Sasha sat in her room at the Akatsuki hideout, checking over a list that spelled out her next mission's objectives. It seemed simple enough at first glance; a simple theft, nothing more. She sighed to herself. All of the members had seemed to have tons of missions lately, and she was starting to wonder if they would ever get a break. While she was pondering her situation, she heard a short knock at the door, and looked up to see Konan's head poking into the room.
"What's up, Konan?" Sasha asked with a smile. Seeing as they were the only two girls in the Akatsuki, the two of them had quickly become friends when Sasha joined.
Konan smiled back at her, looking like she had exciting news to tell. "You'll never believe it, but Leader-sama's decided we're all going to the beach for the day!"
Sasha furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What? We're one of the world's most-feared criminal organizations. Why would we go to the beach?"
The blue-haired woman shrugged, seeming unconcerned. "I don't know, apparently Leader thinks we've all been too stressed out lately. He's trying to find some way for us to relax. All missions are postponed until tomorrow, by the way," she said, nodding at the paper Sasha still held.
The girl sighed again, setting the paper on the bed beside her. This wasn't exactly the type of break she'd been hoping for. "Why can't we all just stay here and sleep for the day?"
"I don't know, Sasha, but they're his orders. And besides," Konan began, stepping completely into the room and shutting the door behind her, "I think this could be a great opportunity for the two of us."
Sasha looked at her friend's mischievous expression in confusion. "What?"
"Well," Konan elaborated, "sometimes I feel like the rest of the guys forget that we're, you know, female." Konan smirked. "I think this trip would be a good chance to remind them of that little fact. And I know you've been crushing on Deidara for ages now."
The brown-haired girl blushed. "I have not!" she lied.
"Don't try to deny it!" Konan said, not believing her friend's words at all. "I've seen the way you look at him."
"What about you and Leader-sama?" Sasha quickly retorted, trying to hide her own embarrassment. "The rest of us have started making bets on how long it's gonna take the two of you to get together!"
Now it was Konan's turn to blush. "I told you, it's not like that between us! But that's not the point. The point is that I've got two cute bathing suits that can help get us the respect and admiration we deserve from those guys." She pointed a thumb at the door behind her, motioning to the people in other parts of the base. "So, you want to borrow one, or what?"
Sasha sat quietly for a moment, biting her lip, before she finally nodded. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad. "That'd be great, actually, since I don't have one of my own." After a moment of thought, Sasha continued. "Wait, why do you have bathing suits just sitting around? Do the guys all have swim trunks, too?"
"Yeah, they're all left over from an old mission where we had to disguise ourselves as tourists," Konan explained. "Anyways, I'll go get yours so you can put it on." Konan turned and opened the door to leave.
"Thanks, Kon'!" Sasha yelled after her friend. Once Konan had left, she stood and put the mission objectives away in her bedside drawer, deep in thought. Could this really be my chance to get together with Deidara? As much as she tried to deny it to Konan, she knew deep down that she'd been attracted to the guy for a long time now. She didn't want to get her hopes up, since he'd never really shown interest in her, but the two of them were friends, and she supposed that was a decent start.
Sasha came back to reality when she heard the door open again. Konan stood there with a red-and-white striped bikini in her hands, and soon threw it at Sasha. "There, put that on."
"Do you have any one-pieces?" Sasha asked, feeling self-conscious. "Bikinis aren't really my thing."
Konan rolled her eyes and gave her friend a small smile. "Just put it on, okay? It's not so bad, and you'll look great. And for the record, no, I don't have any one-pieces."
Sasha huffed and went to go to the bathroom, bathing suit in hand. "Okay, fine," she grumbled.
A couple of minutes later, she stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, staring at her reflection. It was a cute bathing suit, and wasn't too revealing, but she still would've felt more comfortable in something with more fabric. Figuring that she didn't have much choice in the matter, she sighed and stepped out of the bathroom, pulling on clothes to wear over the bathing suit.
Sasha met Konan at the entrance to the hideout. "Where's everyone else?" Sasha asked. Her friend shrugged. "Leader said they might be a while, so I told him we were going on ahead."
"Well, there's nothing for us here, I suppose." Sasha said, glancing around to make sure the guys weren't about to arrive. "To the beach we go!"
And with that, the Akatsuki's only two female members set off for a day in the sun.
About twenty minutes later, the last of the Akatsuki guys had finally arrived at the entrance to the hideout.
"Are we all here?" Pein asked a bit boredly, doing a quick head-count. The rest of the guys nodded, each making sure his partner was present.
"Deidara-senpai, where are Konan-chan and Sasha-chan?" Tobi asked, tugging on Deidara's sleeve. The blonde gave him an irritated look.
"The two of them went on ahead," Pein answered for Deidara, "because you all took so long. They're probably wondering where we are. Come on, let's go." Pein turned to leave, and the rest of the members followed suit.
"Where the heck are those guys?" Sasha asked rhetorically, momentarily taking off the sunglasses Konan had given her to scan the beach for any sign of the boys. "They'll get here eventually," Konan said. The both of them were lying on beach towels, relaxing in the sun. Sasha sighed and laid back on her towel. "They probably got lost," she muttered.
Some distance behind the two girls, all of the Akatsuki guys had finally made it to the beach. However, neither group had caught sight of the other yet.
"Well, here we are," Pein said, arms crossed over his chest. "Go do... whatever, I don't really care. Just have fun." The members looked at each other for a moment. Even when trying to make them happy, Pein's words still sounded like a command.
