It's 2 am and the disturbing prostitution advertisements have come on on TV. Alrighty then... I wrote one number down in case anyone's interested: 900 90 52 You're welcome.

I think we have developed quite a nice love/hate relationship between me and yourselves, readers. I literally have a total of 19 people crying to me, cursing me, insulting me and/or threatening to kill me at this point. I was called a jerk, a cruel/horrible person, a monster and demon. After all the effort I put into posting two chapters with an interval of mere days. Oh, I love you too guys :3

Here's the ninth chapter, totally cliffhanger-free:


Chapter 9

Deidara had little idea of how he'd managed to get back to the compartment while carrying the nearly unconscious Sasori with him. He remembered closing the door to the corridor and then turning up behind their compartment door. Fortunately, it'd been left unlocked.

He'd laid Sasori down on the bed and checked for pulse. He was definitely still alive, but his breathing was shallow. His white shirt was tinted red from the blood and Deidara feared the worst when ripping it open. Thankfully, after cleaning Sasori's chest with water he'd brought from the bottle on the table, Deidara discovered that the bullet hadn't gone through his chest but his shoulder, and he had the courage to hope that it hadn't hit anything vital.

Now that it had been confirmed, Deidara had no idea what to do, though. He'd never been interested in medicine and cursed himself for that now. What if there was something important he was supposed to do know to save the other's life that he didn't know about? What was he supposed to do?!

Deidara began chewing on his nails. Think, brat. Think. Deidara almost smiled momentarily. The voice in his head had sounded exactly like his Danna. His eyes wandered back to Sasori's face that looked paler than usual and worry clouded his mind again.

Taking in a deep breath, he forced his eyes closed and stopped chewing on his nails, making himself focus on thinking. Since he didn't have any experience with medicine, all he could count on was logic.

Now, even though it may have sounded stupid, when a bullet went through the body without hitting any vital organs, what could've still made the victim die? Loss of blood, Deidara thought. (What else could there be?) And to stop that, he would need to tie the wound as tightly as possible, Deidara concluded. He opened his eyes. God, oh please, let me be right! he thought desperately and got up.

Deidara took a hold of Sasori's already torn shirt and tore it to two halves, so he could remove it. He took the knife the redhead kept tucked in his sash and used it to rip a long strip out of the shirt. He then folded it in half and tied it the best he could around Sasori's arm and shoulder. He repeated the action with another strip, believing two would do a better work than one.

Deidara gazed at Sasori when he was done. The redhead was still breathing and the sound of it was what kept Deidara determined and hopeful. He could do it! Both of them could! Sasori just needed some rest and then he'd be fine, the blond kept repeating to himself.

He glanced around in the room to see whether he could find anything that could help Sasori. The only thing of use he spotted was the bottle of water on the table. Deidara didn't want to waste it, so he decided to preserve it for when Sasori woke up (hopefully soon) and needed something to drink.

Deidara sat down on the floor by the bed, placing his hand on top of Sasori's immobile one. He sighed quietly. Yes, everything would be alright; he had to believe so. He rested his head on the bed (he didn't dare to risk putting the weight on Sasori stomach) and ran his finger up and down the redhead's arm, drawing patterns. Oh how he wished for the other to wake up already.

Deidara closed his eyes. He wasn't sure whether he fell asleep for a little or not, but his eyes flickered open at the sound of the door being opened. He straightened up immediately, alarmed by seeing an unfamiliar figure stepping in. Truth was, Deidara recognized the person, but anyone else than Sasori entering this room seemed unfamiliar and off to him.

The figure Deidara easily recognized by the showy clothes and tri-corner black hat was the headman of the ship; captain Madara.

Deidara wasn't sure whether he should've bowed in respect or something. He'd never had to confront anyone on the ship besides Sasori (and Kisame, but that had been only once). He'd never talked to anyone beside Sasori on this ship. He felt a cold shiver of anxiety and terror run down his back like an ice cube.

Madara looked down at the blond with an expression that was surprised at first, but then turned malicious. Deidara felt uncomfortable watching into those cold, red eyes, but couldn't turn away either. Involuntarily he moved closer to the unconscious redhead.

Deidara felt relief when that set of eyes darted away from him, but felt ill at ease when he saw them look Sasori up and down. For some reason, Deidara felt the sudden urge to protect his Danna from those eyes; they were so cold, malicious and poisonous – there was no better way to describe them. Deidara wanted the eyelids to fall shut.

