Chapter 3

The light from the window wakes me up in the morning. I yawn a big yawn and roll over and face away from my window hoping that I could fall back asleep. I snuggle into my pillow and look on the table by my bed thinking that there would be a clock on it, but there wasn't. Just two little clay birds sitting where I had left them last night… I start to close my eyes. …wait… two little clay birds?

I shoot up out of my bed and grab the birds form the table. Sure enough there are two of them. A chill runs threw me as I think about Deidara walking into my room as I lay sleeping. Oh that smug jerk was going to get it now! I toss the clay birds across my room. They hit and bounce off the wall before landing on the ground.

I stand up and my foot steps on something. I pick my foot back up and there is a small piece of folded paper stuck to it. I take the piece of paper off my foot. It must have fallen off the second bird when I took it off the table. I unfold the paper and read it. 'get cooking' it says. I crumple the piece of paper and toss it on the floor then start stomping on it. That jerk really knew how to get under my skin! I was going to march right down to that dummy's room and tell him what for! Either that or sue him for breaking and entering!

I open my door and stomp out of it down the hall to where Deidara had gone the night before. I bang on his bedroom door angrily. "Deidara!" I shout as i bang madly on the door. I stop banging for a moment, there's no reply. That made me angry, the nerve of that guy not being there when I wanted to yell at him!

I angerly turn away from his room and head down to the kitchen. I open the kitchen door and storm in. There's a basket sitting on the table and it has the list that I had made last night pined to it. There were check marks by everything I had written down, except for the fish. Oh well, I could do without the fish for now. I smile a little. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad. I take the basket full of food to the back of the kitchen and start to unpack everything.

I lay out the things that I wanted to serve for lunch and I cleaned out the fridge so I could put the other items in it. It was going to make mash potatoes with gravy and chicken for lunch… As soon as I cleaned the kitchen. I took in a deep breath and then exhaled. It was going to be a very long morning.

It was a good couple of hours before the kitchen was completely cleaned. I had scrubbed the place from top to bottom and I gone through twelve buckets of water and three bars of soap. I admired my handy work from the kitchen window as I pealed the potatoes. I wasn't sure how much everyone could eat, but since they were all males I assumed they could each eat at least a potato and a half.

That was going to be twelve potatoes and one for the pot. It was a lot to do, but I enjoyed the chance to be alone before Tobi found me. By the time that I had gotten the potatoes mashed and the chicken cooked, the kitchen clock read 12:22. That means that I had to have gotten up around 7:00 or 8:00. I breathe a sigh of relief as I set the table. Lunch was ready and all I had to do now was ring the bell. I carried the big pot of mashed potatoes and set it in the middle of the table followed by the much less heavy plate of chicken. The last thing that I put on the table was the pan of gravy.

I sit down in one of the chairs at the table to rest for a moment. I would ring the bell when I felt like it. Kisame poked his head in the door. "What are you doing?" He asks. "I was just about to ring the bell." I reply. "Oh… well can I ring it?" I look at him with a puzzled expression on my face. "I suppose so." I say. Kisame walks through the door and picks up the bell from the kitchen. "It's just that I miss the kitchen already."

I smile. "You can help me out with it, if you want." Kisame smiles back at me. "Really you mean it?" He asks. "Yup, I could always use some help around here!" I say happily. "Now ring that bell so everyone can come in and eat." Kisame rings the bell with much enthusiasm. The first person who happens to poke his head into the kitchen is the no show, Itachi, from last night. It took about five minutes before everyone was in the kitchen eating.

I was right, everyone could eat a potato and a half, and some could probably even eat a little more! I set at the table across form Tobi. Tobi sat there kicking his feet as he scooped spoonfuls of mashed potatoes topped with more gravy than they needed. I glance around to see what everyone thinks of my cooking while I cut my chicken.

Tobi sure looked like he enjoyed it, Deidara was eating it so it couldn't be that bad, Itachi was the first to show so he must have smelled me cooking it, Kisame looked happy as he chewed his chicken. I glanced at the person sitting next to me. It was Hidan. He ate slower than everyone else but he wasn't spitting it up. I couldn't really tell who was next to him because I couldn't really see around him.

