SasoDei – One Gold Doubloon
Chapter Nine
Punishment
The red head's hands were gloveless. Sasori was busy packing up the last of his vials, having been too preoccupied to put them away previously. As he did so, he quietly sang a song that he had heard so many years before, "There once was a pirate, who put out to sea. His mates all around him, no maiden on his knee…Oh, sail for a little, for just a little, little. Sail for a little, until she finds him…" He silenced his singing to hum for a while, putting the glass jars away in their proper places before returning to the vocal portions of the song. "The sea was so violent, the crew went below. They begged him to join them, but he would not go…Her heart was so laden; she fell by a tree, and sang of some pirate who haunted the sea. A wail through the willows, all hollow through the willows; she'll wail through the willows, until she finds him. We'll sail for a little, for just a little, little. Sail for a little, until she finds him…"
He looked around the cabin with a satisfied sigh, having finished tidying it up at last. There was a sudden knock, and Sasori perked up at the distraction, shooting an annoyed expression at the door. The damn Brat kept on annoying him – he had specifically told him on various occasions that he had no right to bother the red head unless it was a life or death situation.
Sasori moved over to the door and opened it, surprised to find that it wasn't Deidara who was disrupting him this time. Instead, it was none other than Sasuke who stood in the doorway. He was dressed in his more formal attire, including his midnight blue captain's cloak. "Hello Akasuna," his voice was its usual bitter tone, "may I come in?"
Sasori eyed him slowly but he was aware that he couldn't actually deny the co-captain entry. He stepped to the side and gestured for the male to enter, "Of course; come in, Sasuke." The younger male walked inside, looking around slowly while Sasori shut the door, "So then, for what reason have I been graced with one's company this fine day?"
Sasuke turned to look at the red head, his eyes narrowing into a half-hearted glare, "I have made it blatantly obvious that I am not particularly fond of you, Akasuna; it would be fair enough for me to claim that I go so far as to hate you."
"Fair enough," Sasori gave a shrug and took a seat at his desk, "why don't we just say that we hate one another and we shall call it a day?"
"You misinterpret me, Akasuna; I'm not simply here to express how much I detest you." He leaned back against the desk casually, "You are quite fond of the new kid…"
Sasori watched him slowly, his mouth a thin emotionless line, "You are wrong; while I am admittedly less strict on the boy than what I am with other crew members, I do not in any way have feelings for him…If that is what you were alluding to, then you are mistaken."
Sasuke scratched his arm thoughtfully, not looking out at the red head, "I think you do in fact care for him…More so than you would like to let on…"
"Well I know for a fact that you are wrong." Sasori continued to give him the bitter look, remaining straight in his chair, "Now why are you here exactly?"
The younger male removed his hat, rearranging the two feathers on it thoughtfully, "I'm here because I am sick of you blackmailing me about my relationship with Naruto." He pulled his hat back on and turned to look at Sasori, "But I have a proposition for you that I'm hoping you will agree to…Konan is your friend, right?"
Sasori leaned back in his chair, apparently apathetic to the mention of the name, "I don't care much for him; he could be called a friend, but we aren't necessarily close to one another."
Sasuke gave a cunning smirk at the red head, "I know that Konan is actually a girl…"
Sasori continued to give the male the same stoic expression, "Really? I've always been led to believe that Konan is a male, but if you say so…" He gave an uncaring shrug, "I don't really see how his gender affects me in any way."
Sasuke continued to smirk at him, "Captain Sakura would be more than interested to learn that she isn't the only female onboard…Or perhaps I should just go straight to Orochimaru and Kabuto; it has been a long time since they have had a girl to have fun with…"
"…" The red head couldn't help but narrow his eyes, "So then, what made you come to the conclusion that Konan is a girl?"
Sasuke gave a soft chuckle, turning his body around so that he was completely facing the doctor, "Your little boy toy told me."
Sasori was quiet for a few moments before he sat forward in his chair, "And why, pray tell, would my so called 'boy toy' tell you something like that? In fact, why would he even know something like that?"
