Deidara wasn't sure if he was still alive or not. Tip-toeing in the verge of death, he was stuck in a struggle to strive and survive, yet it was more so rewarding to just let his body yield into the darkness. Everything around him was muddled in pitch black and grey, where his inner thoughts were the only tangible companions that followed him to the void.

He felt lost, until a wave of light bled through his vision.

"…you get to live this time brat..."

A familiar, semi-serious tone echoed from afar as the delirious ninja felt a surge of warm energy run through his core. The steady stream of chakra he received in his heart slowly shed his exhaustion speck by speck, bringing him back into a gradual state of awareness.

"…you owe me for this..."

With his senses half regained he knew that he was being lifted off the ground. A split second of weightlessness followed as his mass was carefully distributed across a pair of sturdy wooden beams that supported his back. Deidara felt the gentle sway of his body as his carrier walked, thoughtfully shifting his steps to keep him from being rocked too much.

The steady rocking motion gave him a sense of security and safety; it assured him as he let the lethargy of his mind take over.

Sasori placed the limp body of his partner on the cleared out table top of his workspace. The redhead sighed at the sight of the blonde's blood leaking and staining onto his puppets below, irritated by the mess the situation placed him under. They were still connected to each other via his chakra strings; acting like a lifeline that kept him just barely alive.

Nonetheless, Sasori quickened his pace to gather whatever useful tools he had lying around, dumping them into a bucket of cold water as his minimal effort to sanitise them. Fishing the tools out onto a relatively clean rag, the puppet rinsed his hands in the same basin, shaking off specks of sawdust, blood and stained water before proceeding to his patient.

He's awake?

He raised an eyebrow as he felt the lively quaking of the chakra strings that connected them.

Sasori observed as Deidara's head shifted and jutted semi-consciously, realising that his entire body started to tremble as well. His face cycled through twitching emotions as his lips quivered, releasing unintelligible groans of agony.

The pitiful sight of his aching partner garnered within him a sensation and hindered his sense of urgency. Perhaps it was sympathy?

Damn brat.

Sasori was confused himself.

Whatever it was, he was forced to re-evaluate the approach he had in mind.

Why can't you just stay asleep?

Sasori sighed in irritation as he dug through the vials in his cabinet of herbs and concoctions. He scanned through everything he had available; from the few bottles of actual medication to the spectrum of poisons, venoms and drugs he had in his stash.

This could work.

It wasn't ideal – it was a prototype toxin after all; but it was one of the few that wouldn't kill Deidara in his weekend state. Sasori designed it to induce drowsiness and paralysis upon delivery, originally intending for use on their targets that they were stressed to bring back alive.

With a stern grip, Sasori unapologetically held Deidara's shaking head still against the wood as he administered the poison through a needle into his neck. He could only hope that it worked as intended.

After one last look at his supressed partner, Sasori proceeded with his work.

"…hope you're not awake for this..."

Those where the familiar words Deidara heard in his mind before his torture began.

Agonizing pain bolted up his arm as he felt the brutal sear of white hot steel against the end of his arm. The helpless ninja cried and shrieked through the gag that was gritted within his trembling jaw.

"…keep still brat…"

Deidara's body instinctively fought against the brutalizing threat of the iron, forcing him to kick and struggle against the binding strings that dug into his exposed skin. Brutal screams carved its way through his windpipe as his seizure amplified the pummelling pain that enflamed every muscle, joint and nerve within him.

In the midst of the chaos, the struggling ninja felt the paralyzing grip of a wooden arm against his throat. His terrified screams were snuffed out as they constricted around him, making him unable to inhale. Tears were squeezed out from his eyes while acrid bile bubbled up his oesophagus in reaction to the agony, forcing him to endure the despairing feeling of drowning.

"…I didn't want to do this…"

A sudden, sharp spike of pain was driven deep into his neck, inflaming his veins with the dominating taste of poison and rust.

"…you better wake up after this…"

As seconds slowly went by, Deidara felt weaker and weaker, until he was no longer focusing on enduring the pain. Delirium gradually consumed his senses, dragging him back into the void that he was once in terms with.

Sasori sighed as he dropped the chisel from his hand, allowing it to fall into the collection of unfinished wooden pieces. He grunted as he realised that he was only able to craft a set of fingers in the tiring hour he sat there to meditate in his own way. Picking up the wooden phalange, he was upset by the subpar joints that almost evaded his perfectionist standards before tossing them all into a bucket full of chips and scraps.

