"Aww Hidan, you broke my phone!" Kisame whined, picking up the poor electronic.
"As soon as your Jashin damned phone becomes our damn priority, I'll let you know," Hidan growled. Kakuzu carefully picked up Deidara. "Come on, we need to get him back home." The others nodded, and the group began walking back to the apartment. Once they arrived they immediately set Deidara on the couch. Kakuzu had the most medical knowledge next to the absent red head, and quickly looked Deidara over. "He's fine. He'll just need some rest."
There was peace for all of ten minutes before Konan and Itachi walked inside, looking extremely distressed. Konan saw Deidara and screamed, running over to the couch and squeezing the blonde tightly to her chest. "Oh thank god you're ok Deidara!" she cried, tears dripping down her face.
Kisame looked at Itachi. "Where's Sasori?"
"He ran off when we got the call. The signal was pretty choppy; from what we heard, Deidara jumped off a bridge and killed himself."
Hidan shook his head. "Damn that phone, I said Deidara fucking jumped and tried to kill himself." He looked at Itachi. "Any idea where the hell he is?"
"No, but I don't think we should send out yet another search party." Itachi turned to Konan. "Would you mind tearing yourself away from him long enough to call Pein and explain the current situation to him?"
Konan nodded. "Yeah." She set the half-conscious Deidara back down on the couch and stepped into the kitchen, dialing the apartment phone. It rang a few times before her boyfriend finally picked up. "Hello?"
"Pein, it's me."
"Konan, have you guys found him yet?!"
"Don't worry about Deidara anymore, Sasori's our priority now. He got really shook up and ran off, and we have no idea where he's gone. We're all here in the apartment waiting for you two; do you have any idea where he'd go?"
Pein thought for a moment. "Yes I do. Konan, we'll be there in twenty minutes or less." And with that he hung up.
--
Pein pulled up to Deidara's house. He wasn't surprised to find the door open and quickly rushed inside. He heard grunts and crashes. When he got into the kitchen, he saw Sasori beating a middle aged man in the face. The whole room was a mess, and the guy was barely fighting back. "Sasori, get off him!" Pein ran forward and grabbed the red head's arm.
He got punched in the stomach for his interference. "Stay out of this," the puppeteer growled, resuming the beating already in progress.
This time Pein grabbed both arms and yanked Sasori up, pinning his hands to the sides. "Sasori, you have to stop! You wanna get charged with murder?!" he asked the struggling red head.
"I don't care! Give me one goddamn reason to stop!" Sasori screamed, stomping his foot down on the man's stomach.
"Because killing his dad won't bring Deidara back!"
The red head froze. Neither Akatsuki could speak for a moment. "What, then?"
"Hmm?"
"What the hell am I supposed to do then?" Sasori whispered, body going limp as the fight left him. "We're the reason he's dead. This bastard deserves to die. And I deserve to be locked up for the rest of my fucking existence." A few tears ran down the red head's face.
"Sasori, we have to go." Pein ushered the teen out of the room, ten turned to the man. He walked over and kneeled down, grabbing the bastard's collar and bring their faces close. "If you utter one word of this or ever giver the Akatsuki trouble again, there's gonna be several more guys here to give you a beating, and I won't stop them." He released the clothing and followed his friend out the door.
Sasori was sitting in the front of the car when he arrived. Pein opened the driver's door and climbed in, starting the engine in silence.
Neither man spoke for a while. "Pein?"
"Yeah?"
Sasori stared out the side window. "How would you feel…if Konan died?"
"I'd feel nothing."
Sasori started and turned to his friend. "WHAT?! I thought you loved her! How can you-"
"Sasori, Konan is my whole world. She's why I can be happy, sad; anything and everything. If I lost her, I'd feel nothing anymore. My entire existence would be numb." He glanced at his friend. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason."
--
"Mmmm…." Deidara frowned and slowly opened his eyes, blinking. "Where am I, un?"
"Back at the base," Kakuzu answered. Hidan called out, "Hey, he's up, assholes!" Instantly Deidara was surrounded by everyone else. "Deidara, are you ok?!"
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Do you have any idea how worried we were?!" the blonde was assaulted by question after question, an occasional hug thrown in here and there. The group was so busy that they didn't notice the door open, or the two men step inside the apartment. "We're back," Pein finally shouted.
Instantly the Akatsuki became silent, Konan rushing over to her friend and boyfriend. "Thank god you're ok, Sasori! Hmm? Sasori?" but she may as well have stayed silent.
The red head had seen Deidara.
The puppet master's eyes were wide, and he couldn't move. He opened his mouth and silently whispered the sculptor's name in disbelief. The next instant he was across the room, holding Deidara to his chest, tears running down his face. "You're ok…" he pulled away and grasped the sculptor's shoulders, staring him in the eye. "DON'T YOU EVER PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT AGAIN!!" He wrapped his arms around Deidara again and buried his face in the sculptor's neck. "Dammit Deidara, I thought I'd lost you," he muttered, crying into his partner.
Deidara gently reached up and pulled his friend away from him. "Sasori, I-danna, what happened to you, un?!"
Pein had failed to notice, but the red head wasn't in the best of shape. His shirt was torn, his arm was bleeding, and there was dried blood going down the side of his face.
Sasori reached up and laughed quietly. "Your old man got a few shots at me."
Deidara's eyes widened. "My dad!?"
"Yeah, but I beat the crap out of him. He'll be lucky to get out of the ICU at the hospital in a few weeks."
Deidara began to shake. "Great, he'll kill me for sure when he gets home, un!"
"What the hell makes you think I'm letting you go back there?" Sasori demanded, hugging Deidara again. "You'll be lucky if I ever let you out of my sight again. You're coming home with me."
