One Photograph. SasoDei

    A Photograph.
      ~All Characters belong to Kishimoto~
      
      Deidara stretched on his bed. He looked up at the white roof and sighed. His new partner would be here any minute. He winced as the memories flooded back to him. The broken and empty shell of his Dana, Sasori, lying on wreck that was there base in Sunakagure still haunted his vision. Dead, Sasori was dead.
      Deidara could not believe it. His Dana had always claimed to be an eternal piece of art and surely he couldn't have been beaten by a pink-haired girl and an old lady. Deidara shook his head, fixing his vision on a small wrecked container on his desk. The blond Nin's gaze was fixed on the uneven cuts of the box. Deidara breathed out calmly, that was his only memory left of Sasori, his heart.
      Deidara turned his head to the sounds of knocking on the door before yelling "Enter!"
As the door flung open Deidara saw Kakuzu, standing quietly, with his strong arm lifted lazily, behind him stood a shadowed figure. Deidara could not help his heart from racing as he spotted Sasori's ring on the person's thumb. Images of Sasori flashed in Deidara's mind.
Kakuzu's words interrupted Deidara's thoughts. "This is Tobi." He introduced, with a bored look in his green eyes. "Don't explode him."
Kakuzu walked away leaving Deidara and Tobi staring at each other. Deidara stood up hastily to greet his team mate. The Nin wore a bright orange, swirly mask with a hole for Tobi to see from. Something was odd about him. Deidara couldn't see Tobi's eyes but he felt a searing hot glare burning his skin. Deidara turned his attention from Tobi's mask and walked into the room, leaning against the wall.
Tobi walked into the room after Deidara, sitting on the empty bed that would have been Sasori's. Deidara bit his lips and glared and his new partner, Tobi. "That's my bed, un. Get off."
Tobi lifted his hands that were gloved with black leather and giggled apologetically. "Okay, Okay, Sempai."
Tobi tentatively sat on a small wooden chair in front of the desk that was cluttered with tubes of poison that Deidara hadn't had the heart to move. "So, Sempai…" he started before turning his attention to the box that Deidara had been fixed on earlier. He picked it up and ran his black fingers over the two holes that disturbed the smoothness of the wood.
Deidara leaped forward ripping the box from his new partner's hands. He made sure that the box was in the same state he had left it "Do not touch, un. Ever." He hissed looking down at Sasori's heart that was balanced in his palms.
~*~
Deidara walked into the room nervously. Sitting in a chair tucked in neatly to a curve in a big desk was a short man. His cloak was lying on the floor to expose the big steel wing-like things on his back. His hair was a brilliant red that shone in the dim light of the room. The person turned around as Deidara entered and quickly grabbed his cloak. Deidara glanced down at the person's chest as he slipped the cloak on and glimpsed the horrendous sight that composed this person. The right part of his chest was covered in a metal plate and on his left half was a circular box with a Kanji written in red, where this person's heart should have been. His abdomen was composed of a thick coiled wire that glistened before it was covered up. The person looked up to reveal his large hazel brown eyes that reflected the light almost like marbles.
Deidara lifted his hand shyly in a waving motion. "Hi, I'm Deidara, your new partner, un."
-I guess you can call me Akasuna no Sasori if you want." The red-head muttered. Sasori's gaze flickered up to the blond before returning to work on his small vials of poison.
Deidara sighed heavily and dropped his bag onto a small table in-between both beds. As his bag crashed onto the table a small explosion went off causing Sasori to look up at his partner. "What the hell was that?"
Deidara grinned as he heard Sasori mutter a question. "That was Art."
~*~
Deidara shook his head of the memory of his Dana and sighed. After a few moments of silence he looked up from the box he held and to Tobi. "What's with the mask?"
Tobi looked at Deidara curiously from the darkness that hid his face. "What are you talking about?"
Deidara shook his head before dropping the small box from his palms onto the table. He fixed his gaze on the container and imagined how the box would look without the two holes that had pierced it. Deidara envisioned the Kanji in red paint that he had always known as Sasori's heart.
Tobi looked around the dark room and then asked Deidara loudly as he placed his stuff and the foot of his bed. "Sempai?"
Deidara sighed shaking his head from his dreams and turned around calmly. "What now?"
-When's dinner?" The orange masked Nin asked clapping his hands together in anticipation.
~*~
Sasori chuckled at Deidara's statement. "That's not art, kid."
The blond flicked his hair from his electronic camera eye and stated "Art is a Bang, un."
