The wind blew softly against Deidara's blonde hair, a few strands stuck to his mouth to his great annoyance. He brushed them away and took another bite of his dango. Tobi sat next to him, humming a bothersome tune as he had already finished his dango. Deidara sighed, he had thought he was going to glimpse behind that elusive mask, but once again, Tobi hid his true form. Like someone else I knew, Deidara thought to himself, thinking about his previous partner, and how long it took for him to finally reveal his true self to Deidara.

Deidara was recruited into the akatsuki at a very young age, he was only 16 at the time. Still bitter from losing to the crafty sharingan user, Deidara barely paid attention as Kisame filled him in on the akatsuki's three step process to achieving world domination. Deidara didn't care much about world domination, or any of the akatsuki's ideals. He only wanted to impress others with his art of explosion, and he was resentful that he had to now work for this organization, taking orders from others.

They had walked towards a small clearing in the forest, the sunlight pierced through the trees and danced around the shadows, making it easier for Deidara to get a better look at his newest comrades. Itachi stood tall and poised, his dark eyes never faltering or giving any sign of emotion. If Deidara could figure out his weakness, then maybe he could defeat him in their next battle. Deidara clenched his teeth, seething with anger at losing his battle with Itachi. It's that sharingan…it's truly a work of art, hm! Deidara promised to himself at that time to train harder so he could get his revenge on Itachi.

He glanced over at Kisame, the strange looking shark man. Deidara secretly found his sharp teeth and small, fish eyes unnerving. The huge sword he carried on his back did not look too friendly either. Deidara thought it might be best to be wary of him for now, until he had a better idea of his powers and strength.

Then there was Sasori, the impatient one who kept complaining while Deidara and Itachi battled. Deidara couldn't understand his odd appearance. Sasori covered his mouth with a dark cloth and was hunched over, hiding all his limbs from sight. From the tone of his voice and the evil look in his eyes, Deidara guessed that he was one of the older members of the akatsuki.

Once stopped in the clearing, Sasori walked up to Deidara and handed him a ring with a teal gem. "put it on your right index finger," Sasori said in his deep, grumbling voice. Deidara did as he was told, noticing now that the other members around him all wore similar rings, each a different color and on a different finger.

Deidara looked at his hand with the ring, admiring it, "what's the significance of wearing these?" he asked.

Sasori did not respond. The bushes in front of them gave a soft rustle as someone walked into the clearing. Deidara was initially shocked by this man's appearance, but brushed it off quickly. Each member of this organization has a strange appearance, hm.

The man had bright orange hair and was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on them, just like the other members. His appearance was bizarre to Deidara because of the copious amount of metal piercings that covered his face. His eyes were slightly slanted as he spoke to Deidara, "welcome to the akatsuki. Here's your cloak," he handed Deidara one of the black cloaks with red clouds. "My name is Pain, I am the leader of this organization," Deidara had to stifle back a laugh, he goes by the name Pain?! "I see you have already met Sasori, your new partner. As your first mission, I would like you and Sasori to gather information about a former member of our group, Orochimaru. He is currently hiding within the land of sound."

Sasori piped up just then, "I already have a spy on my former partner."

"Yes, I realize you hired a spy for your personal interest in Orochimaru's matters. However, I would like you two to investigate his whereabouts and give us a detailed update on what he's been planning. Your spy may only have limited information about Orochimaru, you may rendezvous with him, but pry further into the matter. His actions could threaten our plans." Pain explained. "You'll have to disguise yourselves as you gather intel, Orochimaru will no doubt have hidden spies within the village, and he would know if his former akatsuki partner were to show up. He has no knowledge of Deidara yet, but Sasori you will need to go as a different puppet."

"Of course," Sasori responded. Deidara's mind was full of questions at that point. Puppet? So he's a puppet master then…

"Take this," Pain handed Sasori a small scroll, "it details the instructions for this mission, down to your disguise. You may have to stay in the land of sound for a few weeks. Go now, it is a long journey from here. I must speak with Itachi and Kisame about another matter," Pain instructed.

They were currently in the land of Earth, just south of the hidden stone village where Deidara had defected from. It would take a few days on foot to travel to the land of sound. As Deidara and Sasori walked out of the clearing, Deidara turned on the hunched figure and said, "we should use my art to fly to our destination, hm."

"Fly?" Sasori asked, with disdain in his voice.

Deidara took out one of his white clay figurines of a bird, and he released a jutsu to make it expand. The bird enlarged big enough for both of them to sit comfortably upon it's back. "I've been wanting to try this out for some time," Deidara admitted, "once in the sky, onlookers will just see a bird, we can fly high enough so that no one will notice us up there, hm." Deidara was quite proud of himself.

