As White as Blood
Chapter Thirty-Five
Madara Uchiha
Sasori and Deidara had managed to track down the man who claimed to have information on Orochimaru's whereabouts. He lived alone on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Paddies – also known recently as the Land of Sound - close to a landmark known as the 'Valley of the End'. The duo easily found the house where the man resided, that being an old log cabin which had some moss creeping up its sides. Sasori was about to knock down the door with his scorpion tail, when the blonde stopped him.
"Manners, un." Deidara rolled his eyes and actually knocked on the door. Sasori was about to scold the kid for his idiocy, when a voice called from inside, telling them to enter. Deidara shot the puppet a smirk, before pushing the door open. He walked inside, and Sasori reluctantly followed behind him.
A man who matched the description which Zetsu had issued them sat within a rocking chair by a roaring fireplace. He looked up at the doorway, firstly seeing Deidara, to whom the old man gave a warm smile, "Why hello there, young man. You sure are awfully young to be wearing that cloak…" Sasori sauntered in behind Deidara and the man caught sight of him, his smile instantly falling to an accusingly stoic expression. "I don't know how desperate your organisation is, but to make such a young man join you…?" He simply shook his head, deciding that he knew better than to bad mouth the Akatsuki further, changing the subject. "So, you want the information on Orochimaru?"
"Yes," Sasori moved in front of the blonde so as to assert his superiority, "tell us all that you know about Orochimaru." The blonde grumbled something that the red head didn't even bother to listen in on, taking some clay from his hip pouch and beginning to idly chew and fiddle with it. "We'll be sure to make it worth your wild."
The man gave a laugh and dropped his condemning expression to grin at them, revealing that he was missing several teeth due to his old age. "Ah, yes, you know that not long ago the Land of Sound was known as the Land of Rice Paddies?" Sasori nodded Hiruko's head and the man returned the gesture thoughtfully. "Well, a few years ago, that Orochimaru fella invaded the country and convinced the Daimyo to give him his own Shinobi Village. Said village is called Otogakure and it is made up of a series of underground lairs. Orochimaru resides in one of these structures at a time, and I know the whereabouts of the one which he will be staying at in five days time." Considering that it was day seven of their trip, and they were going to meet Kabuto in three days, that gave two days in between…
The male abruptly stopped speaking his known information, giving a simple smile instead. Sasori became irritated and impatient with the old man's silence, "Go on; tell me where he will be!"
"Child," he was referring to Deidara of course, "how old are you?"
The blonde blinked at the man, giving Sasori a slightly hesitant look before he arrogantly turned back to the man with his nose held snootily high, "Fourteen, un."
"Yes, just as I feared." He shook his head, giving tutting noises before returning his gaze to Sasori, "I'll disclose the future whereabouts of Orochimaru…As long as you let the boy leave the organisation."
The red head blinked Hiruko's eyes at the man, giving a snort, "Very well." The blonde shot him an alarmed look and Sasori turned his puppet's gaze unto him for a few moments before looking back at the old man, "I'll release the brat as long as you tell me where Orochimaru will be. And if that information is wrong, then I'll make the Akatsuki hunt Deidara here down, and we'll kill him. Do we have a deal?" The man looked to the blonde, and then back to Sasori, giving a firm nod, "Good; brat, you're free to leave."
The blonde frowned at Sasori, rather puzzled, but none the less he turned and left the cabin, "Now, tell me what you know." The man nodded and told the puppet everything that he knew concerning the subject of Orochimaru's future whereabouts.
-x-
Sasori left the cabin, noticing the figure of Deidara sitting at the base of a nearby tree, still moulding the clay in his hands, "I'm slightly impressed to see that you weren't actually stupid enough to run, brat." The blonde looked up at Sasori with a blank countenance and got to his feet, "You're free to blow the house up."
Deidara's eyes widened in disbelief and awe as it finally clicked in his mind that being in the Akatsuki increased his chances of being able to use his art. He looked between Sasori, the house, back to the puppet, and then stopped his gaze at last on the cabin, a cruel beam forming on his lips. "Just watch, Master, I'll show you my art, and then maybe you will see how beautiful it is, un!"…The brat had actually called him 'Master'…Well, looks like he had finally gained at least a small amount of the respect that he so rightly deserved.
"Just blow it up already and let's go." Deidara gave a chuckle and tossed his creation into the air. It had been moulded into the shape of a dove, taking life as it was thrown, and it flew - far too peacefully - through the air. The thing fluttered over to the house, decisively landing on the roof with an utterly innocent appearance.
