was Sasori's voice, quietly calling for the darkness.
"Enishi."
Title: Clay and Puppets
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Sasori/Deidara
Rating: PG for this chapter, eventual NC-17.
Summary: In which, Sasori gains, through a string of seemingly unfortunate incidents, a new partner named Deidara. Though the puppet master is reluctant to form any kind of friendship with the young Iwa missing-nin, Deidara seeks to get to know Sasori, while adjusting to his new life in the 'evil' organisation of Akatsuki.
Disclaimer: This product is meant for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Use only as directed.
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Chapter 3: Welcome to Your New Evil Life
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Deidara felt a shiver wrack his body, the sinister voice that had wafted from beyond the gigantic stone doorway reverberating grimly throughout the tunnel and rooting him fearfully in place, a vice-like grip that held his heart pounding against his chest.
The dark hall behind them seemed to creak and shiver, a peculiar breeze chasing them towards the door that did not refresh nor calm the senses, but seemed to have been placed there to do exactly the opposite; to further frighten and intimidate any who passed through this damned corridor. Deidara, who in Iwa had spent his entire life around rocky caves and stone halls, had never before seen an underground passage that could boast such an unseemly wind.
“Sasori…” The voice called again, coaxingly. "Do not stand at the door..." There was a pause, and then a small sound of sardonic pleasure. "And it seems we have a guest..."
Deidara’s entire body became ridged with fear. He meant him.
Breathing shallow and erratic, Deidara turned wide-eyed to the red-headed man beside him.
Sasori glared back at the boy, and tugged unkindly on his arm. "Come on." He grumbled, and boldly pushed the giant stone door open, walking forward into the darkness of the chamber beyond and leaving Deidara in the hall alone.
The blonde boy felt the chill of the unnatural wind, and the darkness like eyes watching him from unseeable walls, and hastily made after the Suna-nin - plunging himself into the densely shadowed chamber that housed the leader of this mysterious place.
Sasori walked steadfast, his pace unbroken as he made towards the centre of the enormous cave-like chamber, as he had taught himself to do when facing the dark man that lurked within. Deidara felt his fear grow with every heavy step he took behind the puppet master, but did not allow his feet to falter, or the impulse to flee overwhelm him. The blonde was thoroughly aware of the fact that he was at the complete mercy of the man he was to face here, and hoped only that he would survive the meeting.
Halting beside Sasori in the very centre of the gloomy cavern, it was in that moment that Deidara first looked upon the reigning founder of Akatsuki. His face shrouded entirely in darkness, Sir Leader seemed only to consist of a menacingly cloaked body and two glowing red eyes - piercing beacons in the dark that drew and held his gaze. Deidara was absurdly reminded of the horror stories that he had been told as a child, tales of hungry monsters that ensnared and ate little shinobi who had lost their way, and couldn’t quite bring himself to dismiss the idea.
Deidara was shocked out of his frozen state when Sasori’s hand unexpectedly grasped his arm, roughly pulling the blonde down to kneel beside him as the Suna-nin bowed his head.
"Sir Leader," Sasori began, tone level and courteous, addressing but never making eye contact with the shadowed man. "This boy has come from Iwa, a captive from our last mission…" Gesturing towards the blonde, the puppet master added reluctantly; "...circumstances forced us to bring him back with us."
Sir Leader turned his gaze to Deidara, who stared back unthinking, paralysed with fright as his wide-eyed stare locked onto glowing red. Sasori noticed however, and quickly grabbed hold of the guard vest which the blonde still wore, tugging him down fiercely so that his head was bowed towards the floor.
Sir Leader seemed to consider the situation at large for a time, as he did not deign to speak for several long minutes, before finally, to the surprise of both Sasori and Deidara, he addressed the shaking Iwa-nin.
"Who are you?" The voice drawled, a faint curiosity sharpening the insidious edge.
Deidara shivered involuntarily as the man’s words washed over him, and quickly stuttered, his voice rising in pitch; "I-I’m from Iwagakure, un! I’m only a genin, so I work as a guard, but I wanted to leave-"
"Enough." Sir Leader interrupted sharply.
Deidara almost whimpered, and wished instantly that he had not spoken at all, but Sasori understood that Sir Leader's silencing of the blonde’s frightened rambling was not simply borne of disinterest. For though Sir Leader had no doubt been enjoying the boy's fear in his presence, in Akatsuki no questions were asked about one's past and no answers were tolerated. The past was the past, and to all the missing-nin that found their way under the ranks of the red cloud, this was their life now, and what ever they had done to get there was no longer of importance.
Deafening silence filled the cavern for a moment, before Sir Leader chose to break it. "What are your abilities? What special jutsu do you perform?” The orb-like eyes seemed to bore through Deidara, as though searching for something. “Perhaps a blood-line limit?"
