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tampered2006-09-19 07:50 pm
medic-assistant.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2006-09-19 07:50 pm
Log; Complete
When; Sept. 17th, late evening
Rating; PG
Characters; Shizune {![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
medic_assistant} & Deidara {chaotic_creator}
Summary; After Deidara get's his right arm blown off in an explosion while fighting Greed Shizune agrees to reattach it for a promise.
Log;
Deidara stumbled back to his apartment building, full of pain, but thouroughly content. That was a fight. He hadn't had that much fun in a good while. He'd have to repair his cloak, and bandage himself up, but it was worth it. Carrying his arm in his hand, he went to go back to his room. Looking up, he saw someone familiar in the hall--the Konoha medic who lived next door. With a grin, he called out to her. "Oi, Shizune, un!" He waved at her, with the detached arm, with a laugh.
Shizune had been fishing about for her keys, returning from a short walk around the City. At the sound of her name she looked up, immediately on edge at the sight of the Akatsuki cloak. Deidara was... a strange individual, even for a ninja, even for Akatsuki, she thought. And this was only confirmed by what appeared to be... his detached right arm waving at her. "... Deidara..." She dipped her head a bit in greeting, eyeing his arm and bleeding stump with... confusion.
"Oi. How are you tonight?" He grinned. "I betcha didn't have as much fun as I did, un." He made a grand motion with the detached arm, focusing toward his entire body. His robes were tattered, and his face was covered in burns, blood, and countless abraisions. His right sleeve, or what was left of it, had blood dripping from it as well, where the arm that was supposed to be there wasn't. "It was a good fight!"
"... I... apparently didn't have as much... ah, fun... no..." Shizune was at a loss of words. She stood awkwardly, torn between wanting to heal him, as was her usual duty, and wanting to take advantage of the weakness and attack him. He was Akatsuki after all. But she didn't have enough faith in her abilities to think she could vanquish him. She had her kunai and shuriken strapped to her thigh, a few throwing needles... but not much else. She wasn't prepared enough to attempt that. "... Who did you fight?" She ended up asking, trying to avoid thinking about whether she should heal him.
"Greed-san, un. He was a very good fight." He said thoughtfully, a smile still running rampant across his face. "He is very strong." He looked down at his arm again. "Though, I would like my arm back on. I lost it in persuit of art." He laughed at this, as if losing his arm was something amusing and trivial. "Though no labor for art is ever in vain." He continued to look at his arm, as he spoke. "Though the Akatsuki medic reattached it last time."
Shizune knew of Greed. Had heard of his power. Why the Akatsuki would want to go up against such an opponent was beyond her. But... most everything this Akatsuki did was beyond her understanding. "... and I assume you want me to reattach it?" She could do it, with some effort, but she could, nonetheless. However, she did not know if she wanted to.
"Well, if you'd like, un." He watched her expression closely, "It would be nice." He held his arm out to her, though not completely letting go of it. "I would like to use my arm while I'm still stuck in this world. After all, how can I be artistic without it?" He looked up. "Art is my greatest persuit."
"..." Shizune eyed the arm. The stump wasn't too mangled. She could do it. She could. ... But did she want to? Could she bring herself to? "Deidara..." She finally spoke. "Do you have any sort of honor?" It was not meant to be an insult, merely a question.
"Honor, un?" He looked up at her, taking his eyes away from the arm. "Why do you ask that, un?" This was a strange query in the artist's mind, as it seemed to have no place in this conversation, at least in his opinion. What did honor have to do with fixing an arm? But, since she was going to fix it, he might as well humor her request. "I have honor, un. But it may not be in the same way you would think of it."
"Do you honor your word, specifically?" Shizune pushed, not moving forward or backwards an inch, still eyeing the detached arm.
“In some instances, yes. It depends on the situation, un." He continued to observer her, his expression growing even more curious.
