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Chapter seven – Blood

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A single eyelid flew open and Deidara's eyes immediately locked with the pale white, sleeping face of Sasori. He guessed by the stillness and the quiet that it was early morning. His eyelids were heavy, but the pain in his back and hips seemed to be the culprit of his early rising. The two of them fell asleep on top of a table with only a thin sheet and body heat to keep the two of them warm.

Deidara carefully rolled over onto his back and stared up at the dim amount of light on the ceiling. He heard Sasori's faint groan of disapproval as one of his hands fled across Deidara's bare chest and slid out from under his shirt. The table was perfectly fit for Sasori's petite size, but Deidara was at least a foot-and-a-half taller than the redhead and barely fit without curling his knees in.

He slipped a hand against Sasori's bangs to expose his forehead for a quick kiss, but gravity retaliated and covered the pastel white skin again. In the few nights since his confrontation with Sasori, every unconscious and waking moments were filled with nightmares about finding Sasori dead again. He knew how annoyed Sasori would be if he were to wake him hours before his waking curfew, but just hearing the redhead's breathing wasn't enough to convince him.

His hand slid from Sasori's forehead down to his scrawny shoulders to shake him awake

"…mm…mmff…" an eye cracked open, meeting Deidara's eye with a glare. Upon seeing Deidara's smile, his eyes eased a bit.

"Hey, Danna…" Deidara greeted with a weak, shaking voice. The redhead's eyes fell closed again while a silent groan escaped through barely parted lips.

"You woke me up, you brat." He muttered while trying to slip back into unconsciousness. Deidara turned over on his side again, propping himself up on his elbow.

"I know… I just wanted to make sure you're alive." Deidara said as-a-matter-of-factly. Sasori couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm fine, Deidara. You can't kill me… even if you tried."

There was a long period of silence after that. By the time Deidara got the courage to speak, he couldn't find his voice again and he wasn't sure if Sasori had fallen asleep.

"Danna, could I ask you a question?"

The redhead opened his eyes again, looking at Deidara with a serious look as if he knew what was coming.

"How are you… who you are…?" Sasori raised an eyebrow, trying to play it off as if he didn't understand the question, but Deidara knew better.

"It would be best if you asked someone else that question." Sasori rolled over onto his other side, showing the blonde his back to avoid answering any more questions. Deidara sighed and stared at Sasori's back, regretting asking that question.

"Sasori…"

He moaned in response, obviously close to following asleep. His first attempt at getting Sasori to turn around failed. Deidara repeated Sasori's name again, earning the same response. The blonde sat up and hovered over Sasori to meet his closed eyes. Feeling Deidara's presence, Sasori's eyes opened once again. The smaller boy groaned at the taller man, opening his mouth to speak.

"I'm trying to—" Deidara pressed his lips menacingly against the other's "—sleep…" Sasori finished with a tinge of red brushed across his cheeks.

"I know…" Deidara cooed, bringing their lips together again.

The door flew open merely a second later, followed by the light switch. Deidara sat up instantly to find the identity of the intruder.

"Please get a room."

Deidara huffed, biting his tongue to avoid reminding Pein that they had one before he barged in. He was still grateful that it was Pein, as opposed to Orochimaru. The orange-haired man was accompanied by Konan. She immediately crossed over to Sasori's side, gesturing the bare, clothes-less redhead from under the sheets. A shiver instantly sprawled up the redhead's spine when his skin was exposed to the colder air. He reached for the sheet and wrapped it around his body before following Konan out of the room.

"What are you doing…?" Deidara demanded at Pein. The pierced man raised a hand to silence Deidara. Deidara bit his lip to stop the insults forming in his mind.

"Relax. It's just a physical examination. He has to take them regularly for the next week. You can have him back in an hour or two."

He hated how blunt Pein was with him. There was still a lot of tension between them. For the sake of his tired state, Deidara decided to spare another argument by sitting on the table and staring at the opposite wall. Much to his surprise, Pein took a seat beside him.

"Deidara. You're wanted, I hope you know. You can't go back home." Pein began after moments of silence.

"I know." Deidara replied, annoyed that this subject was being brought up again.

Pein decided to attack it from a different angle. "Deidara. I want you to join us."

Deidara scoffed a little, disgusted by the idea. Still, Pein persisted.

"You have no choice. You already know who we are—" 'not really, no…' Deidara thought. "—and where we reside. You're wanted. You have no choice."

He kept quiet even though he knew it was true.

