Heya. :3 This is gonna be my first long story. And, yes. It is SasoDei, since I don't know what else to write about. .-.;
I actually had this one finished a few days ago, but I wanted to know Sasori's eye color...which turned out not red and I had to go and change every 'red' concerning his eyes to 'brown'. I mean, there's nothing wrong with him having brown eyes, but 'fiery' and 'crimson' sound better than 'chocolate' and 'cocoa' when describing him.
Um, I don't know exactly how long this is going to be, since I'm bad with that kind of stuff... xP;
But anyways, it's only rated T because if any of you are like my classmates who, despite being 13/14, giggle when blood sprays out of someone's throat and cheer when someone swears, this shouldn't be a problem (I swear, they seriously do that...yet they hate homosexuality e-o;). So, if any of that stuff (swearing, violence, yaoi/shounen-ai) bugs you, then you shouldn't read this story...
Disclaimer: I didn't create Naruto, so send your fanletters to Kishimoto.
Genesis
Prologue
Every head in the Akatsuki lair turned, eyes curious or annoyed, lips taut or sneering: Leader-sama had found a new recruit, or so he had said when he had requested for his minions to appear before him.
"Deidara." He started, gray eyes narrowed, scanning the members before him like a wolf eyeing its next meal, as he held up a picture of the new member: hardly visible in the darkness. "As you all pretty much guessed, he's our newest member. I know you are all still aware of Hidan's nearly-new arrival, however, you shall treat this one no different than you treat Itachi."
The room was silent, a grave for the dearly departed. Not one member let one sound roll past their lips, anxious of the consequence of allowing even an uncouth word slip by.
"Sasori." Sir Leader turned his sharp gaze to the puppet master. "He's yours. A replacement for Orochimaru's abandonment."
Dark brown eyes, highly clear and meticulous through the thick soup-like obscurity, narrowed all but slightly. "And why would that be? I have no time for brats, Leader-sama, as I hope you're aware of."
Sir Leader let out a short, aggravated sigh. "I thought you, of all people, Sasori, would understand. Have your analytic abilities worn out so soon?"
"What was that?!" The harsh snarl of the puppet master's voice perforated the mysterious, hushed ambiance of Sir Leader's chamber, a gunshot at midnight.
"Now, now, Sasori-san," The ex-nin of the Hidden Mist spoke up, his voice a fusion of amusement and trepidation. "Shouldn't you be happy you finally have a replacement for Orochimaru?"
"This kid won't even make up one third of that bastard!" Sasori retorted angrily, chocolate irises sparking with hate and odium.
"I'll have you know," Sir Leader interrupted, in his cool, even voice. "That Deidara is only a few years off from Itachi."
"That brat couldn't even think of matching Itachi's level," Sasori growled, redirecting his antipathy back onto his leader. "There's no way in hell!"
The current newest member spoke up this time. "Oh, come on, redhead. You approved of me, so–"
"Hidan, I still, and always will, hate you more than a sack of shit," Sasori hissed matter-of-factly. "Besides, there's no reason to give me some whelp who'll die first battle he initiates into."
"Then there should be no discussion further into this case." Sir Leader concluded. "Deidara shall be your partner until he dies in his first battle, Sasori. That shouldn't be too long, now will it?"
The brown daggers narrowed in defeat, their host letting out a small, grumbled, "Fine."
"You shall go to Iwagakure and retrieve him," Sir Leader continued on, as if nothing had happened. "With Itachi and Kisame. Use any force necessary to recruit him."
The said three ninja nodded in the gloom, silent and with nothing glimmering in their eyes but obedience, composedness, and in Sasori's case, irritation.
Damn…Orochimaru was one thing – he was a Sannin, for Kami's sake! – but now Leader-sama has me paired up with a kid? If he's not up to Itachi's level, he's not even worth my time…I'll probably dispose of him myself; on the other hand, if he's stronger than Itachi, then…I'm screwed as hell. Sasori thought to himself bitterly. In any case, I'll go in Hiruko…just to be sure. Even though there isn't any chance that this new kid will be anywhere close to Itachi's strength.
