"Danna, un."

"What, brat?"

"I'm leaving for my mission now, un."

"And?"

Sasori heard Deidara hmmph and turned around to see the blonde pouting. "A 'goodbye Dei' would be nice, un!"

"Alright, come here." Deidara walked over to the chair Sasori was sitting and sat on his lap, receiving a hug and kiss. "Better?"

"Slightly, un." Deidara sighed and leaned against Sasori. "I don't wanna leave you, un."

"It's just for two weeks, brat."

"I'm not a brat, un!" Deidara protested.

Sasori chuckled and gave Deidara another kiss. "Then quit acting bratty."

Deidara rose to his feet and walked to the door, deciding that he wasn't going to get any more kindness out of the puppet master right now. "Bye Sasori danna!" With that he was gone.

Sasori turned his chair back around and returned to working on his puppets. His partner would only be gone for two weeks; best try to make the best of his solitude while he could. "Finally, some peace and quiet."

-n-

The two weeks went by much faster than Sasori would have anticipated. He was almost upset when the day came for Deidara to return to the base; there was still so much left to do! He walked down the hall to the living room in order to wait for his partner, however. Deidara would only shout and then pout if he had to go looking for the redhead; past experience had taught Sasori that much.

On the way, he stopped outside Pein's office hearing muffled whispers coming from within. Konan emerged a moment later, nearly jumping out of her skin when she saw the redhead. "Oh, Sasori, just the person I wanted to see."

"What is it?" the Akasuna asked in a bored tone.

"Well, Deidara's mission has been delayed. You've got about one more week of freedom before he's due back."

The red head raised a brow. Deidara knew how much the Akasuna hated waiting, and had never before been delayed on a solo assignment. "What happened?"

"Nothing, really. Don't worry, ok?" Sasori knew he wasn't going to get another answer and nodded, walking back to his room. Another week without the annoying bomber around. Excellent.

-another week goes by-

Sasori heard a knock on the door to his and Deidara's shared room. He stood and walked over, opening the door to see Pein standing in the hall. "Yes?"

"Deidara's had another delay. It'll be a few more weeks before he returns. In the meantime, I've got a solo assignment for you.

"Oh…"

"How soon can you leave?"

-n-

Sasori was outside the base, pacing. He would have paced inside his room, but Pein had finally come to him and told him to get out, the noise was driving all of them crazy. So, here he was, outside the base, walking around in circles, staring up at the empty sky-

Wait, what was that? Sasori squinted and saw a bird in the air. What caught his attention was the fact that that particular species wasn't native to this area. His eyes widened as the creature suddenly stopped moving, plummeting through the air and crashing several feet from him. He ran over, and his suspicions were confirmed.

It was a clay bird.

Although upon closer inspection, it almost didn't appear to be Deidara's work. The wings were poorly formed, the tail was crooked (although that may have resulted from the fall) and the whole thing looked like it had been thrown into a washing machine before taking flight. Sasori saw a speck of black and reached down, turning over the bird to expose a scroll tied to its belly. He quickly untied the parchment and went inside the base, giving the scroll to leader. If the bird really had been Deidara's, the scroll would contain information from the blond about his mission.

-n-

"His penmanship's atrocious, not to mention that half this thing is still dripping water," Pein muttered, trying to decipher the bomber's message.

"Well?"

"He's had another delay. No clue when he'll be back. That's all I can make out, Sasori." The red head felt his heart sink and nodded, exiting the room.

-n-

Sasori had lost track of how long Deidara had been gone. He felt like a child again, waiting for his parents to return because their mission had constantly been "delayed".

His pulse quickened a bit. What if it happened again? What if Deidara's mission hadn't been delayed? If the blonde had just died, and the others weren't telling him, and it would be an eternity before he heard the truth-

No. He had to stop thinking like that. Sir leader was cold, but he wasn't cruel. If Deidara had died, Pein would have immediately told the Akasuna, and they'd be in his office right now, looking for a replacement. At least, Sasori thought they would…

The redhead growled and flopped down on the bed he shared with Deidara. He needed sleep, before he drove himself insane.

Crawling under the covers, he buried his face in Deidara's pillow, inhaling the sweet scent of the blonde. It was a poor substitute for the sculptor, but he'd take what he could get. "Dei, hurry up and come back…"

-n-

Sasori heard the door to his room open and shut, making him grumble in his sleep. "Danna's asleep, un." A whispering voice said. The redhead's eyes shot open. Deidara.

"Who said I'm sleeping?" he asked in a calm tone, heart speeding up as he prayed that his body wasn't playing tricks on him.

Deidara started and walked over to the bed. "I didn't mean to disturb you, danna…"

"Mind explaining why you were gone so long?" Sasori asked, trying to keep himself under control. It was taking an unbelievable amount of self-control not to just pounce on the blond at that very moment.

"I had to get information out of this lord, un. But when I got there, he had pneumonia, un," Deidara explained, stripping down and tossing his clothing and gear into the corner. "Then, after he got better, I and half the castle staff got sick, which meant I was in bed forever, un. I tried to send reports back to you, but the weather was so rainy all my birds melted before they got very far, un."

"That explains it," Sasori thought, pulling back the covers for Deidara.

"I'm sorry, un."

"For what?"

"For making you wait so long, danna," Deidara mumbled, climbing under the blankets.

Sasori was surprised. Deidara thought he'd be mad at him? "Dei, come here." The blonde moved an inch closer to the Akasuna. "Deidara..." the blonde cautiously moved closer, not sure what to expect.

Sasori quickly wrapped his arms around the sculptor, pulling the bomber close and burying his face in Deidara's neck. "Danna?"

"Do you have an idea how worried I was about you?" Sasori whispered, arms shaking as he held his precious blonde.

Deidara blinked in surprise before hugging the red head. Of all the reactions that he'd been expecting, this wasn't one of them. "Sorry, un."

"It's ok," Sasori murmured, hands traveling up Deidara's body and into his hair, stroking the blonde locks. He pulled away to watch his partner, smiling as he saw the bomber's visible eye droop shut and breathing level out. "Goodnight, Dei."

"Night, danna."