I have no idea why I wrote this. I haven't done nearly enough with Sasori to really get a feel for his character and don't even get me started on Leader. I blame Shippuden.

So. This is a sort-of songfic. You wouldn't know if I hadn't just said it, though. See, the lyrics aren't separate. They're in there, in the story, in the narration and dialogue. The song is Devotion and Desire by Bayside.

This will be a three chapter story.

Dedicated to Orm for winning the internet. And because Adam is her brother and his Hidan pwns Itachi rant wins at the internet, so Awesome must be in their genes.

Sasori no Danna, how could I know?

Deidara's lip unconsciously curls as his vision falls upon what will serve as his headquarters for who-knows-how-long.

The cave, though it looms, is not very impressive. It blends well into the background, and while he can understand the need for secrecy with an evil organization such as Akatsuki, he believes it is significantly lacking. Deidara is fond of things being big and bold, and the subtle hideout fails to leave him impressed. It's not very pretty either, and as he enters, the moist cavern air makes his hair stringy and oily. It is then that he decides that, without a doubt, there is nothing in the least bit artistic about this place.

However, it is seemingly endless, and Deidara childishly wonders at some point if he has walked across the length of the entire world through this tunnel. He's about to summon his giant clay bird, when at last, a dim light appears.

The blond follows the faint glow to a largely vacant room. It seems at first as though the only thing occupying the space is a single man – a huge, hulking, fearsome figure with black dreadlocks and a face half-covered – but Deidara's scope picks up a pair of patterned eyes staring out from the shadows of the room.

"Deidara-kun," comes the smooth voice of the explosives artist's new Leader. "Welcome to Akatsuki."

The blonde's lips thin as he presses them firmly together. "It's not very attractive, mmm."

Leader laughs and Deidara lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Something tells him that he wouldn't want to upset the mysterious man, but he doesn't have tome to dwell on it, since Leader is already moving again. "Deidara-kun, this is Sasori," he says, gesturing to bulky person at the center of the room, who had hitherto been ignored. "He will serve as your new partner."

Both of their heads shoot up at this, and it's the first movement Deidara has seen this man – this Sasori – make in over fifteen minutes. Sasori, for his part, growls out a "What?" and before Deidara can figure out whether or not he has just been insulted, Sasori walks – no, slides – to Leader to argue with the decision.

Deidara notices that while the larger man shortened the distance between his self and Leader, he still stands a solid ten feet away from the overcast pair of eyes in shadows as he speaks. "What the hell is this, Leader-sama?" Sasori demands, and Deidara stares in shock at the voice he didn't expect to come out of that mouth. It's not as coarse as he's imagined; it's almost a drawl, slow and steady, and the sound lingers in the air. However, Deidara pays this no mind. What he does pay attention to is the way that just as his lips form the first word, sound explodes from his mouth, completely filling the room and smothering everything in its deep baritone. In his voice, there is art, and Deidara can only stare in awe as he speaks again.

"Why are you assigning me a new partner? Now is not the time. First we have to get the ring back from Orochimaru. You know I sent Kabuto in just recently and it's too risky to-"

"Sasori," Leader interrupts, two pale hands emerging from the darkness to form a placating gesture. "It's been taken care of. See?" One hand twists and something catches the light, glinting before disappearing once again. Leader's gaze shifts to Deidara. "Deidara-kun, catch," he states before throwing the object. The blond automatically grabs it on reflex and is surprised to see that it is a ring with the kanji for "blue" written on it and colored appropriately so. "Put it on your right hand, the index finger," Leader orders and Deidara, while confused about the specific instructions, obeys dumbly. Sasori makes a noise not unlike a grunt, and then exits the room silently. Leader lets out a sigh. "You'll have to excuse Sasori. He's not very sociable."

"I noticed that, mmm."

Leader chuckles again, and Deidara gets the feeling that he may be starting to understand the way Leader thinks, though the man is too much of an enigma to ever fully figure out. "You should catch up with Sasori, Deidara-kun. He'll explain to you what the rings are for, and the other basics you'll need to know."

"I will, mmm."

"Good." And with just that, Leader vanishes.

Deidara blinks at the now empty room. The full force of the fact that he is now completely alone suddenly slams him, and he allows a curse to tumble from his lips. "Oh, come on. This isn't fair, mmm!" He huffs for a few more minutes at people that don't exist and walls that can't respond before stalking out of the room in the direction Sasori took.

He finds himself in yet another dimly lit room and finds Sasori once again in the middle. He strides up to him as says, "Sasori, mmm? Leader-san told me told me I need to ask you some questions."

Without moving, without so much as blinking an eye, Sasori responds with, "What the hell are you doing, brat?" condescension dripping from every syllable. Deidara scowls and opens his mouth to retort when he notices a half-naked redhead emerge from behind the larger man. It takes him a moment, but Deidara eventually realizes that this newcomer is the one who spoke.

"Who are you, mmm?" Deidara asks, turning his glare to the new figure.

The redhead gives him a flat look and replies, "Brat, I'm Sasori. That there," he says, pointing to the masked man. "Is Hiruko, a puppet."

"Oh," Deidara says dumbly, for it's all he can do. The blond once again finds himself overwhelmed by this voice. It's softer now than before, but still controlling, demanding. Wizened by years of experience. Booming. Explosive. It's art. Every time Sasori speaks he creates art, and in a desperate attempt to experience his art again, to keep Sasori talking, Deidara asks the first question he can think of. "Sasori no Danna, do you believe in art?"

