Exquisite Desire

Chapter 35 - The Poisonous Bite

They stayed in Kali's cave for several days. Each one saw an improvement on Kali, though it seemed as though she didn't dare open her connection with Tal yet. Deidara reasoned that it would be harder to resist the desire to feed when you knew that someone who was so enjoyable to be around was nearby. The vampires had found a reindeer on their hunt and after they had drank their fill, had cut the dead creature up to cook over a fire for the two humans. Itachi, though grateful for food, found himself longing for carrots and broccoli like he never had before and after a straight week of eating nothing but meat, wondered if he would return to civilization a strict vegetarian. Despite their love of their humans, Itachi had learned that vampires are not very good at finding food for them.

Predictably, Deidara had venomously refused Sasori's demand and it took a lot of convincing to keep him from storming over to his maker to take his anger out on him. The two of them fighting would not help Kali—or any of them. He was furious for days, glowering across the room at the unaffected redhead who spent his time in a comfortable looking pile of blankets that he had selected for his daytime death. The blond refused to discuss the matter, but Itachi continued to press the issue with him, silently in their minds during the day when the blond couldn't easily storm away from him. Though the blond refused to talk about it, Itachi spent the daytime with his arm firmly latched around Deidara, tempting him to withdraw into their shared space. Deidara didn't want to, knowing he'd be able to hear all of Itachi's arguments and reasons whether he wanted to or not, but it was very tempting because he was very tired and wanted to relax.

He finally gave in, sinking under the surface of their minds into their shared space. It no longer had the darkness that encased it when they were under the Hunter's hold, but filled them with peace and warmth. They curled around each other, Deidara cuddled against Itachi's side, Itachi with his head on Deidara's leg, but Deidara was staring off in the blank distance.

"I still don't like it," he finally said.

Itachi reached out and brushed Deidara's hair off his face so he could see him better. "I know… but I don't think we can avoid it," he told him. "Sasori won't leave us be until he gets it."

"What exactly is he trying to pull?" the blond raged against his leg. "He just wants your blood cause I like it an—"

"No, he's got something else planned," Itachi interrupted. "Remember? I'm supposed to drink your blood before he drinks mine… He wants to see if he can taste you again through me… blood has memories right? If I have a memory of its taste, that will be in my blood which he'll taste… I think it's his last resort to trying to be able to drink your blood again. It'd just be like a ghost of a taste though, I don't really see how that'd be much of anything…"

Deidara was quiet, pressing his eyes against Itachi's leg as if he had a headache he was trying to relieve. "I'd let him have my blood if I could," he mumbled quietly. "I never liked giving it to him… I remember bits from before Sasori turned me, but not much… After he turned me though," he lifted his head to turn and look at Itachi, "new vampires have to drink their Maker's blood to get strong and learn to control their hunger. Really old vampires can pick and choose memories they want to share through their blood. I've seen lots of vampires Sasori's made, but none of them…" His voice drifted off as memories filled both their shared thoughts; memories of faceless vampires that never seemed to matter or last long. "Sasori didn't do that for me. I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but he let me see all kinds of things. I felt how much he loved my taste, I iwanted/i him to be able to feed off me again, but he can't now…"

Itachi nodded his understanding. He felt the same way about Deidara when he tasted his blood. He could feel how much the blond cared about him and how much he loved the taste of his blood. It made him happy, and Itachi wanted Deidara to be happy. "It worries me though," Itachi commented. "If it doesn't work, will Sasori just kill us?"

Deidara boiled with rage at the very idea, but Itachi's calmness didn't allow it to get out of control. "I don't know, un… Maybe… sounded like it, didn't it?" he mused, rubbing his face against Itachi's leg.

"Yeah, but I don't think he'd kill you," Itachi said, thoughtfully. "If he did and then he figured out a way that he could have your blood again, he'd be very upset."

Deidara suddenly burst out laughing, stretching his legs out slightly before curling them back for Itachi to rest on. "He'd be so mad!" he cried, shaking with laughter. "I think he would just kill everyone on the whole planet if that happened, un. That's how I always imagined the world would end. Sasori would get bored and kill everyone, un."

"When we do it—"

"If we do it."

"When we do it," Itachi repeated. "I'd rather it be somewhere safer. Not out here… maybe home?"

Deidara gave him a dark look for not correcting his statement, but thought about it. "We'll have a lot of stuff to do when we get home. Maybe he'll forget."

