A/N: This is a Christmas fic written especially for my friend Wren (whom is known on FanFiction as RANDOMNATIONS). Cheers to her! Anyways, she wanted a hurt/comfort SasoDei. Hope this is good enough for her. I tried. Very fluffy-ish. Enjoy.
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Harsh winter wind cleverly found the flaws in the building and surreptitiously seeped in, making its way into a certain redheaded puppet's hotel room. The chill, however, did not shake the very core of Sasori as it would have done to any other, completely human man. No, the cold didn't bother the puppet master's sleep, rather, the whooshing of the wind and snow had lulled him to sleep in the first place.
But, despite his lack of discomfort, a noise reached Sasori's ears that aroused him from his slumber. It was a low, constant sound coming from the next room over. Rolling over onto his back, Sasori cursed the cheap hotel for having such thin walls. As he continued to lay in his bed, now wide awake, the obnoxious noise grew louder and started to resemble a chattering sound. Then, suddenly, there was a loud whimper that startled the redhead, causing him to jolt straight up in his bed.
A scowl formed on Sasori's face when similar sounds followed. "What could that possibly be?" he mumbled to himself, annoyed, as he slowly got out of bed, stumbling over the cement floor as he followed the sound of the chattering and whimpering. To his surprise, Sasori found himself in front of the shared door that led to the room next door. Deidara's room.
Still in slight shock, Sasori pressed his ear up against the wooden door, only to have the noise intensify. Moving away from the door, Sasori quietly took hold of the knob and turned it, pushing as he did so. There before him, the bomb artist lay shivering in his double-person bed, loud whimpers escaping from his mouth.
The pitiful sight left Sasori dumbstruck, and at first he didn't know what could cause such violent shaking in a person. However, as a particularly strong gust of wind shook the window pane, Sasori realized just how cold it must have been in the shabby hotel room. In fact, if he concentrated his chakra hard enough in his 'skin,' he could feel a small fraction of the cold.
Horrible images soon filled his head. The blond's skin an unnatural blue. His body shaking furiously. One last intake of air. Finally, stillness.
A particularly loud whimper dragged Sasori out of his thoughts, alerting the puppet that his partner was more than likely going to freeze to death in the next couple of minutes if he didn't do anything. Making haste, Sasori scanned both his room and Deidara's for some form of warmth. When no such thing was found immediately, the redhead found himself at the blond's bedside, quickly shedding his cloak and wrapping it securely around the shivering form.
When that uncharacteristically good deed was done Deidara's spasms slowly receded, bringing his ragged breaths back to a normal pace. Sasori had no idea how warm his required uniform actually was, but he let out a huge breath of relief when it became apparent that his comrade's life was no longer in danger. The sign steady breathing immediately calmed Sasori's own heartbeat.
He turned to leave, but something latched onto his arm. "Danna," a voice croaked, "don't . . . leave, un." The request was followed by a hacking cough.
Sasori slowly turned to face Deidara, desperate to keep all emotion out of his features. The blond's typically sparkling eyes were half open, surrounded by sickly pale skin and underlined with dark lines from lack of sleep. The ex-Suna nin dared not send his chakra to his 'skin' to feel the man's touch, for fear of how cold it might be. "Why should I stay?" he mustered, not able to add 'brat' as he normally did.
Thin lips formed into a line as dulled blue eyes searched Sasori's face for some sort of logic. "You helped . . . me." The last word came out as barely more than a whisper. "Why, un?"
The puppet tried his best to ignore the vulnerability of the man in front of him, who was trying so hard to appear tough despite almost dying. "It's Christmas Eve," he deadpanned, fabricating an excuse on the spot. "allowing you to die would have been bad karma."
The blue orbs still searched the wooden face in vain, but with a sigh Deidara withdrew his attempt of understanding. "I'm . . . still cold, un . . ." he finally said under his breath.
Sasori, still keeping up his façade, cautiously allowed himself to 'feel.' The jolt of sudden cold shocked the redhead's chakra network, causing the puppet master to flinch. "What--" he licked his dry lips, trying to block out Deidara's pleading eyes, "--What do you want me to do about it, brat? There's nothing else in here that gives off heat." He finally looked away, unable to see his partner like that anymore. The sight sent a pang to his heart.
Deidara cocked his head to the side. ". . . What about you, un, Sasori no Danna?"
The addressed became completely still, avoiding eye contact. "I'm made of wood, brat," he sneered. "Or have you forgotten?"
"Danna . . ." Deidara trailed off as he picked up Sasori's left hand and pressed it against his cheek. The pyromaniac winced slightly at the contact; the fake limb was cold too, if only marginally better than the current atmosphere. "I know that you can give off warmth, un . . ."
With a sigh the redhead gave in and let an appropriate amount of chakra flood to his occupied hand, causing it to give off a comfortable amount of heat. "Happy?" he asked through his teeth. The puppet didn't like the fact that he had given in so easily.
