And we begin!

WARNING: Smol beans, costumed animals that scare children, and baby smooches

Rated: K

Word Count: 4818

Naruto © Kishimoto

Story © Happii Haden

It was almost Sasori's tenth birthday and he already couldn't wait for it to be over. As he got older each year, he started to realize he disliked having a birthday party. His stupid parents never listened to him about his wishes. They always did the opposite of what he wanted. A recommendation to an amusement park turned into a party at a regular old boring park, a restaurant party always landed him at home, and when he suggested having a party at home they had the nerve to send him to some dumb kiddy restaurant arcade! That's what they had exactly done this time. Sasori just wanted to have a small get together at home, but his parents insisted that stupid run-down joint called Akatsuki's Pizza Fun-Land. Worst of all, they wanted him to invite his whole class too!

Sasori was reluctant to invite his classmates, but it wasn't like he had a choice. Even if he didn't invite the other kids, he knew his parents would send out invitations anyways. It sucked that his mom was head of PTA. Just when the redhead thought it couldn't get any worse, his mom had to go and prove him wrong.

There was this kid. He was Sasori's neighbor and was dubbed the smelly kid. All the other kids on the block always made fun of and teased his small blond neighbor. Sasori didn't exactly make fun of the kid, but he knew that it would bring down his reputation if he ever talked to the kid. The redhead couldn't blame the neighborhood kids though. The blond had it coming. His hair was long and tangled all the time. It seemed he never took a bath cause he always smelled like garbage. Heck, Sasori was sure the kid never brushed his teeth either! Not like he'd actually know - he hadn't ever talked to him.

Aside from his unruly looks, the blond was also a complete weirdo. Everyday after school, the kid would run to his back yard and throw his backpack to the ground emptying out all of it's contents - which contained only a folder of homework, a notepad, a pack of crayons, and sometimes snacks stolen from the canteen. He'd set up his stuff and do his homework on the ground. The kid practically lived outside. He even used the bathroom outside behind the shed. The grossest thing of all was when the blond would disappear into his shed and come back out with a jar of worms. The blond would dump the whole jar out onto the ground on a piece of paper and play with the creatures. Sasori cringed every time the kid would eat a snack with his wormy, grubby hands.

This kid was the kid Sasori's mother made him invite to his birthday party. Absolutely the worst. "But mooooom," the redhead whined, stomping his little foot. "I don't wanna invite him! He'll embarrass me!"

His mother shook her head and scolded her son, "Deidara is a nice boy."

"Buuuut moooom, he's the smelly kid! Everyone is gonna laugh at me- ow! Mom!" Sasori whined again as his mother pinched his ear.

"Sasori Akasuna," his mother scowled, "you know better. We do not call other people smelly! Now go over there and give him the invitation or else you won't have a birthday at all!"

Groaning the little redhead snatched the forgotten invitation from the table and marched out the door with a huff. So, the day before his party, Sasori left the safety of his home to go give the smelly kid an invitation. He exited through his backdoor, praying that nobody would see him. He gripped the envelope in his now sweaty hands. The only thing that divided their yards was a broken chain linked fence. There the blond was with his notepad, crayons, and worms. Sasori frowned and shoved the envelope in his pocket with his hands, approaching the kid.

"Uh… Deidara, right?" he muttered.

At the sound of his name, the blond turned sharply his tangled hair nearly whipping Sasori in the face. "Un?"

Sasori blinked, "Un…?"

"Un!" the boy sprung up and stuck his dirty hand out for Sasori to shake. "I'm Deidara!"

The redhead looked at the hand and extended his sleeve further down so that it covered his hand. He reluctantly shook the boy's smaller hand. "Look, kid, my mom-"

"What's your name?" the boy- er, Deidara interrupted with a sweet, goofy grin.

Sasori paused, staring at the blond. It seemed that this kid had no manners and Sasori couldn't help but notice that the boy's front teeth were gapped. This really did not help Deidara's appearance. "Sasori…" he finally answered.

