Author's Note: This chapter took longer than I wanted. Oh well, at least it's done. Don't know how long this story's going to end up being. Now I'm just rambling aimlessly. Oh well. Please comment and enjoy!
Chapter 3
Deidara awoke to the irritating buzz of flies licking, spitting, and sucking at stiff and sticky fabric. He shooed them away with the wave of a stump. A bandaged stump, he noticed.
The events of the previous night flooded back, clouding blurry vision. He scowled softly, and peered over to the black lump lying beside him feet away on the blanket.
The idiot was still asleep.
Deidara groaned and stretched out over the cloak, reaching for the sky with what remained of his arms, and toward the cave wall with his feet. His back and other bones cracked. A hard, filthy substance pulled at his stretched skin. Dried blood soaked the fabric on either side of his shirt, just below the arms; and the darkened cloth clung to crawling skin. Because of the black background, however, the blood was hardly noticeable.
Ignoring urges to shudder and make a face, Deidara sat up and turned his head searching for his sandals. They weren't too far away, settled neatly beside another pair. The scowl hardened.
The blond scrambled to his feet and went to pick up Tobi's own discarded shoes. Though it made him cringe at first, Deidara settled his feet into the larger pair and walked over to as far a corner as possible. The heels of the shoes slapped against the bottoms of his feet as he walked.
Once the distance seemed large enough, Deidara threw the shoes off as if they carried a terrible disease. One bounced off the wall after somersaulting ten feet into the air, while the other dug itself half-way into the dirt. Deidara walked back and put on his own snug, form-fitting pair. He considered kicking the other ninja awake, but as the thought entered his mind, Tobi showed signs of life.
At first the dark-haired man just paced around dumbfounded, then gave an angry groan at the discovery of his footwear. Deidara tried and failed to keep down a growing smirk and mischievous chuckle. "That wasn't very nice, Sempai!" Tobi whined, pulling on the found shoes.
Deidara shrugged off the complaint. He turned to his dirty cloak. The black background had turned dull gray in the dirt, the white outline of the clouds a dirty brown, and the red lining saturated in sticky blood. Flies from earlier were quickly making their home on the surface.
"Nothing else to do but burn it, un," he stated and stood back. Nothing happened.
"What?" Tobi squeaked as he jumped back, receiving a most displeased stare.
"Burn it," Deidara ordered fiercely.
"Why?" Tobi put a finger to the bottom of his orange mask. Trying to act "cute."
"Because we cannot leave any trace of our existence," the blond shinobi explained. "If ninja of other nations discover this cave, somehow get inside, and find the cloak, just think of what they could learn from what's on it, un. Like from my blood, or random twigs or something."
"Then why not just take it along?"
"Because, dumbass," Deidara's voice shook with suppressed rage, "I'm not about to lug around a torn, bloody cloak for a whole week without any purpose in doing so, un!"
Tobi went silent, and focused on the small crack in the ceiling from which rays of sun streamed in. His black finger tapped pensively against the mask. "But wouldn't the smoke—"
"Just shut up and do it, un!"
"Okay, okay!" Tobi held up his hands defensively. With a few quick hand seals he set fire to the abandoned cloak, removing the lower part of his mask but covering the side of his face closest to Deidara with his hand.
The black cloak turned a golden orange, yellow, red and blue. Thick black smoke rose to the ceiling of the cave and softly dispersed through the hole and into the air. Flames growled as the Akatsuki cloak burned to ash. Flies caught in the heat sizzled and died, their dehydrated corpses joining with the dirt. The flickering light of the flames entranced both ninja in a few second's worth of hypnotism.
"Let's go!" Deidara announced, waking his partner from the trance. Quick as lightning the mask came down, before the blond could even spot a hint of Tobi's pale skin.
"R-right," Tobi stuttered, and fumbled to fold up the blanket, planning to take it along.
"Leave that here, un!"
