Wow, last chapter got a lot of great response! Thank you so much and welcome new readers! Please keep them coming, for this story is going to get more intense as we go on.

Summary: Chiyo meets Deidara and has a few reservations about him.

Special thank you to eenayde, Malta-chan765, Bai-Marionette, Tempus Frangit, and elise-hale913. I feel like we're all in a secret club with this story. Haha!

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter Two

If Chiyo weren't terrified for her grandson, she'd be far angrier than she was currently. Working with the enemy was something she didn't appreciate. It didn't matter if they were allies on paper. The Tsuchikage was known for his backhanded tactics, and there was no doubt in her mind that Iwagakure would betray them in a heartbeat.

She and a group of Iwagakure and Sunagakure shinobi alike combed the desert for their missing. The Tsuchikage Ōnoki himself had joined the hunt, and the longer Chiyo was in his presence, the more she grudgingly related to him. She contributed it to the reason she found herself disliking him personally rather than just on principle.

Ōnoki was the most stubborn old man she had ever met, and that included her brother, Ebizō. The Tsuchikage was an entirely different beast when it came to obnoxiousness, and in a very disturbing way it was like looking in a mirror. When the Tsuchikage's granddaughter and her teammate came bearing the news that their third member was missing after the meeting with the Kazekage, the old man insisted on coming along with his own search party. Chiyo found it all to be an extra headache she didn't need.

The shaky truce between their villages did nothing for trust, and the groups traveled as separate as they could. The arrangement was more like two formations working in proximity to each other rather than one cohesive search party.

"Stupid brat, I should have known he'd pull something like this," she heard Ōnoki grumble. He was fast for an old man, she had to admit, although she wasn't one to talk.

"Grandfather, be careful," his young granddaughter warned. Her name was Kurotsuchi if Chiyo remembered correctly. "I don't want you throwing your hip out."

"Deidara would be so lucky," Ōnoki said. "I'm going to strangle him the moment I see him!"

Chiyo said nothing, but saw the worry apparent in the Tsuchikage's face. The four other Iwagakure jounin and the chubby boy that kept close to Ōnoki's side seemed worried as well, although about Deidara or their leader's health she didn't know.

"What does he look like again?" Chiyo asked.

"Blond," Ōnoki responded. "He's about your grandson's age. Same as my granddaughter and Akatsuchi." His angry dark eyes wavered to the chubby boy that kept close to his side. "You might mistake him for a little girl, but he's a stubborn idiot of a child who's too arrogant for his own good." The words were harsh, but Chiyo knew it came from a place of fear. He obviously cared about this boy, and the same went for Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, who she assumed were Deidara's genin team.

"Why would he go by himself?" Chiyo asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of her tone. "He doesn't know Sasori."

"Deidara-nii thinks he's the best around," Kurotsuchi said. "He probably wants to prove to grandfather that his 'art' can complete the mission solo."

"Arrogance," Ōnoki said as if in agreement. The yellow ribbon that tied his white hair back in a chonmage rippled in the wind. "That boy's head is so full of hot air it's amazing he hasn't floated away."

Chiyo opened her mouth to comment on Sasori, but promptly closed it when she realized she had no idea what Sasori thought of himself. The most she could get was what Komushi told her, and the information on that front was sparse. Sasori had shut everyone out. "We'll find them," she said instead. "Maybe your missing genin hasn't found them yet."

"He's found them," Ōnoki said. "His tracking abilities surpass any shinobi three times his age." The Tsuchikage's eyes widened. Chiyo didn't need to ask why, because she felt it too. Both Sasori and another's chakra.

The group of strained allies picked up their pace and raced towards a small cluster of stone bluffs. Chiyo felt a sense of relief wash over her when she spotted Sasori standing with another child about his age on the edge of a makeshift campsite.

There was no doubt that this boy was who the Tsuchikage spoke of. Long blond hair proved Ōnoki's description to be true. Deidara could be mistaken for a girl.

After her short observation of Deidara, Chiyo almost froze when she came close enough to see Sasori's face. For almost a year, Sasori had been slipping further and further into himself. She had watched the spark drain from his eyes, and his usual sweet nature morph into something darker and unstable.