Deidara felt dim and useless under the scrutiny of that gaze, before he started nodding frantically. When Sir Leader seemed to become agitated with this, the Iwa-nin blurted;
"I make bombs, un! I use my clay, and I-I make clay animal bombs! And I can fly! And I guess my blood-line limit, un.... I have these...." Deidara lifted his hands and presented them to Sir Leader, palm-mouths opening wide and tongues rolling rudely at the shadowed man.
Sir Leader leaned forward, intrigued, the red glow of his eyes seeming to grow in ferocity as he examined the Iwa-nin from a distance. Sasori himself stood slightly amazed, as he silently put two and two together and thought back to the tiny bombs the boy had used.
Eventually, Sir Leader seemed to lose interest in Deidara's peculiar bodily trait, as he leaned back in his seat once again, and the blonde lowered his hands, a little uncertain. Chancing a look at Sasori, who promptly ignored him, Deidara wondered what would become of him now.
After another long and thoughtful pause, Sir Leader spoke again. "And how is it…" He asked, tone curious; "that you managed to withstand, intimidate and manipulate what are, arguably, my three best Akatsuki subordinates into bringing you here to my domain?"
Deidara felt distinctly in that moment that perhaps it had been a mistake to come here, that this 'Sir Leader' might not welcome an open threat against his obviously valuable recruits, and that despite all this he had no choice but to answer honestly, even if it meant his life.
"My bombs." The blonde answered quietly, straining to keep his voice from shaking. "I planted them on their bodies and.... threatened to blow them up, un." Deidara blushed fiercely, diminishing in fear before the red-eyed man.
Sir Leader seemed only thoughtful, though, and did not reprimand Deidara, instead plunging them once again into sinister silence. Sasori took this as his opportunity to speak, not entirely out of place on his part, as his exhaustion had worn his patience quite thin.
"What are we to do with him?" The puppeteer asked darkly.
Deidara felt his heart sink at the way in which Sasori spoke of him as though he where no longer there, as though the answer to that question, and his fate, were already grimly sealed. But the fact that Sir Leader's eyes had not yet left him, red gaze still sizing him up and down, made the blonde boy feel that it was actually the opposite, and that perhaps he stood out far too much in the darkened chamber. Like a new vase that had yet to find it's place in a household, Sir Leader seemed to be deciding where to fit him.
Finally, Sir Leader’s voice reached Deidara once again through the darkness, the tone no less chilling for its decidedly softer delivery.
"What is your name?"
Deidara swallowed past the lump in his throat as he answered hastily; "D-Deidara, sir!" Unconsciously reverting to his drill training, he almost raised a hand to his forehead in salute.
Sir Leader seemed pleased all of a sudden, whether by Deidara's respectful answer or reasons of his own invention, not even Sasori was sure, but it seemed then that the shrouded man had come to a decision.
Adopting an immediate air of the cat who caught the canary, Sir Leader hailed, rather louder than was strictly necessary; "Sasori."
Sasori looked up, marginally surprised to be addressed in the wake of what appeared to be an announcement, and held himself at the ready. 'Perhaps he wants me to kill the boy?' He thought, and wondered at the disappointment that it filled him with.
It felt, even though it could not be seen, as though Sir Leader was smiling - not kindly, but purposefully, as one did when at last they found the only remaining piece of a puzzle. There was a distinct resolution to the pause that stretched between them as the man nodded, only once in finality, eyes noticeably closing for a moment, before opening wider and sharper than before, red light consuming the chamber around them as he declared;
"Meet your new partner."
Deidara felt as though he were in a daze, as mere minutes later he walked behind a brooding Sasori back down the strange stone corridor from which they had come, a new standard-issue uniform and signature heavy black cloak slung over his arm. Thoughts of the dark chamber and Sir Leader haunted his every step, and he replayed the scene over in his mind of how he had, in his fear and enthusiasm, somehow managed to join this strange organisation...
"Deidara..." The disembodied voice of Sir Leader had called to him, as he stood frozen in the cavern, Sasori’s expression a picture of disbelief beside him. "You have agreed to join the ranks of Akatsuki, a missionary organisation focused on personal gain... that of both its members, and its clients. This is correct?"
Deidara nodded, "H-Hai, sir, un!"
"You will be expected to give show of your betrayal to your home country, as we in Akatsuki hold no allies outside of ourselves," Sir Leader continued, something of a smile twisting in the shadows. "Sometimes not even to ourselves.”
Deidara felt himself swallow thickly, but his head bobbed in the affirmative.
"You will, from now on, refer to me only as Sir Leader, your master and the epitome of power within Akatsuki. You will show loyalty first to me, and secondly to your fellow members.”
