A/N: Hope you understood the Sharingan explanation. Just to let you know, a very reliable source informed me of it and I relayed it to you. That information that I gave you, is true. Anyone that does not agree, PM me and I will speak with my source. But my friend is dialed in to the entire Naruto blood line thing. Anyways...this chapter, Sasori and Deidara find themselves in some real trouble. Fight scene!! Story time! For those of you that don't understand what Kusa is: Grass Village. Right next to Ame and above Konoha, to the left of Suna and Iwa, less than a day's traveling distance. Ja ne!
Fated Reunion
Chapter 5: An Unexpected Disaster
Sasori and Deidara hesitantly went back to their rooms, still very much in pain. Once the door was closed, Deidara released a small groan in pain. The elder of the two just sighed and watched his partner try to work the kinks from his body, which was a failure in itself. He was laying face down on the bed with his arms hanging down the side in agony, having given up. "Danna," he whined.
"Stop whining, brat." Sasori went over to him and sat next to him on the bed.
"But, danna, it hurts, yeah," he whined. He winced again at the muscles clenching.
"I know. Why do you think I'm in my battle body?" he questioned, his voice hinting at the fact he was grinning triumphantly.
"No fair, un...I wish I could do that..." he sighed, closing his eyes and feeling sorry for himself.
Sasori felt anger take hold of him briefly. Why would he wish that? Why would he give up feeling in his body, just to avoid pain? "Deidara," he said sternly. The blond winced at the tone, but looked at him over his shoulder. "Don't ever say that again."
The Iwa-nin looked closer at his partner and saw pain. "Sorry, danna..." he whispered softly. The red head just nodded, not really wanting to voice his hurt. They only had an hour and a half left until they left, and so far, Deidara was in no position to do this mission. The Akatsuki always had to be on high alert of its informants. They could be hostile, or they could be impassive, or they could be obedient, which was somewhat common.
The blond whined again and sighed in pain, gripping the sheets until his knuckled turned white. Sasori paid it no mind. "We should leave early so we can get back in time to rest between the next mission." Deidara just looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't look at me like that, brat. The exercise will do you good." He quickly got to his feet and reached under his bed for his puppet scrolls. He slipped them in the sleeve of his cloak, just in case. Once his scrolls were in place, he looked over to his blond partner. His brow raised. "What don't I like?"
Deidara groaned and dragged himself out of bed. "Waiting, un," he sighed sadly, strapping his pouch on under his cloak. He winced at the movement and bit his lip. Once the pain subsided and he was completely ready, he sent a small grin to the waiting red head. He started to walk to the door with a sigh. When he passed his partner, he felt a sharp grip on his wrist, pulling him back and into a hard chest. "Danna?" he asked, confused as to what was happening.
Sasori lightly kissed the top of his partner's head. "I won't have you holding us back," he whispered, devoid of emotions. The blond glared up at him and bit his lip to prevent himself from popping off with an offensive comment. He felt the older hook his finger under his chin and tilt his head up. Blue met brown shortly before the Suna-nin placed a gentle kiss on his lover's lips. The kiss ended a few seconds later, leaving Deidara confused as to what his danna was thinking. He thought nothing more of it when Sasori started walking off, expecting him to follow.
As soon as the partners made it out of the Akatsuki base, they headed off into the direction of Kusa. Sasori was unaffected, but Deidara was still having problems walking straight. The red head kept a steady pace in the shelter of Hiruko while the blond trailed behind. As Hiruko walked, he glanced back a few times. "Hurry up, brat."
"Slow down, danna. We have two days, yeah," he whined, trying his best to increase his pace. He finally caught up to him. His muscles clenched and tightened with each step, causing him to wince a few times. The tightness reminded him of just how much pain he was in. As his whole body cried out, he couldn't help but think something bad was going to happen with him in this state. If the informant was hostile, and they saw that Deidara was in pain, they would attack, thinking they had the upper hand.
Thanks to the Iwa born's stubborn nature, he was able to make it so he wasn't limping. Noticing this, Sasori smirked. It seemed like hours until either of them spoke. "Danna?" the younger's soft voice came, disrupting the silence between them.
