. . .

Dust and dirt settled in his long, blond hair.

"Hey, un! Watch where you're walking! I'm trying to clean, here!"

Itachi smirked down at the twenty year old man who was cleaning before kicking even more filth into the blonde's face with the use of his black suede shoes. Deidara frowned as Itachi walked away laughing, but he didn't say anything. He was used to this kind of behavior by now; all of the Akatsuki members had been treating him like a maid just because he looked like a girl. Not just that, but they were being even more rude than usual.

It's like they're all PMS-ing at once, un. As if that were possible. But still . . .

"Hey, Blondie!" Deidara looked up from scrubbing the floor at the sound of the obnoxious voice. "We got something for you!"

Hidan and Kakuzu were standing in the doorway holding a frilly pink and white maid's outfit. Deidara stared at it in disgust, causing Hidan to burst out laughing and throw the girly dress at him. "I'm damn serious. Put it on. Now."

Deidara stood up, sponge and dress in hand. "Hell no, un."

Hidan stopped laughing and took a few steps forward. He was now dangerously close to Deidara."You must be fucking kidding me, Blondie. No one says no to me unless they want to die." Hidan drew his scythe and placed it under Deidara's throat, so close that it grazed the skin, drawing a single drop of blood.

Deidara gulped, then quickly tore off his cloak and slipped into the ridiculous outfit. Hidan smiled at his success and pushed the blonde back down onto the dirt encrusted floor.

"M'kay then, continue your cleaning, Blondie."

Deidara didn't look up as Hidan left the room, he just resumed cleaning; Leader-sama expected the headquarters to be spotless by the time Konan got home. Apparently he was planning something, Deidara's guess was that he was going to try to sleep with her. Can't do that on dirty sheets, can you, un? he sneered.

Deidara let out a sigh as he stood up to go tend to the laundry. Much to Deidara's dismay, Sasori was in the laundry room getting the blood stains out of his puppets' clothes.

The redhead didn't even bother to look up as he said, "Could you get me a turkey and cheese sandwich, Deidara-chan?" (A/N: I know Sasori's a puppet, but in this story he can perform regular stuff like eating, drinking, ect. But he doesn't breath. Well, he can, but it's not neccesary, like with the vampires in Twilight)

Deidara sighed and backed out of the room, headed towards the kitchen. He pulled out a loaf of Chicago style bread along with slices of smoked turkey, Swiss cheese, and a bottle of mustard. Sasori no Danna's favorite, un.

When he was done assembling the sandwich Deidara simply left the ingredients on the marble counter, positive that someone else would ask for a sandwich that day.

As Deidara returned to the laundry room he called out in front of him, "I know you like spicy mustard, Sasori no Danna, but all we had left was regular, un. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure, that's fine," he said in a bored tone, still looking down. "Just make sure to buy some la- "

Sasori had finally looked up and was now gaping at Deidara. His pale brown eyes were wide; staring at the pink clad blond in front of him.

He blinked, regaining his train of thought.

"Is that the latest fashion in Iwagakure, Dei-chan?" Sasori laughed as he took his sandwich from Deidara.

Deidara rolled his eyes. "Ha-ha. Very funny, un."

Sasori was still laughing as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

Deidara tried his best to ignore him as he worked on the organization's laundry. He poured a capful of rose-scented fabric softener into the machine. Ha! That should get them pretty mad, un! What respectable full grown man would want to smell like flowers? Deidara paused, On second thought, maybe Zetsu would, un. Deidara shrugged off the thought and continued with his work.

He started putting things inside the washing machine, groaning when he picked up a black t-shirt and faded blue jeans that were covered in rips, tears, and lots of blood. "Damn Hidan, un."

Sasori looked up from his puppets at the disturbance. "Hmmm? What's wrong?"

Deidara sighed as he carefully unfolded the clothes and spread them out in front of him. "Nothing, un. Just typical, messy Hidan."

"Mmm . . ." Sasori muttered, barely even paying attention.

"In that case, it'd be best if you used this."

Deidara glanced around at the sound of the feminine voice.

Konan appeared out of the back entrance holding a red container that said Blood Removal in huge, bold, noticeable letters.

Deidara let out a small eep! "Konan! You're home early! Why, un?"

Konan set down the bottle and began to rummage through the dirty clothes. Deidara started to sweat. Leader-sama's not gonna like this, un! I haven't finished cleaning yet! "Because I found out that Pein put my clothes down the laundry chute and I wasn't about to let you wash my lingerie, Blondie. No offense."