"You almost slipped my mind," Madara said, shifting his gaze back to Deidara. The blond gulped. The man's face was completely expressionless; all the emotion was stored in his eyes, but it was enough to make Deidara pale. "I should've known you would be here, nursing the corpse."

Deidara winced. "He's not dead," he whispered, his voice shaky. "He'll live."

Madara cocked his head to one side. "Maybe. If only he weren't on this ship."

"What do you mean?"

"This ship isn't taking any passengers, lubber," Madara said, drawling the last word. "He won't be able to work in this condition. He won't be of use to me, thus he shall be disposed of. You, of course, shall go with him," the captain added matter-of-factly. Gazing at the redheaded pirate and the blond, Madara looked genuinely bored.

"You mean you will kill him only because he won't be capable of carrying out orders for a week or two?" Disbelief sounded in Deidara's voice. Quite naïve of him; made one think that Sasori had been right and he really was only a brat that hadn't been introduced to the real world yet.

"Not exactly," Madara said. "You could stay in this room, if you wanted, but fact is that neither of you would survive without any food or water. Such a luxury as dinner is available only to those who work, though. And if you're going to die anyway, why not make it quick?" He raised his eyebrows, but they furrowed into a frown when he continued. "This is what the rule of no passengers revolves around. No need to keep useless trash on board, the ship is heavy as is.

You, of course, were an exception to that, but this was only because of Sasori's oddity. I'm guessing he divided his each dinner into half and brought the other half here to you. Why he shared half of his payment for hours long of hard work with someone who had just lounged meanwhile, I shall probably never understand." Madara shook his head, as though oddity of this level was beyond him.

Deidara felt a sting of guilt. Sasori had gotten less food just because of him? He pushed the thought away quickly, before it could make him feel even worse. No, it had been Sasori's own decision on letting him live in the first place; it wasn't Deidara's fault.

Then a sudden idea hit him.

"What if I take his place?" Deidara asked, a sudden ray of hope and bravery making its way into the darkness he'd seen their future as. "I can carry out the orders for him."

Madara raised both eyebrows at him in insulting disbelief. "You're a land lover. What do you know about working on a ship?"

Deidara held back the urge of correcting the man on 'land lover'. He hesitated before answering, though. After all, he had no idea what kind of work Sasori had been forced to do during the days. The hours he'd spent trapped inside this compartment seemed to grow even longer when thinking that his Danna had spent all of them doing work.

One look at the redhead was all it took to re-build Deidara's courage. He looked the captain straight in the eye and said with a steady voice: "I'm quick to learn."

Madara gave him a measuring look. He didn't seem genuinely convinced, but decided to brush the doubts off. "Alright, I'll see you at sunset on deck. Let's see what you can do then." He turned on his heel and left the compartment, closing the door after him.

Deidara was left alone in the room with Sasori and an eerie, queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Deidara?" a weak voice sounded from behind the blond. He swirled around quickly and a huge wave of relief washed over him as he watched the pale redhead open his brown eyes and regard him. "Are you alright?"

Deidara frowned and all of a sudden he looked angry. "Don't you dare ask that when you yourself just go shot in the shoulder! How could I be fine after that?!"

"Shot…?" Sasori tried sitting up, but the pain of the wound was too strong; he grimaced and fell back on the bed, casting his shoulder a concerned look. "This is bad," he muttered.

"Be careful, Danna!" Deidara exclaimed, sounding alarmed. "You'll hurt yourself even more! Here, do you want some water?" He grabbed the bottle from the desk and brought it to Sasori's lips, tilting it a little so the water would run down to Sasori's mouth. The redhead took one gulp, before closing his mouth. Deidara had to turn the bottle upwards in a flash so the water wouldn't run down his Danna's face. He gave the other a questioning look.

"What is that, brat? Get me some rum or let me die in peace," Sasori grunted.

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Danna…" he whined, but put the bottle away regardless and trod the chest, getting a bottle of rum from it. "This can't be good for your health," he muttered while Sasori gulped down the liquid.

"I disagree," Sasori stated simply. Once he'd emptied the bottle and it had been put away, he started to sit up, only to have Deidara's firm hands on his stomach stop him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Danna?!" Deidara exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Lie down!"

Sasori frowned at listening to the blond giving orders, but didn't comment on it; there were more important things at the moment. "You don't know what you're talking about, brat. This ship takes no passengers."

