Happy Holidays. :)
My Secret Santa gift to BiteMeAsHidansGal. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of the Naruto series. To make it clear - this is a gift to the above author. It does not matter to me whether or not anyone else reads it, but if you dislike the pairing (Saso/Dei) or the idea of the story, please do not comment on it. If there is constructive criticism, I ask that you send your suggestions to me through PM. Positive reviews are welcome, of course, but flaming is discouraged.
All I want for Christmas is you.
Two forty-three in the morning.
For the past three hours, I've been sitting, hiding. Santa Claus has yet to make his entrance, but I'm not foolish enough to give up yet. If I leave now, he may show up and do something... something bad. Tobi is guarding the front entrance to the base, so if he comes in that way, I'll be ready for h—
"What are you doing, Deidara?" A tired, somewhat exasperated voice sounded from behind the blond male, startling him. Whirling to face the voice, Deidara heaved a relieved sigh at the sight of his partner in crime – Sasori. With a quick glance around, so as to make sure Santa had not miraculously entered and destroyed their home, Deidara grabbed Sasori's wrist and tugged him down behind the couch.
"Shh," he murmured quietly, bright blue eyes sparkling in the light of the Christmas tree (Tobi had insisted they put one up this year). He looked excited now, as if the company of Sasori had rid him of the exhaustion that had previously been quite obvious on his features. "I'm waiting for Santa, un."
For a moment, brief as it was, Sasori was sure that his blond accomplice was pulling his leg. It was only when the puppeteer caught the look of intensity in his eye that he realized Deidara was very serious, indeed. Raising one eyebrow, he questioned the sanity of the blond before him. "You're kidding," he dead-panned. "Tell me you're kidding."
Deidara, in response, huffed and turned away, glaring at the brightly lit tree across the room. "If you don't believe in Santa Claus, why did you write him a letter?" There was an immature tone to his voice, suggesting that he was quite irritated at the fact that Sasori had questioned him. Of course he wasn't kidding!
"Tobi would never have left me alone if I hadn't written the letter," Sasori replied dryly, eyes narrowed with irritation. If anyone had the right to be irate at this moment, it was he. Deidara had crawled out of bed hours ago, offering the false excuse that he 'needed to use the bathroom and would be right back'. Sasori's patience had worn thin over the hours and he finally had trudged down to search for his impossible young partner, only to find that he was lying in wait for a mythical man in a tight red suit. "Come back to bed," the puppeteer demanded through his annoyance, leaving no room for negotiation from the blond.
Anyone else would have come right along.
But Deidara wasn't anyone else. There was a very good reason he had been partnered with the impatient red-head – partially because Pein had a morbid sense of humor, but more-so because he wasn't easily lulled into doing what he was told. That wasn't necessarily a good thing with anyone else, but it meant that he could stand his ground with Sasori. This being said, the blond kept his butt firmly planted to the ground, peering around the end of the couch every few minutes to see if anything new had occurred. He made no effort to reply.
Closing his eyes, Sasori tried very hard not to go ballistic and rip the blond apart. If there was one thing he loathed even more than waiting, it was being ignored. Breathing slowly, fingers tightening into a fist, loosening. A minute or two passed before the red-head opened his eyes once more. It was Christmas Eve, he thought, it wasn't right to commit murder. "Deidara." The blond glanced at Sasori with his one blue eye, an expectant look upon his pale, smooth face. When his partner made no response otherwise, Sasori continued. "Will you... please," he lowered his voice here, just in case anyone else was in the room, "come back to bed? I'm tired of waiting for you." Although the red-head despised the idea of playing nice, he knew that this was the quickest and easiest way to convince his blond counterpart.
A small smirk fell upon the features of our dearest Deidara. "No, un."
With that, he turned once more to the tree, convinced that he would see the infamous man in red. A tick-mark was almost visible as Sasori contemplated what he would do next. 1) Kill the blond, end his own exasperation? 2) Forget about Deidara and go back to bed? 3) Or (and this was the most absurd) attempt to seduce the young bomber, luring him upstairs so that he could get his beauty sleep?
Initiating Plan # 3.
"Now, Dei-chan," the puppeteer murmured, voice low and alluring. "Don't tell me you would rather sit here and wait for a non-existent man than come up to bed with me. I don't believe it." That wiped the smirk right off of Deidara's face, leaving the blond flustered.
With heated cheeks, he turned to glare at Sasori. How dare he? "Nn, don't even try that. It won't work."
"Try what?" Sasori purred innocently, peering at Deidara through half-lidded eyes, the color of newly polished redwood.
"You know what." Deidara retorted, crossing his arms and pulling his legs up, so as to hide any evidence that would suggest to Sasori that he was actually enjoying this sensual behaviour. Because he wasn't. At all. End of story. "Just go up to bed and leave me alone. I'll be up later."
Sasori knew that his little blond was close to the breaking point. Just a few more nudges in the right direction and the both of them could go upstairs and sleep the rest of the night through. Crawling toward the increasingly rosy young blond, Sasori moved close enough to whisper in the ear of his prey. "I don't want to go up without you. It's cold."
A shiver ran down Deidara's spine at the words of his elder and his breathing hitched. Swallowing back a moan, the blond shook his head slowly. "No," he managed with some trouble, "I have to wait for... for him." He briefly glanced to the tree behind them. When his gaze returned to the man before him, Sasori had moved even closer, so that their faces were mere inches apart. A blue eye widened with quiet surprise, half expecting the red-head to kiss him. Although the pair flirted often (in private), they had never shown real affection for one another. Not as far as kissing or touching went, anyway. To his relief (and dismay), Sasori just smirked and backed away.
"Come on. I'm tired of this. Either you're coming to bed with me or you're not, but I'm locking the door." With not so much as a word more, the red-head turned and started up the stairs once more, knowing that he had already lured the mouse into the trap. Easy as taking candy from a baby, he thought.
Deidara, trying to decipher an array of emotions flooding his mind, drowsily rose to his feet, glancing idly to the tree for the umpteenth time this evening. Much to his surprise, there were gifts neatly stacked underneath, where they had not once been – hell, they hadn't been there three minutes ago! Blinking in astonishment, the blond had nothing more to do but sigh in exasperation, murmuring a quiet, "Wait for me, un," to his partner before trudging up the wooden stairs behind Sasori.
"Don't worry," the red-head muttered from in front of Deidara just as they were entering their room, "I'm sure you'll catch him next year. I may even help."
The blond smiled, offering a short nod and closing the door behind them. He scurried over to the bed and crawled in, waiting for Sasori to join him. They, like many of the Akatsuki pairs, shared a bed in the winter. With no indoor heating, things got extremely cold, and so huddling together for warmth was to be expected. Nothing at all strange about that. What was strange... was the light pressure Sasori felt on his cheek once he had settled beside the blond bomber – moist and warm.
Closing his eyes, Sasori nuzzled the crazy youngster beside him. The pair huddled close together, sharing their warmth, until finally they fell into a deep sleep.
Downstairs, hiding behind the chair nearest to the Christmas tree, was a giggling blue-haired woman. It amazed her how gullible some of the so-called criminals were. Perhaps next year Konan would be merciful and explain to Deidara and Tobi that Santa Claus did not really exist.
Maybe.
