Akatsuki Rainbow: Red (Sasori x Deidara)

Chapter 9: Farewell

Sasori did not return that night, nor the night after. Deidara waited and waited, albeit very impatiently and very painfully. With both arms reattached and nothing to do, he sat in bed, picking at his stitches. They were quite inflamed when Kakuzu first stabbed them in him. The ones higher up on his bicep were smooth and even, but the rest on his forearm were ragged and incorrectly spaced, mostly likely due to Kakuzu losing his impatience at the Blonde's constant complaining about the pain. Now, he certainly has something to complain about until the stitches heal. 

The base was hot, and Deidara could not stand keeping still. He tapped his nails on his leg, hummed discordant song melodies, and flitted his eyes around from blank wall to blank wall. Where was his danna? Deidara would have already abandoned waiting if not for his ultra important purpose; a surprise confession. He had all the fireworks set up already, and cleaned their shared room. He spent extra time making sure not a hair was out of place, and even put on extra eyeliner to emphasize his eyes, which he knew played a strong role in how beautiful (not handsome) he naturally looked. 

Deidara sighed, and paced his way outside to the front entrance of the base. He circled the surrounding area, hoping to get a sense of any chakra heading toward the base. He turned up empty, but continued to pace, just in case any signs would happen to show up right as he left. Nothing did. Deidara was about to scream from impatience. It had been about half a week, yet not nearly long enough for Sasori to surely be back if he decided to stop at another base or a town to rest and clean up. Deidara was a traveling exception because he could fly. He sighed and decided that he could wait no longer. Grabbing his clay pouch with his favorite note in it, he set out for the sand village. 

Deidara stopped at every town underneath his direct flight path. He peeked into every restaurant and every inn, asking for a man fitting Hiruko's physical appearance. After a few wouldn't answer him as he wasn't a paying customer, he started asking if they saw anyone wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it, anyone from the Akatsuki, any handsome young men with red hair. He gained very few leads, with all of them turning up false. In the end, he reached the sand village, and circled around before stopping a few ways away from the entrance. Sasori surely would not have returned, or worse, have been captured? 

He transformed and snuck into the sand village, wandered from shop to shop, looking for information about the Akatsuki attack. Many did not want to answer him, which was expected given what happened to their precious jinchuuriki. A few of them mentioned Lady Chiyo and broke down crying. It was probably that old lady that didn't follow him out of the cave. They said she died bringing Gaara back, and the latter must be the panda-looking kid. He huffed to himself. What a lame way she died, sacrificing herself for nothing but a corpse. Deidara snooped around the Kazekage's building, because if they held Sasori prisoner, he would be in the most secure locations. 

He saw a redhead with short hair from behind, and almost called out to him. However, Sasori could not be wandering the halls in his real body. Deidara soon realized that the redhead he saw was the brat they extracted the one-tails from. Interesting. That piece of information means that the old lady must have defeated his danna in battle. It was impossible thinking, of course, but perhaps the sand village sent reinforcements and his danna was forced to retreat. 

Deidara then decided that it would be a good idea for him to check the cave where his danna was last seen. He was a bit annoyed at having to go all the way back to where they separated to find Sasori, but it couldn't really be helped. Deidara's inferior tracking skills did not reveal any important information about his danna's whereabouts whatsoever. He arrived at the giant cavern and, seeing as the boulder blocking the entrance was still shattered, easily walked in. 

There were broken puppets lying everywhere. Deidara couldn't really distinguish between the ones his danna summoned, and the ones Lady Chiyo summoned. After all, she was the one who taught him how to make puppets, so their crafting style was extremely similar. As he traversed through the ocean of broken wooden bodies (and not so wooden bodies), he noticed remnants of Hiruko on the ground. What a suprise it was to him, realizing that the fight the two ladies put up was enough to pressure Sasori out of his protective shell. Entering deeper into the cavern, he found remnants of black sand, and eventually the destroyed body of the third Kazekage. It was an even larger surprise; Sasori must have put up a serious fight. There was also a strange empty syringe on the floor, and Deidara mused that Lady Chiyo probably carried antidotes for poison. It was probably why his danna was pushed so far. Sasori's ability in creating potent poison was stronger than his ability to use his puppet's jutsus. But, the blonde supposed, if the opponents had antidotes, then poison isn't much of a weapon at all. 