Sasori put his poisons down in their individual holders and shook his head. "If art is a bang then I must be a masterpiece, Brat." He replied lifting up his hands to show Deidara the small flamethrowers on his palms.
Deidara glared at his partner. "I'm no Brat, un."
-What are you then? A girl?" Sasori teased.
Deidara paused clearly taken aback from the statement. "What about dinner? When is it, un?" The blond asked trying to change the subject from what they had been discussing.
~*~
Deidara dropped onto his old Dana's bed and replied to his partner's question. "I think every member is on a different schedule, un. There isn't a specific eating time I guess, un." The blond lied down on the coarse covers and breathed in the fading scent of Sasori. The smell was rather strange but it made Deidara feel at home, almost if Sasori was still here and living, and that Tobi, was all a fiction of Deidara's imagination.
Images of Sasori passed through the Nin's mind as he stared up at the roof. Deidara shut his eyes slowly and fell into a shallow sleep, a realm of temporary happiness.

~*~
Deidara woke up from the darkness under the covers to the slow breathing of his partner. "What the hell? Tobi, why am I not wearing my cloak?" Deidara sat up to see Sasori glaring at him curiously.
"Brat, how many times do I have to tell you? My name is Sasori."
The blond jumped up from his covers and ran over to Sasori. "Dana!" he cried "I've missed you!"
The puppet looked up at his partner. "Brat, are you sick or something? I was never gone."
Deidara shook his head before grabbing Sasori in a hug. He breathed in his Dana's relaxing wooden scent and smiled.
Sasori pulled Deidara off of him with a few chakra strings and muttered. "Stop it."
Deidara looked up at Sasori quietly "I don't want you to leave, Dana."
The puppet raised an eyebrow at his team mate's statement and then replied. "I'm immortal, Brat. And as long as I live I'll be working for the Akatsuki, until they don't need me anymore. Don't worry about me leaving."
~*~
Deidara woke up calmly to Sasori's words and grinned. Deidara's eyes flickered open to the sight of Tobi's mask lingering over him. Deidara grumbled pushing Tobi away. "Don't get so close."
-Sempai! You're Awake, I'm Hungry. Hi."
Deidara sighed lifting his hand to his face. "Shut-up, un. With all the noise you make I can't think." As the blond got up quietly he muttered. "If you're hungry let's go and eat. We have a mission next week and God help you if you're not rested and ready."
Deidara winced slightly at his words. He sounded like Sasori. Since his Dana was a puppet he had always been very strict to make sure that his partner would be in his best shape for a mission, and not restrict it. Deidara shook his head trying to rid himself of the memories that were lying in the shadows of his mind, ready to devour him whole.
The blond slammed open the door quickly and walked out into the black and silent hall. "Tobi!" he hollered "Let's go, un!"
The masked Nin squeaked happily and followed Deidara quietly and closely almost like a game of follow the leader. As the two walked into the makeshift kitchen, Tobi ran into Deidara and commented "Sempai~ this place is so messy."
Two other people were sitting quietly, eating slowly as Deidara and Tobi walked in. One of them looked up from his plate, flicking back a strand of his silver hair out from his amethyst eyes. His eyes shone with amusement as the figure commented loudly to his partner. "Hey, Dei-chan, who is that? The new guy Pein hired?"
-Its leader-sama to you, Hidan," Kakuzu commented from his partner's side. "Get it right or I'll kill you."
Hidan chuckled darkly turning to his partner. "You'd like to try, wouldn't you?"
Kakuzu simply shook his head turning back to his food. "Eat that before it gets cold. Food costs money you know."
Deidara chuckled at the fight going on between both members and couldn't help but think about the fights about art he had had with Sasori.
~*~
Sasori sat down on the chair that his crest had been carved into and motioned to the chair that had been specifically placed beside Sasori's for Deidara. "Sit, Brat."
Deidara grabbed his chair and sat down in his place beside Sasori. "So, Dana, how was your latest mission, un?"
The puppet master shook his head. "Same old, same old, I was just watching Shukaku's host."
Deidara nodded quietly and replied. "Cool, un."
-Yea I guess" commented the puppet calmly. "However, your little explosion didn't help me keep my cover, Brat."
The blond smirked, crossing his arms grimly. "I'm glad you enjoyed the art I made for you, un."
Sasori looked up with a glare of disbelief at his partner. "That was not art, Brat. It was annoying. Art lasts forever."
-Dana, we both know I'm right, un. Art is a bang!"
-You're mistaken, Brat, like usual" Sasori retorted.
-Sorry Dana but you're wrong, un."
