Deidara winced as he tightened the bandage across the bloody stump of his left arm. The ninja seethed in annoyance as he worked; strenuously tugging on the cloth while he held its other end in between his gritted teeth. The stinging pain and the exhaustion from the blood loss only added to his struggles, making the task seem fruitlessly impossible.

"Damn!"

The blonde cursed out as blood from his wound caused his fingers to slip, unravelling the bandage and all his hard work in an instant. The irritated ninja had no choice but to grip his palm over the agonizing wound, soaking his hand in the mixture of salty blood and sand.

"Danna!" he called out angrily to his partner, "Can't you help me this one time, un?"

His request was followed with stillness. The busy noises from Sasori's work remained unbothered, taunting the blonde with his indifference. Bitterness filled his throat while his rage simmered in the silence.

Soulless bastard.

There was nothing the artist despised more than to be ignored.

"Sasori!" he yelled, weaving his disdain into his partner's name.

"Shut up brat," Sasori's deepened voice shot from the other room, "Its your fucking mess. You clean it up."

Deidara scoffed at the venom in his words; it made him feel like an idiot to even consider the possibility of his deadbeat partner helping him in the first place.

I must be really tired if I thought that would work even in the slightest.

Brushing off the bitterness from his partner's exchange, the ninja reached down to retrieve the bloodied rags from the floor the fifth time that night. Deidara powered through the pain as he tied the bandage over his wound, strenuously fitting it tightly against the torn flesh of his skin. His arm clamped hard as he tied the gauze around his dishevelled arm to halt the bleeding.

Danna, I fucking hate you for this.

Sucking in a large breath, the desperate ninja forcefully pressed the stump of his arm into the solid dirt wall. He shrieked silently as his exposed bone strained against the wall, injecting a wake of pain into his system. Using the wall as an anchor, Deidara fought fiercely to secure his bandages, finally catching a breath when it was finally over. The drained ninja allowed himself to collapse onto the floor below, huffing his lungs out whilst he recovered from the light-headedness from the situation.

Hope he doesn't get too mad.

Deidara chuckled to himself as he stared at the dark red stain he left on the dim-lit wall. The exhausted blonde yearned to rest that night, even if it was plainly difficult to do so under the conditions he found himself in.

Deidara hated whenever his partner insisted that they spent their resting hours in the many hideouts he owned. While it made strategic sense as they travelled through the desert, Sasori's lack of human necessities made their stay annoying to say the least.

Deidara was too drained to even look for anything that resembled a pillow, trying his best to ignore the discomfort of his messy hair as it pressed against the dusty stone floor. It wasn't the lack of dinner that kept up him; nor was it the blaring pain under his bandages, but the nocturnal presence of Sasori himself. Laying with his right forearm pressed against his face, the tired blonde grumbled as the distracting sounds of blades sharpening and creaking wooden joints kept him awake.

He could only hope that they would be given a longer downtime back at the Rain Village once their mission was settled, and perhaps Kakuzu would be polite enough to fix his arm.

After all, they were only left with the sealing of his captured jinchuriki.

What could possibly go wrong...