“Sasori-Danna! Behind you, un!”

The puppet master whipped around just in time for Hiroko’s tail to smash in the skull of one of their attackers. He and Deidara had been returning from a mission in the Grass Country. One of their leaders had received notice about the location of their hideout, so they’d been left no choice but to kill him. The job had gone without a hitch, and the two Akatsuki members had both been wary about the ease with which they’d completed their mission. Really, a team of Genin could have successfully infiltrated the man’s estate. However, as they were now aware, there seemed to be some ninja who objected to the assassination of their leader.

‘Honestly, it serves them right for being such poor protection.’ Sasori thought as he neatly dodged a kunai and took the momentary distraction to stab the man who’d thrown it through the heart.  Glancing over at his partner, Sasori was pleased to note Deidara seemed to be doing just as well. He had his trademark grin on his face, watching in delight as ninja after ninja exploded into bloody masses, the carnage raining down. He held out his hands for a moment to catch the blood, like a child catching raindrops and turned to grin at Sasori. The puppet master nodded, turning back to his own fight, reassured that Deidara would be fine. He always was.

About ten minutes later, the last Grass ninja fell, most of his face having been blown away. Sasori quickly scanned over the field for survivors before nodding and continuing to walk without hesitation. After a brief moment, Deidara smoothed his hair back over his eye and followed, jogging slightly to catch up.

“Sasori-Danna…” he wheezed, placing his hand over his mouth as he was interrupted by a coughing fit. Sasori glanced at his partner impatiently.

“Well? What is it?” Deidara flinched slightly at the harsh note in the puppeteer’s voice and raised a finger, turning away as his coughing continued. The red head growled in irritation.

“I guess it’s not important then.” Deidara immediately turned back, his cough having subsided.

“No, un, it is…” he began in a raspy voice before once again clapping his hand to his mouth. From inside Hiroko, Sasori rolled his eyes. However, his eyes widened when he noticed the blood dripping between the blonde’s fingers and making it’s way down his chin. Sasori was momentarily grateful to be inside Hiroko where Deidara couldn’t see the look of panic that had plastered itself onto the puppet master’s face.

“Deidara! What-” His question was cut off as Deidara’s eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, his deathly pale face and the blood still lingering on his chin painting a very macabre picture. “Dammit!” Sasori swore, opening the latch and hurriedly hopping out of Hiroko. The bulky puppet would be too slow, and clearly he needed to get his partner back to the base as soon as possible. He paused briefly to store his puppet in one of his scrolls, then turned his attention to his companion, scooping him up in his arms and taking off without hesitation. Deidara gave a small moan at the shift in position and Sasori frowned in worry. It was still going to be at least six hours before he got back, and there was no time to waste.

‘You better not die on me…Deidara.’
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That had been three days ago and the sculptor still hadn’t woken up. Sasori recalled with bitter humor how he had burst into the hideout after running for seven hours straight, covered in dirt and leaves, his eyes frightened, yet determined. And of course, the most startling thing, he’d been holding a silent Deidara who was starting to turn a sickly green. The whole Akatsuki had stared at him for a full minute before Kakuzu recovered from the shock of seeing EMOTIONS of all things on the puppet master’s face, and rushed over to tend to the blonde.

“It looks like he’s been poisoned,” Kakuzu had said boredly, examining him in a manner that stated quite plainly he was only doing this because he had to. Sasori had felt his non-existent stomach sink at those words. Having dealt with poisons quite often, he’d expected as much, and yet he’d vaguely hoped…

He returned to reality abruptly as a small cough interrupted his thoughts. Raising his head quick enough to put a sever crick in his neck, Sasori was disappointed to see Deidara was still asleep, curled up slightly against his pillow with his arms across his stomach. There was a knock on the door and Sasori sighed in light annoyance before replying.

“Enter.” The door opened with slight hesitation. Sasori turned to see Kisame standing rather awkwardly in the doorway and felt mildly relieved. At least it wasn’t Tobi…

“Um, Sasori? I wanted to talk to you a little.” Sasori nodded lightly, gesturing for Kisame to sit next to him as he turned his eyes back to Deidara. The swordsman grinned lightly before sitting with a muttered thank you that received no reply.

