2. Sudden kindness

(This is a Naruto fanfic) Deidara found an unlikely friend in the master of illusions, and struggles to follow his advice. But in the end of the day, perseverance is rewarded.

"You should find a way to battle without your clay. Otherwise, if you run out, you will be helpless. Remember, always keep an ace up your sleeve and save your trump card for last."

Itachi's words played over and over again in Deidara's mind as he put finishing touches on his latest piece of art. It was a new kind of bomb, a really tiny clay bird. He made it small enough to allow quick production and fast flight, but still filled it with enough of his chakra to pack quite a punch. It was rather compact in shape and sported a long beak, reminding him of a hummingbird. Deidara would send out this new weapon to pierce deep into his enemies and make them explode from the inside. It was brilliant, and he could not believe that this idea had not crossed his mind earlier. Now, all he had to do was mass-produce it and store the finished product in his body. That way, he could fight even if the clay in his bags ran out, or the bags were lost to him somehow.

"That has to count as an ace, un," he thought to himself, curling his long blonde hair around his fingers as he watched the miniature hummingbird fly around in his room.

Lately, Deidara had also been honing his hand-to-hand skills whenever he could, and with most of the other teams out on missions, he had managed to spend quite some time in the training areas, both outside and in the basement. Sasori had refused to spar with him at first, but eventually the redhead succumbed when Deidara had promised not to mess around in his workshop for a whole month. He realised that Deidara must really be serious about his training to make such a promise, considering he was normally a real nuisance in Sasori's opinion; a carefree brat with an all too vivid personality and neverending energy. So Sasori had decided to give him a chance, and had cleaned the poison from some of his weapons and puppets to avoid unnecessarily killing a member of their organisation. Annoying as the blonde could be, it would be troublesome to find yet another new partner.

After only a few days of training, Sasori had to admit to himself that he was quite impressed with the bomber's progress. Deidara was a quick learner, and he finally got to use all that energy for something useful. He had suffered a lot of injuries during their training, but he would not give up easily, and kept pressing himself towards better results each day. Even their leader, Pein, could not help letting a small smile sneak across his face when Deidara finally managed to break through Sasori's line of puppet defenders and successfully throw a kunai that forced Sasori to actually move out of the way, tearing a small rip in his cloak.

Of course, Pein had not told neither of the two that he had been secretly watching them from time to time. He did not mean to spy or any such thing, he had just happened upon them during one of his strolls two days ago, and found it rather amusing to see Deidara trying so hard, and even more amusing that he had actually convinced Sasori to train him. Pein watched them for another minute or two before leaving to continue with his paperwork, currently consisting of sorting out the priorities of the new mission arrangements he had made recently.

A few hours later, Deidara was completely exhausted and struggling to catch his breath. His clothes were ripped and he had several new injuries that were aching and bleeding. Sasori's puppet body was unharmed, and he almost felt a bit sorry for the blonde.

"Hey brat, let's call it a day," the redhead said and released the summoning jutsu on his puppets, causing them to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"But Sasori-danna, I can still-"

"No," Sasori interrupted, "you can not. You're barely standing." He headed for the door, the stairs leading out of the basement being on the other side.

"Don't be ridiculous, un! Let me fight you once more!" Deidara said demandingly. Sasori stopped for a moment, and then in one fluid motion he turned around and threw a pair of senbon needles in Deidara's direction. Deidara's eyes widened and he moved instinctively, but his legs would not fully support him anymore, and he stumbled. He ended up on his knees on the floor with the senbons sticking out of his right arm, flinching at the pain.

"You b*****d, un! What was that for?!" Deidara shouted angrily.

"Proof that your stubborness will get the better of you one day," Sasori answered with a stern look on his face. "If those had still been poisoned you'd be dead soon."

The words hit Deidara's ego like a sledgehammer, and he lowered his head as the realisation sank in and exchanged his fighting spirit for something similar to depression. He remained in this state until Sasori snapped him out of it by pulling the senbons out of his arm.

"Ow!" Deidara looked up at his partner through his bangs, pouting at the harsh treatment.

"Come on," Sasori said simply, "let's get you cleaned up before dinner." He pulled Deidara up to his feet. "And you should rest properly tonight so you regain your energy for tomorrow's session." The blonde was almost in a state of shock, he had never before experienced kindness like this from the puppet master. He did not know how to react, so he settled for simply following him in a slow pace, struggling up the stairs and towards his room.

Deidara discarded his ruined shirt and pants on the floor while Sasori grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom. The redhead cleaned and dressed the wounds Deidara could not reach in his poor condition, and then went over to the wardrobe and pulled out some new clothes. He handed them to the blonde, and then headed for the door.

