Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Akatsuki or any of the characters/concepts featured. All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
'I knew this would happen. He has the IQ of a house plant.'
'Don't say that, Dr. Akasuna. I think he is the most precious little thing I have ever seen!'
'I don't want precious, Konan. I want results.'
'It's not his fault he can't speak; he's new. You're not a very good teacher.'
Deidara watched with wide, dejected eyes as the two continued to bicker. He was sitting cross-legged in the centre of the red-headed one's laboratory, and didn't like the loud noises the two were making. He whimpered and his grip tightened on the hem of his blue hospital gown. Were they angry? Why? He didn't understand what he had done wrong…
'I bet Kakuzu didn't treat Hidan like this! Why don't you ask him for advice, hm?'
'I passed a message to his room twenty minutes ago, but I don't see how he will be able to help!' Sasori hissed indignantly.
The blonde whined pitifully when his friend began to lose his cool and buried his face in his hands, wishing for it all to go away.
'Look, now you made the poor thing cry!' scolded the blue-haired woman.
She walked over to Deidara and knelt in front of him, taking his hands in her own. She stared into his two sad teal eyes with her own warm, amber orbs.
'Shhh, don't worry sweetheart, everything is going to be alright; Konan is here...' she cooed softly.
Then an idea came to her and she brightened. Reaching up, she carefully removed the white rose clip from her navy hair and placed it in front of the boy. The blonde ceased sniffling for a brief moment to stare at the new object. He wiped his eyes and picked it up, studying it intently before letting out a squeal of delight and appreciation.
Konan smiled fondly at him. Sasori frowned at the control she seemed to have.
'How did you do that?' asked the redhead, watching in disapproval as Deidara hugged the paper flower to his chest.
'Haven't you worked with any of the new ones before?'
'Obviously not."
'Well, it's similar to working with the children except-'
'You sent for me?'
The two turned to the door to see a man leaning in. He had tan skin that appeared to be riddled with unsightly stitches and wore a mask that covered his entire face, apart from two glowing green eyes. He also wore a lab coat, although it seemed slightly tattered and worn in places. Behind him stood another shorter figure, also a male, who seemed to have unusual silvery hair and stunning violet eyes. He wore only a pair of black cargo pants, and was smirking in a rather sadistic and creepy manner.
Deidara whined and shrank back from the two men, instinctively curling into a ball for protection. Konan rolled her golden eyes and turned to welcome the two arrivals, as Sasori was too busy sulking quietly in the corner.
'Kakuzu, thank you for coming, and this must be Hidan? How are you?' she asked, looking over at the shorter male. The young boy paused for a moment, processing what the woman had said, before speaking. His voice was audible but it was clear that he had trouble pronouncing a couple of the words.
'Yes, I am Hidan and…' he trailed off and thought for a moment before continuing: '…I am fucking great! Thank you for asking!'
Konan blinked several times in surprise, making her eyelashes flutter. She laughed nervously, 'Well, at least he is making progress with speech…'
Hidan grinned wildly at the compliment and Kakuzu stared at him suspiciously before pushing past the girl and into the room. 'Whatever. It's getting him to shut up that's the trick. Now what did you call me here for?'
'How exactly did you get Hidan to…speak?' asked Sasori.
The miser shrugged. 'I didn't get him to speak. I wanted him to be quiet, but he insisted on picking up words from everyone else. Pretty soon it was fuck this and fuck that and whatever.'
The redhead scowled. 'I don't think letting him use curse words will get you extra credit, and do you mean to say that he learnt to speak by himself?'
'It's my assignment; I'll do what I like and in answer to your question, yes. Why? Having trouble?'
Sasori eyed his co-worker incredulously, not sure if he was mocking him or not. 'Yes, mine won't talk. He's new, but I expected at least a word by now.'
He gestured to the blonde, who was still curled up in a ball on the floor.
Kakuzu stared at Deidara blankly for a moment, and then turned to Sasori again. 'Why is he on the floor?'
'Apparently I frightened him.'
Kakuzu chuckled, and walked towards another room of the laboratory. He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. 'Come with me, and be grateful I'm giving up my time to help you.'
Konan and Sasori nodded and made their way over to the miser. Hidan smiled and attempted to follow them, but a harsh look from his tutor told him to stay put. The boy growled in disappointment and promptly sat down next to Deidara, his arms crossed over his chest and his face flushed. He and the blonde stared at each other for a second. Deidara gave the silver haired boy a worried look and began to subconsciously play with his beautiful golden tresses. Hidan thought for a moment. They wanted this one to talk like he could? No problem. He would help them and then Kakuzu would be pleased with him! Yeah! He could be a…what was it? Tree? Tweeter? Teacher? Yeah, that was it! He could be a teacher!
He broke out into a wide grin, making the blonde beside him tremble.
'So I just need to spend time with him and he will pick it up?' asked Sasori keenly, walking out of the other room.
Kakuzu appeared behind him, shortly followed by Konan. 'Hopefully, yes. I mean, he will learn eventually, it just takes time and patience-'
'Kuzu!'
The miser flinched and looked up to see his 'assignment' bounding merrily towards him, a joyful grin plastered onto his features. The taller man glared at the boy. Hidan had never been able to pronounce his name properly, and so had taken to affectionately calling him "Kuzu". Personally though, he loathed the nickname. 'What?'
'I taught the other one to speak!'
All three were silent, staring at Hidan in disbelief.
'What?' murmured the scorpion. This boy taught Deidara to speak? How? How could he do that, when even someone as intelligent and sophisticated as Sasori found it difficult?
Hidan turned to the Deidara and made a weird motion with his hand, signalling for the boy to demonstrate what he had been taught. Konan, Kakuzu and Sasori leaned forward in anticipation, waiting to hear the blonde's first words. The boy cleared his throat and bellowed at the top of his lungs:
'Fuck this fucking shit, hm!'
Silence.
Sasori twitched, Konan's jaw dropped and Kakuzu shifted uneasily before muttering a goodbye and dragging a very smug-looking Hidan from the laboratory. Deidara smiled proudly, convinced he had succeeded. Sasori and Konan gaped at the boy in utter dismay as he began to prance jubilantly around the room, yelling more colourful swear words.
'Fuck, shit, bastard!' chirped the boy, happily.
Konan sighed and quickly made an excuse to leave the room.
Sasori remained motionless and continued to twitch like mad, his eyes wide and jaw clenched.
Well, at least he knew the blonde wasn't a mute…
Best first words ever! :D
I had a lot of fun writing this and, as always, review if you would like me to continue. :)
