"While you're on leave until your arm recovers, I'm going to assign you the task of researching other possible convicts working under Orochimaru's services. I'll be busy scouting with Zetsu today so I won't be here if you find anything. Just let Kisame or Itachi know and they'll take care of the-"

Sasori rolled his eyes and let out an obnoxious groan of annoyance.

Pein paused in his speech to glare at him. "Is something bothering you?" he asked, holding a stack of papers in one hand and a bag of food in the other.

The redhead gave him a bored look from where he sat at his office desk, broken arm in a sling and legs propped on the corner of the worktable. "I don't understand why you're making me do this," he said.

It was early in the morning, and while he expected to be relaxing in his bed after his traumatizing car crash the night before, he was woken by his leader and forced to get to work. There were seven others to do his bidding, and out of all of them Pein chose the one with the concussion and whacked up arm? Sometimes he questioned Pein's sanity…

"I don't want you doing nothing while holed up in here," Pein replied. He offered Sasori the papers he held which the reluctant member took with his free hand. "Those are the five you encountered yesterday. Tayuya, Sakon, Kidomaru, Jirobo, and Kimimaru. All working under Orochimaru to gather bodies for him to test his serums on. For some reason he uses the bodies of younger humans. We have yet to figure out why," he said with a frown. "But Kakuzu is inspecting the corpses Sasuke's forces sent over as we speak."

Sasori lifted a brow. "I don't remember dealing with five of them."

"That's because Kimimaru showed up after you crashed the new car I gave you." Pein gave him a disgruntled look. "And because of that, I'll have one of the other members drive you around until you go to a driving class for proper lessons," he said.

"What?" Sasori sat up a little straighter. "I don't need lessons- ow!" He brought a hand to his head, the sound of his own voice giving him a headache.

Pein sighed heavily, dropping the bag of food onto the redhead's desk. "I'm keeping you in here so you won't be exposed to too much noise Sasori. That's a salad from Itachi and a sandwhich for Deidara," he told him.

Sasori placed the papers with the background information of their deceased opponents down, crossing his good arm across his chest with a scoff. "Oh yes. My partner. Where the hell is he anyway?" he asked.

Pein thoughtfully hummed, turning to leave the room. "I believe he's trying to get Itachi to take in his school assignments for him since I took the liberty of removing him from the University for a few weeks," he said. "But he should be in here soon enough. I want you to fill him in on the events that happened in the factory last night as well. He should know."

Sasori rubbed his brow before giving a slow nod. "Fine."

~X~

"Make sure this gets to Kurenai-sensei before the second bell rings yeah," Deidara insisted, shoving a folder full of completed documents at a groggy Itachi from on his crutches.

"I can't believe you woke me up just to throw a bunch of papers in my face," he muttered, pushing the blonde out of his way to go to his closet in search of school clothes. It was bright and early and Deidara was, once again, the cause of his waking up. He was extremely tired, having only gotten a few hours of sleep. And wasn't in the mood to be shouted at.

Or being watched while changing for that matter.

Itachi stopped in his action of pulling off his nightshirt to glare at an expectant blonde. "Do you mind?" he hissed.

Deidara rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Look un- I'll leave as soon as you promise to hand in my work," he said.

"Alright, I'll do it," Itachi exasperatedly said, waving a hand. "Just get out of my room already."

"I'd knew you'd see it my way," Deidara sneered, turning on his crutches to swing out of the room.

Itachi took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Getting angry would be of no purpose. Besides, there were a few important matters he had to deal with at the University. And Deidara's homework gave him just the excuse he needed…

~X~

He patiently waited as the other line rang, holding his cell to his ear whilst glancing around the dark room. The one of the other line picked up after the fifth ring.

"Yes? Hello?"

"It's me Orochimaru."

"Oh. Sorry for the delay. What do you have for me today?"

"After last night, suspicion has been aroused among the Akatsuki. I took the liberty of instigating the rumor of a traitor. Your plan would fall into place perfectly if it weren't for our new member who acts spontaneously on a whim. It's dangerous to keep him around. I suggest getting rid of him."

"Excellent observation. I'll have Kabuto lure that new pest into a trap where he can be destroyed. I'll need you to cause a bigger disruption within the Akatsuki force though…something that will momentarily separate them from one another."

"I have just the thing in mind. Leave it to me."

"I shall. You are certainly worthy of working under me."

"Please…you embarrass me with unnecessary praise."

"Haha- so you say. I've got to get going. I'll leave you to your antics."

"Goodbye." He hung up the phone, turning to look at Pein who stood waiting in his doorway. He nodded slightly.

Pein smirked before nodding back, leaving the room quietly.

~X~

Sasori looked over his shoulder as the door to his office opened and a giddy-looking blonde swung in. "Well look who decided to come," he drawled, turning his attention back to his computer. His salad container was empty on the desk next to the monitor, plastic fork laid across the top of it. He might as well make something in the crowded office look neat.

"Bite me." Deidara pleasantly smiled, plopping down in his chair with a contented sigh and throwing his crutches to the floor. "That's more like it… Did you know that crutches can rub the skin off from under your arms?" he said to Sasori.

The redhead cast him an uninterested glance. "That's what happens when you swing around on them like an escaped zoo animal," he said. "What took you so long anyway? Pein said you were only giving Itachi some papers- yet you took over three hours."

Deidara scowled at this, glaring at the wall in front of him. "Well we don't exactly have elevators in this place un. It's not like I can fly up stairs."

"Don't mock me," Sasori muttered, typing in his computer with boredom. He was sure he was supposed to be doing the work Pein told him to but… well. He couldn't seem to remember what it was anyway. But upon seeing his younger partner pull out his cellphone to excitedly text into the machine, he realized now was as good as any time to tell him about the raid. How to say it…? I could always be blunt.

