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“Sasori, get up,” Chiyo ordered, poking the redhead in the back.

“Hmm? Granny?” the teen asked, sitting up and looking around. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Them there Iwa varmints snuck onto our land at night and tried to steal our grain, like the rats they are,” Chiyo spat out, tossing a shotgun onto the lap of her semi-conscious grandson. (In truth, two teenage Iwa boys had been walking through the woods and had made a bet to see who could get the closest to the Akasuna house before chickening out. Well, the poor kids couldn’t see very well, and managed to drip over a grain barrel that had been left sitting out. That woke up some Akasunas, and the two kids high-tailed it, calling to each other in the dark. One ‘un’ was all it took for the Akasunas to figure out who it had been). “Now c’mon. We’s gonna nail ‘em in the ol’ valley!”

A brief history lesson is in order here. Ever since the Jebidiah/Isaiah incident, there had been two parts of the property line that the ownership of was called into question; the river area, and an area simply referred to as, “the valley”.

The valley had two long and tall hills on each side, with a small, 10-foot wide flat area in the bottom of it. There were mostly rocks and trees on each hillside, (which provided for excellent cover under gunfire) and the soil at the flat part was little more than sandy, rocky dirt, so it had no real value as farm land or much else. But if people start feuding, arguments can arise over whose shotgun shells belong to whom, so let’s not criticize the poor hicks too much.

Anyway, both clans were arriving at the field, fully prepared to “teach them there yeller-bellied scoundrels” a lesson. Well, all but two artists, who were nervously trying to locate each other in the crowd.

Sasori nearly had a heart attack when he spotted Deidara beside Bo and Amos. “He said himself that he’s a lousy shot; what in General Lee’s name is he doin’ out here?” At that moment, Deidara looked his way and locked gazes with the red head. In the strangest way, being able to look at each other like that provided comfort for them.

Until a gun shot rang out, and Clem Iwa dropped to the ground, clutching his bleeding side. The fight had begun.

Both sides were going at it with all their might, bullets flying true and hitting their mark whenever a target presented itself. Both sides were taking heavy casualties, and more than a few members on each side would be sleeping six feet under at the end of the day.

Sasori was the only Akasuna that wasn’t hitting any Iwas; at least, not in any vital spots. After you’ve sat down and joked with a family, it’s more than a little hard to turn around and shoot them, after all.

Sasori flinched as his next shot scraped Matthew Iwa’s arm, and took his sweet time to reload. He wished the sun would hurry up and set; their fighting would have to stop after sundown.

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Amos was looking for his next target, scanning carefully. His eyes settled on one teenage Akasuna that didn’t appear to be paying much attention to what he was doing. After all, from what Amos could tell, he was just shooting to shoot, and not actually aiming for anyone.

“Well, sorry kid,” he thought, raising his gun and taking aim. Now that he really looked at the guy, he looked troubled by what was going on. Those chocolate brown eyes were showing an inner turmoil like he’d never seen.

“Wait a dag burn minute. I’ve seen those eyes afore…” Amos’ eyes widened with the realization. “Samuel?”

BANG

The Iwa looked down and saw a bloody hole in his chest before everything went dark.

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“I got me one!” Uncle Mel called out, pointing.

Sasori looked to where his uncle was pointing and felt something tear in his chest. “Amos.”

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Deidara was scanning the area to see which family member’s needed his help. He noticed Amos on the ground and felt numb. “AMOS!” He ran to his brother’s body, shaking his unmoving shoulder. “Amos, wake up, un!”

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“There’s ‘nother sittin’ duck,” Clem muttered, raising his gun again.

Sasori saw the gun aimed at Deidara and felt his heart leap into his throat. “Not him!” He lunged for his uncle and threw them both to the ground, the weapon firing high into the air.

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Bo had finally come over and picked up Amos, since he was the only one large enough to carry his brother. Deidara followed closely behind them, not feeling or hearing anything around him.

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“Ow! Sasori, what in the name of Fort Sumter’s gotten into ya?!”

“There was a guy aiming right at you,” Sasori lied, relief filling him as he looked over to the other side and saw that Deidara had escaped.

“Well next time, give a guy a little warnin’, ya hear?!” Clem cried, climbing to his feet. The fight kept going until nightfall, when both sides retired.

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Sasori was sitting by a stream, the full moon illuminating the clearing. He tried not to think about the fight; after all, he’d fought many times before, and shot more than his fair share of Iwas. It really shouldn’t hurt him this much.

But it did. Because this time, he hadn’t been fighting a group of enemies; he’d been attacking a family that had welcomed them into their home, fed him, and treated him like he belonged there.

