Document Opened: 02/11/2009, 12:50am.

Authors Note:

This chapter will have some character development.

////////\\\\\\\\\\\\//////\\\\\\\\///////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////\\\\\\\\\/////

It was late and he had been laying in his bed tired from the days events and still questioning the people there. He had met the ones who he fought with aside from Sasori and they hadn't tried to attack him again. In fact the one with the stitches who he found out was called Kakuzu, had redone his bandages earlier. And according to Sasori the fact that he hadn't billed him was his way of making it up to him for the injury.

The silver haired one who was Hidan had shoved a chocolate pudding at him and said "F*cking sorry" before walking off to finish cleaning himself up after a ritual.

Dinner had been interesting to say the least, he never knew it could be such a noisy time. Then again he was used to just eating alone and when he thought about it almost all of his life he was used to being alone. At dinner he had been quiet and staring down at his soup and he wasn't sure what to think when a couple of the others tried to get him to talk to.

Of course he was also unsure if addressing their leader as 'Mr. Spiky haired guy' in the middle of dinner to ask him something was good or bad. Most of the others were laughing or giggling but Pein, as he was quick to correct him regarding his name, looked almost angry. Like the general would look after he purposely blew something up but pretended it was an accident.

He turned over on his side and was staring at the wall still tired and now bored. Despite the thoughts that kept running through his mind. What was he supposed to do if there was really no forced training? Was he still expected to be a human bomb in case one of the missions they went on was bad? What would happen if for some reason he had to return to how it was just only yesterday? He still doubted those military people would even look for him but he had to keep the thought in mind. They had trained him for years to be some kind of big weapon. He still hated them for it. But here it was different, just one day and they treated him like more of a person than anyone else ever had. He would grant the general the exception since as much as he hated him he was the least harsh towards him.

Thoughts still running through his mind he fell asleep, unsure of what the next day would bring.

///////\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\///////

He awoke with a start and sat straight up taking a moment to remember the events from yesterday, looking at the ticking clock on the wall he saw it was five. 'Figures, un.' He sighed and wasn't tired anymore, mainly due to the little jump start he had. Swinging his legs over the bed he got up and quietly exited his room, not wanting to wake anyone up.

It was dark but that was fine since he had something he was pretty sure they didn't know about, a special scope over his left eye and hidden by his long bangs. Sasori had forgotten on his tour to show him where the washrooms were but the blue man Kisame had been nice enough to do it.

Afterward he decided to go outside since it was early and no one else was up yet. Again being as quiet as he could he crept down the halls using the light in his scope and upon reaching the boulder he made the hand sign that Sasori told him and said the word to open it which was dawn. It moved a little more loudly than before but he figured that might have been because there was no other noise. Stepping outside it closed behind him.

//////////\\\\\\\\\

After stepping outside he turned off his scope and sighed, it was still so new to him and he enjoyed taking in as much of it as he could. His eye narrowed for a moment picking up someone else being there, turning to the right he saw the hunched back man, Sasori.

The puppet master turned to face him, seemingly uninterested in the fact that he was even there. "I thought brats hated getting up so early?" Sasori saw the boy huff before replying. "It's what I'm used to, un." Deidara then took a look at the sky before looking at Sasori again. "If you want I can go, un." He didn't want to make his new partner mad. At least not while he was still learning the way things in the group worked. "You may stay but never call me 'old man' ever." He was a powerful artist and he was not about to be disrespected by a runt.

"Okay, thanks Sasori, un." He smiled but in his mind he decided to only call him that if he ever ticked him off.

Remembering that Sasori had told him that he was an artist with his puppets, he went to ask him about it and they spent a while like that. Sasori answering his questions regarding his art and enjoying the sunrise for his second day there.

//////////////////////

After that he spent the rest of the day going around trying to find out if he could really believe them or not. They were really different from the military people he had known and so far they had done nothing to make him suspicious, but he was not easily fooled.

For the rest of the day he was on alert watching out for the others but he was not the best at stealth and had nearly been caught multiple times and mainly had to make up lies and excuses for what he was doing on the spot.