"Don't start whining, brat. We're not stopping for another couple of hours."
Deidara shook his head and smirked. "Not that, yeah. I just wanted to say I'm glad you made it back in one piece, un."
Sasori glanced at his partner through Hiruko's eyes. The hunched over puppet increased his pace a little, getting a little further ahead of the other. "Me, too."
The sculptor smiled and kept pace with his danna. "You know the only reason I was able to make it on the Suna council was because of you, yeah?" Hiruko nodded quietly. "It was rather difficult, un..." Hiruko turned his head a little to look at him. "I had to think of things way before I said them, yeah," he laughed. "Every night, I thought over what I should say concerning different issues, un. What they would want me to say, yeah. Then..." Hiruko and Deidara stopped walking. Sasori turned his puppet to look at his partner. The blond wore a smile on his face as he stared at him. "I thought of what you would say, danna. And I found the right things to say, un," he smiled.
Inside Hiruko, Sasori was smirking and rolling his eyes. "It's not that difficult to please the council. It's just the Kazekage. I didn't do anything, brat. It was you." The younger smiled once more with a small blush. "Come on. We need to hurry. Kusa isn't too much further."
Hours passed and the sun faded behind the trees, allowing a dark shadow to cover the landscape like a blanket of darkness. The sun set, leaving traces of pink and purple in the sky. Animals went to rest in their dens and habitats, cool wind blew peacefully, rustling the leaves on trees. Kusa's border was no more than five minutes away. The agreement between the informant and Pein was to meet at Kusa's border, that way they could still wear their cloaks and be recognized easily.
As the partners drew closer, they could make out a shadowed figure. Sasori scanned the area for any border guards quickly. When he saw none, and sensed no chakra levels, he decided it safe to continue. Deidara must have done it as well because Sasori noticed him looking around quickly and keeping his hand in his pouch.
Once they made it to the shadowed figure, they saw the person remove its hood. The male had pale skin, amber eyes, and short black hair. He was the same height as Deidara. "My name is Kenji. You are Pein's subordinates, I assume?" he asked, his voice level and soft.
Sasori nodded through Hiruko, secretly bored as hell already. He took his missions seriously, but he didn't have to like them. Besides, something didn't sit well with this informant. "What information do you have for us?" the red head asked coldly, wishing to just hurry up and get out of here, sensing something amiss.
"This new threat is planning on attacking the Nibi within the next week. I don't have a positive identification, but I do have a general description," Kenji told them, keeping his voice level and devoid of emotions. Deidara nodded, urging him on. "He is a Sound ninja, following in Orochimaru's footsteps. Though he does not possess the Immortality jutsu like Orochimaru, he is still as dangerous. His hair is a deep crimson, eyes a light green."
Hiruko glared holes into him, not trusting his words in the least. He decided to test him. "Why the Nibi?"
"It is not clear. Possibly because Gaara and the other Jinchuuriki are too strong."
Sasori found that rather reasonable. "What makes you so positive of his appearance? Did you physically see him for yourself? How can you be so sure he is male at all?"
The informant glared at Hiruko. That look was one of worry and hesitation. "I have not seen him for myself. I have other sources looking over the Jinchuuriki, especially the Nibi."
"How can you be so sure these sources are reliable, un?" Deidara challenged, catching onto his danna's suspicious behavior.
Kenji turned his sight to Deidara, glaring holes into the blond. He suddenly smirked and nodded. "I see you do not trust me." The partners remained silent. "Deidara of Iwa...you were banned from the Rock Village because of your...hobby. Before you left, you blew a hole in Iwa's border, leaving the village vulnerable for nearly a month and a half." Said blond's eye widened at how much this person knew about him. The informant turned his attention back to Hiruko. "And you, Sasori of the Red Sand, left Suna mysteriously. You specialize in puppets, using your chakra strings to manipulate them to do your bidding. Your parents died when you were young, leaving you with your Grandmother Chiyo. Shortly after, you disappeared, becoming a rogue ninja, and abandoning your village."
