Warning: this story contains YAOI! If you don't like it, leave. Now…on with the story!
Also, I don't own Naruto or any mentioned songs.
Chapter 1: The Pianist
Sasori never thought of music as art. Such a fleeting sensation of sound, unable to be preserved without technology and even then unable to be truly appreciated unless heard from the source, could never compare to his passion of the visual arts. Sasori was an artist, and an esteemed one at that, so one would think he would be rather informed and full of knowledge of what indeed art was.
So he wasn't sure exactly what he was doing here, in this concert hall listening to a man named Deidara Iwa play the piano in front of hundreds of people. Some may have called it fate; some may have said it was meant to be that their lives would clash in one way or another. But to Sasori, he wanted to see what could make even the extremely frugal Kakuzu part with some of his beloved money.
"I find it relaxing," he had said, shrugging off the inquiry of why he had attended the same concert the night before. This short answer piqued Sasori's interest, however, enough to scramble to get a ticket for the next night's showing, even.
The music was good, he had to admit. The way the blond man's – or was it a woman? He was only able to tell when he started singing– fingers flew over the piano keys made his heart slow. The song was called "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and the lyrics that the blond sang seemed to creep into his chest, making it hard to breathe. When the other accompanying instruments picked up, he almost lost his breath. He was memorized by the blond's hands, covered with fingerless gloves, as they flew over the keyboard as if performing an erotic dance. And for the first time in a long time, he felt himself growing hard.
As the song ended, his body calmed and he watched as Deidara eyed the audience before bringing his hands once again to the keys of the piano. Sasori didn't recognize this song, but his body reacted the same way. At the back of his mind, Sasori wondered if the man was gay, but quickly shook the thought out of his mind. Surely with a body like that, the blonde had plenty of suitors, even if he was gay. Sasori, with his heart problems and otherwise failing body, probably didn't stand a chance.
At that thought, he was pushed into a depressed state, a commonplace for him as of late. With his health problems and living pressures (living with nine other psychos can do that to you), his mental health often suffered, making his art suffer too. He hadn't been able to work on a piece from start to finish in quite a few months.
As soon as the last song was finished, Sasori rushed out to his car and sat for a while, trying to gather his thoughts, before heading to the nearest bar.
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Cursing his luck, Sasori nursed his latest drink, a vodka martini, before resting his head on the table. Not too long after finishing his second drink, who else would strut into the same bar? The blond pianist. But he didn't sit down and order drinks like a normal person, no, he walked over to the piano in the corner of the room and started playing. That music only got Sasori hard again, but he absolutely refused to stare.
After each song, shorter than the ones from the concert, the blond would scan his eyes over the audience and choose another tune to run with for a while. Sasori grumbled to himself in his mind and finished off his drink. He couldn't leave; he was waiting for Kakuzu and Hidan to come pick him up. He wasn't stupid enough to drive drunk. He ordered another drink and was just about to bring it to his lips when the music suddenly stopped playing. Right there, in the middle of a tune, it just stopped. Some of the patrons glanced at the pianist, but Sasori paid no heed, not until a hand grabbed his wrist and forced him to put the drink down.
"What is wrong with your heart, un?"
Sasori froze for a moment, stunned by the voice so much closer to him now. He tried to pull his hand away, but the stranger held fast, his grip solid. He faced his assailant and realized it was the blond pianist, Deidara. His eyes widened and he tried to pull away again, this time Deidara released him.
"You didn't answer my question, yeah." Sasori met Deidara's eyes and glared.
"It's none of your business, brat." Not only that, but how in the world did the blond know? Sasori felt his heart hammer in his chest, knowing that if it kept up like that it might stutter or skip a beat.
"Calm down, hm." Deidara said, taking Sasori's arm again despite his flinching away from his touch. He brought the other male's hand up to his own chest which was covered by a thin, fancy shirt. "Breathe with me and let your heartbeat match mine."
Despite wanting very much to move away from the blond, Sasori let his hand relax and his breath even out. Soon enough, he felt his heart return back to his normal rhythm. Deidara seemed to sense this somehow and grinned, pulling the red head out of his seat and leading him outside. "I know you're interested in me, so we can go to my place and talk, yeah?"
Sasori only found himself nodding as Deidara dragged him into a waiting limousine.