If you're not a new reader, please note that chapter 3 is a completely new one and I recommend reading that one first.

Konohas hospital was Hidans last stop. He actually visited every single one in every district except from his own because they didn't have a hospital in the first place. Well, they used to have one but it closed down many, many years ago. And since the number of Yus residents drastically declined from year to year, nobody really bothered in opening at least a smaller one. Not that the city could've afforded it anyways.

Hidan hoped that he could wipe the memory of this entire day from his mind forever. Not only was he responsible for almost causing a car accident at least three different times because he tried to light a cigarette while simultaneously driving and looking at his phone for directions, but also got completely lost in the Kumo district and it took him several hours to find his way back out. He also made a complete moron out of himself when he realized that he didn't know anything about Sasori despite his name and therefore had little to no information to offer the people working at the specific clinics. Hidan texted and called Deidara several times but thanks to his luck he recieved no answers and was automatically redirected to his friends' mailbox. Then his own phone shut itself off because he forgot to charge it the night before, and at the end the only thing he could depend on was himself.

It was already pretty late when he finally arrived in Konoha and passed the automatic doors, strolling towards the night nurse sitting behind a neat reception desk covered with ugly plastic plants. The lights in the entrance area were already dimmed and the young woman was apparently the only person left. It smelled of disinfectant, paper and coffee. Whenever Hidan stepped foot into a hospital he felt like he had entered an alternate dimension. Time was somewhat passing quicker, then suddenly extremely slow and it created the impression that nothing else existed outside the building anymore. Also, not to mention the huge white walls sending a cold shiver down his spine; needless to say, Hidan hated any kind of medical facility and he's had enough of them for the next couple of years. Or decades.

When the nurse noticed him she quickly put her book down with a slightly forced smile on her face, making it clear that he was bothering her.

„Good evening, can I help you?"

„Uh, yeah... at least I hope you fucki-, shit that's not what I was trying to-, ah fuck-"

The nurse gave him a slightly annoyed look. „Are you in need of medical help? If you're here to visit someone, I'm sorry but it's too late for that, you'd have to come back tomorrow."

Hidan slid a hand across his face and let out a breath. „No, no, 'mfine...", he murmured, noticing how the bright light from the nurses' table lamp was burning his tired eyes. „I, uh...okay, this will sound incredibly stupid but-"

He mentally prepared himself to get yelled at (at least that's what had happened in Iwa) and rested his elbows on the counter. „I'm looking for some idiot and I'd hoped that maybe I'll find him here."

The nurse raised her eyebrows and took a small gulp from her steaming hot cup. „Interesting. I'm sorry, but we do not have a patient named 'idiot' registered in our databases."

„Wait, wha-"

„My point is:", she gave him another forced smile. „I need that persons' full name and date of birth at least. Can you provide me with that?"

Here we go again.

„No, I don't.", Hidan responded while squinting his eyes to read the name tag on her workwear.

„That's the goddamn problem. Listen, uh...", he looked at her name tag once more to be sure he got it right. „Ms. Haruno, right? listen, the only thing I know about this dude is that his name is Sasori, he has red hair and is extremely fucking short."

Hidan vaguely gestured towards his right shoulder to emphasize the last part of his description.

Ms. Haruno gave him a suspicious look and crossed her arms. „Okaaay...and what relations do you have with that man?"

„Uh..."

„Because if you're not a close family member or a friend I can't give you any answers."

Hidan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Fatigue was gnawing on every single one of his bones and there was a bothering, yet somehow comforting fogginess in his head. It seemed like the nurse knew something. He didn't know what it was, but he just had to find out. He would even be satisfied with a simple 'no' or 'please leave', anything to finally get what he needed, end this conversation and get out of this horrendous place. And so he clawed onto the first idea his stand-by brain spat out: „Well it's neither of those. I'm-", he stopped to search for the right word, „I'm his boyfriend."

Ha. Check-mate, you pink haired-

„Oh, really?", the nurse deadpanned in response. „Are you?"

„Yeah, really. Got a problem with that?", Hidan snapped back. He watched her roll her eyes and muster him from head to toe.

„If you're assuming that I'm homophobic you're definitely wrong. I just feel sorry for that guy. You don't even know his birthday? He could really do better than that."

The obvious burn made him wince and he wanted to slam his forehead against the desk. Shit. Was that the only idea he could've come up with?! He didn't come here to discuss relationships or gay rights but now it was too late to get out of that so he had to stick to his original plan – if one could even call it that.

„You just don't get it. It's uh...complicated..."

The woman sat on her chair with crossed arms and risen eyebrows, and it reminded Hidan of the time he grabbed a coffee with Konan during her lunch break. She had a very similar kind of look on her face when he told her about the most stupid way to get fired.

