The Best Things...

*Chapter 2*

Deidara guessed that things would get better soon.

He hadn't been crying lately (because he just hadn't let himself, even when the tears had threatened to fall), and he'd started working again. The blond was a painter in a small store just north for the centre of the city. Despite its 'smallness', they were quite popular with people and almost always had something to do. This was one of the reasons as to why he worked there. The second one was that painting was something he had always enjoyed and liked working with.

To be able to paint was a calming thought, even if he would just be colouring some walls or ceilings. His work -the smell, the sight- made him relax more than he usually did when he was doing other... relaxing things.

Relaxing.

That was actually what he was doing right now; he stood in the storage room and painted a wooden plate. It was going to be sent to a family in Kroken so they could see what it would be like in their own house -in one, or more of their rooms.

Personally, he thought it was a strange colour they had picked for the inside of the house. It was more of an 'outside colour', being ocher and all. This type was a golden-yellow, something he couldn't really see in his own room.

Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him and he turned his head slightly to see who was sneaking up back there.

Itachi.

The dark haired man was the only one (except for his mother and Tobi) who treated him normally (Deidara wasn't sure whether this was because his coworker just didn't like him like that, or because he actually knew how to make the blond feel better); as if nothing had happened. Deidara couldn't help but to appreciate this, because everyone else felt pity for him and showed it, and this reminded him of the fact that Kisame was gone.

This didn't mean that he was healing. No, not at all. Of course, he was telling everyone who asked that he was fine, but the emptiness in both himself and the apartment tore on him every day.

"You're still here?" his colleague asked. The dark haired male seemed to be slightly surprised.

"Yeah, I am." the blond replied as he turned back to the plate of wood and paint.

Deidara understood very well why the other asked, since it was Kisame's funeral today. It was amazing how he'd managed to get through so many days without his lover... no, he couldn't think like that. He suddenly felt mad, both at himself and Kisame. Of course he could go on living!

Going to that funeral, however... the truth was, even though a week had gone by, he hadn't really registered the information everyone else had managed to swallow. For him, it was still as if it was a bad, bad dream -a nightmare, and if he went to the funeral, he would be waking up and realize that it hadn't been a dream after all.

No wait, he would go to that funeral. There was no 'if' right now, not even if he would have to come out from his shell and cry again, and crying wasn't something he liked doing. To him it was a sign of weakness, no matter the situation.

"You're not going?" Itachi asked, obviously not giving up.

This was quite irritating, actually. Usually, the raven haired man wouldn't lift a finger to try, because they all knew that he would manage to do it without lifting said finger. Itachi also used to give up and just walk away if something seemed difficult, but not because he was a quitter -no, just because he didn't bother. Deidara hated this about the man -how he could act as if he was so much better than everyone else. The fact that the other was now trying to help him made that hate fade away just a little, and that wasn't good.

"I am."

"When?" he continued, "it starts in an hour."

The blond sighed and put the brush down into the bucket of yellow paint. There really was no way out, no way to have the man he loves back. How was he supposed to go on when he would be so alone without the other?

"I'm going, yeah." Deidara informed, but he didn't make a move. His body was betraying his mind; despite having been hurt a lot already, his body didn't want handle more of it.

He felt the presence behind him grow closer and he hurriedly moved away. The blond didn't want to be comforted right now; he didn't need pity even if today was the last day his beloved would be on the earth -the ground with him, especially not by Itachi.

Quickly leaving the storage room, Deidara let his long legs bring him to his locker, which he emptied for money, his cell phone and car keys. Then he slipped out of the building without telling anyone, not even his boss. This was most likely something he would be lectured for later on, since the man didn't want anyone sneaking away without telling him.

As he walked towards his parked car, he felt his eyes start to tingle uncomfortably as tears began to form. Shit, he hated to cry like this. If he was lucky -if he was completely relaxed, then maybe they wouldn't fall.

They did anyway.

In total embarrassment and slight panic (what if anyone saw?!), he half walked, half ran towards his car, a blue Ford with five seats.

Apparently... the truth and realization finally had been swallowed;

Kisame would never, never return to him -not to him or to anyone else. He would never come back, and that meant that Deidara never would see a smile, never hear a laugh ever again.

For a second, he couldn't help but to wonder who the person was, and how terrible the man must be feeling. He had heard that the man had been imprisoned for "careless murder", as well as reading it in the news paper. The blond couldn't believe it.

