Reisha: Hey there! As you might have noticed from my little tag there and my writing style, I'm not Kira Amano. I'm a friend of hers… You'll know me as Reisha for this fanfic. It was Kira's idea that we turn this work, originally an ongoing literary roleplay, into a fanfiction for all of you. The writing is about 50/50 here, between her and me… I just edited it together to break up the back-and-forth and fix the errors. As is the case for Kira's other fanfictions, please read and review… It's your guys' feedback that lets us know where to go with this, after all! Anyhow, that's enough of my rambling. Here's to hoping you have as much fun reading our work as we did writing it. Enjoy! ^. .^
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Chapter 1

With a soft sigh, Sasori lifted his eyes to look around him. It was unusually cold for this time of year… The snow was already falling heavily, and it crunched underneath his feet as he walked. He ignored the looks he received from the people gathered around, chatting in little groups, pausing in describing their summer breaks to glare. His freshman year he'd dealt with it, all the way to now, as a junior in high school. He scoffed a little, hid his eyes again beneath his black hood as he opened the doors. Just two more years and he'd be gone. With a heavy sigh he reached up to pull the hood of his jacket away, shaking some stray snowflakes from his hair. Everyone could just go to hell for all he cared.

Deidara huddled his arms around himself against the cold as the door opened, not looking up. He didn't understand why everyone always insisted on huddling up in their little groups outside in the cold and snow before the bell rang... Although, maybe it was the huddling up to talk that made it more bearable. The blond could talk to just about anyone he wanted, but had never really had a group to belong to. He was a drifter around the edges of circles, someone to laugh with and at, but not to trust. No one trusted a prankster. It was probably the smart thing to do, the blond thought to himself with a mental shrug and a small smile... He was hardly the kind to go around selling people out, but he wasn't above using a secret to get a laugh. The blond didn't look up as whoever had just come in passed by where he sat in the hall, didn't see their face. His hand rose a little, something grasped between his fingers before swinging down suddenly with a sharp bang, the sound echoing in the nearly silent halls. He glanced up with a crooked grin, wanting to see his victim's reaction.

Sasori blinked once, twice, before he turned expressionless eyes towards the source of the noise. His brows lowered menacingly. Just because he was short for a junior didn't mean he wasn't used to intimidating people. Deidara only grinned innocently, pushing himself slowly to his feet and slouching easily against the wall, apparently unperturbed. Perhaps it was bravado... Perhaps it was flat stupidity. Deidara had transferred into the school as a sophomore, had never learned why the redhead had become the resident social outcast... people usually only referred to his asshole nature... and so had never learned to be afraid. Sasori opened his mouth to speak, before hearing his nickname called out behind him.

"Hey Akasuna..."

The tone was mocking. It was probably just some dumbass freshman acting tough. Sasori turned… He hated being right sometimes. The freshman was easily five inches taller than him. Sasori had a reputation from years ago in 7th grade, infamous for what had happened... But the freshmen always had to go and test him. Hands pushed back against his shoulders, made him stumble back.

"Dumb move, fresh meat, hn."

Blond brows rose a little as a blue gaze eyed the freshman. Even if he didn't know why the redhead was the way he was, it was common knowledge around campus that he was formidable when it came to fighting. Tsking and raking his fingers back through his hair to where it was bound in a low ponytail at his nape, Deidara shook his head a little pityingly as he crossed his arms over his chest. The show promised to be good, at least.

Sasori looked up at the one who had so blatantly and wordlessly challenged him. He reached up and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, in the same move grabbing one of his wrists and slamming him against the wall. "Still wanna pick a fight with me, dumb shit?" He hissed, holding both his wrists behind his back. His dull rose eyes showed no emotion as he grabbed at the back of the other's shirt and pulled him down in a horse-collar motion so he was on his back, Sasori's foot on his chest. "Make sure you watch who the hell you pick a fight with next time, asshole."

Deidara couldn't help the dry smile that twisted one corner of his mouth upward, clapping slowly in appreciation. He was a joker at heart... Silent laughter at the whole situation gleamed in his eyes as he watched. That was one thing he admired about Sasori, despite his apparent lack of social skills... the redhead could fight like nothing else. Of course, it wasn't as though a freshman would pose any real threat, any real challenge. The sound of the morning bell jerked the blond's eyes upward to the clock. Never enough time to get to class... Damn administration thought that five minutes would be enough to push through the herd of students. "Thanks for the show, Sasori," he chuckled, not able to help himself. No one, not even the volatile redhead, was exempt from his teasing. Jerking his head a little up, as though in salute, he turned away. First class of the day... chemistry. Any other class would have left him underwhelmed at this time in the morning, but any chance to make something explode was worth his attention. He'd been called a pyromaniac before... The accusation wasn't far off. It was only the first day of the school year, Deidara knew, and unlikely that they'd have anything other than a lecture, but he dared to hope as he took a seat and waited.