Sasori begrudgingly climbed up on the bird's back with Deidara and said, "let's be quick about it then,"

Deidara smirked, "that's right my man." The bird kicked off the ground and flew up high into the blue sky, directed forwards towards the land of sound. Deidara felt a rush of adrenaline as the wind tore at his clothes and hair, whipping them every which way.

As they traveled, Sasori took out the scroll and read its contents quietly to himself. Their travel was spent mostly in silence. Deidara attempted to question Sasori about a variety of matters, but Sasori pushed aside his questions with snide remarks. This guy is really rubbing me the wrong way, hm.

They landed about a mile outside of the village so that Sasori could prepare his disguise. They slid off of Deidara's bird and Sasori promptly began to amble towards the opening of a small cave. "so what did that scroll say?" Deidara asked.

"Stay here," Sasori demanded, "I'll be out in a moment."

Deidara huffed with displeasure, he did not like being ordered around by this hunched old man. He leaned against a tree and placed his hand into his pocket full of detonating clay. He sincerely hoped he would be able to show off his art for this mission.

It was not long before Deidara heard footsteps walking towards him from within the cave. Deidara was confused as he stared at the woman before him. She had long brown hair and ruby red lips. She was young, probably only a year or two older than himself. The pink kimono she wore nearly covered her feet, Deidara could just make out the red polish on her toes. She was strikingly beautiful.

Before Deidara could question her sudden appearance, she spoke up, "I'll be disguised as Mai, and you'll be known as Daichi. We are traveling to the land of sound under the guise of young lovers."

Deidara was flabbergasted, "Wh-wha?" he stuttered. He tried again, "you're Sasori?!"

"You fool," Sasori said as he realized the reason for Deidara's surprised reaction. Even his voice had changed, it was silky smooth and womanly. "I am a puppet master. The body you saw before this one was not my true form, that was Hiruko my puppet armor. This form before you now is also not my true form, but another puppet. I have thousands of puppets that I can use at my will in battle or for disguises. Your art form is fleeting you say, but mine is a different type. My art is eternal, everlasting in the form of a true puppet." Deidara hinted the tone of passion in Sasori's voice at the end as he spoke about his art. Deidara respected that Sasori was a fellow artist with passion, but he could not dismiss his aversion towards Sasori's view of art.

"We have opposite views of what true art is I see, hm." Deidara said, then getting back to the issue of the matter, "but what do you mean that we have to be lovers? Is that what is said on this scroll?"

"Yes," Sasori, or Mai, replied. He threw the scroll to Deidara, who pulled it open and glanced at it to read that indeed, it did say they would disguise as a young couple in order to evade the attention of spies. Deidara groaned.

He read a bit further, "so we are traveling to the land of sound for a relaxing vacation in the peaceful village by the rice fields…and how are we supposed to gain information about this Orochimaru while pretending to…" Deidara couldn't finish his question, a fierce blush ran across his cheeks. He had never had a lover before in his life, so how was he supposed to pretend to love this strange, impatient and domineering man whom he knew so little about?

"Just follow my lead, Daichi." The puppet woman walked over to Deidara and pulled the scroll from him, tucking it away in a pocket in her kimono. Then she reached out for Deidara's hand and grabbed it firmly, pulling Deidara along towards the village.

"This doesn't seem very womanly-like, hm" Deidara pointed out as he was practically being dragged along by Sasori.

"You haven't had much experience with women I can see," Sasori replied. Deidara was about to respond his indignation, but Sasori cut him off, "like I said, follow my lead and hold your tongue. You ask too many questions for my liking."

They arrived into the village and checked into a small motel. Deidara was embarrassed again at how Mai handled the money exchange, talking lightly and smiling coolly with the receptionist. Sasori hid his own persona perfectly as he acted the part of the confident and cheerful maiden. The young man was easily charmed by her good looks, and led the couple to a nice room in the corner, where they could enjoy privacy and comfort. Deidara barely spoke a word as he followed, unsure of how to act.

Deidara took a look around the single room, the bed was king sized, and he sighed his relief. I can sleep at the edge of the bed and never worry about that old man brushing up against me, hm, he thought as he plopped down on the soft bed. "So," he started, "what's our next move then, hm?"

Mai looked at him with narrowed eyes, "let's walk around the village, there's a marketplace not far. We can eavesdrop, see what information we find."

Deidara nodded, and got back up. They headed for the door, but Mai placed a hand over Deidara's chest before they walked out. "remember to stay in character," she said, "hold my hand and laugh at my jokes. At least try to act like you like me, don't just stare at me blankly like I'm a stranger."

Deidara felt his cheeks heat up again, his eyebrows furrowed in irritation, "Well you are a stranger to me!" he yelled.