"Even if I joined, I don't have the same abilities as the others. I can't run faster than a few miles an hour… I can't jump very high…"

"I could fix that." Another scoff fled from Deidara's mouth. Pein couldn't help but smile. "You don't believe me…?" Pein questioned. "How do you think Kisame, Hidan, and Kakuzu got their abilities?" Deidara didn't speak, mainly because he had no idea how to answer the question without sounding stupid. "I lent them my abilities and they developed on their own."

Even though he hated to admit it, he was curious to hear the rest of the story. Pein seemed to catch on, as Deidara could hear the pierced man draw in a deep breath to begin speaking.

"I'm sure you've figured out already that we're not normal. We can run faster, jump higher… disappear." The hand gestures Pein made along with his words were beginning to annoy the blonde. "Any human has the ability to do this."

'I must not be ANY human then.' Deidara thought, though his lips threatened to say it aloud. Instead, he said something more polite so as not to make Pein any more annoyed with him. "How is this possible?"

Pein seemed to be pleased that Deidara had asked this. "Chakra."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like witchcraft."

The Leader sighed, looking for an alternative to explain this. "There are three kinds of people in the world: People who have the ability to awaken their chakra themselves, People who awaken theirs through other people, and people who do not know of their chakra." That made Deidara the third person. "People who have awakened their chakra are called 'Akatsuki'. At present, most of the Akatsuki are in my organization."

"What are you?" Deidara asked. A blunt question, but he hoped Pein understood what he meant.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Another blunt, boring answer. He heard Sasori say "they" a lot, so he assumed these people were the "they" he talked about. So the "who" of the matter was answered, but the "what" was what was now bothering him. It was obvious that Sasori was a criminal because he was responsible for the murder of Sandaime – and those organs in his closet didn't come from animals, either. He definitely had preformed a number of killings in his days. Itachi was responsible for brining down one of Konoha's most powerful corporations. He didn't know much about the other members, but he assumed they had done their share of bad deeds too.

"There is an operation we perform for Chakra Awakening, but that's only if you can not awaken it yourself." Pein said with his gaze locked on the door.

There was feeling in the pit of his stomach that made Deidara think this 'operation' was going to be very painful. "H-how can you awaken it yourself."

"No one knows. It's just something that happens. Itachi, Orochimaru, Sasori, Konan, and myself were able to do so by myself. Hidan, Kakuzu, and Kisame had the operation.

"Hidan was part of a small religion based on masochist behavior that was later shut down and became forbidden in his land because of its bloody, inhumane rituals. Kakuzu was a thief responsible for robbing hundreds of banks, and Kisame was a swordsmen assassin. Orochimaru was a ledged in Konoha—" Now that he mentioned it, Deidara had heard the snake's name before "—Itachi was the heir to a multi-billionaire corporation. He assassinated his family and brought the corporation to dust and was banished from the Leaf."

Deidara suddenly felt very uncomfortable. All of the members had preformed such terrible acts, and the worst Deidara's ever done is supposedly "rape" a fifteen year old.

"Each human's chakra is different. It changes with our beliefs, our desires, our wants and our personalities. When it's awakened, it takes the form of your being and turns you into your desires. You can't choose your abilities – they choose you. Of course, we all have the ability to run faster, jump higher, and disappear, but that's only if you know how to control it."

The blonde remembered the night before he went to prison. Sasori had him in some sort of bind that had paralyzed his ability to move. Perhaps that was part of Sasori's abilities. Now that he thought about it, Pein had not said much about Sasori in the first place.

"What about Sasori-Danna…? You didn't say anything about him." The orange-haired man rose to his feet and stretched his arms above him with a dull yawn before crossing the room to the door. Before he left, he turned to face Deidara for one final word.

"That's a story for another day. I will give you until the end of this week for your decision."

And he was gone.

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Deidara was back at the couch again, finishing the last of the microwavable miso soup he found the cupboard. The one thing he really missed was eating dinner with someone. The Akatsuki seemed to travel at their own paces and eat wherever and whenever they pleased. Once and a while, he'd find one of the members digging through the half-empty cabinets for something to eat. Then they'd disappear behind their bedroom door again. Sasori came out on rare occasion when he wasn't being held captive by Pein and Konan.

"I'm sorry for all of this… this happens every time I die." Sasori said one night while he was working at his desk. Deidara was sitting back against the wall again, watching the redhead with half-closed eyes.

"It's fine, Danna… I probably deserve not seeing you after I killed you…" Deidara said while he traced circles on his ankles. Sasori turned back to Deidara with a slightly annoyed look in his eyes.

"Don't say that. Like I said before: you can't kill me, even if you tried."