"You know he's not going to forget," Itachi told him, sitting up so he could stretch his limbs and began fingering Deidara's hair absentmindedly. "It would only be one time. I'll be fine."

"Itachi," Deidara implored, staring up at him in concern. "Sasori's bites aren't like mine. It hurts when Sasori bites."

"I know," Itachi replied, twirling the strands around his fingers. He felt it, saw it, in both of their memories. He recalled Sasori's reaction to being unable to drink Deidara's blood anymore and frowned a little.

Deidara, sharing the same thought, frowned back and sighed heavily. "Sometimes I feel bad for Sasori, but then I remember he's a terrible person, so…" he shook his head and Itachi laughed softly.

"You aren't exactly a wonderful person either," the brunette reminded him to which Deidara gave him a mischievous smirk.

The blond started to reply, before something seemed to catch his attention from somewhere far away. "Sasori wants us," he grumbled after a moment and that wonderful, peaceful space disappeared and they were bundled together on their own bed. Itachi opened his eyes to give him a disappointed expression – their space was just as relaxing to him – before Deidara rolled over to glare at the redhead. "What?" he demanded sharply.

Sasori raised an eyebrow at his tone of voice, but didn't comment on it. "We're leaving tonight. The antidote has worked enough that she is in better control," he said, staring down his nose at them. "We will need to teach her how to feed again."

"You will," Deidara corrected him, nudging his head against Itachi's arm until it was around his neck. Sasori's brows knitted together and the blond quickly explained, "I don't know how to, un."

The redhead gave him a contemptuous look, folding his arms as he did so. "That's true," he commented. "You never had the mind set to Make your own… You preferred humans." Deidara glared at him, but didn't say anything back, so Sasori wave his hand as if he were brushing the two of them off. "Fine. But we are leaving. We'll have to leave just as the sun sets to catch the train."

The two nodded and Itachi sat up while Deidara's head slid down into his lap. "Alright," Itachi told him, when the redhead continued to stand before them staring. "We'll be ready."

"You shouldn't be so weak," the redhead commented.

Deidara bristled angrily, but Itachi put a hand on his head to keep him calm. "It's not weakness," Itachi said firmly, his dark eyes cold. "You turned Deidara against his will. Not everyone wants to live forever."

Sasori fixed him with an icy look. He seemed to want to argue, but changed his mind and rolled his eyes as he partially turned away. "You clearly have no appreciation for what we are," he replied. "But this conversation is pointless. The sun sets in 2 hours."

Itachi pressed harder on Deidara's head when the blond tried to rise again. "It's okay," he whispered, as Sasori walked away.

"It's not okay," the blond growled. "He's…" But Deidara didn't seem able to really understand what Sasori was and he seemed to shrink a little. "I don't want him to feed on you… I don't want his nasty teeth on you, un. He'll hurt you and enjoy it. What if his experiment works? He'll want to take you away from me so he can always get what he wants – the selfish bastard…"

A small smile crossed Itachi's lips and he slid his fingers into Deidara's hair. The blond was quite selfish himself, but decided to not mention it to him. He slid out from under him and wrapped the blankets around Deidara, even though he didn't really need it. Itachi didn't want his body freezing while he was gathering their things. Tal was doing the same, a great smile on his face as he moved about the cave. It was too warm due to the hot springs to wear all their layers, but they were ready to be pulled on. The Indian man was tidying up the space, folding up the blankets that had been strewn around messily. Kali was laying in her day time death, her murky white eyes following his movements with fondness instead of hunger. Watching them made Itachi smile a little as he hurried to help Tal before packing up the few things they had brought themselves.

By the time they were finished, the vampires were up and about and ready to go. The two humans ate the last of the fried meat grudgingly and followed the vampires out into the bitter cold again. It'd been so warm within the cave that Itachi had forgotten how horribly cold it was outside. Kali smiled at Tal and offered her hand to him and he took it and allowed her to pull him gently onto her back to help carry him down the icy rocks. Deidara gave Itachi a beaming grin and mimicked her gesture overdramatically with a sweeping gesture which he accepted and wrapped his arms around Deidara's neck. They climbed down after Sasori and followed his lead in dropping down into the deep snow.

