XXX

Deidara

He squeezed his hands, letting the tongues slide around his palms as he dived them back into the clay pouches.

Call me a sidekick? I'll show that... that freak...

He spread out his hands and the hundreds of C1 clay insects branched out into the forest in a white blanket. Down, down, his art sailed.

"Katsu."

In an instant, the life and green had been replaced by destruction and orange. When the light and smoke had cleared, he could see multiple sections of the forest missing, disintegrated by his art. Where there had been life, he had successfully transformed it into something better. His art was a tool of beauty and change, through heat and flame he brought wonder.

It was just that people typically didn't like it.

He painted for a good couple more hours, venting his frustration at the earth. Always overshadowed by Sasori. Doubting my power even when I come to save his ass from breaking apart on the ground. It's just never enough, what do I have to do to prove-?

The C3 gargoyle flew down and vaporized a large section of the forest, perhaps a whole kilometer of destruction. Would that have been enough to prove I'm more than capable of just handling MYSELF-

He swooped down to Sasori's location. To his surprise, his partner had still been sitting, not having so much as twitched.

"Ready to move on?" he grunted.

"Don't be so loud next time, I could hardly think."

His shoulders sagged as Sasori stood up. I shouldn't have expected anything else, hmm.

"Good work on coming when you did. Not that the fall would have harmed me, my core would have reformed my body. But it saved me valuable time. Thanks."

He straightened up, put on his most professional tone. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I had everything under control."

"So it seemed." The puppet head cocked, but it didn't turn to face him. "How's the arms?"

"I'm getting used to them. Come on, didn't you say we had somewhere to be, hmm?"

The puppetmaster was up in an instant, seemingly embarrassed. "Right. Let's move."

Together they clambered back on Deidara's clay bird and took off, but there was an odd feeling in the back of his mind. Something's bothering him... a lot. And nothing ever bothers Sasori.

"Why did you have to destroy so much of the forest."

"It just needed a bit of remodeling, don't you think?"

"Those trees took over a hundred years to grow, but you got rid of them in less than a moment. I don't like your 'stress' relieving methods to much. You need to finder quieter ways to display your frustration."

"I wasn't frustrated!"

He heard the puppet body roll its shoulders in an artifical shrug. He refused to ever think of the puppet as Sasori... he didn't really know what Sasori was, but the wooden limbs and face hair wasn't him. It freaked him out at some points, but he had done a good job of not letting it show.

Him and old man tsuchikage are the only ones I ever worry about getting angry. They could kill me...

"Forget about the forest, hmm," he said flatly, keeping his anger in check. "How are we going to go about luring Kakashi in? We can't just waltz in there and take the jinchuuriki, he's-"

"He's just a boy," Sasori cut in dryly. "Don't tell me he's got you frightened?"

"No, I'm saying we should be careful about this!"

"We're the most powerful shinobi for miles," Sasori scoffed. "No one is going to dare put a toe out of line against us."

Deidara ground his teeth together to prevent himself from giving a retort. Fine, I can play tough.

"Just relax and take us to the village. No one is going to get in the way."

XXX

Other

"Zetsu."

"Tobi."

He pointed up to the sky, where a large bird with two lumps on its back could be seen travelling quickly through a haze of smoke.

The black and white creature nodded curtly. "It's them. They're trying to lure Kakashi Hatake out by going after his student, the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki."

"Deidara didn't have enough of a beating?"

"He seemed fairly hesitant."

"Then that is the choke point to look for." He pulled his hood over his head, looked at the mask in his hands for a quiet moment before gently slipping it over his scarred features.

The Akatsuki spy took a questioning step forward. "You're going to go in yourself? That's risky."

"Didn't I say it was time to do things myself? Besides, it won't be me going to meet them, it'll be Tobi."

"Neither of them seem to like you a whole lot," White Zetsu said hesitantly. "What's the guarantee that they'll listen, or even not attack you?"

He didn't reply. It wasn't as if Zetsu had any feelings to offend by leaving him there. The Mangekyo flared in his eye, and he was gone.

"They grow up so fast," White Zetsu sighed.

XXX

Sasori

They stopped at a tailoring shop on the outskirts before going into the village itself. Time was precious, so he sent Deidara off ahead to monitor the boy, or if possible, find Hatake himself.

A while ago, before he had joined Akatsuki, he had come to this village in search of a particular shinobi to add to his collection of human puppets. The fight had devastated the countryside, but oddly enough, when had returned a week later to actually collect the body when his poison had finally killed the man, he had found this odd shop being built right in the place of the battle. It had turned out that the ninja had been holding a choked on the populace. The man had been so happy with the change he had decided to built his living upon the spilled blood.

He opened the door, wondering if his appearance would throw off even this grateful commoner. But it quickly became clear this was not the case.

"Mister Sasori? Is that you?" From behind his desk, a visibly aging old ma with wispy hair and dark glasses stepped out.

"It is. I need some new apparel. Can you supply?"

The old man nodded happily. "Oh, it's so good to have you back! I recognized your footsteps, but I couldn't actually believe you were coming back! I'll get you something, of course. Something easy to move around in, I presume?"

