Entangled Strands

Sasori never thought that one visit to the barber would drastically warp his world as he knew it. Was it the way the pink haired, jade-eyed beauty was always smiling, or was the way she sent tingling sensations throughout his body whenever she touched his hair, or both? All he knew was that he wanted to come back and see her again.

Chapter 1

Bells jingled as the two men opened the door, entering the barber shop.

"Yo, Sakura-chan!" Deidara greeted while taking a seat, motioning for Sasori to sit in the waiting chair next to him. He casually picked up one of the magazines laying haphazardly on the table in front of them, while his friend sat impatiently, crossing his arms and glaring into the distance.

"Hey, Deidara. The usual?" The pink haired girl said, not bothering to turn around as she was trimming another man's hair, already recognizing the voice of the loud blonde.

Deidara, flipping through the magazine, replied, "Yeah."

Sasori looked around the shop, eying the other hairstylists and occasionally glancing at the mirrors that lined the walls.

"Why did you drag me here, Deidara? You're a grown man; you don't need me to accompany you just to get a stupid haircut." He muttered, now turning to glare at his companion.

"Yeesh, don't me such a prick." Sasori scowled at this remark. "Besides, I figured you needed a trim. Your hair's starting to cover your eyes, un. Don't worry, Sakura-chan's great!"

"Che," was the red haired man's response, his scowl deepening.

The female hair stylist stepped back, talking to her customer as he stood up out of the chair and handed her the money. She thanked him, smiling brightly and bowing slightly before turning to go to the cash register. With her back facing the two Akatsuki members, Sakura started to sort her tools and straightened out the various items in her workspace, getting ready for the next customer, a.k.a. Deidara.

Sasori strained his neck slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl's face through the mirror before becoming uninterested when it evaded him. All he could tell was that she had short, bubblegum-pink hair that seemed to be well kept, reaching just above her shoulders.

"Kay, Dei-chan, you're up," Sakura said as she turned toward the two men, walking to the waiting area. Sasori secretly sniggered at the pink haired girl's choice of a nickname for his friend.

Taking out the hair band and letting his hair fall down, Deidara asked, "Sakura-chan, I was actually wondering if you also had time for my friend here," pointing his thumb towards the man next to him.

"Hmm?" She looked at Sasori, noticing him for the first time before smiling. The hairstylist took the time to look over his hair, admiring its blood-red color and how the long, messy strands gave it a cute tousled look. "Sure."

Addressing the straight-faced man, she said, "I hope you don't mind if I tend to Deidara first. Feel free to look through a catalogue or magazine while you wait."

He nodded in response, although he made no indication of wanting to read the magazines. Sasori now had a clear view of her baby face and sparkling jade eyes, her rosy lips slightly lifting up into a smile.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't talk much, does he?"

"Haha. Sasori just likes to keep to himself, but he's annoying when he bothers me about stuff, un."

"Oh. Well, Dei-chan, let's go wash that pretty hair of yours," she remarked, leading the man toward the back of the room where the wash basins were. Deidara sat down, his long hair hanging into the basin as Sakura began to turn the water on. She didn't need to ask him whether or not the water was too hot, for she had done this for him countless times before.

On the other side of the room, Sasori kept his arms crossed, annoyed that he had nothing to do. He was a man who was impatient: he hated waiting for others, and he hated keeping others waiting. He glanced over to where Sakura and Deidara were, seeing them talk and giggle about who knows what. Ignoring everyone else in the room, the crimson haired man watched as Sakura applied a generous amount of shampoo to Deidara's hair, scrunching the strands together as they lathered in the bubbles. The blonde looked so relaxed as her hands worked their way on his scalp, and Sasori couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to have someone was his hair for him.

After what seemed like an eternity, his companion finally sat up after Sakura secured his hair with a towel in a bundle. They walked back over to the girl's workstation, Deidara plopping onto the chair and Sakura getting her scissors. Removing the bundle, she separated a section of hair meant to be bangs and started snipping off the ends of the rest of his locks.

Sasori once again became uninterested. After all, it's not like watching someone else get a haircut was all that exciting. He started fiddling with his own strands of hair, realizing that his friend was right about them being too long. The sound of a hairdryer snapped him out of his thoughts as his eyes landed upon the rosette. He watched as Deidara's hair blew in the wind created by the hairdryer, only to be guided by the brush in Sakura's hand. The blonde locks fell into place as she continued brushing and drying the hair. Taking a hair band, she tied Deidara's hair into a high ponytail, just the way he liked it, before she stepped back to look at her work. It was still long for a man, but it was considerably shorter than when he stepped into the shop earlier.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan, I'm looking sexier already," Deidara exclaimed as he hopped off of the chair and walked back to his friend.

"Ha, don't kid yourself, hotshot," Sakura replied. The girl accompanied him until she reached Sasori, stopping in front of the impatient man. He still had a scowl on his face.

The hairstylist asked, "Do you want me to wash your hair? Yours is much shorter than Deidara's, so I wouldn't need to get your hair wet unless you want to."

Sasori didn't know what to say. He had always cut his own hair, and he never bothered to wet it before. Opening his mouth to decline, he was cut off by Deidara who interjected, "He'd like his hair washed."

Sasori's head instantly snapped to his friend, his amber eyes narrowing as he tried to see if he could spite the man to death. Before he could do so, however, Sakura exclaimed, "Okay. Now it's your turn then." She motioned for the redhead to follow her. Scowling as he begrudgingly stood up, Sasori gave his companion one last terrifying glare before following Sakura. In his mind, he thought, When this is over, Deidara is going to suffer.

Hello!

I don't really know how I came up with this idea… I mean, Sasori getting a haircut? Really? But it popped into my head when I was getting a haircut, and I thought the idea was cute… but that's just me I suppose.

I think that Sasori and Sakura are so cute together, but it's too bad the fan base isn't as large as a lot of the other pairings.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Please review to tell me what you think! Any comments, ideas, and criticism are always welcomed.

- Octtipus :x