Chapter 1
Part One: Deidara
This...This is my worst nightmare.
What do you mean?
Oh, you’ll see soon enough.
~~~
Deidara walked through the forest. It was strangely quiet.
A shiver ran through him that had nothing to do with the cold.
He brushed his hair from his eyes--yes, he had long hair--and pulled his sweater closer.
Crunch, Crunch, Crunch.
Deidara’s eyes widened.
There were blood trails in the grass.
~~~
Wanting to go outside was a bad idea.
Deidara wasn’t sure if he should call his friends or go alone.
Calling his friends would offer protection, of course. And Sasori.
But going alone would prove that he isn’t a weak fool that can’t protect himself.
That was the problem. When you're in the Akatsuki, you have to be strong.
He actually had no idea how he actually got into the Akatsuki.
Deidara still remembered the first meeting with them quite well…
---
He shuffled into the room. One, two, three...Eight people were seated at the big table, shining in the light.
A light blue hair colored girl with a rose in her hair stared at him when he came in, the only girl there.
The raven hair colored boy rubbed his eyes and shoved his glasses back on his face.
Sharp teeth grinned at him from the side of the raven haired teen. The teeth were from a shark looking fellow.
A man wearing a mask pierced through Deidara with his greenish-red eyes.
Next to the mask wearing man sat a bored looking boy with violet eyes--a strange color, if you asked Deidara--and silver hair. He looked like he wanted to punch someone.
Red hair caught Deidara’s attention.
So Sasori IS here. Deidara mused.
The leader of all of them, the orange haired man with weird eyes, slapped the table.
“SILENCE!”
The chatting stopped. He looked around the table.
“Where is Orochimaru?”
“He’s late, probably doing some crappy experiment.”
Then the said person named “Orochimaru” burst through the door. He had silted eyes not unlike a cat’s and pure white skin. Dark black hair hung around his face.
“I heard that.” He started with venom dripping from his words.
“Oh, sorry for hurting your feelings.” Replied the person which turned out to be the glasses wearing boy.
Orochimaru hissed.
“Orochimaru, sit down. Itachi, shut your mouth. We have an appointment with…” Pain stared at Deidara.
Deidara felt a bead of sweat drip down his neck.
He’s asking my name…?
“I-Uhm-I’m Deidara.”
“Deidara. Alright, take a seat.”
Deidara awkwardly sat on the chair in the middle of all of them, facing the leader.
“I believe we need to introduce ourselves.” Chirped the girl.
“Alright. I’ll start, and we will go from left to right.”
The leader cleared his throat.
“I’m Pain, leader of the Akatsuki, owner of the Rinnegan.”
The girl smiled at Deidara and started.
“I’m Konan, the singular girl here. I use origami to fight.”
The Raven-haired boy rolled his eyes.
“I’m Itachi, a user of Sharingan, and bored as heck right now.”
“I’m Kisame, and stop being rude, ‘Tachi.”
“My name is Kakuzu.”
“Damn, you ain’t talkative today, huh old man?”
“Shut up and introduce yourself.”
“Fine, whatever. I’m fucking Hidan.”
“And I’m Sasori.”
Deidara looked at the redhead, but was jolted back to Pain.
“Please introduce your powers.”
Deidara coughed a little, then he slowly dug in his pocket and pulled out a piece of… clay.
“BITCH, IS THAT FUCKING CLAY?” Shouted Hidan. Kakuzu clamped his hand over his mouth.
“Hidan!” warned Konan, shooting him a look.
Deidara waved to show that he was still there.
He then molded his clay into a small butterfly, then threw it in the air.
It exploded.
Konan shielded her eyes but then opened them suddenly after the explosion turned into a rainbow.
“Woah…”
Sasori stared at the rainbow with interest.
Pain nodded.
“Very impressive, but is that all?”
Deidara shook his head.
“No, but um...Can we go outside for this demo, un?”
“But of course.”
~~~
Deidara inched towards the blood.
It was actually a long trail, about ten feet in length, and it didn’t stop there.
The grass crunched.
He winched. In the eerily silent forest, the sound was as loud as a megaphone screech.
Deidara put his hand on the blood. A tongue inched itself out of his palm and licked the trail, recoiling in disgust a few seconds later.
“EWW!”
Deidara rolled their eyes.
“You don’t need to be so dramatic.”
The hand spat out a mouthful and groaned.
“Why did ya make me lick that? I’d rather lick SHIT than that again!”
“Because I can. Shut up!”
Deidara took a deep breath and kept on walking.
---
“So you can explode some stuff, why should we add you to the Akatsuki?”
Deidara winched at Itachi’s words.
“As much as I hate to admit it, the blind bat bitch is actually right for once!” Hidan exclaimed.
Deidara gulped.
“I-I can also do this-”
He shakily molded some clay and put it on the ground. Then he made some hand signals to the tiny little figure.
It first grew into a bird-like shape, then it-
Itachi dove out of the way as the thing grew to an impossible size and towered over all of them. Hidan very audibly gasped.
Kakuzu’s expression didn’t change, but he was looking.
Konan had an expression of wonder and was clutching Pain’s arm.
Orochimaru was grinning creepily at the creation, then at Deidara. Kisame noticed, but turned away because of the amazing creation.
Sasori was now paying attention, looking at Deidara with a mixture of confusion and amazement.
Deidara held his gaze on Sasori for a little bit longer.
Then jumped on the bird thing.
“Are you guys...coming with me, un?”
~~~
A little scream managed to escape Deidara’s mouth-and just his. The two mouths on his palms remained silent.
A grotesque body lay on the ground, face trapped in never ending agony. Blood was splattered on it’s once recognizable face that was now ripped apart. It’s limp hands lay there, reaching for help that would never come.
Anyone with half a brain should turn away.
But remember.
Deidara was very curious, being only seventeen and the youngest of the Akatsuki-who were known for being very weird and odd. I mean, if you were the youngest of a group of people that kill for pleasure and collect weird ancient beasts from legends, surely you would be very curious too, right?
So, with the saying “Curiosity killed the cat” in the back of his mind, Deidara reached out and touched the hand of the poor soul that had expired.