The blonde sighed and looked down while he fiddled with his fingers in embarrassment. He knew he couldn't kill Sasori, but it was the fact that he had tried to kill him that made him nervous.

"Danna, how come I can't kill you?"

Silence. Sasori continued scribbling his notes down in the textbook. Deidara looked away with a disappointed sigh. This was the second time he had asked and the second time he had been downcast.

"…h-hey, Deidara…" Sasori whispered. He instantly looked up with a hopeful smile. "Yes, Danna?"

"I need to pick up a few things back at my bedroom if you don't mind. Would you like to escort me?"

"Of course." Deidara sighed, getting up and shoving his feet through his shoes. He reached his hand out to take Sasori's, but it was refused as Sasori put his in his pocket. They both left the room in silence and Sasori quickly turned around to lock it with a key.

"Dan—" Sasori shoved his hand over Deidara's mouth to silence him while pulling a finger up to his lips. Deidara nodded in understanding. He didn't want Sasori to remove his hands since it was the first time he had felt Sasori's touch in days, but it he couldn't help but notice something different about the way Sasori's flesh felt. Perhaps it was the time duration that made him forget, but he could've sworn that Sasori's flesh felt harder. He felt like Sasori had placed a piece of wood over his mouth to silence him. His scent was still as sweet though.

Sasori pulled his hand away and shoved it in his pocket again. There was a devious, mischievous smile plastered on his lips as they both made their way down the dark hallway. Sasori pushed the door open and closed the door behind Deidara. The room after that was completely black.

The blonde groped around the abyss to find the missing Sasori. When his hands brushed against something soft, he heard a light gasp come from nowhere.

"Deidara, are you that eager?" Sasori asked in a hissing whisper. Though it was dark, Deidara swore his cheeks had turned red.

"Sorry…" though part of him really wasn't. There was a rumbling sound coming from an opposite wall. A hint of moonlight lit the outline of Sasori's face and Sasori pulled Deidara toward the exit. They had to crawl through that two foot gap Sasori had created, but it was enough for the both of them to get through.

There was nothing as sweet as breathing in the night air. Deidara inhaled, filling his lungs with the luscious scent and releasing in a deep, heavy sigh. The redhead was already halfway down the block by the time he had finished, and the cold air was less forgiving when his breathing became heavy. Sasori sounded as if he were laughing when Deidara caught up, like it was a game for him.

"Danna, why can't you just let me enjoy the night air for a few minutes?" he snapped at the amused face of the redhead.

"I hate waiting. You have to catch up." He whispered back, walking faster and making Deidara skip to keep up with Sasori's strides. "My apartment is a ten minute walk from here. You have plenty of breathing time."

"If you keep walking that fast, I'll have too much breathing time." Deidara groaned up at the moon.

Neither of them talked after that. Once and a while, Deidara would heave a big sigh in hope of starting a conversation, but Sasori never caught on. Deidara noticed the glances he kept casting over his shoulder, and after watching that for ten minutes, he found himself doing the same thing. His eyes created shapes in the shadows and each shape brought him a step closer to Sasori. When they were walking inches apart, they arrived at Sasori's old apartment.

He never thought he'd miss the skinny hallway this much. With a skip in his step, he followed Sasori down to the kitchen-bedroom. The lights flickered on and off when the light switch was flipped, but it provided enough light to make out everything in detail.

"Sasori pulled a large box out and started piling books into it.

"Hey, Sasori-Danna?" Deidara asked while he took a seat on the couch behind a crouching Sasori.

"Hm?" he replied while he topped the box off with the last book.

"Why are you packing? Are you moving back to the Akatsuki place?"

"Well… yes… I have no choice now."

"No choice?" He repeated with a bewildered look.

"This place will be ashes by tomorrow."

Deidara's mouth fell agape. "B-but… why…?"

"Because after I leave this place, I'll have to burn it."

"Why?!" Deidara asked again with a desperate tone.

"Because, thanks to you, I'm in the police records. If Sunakagure discovered I was alive—" he broke off and changed his words, "…I need to play dead… there are plenty of Sasori's in the world. If this place goes, then I'll just be another body. If I remain in the files as a rape victim, they'll discover my ties with that damn, godforsaken country. They'll know I was the one who killed Sandaime…"

Deidara stopped talking there once he realized that Sasori sounded scared.

Sasori sniffed and pulled out another cardboard flat, popping it out so it was box-shaped again and began filling it with what little clothes he had. It barely took up the bottom of the box, so the rest was filled with vials and jars filled with unknown, strangely colored liquids and organs. The two boxes were packed and placed by the door out in the hallway.