Sasori had enough of this 'informant.' "An informant should not know so much of us. How do you possess such knowledge? Who are you, really?" he challenged in his demanding voice, showing he was beyond pissed.
Kenji simply grinned, bringing his hand up to his chest. "The Akatsuki are fools." He pulled off his cloak, revealing a familiar outfit any rogue ninja would hate to see.
Deidara and Sasori leaped backward quickly, taking a defensive stance. "ANBU," Deidara hissed.
"Brat, head back to base and tell Leader of this," Sasori ordered quietly. The blond glared at him. "Now is not the time to be stubborn. Go."
"I'm not leaving, danna." With that, Deidara pulled his hand out of his pouch, throwing multiple spider sculptors flying toward the ANBU man. As expected, he dodged. Sasori had Hiruko's tail lash out to protect his blond brat from the incoming shuriken and kunai. There were multiple clanks and thuds as the weapons bounced off the metal tail and into the ground.
Kenji quickly formed hand seals, disappearing from the two's sight. He reappeared behind Deidara nd touched his shoulder. "Body Freeze Jutsu," he grinned, quickly retreating before Sasori's tail could hit him. He appeared a few yards in front of the two and smirked, performing more hand seals. He kept his eyes on the blond, watching him struggle to move.
"Danna...I can't move, yeah," he growled, glancing down at his hands. They were frozen. On top of his muscles hurting, he couldn't move because of a jutsu as well.
Sasori glared at the ANBU. "Hang on, brat," he hissed quietly. He was preparing Hiruko to shoot multiple kunai from his arms and body. His eyes remained on Kenji as he did so. Once he was finished preparing, he watched the enemy complete the string of hand seals. Sasori stood Hiruko up and fired the kunai and shuriken at him, the tail still in front of Deidara for protection. As the weapons flew, he watched the ANBU nimbly dodge them all. None even came close to harming him, as expected from a member of the famed ANBU squad.
As his danna fought Kenji, Deidara tried to get his body to move. It would wear off eventually, but exactly when? He glared down at his fingers and tried to move them. As he struggled, he glanced up at the fight. He saw the ANBU man retaliate with a fire based attack, stopping the kunai and shuriken from even reaching him. The weapons fell to the ground, much to Sasori's annoyance. He glanced over at his partner. If only he knew the release command. Upon turning his sight back to the battle, he saw Kenji was gone.
"Danna!" Deidara screamed, obtaining the red head's attention in a second. He saw the ANBU soldier charging from a tree at him. Hiruko's tail shot up, blocking the attack. The Black Ops ninja leaped away back in front of Sasori. He grinned. The Akatsuki partner's watched him take out a kunai and wrap a sutra around the handle. He then proceeded to replicate himself, grinning smugly.
The red head resumed his glare, frowning at Kenji's arrogance. Hiruko's tail shot up behind him, his eyes widening slightly. How did he get behind him so fast when he had his eyes on him the whole time?! Sasori fought off the clone and sent him flying into a tree angrily. It disappeared, the other ANBU clones grinning arrogantly. The Akasuna didn't like this man's cocky looks. It was infuriating. How could he think the battle was already won when they were evenly matched?
Hiruko's tail shot out at the clones, taking out three more, leaving two more. The clones separated. One ran down Hiruko's tail, heading straight for Sasori, using it as a bridge. He jammed the kunai into Hiruko's shoulder and flipped away before the tail could cause him harm. Deidara's eyes widened. "Danna! Get out of there, yeah!" he screamed, trying his best to move. He felt the jutsu weakening, much to his advantage. He'd been frozen in place for nearly five minutes.
Sasori growled and popped Hiruko's back open, quickly jumping out before the explosive tag detonated. The blast flung the red head further away, landing roughly on his stomach. Thankfully, he was in his battle puppet body, otherwise, he'd be in some severe pain. He coughed at the debris and flipped over in time to see Kenji slam a kunai deep in Deidara's rib cage, dragging a loud scream from the boy's lips.
The Freeze jutsu wore off, allowing the blond to fall to his side, gripping his bleeding body in pain. The ANBU man stood above him with a smirk. "I thought Akatsuki were supposed to be a challenge? What's the use in being called S-rank criminals if you're not going to live up to the name? You're pathetic," he growled, kicking the injured blond in the stomach, sending him flying toward a tree.