The boy's blue eyes lit up. "That's such a cool name, un! Mine's really dumb, but- but hey, do you wanna play!? Today's the worm race and it's the finallys!"

Sasori shook his head, "You mean the finale? Uh, look, I'd love to play with you, but I have to eat dinner soon." It was kind of a lie. Dinner wasn't until five, but he didn't want to stay any longer than he needed to.

"Oh…" the feeling of dejection was evident on the boy's face.

"Yeah, but.. Uh…" Sasori pulled the envelope out and shoved it toward the disheveled blond. "Here, it's for tomorrow… my birthday party. You don't have to get me anything or even come if you don't want to. My mom just-"

"Whoa!" It didn't take much for the blond to smile widely again. "It… It even has my name on it, un! I can go to your party, really?! I'll ask my mama! Oh, wow, this is so cool, un!"

Sasori nearly screamed when the blond pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Deidara practically screamed in his ear.

The redhead cringed and awkwardly returned the hug. "Uh… yeah, look I gotta go."

Deidara pulled away, grin so wide that his cheeks probably hurt. "Un! I'll see ya tomorrow! I'll make sure to get you something super cool!"

Sasori nodded and quickly ran off to his house, feeling the need to bathe. He looked down at his clothes and found no traces of dirt or anything unclean, but he still could feel the germ crawling under his skin. With Deidara invited his mother would be happy, but now he was going to be the laughingstock at school. Tomorrow was going to be awful.

It only seemed to get worse for Sasori. November 8th was supposed to be an exciting day, but all the redhead felt was dread. He had to wake up early and get ready for his birthday party. This included getting thrown in something nice and combing his hair neatly. Sasori was not a morning kind of guy, so when his mother came bursting in at nine in the morning on a weekend the little boy couldn't help but put up a fuss. While eating breakfast he found out devastating news. They would have take Deidara to and from his party. That meant he had to arrive at his party with the smelly kid. As if inviting him wasn't enough, now everyone would think he liked the smelly kid! This was going to be the worst birthday ever.

When it was about time to go, his mom made him run over and pick Deidara up. Sasori was sure to be discreet. Thinking that the blond kid would be outside, he checked the backyard first. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that he wasn't outside. This meant that he'd have to go to the kid's door and possibly inside. Knowing that it wouldn't be very proper to knock at the backdoor, Sasori trudged up to his neighbor's porch hoping no one would see. Thanks to the enclosed porch, the redhead felt a little better. There was a smaller chance that someone would see him and heck, maybe Deidara could actually take them out the backdoor and they could make their escape quickly without any witnesses! That sounded like a really good plan to Sasori although it meant actually going inside the smelly kid's house…

With a shaky fist, he knocked lightly at the door. At first no one answered, so he knocked louder. He could hear a faint noise coming from within. Pressing an ear to the wooden door, he tried to hear the sound more clearly. It was… yelling? Or perhaps it was just really loud music? He knew his neighbors were loud and often played really loud music at night. His mother made the comment about them loving to party and neglecting their child - whatever that meant. Giving up on trying to hear the noise, he knocked even louder and longer until finally he almost whacked a pretty blond in the face.

"Wah, sorry!" he said as the blond ducked away from his fist. "I'm here for…" Sasori stopped as he caught a good look at the person he nearly punched. Long blond hair was neatly brushed and fixed up with a shiny red ribbon. His skin was blemish free aside from the occasional band aids and free of dirt. What caught Sasori's attention the most was the fact that this kid - this boy was wearing a long sleeved dress and matching flats. "Deidara…?"

The blond boy smiled, "Awh man! You recognize me, huh? Must mean it didn't work, un."

"What… didn't work?" Sasori asked slowly, still shocked.

"My disguise!" the boy pouted.

Sasori furrowed his tiny eyebrows. Why would Deidara need a disguise?