Still, he was getting tired of keeping his charade up. It was hard enough to pretend to be something he clearly wasn't, but the nurse seemed like she didn't believe a single word he said anyway. And he couldn't even blame her for that; he's never been able to lie himself out of a situation, that's more Deidaras style. Hidan made a mental note to kick his ass next time he saw him.

„Listen.", Ms. Haruno suddenly said and gave him a stern look. „You're lucky I'm the head nurse so I know most of what's been going on around here lately."

She leaned forwards and started typing something into her computer with a determined spark in her green eyes. After a while, which felt like years to him, she finally tore her gaze away from the screen.

„I remember someone from this emergency protocol a couple of days back. I can't tell you much about him, not even when or why exactly he came here, but this patients' name I'm referring to is also Sasori. I'm guessing that's the guy you're looking for because I don't know a lot of parents who'd give their child a name which literally means 'Scorpion'. But this is all just guess-work."

Hidan felt a glimpse of hope rising in his chest. He was just about to give up and turn his back on this stupid place and was extremely glad that he didn't.

„Holy shit, that's even more then I expected. You nurses really have the memory of an elephant. Thanks, dude! Uh, I mean-", he stopped mid-sentence and decided to correct himself. That was the least thing he could do.

„Thanks, Ms. Haruno."

She gave him a more friendlier smile. „Two of my colleagues were talking about it while I was in the staff room getting ready for my shift. I was never directly involved in that case but those two had a lot of theories on what happened to him."

His hope was quickly replaced with fear and it took him a lot of courage to ask the next question:

„Do you know how...bad it was?"

„No, not really. As I stated, I just briefly overheard their chat. However, I do know that he was accompanied by someone, probably a friend, but I can't tell for sure."

Fuck.

„Uh, and that someone, could he have possibly been, like...", he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment because he knew how paranoid he sounded about all this. „...somebody famous? Like someone from that Kazoo family maybe...?"

Ms. Haruno let out a snort. „You mean those guys from Suna?"

„Yeah."

„They're called Kaze by the way. And no, I'm sure that was someone else. Because otherwise it would've spread like wildfire the whole staff would've gone completely crazy."

She shook her head. „I get it I guess, they're all pretty good looking, rich and so on. But we have enough chaos over here already so now that I think of it, I'm pretty relieved that it was a regular person. Even though I would've probably been as excited as anyone else."

Hidan wanted to tell her what happened at the school and how much he slowly started to hate every single member of that godforsaken family. He couldn't believe that those people were able to make everyone admire them despite possibly being complete shitstains. But was it even a good idea to talk about it? Was Sasoris relationship a secret? He was getting more and more pissed the longer he thought about it but the nurse quickly interrupted that.

„Look", she began, „I already told you way too much. Every patients' data should be protected and it could cost me my job if any of my superiors found out about it. But my intuition is always right when it comes to people and you seem like an honest guy. And by the way, I don't really believe the whole 'boyfriend' thing. But anyways-", she gave him a serious look. „This is all the information I can provide you with. Don't make me regret my decision."

Hidan promised himself that he would drive home, go to bed and visit Deidara the next day to beat his ass. After leaving the hospital he quickly got into his jeep and left as fast as he could, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do with the newfound knowledge he received from the head nurse. Despite everything, he only hardly understood what happened and he didn't know where he was supposed to search next. Sasori was a complete stranger to him and normally he would've stopped caring a long time ago but something inside of him wasn't able to just let things be. Not this time at least, and before he realized what was going on he was already heading towards Suna in the middle of the night. Even though he was tired as hell, even though Suna was two hours away, he simply bought an energy drink from a gas station and kept driving without taking a single break. Hidan excused his behavior by claiming that was just the kind of person he was. He hated half-assing things and could get rather headstrong once he really got himself into something. There wasn't anything else to it, really.

It was 12:30 am when he was able to leave the highway. Hidan barely made it through the industrial area in the remote region of Suna before finding his way to what he assumed was a grocery store parking lot, shutting the engine of his car and falling asleep immediately. Little did he know that he was completely wrong with his assumption and around seven in the morning somebody knocked on the window of his jeep. He jolted awake and punched against the window out of reflex. The person backed away, holding both hands up, but didn't leave. Hidan rubbed the knuckles of his right hand and then slowly opened the window, which fortunately was still intact.

„...What the fuck do you want...?", he grunted, partly because of the pain, party because he was a little groggy from sleeping.

„Uh hey, good morning! Are you alright?"

A young man, probably around his own age, was shyly smiling at him and tipped his hat.