The blonde made a half ram sign and gave a cruel laugh, "KATSU!" An explosion ripped through the air, and right before Sasori's eyes the entire house was reduced to a charred hole…The red head looked to the blonde, seeing an absolutely content expression had smothered his previous countenance. "How was that, un?" His voice was surprisingly soft compared with what it usually was.
"…" Sasori scoffed and turned away from the debris, beginning to move, "Complete rubbish. Now come along brat." The blonde gave his own scoff, but none the less followed next to the puppet. "I'll show you an example of what 'True Art' is."
If the mission had taught Sasori anything useful about the blonde, it was this; he would never try to run away ever again.
-x-
"What's that noise, un?" There was a crashing sound and Sasori knew what it was immediately, though he decided to not answer Deidara just yet, keeping it a secret.
Eventually they reached the area at the base of the waterfall, both of them looking upwards to gaze at the two enormous statues that stood on either side of the crashing water. "Welcome to the 'Valley of the End'."
Orochimaru had once taken Sasori there during their time together in the Akatsuki. All that time had passed, and yet the place had not changed in the slightest. The red head moved Hiruko over the surface of the water, able to keep his chakra steady so as to keep the puppet from sinking. Deidara did the same, staring up at the statues in awe as they continued to walk forward.
Sasori began to tell the blonde the information which Orochimaru had told to him, "After the foundation of the village Konohagakure, the two Shinobi known as Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju took part in a bloody battle which is said to have carved out this very valley in which we stand. They fought for leadership over Konoha and after a long time, Hashirama defeated Madara - the latter having been killed during the battle. These statues were erected in memory of the fight which the two Shinobi fought; they have lasted far longer than anything that you would consider to be 'art', and yet you must agree that they are truly a work of great artistic talent…So, what do you think about art now?"
The blonde continued to watch the statues for a few seconds more before he turned to Sasori, giving an arrogant grin, "I certainly…Respect your own interpretation of art, Master, but unfortunately it is still nothing compared to a transitory moment~"
Sasori scoffed and moved forward, stopping when he reached the very base of the statue of Madara Uchiha, "Whatever, the point is that I have a task for you, brat. If you complete it, then I will make you an official Akatsuki member; if not, then I will lose all hope that you may one day become a tolerable partner…Not that I have any hope about that happening anyway…"
He turned around and the real Sasori opened up his eyes. The red head fumbled around inside of Hiruko until he found the puppet scroll that he had been searching for. Sasori summoned it and then took control of Hiruko once more with the new puppet hanging in the air above. The marionette he had summoned had once been his ex-partner, Kurow. In her hands she clutched the ring that Sasori had first been given by Kisame after Orochimaru had left, and had once been on her own index finger - prior to her demise.
He sent the puppet high into the air, going the length of the incredibly giant statue, until she reached Madara's hand which was positioned in a half ram seal in a sign of battle etiquette towards Hashirama. The puppet placed the ring down on the top of the Madara sculpture's middle finger before disappearing in a puff of smoke, "Get that ring without the use of any weapons, chakra, explosive clay, or anything as such; climb the statue by using just your hands and your feet."
The blonde stared at Sasori as if he were insane, before looking back up at the statue. He soon gave a prideful "Humph, why should I have to do something so fucking stupid, un?"
"Everyone has to do something worthwhile if they wish to be in the Akatsuki, brat." Sasori rolled his eyes and snickered, "Be grateful that I am being so lenient; I had to take down-…Someone very powerful. Now quit whining and get on with it; I hate to be kept waiting."
Deidara sneered but began to climb up the statue - none the less - without the help of anything other than his hands, feet and the rest of his body. The red head knew that this would certainly take a while, so he decided to open his own eyes. Sasori sat back inside of the puppet, knowing that Deidara would soon give up, releasing a sigh as he began to think about what he was going to do about Kabuto…
-x-
It was dark by the time Deidara had reached Madara's shoulders, taking an exhausted seat to try and catch his breath while Sasori was now mentally scolding himself. He certainly would not have chosen such a time-consuming task had he known that the brat wouldn't have given up so easily!
Sasori watched as the blonde once again got to his feet and carefully began to move along the arm, finally starting to climb the wrist of the statue. The red head could see from here that the blonde was covered in scrapes, and he had taken his Akatsuki cloak off long ago as it had grown far too hot. The organisation uniform was currently draped over Hiruko's back, a tad wet from having been thrown into the water.
Finally the blonde hoisted himself up onto the index finger of Madara's hand, and then onto the middle digit. He kneeled there for a few seconds, catching his breath, before he stood up, the ring now on his own right index finger, as if the blonde had already known where it belonged, "I DID IT, MASTER!"