"Right!" Tobi did as ordered, and dropped the half-folded blanket.
The blond growled. "No, you idiot. Put it back where you found it, un."
Tobi let out a long-drawn 'oh' and returned the blanket to the small hole in the wall. "Ignoramus!" Deidara scoffed. "Well let's get going. The sooner we get there the better, un."
"Right!" Tobi said with a quick salute. Deidara suppressed another groan. Soon as he was reunited with his arms, Tobi was sure to learn just how short a fuse his partner had. Not that he didn't already know.
The two set out, exiting the base the same way they had entered the previous night. It was early morning but the colorful sunrise was already ended. Now the sky was a simple blue, and as time passed the rising sun heated the earth. If they did not move out of the rock crevice and out of the desert soon, the heat was sure to catch them.
So they moved quickly; Tobi complaining about the speed at which his sempai moved and Deidara, forcing extra chakra into his legs, speeding up. It was not long before they reached the desert edge and entered the Land of Fire.
The name of the country was rather ironic: trees clouded the Fire Country, clustered so close together as to allow only a yard's worth of movement on the ground. But perhaps the country was named such after the warm weather and burning economy and trade. Whatever the reason, it was a far more pleasant atmosphere than the blistering desert landscape of the Land of Wind.
The two Akatsuki leapt from tree branch to tree branch. Their speed increased with the added spring of tree limbs. This pleased the blond greatly. He wanted—had—to be the first one to the hideout, just to prove to Kakuzu and everyone else just how great a ninja he was. He needed to prove—even armless—he could travel great distances in lesser time than a normal person. They would arrive in five days' time instead of seven, he swore it!
"Hey Sempai!" Tobi called from a few yards behind.
"Yo Sempai!" he shouted again with no reply.
"You gone deaf Deidara-sempai?"
"What is it?" the blond snapped.
"Where we gonna stay for the night?"
Deidara snorted. "What kind of question is that, un?" he asked, not taking his eyes off upcoming branches and tree trunks. "We'll spend the night in an inn."
Tobi chuckled softly at the answer. "But won't people panic? We are Akatsuki after all." A disgusted and disapproving look came over Deidara's face.
The thought of Tobi being a part of Akatsuki was still a strange one, and hearing the idiot say 'we' instead of 'you' only made it feel even more alien. For a good long while Tobi pleaded to become a member of the S-ranked gang but to no avail. And it was easy to see why: the guy was not exactly danger-in-the-dark material. In fact, Deidara still wondered why the Leader had agreed upon Tobi in the first place. Maybe there was some ulterior motive.
Before his mind could go into further analysis, Tobi repeated his earlier question. "It's not likely, un." And because he'd probably ask: "Some of the major villages might know by now who to look for: those wearing black cloaks with a red cloud pattern. So—"
"So since we're not wearing any, they won't notice us," Tobi excitedly interrupted. "Right Sempai?"
"Stop that!" Deidara made the mistake of casting Tobi a warning glare. His foot did not land properly on an upcoming branch, and the shinobi slipped and fell toward the earth.
The mistake was quickly corrected and Deidara landed gracefully on the forest floor. Less than a second later Tobi joined him, tense and hyper in activity. "Sempai!" he shouted. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," he growled, and looked up toward the green treetops. The ceiling of leaves spaced a distance apart revealed a calm blue sky, the same color as the eye watching it.
Deidara pounced back into the treetops. Tobi shortly followed, remaining a few yards behind.
"When'll I get one?" Tobi asked after a minute or two of travel
"Get what?"
"An official Akatsuki cloak."
Deidara sighed. "You'll get one wh—" he stopped. A devilish smile spread. "When you finish one," he answered, a bit too kindly.
"Finish—what?" The masked man's voice squeaked sharply.
"Yeah," the blond confirmed turning his head slightly to the left. "We all have to make our own, un."
