XXX

Deidara

They flew past the high reaching sandstone peaks and into the depths of the yellow desert. His scoped eye zoomed in and out of the landscape, searching for that elusive mop of red hair. Beads of sweat coated his forehead from the undying heat, but he wiped it away in a hurry.

Where did you run off to, you idiot...

"Deidara sensei-"

"Do you see him?"

"No, I wanted to know-"

"Keep quiet, Tobi, and keep looking, hmm."

He did not really know why he was suddenly so intent on Sasori's well being. The man had left him behind on numerous occasions, and even when they fought together Sasori had abandoned him for sake of the mission or protecting a cluster of puppets. He owed the puppetmaster nothing, but somewhere, beneath the surface of his pride and narcissism, there was the trace of an older Deidara that cared about someone, just like he had with Onoki's granddaughter once.

We have to find him and help him. He can't die out here in the land he hated so much... no, he'll live to fight another day. He looked back at Tobi to find him looking back at him, and he flashed the mask a grin. We all will.

XXX

Other

There's something different about than when we met outside the hideout. Is it that he's maturing, growing past that insufferable pride of his? Or is he just filled with even more overconfidence?

He couldn't see how Deidara could suddenly be so warm and endearing towards Sasori all of a sudden, who according to Zetsu had been nothing but a nuisance to the Iwagkaure rogue, nothing more than the cool bully and loud outcast on the school playground.

The more he saw Deidara's transformation, the more he saw bits and pieces of the old Obito shining, with the same desire to help and protect their comrades.

And the more he saw it, the more he felt the need to do it now. Not just because having this new, mature Deidara on the battlefield would prove troublesome, but it was almost painful to see.

XXX

Deidara

He heard movement behind him, but when he turned it was only Tobi playing with the alarm puppet. He looked at the Disgrace of the Shinobi intently, wondering what he was doing. Somehow, he felt Tobi was watching him, and an uncomfortable knot formed in his stomach. He turned away again, but stuck his hand into the head of the clay bird, his fingers digging in the soft mess. Hating himself for what he was about to do, he pressed his index finger forward slightly.

"Do you see anything yet, Tobi?" he asked.

"Not yet, Deidara sensei! I'm still searching!"

Some more quiet silence as the sun hit down on them. Then: "How did you use the puppet to find Sasori's location? I can't imagine there being that powerful of tracking jutsu to trace residue chakra when he hasn't touched it in two years."

Tobi stopped playing with the puppet and his hands instead froze around it, one seemingly clenching the neck. "I have some neat methods," he said slowly, his bright tone perfectly secretive. "I could show you them, when we've rescued Sasori."

"Why not do it again? Just to be sure we're on the same path, hmm."

"We're going the right way, I know it, sensei, I'm using the puppet right now to hone in on his chakra! Just keep going straight and we'll see him soon!"

"But are you certain? I didn't even see you do any hand seals."

"Don't you trust me?"

There was something in Tobi saying that he didn't like, and his fingers tightened inside the birds head. This feeling won't go away.

"I trust you, Tobi. I'm just worried about Sasori."

Tobi shivered. "I know. Just keep going straight."

"Your tracking jutsu on the puppet says so?"

"Yes."

As quietly as he could, he let his palm inside the bird's head take in an intake of clay.

XXX

Other

His hand laid the explosive tag flat under the roof of the puppets mouth. At that same moment, his Sharingan saw a sudden concentration of chakra manifest in Deidara's hand, which he cursed himself for not realizing it had been inside the birds head.

And that's not the only thing. He's changed the flight path; the air current is different, and the sun has shifted to the left of the mask. He's caught me in the lie.

"Tell me something, Deidara sensei," he said loftily in his fake tone. "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

Pause. "What?"

He tossed the puppet at the clay sculptor, and instinctively Deidara caught it. At the same time, his hand jolted around in the bird, and it flipped upside down.

But he was already disappearing into the realm of Kamui, where his 'guest' was lying in wait.

"Tobi-!"

"Just like Sasori said, Deidara. You're the type that dies young."

XXX

Sasori

"I'm not going to ask again, Sasori," Kakashi repeated, holding the kunai to his left eye. "I know that's your name, Sunagakure has kept good records on you over the years. They'll be thanking the Leaf after I've disposed of you."

Sasori laughed. "They don't know anything about me. Not even my partner does."

"So your partner survived his self-detonation back in the woods then?" He cast a watchful glance all around, including the sky. Sasori took the opportunity to analyze the dogs holding him in place. The smaller ones he had no concerns of them causing him damage, they merely stacked up in areas and had a firm grip. But an enormous black bloodhound was beginning to crunch down on his left shoulder joint, causing faint cracks that would disable his ebony arm if the pressure continued. He relaxed and returned his gaze to Kakashi as the other also focused on him again.