This isn't working.

Sasori was tired; it was a feeling he seldom actually felt since he had abandoned his living body. Without muscles to fatigue and bones to tire, the puppet attributes tiredness to the hindering sensation that clouds his judgement and motivation for anything. It made it impossible for him to even work on refining his puppets, which madly infuriated the workaholic ninja whose priority at the moment was to mend himself.

Brat.

Sasori's eyes trailed down to the bundle of warm strings that stemmed from his chest out of the room. Wrapping a palm around the wires, he could feel the chakra being drained from him and into the needy vessel from the other room. The impatient ninja wanted to rip it out; to flush his system from the inhibiting energy fatigue it caused him.

Leech.

The life transferring jutsu was a secret technique he learnt from none other than his own grandmother. He knew the capabilities of the technique; how it was able to revive a dying ninja just by expending his own life force. However powerful the technique was, Sasori was wary of its consequences, and his own limit. While he was able to inject all he had for his dying partner, he wasn't committed to risking his own life for Deidara.

Nonetheless he decided on the alternative, despite it being a slow and wearying process.

This might even take longer than the Gedo Statue Seal.

Deciding that there was nothing he could do at the moment besides gathering chakra through inaction, Sasori followed the strings into the other room, retracting them bac into his chest as he travelled.

Reaching the room, the redhead kept his stoic frown as he walked over to where he had left him. Deidara slept peacefully on a makeshift bed he had stitched up using the bundle of cloth and cotton from his stockpile; it was the most he chose to do to make his injured partner comfortable.

The brat better be grateful for this.

Sasori lowered himself until he was sitting with his legs crossed next to the blonde, silently observing his wounded partner. He fixed his eyes on the two bloody bandages that wrapped against the stumps of his arms that flanked his scarred chest.

Poetic.

Sasori chuckled to himself as he imagined his partner akin to a flightless bird. Like how a bird was useless without its wings, so was the artist without his hands; though in Deidara's case, it would mean both.

How life imitates art.

He smirked.

As time dragged on Sasori decided to rest his eyes, focusing his senses entirely on the chakra that circulated his form. Gathering his expended energy, Sasori was able to feel the chakra that left him as well. He felt solace while he listened in to the faint pulsing that surged from the strings that connected them. He could feel Deidara's heartbeat as it mimicked the fain breaths that escaped his mouth. It painted his partner as vulnerable; a situation that never failed to invoke his sadistic humour, considering how it angered the blonde.

You'll live.

Deidara woke up dazed and drenched in cold sweat, frightfully recoiling from the hellish nightmare from before. His mind fought to gather himself while he exchanged quickened breaths, only to be limited by the impaling spikes that appeared with every inhale.

Is it over?

As the numbness from his shivering body started to dissipate, pain bleed into his system once over. The ends of his arms were plagued in a constant state of burning while his legs ached deep within their bones, making the begrudging blonde wish that he was still in a coma. Moreover, the agony waxed and waned with every subtle pulse of his lungs, further adding to his suffering.

Guess not…

With no other option than to endure, Deidara slowly regained his senses in an attempt to make sense of his surroundings. He fought the urge to grunt at the headache that pounded against his tired skull while he lifted his tired eyes.

Where am I…

He was greeted by the familiar rocky ceiling that was illuminated dimly by a flickering candlelight. Slowly shifting his head to the side with considerable effort, Deidara's assumption was proven true as he detected the dark patch of blood that he left on the grey wall in front of him.

To his surprise, Deidara found himself lying flat on the relative comfort of a mattress. A thin but welcome blanket was draped over his chest, and he even had an actual pillow tucked underneath his head.

Danna…

A sense of gratitude flooded his hurting head as he sunk his neck into the comfort of the cotton. After all, this had been the first time he was allowed to actually sleep since they set off for the Sand Village. The relieved ninja allowed his lethargy to take over, trying his best to snuff away the grumbling pains with the cosiness of his surroundings.

Danna?

The blonde ninja was shaken awake by the presence of his partner. Sasori's clunky wooden footsteps rapped the floor with every step he took, signalling to the half-awake ninja of his arrival. Begrudgingly tilting his head over, Deidara watched as Sasori carried along with him a bucket and a stack of clean white cloth, pacing towards him with careful intent.

