As White as Blood

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sub-Zero Sleep

Sasori was warped away from the normal world, being pulled into the genjutsu universe. He stood on a blood red cloud, looking around. Everything other than the cloud was either crimson or black in colouration. Sasori looked at his hands to see that his flesh had disappeared; he was now just made up of red outlines. A swarm of crows with snow white edges burst into the air and crowded in a circle. Sasori watched as they suddenly began to create a form, until the seventeen year old known as Itachi Uchiha was floating before him. Crows pulled apart from his body, but soon merged with it again in a never ending cycle. "Sasori of the Red Sand; I firstly apologize for waking you up."

"That is alright," Sasori raised an eyebrow at the male, "but why did you wake me up anyway?"

Itachi gave a small, peaceful hum, blinking his eyes. "Because your new partner, Deidara, is currently freezing to death. I thought that because I was the reason that Orochimaru left the Akatsuki, the least I could do was save this partner of yours…Just this once." The crows began to suddenly pull apart and Itachi began to slowly un-form. "You are a medical Shinobi, Sasori, so I'll leave saving him up to you. I have played my part. Goodbye." With that expressed, the birds melted away from view, as did the rest of the genjutsu. Sasori blinked down at the crow which still sat in his lap. It gave an ominous squawk and jumped into the air, taking flight quickly. The bird glided out of the cave and the other few carrion creatures followed behind it. Sasori sighed and stood up, stepping out of Hiruko.

He traipsed over to Deidara's still self and picked him up bridal style. The red head carried him to the back of the cave, placing him inside of Hiruko's shell. Sasori then began checking for signs of life. He did have a pulse and he was breathing, but both were sluggishly weak. The red head gave a frown and began going over solutions in his head. He couldn't heat the blonde up too quickly, or that would kill him, but he also wasn't able to just leave him like this. Sasori frowned, wishing for once that he was able to produce body heat, because then-…

The red head almost groaned at having to use the stupid Jutsu that he had created over a decade ago. He scoffed and made several handsigns, activating the Human Jutsu, shivering slightly at the sudden feeling of actual feeling running through his body as it shifted into that of a normal human. The red head moved over to the blonde, pulling the soaking Akatsuki cloak from the boy, tossing it to the side. Deidara didn't wear a shirt beneath the main article of clothing, revealing his bare white and blue chest. The mouth on his left side was shuddering slightly, and Sasori guessed that its teeth were chattering - or something weird like that.

The red head gave a sigh and unbuttoned his own Akatsuki cloak, pulling it off but not getting rid of it. He lay down next to the blonde inside of Hiruko and pulled down the hatch, trying to get into a comfortable position. The puppet was made for a sixteen year old body, not one that was thirty-one years old - not to mention Deidara also being inside of Hiruko. Sasori put his Akatsuki cloak over the top of them as a sort of blanket, and he wrapped his arms around the blonde, planning to use his own body heat to keep him alive.

Sasori hissed, having not realised just how icy Deidara really was. God, it was practically a miracle that he was still alive at this temperature! The red head ignored the biting and pulled Deidara closer against his chest, holding the fifteen year old to try and protect him from the cold clutches of death.

After a while, the blonde's health appeared to be steadily improving. His skin was slowly but gradually returning to its usual colour, his breathing was more frequent and his pulse had picked up. He snuggled against Sasori in his what-could-have-been-Eternal sleep, and the red head resisted the urge to recall his phobia of being touched. This was necessary if he was to keep Deidara from dying - and from Pein killing him.

Eventually the red head grew tired and fell into actual sleep, something that he had not done since he had been sixteen. Not only that, but for the first time in all of these years, he had a dream similar to the one he had had all those years ago…

Sasori stood in the darkness once again, almost all alone. An image flickered and an Akatsuki hologram formed. It soon became solid, and revealed the old figure of a fifteen year old Karura wearing an Akatsuki cloak. Slowly she smiled calmly at him, and began to sing the same song of lament as before, but slightly differently… "This is the world that you told me about…So why didn't I listen to you? Couldn't I have been content outside of the stupid walls like you were?" She gave a small almost-giggle and traipsed forward to Sasori. Karura stopped in front of him, but simply smiled at the red head. "Now that I know what is out there in the world…How could I have shielded you from Him?" Karura gave a slow sigh, yet still she smiled down at him. "Or Them?" Sasori was no longer confused as to what the latter was. Clearly 'Them' referred to the Akatsuki.

Karura gave a laugh, and leaned slightly forward, as if to kiss Sasori, but as she went to lock their lips, something else got in the way. She pulled back, and the red head was surprised to see that a mask adorned her face. It was snow white with the blood red markings - that Sasori had worn on his face as a child - painted on it.

The person laughed loudly and began to chant in a different voice, "You should not have made a promise which you could not keep, so I shall take your son for my name is Nimble-Still-Creep. You should not have made a promise which you could not keep, so I shall take your son for my name is Nimble-Still-Creep." The person gave another laugh and they put their hands up to the mask, pulling it off.