"If I heal your arm..." Shizune stepped forward now, placing one hand on the detached limb. The blood did not bother her, nor did the fact that she was touching a severed arm. "... Will you give me your word you will not harm any Konoha ninja in this City?" She smiled a bit, almost sadly. "... or is that too much to ask?" Lately she was being weighed down with worries. As one of the oldest, maybe even the oldest Konoha ninja present, she felt responsible for all of their safeties. And that was becoming hard to secure.
Surprisingly, he nodded once. "Why not, un?" He grinned, eyes closing with the expression's appearance. "There's no reason to right now. I will only hurt them...if they come after me." He nodded at that, eyes reopening, and focusing once again upon her. "That would be defense of myself, un. That would be understood."
"Of course." Shizune mentally breathed a sigh of relief. That word, even if it could be broken later, brought her peace of mind for the present. And she was developing an unfortunate habit of looking deeper into the motivations of her enemies. But, in the end, she was a healer. And healers, even ninja, had trouble innately with leaving an injured person to fend for themselves. She released his limb and motioned to the Akatsuki's apartment. "If you'd step inside your apartment I can begin."
Deidara nodded once, walking past her up to the door, detached arm underneath his other arm. Slipping his still working hand around the doorknob to his apartment, he pushed his way in, leaving the door open for her. Wandering into the living room, he sat down upon the futon, shedding off the now destroyed Akatsuki cloak. Sitting the arm in his lap, he waited patiently.
"You're taking this well." Shizune made idle conversation, a habit she'd picked up for soothing patients. She gently handled the severed limb, stripping it of the clinging remnants of the black and red cloak. She stood, taking the limb with her and going to the man's kitchen, where she drew a basin full of hot water and several towels, returning to the futon with them. "If you'd lie down, please." She murmured, using the hot water to wash away the blood and clean the wounds on the dead limb as she spoke.
Deidara nodded, laying his other hand out, and bringing his entire body to a lying position upon his stomach across the futon, stump facing the other nin. He nodded at her comment, beginning to speak. "It's happened before, un. I lost my arm in another battle. So I guess you could call this 'old hat'." His eyes turned down, watching her wash his other limb with a slight interest.
"I see..." Shizune placed the cleaned and dried severed limb to the side, wetting a fresh towel and turning her attention to the stump. "This might sting." She advised before pressing the hot, wet, cloth to the torn flesh, one hand's fingertips lightly placed against the skin, sending a chakra nerve blocker to stop most of the pain. With that, she began cleaning the wound; glad that it was not one of the worst she’d seen. Relatively clean, but she had to make sure before reattachment to prevent infection.
Deidara winced a little at the warm sensation, but it soon ceased, as the nerves fell into numbness underneath Shizune's jutsu. His eyes still lazily observed the process, following every trip and trace her fingertips made across his wound. It was still facinating to him, the way these nin knew the human form, and all of its workings. Sighing quietly to himself, he closed his eyes, allowing a memory to resurface.
Sasori-danna, you knew this type of thing as well. This was a tool for your art.
"Stay conscious, alright?" Shizune spoke softly, her bedside manner. She finished cleaning the wound, a little concerned that it had cauterized in whatever had ripped it open. She'd have to break it open again to reattach the nerves and veins. She'd need some more sedatives. "I'll be right back." She stood and exited the apartment, returning shortly thereafter with a bundle full of medical supplies. She laid them out in front of her, arranging them neatly in an arc. Her hands browsed over the tools, scalpels, silver instruments, seals, chakra manipulators, and seal making devices, finally coming up with a vial and needle. She delicately drew a dose from the vial and tested the needle, approaching Deidara's stump it in hand. "This is a powerful local anesthetic." She said, knowing he'd probably want to know what she was injecting him with.