The going was slow as the vampires plodded through the snow, but finally they reached the tunnel Sasori and Deidara had dug earlier and Itachi slid off of Deidara's back. They followed the others down the tunnel, stepping over the large chunks of ice and snow that had fallen from the ceiling during the child vampire's fight. When they reached the tracks, Itachi and Tal got back on their vampire's backs and they waited for the train pass by again. Itachi was not a fan of this plan at all, but was overridden by Sasori who claimed that his imagination had died when the snow started falling again.

They only had to wait another forty minutes before the rushing sound of an oncoming train bound for Russia echoed up the snowy tunnel. Itachi wasn't sure if the train was really that loud or if it was heightened abilities with Deidara that made it so loud, but he had to resist letting go of Deidara to cover his ears as the machine flew by them threatening to tear him from the vampire's back. Deidara laughed at the rush as it whipped his hair wildly around them before hoisting Itachi up on his back and leapt.

The impact and jolt of the train jarred Itachi's body so hard he nearly fell from Deidara's back, but the blond seemed not to notice as he climbed up the side of the train, oblivious to the wind threatening to tear them off. Sasori was crouched like a spider on the roof, the wind pulling his hair back exposing his childish face which was, as always, oddly stoic for the chaos surrounding them. He had just gotten a glimpse of Kali and Tal when Deidara pulled him off his back and tucked him between himself and the train roof.

'We have to go down,' Deidara said in his head, holding him tightly against him as he crawled closer to where Sasori, unhindered by baggage, disappeared into a trapdoor. The blond carefully lifted Itachi down into the dark hole until he could reach anymore and let him fall the last few feet onto the rocking floor of the train. A few minutes later and Deidara was standing next to him and Tal and Kali followed soon after.

"We're staying in the luggage car, un," Deidara said to them all. "We'll find some warm places for you two to sleep." His eyes were on Itachi who was trying not to appear as cold as he actually was. Trains didn't have to keep the cargo cars heated. The vampire left him to dig around in the cargo, finally calling him to collections of packaged clothing they took the lids off of. Itachi cringed a little as Deidara tore them out of their plastic and pulled him into the nest he made. "There," the vampires fussed, tucking him deep into the mount of t-shirts and settled on top of him. "Better?"

"Someone is going to get into a lot of trouble," Itachi murmured.

"But not us," the blond smirked, rubbing his hands over top of the blankets to cause some friction for Itachi. As a vampire, he couldn't warm him up himself.

"I don't think we should go back to Germany," came Sasori's voice from somewhere Itachi couldn't see. "We'll get off early and go to my home."

"No way," Deidara growled at him.

"I would like to see some green after so much time in the snow," Kali told the redhead from the next cargo box over. Her head became visible as she rested her arms on the boxes. Tal leaned over as well, wrapped in a similar array of clothing. "Not the desert, Sasori."

"It would be safer."

"I doubt that," Deidara scoffed.

There was a heavy silence and Itachi could practically picture the contemplative expression on Sasori's face as he looked at them. "Itachi." Startled, Itachi sat up to look at the redhead, who was indeed staring at them all looking deep in thought. "Without being interrupted," the vampire continued, "what have you learned about the relationship between vampires and hunters?"

Confused, Itachi looked at Deidara who only returned the expression. "It's… not good?" the brunette replied, unsure of what he wanted to hear.

Sasori looked slightly annoyed and nearly rolled his eyes. "That's a light way of putting it," he said from his perch in the corner. "The Hunters were ready to wage war for one of their own. They like war, wouldn't you say?"

"Some of them seemed to."

"You know who else likes war?"

"You," Itachi suggested, not sure what the vampire was hinting at. Sasori blinked slowly at him, waiting without explanation. Swallowing, Itachi sat up a little straighter and wrapped the t shirts around himself tighter. Who liked war? Sasori did like war. So did Deidara. They were both children, even though they were older vampires. It was a game to them. A violent game. A game that gave them freedom to do what they wanted, to kill what they wanted, to eat what they wanted. The question wasn't really 'who else likes war', it was 'who else likes the idea of war'. "Vampires," he said softly.

"Yes," Sasori replied, his fingers lacing around his knees.

"You didn't want the Tokyo vampires to know because it would start a species war instead of a civil war," Itachi continued.

"Yes," he repeated. "They'd do anything to have war. War means freedom to do what we do best. Now, Deidara is disposable. He's powerful and they want him on their side, but they can't control him. Only I can, and they can't control me."

"You can't control me, Danna."

"Shut up." Itachi hurriedly soothed Deidara mentally to keep him from arguing with Sasori who continued to speak. "What about one of their own council members? One who always had total control and suddenly lost it?"