Now Sasori watched Deidara, and Chiyo could see the darker tracts of tears on her grandson's cheeks. She couldn't remember Sasori ever crying, at least not like this. These tears were of gratitude and relief. For the first time in a year, Sasori was completely open. Deidara smiled at him and gently held both of his hands as if coaxing him to walk. The children were standing too close together for her liking. Allies or not, it was a shallow agreement and Sasori was exposing his jugular to an enemy ninja.

It terrified her.

"Sasori!" She hadn't meant to sound so angry. Sasori jumped and tore his gaze away from Deidara, promptly pulling his hands back. He was wearing gloves Chiyo knew weren't his, and that only spurred her fear.

She rushed forward, instantly shoving herself between Deidara and Sasori, and pulled her grandson into an embrace. She felt Deidara stumble back with a grunt and Sasori stiffen in her arms. "I'm so glad you're safe."

She pulled away and looked around the clearing, her eyes narrowing at the carnage that laid before her. Two smoking husks could be seen further off in the distance, as if they had been thrown there by an explosion. A dismembered hand was closest to them, the skin burned and the bone jagged from where it stood out from the meaty flesh. She looked to Deidara and she felt second of nausea. A little ways behind him was the body of another man. He too was burned significantly, with two kunai embedded in his back.

What unnerved her most was that these kunai weren't just haphazardly stabbed into the body. They were buried to the hilt in a very precise fashion. One was to the side, right where the man's right kidney would be. The other was in the small of the back, severing his spinal cord. Both places were low enough on such a big man that a child could reach them.

Deidara was no older than Sasori, but she knew he was the culprit. Chiyo was no stranger to children trained in killing grown men. It wasn't farfetched, but looking into those pretty blue eyes set on the boy's young, innocent face was enough to remind her of memories she wanted to erase. In her long years of service to the Kazekage, Chiyo had killed plenty of children like Deidara.

A fourth body was the closest. It was a kunoichi, who seemed to have slit her own throat. The nausea Chiyo repressed came back tenfold at the sight of the blood staining the sand around the woman's head and neck. The kunai that did the job was still in her hand. Chiyo knew better than to write it off as a suicide. Somehow, her grandson had performed the Skillful Achievement of the Human Body technique.

"Sasori." She knelt down in front of him to look into his eyes. "Did you kill this woman?"

As expected Sasori didn't answer her vocally. Instead his blank face said it all. Staring at him, she was faced with the unsettling creature Sasori was becoming. No longer was he vulnerable and emotional as he had been with Deidara. He looked at her as if she were a stranger.

"Deidara, you stupid brat!" Ōnoki's yelling caused Chiyo to stand and turn back around, keeping Sasori behind her. "What were you thinking coming out here alone?" Deidara didn't seem cowed by the Tsuchikage's rage, unlike his teammates who hung behind their leader timidly. She watched incredulously as Deidara lifted a pinky and twisted it around in his ear, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I was thinking Sasori would have been long gone by the time any of you made up your minds, hmm." Deidara crossed his arms and glared up at Ōnoki. The Tsuchikage was not a tall man, but even so he seemed to tower over the boy.

"Running off alone is a sure way to get yourself killed!" Ōnoki snarled. "It doesn't matter how strong you feel you are, you ignored a direct order! You potentially put Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi in danger by abandoning them!"

"Your orders were stupid!" Deidara glared up at the Tsuchikage, and although Chiyo was thankful for Sasori's safety, the insolence this child showed towards his village leader made something in her reel back. Shinobi were loyal. No matter what village, no matter what country, they all lived under that creed. Follow orders. Deidara was a genin. He knew better than to speak to his Kage in such a manner, especially in front of foreign ninja.

"Quiet!" Ōnoki snapped. A strained feeling of embarrassment came from the Iwagakure ninjas. Chiyo figured she should have felt a sense of superiority over the fact the Tsuchikage could not control a mere child, but all it did was make her uncomfortable. They were supposed to be allies now.