Deidara watched Sasori go through and clean out his closet. He was standing in the back, quiet as a shadow while Sasori tossed antique china onto the floor and vials in a third box. When the closet was empty, Sasori hoisted himself up on the bottom shelf to reach the very top one.

He groped around the dusty surface until his hand hit something, grabbing the lid and yanking it toward the edge. Deidara blinked, noticing it to be a small shoebox. Sasori jumped off and held the box delicately in his hands as if it were a priceless vase, but the way his face looked was as if he were holding burning coal in his hands. He slowly packed it away in the third box and placed it at the door along with the others.

"What was in there?" Deidara asked hesitantly. It obviously hurt Sasori to think about, but curiosity got the best of him. Expectantly, all he got was.

"Nothing of your concern."

Deidara sat back at the couch, watching Sasori with a concerned look. The redhead gave the box a nostalgic gaze before returning to Deidara's side with a smile to cover it up. He straddled across Deidara's legs and buried his nose against Deidara's throat.

"Hey…" he cooed, pressing a kiss against his Adam's Apple.

"Hey yourself…" Deidara replied with a tinge of blush under his eyes.

"I missed you…" Sasori wrapped an arm around the back of Deidara's neck and twirled his fingers in the long, blonde locks of his hair.

"Me too." He hid his face in the curly, crimson threads atop the shorter boy's head. "Danna…"

"Yes?"

"Why can't I kill you?"

Sasori didn't know what exactly Deidara was asking. He leaned in and brushed his lips just barely against Deidara's. "…I can't say…" his voice was so silent; Deidara could barely hear his words. His breathing froze so as not to spoil the delicious taste of Sasori's scent.

The talking stopped there. Deidara fell against the back of the couch, feeling Sasori's lips travel over the skin on his neck. A moan slipped from his lips just as his shirt was yanked over his head. Deidara proceeded to do the same to the black fishnet shirt Sasori was wearing under the jacket he had previously discarded. He barely caught glimpse of the ugly scar on Sasori's chest before he was distracted by another kiss. They grew more feverish as the seconds past. Sasori's lips never remained in the same place. He left kisses on every inch of Deidara's skin after clothing removal exposed it.

Sasori's lips were freezing cold against his skin, sending shivers up his spine with every heated kiss. Deidara wrapped his legs around Sasori's waist. He shivered when he felt Sasori's ice-cold stomach meet his. Sasori's skin was definitely cold, as if every bit evidence of heat I his body had disappeared. His hands had lost their silky texture. It was pleasant, feeling Sasori again, but it was also a shock feeling him like this.

Sasori shot up, tossing his head over his shoulder to look at the door. "…hold on…" He whispered, getting up and running over to the door. He pressed his ear against the wooden frame and closing his eyes to listen. After a few minutes of dead silence, he pulled away from the door and pulled the lock on the deadbolt closed. Then he crossed the room and closed the window, locking it as well.

"What are you so paranoid about?" Deidara asked, looking up at Sasori and then over at the door.

Sasori sat back in Deidara's lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Nothing… nothing at all…" he said in a nervous tone. He leaned down to pick up where he had left off on Deidara's stomach. Deidara decided to drop it and closed his eyes.

"Deidara… don't take the blows from me…" he whispered, leaning up and straightening his back.

"What…? …what do you mean…?" Deidara asked looking Sasori square in the eye. "Sasori… what are you talking about? Why are you… shaking…?" he asked, grasping Sasori's cold arms to calm him down.

Sasori kept his eyes down, but he kept casting glances to the door. Deidara followed it, looking down the long, dark hallway to catch glimpse of what Sasori was watching. His eye locked immediately with those ghastly, yellow eyes that had been haunting his past week at Akatsuki. Orochimaru was standing in the open door, jugging the broken lock in one of his hands.

"How goes the rendezvous?" Orochimaru asked, kicking over the stack of boxes by the door. They both heard the broken glass and Deidara and Orochimaru could see the gaping look on Sasori's face.

"Orochimaru! Don't touch those…!" Sasori demanded as he dashed toward the black haired man to save any more of his possessions from breaking. Before he reached the boxes, he was knocked onto the floor by a fist. Sasori remained on the floor, motionless and quiet. At first, Deidara thought he was unconscious until Sasori began his attempt at getting to his feet again. When he got to his knees, he was rocketed into the wall by another punch and then pinned against the cracking plaster by his neck.

Sasori's hands fled to Orochimaru's, trying to pry the snake out of its coil. He gagged, his lungs starving for air.

