Chapter 3

Famous Last Words – A SasoDei FanFic

Firstly, I send my apologies for the gap we had between these two chapters. You've probably already figured I have a problem with consistency. The Summer is here anyway and it's best I do something productive, so I will try to get some chapters out.
I hope you have all been enjoying the chapters so far and…well, let's hope they continue to please.
All rights to Masashi Kishimoto except for the FanFic story itself, and some of the made up places and people I will include, etc. etc.

Chapter 3

'God that feels nice.' Deidara smiled to himself, standing atop of one of the many mountains surrounding Iwagakure, his hometown. His blonde locks softly brushed his face as they were caressed by the wind. The village looked as beautiful ever, its architecture something truly inspiring. There weren't many places like this one in the world. Looking to his right, he watched one of the rivers that flowed down the mountainside into the village, its water crystal clear. Slowly, he turned his body and walked towards it, approaching the fresh liquid, that smile remaining on his face. 'So naturally beautiful, un…' Step, step, step. Deidara came to a standstill beside the river edge, that smile of his fading. Looking at his reflection, he saw himself cloaked in the darkness and red clouds of the Akatsuki. His eyes, as blue as the water before him, trailed away from the reflection towards the real thing. He stared at his sleeved arms, and then at his cloaked body. "Un…" He grunted softly to himself, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Deidara." Quickly, the boy's head lifted. Looking again to the right, he saw Sasori. Around the village, a mist had fallen.
"We need to get going." He grumbled. "You can't keep us waiting, brat."
"Yeah, we have no time to waste, kid." Kisame was the next to appear from the mist.
"Deidara…" Konan, the next.
"We're very, busy people. We have no time for liabilities." Following, Kakuzu.
"That's right." This voice came from the other side of the river, making Deidara's head turn once again.
There, stood Itachi. Even though it was clear the male was only a few steps away from him, his voice seemed to surround him.
Growling quietly, Deidara reached for his clay pouch. Opening it up, anger faded from his expression and it was replaced with a stunned look.
"Out of clay? That's your only source of power, correct? Hm. Shame…"
"Tch...! I can take you down anytime without it! UN!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the shrouded village. Suddenly, Itachi was beside him, his hand gripping Deidara's throat "Wrong again."
Within seconds, he was falling. Falling from the mountainside into the gorge where the village lied, red eyes above enjoying the entertaining sight. It was over…he was through…

"You lose."

"DEIDARA!" A flood of cool came over him, causing the blonde to abruptly sit up, his eyes wide open.
"ACK-!?" He began to splutter. He was dripping wet, and soon he came to realise that he'd been dreaming. Slowly he caught his breath, coming to his senses to see Sasori stood there, his tail holding an empty bucket. Well, now it was empty.
"Hm. I see we have a heavy sleeper among us…" His glaring eyes looked up at Deidara before he turned, trudging over to the other end of the room where he placed the bucket. "Go get cleaned up. Konan will have your Akatsuki coat ready for you in Pein's office. You should hurry."

After a rude awakening and an uneasy night, Deidara found himself feeling slightly indignant, although his tired exterior probably masked it. These past few hours had been challenging, to say the least, and he had a feeling only more challenges were to come. The ever dark hallways of the base were not a welcoming sight to behold in a morning. Life could indeed be heard echoing throughout it, but Deidara certainly did not feel alive. Quite the opposite, in fact.
As instructed by Sasori, Deidara got cleaned up in the bathroom, as well as dried off. He checked to see if he looked at least somewhat presentable in the mirror, before considering leaving. His eyes stared back at him through the glass, reminding him of the dream. Or maybe nightmare would be a better term. Deidara was unsure if that dream had meant something or not, but it had certainly contributed to him feeling slightly irate this morning. Regardless, now was not the time to think about the dream or his anger. He'd finally get to have a proper, formal meet with the leader of this organisation. If he was stuck here, he'd certainly want to speak with him first and get some answers.

