When Xantrex awoke the next day, he did so slowly. His head was swimming. He was still groggy when he sat up. How had he gotten a broken arm? ...Right. Recruiting that kid. Taking a deep breath, Xantrex sighed. The kid. He didn't know if Kazuma had knocked or not, or how many times the kid had done so. Xantrex looked at the clock that sat by his bedside. 9:30. Yeah, the kid had probably come to get him several times. He'd have to go get the kid. Getting dressed wasn't an easy task by any means. But when he'd managed to get done, twelve minutes had passed. Going out of his room, he started down the hall and knocked on Kazuma's door. "You up kid?"

Kazuma had been to Xantrex's room several times and the guy was still sleep or ignoring him. So Kazuma had gone back to his room and just to see if it would be worth the try, he knocked on Jaymaru's door to see if he could get the notes. Thankfully she had been kind of enough to give them to him. So he'd been nose deep in the Super Soldier files until the time that Xantrex knocked on his door, scaring the hell out of him. "Yes," he answered, dropping the papers on the floor. He'd already found several flaws in the scientist notes and several ways to fix them by switching around a few numbers. If only he could test it out. And his main focus had been the Mutation. Kazuma found that to be the most interesting part and one could only imagine how such a thing could be created, but with the detailed notes in hand, Kazuma had deciphered it all. Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked himself over. He wished he could have packed before leaving. He had no clean clothes to wear and he could have sworn he smelled the mutt that nearly killed him yesterday.

"Good. Come on then. We have a lot to do today, starting with introducing you to Deidara," he said, turning and leaning against the side of the door. Xantrex was feeling better than yesterday, in terms of fatigue. In terms of his arm. Well, one of the things Xan had to do today was pick up some kind of pain killers. He'd have to wait for his arm to heal naturally, because he couldn't use jutsu to fast forward the healing process. He wondered if he could manipulate his chakra to do so...Another thing they had to do was stop by the Snow and get any of Kazuma's things. Hopefully there was a time of day where everyone would be gone from his house. That would make things easier.

Kazuma tried to put on a hopeful look, but failed. The thought of meeting Deidara made him cringe in fear, a knowing fear. He slowly excited the room and looked at Xantrex, waiting for him to lead the way to his possible death or the beginning of a new life. That just sounded depressing. At least at home he knew he could have a chance at living. Kazuma held in a sigh and straightened up. He had to at least act like he wasn't as weak and pathetic as a used mop or as afraid as a mouse getting ready to be eaten alive by a lion. He almost chuckled at the the thought. It helped make him feel a bit better about doing this.

(We're gonna hafta get Dei online soon...)

Xantrex grinned at the look on Kazuma's face. It was obvious the kid was terrified, and with good reason. Xan himself had heard the stories that circulated through the villages about Deidara. And to be honest, many of them weren't far from the truth. "Don't worry kid, he doesn't kill everyone he meets." He paused. "Seriously though, this'll turn out fine." Xantrex was banking on the thought that before he left on his espionage mission, he'd been one of the people Deidara trusted. He could only hope that little brat Krissy hadn't spouted her theories to him yet. Otherwise that girl really might've landed him up dead.

Starting down the hall, Xantrex stopped when he came to Deidara's room. He was a bit surprised there were no traps. Or rather, he would have been, had he not been in the Akatsuki for years. With his good hand, Xantrex knocked on the door. "Deidara, are you up?"

(I emailed him. That's the best I can do.)

"Maybe I might be that someone who gets killed," he responded halfheartedly. But he nodded when Xantrex reassured him that things would be fine. He'd been here a while, so he knew what he was talking about, right? Kazuma nearly groaned when they arrived at Deidara's door. What if they were waking him up? What if he wasn't there? What if he was speaking with Krissy and he made her fight him as a form of initiation? What if? What if? What if? That's all Kazuma could come up with. The possibilities. That's all life was, a bunk of possibilities. Kazuma shook his head. Straighten up. You heard Xantrex yesterday, stop pitying yourself. Grow up, he scolded himself.