Deidara nodded once again, emphasising his submission by replying with; "Hai, Sir Leader, un!"
"Sasori is now your partner." Sir Leader informed him, and his tone suggested this was perhaps what was most important. "You and he will go on missions on my orders, and mine alone. He will guide you, and teach you the ways of Akatsuki. Partnership here is binding, and you will not be reassigned so long as you both live, do not forget this."
Deidara turned to look at Sasori, but received no glance in response.
The voice chuckled menacingly from the darkness.
"Welcome to Akatsuki."
It was incomprehensible. That he, a mere Iwagakure genin and dunce of his academy graduate class, would end up in a secret evil organisation for the most elite S-Class criminals - Deidara simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Although, with no where else to go and nothing to his name, he felt nevertheless elated to find himself suddenly with a new home and purpose, questionable though it might be.
Deidara let his gaze hover on the cloaked back of the red-headed puppeteer, Sasori, his new ‘partner’, as he led them out of the dark hall leading away from the gloomy chamber of Sir Leader. There were so many things that the blonde wanted to know, about this place and the people here, but didn’t know if he was allowed to ask.
Once Sasori had reopened the door leading out into the entrance hall of the hideout, Deidara felt immediately relieved, glad to leave the unnaturally lightless corridor behind them. Standing in the suddenly cheerful-looking stone tunnel between the two doors, Sasori too, now seen in a better light, seemed more at ease.
Raising his hand to rest on the knob of the other, far more pleasant-looking door, the puppet master’s gaze momentarily flickered to Deidara, the blonde evidently standing on tenterhooks in his excitement to see what lay behind it. Sasori wanted nothing more than to go straight to his room and sleep off the exhaustion this mission and its fallout had awarded him, but knew at the same time that this would be a defining moment for the now ex-Iwa-nin, and that left the puppet master little hope of shaking off the blonde in favour of a bed. He supposed it was his duty to at least inform the brat on the bare basics of the hideout - details could come later, when he was well-rested and ready to deal with this new nuisance.
Feeling a headache coming on, Sasori suppressed the urge to groan, instead pushing open the blue-painted door to reveal the Akatsuki main quarters, bright light spilling around them into the dark tunnel.
Deidara was drawn into the illuminated dwelling like a moth to a flame, the home-like style of the surrounding rooms surprising him in their friendliness. Very much like a normal front room, except for the rough cave walls, there was a large dining and kitchen area, a sourceless sunlight filled the room, and the floor was wooden and warm except for where the kitchen was tiled with a neutral brown slate that seemed to have been carved from the cavern’s floor.
The kitchen itself consisted of all the usual fixings - tall fridge and pantry, sink and stove, a small oven - convenient mechanisms lining the long counter that covered one side of the room, a symbolic mosaic depicting the red Akatsuki cloud stretching the length of the wall, and not a single torture device in sight, if the colour scheme didn’t count. Directly in front of the island counter was placed a round dinning table with ten mismatched chairs, remnants of dirty dishes and failed cookery filled the kitchen sink, and a pot that might once have been a kettle sat in the very centre of the room, full of bright yellow pansies. It was, to say the least, not what Deidara had expected.
Sasori, after a patient moment of allowing the boy to rake his gaze over the place, tugged him aside just as Deidara noticed the stone hallways which lead away from the front room. One doorway, which immediately turned a corner away from the kitchen, Deidara could make nothing of. Then there was the opening directly adjacent the kitchen counter and dining table, which seemed to lead into a room with a couch. Lastly was the doorway Sasori was pulling him towards, the beginning of another long and winding corridor that Deidara could fairly assume led deeper into the hideout.
With one last, lingering look at the luminescent front room, the blonde followed obediently.
Walking down this dim and vacant hallway, where the untraceable sunlight of the main room seemed to end, Deidara thought that he might have been afraid, had he not already experienced the darkness of the entrance hall and far darker tunnel beyond the black door. Indeed, as though in compensation, these corridors had flame-torches placed little more than a foot apart, and maintained a consistent warmth to ward off the clinging chill of the stone.
After an eternity’s worth of patience, at least by the Iwa-nin’s standards, Deidara threw caution to the wind and spoke.
"Er..." The blonde began eloquently, and Sasori turned his head, a light glare reprimanding the boy for breaking the uneasy silence.
"What?" The puppet master snapped, impatiently.
Deidara hesitated, but decided to ask anyway. "Where are we going, un?" His eyes flickered to each side of the stone hallway in emphasis.
"I am showing you to where you will be staying," Sasori stated tersely, "and then I must rest. You have now gathered an accurate understanding of the location of the main room, I assume?"
Deidara nodded, although Sasori did not bother to look, and they turned a corner.