"Kali?" Tal asked, frowning as the two of them exchanged a look.

Sasori didn't answer, his eyes were locked onto Itachi's who wished he would look away; his eyes bore into his skull. "Kali," Itachi finally replied, swallowing thickly, "wanted peace. She was arguing for peace between the councils. That's what she said…"

"What were your parents doing, Itachi?"

The four below stared up at him for a moment in shocked silence. "The council did it," Tal choked quietly. His hand grasping Kali's arm though he didn't take his eyes off of Sasori. "They arranged it."

"Seems strange to go back to them, doesn't it," the redhead mused, leaning back against the side of the car. "My home then. We'll get off before the train turns north towards Moscow."

"No," Deidara insisted angrily. "We're going home! To our home, un! I don't care if I have to kill all the vampires in the council and the country. I am taking Itachi home, un!"

"Speculation."

Sasori stared at Itachi coldly. "My speculations are usually correct," he murmured dangerously.

Itachi shook his head. "You're not part of the council – you hate the council, you don't know what they were doing," he insisted. "It might be true, but it's speculation. I want to go home, too. You don't have to come with us."

"I'm getting my payment," the redhead glared, sliding away into a darker corner and didn't speak for several hours.

The four in the crates glanced at one another, then at Itachi who just slid back into the clothes, not wanting to talk about it. It did sound possible, but he also knew that Sasori wanted the two of them under his own thumb. Deidara had told him ages ago that Sasori's home was difficult to get to and leave from. He did not want to be at Sasori's mercy.

Deidara stayed sitting up, glancing from himself to Kali a few times before sinking down to wedge himself protectively around Itachi with the clothes. He couldn't keep him warm, but he would do his best at least. Itachi smiled and rest his head against Deidara's. 'You think it's speculation?' Deidara murmured, giving him a squeeze.

'I don't know… maybe… it could be true, but… I want to go home,' Itachi murmured. 'I'm tired…'

Deidara tilted his chin up and gave him a soft kiss and Itachi took that to mean he agreed.

It was snowing. Not an angry, ominous torrent of heavy snow, but a calm, peaceful snow that tickled rosy cheeks and brought a comfortable quiet to the air. Crunching echoed gently on the dark glass store fronts. People forgot why they stayed open late in the city, but even here it was too late for them. Deidara walked ahead with Itachi, his eyes scanning the streets with a frown. Itachi wasn't sure what he was looking for, or whether it was a displeased frown or a curious one. His attention seemed to have left the immediate area, so Itachi guided him as Deidara had guided him down the streets. Itachi wasn't sure where exactly they were heading to, but trusted Deidara to say something if they went the wrong way.

They had reached a street that looked vaguely familiar to Itachi when Deidara stopped walking. Itachi was about to ask what was wrong when he suddenly felt Deidara's power spreading out around them. It was similar to the way Sasori had let the Hunters sense his anger and bloodlust in Tokyo, but this didn't feel so threatening. It was an announcement, Itachi realized. The Master of the City had returned and demanded attention. Itachi rubbed the goosebumps on his arms that had nothing to do with the cold and glanced back. Kali's head was tilted to the side and was watching Deidara intently. As a visitor, she was under his orders, while Sasori, not under Deidara's orders, looked very bored.

"What if they don't want to accept you?" Itachi asked as Deidara resumed walking.

"They will, un."

"What if they don't?"

"I'll kill them."

He said it so casually, Itachi paused for a moment, but continued to keep pace with the vampire. In their current position with the Hunters, Itachi didn't think it was a good idea to kill off all the other vampires in the city, but he was still new to politics and decided to stay quiet. Very soon he began to see people. Before the 4:30 AM streets had been nearly empty, but now he saw faces peering at them from windows, from side streets. Their eyes gleamed in the street lights as they ventured closer. Itachi never realized how many vampires lived in this city and now they were all appearing, staring at them as they passed by.

Deidara stopped and looked at them all and Itachi had never seen him look so haughty before. He almost smiled, but was saved the chance as Deidara lifted him up effortlessly and murmured, "home," before taking off, the others close behind him. Itachi would have preferred a car and told the blond so, making him laugh into the night air. When they skid to a stop, Deidara spinning Itachi dizzily around, in front of the house, they stared up at the mansion for a moment and they shared an exhale of relief. It was how they left it, on the outside at least. Itachi felt Deidara mourn the fact that the house was lacking in Christmas decorations, but he didn't voice it allowed as the large double doors opened and several figures stepped into the snowy night.