Deidara nodded at the voice echoing outside his realm of memory, continuing to reminisce, the images of his fallen teammate dancing within his mind. He felt something slip into his wound, cold and sharp, a strange feeling following it, as the liquid was injected. The slight numbness that had already been within what was left of his arm began to thicken, becoming completely void of any perceptions. Softly, he remembered Sasori-danna's work, healing and cauterizing wounds (that he himself had inflicted to his 'patients') to make the bodies he altered for art not fall apart. He even used anesthetics, at least in some situations, because incessant thrashing would ruin what he was trying to do. Deidara had observed him countless times to know. It amused him that some of the same techniques were being used upon himself now.
After the anesthesia took affect it was easy to use a chakra blade to chip away the cauterized pieces of flesh. A few of the less burned patches she used her chakra to regenerate the cells, returning them to a healthy pink tone, or at least as healthy as they could be without an arm attached. She did the same with the severed arm, letting her healing flow through the limb and regenerate it to the point that it had been in just after being blown from the body. With that done she began inking seals into the carpet and scrawling up onto the futon, her brush moving quickly, her hand experienced. She finished with a small sigh, still in utter disbelief that she was doing this. “I’ll begin then.” She spoke. “You’ll need to stay still for a while, this will take an hour, and you’ll not be able to move an inch.”
Deidara nodded for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, still absorbed within his memories. He felt the seals being written upon himself, and he snapped back to reality, eyes now captivated by her medical calligraphy.
"Ne, what is that, un?" He blinked, watching it carefully, marking each stroke of her careful hands within his memory. Slowing his breathing, as to not move and upset her precise work, he shifted slightly, to make himself comfortable, and to be able to comfortably observe her.
"These seals will allow me to reattach your limb without any lasting damage, though the arm may be numb for about a day afterwards." Shizune said softly, her mind running over the hand seals she'd need, the amount of chakra required. She would be exhausted afterwards, reattaching limbs was not easy, but if the Akatsuki kept his word it would be worth it. "They aren't dangerous, or capable of anything but healing." She added, knowing that as any good ninja he would be paranoid about such things.
Deidara grinned at her, attention still rapt like a child with a new toy. Before, he had been unconcious when it was reattached--but this time, he could actually see what was going on. His eyes went up to her face, noticing her concentration, and amusedly seeing her consternation and confusion. He decided to speak with her, since without a dialogue, the time following would be quite boring. Not good at small talk, Deidara ventured with a very simple question.
"Why did you learn to be a medical nin, un?"
Beginning to go through the hand seals, Shizune answered his question. "I was good at it." It was a complicated series, and she stopped speaking for about a minute as she ran through about fifteen hand positions before flattening her palms onto the inked seals, green chakra flowing through the black ink and concentrating on the stub of an arm, the severed limb itself lining up with the stump and floating eerily. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face as she did so. She usually had at least one other assisting with such a complicated procedure, but there were no others at the moment, with Kabuto out of the apartment. Once she'd finished the initial seals however, she continued her answer. "I had precise chakra control, and my teacher was a healer, so it was only natural."
Deidara listened to her words, sympathizing. "That's why I create my art, un. I am good at it.." An enlightened expression appeared upon his face, as he continued to speak. "And..it makes me happy, un. Art is my inspiration for life, un." His tone was silky, and soft--it was almost startling to hear him speak this way. His eyes reflected something lofty and almost religious, like Deidara had found the meaning of life within this one simple point.
Shizune's eyes drifted in and out of focus, listening as raptly as she could while still maintaining the precise control required to maintain the jutsu that would reknit his flesh, connecting veins to veins and severed muscles to tendons, pulling bone back into bone and remaking cells. In order to remake cells, you have to take cells from another body part, and as she had done with Hyuuga Neji, the jutsu encompassed a lock of the blonde's hair, and it was almost visible, the transfer of the cells from the blonde strands to the space between the burnt skins. It was almost fifteen minutes before she responded, her voice strained. "It's good to have purpose. And to be happy." She swallowed slowly, unable to remove her hands from a seal to wipe sweat from her brow. "And it's good to have inspiration."
