Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

It was an appropriately adequate, comfortable night in the centermost of November, drifting sheets of frost descended downward silently outside the secured, fastened windows, and the heat was faintly up, just enough to keep them warm, but however not enough to suffocate the occupants of the tattered, unstable apartment that had once used to belong to his partner. When he was younger as a child, he used to be curled between his parents on nights similar to tonight and snugly, he would watch the battered glass window over their bed until one by one, they drifted off to their tender slumber. Now, as he reminisced the times with sorrow and wonderment, it seemed so far off, that time of innocence, of naivety. Sasori was a nonsensical child and had thought that moments such as that would last a lifetime, now looking back; he longed for he hadn't squandered them with such frivolity.

With a listless sigh, he flopped onto his stomach, allowing the gentle moonlight casting upon his black-cloth covered back. He really should be asleep, he had an early mission in the morning and Pein did not tolerate lateness or laziness, then again, when did puppets require sleep? Squeezing his soft auburn eyes shut he tried desperately to get his brain to shut down and allow the required sleep conquer over. But much to his dismay he couldn't seem to shake the nagging feeling that something was noting about his current position. Groaning in aggravation at the prickling sensation that grated at his brain, he instantaneously opened his eyes once again, and surveyed the room.

It was nothing extraordinary about it; it was fairly a cramped room that his partner had adapted to, ever since a few months after one of his clay bombs backfired at the Akatsuki headquarters, and their former room practically collapsed on them. Normally he wouldn't have touched it, but certain circumstances had forced him to make use of what available room he had in the apartment. The carpet was an olive color and ran throughout the entire living space, he had chosen it partly because of the color and partly because it was extra soft, he needed every advantage that he could now that his partner had begun to follow him wherever he went, by now he should have been used to Deidara's completely nonsensical, preposterous questionings that had ranged from the color of sky, to wondering, if he was actually female. The walls were a peeling ivory color; it complimented decently against the green, for even on the blustering day didn't seem harsh. Various posters and photographs littered the walls, mementos that managed to bring a grin to Deidara's face every time he glanced at them, as one of his favorites was a crayon drawing hung in a place of honor next to the last picture he had of a ruptured explosion.

The drawing wasn't anything special; it was the normal kind of work you would expect from a five year old yet still, he loved it dearly. Swirls were depicted on the paper by two different scribbles of color brown, and grey, the exploding cloud was smaller than the brown one and seemed to be different explosions. Underneath the two clouds were the crudely drawn letters, supposedly reading, 'bang!' Even now and then, every time Deidara glanced at it, even from the corner of his eye, his heart swelled with a seemingly endless amount of adoration and self-esteem.

Suddenly it struck him, and he had to shake his head at his own stupidity, of course that was the reason he couldn't sleep tonight. Scuttling towards the edge of the bed, and tentatively sticking his toe out onto the floor to check for a clump of clay or something equally damaging, he was seated on the edge of the twin bed. Stepping down onto the floor he moved to the door, managing to avoid any obstacles in his path, thanks to the oddly bright moonlight that shown from the barely shut curtains on the balcony doors and the small overhead window, lighting his way through the disaster of a bedroom.

Opening the wooden door with a slight creaking sound, he crept across the silent hallway to the wooden door that faced his. With a slight smile, he grabbed the dull handle and turned it, pushing slightly the door gave way and opened to a silent, room, the only light being in the form of a faint nightlight plugged in over by the window. Silently, he walked through the recently cleaned room and over to the bed.

Bond hair was matted against the sheet that stretched across the small mattress. Natural skin shimmered lightly in the bits of moonlight that fell on it from the small cracks in the curtains. One abnormal hand was curled into itself and the fishnet material he wore as he slept soundly on his stomach a look of content on his face. A hand came down to softly stroke the upper part of his back making his face scrunch in irritation and the body to turn over onto it's back. It gave him a strange sense of wonderment as he gazed down at him.

Weary, azure eyes blinked open and came to focus on the smiling face above it, small hands stretched out towards the man and were immediately answered as the man straightened up and then proceeded to accompany him, and securely snuggle him into his grasp. His face buried itself into the warm shoulder as he began to be lulled back to sleep by the motions the man made by walking back to his own bedroom, making sure to close the doors behind him.

Slipping back into bed carefully, he placed Deidara next to him on the bed and gently nudged him awake again. Blue eyes peeked up at him with a soft grunt

and proceeded to move the small body into a more comfortable position, sprawled across Sasori's chest. He was greeted with a soft smirk, and a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Oi brat, aren't you asleep?"

Deidara quizzically did as he was told and suddenly his eyes went wide with wonderment at the soft flakes of white that drifted down from midnight sky illuminated by the orb in the sky. His body drew it self up into a sitting position unable to take his eyes off of the new thing that had suddenly appeared while he had been asleep. The elder's body tensed harshly and then relax as a hand came to rest on his own tan cheek and blue eyes looked into his.

"I could ask the same, un."

A soft chuckle sounded from the elder's body as he slipped his arms around his body and accompanied his gaze at the small window.

"Take a look."

Deidara smiled at the window, he enjoyed how it appeared however, and he had the sense that the scene was nothing similar to anything before, frankly he was beginning to like it.

"Snow…un…?"