Chapter One: A Polite Discussion

It was a structure designed to keep the rain off weary travelers.

Two men, if they could be called that, stood beneath it. One was blonde, with long hair tied up over his head in a top knot. He was lean and tall. The other was hunched and stooped low to the ground. Both wore robes of black, decorated with the red clouds of the Akatsuki.

"So, we're only a few days from the border. Lots of sand out there," said the blonde. "Any of it get into your puppets, Sasori, my man?"

"Don't be foolish, Deidara," said the other in a gravelly voice. "I have taken numerous precautions to ensure that my puppets are sand proof. I used to live here, you know."

"Oh right. You know, with that outer shell of yours, I sometimes forget you're flesh and blood," said Deidara with a laugh.

"Only to a small degree," said Sasori. "And that was my intention. Human beings are transient, easily destroyed things. My puppets, if properly cared for, will last for thousands of years. They are a clear improvement."

"See, Sasori, I can't agree with you there," said Deidara. "True art is transient. It is only valuable because it is fleeting. If you look at the same picture every day of your life, it loses meaning. You won't ever think about it again when you move to a different house. But if you get a single glimpse of a picture before it is consumed in flame, then you'll remember it forever."

"Spoken like a true vandal," scoffed Sasori. "Art is that which endures through the ages. The painting you speak of will not survive any longer than the mind of the one who saw it. Soon, it will be forgotten, and no one will ever be able to appreciate it again."

"Doesn't that makes its brief existence all the more valuable, though?" asked Deidara.

"Something can only be valuable if it exists, Deidara," said Sasori as the rain poured down harder. "Once it ceases to exist, even in memory, it has no further meaning. Your explosions will not be remembered, nor will the creations that create them."

"Yes, but I'll remember them, Sasori," noted Deidara. "I'll have sculpted them with my own hands and seen them achieve a great purpose. They will have meaning to me.

"And the universe, in the end, only matters as much as you relate to it. I'm completely content that no one else will appreciate my art. If they do, good for them; if they don't, it doesn't matter."

"What nonsense," said Sasori. "You only matter insofar as you have a presence in the world. Art is made for the sake of those who view it. A work of art that only one person can appreciate is a truly worthless thing."

"But anyone can appreciate it. They need only look at my art from the right perspective," said Deidara.

"An artist is not the judge of the quality of his work," said Sasori in turn. "One cannot objectively measure something they are emotionally invested in."

"What, so parents can't judge the quality of their children?" asked Deidara.

"Even the most powerful of ninja clans rely on academies," retorted Sasori.

This was totally deep.

"So you don't think I'm capable of judging my own art?" asked Deidara.

"In a word, no," said Sasori.

"Well, then you aren't capable of judging the quality of your art either," noted Deidara. "So you can't possibly know if yours is any good any more than I can."

"Perhaps we should seek a third opinion on the subject," said Sasori.

Then, Sasori turned over to where Naruto was sitting upon a rock under the shade of the tree, watching. He'd run into them by chance and was interested in the conversation. "You, Jinchuuriki of the Leaf, would you say that true art is transient or eternal?"

Naruto blinked. "I um... you want my opinion? And how do you know I'm a Jinchuuriki?"

"You're in the Village Hidden in the Stones bingo book, obviously," said Deidara. "We've got standing orders to not go after you until you part company with the Toad Sage Jiraiya. You are still under his protection, aren't you?"

"Oh, you mean Pervy Sage? Yeah, he's uh... just picking up women at the inn," said Naruto, motioning vaguely.

"He's not very careful with you, is he?" asked Sasori.

"I can take care of myself. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be Hokage someday," said Naruto, wondering what was going on. "So uh... you're from the Village Hidden in the Stone?" Best to let them think he was stupid.

"Well, I am," said Deidara. "My man Sasori here is a mercenary, and we're undertaking a special mission on behalf of the Tsuchikage."

Sasori... the name was familiar. Had Kakashi-sensei told a story about an encounter with him once? "Oh really, what kind of mission?"

"Oh, it's a kidnapping," said Deidara. "There are some hostile factions that have an alliance, and we're hoping to break it up. We figure if we can take out the leader of one of them, the whole thing will fragment."

"Really? Who's the leader?" asked Naruto, blinking with an open mind. If he appeared dumb enough, they might flat out tell him.

"Oh, he's a real psycho," said Deidara. "I've read reports of him burying people alive, crushing their skulls for entertainment. Even murdering ninja on neutral ground, violating the guest right.

"He got so good at it that they made him their leader, and now he's pretending as if none of it ever happened. Even more amazing, some people are actually buying it."

"Wow, he sounds like he needs to be stopped," said Naruto, guessing that Gaara was the likely target. "So this guy is a ninja bandit?"

"The difference between a rogue ninja gang and a Hidden Village is just a matter of scale," said Sasori. That was a pretty cynical take on things, but then guys like Gato had employed ninja.

"Well, I actually went after a bunch of ninja bandits back when I was with the Hidden Leaf," said Naruto. "It turned out some of them had turned good, and we managed to work with him to defeat the bad ones.

"I guess if you think about it, everyone is a good person down inside. You need to find a way to reach that person. Maybe you should try working with the good people in the gang to defeat the bad ones."