Deidara's expression only turned angrier. "Yes, I do! Madara already dropped by and lectured me!"

"And you still want me to lie down after listening to him?" Sasori raised his eyebrows. "He did mention that if I get killed, so do you, right?" There was no way Madara would pass a malicious opportunity like this, Sasori thought.

Deidara looked hesitant and turned away. "Well, yes," he admitted. Not that he cared much about what happened to him once Sasori was gone; he was a teenager in love, after all. And a stubborn one, at that.

"Then what are you thinking?" Sasori demanded. "I'm not going to lie here and wait to be killed, brat. I-"

"I made a deal with Madara, so that I'll be taking your place until you heal," Deidara blurted out; once he did, he felt like digging a hole in the ground. He was sure this was the farthest he had gone over the line, but he didn't regret it. He knew it was the right thing to do, and soon Sasori would too.

When he dared to glance at the redhead again, he saw that he'd left the other dumbfounded. He might've as well have told Sasori he was pregnant. Deidara stared and him and waited for a change.

It came; Sasori's expression turned into a smile, but there was no happiness whatsoever in it. "No, you won't," he said, as if it had been decided.

Deidara frowned; he'd known it was coming and that's what had made him prepared. "Why not?" he demanded.

"Firstly," Sasori started in a tired tone, similar to the one that would be used when explaining to a child why they shouldn't talk to strangers, "being me isn't something many could handle, and I doubt you're one of those who can. Secondly," he added with stress before Deidara could interfere, "Madara would never let you work in conditions that would allow you to be successful. He can't stand you."

The string of complaints had died on Deidara's tongue and instead of them he asked a newly formed question: "Why can't Madara stand me? I've never even-"

"Because he can't stand me," Sasori put in, seeming tired of this conversation. This was his first time sharing any details of his relationships with the other sailors; he would've been a fool had he thought the blond would let it drop so easily.

"And why is that?" the blond inquired, unmistakable curiosity flashing in his eyes.

Sasori turned his head, casting the other a solemn look. "I have something he doesn't, but grieves for desperately."

Deidara's expression turned from bright to thoughtful. "And I suppose you're not going to tell me what that is?" He couldn't stop the note of hope from entering his voice.

As expected, Sasori shook his head. "No."

Deidara shook his head also. "Thought so," he muttered, more to himself, then added: "It's beside the point either way." He stood up. "I'm going to substitute you until that wound of yours has healed."

"I don't remember you being the one in charge here, brat," Sasori growled angrily. "You'll get killed before you set a foot on the deck."

"I'm going to get killed anyway," Deidara snapped. His harsh tone surprised the redhead; it had been long since he'd heard it. "If I don't go, you'll meet your end when trying to work despite the wound – the only way for it to heal is to give it some rest. And if you die, so will I." He paused for a moment, staring Sasori straight in the eyes while letting him take in his said words. "The best chance of at least one of us surviving is if I go."

He didn't find it necessary to point out that if only one of them were to survive, it would be Sasori, not him. He was convinced the redhead would be able to put two and two together.

The next time Sasori looked at the blond, his expression wasn't angry anymore, but pleading. "Deidara, please don't do this."

"I have to," pressed Deidara. "It's our best shot and you know it. Why won't you let me go?"

An intense silence fell and Sasori turned his head away. A quiet moment passed; then a minute and it turned into two. Finally, Sasori said: "You will be taking as many guns and knives as you can carry and if you manage to get killed, I will personally ensure that your corpse will be bald. That ought to make you careful."

Deidara nodded, flashing the other a small smile. "Of course, Danna, whatever you say."

The next hour rolled by with Sasori giving Deidara advice on what to do and how to react in different situations. He let the blond have even those guns that had been tucked in his sash (plus all those in the caskets in his room), leaving only a knife and a pistol to himself. He also gave Deidara a sword. He was pleased to hear that Esquire Iwaga had gone out of his way to teach his son how to handle a weapon as such.

Sasori had lain down (after 10 minutes of listening to Deidara's persuading) and watched the blond pull a jacket over his shirt that already hid four guns. Sasori still didn't have a good feeling about this, but there was no convincing the blond to stay. Maybe it was for the best this way.

"Be safe," Sasori said, before receiving a peck on his lips and watching the younger male walk out of the room. He could hear the key being turned in the keyhole once the door had closed.


To be continued...


Okay I was totally pulling your dicks. There is a cliffhanger. I hope you enjoy it ;) - Akuma