The first town that Deidara and Sasori came across was a small one, Deidara didn't even bother to find out the name. To Deidara's surprise, Sasori was in his true form. They had come up with pseudonyms, but Deidara was shocked that Sasori had not used another puppet form. When he asked him about it, Sasori shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm tired of hiding behind a puppet face, I rarely get to walk around as myself. Besides, when I'm with you, I'd rather be myself." Deidara grinned wide.
They saw posters all over the town, claiming that there was a big eating contest coming up soon. The winner would receive a large sum of money, and Deidara suddenly got an idea. "Hey my man, didn't you tell me before that you can eat and still taste things but you won't ever get full or satiated?"
"Yes, I think I know where you're going with this…" Sasori said.
"Let's do it hm!" Deidara cried, "it'll be hilarious to watch you eat everything while the big guys fall over hm!" Sasori laughed with him at that thought, and they immediately went to the tent to sign Sasori up for the contest which would take place the next evening.
…
Deidara yawned the next morning, they had stayed up quite late, trying out different sex positions on their small hotel bed. Deidara grinned impishly to himself, he wondered if the neighbors had heard the loud moans and sighs coming from their bedroom. They had not bothered to keep quiet.
Deidara was still lying in bed naked as Sasori paced the room while reading the brochure for the eating contest that afternoon. "So there will be three rounds," he read aloud, "a sushi eating contest first, followed by pastries with various fillings and then a hot pepper round last. I guess the last round is more about endurance."
"Hm, you'll be able to do it no sweat," Deidara said jokingly, "I mean, you don't even sweat and you won't feel the pain of the heat."
"Why are you still in bed?" Sasori asked, eyeing his naked body.
"Eh I'm bored," Deidara sighed and leaned back on his pillow. Sasori did not hesitate to join him on the bed, throwing the brochure aside carelessly. He kissed Deidara on the cheek and wrapped his arms around his body.
"As much as I'd like to make you sweat, and see how much you can endure, we do need to get up soon for this competition," Sasori said, placing emphasis on the words "sweat" and "endure." They held each other tight for another minute or two and then got up begrudgingly to get dressed.
…
Sasori was sitting with the other competitors at a large wooden table placed on the stage in the middle of the town's marketplace. Deidara scoffed at all the other competitiors. They were all broad, surly looking men and women with growling stomachs and narrowed eyes. This will be a piece of cake, hm.
During the first round, Sasori easily ate the most sushi, stopping after the bell rang. He had downed 52 rolls. The 4 contestants who followed to the next round had eaten about 30 each. Sasori surprised the crowd again by eating more pastries than Deidara could even count. Three people followed him to the last round, the hot peppers. The crowd had gotten quite large by now, as everyone whispered to each other about the impossibility of the red head's stomach. Everyone was expecting him to choke up during that last round. Deidara watched as one of the contestants took one bite of the pepper and spit it out upon tasting how hot it was. Another contestant had a red face, sweating like crazy. She soon quit, drinking two full glasses of milk.
Someone in the crowd yelled out "he's cheating! There's no way he could eat that much!"
"Yeah!" another person chimed in, "he must be hiding the food somewhere!" The judges tried to quiet the crowd, but they were causing an uproar with their raucous accusations.
Deidara placed his hand in his bag of detonating clay, sighing heavily. He walked away from the crowd and the stage, dropping off his clay bird to the ground. He walked away from the bird, watching it hop along the dirt ground before he set it off. Boom!
Everyone in the crowd turned to look at the explosion in confusion and alarm. They had forgotten all about berating Sasori, and the judges looked beside themselves with bewilderment. One of them rang the bell and said, "Stop there! He wins!" pointing to Sasori. The crowd barely noticed as they looked on in horror at the damage done by the unexpected explosion.
"What the hell happened?"
"Where did that come from?"
"Who would do such a thing?"
They were yelling all sorts of things. Hm, they just can't appreciate good art. Deidara walked over to Sasori as he was collecting his winnings, the judge handing it to him in a hurried manner.
"Well, that's one way to distract a crowd," Sasori said with a smile. "Your art really is quite astonishing." Deidara felt his heart swoop, Sasori had never once complimented his art before. Although they were in public, Deidara hugged Sasori and then gave him a kiss on the lips. Sasori smiled at him warmly, not minding that Deidara had expressed his feelings publicly. They departed the area, taking advantage of the chaos that Deidara's explosion caused so that they could sneak back into their bed for more sexual activity before leaving the town.
….