Instead of Karura, the new person revealed was a girl of about thirteen with extreme blonde hair, who also was adorned in an Akatsuki cloak. Sasori immediately recognised her as the Iwagakure girl that he had met on Mother Island. Asuko had been her name!

She gave a laugh and a flower appeared in her hand as she began to sing. "It doesn't matter what you say, children will never listen to you. Children can only grow from something you love," she grinned and the flower in her hand burst into flames, "to something you lose." Asuko dropped the flower, and as Sasori stared at her, the girl's image slowly changed. The red head watched as after a few alterations, the blonde turned into none other than Deidara. Sasori stared, wondering why the two looked so similar…

The blonde leaned close to the red head, giving a small chuckle. "Isn't it nice to know a lot? And a little bit not, un." As Sasori watched, a dark figure formed behind the blonde. The shadow shifted and soon it became an eight year old version of Daichi.

Just as with all the others in the dream he was adorned in an Akatsuki cloak, though his face and clothes were covered in dark red blood. A small white snake slithered up the child's body, until it crawled into his hand. Sasori watched as the creature turned into Orochimaru's sword 'Kusanagi'.

Daichi lifted up the weapon, making a move to slice Deidara in half with it. Sasori couldn't move, and all he could do was watch. Surprisingly different from the other time he had had the dream, Deidara wasn't sliced in half.

The blonde simply put out his hand and grabbed the blade of the sword, unfazed and successfully stopping it. Kusanagi writhed in Deidara's hand, turning back into the white snake. It was swallowed up by the mouth on the palm as if it were made of clay and Deidara bent down, retrieving the burning flower that Asuko had dropped earlier. His countenance changed into one which was insane, and the black lines began to reform on his skin.

Daichi melted into the darkness, leaving the two Akatsuki members alone. Sasori tried to move but found that he was now trapped in the clasp of an unknown force.

He looked around and saw that he was trapped within Hiruko's tail, unable to make the puppet release him. "Danna, over here, un." Sasori looked back to the blonde, watching as the black lines grew ever bolder. Deidara held the torrefied flower out to Sasori, smiling sweetly up at the red head. "Katsu." The blossom's fire abruptly went out, and everything became silent. "Where am I?" Deidara's face became distorted, and began to morph rapidly. His countenance shifted between that of Asuko's, Karura's and then once again to Deidara. Hiruko began to shake Sasori rapidly and his eyes abruptly opened as he realised that the shaking was real. "WHERE THE FUCK AM I?" Deidara was awake and struggling against the red head, but Sasori was holding onto him too tightly to enable him escape. The thirty-one year old calmly let go of the raging blonde, who scurried away from him, only to hit his head on the roof of Hiruko. Deidara cursed and began to nurse his wounded head, curling up into a tight ball. "…Fuck that hurt, un…"

Sasori sat up, careful not to hit his own head, stretch slightly. He was sweating somewhat and his heart was racing from the nightmare that he had just experienced. "You should be happy that you're still alive, Brat. A few more minutes and you would have frozen to death."

Deidara peeked at Sasori from beneath his arms, before he nonchalantly returned to nursing his sore head. "Whatever, un. You could have fucking warned me that your fucking puppet didn't have any headroom, Danna." Sasori raised an eyebrow, having expected a more bewildered reaction to his real self being revealed.

"You don't even seem the least bit surprised, Brat." Deidara sneezed several times, and Sasori guessed that he had probably caught a cold. "This is my real self."

"I fucking know that, un!" Deidara hissed slightly, but stopped nursing his skull, putting his hands onto the base of Hiruko. He sneered lightly at Sasori, but his look soon melted slightly as he regained his composure. "I've known for awhile. Your chakra is different from other people; it was coming from inside of you, rather than all of you, so I guessed that the real you was just inside of this puppet." He gave a small sigh, rubbing the sore part of his head drolly. "So what the fuck happened? All I remember is falling asleep, and now I'm inside of this fucking cramped puppet. Did you have your way with my unconscious body or something, un?" He shot Sasori an accusing look, and the red head gave him a sneer of disdain.

"What the hell are you talking about, Brat? Why the hell would I ever want to have sex with you?" He scoffed and crossed his arms in annoyance. "Just as I said it would, the snow drifted into the cave. You got covered in the stuff, and when I woke up you had almost frozen to death. So I brought you into Hiruko and used body heat to try to-" Deidara cut him off with a quick sneeze, "…to try to keep you alive. Now seeing as it succeeded…" He opened the puppet's hatch, "Get the fuck out."

Deidara straightened up his back; the fear of hitting his head lost, and stretched his stiff muscles, though remained seated. "So it's called 'Hiruko', un? It's the fucking ugliest thing I've ever seen." He yawned and looked once again at the red head, slowly blinking his eyes. Sasori scoffed at the blonde's wandering eyes and dispelled his Jutsu. Deidara jumped slightly as the red head's body reverted back to that of a sixteen year old's, his cloak off to reveal his puppet self. For once the blonde was silent as he stared at the odd features that had formed.