The blond rubbed his nose and sniffled a little, "I figured you might not wanna show up with the smelly kid, un. So, I let my mama dress me up in something pretty like she always wants to. Daddy got mad and said I looked like a girl, but that's okey! If I look like a girl, people won't know you invited me, un!"

The redhead stared at the boy in a dress. The kid actually knew that other kids call him smelly… and he also knew that Sasori really didn't want to invite him. Now Sasori felt kinda bad for the blond. "You didn't really have to…"

"Is it time for the party?" the blond asked, bringing Sasori's memory back to him.

Sasori could only nod.

Deidara smiled, "Cool! Let me get your present really quick! You can come in if you want!"

The redhead stepped in the blond's house as he ran out of his sight, dress fluttering about. Sasori looked around. He was in the living room, but it wasn't anything like his at home. It was a lot dirtier with trash scattered about. They also had a smaller TV and two large tattered couches. No wonder Deidara liked it outside better. Sasori couldn't help but wonder what the blond's room looked like. Was it trashed too? Maybe littered with worms and broken crayons? Dirt pictures smothered all over the walls? The redhead didn't have much time to ponder as he heard Deidara come running down the stairs.

"Okey dokey! I got it right here." Deidara smiled, holding a neatly rolled up piece of paper.

Sasori raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. Instead he escorted Deidara out of his house and to his own. When they reached the redhead's house, his mother cooed at the smaller blond. Apparently it wasn't weird that this small boy was wearing a dress. Sasori knew one thing - no matter how much his mom found Deidara pretty, Sasori would never ever wear a dress. Sliding their coats on and properly tying their shoes, Sasori and his family occupied their van, Deidara included. The dress wearing boy sat in the backseat next to Sasori, holding onto his gift to the redhead tightly. Examining the blond, Sasori had to admit that the boy cleaned up nice and actually managed to look pretty. It wasn't entirely the dress that made the blond pretty, the boy just had a really nice face and hair. When the boy caught him staring, Deidara gave him a shy grin. Sasori flushed and snapped his head around to face the window. It wasn't like he actually liked that stupid smelly kid!

Once they arrived at the pizza-arcade, Sasori found that they were the first to arrive. His fear of his classmates seeing him arrive with Deidara was long gone. That one was problem taken care of. Now of course, he knew that the boy would have to sit with them during the actual party, so he was sure he'd get some weird looks. He'd deal with that when the time came. For now he just had to wait for his guests to arrive. He hated that part the most - waiting. Luckily, while he waited his mother granted him a few coins to play some games and time to play on the indoor playground. Behind him, Deidara followed like an obedient puppy. This irked the redhead and made his eye twitch, so when they were far away enough he turned to the blond. "You don't have to follow me, you know? You can go play whatever game you want."

Deidara frowned, "But…" he paused seemingly embarrassed, "I don't know how to play most of these games…" The last part was muttered quietly.

Sasori sighed and grabbed the blond's wrist. At the sudden contact, Deidara jerked away surprising Sasori. The redhead looked at the blond with wide eyes.

"S-Sorry, you scared me, un."

Yep. This kid was definitely a weirdo. "Okey… uh, sorry. Well, follow me and I'll show you a fun game." He gestured for the boy to follow him again and showed him the way to an easy game. A simple game of whack-a-bijuu. "You take a token and put it in here," Sasori instructed. "Then the game starts. See how these little monsters pop up? Well you take this cursed mallet and whack them with it. Like this," he stated, popping a shukaku on the head. It made a tiny roar and slunk down in defeat. "Here." Sasori gently grabbed Deidara's hand and made it hold onto the fake hammer. "Now, just…" Their two hands jolted and whacked another bijuu on it's poor head. Sasori let go and Deidara looked up at him with a red face. "What? Go on and give it a try."

"L-Like this…?" he stuttered nervously as he lightly hit a kyuubi.

Sasori shook his head, "You gotta hit it harder so that it goes down."