"It's called acting, it's all pretend. Calm down and just enjoy going to the market, don't think so hard about it," Mai suggested. Deidara grumbled, and took a deep breath. If I want to prove my worth to the akatsuki, I have to follow through on this mission, no matter how irksome it may be he thought begrudgingly.

They strolled through the bustling marketplace, holding hands in a laid back manner. Mai led Deidara, or Daichi as he was being called, towards several stands, eyeing the food and items with a small smile. Deidara made sure to smile himself, and he found that he was actually enjoying looking at all the people and admiring the sweet smells of the exotic foods. It had been a long time since he had relaxed and enjoyed the company of a village, since he had defected from his own land.

Mai purchased a red bean filled rice ball for Daichi, and they sat together on a little bench, watching the passersby. Deidara wondered for a split second why Mai had not bought a rice ball for herself, but it struck him that a puppet probably did not have to eat. So Mai held onto Daichi's arm, with a strange look of desire in her eyes, while he munched away. She lifted her face up to his ear and whispered softly, "I hope you are listening."

Deidara perked up his ears, noticing who Sasori was referring to. There were three men standing nearby, talking heatedly.

One man was stout and sported a large graying beard, "The chunin exams are being held in Konoha this year, they should be an exciting event to watch" he said.

A younger man with a smug look on his round face replied, "eh- the last round of exams was a disappointment, nothing exciting to watch in my opinion. I don't think Konoha will have any good tricks up their sleeves."

"It's not just about the tasks that the genin have to go through, the excitement is about who is competing, and who to bet on," said the third man, rubbing his hands together to indicate money.

The stout man spoke again, "I hear a lot of good talk about that Uchiha kid,"

"I thought all the Uchiha were killed by that traitor of the clan," said the young man, his smug look was replaced by confusion.

"All but one," replied the large man with the beard, "he left his younger brother behind, and now that brother will be competing to become a chunin. It should be an interesting show indeed."

"And we're sending a few genin from our village as well, right?" asked the third man.

"Yes, that's right," said the bearded fellow, "they seem to have come out of nowhere, from the woodwork as they say."

"Hmm," the man had a smug look on his face again, "very curious, don't you think? Our village has never sent in genin before."

Daichi was staring at the three of them, the mention of the name Uchiha had caught his attention and momentarily he forgot to act the part of a young lover. His eyes narrowed with rage at the mention of that name, and then he gasped quietly upon realizing that Itachi had a younger brother. Maybe this young brother could be a key towards finding his weakness, hm! He thought to himself, quietly scheming a plot in his mind.

The three men noticed the attention of Daichi, and they eyed him suspiciously, slowing their conversation to a halt. Before they could pose any accusations towards the eavesdroppers sitting on the bench, Mai gave a high pitched giggle. She placed her hand on Daichi's cheek and pulled his face towards her own.

Deidara felt his heart pounding in his ears as Sasori, or Mai, kissed him on the lips. This puppet face feels so real! But I thought puppets were made from wood? Her lips feel warm, like real human flesh. His thoughts and questions raced through his mind, as the puppet woman's lips pushed against his. Her hand was in his blonde hair, twirling it mindlessly with one finger. Deidara could hear the awkward shuffled footsteps of the three men behind them, as they looked away and continued their conversation. Deidara could not hear what they said, however, due to the intense pounding in his ears and thrumming of constant questions racking his brain.

Mai finally pulled away, keeping Daichi's face in her hands, secretly looking over his shoulder at the three men. Deidara didn't dare look back at them, he could feel his face flushed from the deep red blush. He did not expect his first kiss to come from this mysterious puppet man, disguised as a young woman. He took a deep breath to calm his heightened nerves. Then he was able to hear again.

"-I still think the Uchiha boy will be fun to watch, you wait and see," it was the bearded man talking again, "I don't much care for gambling, but my bet would be on him."

"Anyways," said the gambling man, "we should get back to it. The old man will have our heads if we're late." With that the three of them sauntered away.

Mai finally let her hand down from Daichi's face, and took his hand in hers again. "let's go back to our room," she said promptly, "I've had enough sightseeing for today." She said it in a sweet voice, but Deidara knew he had nearly ruined their cover back there. He did not look forward to the lecture he was sure to receive once back in the motel room.

Sure enough, Sasori yelled at Deidara for being daft and nearly losing his façade in front of those men. They were on the cusp of learning pertinent information, and Deidara had nearly blown it.

"If you really want to enact revenge on Itachi though, his brother won't be able to help you. Itachi hates his little brother, he only left him alive as a challenge for himself one day. What you really need is to learn how to counter his genjutsu." Sasori told him after his long winded lecture.

