A/N: Again, don't own!
Nagato had grown up with orphan along with Konan and another boy, Yahiko. But then Yahiko died and Nagato took on his appearance along with his many piercings and became known to everyone but Konan as Pein. He knew pain. He grew up with pain. He wished the world would share his pain.
But this…Pein had never wished his pain on someone like Deidara. The boy was the youngest of their little group (though Tobi acted like a five year old with ADHD) and everyone, including him, had taken a liking to him. He was outgoing, kind, and brought a sense of happiness to a lot of the older members who knew the world better. He might even go as far as to say Deidara was…innocent.
So when Pein heard Sasori's plea for help for Deidara's cause, he felt the need to act.
"Who was it?" Konan asked him, obviously seeing how stiff his posture had become and knew something was wrong.
"Sasori. We need to call the rest of the Akatsuki." The Akatsuki, the name of their band of misfits of society. The group Pein had gathered to help achieve his goals. He only took the best, Sasori and Deidara because of their artistic skill and ability to raise funds, Kakuzu for his money management and medical expertise, Hidan for his connections with the church, albeit the Jashinism sector, and charisma, Kisame for his connections to the police force and mighty build, Itachi for his inherited wealthy business and well-versed assassination skills, Zetsu for his dealings in the underground and his unscrupulous spy network as well as his botanical knowledge, and Tobi…he wasn't quite sure why he kept Tobi around. Just to liven up the place, he supposed. And to annoy Deidara.
Not even an hour later and all of the Akatsuki were called and they were all huddled in the artists' apartment, where Deidara was in their bed sleeping off the sedative. Sasori looked despondent and more pale than usual and Pein didn't blame them. All of them were shaken up by the news.
"Fucking brain cancer? What are the fucking odds?" Hidan cursed at the situation, like he did at everything he didn't like.
"Sempai's gonna die! We have to save him!"
"Shut the fuck up, you orange shithead! Deidara's not going to die…right?" Hidan looked at Kakuzu and Sasori.
Kakuzu sighed when Sasori gave no sign of answering. "He will die if he doesn't get the surgery. If you had just listened to me…"
"Don't you fucking start, Kakuzu. Don't you think I'm feeling guilty enough?" Sasori felt like he was being chewed up and swallowed by the guilt he felt for not listening to Kakuzu about the health insurance. Now it would be impossible to come up with the money for the surgery as well as what he had to pay for the initial brain scan.
"There must be other options," Itachi said softly after a few moments, sitting straight and tense. He cared for the blonde as well no matter how many fights the younger tried to pick with him. "Somewhere that you could get the operation done for less money."
Kakuzu hummed at that and nodded. "You could always get it done out of the country for a lot less. I'll look into it for you and find you a hospital…maybe in Canada or Mexico?" Kakuzu was a retired doctor and thus had a lot of connections in the medical community. Plus he of all people would be the best to look for the place to get it done cheapest yet with utmost safety. He wouldn't risk the blonde's health, even for money.
"I can start asking around the force for a few loans which you can start paying back once you get the surgery paid off. And of course, I'll lend you some money as well." Kisame put in. He saw Deidara as a younger brother and would do almost anything to ensure his well being. Hell, he even let Deidara stay in his apartment one winter when the blonde's heater was broken.
"And I'll fucking ask the fucking church to start up a fucking fund. We'll get you that money, puppet fucker." Hidan couldn't help but be attached to the blonde. Deidara's happy attitude naturally drew Hidan in and they often hung out together.
"I think I can find some herbs that might help with his symptoms." Zetsu said, both personalities pitching in. He didn't interact with Deidara much, but he couldn't just let him suffer. They were a group and they needed to stick together.
"I'll help Sempai too! I'll make him cookies and fetch his clay and-"
"DANNA!" Everyone grew silent and Sasori stood up, eyes narrowing in concern. He motioned for everyone to stay where they were and hurried up to their bedroom. Deidara was a mess of tangled blonde hair and wide blue eyes, back huddled against the headboard as he glanced around fearfully.
"Dei, you're okay, what's the matter?" Sasori slowly stalked closer to the bed and his eyes widened in surprise when Deidara all but leapt into his arms.
"Danna! I didn't know where you were, un!" Sasori let out a slow breath and stroked Deidara's hair. "Is that all? Don't scare me like that…"
"And I don't know where we are…and I was scared, yeah…"
Sasori froze and gazed down at the blonde with a sudden understanding. If he woke up in a place he didn't recognize with nobody there, he would be quite upset as well.
"We're back in our bedroom, Dei," Sasori said softly, continuing to card his hand through Deidara's hair.
"Oh…I better get back to my apartment and get ready for work, then…"
Sasori's eyes widened again. He had forgotten about moving in with him, or that he had quit from his old job at Starbucks to join Sasori in his development of the art studio? He was about to say something when Deidara spoke again.
"No…that's not right…I quit…right, hm?" Sasori smiled and nodded.
"That's right, Dei. And you moved in with me and now we're opening an art studio soon."
The blonde smiled and rested his head on Sasori's chest. "An art studio…that sounds nice…I'll be able to show my art there, right, un?"
Sasori chuckled and kissed the top of Deidara's head. "That's right. Though I really don't think your exploding sculptures should be considered art…"
"Danna! That's mean!" Deidara pouted, pulling away from Sasori and crossing his arms. "I thought you said you wouldn't insult my art anymore, yeah!"
Indeed, before they had started going out the two artists were almost constantly at each other's throats about whose art was superior. Deidara often argued that art, like life, was fleeting and was only worth seeing if it disappeared seconds later, making the viewer lament on it even more and displayed his opinion with his exploding sculptures. Sasori, however, insisted that true art was something everlasting that would be around for generations to enjoy and become ingrained in a person's mind, which he displayed with his everlasting puppets.
But now, their arguments grew less and less frequent as they became more civil to one another and they almost completely stopped when they started going out. But each one still held a strong opinion about what they thought was art. They just stopped fighting about it as much.
Sasori's smile grew and he held his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I was going to say if it's art to you, then you're more than welcome to show it. Just don't go exploding things inside!"
Deidara laughed and hugged his boyfriend again, pecking his cheek. "I won't blow anything up inside, yeah. I promise."
"Good enough, brat. Now, are you hungry?" Sasori figured he would be after sleeping off the effects of the sedative. He was also a bit alarmed that Deidara apparently had no memory of the earlier hospital visit, otherwise he would still be jumpy and upset. But if this was the way things were going to happen until he got the operation…
"I want bakudan, yeah!"
Sasori grinned. Deidara always asked for his favorite food when he was sick or having a bad day. It was a pain to make, but thankfully he could just go pick some up from take-out.
"All right, all right." Sasori's smile grew along with Deidara's. He was just so glad to see the blonde happy and smiling, he would get Deidara anything he wanted.
