Hello! Since I'm in a writing mood, I've decided just to go ahead and write the next chapter!

Haha, I'm so excited because my Deidara shirt is finished, and the wig just shipped out yesterday. Once I get it, my cosplay is complete~

…I really should be doing my Japanese homework and four-page-plus-annotated-bibliography prospectus for my Russian Revolution class, but I am so not in the mood. (Ugh, why do professors assign so much homework over freaking spring break? D: )

Many thanks go to everyone who reviewed! (And added this to their favorites/followed it.) You all are awesome. Special thanks go to Robine and evil. mastermind no.1. Your reviews always make me smile. C:

This chapter will be Sasori-centric, so if you like him, yay! (I think he is my favorite Akatsuki member to write about, with Deidara coming in close second.)

The beginning part might sound a bit confusing, but I think it will make sense. (I'll explain more in the ending A/N.)

*I do not own Naruto. If I did, Neji would not have died.*

-Chapter Thirteen: Art-

Julius sat in his chair in the kitchen, his head in his hands. "Where do you think she went?"

"I have no idea," responded Rosaline.

When Aoi never came back from the art store, they were frantic, driving there themselves. They found her car, locked, in the parking lot. However, the store was obviously closed, so they decided to do a little investigating. When they searched the perimeter of the building, they found nothing out of the ordinary. Their first thought was that she went to stay with a friend for the night, since they noticed she looked a bit upset when she left. However, they realized that was a stupid thought when they remembered that their daughter didn't have any friends (at least none that they knew of). All she had were her books, DVDs, and art supplies. When they got home, they called the police, ready to report a missing person. Since Aoi was a minor, they accepted the call immediately. However, since it hadn't been twenty-four hours, they couldn't do anything. They suggested that the two wait, and maybe Aoi would come back. (They dealt with a lot of cases with 'missing' teenagers who showed up at their houses a few days later.)

Obviously, Julius and Rosaline were angry. They knew that Aoi was not the type of girl just to get up and leave, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. The next day, they went back to the art store and decided to ask the employees if they saw anything suspicious. No one had any information until they talked to a tall young man with dyed-orange hair and a lip piercing. He said that he had seen Aoi fall down the stairs and hit her forehead on a table next to it. He was planning on helping her, but when he walked over to the stairs, no one was there. The only thing that showed that someone fell was a bloodstain on the edge of the table. When Rosaline looked closer, she narrowed her eyes, noticing that the stain looked like something. A small red cloud.

It had been almost two months since their daughter's disappearance, and both Julius and Rosaline were starting to give up hope. The police said they would let them know if they found anything, but so far, nothing. It was almost as though Aoi Coulter had disappeared off the face of the Earth…

When Sasori woke, he noticed that both Aoi and Deidara were still asleep. Both had peaceful expressions on their faces, unlike the cold façade the former put up and the overconfident one the latter displayed. Making sure not to disturb his roommates, he threw on some new clothes and brushed his unruly hair (not that it did much). He waited until he was out of the room before cracking his joints. The sound relaxed him, and helped him de-stress. (He was about to meet Pein, after all.)

The pierced man was once again in his office. He said nothing, merely narrowing his eyes, when the redhead requested to talk to him.

"I have found a job for Aoi-san," Sasori began.

"She already agreed to gather information with Tobi."

"I discovered that she has a talent that might prove more useful."

Pein raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Sasori-san? She has no chakra network besides the remnants of Orochimaru's experiment, meaning she'd have no potential for ninjutsu or genjutsu—therefore she can't possibly have a kekkei-genkai—and she's too weak for taijutsu."

"She seems to have an aptitude for my art."

"Puppetry?" If Sasori didn't know any better, he would have thought Pein looked…shocked. "You don't seem to be the type who would take on an apprentice. What are you planning?"

"At the time, nothing." The redhead pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have no idea why I invited her to my workshop yesterday, but I did, and she's interested in helping me with my…special…puppets."

"Human puppets, Sasori-san? She's going to help you make human puppets? How did you convince her? Did you poison her?"

"No." The puppet master made sure his face looked bored and impassive. "I asked her whether she wanted to go on missions or help me with my creations, and she chose the latter. I guess she'd rather dissect corpses than kill them."

"Are you sure about this, Sasori-san?"

"Yes." The redhead narrowed his eyes. "And if it turns out she has no use, I will kill her myself." Even though you were so successful the last time? he berated himself. Blinking, he turned back to Pein. "Is this all right, Leader-sama?"

"Very well," stated the pierced man. "However, she will remain Tobi's partner, and continue to live with him. And if a mission arises that needs her assistance, she will go."

