Chapter 6 -

As fast as his powerful fin could take him with the added weight and drag, the blonde pushed himself towards land, keeping his vulnerable cargo's head above water the whole while. The nearest shore was a tiny island, perhaps 100 meters long in all directions with a few scraggly maples trying to survive in the crags. There was a sheltered cove where the waves broke much farther out and did not reach the soft shore. The beach itself was made of dark, volcanic, granule sand; thick and course like the sea had not ground it entirely. The entire island was misted in a kind of thick spray as the waves broke against the dark cliffs all around the little inlet filling the air with a damp, salty smell and feel. All around there were gulls nesting in the bluffs and they circled above, looking for the little crabs and other shellfish the gentle tides coaxed ashore.

Even with his belly scraping against the harsh sand, Deidara slithered forward with the man on his spine, determined to carry the hanyou ashore and repay the favor he had been done. With a kind of effort his ocean-dwelling muscles weren't used to, the ningyo managed to drag the unconscious man up onto the beach, holding his breath all the way, until the half demon was securely on the shore. Several times the blonde wriggled like a worm back into the calm waters to recapture his breath before crawling out of the safety of the brine to move the silver-haired man into a secure location. Finally he gave the endeavor a rest, being satisfied with the man having been dragged up the beach until the ocean only licked softly up to his calves.

Deidara checked over the body several times, tilting his charge's head to the side so that in the event that he vomited while unconscious he would not choke. Out of sheer concern for the man's health, the merman had removed his hakama, leaving his lower half bare. Ignoring the rest of the half-naked body on the beach, the blonde studied closely the three seeping punctures on the hanyou's left thigh, tasting the salty blood coupled with the ascorbic taste of venom that still tainted the wounds.

Once underwater yet again, the ningyo shook his head to clear the taste from his mouth, his brow furrowing as he tried to gather is options. Ideally, the other man would have had gills such that he could be taken to one of the many volcanic vents in the northern waters such that his envenomation could be treated with hot water. Unfortunately such vents happened to be very deep underwater and could never be reached without drowning the victim in question. The only other hope he had, other than simply waiting for the toxin to pass from his system naturally, would be for him to receive an antidote, and quickly before the poison spread throughout his body.

Of course, Sasori, the redhead in Deidara's pod, had developed a counteragent to Hidan's venom and kept it in ready supply in the event that the albino should inject one of his clan members. It was risky, but the koi tail couldn't think of any alternative; the antivenom would have to be stolen from Sasori's stores. With one final glance over his shoulder, the young merman checked on his charge on the beach, making sure that the tide would climb no higher and wash him away. Silently promising the fainted hanyou that he would return quickly, Deidara ducked underwater and quit the calm bay, swimming furiously back to camp.

Finding his way quickly through the familiar waters, the young merman circled around the honeycomb-like bluff where the Akatsuki made their beds, finding the little alcove carved out of the side of the cliff where Sasori did most of his work with venoms. Thankfully the round little cave was empty and all of the pilfered bottles of antidotes were lined neatly on the natural shelves of rippling stone. Adrenaline surged through Deidara's blood; he was never allowed into the redhead's private chamber, not that he had been forbidden, but that Sasori was a very secretive ningyo and kept to himself for the most part. The last thing the koi tail wanted was to be caught raiding his comrade's stores of precious antidotes, it would simply spell disaster.

Deidara scanned over jar after jar and bottle after bottle of thick liquids of all different colors. There were countless glass vials, each pilfered from the wreckage of human's ships, each full to the prim and sealed with lids and corks and wax to keep the precious contents from escaping into the water or being mellowed out by unwanted saline. The blonde didn't know where exactly to begin; there was such an array of liquid cures in every color from deep violet to bright orange and yellow. One of the jars stood out among the rest, a tiny little jar full of a perfect, white gently foamy mixture and capped with pitch. Of course! Hidan was albino, entirely white all the way through, so of course his venom would be white and his antitoxin too must be white. Victoriously Deidara grabbed the little jar off of the shelf and clutched it close, but alas the victory was too short lived.

"What are you doing in my private study, brat?" The blonde ningyo froze and subsequently sank a few feet in the water, an action that simply screamed his guilt.