Deidara closed his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips. "Mmm," he confirmed, nuzzling his face into the warm piece of wood. Sasori recoiled slightly at the act of affection, but then, due to the given situation, he decided to just let the blond warm up.
Hesitantly, Sasori pulled Deidara into an embrace, spreading his chakra out to the rest of his body so that it could be warm as well. The bomb artist let out a surprised squeak, but soon relaxed into the hold, staying as close to Sasori as he could. "Don't lose your blanket now," Sasori said gruffly, a bit embarrassed at how things had turned out. Well, at least his Dei wasn't freezing to death anymore. The redhead was so happy at this thought that he didn't even register that he had just thought 'his' Dei.
"Of course not, un, Danna," said Deidara as he brought said blanket closer around himself.
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The two stayed like that for about half an hour as Deidara slowly started to fall back asleep in the puppet's arms. Awkwardly, Sasori started to lay the blond back onto the bed when Deidara's eyes opened halfway. "D-Danna?" he said, stumbling over his words in his tired state.
"Yes, Deidara?" Sasori answered in a hushed tone.
Deidara's eyes fell closed again. "I . . . I got you a Christmas present, un."
Two perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose in shock. "What?"
The bomb artist's lithe hand rose slightly and pointed to a dark corner of the room. "Inside my bag, un. Go get it." Sasori stared down at Deidara, surprised at the sudden command and wondering whether or not he should leave Deidara to get the mentioned gift. "Please? I got it just for you, un."
With some reluctance, Sasori stood up, gently placing Deidara on the bed, and went to fetch the bag. "Is this what you were talking about, brat?" he asked with a frown, examining a small red box with a ribbon that he had found in the blond's bag.
"Mmhmm," was the muttered reply, Deidara close to sleep. "Go ahead and open it, un"
An eyebrow still raised, the redhead walked back over to his partner and softly sat on back down on the bed. Sasori loosely pulled on the ribbon and it came undone in his lap. Gently, he lifted off the top of the box and looked inside. ". . . D . . . Deidara . . ." The puppet was speechless as he slowly reached into the box and pulled out a sparkling dagger with rubies encrusted in the hilt. In the dark room it gave off a magnificent glow. Cautiously, Sasori turned the item in his hand and saw the words Sasori no Danna engraved in the blade. "Was this . . . ? Did you . . . ?"
Deidara let out a small cough and nodded, the twinkle slowly returning to his eyes. "I made it just for you, Danna, un. That's made out of the sharpest metal in the whole entire ninja world, 'cause I know you need good tools to make your puppets and the rubies kind of reminded me of fresh blood, which I know you love the sight of and--" he trailed off when another cough rattled his body. He was about to continue on, but then he noticed his master's two hazel eyes staring up at him curiously.
"I didn't know that you knew how to forge weapons, brat."
The blonde looked down in embarrassment and wrapped his arms around his middle for some extra warmth. "Well . . . uh . . . I didn't . . . un. I-I learned just for . . . just for you . . . Danna . . ." His voice had dimmed down so that his last few words were just barely above a whisper, a light blush tinting his cheeks.
"Deidara--" The bomb artist looked up, meeting the redhead's eyes. "--I think the cold has made you delirious," Sasori stated.
Deidara's eyes fell again, the anticipated rejection weighing down his spirit. "Yes, Danna," he mumbled.
"But," Sasori interjected, regaining the blond's attention. A small smile graced his wooden features. "I truly love this present--" He moved swiftly and hugged Deidara from behind, placing his chin on the other's shoulder. "--thank you," he whispered into his partner's ear before uncharacteristically nuzzling Deidara's neck in a sign of affection.
The blond turned a bright red at the impromptu action. "S-Sasori no Danna! What-What are you--"
The addressed Akatsuki shushed him. "You know, brat," Sasori started, "when I walked in here and saw you shaking and whimpering in your bed, I was genuinely scared. So scared, brat, that I actually began to panic. Can you believe that?" Unable to form words, Deidara merely shook his head in reply. "Me neither," Sasori continued, "It made me realize something, actually. It made me acknowledge how fragile you humans really are. It made me come to the understanding that I would have no idea what I would do if you ever died." As an afterthought he added, "Probably kill myself."
"D-Danna," Deidara tried again, "I--" He was stopped again as Sasori placed a finger over his lips. "Merry Christmas, brat."
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A/N: Yeah. I know. That made absolutely NO sense. Well, maybe it did to you. Not so much to me. But maybe that's because I'm not really in the 'read-over-my-story-and-see-sense' mood. No, I'm more in the 'everything-that-I-just-wrote-sounds-like-complete-crap-when-I-reread-it' mood. Anyways, this story is based off of the theory that if Sasori concentrates his chakra to the surface of his body (his 'skin,' if you will), then he can 'feel.' Hope you all liked it. Merry Christmas.