"You weren't doing anything!" Deidara said. "You all were haggling with his life!" Deidara's face reddened, and his cheeks slightly puffed out. It might have been cute if the words he spoke weren't so vicious and accusing. Chiyo felt her own indignation grow against the boy, something that added to her discomfort. "Everyone was just using it as an excuse to strike a better deal out of what we'd get if we saved him instead of actually doing it! Look at him!" Deidara gestured towards Sasori, and Chiyo instinctively drew her grandson further behind her. "They would have killed him or worse by the time you would have decided on anything, hmm!"

"It wasn't your place to decide!" Ōnoki's hand clenched into a trembling fist. The Tsuchikage always looked angry with his deeply slanted brows and large bulbous nose that made his eyes seem further apart. Now he looked furious, and rightfully so. "You undermined the authority of your Kage in foreign territory, abandoned your teammates, and you are going to be punished severely."

"I didn't abandon them! They were with you and a third of the ninja population of our village! You just hate my art, hmm! You always have!" Deidara's blue eyes were wide and almost frantic, not with fear, Chiyo assessed, but with fury.

"That's enough out of you," Ōnoki said. "Bloodline limit or no, clearly I need to remind you in front of our new allies how Iwa deals with insolent genin!" The Tsuchikage raised his hand.

The previous defiance was immediately gone and Deidara's strong gusto withered into fear. Chiyo's heart clenched involuntarily. She couldn't imagine hitting Sasori outside of training. Still, she kept her mouth shut. It wasn't her business and it was within the Tsuchikage's right to punish his shinobi as he saw fit.

Suddenly, she felt something small brush against her side and a blur of red darted out between Deidara and the Tsuchikage. "Sasori!" she cried, reaching out her hand to attempt to grab her grandson, but he was too swift. He snatched the kunai out of the dead kunoichi's hand and skidded to a stop between Ōnoki and Deidara.

A collective hush hung over the campsite. The only sounds came from the wind and the crackling of the dying fire. Onoki's rage had subsided into pure shock, his usually sharply slanted brows arching up.

Sasori stood in front of Deidara, empty brown eyes narrowed, and kunai held at the ready. Chiyo's mind immediately panicked. Sasori had just run out in front of a Kage. Not only that, he ran out in front of the Tsuchikage, a man who was well known for being able to obliterate even the most powerful shinobi with his Dust Release ninjustu. Sasori didn't stand a chance.

Yet, the more she looked at Sasori's stance, Chiyo realized he wasn't using aggressive body language. His knees were bent slightly, while he held his feet together, and he held the flat of the kunai towards Ōnoki's face. In fact, everything about Sasori was submissive, as if he were telling Ōnoki to hold out on his punishment.

"Sasori." She shook her head and stepped forward, ready to apologize and do whatever it took to appease the Tsuchikage. At least she was until Sasori promptly spun on his heel and slammed the rounded end on the kunai into Deidara's chest.

The Iwa genin let out a breathless cry and fell flat on his back, coughing and gasping. Every single Iwa shinobi tensed and Chiyo heard a few feet shuffle as they shifted into battle stance. She and her fellow sand shinobi did as well. It had been expected that they would turn on each other so easily, and she immediately began to plot her strategy, taking out the scrolls to summon her best puppets.

"Hold on." Ōnoki's command forced her to look to where the Tsuchikage held his hand up. Sasori now knelt next to Deidara, partially hiding the other from view as he held him close. The kunai Sasori had grabbed lay abandoned.

"I hurt him so you won't have to," Sasori said. Chiyo lowered her scrolls, completely taken off guard, but quick to get it back. She had to act quickly while Ōnoki still had that stunned look on his face.

"Lord Tsuchikage, I apologize on behalf of Suna," she said, taking a few steps closer to Sasori and Deidara. Damage control was all she could do right now. Judging by the blood, Sasori had been hit on the head, and was no doubt dehydrated from being out in the open desert all day. Those Hidden Leaf barbarians probably withheld any water they had for themselves. "My grandson is obviously concussed and can't be held accountable for his actions."

"I'll take double the punishment."