"You're awake." Sasori greeted in an expressionless tone.

The puppeteer's aura was as cold as always with the neutral look he wore. Observing his partner, Deidara was surprised to see the crude condition of his partner. His exposed limbs were rugged and carved, as were the tattered rags he wore over his legs. His chest were splintered and scared above his hollow abdomen, where the only item that remained untouched was the scorpion's mark where his heart lived.

He looked better…

Sasori crouched down to meet the blonde with his knees next to his head, setting his items aside before tending to him. Deidara winced as the redhead brought his fingers to palm his sweat ridden forehead.

"You're still burning," Sasori commented, retracting his arm to procure a rag.

He returned with a dampened towel, laying it gently over his feverish partner's head, pushing aside strands of messy blond hair that stuck over his face. Feeling the cooling sensation against his forehead, Deidara melted into a calming sigh as his headache stowed.

With a semi-freshened mind, Deidara started to wonder.

"How long… have I…" he whispered, syllables from his words scraped against the walls of his throat.

Before he could finish his sentence he was cut off by a nasty cough that clawed its way out from his windpipe. Deidara's convulsed in pain as blood and bile ejected from his lips, causing his airways to burn from the acrid contents of his stomach.

"Get up," Sasori instructed while he held his choking partner by the sides of his chest.

The puppeteer hastily dragged his partner off his back with an arm behind his neck, though he was careful not to disturb his wounds. Upon getting the coughing ninja upright, Sasori began patting down his back, kneading his muscle with his knuckles.

"Get it all out," he hovered his wooden palm over the blonde's mouth, "Or you're going to choke,"

With Sasori's physical encouragement, Deidara was able to cough out the bloody phlegm from his throat and into his partner's hand. The struggle continued for a full minute before he was able to breathe unhindered, leaving him gasping for air when it all cleared out.

"Damn…" Deidara cursed in between his breaths as he was allowed to lie back down, tears forming from his eyes as he swallowed.

"Drink," his partner commanded as he held the bamboo cup above his face.

Sasori poured a steady stream of refreshing water as Deidara opened his mouth, allowing him to receive an earnest gulp that he desperately required. The ninja cringed as it went down his throat, though it gave him relief from the scorching pain afterwards.

"You were out for three days," Sasori answered while he wiped the stream of blood from the corners of his partner's lips.

That long...?

Deidara groaned as he realised.

"How are you feeling?" Sasori continued as he drenched the towel into the bucket.

"Everything hurts, un…" he grumbled honestly; he was too tired to even shape a façade.

He groaned as his partner lifted the blanket off him, revealing his exposed chest to the open air. His breathing increased as Sasori dragged the washcloth over his body; twitching at the cold water against his skin.

Cold…

Discomfort became pain as his partner made his way up to his chest.

"Un…" he grunted as Sasori rubbed against the cracked ribs around the centre of his sternum.

His caretaker ignored his pleas while he moved upwards to his strained shoulders. The redhead unapologetically wiped down the blood that stemmed from the edges of his bandages, forcing out a muffled howl from his patient.

"Brat, I need to take off your pants," Sasori's blank request echoed as he stopped at his waist.

"What?" he blushed.

After an awkward and strenuous wipe down of his broken legs, Deidara was left panting from the pain that plagued his knees whenever they were forced to move. It felt like hell again to have his bottom half washed, even more so considering how Sasori had to clean his more private areas.

"This better be the only time you piss yourself," Sasori demanded in an irritated tone as he tossed the stained towels aside to be disposed, "Next time, tell me when you need to go,"

Deidara could only shy away his eyes in a gentle nod while his partner pulled a new pair of pants over his feet. As humiliating as it was, Deidara had to come to terms that his unwilling partner was his only access to practically everything he needed.

As Sasori left, Deidara caught a break for himself, shifting his face such that he wouldn't be facing the entrance. Just as quick as his relief came his stomached grumbled in hunger; sending an ache that made him realise that he hadn't eaten in a long, long while.

Sucking in his humility, Deidara had no other choice but to chirp for his partner.

"Danna…" his voice peaked, "I… I'm hungry…"

A moment of silence followed his request, making the blond feel stupid for even reaching out again.

"I thought so," Sasori answered, his voice sending him a hint of hope.