I smile as I start to eat. Today wasn't going to be a bad day after all. Reluctantly everyone stacked their plate up in the kitchen like I asked so I didn't have to go around and pick them all up. Tobi even helped to clear the table. "Is there anything I can do before I leave?" Kisame asks me after the table is cleared. "Yes." I say. "You can wash the dishes!" I say as I quickly run out of the kitchen.

I didn't want to stick around to see Kisame's reaction. I laugh as I walk down the hall to my room. When I get back to my room the door is wide open. "Deidara." I say angrily as I walk it. But no, it wasn't Deidara who had entered my room without permission, it was Tobi, he left a book and a note on my pillow. The note said 'Keep it.' I opened the book up, but there weren't any words in it, just blank pages. So I figured it must be a diary or something.

"I'll have to thank him later" I say to myself as I stick the diary under my pillow. I lie down on my bed and look out the open door. "I wonder how many people walk past my room each day." I mutter to myself. It was a dumb thing to think about but I didn't have anything else to do till I had to cook dinner. It was a couple of hours before Itachi walked by.

Itachi seemed so mysterious. I hadn't heard him say a word since I've been here. I pull out my new diary and start to write in it about how the day had gone so far. It was about 4:47 when I stopped writing. I decided that it was time to get dinner started.

Dinner was going to be very simple that night. A salad, and roast beef with gravy. I always liked putting gravy on my meat. It just added a kick of flavor that I liked. I slip the diary back under my pillow and hop up off my bed. I walk across my room to the door. When I was about to walk out of the room I step on something and it crunches under my shoe.

I pick my foot up to see what I had stepped on. It was one of the clay birds that I had tossed across my room earlier. I pick up the bird that I had stepped on. Its wing had broken off. I frown and take it over and put it on my bedside table. I'll just have to glue its wing back on later. I look around for the other bird before I leave my room.

I find the bird on its side by the door near where the other bird was. I pick it up and put it in my pocket. I close my door behind me as I walk down to the kitchen. When I get to the kitchen there are already some of the guys sitting at the table waiting. Then look at me when I enter. They all looked hungry.

Kisame was in the back of the kitchen holding a pan. "What can I do?" Kisame asks happily. "Ummm… You can chop up the lettuce." I say as I pull the head of lettuce out of the fridge and toss it to him. "Alright!" Kisame say as he pulls a huge knife out of nowhere. "I don't want to know where that knife came from." I mutter to myself as I unwrap the roast and put it in a pan. It took about an hour for the roast to cook.

I notice that more people had come to the table for dinner early as I put the freshly cooked roast on the table. Kisame comes out with the salad that he had made. I take my seat at the table and everyone at the table stares at me. "You guys can eat now." I say feeling uneasy about everyone looking at me. There is a small murmur as everyone starts to put food on their plate. I watch everyone and notice that they all take huge helpings.

"I'll have to start marking more food." I think to myself. I take a small helping and watch everyone eat again. Tobi smiles at me as he chews with his mouth slightly open. I give a small smile back to him. I watch Itachi as he eats his salad. I think that's its a little weird that an S rank criminal would eat a salad. I watch Itachi for a moment longer before I look at Deidara who is sitting between Itachi and Tobi. He has a hunk of roast on his fork and is gnawing at it.

"He is such a pig." I think to myself. "But he does make cute little statues." I think as I touch the small clay bird in my pocket. I smile to myself as I watch him. Itachi watches me out of the corner of his eye as I watch Deidara. He calmly eats his salad as he watches. "Well I'm done eating!" Tobi says as he stands up. I glance away from Deidara to watch Tobi as he skips out of the room.

"I'm done too." Kisame says as he gets up." I watch as Kisame leaves as well. Its five more minutes before everyone had left the kitchen. I stack the plates up in the kitchen for Kisame to clean in the morning. I walk back to my room and notice that Tobi's door is wide open. I poke my head in the door and knock on the door frame. Tobi, who was lying on his bed, pokes his head up and looks at me. Then a smile spreads across his face as he jumps up.

