Rome, Italy

Imperial Romano

A red headed man walked into his nine year old son's room "Son?" The young boy looked up from his work. He looked so similar to the older man; messy red hair, soft brown eyes, and relatively pale skin considering their location.

"Yes?" He sat down a carving tool along with a block of wood that was starting to resemble a human face. He noticed a short blond being pushed into the room by his father, once the boy was inside Sasori looked him over with a critical eye.

Shoulder length blond hair, a tuft of it covering his left eye that was probably as bright blue as his right. He was slightly tanned, but looked no older than five, the plain tunic he wore told him that this boy wasn't a freeman, but a slave. Sasori watched the timid boy for a moment before looking up at his father, "What's this?"

The elder red head gave a smile, "Well, since your tenth birthday is coming up next month I thought I would give you an early present. I received a body slave at the at your age, so I thought I should do the same. Of course he'll do whatever you say. And is up to you whether he becomes educated or not, I've also had him checked for disease, and he has none. So there are no worries there."

"I see... Thank you, Father." The red headed boy slipped off of the bench he was seated on and padded over to the other boy.

The elder patted his son's head fondly, "Keep up the good work, Sasori." he said before exiting the room, leaving the blond behind in his wake.

The elder boy was the first to speak, "Do you have a name?"

His voice was hesitant, and it was clear that his father had given the child a heavy warning about disobeying any member of the family, "My name..? I... I... My mom called me Deidara... But–"

"Then that is what we shall call you. Deidara, I am Sasori Akasuna of Rome, but custom dictates that you call me Master, so feel free to do so outside of this room and in the company of others. Now, just how old are you?"

"How old..? I'm seven years–"

"Good, good. Now do something useful while I finish my work. I'll explain the rules I want you to follow later," The red head turned away from the confused blond and sat back at his bench to continue working on the figure he had been carving. Sasori then began muttering to himself about certain techniques for carving that he had learned from his Greek tutor.

Deidara stood there for several moments, shifting his weight from one bare foot to the other, he didn't know what to do. He thought maybe he could dust, but everything in the room was all ready spotless. Looking around the room, he noticed everything seemed to be perfectly in place. So instead he shuffled over to the wooden bookshelf leaning against the wall next to the sole window in the room.

He looked over the material, not understanding much of the Latin on the bindings, the child brushed his fingers along the spines, a smile lighting up his soft features. Sasori lifted his head to look at the smiling boy.

A light blush crossed his face, this boy was cute. Certainly he would do as a loyal servant for life. And earning the young boy's trust would probably be more than easy.

"Deidara."

The blond jumped, pulling his hand back from the books, he pulled both to his chest, his heartbeat picking up to an alarming rate at the thought of being struck for touching Sasori's belongings.

A smirk danced along the corners of the red head's mouth, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you for touching my books. They're my possessions, same as you. Anyway, I have decided, you must never leave my side. Where I am, you will also be. You will become like my shadow in a way. You will keep watch while I sleep, and when you do sleep it will be over there," Sasori gestured to the floor next to his own bed. "Is that understood?"

"Ah... y-yes Sasori,"

"Good, now let me finish and stop being a distraction."

"But I didn't–"

"Shh..." Sasori put a hand up to silence the younger, using the other to pick his tool back up. It wasn't long before the small blond had curled up on the hard floor next to the bed, that was only mildly more comfortable than the floor itself.

-x-

A/N:

Hello everyone! This is the prologue for my story, it's a bit short but I promise the actual chapters will be 1K or higher!

So, if this sounds interesting, go ahead and review so I can begin my work on the first chapter, in which they'll both be older. Sasori will be around fourteen and be marrying one of the female characters. Though, in case you aren't familiar with Roman marriage, it rarely involved love, there was rarely sex between the couples and the marriage was always for the gain of the family.

Also, I'm considering adding Deidara's "Un" or "Hmm" in in later chapters, but there will be something that causes it.

So, other requests/critiques/suggestions are accepted!

Now go on and click that little button right there!