The slight breeze tinkled the wind chimes hanging outside the sliding doors that lead to the meeting room in the Akatsuki head quarters. It had shocked Sasori greatly when he first joined Akatsuki to find that the main head quarters was at such a remote and calm location, although it was pure hell to get to by anyone not a member because of the terrain.
"Sasori, I see you're running kind of late," said Itachi as he passed Sasori, opening the sliding doors first.
The small boy nodded, although everyone knew the Sasori really wasn't a boy at all. A child genius, he had transformed his body, or most of it, into a puppet at a surprisingly young age after leaving Suna.
"Well, I was working on something when I got the message to show up here," Sasori replied calmly. His voice was always slightly monotonous, never really showing feeling, except perhaps a slight edge of a know-it-all attitude. "Why are you here?"
"Leader suggested that Kisame and I show up. Thought it would be interesting."
"I'm telling you, I'm not a kid, un!"
Sasori looked to the middle of the room where a rather tall and skinny boy was standing. Boy was definitely an understatement, of course, since he had to be at least nineteen years of age, but his features were delicate, and he was obviously younger than the other members. However, with his long blond hair up in the weirdest style Sasori had seen in a while and his bold voice persisting, he had to admit that there was something rather intriguing about his new partner.
"Well, you're acting like a brat," retorted Kisame, a slight smirk on his face, his pointed teeth almost showing. "I would suggest you improve the attitude of yours before your partner shows up. I know the guy, and from what I know, he can't stand idiots."
The boys shoulders tightened and Sasori had to resist laughing. It had been years after all since he'd laughed a genuine laugh, and he wasn't about to crack.
"You might want to make that point a little clearer, Kisame," said Itachi, I doubt he understands.
Sasori followed Itachi, saying nothing. The idea struck him to just blend in, not announce himself as this odd persons partner. If he'd been inside Hiruko, Sasori decided, he would have been far more intimidating, and most likely easily spotted as this new member's superior. In his natural body, however, he was not nearly as intimidating.
"Well where is my partner anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be here, un?"
Sasori looked at the boy, amazed. How could he not know that he, Sasori, the only extra member there, was indeed his partner.
"You should just shut up and wait," Sasori said cooly.
The new member's eyes snapped on him quickly. Had Sasori not been used to seeing beautiful things, he would have been captivated by their stunning blue, a light sky, almost cloudy grey, color, but obviously blue.
"I thought you said I was the only kid here, Kisame, un?"
Kisame laughed and Itachi gave a slight smirk while Sasori's eyebrows furrowed.
"You are," Sasori stepped towards his partner with an air of authority that was obviously noticed. "I am your new partner."
Those brilliant eyes that were a work of art stared at Sasori with disbelief.
"Are you serious, un?"
Sasori nodded as embarrassment flushed across his partners cheeks. Of course, Sasori was used to that, too. Although he had the body and face of an adolescent, his age easily showed through his eyes and expressions, and obviously that was attractive to several people.
"Well, pleased to meet you then, Sasori-danna, un!"
Sasori raised a maroon eyebrow. "What is your name anyway?"
"My name?" asked the blonde, pointing to himself. "I'm Deidara, didn't they tell you?"
Sasori shook his head. "No, I've never heard of you."
"He was Zetsu's partner for like, a week before Leader decided Zetsu worked best on his own," added Kisame. "He is a spy, after all, and well, Deidara is just too noisy for spy work."
"My form of art is not noisy!" argued Deidara.
"Your form of art?" asked Sasori. Another artist? That must be why Leader assigned Deidara to me. "What exactly is your form of art?"
"I make bombs out of clay, un!" Deidara beamed. "Nothing is more beautiful than that short explosion before my little bombs are obliterated. True art is a brief moment in time, that if you aren't looking, you'll miss everything!"
Sasori felt so irritated he thought his hair would stand on end. Art be brief? No, true art that was beautiful lasted forever.
"My form of art lasts forever, which is the best kind," said Sasori coldly. He turned away from the others. "C'mon, Deidara, I'll show you where you'll be staying."
Deidara looked at Kisame and Itachi. Kisame was sniggering and Itachi shaking his head. Sasori and Deidara would be an interesting team, most definitely.
"Oy, Sasori, hold up!" Deidara ran after the short red head. "You know for some evil organization, this place sure is nice, un!"
Sasori didn't even turn around. He always wanted someone to look up to him, but after one day, not even a day, the amount of devotion was getting ridiculous.