"No!" Deidara pulled away and wrapped his arms around his head, curling up in a ball. "I'm not gonna be a burden, un!"
"Huh?" Sasori raised a brow. "When did I-" he suddenly paused and looked around at the other Akatsuki. "Konan, Pein, may we borrow your room?"
"What? Um, sure…the door's open," Pein answered, pointing towards his room.
"Thank you." Sasori stood up and picked up Deidara, carrying him bridal style to the room.
"Danna?"
"You and I need to talk," was all Sasori said as he shut the door.
The puppet master carried Deidara over to the bed and sat down, holding the blonde on his lap. "Now, what's this about being a burden?"
Deidara wouldn't look into his eyes. "Just forget it, danna." He tried to stand, but Sasori's arms were firmly around his waist. "Sasori danna, let me go, un."
"No."
"Let me go, un!" Deidara began pulling harder, but Sasori wasn't about to let him go.
"Deidara." The blonde stopped moving; Sasori's tone wasn't short or angry like he expected it to be, but somewhat sad and comforting. "Deidara, we need to talk. I am not letting go until we do. You are not leaving this apartment….this room….my lap….until you explain why you think you're a burden." Deidara sat down but kept silent. Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then fifteen.
Finally, as they were approaching the twenty minute mark, Deidara sighed. "You wouldn't be asking me to move in if you weren't feeling guilty, danna. You think I'm a burden; you practically said so earlier, un."
Sasori thought for a moment. "Deidara, do you remember exactly what I said?"
"You said you have to take care of me, I asked if that made me a burden, and you called me impossible." Tears welled up in Deidara's eyes as he recalled their fight.
Sasori reached up and brushed the tears away. "Deidara, I don't think you're a burden. I was just thinking about taking care of you; about how much I love it, and how much I hate myself for it."
Deidara's eyes widened. "Wha-"
"Deidara, I love being that one that fixes you, the one that makes you feel better; the person who makes you smile after you've been hurt." The red head frowned. "But it's gotten to the point where I'm almost happy that you end up hurt, because then I can make you happy. It makes me sick how selfish I can be."
Deidara blinked thoughtfully, not sure how to respond. He settled for resting his head in the crook of Sasori's neck. "Danna, why did you hurt my father, un?"
"I thought you were dead. We misheard the phone call Hidan sent us, and it sounded like you'd killed yourself." Sasori sighed, rubbing his cheek against Deidara's head. "So I just ran off to kill him."
Deidara jerked away, eyes wide with fear. "But you would've gotten jailed, danna!" Fresh tears came to his eyes. "You could have thrown away your entire life, un."
Sasori laughed. "What life?" He reached up and gently brushed away the tears in the sculptor's eyes. "When I heard you were dead, any and all joy disappeared from my existence. You told me I didn't have a heart; well, you were wrong, because I definitely felt it break into a million little pieces."
Deidara stared at Sasori as if seeing him for the first time. "Danna…"
"That bastard and I are the cause of all your pain. He deserved to die, and I deserved to be locked away for the rest of my life." Sasori pulled Deidara closer to himself. "I didn't want any happiness that didn't involve you, Deidara. You're the one that makes me happy, depressed, enraged, humored….you're everything to me, Deidara." He gently kissed the sculptor's forehead. "And I love you more than life itself."
Deidara stared at his beloved in disbelief. He shut his eyes, and a smile crossed his face. Without warning, he began laughing.
Sasori raised a brow. "Deidara, what's so funny?"
"If I had known that all I had to do to get you to confess your feelings was jump of a bridge, Sasori danna, I would have done that forever ago, un."
Sasori gave him an odd look before rolling his eyes and resting his forehead against Deidara's. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"But you still love me, un."
"Yes." Sasori smiled and pressed his lips to Deidara's. The blonde happily shut his eyes and returned the kiss, arms wrapping around Sasori's neck. When they broke away, the sculptor moved his lips to Sasori's ear. "Danna, may I move in with you, un?"
"Certainly, Dei-chan." Deidara giggled. "I like that name."
"Good, because that's what I'm calling you." Sasori stood hugging Deidara to him, giving the sculptor a chaste kiss. "Come on, the others probably think we've killed each other." He opened the door and the entire organization came falling through the door way. "Or not." He grabbed Deidara's hand and pulled him through the doorway. "Let's go home."
"Un."
Kakuzu and Hidan were walking home a while later. "You're being awfully quiet," Kakuzu stated thoughtfully.
Hidan turned to look at his friend. "Just thinking."
"About?"
Hidan looked away….blushing? "I'm glad they had their damn happy ending, but it sucks that Deidara nearly got his ass killed before Sasori admitted his feelings. That's all."
"I see." Kakuzu chuckled. Hidan turned to his friend. "What?"
"Nothing. You just don't seem like the kind of person to think about that stuff."
Silence
"Hidan?"
"What?"
"Are you worried that's going to happen to you?"
Hidan gave a nervous laugh and looked away. "Come on, dumbass. It's not like I'll ever feel like that towards someone. And even if I did, hell will freeze over before they ever liked me, so in the damn unlikely event that that crap happens, I'm already prepared for dissapointment."
"If you say so."
"I do, Jashin dammit."
Silence
"Hidan?"
"What now, asshole?"
"Come here." The Jashinist raised a brow but obeyed the command. Kakuzu quickly wrapped his arms around the smaller man, and before Hidan could react he was trapped in a kiss.
When they broke away Hidan stared at Kakuzu, eyes wide and questioning. "Now we don't have to worry about that problem, do we?"
Hidan grinned and grabbed the banker's hand. "Nope." He started dragging his new boyfriend home.
