The Living Doll || Sasori

Ch. 9 - The Living Doll

The room was quiet, save for the occasional tinkering from Sasori at his work bench; he was currently tightening a few loose ends on Hiroko. The sooner he was finished, the sooner he could start moving on to his next project. As he worked, his partner sat by the door with a heavy sigh. When he had decided to join this 'supreme' organization, he didn't expect to be sitting around and twiddling his thumbs.

"Sasori-danna, how long are we going to be here, hm?" Deidara looked up at the red head. The makeshift house they were sitting in didn't seem like anything he thought his partner would be interested in.

"If you have somewhere better to be, then by all means, leave." Sasori answered without sparing the male a glance. Agitated by his answer, Deidara stood up and crossed his arms. Of all people, why did he have to be paired with such a blunt, rude, and disrespectful fellow artist?

Letting out an exaggerated breath, Deidara held his hands up as a sign of retreat. "Look, I don't mind it if we have to wait or not..." He turned his attention to the back corner of the room. "But are we really playing babysitter for some random girl?"

On a cot in Deidara's visual direction was Shizuka, who was fast asleep. Her white hair was sprawled across her head as small, shallow breaths escaped her lips. Honestly, she was sleeping quite peacefully for someone who was in the presence of two criminals, but it seemed like she and Sasori were close. When she arrived yesterday night, she immediately went to Sasori and didn't seem to notice Deidara was also in the room.

"She's not some random girl." Sasori replied.

Deidara smirked as he approached the table. "Oh, I get it. I never thought of you as the type to have a girlfriend. When did you two get together?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the red head. "I learn new interesting things about you every day."

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Sasori was growing more and more irritated by the minute, although his face showed no signs of it. If this annoying brat spoke one more word, the Akatsuki were going to have to find him a new partner. As he ignored the blond, he turned his attention back to his puppetry, but his mind drifted towards Shizuka. When she had come yesterday, there was something off about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The female in the back stirred as she started to wake up. Slowly, she sat up and brushed loose strands of hair out of her face, pulling her snow colored locks up into her signature bun. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she stretched her arms to the ceiling before standing up. Glancing over, she looked at Sasori before eyeing the long haired boy next to him.

"...Who are you?"

"Huh?" Deidara's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "I've been here the whole time, hm!"

Shizuka tilted her head in confusion as she thought about the events yesterday. Of course she knew that he was there yesterday as she had felt the presence of his chakra, however she didn't believe she had caught his name... Or did she even ask him? All she remembered was that she walked inside and embraced Sasori. After that, everything was a little blurry, but that may be because she's still recovering.

"I never asked for your name." She apologized with a smile. "I figured you were okay because Sasori-san didn't do anything. Since you're wearing the same cloak as him, are you his friend?"

"Friend? Don't me make laugh, hm!" The blond scoffed. "My name is Deidara and, unfortunately, this man next to me is my partner." He jabbed his finger at Sasori, who was currently resisting the urge to break it off.

Shizuka couldn't hold back a small laugh as she could feel Sasori's animosity from where she was standing. Fortunately, it didn't seem like he had been lonely since he had left Otogakure. Maybe she wouldn't have to worry too much about him if anything happened to her. A slight frown was beginning to settle upon her face before she caught herself and smiled again.