A/N: I am so so so sorry for the severe lateness of updating. I have been so preoccupied and had so much going wrong that I just haven't been in the mood to write. And with everything negative being thrown my way, I couldn't write even if I wanted to...Anyway, I am terribly sorry!!! But, now I'm back, so I plan on finishing the story while I still have the idea in my head. Sorry for the short chapter last time, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it. And I didn't want to get into the whole apprentice/Sasori fight because that would have taken up too much time for most people to read. Anyway. Things are heating up. Sasori stumbled into a trap, apparently. Now.....THE APPRENTICE IS REVEALED!!!! And please keep in mind that this story does not follow the original storyline...thought that was kind of obvious..........As for the Sequel to the Sequel......not going to happen...might in the future, but as for right now, not happening.


Fated Reunion

Chapter 9: The Apprentice's Demise


As Sasori stood there, he stared in horror at Deidara's anguished face. The blond knew that the trap would work. He just knew it because Sasori was so worried about him that he would abandon his surroundings in an instant if it meant to free him. The apprentice was right.

Deidara laid crying in the darkness, the place scarcely lit by a single candle. From the lighting, Deidara could see that this was the exact place that Orochimaru held him captive for so many years. He loathed this place with every fiber of his scared being. The torture sessions, the sick pleasure the pale snake took from the pain Deidara went through. Everything was enough to make his stomach lurch.

Then, a bright light pierced through the darkness, revealing the same figure from before: the apprentice. Instantly, the blond started to fear for his life. He didn't know what else to do. He was tied up, captured, unable to do anything. The apprentice could kill him right then and there if he so wanted. After all, Deidara couldn't stop him no matter how much he wanted to. The door shut, shutting out the bright light that illuminated the dingy room the artist hated so badly.

"It is about time, Deidara. Come," he beckoned, reaching up to untie Deidara's hands from the headboard. As soon as the blond's hands were free, he tried to fight back. He swung his fist at the apprentice's face, only to have himself thrown back onto his back with a hard body on top of his own, crushing the breath from him. "And I suggest you do not resist if you do not want your precious Sasori to go into a manic depressive state," he suggested, his voice ominously cool and collected.

The blond nodded obediently. It was worth a shot. The apprentice then started to gather up his bindings and drag Deidara out of his personal hell-on-earth and outside. He dragged him just past the decorative column and started to tie him up there, making sure the bindings were tight. Deidara was slightly curious as to why he was being tied at this exact location.

Sensing this, the apprentice smirked and stared up at him with his cold onyx eyes. "As soon as Sasori comes through that clearing of trees," he said, pointing where Sasori would come from, "he will see you, forget his surroundings, and be left completely open for a fatal attack." Deidara's eyes widened as realization sank in. The apprentice smirked and touched his finger to his chin in thought. "Though...something is missing..." he said to himself.

"Ah. I know," he said before decking Deidara in the jaw, leaving a bruise on his pale cheek. The sculptor cried out in pain when he felt the stinging sensation course throughout his entire face. The apprentice struck him again in the same spot, noticing it swelling, earning a whimper of defeat from the imprisoned blond.

Deidara's eyes grew frantic as he saw what he didn't want to see in a million years. The apprentice was right behind him, sword drawn. He tried to call out to his danna, but the gag prevented anything coherent from escaping his mouth. He shook his head and thrashed, signaling for Sasori to hurry up and move out of the way. The red head must have caught the notion because he started to dart for Deidara. The blond became frantic. He shook his head furiously and struggled against the binds that held him. 'Danna...go away!' he thought angrily, hoping the thought would cross his eyes.

As soon as Sasori was a foot away from him, he stopped and pulled the gag from his mouth. "Dei-"

"Danna! Behind you, un!" he cried in vain. Too late. Before Sasori could turn and register what the blond had said, a sword was thrust into the small of his back, going all the way through his stomach. The two lovers cried out, Sasori for physical pain, Deidara for emotional. Sasori coughed up blood almost instantly. His brown eyes were wide with shock as he looked down at the damage. He screwed up. And it would surely cost him his life. He felt the sword yank from his body, making the puppeteer look up at Deidara with weak eyes, as if to apologize, before falling to his knees, holding his stomach. "Danna?.....Danna?! Danna!" Deidara screamed, desperate to get any rise out of Sasori. He felt his chakra lowering and disappearing completely before starting to cry out in pain.