"Dismissed." Sir Leader announced, and all Akatsuki members faded away at his tone, like steam.
––––––»
"Damn it…" The redheaded Sasori spat quietly to himself, as he sat on the bed in his room – not that he needed it anyway. He quickly stole a glance at the bed parallel to his, cleanly made and tidy, as if no one had ever slept in it before.
Running a hand through his messy ash-red hair, he examined the room he resided in, taking in its exquisite, organized illustration one last time: the two well-made beds, just pure white, placed in the top and bottom right corners of the rectangular room; the small oak tables positioned next to the head of each bed; the bigger oak table placed in the center; a closet filled with who-knows-what – probably more cloaks in case the one in use gets torn… – on the opposite side of the room; some workbenches…and some other things Sasori didn't care too much for.
"It'll be much different soon," The redhead concluded acrimoniously. "Because of that stupid Dei-what's-his-face."
Sasori spat slightly at the sight of the second bed sitting only a few feet away from him. He knew Leader-sama didn't give shit if Sunagakure ever caught him: Suna or any of the other countries. That's what's good about being in an S-ranked criminal organization, with members from all around. You can figure out how to evade ANBU and whatever else that pathetic country sends at you. Akasuna no Sasori: that was his name, known throughout the land as a missing criminal, highly dangerous and cunning…in the past.
Nowadays, if you ever heard Sasori's name, it'd be followed by shrill cries of, "…He'll tear off your skin and let you rot in hell forever! He even rips off part of his skin every day!"
Sasori hated these rumors. Sure, when making his human puppets, he'd be forced to peel away the skin, drain the blood, take out the organs and the works, but he wasn't some masochist like Hidan He only liked the screams the vibrated throughout the person's body as he took the thin layer of skin off, watching as the brilliant crimson liquid blossomed out onto the workbench; and that was when he rarely made them into puppets when they were alive. Most of the time, they'd be transformed when they were dead. Besides, Sasori had already taken care of his skin a while back. Hell, the only human part left of him was his heart.
"Sasori-san," The famous Uchiha broke the puppet master out of his sordid thoughts. "Kisame and I have decided that we go fetch Deidara-san tomorrow morning."
Sasori blinked a few times, before responding, "Fine…"
The redhead could've sworn he heard Itachi nod outside the door. He quickly dismissed the idea; Itachi would've had to slam his head into the door for Sasori to actually hear it, and the puppet master highly doubted the famous Uchiha Itachi was that stupid.
The soft sounds of walking feet mellifluously filled the redhead with his normal cool demeanor. Anxiety had filled every part of his body, knowing that any wrong move work spark the Uchiha's anger, and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of a Mangekyou Sharingan. He and Itachi weren't enemies, as one might put it, but they weren't to be confused as friends. They were more like, as Sasori put it, just two criminals working together. That being said, almost everyone in the hideout was fearful of the damage the raven-haired prodigy could inflict; save for Hidan, who actually liked pain and torture.
Sasori inwardly flinched at the time the religious man came to his door, with a pike sticking out of his chest, asking for towels.
"Kakuzu's being an ass, and won't give me any. Says it costs too much money to clean up after every ritual I perform." Hidan had complained, glaring off to the side where, supposedly, his partner was standing. "Hear that, Kakuzu? I want my damn towel!"
"I'm right next to you, asshole," The masked man had replied crudely, glaring into Hidan's sparking violet eyes. "And you're not getting your towel until you pay for it."
"Why the fuck do I have to pay for my own Goddamn towel?" Hidan snarled back, gesturing wildly at the bloody pike protruding from his front. "What the hell do you want me to do? Drink all of it?"
"Hidan." Sasori had broken in at that point, his sharp dark eyes traveling to the sharp black pole in the religious man's chest. "Get your ass out from my doorway."
"Your doorway?" The silver-haired man sneered. "Wasn't it Oroch–?"
Sasori snapped, eyes flaring dangerously. "Get your dirty ass away from me this fucking second."
Even Hidan had looked surprised at the abnormal outburst from the normally calm puppet master.
