Four scrolls were lying open on a shadowed table in a dark room. No other furnishings were visible in the dim room and not a sound could be heard. The walls were of rough material as if the very structure had been carved deep into a rock. Far enough into the darkness stood a man with his back to the scrolls, seeming to be in deep thought.
"If this one is such a nuisance, perhaps it may be useful to me," his deep voice cut through the silence suddenly as the man turned back to the solitary table. He picked out a particular scroll with one hand and brought his striking Rinnegan eyes to the text as he brought his other hand up to summon a subordinate.
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A large hunched figure shuffled along the path slowly and deliberately, leaving a continuous trail as its long black cloak dragged on the ground behind it. Red clouds decorated the garment sporadically and a conical straw hat kept the figure's identity hidden.
Sasori let a scowl move across his rather impassive face underneath the guise as he continued on his way. Although it was nice enough to finally be out on a mission again, it was strange to be so alone. Though that didn't exactly bother him. He hated people anyway and when he was temporarily put into a three-man team with Itachi and Kisame he felt even more out of place.
No, he had firmly reassured himself when he had first set out from the Land of Rain, the cause of such dissatisfaction had nothing to do with the company he kept but more the fact that he had no company. Thus, it wasn't a dangerous mission and Sir Leader could afford sending a member out alone. And that led to the mission itself: he was going to pick someone up? Here he was, an S-class criminal, and he was sent out to run almost D rank missions. It was humiliating.
And it wasn't as if the Land of Grass was a ten minute walk down the road. It would take a good part of the day if he went at a pace that wouldn't unnecessarily exhaust himself and to top it all off, this was only where the person was last sighted. No guarantees the target had even decided to stay.
If there was one thing he hated nearly as much as waiting, it was wasting time and here was a wild goose chase after a single ninja he knew nothing about save the village they hailed from. And not all ninjas would wear their headbands in plain sight – Sasori didn't.
But, as was his policy, he retained the calm, uninterested expression that constantly alighted his features. In reality, he didn't care about such injustices that were made against him – he had a long time to deal with them yet and if nothing else, he at least had something to do.
As he continued his steady path northwards, the tall cliffs and light forests started to give way to grassy plains. The evergreens became more and more sparse as the land flattened and the soil underneath his feet disappeared under the numerous grasses.
Thus Sasori assumed he had entered the Land of Grass although he didn't know the exact border. Another hour northwards, he came across the tiny village his target had been spotted last. In truth he had already forgotten the name of the obscure little place. It wasn't very important, as long as he didn't get lost.
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This tiny offset from Kusagakure was perfect! Though he had made a few enemies and his face had become a bit recognizable, the people who lived here had no idea what went on in the outside world. In addition, it was directly between the Lands of Fire and Earth. Therefore, he was close enough to Iwagakure to keep a good watch on his home country and close enough to Konohagakure to prevent Rock village ninjas to come after him for fear of starting a war with their former rival country.
A blond of medium height and slender build smiled to himself at his own genius as he ordered himself a small glass of sake at a stand and walked off down the main (and only) street.
It was a sunny day and if he didn't get any requests, Deidara planned to lounge around in his room and possibly get some rest after his last journey from which he had returned an hour before. He also had a good deal of money saved up from his jobs, so he could live how he pleased for a while.
Inspecting the little buildings as he passed, Deidara quickly decided he had been in more interesting towns before and instead chose to go back to his room in the tiny inn – or better yet, the roof of the inn!
Thoroughly excited by the prospect of being closer to the sky and completely forgetting about sleep, he hurriedly made his way up to the top of the building and seated himself on the thatching. Even when not flying, he had always loved heights. There was so much more you could see and the wind that seemed so much stronger when you were up there reminded him of the gusts his home village used to get.
As much as he liked his free life, he hadn't really thought it all out. Deidara had assumed it would be adventurous to go out and do whatever he wanted after becoming a jounin at such a young age, so he broke ties with Iwagakure and set off to pursue his passion – explosions. But now he was a wanted man and the longer he avoided capture, the higher his rank would be and the more experienced the ninjas after him would be. After escaping the ANBU that had caught up to him in the Land of Lightning, Deidara surmised that he might actually be an S-class missing nin by now. He still liked the excitement but it was hard to be a lone criminal; there was only so long you could run when no one had your back.
Then there was the Akatsuki. Of course he had only heard of it in whispered rumors, but as the story goes, the members of that organization were all high ranked criminals that were wanted by every country and wore specific garb that was identifiable even from a distance. He had always kept his eyes peeled for black with red clouds, but apparently no one was interested in the places he went.
A sudden gust of wind blew his hair out of his face and he saw a figure coming to the open gates of the village. A figure that was wearing black with red clouds! It was as if his prayers had been answered (and he wasn't even religious)! Hopping from his perch and grabbing his only possession – a satchel that he quickly tied to his belt – from his room's window, Deidara dashed off to confront the person, formulating a plan for his approach as he went.
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Sasori entered the gates of the tiniest village he had ever seen. It wasn't poorly kept, it just looked as if the only inhabitants kept rice fields instead of real jobs. At least he should be able to pick out the only ninja in this congregation of peasants if his target was still here – and judging by the town, he seriously doubted they would be. That way he wouldn't have to ask around.
As he made his slow way forward, he noticed someone rushing towards him, blonde hair whipping in the breeze. Sasori rose a hidden eye brow and stopped, readying his tail just in case. This individual was easily spotted as a ninja and one couldn't be too careful.
The young man was also holding a kunai and looking straight at Sasori as he ran. Narrowing his eyes, he got himself ready to perform a substitution jutsu and get away from this obviously insane kid. Before he completed the handseal, however, Sasori made out the forehead protector tied around the others' head. A missing nin from Iwagakure – exactly the one he had been ordered to find and take back to Amegakure.
Instead he decided to make a sand clone of himself and discover the reason for the blondes sudden outburst. Keeping his clone in place, he watched from beside a building.
The blonde stopped, apparently confused by Sasori's lack of movement. Even still, he pressed the kunai against where Sasori's neck would have presumably been and spoke, "You are of the Akatsuki, un?" Receiving no answer from either the clone or Sasori, he took it as a cue to continue, "Take me with you!" The young man raised his voice in what he obviously believed to be a threatening tone and Sasori found to sound rather childish.
But rather than allowing the ninja to converse with his clone, he let it dissolve into millions of sand particles as he shuffled from his place laughing in the hoarse, ominous voice of his.
The Iwa nin's surprise was eminent in the one stunning blue eye uncovered by his golden locks, but he quickly get control of his composure and glared down at the hunched figure of Sasori. The Akatsuki member thought it not only ironic that his target wanted to come with him already, but found it terribly amusing that this kid so resembled a young woman that Sasori might not have been able to differentiate had he not spoken.
Suppressing his cruel laugh almost instantly, he turned and began the path back the way he had come that day, not even checking if the kid was following him. "Come on, brat."
A/N: Hi everyone, Im really sorry about all my negligence about my other stories, but I had to write this one. Right now Im currently going through a SasDei phase and I had to write. Please let me know how you like this! There will be more to come, and I promise itll get more interesting!!! I hope at least...