The apprentice smirked as he stared at the motionless body of Sasori, a pool of blood collecting around him. "Who would have thought a puppet could bleed?" he mused as he sheathed his sword behind him.

Deidara stared up at the apprentice with evident hatred. "You bastard, un! You killed my danna!" he hissed, spitting in his face, tears streaming down his injured cheeks. He didn't care about life anymore, now that Sasori was forever gone.

As Sasori laid there, he felt his life slip further and further away from him. The blood, his life essence, spilling with each second from his body. He soon drifted unconscious.

Sasori was standing in darkness. He looked around and saw nothing but pitch black around him. As he looked, he started to wonder what exactly he was doing here. He was just fighting the apprentice for Deidara's life-

Deidara!

Sasori's eyes widened as he searched the surroundings for his blond lover. He needed to find him. It was his number one priority. He remembered getting stabbed and then...nothing. He lowered his head and held hs forehead in his hand. Was he...dead? He couldn't be! If he was dead, then that meant that Deidara would be joining him soon. He couldn't have that. He had to find a way out of-

"Danna! Wake up, Danna!" a familiar voice called from nowhere in particular.

Deidara? What was he talking about? He wasn't sleeping. He was wide awake. Why would he have to 'wake up?'

"Please, Danna! Don't leave me!" Deidara called, more desperate than the first this time.

Sasori felt horrible. He didn't know what he meant when Deidara was telling him to wake up. Then, everything flashed back. He was about to die.

'No!' he screamed at himself.

Sasori coughed and opened his auburn eyes, positioning his hands to get up. He was weak, and that was expected. "Danna!" Deidara cried happily and anxiously.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Deidara? He's dead," the apprentice mused as he held the sword to the blond's neck offensively.

Sasori came to his senses and looked down at the dirt where his blood was being soaked up. He had to heal himself with Pein's technique. He paid attention when he healed Deidara that one time. He did the necessary hand signs before pressing them to his stomach and lower back. Sensing a sudden spike in chakra, he supposed, the Akasuna watched the apprentice turn, his onyx eyes half closed in annoyance. "I see you're alive after all."

It was then that Sasori noticed just who the apprentice was. Pale skin like that of a porcelain doll, raven hair like the darkest of night with matching black hole colored eyes. The slender, yet muscular, build that his frame held. The familiar look in his eyes from an associate that he basically lived with. Suddenly, the red head's lips curved into a small grin. "I suggest you release Deidara, Uchiha," the Akasuna warned, his tone deathly serious.

The apprentice smirked and released the blond from his grasp. Apparently, while Sasori was knocked unconscious from the blood loss, Sasuke had untied Deidara's hands, so when he released him, the blond fell to his knees, grasping his throat with fear. "And what do you think puts you in any position to be giving me orders?" he challenged, his voice still steady and level.

Sasori smirked when he realized that he was completely healed. He stood and rolled his shoulders arrogantly. He didn't know why Sasuke chose to take after Orochimaru, but he supposed it didn't matter. He would die soon anyway. The puppeteer turned his sight to Deidara, who was staring up at him with gratitude and a small smile, full of compassion and love. The red head gave him a small look that told him to get out of here, but the blond apparently didn't catch it, or was too stubborn to leave. In any case, Sasori turned his attention back to the traitorous Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked. "No matter. Words are cheap," he sighed quietly before quickly unsheathing his sword and slashing at Sasori with it. The red head swiftly avoided it, however, back hand springing out of the way. As soon as he landed, he unrolled the scroll with easy, whipping it through the air. In a flash, the Sandaime appeared, his dull yellow eyes emotionless and lifeless. Immediately, Sasori attached his chakra strings to it, sending it flying at Sasuke, sword ready. Metal clashed as the two fought. Sandaime forced Sasuke back for a while before the Uchiha rushed out of the way. While in the air, the younger Uchiha did hand signs and spewed fire toward the puppet.

