Now for my signature dish! Wounded Deidara, garnished in protective Sasori on a bed of fluff and drizzled with some sarcasm!

It was supposed to be a simple retrieval job. The contact was to hand over the information in exchange for the set payment and the pair would then return to the base for their next assignment. Now, that seemed to be a long way off as Deidara raced through the trees, attempting to lure his group of attackers away from his partner to ensure himself free reign of his explosives.

This never would have happened if the artist duo had realised why the spy had been ridiculously antsy as they made the exchange. He had been captured previously and was being used as a pawn to get to the Akatsuki by the nearby village of Yukigakure which he was infiltrating on Akatsuki's behalf.

Usually, Sasori and Deidara were extremely efficient at disposing of numerous enemies; it could be considered their specialty.

Today however, the explosives master had bitten off more than he could chew. He was out of clay and had been reduced to taijutsu. Though to his credit, he had dispatched ten of the twelve Anbu he had claimed for his own.

Now he was stuck between defending himself from the relentless attacks and trying to take advantage of the few openings he saw. Unfortunately, the pair were much larger than he was and he was quickly over powered.

A heavy kick connected with his stomach and launched him across the snow covered ground. Blood rushed into his mouth, threatening to drown him if he didn't spit out the red liquid immediately. The second ninja appeared behind him and kicked his back, changing his trajectory very painfully. He landed on the snow, barely able to move as the pain and cold were making him numb. Through his blurry vision, he made out the pair coming towards him and was overcome with nausea as he was lifted up by his hair.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the killer blow. With a sound of metal through flesh, hot blood splashed over his face and chest. But no pain followed. Peeking an eye open, he saw a metal coil twisting through the two now dead bodies.

The hold on his hair loosened and he fell onto his side in the snow.

Sasori retracted his coil and it snapped back inside his hollow stomach. He stepped over the bodies casually and reached out to pull his partner up. Deidara stood with a wince, spitting out some blood as he steadied himself, using Sasori for support.

"That's the last of them," he stated, "I disposed of the informant and took back the payment. He is useless to us after all."

"K-Kakuzu will be pleased un," Deidara snickered a little, wincing as his stomach throbbed. Sasori smirked a little and turned away from his partner.

"Come, we should return to headquarters," he said softly, walking away. Deidara nodded mutely and followed slowly after the puppet master.

The pain in his stomach was intense from where he was kicked and the cold was slowly beginning to seep into his body, making the journey back very slow and uncomfortable. He refused to complain however, as he didn't want to burden the puppet master. So he gritted his teeth and fought against the nausea.

"We will stop for tonight," Sasori announced as he proceeded to set up traps around the perimeter of their campsite. Deidara all but collapsed against a wide tree trunk, breathing heavily. His stomach hadn't healed at all in their travels, if anything it was getting worse than before.

"Something wrong brat?" asked his partner who was setting up a small fire. Deidara shook his head curtly, trying to help by slowly unrolling their bedrolls.

"No Danna, just my stomach hurts a bit from the fight earlier un," he explained softly, "I should be fine in the morning."

The puppet master regarded his pale state for a few minutes before accepting his answer and returning to his task. The pair fell into an easy silence in which Deidara ate a small meal before going to sleep, wincing a little as he stretched out in his bedroll.

Sasori kept watch throughout the night, not missing when his partner started coughing unconsciously.

"Brat wake up," Sasori called shaking the blonde awake as the sun peaked over the treetops. The puppeteer turned to remove all traces of the fire from the previous night as well as pack up while he waited for Deidara to awaken. Glancing over he frowned to see that his partner remained unmoving.

"Brat," he called; again no movement.

"Deidara, wake up," he called louder. Nothing. Feeling very concerned, the puppet master approached the boy and rolled him over, his narrowing when he saw a trail of blood from his pale lips.

"Deidara," he called again, this time shaking his shoulder, gently. Panic started to well up inside the redhead. Swiftly, he pulled the bedroll off his partner and checked his body for any forms of injury. His brown eyes widened a little as he took in the massive bruise over Deidara's lean stomach. Pressing on it slightly, the blonde coughed harshly, whimpering with pain.

Sasori frowned deeply at his conclusion; the brat was bleeding internally. He needed a doctor right away.

He swiftly removed all traces of the campsite, then lifted the unconscious blonde into his arms as gently as possible. A groan issued from his pale, blood stained lips.

"Hush Deidara," the Sasori murmured, running in the direction of the closest village.

Azure eyes slit open, assaulted by the little sunlight that streamed in through the small window.

"Unnn…Danna?" Deidara murmured, trying to sit up. A throbbing pain in his stomach and a hand pressing lightly on his chest prevented him from actually doing so, as he was forced to lie back down.

"Brat, how do you feel?"

Ah, that was Sasori, next to him. He looked over to see the redhead resting in a chair beside his bed, the light from the window shining behind him, making him look even more innocent and childlike.

"Like crap un," he mumbled with a small smile, "Where are we?"

"In a clinic," Sasori replied, his gaze turning stern, "You said you were alright! Do you know how worried I was when you didn't wake up?"

Deidara frowned a little, looking around.

"But…I just got kicked un," he muttered, "I thought it would go away."

Sasori's anger melted away as he held onto Deidara's hand.

"You had internal bleeding from when you were kicked," he explained, "The doctor had to open you up to heal it, since they are civilians. I want to leave as soon as possible but they insist you stay for a while."

"I'm sorry Danna," Deidara murmured. The redhead shrugged a little awkwardly.

"You shouldn't hide injuries from me brat," he stated softly, "I do care about you. I'm not heartless."

"I know Danna," the blonde murmured with a small smile, "I'm glad to have you."