I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

He was hot and drenched in sweat, vaguely aware of hushed voices nearby but unable make out anything they were saying. It didn't matter, he didn't want to hear them, he just wanted to sleep. He rolled over onto his side and huddled up into a ball as he suddenly started to feel like he was inside a block of ice. He felt another blanket being put on top of him and pulled it up to his chin, desperate for some warmth.

'He's got a really high fever.'

'Has anyone actually taken his temperature yet?'

Go away, I'm trying to sleep, Deidara thought, as the voices floated into his mind. He was starting to feel hot again, like someone had lit a fire in his stomach and the heat was spreading to ever part of his body. He groaned weakly as he uncurled himself, already starting to sweat again.

He suddenly felt a cold hand on his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

'He really is hot.'

Hang on, he recognised that voice. His eyes flickered open slowly as he turned his head to look at the speaker.

'Danna?' he asked, softly.

There was the puppet-master -outside of his stupid Hiruko for a change- crouched down next to the bed, something vaguely resembling concern in his eyes.

'I'm here,' he said, retracting his hand.

Deidara made a weak noise of protest as the cold hand left his forehead, he had been enjoying the cooling touch. Sasori rolled his eyes and put his hand back on the younger's forehead. Deidara smiled and closed his eyes for a moment.

'How are you feeling, Deidara?' Sasori asked.

'Awful,' Deidara replied, opening his eyes. 'One minute I'm hot, the next I'm cold. And my throat hurts, hmn.'

Sasori nodded, from the looks of it he had already been informed of Deidara's symtoms. Looking past the puppet-maker for the first time, Deidara saw Zetsu and Kisame were stood behind him, watching silently.

'It sounds to me like you've got the flu,' Sasori said, calmly.

'Is that it?' Deidara croaked. 'I feel like I'm dying and you're telling me it's just the flu, hmn?'

Sasori raised an eyebrow at the sculptor, looking rather unamused.

'The flu can be serious, Deidara,' he said, sternly. 'Don't underestimate it. It's much worse than a common cold and could lead to pneumonia if you're not careful.'

Deidara groaned, he really wasn't in the mood for a lecture. The puppeteer seemed to realise that his partner was weak and really wasn't up to being informed about the severity of the flu. He sighed and said nothing more, instead he started to gently stroke Deidara's forehead which the blonde seemed to enjoy. Deidara closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep again.

'He'll be fine in a few days,' Sasori said, quietly so as not to wake the clay loving bomber. 'As long as he gets plenty of rest and lots to drink.'

Sasori continued to run his hand over Deidara's forehead. Now that he was back, he was going to take care of his partner until he was back to full strength again.