The kid laughed loudly, the full moon appearing directly behind him so all that Sasori could see was his dark silhouette against the white. The blonde suddenly stumbled slightly, clearly over-exhausted, and Sasori watched as Deidara slipped off of the stone digit, falling downwards to the water below. The red head wondered whether such a fall would be enough to kill the blonde, and whether he should try to save him…
Before Sasori could make up his mind, there was a puff of smoke around the blonde. The puppet watched as a great pair of wings began to flap, blowing the drifting grey cloud to disperse in all directions. Deidara was situated on the back of a giant clay dove, still headed towards the water. In a feat of pure ostentatious showmanship, the blonde made the bird avoid hitting the surface of the liquid at the very last moment, tilting the creature to zoom horizontally so that its feet just barely skimmed the water's surface, soon coming to a stop a few metres away from Sasori.
It fluttered above the water, and Deidara jumped off of it within one single movement. As he did so, the dove disappeared in another puff of smoke and the blonde landed in a crouching position on one knee. He was panting hard from exhaustion and the scrapes and cuts which covered his young body were worse than Sasori had previously thought. Oh well, they were nothing that he couldn't heal. Deidara cockily grinned up at Sasori, putting a shaky hand forward to show that he had the ring on his finger. The full moon shone down on it, revealing the kanji for the word 'Blue', "Too easy, un."
Sasori rolled Hiruko's eyes and gave a sigh. "No need to get conceited, brat. I guess we'll make camp nearby, and I'll heal your wounds." The blonde nodded and struggled to get to his feet, screwing up his countenance in pure effort. He managed to walk on his own however, with just his determination to push him forward after his body had long since met its limit…Maybe he was worthy enough to be an Akatsuki member after all…
-x-
Deidara had fallen asleep as soon as he had lain down on the hard ground. Sasori rolled his eyes at the blonde's stupid young antics and began to use his Tender Touch Technique to heal Deidara's wounds. Of course he didn't even have to get close to the blonde in order to repair the damage; he was able to heal him from a distance of one metre while being inside of Hiruko quite easily.
At least he had finally managed to gain an ounce of loyalty from his new partner after several tiring days of trying.
Sasori went over the rules he had set, trying to work out which instructions the kid actually hadn't broken…Rules six, seven and eleven…Which had been about their relationship, touching Sasori's stuff, and finally the one about complaining. He was sure that number eleven would be broken soon anyway. Number seven could possibly be broken…But at least number six was a rule which was simply impossible to break.
Sasori finished healing Deidara's minor wounds and he leaned back inside of Hiruko, his job finally complete. He sighed to himself for no real reason in particular and closed his eyes, falling into his usual state of unconsciousness within less than a second.
-x-
Sasori woke up before the blonde early the next day, looking around the area to see Deidara lying where he had fallen asleep, still unconscious. Sasori rolled Hiruko's eyes and gave a sigh, gazing over at the two statues that were not too far away from where they had made their camp. Even at this distance they were imposingly large against the scenery. The red head gave another sigh and looked back to Deidara, smashing his scorpion tail against the ground next to the blonde in order to disturb his sleep. Successfully awoken, the fourteen year old jumped to his feet in a flash, instinctively falling into a fighting stance.
Deidara looked around and at the sight of only Sasori he physically relaxed, falling out of his position and giving a tired yawn while stretching his sore muscles methodically, "Man; climbing that weird statue thing sure took a lot out of me, un. I'm starving~" He yawned once more, similar in appearance to a cat, and he gave a small sigh, grinning at Sasori. "So, Master," the red head was almost happy to find that Deidara still referred to him with respect, "can we get something to eat, un? I'm dying from starvation."
The red head rolled Hiruko's eyes and began to walk in a western direction, "We need to go to the Land of Grass to meet an underling of mine. We'll find a place where you can eat on the way there; we've already wasted too much time with this little fiasco."
Deidara followed behind him, raising an eyebrow in thought and suspicion, "Hey, I just realised that I've never actually seen you eat, Master, un…" He gave a grin at Sasori, walking beside him on the new found footpath, "Is someone anorexic~?"
Sasori scoffed at the stupid blonde's speculations, "That better be a joke brat, or else you're even stupider than you look." Deidara rolled his eyes but continued to smirk, revealing that it really had been just a joke, though it still made Sasori quite irked off, "Whatever, I don't need to eat. I fixed my body long ago, so I am now beyond such mundane requirements. I'm Eternal, brat."
"Will you stop calling me that, un?" The blonde glared at Sasori, though only half-heartedly, "My name is Deidara, not 'brat'." He crossed his arms childishly and stuck his nose in the air.
"I'll call you whatever I want to. Maybe I'll change my mind if you were not such a childish brat; you have to earn your identity." They continued forward towards the Grass Country. "But until that miraculous time comes, you'll have to deal with it. Got it, 'Brat'?"