Sasori watched Deidara out the corner of his eyes.

"Ha! That idiot!" Deidara laughed aloud, fingers rapidly punching letters into the tiny screen.

"What are you getting so wound up for?" Sasori questioned, already having a gut feeling as to who the teen was talking to.

Deidara grinned and waved his phone around. "Kabuto yeah. He's like, my best friend- but can never remember to take care of his homework so I always have to give it to him. You'd think being in college he'd stop being as lazy as he was in high school. Well, I'll just have to text that bastard Itachi and tell him to lend Kabuto those essays-"

Sasori sighed to himself as Deidara rambled on before coughing loudly and cutting him off.

Deidara raised a brow, but stopped talking all the same. "What?"

"Listen brat-"

"Why do you always call me that?" Deidara asked.

Sasori's face turned smug. "Because it's what you are. Now stop interrupting me," he said.

Deidara blew a raspberry.

"Well that sure proved me wrong," Sasori sarcastically said. "I doubt you'll be so happy once you hear what I have to tell you."

The blonde teen grew suddenly attentive.

That got his attention, Sasori thought. He cleared his throat and turned away from his computer screen to gaze at his partner. "As you learned as we were driving in my car last night-"

"You can't drive," Deidara muttered.

"Shut up. As you learned," Sasori continued, "we had made a raid on an abandoned factory in the hopes of busting a dangerous criminal."

"Oh yeah. Hidan was cursing up a storm about it," Deidara said. "I was walking by and he was complaining to Kakuzu so I wondered what they were talking about and asked. And then the guy flipped shit on me! As if I could have been there un. I was being chased by some psycho bitch!"

Sasori blinked. "That's nice. Now shut the hell up and let me finish!" he shouted.

Deidara gave an offended roll of his eyes. "Go on."

I hate kids, Sasori inwardly seethed before speaking again. "That criminal's name is Orochimaru, and we've been tracking him down for the last eight years. He's been experimenting on the bodies of young adults and children for a reason we have yet to know- but from the events of last night we can infer that he's trying to enhance his own abilities and force the others working for him under mind control."

"That's horrible!" Deidara exclaimed.

Sasori nodded. "I know. That's why we're so upset. We finally had the chance to nab him last night, but didn't expect for him to have backup. In fact, he wasn't supposed to be there at all. Someone in our force leaked him the details of us going there; that's why the others are suspicious of one another."

"So that's the reason for calling me a traitor last night hmm?"

"I never called you a traitor, brat. Get your facts straight," Sasori said. "I said people would think it was you if you didn't have a reasonable alibi."

Deidara frowned. "Well then who reinforced this Orochimaru guy? Were they under his drugs or something un?"

Possibly… "Not that we know of," Sasori murmured, averting his gaze. He brought it back up a moment later. "As for who reinforced him… well it was Kabuto. Yakushi Kabuto. Itachi confirmed it was him and the boy wasn't protesting against being called that name. And unless Kabuto has an identical twin and his parents were unoriginal to name them both the same thing, then it's the same Kabuto who's your friend," he said, practically babbling, although he had no idea why.

Deidara looked at him in a minute of thoughtful silence before absently going back to fiddling with his phone. "Oh. Is that right…?"

Sasori gave him an odd look. "Shouldn't you be concerned about hearing that your friend is working with the enemy?" he asked.

"No," the blonde snorted. "Because I don't believe you un."

"You…don't believe me?" Sasori slowly repeated. Then his eyes narrowed. "Are you really as stupid as you look or are you just acting like you are? Everyone in this base can tell you that a boy by the name of Yakushi Kabuto was defending Orochimaru last night in that factory."

Deidara narrowed his eyes and scoffed, already scrolling through his contacts list. "Is that so hmm? Well I'll just ask him myself-"

"And where do you think that'll get you?" Sasori sharply cut him off, shifting in his chair to stare the blonde down. "Do you honestly believe he'll tell you the truth? He's in cahoots with the enemy."

"Why should I listen to you?" Deidara snapped. "I've known Kabuto ever since my- ever since we were kids. I know him better than anyone else un. And he would never lie to me."

If Sasori noticed his slip-up, he didn't mention it. Instead he pushed to his feet, walking over to Deidara before leaning in close and jabbing a finger into the teen's forehead. "This isn't a happy-pappy world of forever lasting friendships," he growled, eyes flashing in anger. "People betray others for their own self-interest, and they most certainly won't go around telling anyone if they were trying to keep a dark secret. Even if that person is a friend of theirs." He stepped back as Deidara gaped and said, "Think about where your allegiance lies. If you want to run off and leave this police force, then know that we will come after you mercilessly. Leave and become another obstacle in our way like Orochimaru. Or stay here and help us put and end to him and his followers."

Deidara stared at him tight-lipped with his arms crossed stonily across his torso. "If I was able to get up and walk, I'd leave this place," he said in a livid tone.

Sasori stared back for a few seconds in silence before snorting. He turned around and headed for the door. "Well until then, your threat is empty," he said over his shoulder. "Just make yourself useful and call for take-out. It's about time we added you to the list of food duties."

Deidara sat with a thick aura surrounding his body until his partner left the office. Then he glanced down at the phone in his hands, looking at the blinking name of his friend on the screen. A sudden fit of fury seized him, and with a maddened cry, he chucked the tiny machine at the wall, panting heavily as it made contact and shattered. He covered his face with and arm, slouching down in his chair in exhaustion. "Fucking hell…"

Sasori looked up from where he had been standing outside the door, moving with a tired expression to his bedroom for much needed rest.

A/N: Well that went smoothly Sasori...