Chiyo felt as if she had been punched straight in the chest and she turned her gaze to Sasori. Her grandson looked at the Tsuchikage with such a straight, blank expression that for a moment, she wasn't sure if she was staring at a child. The way Sasori held Deidara close to him didn't warrant any sense of warmth. It was an action that she had seen Sasori take with his puppet projects when he didn't want her to look at the unfinished product. It was a possessive hold, but if Deidara were against it, she got nothing from him. The boy merely rubbed his chest, his eyes closed tightly as his breathing started to slow. "He didn't mean that," she heard herself say.

"I do mean it," Sasori said. His voice chilled her. It was soft and sweet, but the tone was all wrong. Her grandson gently rose to his feet, taking Deidara's bandaged hands and pulling him up as well. "If what I did was disrespectful to your authority, then you have a right to punish me. I hurt him enough though to where any more force would be excessive, and I owe Deidara my life, so I will take his punishment as well." Those eerie brown eyes focused only on the Tsuchikage. They made Chiyo feel as if she were strangely insignificant, but she shook the feeling off.

"What? Don't do that!" Deidara spoke up, his voice hoarse. "Ōnoki-sama, I'm sorry. This is my fault, okay?"

"He doesn't know what he's saying," Chiyo said, stepping in front of the two boys. "It's been an exhausting day, and your genin saved him. He's just a child and still in the Academy. He doesn't understand. Again, I apologize on his behalf."

"Your grandson seems to understand more than you think he does, Lady Chiyo," Ōnoki said. The Tsuchikage's expression became carefully guarded. For anyone else, it might have been unreadable, but Chiyo had dealt with her fair share of secretive authority figures enough to see the gears turning in Ōnoki's head. "Deidara, what he did to you was a pinprick compared to what I had in store."

His eyes never left Sasori, and a tense quiet descended upon the campsite, until Ōnoki seemed to come to a conclusion. His narrowed eyes rounded out again and a smile pulled at the edge of his lips. It didn't make Chiyo feel any better. The smile was too easy, and there was a sense of calculation about it. "Although you need more work in the negotiation department, I can tell you're a bright boy, Sasori-san." He looked around the campsite at the bodies. "Not to mention you pack quite the punch with the right support."

Sasori said nothing, and kept his gaze slightly averted from the Tsuchikage. Chiyo didn't like the way he kept so close to the Iwagakure genin. It was too personal, and if she was picking up on that, no doubt Ōnoki was too. A sand shinobi having loyalty to a stone shinobi was unheard of for a reason. She was going to have to make it clear to Sasori that Deidara was not his friend, and that becoming attached to him was unacceptable.

"Everyone, ease up," Ōnoki said, that same calculating smile still on his face. Chiyo had to marvel that such a small man could carry himself with such self-assured authority. "Lady Chiyo is right. We're all tired, and I think it's best if we return to the village. There's no need for punishment tonight. Sasori-san is safe, and I believe Deidara has learned his lesson when even the rescued party feels he deserves a good hit for his trouble."

Deidara grumbled something under his breath. Akatsutchi and Kurotsuchi hurried over to the old man, their eyes wide as they cast anxious looks over their shoulders towards Deidara. Their nervous body language told they wanted to get closer to their teammate, but didn't want to approach Sasori.

Chiyo couldn't blame them, but that didn't mean she didn't try. Half of Sasori's face was coated in blood, and that horrid, miserable expression made him seem more like a ghost than a living person. Still, they could at least get their teammate away from him if they were so concerned. Chiyo was about to do the same as the group started moving away, but forced herself to hold off when Deidara wrapped a friendly arm around Sasori's shoulders.

That wasn't what stopped her. What did was Sasori's face. The entire time he had spoken to Ōnoki, Chiyo had sensed something broken within her grandson. Sasori was so far in his own mind that his voice had made her feel like she was listening to the last echo of the child she knew. Then there was that look he gave, with hooded eyes and a down curved mouth that radiated a deep rooted misery.

Yet at Deidara's touch, a soft smile eclipsed all of that.