Deidara frowned, "But they're so cute, un… I don't want to hurt them."

"Yeah, but they're monsters," the little redhead scoffed as it was obvious. "They hurt people all the time. Monsters deserved to be hurt."

"That doesn't make much sense…"

Sasori rolled his eyes. He just wanted to go play already. In fact, he could see some of his classmates in line at the front door. He needed to hurry this up. "Haven't you ever been hurt by someone before? Just pretend it's them and give them a big whack on their head."

Deidara bit his lip and watched as the game ended. Reaching into his cup, kindly provided by Sasori's mother, and put in another token. The game started again and this time, Deidara took on a powerful strike to a bijuu's head.

"See, I knew you had it in you," Sasori smirked. "I'm going to go play some games on my own. My mom will come and get us when it's time to start the party." The boy waited for Deidara to reply, but it seemed he was caught up in the game at the moment. A look of concentration was etched onto his face. "Alright…" the redhead muttered, slowly walking away.

Despite this being probably the worst party ever, Sasori was surprisingly having a good time. He could stand some of his classmates after all. Specifically his much taller classmate Kakuzu and the quiet Itachi. Those two weren't the worst and Sasori could at least stand to talk to them. When both of his "friends" arrived, he hung out with them up until it was time for his party. That was the plan anyways. Sasori was just starting to have a good time too. Then he saw it. He hadn't been aware of the fact that there was live-action characters. Sure he had seen the animatronics before the workers closed the curtains on the stage. However, people in giant furry costumes were just the worst. Sure, he knew that it was a just a worker stuffed in a hot suit, but something about how they looked terrified Sasori and because it was his birthday, he knew they'd try to talk to him. He didn't and wouldn't let that happen. Looking for a means of escape, Sasori excused himself from his friends. "I have to go to the bathroom," he lied.

He seemingly ran off to the bathrooms until he was out of his friends sights. Just as he was about to hide there, one of those costumed freaks saw him and started waddling over to him. Sasori nearly shrieked. Instead, being the manliest ten year old he could be, he ran around the giant bijuu going as far as to push the weirdo in his haste. Desperately, the redhead searched for a place to hide. His whole world seemed to be spinning - kids and giant characters suffocating him. In the distance there was one safe place. The playground tubes. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him until he reached the tunnel that only led up and up until you finally decided to slide down. Sasori however planned on staying up there. Forget his birthday party - he just wanted to go home already. Why did they have to chose this place of all places?

It was only ten minutes until the party was supposed to start and Sasori's mother was in a fret. Her husband desperately was trying to calm and assure his wife that their son was not missing and was just probably still running around playing a game or something.

"We'll have to cancel the party and call in a search and rescue!" the redhead's mother stressed. "I've asked like ten workers if they've seen him and they all haven't! How could you miss him!? He has flaming red hair for christ's sake!"

"Darling," Sasori's father sighed, "I talked to some of the guests and they said he went to the bathroom a few minutes ago. Maybe he's just having some trouble…"

Deidara, who was sitting on the floor next to the tables, frowned. He didn't understand why everyone was throwing a big fit. It's not like Sasori had gone far. In fact, just earlier he had seen him poke his head up to view through the big orb at the end of the tunnels that hung high in the air. It wasn't as if he was trying that hard to hide - even Deidara knew better hiding places! He gave his candy ring prize another thoughtful lick, nibbling a bit on the corner. Perhaps he should tell the redhead that his mom was upset…

Up in the tubes Sasori felt safe. Those freaky costumed weirdos couldn't fit in the tubes! Sighing, the redhead leaned against the plastic walls. He had saw his family earlier - his mother seemed upset, but he was sure it was over nothing. Just when he thought he'd get some true peace, some kid came stampeding on all fours toward him. "Hey kid, beat it. I was here first," Sasori hissed.

"That's not very nice, un…" a familiar voice muttered.

Sasori blinked and looked over in shock. No way! Somebody actually found him!? "What do you want?" the redhead humphed.

