This story is adopted from SandiaHero and the first 12 chapters belong to them. After the 12th chapter everything is written by me, Gaara-Demon-Loving-Only-Myself. Sorry it took so long to get up.. I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

A green light filtered through the forest leaves; giving the dirt path we walked a calm feeling. For once, both of us were silent. I was so fascinated by the chirping of birds in the tree tops and constant squeaking of squirrels, I almost forgot my pact with sempai and began to rant about 'the wonders of the forest' and 'how we really should go out on strolls like this more often'. Thankfully I was able to catch my slip up before I annoyed Deidara anymore.

I still remembered how I had driven him nuts with my constant banter, and he yelled at me for being so annoying. It's not like I try to annoy him, it's just that -in case you haven't noticed- my attention span is about as long as a fish. I get distracted so easily, and I just can't help myself from trying to share these insignificant wonders to anyone and everyone around me. Deidara- sempai being my partner, he tends to be that someone.

"Do you ever stop talking, hmm? I swear, if I hear one more word out of your stupid mouth, I won't give a second though to blowing you to chunks! You got that, hmm?"

I pouted childishly at him from behind my mask, as if he could see my expression.

"But sempaaaai! I can't help it! It's just so great out here! Don't you think! Look at that bird, it's so pretty! And that bunny! Aww, it's soooo kawaii!"

His eye twitched as he stopped walking for a second. I stopped my ranting and watched him to see his next move. He wasn't really going to blow me up, was he? Then again, his patience was very low, and I had been talking non-stop this whole time.

"What's wrong Deidara?" I asked, trying to be inconspicuous about my small steps away from him.

He just looked at me and sighed. I could practically see what was going through his mind.

'Should I blow him up right now? It would make my life a hell of a lot easier. Wait, no, I can't do that. Leader- sama would kill me, too. What else can I possibly do to shut this kid up?'

Finally he looked at me with a fake smile and said, "How about I make a deal with you? If you don't talk to me for the next 24 hours, I promise I won't try to blow you up for the next week."

I eagerly agreed to this. It was sort of like a game in my head. I like games. And besides, getting a promise from sempai that he won't kill you is rare, so not even I'm dumb enough to pass it up.

And thus, the deal was made.

That was -according to my calculations- sixteen hours ago. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold up. My brain is wired to talk, not to be quiet. It doesn't matter how much I don't want to talk, I do. So, obviously, this was killing me. But somehow, I was able to keep hushed for the full 24 hours.

It was about three in the afternoon when we finally got back to Akatsuki base.

'Yes! I can finally talk again!'

It almost felt weird to shout out at the top of my lungs that we were back, and it hurt my throat. But it also felt really good to use my lungs again.

I felt Deidara's glare from behind me as I launched myself onto the couch. I couldn't make a comment however, as at that moment Hidan and Kisame decided to come in.

"Hey! The little bitches are back!" You don't need to be a genius to know who that was. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Jashinist's first words were all curses.

I turned my gaze towards Kisame, hoping for a better welcoming.

"How was the mission? I assume it went without a hitch, considering you're both alive and well," the shark glanced between the two of us. Despite his brute and monstrous appearance, he's probably the most polite person in the whole organization. Not to mention the fact that he was also one of the more sensible ones.

"Yep! Sempai and I had a great time! We got rid of the shinobi just as ordered! Then we stopped for some dango, which was sooo good! And then we traveled all afternoon, all night, then all of this morning back here to the base. The scenery was beautiful! You should have been there. Wasn't it great sempai?"

Said person was glaring daggers at me from the corner of the room.

"It wasn't anything special; just another forest in this world, hmm."

How could he say that? Even he would have to admit that the foliage and flowers were more appealing that any of the other woods we'd traveled in. No one can hate such a scenic place like that. Unless...

"Oooh. I get it! Let me guess, all you had was rock in Iwagakure. Thus, your inner child is mad at all the other places that did have such beautiful nature, and you have transferred that anger to the forests themselves!" I felt so proud of myself for thinking that up. Who knew I could be smart? Then again, I didn't think of what his reaction would be.

"Just shut up, yeah! You don't know a thing about my childhood in Iwa! Man, and I was just starting to enjoy having you around when you weren't talking, hmm."

And with that, Deidara stormed off to our shared room. Knowing him, he'd probably stop by Itachi and Kisame's room to insult the Uchiha some like he did everyday.

I remained on the couch, staring into the direction he left.

'What'd I do wrong? Was it something I said?'

I didn't see him for the rest of the day.

Night fell upon the base, and everyone who wasn't on a mission retired to their assigned bedrooms. I was a little nervous going down the hall to mine. Deidara and I shared a room since we were partners, so going to bed meant having to see him. I really hoped he wasn't mad at me anymore. Last time he got really mad at me, he made me sleep near the bedroom. And let me say right now, you hear a lot of strange things when you sleep in the hall where you can hear through everyone else's doors. Not something I'd want to repeat.

The hinges creaked as I cautiously pushed on our door, waiting for the scolding I was sure to get. But there was none.

I opened the door the rest of the way to see the cause of this silence. I smiled to see sempai fast asleep in his bad, bed still made.

I didn't want him to get cold and wake up; he looked so peaceful like that. During the day, he looked years older than 19 with all of the death and blood he knew he had on his hands. However when he was peacefully asleep like this, all of the years vanished, and he looked like the sweet boy he really was.

After making sure he was tucked in properly, I slid my mask off, and put a light kiss on his forehead. I chuckled silently to myself as I thought about how he would react if he were awake. It made me slightly sad, too, however, knowing my feelings would never be returned. No matter how hard I tried to get his attention, all I would get in return was a kick to the side or being blown halfway across the forest.

As I lay there under my comforters, my mind roamed to the last thing he had told me.

"You don't know a thing about my childhood in Iwa!"

Thinking about it, he was right. I barely knew anything about his home village, except that it lived up to its name. The village was made out of rock, surrounded by rock, and built on top of rock. There were hardly any plants, and if there was, it was ivy vines climbing the walls of the buildings.

What was it like growing up there? I found it hard to believe such a great artist could come from that place, where everything was made to be eternal... eternally dreary that it. Sometimes, he really amazed me, and I couldn't help but wonder how he got to this point.

I stared out the window longingly gazing at the starry night sky. Then, the most amazing thing happened. The clearest, brightest shooting star I had ever seen shot across the sky, visible only for a few seconds before it was gone. Call me superstitious, but I knew that it's a fact that if you wish upon a shooting star, it will come true.

So, I tightly shut my eyes and wished away.

'Deidara-sempai doesn't' deserve this life. He deserves a happy, exciting life that won't force him to kill himself. I wish I could go back and be with my sempai to protect him for the bad he's been exposed to.'

With that, I smiled as my mind went blank, and I was draw into the dark bliss that was sleep.