New chapter, this one is all in Deidara's P.O.V.
i realised that in previous chapters, i forgot to mention that Sasori is Pan-sexual which basically means he bases his relationships on emotions and not on gender or appearance, so he HAS had girlfriends before, as well as boyfriends. and i just want to point out, Pansexual is not the same as Bi-sexual.
Warnings: yaoi/shounen-ai, Major drunken OOC Itachi, slight sad thoughts on Deidara's behalf and possible bad grammar
Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto/shippuden or any of it's characters because if i did, Naruto's parents would still be alive.
CHAPTER FOUR – Deidara's P.O.V
You know that god awful feeling of guilt you get when somebody else gets in trouble for something you've done?
Well, I should've taken the bullet. I should've almost died. It should be me in the operating room, on a flat metal bed, with knifes slicing into me and blood being transfused into my body.
But you know the terribly ironic thing about all of this? I had the necklace, the whole time I had it. As soon as Kisame passed it over, Konan stuffed it down my shirt and told me to leave, that Sasori would soon follow and everything would be alright.
There was only one rule to it all; I wasn't to give up the necklace, not for anything.
Now I was stuck in the waiting room, chewing jelly babies that were of little comfort to me now.
Pein and Kakuzu came as soon as they heard; Pein went straight to Konan who had calmed herself down considerably since then, and Kakuzu went to talk with the doctors, apparently he was a viable match for blood, if they needed any. Itachi came a little while after, looking distraught, the worst I'd ever seen him.
When he saw us, he actually smiled – I know, scary – he tossed a packet of jelly babies at me and embraced the blue man who had been unable to stay still long enough to sit.
"Konan… it was hard to understand her over the phone," I heard Itachi whisper, "I… I didn't know what to think."
Kisame only nodded, running his hand soothingly through Itachi's black locks.
But then, Itachi got angry and started hitting Kisame, in a disoriented, almost drunk manor, yelling, "You said it wasn't dangerous! You said no one would get hurt!"
Kisame did the best he could in this situation, wrapping his arms around my friend and shushing him, telling him things would be alright but Itachi wouldn't be stooped.
"That could've been you!" he yelled, "you could be in there, dying! How was I supposed to know that you weren't?!" finally he settled back to a gentle, but angry whisper, "do you have any idea how hard it is for me to watch you put yourself in danger like that?"
Kisame continued to hold him, breathing in deeply he said, "You smell like vodka."
Itachi sniffed a couple of times and said, "Yeah, I got a little drunk on the way here."
"You didn't drive, did you?"
Itachi laughed a little bitterly and yawned, "No, I took a cab."
"Good," Kisame turned to me, "I'm gonna take him home," he said.
I nodded because I couldn't speak and because I knew a drunken Itachi wasn't good for anything other than absurd mood swings.
I don't know how long I was there just waiting, but right then everything just felt numb and cold. My breathing was robotic, just an instinct but not something I felt. Jelly babies turned sour in my mouth. My eyes remained open but I could barely see a thing.
At some point I think I drifted off but I didn't dream. Deep down I could still hear the gun going off and I could still see red, everywhere.
It would play on my conscience forever if Sasori died. After all, he didn't have to save me, I would've been fine on my own or I could've at least given up the necklace. God I bet Konan hated me right now. I'd hate me if I was her.
And if Sasori survived, I guess I owed him my life, right? If that guy with the knife didn't, the guy who shot Sasori certainly would've taken care of me. He got away though, once Kisame and Konan showed themselves, he ran.
"Deidara, Deidara wake up!"
Someone was shaking me, calling my name, bringing me back to reality. Pein.
"Huh? What's going on, un?" I sat up properly, my body ached, I rubbed my eyes and waited as things came into focus.
"I need the necklace," Pein said, he held out his hand for it.
"Oh, yeah, okay," a little looking around and I found the necklace around my own neck, where I had placed it while in the ambulance. "Is Sasori awake?"
Konan sat down beside me and gave me a look one might give a broken puppy. She looked a little broken herself, so I guessed right away that the news wasn't exactly good.
"He's out of surgery," she started, "but there were complications, we can see him but he won't be awake."
"What do you mean un, is he alright or not?"
Konan frowned, "they say he's in a coma, trauma induced or something like that. They're not sure when he'll wake up."
"That's right," Pein said, examining the necklace, "could be days, could be weeks, could be months."
"M-months, un?"