"I was just… uh… looking for you un! You always hang out in here, I just assumed you'd be down here un!" The younger male turned, keeping the tiny vile behind his back as he spun to face Sasori who was waving his tail in irritation, rather like an annoyed cat.

"Looking to steal some of my antidotes I see? Che, you are a horrible liar Deidara." Sasori narrowed his eyes, leaning slightly to be sure he knew which of the bottles the other was hiding behind his back. "Go ahead and drink it, you'll be dead in two minutes. Not everything I keep down here is a cure, you know. That bottle you've got behind your back? That's banded sea snake venom, it arrests the gills, seizes the heart and freezes the muscles, and from what I can know, it is a very slow way to die."

Looking at the tiny white vial in his hand, Deidara swallowed a lump of fear that had suddenly risen in his throat; how close he had come to dosing the suffering man with deadly poison. Not able to get rid of the little jar fast enough, the blonde replaced it on the shelf and backed away slowly as if simply having touched the thing, he might already be afflicted with the deadly toxin.

"Don't shit yourself brat, I keep that one sealed well, I'm studying it for an antidote, but nothing has worked so far." Suddenly Sasori beat his tail and the elder ningyo was in the koi tail's face. "So if you're not after my precious sea snake venom, what are you to take?" Again the blonde gulped, but before he could give his answer, the hawkfish tail gave his shoulder a quick nip, creating enough of a rift to rub his lip against and taste the younger male's blood. "You don't taste poisoned to me… but there's something else…"

Deidara yelped as with a rush of force, he was overpowered by the elder merman and forced against the wall of the private alcove. Before he could help it, Sasori's tongue slipped past his lips and probed his mouth, but most importantly, grazed over the rough sensory organ behind his lip. The blonde whined in protest, able to taste the hostility and suspicion on the elder male's tongue, but it was far too late to be stopped. Sasori retracted his rugged muscle and licked his own lip, filling his taste buds with the foreign tang of human blood coupled with the familiar lionfish venom.

"… Human blood… Deidara… why is there human's blood in your mouth?"

As much as he wanted to keep his secret, as Sasori had said before, he was a horrible liar. There would be nothing but the truth he could tell the other male that would be believed. He swallowed hard and looked away for a moment before finally he gave in to the pressure of his pod mate.

"Hi-Hidan capsized a boat of fishermen un, one of them was poisoned in the leg and couldn't swim, so I swam him to shore, but he's really suffering. I need to treat him un, he… he saved my life when I got beached on the rocks un…"

Though Sasori narrowed his chocolate-brown eyes at the younger merman, he could tell there was truth in his voice. Suddenly, he combed his fingers though his thick, blood-red hair and let out a long sigh.

"Again with humans brat… I should have known…"

"This is different Sasori-danna!" the blonde protested, "He's not even all human! He's only half! He's part demon too!"

"Demon?"

"Yeah un!" As soon as he admitted it, Deidara regretted telling such a thing to Sasori, knowing though the redhead didn't have any particular hatred for landfolk, he had nothing against testing his antivenoms against them. He could tell the information had perked the other male's interest, just in the way the other merman's tail twitched with intrigue. Taking a long while to consider the new discovery, the hawkfish tail paced slightly as if firmly deliberating Deidara's fate. Finally, he looked up and took a loose hold of the blonde's shoulder with his right palm.

"Half demon you say? I think I can cut you a deal. I'll provide you Hidan's antitoxin if you provide me with a good sample of his blood. I can use it to test antidotes for my sea snake venom against."

Suddenly all the nervousness in Deidara's body seemed to vaporize. Blood. That was all Sasori wanted, and it was, surprisingly, possible. The half demon was already bleeding, and though unconscious, the blonde was sure he wouldn't mind giving up a little bottle of blood in exchange for such a vital antidote. Giving the buds inside his upper lip a quick nibble, Deidara quickly agreed, accepting the cure from Sasori's slightly reluctant grip before beating a rather hasty retreat, clutching a little blue bottle to his chest as he powered back towards the island where the unconscious hanyou hopefully still waited.