Deidara was about to say something, but then realized that she had a pretty good point. He hurried putting in the clothes and poured in the blood removal, after that he quickly set the time and temperature and then rushed upstairs to clean Pein's bedroom before he realized that Konan was home early.

Konan stared at Sasori for a long time, making him sweat. "Eh, what?"

"Leave while I'm doing my laundry." Her tone was sharp and icy, like a frozen sword.

Sasori gave her an indignant glare. "You can't just kick me out! I'm- "

"Now."

"Okay, okay," Sasori replied, gathering his puppets and their cleaning supplies before leaving.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deidara had taken off the ridiculous dress and was standing outside of Pein's room, saluting him "Everything's all clean and ready, un."

Pein nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you, Deidara. Where's Konan?"

"Downstairs in the rec room playing foosball with herself, un."

A smile spread across the leader's face. "Excellent. Now, go get the groceries."

"But-" Deidara protested.

"Go!"

"Yes sir, un!" Deidara squeaked. He rushed out of the room, bumping into Kakuzu on the way down the stairs. "Kakuzu-san, I need money for groceries, un," he said distractedly.

Kakuzu looked rather unhappy as he handed the impatient blond a hundred dollar bill. Deidara gladly accepted it and took off running again.

"Be back by eleven to clean the bathrooms!" Kakuzu yelled after him.

It was eight o' clock now, so Deidara could have some free time for himself. "I will, un!" Deidara called back. To himself he said, "Damn S-rank ninjas, un. Who do they think they are, ordering me around like this, un? I should quit. They'd be a mess without me."

But Deidara knew that he couldn't quit. This was his only job, and terrorists weren't getting paid what they used to. If he quit he would have nothing; no food, no money, no shelter, and he didn't have any friends that would take him in, plus all of his family were either dead or he didn't talk to them anymore. With nowhere to escape to, Deidara had no choice but to put up with all of the Akatsuki's constant needs. Just like a maid, un.

He let out a sigh as he scanned the store's aisles for milk, salt, pepper, cookie dough, nails, batteries, hammers, a grill, The Scarlet Letter (for Hidan, surprisingly), walkie-talkies, fake snow, real snow, and several bottles of mustard. He grabbed a cart and began his shopping, piling things into the cart, not really caring if anything got smushed a little bit.

As soon as he left the store Deidara realized that he had forgotten the milk and quickly rushed back inside, realizing how mad everyone would be if they didn't get their all-natural, no pesticides added, 2 percent milk (yes, they were that persnickety about their milk).

Deidara quickly made his way to the dairy section, immediately finding the green capped milk. When he went to reach for it, however, something was in the way.

It was soft to the touch and warm, too. Deidara stared at it in nothing short of shock. It was a hand, a very feminine hand. And, for some reason, it sent sparks down Deidara's own arm to his chest (where your heart is, supposedly). Deidara's eyes cautiously followed the petite hand to its arm and then made eye contact with its owner, a girl of about seventeen. She was wearing khaki capri's along with lime green flip flops. Deidara noticed that she must have had a pedicure recently, due to her French tips on her toenails. She was also wearing a plum colored velvet hoodie that was zipped up all the way. Because she had her hood down, most of her face was covered in shadow, leaving her eyes as the only feature that Deidara could see. They were particularly unusual; a milky white color.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry. I d-didn't see you there," the girl stuttered.

Deidara shook his head slightly, regaining his senses. "That's fine, un. But what are you doing wearing so much clothes in the summer? You incognito or something, un?"

The girl's pale face flushed. "W-Well, sort of . . ."

Neither one of them had pulled away yet.

Deidara raised one eyebrow, surprised that his guess was correct. "Who are you hiding from, un?"

She glanced down at her feet, looking completly adorable as she did so. "M-My f-father."

"Ah. The old man, un." She nodded in agreement.

Deidara laughed at her shyness, enjoying the chat. He didn't really get to go out too much due to his constant duties. Also, he liked the feel of her hand under his.

"Uh, um, did you want this m-milk?" she asked politely, again looking up at Deidara.

Her sweet voice snapped the artisit out of his reverie. "Huh? Oh, no, that's ok, un. You can have it. I'll just grab another one."

The girl smiled up at him before reaching for the gallon of milk, she was shorter than Deidara and had to stand on her tip toes to reach it. Unfortunately, the bottle was very slippery and it slipped from her grip. It was about to explode on the dirty tile floor when Deidara caught it, mere inches from the ground.

