A/N: I never expected this to turn out the way it did, but thanks to other angsty fanfics at the time I was writing this, it turned out like this. not my fave story either.

Summary: Sasori and Deidara's relationship falls into uncertainty on the American holiday, the Fourth of July. implied SasoDei. slight AU.

Sasori and Deidara's Fourth of July

Deidara awoke and looked over at his calendar. Tobday was the 4th, "of what month?" the blond thought, rubbing his eyes. He looked at the top of the page. 7, that'd be July, meaning today was the 4th of July- that American holiday that involved...........setting off fireworks! He lept out of bed and quickly got dressed- oh how the thought of fireworks excited the arsonist.

Once dressed, the blond bounded down the hall to his partner's room, barging in without a second thought. The red-head within was used to the younger male entering wihtout knocking, but he never expected the blond to rush in like he had. The older male's puppet work was shoved aside when the blond sat on the red-head's lap, bouncing like an excited child. It was moments like these the red-head wondered why he loved the blond so much.

"Daaaaaaaaanna! Guess what un?! Guess what un?!" Deidara asked, his voice sounding incredibly childish.

"What?" Sasori asked in reply, sounding bored, as usual.

"Today's the 4th of July un!"

"I know the date Dei."

"Not what I meant un."

"Then what do you mean, dare I ask?"

"Today's an American holiday involving fireworks un!" There was a gleam of excitement in the blond's visible cerulean eye.

"If you're going to use that as an excuse to blow stuff up, take it outside. Leader and Kakuzu would be pissed if you destroyed the base."

"I know that un. But I want someone to watch with me un."

Sasori sighed. "I've got work to do Dei. Maybe another time."

"But you always have work to do un!"

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"It's not fair to me un! You spend more time on your stupid puppets than you do with your boyfriend un!" Deidara stood abruptly and stormed out of the room.

Sasori slumped in his chair, burrying his head in his hands. The blond had a point- he really did spend more time on his puppets. But puppets required lots of attention if one didn't want them to malfunction in battle. An agitated sigh escaped the red-head's lips. He would have to figure this out fast before his lover did something stupid.

Warm, moist air greeted Deidara as he exited the base. He only hesitated for a moment before heading into the surrounding forest. All the blond wanted right now was to get away from the Akatsuki base and......................that stupid puppet-loving red-head that was supposed to be his boyfriend. He hated the older man right now, because not only was he shoved aside for puppet work- which the red-head could do at night- all his excitement was sucked away and he had a feeling the fireworks wouldn't be enjoyable any more.

Deidara stopped his advance in a clearing and set down every gift Sasori had ever given him. He scattered a few C2s around the trinkets before stepping out of the clearing. Bitting back a sob, the blond formed the hand seal and watched as it all became true art. He and Sasori.............were officially over.

The young arsonist circled around the clearing and continued walking to get even farther away. He was already tired, probably because his heart ached so much. He shoved all the blame on the older man. It was the red-head's fault for not spending more time with the blond. Even though they had only been dating for half a year, the pair knew a lot about each other because they worked together. Therefore, Deidara reasoned Sasori should know how needy the blond was.

Tje clock struck 9 P.M., alerting Sasori that it had been 12 hourse since Deidara vanished. He was starting to worry the blond wasn't coming back, and that scared him. He would go search for his lover, but he had no idea where the younger male had gone, other than outside the base. Still, it was worth it to at least look. The red-head got up from the rickety old chair he had been sitting in- the piece of junk brought back the day the blond has strip-teased the older man to win him over. The entire ordeal had been Konan's idea, and it worked- maybe too well. He shook the memory from his head and focused on finding the younger male.

It started raining the moment Sasori departed the base. He glared up at the clouds for a moment, before shifting his glare to the surrounding forest. He started into the dense trees, looking around carefully, trying not to miss anything. Soon he came across a clearing. In the center was a crater with charred remains of things that were long beyond recognition. The grass surrounding the crater had suffered the onslaught as well. It only took the red-head a moment to realize this was the blond's doing. Suddenly, possibilities of what had been destroyed came to the puppeteer. Nothing, the blond's cloak and headband, all the gifts that had been given to him, and worst of all, his life.

Sasori was scared, to say the least. He didn't want to lose blond meant everything to him, and then some. If he lost the arsonist, he lost himself. And if he lost himself....................then even the lack of emotions puppets supposedly had wouldn't be enough to keep him around. He sullenly circled the crater and continued his search- although he had lost much of his hope of finding the younger male.A terrible ripping sensation ravaged the red-head's heart, causing him to stagger a bit as he walked. When he finally couldn't stand it anymore, he allowed himself to collapse under a tree. Then the world faded to black.

It was finally dark enough for fireworks, but the world decided to be a hater by making it rain as if the area never got rain. Somewhere deep inside, maybe Deidara had known the fireworks would have never worked in the first place because it rained too much. He had a childish moment when he had realized the date, and hadn't put much thought into how he was going to deal with the rain. Because of that, he was now alone, cold, and soaked to the bone. Today obviously just wasn't his day, but at least he knew he was miles from the Akatsuki base. However, no matter how far the blond got, he never felt happiness. It seemed his happiness was blown up with all the gifts Sasori ever gave the arsonist. This fact agitated him to no end, because his head kept repeating that the red-head only brought him misery. But his heart seemed to scream otherwise, leaving him wondering if he had overeacted.

He shook the thought from his head as he crawled into an opening in a tree where he could wait out the storm. He wrapped his arms around himself in hopes of getting a little warmer. As the blond laid on his side in hopes of catching some sleep, his mind was plaugued with images of the red-head. When he tried to dream, all he drempt of were all the memories of his time with the older male. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he saw an image of Sasori dying alone in the forest of heartache, tears streaming down his face and screaming, "DEIDARA!" The blond couldn't take it anymore, so he got up and left his shelter find that damn red-head before he went insane.

Certain the puppeteer was already out looking for him, the blond decided to head towards the base. Luckily, the rain had stopped, leaving behind mud puddles, mist, and beautiful, fleeting scenery. The blond couldn't help but gape in awe at the surrounding forest, much like he always did after it rained. Because he was so distracted, it should have came as no surprise when the blond tripped on a tree root. However, it came as a shock when, rather than landing on the hard ground, the arsonist landed on something a bit softer................and breathing.

Deidara looked up, and his visible cerulean eye met familiar chocolate brown ones. He suddenly found himself in a tight, one-sided embrace. Putting a name to whoever he had fallen on, the blond tried to push backward and away. At first, there was resistance, but then the arsonist was released. His breath caught in his throat when he clearly saw Sasori's face.

"Dei," Sasori began softly, his voice filled with hurt and regret, "I'm sorry.............................I'll find a way to spend more time with you- anything to not lose you."

The blond sighed and looked down. "I overeacted. I'm sorry Danna, really un."

"It's alright. Let's just forget it and set off some fireworks."

A nervous laugh escaped the arsonist's lips. "I actually don't have any real fireworks and have no idea where to go to buy any un."

"Then we'll just use your clay instead."

"Later. Right now, I just wanna relax un." The blond quickly rested his head on the red-head's chest, then made himself comfortable.

The puppeteer wrapped his arms around the younger male. "Love you Dei."

"Love you too.................................un."