Knock knock knock. Deidara lowered his fist from the wooden door and awaited a reply. It was surprisingly quiet inside, almost so quiet he considered leaving, assuming they were some place else. A couple of seconds passed before the doorknob turned and the next room became visible. Before him stood the ever pretty Konan, her amber eyes looking at him with emotion one could not easily pull off. They were soft but serious, giving Deidara a clearer indication of her position in this organisation. "Come in, Deidara." She greeted, standing aside to let him through. The blonde male walked inside, his eyes scanning the area he was now in. He hadn't known what to expect, but this was one of his many ideas. A desk central to the room whilst bookcases aligned both the right and left walls, excusing a gap on the right where a door was placed between. Towards the left corner of the room, a staircase spiralling upwards could be found. "Take a seat." Konan spoke again, grabbing his attention. The female was gesturing to one of the two chairs sat before the desk. Just as he set himself down into one of the seats, he began to hear footsteps above them, no doubt headed for the staircase to the left. Konan retreated to the door Deidara had entered through, simply standing beside it with her hands knotted behind her back. A foot set itself upon the top step of the staircase, now snatching Deidara's attention away from the woman. As they walked down the stairs, more of their attire was revealed, and as expected, they too were wearing an Akatsuki coat. Emerging from the shadows above was indeed the one they addressed as leader. "Thank you for coming, Deidara." Were his first words. His unique eyes shifted towards Deidara as he walked towards his desk, acknowledging him a moment before he took a seat at the other side of the desk and gave him his full attention. The first thing Deidara had noticed about him from the moment he arrived in the base was not his terrifying appearance, but his terrifying presence. Not much was known to scare the Iwagakure nin, but this guy…he was something else.
"I trust you know you're way around by now?"
"Un. Sasori showed me everywhere I needed to know."
"Good. Then we can get down to why you're here. I imagine you're curious."
Deidara didn't need to reply to tell him his answer.
"I'm sorry that my explanation prior to this was a little brief. I'm very busy and I thought letting you settle in before our meeting would be a better thing to do. Anyway, I'll get down to it." Exhaling, he sat back in his seat, glancing momentarily at Konan before returning his gaze to Deidara.
"Akatsuki from the beginning has been an organisation which will ultimately bring peace to our corrupted world. I have a plan through which I can achieve this, but it would be near impossible to do it alone. So, I have gathered ninja like yourself to help me achieve such goals. My way of doing things and the orders I give may not seem straightforward but I ask you to comply regardless." Leaning forward, the orange-haired male looked Deidara in the eyes, his hands clasped together on his side of the desk "I only hire the most elite shinobi, Deidara. If you let me down, I'll have no choice but to dispose of you. Understood?"
Deidara's eyes showed no emotion, they did not falter, though he found the task a trying one. The only emotion he possibly conveyed was determination, which seemingly 'Leader' found to be a good thing as his lips almost unnoticeably twitched up at the corners.
Slowly getting onto his feet, the pierced male glanced once again at Konan, this time getting a response from her. As he continued to speak, she went over to the door on the right hand side of the room "Our goal is world domination. I imagine that should interest you?" Konan, after visiting the cupboard, came over to the desk with another Akatsuki coat. Deidara's Akatsuki coat. She held it out to him, getting him to stand and take it.
"I'll elaborate on my plans at a later date. You may leave now." The taller male said before heading back towards the stairs. "Show him out please, Konan."
Softly clenching his fist in the fabric of his Akatsuki coat, Deidara watched him begin to head up the stairs. It looked like not all of his questions weren't going to be answered after all. "Hey-"
"Deidara," Konan put a hand on his shoulder to get him moving.
The teen growled quietly and then snorted "Alright, alright, I get it un." He shrugged her hand off and walked towards the door, taking his eyes away from their leader and leaving Konan behind.