Deidara couldn't come up with any idea as to why Xantrex would be bothering him at this time. All in the Akatsuki knew that their leader was in a sour mood due to the loss against the Magma and the Death. The only good thing was that Micah had held up his end of the deal and won against the Stealth. "Damn it. By him winning we look weak." Deidara opened his door. "Xantrex, you are a not on my good list. What do you want?" He spotted Kazuma. "He's not an one of us. Who are you, boy."

As if he hadn't known before, Xantrex was even more assured now that he had to tread lightly. Being kurt, catching attitude, or being disrespectful would really get him killed. "To introduce you to our newest member," he stated, motioning to Kazuma after Deidara asked who he was. "This is Kazuma. I'm taking him on as my student. I wanted to ensure that you two were acquainted before you saw him wandering around the hideout unawares." Should he mention the Super Soldiers project now? It would probably just be a bad idea, for if the project failed later on, a very low chance, but still a chance nonetheless, that could cost Xantrex his life. Something he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"You're going around recruiting without my consent?" Deidara frowned. "He'd better be worth the time." Deidara knew exactly how to find out if the Kazuma was worth being an Akatsuki member or not. "This is the part where you tell me what makes me so interesting." With Xantrex taking on a student this could be the perfect opportunity for Deita to make gain a rival. Bat and Krissy were too brutal for him, but this kid looked weak.

Xantrex said nothing about having recruited someone without consent. That would only lead to trouble. "He is, trust me on this one." Trust was something that had to be reformed over time. Deidara's wasn't easy to earn. Xantrex had to hold back a smirk when Deidara said this was the part where he told what made him so interested. "Well, this kid, at least, from what I've seen so far, is effectively brillant, and not too bad a fighter, but you can bet I plan on fixing that. That being said, he's the smartest I've come across, and a great strategist. Between the two of us, chances are we'll have a plan to bring the Akatsuki back to it's feet in no time." Of course...his last plan, for whatever reason, hadn't worked out. Would that count against him? Hopefully not.

"I hope he's a better strategist than you. The loss against the Death sure as hell didn't help us get back on our feet. It is ironic how Kazuya became an adult at the time of the Rebellion. You've got some explaining to do, Xantrex. Or maybe a lesson will cover it all." He hadn't paid much attention to how beat up the scientist was. It would make things boring. Ah, but on the other hand. The wounds were fresh and Kazuma would see how ruthless he could be when failure occurred. And Xantrex would suffer all the more, meaning he would do better.

Xantrex nearly stepped back when Deidara mentioned the Rebellion. That pink haired devil had already gotten to speak with him as it seemed. When the word 'lesson' was said, Xantrex swallowed lightly. He'd never had a lesson from Deidara before, and he sure as hell didn't want to start. "It was a simple miscalculation in having made the jutsu. I had used the jutsu on him before having tested it in a battle setting, that's it. It's pure coincidence that it happened during the Rebellion.." He remembered Krissy's lesson. No excuses, but in order to clear his name, excuses were just what Xantrex had to have ready. Luckily, Xantrex could usually make his excuses sound like perfectly logical reasoning. But, of course, this was Deidara. Of course, Xantrex had only ever used the jutsu on himself to test it out, so he wouldn't have known that the jutsu would have worn off had he been killed. But the hell if he was going to speak that aloud.

"A simple miscalculation?" Deidara sounded pissed. "We lost Xantrex!" He no longer sounded pissed, he looked pissed as well. "Is that simple in your mind? A simple fucking miscalculation? I was taking over all of the villages. The Death was in the palm of my hands. The Magma had already been beaten down by the Snake Ninja and then we came in, and lost. Where were you Xantrex? Didn't you not have some great plan?"