Deidara squirmed up right and sat close next to the redhead. "What're ya doing up here?" he asked, completely ignoring Sasori's question.

"Hiding.." the redhead informed the boy. "Now go away and let me hide by myself."

"Yeah right," Deidara laughed. "This hiding spot isn't very good at all! Besides, your mama is worried about you. You should go down there."

"N-No way!" Sasori snapped. No way he'd go down there when there was those stupid mascots still roaming about.

The blond pouted, "How come?"

The redhead pressed his lips thin. He was not telling the smelly kid he was afraid of the mascots.

Deidara held out his hand, candy ring barely clinging onto his skinny fingers.

Sasori raised an eyebrow at the gesture, slightly disgusted and kind of curious. "Uh…"

"I won this, un."

"Okey…?" Sasori was still very confused.

Deidara brought his hand back and nibbled on the candy again. "Because you showed me how to play that game. I-I tried to save this prize for you, but it looked so yummy s-so I took a few licks, un. A-And it's really really good."

Sasori huffed, "I don't know what you're trying to say…"

"I think you're super cool and I like you a lot, un. S-So I'm trying to ch-cheer you up, cause I know what it feels like," the boy fumbled with his words.

"What're you-"

Deidara finally looked at Sasori with his visible blue eye. "You're hiding cause you got scared, right?"

"Wh-What?! No!" Sasori tensed up, trying to deny the truth.

Deidara shook his head, blond locks whipping Sasori across the face from the close proximity. "Liar, un!" he shouted.

"Hey! Don't yell-"

"I hide when I'm scared too," the blond admitted with a softer tone.

Sasori opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. Finally, after a moment of silence, he sighed in admittance, "I don't like the guys in those furry suits."

Deidara seemed surprised, "Really, un? I think they're funny."

"They're stupid…" Sasori muttered.

Deidara laughed and before the small redhead could snap at him, he hugged the other boy. "It's okey! It's not so scary, if you have someone else with you. I can be scared of them too, un!"

Sasori gave the boy an incredulous look. "No, you can't!" he argued. "You can't be scared of something that you're not scared of!"

"Can too!" Deidara stuck out his tongue. "Can too! Can too!"

The redhead growled, "Even if you could, why would you?"

Deidara's cheeks turned red. "I already told you, un! I like you a lot."

"But I don't like you," Sasori said without really thinking. "Besides boys can't like other boys! It's weird!"

The blond's cheek remained red and his nervous smile never faltered. "I… I know…" he muttered in a voice that did not match his appearance. "And that's okey, cause you don't have to. I like you though, so I want you to be happy no matter what un!"

Sasori frowned.

Pulling something out his sleeve, Deidara presented the redhead with his gift. "Here, you can open it early that way you won't get made fun of for taking my present."

The redhead took the smashed piece of rolled paper and undid the fuzzy yarn holding it together. It was a picture. A simple picture of a very pretty cat.

"You like cats right? I see you play with the one behind your house sometimes. I drew him the same way he looks like in real life."

It really did look like his sorta pet cat. He couldn't actually keep the kitty since his father was allergic to its fur. It was weird, yet touching, that Deidara drew this for him. "Thank you…"

The blond beamed at the redhead for accepting his gift. "I stayed up all night long drawing it for you!"

For some reason, Sasori felt really warm and fuzzy inside. He looked over at the ecstatic blond. Now that he thought about it, Deidara really wasn't that bad. Nor was he really that smelly. If anything, the blond was really pretty. Like really, really pretty. With a small smirk, Sasori reached over and grabbed Deidara's hand. He eyed the candy rock on his finger and brought it to his mouth to have a taste - Deidara's hand still intact.

"H-Hey!" Deidara blushed.

"What?" Sasori asked, pulling the candy from his mouth with a pop. "You said you were gonna give it to me anyway."

The blond tried to hide his face behind his hair. "B-B-But… I already chewed on it."