„I was, until you decided to wake me up."

„Sorry about that. However, I need to inform you that you are standing on private property."

The man pulled some kind of notepad out of his breast pocket. „I guess you're a tourist, so I'll let you go with a warning. But please be more thoughtful next time."

What the hell is he talking about?!

Hidan rubbed his eyes and mustered the guy for a long time while the other kept babbling about something he couldn't make sense of because of his drowsiness. He had dark green hair and a kind of goofy smile. The blue uniform he was wearing was a little too big and made him look like three kids stacked under a trench coat. It was only after he recognized the clothes that it finally hit him.

„Wait a minute...are you some kind of ...meter maid?", he asked and absently rubbed his neck. Sleeping in a car sure was uncomfortable. He felt more like he got chewed up by a lawn mower than he felt well rested.

„I prefer the term parking inspector but...yes, I am. And this is my first day! Seems like we're both kind of new, aren't we?"

Hidan shrugged but watched his mouth because he really didn't need to get the cops called on him.

„Yeah, sure, whatever. What do you mean by 'tourist'? I'm not really here for sightseeing..."

„Your license plate gave it away. You're from Yu, aren't you?"

The parking inspector smiled at him again and Hidan just wanted him to go away. What was it with himself and always attracting weird people who wanted to chat? But on the other side, maybe that guy could at least tell him the way to the hospital.

„Yeah, I am..."

„Hah, I knew it! I've never seen a plate like yours before. Do you guys avoid us so much over there?"

He giggled at his own joke like a little schoolgirl and put his notebook back in his pocket with a huge grin. How in the hell could that guy be so damn cheerful so early in the morning? Hidan needed at least two hours in advance to even get out of bed.

God, this is so annoying. I don't want to small talk with this guy. Somebody just kill me already!

„Okay listen dude, I think I got it now.", he began. „I'll get the hell out of here, I just need to know where the hospital is, that's all."

„The hospital? You wanna visit someone?"

Hidan awkwardly shifted his eyes from left to right. „Yeeeah...something like that. I'm looking for someone. Now can you give me directions or not?!"

He probably sounded really suspicious, like a serial killer or some kind of hitman trying to find his target in a very subtle way. In a way so subtle that he was even able to fool the local policemen. Or meter maids, for that matter.

„Sure I can! Always glad to help!", the man beamed and stretched his hand out for a handshake. „The names' Komushi. How about you?"

Hidan couldn't believe how much he had to go through. Embarrassing himself, getting yelled at, making a nurse risk her job and now being harassed by some weirdo, only to find one single little fucker? Deidara was going to pay.

He returned the handshake, told his name and wiped his hand on his jacket while the meter maid scribbled down directions on his notepad.

„There you go! But are you sure you're gonna be alright? Suna is quite big, you wouldn't be the first one getting lost in our city."

Komushi gave him a worried look and Hidan wanted to punch him so bad but he knew he had to restrain himself. He didn't want to go to jail yet. So he took a deep breath and even managed to squeeze out a forced smile but it probably just looked like he had a bad case of diarrhea.

„Nah, 's alright, dude. You don't have to-"

„Oh, I have an idea!"

„Um...dude, seriously, I-"

„I'm working until 4 today. How about I invite you to a drink at our local pub?"

„No, I really don't fuc-"

„Come on, it'll be fun!"

God, that guy is persistent...

Considering his options, Hidan admitted that he didn't really have any other choice. He could either drive around town and get lost like it happened in Kumo or he could accept this offer of kindness. Even though that Komushi guy reminded him of Tobi (even though the other was way more loopy) he really looked like he just wanted to help. And hell, free drinks? At least Hidan could reward himself for driving around the whole goddamn world.

„Okay, fine.", he finally agreed while letting out an annoyed sigh. „I'll come with you."

„Really?"

„Yeah..."

„Great!", Komushi cheered while smacking his hands together. „Let's meet here around 4:30? We can even take my car if you want to. Traffic can get rather irritating around that time."

„Okay, yeah, sure...", Hidan muttered in response. He was barely listening because he was trying to decipher the written description on the piece of paper that Komushi gave him.

„Good! See ya later!", and with that he was gone. Hidan watched him leave for a short while before lighting a cig and starting his car.

Shit, what have I gotten myself into..?!

Sunas hospital had nothing. Not that Hidan expected anything else. After briefly describing his situation, the nurse just told him the same things he had already heard. That they needed more information about the patient and that they couldn't tell him anything unless he was family, blah blah blah. He thanked them either way and left. Hidan slowly started to doubt whether or not he would find anything in Suna. His gut feeling was telling him that it was a waste of time. But he decided to double-check anyway, so now he really had done everything he could. Right?

