CREATING AKATSUKI part 12

“Danna!”

“What?”

“I’m bored, un.”

Sasori rolled his eyes. “Well what do you want me to do about it, brat?”

“Don’t call me a brat. And I don’t know, un.”

“Then stop annoying me,” Sasori ordered. The blonde fell silent, and when Sasori turned around in his chair to look at the sculptor, he saw a very dejected look on Deidara’s face. Great, now he’d hurt his blonde! Wait, since when was the blonde his?

Well, that question could wait until later. Sasori knew that there was no way he’d be able to concentrate as long as Deidara was moping on the bed. He looked down at the puppet he’d been working on, and an idea came to him. Feeling slightly sick, Sasori pressed his knife too hard into the little wooden creature’s side, making the torso crack. “Dammit!” he said with false anger.

“What is it, un?” Deidara asked quietly.

“I just broke my puppet. Now I’m going to have to go out and get some additional material.” Without even turning around, Sasori knew he’d caught the blonde’s attention. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Yeah, un!” Deidara cried, jumping off the bed.

“Alright, then let’s go,” Sasori said, walking to the hatch that led downstairs. They’d finally been able to clear a path to the trapdoor, as well as one to their bed and the desk that was currently serving as their workbench. Deidara climbed down the ladder first, followed by Sasori, who insisted on shutting it every time they went up or down the ladder. Apparently, the blonde was too loud when the task was left to him.

The artists walked down the stairs and through the living room, where they saw Kisame and Itachi on the couch, clearly not focused on the TV. “You know, danna,” Deidara said a bit louder than necessary, “I can remember when we could walk through here without seeing a shark and weasel suck face, un.”

Kisame and Itachi broke away from their kiss to look at the artists. “You going somewhere?” Kisame asked.

“The hardware store. I need some parts,” Sasori explained. “If we’re not back by dinner, it’s because Deidara blew something up and I’m breaking him out of jail.” The redhead escorted his partner out the door, leaving the shark and weasel alone.

“They complain about us making out, but I can’t remember the last time more than three feet separated those two,” Kisame muttered.

“Kisame?”

“Yeah?” The shark saw the look on Itachi’s face and frowned. “What is it?”

“Are you sure it’s ok for me to be here?”

“Why wouldn’t it be-Itachi, you’re not a jinx.”

“Hn.”

“Why must you be so difficult, angel?”

Itachi frowned. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not?” Kisame asked, a sharky grin on his face. “I hate to break it to ya, but you really do look like an angel.”

“An angel of death,” Itachi muttered.

“See? Even you can admit it.” Itachi frowned again but didn’t protest. “Good, now open your mouth,” Kisame ordered, tilting Itachi’s head up and leaning in for another kiss. They’d be here a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deidara looked around the hardware store, grinning from ear to ear. “This is awesome, danna!”

“Calm down Dei,” the Akasuna ordered. “We’re only here for some wood. Maybe some clay for you too.”

“But danna, those things are on opposite sides of the store!” Deidara whined.

“Fine,” Sasori growled, digging a $20 out of his billfold. “Just go get your things and meet me outside the store when you’re done. Understand?”

“Thank you Sasori danna!” Deidara said, giving the puppet master a quick hug before rushing off.

Naturally, Deidara managed to get lost thirty seconds later.

“Ok, so is the clay in aisle 12, or 21…” As Deidara was trying to find out where he needed to go (or where he was, for that matter), a sign caught his eye. He walked over and looked at the price tag, then quickly did the math in his head. “I could get ten different colors, un. But I’d need some of the same colors…”

“Hey kid,” an employee called out, walking up to Deidara. “You thinking about buying that?”

“Maybe, un. Why’s this so cheap, un? Is it defective?”

“Nope! The company went under, and they’re trying to sell everything they have left to make even a little profit.”

“I see, un…can you help me get these to the register?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sasori was waiting outside the store, tapping his foot impatiently. What was keeping the blonde? He found out a moment later when Deidara finally emerged from the store, carrying several heavy looking bags under his arms. “Hi danna!”

“Why do I get the feeling that you didn’t buy clay?”

“’Cause I didn’t, un,” Deidara admitted, setting the bags down for Sasori to peer into.

“…You bought paint.”

“Uh-huh!” the blonde replied. “A whole bunch of it, un.”

“Why?”

“That’s a secret, danna,” Deidara replied.

“You better have a good reason, brat,” Sasori grumbled. “And one more thing.”

“What, un?”

“How are we supposed to walk home with ten cans of paint?!”

“…No clue, danna.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kakuzu and Hidan were in the living room when Sasori opened the door, panting. “I am never taking you to a hardware store again, brat.”

“I said I was sorry, un!”Deidara cried. It was then that Hidan and Kakuzu noticed the paint under their arms.

“Home improvement project, assholes?” Hidan asked.

“Ask the blonde!” Sasori spat out, storming to the steps. Deidara followed closely behind, looking nervous.

A few minutes passed, and Pein entered the room. “Yo, Pein in the ass,” Hidan began, “did you see the Jashin damned paint those two artsy bastards were carrying?”

“No, so the paint doesn’t exist,” Pein said, walking into the kitchen in search of his Advil.

Hidan was about to say something, but was stopped by Kakuzu. “Let it go, Hidan. We’re lucky he’s not in the loony bin right now.”

“And Hidan, why are you here?!” Pein called out. “Last time I checked, you didn’t live here. Then again, what do I know?”

“Kuzu invited me over,” Hidan answered, snuggling into the miser’s side.