"If your partner actually did survive, he's nowhere near. What, you came out here by yourself?hat he could make one "

"You didn't think I could handle you on my own?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't even question confronting you head on, a shinobi of your reputation." Kakashi's Sharingan looked him up and down swiftly, as if searching for something else other than his next move.

Not that he could even have one. He was confused as to how Kakashi still thought he still had the jinchuuriki, when it was clear the boy had escaped. How has he not returned to the Leaf yet?

The kunai pressed against his neck, and he looked his captor straight in the eye. "I know you can't feel pain, or maybe you can't even register this knife pressing against your neck. But I do know I can have my dogs tear you apart and have your pieces buried under the sand like a bone."

Sasori did not allow Kakashi to see the mild worry bubbling beneath the surface. Using his chakra, he could rebuild his body almost instantly into working order if he was torn apart. It was the problem of separation of having a layer in between these parts that would be his weak spot. And if one of those dogs happened to bite down on his tender Core, there would be no recovery.

"I don't know where the kid is," he replied calmly and coolly. "Do you see him anywhere? Does your Sharingan?"

"You wouldn't have been stupid enough to actually bring him out here," Kakashi said evenly. "You have him hidden away. If you don't tell me where he is now, I'm going to tell them to start ripping." In compliance, the massive bloodhound bit down a bit harder, and he heard a crack of wood to his disgruntlement. The arms getting loose.

He bit back a retort, since he had actually brought the jinchuuriki out, or so he had thought. Then, he felt a sweeping change come over him, and to the surprise of both of them, he laughed at his predicament. He wasn't even entirely sure why he was bothering to laugh when it was very clear the dogs were going to kill him and this would be the end. It was just like when Granny Chiyo had almost killed him with his parent puppets, and a thought struck him like a knife in the neck.

There's no escaping the past, and the past is my humanity. Have I really been chasing a dream that could never happen, to be the ultimate machine? Even if I did kill Kakashi, there's no getting away from it. More things could return, and I'd be in the same place.

"Fine, I'll comb the desert until I find where he is, or until I find your partner. Either way, I'm finding Naruto."

"I don't know where he is, truthfully. I thought he had escaped; I was tricked by a substitution when I came out here. Where he is is beyond me."

Kakashi eyed him again, searching to see if he was lying. However, it was no doubt difficult to tell whether a human puppet would be lying or not. "Like a shinobi of your skill would be fooled by a substitution," Hatake scoffed at last. "Pakkun, do it."

"With pleasure," came a snarl at his feet. He adjusted his shoulder sharply, and the bloodhound bit down hard to keep hold-

-and he allowed his arm to fall off entirely. Suddenly, he was a lot lighter on his left side as both mutts and arm fell away. The dogs on the right staggered with the sudden end of equilibrium, and the final ticket came as the bloodhound's jaws slipped from his joint.

In an instant, he had sent a chakra cable into Chameleon from his stump, while he allowed his momentum to carry him to the right and onto the dogs. They released him to avoid being crushed, and suddenly he was a lot lighter. He swept his right foot around and kicked the talking dog Pakkun and his comrades off his left foot, and he was entirely free.

At that same time, Chameleon had finished its stampede towards him, causing Kakashi to take to the air to avoid being trampled, and a few other mutts also scampered out of its way. Those that didn't he took out himself, including the massive bloodhound that he quickly shoved out of the way effortlessly. It landed roughly on the ground with a whine, then blew up into smoke.

He heard running feet behind him, and with his right foot he kicked the ebony arm into the air. Kakashi's kunai struck the tough wood and the contact caused the knife to reflect off. He spun around a full circle, and tried to land a punch on his head, where the impact would be enough to jolt the man's brain around and decomission him from the fight. Unfortunately, the Sharingan anticipated his move and the other ducked low and sank into the ground in an Earth Style maneuver.

The Chameleon was winning easily against all the dogs. The wood was tougher than the one Sasori used, a construction of Ironwood that could deflect shuriken with only a scratch. The dogs teeth and paws grazed the size before they swatted away like flies. One by one, they disappeared into smoke, wounded and howling.

Except one. "Gotcha!" Sasori whirled, expecting Kakashi. But no, it was the tiny one Pakkun and he completely misjudged his swing. The dog leaped for his face and gripped his eye in its mouth. Sasori swiped it away easily, but his whole right side went dark, and he knew the dog had taken the eye with him. Pakkun landed on the sand, sporting a broken paw from the swipe. However, as he glared over at the puppetmaster, he crunched the eye into little pieces before joining his brethren back in their dimension.`

He stumbled around, looking for Chameleon. The puppet stood still, its job finished. Sasori breathed a sigh of relief, then put a palm to the ground to try and feel where Kakashi had gone to.

