Chapter 5
Sasori watched Deidara's curiosity turn into shock, then into horrified realization. He held up a hand before the other could say anything. "Don't bother apologizing, what's done is done and… I think it's been too long since I last spoke about her. Might actually do me some good." Deidara nodded slowly, and for the first time since they met, Sasori gave him a small smile. "Mayumi and I grew up together, I met her through my grandmother's medical work. Being a poisons expert, she regularly needed ingredients delivered to our home. Mayumi was usually, if not always, the delivery person. Despite being a year younger than me she was more active in the village than I was."
Deidara sat in silence as he listened to Sasori tell his story. Hearing his partner speak so highly of someone else, it was strange. Even more so than seeing just how happy the other was talking about her. The whole situation just seemed so surreal. When Sasori paused for a moment, Deidara took that as an opportunity to ask, "In that picture, she wasn't wearing any sort of regular shinobi gear. Was she just a normal citizen?"
Sasori shook his head. "No, she was training to be a medical ninja. Mayumi had a rare ability, at least rare for the Sand village, where she could grow any kind of plant from whatever soil was around. So long as she had chakra and some dirt, she was set. Of course, being young she had her limits. It's not like she could create a whole forest on a whim, she needed time and it took a lot of concentration on her part to make sure she grew the right thing. Mayumi had to study about every kind of medical herb you could think of." Sasori remembered the time he visited her one day at the hospital's greenhouse, calling out a simple greeting to her before he was suddenly surrounded by vines. The scolding they got from the other medical ninja still stuck in his mind to this day.
"So, what happened to her?" The question was mumbled out, Deidara being hesitant to know the answer but so very curious. "Was she…?" The blonde didn't want to finish his sentence. The idea of someone killing a young medical ninja wasn't exactly crazy to think of, but this was a girl his partner seemed to care deeply for. So to ask such a thing felt almost wrong.
"No!" Sasori's answer was immediate. "God no. No one killed her. She never even set foot outside the village, let alone had anyone that wanted her dead. Though, I almost wish that was the case." The Puppet Master's voice seemed to die out a bit. His eyes cast downward as a hand ran through his hair. The storm outside raged on, another flash of lightning filling the room with mere seconds of bright light before it died out. The room once again only dimly lit by the cheap lights inside. "If someone had tried to kill her, that would've been so much easier to prevent. What happened instead was… so much worse."
"Worse than being killed? What could be worse than that, hm?"
"Having a sickness with no cure."
Deidara's mouth opened, only to close quickly as he started to put the pieces together. When he spoke again, his voice was so low it was almost drowned out by the pounding rain against the window. "You watched her die, didn't you?"
Sasori let out a dry laugh, hands balled up into tight fists as he looked off to the side. "I watched her go from this beautiful, energetic girl who could make anyone smile to a frail and sickly husk that couldn't even get out of her hospital bed without coughing up a lung. This photo… is the last photo of her before she fell ill. Before Mayumi started to rot away from the inside out." If Sasori could still cry he might have started right there. Thinking about what happened to Mayumi again, remembering those last few weeks with her in the Sand village, it was getting to be too much. "I… I don't wanna talk about this anymore." His voice was starting to waver, something that was so unlike him. He hasn't felt this vulnerable in years.
"I'm sorry, Danna. I didn't mean to…" Deidara isn't sure how to finish that sentence. He didn't mean to, what? Bring up this awful memory of his partner watching a girl he cared for die slowly? All because he happened to pick up an old photo? The blonde felt like he just intruded on something that was never supposed to be seen, yet Sasori was sitting here, telling him as much as he could without breaking down. That had to mean something, right? That Sasori trusted him at least a little bit to know this much? "I'm sorry, hm."
"I don't know why you're apologizing. It's my own fault for getting so worked up over this." If he had just played it off from the beginning, had maybe just gone along with Deidara's initial thought that she was his sister, he could've avoided all of this. Yet here he was, telling this kid about someone he wanted to keep secret from everyone in the Akatsuki. Maybe it was because he knew how excited Mayumi would be. How he knew her eyes would light up at the idea of watching one of Deidara's creations explode into a cloud of smoke and fire. She would've loved to ramble on with his partner about his art, and Sasori knew that. "Do you want to know the real reason I've been dragging you out on these 'material hunts'?"
Deidara's head tilts in confusion. "It's not for puppet material?"
Sasori shakes his head. "No. I'm… I'm looking for Mayumi's body."
"Wait, but you said-"
"Let me finish." Deidara was quick to shut his mouth. The red head continued. "Mayumi's last wish… was for me to turn her into a human puppet. She even went so far as to tell me I could use her as a weapon, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to her. I did make her into a puppet, but I made her into one in preparation to bring her back. That's why I did it to myself first." Sasori looked down at himself, eyes fixed on his exposed core. "I needed to make sure this would work out. But…" Sasori hesitated, reaching out for the photo and staring at it as he continued. "I ended up losing the scroll I sealed her body into."
"That's what you're looking for then? Her missing scroll? That's why you've been dragging me around on these weird little side missions all this time?"
The Puppet Master nods, carefully tucking away the photo into his pocket. "That's exactly why. I've been looking for her for damn near fifteen years now and I still can't find a trace of her. As confident as I am in my sealing ability, all it will take is one skilled shinobi who recognizes my work to unseal her scroll and potentially fuck up everything I did for her." He paused for a moment, trying to collect himself. He was getting worked up again. "I made sure she was perfect. She's my masterpiece and I can't bear the thought that some amateur could find her, get her unsealed, and use her against her will. Mayumi doesn't deserve that."
Deidara was quiet for a moment, taking in the state his partner was in right now. Sasori has never been so… open with him before. It was clear that there was more to this whole story, but with how emotional it seemed the other was getting maybe it was better they leave things where they are for today. "Danna, we don't have to talk about her anymore today. You've told me more than enough." He offered his fellow artist a reassuring smile, trying to show that he was more than happy with what he was told so far. "If she means this much to you, then count me in on this search and rescue, hm."
Sasori looked up in shock. Did he just hear that correctly? "You… wanna help me find her?"
"Yeah! She's your masterpiece, right? As one artist to another, it'd be a real shame if I didn't get to meet her, hm. And now all these extra missions make more sense! You just tell me what her scroll looks like and I'll program the details into my scope, hm." He sounded confident unlike just moments before. The idea of helping to find his partner's 'masterpiece' was one that never crossed his mind before, yet here they were. If it was this important for Sasori, for him to call Mayumi his masterpiece, then as an artist himself it was only fair that Deidara lend him a hand in trying to find her and get her back.
The Puppet Master stayed silent for a moment, trying to process what just happened. Deidara wanted to help him? He really wanted to help find her? After a long minute of silence, Sasori can't help but let a smile break across his face. "You know, you're not all that terrible, Deidara." Suddenly, Sasori's waning hope seemed reignited. With any luck, Mayumi won't have to wait much longer.
I'll find you soon, my missing masterpiece. I promise.