"Well…Then I'll just have to call you Master, un." The blonde crossed his arms tighter, giving an immature pout. "Or…How do you feel about the name 'Danna'?"
Sasori rolled Hiruko's eyes, giving a sigh. "Master and Danna mean the exact same thing, Brat…But call me Master, because Danna also means husband and I don't want people to believe that I'd ever have a romantic relationship with a kid like you…Even a platonic relationship is too embarrassing…"
Deidara grinned down at Sasori, uncrossing his arms and moving them behind his head in a care-free fashion, "Okay then; good idea, Danna, un. I'll make sure that I never call you Danna ever again, Danna." The red head gave a harsh sigh and shook Hiruko's head in simple irritation, walking onwards quietly. "So when the fuck are we going to reach a place for breakfast, un? I'm still as starving as fuck, Danna."
"We'll get there once we get there; quit complaining." Well, there goes another one of his rules…That only left two unbroken…
And thus started the nicknames of Brat and Danna…
-x-
Deidara was currently being carried by Hiruko's tail as Sasori continued to walk his puppet onwards. The blonde had complained about being tired, and had had the gall to try and ride on Hiruko's back. Sasori had, of course, been utterly enraged by Deidara breaking yet another of his rules - leaving only number six unbroken - and he had decided to settle the issue by carrying the blonde using Hiruko's tail.
Besides, if the kid started to get chatty, Sasori could just give him a good shake to shut him up.
It was night-time and there was a new moon in the sky, meaning the area was extremely dark due to the lack of any source of lighting, but Sasori's acute eyesight could see just as good in the dim than in the light. "Why the fuck do we have to meet one of your fucking bitches, un?"
They reached the bridge before Kabuto and Sasori abruptly let go of the blonde, dropping him on the wooden structure. Deidara fell onto his butt, giving a small groan and he shot the red head a good glare to which the red head responded to by rolling Hiruko's eyes, "We're meeting him because I said so, Brat. So sit there and stay out of my business." The blonde gave a disgruntled sneer and got to his feet, stretching his sore muscles, once again giving Sasori the impression of a feline.
"You don't have to be such a fucking tight-ass about it, un." Deidara rubbed his arms, and began to mumble something about getting bruises from the scorpion tail, before he walked over to the side of the bridge, looking down at the water below. "I bet if someone were to fall from this height, they would die on impact…"
"Trust me Brat, I want nothing more than to push you off, but once again, I am not allowed to kill you; so don't even bother trying to tempt me." Sasori rolled his eyes, and looked over at the other side of the bridge as a figure approached. They were adorned in a long dark blue cloak, and the person was all alone. Sasori knew immediately that it was his underling. "Kabuto." The eighteen year old walked forward until he was a few metres in front of the puppet, giving a cautious glance over at Deidara who was still gazing at the water below. "Ignore him; he is my new partner unfortunately."
Kabuto pulled his hood down and frowned at Hiruko, "But Lord Sasori; with this kid hanging around, won't he affect our training?" He was quiet for a few seconds of thought, giving a serious look, "Or would you like me to kill him for you?"
The blonde's head snapped up at the remark and he turned, shooting Kabuto an utterly pissed off snarl, "HEY! WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM? FIRST HE FUCKING MAKES A MOCKERY OUT OF ME AND HUMILIATES MY ULTIMATE ARTWORK, AND NOW A FUCKING PUSSY LIKE YOU STARTS TRYING TO FUCKING-"
Sasori shot the blonde an unimpressed look, lowering his voice venomously, "Shut the hell up Brat, I-"
"NO!" Deidara glared at the red head, giving a sneer. "YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP, UN! I DESERVE TO HAVE MY FUCKING SAY IN THIS, SO GO ROT IN A DITCH OR SOMETHING, YOU FUCKING OLD-TIGHT-ASSED-PUSSY-COCK-SUCKING-BITCHY-BASTARD, UN!"
Kabuto gave the blonde a critical glare, narrowing his eyes in a dangerous expression, "I'd recommend showing respect to your elders, boy. Apologize to Lord Sasori this instant, or else you shall be sorry-"
"Both of you…SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sasori glared between the both of them, completely fed up with their fucking arguing; it was both pathetic and annoying. Deidara made a move to retaliate, but the red head quickly shut him up with a good blow from Hiruko's tail. The kid fell back onto his butt once more and began to nurse his now aching head, sending the odd glare at Sasori and the blue-cloaked male, "Now Kabuto; no he will not affect your training, because I will not be training you anymore." The male's eyes widened slightly, and the red head continued, "The reason for this is because I'm giving you a top secret mission that will take you a total of five years to accomplish."