He nodded, but the man gave no reaction that he had seen. He stood idly to the side, staring at something off to Sasori's side that wasn't there. After a few more moments, Sasori said, "Yes, that would be preferred."

"Then I will fetch you my finest ware. And please, before you go, remind me to give you my gift to you! I have stored it away for a long time." He watched as the old man, who's name he had forgotten, shuffled shakily off to a room behind his desk. He took his time to walk around and observe more of the fancier clothes available. Precious materials like silk, velvet, and cotton was woven delicately into fine shapes, all hand crafted with prices that would make Kakuzu's eyes bulge.

All beautiful creations by an expert craftsman. He smiled thoughtfully to himself. Sounds very familiar.

Something caught his eye. One of the suit's wasn't limp like the rest, something was giving it bulk. It stood off to the side, away from all the rest, and he approached it. It was the most handsome one of the lot, a rich dark with a single red rose flower in its front pocket. He reached a hand over and ran his hand over the soft fabric, and was met by a soft creaking sound.

He blinked. That sound.

What came over him, he didn't know, but in one fluid motion he had completely torn the suit off the puppet that was acting as a mannequin. It was as he thought. Rocksplitter.

The puppet had been one of his favorites in the past, but had been critically damaged in his fight against the shinobi, and he had left it here. And this man had had the audacity to touch one of his works-?

"I had kept it here as a gift for you. I did not mean to antagonize you so." The shopkeeper had returned, Sasori's outfit in hand, a gray jumpsuit of sorts that looked normal except for a small red scorpion on the right shoulder blade, his symbol.

"How did you repair it?"

The old tailor laid his clothing on a chair, then sat down himself. "I spent a good deal of years analyzing the mechanics," he said tiredly. "But I wasn't good enough to do it myself. Luckily, a trio of Sunagakure were returning from some sort of mission gone bad from Konohagakure, some three years back. One of them was a puppet master, and in return for giving them a place to rest, he fixed up your puppet."

Sasori was hardly listening. Someone was good enough to repair Rocksplitter. Another prodigy in the art of puppetry, in Sunagakure. What... what was this? Was this another emotion, another abstract human thing? I cast this out ages ago! What's wrong with me!

"I may have lost my ability to see years ago," the old man interjected hoarsely. "But I can sense you are troubled. Please, forgive me. I did not wish to stir unhappy memories from your past. I only wanted to thank you-"

"I didn't need you to do this for me! I could've come back and done this myself!"

The old man was taken aback a moment, then smiled thinly. "I wanted to help, it wasn't necessary that I did. You gave me- no, gave all of us, freedom when we had none. My thanks is unbounded."

"This puppet master boy," Sasori interrupted coldly, bringing his turmoil in check. "What was his name?"

"I never asked, but he had distinctive purple markings all along his face. In fact, I believe his sibling became the most recent Kazekage! I've met a celebrity when they were just a normal man, funny to imagine that."

The Akatsuki shook his head. The death of Kazekage at his hands wouldn't take a lot of time to spread, and he wondered what this innocent old man would think of him then.

"Thank you for giving me the clothing I desired," he replied shortly. "I'll leave you some money on the counter."

The old man made an effort to stand up, wheezed heavily, then sat back down, waving his hand. "I have no need for your money," he said brightly. "This is free of charge."

"Then the suit I tore off Rocksplitter then."

Pause. "So that was the one you ripped?"

"Yes."

Pause. "I'll accept your payment for that. It was an object I had hoped would stay around much longer... but I suppose nothing is meant to last forever, is it?"

Sasori eyed the tailor up and down. He had been a more youthful, springy man when Sasori had come to the village and involuntarily rescued it. Now he found himself being repulsed by the age in front of him. He certainly wasn't meant to last forever.

"Goodbye."

"You will not take your puppet?" the man asked.

He was seriously considering it, but now was not the time to delve into the past. Besides, it was tainted by the touch of another puppeteer, it was no longer pure and of excellence. Furthermore, it had already proven to be a failure; it no longer had any use.

He allowed his silence to speak. The old man somehow understood, and he managed to stand up and give a slight bow. "I hope you can visit one more time before I pass," he said pleasantly. "Hopefully one where we can talk and enjoy each other's company, instead of you having to go so quickly. I wish you luck on whatever it is you are off to do."

What made him reply, he didn't know. It was the same strange instinct when he had almost allowed himself to take the attack from Granny Chiyo from the two puppets; a sudden act of kindness.

"I think I would like that." And he meant it.

He practically hear the man beaming behind him. He opened the door and almost immediately bumped into a new customer entering the store. He didn't say anything, simply swerved around them for courtesy's sake, carrying his new clothes on his shoulder. The stranger didn't acknowledge him; like him, he was determined to follow whatever his objective was.

Within his wrist, a small vibration. He unlocked it and saw that Deidara's little communications clay pigeon was trembling. A sign of trouble.

Can't go five minutes without a break. At least this means he's found either the jinchuuriki or hopefully Kakashi himself.

With him dead, maybe these odd feelings would stop.