The younger male leaned closer to the red head, his smirk fading until it was toothless, "How should I know why he would know something like that? I always had suspicions about the girl; I know what eunuchs sound like, and her voice is too different…"
Sasori's eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips together in irritation, "What is it that you want?"
"Let us swap information for information." Sasuke leaned back, his smirk falling altogether, "I will agree to keep the secret about Konan's gender to myself, if you and your boy toy agree to forget about me and Naruto. I won't blackmail you as long as you don't blackmail me. It's as simple as that, Akasuna…"
The red head continued to glare at the male, but his expression soon relaxed into a simple bitter countenance, "…Fine then. If you don't reveal Konan's true gender to the captain, or to anyone, I will refrain from blackmailing you concerning Naruto."
"Deal." Sasuke straightened up, giving a satisfied smirk. "But let's agree, that if we do find out more dirt concerning the other, we can blackmail one another with said new information."
Sasori didn't smirk at the younger male, folding his hands beneath his chin slowly, "Fair enough. I'll agree to that."
"Good talking to you, Akasuna." Sasuke moved his hat slowly, his gleeful expression fading, "Say hello to Deidara for me." With that said, he turned and walked out of the red head's cabin, shutting the door behind him.
Sasori watched the door for a few moments before suddenly lashing out in anger, knocking two rolled up maps onto the floor. Dammit! He had told the blonde that he was to under no circumstances reveal the bluenette's true gender!
The red head had gone so far as to use death threats, but the boy had gone and revealed it anyway! Sasori gave a low growl, and spontaneous bursts of flame emerged from his palms, accidentally scorching the wood of the desk.
The male blinked in surprise and quickly cooled his temper, the fire subsiding a few moments later. He frowned down at his un-gloved hand, the skin being unburnt; his poison was resistant to flames, meaning that it didn't harm his skin whenever he went a bit over the top.
Sasori leaned back in the chair, giving a long sigh, staring up at the ceiling, "Dammit…" He couldn't let this go by unpunished…But first, it would be best to get the blonde's side of the story, just in case Sasuke had been lying…He began to think, slowly singing the song of pirates he had heard long ago. "We'll sail for a little…A little, little, little…We'll sail for a little…" Sasori paused slowly before giving a smirk as a plan came to mind, "Until he finds him…" He pulled his gloves back on.
-x-
Deidara was busy cleaning the floor below deck, slight perspiration appearing on his forehead as a result of the hard work. Konan had also been cleaning, but she had long since finished the section which she had been working on. She now was lying lazily in one of the many hammocks, making small talk with the blonde about nothing of particular importance.
"The sea is so blue today…" She looked out the porthole, eyeing the water with a thin line instead of a smile, "…I think storms are coming soon…" Deidara didn't take his eyes from his task, giving a gruelling sigh.
"I hope not…I'm still trying to gain my sea legs, un. I'm just happy that I didn't suffer from sea sickness." He shrugged and continued to vigorously scrub at the deck.
"You're lucky," Konan gave him a playful smirk, "Sasori was terribly ill on his first few days at sea." She giggled and swung the hammock with her still in it, enjoying some time without work. "I don't really like storms – everyone is busy with working on the sails, and they always force me to go below deck because they assume I'd just get in the way." Konan pursed her lips together in annoyance before she gave a shrug, "It's always so boring for me…"
"A lot of people would be happy to stay below deck during a storm, un – back in Iwagakure, I heard many stories of sailors and pirates alike being thrown into the ocean." Deidara sat up with an exhausted sigh, "Storms are best to be avoided…"
"Only when they can be avoided; if they can't, then you're best to embrace them." She shrugged and continued to swing in the hammock, staring up at the ceiling, "But some storms are inevitable – they help us to grow…"
Deidara knew that they were no longer talking about storms of the sea, "I think I've had enough conflict in life, un."
"Life is conflict." She gave a thoughtful sigh, "Lights out will be soon…Are you going to sleep in Sasori's cabin again tonight?"