The puppeteer quickly made Sandaime spew out his Iron Rain in return, dousing the fire. Bits of metal were sent fluttering toward the ground in flames. The apprentice landed on his feet at the same time Sasori called Sandaime back to him. The two combatants stared at each other, eyes filled with hate. Deidara watched on in horror, remembering that Sasori didn't know something. His blue eye widened before he gathered the energy he needed to tell him. Before he could say a word, however, Sasuke disappeared from view.

Sandaime darted behind its red headed master and blocked the oncoming sword attack with another clash of metal. He heard a growl from the Uchiha's throat, showing he was getting frustrated. Sasori sighed as he reached into his pants for one of his poison bombs. He wanted to end this relatively quickly. He threw the Demon Night poison bomb and the whole field was suddenly covered in a thick purple mist. Deidara quickly covered his nose and mouth, holding his breath. He ran into the castle and took shelter, knowing he could be of no use here until the poison cloud died down.

Seeing that his love was out of harm's way, Sasori could get serious. With that thought now currently in mind, the red head sent Sandaime flying toward Sasuke at full force. The sudden clash of metal left Sasuke's sword to fling out of his grasp and into a tree a few yards away. The apprentice stood motionless, astonished at his opponent's sudden ferocity. Onyx locked with auburn as the intensity suddenly increased on the battlefield. Sasuke avoided the Demon Night poison by a few seconds. Now, the cloud was dispersing and evaporating into the air as if it never existed.

"I see..." Sasuke said quietly with a small smirk. He leaped backward and started to perform hand signs. In the next second, a fire dragon fired out of Sasuke's mouth, roaring toward Sasori and Sandaime in an explosion of embers. The red head quickly made Sandaime twirl his sword in a fan like motion. As it did this, the dragon collided with Sandaime, fire shooting everywhere from the blade slicing it up as if it were butter.

By the time Sandaime was done disposing of the dragon, Sasori's eyes drifted back to where Sasuke stood. He wasn't there. His auburn eyes roamed the area, searching for the loathsome man in a futile attempt to locate him. He was sure that he was watching him that very moment, which was what made him want to search even faster, look even harder.

Before he could locate the younger Uchiha, however, he heard Deidara's scream of terror and a plea for help. Without a second thought, Sasori quickly darted around the corner to help Deidara, running straight into a kunai to his chest. The red head's eyes widened. He fell for it again. His vision started to blur as he saw the arrogant smirk of Sasuke. He had already lost enough blood to feel sick, but now that he lost more, he knew he would faint. The last thing Sasori saw was Sasuke looking past him with a glare and a muffled noise behind him. With that, Sasori fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

Sasori awoke with a splitting pain in his chest. He had lost alot of blood. Too much to sustain his consciousness. As soon as his eyes fluttered open, he sat straight up in bed. "Dei!" he growled, instantly regretting it. He felt a rip in his chest and fell flat back on the bed, clutching his chest in agony. As he laid there, he felt his palm slowly grow wetter. He knew he had opened a wound. He sighed and winced at how much that hurt.

"Danna?" called a sleepy voice, a small quiet yawn attached at the end. Sasori opened his eyes to meet those of Deidara. He released a sigh of relief that he was safe and unharmed. The sculptor did so as well when he saw that his danna was awake and well. "Danna...you're awake, un," he smiled softly, wiping the tears that had fallen in his sleep.

"Dei? What happened? I thought we-"

"Itachi and Kisame came, un. Apparently, Itachi sensed his brother's spike of chakra and pinpointed it, un. He said saving us was unintentional, yeah," giggled the blond. Before Sasori could ask how Itachi killed him, Deidara continued. "Turns out, Sasuke had the same immortality jutsu as Orochimaru, yeah. I had to take it off. It was easy since Itachi had him pinned against the wall the whole time, torturing him with the Sharingan as usual, un," he giggled again. His blue eye stared into Sasori's as he gently cupped his danna's cheek. "You have to stay in bed, yeah. You're not well, un."