A rustling sound from behind him interrupted his meditation, and when he turned he saw a familiar looking blonde. “Deidara?”

The sculptor looked like a train wreck. He stared at Sasori with a blank look on his face, and he swayed as he slowly began walking towards the puppeteer. “Amos’s dead, danna,” he whispered.

“I know. I saw.”

“Amos is dead, un,” The blonde repeated, collapsing to his knees in front of Sasori. “My big brother…he’s dead, un.”

Sasori reached out, pulling the blonde to his chest. “I know,” he whispered as they leaned back against their maple tree. “Let it out, Dei.”

The blonde began shaking, and a moment later Sasori could hear sobs. “It ain’t right,” Deidara choked out, tears streaming down his face. “He never did nothin’, but they still shot him, un!”

“Shh,” Sasori whispered, stroking the blonde’s head after he pulled Deidara into his lap.

“Why even bother trying for peace, un? They’re just gonna keep shooting until we’re all dead, un!”

“Because if we don’t, next time it’ll be you or me that gets carried off and buried,” Sasori answered, squeezing the blonde to his chest.

“Danna, I-“

“DEI!” the artists froze as Bo suddenly burst into the clearing. “There ya’re! I’ve been lookin’ all over for…hey, ain’t that Samuel, un?”

“Actually,” the red head replied, pulling himself and Deidara up to stand, “It’s Sasori.”

“Why’s that name sound familiar, un?”

“Because my full name’s Sasori Akasuna.”

Bo stayed quiet as this bit of information sank in. “Dei, get away from him, un,” he finally got out.

“No, un,” Deidara replied, hugging Sasori tightly and not looking at his brother.

“Deidara, get the hell away from that murderin’ snake, un.”

“No!” Deidara yelled, grip tightening on Sasori’s neck. “I ain’t budging!”

“Bo,” Sasori began, “please, just hear us-“

“I don’t wanna hear ‘nother sound outta your mouth, un. Now get your filthy mitts off m’ little brother.”

“I’m not touching him,” Sasori answered calmly, holding up both arms. “Dei’s holding me of his own free will.”

“Don’t you dare call him Dei, un!” I cain’t believe I let a filthy Akasuna into m’ home and shared dinner wi’ him!” Bo walked over to the two and grabbed Deidara. “Come on. We’re going home, and you ain’t gonna fraternize with this here varmint anymore, un.”

“NO, UN!”

“Let him go!” Sasori ordered. “If you didn’t have a problem with me while I was Samuel, what’s the dag blasted problem now?!”

“You’re an Akasuna, un!” Bo bellowed, drawing himself up to his full height. “For all I know, you might just wanna hurt Dei too, and I ain’t gonna lose another brother, un!”

“Just so you know, if it weren’t for me, Dei would be dead right now!” Sasori yelled back. Bo’s eyes flashed and he pulled back his fist to hit Sasori-

“STOP IT!” the two turned to see Deidara holding his head in his hands, shaking his head back and forth. “This stupid fight! Next time, it’ll be Bo or danna or me or Billy or ma or Clarinda or-“

“Deidara, calm down,” Sasori said, rushing to the blonde.

“I’M NOT GONNA CALM DOWN, UN! NO NO NO NO-“

Sasori latched onto the sculptor, and Deidara started thrashing. “Dang it; Bo, help me!” The larger Iwa rushed to Deidara and took him from Sasori, holding the sculptor’s arms at his side as Deidara thrashed about.

It took a while, but Deidara finally stopped moving, going limp in Bo’s arms. “Danna,” he whispered. “I want danna, un…”

Sasori wordlessly approached the two and took Deidara into his arms, holding the blonde to his chest and rocking them back and forth. After what seemed like a few mere moments, Sasori looked down at the blonde again. “Bo, take him. He’s asleep on his feet.”

The elder Iwa soundlessly walked forward and pulled his brother away, after allowing the Akasuna to give Deidara one kiss. “It’s nothin’ personal,” Bo said, picking up Deidara bridal style. “I just don’t want anythin’ to happen to Dei, ya know, un?”

“Yeah,” Sasori answered.

“Look, this still don’t sit quite right with me, but if ya mean that much to Dei…and you promise you ain’t gonna let nothin’ happen to him…then you two can see each other, un.” Bo began walking away, towards the Iwa property. “Just don’t expect to see much of him for a while. Ma’s real torn up ‘bout this, so she’ll be wantin’ us to stay nearby for a time, un. K?”

“Alright,” Sasori answered, watching the two disappear into the night.