Sasori rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "I converted my own body into a puppet when I was sixteen so that I could become Eternal. What you saw earlier was simply a Jutsu I had to use in order to create body heat."

"…" The blonde's face slowly altered into that of awe as he stared at Sasori's puppet body…That was odd…The usual reaction for people when they saw his puppet body was either shock or disgust. Like when Orochimaru had seen his true self, the snake had told him that it was a waste. What would Deidara's spoken reaction be? "…That's…Fucking cool…" The blonde put a hand out, clearly with the intent of touching Sasori's chest cavity.

The red head quickly attached chakra strings to Deidara, stopping his movements. He sneered at the blonde in disgust, "Don't you dare try and touch me, Brat." After a few seconds he released his strings on Deidara, and the kid actually followed his orders, folding his hands into his lap calmly. As he slowly quietened down, so did Sasori's quick temper. He outwardly sighed, and slowly blinked at the blonde. "If you must know, I have Haptephobia…That means that-"

"I know what that means, un." Deidara said it rather offended, giving Sasori a slightly hurt look. "Phobia of being touched; I'm not half as stupid as you think I am, un." The blonde pouted and crossed his arms childishly, "It's not my fault that you hate me."

Sasori frowned and was about to counter, when he realised…He really did despise the blonde…He loathed him so much…"Okay, point taken; I hate you."

Deidara blinked at him, most likely having been awaiting a different answer. "Why, un? I try not to be too bad." Sasori scoffed and pulled his Akatsuki cloak back on, methodically buttoning it up.

The red head actually had to think about the question before he could devise an answer…Deidara argued with him…But Sasori argued back…The blonde thought that art was fleeting! Well, he was somewhat entitled to his own opinion - even if it was wrong…He complained a lot…But only when he really did have something to complain about…

Sasori realised that the blonde actually wasn't altogether that bad. He hadn't hated Orochimaru, even though the snake had been – honestly - creepy. Deidara certainly wasn't creepy…And he hadn't hated Kurow even though she had actually been quite a boring partner…Deidara was anything but boring!

And yet, Sasori utterly loathed him!

He frowned in further thought as he delved deeper, until he finally came to a sudden realisation. "I hate you…" Sasori had already lost two partners; his subconscious had utterly refused to get attached to this new kid in fear that he would end up like the others. That way, when the blonde did ultimately meet his end - as Sasori knew he eventually would - then the red head would only find satisfaction in his death…And then he finally had his answer. "I hate you, because I need to hate you."

Deidara gave a slight frown, opening his mouth, but he seemed to change his mind. Instead of questioning Sasori's reasoning, he appeared to decide to change the subject back to what it had originally been. "So you have a phobia of being touched? That's kind of ironic since you're supposed to be a medical-nin, un…" He raised an eyebrow at Sasori, "But wait a second…Just before when I was frozen to death - and all that shit - you didn't seem to care about touching me, un."

Sasori scoffed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Well, in a life or death situation it is viable to temporarily get over my phobia. But unless you are literally dying, if I were you, I wouldn't even try to touch me. Got it?"

Deidara had the audacity to give a mischievous smirk at the red head. "My, now I see why you set rule number six, un. My Danna is actually quite sexy…As both a human and a puppet, un~" The blonde tried to scoot closer to the red head, but Sasori didn't give him the privilege. He attached chakra strings to Deidara and practically flung him out of Hiruko's hatch, making the blonde slam into the cave wall. He cursed and fell to the ground as Sasori let go of his chakra threads.

Deidara started to nurse his skull as he always did when suffering a head injury. "I hate you so much, Brat." Hiruko's hatch snapped shut with a snap and the puppet sauntered to the front of the cave. It was dawn, and Sasori decided that Deidara had had enough of a break. "Now let's go, we still have a mission to accomplish." The blonde stopped nursing his sore skull and stood up, wrinkling his nose in distaste. But when he went to complain, a sneeze took the place of his comment.

Sasori rolled his eyes and made Hiruko lurch out of the cave, leaving Deidara no choice but to follow like the loyal dog that Sasori was desperately trying to convert him into. It was rather difficult to turn someone into his puppet without actually killing them, and the blonde was the hardest case he had had so far. Usually if his title wasn't enough, then converting a good few people into puppets before one's eyes was enough to earn their freewill. And yet, Deidara had seen him convert people a number of times in the past, and still the blonde was never as compliant as Sasori wished him to be.

But everyone had their breaking point, and the red head had yet to meet anyone who could not be turned into his living puppet. Some had taken a very short amount of time to train, such as Chiyo, Daichi and Kurow. Others had been reasonably difficult, like Orochimaru, Jishaku and Misaki Sensei. While a certain someone had been almost impossible to train, that being Karura. Deidara was actually quite similar to that girl…He had managed to eventually break her freewill, and this blonde would be of no exception.

Deidara's imaginary freedom would eventually crumble, and the blonde would soon realise that he was nothing more than a marionette, guided by the strings of the world's greatest Puppet Master in the most complicated performance ever executed.

The performance known as Sasori of the Red Sand's life.