Nothing but darkness greeted him as he slipped out of consciousness. He couldn't hear or feel anything. He was only left with the comfort of his mind. It looked like the poison had taken effect and he wouldn't be seeing the light of day again. He curled inwardly. Wait. He curled?! His eyes snapped open and he sat up on the... bed? "What the hell?" His forehead was bandaged, and all the bruises and scratches he got seemed to be taken care of. He still felt light headed and dizzy; all too quickly nausea settled in and he found himself lying back down. 'Shit, what happened? Un.'
"Finally awake, I see." a voice spoke up.
Deidara looked around for the intruder in the room. His eyes stopped on a figure just a few feet away from him. "W-who are you?!" he said with a displeased tone. Right now he didn't care if the person in the room with him was friend or foe; who suddenly goes out of their way to help a random stranger in the woods from dying due to poison?! "Tell me who you are!"
"Hardly the best way to say thank you to someone who just saved your life."
Deidara grimaced. "I'm not inclined to say thank you. And besides, no one I know would care enough to save my ass from dying! Do you even know who I am?!" Finding strength somewhere inside him, Deidara sat up on the bed. His vision slowly started to return to normal and he was able to focus on the person. When it cleared, however, his mouth dropped. "Y-you?!"
The same red haired male from before; an Akatsuki member. He was sitting nonchalantly on a chair, chocolate brown eyes seemed to hint at a sense of mischief as his hands settled in his lap. "I think you should be getting to know who I am first."
Deidara growled. "Don't test me! I'll blow your brains out!" He reached into his pocket only to find his bag gone.
"Looking for this?" the man held up the satchel full of the precious clay he used. "Don't worry. I took care in making sure you don't do anything destructive."
"Why you...!" Deidara attempted to get out of bed, but his body quickly felt otherwise. "Shit." he put a hand on his head. "Just what the hell did you do to me?!"
"I injected you with an antidote to take the poison out of your system. Don't worry, the side effects are normal."
Deidara only groaned in agitation. This whole situation was really pissing him off! Not only was his mission foiled due to Zabuza's sudden shenanigans, but now he was captured by one of the Akatsuki; one of the very people he sent out to kill! 'Damn!' However, the fact that he hadn't answered his previous question about knowing who he was gave him some relief. That meant that he didn't know he was an assassin. Good.
"Oh and by the way, I know who you are. You are infamous Deidara the Assassin; hired to kill notorious gang members for profit."
Deidara almost fell out of the bed. Well that went down the drain. So that led him to his next question. "If you know who I am, then why did you save me?"
At this the man only showed a sly smile and responded, "Who knows?"
Deidara frowned. This guy was just fucking with him! "I really don't like to play games, un. So if you have some secret plan to kill me, then do it now."
Sasori shrugged. "Secret plan? Yes, I guess you could say that..."
Suddenly, someone appeared in the room with a static-like sound. They were transparent and seemed like hologram or something. 'Wh-what the hell?' Deidara stared a the odd occurrence. The red head suddenly stood up.
"Master Pein." he bowed.
"Sasori, we are having another meeting. Don't be late."
Just as quickly as the man appeared, he had vanished. Ok, something was definitely not right here. What the hell kind of technique or technology was that?! "Whats going on?" Deidara asked looking to his new acquaintance if you will.
"Seems we must go." he said with a collective sigh.
"Wait a minute... we? I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"Unfortunately, the choice isn't yours to make."
He suddenly put his hands together and mumbled something Deidara couldn't quite make out. It looked as if he were about to perform some kind of jutsu or technique, but it was nothing Deidara recognized. Suddenly, Deidara's body felt weird; like he was in his body, but at the same time he wasn't. "Whats going on? M-my body." he stood up and looked with shock. "My body's moving on its own!"
"Correct. And you will be accompanying me wherever I go."
"What?"
The man smirked. "Now come, Deidara. As you heard before, we cannot be late to our destination."
As if in response, Deidara's body unwillingly followed behind the man. "D-damn you! What kind of trickery is this!?"
"By the way," he said, "My name is Sasori. You best do well to remember it."
~:::~
"I see. So Deidara has been captured."
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. By a member of the Akatsuki, however, the criminal Zabuza was taken care of."
"Hmm..." Orochimaru seemed to ponder in thought. "Still though, if they are keeping him alive, this could be a problem. They'll try to get information out of him I'm sure."
"Doubtful, but possible." Kabuto agreed. "I am sure they will discard of him soon if they have not already. And Deidara isn't one likely to give out information so easily. He has dealt with these situations before; I am sure he is waiting for an opportune moment to strike back."
"Still..." Orochimaru shakily got out of his bed, legs looking as if they would give out on him at any moment. Kabuto quickly gave him a helping hand. "The Akatsuki aren't the type who ask questions first, kill later. They don't stand for anything getting in the way of their plans. Damn!" The man almost fell to the floor; his body losing the strength it had to muster him out of bed. Luckily, Kabuto still had a hold on him.
"Orochimaru-sama, you should get back in bed."
"Not to worry, Kabuto. I still have just enough strength to work. I just need my special elixir; it'll give me the energy I require."
"Shall I fetch it for you?"
"Yes. But escort me to the bathroom first. I am tired of staying in these clothes all day!"