"You really saved me back there, hmm," she heard Deidara murmur, one bandaged hand cupped over his mouth as he leaned in close to Sasori's ear. "Pretty smart to get your grandma involved. If the old man punished you, I don't think she and the Kazekage would be too pleased." Deidara let out a pained sound and lowered the hand closest to his mouth to rub his chest. Sasori's smile faded and Chiyo felt her hands clench against the scrolls she still held.

"I'm sorry," Sasori said. "Did I hurt you badly?"

"Please, compared to what Ōnoki the crypt keeper would have done to me that was a slap on the wrist, hmm." Deidara had the kind of broad, confident grin that was infectious if it weren't known beforehand that he was a trained killer. The lack of remorse or any apparent introspection could have been contributed to him being a child, but Chiyo doubted it. Deidara had enjoyed it, and she decided that was the reason he unsettled her so.

"Why are your hands bandaged?" Sasori looked down at the gloves on his own hands and then towards Deidara's carefully wrapped palms. "Those with the bandages are a bit much." She had been right to assume the gloves were Deidara's, and she agreed with Sasori. The Iwa genin didn't seem vexed outwardly, but Chiyo didn't miss the tightening around his eyes.

"I've got sweaty palms, hmm," he said, flexing his fingers and leaning lazily against Sasori. "Can't be too careful." Sasori's smile returned. Chiyo fought the urge to walk back and drag Sasori out of the grip of the stone genin. "You can keep the gloves too, if you want," Deidara said. "I have more, plus maybe they'll help you with that technique you did."

"Thank you," Sasori said.

"Don't thank me, thank my art, hmm!" the blond boy's chest swelled with pride.

"Art?" Sasori blinked.

"Yeah, art!" Deidara said. "The fleeting moment of beauty before it's gone! An explosion! I used to make all kinds of sculptures, but it felt like something was missing. Then it hit me one day. Fleeting moments are so beautiful because no one can grasp them. You can't hold onto something that's gone as soon as it's there, hmm."

To Chiyo's chagrin she heard Sasori laugh. She couldn't remember the last time Sasori laughed. She glanced over at them again to see her grandson duck out from under Deidara's arm and nudge him. Playfully.

"That's silly," he said before picking up his pace. Chiyo hoped he was coming over to her, but Deidara followed closely behind and she let her path drift away a bit.

"Silly?" Deidara cried indignantly.

"I haven't thought much about art, but I don't think that's what it is. I'll let you know when I gather more information."

Chiyo wished she could feel a sense of pride that Sasori had managed to attach his chakra strings to a living human, but Deidara's proximity made her far too hyper aware of Sasori's soft smiles and responsiveness. Not even Komushi in all his persistence had been able to elicit such a state from her grandson. A year had passed since she had seen Sasori like this. He wasn't waiting, longing, or miserable. For once he appeared to be in the moment. Half of Chiyo wanted to weep with relief that her beloved grandson was still there, but the other was angry that it had anything to do with someone outside of Suna.

"Your grandson and Deidara seem to enjoy each other's company." Ōnoki had somehow slowed his pace enough to stand by her side. Chiyo had been so focused on listening in on Sasori and Deidara's conversation she hadn't seen or heard him approach. The lack of competence on her part furthered her irritation, but she kept her outward composure as she looked down at the Tsuchikage.

"My grandson is grateful to him," she responded evenly.

"Deidara is high strung and far too eager to show off his talent, but I have to admit that it turned out for the better." The Tsuchikage's outward appearance seemed straight-laced and professional, but Chiyo knew better. The brief glint in his eyes showed that he was satisfied, and it didn't take decades of shinobi training to know why.

It turned out better for you, traitorous worm, Chiyo thought. The Third Kazekage was the strongest leader they ever had, but strength wasn't always enough to defeat backhanded tactics. For all she knew, Iwagakure had staged this whole thing to further worm their way into Suna's good graces.

"I too am grateful for Sasori's safety," she said. During the council meeting, she had kept her stoic resolve, but inside she had been panicking. That was then, however. Now, she had to see past Ōnoki's walls to his end game. This alliance had been a bad idea, no matter how desperate both villages were to get one-up over Konoha. Tsunade was the Hidden Leaf's trump card, and they were using her to the greatest effect.