The vampires didn't even try to hide their astonishment at their appearance. They stared down at the Child Vampire and his human with wide eyes, growing even wider when they saw the others with them. Only Belle seemed composed as she folded her hands in front of her like a proper lady and bowed her head slightly to them, though she never took her eyes off of the blond. Itachi didn't like how most of the others looked disappointed and wondered if any of them would challenge Deidara's sudden appearance, but the blond simply smirked up at all of them as if he fooled them in some sort of bizarre game. Throwing his chin up, he marched up to the door – the vampires parting as he approached – and entered the house with the others following shortly.

The entrance hall still held signs of the Hunter's attack. The carpeted stone floor had blood on them and there were still bodies of dead humans and vampire skeletons lying where they died. Itachi swallowed thickly, smelling through his connection with Deidara the blood and death. There was Hunter blood and Wolf blood seeped into the carpet, but their bodies were nowhere to be seen.

'Hunters and Wolves keep their dead, un,' Deidara's voice murmured in his head in explanation. 'Go upstairs to your room, I'll be up soon.'

'I'm fine,' Itachi assured him, taking his eyes off the bodies to look back at the Vampires filing in behind Sasori. "Where are the packs?"

"Answer him," Deidara said without turning after a few silent heartbeats.

A sharp tension suddenly filled the air as Deidara gave the order, but still none of them challenged the blond. Itachi couldn't tell if they were scared of him, or angry. "They are in their wing of the castle," one responded gruffly. "Are you ex—"

"Yes," Deidara interrupted, rocking back on his heels.

"Will you e—"

"Nope," he said, finally tilting his head back to look at their angry expressions. "Send a message to Chloe to come see me in the afternoon if she is free."

"What are you going to do now?" one of the female vampires asked snidely.

"Put my human to bed, un," he grinned.

"You think we're going to just let you return with no explanation?!" the first vampire who answered demanded. "After that attack, then he," he pointed to Sasori, "comes and murders one of your humans, and now you show up like you've gone off on one of your childish trips and are not going to explain a single damn thing?!"

Deidara regarded him intently and despite the fact that he was quite smaller then all of them, he seemed to be looking down at them all. Itachi wondered if it was a trait he picked up from Sasori or if it was something they both happened to share. "I left instructions to be followed, un," he said, glancing at Belle who allowed the corners of her mouth to upturn slightly. "I don't think I need to indulge anything else to iyou/i and if you delay me anymore, I will kill you."

"Who is this?" the female demanded, pointing at Kali who had remained silent with the others.

Kali seemed to draw herself up though she hadn't changed her posture and looked at the woman. "I am Kali," she said with such authority that her disgruntled, ragged appearance could barely be seen, "Lady of the Council, child of Mohini." She glanced at Belle and the two of them shared a friendly smile.

The blond gave the others a smile to show he was entirely satisfied with himself and nudged Itachi passed the debris of the entrance hall and up the stairs where more carnage was. Not wanting to see it, Itachi closed his eyes and let Deidara guide him through hallways and stairs until he came to his own corridor.

"See? Easy-peasy," Deidara said, turning to Kali and Tal. "Kali do you feel comfortable enough to stay with Tal or would you like your own room tonight, un?"

"So long as there is blood in the room for me to drink before I sleep, I will be fine," Kali told him with a smile. Itachi decided he liked her smile a lot.

"I'll get it," Tal told her, nodding respectfully to Deidara and walked away towards the upper kitchen hall.

"Rose is going to be really happy tomorrow," Deidara told Itachi who smiled back. "She wont leave you alone. She'll come bursting into the room as soon as she smells you, un."

"I look forward to seeing her," Itachi said quietly. He tried not to think about the fact that he was the only one left of Deidara's personal human, Deidara paused and looked back at him with a lost expression, possibly thinking the same thing. Itachi shifted a little on his feet then gave Deidara a smile. "Want to stay in my room tonight?"

"Yeah," Deidara said, brightening instantly. He started to walk towards the door, but stopped and turned on his toes. "There's plenty of rooms in the house, take your pick damnit!"

Startled, Itachi stared at him, but glanced back and saw Sasori standing a few inches away. "I'll sleep where I want to," the redhead said with a raised eyebrow.

"Not in Itachi's room, un," the blond growled venomously.