Oh great. Alright, so maybe making it sound like something small hadn't been the best of ideas. Because now...well, now Deidara was pissed off. This had certainly not been on Xantrex's to-do list for today. It looked like taking Kazuma to get his stuff would have to wait until tomorrow. Or possibly the day after, depending on Xantrex's condition...While Xantrex didn't like the idea of being blamed for all that happened, he couldn't raise his voice to Deidara, or else he might really end up dead. He had a feeling that by the end of this, he'd be wishing for nothing more than a crushed left arm. "I did have a plan, and it had been going perfectly. Nothing should have gone wrong." Talking back wasn't the best of ideas right now, but it was all he could do to try and get himself out of this mess. He was going to kill Krissy when this was all over.

Well, maybe there was one last thing he could try to get himself out of this. "We already have another idea, but it'll take a bit of time. "Jaymaru had some leftover notes on the Super Soldiers of the Stealth. The Stealth shut the project down because of some bugs, bugs that we can effectively get rid of, and use against them and the rest of the Vallies," he said, swallowing. He was being as calm about this as he could possibly pull off. While Xantrex was truly a coward at heart, he couldn't allow himself to be seen as a traitor to the Akatsuki. Maybe a traitor to the Vallies, but never to the Akatsuki.

Kazuma sucked in a breath when Deidara opened the door. Okay, so Xantrex was clearly on his bad side and it seemed that Kazuma was about to watch as his new found teacher got grilled over the loss of two wars. Geez, Xantrex sure did know how to piss someone off. When he brought up the Super Soldiers, Kazuma knew the guy was trying to save his own hide. Kazuma was a clever boy, and maybe he could possibly save Xantrex before he had no teacher at all. Taking his chances, and praying Xantrex wouldn't be angry with him later, he spoke up, with as much confidence as he could. "I looked over the notes early this morning and I've already gotten rid of the bugs," he responded. That was a plus, right? "It was simple really. And as Xantrex stated, you can use these soldiers against the villages. A win is guaranteed." Kazuma didn't know if the confidence came from being scared or from the need to survive. He had strategically avoided all eye contact with Xantrex for two reasons. He didn't want to see what look Xantrex may or may not have been giving him and Deidara may have thought this was all planned if he looked to Xantrex for approval.

"So the boy speaks." Deidara was now facing Kazuma. Looking like a hungry tiger as he listened to the boy take up for Xantrex, and he hadn't even been officially accepted yet. "You've got nerves," Deidara growled. "I hope you can keep your word, or you'll be the next example." Back to Xantrex. "And you. You're not off the hook. Something did go wrong, so as a test to see if you're as smart as you think you are," he glanced at Kazuma as he finished his sentence. "You have six weeks to show me this Super Soldier thing in action. If it's not up to my standards then you can start digging your own graves. I'll find you someone to test it on." Deidara gave Kazuma the once over. "You're in for now." He closed his door on both of them. "Until Krystalia gets done with you," he said under his breath, in case they were lingering around his door.

Kazuma wasn't sure if he'd made things better or worse. When Deidara said they had six weeks he wanted to protest. That wasn't enough time for anything! Instead he kept his mouth shut and waited until Deidara was gone to speak. "I'm sorry," he apologized. He probably shouldn't have spoken. They could have had more if he didn't speak up. That was what he'd assumed at least. Six weeks. What if Deidara didn't get them a test subject for another three weeks. He nearly groaned. He'd really messed up this time. Looking one last time at Deidara's door he turned to his mentor. "You wouldn't happen to have any lab mice would you?" They needed something to test the trails on. A chimp would have done wonders. That however was very unlikely.

