The One

A/N: This is my entry for Shelby Sabaku's contest. All entries had to incorporate lyrics of a song in the fic and include a reference to Shakespeare. The pairing had to be Sakura with anybody of your choosing. You could either do a one or two shot. And the words mungo, mediocre, manic, cloister and oaf had to be used as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the American Oxford or the song 'The One That Got Away'.

Definitions according to the American Oxford:

mungo- cloth made from recycled woven or felted material.

mediocre- moderate quality; not vey good...like this story. :'(

manic- showing wild and apparently deranged excitement and energy.

cloister- a covered walk in a convent, monastery, college, or cathedral, typically with a wall on one side and a colonnade open to a quadrangle on the other.

oaf- a stupid, uncultured or clumsy person.

Song Used: The One That Got Away by Katy Perry...which I've heard too many times...

Summer after high school when we first met…

Fresh from the florescent lit hell, formally known as high school, Deidara spent much of his new found free time living it up with buds, babes and booze. From dusk until dawn, he ravaged the party scene with reckless abandon, doing and drinking as he wished. He sipped and chugged his way past sobriety and consciousness each day until the summer became a blur of liquor hazed memories.

Contrary to the accusations of Sasori, Deidara was not an idiot. He knew he should be enjoying this last summer instead of wasting it away. And he also knew he wasn't a kid anymore and that he needed to grow up. Furthermore, he was supposed to know where he was going and what he was going to do and who he was going to be. But that's where he stopped knowing.

From the moment the blue caps had rained down on graduation day, he had been suffocating in expectations and bombarded with questions. And so he retreated. He partied. He got drunk. He did stupid things. And he almost died.

It had been another endless night that almost ended his life. Expectedly, he had been three sheets to wind and still downing a Jack Daniels. He didn't recall how it happened, but there had been a pool and he had somehow fallen in like a big oaf. He had fought and struggled to stay afloat, but it was no use in his inebriated state, and he began to breathe in water instead of air.

The next terrifying moments he only saw the chlorinated blue as he flailed about. Blue everywhere he turned and everywhere he looked. In that chaotic, incoherent moment blue was the only thing that existed. But then the blue started to fade and he stopped fighting. And everything went black.

Then he was sputtering and heaving as someone beat out the shit out of him and the life back into him. After a painful period of violent hacking, he was left feeling and probably looking like hell, but alive none the less. His eyes lazily rolled up to take in his savior and was met with green; a beautiful pair of viridian eyes. For a second time that day, Deidara found himself drowning.

Talk about a future like we had a clue…

His savior and the owner of the green gems ended up spending the remaining duration of the party tending to him in his drowned rat state; something he was immensely grateful for. As she fussed over him, drying and sobering him up, she informed him that she recently graduated from Konoha High as the valedictorian with a perfect G.P.A. She also managed to notify him that though she had been offered many scholarships, she would be attending Konoha University and had every intention of pursuing a career in the medical field, which probably explained why she treated him like a patient.

As she babbled on about her future education and occupation, Deidara hardly heard a word. His attention was instead focused on those luminous green eyes of hers that peered from under her flirty lashes. He saw her pink Cupid's bow lips moving animatedly as she talked and he was able to hear the confident, melodic tone in which she spoke, but for some reason, the meaning to her words was lost on his ears.

As their hair dried and lightened back to their original shades of petal pink and golden blonde, it struck Deidara that the beautiful woman who had saved him had yet to reveal her name. She had practically submitted to him her life story and college application, but he found that she was still an unknown entity to him. And so he ran the risk of being rude by interrupting her introductory speech and promptly demanded her name.

The girl who seemed to know everything was caught off guard and brought to embarrassment as she realized her error. "Sakura," she rushed to correct the blunder, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"And I'm the love of your life Deidara un," he shot back with his sexiest smirk which only managed to cause her laughter.

Never one without the other, we made a pact…

After a rather interesting trial of dates, the unlikely duo became an official couple. The two had pretty much nothing in common and were almost complete opposites, but somehow, they were also perfect for each other in the way only opposites can be; compensating and complimenting one another like yin and yang.

He introduced her to music of Radiohead and Johnny Cash while she enlightened him on the classical works of Shakespeare and Homer. He continuously demonstrated the steamy side of love with manic make out sessions in his mustang, and just as continuously, she imparted the knowledge of sweet and innocent good night kisses on her front porch. She taught him control and he in turn showed her how to lose it.

They spent much of their summer with intertwined hands and fast beating hearts. Both parties were guilty of stooping to toxic levels of sappiness and spitting out there fair share of clichés. Neither of them could help as words of love were recycled like the fabric that makes mungo. They were in love and so they didn't give a damn about anything else.

I should have told you what you meant to me

'Cause now I pay the price

In the end, they didn't last longer than the summer had. Like a shooting star, they had burned brightly for a while, but then fizzled out into inexistence. It had been too much too soon and they had been too different. Once the arguments had started, they never stopped. Sakura soon returned to her previously cloistered life and the same old unanswered questions came back to haunt Deidara.

Learning from his past mistakes, Deidara didn't attempt to hide with intoxication as he no longer had the pinkette to save him from drowning. This time, he actually sought the answers, and though it had been hell to do so, he had found those answers. Currently, he worked as a pyro technician which is just a fancy title for the person in charge of blowing up shit for movies and concerts. It was a job he both loved and excelled at.

Despite being content with his current place in life, Deidara still thought of Sakura on a daily basis. New questions came to haunt him in the stead of those he answered. And so he wondered if she still resembled the pink haired, green eyed siren that had saved him all those years ago. He speculated that she was most likely a doctor by now and busy saving other dumbasses that weren't him. He also deliberated that she could very well be married to a dumbass that wasn't him, which was something that didn't sit quite well with him.

He knew he needed to move on from her and he had tried, but no matter who he dated or how he tried to forget, he was still hung up on her. In his career, he had seen his fair share of beautiful women, but even the brightest star looked mediocre in his mind when compared to his Sakura.

So he still had it bad for the pinkette and it only seemed to be getting worse. His thoughts and dreams were flooded with her smiles and glimmering green gems. And now, his dreams of her had invaded reality, because standing right across from him was Sakura Haruno.

For that moment, all he could think and see was her. His legs moved automatically as he bounded toward her across the intersection. Even from a distance, he could see that same unique hair color and her familiar curvy build. He could even see those wonderful olive eyes of hers. Unfortunately, however, he didn't see the car he had stepped in front of.

In another life, I would make you stay

So I don't have to say you were the one who got away.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He felt like he had just been hit by a bus.

"It was a car actually," a familiar voice informed him, correcting what he must have thought out loud.

Smirking Deidara opened his ocean blue eyes to meet emerald eyes.

She began to admonish him on his stupidity and recklessness, but just like all those years ago, he didn't hear a word she said. Once again, he was more concerned with watching the movement of her mouth. She looked even more beautiful if that was possible.

Apparently, he had been right about her being a doctor, but as it turned out, he was still one of the dumbasses she saved. And after noticing no ring on her finger, he decided that he would be the dumbass she married too.

/Fin/

A/N: So there it is. This is my first contest as you can probably tell. I'm not too happy with this little fic, so I may come back and rewrite it later. If any of you have read my other fics, I'll be updating those as soon as I can and I'm really sorry for the wait. :(

I would like to thank Shelby Sabaku for hosting this event and generating a lot more fics for all of us to enjoy. Yay for contests!

And on a last note, please review. You don't need an account and it doesn't take much time, so please give me some feedback, because it really makes my day. Thankyou, for reading this and hopefully enjoying it as well.