"What's up kid?" The always grinning Kisame asked as he and Itachi passed Deidara in the hallway, who's anger was practically radiating from his body. He only replied with a grunt, not bothering to make eye contact. Deidara felt himself beginning to drown. This place was already proving to be a lot for him to handle. 'Why?' He asked himself. 'Why?' Never before had he ever felt a struggle like this. He'd always done things his own way and handled it fine. Was it because here he had none of that control? He was completely powerless when it came to the majority of the people here. 'No.' The teen scolded himself, using his left hand to grip his right wrist, which still had a hold on his Akatsuki coat. 'They're nothing…this is nothing.' Grunting quietly to himself, he shut his eyes momentarily as he walked. Deidara was determined to stick this out.
"Brat." The blonde stopped in his tracks, opening his eyes. There before him was Sasori, yet again, who had seemingly just left their room. "Ahh…I see you've obtained your new attire. Well, come on, put it on." With a pause, slowly Deidara removed his green robe and slipped on his Akatsuki coat over his shirt, leaving it unzipped. The coat itself felt comfortable although he still preferred his original clothing. "Hm…" The bulky male before him seemed to squint his eyes "I'd tuck your hair in and zip it up if I were you…" With Sasori resuming by turning around, Deidara was able to childishly pull a face before complying.
"Deidara…I need you to come with me now."
Looking at Sasori with a more serious expression, he yet again followed up with a grunt. "Why…what's going on?"
"Nothing. However it's time I showed you that room."
'That room?' Deidara furrowed his eyebrows, recognition coming to his face when he realised what he was on about. "You mean the one you said I'd find out about, right?"
"Yes, that's the room…"
Taking a few steps forward, he prompted Deidara to come, and again, Deidara did comply.

Reaching said room, Deidara began to wonder what exactly would await him in there. It was clearly an important room if they had waited to show him to it. To Deidara's surprise, the door seemed to open by itself to Hiruko. The room itself was very dark, and so not until they were properly inside could Deidara see things. The door closed behind the pair and a light went on, illuminating the room and its features. The lights flickered before the illumination turned constant, suggesting to Deidara that this room was also very rarely used. After squinting a moment at the luminosity, Deidara was finally able to take a proper look around the room. "What…" He turned his head in all directions as he viewed the odd looking place. It was nothing but a dirt room, with a door on the far wall which was covered in a variety of chains and locks. "…Is this a joke?" He scoffed, turning to face Sasori, who was looking as dead as always. "I don't joke about. This organisation isn't meant for comedians." Sasori grumbled, slowly raising his iron tail from underneath his coat.
"This is the training room we send all of our new candidates to."
"T…Training? But…"
"Being an Akatsuki member is no easy job. We may have selected you but that isn't to say you're still too weak to withstand the tasks you may face here."
"I've already been trained. By the Tsuchikage I'll have you know!"
"Quiet, brat!"
"No! I won't be quiet, un!" With both their voices now expelling a clear amount of anger, things grew tense. Clenching his fists an emotional Deidara began to fight his own corner "I'm sick of this place and it's barely been a day! You have no idea how this feels, dammit!" Smashing his fist into the wall beside him, he began to breathe a little deeper. "You weren't forced to join…you did it by your own choice!"
"Silence, already!"
Suddenly Deidara found himself being thrown to the ground by…nothing…Hitting the ground, he looked up at Sasori with shock. A silence filled the room for a moment as Deidara wondered how exactly Sasori had done that. It was as if his body had thrown itself over. Slowly getting himself sat up properly again, he dusted off as Sasori turned, plodding towards the door "W-Wait, Sasori-"
"Shut it, brat…I already told you that…" The door once again opened itself, and Sasori made his way towards it.
"Sasori for God damned sake tell me what's going on!" The blonde got to his feet as quick as he could. When Sasori stopped in the doorway, Deidara simply watched from his own position.
"…For the next few days you'll be thrown tests. You'll be given no food or water. Survive and you'll be admitted to the next part of the test, which I-"
"No…This is…You can't! I'll die, isn't that obvious?! Nobody could live that long in such conditions!"
Sasori only left him with a disapproving sigh, the door shutting behind the large beast. The teen ran towards it only to find there would be no way of getting out. It was locked with a seal, one he had no chance of breaking.
"Sasori! Sasori you asshole get back here!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, only to, as predicted, be ignored. "What…I don't even get my clay?" His eyes saddened.

'That's your only source of power, correct?'

Slowly, he put a hand over his eyes, his fingers gripping the roots of his hair. "…Dammit…"