~*~ SASORI'S POV ~*~

I hurry out of my English class, heading towards where the Akatsuki usually hang out at breaks with a slight skip in my step. I was really looking forward to introducing Deidara to everyone. I knew he'd be let into our gang right away for two reasons. One, Konan would adore him. Any guy that she would consider cute, like Tobi, was a sure bet to be let in, because once she had her mind set on something, it was damn near impossible to make her change it. The second reason was Pein. He had been saying for a while now that I needed a new partner, as everyone else had one. As the knowledge of Deidara punching Orichimaru out had spread everywhere, mostly thanks to Hidan, Pein already knew the guy could defend himself. Add to the fact Konan would adore him, and Deidara would definitely be in.

I turn a corner and throw my bag onto the shadowed concrete of our hang out point. Itachi and Kisame had just had English with Deidara, so I'd told them to lead him over to us. Itachi hadn't seemed too happy about this, but had agreed nonetheless, especially after Hidan had threatened to sacrifice him to 'Jashin-sama'. Oh, speak of the devil.

"Heya you little midget bastard!"

"Hey Sasori." Kakuzu is much calmer as he slides onto the floor next to me. Hidan remains on his feet, grinning from ear to ear.

"Where's Blondie?" He asks, turning his head from side to side.

"Itachi and Kisame are bringing him." I reply.

Hidan nods, and drops his bag to the floor. It makes a suspicious clanging sound as it hits, and Hidan immediately makes a lunge for it again. However, Kakuzu's too quick for him. He grabs the bag and wrenches it open. With a sigh, he turns it towards me. Nestled in the bottom of the bag are about four bloodied knives.

"Hidan." Kakuzu says in a rather pissed off voice. "What have you been told about bringing this kind of thing in?"

"Tsunade wouldn't expel me. She loves me too much." Hidan replies.

"She'll expel you eventually if you carry on stabbing yourself on school premises."

"Look, you know I need to fucking do that to show Jashin-sama my undying faith."

"Yes Hidan, but not in school."

"Yes you fucking bastard, in fucking school!"

I sigh and turn away from the two of them before Hidan loses his temper completely and says every swear word under the sun. I look past Kakuzu's angry face towards the throng of students now spilling out into the grounds, searching for a mass of blond hair. I jump out of my skin therefore, when something lands on my back.

"SASORI-SAN!!!!"

"Hey Tobi.." I mutter back, looking over my shoulder. Sure enough, the masked teen's face is nuzzling into the small of my back. His and Zetsu's arrival seems to have stopped Hidan and Kakuzu's fight, though I see them glaring coldly at one another every so often.

Zetsu pulls Tobi off me, and they both sit down. I turn my head back to carry on searching for Itachi, then start when I see the raven haired boy himself settling onto the floor right next to Kakuzu, Kisame on his heels. I look around him, and blink in confusion.

"Where's Deidara?"

"I didn't know I was supposed to be babysitting him." Itachi snaps coolly. Hidan's attention goes from glaring at Kakuzu, to staring at Itachi.

"You were the only ones in his freaking class.." I spit.

"Fuck off okay 'Sori? The blond bastard never came to class."

Well that's weird. Why wouldn't he turn up? Kisame said he'd spoken to him on the bus, so he was definitely in. Maybe he got lost? But no, it wouldn't have taken him a whole hour to find a teacher to ask and get to the classroom. Something was wrong..

"Why are you grinning?" Itachi asked, looking past me at Zetsu. I turned to stare at the green haired boy too. He was smiling from ear to ear, and I spotted a trail of red out of the corner of his mouth. With a shudder, I turned away and carried on thinking about Deidara and his whereabouts.

"I found a puddle of blood by the English block." Zetsu announces.

"I swear you get off on that fucking stuff.." Hidan mutters.

"Hypocrite." Kakuzu snaps.

I interrupt Hidan as he opens his mouth to shout verbal abuse back at his best friend. "Who's blood Zetsu?"

The boy beside me shrugs, still smiling. He then reaches into his bag and pulls out a plastic tub. I spot bloodied meat through the translucent side of the tub and turn away, stomach lurching. But Zetsu not knowing about blood was definitely strange. At one point or another, he had tasted the blood of everyone in the school, but not the teachers.. So maybe it was a teacher? But why would they be bleeding in such a heavy flow outside the school that Zetsu practically had a feast off it? That was weird..

Tobi raises his hand. "Tobi has an idea, Sasori-san!"

I sigh. "What?"

"Tobi saw a kid getting beaten up out of the window! Then they got carried off and Tobi couldn't see where to."

"Well that explains Zetsu's random puddle of blood." Itachi pipes up.

A kid? Not a teacher? Now this was getting weirder. A kid who's blood Zetsu wasn't familiar with.. A new person..? Oh shit, no.. I turn my full attention on Tobi.

"Who was getting beaten up Tobi? And who was doing it? What did they look like?"

I notice Hidan's face paling as he tags on to my idea. He too leans in close, waiting in dread for Tobi's answer.

"Tobi doesn't know who the person getting beaten was, but the beater was definitely Orichimaru-san. But but buut! Tobi saw that the person getting beaten had really long blond hair!"

Me and Hidan both start and move at the same time. I leap to my feet whilst he snatches his bag up from a bewildered Kakuzu. Without saying a word to the others, we take off towards the front gates. I feel my blood boiling in my veins, and my legs shake as I walk. People coming towards us spot the enraged looks in our eyes, and literally dive out of our way.

I was going to kill Orichimaru with my own bare hands.