In-between he spent outside enjoying every bit of it and it was also this time that made him the most confused about them. For working for them he had freedom he never knew but he kept wondering if it was a trick or something.

That night had been the same and on his way to his room that night to turn in, the one with black hair practically red eyes passed him silently and he realized that he was one of the ones that was there but never actually fought with him. Thinking for a moment he remembered that Kisame said his name was Itachi. A quick yawn reminded him that he was on his way to bed, it was already ten after nine as it was.

////////////////////////////////////

Two days had passed and his injuries had healed and he had come to understand the people there a little bit better, trusting them however was still an issue. It was that afternoon that he had been outside and Zetsu has popped out of the ground near him to inform of the fact that Leader wanted to see him and Sasori would already be there. Wondering if it was one of the missions that he was told about the other day and like the one Itachi and Kisame had been sent on this morning.

//////////////////////////

Knocking he received the okay to enter and when he did he could see Sasori to the left and Leader was behind his desk looking at him entering and shutting the door behind him.

"Now that you're both here I can begin." He eyed the two. "I have your first mission ready." He clasped his hands together and continued. "It's a special scroll retrieval mission, located in a well guarded location near a village called Kawagure. You leave at dawn, understood?" He narrowed is eyes at them, more or less for the boy since Sasori carried out his missions with little to no problem.

"Yes, un." He said and wondered what his first mission with Sasori would be like. Sasori knowing that his business was done there turned to leave and Deidara who was going to follow him to ask him a few things was halted by Pein. "Deidara, stay for a moment." He turned to look at Leader while Sasori left to go check his puppets for the mission.

"Come here." He obeyed out of curiosity and was at Pein's desk and watched as he got something else out of the drawer. Having retrieved the item in question he turned to face the boy. "This symbolizes your status as an Akatsuki member and is a key to opening the door to a few of our other bases, such as the one in Amegakure." He handed the boy a ring and told him what finger to put it on and that it must be worn at almost all times and he also brought up the fact that he would have to paint his nails black now as well. He was already expecting the laugh that followed and the questioning of seriously.

Konan had to help him with the process later that day and afterward he sought out Sasori who he figured was in his room. Reaching the door he knocked lightly. "What do you want?" He heard Sasori ask in a bit of a gruff tone that set him back slightly but not much since he knew a few people that spoke like that at the base. "I have a few questions, un." He said simply, he needed to know a little bit more about what he would be doing on this trip. Mainly if he was expected to blow himself up or not. "Enter." He stated a bit bluntly like the whole thing was already annoying him.

Going in the room he could see a desk with various tools and blueprints sitting on it as well as some pieces of wood that he looked like he might have been in the middle of working on. "Um, if you're busy I can come back later, un." He asked a little sheepishly since Sasori's room started creeping him out a little bit.

"I don't like having my time wasted so you may as well get it over with." He was inside Hiruko and that made him look a little more menacing.

Standing near the door he hesitantly asked. "Will I be expected to be a bomb, un?" "Why would you ask me something like that?" He asked with an annoyed interest. "It's what I was raised and trained for, un." All of his life he had been drilled for using his bombs with his choice of medium and being one himself, it was not going to be dismissed from his mind after only a few nights. "Pein did not make us go through the trouble of bringing you here so you could kill yourself if something screws up, and if you listen to me then we won't have a problem."

Sasori noticed the odd smile on the boys face when Deidara looked at him. "I'll do my best then, un." He left leaving Sasori to wonder about the child before exiting Hiruko to work on his puppets.

///////////\\\\\\\\\\\

At dawn they were outside of the base and to add on to his already size or two big cloak, he had to wear a hat with paper around it and a bell, he was seriously beginning to wonder about the sanity of these people.

They were both silent as they took the hidden path through the forest and he could understand why he was not supposed to go near or outside of it since it was easy to get lost if you did not know where the markings were.