They both freeze, equally surprised by the esteemed title. The silence hovers between them, neither sure of what to say. Deidara struggles within his mind as to whether or not he has just made a mistake, but no matter how he looks at it, he feels as though what he said was completely appropriate. Not only that, he feels that what he said was right. He opens his mouth to say so, but no words come out, and in the end it is Sasori who speaks first.

"Yes…I do. I believe in art," he drawls, answering the blonde's question. His words are slow, hesitant; he's taken aback by the seemingly random question, though not as much as Deidara would expect. "This… these are my art," he continues, moving his arms in large, sweeping gestures over the entire room. It is at this point that Deidara notices that the area is filled with wooden, jointed figures, many of them humanoid.

"Puppets? Sasori no Danna is a puppeteer, mmm?"

"…Yes." Sasori still isn't used to the title, but he distracts himself by rubbing a hand over the ridged spine of Hiruko, gaining a distant look in his eyes. "Humans are so fragile. They break so easily… why? Why do they fight me so hard? I'm trying to save them. I make them eternal. I make them art." He shakes his head, sullen, before turning back to Deidara. "So. What do you do?"

A light shines behind Deidara's eyes; finally the question he's been waiting for. "I'm an artist too, mmm! I make art out of this." He reaches a hand into the pouch on his side and pulls out a hunk of clay.

Sasori snorts softly. "You specialize in ceramics?"

"This isn't just any clay, Sasori no Danna!" Deidara retorts, and Sasori resists the urge to groan. The title, it appears, is sticking. "It's special, mmm." Deidara smirks. "Art is a bang. Watch." He turns his hand to reveal the mouth licking its lips hungrily upon his palm, startling Sasori, who becomes even more surprised when the mouth quickly devours the clay. Deidara pauses, trying to think of what he should make before deciding that a Sasori for Sasori would be appropriate. Smiling at his own cleverness, Deidara watches, happily, as his hand-mouth gurgles and produces a scorpion a few seconds later. He sets it on the floor and watches as it scuttles to Sasori's feet. The redhead jumps out of the way a split second before it explodes. Deidara pouts at him. Sasori scowls.

"That isn't art," he says bluntly, turning his back to the blond. "You're trying to create something that's not there."

Deidara shakes his head vigorously, still eager to his art is art. "No, no! See, Sasori no Danna, it was a spark I saw one day, mmm. You must realize art is fleeting, mmm? So I thought to myself one day that this would be the truest art form possible, and here I am!"

Sasori scoffs in disgust. "A bomb? A bomb isn't art, brat. A bomb is just a means to an end." He turns to the blond with an absolutely repulsed face. "You don't get it at all, do you brat? Art isn't something quick. Art is long lasting. Forever. Like my puppets."

At this point, Deidara is beginning to get annoyed. He marches up to his new partner and twists him around to face him. "Listen, Sasori no Danna," he says, pounding on the other man's chest like a petulant child. "Just because you don't agree with me doesn't mean you… you…" Deidara pauses. The chest his knuckles are slamming against isn't soft the way human flesh should be, and it produces a hollow sound when they hit it. His eyes widen. "You… you're…"

"Yes," Sasori replies simply, giving him another flat look. "I decided to skip out on the despicably short human lifespan and turned myself into a puppet. I made myself into art."

What Deidara says next shocks both of them more than anything else that night.

"Can I… touch you?"

Sasori stares at him blankly. Deidara, for his part, remains stock still, frozen in disbelief at his loose mouth. He has no idea what made him say that. However, the terse mood is quickly broken when Sasori shrugs casually, turning his back to reach up to a nearby shelf. Deidara can see him grab two things, though in the dim light, he can't make out what they are.

"If you really want to," the puppeteer states, returning and shoving the objects, a bottle of clear liquid and a rag, into Deidara's hands. "Then at least make yourself useful. I haven't polished this body of mine in a long time."

Deidara nods and moves so that he is behind Sasori (because that voice told him too and that voice is art and Deidara can't deny art) and empties some of the bottle's contents onto cloth. Vaguely, he wonders how many other people have been given the chance to be so close to the sand-nin (for it was clearly Suna's symbol that was dashed on his forehead protector) and live.

As if reading his mind, Sasori quips, "Don't get the wrong idea, brat. I was just so glad to be out of my shell again, that I guess I didn't really care for who or what-"

"Aha!" Deidara interrupts, beginning to rub the polish onto the redhead's back. "So you consider your 'art' as nothing more than a shell, then?"

"Don't twist my words, brat!" Sasori snarls, whipping his head back to glare at the newbie. "You know exactly what I meant."

"Yes, yes, Sasori no Danna," Deidara says with a stupid grin, clearly teasing the older man.

Sasori wonders why he hasn't killed him yet.

He opens his mouth to ask the blond this very question, not caring that Deidara is the one he would be killing, but closes it again almost immediately. The puppeteer gets the sense that this isn't a question he would want to the brat to hear. At least, not yet.

For now I'll just have to keep it shut.

Alright, now honestly. Tell me how I wrote Sasori, and if there are any suggestions on how I could improve on any of the characterizations here (because all of them feel kind of iffy to me, quite frankly), please, do tell!

Please Review!

-Insidiae-