Who would want to kill his boyfriend -kill anyone, in that horrible way?

Shit...

How was the man feeling after all of this? Guilt, shame... hate? Did anyone make him feel loved right now? Was anyone supposed to make him feel better? The blond wasn't sure if it was right of him to not blame the man for what happened, but he knew that he couldn't possibly meet him.

Getting into the car, Deidara bit his lower lip hard and almost forgot to let it go before his teeth pierced through the skin. He was quick to reach up and pull down the plate that usually was to protect him from the sun and push aside a small, moveable piece. Behind it was a mirror, and the blond male adjusted the plate so he could see his lower lip. It was as he'd thought; his teeth hadn't pierced through the skin. He had managed to make marks, and even though they were disappearing quickly, the lip was swelling.

Hopefully it wouldn't swell up all too much, or at least calm down before he went to the church.


Sasori lifted the hammer back behind his head and then brought it in front of himself in a hit, causing the nail to move further into the wall in his new apartment.

Because of the low rent, the redhead had been shocked when he had seen how fine the place actually was; he had walked through the front door and into a short hallway. It was rather old, where the walls were of wood and not painted, and the floor was gray and orange as well as black here and there. In the middle of the corridor was a refrigerator and down to his left was a small oven and a little shelf for his shoes. To his right was another door, and behind it was the laundry room. It was gray and depressing with a washing machine, shelves for different things and a vacuum cleaner inside.

Despite the bad first impression, he continued to the next door on his right and opened it, having left his bags and boxes by the door. The kitchen was reviled to him, and he had had to smile lightly. The room wasn't very big, but he had plates and an oven, as well as glasses, plates, bowls and other necessary equipment. On the other side of the corridor, right opposite of the kitchen was another door. Inside it was his bedroom. The colours inside were dull and kind of boring, but with the right things, he knew that it would look cozy and nice.

The bathroom was left for last; it was obvious that the owner recently had fixed the bathroom, since it shined and smelled so new whenever he was in there. It was his favourite room in the whole apartment, but only because he hadn't bought himself a proper bed yet; there was one in his room, but it wasn't his.

At the moment, he was personalizing his room, hanging up pictures and putting his things all over the place. Sasori was beginning to feel more and more at home for each minute, and soon he would be done. He had just finished hitting the last nail into the wall and had now put the last picture up. The redhead didn't hang up any portraits, but painted works with great meanings. The pictures of his family were placed on his nightstand table as well as on some shelves.

Since he almost was finished with unpacking and such, Sasori had begun to think about other things he could do afterwards –such as exploring the area, the bus routes and where he could use his snowboard. After driving all the way to this city, he knew that there were few places to use his board, at least on the island. Hopefully there would be something on the islands and land around this one. Kvaløya maybe had some sort of slope, since there usually was a lot more snow there than anywhere else.

The redhead hopped down from the bed that had been there from before (which he would change out with a new one as soon as he had the money to; it was old and made sounds even though he only shifted slightly. Along with this, it was rather ugly) and took a good look around the room, which was formed as a square, or maybe it was more like a rectangle. From where he stood by one of the longest walls, on the opposite side of the door and the corridor behind it, it all looked good and 'homey'. The TV stood to his right in the other corner. Between the television and the door stood a commode with books on and some decoration from his grandmother's house; Sasori had wanted to bring with him some things that he had grown up with and would remind him of his beloved grandmother and his parents.

Turning towards the white, three-door closet –which stood proudly right beside the door, covering the short wall completely-, the redhead moved over to it and opened the door in the middle. Inside there were couple of jackets and hats and gloves along with his snowboard pants, his favourite pair among them. Reaching into the dark, he pulled a thin dark blue jacket out of the closet. On the left side of the hood was a white design of a flying eagle.

He often used this jacket when he was snowboarding because it was so light and comfortable to wear. It didn't make any weird sounds either, not like his quilted jacket that tended to make a sound like he let out a fart or something of the sorts whenever it was stretched a little too much.

Pulling the jacket on, Sasori found a pair of gloves and put them on before he grabbed his keys and his phone. Within another minute, he was outside and walking away from his apartment, leaving a locked door behind him.

The redhead didn't have a lot of money at the moment, but he did have enough to buy himself wireless internet and some food for the next couple of days. These two things were the most important to him.