Shortly after they came out of the forest and there was a fork in the road they went right and he found himself missing the sounds of the birds back in the forest. He also spent the night before deciding that if he did not die on this mission and if Sasori was right then he would try and trust him more. Not an easy feat for him since he did not even have any faith or trust in anyone he used to work with. Used to..that seemed to stick with him for awhile since at a couple of points the whole thing seemed surreal, he wondered if he would wake up in his old room back at the base and the whole thing would have been a very cruel dream. He had come to greatly enjoy the suns warm rays against his skin and the breeze blowing through his slightly long hair. There always seemed to be something new to see every day.

Sasori noticed the boy seemed oddly out of it and was almost walking in a trance like state but decided to say nothing, enjoying the silence while he could. He was happier on his own and almost envied Zetsu for being able to do almost all of his missions alone, he still had to train Tobi in some of his spare time though. He would see once and for all if the boy was as capable as Pein seemed to believe. He held his doubts about some brat whose best skills seemed to be exploding things.

//////////////\\\\\\\\\

It had taken them three days to get there and much to Sasori's disdain the boy became more open and asked about quiet a few things. Various warning glares and snarky remarks told the boy when to stop for a bit, though a couple of times he pushed it a little and almost to far when on two occasions Sasori brought out his tail for warning, which was poisoned.

They were waiting in the only inn Kawagure had until later that night, around midnight was their designated strike time and of course Sasori had been trying to figure out a quick solution to his young partners dilemma, he could not even make it until ten without almost falling on his face. Despite his best efforts to stay awake like a good shinobi. 'I knew this kid was going to cause me problems..' he thought. Glancing at the bed beside the window where his aforementioned partner was trying to keep awake but his head kept going down until it shot back up, surprisingly quiet. His mind went to what could make a brat get more energy, that led to Tobi who was almost always full of it and he seemed to enjoy sugary things the most. Aside from annoying everyone else with his being a good boy bit. Sugar it was.

///////\\\\\\//////////\\\\\\\\\\\

They were nestled in the bushes beside a tree close to their target location and maybe just maybe he gave the boy too much sugar since Deidara was having a hard time staying still and focusing extra hard just to do that. Sasori saw him fiddling with the upper part of his bangs. Unbeknown to him, that was not quite what the blond was doing. In a whisper that was only loud enough for Sasori to hear he stated "There are two ninja hidden inside the shed, four surrounding it and a few crude traps un." This piqued his curiosity since if the boy was right it was not something he could even tell from their slightly distorted location. "How can you tell?" "I'll explain later but right now their getting ready to switch shifts, un." "On my count the plan goes into effect." a couple of moments later they began the plan that Sasori concocted earlier while waiting.

Slipping out of the bushes he proceeded to sneak into the tree above them as quietly as he could and after doing that he slipped his hand into his clay pouch and went to work.

After he made four small clay spiders he used his eye scope to help him see to direct them to the current guards on duty. 'Idiots, un.' he thought while he saw them, ignorant to what was coming. Having the spiders near the guards, it was Sasori's turn to make a small enough distraction so he could get them on the guards without them noticing, he idly wondered if they would even know they were there, but they couldn't take a chance and for a reason he had yet to understand he wanted this to go well, to prove to Sasori that he was as good of a ninja that Pein thought he was.

A rustling from behind the wall got their attention and the guards stupidly in a group turned to check it out, while they were occupied with what the noise was he made the spiders latch onto their pants and they ended up at the base of the neck and making a hand sign he said "Katsu, un." quietly and at once the four guards heads were blown off their shoulders and necks. The dead heads eyes were widened in shock and not thinking much of it he jumped down from the tree and avoided the plain traps. Using the third option in his eye scope, he used the thermal vision to sneak two more spiders under the door and then he proceeded to hide behind the little shack that was being used as a safe of sorts for the scroll. They were just outside of Kawagure and for his first mission he was almost hoping for better, a real chance to use his art.

Despite the fact he felt it was being wasted on them, he waited for Sasori to come and do his part. No sooner than he thought it then one of the traps went off and both guards came running out of the shack and quickly while they were distracted by the sight of their dead teammates he latched the spiders onto them and blew their heads off as well. Something about this whole mission seemed off to him, he would have to ask Sasori.