Sasori got to his feet quickly, catching him before the collision. He looked down at him for a moment. His glare fixated on Kenji as he stood to his feet. He summoned the Sandaime Kazekage from his scroll and continued his glare, reminding himself that if he let his emotions rule him, the battle was lost. As he stared at him, he couldn't help but feel anger settle in. "Your partner is a disappointment. I do hope I get more of a challenge from the great Sasori of the Red Sand?"
Without responding, Sandaime charged at him, sword bared. Kenji sped backwards, drawing the Sandaime closer and closer from Sasori. The puppet attacked, slashing at him with great force. The ANBU dodged easily, leaping into the air above him. The puppet thrust its foot up, lodging itself in Kenji's stomach roughly. The man fell to the ground, coughing at the loss of air. The red head continued his glare. "Dei, are you awake?" he asked, his voice hard as stone. He heard a soft and feeble cough from his partner. "Go back to base."
"I'm not...leaving, un," he breathed, struggling to get to his feet.
Sasori felt his temper grab him once more, it being released into Sandaime. The puppet kicked the ANBU into the air and followed after him, jamming the sword into his shoulder. He noticed his partner on his feet. An arm reached out and landed on the Suna-nin's shoulder for stability. "Go back to base, Deidara. You are useless in battle. You're injured," he growled, retracting his arm and thrusting it back ahead. The puppet jumped back and charged, the sword slicing at the ANBU's chest roughly.
When Sandaime came back to his aid, he noticed a log fall from where the puppet attacked. The red head's eyes narrowed angrily. His eyes started to scan the area, searching for any sign of Kenji. He saw Deidara smirk and take out another clay sculpture. He threw it forward, the spider hopping off some ways and into a tree. There was an explosion behind them, causing Sasori's vision to snap in the direction. His partner had just used a diversion sculpture to distract the ANBU from the real threat. Brown eyes fell upon the blond with a smirk. "You were saying, un?" Deidara smirked.
Kenji fell from the tree and barely caught himself on his feet. He fell to his knees, holding his shoulder. Blood ran from the injury and down his chest and arm freely. Deidara's side bled as well, leaving a pool of blood where he stood. Sasori noticed the metallic smell and redirected Sandaime to in front of them. "I still stand by what I said, brat."
Deidara smirked and shrugged. "Maybe so, danna. But..." The blond brought his fingers up to his lips with a sigh. "Katsu," he whispered weakly before his legs gave out. Sasori caught him when the explosion sounded behind them yet again. His head whipped in the direction, seeing the real ANBU man on the ground with blood sprayed around him. The other one disappeared in a puff of smoke. He looked down at his blond partner and blinked. There was a small smile on his face.
Blood ran down the puppeteer's arm and onto his cloak, reminding him of their new mission. He quickly sealed Sandaime back with one hand and put it away. He walked Deidara over to Hiruko's remains, collecting them quickly while his partner laid in the grass. Once all the remains were on the scroll, he put the puppet back in his scroll and in his sleeve. He sighed as he went over to Deidara. It was then that he noticed his lips were turning blue and his skin was turning paler than normal. His eyes widened. He had to get him back to Pein fast.
The marionette tore the blond's sleeve off and tied it around his waist tightly, keeping as much pressure on it as he could. It wasn't much, but it would have to be until he made it back to base. He scooped his blond up into his arms and sped off quickly. If he were lucky, he'd make it back by noon tomorrow. If he were lucky.
As he ran, Sasori stole glances down at his blond brat. "Deidara, stay with me,damn it," he growled. The blond's eyes twitched in pain, his mouth turning into a deep frown. He was still alive, but for how much longer? He lost alot of blood. Especially with his strenuous movements. "Damn it," the puppet growled, increasing his speed. A few more paces and a foot slammed into his stomach, knocking him back into a tree. He growled and glared at the figure ahead of him.
"Where do you think you're going, Sasori?" a female voice came, annoying the puppeteer more.