Still, threatening though an alliance between Suna and Iwa sounded on paper, in practice it was just a bomb waiting to go off. Chiyo was pretty sure Konoha knew it too, and as soon as the news reached them, they would simply sit back and wait for said bomb to explode.

"I heard about what happened to Sasori-san's parents," Ōnoki said. "Deidara is much the same." He turned his gaze to the two boys. Sasori seemed a little more lethargic in his movements now that the adrenaline had started to fade. Deidara kept close to him and Chiyo immediately tried to replace him with Komushi in her mind. It did no good. Sasori never looked at Komushi the way he did Deidara. "Perhaps the two can relate on that level, and why Deidara felt the need to save him on his own."

You liar. Your genin just wanted the taste of blood, and if you're being honest, not even you could hold his leash tight enough.

"War orphans are one ryō a dozen these days," Chiyo said. "It's tragic if you ask me."

The Tsuchikage hummed in agreement. "I've been taking care of Deidara for a few years now. He's one of Iwagakure's most promising genin. It would mean a lot if you were the one to heal that nasty wound on his neck, Lady Chiyo." That calculating smile remained, disguised under a layer of faked respect. Bastard.

"Very well," Chiyo said. It would give her a chance to study Deidara up close, and possibly question him in a way that would garner enough information for her to foresee any trickery on Ōnoki's part.

"Excellent. I hope Sasori-san's and Deidara's blooming friendship is a sign of the coming prosperity between our villages." With that, Ōnoki quickened his pace so that he was at the front of the group. His granddaughter and Akatsuchi were at his side in an instant, and Chiyo figured it was a trained behavior.

Deidara didn't join them.

She looked over her shoulder again to see he was still hassling Sasori over the meaning of art. She'd have to tread carefully, but whatever was happening between the stone genin and her grandson needed to be monitored if not stopped.

Xxx

"You're lucky." The tips of Chiyo's fingers glowed green with healing chakra as she carefully knitted the skin and protective cartilage of Deidara's neck back together. "One more tug and she would have sank that wire through your sternohyoid, omohyoid and thyrohoid muscles. One more after that, it would have been your carotid artery."

"Uh, my what?" Deidara's blue eyes blinked in confusion, his legs swinging off the edge of the hospital cot in a way that was almost distracting. Thankfully Sasori was the one to clarify. Chiyo doubted she had the patience.

"The muscles in your neck." Sasori tilted his chin back and pointed to his own neck. "Your carotid artery runs through here." He ran a finger from the bend in his jawbone and down. "If she didn't manage to decapitate you, you would have bled to death."

"Yes, although lucky for you, she only managed to sink it in enough to where all things meant to be protected were."

"No wonder it hurt so much, hmm," Deidara said.

"Don't talk. I'm not done." Chiyo continued her work, keeping Sasori in the corner of her eye. She had treated him first, and had been insistent that she be the one to do so. Deidara's wounds were superficial for the most part, and thankfully so were Sasori's despite a mild concussion. "You finish that juice box, Sasori," she ordered. "You've been out in the desert all day."

"Yes, Chiyo-baasama." Sasori obediently took another sip from the straw. Already he'd done the Skillful Achievement of the Human Body technique. Unbelievable. Not only that, he'd done it on a perfectly healthy, unwilling adversary. Chiyo picked up a wet cloth covered with soothing herbs and began to wipe the blood off of Deidara's skin.

"This should help ease the residual pain," Chiyo said.

"That does feel better, hmm." Deidara tilted his head to and fro once she finished and gave her a friendly smile. Chiyo didn't return it, not that Deidara seemed to notice, for he had already slipped off the bed to sit next to Sasori on one of the chairs by the wall of the small private room. Chiyo watched with silent distaste as the boy leaned across Sasori's lap to steal a sip of his juice.

"Hey!" Sasori said, shoving Deidara's face away. "Rude."

"Come on, I rescued you!"

"Don't be a baby," Sasori said. "Ask Chiyo-baasama for one."

