Eight Years Old

"Hey, Tachibana-kun hmm." Deidara said as he opened the front door, revealing his good friend but not quite best friend Sasori. The red-head was holding a bag stuffed to the brim with toys and pyjamas as well as a large pillow.

Sasori nodded a greeting at his friend as he shuffled past, struggling to carry the pillow which dragged across the ground.

"Do you need some help with that hmm?" The taller boy reached over and took the pillow off of Sasori before swinging it over his shoulder. "You looked very silly, just then."

"Now Deidara, be nice to Tachibana-kun." Ayame said in a light scolding tone from the kitchen. The light haired woman placed a popcorn packet into the microwave before making her way to the two young boys. "You two can head up to Deidara's room, I just need to speak to Chiyo-san to check over a few things. I'll bring the popcorn upstairs for you when it's done."

"Thanks!" Deidara grins at his mother before both boys sprint up the stairs and into Deidara's messy bedroom. "Did you bring your DS?" He asks as he begins shuffling through his things in search of his own.

"Yes." Sasori said quietly as he searches through his neatly organised bag for his DS.

"Awesome! Now we can play Pokemon all night long!" Deidara cheers and fishes out his DS from under a pile of dirty washing. "I swear I'll bet you this time hmm."

"I'll bet you eight hundred yen that you can't." The red head said as he slides the Pokémon Soul Silver game into the battered white DS.

"You're on, hmm!"

"Aren't you two a little young to be betting money?" Ayame appears at the door with a light frown on her face. "Deidara-chan, you don't have 800 yen."

The blonde sent a weak glare his mother's way. "I know I don't but I not going to lose to him!"

"That's beside the point, you can't say you'll do something if you can't do something else and then not follow through with it."

"Mum," Deidara began. "You're acting like I can't beat Tachibana-kun at a game which I am a master at hmm. You should be happy, I'm going to get us eight hundred yen to spend!"

"I was only trying to scare him a little," Sasori said when he noticed Ayame's frown deepening. "I wouldn't have taken any money from him."

"Stop acting like you've already won a battle that hasn't even happened! Hmm." Deidara growled before switching on his gaming device. "I'll show you, I'll show the both of you."

Ten Minutes Later

"You cheated!" Deidara shouted loudly at Sasori who sat in front of him with a smug smile plastered on his face. "I don't know how but you did! Hmm!" The blonde let out a groan of defeat. "I don't understand, I used all my strongest Pokémon and I came up with flawless plans to finally beat you!"

"I poisoned all your Pokémon." Sasori said simply as he switched off his DS and put it on the floor beside him. "You should have seen it coming, I do it every single time we battle." The red head reached forward and scooped up a handful of salted popcorn.

"Just you watch Tachibana Sasori," Deidara threatened as he picked up a handful of sweet popcorn. "I'll beat you at Pokémon and force you to give me your beloved Muk."

"Muk?" Sasori raised an eyebrow before letting out a giggle. "Muk's my weakest Pokémon but the fact that I still managed to wipe out two of your strongest Pokémon with him says quite a bit about you."

"Shut up..." Deidara mutters before he flicks a piece of popcorn at Sasori's head.

Sasori lifts his head and smirks at Deidara. "Oh?" Stretching back his arm, Sasori throws the remaining popcorn at Deidara, each one successfully hitting the blonde in the face. For the next five minutes the two continue to throw pieces of popcorn at each other until Ayame storms in and tells them both off.

"Look at this mess," Ayame gestures around the room. "It's going to take me forever to pick ever piece of popcorn up! We'll be finding random rotten popcorn in this room for weeks maybe even years!" The two boys hang their heads in shame as Deidara's mother continues to lectures them about how childish a popcorn fight was.

"You're not going to send Sasori home," Deidara looks up at his mother behind a curtain of hair. "Are you? Hmm." Ayame's gaze softens and she shakes her head.

"Of course not! You're just being kids," She sighs and shakes her head at them again. "Just behave, ten minutes until bed time."

When she left Sasori turned to Deidara and whispered. "Am I the only one getting mixed messages here?"

"Nope," Deidara said. "Woman are confusing beings, that's what Dad says anyway."

"Do you think girls find boys confusing?" Sasori blinks his brown eyes at Deidara, curiously. Deidara tilts his head to the right as he thinks his answers over.

"Kurotsuchi says boys are weird and annoying," Deidara looks over at his friend. "So probably."

"Kurotsuchi?"

"Oh right, you don't go my karate classes. Kurotsuchi is this girl in my class who's really tough and... What's the word... Sarcastic... Yeah."

"Do you like her?" Sasori asked innocently.

"Yeah! She's really nice though she's always trying to beat me up which isn't fair! Hmm."

"I didn't mean like that."

Deidara looked over at Sasori with an alarmed expression. "Eww no! Girls are icky! Why do you ask?"

"People at school were talking about my cousin Kankuro having a crush on this girl, forgot her name. I was just wondering what it's like to like someone." Sasori said in a dazed way as if he were deep in thought.

"I think it would be weird!" Deidara claims. "I don't understand it! Why would you want to kiss someone? Have you seen those kisses in films where they shove each other's tongues down their throats, it's really gross! Especially when they pull apart and there is all this spit dribbling everywhere! Hmm." Through the whole of Deidara's little rant Sasori stared at him with a disgusted and horrified expression. One word running through his mind. Gross gross gross gross.

"Maybe it's something you enjoy when you're older," Sasori suggested. "You know like alcohol?"

"Alcohol is gross too! I won't ever like it! Hmm."

"I know, it's disgusting." A knock on the bedroom door makes the two boys jump out of their skin.

"It's time for bed now." Ayame said as she poked her head around the door and quickly leaves after switching off the lights.

"Do you think she heard us hmm?"

"Uh-huh." Through the dark both boys stared at their hands with dark blushes on their faces. "Let's go to sleep." Sasori breaks the embarrassed silence that had fallen over them.

"Okay." With their hands stretched out in front of them they climbed onto the single bed.

"Good night hmm."

"Night."

X xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx X

Ayame crept silently down the corridor until she reached Deidara's bedroom. Slowly she grabbed onto the handle and pushed the door open as quietly as possible. The blonde woman tiptoed into the room and approached the snoring children. A light smile graced her lips as she stared down at the two of them curled asleep beside each other, with Deidara's left hand and Sasori's right hand linked together. Ayame pulled out her phone and snapped a few quick pictures, careful not to wake either of them up. Quietly she whispered "As a mother, I am responsible for embarrassing you in front of you friends and future girlfriends so I best start preparing now... Goodnight boys, I love you both."