"I don't know." The blonde leaned back on the heavily scrubbed floor, also gazing up at the ceiling, "I just feel safer sleeping in there than I do down here. I know that it is suspicious for the others to see that I'm sleeping in his room, but…" He gave a sudden scowl and banged his fist on the floor, "No. I'll sleep in here tonight…Or else, I'll spend the night in the Crow's Nest. I'll go anywhere other than Sasori's room."
"Trying to avoid the storm, I see…" She gave a knowing smirk and shook her head, "As I said; don't run away from the storms in life, Deidara."
"I'm not trying to avoid a storm." He sat up quickly and gave her an incredulous expression, "What storm is there to avoid? I haven't done anything…That Sasori knows about, at least, un." Konan looked at him silently, simply watching the male with an ironic expression, and Deidara paled. "Sasuke told him…"
The blonde quickly got to his feet, knowing that avoiding the red head would be the worst possible thing to do, "Good luck." He nodded and went up the stairway, leaving Konan alone below deck. She rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, her hammock swaying slowly back and forth, "Mortals honestly take life too seriously…"
-x-
Deidara knocked at the door to the red head's cabin calmly, not wishing to seem eager. The older male's voice came from inside, giving him permission to enter, and the blonde did. Deidara opened the door and shut it behind him, gazing over at the red head who sat at the desk of the room.
Sasori looked up at him with the usual stoic expression which he had been taught to perform by the ageless fallen angel. "Hello, Brat; have you come to beg for me to forgive you and to instantly have my trust in you restored?"
Deidara frowned at him slowly with a hard expression, "What was it that Sasuke told you?"
The red head narrowed his eyes slowly, having expected the blonde to immediately deny the accusations made by the Akatsuki member…This kid was interesting. "He told me that you revealed to him Konan's true gender. Is this correct?"
The boy stifled slightly before looking away from Sasori, scowling to himself, "I didn't mean to tell him…He asked for information about you two and I just said about how Konan was fleet-footed, un. But I accidentally referred to her in female terms, and he caught on immediately…In any case," he looked back at the red head, "he claimed to have no interest in her gender, and revealed that he had had speculations about her being a woman anyway."
"…" Sasori stared at the blonde thoughtfully, "So what you are telling me is that it was…an accident?"
Deidara watched him, remaining relentless in his gaze, "Yes, it was an accident, un…If you must put it so bluntly."
"Nevertheless, you cannot afford to make accidents. My trust in you is still wounded in any case, and you must be punished for such a blunder." Sasori leaned back in this chair and he turned to look out the window which lined the wall behind his desk, watching the ocean. There would soon be storms. "You are not allowed to come to my room unless you are ordered to by Yamato or by another member of the crew. I told you when you first boarded that Konan was to be your supervisor; I am a simple antisocial navigator who doubles as the Lightning Queen's doctor. If you don't understand then, as you previously suggested, I will put it bluntly. Leave me the fuck alone."
The younger male stared at him as if he were insane, "What? But you're supposed to be my mentor, un!"
"I never said that," Sasori looked back to him, scowling deeply, "Konan is your mentor, and I have never stated otherwise. There is no purpose for you to keep bothering me, and I am a very busy man."
Deidara continued to sneer at the red head, finding himself undeserving of such a harsh punishment, "It was just an accident – I shouldn't be punished to such an extent. I like your company, un."
"Well perhaps I don't like you." Sasori was now glaring at him, and the temperature of the room seemed to have suddenly spiked.
Deidara stared at the red head with his mouth slightly gaping, as if in awe. The blonde flushed and quickly looked away from the red head, scowling in embarrassment at nothing in particular. "Well maybe I don't need you to like me…" Deidara's voice had dropped, and it was obvious that Sasori's words had wounded him.
"You don't, and I won't." The red head continued to eye the blonde who still refused to make eye contact with him. He couldn't help but feel a sudden stab of guilt, but he knew that what he was doing would be best for the both of them, "Now then; you are no longer allowed to sleep in my cabin, so you best go below deck before lights out is declared in a few minutes."
Deidara didn't even nod, begrudgingly walking to the door and exiting without a sound and without looking back at Sasori. The door slammed shut behind him and the red head gave a harsh sigh, shaking his head before turning to look back out the window. Yes, soon there would be storms…
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