Xantrex looked at Kazuma when he suddenly spoke up. What had he told him before they'd gone to see Deidara? Don't speak unless spoken to. He turned his gaze back to Deidara when their leader spoke again. He frowned. Six weeks? Xantrex wasn't sure that was enough time. Something like this would require trial and error. In the back of his mind, a schedule for the experiments had already started to form. Xantrex nodded when Deidara said he'd find someone to test it on. He turned to walk down the hall towards the main room after Deidara retreated into his room. "Don't. It's already done, and apologizing is just a waste of time. Time we don't have. We have to get to work." He sat on one of the couches. "We'll need several days to look over the notes, and make required adjustments." He nodded to Kazuma. "And after that we'll start the experiments on the mice," he told him. Of course Xantrex had lab mice. What kind of scientist didn't?

Kazuma's shoulder slumped. Yeah, he had screwed up. Kazuma followed Xantrex into the main room. Unlike Xantrex he didn't sit down, he stayed standing. When Xantrex spoke, he continued his silence. And he was hesitant to speak when Xantrex had finished. "I...I think concentrated small doses on mice would be a good start. And once we start seeing positive changes we can begin adding full doses. The affect shouldn't be a strain if they're used to it." He was just trying to help out. Xan probably already knew this, but he'd decided to bring it up anyway.

It was still early in the day, and there was a lot to do yet, most of it not having to do with the Super Soldier project. But now Xan's mind was racing. So much to do and so little time. He barely even heard Kazuma speak. He looked at the boy. "What? ....Oh. Right. Assuming we see positive changes at all." He paused. What if, rather than doing what the scientists of the Stealth did, and killing the subject in question before hand, then reanimating it, they left the subject alive? He looked down. When he spoke, he didn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular. "The only reason the Stealth used reanimated corpses in their trials was due to ethics. We don't have to worry about that. It might even be more efficient with live subjects. Though, there might be some side effects when the drug is first introduced, something that might not happen with re-animated subjects..." He muttered. "That being said, using a jutsu to wipe the subject's memory might be more efficient, and will very likely prevent any memory issues that the reanimated corpses had." He paused and finally seemed to remember that Kazuma was there. He looked at the kid. "Right, we'll start on the rats with low doses after working out any remaining bugs. I'll look over your work to see if you missed anything, then we'll start on trials. In order to test the rat's memory over time, in case we run into anything similar to the first case of the Stealth, we'll set up an obstacle course and test the rat over the course of four days. Considering the small body of the rats, any memory loss should be much more speedy than that of a human test subject." He paused and took a breath. "In the mean time, we're going to the Snow to pick up your things. On the way, I'll look over your notes, and you'll be studying a jutsu on memory modification. Got it?"

Kazuma titled his head. They re-animated their subjects? Kazuma wasn't sure if he'd read over that. When he thought about it, it was sickening. Who re-used bodies to creature unstoppable soldiers? Rhetorical question. But a live subject. Kazuma bit his tongue lightly. "Xantrex, just how will the SSP drug fuse with a live subject. What if it's extremely painful and it kills the subject instead of strengthening it? With the amount of time we have, we can't exactly do concentrated amounts." Kazuma rocked back on his heels when Xantrex said they'd be going to the Snow to get some stuff for him. Good, he was tired of wearing these clothes. And now he had to study a memory modification jutsu. "You wouldn't happen to already have such a jutsu, would you?" He asked.

Xantrex nodded at Kazuma's question. "Smart boy. I'd thought of that. A simple anesthetic should do the trick. It's to be expected that the subject would feel pain while the strain is fusing, which is very likely another reason the Stealth's Council didn't want live subjects used. Unfortunately, we don't have time to reanimate every subject we use." He stood up. "I doubt it will kill the subject, but that's what the rats are for. Testing. I think the closest thing it could come to killing the subject is to put it in a temporary coma, which we also don't have time for." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head with his good hand. "Yeah, I have a scroll in my room," he responded plainly. The only reason he was having Kazuma learn the jutsu was because there was no time for his own arm to heal so he could do it himself. "Come on, we don't have time to waste. Get your notes from your room, and I'll grab the memory mod scroll." With that, he started out of the main room and towards his own room.