2 AM

Jedi Goat

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the song 2 AM by Anna Nalick, which was my inspiration ^.^

Author's Note: I needed more Dei cuteness. So here it is. (Don't worry, will be updating Angel's Wings...soon...)

Two AM.

The gentle glow of moonlight filtered across the room, spilling through the half-open window. It splashed silver light across a desk lined with miscellaneous parts – wooden puppet limbs, sharp tools. Across the room, the light dusted the vibrant red hair of a certain Akatsuki.

Sasori squinted in the darkness, wondering what had awakened him. His body, puppet or not, was finely tuned to the slightest disturbance; now his every muscle was tensed, his eyes scoring the shadows as his hand closed around the hilt of the kunai he kept beneath his pillow.

The ancient door creaked open; in the dim slit of light Sasori apperceived a shadow shifting. He slipped the kunai out into the open, ready to strike – but the intruder stumbled into the room obliviously, too loud and certainly too short to be an assassin.

Sasori sighed, hardly easing as he released the weapon and ran his hand instead through his thick red hair. "What do you want, brat?"

The figure paused; then, more cautiously, he shuffled into the moonlight. The high blond ponytail of his thirteen-year-old partner came into view, his long bangs combed over his left eye. The brat's visible cerulean eye was wide; he clutched a pillow to his chest.

"Danna…"

The name made the puppet master internally grimace. Hardly a week had passed since he'd returned from the Land of Earth with the little nuisance in tow, learning he was supposedly his new partner. Sasori had flatly informed the Leader he'd rather endure Orochimaru than baby-sit; but what choice did he have, when the Leader turned his silver-ringed eyes on him with an ever-icy stare.

Now he cursed them all; Orochimaru, for being a traitor; the Leader, for being such an adamant tyrant; Kisame, for grinning and suggesting he'd get used to it. Not if the runt deprived him of sleep, he wouldn't, Sasori sullenly swore; he wondered if the Leader would take the excuse of suspecting an assassin for the boy's unfortunate demise.

"What?" he snapped. The kid was just standing there, hovering uncertain and wide-eyed; at his harsh command he lowered his eye, picking at a fray in the pillow's edge.

"Danna, I…I can't sleep," he confessed quietly.

"What do you expect me to do about it?" Growling, Sasori turned away. Damn Leader… They were supposed to be assigned their first mission tomorrow morning, he distantly recalled. Did he honestly expect him to work with just a brat? Hell, he still couldn't see anything worthy of their ranks in his partner. His "artistic" travesty was almost laughable; and besides, as far as his stature suggested, he couldn't have been more than a genin...

…Sasori had rather work alone; his puppets were company enough, and he didn't need this whining, complaining, helpless…

The brat bit his lip. "Danna, I had a nightmare…un."

…Great, now he was scared, too.

"Stop being foolish," Sasori reprimanded him. "Nightmares aren't real. Go back to bed and don't you dare bother me again." He fingered the kunai. Or else…

He hesitated, eye wide; then, with a determined "un" he scuttled out the door. Sasori rolled his eyes at his back.

"The Leader will hear about this," he muttered to himself, drawing his blankets closer to him. He flopped face down on his pillow, glad, at least, of some time before he was next disturbed.

It wasn't to be.

Only a few minutes later he became aware of someone watching him; with an irritable noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl he raised his head. The brat stared back; not only had he wandered back when Sasori clearly told him not to, he had the nerve to come right up to his bed. Sasori closed his eyes, yearning for one irrational moment that it was just a cruel dream; but when he reopened his eyes the kid was still waiting, head tilted slightly to the side.

"What," Sasori enunciated slowly, voice nearly vibrating with anger, "do you want, Deidara?" He hissed the name through clenched teeth, raising his eyes to his partner. The boy was no longer perturbed by his threats; instead, he chewed his lip thoughtfully before answering.

"I don't want to go back out there, un… It's scary."

Sasori snorted. "You're allegedly an S-class missing nin, and you're afraid of the dark?"

"N-no, un," he hastily shook his head, "it's just…the nightmare's waiting for me, un, I know it." He shivered slightly in his light mesh clothing. Sasori, realizing this problem wouldn't go away on its own, sighed and propped himself up on his elbows, regarding his protégé.

"What's so scary about this nightmare of yours, huh?"

Deidara stared at his feet, faint color seeping into his cheeks. "W-well," he stuttered, "you'll just say I'm a pathetic brat, danna, you always do."

"That's because you are," he snapped, and Deidara glanced away.

"I'm sorry, danna…"

Sasori caught himself in sudden surprise. The brat, apologizing? For him labeling him as such? Guardedly he murmured, "Why?"

"Because I'm not good enough," he burst out. "You're always saying it, danna, I can't help but hear you, un… You want your old partner back and I'm – I'm nothing like him. I'm sorry I can't be strong enough!"

Unfamiliar with the foreign feeling engulfing him, Sasori remained silent. Deidara tapered off with a faint sniff.

"I'm sorry, danna. I'm a brat for telling you my feelings, right?"

He blinked. And then, suddenly, in his sleep-deprived state, he was smiling. His own actions caught him by surprise; he had never, ever smiled when Orochimaru had been his partner. With abrupt decisiveness he beckoned.

"Come here, brat."

Deidara scrambled up on the bed beside him, staring in wide-eyed bemusement as Sasori draped the blankets around both of them.

"Danna…?" he wondered.

Sasori sighed. "You'll need sleep for tomorrow's mission, brat. And I can't have you lagging because of a silly nightmare. It's not happening ever again, you hear?" He made sure Deidara heard the warning in his tone. The boy nodded hastily, meekly lowering his gaze.

"I got it, un."

Sasori lay back, a little blond appendage snuggled to his side. He smiled faintly, settling his hand on top of his head. Deidara stirred.

"Danna…" His voice was faintly muffled. "…why did you change your mind, un?"

Sasori considered the innocent request a moment. "Well," he concluded, "you definitely are a brat, Deidara. But I won't have that change just yet." With that he closed his eyes, feeling the boy's slight nod against his chest and "un".

By two-thirty AM they were both asleep, in rare companionable silence.

End

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