"I'm fine," Sasori lied.

"Danna-"

"Ah, you're awake!" Kisame's voice said rather loudly as he and Itachi entered the room. As soon as they stood within a foot of the injured puppeteer, Kisame sighed. "You ripped your stitches. Kakuzu isn't going to be happy," he smirked as he left the room to get Kakuzu.

Deidara looked at Itachi. Though he didn't exactly like the Uchiha elder, he did thank him for saving his danna. He didn't care about himself. As long as Sasori was all right. In any case, he was grateful that Sasori was alive. "Itachi, un?" The Uchiha elder looked at the blond quietly. "What happened to Sasuke, yeah?"

Itachi blinked and stared back at Sasori. "He is dead, as intended."

The Akasuna inwardly smirked, but showed no signs of it on the outside. "You took his eyes," he stated. He didn't need to ask. He already knew that that was the only reason Itachi kept him alive so long. Itachi simply nodded, confirming his suspicions. "Thought so."

"Itachi, un?" Deidara called again, taking hold of Sasori's hand. Itachi turned his penetrating gaze back at the blond. "Arigatoo, un," he smiled. Itachi blinked and turned on his heel, not acknowledging that he was thanked. He stopped in the doorway and peered over his shoulder at the two of them.

"It was unintentional to save you two. Let's make that clear," he said before gliding ever so gracefully out of the room and into his own.

Deidara and his love exchanged glances for a moment before the blond broke into a small fit of laughter. Sasori cracked a small smile. It felt so good to be alive to hear that beautiful laugh. "How are you feeling, Dei?" he asked softly.

Deidara stopped laughing and smiled at his danna. "I...I'm going to be all right, yeah," he smiled, Sasori knowing he was hiding something thanks to the hesitation. His blue eye fell to the bed and the smile disappeared. "He put me in that room, danna," he whispered. "While I was there, it was slightly easier, un..."

The puppet master blinked in confusion. Easier? How so? Last time he was in that horrible room, he had a break down. So how was it easier for him to be in that room? He couldn't resist. Before he could stop himself, he asked the silent question. "How?"

Deidara raised his blue eye to Sasori's brown ones and stared with a small gentle smile. "Because I knew you would come save me, un," he whispered softly.

Upon hearing those words, the red head smirked. Always the hopeful one. Always assuming that he would do something. But then again, every time the blond assumed something, he was usually right. At least on the important things such as this. Sasori grabbed the blond's wrist and yanked him into bed with him, smirking the whole time. Deidara landed next to his danna with a small squeak before noticing the bleeding on his chest. His blue eye widened and he sat up. "Danna, you're bleeding, un," he said in a reprimanding sort of tone.

At that second, Kakuzu, followed by a cursing Hidan putting his pants on, entered the room. The strings master looked rather irate as he glared at the bedridden Sasori. "I ought to start charging money every time I have to use my ability to aid the ignorance of another member," he grumbled to himself. Deidara noticed that Kakuzu was shirtless and had his pants on backwards as he watched him reattach the stitches to Sasori's chest.

"This had better be the last fucking time, Jashin damn it," Hidan hissed in a rather irritated tone as well.

Deidara blushed when he realized what had happened and why the two partners were ill tempered. Kisame had interrupted them when they were... "being intimate" with each other, or whatever it was that those two did. Rough sex? Bondage? Slave/Master? Deidara instantly stopped his train of thought at that, not wanting an image of Hidan, the blood lover, and Kakuzu, the string master.

When he realized that they were done and already half way out the door, Deidara crawled back into bed with Sasori, smiling softly at him and resting his head on the puppeteer's shoulder. "Wonder what they were doing?" Sasori smirked, his sad attempt at a joke. It worked because Deidara started to laugh quietly.

"I'm glad you're all right, danna," he whispered, cuddling closer to his seme.

Sasori curled his arm around his blond's back and rested his hand on his shoulder. It would be a while before he was fully healed, but he would wait patiently, even though he hated to be kept waiting. He knew he had to be present in his human body in order for him to heal properly. A body without a soul, after all, was nothing but a hollow shell.

TBC