"You may get yourself food or water, if you have need. We will talk tomorrow of your expectations within Akatsuki, and your loyalty ceremony."
Deidara nodded again, eyes glued to the back of Sasori’s flaming red hair as the man led them through the seemingly endless hall, turning a few corners and tripping more than once on the long trail of his new cloak, before finally stopping in front of one of the many doors they had passed. Apparently, this was their destination.
The door was alike to all the others in design, a sudden arc of wood in the rough stone wall, painted the same bright blood red of the Akatsuki cloud. Deidara was reminded of two opposing doorways in the entrance hall, the only difference being the two paper exploding notes placed on the front of this door - which read to be names, as Deidara could see the word 'Sasori' in katakana written on one of them. It startled the Iwa-nin when, a moment later, he realised the other note read ‘Deidara’.
Sasori pushed the door open without lavish, revealing a large antechamber filled with more of that untraceable sunlight, cupboards and dressers and, most importantly, beds furnishing the space. It was a bedroom, Deidara realised, in the most normal and un-evil sense of the word. A bedroom for two.
Quickly making his way towards the far left side of the room, where he immediately dropped his travelling pack and equipment pouches, Sasori relished in the familiarity of his own space, feeling suddenly as though he had been gone for weeks instead of days.
Deidara, however, was still rather awkwardly standing in the doorway, gazing in at the (in his opinion) far too well organised room. It appeared that only the left side of the antechamber was being used - one bed, sheets repeating the predictable pattern of black with red clouds which Sasori currently sat upon, one chest of drawers, surrounding bookshelves filled to the brim with books and miscellaneous objects, and a working bench lined against the wall. Large sheets of wood and metal sat on and around this work station, which Deidara found curious, while an organised pile of heavy-looking scrolls sat at the end of Sasori's bed.
The other side of the room, while equipped with much the same - a bed, this one fashioning red bed sheets with black clouds, a chest of drawers, bedside table, a bare bookshelf, and small working station - were all empty and obviously unused, as though it had never been occupied before. Perhaps it hadn't.
"I didn't know we would be sharing a room, un." Deidara stated absent-mindedly.
Sasori glared at him, and the blonde was hit with the familiar feeling that he had said the wrong thing.
"Well," the Suna-nin grumbled, but let it slide, as he concerned himself with preparing to sleep. "You, obviously, will be using that side of the room." He pointed to the vacant bed, slipping his own heavy cloak off and beginning to fold it. "Use your space as you wish. You will sleep here, every night you are in Akatsuki. You will deposit your personal possessions here, any that you have..." Sasori finished, throwing a sceptical look at the boy, still dressed in his guard’s uniform, with few pockets large enough to store anything valuable.
Deidara frowned slightly. It was true, he had brought nothing with him when he left, and he certainly wouldn’t be getting anything back now. Making his way towards the empty half of the room, he sat down on the soft mattress, and tried not to think of his tiny apartment back in Iwa. He felt very tired all of a sudden.
"We will be turning the lights out soon." Sasori stated, in a tone that suggested this was not to be questioned.
The blonde sent his gaze over the room. Without a single fire-torch, nor any bedside lamps, Deidara wondered again where the light source was coming from, and how the other could go about extinguishing it.
"An illuminating jutsu," Sasori answered, sensing the unasked question. "Triggered by a control word."
Deidara nodded his understanding, though he was not facing Sasori and doubted the other man would have seen it.
"Prepare for bed." Sasori instructed then, exhaustion seeping into his tone.
Deidara looked down at himself, and muttered; "Guess I'll just sleep in this, un..."
Sasori sighed irritably from his side of the room. "Check your drawer, brat."
Leaning over, Deidara was surprised when, upon opening the first draw, he found a pair of plain red pyjamas, folded and pressed as though waiting for him to discover them.
Quickly extracting them with a small squeak of delight, Deidara, without thought for his companion, began to strip and change.
Sasori, a little surprised by his new partner's utter lack of propriety, hastily turned around. It occurred to him that he was very unused to having a new partner, or any partner at all for that matter, it having been almost half a year since Orochimaru’s disappearance. He had certainly never had a partner like Deidara before, in any case.
When the blonde turned back around, he saw that the puppet master had changed too somewhere along the line, into a pair of black pyjamas.
Deidara felt strange deep inside, his life had been turned completely upside down and all that he had ever known was now hundreds of miles away from him - but most oddly, he couldn’t find it in him to mind. Tiredly, he crawled under the sheets of his new bed, in his new room, and thought about his new life, as exhaustion took hold.
In later years, Deidara would say that what he remembered most vividly of his first night in the hideout of Akatsuki was Sasori's voice, quietly calling for the darkness.
"Enishi."