The shift in atmosphere at Sasori's appearance a minute later was almost a tangible thing, like electricity arcing suddenly through the air. The blond had had a few classes with the redhead, but even so it never ceased to surprise him. It was oppressive... Like the mood made the air thicker, harder to breathe. It was times like these when he most wondered what it was that Sasori had done all those years ago, that he couldn't get anyone to talk about. Sasori was the last to arrive, mumbled a little to himself as he took the vacant seat next to Deidara, too focused on how much he hated groups, hated hearing people whisper about him to their friends, to focus on anything in particular. Blue eyes looked sidelong at the redhead as Deidara sat back and crossed his arms again, appraisingly, as though his profile might supply the answer to his question.

Ash-rose eyes shifted suddenly to the side, looking Deidara up and down before narrowing.

"...What are you staring at, brat?" he growled. "You looking to pick a fight with me too?" He looked away for a moment before something else caught his ear from behind.

"Hey, isn't that the guy who-" The girl who had been whispering just behind them was cut off by her friend.

"Shh. You know you're not supposed to talk about it when he's in the room."

Something like anger flashed in Sasori's eyes, though he didn't respond. Everyone knew, it seemed. Some people knew, most did, in fact... but there wasn't a single person who knew the actual truth of it.

Deidara's brows lifted as he caught the whispered exchange, disappointed when his curiosity went unsated. He glanced back at the two girls before looking away dismissively. He'd rather learn the truth from the source, than a secondhand account from a second-rate story teller... Although preferably without having Sasori try to beat the shit out of him. "Nah, I've got nothing to prove, hn," he finally replied as though nothing had happened, nonchalantly, to the redhead, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing his ankles, turning his eyes back to the whiteboard up front for a long moment before glancing back over with a quirk to his mouth. "Though you might want to think twice about calling me a brat again... Shorty." He grinned a little, meaning no harm by the jab. He rarely did, and to be honest, Sasori wasn't that much shorter than him… but at the moment it seemed like a fairly innocent thing to poke fun at.

Apparently, though, it wasn't quite so innocent. Sasori felt his blood boil as that word reached his ears, rage and something like pain clouding his already stormy expression.

"Just... shut the hell up..." He hissed. The redhead snatched up his things and took off, storming out of the classroom and down the hall and leaving the class clown blinking in surprise as he vanished.

Deidara slouched back into his seat, rubbing the back of his neck in confusion. True, he didn't know the redhead's 'buttons,' hadn't had much chance to interact with him at all, but he hadn't expected such a violent reaction to something so innocent. He was wrapped up in his thoughts, didn't even notice the agitated whispers that rose at Sasori's disappearance, had trouble concentrating when the teacher came in... It was just a boring lecture over the periodic table, anyway. No chance for explosions today, it seemed.

Sasori slipped into the nearest bathroom and pressed himself into a corner, eyes dark with hatred. His nails dug into his wrist as he tried to calm himself down, little beads of crimson working down his skin. That insult… everyone knew would bring back memories… and it did, painful memories. The anger melted away suddenly and tears streaked down his face. Sasori swallowed hard, looking at the marks on his wrists before pulling his sleeve down over them. Nobody would ever understand...

Deidara couldn't help but feel bad, kept glancing at the door, and then the clock, hoping the other would return before class got out. Perhaps the blond wasn't exactly the nicest guy in the school, or particularly well-liked, but he didn't like hurting people without a good reason. He wasn't sure why the joke had gone too far... only that it had, and that he wanted to apologize for it. Perhaps it was the strain in the redhead's voice as he'd stood.

Sasori grabbed a paper towel and set it over the still bleeding crescents on his arm, went to exit the bathroom… but when he looked up, he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes narrowed a little... It was one of the popular assholes who enjoyed making his life a living hell.

"…Sakon... leave me the hell alone." He moved to step around the other, but was shoved back. Sasori was in no mood to fight, felt emotionally completely spent. Before he could get his thoughts together to defend himself he felt a sharp pain in his jaw that snapped his head back as Sakon's fist connected, hard. The force sent him stumbling back into a corner just in time to feel a foot shoved into his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"Akasuna... how far you've fallen." Sakon smirked, chuckled, shaking his head as he turned and left. Fuck Orochimaru's dumbass popular kids, Sasori thought sluggishly before unconsciousness swept over him, leaving him curled up in a ball. Why the hell did he deserve this?...