"Thank you." Taking this as his cue to leave, Sasori bowed his head before exiting the room.

Deidara stretched, cracking his neck before sliding out of bed. He looked down and saw that Aoi was on the floor, sleeping. When did she come here? Did Tobi really annoy her that much? Or did something else happen? After the incident with her leg and her 'punishment' for botching the Takayama Junko mission, he was becoming more and more suspicious of the masked man. Though he's been bugging me less, which is a good thing.

He looked closer and saw that she was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, the bulky fabric swallowing her small figure. He saw that his own cloak was where he left it, but Sasori's was missing. She's wearing Danna's? Why the puppet master allowed her to wear his cloak was beyond Deidara, and it puzzled him. Come to think of it, he has been acting strangely. Stretching again, he rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and grabbed his clothes. He stopped again when he noticed something red on the floor. Looking closer, he realized it was blood.

Narrowing his eyes, he knelt down and unsnapped the cloak. When he removed her arms from it, he saw that the back of the shirt she was wearing had some darker stains on it. He pulled the fabric up, and found that blood seeped through the bandages on her back. Some was drying, but he could tell there were still some open wounds by the way a few of the splotches were fresh. What happened now? Not sure what to do, he fixed her shirt and laid her back down, also noticing a bruise that was beginning to form on her forehead. He was about to put the cloak back on when he felt there was blood on it, too. Heh. Sasori's going to throw a fit. He smirked, anticipating the puppeteer's reaction.

Picking up the clothes he dropped, he made his way to the bathroom, ready for a nice shower. He couldn't make it too long, though; he knew that Kakuzu would maim him if he used up too much hot water. Sighing, he let the water and steam envelop him. After he washed his hair with care (it was his pride and joy, after all), he cracked his neck once more and reluctantly turned the water off. When he finally exited the bathroom, he noticed that Aoi was sitting on his bed. In any other circumstance, he would have told her to sit somewhere else, but her hand was on her chest, and her face was contorted in an expression of pain. She tried to hide it, of course, but he could see right through her façade.

"What's wrong?" He wasn't completely concerned, but at the same time, he considered the girl to be an ally, and he enjoyed talking with her.

"Nothing. I'm okay. I—" She stopped mid-sentence, overtaken by a coughing fit. When she moved her hand away from her mouth, Deidara could see there was blood on it.

"I'm not stupid, Aoi-san." The blond narrowed his eyes.

Aoi seemed to deflate, her shoulders sinking. "It's the device in my chest. I think Tobi-san agitated it last night."

"What did the shit do now, un?"

Aoi deadpanned. "He tackle-glomped me."

"Tackle-glomp?"

"He attacked me with a hug and knocked me over."

"Ah." Though her explanation didn't seem too far-fetched (he himself was at the receiving end of many 'glomps'), he could sense that she was lying. "I know there's more to it than that." Deidara was itching for Tobi to get kicked out of the organization, and disobeying their leader seemed to be the best way. "I know there's something more to him; no one can be that stupid and still be a member—er, honorary member—of this organization."

Aoi chuckled darkly. "You're smarter than anyone gives you credit for. I do not want any premature conflicts, but I will say that you're right. Tobi is…darker…than he wants you to believe. That is all I will say, though." She wrapped one arm around her body and the other hand around her mouth when she coughed again. Once she got her breathing under control, she wiped her lips.

"Aoi." Deidara didn't bother with the honorific; he was getting impatient. He also hated his questions being unanswered. He grabbed the girl's shoulders. "Who is Tobi?"

The brunette's eyes widened before she squeezed them shut and turned away. "Not again," she murmured.

The bomber let her go, intrigued by her actions. 'Not again'? What does she mean? At first he thought that she was referring to being whipped, but from the way she was so quick to shut her eyes, he was starting to sense that she meant something else entirely. She was blindfolded during her punishment. Suddenly, an answer came to him. Sharingan. He knew that Itachi had interrogated her when she first arrived, so he assumed she was reminded of it.

He was snapped from his thoughts when Sasori entered the room. "Aoi-san. You will eat breakfast, and then meet me back here. I want to begin working as soon as possible."

"Yes, Sasori-san," she answered, looking glad to change the subject.

"What project, un?" Deidara was getting pretty tired of being kept out of the loop.

"She will be helping me with one of my puppets, since she has proven to have a slight aptitude for it."

"What?"

"You heard me. Or did your obnoxious explosions make you finally go deaf?"

The bomber was going to retort, but was interrupted by more coughing.

"Brat. What's the matter with her?" Sasori narrowed his eyes.