Sasori and Deidara traveled to many different locations, finding various ways to collect money for the akatsuki. As with the first town, they found random ways to acquire money, sometimes joining competitions or hustling money from local fools, even gambling some. They sometimes dawdled with their mission, taking time to enjoy each other's company and to visit the touristy areas of each village. Sasori sometimes took on various puppet roles, depending on the reputation of the village and his mood. Often though, he stayed in his own form, preferring to be himself around Deidara. They always jumped at every opportunity for intimacy. Anytime they found themselves alone, even if they weren't in a bed, they would pleasure each other. Sometimes their sex was rough and dirty, as it was when they made up in the forest, and other times it was sweet and gentle. Either way, Deidara and Sasori enjoyed every moment.
Two months had passed before they got close to the village hidden in the sand. They were now traveling through the desert, walking it during the day and finding shelter in a cave at night. "We will reach the village by tomorrow," Sasori said as they stopped to take a break. The sand was calm at that moment, the wind at ease. Deidara was grateful, he was beginning to get annoyed by the amount of sand that blew up constantly in his face.
They sat down and Deidara took a gulp of water from his canteen. Sasori sat next to him and started chuckling to himself. "What's so funny, hm?" Deidara wanted to know.
"I just thought of that dream you told me about so long ago…the one where I'm sitting on the red sand and you licked up my pear juice," he admitted.
"What made you think of that?" Deidara wondered.
"Well, here we are, sitting in all this sand, so close to my hometown. The sand isn't red, but you and I are here. I guess I just never thought I would come back to this damned place." Sasori said. He didn't say it with hate, but rather, with an offhanded smile.
"Are you upset that we have to go to the sand village?" Deidara asked.
"No. I might have been under different circumstances, but with you, I feel I can do anything." Sasori said with a smile. "Besides, with my spy in place, there will be minimal interaction with the sand shinobi. He'll take them out and we can walk in smoothly. Then it will be up to you to get our jinchuriki while I wait. It should be a simple mission."
"Yeah," Deidara agreed, "They'll quiver with awe at my art, hm!"
"Yes," Sasori said, "just don't go too overboard. Be careful, this Gaara sounds like an ominous opponent."
"Of course," Deidara said, "I won't let the sand man get the best of me, hm." Sasori laughed at Deidara and then slid over next to him and kissed him on his jaw. Deidara turned his face towards Sasori and they began to kiss each other passionately, before the wind whipped up the sand again, blowing it roughly against their faces.
"Argh!" Deidara cried, pulling away and trying to get the sand out of his mouth.
Sasori laughed again, rolling around on the ground, "this is just like your dream!"
"Yeah well it was an ocean of blood that pulled us apart in my dream, not the sand…" Deidara said, still spitting out bits of sand from his mouth.
"Yeah, that's true. Maybe the dream was a premonition." Sasori said, deep in thought.
"A premonition of what?" Deidara asked. "I mean, it didn't end very well…I was being pulled away from you in a sea of blood. I shudder to think what that might symbolize."
"Yeah you're right," Sasori chimed in, "it was just a silly dream. You won't be pushed away from me anytime soon." As he said these words, he grabbed Deidara's hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over his palm soothingly. Deidara looked at Sasori, taking in his warmth and looking at every detail of his beautiful face and that deep, red hair.
…..
That night, they cuddled up in a small cave just a few miles away from the sand village. They were close to their destination, but wanted to wait for the next day, savoring one last comforting night together before the chaos of capturing a jinchuriki. Sasori was spooning Deidara from behind, pulling him in close, his nose brushing against Deidara's ear. Deidara turned his head to kiss Sasori.
"I love you," he said. He saw the instant smile that spread across Sasori's lips.
"I know," Sasori said, "I love you too." He kissed Deidara on the forehead. "Promise me you won't do anything foolish tomorrow, stay safe. It would be better if you grab the jinchuriki quickly. Don't keep me waiting, worrying about you."
"I won't," Deidara said, "and you don't have to worry, the village is no match for my art. Most villages seem happy to be rid of their jinchuriki, it will be interesting to see how the villagers react to their kazekage being taken…but maybe they secretly want him gone, maybe they all fear their leader with his tailed beast living inside him, hm."
"Maybe…" Sasori said, "but from the intel we gathered, it seems he is loved by the people of his village. So get in and out of their quickly, that would be best."
"Alright my man," Deidara said, leaning his head back to give him a reassuring kiss on the neck. "Don't worry about me."
"I'll always be worrying about you," Sasori said. There was a slight pause and then Sasori changed the conversational mood, "When we're finished with this mission, we should take a nice warm bath together. You'll probably be covered in sand, and I'll need to clean you up," Sasori said seductively.
"I like the sound of that hm!" Deidara said. They kissed again, lightly and romantically. Soon, Deidara was dozing off, feeling at peace in Sasori's arms.
Little did Deidara know that this would be the last kiss, the last look, and the last time he would rest in Sasori's arms. After that night, Deidara no longer had any dreams. Only nightmares.