Leading his master to the bathroom, Orochimaru gave his thanks and ordered him to leave. He needed to be left alone and furthermore, needed time to think on how he would work on the rest of his plans, especially now that Deidara had been captured by the Akatsuki gang. There was nothing he himself could do at the moment to attempt at getting him back; he needed someone else to do the job for him. He smiled when he heard soft footsteps approaching behind him. "You know what to do."
~:::~
"Hey! Let me go! Bastard, listen to me when I'm talking to you!"
Sasori sighed. "Don't you ever shutup?"
Deidara grunted. "I said let me go! Un. What kind of technique is this? Am I hypnotized?"
"I guess you could say that, only its just your body. I'm controlling it."
"What? Controlling it?"
Come to think of it, Deidara kept feeling a weird tingling sensation course through his body. It was as if the very chords of his muscles were being controlled and forced to obey; like he was some puppet on a string. This was freaking him out more than it should be. And just what was the deal with this Sasori guy? He could feel a strange aura coming from him, although he wasn't sure what it was. He also didn't seem to lose his temper very often, going by things in a calm manner, and for some reason, that pissed Deidara off. Exactly who was this guy?
Deidara didn't have time to ponder who his captor was as they approached a waterfall. He looked around in confusion. Was this supposed to be the place where they meet at? Suddenly Sasori closed his eyes and stood still. He placed his middle and index finger parallel to his face and muttered something. Then the ground began to shake.
"Wh-whats going on?" Deidara asked, trying not to lose his balance. The ground continued to shake and suddenly the water of the waterfall began to fade, revealing a hidden entrance to a cave inside. 'This must be their hideout.' Deidara made a mental note to himself to remember this place, in case he got the chance to escape. Both males walked forward into the cave. Once inside, the waterfall returned to normal and the entrance was sealed. It was pitch dark; he couldn't even see Sasori in front of him anymore. Suddenly a dim light welcomed their sights. Deidara's mouth dropped. 'What in the world...'
Candles lit the big entrance to the cave, keeping it dim enough to not warrant any attention should nightfall come, yet bright enough to see figures standing in the background. Deidara suddenly had the lingering feeling to stick close to Sasori and walked further up ahead. The man chuckled. "Don't start getting clingy now."
"Shutup!"
A chuckle sounded off in the room and Sasori stopped walking. It was then that Deidara realized his body wasn't being controlled anymore. However, he was no fool. He knew that an attempt in trying to run away would only net him back into the clutches of someone else who's not as nice as Sasori if you want to put it that way, or dead. So he stuck with the option of not venturing far off. He got the feeling that the only way he was going to stay alive was by sticking to this man's side; even if he was the enemy.
"See you've got another one, Sasori." A baritone voice sounded off. Deidara looked around to see where the voice was coming from. A very tall man with pale skin, piercing eyes with gill-like markings under them, and sharp dagger-like teeth appeared out of the darkness. There was a large looking weapon on his back wrapped in bandages and Deidara could have sworn he saw it move. "Heheh, he's barely got any power. Hardly a snack for my sword, Samehada." The sword on his back made a weird noise and squirmed. Ok, who the fuck- no what the fuck was this guy?! He looked like the human version of a shark!
"Who the hell are you calling weak! I could kill your ass before you even blinked."
"What the hell did you say?!" he grabbed Deidara by the collar of his shirt. "You little shit. Do you know who I am?"
"Ugly as fuck?"
The man growled. "What?!"
Sasori sighed as he listened to the two childishly exchange words. Although it was kind of cute how pissed off Deidara got so easily. It seemed he was always looking for a fight; speaking before he thought. He might be some fun to keep around as his new puppet after all, especially after being kicked around, experiencing near-death and still having the nerve to talk to one of the most powerful members of the Akatsuki.
"Thats enough, you two." A woman spoke out. She had blue hair with a paper rose in it. "Master Pein is here."
"Who? Master Pein?"
"Shutup!" the man smacked Deidara on the back of his head. "Or I'll make you into fish food!"
"Tch." Deidara winced, rubbing his neck.
Just like before, a hologram appeared. It was the same man from before. Deidara couldn't quite make out his physical features, but there were piercings all over his face. The woman stood next to him compliantly, as if she were a dog at its master's feet. The man started to speak.
"We will be moving our location again. It seems Orochimaru and his henchman are getting more persistent."
'What? Orochimaru?' Deidara thought to himself. He continued to listen.
"It is becoming quite a bother. I ask all of you to watch your back and take care to make sure no one hears of our plans. Or," he paused, "You shall have me to deal with. Understood?"
Everyone responded with "Yes, Master Pein."
"We will set off to our new hideout tomorrow night. Make sure all preparations are complete before then." Suddenly Pein looked at Deidara. He didn't say a word, only stared at the blonde in silence for a moment.
"What? Got something to say?!"
"How dare you speak to Master Pein that way!" The blue haired woman bellowed as she took out a kunai.
"Enough, Konan." he ordered.
"Huh?" she lowered her arm. "Y-yes, Master."
"I wish to see you and Sasori privately tonight."
"Yes." Sasori nodded.
With that, Pein disappeared the same way he had did before. No smoke, magic, tricks or anything. He just vanished. Everything was getting too weird for Deidara. He didn't know what was going on, or what the Akatsuki's plans were. But upon mention of Orochimaru's name, it had to mean something. He had a feeling there was more to this mysterious gang than meets the eye. And to make things worse, he was captured by them. Now the only question was, what were they going to do with him?