Chapter twenty-two:
You were now walking around the base while looking for Fue and Deidara. Though you were supposed to be looking for your teammates, you couldn't help but glance at Sasori from time to time. He was still quiet, and looked really bored. Still, this made you smile a bit. You glanced at him again, he was looking at the side walls again. What were so interesting about them anyway? You sighed softly, you wished that he was looking at you not the walls.
To your alarm, he turned to face you. You turned away as fast as you could. He would probably question you about that later. A nervous feeling welled into your stomach and you frantically searched for an alibi for your actions earlier.
"Fue and Deidara are in this room," Sasori calmly stated.
You looked at him, and saw that he was pointing to your previous room with Deidara and Sasori. How could you have missed that you walked past your old room? Sasori turned the knob and opened the wooden door. There you saw Deidara and Fue bouncing on Sasori's bed. You covered your mouth to stop your laughter, because you could almost feel Sasori's annoyance.
"Great, Fue has turned into another Deidara," he said icily, glaring at the two.
They both stopped jumping and gave nervous grins, knowing Sasori's temper was something not to take lightly. They got off the bed and went to Deidara's bed where they sat quietly. You placed your hand on Sasori's shoulder, calming him down a little. You both went inside the room and sat on his bed. Then he spoke.
"We are now full-time teammates-" he began but Deidara cut him off.
"We already know that, un!" he yelled.
Sasori glared at him once more, effectively shutting him up, then he continued.
"Don't interrupt me, brat. As I was saying, we are now full-time team-mates, which means we have to decide our new roommates. So Deidara, you have to move out of this room and sleep with Fue."
"What, un?! Why do I have to move out, yeah?" yelled Deidara, getting up and balling his hands into tight fists.
"Leader ordered it," answered Sasori.
You raised a brow at that. Pein never mentioned anything like that. What was Sasori planning?
"Why do I have to move out, yeah?" pressed Deidara, glaring at Sasori.
"Well, there are only two beds here and three persons don't fit in two beds, do they?" replied the red-head.
"So what, un? You don't need a bed anyway, un!" contradicted the blond while walking towards the puppeteer.
"I need a bed, you half-wit. All humans need sleep," stated the puppet-master while looking boredly at the bomber.
"You're no human, yeah! You're a puppet, un!" shouted Deidara.
"I'm a human," said Sasori simply.
Deidara looked at him with wide confused eyes, as did Fue. You smiled awkwardly. It was rather hard to accept that Sasori was human, so you understood their reactions. Deidara was the first to recover. He narrowed his eyes at Sasori and said,
"Prove it."
Sasori just shrugged and began unbuttoning his cloak. You blushed and looked away. Why did Sasori like taking off his cloak so much? Then an idea popped into your head.
"Wait, I know a better way to show them!" you exclaimed, before Sasori took off his cloak. He looked at you with a confused expression. You just gave him a sly grin and turned to Deidara.
"Get a kunai and make a cut on his arm," you ordered softly. Deidara nodded and took out a kunai from his holster. Then, with his hands shaking, he sliced Sasori's skin lightly. You saw Sasori wince, probably still not used to the pain. Both Deidara and Fue widened their eyes at the sight of blood welling up from Sasori's wound.
"H-how did you turn back into a human, u-un?" asked Deidara.
Sasori shrugged as a response and stood up. He then pushed the two out of the room before surveying his wound. You got off the bed and walked towards him.
"Are you turning into a sadist?" asked Sasori while looking at his wound.
"Are you turning into a stripper?" you retorted mockingly.
Sasori glared lightly at you. "How am I turning into a stripper?" he asked, annoyed.
You shrugged as well and replied, "Well you've developed the habit of taking off your cloak whenever someone asks if you're really human."
"It's the easiest way I know of. I don't want to keep on wounding myself," he contradicted while pointing to his wound.
You gave an apologetic grin and looked over to his other wound on his other arm. It wouldn't make sense if he kept on cutting himself. The others might think that he was suicidal. Sasori then walked over to his cabinet and grabbed some bandages. Then, he sat down and tried to bandage himself. You couldn't help but giggle. He was always so stubborn.
You walked over to him and sat beside him. You grabbed the bandages and began tying them around his wound. Sasori kept silent, but you could have sworn you saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks. When you had finished, you asked Sasori,
"Why did you make Deidara move out?"
"Well, there are only two beds here and three people can't fit in just two beds," repeated Sasori while tugging at his hair.