"Get out of my way," he growled calmly (A/N: contradiction...his voice was calm, but the tone was a growl). He stood weakly and cradled Deidara close to him, thankful that she missed him.
"Oh? Why should I? Just because your little boyfriend is injured?" she asked in a patronizing tone. Sasori glared at her. Her hair was a deep pink, almost magenta, and her eyes were a soft purple. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, her hair falling down to her thighs. "You see...you killed Kenji...that calls for some payback..." she smirked.
"I suppose the next thing you are going to tell me is that you two had some sort of relationship," he hissed, not really in the mood to deal with ignorance.
"Heh. Name's Minato. And no. He was just a team mate. You know what those are, right? People you work together with and get along with?" she grinned.
"I have no time for your patronizing, smart ass remarks, girl," he growled, summoning his hundred puppets from their scrolls. He ripped a hole in his cloak, exposing the compartment that allowed him to control them with his chakra strings. The strings attached to the individual puppets, all of which baring swords. He glared at Minato, warning her one last time to get out of his way.
She whistled in amusement. "Wow. No wonder you're an S-rank criminal. Very impressive, 'Sori," she smirked, calling him the same loathsome name as Kisame.
The puppets attacked at once, some swinging swords, others charging. Minato hummed a tune as she dodged, her smile never diminishing. Brown eyes narrowed at her as a puppet charged behind her. She backed right into the sword, making it pierce through her like butter. She gasped and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shadow clone. The red head looked down at his partner. "Hang on, Dei," he growled. The marionette looked around quickly and got an idea. He looked down at his partner once more. He knelt to his knees, keeping his chakra strings at work with the puppets.
"Dei? Dei, wake up," he called, shaking him a little. The sculptor showed no signs of moving. "Deidara, wake up," he growled, shaking him rougher. The blond opened his eyes painfully. His blue eye was out of focus as he looked up at the red head. "Listen to me, alright? I need you to do something for me. I'm borrowing some of your clay. When I tell you to, detonate it. Alright?" The blond nodded weakly. "You have to stay awake," he ordered. Deidara nodded again with a wince.
Sasori called a puppet to him and placed some clay in its mouth. He glanced up at where Minato was and saw her flipping out of the way of his puppet's attacks and giggling childishly. He sent the puppet off and had it join in the chase, the others acting as a diversion. He called another over and put some clay in its mouth as well, still watching Minato. "Dei...you can choose which one you detonate, right?" Sasori confirmed in a low voice.
The blond nodded weakly. "I have to concentrate on which one, yeah," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Thought so. Listen. I'm going to point out to you which ones have the clay and which ones to detonate when. Alright?" he asked, still keeping his voice low. His partner nodded, struggling to stay awake. "Alright. Look." Sasori pointed at four puppets, telling him which order to detonate them in. Though he had to give up possibly all four puppets, it was no loss to him. He would just replace them later. Once the blond was set on which ones carried the clay, the Suna born went to work on following through with his plan.
He had the first puppet rush at her in a frontal assault. When it got close enough, he shook Deidara a little, telling him to detonate it. He whispered the one word detonation while the puppeteer focused on getting the second to get her. He had the second grab her in a submission hold while Sasori told his blond to detonate it again. When the word was whispered again, it exploded, Minato screaming bloody murder. The puppeteer waited for the smoke to clear.
When it did, the red head saw no signs of the second ANBU. He closed his eyes and tried to locate her chakra level. Nothing. Deciding it was clear enough, Sasori picked Deidara up again and continued his run. "Stay awake, Dei." The blond nodded weakly, but kept his eyes closed. "Eyes open, brat," Sasori growled.
"I...can't...un," he whispered, his voice getting softer with each word.
"Come on, brat! I mean it! Open your eyes!" he growled, his temper finally getting the best of him. He glanced down at his brat and saw his eyes still closed. "Damn it. If you don't open your eyes right now, I swear I will let Hidan sacrifice you in one of his rituals," he threatened, his speed increasing. His puppets followed close behind for protection.
Deidara's eyes opened after a while, much to Sasori's relief. "Danna...I'm tired, yeah," he whispered.
TBC