The nurses' words were still roaming in his head. If the person she meant and the one Hidan was looking for really were the same, then...why? Why going to the emergency room in Konoha? Why not in Iwa, Sasori lived there after all, right? He couldn't make any sense of it and it drove him crazy. By now, he knew that he was way too invested in this whole thing but as stubborn as he was, it was already too late to turn his back on everything and just fuck off. Not only did Deidara deserve a clear answer to where his friend was (even though Hidan was definitely going to punch him anyhow, he remembered the mental note he made earlier) but also the nagging feeling of guilt prevented him from giving up. What if he was responsible for whatever happened between Sasori and his boyfriend? What if he stirred something up that was supposed to stay down?

After finding a different parking spot and leaving Suna's hospital he walked around town for a bit to find a decent place to eat and by cigarettes, subconsciously searching for a certain redhead. But instead of finding who he was looking for, he found himself completely baffled by Sunas friendliness. Back in his own district one could count themselves lucky if they at least didn't get stabbed while being robbed. But here? It seemed like every passing pedestrian was smiling at him and he had already been greeted five times at least. First, Hidan was taken aback by such a great amount of hospitality but he tried to relax into it and enjoy not having to watch his own back all the time when being in Yu. Nevertheless, it was still hard because he couldn't figure out if those people were serious or not.

Later, as Hidan was about to meet up with Komushi, he walked by an electronics shop and stopped to look at the expensive, flashy flatscreen TVs they were trying to sell. There were at least four models displayed, each one showing a different program.

Holy shit, that's a lot of money. Who in the hell is able to afford those?!

He then realized that not everyone was as poor as him and probably earned much more money, thus had the opportunity to treat themselves to a luxury or two. A little crushed, he kicked against an empty soda can on the ground and it slid across the pavement. He turned his glance towards the TVs one last time, already wondering which turn he had to take next, when one of them flicked to the news channel and the thing he saw almost made him forget how to breathe.

Obviously, he couldn't hear any sound as there was a glass window between him and the shops' interior, but the person shown in the report was more than enough. Hidan watched Saburo Kaze swarmed by paparazzi as he was attempting to get inside a black limousine, smiling and waving towards the people gathered in the background. Immediately, the bile rising in his stomach was so high he could almost taste it.

That slimy bastard...

There was a short footage of the car driving off and then the news channel switched back to the host, but only seconds later the TV changed the program to an infomercial about floor cleaning mops.

Those people obviously didn't know what kind of person that guy really was. And according to the fact that Deidara was worried sick, he was probably anything else than nice. Hidan didn't have any details as his friend refused to tell him, but it didn't take a lot of brain cells to put the puzzle pieces together. Still, Hidan hoped that he was wrong.

The pub was incredibly full, noisy and the floor was sticky because people were spilling their drinks everywhere. Hidan sat at a table with Komushi and his friends he got introduced to, but he didn't really bother remembering their names and they looked like the feeling was mutual.

Hidan barely listened to the stories Komushi had to tell and focused on keeping his mouth shut about the alcohol-free beer instead. He also didn't care much when the other left the table a couple of minutes later, leaving him alone with some people who clearly weren't interested in having a conversation with him. Either way, that was definitely not what he had expected when being invited to a drink. His beer tasted bland and actually nothing like beer at all, but Komushi insisted on him trying it out and now there he was, regretting his decision to tag along in the first place. He probably shouldn't have told him that he was planning on heading back home later in the evening.

„You're not gonna drive around drunk, are ya?", he asked him when they were ordering their drinks.

„Uhh...actually-"

„What?! Really?"

„Whatever dude, It's not like I'm planning on getting incredibly hammered. I've done it before, it's cool."

„No, I'm sorry but I can't let you do it. It'd be my fault if something happened to you! Try the beer here instead, it's pretty good."

Hidan rolled his eyes at that statement and was about to by something with his own money when Komushi switched his attention to the barkeeper and straight up told him not serve any alcoholic beverages to the 'tourist'. The whole night. They seemed to be friends and the barkeeper just laughed, nodded and threw a gloating grin his way.

Oh great. Now I even have to be completely sober while hanging out with this idiot.

And the worst part was that Komushi picked him up with his car so now Hidan didn't even have the option to bail out and just drive home. And walking to his jeep would take at least over half an hour.

He was so busy sulking and feeling sorry for himself that the sudden, soft nudge against his arm startled him a bit.

„Are you okay?"

One of Komushis friends, a guy with some really sick looking face tattoos smiled at him and shoved another meatball in his mouth. Hidan nodded and nipped at his bottle, pulled a disgusted face and shoved it far away from him. Why the hell was he still drinking that shit?! Meatball guy let out a loud laugh.