The red-head sighed as he dropped his gaze to his wooden hands. "Deidara, You're always wrong." He muttered in a quiet enough that his partner wouldn't hear.
~*~
Tobi sat down beside his daydreaming partner and snapped his fingers. "Yo, Sempai, why do you have such long hair?"
Deidara looked at Tobi, annoyed and then answered with another question. "Why do you wear a lolly-pop mask, un?"
Tobi gave his partner a confused glare before giggling. "Oh, I get it. It's a seecret~" The masked member leaned back into his chair and stifled a yawn. He looked up at his teammate and asked Deidara a new question. "So, Where's the food?
Deidara pointed quietly to a dark counter. "There take what you want, Tobi."
Tobi clapped his hands together. "Thanks sempai!"
Deidara grumbled as he watched his new partner prance off.
Tobi came back shortly with two plates, one balancing in each of his hands. Both white plates were piled up with food. He dropped one in front of Deidara with no troubles and then commanded playfully. "Eat, Sempai!"
~*~
"I'm not hungry Dana, really, un!" Deidara complained as Sasori dropped a third bowl of food in front of him.
The puppet master handed the blond a fork quietly and pointed to the hot food he had just laid out. "Now, Brat, eat."
Deidara stuck out his tongue "What if I don't want to Dana, un"
Sasori glared at his partner evilly and then threatened. "Eat Brat, or I'll get Kisame to come and hold you down again"
Deidara's eyes opened wide as he quickly began to swallow the food that he was given only occasionally looking up to see if his Dana was still glaring at him, which he was.
~*~
After Deidara had finished the last bite of food that Tobi had laid out and dropped his fork he looked up. Tobi sat there with his fingers crossed and waiting. Tobi quickly stood up with a grin and grabbed his partner by the wrist. Hidan chuckled and muttered something to Kakuzu as Deidara was pulled out of the kitchen.
The masked Nin dragged his partner down the long straight hallway and into their small dark room. As Deidara was pulled in the room he threw off his cloak and tossed it against the chair. He spotted Sasori's heart lying amongst the puppet's poisons and quickly picked it up. He turned it over in his palms and quickly enclosed his fingers around the wooden box. Deidara lifted his Dana's heart quietly and pressed it against his chest breathing out heavily.
The blond glanced over at Tobi who was fast asleep under his covers and quietly walked over to his own bed. Deidara flicked back the covers and quickly dropped onto the white covers. He breathed in the wooden scent of Sasori and breathed out looking up at the roof. Deidara grasped Sasori's heart quietly, holding it against his chest, and let the memories take him back.
~*~
Deidara watched Sasori polish the arms in front of him. The blond watched Sasori reattach the arm to his joint. The puppet looked up at the blond and growled. "Why aren't you asleep, Brat? We have an important mission tomorrow."
Deidara looked up at his partner and stood up quickly from his bed. He took a few steps closed and bowed quickly. "Dana, please turn me into a puppet, un!" he asked.
Sasori stood up and walked towards Deidara quietly. Sasori lifted his wooden hand to touch Deidara's face. With a small amount of energy the puppet master lifted up his partner's face until their gazes were locked. "Why are you asking something so foolish, Brat?"
Deidara looked into his Dana's eyes and then confessed. "I don't think I'll come out of this alive, and," Deidara quietly reached up to grab Sasori's hand "I think I won't be able to live without you."
Sasori chuckled "If you die you won't have to live without me."
Deidara glared at the puppet master seriously. "That's not what I meant. I want to- -" Deidara was not able to finish as Sasori pulled him forward, and pressed his cold lips to his partner's.
After a few seconds Sasori pulled himself away. "Don't worry, Brat. I won't let you die." He whispered before leaning forward and kissing the blond once again.
Deidara looked at Sasori carefully. "Dana, don't ever leave me."
The puppet grinned as he looked into Deidara's eyes. "My heart will always be yours,
Brat." Sasori pushed back Deidara's hair and kissed him gently. "Now go to sleep."
Deidara nodded at his Danna and pulled the puppet closer. Deidara wafted on Sasori's scent for a moment before pulling back and sliding into his bed.
The blond Nin turned over in his bed and closed his eyes listening to the quiet sound of Sasori's voice. "In this eternal immortality I will be with you. I breathe for you, I live for you. This eternal depression I lay, not able to run, not able to hide from the immortality. Without you I am only a broken wooden shell."
~*~
Deidara opened his eyes and clutched the box on his chest tightly. He could hear Tobi snoring as he muttered quietly "My eternal depression starts now that your gone."