"Thank you, un," Deidara said in a low voice, not knowing what else to say.

"You're welcome," Sasori answered just as low, then closed the door behind him and left for the kitchen. He did not eat, but he still helped with the dinner preperations. The gesture was always appreciated,  no matter who cooked. Tonight it was Konan, and she was making her famous rabbit stew, on Pein's request. It was well liked by all the members, and together with the special salad she had taught Sasori how to make, it was a very hearty meal. It was not too heavy, but contained everything a person needed to grow strong, and with her secret composition of spices it tasted heavenly.

Deidara joined them after a while, trying his best not to let the pain from all the injuries show. Soon after, Pein also showed up. When the stew was ready, all four sat down at the table and discussed various topics while they ate the delicious food. Pein informed them that the others should be back tomorrow; Itachi and Kisame early in the morning, and Kakuzu and Hidan later in the evening. Zetsu and Tobi had already recieved new orders and had chosen to start their next mission right away, heading directly to their new destination rather than returning to base first.

Deidara lightened up a bit when he heard that Itachi would be back tomorrow. They had been friends for years now, ever since they first met. Itachi had found him after he had fled from Iwagakure, blowing up half of the village in the process. He had tested Deidara, and even though his art was full of flaws at the time, Deidara was still recruited into the Akatsuki shortly after. The Uchiha prodigy must have seen something in him with those intimidating eyes, some quality or potential he did not know about himself. Or perhaps it was simply because the organisation found his unique, temperamental jutsu interesting.

Deidara did not care much for the reason, he was just happy that he had found a new 'family', one that actually appreciated his talents. He and Itachi got along very well, even though they were as different as two sides of a coin. The blonde had found that Itachi's presence soothed him in some way, and only Itachi could calm him down when he was having one of his fits of hyperactivity. In turn, even though Itachi was usually a serious man of few words, Deidara noticed that the Uchiha seemed to open up more around him, and the bomber could actually get him to smile without a reason every once in a while. Thinking about the raven made Deidara realise that he actually missed him a little bit.

After dinner, Deidara flinched quietly as he got up from his seat. He hoped desperately that no one had noticed, and did his best to help with the dishes before leaving the kitchen to head for his room. He wanted to finish the last few pages of the book that Itachi had left there for him. He flopped down in his soft armchair, hissing at the sharply stinging sensation that now seemed to cover his enitre body. That had become a thing of theirs; leaving gifts for one another if they did not see each other for some time due to overlapping missions. Deidara usually left various kinds of handmade candy in Itachi's room, as the master illusionist had a real sweet tooth, and Itachi would leave various books and novels for the bomber, since Deidara greatly enjoyed the fantasy worlds they often described. And last year, for his birthday, Deidara got a story that Itachi had written himself. It had completely sucked him in, once he started reading it he had not been able to let it go until he had finished. It was full of everything that the blonde loved; beautiful landscapes, fictional creatures, magic, dark secrets, and so on.

A knock on the door pulled Deidara back to reality.

"Enter," he said simply, after an attempt to get up caused jolts of pain to emanate from his worst injuries. The door opened, and Pein stepped into the room, a glass of water in his hand. Deidara was surprised at the leader's sudden visit, and once more tried to get up.

"Don't. There is no need," Pein said, walking over to the corner where Deidara was sitting. The blonde slowly settled again, thankful for his leader's informality. Pein put the glass down on the small table next to the armchair, and then put two pills beside it.

"Take these. They'll help with the pain and provide a good night's sleep," he stated matter-of-factly, his Rinnegan eyes hastily meeting Deidara's visible blue one before he turned to leave. The blonde felt his heart skip a beat.

"W-wait!" he called out, louder than he had meant to, and he blushed slightly as he realised. Pein stopped, and turned to look back at the bomber.

"Why? How did you know, un?" Deidara continued, his voice lower this time.

"I know many things," the leader answered in a mysterious tone, causing Deidara to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Pein grinned at the bomber's look.

"If you need a real person to spar with, and Itachi's not around, let me know. I always welcome a break from all the office work."

Deidara was stunned by the invitation, just staring at the door even several minutes after the leader had left. Then he finally returned to his senses and finished his book before putting it aside and downing the pills and glass of water that Pein had given him. He strained himself to get up, and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he felt the painkillers starting to take effect, he undressed, carelessly dropping his clothes to the floor as his whole body stinged at the movement. Despite the pain, he reached up to pull out the red ribbon keeping his pony tail tied up, letting it fall freely to join the rest of his hair flowing over his shoulders and down his back. He crawled into bed, a wave of sleepiness hitting him as soon as he pulled the covers up. He reflected on his day, thought about the sudden kindness shown to him, and then gently drifted off to heroic adventures and worlds unknown.