A moment later, Deidara took a few steps forward and looked around, putting a hand above his eyes to block the sun's glare. "Hey, look over there, un!" he said, nudging Kisame, who happened to be beside him. Kisame followed Deidara's pointing finger, as did the other members. "Those two girls are hot!"
A few other members murmured sounds of agreement, until Itachi broke in. "You do realize that's Konan and Sasha, right?" he said, unable to keep a slight smirk off his face.
"What the hell? No way, that can't be -" Hidan began, as he looked more closely at the girls. One of them did have blue hair... "Damn it, he's right."
After quickly making a pact to never speak of the moment again, the guys walked over to join their female companions.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Konan asked.
"Eh, not much, un," Deidara responded, as he and the other guys pulled off their shirts. Konan and Sasha tried their best not to stare at their respective crushes, but each failed quite miserably.
I didn't know Leader-sama had that many piercings, Sasha thought to herself. She glanced over at Konan, and could tell her friend was having similar thoughts. She suppressed a laugh and turned her attention to Deidara, admiring how perfect he was. His face was beautiful on its own, but throw in well-defined abs and it simply wasn't fair. She involuntarily sighed.
Deldara turned his attention to her, raising an eyebrow. "You okay, Sasha-chan?"
She nodded, trying to hide her blush. "I-I'm fine." He didn't seem convinced, but shrugged and went on with his business.
A few minutes later, all of the Akatsuki were either sitting or lying on the sand, enjoying the sun. Everyone had been silent for a few minutes, before Kisame spoke up.
"I think I'm gonna go for a swim." And with that, he headed off to the ocean.
A moment later, Pein broke the new silence. He stood up with a stretch. "I'm going for a walk... Konan, would you join me?"
"Of course, Leader-sama," Konan answered, standing up. Sasha smirked at her, giving an encouraging nod that went unnoticed by the other members. The two of them soon disappeared somewhere down the beach.
Within the next few minutes, a group of the other guys went off in search of a snack bar, leaving Deidara and Sasha alone. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything.
Should I just come out and tell him?, she thought to herself. What if he doesn't feel the same way? Eventually, she decided the risk of embarrassment was too great, so she just stayed quiet.
"Hey, un?" Deidara questioned, breaking her out of her thoughts. Sasha looked up at him. "Yeah, Deidara?"
He smirked at her. "You look pretty good in that bikini, un."
She quickly turned her face from his, trying to hide her blush. "Th-thanks," she managed to stutter out. What else was she supposed to say? Suddenly, she felt Deidara's fingers under her chin, and he turned her to face him. His expression was less teasing now, and more sincere. "I mean it, yeah. But to be honest, Sasha-chan, I think you're beautiful every day." He averted his gaze so he wasn't looking in her eyes, blushing a tiny bit himself.
Sasha allowed herself to feel a bit of hope as a small smile broke out on her face. She put one finger under Deidara's chin to make him look at her. "Really?" she asked.
"Really, un. I've liked you for a long time now."
Sasha's smile grew. "Deidara-kun, I feel the same way." Seeing the sincerity in her eyes was all the verification Deidara needed. To her surprise, he scooped her up from her own seat and placed her in his lap, holding her close. As he rested his arms on either side of her waist, he leaned in and touched his lips to hers.
Sasha felt like she was in heaven. His kiss was slow and gentle, but conveyed a huge amount of passion. Sasha kissed back and wrapped her arms around Deidara's neck to play with his hair, loving the chance to finally touch it. Just as Deidara was running his tongue along Sasha's lower lip, she squeaked and jumped back in surprise.
"I-I'm sorry, un, I shouldn't have-"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Deidara," Sasha said with a small laugh. "One of your hands licked me, and it just surprised me."
"Oh, I'm sorry, un," he said, gently placing her back on the ground and removing his hands from her waist. He crossed his arms to hide the mouths on his hands, looking guilty and a bit upset.
"What's wrong, Dei?" Sasha asked softly, moving over closer to him. She gently grabbed one of his arms and tried to uncross them.
Deidara looked at her in shock. "You mean... you're not scared or... disgusted by them, un?"
Sasha gave him a small smile as she moved herself back into his lap and placed his hands on her sides. She shook her head at him. "Of course not, Deidara-kun. I think every part of you is wonderful, and that includes your hands." She leaned up and gave him a soft, short kiss on the lips. He just stared at her for a moment in continued disbelief, before a smile broke out over his face. He placed his head on her shoulder and pulled her into a tight hug, feeling truly accepted for the first time. "Sasha, un, I think I love you," he whispered into her ear.
She shivered lightly at the feeling of his breath on her skin, and hugged him back. "I love you, too, Deidara."
They stayed in their embrace, neither speaking, until Konan and Pein finally returned from their walk. "Well, well, what have we here?" Pein said, not unkindly, when he saw the two of them.
Sasha sighed and pulled away from Deidara to see that Pein and Konan were holding hands. She smiled at Konan, who smiled back and nodded. "I suppose it's safe to assume that we have two new couples?" Pein continued. Sasha and Deidara nodded. "Yup," Sasha said, smiling at Deidara, who returned the expression.
"In that case, I suppose my beach trip plan wasn't so bad after all," Pein said, turning to Konan and giving her a small smile. Konan nodded at him before turning to wink at Sasha. Sasha winked back, wrapping her arms more tightly around Deidara. Her friend's crazy plan had worked after all.