Sasori came walking into sight, still inside of Hiruko. He saw the boy standing near the bloody mess of the headless guards and the fact that their killer was a mere child just looked wrong somehow. Still, he was inwardly disgusted a little bit by the sight. He liked his kills to be quick, precise and clean.

Turning to face him the boy was getting an uneasy feeling. "Something doesn't seem right here, un." He said while awaiting a response from the puppet master. "This was a little too easy for something of that much value." He was wary after he saw something in the trees directly ahead of him, the night was darker than most and they did not have the moonlight to help them at the moment.

"Can you check the tree thats in my direct vision line." He said in such a low voice that Deidara almost didn't hear him. Pretending to fiddle with his bangs again he could see at least two shinobi camouflaged within the trees. "There's at least two in the trees and there might be another trap, un."

"Keep acting like you did not spot them and casually go get the scroll, I'll be here in case they try anything. I'll kill them after confirming that you have the right one." Sasori was pretending to look around like he had not spotted them, it seemed to be working for the most part since they were still quiet. Something else seemed very wrong about this, either there was another trap or they were not the brightest bunch of ninja.

"Got it, un." He turned away from Sasori and walked into the little wooden shed.

It was empty save for a stand in the middle of the room and atop a red pillow under a glass case was a semi-small container. 'That had better be it, un.'

As soon as his right foot hit the floor in front of the case, the plank sunk in a little and four kunai shot from the top corners of the walls and landed on the ground opposite each other. His visible eye widened when he realized what was attached to the kunai. Quickly he grabbed the container but not before the paper bombs on the kunai went off, sending a trail of fire up the wall.

As soon as he heard the small explosions he was surprised to see the little shed start to go up in flames. "Dammit." He knew something was going to go wrong and now was when the two ninja jumped down in front of them.

He refocused his attention to the two, if his partner was at least decent then he could get out since the door was still open. "You've two options here pal, either go after your partner and we kill you. Or we just kill you know and leave the fire to finish off your friend."

"Fools." He brought out his tail and struck at the one who had spoken to him. They both evaded and he quickly redirected his tail and shot the guy who had just landed. He fell over writhing in pain and he turned his attention to the other who was surprised that someone could kill her friend so quickly. "Damn you.." She said angrily and launched as many kunai as she had at the hunched back man and Sasori merely deflected them with his tail and while she was trying to evade and get more from her holster. She was not fast enough as Sasori had been able to get close enough to her to stab the ninja with his tail before turning his attention to the burning shed, the boy still had not come out yet.

He could hear Sasori approaching, he figured he must have thought he was a pathetic excuse for a partner right now since he could not get out of the tiny inferno. Part of the ceiling had fallen near the door blocking his exit and he had a feeling that he might actually die there. "I can't get out so take this and run, un." He said weakly as the heat was getting to him and in the little opening he had, he threw the container outside and fell to the ground.

Sasori had seen the container come from the building and roll on the ground, he made a decision. One that he knew he was going to wish he hadn't. Getting out of Hiruko he quickly dismissed the puppet to a scroll he had on his back. Summoning two puppets he went to work on clearing the door and after he had enough room he stepped inside, being a puppet he was not really effected by the heat. Immediately he saw his young partner on the ground and he went over and picked up the semi-conscious boy and got them both out of there.

Once they were outside he could hear the boy speak."Sa..sori, un." He said a bit weak. He glanced down at the boy in his arms who was close to being out of it. "What?" "Thank...you, un." He smiled weakly at his partner before going out cold. He said nothing as he had made sure that he had the scroll and left the scene and while he was still carrying the boy his bangs fell out of place he could see the device over his partners left eye. Needless to say he was a little shocked and would be questioning the boy about it later. 'What else are you hiding Deidara?'

//////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\////////\\\\\///////////////\\\\\/////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////\\\\\\\//////////////\\\\\\\

Authors Note:

Well, this was the extra long chapter I said I would make due to the shortness of the others. Hope you liked it, some parts are a little vague for a reason since they will come into play within the next few chapters. I want to try and finish this by the end of February.

Later.

Finished: 02/18/2009, 02:59pm.