"So?"

"It has my germs… what if my smelly infexes you too!?"

Sasori rolled his eyes, "It's infects and you're not smelly."

Deidara frowned, "Yes I am…"

"No, you're not," Sasori retaliated and ate some of the candy ring.

"Heeeey!" the blond whined. "Stop it, un! You'll get my smelly and I don't want you to be smelly!" Deidara tried to pull his hand away, but the redhead was much stronger.

Sasori humphed, "I already told you, you're not smelly." He let go of the boy's hand in favor for his face. With nervous movements, Sasori pressed a shy kiss to the other boy's cheek. "And even if you were smelly… well then I'd be smelly with you."

Deidara squealed and scrambled away. "Why did you do that!?"

"Because I like you, duh," Sasori explained as if it were obvious and as if he didn't just deny the blond seconds ago.

"But you said that you didn't like me, un!"

Sasori huffed, "Well now I do."

"B-But you said boys liking other boys was weird!"

The redhead glared lightly at his new found interest. "Well now it's not."

Deidara's face went completely went red and little tears formed in his eyes. "Please don't lie to me," he cried.

Sasori gasped in surprise and crawled over to the blond. "I'm not lying! I swear!" he promised. "I'm really like you too!" He held Deidara's hands, making his own sticky as he gripped the now upside down candy jewelry. "I think you're really pretty and really nice. You're not smelly at all! Who cares what everyone else thinks!?"

Deidara sniffled and used his sleeve to wipe away the snot that was starting to run down his face. "You're just saying that, un."

Sasori shook his head and kissed the boy's cheek again. "See!? I'm being serious!" He continued to kiss all over the boy's face, even going as far to place an innocent kiss on the blond's lips. "I won't go back to the party without you."

"But what about the furry guys?"

Sasori tensed, squeezing Deidara's hand a little tighter. "If you… if you hold my hand I won't be as scared."

Deidara bit his bottom lip, "But all of your friends will see…"

"I don't care!" The redhead exclaimed. "They're not really my friends anyways, but you can be! You're going to be my best friend."

This caught the blond's attention, "I've never had a best friend before… "

Sasori smiled, "Now you do and we're going to be best friends forever and ever."

"That's a really long time," Deidara grinned.

"Mhmmm," the redhead agreed.

Coming to an agreement and new friendship, Sasori and Deidara stumbled down the slide together hand in hand before they made their way back to Sasori's party. Upon seeing her child, the redhead's mother swooped him up in a tight hug.

"Sasori! You can't run off like that! Where have you been?" his mother stressed.

"He was hiding," Deidara informed from behind the redhead.

The redhead huffed, "Hey, you said you wouldn't tell, you brat!"

Deidara stuck his tongue out at the redhead and wiggled his fingers in Sasori's hold, reminding the redhead that he still had to tell everyone.

Sasori pulled away from his mom and held their hands up high. "I have something to tell you and everyone else here," he announced in a proud voice. Once everyone quieted, the redhead continued. "This is Deidara and he's my best friend."

Sasori's mother cooed at the sight, "Awh, that's sweet, dear. I'm glad you guys became friends-"

"Yep!" Sasori smiled. Ignoring everybody else he pulled Deidara into the seat next to him. "You can sit here next to me." Leaning over, surprising everyone at the table, Sasori gave his new best friend a kiss on the cheek. No one said anything, but they all sure looked. The redhead refused to let go of the blond's hand, so even though they were sweaty he held on tight. When the mascots gathered around and brought the cake, Sasori didn't feel as scared as he would've before. Now that he had a best friend, he felt much braver.

That's when Sasori decided on his wish. After everyone had sung "Happy Birthday" to him, he glanced over at the timid blond and smiled. Leaning in he stated his wish in his head before blowing out the candles. The guest all cheered and Sasori smiled over at Deidara who returned the gesture.

"I wish that Deidara will be my best friend forever."