Before he could shoot back a retort, Kakuzu had grabbed a hold of his partner's slicked back silver hair.
"Ow! Damn you, Kakuzu! Let me go!" Hidan thrashed about, trying to get his hair out from the masked man's hold.
"Sasori, don't mind this bastard," Kakuzu snapped from beneath the mask covering his mouth. "He can't help being stupid."
"Fuck you, Kakuzu!" Hidan snarled, being pulled away while spewing vile strings of curse words.
Sasori's eye twitched, remembering that incident. Mentally clearing his mind of anything to do with the religious masochist, the redhead turned his gaze to Hiruko sitting in a corner. A few joints on the chilling-looking puppet's long, scorpion-like tail were stuck, and Sasori had to reload various traps with his special poisoned weapons.
Striding over to the hunchbacked shell, the redhead began to work out the kinks in the flawless tail. He had all night, after all.
––––––»
"...Damn, he's annoying." The puppeteer growled. As he had decided in advance, the redhead had traveled in Hiruko.
"Is he done now…?" Kisame asked out loud.
Itachi walked towards the blonde target, mumbling something inaudible, Sharingan activated. "Enough already...I'll take care of this."
Sasori watched as the brat blabbered on and on about his 'art' and how Itachi wouldn't ever beat it. Stupid kid…he doesn't know yet?
The two battled for a few minutes, before Deidara finally realized he was trapped in Itachi's genjutsu.
"Ever since the beginning," The blue-skinned shark-nin answered the kid's question of 'when'. "Since you looked into Itachi-san's eyes."
Deidara's visible eye narrowed at the Uchiha, nothing but revulsion and detest imprinted on his face, a rabid fox about to strike.
––––––»
"Welcome, Deidara," Sir Leader greeted the four members when they returned to his lair, as if he'd known when they'd be returning all along. "Sasori is your partner. He'll tell you of all the expectations of Akatsuki and everything else you need to know."
The blonde looked warily at the hunched figure of his new partner. He shivered slightly, uneasy, like a wet cat. "Yes sir."
"Come on, brat," The puppet master growled to Deidara. "Our room's this way."
"Our? You mean…we share a–?" Deidara started, blue eye wide.
"Of course not! We just share a room." Sasori snarled, turning to face the younger boy. "Like I'd want to share a bed with a whelp like you."
"Who's a whelp, un?" Deidara snapped back, long blonde hair tied in a ponytail whipping behind him. Blue eye widening, he ran after Sasori.
Sasori felt his eyes widen as he noticed how close the kid was to him, hands clinging to the black cloak with red clouds Hiruko was wearing.
"Sasori no Danna…I don't want to get lost, un…!" Deidara whimpered, hands trembling.
Sasori felt an ash-red eyebrow rise. The brat sure knew how to change moods quickly. Just a few hours ago in Iwa, he was bragging about his 'art' and acting like a total know-it-all. Now, the kid was just like a…kid. And what was with the 'Sasori no Danna'? "Save it, brat. The room's right ahead–"
The puppet master was interrupted by a flash of blonde zooming right for the light of their room like it was the door to freedom. Sasori rolled his eyes, making his way towards the open door quicker.
Deidara hovered above many vials of purple liquid on a workbench, baby blue eye wide with amazement; a kid in a candy store. "Sasori no Danna! Danna, what is this stuff?"
Seeing the blonde near his lethal poisons, Sasori shuffled faster toward the oblivious Deidara. "Stop, you brat! Don't touch those!"
Deidara immediately jumped back from the workbench. "S-Sorry, Danna, un!"
"You stupid kid, do you know what would've happened if you'd broken one of those and got the poison on you?" Sasori snarled, eyes narrowing. He hated his new partner already. When the ex-Iwa nin shook his head, Sasori continued, "It would've melted your skin right off your bones, brat. You would've been screaming bloody hell until your death, which would've been very slow!"
The blonde was silent, mouth slightly open in fear.
The redhead tilted his head after examining his new partner, and began walking towards the closet. "Change your hairstyle, kid. I don't want you looking too much like Itachi."