“Listen…Sasori, I know you’re worried about Deidara. I mean, we’d all be worried if our partner was poisoned. But I think maybe you should take a break from watching him. How about going for a walk or….or working on your puppets?” Sasori sighed, doing his best to keep from getting angry. Kisame was only trying to help.

“Kisame, I appreciate your concern, but-”

“But nothing.” Kisame cut across Sasori’s words swiftly. “You’ve been sitting in this exact chair staring at him for three days! You need to do something else, or else you’ll go insane! I know you want to keep him alive because you don’t want a new partner, but-”

“That’s not why.” It was Sasori’s turn to interrupt. Vaguely he wondered if confiding in Kisame was really a good idea. But other than him, there wasn’t really anyone else in the Akatsuki he trusted enough to keep his secret. Besides…he could always turn him into a puppet if he told anyone else…

“That’s not why?” Kisame looked slightly confused. “Then WHAT, might I ask, is your reason for making sure he lives?” Sasori inwardly thanked whatever deity was up there that he no longer had the ability to blush. Turning to Kisame, he looked him in the eyes and answered bluntly.

“I love him.” Kisame stared for a long moment in absolute shock. SASORI in LOVE..?? That was like Kakuzu giving up the chance for money! There was no way-

“If you keep your mouth open like that, flies will fly in.” Sasori stated plainly, turning back to watch his partner. He gently pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen out of place. Kisame snapped his mouth shut with a loud clacking sound before breaking out into a wide smile.

“Well, congratulations! How long have you two-” he broke off as Sasori tensed slightly. “Er..sorry. Didn’t mean to pry…” he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. The red head glanced at Kisame before deciding to trust him once more. He kept his eyes on his partner as he replied.

“He is unaware.” Kisame’s eyes softened with understanding.

“I see. So you wanted the chance to tell him when he wakes up?”

“No.” Kisame raised his eyebrows in slight irritation.

“No?? Why the hell not??” Sasori sighed, rubbing his temples. Really, getting into this explanation had NOT been what he wanted to do. He briefly wondered if he should have just agreed to that walk after all…

“Because I don’t think I want to.” Kisame rolled his eyes at the answer, but chose not to pry any further. He knew from experience with Itachi that it was best to just let Sasori handle it his way.

“Alright then,” he replied simply, fading back into his Cheshire grin as he stood up and walked toward the door. He hesitated for a moment before exiting.

“You SHOULD tell him soon though.” And with that he was gone. Sasori narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

“Tch. What does HE know?”  The puppet master crossed his arms, brooding over what Kisame had said. “He DID probably have a point though…obsessing like this isn’t very healthy…”

“Danna?” Sasori gave a start, his eyes widening as they met Deidara’s sky blue ones. He was awake. Fighting the urge to smile, Sasori asked in a voice as controlled as he could possibly make it:

“You alright, brat?” Deidara nodded sleepily, lightly rubbing his eyes as he tried to clear his head.

“How long was I out, un?” Sasori didn’t hesitate before answering.

“Three days and about five hours.” Deidara’s eyebrows shot up.

“And you watched me the whole time?”

“I DID NOT!” Sasori shouted, realizing too late that his embarrassment had just proven Deidara’s words to be true. The blonde smirked slightly, but his eyes lit up with genuine happiness.

“Aw…does Sasori-Danna care about me after all, un?” Sasori turned away before muttering halfheartedly:

“Don’t be ridiculous…you’re my partner, it’s my DUTY to make sure you’re alive.” Deidara’s smirk grew.

“You STILL didn’t have to stay, Danna un.” Sasori sighed, tapping his foot impatiently. Deidara frowned, feeling slightly guilty. He hadn’t meant to cause so much trouble…

Sasori’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when the blonde enveloped him in a tight hug, his brain shutting down except for one thought.

‘What the HELL…’  

“I care about you Danna.” Sasori’s eyes widened at the words and for the second time in an hour was devoutly thankful he couldn’t blush. He hesitated a moment before resting his head tentatively on the sculptor’s shoulder.

‘Maybe Kisame was right…I really should tell him soon.’ He smiled slightly, bringing his arms up to wrap around his partner. Yes…he really SHOULD tell his partner as soon as possible…