Deidara found strange purple splatters on the ground next to three strangely positioned puppets. The two on the side were dressed in rags, and looked extremely mundane and old, as if they were made decades ago. However, the one in the middle, being embraced by the other two, was extremely striking. The fluff of red hair was a dull red, reminding Deidara something of a darker rose or drying blood color. The shoulders and arms were perfectly chiseled, smooth and sculpted like the body of an older teenager in their prime years, but the surface seemed less like skin and more like driftwood now. The puppet heavily resembled his danna in appearance, but Deidara was sure it wasn't his danna. The panda-looking kid somewhat resembled his danna too, but his danna was full of life. His danna's body was made of art, and it lived forever. 

His hair was a rare sight, only to be seen when he needed to adjust something on his real body. But each time Deidara sees it, it glows brighter - brighter than the skies in Itachi's strange genjutsu, brighter than Akastuki's red clouds, and brighter than the blood of their enemies that they spilled together every day. His danna's nail polish was always so sharp and perfect. Deidara would always wipe and smear the corners, but Sasori's precision in every little thing was to die for. His danna's eyes were an earthen grey-brown, in contrast to Deidara's own sky blue. They were dreamy, yet like steel. Sometimes, they seemed an immovable and infinite force that would sweep Deidara off his feet and carry him along forever. Deidara wanted to pry open the puppet's eyelids to see the calm grey and brown once again, but he didn't. He couldn't possibly see his danna's eyes on a puppet that wasn't him. 

On the puppet's left thumb resided one of the irreplaceable Akatsuki rings. The kanji on the ring could mean multiple things. It could mean a jewel, a sphere, or a black king in shogi terms. Deidara believes that the jewel definition fit Sasori the best. If his danna were a jewel, he would be a ruby. They're not the strongest nor the most beautiful of gems, but Deidara always found them so mesmerizing. Rubies are supposed to be quite durable though, and are the most popular of sapphires. 

Deidara knelt in front of the puppet for what seemed like hours. Then, he suddenly stood, as if coming to a revelation. Perhaps he could capture that old lady that saved the panda-looking kid and force her to bring this puppet back to life. He could plant the C-3 bomb right above the sand village. Surely, the panda-looking kid has not recovered enough to save the village one more time. Then, he would threaten the elders until they brought this puppet back to life, and then he blow up the bomb anyway. That would be his revenge. 

Revenge was easier than going back out of the cave and into the world to look for Sasori, because Deidara knows that he won't find him. What is there to find? Deidara thought about his revenge. He tried to feel the hatred that once moved him to destroy, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He walked around in the cave as if looking for something but not finding it anywhere. He sat down on the ground where the extraction of the one-tailed beast occurred. He found nothing but sadness and sorrow in the cave. He could feel the fleeting memories of his danna here and there, and he wished they would manifest themselves into reality. 

The sorrow was suffocating. Deidara pulled his knees close to his chest, curling in on himself as if that would ward away the feelings that threatened to overwhelm him. He tried taking deep breaths, but soon he was gasping for air. His head was pounding, and he felt the urge to throw up. He bolted out of the cave and regurgitated everything he ate that day into the water outside. Once he felt remotely stable, he quickly crafted a clay bird, and flew directly back toward the hideout. 

He gathered some of Sasori's things such as his favorite color of nail polish and a spare cloak that fit Hiruko. He folded and organized everything into a relatively small box, and went back outside to find a secluded area in the woods. He dug a hole, carefully placed the small box inside, and buried it as well as he could. The ground was flat and in a few weeks, grass would grow over the patch of dirt, and nobody would be able to tell anything was here. Nobody except Deidara, of course. The blonde sat down in front of the little patch of dirt, and pulled out the note that he had read over a thousand times. He fumbled with it, and nearly dropped it twice.

"Sasori-danna, I..." he paused, feeling a bit awkward, "There is something I always wanted to tell you." The report to Leader can wait; Deidara had a confession to make. 

A/N: Now that is an end. I'm sorry it's sad, but we all know what fate really befalls the akatsuki. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this somewhat short spinoff. Stay tuned for the start of the next one, Akatsuki Rainbow: Blue.