Deidara kept staring off into the cosmos, watching everything and nothing within his sight. Dreamily, he began to speak to her again. "Does medical jutsu make you happy, un? Is this your life's work and masterpiece? Your...." He paused slowly, closing his eyes, "..art?" His eyes fluttered open again, turning to her. "Is this what you want in life, or is there something more?" He giggled softly. "Are you happy, un?
"My art...?" She tried to shift a little and get more comfortable, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Masterpiece?" She gave a short laugh. "It's fulfilling, sure." A few more moments, more concentrating. "But... it's not all I want, no." She gave a small sigh, eyes narrowing as she maneuvered a small patch of veins, connecting and regrowing. "I'd like more."
"What would you like, un?" This was a deep subject, and Deidara, in his illusory state of mind, was already an arm's length into the thick of it. Why not go completely down the rabbit hole? He looked into her face, trying to read what he could within her expression. "What is the thing you would wish to be your masterpiece? Your object of happiness?" He smiled at her, almost gently, which again was startling for him to do.
"I..." She stopped speaking abruptly as the thoughts caused her concentration to slip, the arm shuddering for a moment before she pulled herself back to the task at hand. Her mouth set in a firm line as she redirected her thoughts, taking another several minutes to reply. "I don't know..." She finally finished. "I followed Tsunade-sama so long... and now that I'm able to do all these different things, so things I want to do, just because I want to..." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "It's all a bit confusing..." She knew what she thought she wanted. But she was afraid to reach for it, afraid to want it too hard, because if she did, she was sure it would be gone.
"What does your heart say you want?" He kept his attentions upon her face, being able to read deeper within. "Should it be what you've become accustomed to, because it is safe? A solid ground that your feet have become accustomed to walking? Or.." His mouth shifted into a grin. "Should you close your eyes and step out, not knowing what is beneath? It could be solid ground, or..it could be a long fall to oblivion. You'll never know unless you try." Wishing he could nod at her, but keeping still, he allowed a mirthful laugh to escape him. "You never know. The road you might find...may take you to paradise, un. Mine did.." His voice came down a little at this, as if he was remembering something that hurt.
"Sounds like your encouraging me to strike out on that unknown path, Deidara." Shizune murmured, almost done with her work. She had to admit, his words were hitting home, almost as if he knew her better than she knew herself. Too many people seemed like that these days. But he too seemed to be deep in a thought, one that was not paticuraly happy. She let her hands, palms sweaty, slip into the last seal, and the last burst of chakra flowing into the arm and completing the jutsu. The inked-in seals were almost sucked into the connection between limb and shoulder, disappearing as the jutsu was finished. Shizune wiped her brow with the back of her hand, exhausted from completing it on her own.
Deidara's expression changed again, as he shook his head, clearing the memories. He nodded to her, with a genuine warm smile on his face, no hints of anything unseemly anywhere within it. Again, another completely uncharacteristic emotion, another surprise from the Nuke-nin of Iwagakure. He placed a hand upon her shoulder, as he stood. "Arigatou, Shizune, un." He bowed slightly to her. "I will keep my end of the bargain, in the conditions I said, un. That is my honor." He continued to the door, placing his left hand upon it, still wishing to let his right arm rest. Opening it slightly, he slid through, turning his head slightly to her. "Think about what I said too, un. The unknown path, while mysterious and perilous, may lead you to exactly what you desire. Your true happiness. Don't pass that up, un. Mine may have ended...but I don't regret it. I would have more regretted never doing it at all." With this, he disappeared into the hallway.
Shizune sat where she was, trying not to appear too weak, though in truth, her chakra was almost exhausted. She was constantly surprised by this Akatsuki, this Deidara. One minute a raving psychopath, the other a normal, well-adjusted person, or so he seemed. She watched him to the door and listened, her expression easily telling how those words affected her. It was almost like... he knew what she needed to hear, and that scared her. "Thank you... Deidara..." But she stood as he left, legs shaking under her and forced herself to gather the supplies she had brought, stumbling about to collect them in her arms. "... thank you." With a slow walk she managed to get back to her own apartment, dropping the supplies on the floor as she entered and immediately collapsing onto the couch into a deep sleep.
