Chapter 8
Flying over the Land of Lightning without being spotted was tricky, the duo having to make sure that they weren't flying too erratically in the open air so as to avoid being immediately spotted. From a distance Deidara's creation looked like a normal bird, but all it took was one keen eye and some curiosity for someone to see that that wasn't the case. The pair had to be stealthy. Sasori couldn't afford to be caught now, especially now that he's gotten back on Mayumi's trail. Though, her trail was leading them into a pretty precarious situation at the moment.
The Land of Lightning had plenty of small villages dotting the region, but they were specifically looking for a Hidden Cloud ninja, which meant they needed to go straight for the Hidden Cloud village. That alone was a dangerous idea. Deidara and Sasori were wanted criminals, and no doubt the pair were at the very least known to any high ranking Cloud Ninja. Sasori himself was wanted for killing the Third Kazakage of the Hidden Sand and lord knows Deidara had committed some major crimes before joining the Akatsuki. Hell, their leader had found out about the blonde because of his flashy and over the top kills. If he was really going to track down the shinobi he was looking for, they were going to need a strategy.
"Deidara!" Sasori called out, thankful his partner heard him as the blonde looked back at him. "Look for a secluded place to land! We need a plan!" The bomber nods, and Sasori is grateful he doesn't need to shout even louder over the sound of roaring winds. Yet another reason he could add to his list of why he hates flying. It can be so damn noisy up here, Sasori hated having to be so loud. That level of volume was always left to Mayumi's over excited personality. When she was around, she was always loud enough for the both of them. He couldn't wait to hear her voice again.
The pair finally landed down in an area that was well covered. It should keep them hidden enough until they could devise a plan for their search. Deidara decided not to dispel his creation, seeing no reason to waste their current mode of transportation just yet. They weren't nearly close enough to the Hidden Cloud to warrant them walking the rest of the way. The blonde stayed sat on the back of the owl-like beast while his partner jumped down and took a seat on a nearby rock. "So, what were you thinking about getting into the Hidden Cloud, hm?"
Sasori stayed quiet for a moment, thinking over their current situation. They were more than capable of infiltrating that Hidden Cloud, but how they were going to do it was what he needed to decide. It was already clear they had to be stealthy so that meant nothing flashy on Deidara's end. They were going to be here for what he assumed was going to be at the very least a few weeks, at most a month or two. They were looking for one man among thousands after all. There's no way this was going to be a short stay. "How good are you at transformation type jutsu? We're going to need to be disguised for a while."
Deidara hummed in thought. He hasn't exactly practiced using that kind of jutsu since his academy days, and he assumed Sasori was in a similar boat, but it couldn't be that hard to put into effect. "It's been a long while, but I'm sure I could hold a stable transformation, hm. I take it were gonna need to think up some new identities for a bit, hm?"
Sasori nods, grateful that Deidara was catching on so quickly. He was going to continue, but his partner's stupid grin caught his eye. "What?"
Deidara had to hold in a small snort at what he was about to say. "I mean, are you sure you need a disguise, Danna? Pretty sure most people won't expect Sasori of the Red Sand to look like a teenager, hm." Just as he had expected, Deidara was quick to dodge a small rock that had been thrown at his head. Sasori clearly did not take his joke lightly. "I'm sorry but it's true, hm!" Dispite his apology, the blonde was still holding back laughter.
"Will you shut up and be serious! This is why I keep calling you a brat all the time!" Sasori threw another rock at his partner, quite upset that the other dodged both so readily. He needed to work on his aim later. "This is serious, Deidara! I'm not about to just waltz into the Hidden Cloud village without being disguised! That's just asking for us to be discovered!" He let out a huff of annoyance as Deidara continued to hide behind his creation. Sasori had a feeling that the other was just trying to lighten his mood, but now wasn't really the time for jokes. They needed to be serious about this right now. If he botched this lead in any way it could ruin his chances of finding out where Mayumi's scroll had ended up next, and that wasn't something he was willing to risk right now.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, hm! Just wanted to mess with you a bit, hm." Deidara peaked out from behind his creation, looking for any sign that Sasori was going to throw something else at him. Thankfully, it didn't seem the Puppet Master had any more ammo nearby. He almost felt bad for the other. It wasn't like Sasori to be this worked up over things, but Deidara couldn't really blame him. If he were in the Puppet Master's shoes right now, he might even be worse. Fifteen years was a long time to be looking for someone, especially when it was the person you loved. "I didn't mean to make you mad, hm. But back to the topic of transformations, I'm confident I'll be able to hold on for at least a day or two consistently, hm. After that though I'll need a break, so we'll have to rent a place in the village once we get there, hm."
It was a dangerous gamble, to rent a place in the Hidden Cloud while assuming two totally different identities, but it was a risk they would have to take. Plus, it wasn't like they could immediately go looking for their target, that would just cause suspicions to be held against them. Two random strangers showing up and suddenly asking around about a Cloud shinobi? That just screams danger. The two will have to lay low for a bit once they arrive, make up some kind of story as to why they were there, and then start looking around for the ninja that bought Mayumi's scroll five years ago. It was definitely going to be time consuming, but what else could they do in this type of situation?
"First, we'll work on our disguises. That's what's most important right now. After we get to the village we can come up with some kind of story as to why we're there. After all, no one's going to pry into a stranger's business right away."
The rest of the day, Deidara and Sasori worked together to create believable disguises. Both were far more rusty with the transformation jutsu than they initially believed. Not having used that specific jutsu in quite some years meant that both desperately needed the added practice. It was almost comical when they thought about it. Both were classified as S-Ranked criminals, wanted dead or alive by their home villages and dead by almost every other village, yet here they were, struggling to get these simple transformation disguises to work with them. If Sasori wasn't so stressed out he would laugh at their more ridiculous failures. Deidara changing his entire body, but still having his own head. Sasori managing to change his top half but having his bottom half be his puppet body. Both of them turning into things that just weren't human to begin with by total accident. It really was comical, and maybe they could laugh about it later, but for now, they needed to get this down perfectly.
Sasori was certain that Mayumi was laughing at them both from inside her scroll. Wherever that may be.