"Where ever I want to," Sasori insisted dangerously.

"You'll get what you want, but not tonight," Itachi said, stepping between them before they could start fighting. "We've been through a lot, just let us sleep."

"No, you have been through a lot," Sasori corrected smugly. "Deidara has been through much worse and it's your human weakness that is holding him back now."

Faltering slightly, Itachi stared at Sasori, but Deidara pulled him away from the redhead with a nasty glare. "I like it, un."

"You always have," Sasori commented in a casual tone. "You like humans too much."

"I never wanted to be a vampire," Deidara hissed under his breath and nudged Itachi into his bedroom and slammed the door shut on Sasori's face. "Go away," he whispered against the door.

Itachi stood in the darkness of the room. He could barely tell if his eyes were open or shut, but he knew he was in his room. He recognized the feel of the floor under his feet and where it transitioned to carpet. Despite the change outside this door, his room felt untouched in his absence. He took a deep breath. It smelled like his room… but in a strange, unused way. Something touched his arms. He would have jumped if he hadn't known it was Deidara. The blond led him through the room – though he didn't really need it – and they climbed into the bed.

It was still messy from his thrashing fear when he felt Deidara's pain. The room was so dark he couldn't see anything in front of his face, but he felt Deidara running his hand over the blankets. "I'm sorry." The blond's voice was small, he almost didn't recognize it as belonging to him.

"What for?" Itachi asked, reaching out blindly to figure out where Deidara was. His fingers slid into his hair. It needed to be brushed, but Itachi just twirled a few strands between his fingers.

"Everything," came the soft voice. "I've ruined your life, un."

Itachi frowned, inching closer to sit in front of Deidara as best he could. He might not be able to see anything, but he was pretty sure Deidara could see him. "I don't think you've ruined my life," he said.

"I have," Deidara told him.

"No, you haven't," Itachi insisted. "I'm happy here with you…"

"You would have been better off if I had just left you alone, un."

Giving his hair a sharp tug, Itachi frowned down at him. He reached out to touch him, groping until he found his face and drew him closer. His own face was blushing furiously, but he didn't want Deidara to get the wrong idea. He was upset; Itachi could sense it through their connections. All his human friends were gone. Gone. Dead. He didn't know. To Deidara they were the same thing. Forcing his embarrassment away, Itachi leaned up and kissed the blond lightly. "You know I wouldn't be better off," he said softly. "You've been in my head. You know… I know you're upset, but you didn't hurt me. Other people tried to. People hurt you, not me. I'm okay. Look at me, I'm okay. We're home."

"I left you behind."

"I found you."

"Kit almost killed you, un."

"I got away."

"The Hunters took you away from me."

"We got away."

"Stop it, un."

"No, Deidara, you stop… You're upset," Itachi repeated. "Do you want to hide?" he asked in a soft whisper.

"Yes."

Itachi laid down on the bed, taking Deidara with him and pulled the blankets over them. Melding together into one under them, he tucked them into the folds like a burrito and together they fell into the silent shared space. Deidara clutched him like a small child, face buried against his chest. His feelings crushed their space and they felt them together like they were one mind. He felt his worries, his heartbreak and fear. The sludgy darkness. It was getting worse.

"It's alright," Itachi told him.

Suddenly they were pulled out of their space and back into Itachi's bed. Their minds ripped apart, Itachi scrambled for something to steady himself, arms wrapped around Deidara's body. Deidara was doing the same, but the emotional overload he was having in their space hadn't quite gotten put away and he hid his face against Itachi's chest. Itachi's hand flailed out and he caught the forearm of someone who had shaken them awake.

"Calm down," came a familiar voice. An annoyed voice.

"Sasori!" Deidara's snarl seemed less human than he'd ever heard him. He tried to launch himself from Itachi at his Maker, but Sasori had a hand on his chest to pin him down. Itachi couldn't see anything in the dark, so he released Sasori's arm and reached to turn the nightstand light on. Sasori was struggling to hold Deidara down on the bed, he didn't look threatening, just annoyed that the blond was trying to fight him.

Sitting up, Itachi grabbed Deidara and pulled him away, mentally shushing him to calm down. Finally the blond relaxed, curled up in his lap and growling softly. "What do you want?" Itachi asked, staring at the redhead.

"I'm collecting my reward."

"I said not tonight!" Deidara hissed.

"Yes, tonight. I've waited long enough," Sasori informed him. "And you know how I hate waiting, Deidara. I've had enough of you two. Give him your blood. Now. That is a direct command."