Rating; PG
Characters; Shizune {
medic_assistant} & Deidara {chaotic_creator}Summary; After Deidara get's his right arm blown off in an explosion while fighting Greed Shizune agrees to reattach it for a promise.
Log;
Deidara stumbled back to his apartment building, full of pain, but thouroughly content. That was a fight. He hadn't had that much fun in a good while. He'd have to repair his cloak, and bandage himself up, but it was worth it. Carrying his arm in his hand, he went to go back to his room. Looking up, he saw someone familiar in the hall--the Konoha medic who lived next door. With a grin, he called out to her. "Oi, Shizune, un!" He waved at her, with the detached arm, with a laugh.
Shizune had been fishing about for her keys, returning from a short walk around the City. At the sound of her name she looked up, immediately on edge at the sight of the Akatsuki cloak. Deidara was... a strange individual, even for a ninja, even for Akatsuki, she thought. And this was only confirmed by what appeared to be... his detached right arm waving at her. "... Deidara..." She dipped her head a bit in greeting, eyeing his arm and bleeding stump with... confusion.
"Oi. How are you tonight?" He grinned. "I betcha didn't have as much fun as I did, un." He made a grand motion with the detached arm, focusing toward his entire body. His robes were tattered, and his face was covered in burns, blood, and countless abraisions. His right sleeve, or what was left of it, had blood dripping from it as well, where the arm that was supposed to be there wasn't. "It was a good fight!"
"... I... apparently didn't have as much... ah, fun... no..." Shizune was at a loss of words. She stood awkwardly, torn between wanting to heal him, as was her usual duty, and wanting to take advantage of the weakness and attack him. He was Akatsuki after all. But she didn't have enough faith in her abilities to think she could vanquish him. She had her kunai and shuriken strapped to her thigh, a few throwing needles... but not much else. She wasn't prepared enough to attempt that. "... Who did you fight?" She ended up asking, trying to avoid thinking about whether she should heal him.
"Greed-san, un. He was a very good fight." He said thoughtfully, a smile still running rampant across his face. "He is very strong." He looked down at his arm again. "Though, I would like my arm back on. I lost it in persuit of art." He laughed at this, as if losing his arm was something amusing and trivial. "Though no labor for art is ever in vain." He continued to look at his arm, as he spoke. "Though the Akatsuki medic reattached it last time."
Shizune knew of Greed. Had heard of his power. Why the Akatsuki would want to go up against such an opponent was beyond her. But... most everything this Akatsuki did was beyond her understanding. "... and I assume you want me to reattach it?" She could do it, with some effort, but she could, nonetheless. However, she did not know if she wanted to.
"Well, if you'd like, un." He watched her expression closely, "It would be nice." He held his arm out to her, though not completely letting go of it. "I would like to use my arm while I'm still stuck in this world. After all, how can I be artistic without it?" He looked up. "Art is my greatest persuit."
"..." Shizune eyed the arm. The stump wasn't too mangled. She could do it. She could. ... But did she want to? Could she bring herself to? "Deidara..." She finally spoke. "Do you have any sort of honor?" It was not meant to be an insult, merely a question.
"Honor, un?" He looked up at her, taking his eyes away from the arm. "Why do you ask that, un?" This was a strange query in the artist's mind, as it seemed to have no place in this conversation, at least in his opinion. What did honor have to do with fixing an arm? But, since she was going to fix it, he might as well humor her request. "I have honor, un. But it may not be in the same way you would think of it."
"Do you honor your word, specifically?" Shizune pushed, not moving forward or backwards an inch, still eyeing the detached arm.
“In some instances, yes. It depends on the situation, un." He continued to observer her, his expression growing even more curious.