Deidara let out a huff but turned his blue eyes to her. To a civilian they were completely innocent, but Chiyo had been a shinobi longer than most lived. Those eyes disturbed her. Beneath the ignorant façade, they held a constant frantic edge — a destructive energy that was completely at odds with Sasori's temperance. "Here," she said. She handed him another box from the small tray one of the stationary medics had brought in earlier.

"Thank you!" Deidara chirped, closing his eyes happily. Chiyo allowed herself to take him in for a moment before she turned to Sasori. Although he'd been subtle about it, Chiyo had seen the way Sasori kept close to Deidara's side. It was like watching a dog guard its food. This whole thing was wrong, and both the Iwagakure and Suna ninjas alike seemed to agree judging on the looks they gave.

Sasori was not an approachable child by any means, and being Chiyo's grandson, everyone knew of him. Although not outwardly hostile, Sasori was decidedly antisocial. As much as the Academy teachers raved about his abilities, his inability to bond with his fellow students was worrisome. His newfound attachment to Deidara only put the final nail in the coffin.

Now would be her only chance. First step, get Sasori out of the room.

"Sasori, would you mind going to the front desk and getting some salve?" she asked.

At her request, Sasori's expression promptly shifted into something unreadable. For a moment her mind tricked her into thinking she was looking at a corpse rather than a living child.

"Why?" he asked. His tone suggested that he wasn't going to bend at the 'because I said so' card. Those days had passed, and as much as Chiyo hated to let him get away with not following a direct order, getting what she wanted to know out of Deidara was more important. She'd only have a brief window, after all.

"I want you to give it to Komushi's mother," she answered. "She's been hysterical downstairs for hours."

Sasori didn't respond. His face gave no indication of what he was feeling or thinking.

"Komushi's arm will most likely have to be amputated."

Her grandson didn't even twitch. That same repressed anger she felt the morning he pestered her to go to the post office bubbled to the surface and she all but yelled at him.

"Dammit Sasori, it's the least you could do after the pain that child endured for you when you don't even speak to him! At least act like you care!"

She heard Deidara gasp, and faint lines appeared beneath Sasori's eyes as they pinched.

"If you don't like the way I'm feeling," Sasori began softly, "why don't you go buy me some candy?"

The breath froze in her lungs. "What did you just say?"

"Whenever I feel something, you always look sad. So I always ask you to buy me candy so you can pretend to make me feel better," Sasori said.

Chiyo's eyes widened a fraction. There was no denying the truth in those words. Not only that, it just showed Sasori was more than capable of manipulating her.

"Go get the salve," Chiyo said. "Now."

Sasori stared up at her for a few drawn out seconds more, eyes empty as his voice had been. Then he turned and left the room, and Chiyo felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"You shouldn't talk to him like that, hmm," Deidara said. Chiyo turned on him and glared when she saw him stare at the door Sasori had vanished through. His blue eyes met her dark ones. "He's really sad and lonely. You'll just make it worse."

"He's my grandson and it's my right," Chiyo said.

"I wouldn't know, hmm." Deidara's blond brows drew together, and he absentmindedly picked at the bandages around his palms. His legs started their distracting swinging once more.

"I guess you wouldn't," Chiyo said. "The Tsuchikage told me you're an orphan."

"Yeah, I am," Deidara said. "I live with Ōnoki-sama, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi. They're my family, hmm."

"He mentioned you had a bloodline limit." Chiyo moved to start putting her supplies away.

"Explosion release," Deidara said, but didn't elaborate further. He was arrogant, but that didn't mean he was dumb. The less another village knew about his abilities, the safer he was. Chiyo had to give him props for that. "I really like Sasori, hmm."

"I see." Chiyo almost faltered as she wrung out the cloth, but kept her hands steady.

"He's nice."

"Speaking of my grandson," Chiyo said. "Why did you decide to disobey your Kage to save him on your own? Surely you knew there would be consequences." She prepared herself to listen beneath the lines Deidara gave her.

"Because I wanted to." Deidara's expression was still friendly, but that frantic edge to his eyes strengthened, and his smile twitched around the edges. "I'm never allowed to do anything I want, and I wanted to use my art."

"Is your art murder?" Chiyo let her voice take an edge to it.

