Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto.
The room was sterile. The air was thick. Why did silence always seem so fuckin' loud? Deidara sank back in his chair and for the umpteenth time that day, ran a calloused hand over his face. He should be happy to have his partner back but instead it made him want to vomit. He didn't think Sasori would come back like this. Deidara didn't think that Sasori would come back in a body that was – ultimately – fleeting. Even though in his heart he felt that true art only lasted for a split moment in time, he knew Sasori didn't feel the same way. He knew that Sasori would be horrified once he woke up … if he ever woke up. Leader-sama had told him that even though the jutsu had the ability to bring the dead back to a state of existence, it didn't mean that said previously deceased person would ever be more than a vegetable stuck in a coma. Laying here, so lifeless, Deidara thought that the red head looked more like a doll now than ever before. Sasori had been stuck like this for six months already and for those six months Deidara stayed at his side whenever he didn't have any missions. He was exhausted and his body trembled from lack of sufficient sleep but he couldn't fully rest – not until Sasori either died in a coma or woke up. If his partner died he wanted to be there to see him take his last breath. If he woke up he wanted to be the first one the puppet master saw. He couldn't imagine not being present for either one.
Deidara took in a deep breath and with a shaky hand, leaned over to gently swipe a sticky bang out of Sasori's face letting his fingers linger for a moment before trailing them down his jawline. This was his first time touching the redhead so intimately since he had never been one for closeness and neither his partner. His skin was clammy but soft Deidara noticed and wrapped his hand around Sasori's fingers, squeezing them ever so lightly. It was strange to be this close in such a way but he found himself starting to enjoy the contact. He wondered if Sasori felt the touches at all. If he did, did he mind them? Deidara frowned as a twinge of regret made its way into his heart. He should have tried this sooner, before Sasori's death but both of them were always too prideful – or maybe too hesitant – to make the first move. In the past their relationship had been nearly nonexistent, barely there. Actually, Deidara wasn't sure whether what they had could have counted as a relationship at all or not. There was no hugging, no kissing, no lovemaking, no handholding and no sweet nothings. Nothing. The only thing they had been open about was their concern for one another. But then again, Deidara realized as he stared down at Sasori's protruding collar bones, even if he had been the one to initiate some form of contact, Sasori wouldn't have been receptive to it anyway being a living puppet. Probably. So perhaps it didn't matter after all. But now the blonde wondered what Sasori would be like once he woke up. Would having more than a handful of feelings change his personality? Would being able to feel another's touches make him more open to the idea? What kinds of foods would he love? What kind of weather would he like the most? Would Sasori still have an interest in him? All these things and more had weighed down on his brain over the last six months. Not knowing what to expect made a tiny part of him wish for the puppeteer to stay in a coma if only to avoid any unpleasant surprises. But then again, if he never woke up then Leader-sama would most likely kill him as he would be useless and that would make everything Deidara worked so hard for a complete waste. So no, he had to wake up. Plus, he couldn't imagine living out his days in the Akatsuki much longer without the overbearing redhead.
Deidara's eyes widened as he felt the hand incased in his twitch. It was hardly noticeable. As a matter of fact it was so unnoticeable that the blonde had to wonder if what he felt had even been real until he felt it again but this time, this time it was a bit stronger.
"Sasori …" Deidara began and scooted to the edge of his chair, heart beating wildly in his chest as he kept his eyes locked on his partner's face. "Sasori," He said again and let go of his hand. "Are you waking up?" When he saw Sasori's pink lips turn into a soft frown and witnessed those slender eyebrows furrowing together, Deidara wanted to say more, beg him even to open those lidded eyes he grew so fond over but he didn't. He just sat there, waiting.
It felt like hours when in reality it had only been around forty-five minutes when Deidara finally saw Sasori make another small the movement that was yet again hardly noticeable and the blonde bit down on the inside of his cheek in nearly unbearable anticipation when those long, full lashes started to flutter and slowly the moment he had waited six months for finally arrived. Deidara couldn't speak, words clogged up his throat like thick paste and it was even difficult for him to breathe as a set of steely gray eyes slowly, weakly shifted in his direction.
Hesitantly, Deidara raised a hand and repeated what he did earlier, brushing the bangs away from Sasori's face and surprisingly enough, Sasori's mouth didn't twist into disgust like he had been expecting. Instead, he lay there, lips slightly parted and eyes unfocused and barely open. This was their first moment. Deidara continued downwards, to his jawline and down to his collarbone his hand only stopping to make sure the redhead wasn't getting angry. He wanted to keep this memory so he burned it in his mind as he went and began to caress the male's shoulder and arm. He had never been so bold and so willing to connect with his partner using touches.
He didn't expect Sasori to talk, at least not right away so he was taken aback when Sasori sighed and did just that.
"I'm … alive…and human." Sasori rasped out and swallowed thickly.
Smirking nervously, Deidara stopped his small ministrations and sat back in his chair, pushing his blonde locks behind his shoulders. Hopefully, Sasori wouldn't be too mad about his current state once it sunk in. "Of course you are. Like I'd let you stay dead, un." What he meant to say was that he loved him too much to let him stay dead but he wasn't to the point yet where he could confess his feelings in such an honest way. It's not like Sasori needed to be directly told that anyway. He knew how he felt about him.
Sasori didn't say anything else to that and Deidara was perfectly content to sit there in the silence with him now that he was awake. The ex-Iwa nin closed his eyes as he slumped back in the chair and finally let his mind and body fully relax for the first time in six months. He had what he wanted. Now he could rest.
OWARI
A/N: I really love this pairing even though they are both gone from the series. Unfortunately, Army life at the moment doesn't allow me enough time to write as many stories as I'd like.