"She said she thinks the device in her chest got agitated when Tobi tackle-hugged her last night, un."

The redhead raised an eyebrow and turned to Aoi. "My chakra supply is adequate for healing; do you want me to look at it, or do you want to go to Kakuzu-san?"

Aoi shook her head. "I don't think I can move without coughing. I have no idea what happened; I was fine last night."

Sasori sighed, as though he just realized something. "If you want me to heal you, you'll have to let me undo the bandages."

The brunette's eyes widened, and she blushed. "Do you have to?"

"That device is on your chest, isn't it? If you want me to see what's wrong with it, yes."

Deidara snickered.

"Don't be immature, brat. I dissect my projects before turning them into puppets, and many of them are female, meaning I've seen naked bodies."

At the word 'naked', Aoi grasped the cloak tighter. After another coughing fit, she bowed her head. "Fine."

Deidara leaned closer as the girl removed the cloak and the shirt, only to be slapped on the back of the head by his partner.

"Look away, brat."

"Fine," he grumbled. Stupid puppet. He turned his head, only to look back again when he heard the bandages being placed on the ground. His eye nearly twitched when he saw Sasori place his hand on Aoi's chest, almost resting on her breasts. That looks so weird… Smirking, he looked closer, enjoying the view until his partner's foot stomped on his own. Cursing in his mind, he closed his eyes.

"The wounds on your back have reopened again," Sasori noted aloud. "Was this also a result of Tobi's…enthusiasm?"

"Yes," she muttered. "I can see why Deidara-san wants to kill him."

Deidara nearly chuckled. He almost missed Aoi's sigh of relief, as well as a quiet 'Thank you' directed at Sasori. Thinking that the girl was decent again, he opened his eyes. Much to his relief (as well as a bit of disappointment), he was right.

"I did what I could; nothing is completely healed, but with time, the wounds on your back will close," Sasori cautioned. "Don't be stupid and trip over something; I can't keep healing you. I don't want to use up my chakra on you; you're not worth it."

Aoi nodded. Deidara grinned, an idea forming in his mind. Let's see how she'd react to this. While he wasn't being completely malicious, a new hobby of his was getting the girl to express more emotions. It was amusing to him, but it also showed that she wasn't exactly like Sasori, which for some reason relieved him.

"I take back what I said before, Aoi-san."

"What?" She tilted her head, obviously puzzled.

"I'm sure a lot of people here would…appreciate…you. You have a nice figure, un."

Blushing, Aoi wrapped her arms more securely sound her chest, looking down.

"Shut up, brat," Sasori snapped.

"Oh, like you don't agree, un." Deidara's smirk grew, hoping to get a rise out of his partner as well.

"Actually, I don't," was the puppet master's cold response. "All I was focusing on was healing her. Why would I care about what she looks like? I just wanted to get the job done as soon as possible." Deidara noticed that there was a tone to his words that was different than his usual responses. What was that all about?

Glaring at the blond, Sasori gestured for Aoi to stand up. "I'll come with you to breakfast, seeing as though you aren't competent enough to remember which hallway leads to the kitchen." Despite the redhead's harsh words, he didn't speak them as scathingly as he typically did. Deidara narrowed his eyes, beginning to pick up a pattern.

Once the two left, he sat on his bed, grinning to himself. That was fun.

After an uneventful breakfast, Sasori led a silent Aoi down to his workshop. The girl remained quiet until the corpse was rolled out again.

"So," she said. "What are your plans for this?"

"We have to remove the organs and drain the body, first." The redhead walked over to another cabinet, where he grabbed two lab aprons and two sets of gloves. "Put these on; I don't want anything to get on my shirt. And take the cloak off; the sleeves will get in the way."

Aoi complied. Sasori could sense that she was cold without it, since all she wore was a short-sleeved shirt and the standard Akatsuki pants, but raised an eyebrow at the fact that she didn't complain. Turning away from the girl, he grabbed all the necessary tools and containers and placed them on a table next to the corpse. "Do you need me to explain what to do, or do you already know?"

"I don't know the specifics, but I get the basics, since I dissected a cat in AP Bio last year."

"I take it this 'AP Bio' is a class on the same level as the chemistry class you were taking before you came here."

Aoi nodded. "I was the only junior—that's what we call third years—in the class, which was meant for seniors. It was so much fun. I like Chem better, though…" For a moment, a faraway look appeared in her eyes, though it was gone in an instant. "Just tell me what to do, and I'll start working."

"Very well," stated the puppeteer. "I will make the standard Y-incision and pin the skin back. Once that is finished, you will remove the ribs. However, make sure to remove them in one or two pieces. Don't get crazy with the bone saw; I need the bones later so I can reinforce an armature to them."