Now…

Where was the bus stop?

It took Sasori about half an hour to get to the centre of the town with the bus –only because the bus had already gone by his stop by the time he got there, and he had to wait twenty minutes before the next one arrived. If he'd taken his car, he probably would have been shopping for food already, but it was expensive to own a car, especially in a city like this. However, was it worth paying two hundred a month to take the bus, or would it be cheaper to use his car?

He would have to dwell on that for a bit, while he looked over the cheapest kind of wireless internet.

His brown eyes scanned the shelves for the right kind, looking over Telenor, Netcom and Tele2 Champion. Those three most likely were the best, but he wasn't sure which one to pick. His cell phone was subscribed to Telenor Superpluss, if he remembered correctly, and there was nothing negative about it.

"Do you need any help?" a voice suddenly asked him, and Sasori turned to see who it was. The man wasn't recognizable, not to him at least, but it was obvious that he worked in this store (Expert).

"Yes, actually… I was looking for a good wireless internet, but I'm not sure which one to pick." the redhead replied, looking back to the packages on the shelves. Surely this man would know which one was the best and the cheapest.

"Well, it depends on what you'll be using it for…"

"Mostly just to check news and probably some games and movies." Sasori told the man, frowning slightly. He hadn't known that this would matter at all, but now that he thought about it, he would need a fast and good-running internet to be able to play flash games or watch movies.

Looking back over at the man, whom he now realized was dressed in an orange sweatshirt with Expert's logo on the right side of the chest. The worker's name seemed to be Charles, as it said on his nametag.

"Then I'd recommend this one," Charles said as he reached up on the shelf and pulled down one of the packages. Telenor it was then.

"Alright, thank you. I'll take it."


The church wasn't as warm as it usually was. No, today - on this terrible gray day- it was cold as ice, so Deidara couldn't help but to shudder as he walked inside. He could feel all eyes fall on him as he walked inside. Their stares gave him quite an uncomfortable feeling, but he forced himself to brush it off and instead focus on what was important; Kisame and his family. Turning again, the blond held the church door open for his dead boyfriend's parents and younger brother.

They all looked heartbroken, and he couldn't blame them, as he was sure he felt and looked much like them; red, puffy eyes along with a pale face and a reluctant attitude towards being there.

As he turned back around to find them some empty seats, he couldn't help but to notice that pretty much everyone in the room turned from where they stood and to the front. Apparently, they realized how bad they made them feel by staring like that. Deidara's blue eyes met with his friends. He didn't like having them looking either, but he knew that he couldn't exactly tell them to look away from him. They were just showing him their pity and that they were there for him.

Finally finding some seats in the front, where he guessed he should be sitting along with Kisame's family, the blond led them all over to the bench. He sat down himself and folded his hands together in his lap. Waiting for this to begin was probably the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Usually, deaths would happen and then be over with when it came to him; Deidara was quick to get over things, because it happened all the time. This time, however...

Things didn't seem to become any easier for him, no matter how much time went by. After all, it wasn't before today that he actually let the reality wash over him. If he had let himself believe that Kisame was gone the moment it happened, then maybe he would have been able to at least feel a little bit better now.

Deidara closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. He didn't draw another breath, and let a burning feeling slowly fill his lungs instead of air. This would help him focus a bit more, he was quite sure of that. How long it would keep him calm, however, he did not know. The blond kept from breathing until he bet his face had turned purple and felt like it was about to explode. When he finally let air fill his lungs again, the two balloons ached in pain, but also in sweet relief –so did every cell in his body. He was happy to tell that he felt a lot better now, but guilt was a part of it all; it wasn't fair of him to feel free when everyone else around him were so crushed.

An elbow in his side made him open his eyes again, and he realized that the priest had arrived. It was the same woman from the memorial, but he couldn't bring himself to remember her name. What was it again? Helen? No… the blond didn't believe that was correct, but he was sure that it was something very close to that.

"Welcome back to this church –today to say goodbye to a beloved son, a great friend and a super boyfriend." The old woman said.

Deidara stood right up and down and stared down into the hole in the ground, where Kisame's body lay in a chest. He couldn't see the man, as the lid was long closed, but he had seen it in the chest earlier, so it was rather easy for him to imagine it all; the blue haired man's body dressed in a black tuxedo with a white undershirt and a red tie. This had all been nice and neat. When he imagined his dead boyfriend's face, however, he couldn't see the usually creamy skin. By now, the skin had become blue and cold. There obviously was no blood running through Kisame's veins anymore. It was also quite incredible that the body was as whole as it had been before the accident; from what the blond had heard, there had been a lot of fractured and broken bones.