Deidara didn't know why he was suddenly so eager to find the resident jerk of the school, but his relief at being released a few minutes before the bell lent speed to his step. He paused for a moment, not sure where to look first, and with so little time... But then, it was a high school... It seemed logical: with so many people around and so few places to hide, the bathroom would be a good place to start. Blue eyes widened as he ducked into the nearest one, seeing the redhead curled into himself on the ground, unmoving. His brow furrowed a little as he knelt beside him, resting a hand on Sasori's shoulder and shaking him a little. "Hey..." he murmured, too concerned at the moment to wonder why he cared at all. This wasn't a joke... There was definitely something going on. He glanced at the red seeping through the paper towel around Sasori's wrist, pursed his lips a little as he wrapped the makeshift bandage a little more securely and pulled down the redhead's sleeve a bit to camouflage it. He shook him again, a little less gently. "Yo, Sasori..."

Sasori's eyes opened slowly, vision blurred for a long moment. His brows furrowed a little and he set a hand over his chest where he had gotten kicked. The redhead coughed a little, a bit of blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. "Leave me alone." He mumbled, getting up, but almost doubling over at the pain in his chest as he did… it was enough to bring tears to his eyes. "Just... do what everyone else does and leave me alone." He started walking out of the bathroom, wiping the blood off on the back of his hand. Deidara might not have been a scholar when it came to injury, but he knew that coughing up blood was never a good thing.

"You should go to the nurse, hn," he said, shifting his backpack to a more comfortable position behind his shoulders as he stood. Perhaps it was guilt over having accidentally pushed the redhead further than he'd meant to earlier... Or maybe it was just stubbornness and stupidity, the blond admitted to himself as he moved to follow. He was well aware of Sasori's reputation, knew the sort of damage he could cause from stories he'd heard others tell. But... whatever it was, it just sat badly with the blond to leave him like this.

Sasori stopped in the doorway, looking back at him and turning around. "…Why the hell should someone like you give a damn? People don't look at you like some sort of fucking monster. You don't get beaten on sight when..." Deidara recoiled a little at the sudden verbal onslaught, clenching his jaw for a moment to bite back an instinctive sharp retort before it could escape as Sasori stopped himself, took a deep breath. "First you insult me, now you're acting nice towards me. Make up your mind."

Deidara sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I wanted to apologize for that," he said, hooking his thumbs behind the straps at his shoulders. Ignorance was hardly an acceptable excuse, but it was all he had. "I didn't know it was such a sensitive subject, hn." He shrugged, knowing it was a token gesture at best, but not sure what more he could do... After all, he was just the class clown. Sasori's eyes dropped for a moment, losing some of their anger.

"Normally it wouldn't be..." He felt something inside shift at the memory, turning away. "Only my parents were allowed to ever call me that." Deidara caught the shift in tense, understood immediately. Even knowing that the redhead's back was to him, the blond nodded.

"I'll... keep that in mind from now on. I'm sorry." The apology, though simple, had a deeper meaning… It was more than just for the joking insult earlier.

Sasori flatly refused to become emotional about anything, especially this in another person's presence. The redhead stepped out of the doorway to let Deidara through. "You're going to be late for class..."

"You're sure you don't want to go to the nurse?" the blond asked, turning his head a little back over his shoulder as he stepped into the hall, but not looking at Sasori. He was getting a feeling that it would be crossing a line.

"I'll be fine..." Sasori mumbled, stepping out into the hallway beside him. "...Thanks."

The redhead smiled, just a little, before heading for his next class. He couldn't help but feel something was changing… but wasn't able to figure out just what it was. Everyone looked at him as though he were the devil, was evil. The way Deidara looked at him was different... it made him feel less like the asshole everyone thought he was.

Yeah, the blond thought to himself with a small nod, watching Sasori go. People were right when they called him stubborn, when they said he was a stupid blond, sometimes. Occasionally he didn't know when to quit, and it got him into deep shit... But Deidara felt that somehow, this had been the right thing to do. There was more to Sasori than met the eye, of that he was certain.

Reisha: And so ends chapter one. Hardly worthy of the M rating… But don't you worry, that'll come later, I promise. Hehe. Again, please read and review. People who give constructive criticism get cookies! (Of course, so do people who just review, as well. Hell, cookies for everybody!)