The cat-like grin grew as Tobi let out a groan. "Hey, these things aren't exactly available in stores, un." Deidara managed to hold in a laugh, though his voice did falter half-way through the sentence. Tobi lifted his head and cocked a suspicious eyebrow from behind the mask.
By the time the two halted for the night, the sun was already gone from the sky and the bright moon shined thickly in the black sky. Stars twinkled but were no match for the brilliance of the large white sphere millions of times smaller, yet millions of times closer to the earth. The Akatsuki entered a small village alive with nightly adventure. Lights from stores flooded the unpaved streets while wild children and teenagers ran about.
Because of their location, the town did not receive many visitors. But rather than bombarding Deidara and Tobi with sweet "welcomes" as the pair entered, they remained their distance from the freaks. Most residents turned from the stalls they bent over to steal a peak at the armless blond and masked man.
Deidara simply ignored them as he led the way toward the center of town in search of an inn. Tobi, meanwhile, seemed to shrink from the stares.
Their room was located on the second floor of the inn, overlooking a few busy stalls and shops. Tobi offered to go out and find some dinner once they were somewhat settled in. The blond agreed, mostly because he didn't want the brunet to watch embarrassing attempts at removing his clothes and taking a shower.
"Okay, byes!" Tobi chirped, flashing a peace sign as he exited the door. The moment Tobi was safely out of the room Deidara spat every foul word he could think of. Some were harsh enough to make even Hidan flinch.
He flung himself back onto the soft mattress and stared at the bland ceiling. Golden hair framed his tired face like a bright halo. But he did not feel the least bit heavenly. This angel was pissed beyond all measure, and he needed an outlet for the pent-up anger.
He went to work on removing the blood-stained shirt, unable to stand any longer the rough surface of dried blood. Deidara made attempt after attempt to get it off, slipping and sliding off and on the bed, twisting around into odd shapes, and biting at the shirt. By the time the shirt was finally off, his hair was in a mess of static and tangles, the red ponytail askew, the right side of his face covered by a loosened hitai-ate, and the bed covers out of symmetry.
As Deidara sat on the floor contemplating on how to remove his pants (he wanted to take a shower and wash the dirt and blood off), the door to the room opened and in walked his partner. Tobi nearly dropped the bag he carried. It managed to find a secure place on the small table beneath the window before Tobi fell into a fit of laughter.
"Shut up, un!" Deidara yelled, kicking the taller man. Tobi grunted with each fierce strike, but the laughter continued and eventually ceased.
"I-I got you a new shirt, Deidara-sempai," the brunet sniggered. He held out said shirt to the blond while keeping his gaze averted; seeing his sempai's fluffy head was sure to start him off again.
"Idiot!" the Iwa nin hissed demonically. Tobi dared himself to look, and burst out laughing again as Deidara's headband slowly slipped down over the remainder of his revealed eye. Again, Deidara round-house kicked him, managing to knock the air out of the taller man and fling off the Iwagakure headband. "Shut the fuck up, un!"
With a few gasps Tobi calmed himself down. "Sorry Sempai."
"Hmph!" The bed creaked under his weight as he sat. "So where's the food?"
"Right here!" Tobi fished through the bag and pulled out two square, plastic containers. One he placed on the small table, the other he held out to Deidara. "Want me to feed you?"
Blue eyes grew wide then narrowed, leering. "I am perfectly capable of feeding myself, un," he muttered through a clenched jaw. The blond walked over to the table and ordered for the set box to be opened. A glare sent Tobi off to the other side of the room to eat his dinner, taking with him the bag.
Deidara, his back to the other man, bent forward and dug his face into the meal of curry and rice. His lips and tongue worked carefully, eating the food as quickly but as cleanly as possible. "Hey Deidara-sempai, what's that thing on your chest?"
The blond stopped and turned slightly. Despite his best efforts, pieces of rice and slathers of curry managed to cling to his chin and around the area of his mouth. "My greatest masterpiece, un."
