Chapter 6
The storm finally subsided the following day. Warm rays of sunshine flowing through the window of the artist duo's room as Deidara slowly woke up from his dreamless sleep. The blonde stretched out with a yawn, feeling the stiffness in his limbs begin to melt away the more he moved around. Taking a glance around the room he noticed that Sasori wasn't there. Strange, the puppeteer didn't have a lot of reasons to go anywhere without him. After all, it's not like he got hungry or needed to use the bathroom. Speaking of which, "Man, I gotta get something to eat, hm." Deidara started getting dressed, throwing on his now dry cloak and making his way down to the lobby.
Sasori was already downstairs, idly chatting with the same woman at the front desk from when they first arrived. When the Puppet Master saw his partner finally coming down the stairs he thanked her and made his way over to Deidara. "Took you long enough to wake up. You know how much I hate waiting." In a rare display of playfulness, Sasori gave the other a small smile. For once not being all too serious about the matter. It clearly threw the other for a loop. "What's with that face? Surprised I actually have a sense of humor?"
"Kinda, yeah." Deidara laughed a bit, genuinely shocked at the sudden attitude shift in his partner. He'll have to appreciate this while it lasts. He was certain that once this little trip was over and they were back to doing their usual Akatsuki work, Sasori wouldn't be as nice. "What were you two talking about over there, hm?"
"Nothing much, just asking where some of the market areas are in this town. That's always the first place to start with." Now that he could be honest with Deidara, he didn't have to make up any kind of excuse or dodge his partner's simple questions. It was refreshing to say the least. "Remember, we're looking for a bright red scroll with a purple scorpion seal on it. It's my most noticeable signature." At least, it was more recognizable the closer they were to the Sand village. Being this far out it was highly unlikely that anyone knew what his signatures were. The name 'Sasori of the Red Sand' only reached so far before it became a mere rumor.
"I remember, hm. But uh, could we get something to eat first? I'm starving." The blonde gave an apologetic smile as he felt his stomach start to growl.
Sasori let himself laugh at that a bit. Of course he'd let the other eat before they started wandering around all day. Deidara was still human and he was young. The kid needed to eat, and despite his appearance Sasori knew just how much Deidara was able to wolf down. It was almost disturbing to say the least. The blonde ate enough for the both of them most times. "Might as well get you a proper meal. We're already gonna get bitched at by Kakuzu about our spending so far, can't exactly get any worse than that." They both laughed at that.
After Deidara had his fill, and took a few snacks for the go, the pair set off to the market area of town. Normally, they wouldn't speak too much with each other. It became the usual routine for these types of trips, Sasori would be in a 'bad mood' and Deidara would leave him be and just follow along silently with maybe a comment or two about their surroundings. Not this time though. This time they were holding a real conversation. No arguments or sarcastic comments, just a real and casual conversation about whatever they felt like. It was a little surreal to say the least. This whole time they've worked together the duo has done nothing but bicker and argue. Who would have thought that just being a little more open with the younger boy would help them move past all of that?
The hours ticked by and their search continued. This town's market area was much bigger than Sasori had anticipated and it seemed like there were more places to look every time they turned a corner. Though with each place they checked, it seemed clear to the Puppet Master that his missing scroll wasn't here. Though he was determined to keep looking until they checked every last place in this village. That included the homes of those who lived here. Once they were done with the peaceful part of their searching, the two of them were more than capable of taking this whole place out without breaking a sweat. There weren't exactly anyone out here that met Sasori's requirements for becoming a new addition to his collection, so Deidara was going to have a real 'blast' once they were done going through the homes.
"Danna! Over here!" Deidara's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Sasori had to look around for a moment before he actually spotted his partner in the semi-crowded streets. The bomber was standing in front of an older looking shop with an equally as old looking man. Sasori made his way over, a little confused as to why it was so important.
"What's wrong?"
Deidara looked excitedly to the old man in question. "Please repeat what you just told me, hm!"
"Of course. The scroll in question, the red one with that funny lookin' bug on it? I remember seein' it in my shop about five years ago. Remember how hard it was to try and get the damn thing open, never could open it though. Was sealed tight that one." He laughed a bit before continuing. "Now, I'm sorry to say I sold it not long after giving up on tryin' to open it, but I do remember a bit about the lad I sold it to!"
Sasori stood in stunned silence as the old man described a pretty generic sounding shinobi, but one detail stood out. The man in question was wearing a Hidden Cloud headband. The Hidden Cloud village. A new clue. A whole new lead. It wasn't much to go off of, and it was five years ago, but it was something! It was more than he's gotten in the last fifteen years! "I don't mean to be rude but, you're absolutely certain that he was wearing a Hidden Cloud headband?"
The old man gave a small snort. "Course I'm sure! I may be old but my memory is still intact! I remember the boy sayin' something about gettin' someone who's more experienced with seals than he was to take a look at it. Never heard back from him so I couldn't tell ya if he ever got it to open or not."
That made Sasori's mind race with unease. Someone more experienced with seals, that wasn't a good sign. He could only hope that whoever was handed his scroll didn't actually manage to unseal it. The thought of Mayumi's body being toyed with by someone else made him feel sick, but this was a step in the right direction. They had a lead now, they had a new destination to get to. If they started right now they could maybe make it part of the way to Cloud village territory before the next Akatsuki meeting.
"Thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate this information." Sasori gave the shop owner some money for compensation before motioning for Deidara to follow him. They needed to leave. Nothing else mattered in this town except for that single piece of information.
"Wow, I've never seen you in this much of a hurry, hm. Though, I can understand why." Deidara was almost jogging to keep up with his partner. He doubts Sasori realizes just how fast he's walking with how distracted he looks right now, but it's understandable. Who would have thought that a lead like that was going to pop up here of all places?
"I hope we don't get another mission next meeting." The Puppet Master mumbled out the words, not really speaking directly to his partner but still wanting to acknowledge that he was still listening. His mind was just racing with too many scenarios that he did not want to happen. To his knowledge, the Hidden Cloud wasn't too familiar with his work so it was possible that even if they had gotten Mayumi's scroll open they would just think she was a simple puppet. But even still, he didn't want anyone to open that scroll. Once it was open that was it. Mayumi was exposed to anyone else who could get their hands on her. It only took one person who knew his work to realise what they could do with her and he loathed that very idea.
"We're going towards the Hidden Cloud, aren't we, hm?" Deidara's voice rang through his thoughts, and Sasori gave him a stern nod.
"We'll go as far as we can before the next meeting, and pray we won't have to change our course any time soon."
I'm coming, Mayumi. I promise I'm coming as fast as I can.