Deidara looked to Sasori, then back to Naruto. "...Unbelievable.

"Are we having two different conversations here? Why are you-"

"Let the matter be, Deidara," said Sasori. "You have not answered my question. Which is art? The transient? Or the eternal?"

Naruto thought about the question for a moment. "Well, I've never had a lot of time to do art. But it seems to me that both of you are experienced and know a lot about it."

"This is true," said Deidara.

"If both of you are super experienced and believe opposite things, maybe both?" asked Naruto.

"Is that not a contradiction?" asked Sasori.

Naruto shook his head. "Not if you think about it. Both of you are passionate about making art. But it's for different reasons and different methods.

"I had these friends named Sasuke and Sakura. We were completely different in every way. All of us had completely different styles of fighting and approaches to life. But all of us teamed up to complete the mission as one. So all of us were ninja; we were just different kinds of ninja."

"Is this rambling meant to mean anything?" asked Sasori keenly.

"Well, if you think about it, you're sort of like we were," said Naruto. "You both love art, but you are passionate about different things. Those things are art to you. And even though both of you completely disagree on what art is, you both respect eachother as artists.

"That's why you are having this conversation in the first place.

"So, in a way, you are both right."

Deidara looked to Sasori. "...You know, that actually makes sense."

"No, it doesn't," said Sasori. "Truth is not subject to feelings. Each entity that exists has specific qualities. They have inherent characteristics that are part of what it is. We are attempting to define art in strict terms.

"He has attempted to evade the question by saying the definition is whatever we feel it is. This, however, does not suffice."

"Well, maybe art is anything that inspires emotion," said Naruto, trying again. "Whether it makes you angry, sad, happy, or anything else. By that standard, everything around us is art.

"The sky, the ground, the trees, and the rock. All of it is art flowing through us, and we experience it with every breath we take."

"Such a vague definition is not helpful," said Sasori. "You have said that art is. This is true, but it is not useful for any practical purpose."

"Well, sure, but that's why we have lots of other words for things," said Naruto. Time to go. He stood up. "Anyway, I should go check on Pervy Sage. He should have been back by now. You guys are really cool."

"...Deidara, let's go," said Sasori.

They went their separate ways.

Those guys were pretty cool. It was a shame Naruto was going to have to kill them. He didn't like the idea of killing anybody, but they were going to come after him eventually. What bothered him was how openly they were walking in Leaf territory.

Naruto might have been able to take them out right away. But he didn't know their powers, and there wasn't a pressing need to fight. Still, Sasori was not flesh and blood, so he'd have to look into how that worked.

Coming to the inn, he leaned against the wall as Jiraiya came back. The huge, red-clad man looked down. "Oh, there you are? Where have you been?"

"Well, I sort of ran into these two cool guys in black robes with red clouds on them," said Naruto.

"You what?!" said Jiraiya.

"Oh yeah, their names were Sasori and Deidara. They were in the Akatsuki and doing a special mission for the Stone Village," said Naruto.

"And nothing happened?" asked Jiraiya.

"Well, we talked about art and what it means, but other than that, no," said Naruto. "They said they'd been ordered not to go after me as long as I was in your company. Are you secretly the leader of the Akatsuki or something?"

"Don't be stupid, Naruto," said Jiraiya. "If I were secretly the leader of the Akatsuki, why would I have rescued you from Itachi and Kisame. But still, I don't see why they would make that kind of order.

"I'm pretty dangerous, but they could probably take me out in large enough numbers.

"And I'm surprised they didn't try to grab you while you weren't under my protection. What were they doing, do you know?"

"I think they're hunting Gaara," said Naruto. "Or at least someone who did a lot of the things Gaara did before he turned good. They were heading for the Village Hidden in the Sand."

"You're pretty calm considering they're out to kill your friend," noted Jiraiya.

"Well, maybe so," said Naruto. "But people try to kill my friends all the time. None of them have succeeded yet, and getting all freaked out won't help.

"So, what are we going to do about this?"

"Naruto, you finished discussing the meaning of life with one of the most psychotic ninjas to ever live. You just spent an hour talking about art with Sasori the Cruel, and you are still alive," said Jiraiya. "Either you're very lucky or not nearly as dumb as you lead on to be."

Naruto laughed at that. "Hehe, I uh... it's a little from both categories."

Jiraiya paused. "I'm going to track those two and make sure they cause any harm. Head for the Leaf Village. I wouldn't want to mess up your reunion."

"Got it," said Naruto. "I'll say hello to Tsunade for you."

So, let's sum up.

Sasori and Deidara were going after Gaara on behalf of the Stone Village. And seeing as they had walked pretty much unopposed, someone was letting them by. Tsunade wasn't the one; even if she would do such a thing, she had nothing to gain by it.

Come to think of it, there was no beneficial reason to let the Akatsuki assassinate Gaara. Not for the Leaf.

But, if the Akatsuki were taking jobs from the Stone, could they be taking jobs from the Leaf? Naruto would find these answers in the Leaf. No sense in worrying about it now.

Pervy Sage would take care of things.

Things were looking up.

It would be good to see his friends again.