As he stood there, just staring at the chest with big eyes, he listened to the words spoken by the priest. She was rambling on about how Kisame was in a better place now. However, Deidara couldn't believe such a thing. How could his boyfriend –his lover be in a better place when they had had it so perfectly fine together? The blond couldn't possibly believe that there was a place better than next to himself. This may be selfish, but he knew that he was right about it!

People began to leave the place as a huge machine began to close the open grave. He didn't move an inch however, not even after the workers were finished and there was no one left but him; he continued to stare at the grave with slightly wide eyes. The blond would never see his lover again. They would never lay in the same bed, never go snowboarding, shopping, eat breakfast and all the things they used to ever again.

He frowned lightly and bit his lower lip as he tried to stop the tears from falling once again. When it didn't work, he covered his eyes with his left hand and pressed it up against his eyes and forehead to keep anyone from seeing. It didn't matter that no one was around to notice; he just didn't want to see himself crying – nor did he want Kisame to see him cry.

"God, yeah... that sounded so stupid." he muttered, scolding himself for even thinking that his dead lover could see him. He couldn't – Kisame could never see him again.

Deidara crouched down and then let his knees hit the grassy ground so he wouldn't end up losing his balance. He reached would with the hand that had covered his face seconds ago and captured a fistful of the sand now filling up the grave.

The blond held his palm upwards and opened his fist. He watched as the sand grains fell from between his fingers and back down to the ground. There would soon be grass covering the sand, and when that time came, it would be much easier for him to grow flowers on the grave then.

"Please protect me, yeah."


Sasori slipped the socket into the outlet and smiled triumphantly as the small, dark gray box nest to him made a sound and four small lights began to glow. All of the lights were green, signalizing that he just had to connect his laptop to the wireless internet and then use it.

Piece of cake.

He stood up and took a quick look around, frowning for each second that passed by. Where had he placed his computer?

"Shit." the redhead cursed, crouching down and looking under the table, where there was an extra plate. He had been very glad to see it there, since he would have some place to put away things that were in his way on the table. It could also be a good place to rest his feet. Unfortunately, there was nothing under there at the moment, so he straightened up and checked the window sill, which was quite wide; he could even sit on it if he wanted.

Moving from the windows (he had three of them on a row), Sasori knelt down in front of one of his bags and began to push the clothes aside. He didn't find anything in the first bag, but after he had searched through the second one, he found the laptop.

The redhead walked over to his bed (yes, his bed. He hadn't been able to wait and bought a cheap, but nice one. Those who worked there drove him and the bed home for free), and sat down on it. He opened the laptop and pressed the button that lay in the upper, right corner. His laptop was of the sort Lenovo, one of the best brands there was. Of course, Macbook was still a lot better, but Lenovo certainly was much better than Hp, Asus and Azer.

The machine only took a minute or two to start up. Sasori slid his thump over a scanner and unlocked the laptop. It then used a few seconds to ready everything. Once it was finished with this, he easily connected it to the secured wireless internet.

As he double clicked on Mozilla Firefox, his phone suddenly began ringing. Sony Ericsson's ringtone filled the room. It was simple and light, and almost everyone used it.

"Hello?" he asked as he picked up, not having bothered looking at the number for once. Not that he needed to; Hidan was pretty much the only one that called him.

"Hey, fucker!"

"What did you want?" the redhead asked, opening a new tab in Firefox and entering Facebook.

It was silent for a few seconds, and Sasori wondered if he had managed to anger one of his best friends. After all, his reply was kind of cold -but then again, he always said that when he was on the phone.

He just was that kind of person; straight to the point and blunt when he wasn't interested, which could be quite often. At the moment, he was busy with his Facebook and had little time for small chit-chat with Hidan, especially since the younger teen could be very talkative.

"Oh shut up," the other replied, obviously a bit grumpy, "I just wanted to call and hear whether you've settled in or not."

"I have."

"Great..."

"Yeah."


I think... I believe that Sasori and Deidara will meet in the next chapter.

A thing that is irritating, is that seven pages in office seems so... short here.