"Understood."

The two worked in silence, the only noise being the whir of the bone saw and Sasori occasionally giving instructions. Said redhead watched Aoi, begrudgingly realizing that she was indeed a natural at this craft. After all the organs were removed (and packaged into containers so that Kakuzu could sell them later), Sasori gently flipped the corpse onto its side and let all the excess liquids drain into a bucket. When he was sure that it was empty, he injected more preservatives into the skin. After that job was completed, he rolled the corpse and table back into its storage freezer and began cleaning up. Once all the equipment was in the sink, he removed his apron and gloves and threw them in as well. Aoi did the same. Without being told to, she took the initiative to begin washing everything.

After everything was put away, the two left the lab. It had been five hours since they first started, and Sasori could tell that Aoi was exhausted and probably hungry. As soon as the lab was locked, she sank to the floor, leaning against the wall.

"Tired?" Sasori tilted his head.

"I'm okay," she said, though the puppet master could sense the weariness in her voice.

Surprisingly, he found himself sitting next to her. "You did better than I expected, girl. While some of your cuts were sloppy, your removal of the heart, as well as the eyes, was more than satisfactory. You have potential."

She nodded, a tired smile appearing on her face. "Thank you. I guess taking AP Bio was worth the social suicide."

Sasori said nothing, but gestured for her to continue by tilting his head.

"I was never liked to begin with," she finally said. "People hung around me only to use me for my intelligence. After awhile, I got sick of it, and decided to ignore them. They gave up on trying to get me to cheat for them, but instead, they used my intelligence as an excuse to pick on me in any way they could. Not to mention the fact that I was in art classes. Heh, that added fuel to their fire; apparently, liking to draw was freakish, to them." She chuckled darkly. "That's why I was always so fascinated by you. The more I learned about you, the more I wanted to meet you. I always thought that would be impossible…" She cracked her neck, the sound echoing throughout the empty hallway. "I nearly cried when I saw your backstory, you know. I know your grandmother was just trying to look out for you, but she went about it in the wrong way. I wish—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sasori grabbed her shoulders and leaned over her. "Where did you get that information?"

"I told you, I know mostly everything about this organization and all its members," Aoi whispered. The redhead smirked at the fear in her eyes. When he let her go, the fear turned to something else entirely. Sadness. Smiling softly, she kneeled and leaned closer. Before Sasori had time to move, she wrapped her arms around him.

The sharp feeling in his heart was back. However, instead of slapping, kicking, or strangling the girl, he found himself leaning into her embrace. What the hell? Why am I reacting this way? After a few moments, he began to feel a warmth that started in his heart and spread to his face. Suddenly feeling trapped, he pushed the brunette away and stood up, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Shaking his head, he prepared to kick Aoi. However, he ended up moving his foot back where it was before when he saw her bow her head.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I thought that you deserved to know what a real hug felt like, since you never got one."

Sasori narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. "Get up. You missed lunch, but if we leave now, I'm sure you can eat some of the leftovers. At least if Kisame-san didn't get to them first."

Without saying a word, Aoi stood up and followed the puppet master upstairs. When they got to the kitchen, he prepared to leave, not in the mood to watch her eat.

However, before he could process what happened, he turned around and muttered, "Thank you."

Her eyes widening, Aoi tilted her head, then nodded once.

Cracking his neck in frustration for the unpredictability of his typically predictable actions, Sasori finally left the room, ready to take out his annoyance on the first person who irritated him.

Ugh, that was so cheesy! D: I hated the last part of this chapter. (I feel like I completely butchered poor Sasori, here…)

I hope the part with her parents didn't seem too out of place; I just wanted to show that they missed her, and were avidly looking for her.

Wow, this chapter doesn't have any scenes from Aoi's perspective, XD. Whoops… (She will star in the next chapter, though…)

Pfft, Deidara is such a perv, here, XD. He's also getting more and more suspicious of 'Tobi'. Once again, I wanted to portray his overconfident and cocky attitude in some of this chapter.

Haha, people crack their neck and joints a lot in this chapter, XD. (I am an avid fan of cracking my joints [it relaxes me].)

Once again, I hope that Sasori wasn't too OOC, here. (Ugh, I rewrote the last scene with him and Aoi so many times, and it still seems off, to me…)

I almost wanted to explain the entire dissection scene, but I didn't, since I figured it would be boring, XD.

I hope this chapter wasn't too bad…

The next one will also advance the plot, more. (This one seemed to be a bit filler-ish…)