Deidara stared up at him, eyes wider than he had ever seen them. He turned them up to look at Itachi who understood that he couldn't refuse a direct order and Sasori had never used one on him. Swallowing, the blond sat up and used his own teeth to tear his sin away from his forearm and it out for Itachi. It was shaking slightly as he took it. The brunette swallowed, glancing at Sasori before beginning to drink Deidara's blood. His blood never tasted as normal blood did. There was still a hint of metal, but it was thick and sweet and full of memories, worries and affection. Mostly worries. He could feel how scared he was for Itachi's wellbeing. Sasori was cruel, his bites were crueler. Itachi felt himself growing more nervous just from feeling Deidara's nervousness. Sasori's eyes were on the two of them, wide and mad. He had crouched closer to them, but appeared to be holding his breath, possibly so he wasn't tempted to taste the blood he wanted so badly that would only eat away at his insides.

"More," he croaked, reaching out to nudge Itachi's shoulder with the tips of his fingers. Deidara growled at him, but obeyed and made a new deep tear in his arm as the other one began healing when Itachi stopped drinking. The brunette obediently began to drink again, but only drank half of what he had the first go round before Sasori pulled him away and sunk his own teeth into Itachi's chest where his collarbone met his shoulder.

Every muscle in his wanted to throw the redhead off. Deidara's fangs were a pinch, before his venom made it pleasant and then pleasurable. Sasori's fangs just brought pain. It started with the bite, then seemed to slowly creep through his skin like poison, spreading until his whole body burned with pain. He felt Deidara clutching at the corners of his mind, trying to take some of the pain away, but it was in his skin not his mind. His fingers gripped into the blankets of the bed and Sasori's shirt. He wouldn't scream. He would not. But he wanted to so badly.

He heard Deidara make a soft whining growl and Sasori let go. As soon as he did, Deidara shoved the redhead away and pulled Itachi, wincing, onto his lap. He held him like a hurt doll, stroking his arm as if that would make the pain that throbbed from his bleeding wound away. Deidara wanted to bite him to give him his venom instead to try and heal the bite mark, but didn't want to hurt him more – even for a moment. Sasori sat on the bed with his hands by his knees, staring down at them, sucking on his lower lip to get every cell of blood he'd taken.

The pain slowly ebbing away, Itachi sat up nervously, watching the redhead with apprehension. If it worked, would he never leave them? Would he force them to do this whenever he wanted? If it didn't work, would he kill the both of them? The room was quiet except for the small breathy growls from Deidara. It took a few moments before Sasori shook himself out of his trance and turned to look at the two of them.

His face was unreadable.

Deidara was too venomously angry to speak, but Itachi could hear the other side of his mind, the concerned side. He voiced it for the blond, "Danna?"

Sasori's head tilted slightly to the side, observing him as if he didn't understand what he said. Itachi knew his voice didn't match the word. He heard it like it was Deidara's voice because Itachi had been voicing Deidara's thoughts, but it had been with Itachi's voice. His large, honey brown eyes stared at Itachi's red eyes, old eyes in a childish face. He looked so lost.

Then it was gone.

Sasori slid off the bed and walked to the door. He paused to glance back at them for a moment, his normal, slightly annoyed expression on his face. The he, like the lost expression on his face, was gone.

"Do you think it worked, un?" Deidara asked after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know," Itachi replied.

"We're still alive," the blond commented. He frowned and tilted his head to the side while staring at the door then crawled around to sit in front of Itachi and touch his chest. "Bastard…"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Itachi said quietly. He watched Deidara touch the skin around the bite and shivered at the thought of Deidara going through that on Sasori's whim. He suddenly didn't feel so sorry for Sasori anymore. He didn't care how guilty Deidara felt, it was not his fault. Without the attachment to Sasori that Deidara had, Itachi was free to see Sasori for the narcissistic psychopath he was. "Sleep now, rebuild empire tonight."

Deidara made a soft grunt of agreement, laying down with him and gently moved his own mouth around the wound. He was trying to make it heal it, but Itachi doubted it would heal as smoothly as Deidara's bites did. He fell asleep to Deidara muttering angry curses at his maker, happy to finally be in his own bed, in his own room again despite the disruption.

AN: Does anyone know any of those 30 day drabble prompts that are pretty good? I was thinking of trying some out, but haven't been able to find a good one...