Deidara was a little surprised hearing this information, "why are you trying to help me?" he asked, "and how do you know I want revenge on the Uchiha hm?"

"Your reactions are easy to read. You gave Itachi a cold stare after he defeated you, and I can sense that you still haven't recovered from that battle. As much as you or I don't like it, we are partners now, so it would be in our best interests to help each other out. That's why I'm telling you to train yourself against genjutsu, find another way to bring him down." Sasori explained. There was still a twinge of annoyance to his voice, but he had brought down the angry tone from before.

Deidara blinked, considering this advice. Before he could speak, Sasori added with a smirk, "oh by the way, not bad for your first kiss. You still need practice though."

Deidara's face turned beet red again, "hey!" he yelled, "how do you know that was my first kiss, hm!?"

Mai gave a quirky smile, "your reaction, again, just gave it away."

"Urgh!" Deidara was fuming mad and embarrassed, real words were hard to form at this moment. "I ought to show you the brilliance of my art! I'll blow your eternal puppets into smithereens hm!"

Mai laughed, "calm down. Stay here in the room for a while, I'll be back later."

"What?" Deidara was confused by the sudden change in conversation, "where are you going?"

"I have a spy on Orochimaru, remember? I'm going to meet up with him, confirm a few questions I have…but this spy will only meet with me. So you'll have to stay here." He explained.

Deidara was fuming, "I thought we were partners, hm. Fine, go ahead but don't take too long."

"I don't like to be kept waiting, this won't take long at all," said Sasori. With that, he left the room, leaving a disgruntled and angered Deidara behind.

Deidara became easily bored sitting alone in the room, so he began to create a plan for countering genjutsu. He would need to train his eyes against it, so he began drawing up a prototype for a scope. The scope would allow him to see things far away, since he was a long distance fighter, and it would help him to train his eye against Itachi's jutsu.

As he drew, he thought about Sasori, about how frustrating he was, always barking around orders and taking the lead with this mission. Deidara didn't like the way he treated him, like he was some naïve child. He felt impatient with this mission, as though he was given an easy, pointless job for his first assignment as an akatsuki member. And yet, he thought sourly, I'm having a difficult time acting the part and spying…it's that damn Sasori's fault, hm! He's bringing me down! I need to do things my own way!

Sasori arrived back within 2 hours, Deidara barely looked up from his drawing, still feeling cross. Sasori peeked over at Deidara's notepad, looking at his prototype.

"Can I suggest a few modifications?" he said.

Deidara pulled the notepad close to his chest, away from the prying eyes of the puppet master. "You don't even know what this is!"

"It's a scope, right? Because you're a long distance fighter, and you think this will help you to train against genjutsu as well." Sasori guessed. Deidara clenched his teeth together, and Sasori sighed, "look, I don't like you either brat. But like I said before, we're partners. I made a bunch of modifications to my puppets, I could take a look at your scope and help. But if you don't want my help, then that's fine." The puppet Mai threw up her hands, giving off a whatever-I-don't-care kind of look.

Deidara rolled his eyes and handed the notepad to Sasori, who looked it over and penciled in a few things. "here," Sasori showed him. Deidara and Sasori then spoke for a few minutes about the scope, working together to draw up the perfect model. Deidara forgot to ask about Sasori's meeting with the spy as they got into the details about the function and use of the scope. As much as he hated to admit it, Sasori's suggestions were actually quite helpful. They talked about it in detail, and for the first time since they had met, their conversation went smoothly, without argument or sarcastic remarks.

"that should do it," Deidara said, looking down at the drawing. It was perfect.

"you're welcome," Sasori said, getting up from his chair, "now, it's getting late. You should get to bed."

Deidara hadn't even noticed the time, but it was indeed quite late. He eyed the bed, "which side do you want?"

Sasori chuckled, "puppets don't sleep."

"So what are you going to do? Watch me as I sleep?"

Sasori sneered, "You think I'd be interested in doing that? You selfish brat, I will be doing no such thing. I'm going to go for a walk, search the village."

"Well, what if something happens to you?" Deidara asked.

"Nothing will happen to me, I'm a top shinobi, the greatest puppet master of our time! I am Sasori of the red sand!" Sasori seemed enraged by Deidara's insinuations.

Deidara was surprised that he had made Sasori upset, he had touched a nerve, "calm down," he told him, repeating Sasori's words from earlier with a snicker.

Sasori sighed, "go to sleep," he ordered. He walked out of the room, careful not to slam the door behind him. Deidara smiled to himself, Sasori of the red sand? He wondered where he had gotten that nickname. He yawned just then, he couldn't deny he was tired. He snuggled up on the bed, glad to have the entire mattress to himself. He dozed off quickly, strange images of puppets floated through his dreams.