“Kuzu?” Pein asked, walking back into the room. “Oh for PETA’s sake-IS EVERYONE HERE BESIDES ME GAY?!”

“No,” Konan called from upstairs.

“Right. I’m going out for some fresh air. If I’m not back by dinner, I’ve gone to the river and drowned myself,” Pein muttered, exiting the house.

“Konan-“

“I heard,” the woman said, walking to the door. “I’ll make sure he returns alive. But no guarantees about his mental state, alright?”

“That’s all we ask,” Kakuzu said, turning his attention back to the TV, with Hidan nuzzling him gently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright, brat,” Sasori said as he climbed up through the hatch. “You better have a good reason for buying-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Deidara was running from one end of the room to the other, moving boxes to wherever he could find room for them. “Danna, I want to paint a mural, un!”

“…Care to repeat that?”

“Sasori danna,” Deidara began, pausing his running to speak, “there’s that big, ugly wall, right at the foot of our bed, un. Two other walls have windows, and the either one we don’t see all that much…but that one plain wall looks hideous, un. I wanna paint it!”

Sasori began picking up boxes and moving them with the blonde. “We don’t have brushes, you know.”

“That’s what hands are for, un!”

Sasori shook his head and went to open the windows. No point in having them inhale paint fumes all day. “Just make sure you stir the paint first, ok?”

“Yay! And I even know what to make the design, un!”

Deidara was about to dive into the paint, when Sasori stopped him. “Deidara, you’re going to ruin your shirt if you leave it on to paint.”

“I’ll take it off if you do.”

“What do you think I was planning on doing, brat?” Sasori muttered as he pulled off his shirt. Deidara had already grabbed the screwdriver to open the paint cans. “Now, we need to start at the top and work our way to the bottom,” Sasori went on, opening a can of blue paint. “Hmmm…Deidara, how much do you weigh?”

“What kind of question is that, un?!”

“I think you’re lighter than me, so you can stand on my shoulders,” Sasori explained. Deidara smiled and dipped his hands in the paint, watching Sasori bend down in front of the wall. Carefully, so he didn’t get any paint in the puppeteer’s head, Deidara hopped onto Sasori’s shoulders, arms outstretched to help him stay balanced as the redhead stood up. “Easy danna, un!”

“Excuse me,” Sasori growled, watching as Deidara began painting, “but someone’s heavier than they look!”

“You just called me fat, un!”

“No I didn’t!” Sasori replied.

“Danna, can you get the paint, un?”

Very carefully Sasori bent down and grabbed the bucket, which he balanced on his head. Deidara held one hand against the wall and bent down, dipping his hand in the paint. “This’ll be easy, un!”

“As long as my legs don’t give out,” Sasori growled, eyeing how much they still had to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s done,” Sasori declared, stepping back to look at the wall. He and Deidara had each been working on one half of it, once it had gotten to the point of the bomber not needing to stand on Sasori’s shoulders.

“One more thing, un,” Deidara said, walking over to the can of sky blue paint and dipping his hand in it. He then walked over to the bottom right hand corner of the wall and made a small handprint on the brown surface. “I can write my name in it when it’s dry un,” he explained. “Now it’s your turn, Sasori danna!”

The Akasuna followed Deidara’s lead and dipped his hand in a can of red paint, placing a handprint beside Deidara’s.  He then walked over to the piles of boxes shoved on the other side of the room and pulled out two rags; one for Deidara, and the other for him.

Once they’d toweled off their paint-covered hands, they took a moment to get a good look at their art. “It’s gorgeous, un,” Deidara said, his visible eye lit up with happiness.

“Yes you are,” Sasori whispered, moving closer to Deidara.

The words surprised the blonde, and as he turned to face his friend, Sasori’s arms wrapped around him. “Danna-“ the redhead cut Deidara off with a kiss.

The blonde shut his eyes and kissed back, relishing the feeling off Sasori’s lips against his own. The Akasuna broke away a moment later, smiling at the blonde. “Well?”

“You’re a good kisser, un,” was all Deidara could get out.

Sasori smirked. “Than you won’t mind if I give you another one?” The blonde shook his head, and soon their lips were back together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Konan and Pein were in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner. “Pein, I’m going to take some food up to Deidara and Sasori. Those two never bothered to show up for dinner.”

“Then just let them starve,” Pein said, scraping food into the garbage disposal.

“Not happening,” Konan replied, grabbing two plates of food and walking out of the room.

She set the plates down on a nearby table and pulled the cord to the hatch. “Sasori? Deidara?” No answer. Worried, she climbed up the steps.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of fresh paint. She began looking around the room to find where it was coming from. She didn’t have to look long. As soon as she saw the mural, she froze, eyes wide and mouth open.

It was as if the two artists had removed the wall to see what was outside. The mural showed the side of the house next door, painted in such perfect detail that you could see the cracks in the bricks and the flower pots in the window. A few birds had been drawn on the roof (probably by Deidara), and you could even see a few wisps of smoke rising from the chimney. But that wasn’t all.

You could see the rest part of the next house over, obscured by the first one. Farther along you could see a few additional building, and in the distance were skyscrapers from the city, along with a few cirrus clouds in the bright blue sky above that.

Konan shook her head in disbelief. “Damn, you two really are artists.” It was then that her eyes drifted to the bed. She smiled.

Deidara was curled up against Sasori, who had wrapped his arms around the blonde. They were sound asleep, with the redhead on his back and the bomber on his chest.

Konan smiled as she climbed down the steps. She’d better put up their food before it spoiled.