Blinking, Deidara undid the tie holding his hair into a ponytail. Keeping the mass of hair in front of his left eye, he tied his long, blonde hair into a high-ponytail, but still had hair going straight down his back. Feeling satisfied he turned back to Sasori, only to almost be knocked back from a cloak being thrown in his direction.
"Put it on." The puppet master stated bluntly. "I won't look, so just do it."
Nodding slowly, the newest member began to take off the Iwagakure jacket he wore, deciding to keep the fishnet and cloth shirt he wore on underneath the cloak.
"So…who's this 'Idaichi,' un?" Deidara asked, flapping an arm experimentally inside the black cloak's long sleeve.
Sasori turned to him, looking as if the kid had just confessed he was Kisame's mother. "The guy who kicked your ass."
At this, Deidara made a face. "Oh, him. Uchiha Itachi. Yeah, I wouldn't want to look like that bastard, un."
Sasori didn't know what he was more surprised at: the brat ending almost every damn sentence with 'un,' the mess of hair positioned right over his left eye, or the fact that he just insulted the Uchiha Itachi. "Why do you always end your sentences with 'un'?"
"I do?" The blonde blinked and tilted his head, like a puppy.
The puppeteer gave his partner a look that clearly said, 'what the hell.'
"What, un?" Deidara asked, unaware.
"Never mind." Sasori sighed, shifting uncomfortably inside Hiruko. This was why he hated traveling in the giant shell: he had to walk on all fours like some dog, and it looked as if he had some stupid creature squirming up his ass. "So, what about that–?"
The blue-eyed male pointed to the waterfall of hair flowing over his left eye. "This?"
The redhead nodded, ignoring the open closet and moving himself over towards his bed. He knew Kakuzu wouldn't shut up about how 'if moths got in there and ate holes through all those cloaks, he wouldn't give Sasori any new ones' once he saw the open door, but dealing with the sad excuse for an S-ranked criminal came first.
Shrugging, Deidara walked over to his own bed, sitting down on the white platform. "Could…could you not ask about it, un?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Sasori spat, still curious to why a person would cover only half their face instead of all of it.
The room was silent for a few moments, the only noise being Hidan screaming something about Kakuzu and his towels again from outside.
"I'm gonna beat that bastard," The blonde stated out of nowhere. "He won't know what hit him, un."
At first, Sasori thought the brat was talking about Hidan, but it suddenly occurred to him who the real target was. "Forget it, kid. Itachi's way out of your league."
"I think I know that, un!" Deidara snapped desolately. "I mean, I'll train my ass off until I send him through a wall and he begs for mercy!"
The puppet master let out a laugh. "You beat Itachi? You sure do have an imagination, boy."
Immediately, Deidara felt uneasy once again. And he thought the hunched man's appearance and voice were creepy: they were nothing to its laugh. To Deidara, Sasori's laugh was the grim reaper calling you in a sickly sweet voice to come with him.
"Come on, brat. Get some rest. Leader-sama gave me the directions for your mission tomorrow." Sasori continued: leaving his bedside for a workbench with various puppets scattered on it.
"And we need to leave in the morning, of course" Deidara finished in a mimicking voice, although he complied with the older man's order.
Sasori waited until his young partner was fast asleep, until he got to work on the puppets lying on the workbench. "We're going to Kirigakure, huh? Brat won't last one day…"
...And that's the end of the prologue! In case any of you don't know Japanese, 'Danna' means 'master' and is what Deidara calls Sasori, and 'Kami' is basically 'God'. And I don't know how Hiruko moves, since Kishimoto never showed us, so I kinda just guessed. :/ I didn't pay too much attention to Deidara's clothes before joining Akatsuki, so if they're wrong, just type it in a review. :3 Oh, and if Sasori is OOC, it's because before he was shown, I used to picture him talking whenever Kanda from D.Gray-man was since they share the same voice actor. xP;
No, I don't know if ash-red is a color. I just used it since Sasori's hair is like, red/brown/pink. o-o;
Review if you like. :3
-Arrina