Chapter 1
The sounds of his leader’s voice seemed distant, the Puppet Master hardly paying much attention to the current meeting as Pain rambled on about which teams were being sent out on missions and which teams were to be waiting on standby for now. From what he had tuned into it seemed he and Deidara were on standby. Fantastic, more waiting. Something he loathed doing no matter what the circumstance was. Sasori wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of just waiting around for their next mission, and knowing how irritating his partner could get when left to his own devices for too long he knew he had to come up with something to occupy them both once this meeting came to an end.
Though he didn’t like the idea of not having a mission to complete, this extra time gave Sasori some much needed freedom. Despite the fact he did not want to bring Deidara along on his little ‘outings’, the younger blonde was somewhat easy to convince that his little explorations were simply to look for more puppet worthy subjects. It’s been far too long since he’s had any kind of real time to himself after all, so maybe this instance of ‘waiting’ wasn’t all that terrible to endure. Sasori tunes back into Pain’s speech for a moment only to hear him conclude the meeting before his projection vanishes. Sasori watches with a bored expression from inside Hiruko as each Akatsuki member’s projection disappears one by one until it’s only he and Deidara left inside the dark cave. A yawn sounds from his partner, drawing Sasori’s attention to the tired looking blonde beside him.
“Man, you’d think our meetings wouldn’t drag on for so long when they’re practically about nothing, hm.” Deidara stretches out his legs, dispelling the stiffness that’s set in from standing in one place for so long. It wasn’t hard to see how much the youngest member disliked the way these meetings were conducted. Especially when they were the only two who were physically present.
“It’s a necessary process. Information needs to be shared and missions need to be given when available. Now hurry up, we have places to be.” Hiruko’s raspy voice chimes out as Sasori directs his body to start heading for the exit, barely giving his partner any time to collect himself.
“Huh? We don’t even have a mission, hm! Where the hell do we have to be all of a sudden?” The blonde practically whines as he hurries to keep up with the Puppet Master. Deidara has an idea on what his partner was going to have them do with their free time but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “You’re gonna go ‘material hunting’ again, aren’t you, hm? Can’t we just relax for once? Why is it every time we don’t have a mission you have to go hunt down some poor sap to turn into another one of your creepy puppets, hm?”
Sasori felt his eye twitch slightly at his partner’s comment, but he wasn’t in the mood to really start this old argument with him today. “If you knew what I was going to do then don’t bother complaining. You’re not going to change my mind. After all, you know how much I hate wasting time.” That seemed to be the end of their little spat, as Deidara only gave him an annoyed huff in response. It seemed his partner wasn’t in the mood to cause a fuss today. Good, it gave him less reason to keep up any kind of argument with the younger boy.
As the pair left the hidden meeting spot, Sasori made his way towards seemingly nowhere. Of course, it was only his partner who had little clue on where they were going. For the Puppet Master, he knew exactly where he was headed and how long it was going to take them to get there. If his past experience was anything to go by it would be about another two weeks before Pain called them all for another meeting, giving the Artist Duo plenty of time to get to the small village that Sasori had marked on his map and then some. He only needed to find one item. A single scroll that has eluded him for far too long now. As much as he wanted to find it quickly, Sasori knew there was little chance that anyone besides himself could ever unseal his missing scroll. Its contents were far too important to just leave unsealed. The mere thought of someone other than himself opening that scroll and laying a single finger on the masterpiece that lay inside was enough to make his blood boil. Metaphorically speaking of course.
Sasori took another look at his travel map, wooden finger tracing along the path they would have to take to get where he needed to go. If the weather proved stable then they should be able to make it to their destination within the next few days, but should they run into a storm it would set them back from anywhere between an entire day to a mere few hours. Not as bad as the last expedition he’d taken before. It didn’t help that he turned up empty handed and without new puppet material. If it weren’t for the fact Deidara got to blow up the insignificant town after they had left he was sure the blonde would still be complaining about it right now. Nevertheless, Sasori hoped that at the very least he could find even a single lead as to where his missing scroll was.
The only Akatsuki member to know about his intentions was Konan. She had defeated him in battle years before and he had come clean to her about his search, this was their agreement. Sasori would be loyal to their cause and in turn, when he and his partner had no mission to complete, he was allowed to go out and search for his missing piece without interference. It was a simple enough arrangement, but he was certain that Konan was under the impression that he would stay even after he found what he was looking for. For now, he had no reason to correct that assumption as his masterpiece was still missing. Though once he had what he wanted, this life will be left behind. No matter the repercussion. The Puppet Master held no loyalty to this organization, he simply knew there was no escaping Konan back then. She had him cornered and this was the only option he had at the time. Once he found what he was missing, the Akatsuki would simply become a part of his past just as his life in the Sand Village had.
“Hey Danna!”
Sasori felt Hiruko shake slightly as Deidara’s voice rang out. At first he thought the other had kicked him out of frustration, but then he felt his puppet begin to fall.
“Shit!” Sasori cursed under his breath as he quickly tried to fix his mistake. Controlling Hiruko to grab onto the nearest tree branch with his tail, he successfully prevented himself from falling off a rather steep incline. Just how deep in thought was he just now? With a small sigh, Sasori pulled himself back up to safety before giving Deidara an annoyed stare. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”
“I did, hm!” The blonde gave his partner an equally annoyed glare. “I kept calling you over and over but you just kept walking forward, hm! Are you going deaf or something in there? You’re never this spaced out, hm.” Deidara crossed his arms, clearly angry that Sasori was even blaming him for something that wasn’t even his fault. Was Sasori in a bad mood or something?
“It’s none of your business, brat. I was just focused on my map.” It wasn’t a complete lie, but still, Deidara had a point. He was never so caught up in his own thoughts that he’d miss an entire cliff right in front of him. He had to focus, had to keep his head clear. This wasn’t the time to be getting lost in the past. Sasori could reminisce during the night when his partner slept and he kept watch, not during the day when he had to focus on the path ahead of them. After all, he was the only one who knew where they were going. Deidara certainly had no clue on where to go unless Sasori gave him the map, and that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
“If you say so, hm.” Deidara’s voice sounded skeptical, like he wasn’t trusting Sasori’s own words, and the Puppet Master didn’t really blame him. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t had much free time like this recently. The pair had been extra busy the past few months, going on both joint missions with other members and solo missions that ate up practically all of their time. Sasori was getting antsy. It’s been years now, he just wanted to find his missing masterpiece already.
She’s been waiting long enough.