"If I heal your arm..." Shizune stepped forward now, placing one hand on the detached limb. The blood did not bother her, nor did the fact that she was touching a severed arm. "... Will you give me your word you will not harm any Konoha ninja in this City?" She smiled a bit, almost sadly. "... or is that too much to ask?" Lately she was being weighed down with worries. As one of the oldest, maybe even the oldest Konoha ninja present, she felt responsible for all of their safeties. And that was becoming hard to secure.
Surprisingly, he nodded once. "Why not, un?" He grinned, eyes closing with the expression's appearance. "There's no reason to right now. I will only hurt them...if they come after me." He nodded at that, eyes reopening, and focusing once again upon her. "That would be defense of myself, un. That would be understood."
"Of course." Shizune mentally breathed a sigh of relief. That word, even if it could be broken later, brought her peace of mind for the present. And she was developing an unfortunate habit of looking deeper into the motivations of her enemies. But, in the end, she was a healer. And healers, even ninja, had trouble innately with leaving an injured person to fend for themselves. She released his limb and motioned to the Akatsuki's apartment. "If you'd step inside your apartment I can begin."
Deidara nodded once, walking past her up to the door, detached arm underneath his other arm. Slipping his still working hand around the doorknob to his apartment, he pushed his way in, leaving the door open for her. Wandering into the living room, he sat down upon the futon, shedding off the now destroyed Akatsuki cloak. Sitting the arm in his lap, he waited patiently.
"You're taking this well." Shizune made idle conversation, a habit she'd picked up for soothing patients. She gently handled the severed limb, stripping it of the clinging remnants of the black and red cloak. She stood, taking the limb with her and going to the man's kitchen, where she drew a basin full of hot water and several towels, returning to the futon with them. "If you'd lie down, please." She murmured, using the hot water to wash away the blood and clean the wounds on the dead limb as she spoke.
Deidara nodded, laying his other hand out, and bringing his entire body to a lying position upon his stomach across the futon, stump facing the other nin. He nodded at her comment, beginning to speak. "It's happened before, un. I lost my arm in another battle. So I guess you could call this 'old hat'." His eyes turned down, watching her wash his other limb with a slight interest.
"I see..." Shizune placed the cleaned and dried severed limb to the side, wetting a fresh towel and turning her attention to the stump. "This might sting." She advised before pressing the hot, wet, cloth to the torn flesh, one hand's fingertips lightly placed against the skin, sending a chakra nerve blocker to stop most of the pain. With that, she began cleaning the wound; glad that it was not one of the worst she’d seen. Relatively clean, but she had to make sure before reattachment to prevent infection.
Deidara winced a little at the warm sensation, but it soon ceased, as the nerves fell into numbness underneath Shizune's jutsu. His eyes still lazily observed the process, following every trip and trace her fingertips made across his wound. It was still facinating to him, the way these nin knew the human form, and all of its workings. Sighing quietly to himself, he closed his eyes, allowing a memory to resurface.
Sasori-danna, you knew this type of thing as well. This was a tool for your art.
"Stay conscious, alright?" Shizune spoke softly, her bedside manner. She finished cleaning the wound, a little concerned that it had cauterized in whatever had ripped it open. She'd have to break it open again to reattach the nerves and veins. She'd need some more sedatives. "I'll be right back." She stood and exited the apartment, returning shortly thereafter with a bundle full of medical supplies. She laid them out in front of her, arranging them neatly in an arc. Her hands browsed over the tools, scalpels, silver instruments, seals, chakra manipulators, and seal making devices, finally coming up with a vial and needle. She delicately drew a dose from the vial and tested the needle, approaching Deidara's stump it in hand. "This is a powerful local anesthetic." She said, knowing he'd probably want to know what she was injecting him with.
Deidara nodded at the voice echoing outside his realm of memory, continuing to reminisce, the images of his fallen teammate dancing within his mind. He felt something slip into his wound, cold and sharp, a strange feeling following it, as the liquid was injected. The slight numbness that had already been within what was left of his arm began to thicken, becoming completely void of any perceptions. Softly, he remembered Sasori-danna's work, healing and cauterizing wounds (that he himself had inflicted to his 'patients') to make the bodies he altered for art not fall apart. He even used anesthetics, at least in some situations, because incessant thrashing would ruin what he was trying to do. Deidara had observed him countless times to know. It amused him that some of the same techniques were being used upon himself now.