Pein looked up as though just noticing he was actually speaking with me, he gave a single solemn nod, as though to spare me from any further worry.
"So can we see him, un?"
Konan nodded, "just for a few moments, then we've got to get you home. Unfortunately we don't get a day off today; the world doesn't stop turning just for us."
Ugh, I couldn't stand the thought of working today. We'd already gotten half the day off yesterday though so I suppose it was only fair.
Konan helped me to my feet, supporting me while I got used to standing again and eventually she led me to Sasori's room.
He looked awful. Washed out, sick and limp. The amount of cords and pipes they had connected to him made me feel like throwing up.
You know, they say that with dying or dead people you could just pretend that they're sleeping, but not now, not like this. Sasori looked like he'd just been shot, like he had just had the life sucked out of him and clumsily put back in. he looked exactly how he was expected to in a situation like this.
And it was all my fault.
None of us made a sound and I didn't dare move. We were out of there almost as soon as we entered though I knew I'd be back. In that bed laid a man who saved my life, I couldn't simply abandon that fact.
Konan and I barely had an hours sleep between us before we had to go to work.
Work, I never thought I'd be using that word in relation to myself. But then again, a lot of things had been happening recently, that I never would've imagined.
I went through the motions at work, serving people, giving them smiles that I hid my true feelings behind, sharing meaningless words with Konan and just getting through it all. That girl wasn't there today; the one with the necklace. I imagine after she lost it, she would be in some kind of trouble, I knew that necklace better have been expensive especially considering the price we had to pay for it.
When Konan and I got off work, we headed to my place only to find everyone already gathered there, sitting around the large kitchen table and waiting expectantly for us. Itachi had gotten a sick day to deal with his hang over but now looked better, back to his old self.
"Sasori is out of commission," that was Pein's opening sentence. He dealt out equal shares of the money then got down to business, "and with him like this, he's really of no use to the Akatsuki and if the police start sniffing around this whole thing, it would be better if we had no connection to him on paper."
"So what are you suggesting, un?" I really couldn't help myself from speaking up and no one really tried to stop me. I think Itachi of all people, knew well enough to know sometimes I just needed to be angry. "You're just gonna cast him out into the cold and act like he never did anything for any of you, un?!"
Pein didn't look fazed by my outburst, but then again, why would he?
"What other choices do we have? He is in a coma, and therefore cannot work for us any longer. It would be best if we found a replacement as soon as possible and cut all business ties with Sasori."
I growled, glaring at him and then at everyone else for not objecting.
"What is it to you anyway kid?" Kakuzu asked, "You're not even part of the Akatsuki, and besides, this way there's less people to share the money with, until Pein finds someone new."
"I want to be, un."
"What?" both Kakuzu and Itachi asked with equal amounts of shock.
I ignored them and looked over at Pein.
"I want to join the Akatsuki, just until Sasori gets better. I'm fast, strong enough and I'm not afraid to die, I can do just as well as he can. Please… I-I just want to make things right, un."
Pein gave me a tired, annoyed look.
"Alright, I'll give you a two week trial during which time I'll also be searching for a replacement, if you do well you can keep the job until Sasori gets better," he looked at everyone else, "any objections?" he looked pointedly at Itachi.
I could see it in his eyes, the want to say no and I was thankful that he didn't.
"Alright, the next job is coming in tomorrow, this one's a little higher risk," Pein continued.
"Oto?" I asked. The image of that man was still fresh in my mind; I was going to kill him even if it was the last thing I ever did.
"No, this item is just under tighter security. Wouldn't have been a problem for Sasori, let's see how you handle it."
"I'll do my best un."
Later, when everyone had gone, Itachi still sat at the table giving me a look.
"Why would you go and do something stupid like this?" he asked me quietly.
I shifted uncomfortably, faced with the standard Uchiha glare which I had built up a resistance to, but after being apart for so long it worked just like it was meant to.
"I had to un," I told him simply.
"What do you mean?"
"When Sasori wakes up un, I want his life to be exactly the way he left it. If that means I have to put my life in danger then so be it, un."
"Pein might find a replacement anyway."
"Then I'll just have to do a really good job, won't I, un?"
"You could get shot. You could end up like Sasori or worse."
I smiled a brave smile at my old friend and said, "I'm not a child Itachi, I know what I'm doing."
He nodded, knowing how stubborn I was and that nothing he could say would change my mind.
"I just hope, for your sake, that you're right."