"Why are you here?"
Just as Deidara was about to put his polite plan into action, a cold voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.
Deidara nearly jumped out of his skin.
After weeks of living cautiously, his nerves were on edge. He whipped around, then relaxed when he saw who it was, "S-Sasori-danna! It's you!"
Sasori, with his youthful, expressionless face, stared at him.
"How'd you sneak up on me like that?" Deidara patted his chest, "Oh, right. I forgot you don't have a heartbeat since you're a puppet."
Sasori was dressed in plain civilian clothes, the bulky Hiruko shell long since destroyed. His smooth, doll-like face was fully exposed, his mechanical body moving without a sound. It made sense that he could approach undetected, as he wasn't alive in the usual sense.
Snowflakes settled on Sasori's cheeks, his expression as cold as the weather.
He frowned, taking in Deidara's ragged state, then pointed to his own chest.
Deidara: "?"
"I do have a heartbeat." Sasori spoke with grave seriousness, as if correcting a child's misunderstanding. After a pause, he continued, "What are you doing here?"
His gaze shifted to the lump of white clay stuck to the door. The air grew even colder.
"Sasori-danna, I came to join you!" Deidara laughed nervously, quickly peeling off the explosive clay. He tried to deflect with flattery, "But when no one answered… I knew you must've stepped out!"
"…"
The excuse was flimsy, but under Sasori's withering glare, Deidara could only grin like an idiot.
Honestly, without Hiruko's weathered face and gruff voice, facing his senior like this felt weird. But the cold aura and murderous stare is Sasori he knew.
In the end, Sasori didn't press further. He stepped forward and unlocked the door.
…
Inside, a small fireplace crackled with warmth. Deidara rubbed his reddened hands together, finally relaxing.
The howling snowstorm was shut out as Sasori closed the door. He glanced at Deidara, still stamping his feet and blowing into his palms, then walked to the table, "You look terrible."
He poured himself tea, setting the steaming kettle down, "Help yourself."
"Oh? Yeah, yeah!" Deidara happily poured his own cup. At the question, his face fell, and he launched into a rant without hesitation, "Sasori-danna, this past month's been rough! I had to lay low while healing, and it sucked! Once I was better, I figured I should find someone reliable…"
The old wooden house felt oddly secure in the snow. Sasori sat quietly, listening as Deidara rambled on, jumping from topic to topic until his story was done.
For a moment, the scene felt familiar… the snow pattering against the walls, the steam rising from their cups. Sasori only snapped out of it when Deidara started waving a hand in his face.
"Hey, hey! Sasori-danna, what do you think?"
"Mn." Sasori took a moment to process Deidara's word vomit.
"You don't need to say you're 'joining' me." His tone was flat, though the heart in his chest no longer matched his cold demeanor.
According to Deidara, Akatsuki had suffered heavy losses during their second-phase plans, and even their leader had been defeated. The idea of continuing as Akatsuki now felt awkward.
Sasori might've been a hardcore shut-in, but he was aware of recent events.
After the initial success of the Biju Capture Plan, Akatsuki's clashes with Konoha had gone downhill fast. Hidan and Kakuzu are dead, Itachi and Logan gone. If not for luck, he and Deidara might've shared their fate.
Aside from them, the only members left were Konan, Kisame, Zetsu, and the suspicious Tobi.
With so many gone, especially Pain, Sasori and Deidara both saw the organization as effectively dead.
And Deidara, faced with Akatsuki's collapse and the Five Great Nations' condemnation, had chosen not to report back to Amegakure.
Instead, he'd sought out his former partner.
To him, Sasori might've been the only person he could call a friend.
"Guess I just feel safer with you around?" Deidara said breezily, completely oblivious to how sappy that sounded, "Don't really know the others well… Maybe it's an artist thing? Hahaha!"
The warmth of the tea seemed to seep into his palms. Sasori stared at him for a long moment before sighing, 'Some things never changed.'
"Besides…" Deidara added, "The leader is dead, Itachi's gone, so what's the point? Not like I'm scared or anything, it's just… boring, you know?"
Sasori could've called him out, but he just smirked, "True."
"Right?!"
Akatsuki had been a ruthless ship where strength ruled. But now that it had sunk, why would its unwilling crew stay loyal?
Pain had been an immovable mountain. With that pressure gone, Sasori's thoughts aligned with Deidara's. Otherwise, he wouldn't have holed up here, watching the world burn from afar.
"So what's the plan, Sasori-danna?"
Deidara, now revitalized by the tea, refilled his cup and leaned in eagerly, "Do you want to team up and cause some chaos? My clay's been itching for action, we could hit Amegakure, teach Tobi some respect… Ooh, or go after Uchiha Sasuke?"
His ideas were endless, each more reckless than the last.
'What now?'
The question gave Sasori pause. He'd been resting for so long, so he should have a plan.
His fingers tapped the table. Behind his calm mask, he had no answer.
This question… Logan had asked him the same thing once.
'What are you going to do now?'
'…'
'Never mind. Forget I asked.'
He still remembered the way Logan had smiled and waved goodbye.
Deidara's impatient voice snapped him back.
"Let's eat first."
Sasori stood, "You've traveled far. Clean up, change clothes… We'll discuss this later."