After the anesthesia took affect it was easy to use a chakra blade to chip away the cauterized pieces of flesh. A few of the less burned patches she used her chakra to regenerate the cells, returning them to a healthy pink tone, or at least as healthy as they could be without an arm attached. She did the same with the severed arm, letting her healing flow through the limb and regenerate it to the point that it had been in just after being blown from the body. With that done she began inking seals into the carpet and scrawling up onto the futon, her brush moving quickly, her hand experienced. She finished with a small sigh, still in utter disbelief that she was doing this. “I’ll begin then.” She spoke. “You’ll need to stay still for a while, this will take an hour, and you’ll not be able to move an inch.”
Deidara nodded for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, still absorbed within his memories. He felt the seals being written upon himself, and he snapped back to reality, eyes now captivated by her medical calligraphy.
"Ne, what is that, un?" He blinked, watching it carefully, marking each stroke of her careful hands within his memory. Slowing his breathing, as to not move and upset her precise work, he shifted slightly, to make himself comfortable, and to be able to comfortably observe her.
"These seals will allow me to reattach your limb without any lasting damage, though the arm may be numb for about a day afterwards." Shizune said softly, her mind running over the hand seals she'd need, the amount of chakra required. She would be exhausted afterwards, reattaching limbs was not easy, but if the Akatsuki kept his word it would be worth it. "They aren't dangerous, or capable of anything but healing." She added, knowing that as any good ninja he would be paranoid about such things.
Deidara grinned at her, attention still rapt like a child with a new toy. Before, he had been unconcious when it was reattached--but this time, he could actually see what was going on. His eyes went up to her face, noticing her concentration, and amusedly seeing her consternation and confusion. He decided to speak with her, since without a dialogue, the time following would be quite boring. Not good at small talk, Deidara ventured with a very simple question.
"Why did you learn to be a medical nin, un?"
Beginning to go through the hand seals, Shizune answered his question. "I was good at it." It was a complicated series, and she stopped speaking for about a minute as she ran through about fifteen hand positions before flattening her palms onto the inked seals, green chakra flowing through the black ink and concentrating on the stub of an arm, the severed limb itself lining up with the stump and floating eerily. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face as she did so. She usually had at least one other assisting with such a complicated procedure, but there were no others at the moment, with Kabuto out of the apartment. Once she'd finished the initial seals however, she continued her answer. "I had precise chakra control, and my teacher was a healer, so it was only natural."
Deidara listened to her words, sympathizing. "That's why I create my art, un. I am good at it.." An enlightened expression appeared upon his face, as he continued to speak. "And..it makes me happy, un. Art is my inspiration for life, un." His tone was silky, and soft--it was almost startling to hear him speak this way. His eyes reflected something lofty and almost religious, like Deidara had found the meaning of life within this one simple point.
Shizune's eyes drifted in and out of focus, listening as raptly as she could while still maintaining the precise control required to maintain the jutsu that would reknit his flesh, connecting veins to veins and severed muscles to tendons, pulling bone back into bone and remaking cells. In order to remake cells, you have to take cells from another body part, and as she had done with Hyuuga Neji, the jutsu encompassed a lock of the blonde's hair, and it was almost visible, the transfer of the cells from the blonde strands to the space between the burnt skins. It was almost fifteen minutes before she responded, her voice strained. "It's good to have purpose. And to be happy." She swallowed slowly, unable to remove her hands from a seal to wipe sweat from her brow. "And it's good to have inspiration."
Deidara kept staring off into the cosmos, watching everything and nothing within his sight. Dreamily, he began to speak to her again. "Does medical jutsu make you happy, un? Is this your life's work and masterpiece? Your...." He paused slowly, closing his eyes, "..art?" His eyes fluttered open again, turning to her. "Is this what you want in life, or is there something more?" He giggled softly. "Are you happy, un?