"Greatest masterpiece? But I thou—"
"Turn around and you die." Deidara could feel the drying bits of food plastered to his face, and he did not want to hear Tobi's shrill laughter again, mocking him.
"But I thought you saw art as being explosions." Deidara nodded, then answered since Tobi could not see it.
"Then…why's that tattoo your greatest masterpiece?"
Deidara snorted. "I wasn't talking about the tattoo, dumbass. It's just a seal to help create my greatest art, my largest and most beautiful detonation, un."
"'Most beautiful detonation', eh?" Tobi lifted his head to the ceiling. "That's gotta be huge."
It was. "Ten kilometers from the center," he confirmed with a proud smirk. Tingling energy ran through the blond's body at the thought of such a blast. Nothing would be able to survive it, the blast would destroy everything in its path, including himself. That's why he could only fantasize the magnificent explosion, and never experience the flash of light, the chunks of earth shooting through the air, or the pounding shockwave shaking one to the core.
"Whoa…" the other whispered hoarsely. Slowly the light in Deidara's sapphire eyes dimmed, and he returned to the rest of his meal. "So then…eww. That's gross!"
"Hmm? What is?" Deidara said through the last mouthful of dinner.
The ninja turned and pointed a dirty spoon at the artist. "You've got a mouth on your chest!" he paused. "And you've got something right there." Tobi pointed to the corner of his mouth with the other hand, or to where the corner of his mouth would be. The shinobi had slipped his mask back over his visage to face the shorter ninja.
Deidara couldn't do much of anything besides work his tongue to lick the bit of curry away, turning to face the curtained window. Lucky Tobi had brought it to the blond's attention, else he would have found his ass swiftly kicked. But still it was strange: the masked man wasn't laughing. Deidara had just eaten his meal like a dog, and yet Tobi didn't find anything amusing about it. Whatever. At least he wasn't laughing, and instead getting ready for bed by the sound of it.
From the bathroom came the gurgles of running water. Probably Tobi brushing his teeth. Deidara didn't spin around to check; he was still concentrating on licking the food off his face. It was a losing battle; his tongue just wasn't long enough. The water stopped a few seconds later, and the soft padding of footsteps approached. "Let me help."
Deidara turned and met the warm, rough surface of a wet washcloth. "To-oomf-bi!" Tobi rubbed the cloth gently around the other's mouth and face. "The fuck?"
"There!" The masked man stepped back and admired Deidara's clean face. "I knew you couldn't clean it yourself, Deidara-sempai. So I decided to help."
"I don't need your help!" Deidara spat, and prepared to strike the brunet, lifting his leg.
"Oh, yah, you do!" Tobi forcefully poked the blond's slim chest. The prod sent Deidara stumbling back into the table. "Remember what sir leader said: we're partners whether you like it or not. Meaning we have to look out for each other."
Deidara failed to keep from growling. Tobi let out a tired sigh. "Really Sempai, are you always this crabby?"
"I'm not crabby, un." Deidara had to crane his neck to glare daggers through the single eye-hole in Tobi's orange mask.
Tobi lifted his shoulders and shrugged, then turned to head back to the bathroom. "Bet you weren't this way with Sasori," he muttered under his breath. Tobi did not know how right he was.
- - -
Sasori no Danna couldn't have cared less about Deidara's "art." Destruction wasn't a form of artistic expression. Only things which lasted deserved to be called works of "art," like his puppets or stone sculptures. "So then do you have a magnum opus, Sasori no Danna?" Deidara was the one to instigate the conversation—he usually was. Sasori was not the most sociable of people.
The redhead lifted his head and glanced at him. "Yes: myself," he answered shortly, impassively, quickly. For another minute or two neither traded a word. Sasori went back to his modifications of Hiruko, the large puppet he spent most time within.
"Want to know mine, un?" Deidara asked hopefully.
"Another explosion." Sasori never tore his lazy eyes from the inner workings of the puppet.