"Over there," Sasori pointed to a small branch off of one of the buildings. "That's where you'll be staying now."
"Oh, thanks," Deidara muttered. He looked back at Sasori, who wasn't following. "Aren't you coming too?"
Sasori shook his head. "I have other things to do."
"Oh." Deidara watched as Sasori walked farther down the path. A slight twinge pinched in his chest for some reason. Sasori, with his red hair and walking among the blooming cherry trees, was definitely a work of art.
Deidara walked around the small apartment like place where he and Sasori lived while they weren't on missions. It was amazingly clean, almost as if a real person didn't even live there.
Deidara walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, which was empty except for a few apples, some rice wine and some eggs. He started looking through the cupboards, his stomach rumbling, finding nothing but a few packages of ramen and some crackers that were almost expired.
"Geez, what is this guy?" grumbled Deidara. "He doesn't even eat anything, no wonder he's so shrimpy!"
Deidara grabbed a handful of crackers to munch as he explored the rest of the place. Everywhere else was pretty much the same as the kitchen. So clean that it was scary and inhuman, not to mention devoid of any sort of personal touches.
He proceeded to explore all the rooms, which wasn't difficult considering there were only 3 behind doors.
One was the bathroom, which was just as empty as the kitchen. A tooth brush and tooth paste were in a cup on the sink, towels were on a shelf above the toilet and soap was in the shower, but otherwise, there was no way to tell that the place was occupied.
The second room was empty, most likely his new room. The blanket was folded on the bed and was completely empty. Deidara dropped his small bag of things, mainly his chakra infused clay and a few spare clothes.
The third room, however, was obviously inhabited. It was much larger than Deidara's room, but completely opposite of the previous layout of the place.
On the desk next to the wall was what looked like a puppet, although it wasn't finished yet. Tools were scattered everywhere and there were several browning stains, although they were small, that looked like blood. The thought of why his partner would have several bloodstains around his room sent shivers up his spine.
In a bottle was a purplish liquid that had a red label on it. Deidara debated on looking at it closer, but it looked particularly venomous, so he left it alone.
He let his fingers trail the fingers of the disassembled puppet. It was obviously hand carved or something. Sasori-danna had to have been a genius to have such flawless craftsmanship. The fingers were perfectly shaped and even, sanded smooth.
"What are you doing?"
Deidara turned around, his stomach having dropped to his toes.
Sasori stood at the doorway, a cold look in his oddly coloured eyes.
"I think you're smart enough to have figured that your room is the empty one," Sasori walked over to Deidara and grabbed the hand that was touching his puppet. "Don't touch my puppets."
Deidara grinned slightly before Sasori jumped away, holding his own hand.
"What the hell?" Sasori glared at Deidara.
"Heh, how else do you think I make my art, un?" Deidara winked and held up his hand, the mouth on his palm grinning and sticking out it's tongue.
Sasori glared at the second mouth. "That's disgusting." He looked away, then grabbed Deidara's wrist as to avoid getting his hand licked again, and led Deidara to the door.
"Stay out of my room," Sasori growled with a devious smirk as he pushed Deidara out of the room, his hand reaching hardly above Deidara's lower back, although it didn't seem like he'd made much of an effort to put it any higher. "And never touch my puppets without permission."
Sasori slid the door shut, leaving Deidara slightly flustered, his face flushed. If it had been anyone else, Deidara would have thought that they were flirting, but there was no way, unless Sasori-danna was a sadistic psycho, which, Deidara figured, probably wasn't too far from the truth.
Sasori sighed as he shut the door and heard Deidara walk into his own room. He'd never seen anyone handle his puppets so delicately before, even Orochimaru, who adored his creations with a fondness that was almost freaky.
Why had he been so, for lack of a better word, provocative? Sasori shook his head and looked at his hand, recalling the feel of Deidara's clothes, the tight muscles under his skin. He flushed at the thought. Why was he thinking like a human?
"I'm not going to let this get to me," Sasori muttered as he looked at the vial of poison, the only one he had left. Things were definitely going to be interesting with his new partner.
Author's Note: Hello everyone! Okkies, sorry that this isn't a oneshot, but I thought that a longer SasoDei fic would be nice. But I plan to make this one, oh I would say about 5 chapters. There will definitely be much smut and lemon though, so keep reading and leave reviews! Love ya'll!