Chapter 7
They were so close. So close yet so far away. The Artist Duo made it into Cloud Village territory before having to stop and find a place to settle down so they can attend the next Akatsuki meeting. It was so grating, to be so close to a new lead yet not being able to go further until they attended to their work as Akatsuki. Sasori wished he didn't have to. Wished he could just skip the meeting without being questioned and keep following this lead, but he knew better. He knew he had to keep up his end of the deal with Konan, lest she or Pein start getting on his case about all his 'side missions'. Better safe than sorry when it comes to dealing with those two.
The pair made their way into a secluded area of the woods, making sure it was safe enough for them to be left defenseless for the time being. Once they were in the meeting it would be difficult for them to keep their senses sharp enough to know if there was danger approaching them. Difficult, but not impossible. Sasori looks to the sky, squinting slightly as the sun shone right above them. It was almost time.
"Let's get this over with." The Puppet Master was about to take a seat when his partner gave him a quizzical look. "What?"
"You sure you're not forgetting something there, Danna?"
Sasori stood up straight, looking at Deidara as if the younger boy had just spoken another language altogether. "What are you talking about? I'm not forgetting anything. The meeting is about to start and we're in a secluded enough area that we won't be bothered. What could I possibly be forgetting?"
The blonde gave his partner one last look, clearly suppressing a smile. "Danna, you're forgetting about Hiruko." Deidara watched as Sasori's face went from questioning his sanity to slightly flustered. His partner has been outside of that nasty old puppet for the better part of the past two weeks. It seemed as though the Puppet Master had temporarily forgotten that the others would have questioned him relentlessly had he shown up to the meeting looking the way he did now, and he wouldn't have blamed them. Sasori rarely ever showed his true face around any of them so Deidara counted himself extremely lucky these past few weeks. It was honestly nicer than constantly looking at Hiruko's angry mug all day.
Sasori, on the other hand, couldn't believe he almost went into a meeting in his true body. He's been way too out of it lately, but could anyone really blame him? Too much has happened in such a short amount of time, it's making his head spin. The Puppet Master quickly summoned up Hiruko and climbed inside, finding an odd sense of relief wash over him once he was surrounded by a familiar darkness. Closed spaces always did seem to calm him down, even when he was still human. "Now, let's hurry up and get this meeting over with." Hiruko's raspy voice spoke up, so dramatically different from Sasori's own voice.
Deidara just gave a nod and sat behind his partner, focusing his thoughts so he can project himself back to the Akatsuki's usual meeting place. Once both artists were present, the group only needed to wait a few more moments before Itachi's and Kisame's projections finally arrived. Seemed like no one was physically at the meeting place this time around.
"Good, we're all here." Pein's voice rang out, a bit of static distorting it slightly as always. "Now, let us begin." The meeting wasn't too long, the members merely sharing what little information they had, if they had any at all. Kakuzu talked about their finances while Hidan complained, not that that was anything new for the Zombie Duo. What Sasori really wanted out of this meeting was to know if he and Deidara had a mission or not. He needed to know if they were going to get side tracked or if they could keep going forward with his search.
It's been so long since the last time he's felt this close to finding Mayumi. Fifteen years of searching could all come to a close. He could finally bring her back, could finally keep his promise to her and show her a world outside of the Sand village's desert. She could finally experience the world like she was meant to without the fear of ending up in a hospital again. All he needed to hear was that there were no missions for him and Deidara. As if the universe decided to give him a miracle, Pein announced that there would be no missions until further notice. Something about important planning needing to be done before they could proceed with their main goal. Sasori didn't really care much, he had the answer he needed.
Once the meeting finished, Sasori was quick to recall Hiruko again and look over to Deidara expectantly. The blonde merely gave him a knowing smile as he reached into his clay bag, readying to make them a new ride.
"You know Danna, I think this is the most you've ever let me fly us around, hm." He quickly made the owl-like creature come to life, hopping up on its wing before turning back to his partner. "You finally getting used to being in the air, hm?" Deidara gave the red head a cocky smile, though it was quickly lost when Sasori nearly pushed him off his own creation with a huff.
"Don't push your luck, brat. I still hate flying but it's faster than walking and I'm more impatient than ever. Just get this thing in the air and try not to throw me off." He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but the need to get going was gnawing at his mind so fiercely it would have given him a headache if he were still human. Thankfully, it didn't seem like Deidara was too put off by his demands as he made the creature take off into the sky. Once more, Sasori had to kneel down and take hold of the creation as Deidara flew them ever closer to their destination.
They'd have to be extra careful this time around. This isn't going to be some remote town in the middle of nowhere, they're not going to be able to just walk in without causing some kind of stir. The pair needed to be tactical about this, and they needed to be smart. Sasori recalls what the old man had told them about the ninja he sold the scroll to: an average looking guy, curly brown hair, blue eyes, and a distinctive scar across his right cheek. That's the most important detail, yet even still it was possible that they wouldn't even run into the shinobi they were looking for. And even if he can't find the guy, all Sasori needs to know is where Mayumi's scroll went next or if she was still inside Cloud territory. It all seemed so simple, but the Puppet Master knew better by now. Nothing these past fifteen years has been simple, and he wasn't about to expect any different now.