"Yes," Deidara admitted shakily. "But this one's greater, un. It can spread—"
"Hand me a screw." Sasori pointed to a shelf just above Deidara's golden head. Sitting upon a stool, the blond reached up and took the plastic container full of screws. He hopped off the seat and knelt to set the container down beside Sasori, who worked on the ground, the only place Hiruko could fit. The boy reached in and took one, then returned to innovations on the marionette while Deidara returned to his seat.
"Anyway, the blast has over a ten kilometer radius."
"And what's the point in having an explosion of such size?" the question did not sound the least bit eager for an answer. "I know you specialize in long-range attacks, but such a large blast seems a bit wasteful, even for a pyromaniac such as yourself." The screw was drilled in to place, and the wood squeaked in reply. It clacked, clapped, and chattered as Sasori worked with delicate fingers.
Amazing. How could such stiff fingers, the fingers of a wooden doll unable to feel, work so gently yet so powerfully? And with such rhythmic and fluid movement! Blue chakra strings flew from Sasori's polished fingertips and attached themselves to the head and arms of Hiruko. The puppet obeyed every small command: lifting its head up and down, arms swinging back and forth.
"It's beautiful. The very epitome of what art is: a fleeting expression of life, un." Deidara lifted his voice over the creaking noises of Hiruko.
"Idiot," Sasori muttered, flashing Deidara an inexpressive stare. "Only things which have a lasting place in this world can even begin to be labeled as 'art.' Unless something can be viewed by all, known by all, throughout time, it cannot be artistic in the least. Blowing things up isn't 'art.' It's just a waste of resources. Just a way to destroy."
The blond scowled from behind the wall of hair covering the left side of his face. It dispersed as Sasori stood and scanned the shelves. "Sasori no Danna?" Red-hazel eyes met Deidara's eager sapphire ones.
"Go get me some oil," he ordered, and took a piece of paper and pen out of a drawer. "And while you're at it, buy these ingredients."
He handed Deidara the paper upon which was scribbled the names of various herbs and plants. Deidara studied the list then the redhead. "I need them for a new poison. And if you don't hurry," his tired eyelids lowered, "I'll test it on you."
The blond artist dared not object. "U-un!" Sasori's eyes followed after Deidara who left in a flurry of gold and black. The closest village was at least an hour's length away, meaning it would take at least two to retrieve the necessary ingredients.
Deidara, despite a stubborn attitude, more often than not found himself obeying Sasori's every order, every whim. Why, he wondered. But the answer was obvious: he respected the fellow artist, and found his art of puppetry fascinating, to say the least. Though he dared not admit it, the blond felt somewhat jealous of Sasori's advanced skill. Able to complete an attack with just the flinch of a finger, able to construct dozens of weapons and hide them inside the most intriguing of places. How could one not envy Sasori of the Red Sand?
Still, the impassive Sunagakure nin didn't have to be so crude to his partner, ordering him around like some servant. Where'd he get the gall to do something like that? Perhaps it stemmed from a need for control. And control he got: Deidara listened to most commands, just like a puppet. A living, breathing puppet servant named Deidara.
The blond shook the idea from his mind. Sasori wasn't the one to be completely power-crazy, like another Akatsuki member everyone knew. Only every-now-and-then did the redhead mutter orders to the explosives artist. And all were completed in the swiftest fashion possible.
Less than two hours later Deidara returned to the base, carrying a bag containing all Sasori had requested (or demanded). Sasori took the bag and rummaged through it, not even bothering to thank the worn-out Iwa nin. "Hmm," there was an air of irritation in the doll's voice. He glowered, facing the other artist. "You forgot the oil."
Author's Note: Don't know why, but making Armless!Dei's life difficult is...kinda fun. Probably be more armless tribulations in the next chapter, which will probably not be up for a while. I'm still fairly busy. Guess that's why this chapter took so long to write. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!