"Well, you could have asked me to sleep with Fue. After all, that was where I slept when we. . ." you cut yourself off. You remembered the time when you were angry with Sasori for kissing Miho. He hadn't apologized properly, had he? You got up and lay on Deidara's bed. You turned your back to Sasori and breathed in the scent of Deidara's pillow. That was odd, his pillow smelled like lavender petals and honey. What kind of shampoo was Deidara using?
You heard Sasori's soft footsteps come towards you but you didn't pay heed to it. You were giving him the cold shoulder until he apologized properly. You closed your eyes and curled up into a small ball. You felt him sit at the edge of the bed so you scooted away from him. You felt the bed shift slightly. Sasori had moved as well.
Then, you felt something poke you. You flinched because of surprise but gave no other response.
"So you don't like being poked, do you?" crooned Sasori.
You gave no response and carried on ignoring him. You heard him chuckle a bit, then felt him poke your back. This time, you didn't flinch, but took a sharp intake of breath. This seemed to amuse him, for you felt him poke your back again.
This carried on for a few more minutes, until he began to tickle you as well. You began to laugh against your will. Puppeteers were very good ticklers, something you learned by experience. His nimble fingers torturing you while you laughed so hard, tears came out of your eyes.
"So are you going to stop giving me the cold shoulder now?" he asked while tickling you.
You just nodded in defeat. You were too out of breath to say anything. Sasori finally stopped tickling you, releasing you from your torture. You lay back on Deidara's bed, panting, with your arms spread out. Sasori sat beside you, looking bored again.
"I'm sorry," you heard him whisper.
You sat up at that. Did he just apologize? You wanted to be sure, so you sat up and said, "Pardon?"
He sighed before repeating, "I'm sorry." This time, it was a bit louder.
You smiled at that. At least he had the decency to apologize, right? But did he know what he should be sorry for?
"For what?" you crooned.
"For kissing Miho. . ." he answered.
You gave him a tight hug. He tensed up a little but soon eased into the hug. He didn't hug you back, but you were fine with that. After some time you let him go and lay back onto the bed. He just looked at you and then stood up. Then he walked towards the door and was about to turn it when you called out,
"Where are you going?"
He faced you and replied, "I'm going to the kitchen. I haven't eaten for a years and I'm hungry."
As if on cue, your stomach gave a low growl as well. He smirked at that and you blushed because of embarrassment.
"Come on. I know you're hungry too," he remarked.
You got up hesitantly and walked towards him. He opened the door and grabbed your hand. You looked questioningly at him and he just shrugged. Then, he began to drag you towards the kitchen. Luckily, nobody was inside the kitchen. He let go of your hand, and strangely, you wanted to hold his hand longer.
'That's because you love him!' chirped the voice in your head. 'Shut up!' you thought.
"Something wrong?" he asked, breaking you away from your thoughts. You blinked in surprise but managed to shake your head after a few seconds. He raised a brow at that but didn't ask any more questions. You walked over to the cupboard and opened it. There were some instant ramen cups still left, and since you were too lazy to cook something else, you grabbed two.
"Like ramen?" you asked him.
He just shrugged and heated some water in a kettle. While you waited for the water to boil, the two of you sat down.
"So, how are you handling being a human again?" you asked him.
He shrugged again and answered, "It's rather weird but I can handle it. Sometimes sensations shock me, even if they're supposed to be ordinary, like feeling my skin against my cloak."
"So if you were given a chance, would you want to be a human or a puppet?" you questioned.
He thought about it for a moment before answering, "I want to be a human while I'm here at the base but I want to be a puppet in battles. It's rather strange, isn't it? To not be able to decide if I want to be a puppet or not." Then he lowered his head avoiding your gaze.
"I don't think it's strange," you replied. He looked up at you, surprise filling his face.
"I think that it's rather brave that you made yourself a puppet. Not many people can do that," you continued, giving him an encouraging smile.
He opened his mouth to reply but the kettle whistled loudly. You both turned your attention to the kettle. You got up and turned off the stove. You then lifted the kettle and poured the hot water into the ramen cups.
"But do you want me to be a human or a puppet?" asked Sasori.
This took you by surprise. Your throat felt dry. Sure you wanted him to be human but he might think that you were being selfish. You didn't want to lie either, and it would be hurtful to say that you wanted him to be a puppet. After a few minutes, you found your voice
"I know I'm being selfish but I want you to be a human. I want you to feel," you answered, lowering your head.