A pregnant pause filled the room and Deidara's smile faded. Chiyo watched him carefully, noticing that his legs had stopped swinging off the edge of the chair. "Sometimes people don't understand my art, and I have to give them a…live demonstration, hmm."

Chiyo didn't need to imagine what that meant. She'd seen the results only a few hours ago. "Sasori killed that kunoichi, didn't he?" she asked.

"Yes," Deidara said. Another long pause hung between them as Chiyo gathered her next words. Yet, the child beat her to it. "It was the most artistic thing I've ever seen." This time her hands did freeze as she prepared to wash them in the small sink by the bed.

"You're obsessive," Chiyo said.

"I'm an artist," Deidara said.

"There's no art in killing people."

"Isn't there? Everyone tends to work really hard on mastering different ways to do it, hmm. A lot of them I find quite beautiful, like Sasori's way." Deidara's smile returned, only this time it wasn't friendly at all. Curved like the blade of a sickle, it radiated the child's destructive energy. "Which I guess is technically your way, hmm."

Chiyo met his smile with a mask of calm. Deidara was obviously used to intimidating others by using his age and intellect, but he was still six years old, and Chiyo was not one to be bullied.

"You're right. It is," she said, returning to washing her hands. "Sasori learns fast. I'm proud." She turned off the sink's water and faced Deidara fully. The sickle-grin had morphed into a rather ugly scowl.

"He deserves better. You would have let him die or worse if I hadn't have acted, hmm." The boy's natural charisma had faded to reveal the temperamental beast beneath.

There you are. Chiyo let a soft smile crack the mask of her calm. "It's war. Sometimes you don't have a choice in who lives or dies." She let her smile slip away and met Deidara's narrowed blue eyes with her own knowing gaze. "I'm sure a lot of people would still be alive if you did."

Deidara shot her a look so vicious she was prepared to act if he lunged at her. Instead, the child schooled his features back into an unreadable smile.

She knew why a few seconds later when Kurotsuchi burst through the door with Akatsuchi at her heels. For a girl so small, she had quite the presence. Her short dark hair looked windblown as if she had run all the way here. Akatsuchi seemed far more at ease and cheerful now that he was no longer anxious.

"Deidara-nii, there you are." Kurotsuchi sat down in the chair next to Deidara and frowned slightly. "You shouldn't run off like that. You could give gramps a heart attack."

"Aw, lay off, Kurotsuchi." Akatsuchi leaned against the wall on Deidara's opposite side. "He saved the hostage."

"You were worried too," Kurotsuchi said, shooting Akatsuchi a glare.

"I'm touched, guys. Really, hmm," Deidara said, his bright smile back in place. He turned it on her and Chiyo felt her own fake smile return. "Thank you again, Lady Chiyo. My neck feels good as new, hmm!"

"You're welcome." Her window to speak with Deidara had closed. He was as dangerous as she had first assumed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see where my grandson wandered off to."

"Thank you again," she heard Kurotsuchi say as she exited the room. Chiyo closed the door behind her and paused abruptly when she saw Sasori standing there. His eyes were narrowed and he held a small container in his hands.

"She wouldn't take it," he said. "She wants to see you first." The way he watched her made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.

"Were you out here the entire time?" she asked.

"No," Sasori said. "I did what you said." He continued to watch her in that unsettling way. That was what had her on edge. Beneath that blank veneer, was that unmistakable anger of a person betrayed. "Can we go home now, Chiyo-baasama?" His tone was carefully controlled, but she knew him and loved him well enough to hear the anger lurking beneath. "I want to finish one of my projects." It all suddenly made sense. Sasori's sudden downshift in behavior, and his sudden lashing out with mentioning all the times she bought him candy. Chiyo felt as if the entire world stopped spinning.

He knew.

Oh my, so here we go! Thank you so much to those who reviewed. I am really enjoying this story and hearing your thoughts really inspires me to keep going. Sasori and Deidara's relationship starts to develop in the coming chapters, and Sasori's crumbling relationship with Chiyo becomes moreso. Stay tuned, and thank you also to the people who added this little story to their favorites and alerts.