"Re-Re!" He says as he runs over to me. I look around Tobi's room. It was filled with brightly colored things. He had a stack of different colored radios in the corner of his room. This caught my attention, so I asked him. "Hey, Tobi, can I borrow one of your radios?" Tobi smiles and grabs my arm and pulls me into his room. "You can keep one!" He says as he takes one off the top of the pile and hands it to me.

"Thanks." I say as walk over to his door. I stop in the door way. "Hey, Tobi. What would you want for lunch tomorrow?" I ask as I glance over my shoulder at him. "Ice cream!" He screams happily. "Ok, umm I'll see what I can do about that."

I say as I laugh as I walk back to my room. I plug the radio in when I get back to my room. I turn it on and try to find a channel that I like. I finally settle on one that's in the middle playing a song called 'Right Round' I tap my foot as I sit down on my bed. The song ends and another song comes on. The guy on the radio says that it's called 'Lips Like Sugar'. Me, feeling wild, get up and start to dance to it. Forgetting that I left my bedroom door wide open.

Itachi walks by my bedroom and sees me dancing. He chuckles to himself as he walks by. Tobi and Kisame stand in my doorway watching me before Deidara shoos them away and starts watching me. He stands there clapping when the song ends. My face turns red as I look towards my door.

There stands Deidara with a huge smile on his face. "How long have you been standing there?" I say while my face turns redder. The song 'Womanizer' comes on. "I've been standing here long enough to watch you dance." I glare at him as he walks into my room. "Why don't you dance to this song too?" He asks as he sits on my bed.

"No, no, no!" I yell as I grab his arm and pull him up off of my bed. "Come on, you look cute when you shake that small ass of yours." I continue to glare as I try to push him out of my room. "Come on, I thought you were sweet like sugar." He says smiling.

"What? No!! That was just in that song! Now, out, out, out!" I yell still trying to push him out. The song 'Don't Trust Me' comes on. "Why don't you dance to this song then?" I ask as I stop pushing him. "Because I can't dance." Deidara say as he looks around my room. He sees the broken clay bird lying on my table. "You broke it!" Deidara say as he picks it up off of my table. "Umm… Yeah…" I say shyly. "I stepped on it…" He grabs my arm. "Then we shall go fix it." Deidara says as he drags me out of my room and down the hall to his room.

Deidara pushes me through the open door to his room. I trip and fall onto the floor. "Geez, no wonder you broke my bird. You're clumsy." Deidara says as he walks past me. I stand up and dust myself off and look around his room. His walls were painted black and he had a thick black curtain hanging in front of his window. He also had little bird and spider clay statues scattered on his floor and on his bedside table. Deidara puts the broken bird on his bed and starts to unbutton his cloak.

I watch him wondering what he looks like without it on. Deidara glances over at me. "What?" He asks when he sees that I'm watching him. "Nothing!" I quickly say as I blush and turn away from him. Deidara tosses his cloak on the edge of his bed and picks up the broken bird. He unzips the pack that he has on his hip. He pulls out a small wad of clay.

"Want to see a magic trick?" He asks me. "Sure?" I say as I turn back to him. "Ok, now you see it…" He says as he holds up the ball of clay. "… and now you don't" He says as he closes his hand and reopens it. "What?!"I say as I grab his hand and pull it towards my face as I look at it. I see what looks like a small mouth in the palm of his hand that's chewing.

"What is that?" I say as I poke the thing that's in the middle of his palm. "The secret to my technique." He says. I continue poke at the thing. It spits out the piece of clay and I jump and pull my finger back. "What is that?!" I yell. "It's a mouth." Deidara says. "Ewwww!" I cry as I take a step back.

Deidara puts his other hand in front of my face and the mouth sticks its tongue out. "Aaaa!" I scream as I push his arm away. Deidara starts to laugh as he chases me around the room. "Stop it!" I yell when he corners me in his room. Deidara laughs evilly as he puts his hands near my face. I tightly close my eyes as he puts his hand on the side of my face.

He runs his fingers through my hair and I open my eyes and look up at him. He smiles down at me while I look up at him.