"Danna…!" Deidara screamed, jumping off the couch and running toward the struggling redhead. Orochimaru flashed the blonde a smile before dropping the redhead in a mangled heap at his feet. Deidara quickly changed his angled direction toward the unconscious redhead before feeling something hard slam against the side of his head. His mind quickly flashbacked to the time his head slammed against his car window. He temporarily blacked out, looking up at Orochimaru's knees from his spot on the floor.

"I thought I told you not to touch my partner." Orochimaru hissed, but his voice was still as sickeningly sweet. "You're not a very good listener, Deidara-kun." He teased, leaning down to look him in the eyes. Deidara felt rage and hatred build in his stomach. He stared back into Orochimaru's eyes with clenched teeth.

"GET OUT!" he barked, and almost instantly, Orochimaru's body was swallowed in an explosion. Deidara threw his body over Sasori's as his ears were assaulted by unbelievable sound and shockwave. He heard the windows blow out and the hallway door slam against the wall.

The smoke cleared and Orochimaru was gone. Deidara slowly lifted his head and looked around at the room. Almost everything was unnoticeable with the layer of charcoal that had settled over every surface, including him and Sasori. Sasori's face was untainted by the black material since Deidara had covered him, but the redhead's back was covered in scars from the projectiles that had embedded themselves in his delicate flesh.

"…I-I did this…" Deidara said in a shaking voice, looking at the wounds with wide, shaking eyes.

"You putrid little—"

Deidara snapped his head up and met eyes with Orochimaru again. His tattered clothes revealed the burn marks on his pale chest. His eyes were filled with a rage that could be compared to what Deidara had felt only minutes ago.

"You saved him…" Orochimaru said with a smirk on his face. Deidara seemed surprised by the snake's mood change. He never wanted Sasori to be hurt, perhaps the explosive power had understood. "...You're a fool…" Orochimaru hissed. "You'll regret that… it's better that he's dead."

Deidara narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps I should show you who he really is."

Deidara felt a shooting pain the side of his neck before coming face to face with a blade covered in his blood. He met his reflection: his distorted, terrified reflection as a single drop of blood landed on one of Sasori's cheeks.

"Since Sasori can't finish his mission, I'll have to do it for him." Orochimaru plucked a matchbox from Sasori's pocket and pulled the tiny drawer open to grab a matchstick. Deidara watched in horror as the match was struck and held menacingly between Orochimaru's fingers.

"You're both better off dead."

It seemed like the scene was in slow-motion. His fingers parted and the tiny ember slowly swallowed the rest of the matchstick and came in contact with the carpet.

The fire slowly spread, consuming the remaining carpet with hungry movements. Deidara panicked, leaning over Sasori. "…D-Danna! Please! Wake up! WAKE UP!" he begged, rigorously shaking the small Akatsuki. By now, the fire was melting the cheap, plaster walls. The heat was getting very uncomfortable and Deidara could feel sweat gathering on his forehead.

The gash on his neck dropped another bead of blood on the corner of Sasori's mouth, and then slipped through the crack between his lips. Sasori's eyes flew open as soon as his tongue met the coppery liquid pervading his mouth. Deidara jumped back as if someone had tied a string around his waist and yanked him back. Sasori's eyes were coal black and empty.

"…D-Danna… S-Sasori…?"

Sasori's tongue flicked out and slowly brushed across his lips. Deidara's eyes widened when he noticed something perturbing from Sasori's chest. The ugly scar had taken the form of a cylinder and turned blood red. The scar had turned black – he now noticed it was in the shape of the Kanji character for "Scorpion". His stomach had sunken in and replaced itself with a metallic, reptilian-looking flesh. What terrified Deidara the most were the wing-like projectiles that had sprouted from Sasori's back. There were five silver blades sprouting from either side of the two pipe-looking objects attached to Sasori's lower-back.

"Perhaps I should show you who he really is."

Sasori's eyes fixated on the gash on the side of Deidara's neck. He could see the fire reflection swimming in the Akatsuki's dark, evil eyes. He got to his feet, looking down at Deidara with a malicious grin sprawled across his lips.

"…I…I-I have to kill y-you… D-Deidara… I have to kill you!!"

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Author's Note – CLIFFHANGER!! I realize that most of you are on the brink of slitting my throat and leaving me to die. I'm so sorry this took too long. I could give you a string of excuses, but that won't really help. I promise that I'll try my best to update the next chapter VERY soon. Please keep your torches and pitchforks at a safe distance – killing me will only postpone the update even more.

I lovelovelove "I love My Puppeteers" for her wonderful contribution to getting me off my lazy ass to write this chapter. She is overly amazing, as are all of my wonderful fans. I shall update soon!