"Raikiri!"A fist of arcing blue light struck Chameleon in the underbelly and tore straight through it like tissue paper, splitting his puppet in half. By the time Kakashi had fully emerged from the ground, he could already see the damage to his creation was irreparable, the wood having melted to slag on contact areas.

"You don't cease to amaze, Kakashi Hatake," he commended. "That was one of my favorite puppets. I don't like to see them treated so harshly."

"I'll ask one more time," the jonin asked cautiously. "What did you do to Naruto?"

"I don't know," Sasori repeated, stooping down to pick up his black arm. He swiftly attached it back to his body. "But you're here now, my opponent. In the flesh, like the lamb let to the slaughter. I can't allow you to walk away now."

The lightning had died from the other's palm, but the readiness for combat was as present as ever. "What are you talking about?"

"Whether you know it, we share a blood bond. Your father slew my parents in cold blood. With him dead, you carry his name and therefore the burden of his murder." He pointed an accusatory finger at the man he loathed. "Just now I was debating whether I should kill you, because I was no longer sure whether killing you would even fix me. Their deaths changed me... but now I can conclude that yours will, too."

Kakashi shook his head as if he was addressing a child, and Sasori's anger ran down his arm, and Blade jumped out of the compartment in the ebony arm and leapt into his hand. "I don't know any of what you're talking about, but if this is true, it's unfair to pass what my father did down to me.

"I don't care. You are before me, and there is only one way to test my hypothesis." He cocked his head, let his unblinking painted eyes look into Kakashi's stern real ones. "You can't kill me. You'll die here, that's all there is. I will deny you the richness of life, just as Sakumo Hatake denied my own."

Sighing, the Leaf jonin pulled two kunai out and flashed them in a defensive position. "I already told you I can't beat you in a straight battle," Hatake acknowledged. "But you said yourself you had doubts on your hypothesis. Only one way to prove it, right?"

Sasori nodded, and allowed himself a real smile. "Let our parents look down and see who the real avenger is!"

XXX

Deidara

Down, down, down. There was no way to break his fall, and he was so high up. The sand became a vortex coming closer and closer, spinning dangerously quick. He couldn't even bring one of his arms around to eat clay for another transformation.

He tricked me, that low-life. The puppet was rigged and he escaped using some strange jutsu. In fact, it looked uncomfortably like Kakashi Hatake's... what if they're in league? What if this was just a ruse to get me out of the way so Tobi- if that's even his real name- and Kakashi could kill Sasori? No, then why would Zetsu trust him?

Just what is going on? Well, not that it matters. It looks like this is it, there's not a thing I can do about it now.

Except...

The pouch was flying right by his neck. It was a gift, long ago in the life he had forfeited, from Lord Tsuchikage when he was student. A small pouch of clay that was supposed to have come from the Waterbowl, the only water source in Iwagakure. A small clay deposit had been found, created countless years ago.

A gift from the past... maybe it wasn't so bad back then. What would have happened had I not left, I sometimes wonder. The pouch string around his neck flew within reach, and he bit the rope, began sucking it in. The pouch finally reached his lips-

500 yards. He opened it with his teeth, and the clay fell out into his mouth.

Come on...

His chakra furiously went to work. He was no perfect shaper with his real mouth, but if he could just...

250 yards.

A wing, no I can't. Jeez am I really this bad, hmm?

150 yards.

No, I can't. Come on, come on!

...

He spat out a half completed bird fifty yards from the rapidly approaching sand, and desperately clutched the unfinished side. The clay monstrosity flailed about, trying to fly, but it couldn't. However, the single wing was slowing the fall ever so slightly. The effect was a broken paper airplane with a rock stuck to it, but when he crashed into the sand, he was thankful for a bruised jaw than a broken neck. Breathing heavily, he got off the broken down bird and lay on his back, looking up at the perfectly clear sky...

Sasori owes me big for this. Agh...

He could hardly move; the impact pain was tremendous. But the desire to protect his comrade, his friend, was undeniable, and he got to his knees, fed his hands into his clay pouches.

Plus, he now had a score to settle.

Forget Kakashi and his Sharingan, Tobi is the real problem here. Has he been leading us all along? I doubt there's an army anymore, it was just a ruse to get me to lead him to Sasori I imagine, or just transport there. Either way, it's time to act fast. Need to get to Sasori...

...somehow...