"My art...?" She tried to shift a little and get more comfortable, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Masterpiece?" She gave a short laugh. "It's fulfilling, sure." A few more moments, more concentrating. "But... it's not all I want, no." She gave a small sigh, eyes narrowing as she maneuvered a small patch of veins, connecting and regrowing. "I'd like more."
"What would you like, un?" This was a deep subject, and Deidara, in his illusory state of mind, was already an arm's length into the thick of it. Why not go completely down the rabbit hole? He looked into her face, trying to read what he could within her expression. "What is the thing you would wish to be your masterpiece? Your object of happiness?" He smiled at her, almost gently, which again was startling for him to do.
"I..." She stopped speaking abruptly as the thoughts caused her concentration to slip, the arm shuddering for a moment before she pulled herself back to the task at hand. Her mouth set in a firm line as she redirected her thoughts, taking another several minutes to reply. "I don't know..." She finally finished. "I followed Tsunade-sama so long... and now that I'm able to do all these different things, so things I want to do, just because I want to..." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "It's all a bit confusing..." She knew what she thought she wanted. But she was afraid to reach for it, afraid to want it too hard, because if she did, she was sure it would be gone.
"What does your heart say you want?" He kept his attentions upon her face, being able to read deeper within. "Should it be what you've become accustomed to, because it is safe? A solid ground that your feet have become accustomed to walking? Or.." His mouth shifted into a grin. "Should you close your eyes and step out, not knowing what is beneath? It could be solid ground, or..it could be a long fall to oblivion. You'll never know unless you try." Wishing he could nod at her, but keeping still, he allowed a mirthful laugh to escape him. "You never know. The road you might find...may take you to paradise, un. Mine did.." His voice came down a little at this, as if he was remembering something that hurt.
"Sounds like your encouraging me to strike out on that unknown path, Deidara." Shizune murmured, almost done with her work. She had to admit, his words were hitting home, almost as if he knew her better than she knew herself. Too many people seemed like that these days. But he too seemed to be deep in a thought, one that was not paticuraly happy. She let her hands, palms sweaty, slip into the last seal, and the last burst of chakra flowing into the arm and completing the jutsu. The inked-in seals were almost sucked into the connection between limb and shoulder, disappearing as the jutsu was finished. Shizune wiped her brow with the back of her hand, exhausted from completing it on her own.
Deidara's expression changed again, as he shook his head, clearing the memories. He nodded to her, with a genuine warm smile on his face, no hints of anything unseemly anywhere within it. Again, another completely uncharacteristic emotion, another surprise from the Nuke-nin of Iwagakure. He placed a hand upon her shoulder, as he stood. "Arigatou, Shizune, un." He bowed slightly to her. "I will keep my end of the bargain, in the conditions I said, un. That is my honor." He continued to the door, placing his left hand upon it, still wishing to let his right arm rest. Opening it slightly, he slid through, turning his head slightly to her. "Think about what I said too, un. The unknown path, while mysterious and perilous, may lead you to exactly what you desire. Your true happiness. Don't pass that up, un. Mine may have ended...but I don't regret it. I would have more regretted never doing it at all." With this, he disappeared into the hallway.
Shizune sat where she was, trying not to appear too weak, though in truth, her chakra was almost exhausted. She was constantly surprised by this Akatsuki, this Deidara. One minute a raving psychopath, the other a normal, well-adjusted person, or so he seemed. She watched him to the door and listened, her expression easily telling how those words affected her. It was almost like... he knew what she needed to hear, and that scared her. "Thank you... Deidara..." But she stood as he left, legs shaking under her and forced herself to gather the supplies she had brought, stumbling about to collect them in her arms. "... thank you." With a slow walk she managed to get back to her own apartment, dropping the supplies on the floor as she entered and immediately collapsing onto the couch into a deep sleep.