The girl stared in amazement at how quick he had reacted. Deidara, ignorant to her amazement, chivalrously placed the milk in her cart for her.

The girl followed his deft movements in a sort of awe. "Wow. Y-You have r-really good hand-eye coordination."

"Uh, thanks, un," he said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Deidara then grabbed a gallon for himself and put it into his own shopping cart. "Well, I have to buy this milk, pronto, un," he stated.

"Um, b-bye." The girl walked her cart over to the line, Deidara close behind. He rang up his milk as soon as she was done ringing up hers. He noticed a blue wallet on the floor just as the cashier picked it up and looked at the ID inside.

"Miss! You left your wallet!" he called out after her.

She continued walking, ignorant that someone was calling her.

Deidara snickered slightly. "I don't think she heard you, un."

The oily-faced teen let out a sigh. "I'd better go give it to her, then." He started to walk out of the store but Deidara stopped him.

"Wait. You can't just leave your job, un. Let me take it to her." Deidara held out his free hand for the wallet, a charming smile on his face. The cashier looked at him suspiciously before slowly handing it to the S-rank criminal.

"Don't steal anything," he warned.

"Whatever, un."

Deidara walked out of the store, grocery bags in one hand, the girl's wallet in the other. The truth was, Deidara's initial thought was to take all of her money, but somehow he found himself walking towards her instead. He broke out into a run. "Hey, un! You left your wallet in the store!"

"Huh?"

She turned around at the voice, but Deidara was running so fast that he couldn't immediately stop and he collided into her a split second before they both fell to the asphalt. The girl's hood fell down, revealing her fair skin and her short, black hair (like before the time skip).

"I'm sorry, un. Are you okay?" he asked in concern, taking in her delicate facial features.

Deidara got to his feet and held out a hand to her. She paused before she cautiously took it and pulled herself to her feet, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm f-fine," she assured him, quickly reaching to pull her hood back up. However, Deidara grabbed her hand before she could.

"Don't. You have such a pretty face, un."

She blushed at the compliment and looke down. "Th-Th-Thank you, but I mustn't let my father see me here and- "

Deidara cut her off with an inquiry that should've been asked sooner. "What's your name, un?"

"H-Hinata."

"Hinata," Deidara said with a smile as he held out her wallet, "I believe this is yours."

"Th-Thank you," she said as she accepted her possesion, leaving her hood down. Deidara started picking up the fallen groceries. Luckily, both gallons of milk were unharmed. "Oh, no, you don't have to- I'll pick up my own- "

Deidara waved off her concern with a smile, standing erect. "Nah, that's okay. I believe these bags are yours, un."

A small smile appeared on Hinata's face as she took them from him. "Thank you."

Deidara surveyed the parking lot and, seeing that there was no car awaiting the girl, turned back to the brunette. "So, Hinata, shall I walk you home? Make sure that you don't leave anything else behind, un?" he asked tauntingly.

"Um," Hinata thought for a moment. "I-I guess it wouldn't hurt if you just walked me to my street, but not my house. F-Father wouldn't like that."

Deidara shrugged. "Okay, then. Walking with you would sure be better than going back to that hellhole where I live, un."

Hinata looked up at him in shock. "W-Why would you say that?"

"They treat my like a maid and-" he paused. "Wait a sec, I'm sure you don't want to hear about it."

Hinata started walking down the sidewalk to the south part of town, soon followed by Deidara. "Well, where do you live?"

"It's like an apartment complex, un. But all of my roommates are total-" He stopped, not wanting to curse in front of her.

"Then why don't you move?" she asked softly.

Deidara laughed quietly at the thought of moving away from there. What a miracle that would be."Because that's where my job is, un."

"Then why not quit?" she pryed.

"I have nowhere else to go- I'm pretty sure that you don't want to hear this."

"But I want to know," Hinata insisted as she leaned closer to him. "I-I don't think that you should suffer. You deserve b-better."

Hinata surreptitiously linked arms with him. A look of surprise came across the blonde's face, but then he relaxed into her warmth.

While he was with her, Deidara forgot about all of the other Akatsuki members and what total dicks they were. He forgot that he only got paid 200 dollars a week. He just let himself get lost in Hinata's smooth, quiet, calming voice.

There's those sparks again, un.

Too bad he never told her his name . . .