„The beer here sure sucks, doesn't it?"

„It's fucking repulsive."

„You're tellin' me! The only thing this dirthole here is good at is the food."

He just kept talking while chewing with an open mouth and wiping his face with the backside of his hand to get rid of the barbecue sauce smudged all over his chin. The blonde girl next to him kicked his leg under the table and glared at him in a scolding manner.

„Ouch! what the hell, Temari?!", meatball guy exclaimed and bent down to rub his right leg.

„You look like a pig.", she simply stated and handed him a napkin. „At least try to behave."

„Aw, come on big sis, it's not a big deal. I know what you said, okay? Everything's going juuust fine." He smiled at her and leaned back in his seat. „Right, dude?"

Hidan, who already stopped caring about their banter, raised an eyebrow. „Huh? Yeah sure, whatever."

The blonde girl huffed. „Look, I get that you're pissed that Komushi isn't sitting with us and running around the whole pub instead but if you really want this, you have to get used to it.", she gestured between her, meatball guy and a quiet dude with red hair who was also sitting at the table, glued to his phone, „and to us, of course."

Huh..?!

„Wh...what the hell are you talking about...?"

„Oh, he's playing the oblivious card!", the man with the face tats finger gunned at Hidan. „Don't worry, we know exactly what's going on an-" He was interrupted by his sister who covered his mouth with her hands. „Shut up you stupid dork!", she hissed and kicked him a second time.

„Not again! That hurt! Stop choosin' the same spot over and over again!"

„Just stuff your face with meatballs and let me do the talking."

„Fine, fine. But you're paying the second batch!"

„In your dreams."

If Hidan could be anything he wanted to be in that very moment, he'd probably be a very big question mark. Puzzled, he looked between meatball guy and knockdown girl and asked: „What the hell is going on here? Has any of this anything to do with me? I hope not because I literally have no fucking idea what you're talking about."

„Hmmm...you sure are a tough one, huh?"

„Oh lord.", the blonde groaned and let her hand hit her face. „Kankuro, shut up. Don't make me say it again."

„Okay, okay!", he pulled his hands up in defeat. „Alright...don't have to be so mean though..."

Hidan watched as the girl stood up and crammed through her purse to pull out a pack of cigarettes. She nodded towards the back door and mustered him.

„I'm gonna go for a smoke. You're with me, big guy?"

The silence between them felt really awkward. Hidan was still incredibly confused and wanted to understand what they were talking about earlier. But for that he'd have to ask the girl standing next to him but he forgot her name. He struggled and failed to recall the scene where Komushi introduced them to each other. Meatball guy was called Kankuro, that much he knew, but the other two?

Hidan side-eyed her while she was looking up into the already dark sky, arms crossed and cigarette smoke mixing with the cold November air.

God, what was her name again...Temora? No, that sounds wrong. Tempura...? No, that can't be right. That's a food, isn't it? Damn it all to hell. Come on brain!

He scratched the back of his neck.

Tonarith...Tararin...no...Terebinth? Wait a minute, that's an instrument...Tunari...Tata –

„What do you want?", the girl asked swiftly.

Hidan realized that he had been staring at her like a creep the whole time and quickly waved it off. „Uh...Nothing. Just got lost in thought."

„Oh, really?"

„Yeah.."

He took a drag from his smoke and got a weird feeling in his gut when she suddenly approached him and touched his chest with her free index finger, slowly sliding it down and stopping right on his abdomen.

„...Now what the hell is that supposed to be?", Hidan grunted and wanted to back away but he was already leaning against a wall. He wasn't in the mood for some quicky in the bathroom stalls and he'd probably be too tired to get it up anyways. Also, she wasn't really his type. Like, at all.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at him and a small smile appeared on her lips.

„Those thoughts of yours...", she breathed while clearly trying to make sexy eye contact, „They couldn't have possibly been about me, could they...?"

Hidan was still figuring out her name and tried to avoid her glance. This was getting incredibly weird and uncomfortable.

„Well, yeah, actually I've been trying to-"

She promptly shushed him by putting her finger on his lips this time. „You don't have to explain yourself. Just say one word and..."

She looked behind her at the couple who have been eyeing them in a prying manner for the whole time (as if the situation wasn't awkward enough yet) and hurried back inside when they noticed the girls' look. „We could disappear somewhere more...private."

What the hell is her deal?

„Okay, enough of you and your seducing!", Hidan snapped and pushed her away. „Listen, I'm not into you or something like that. Was just trying to figure out your goddamn name! Now back off."

The girl let out a huff and grinned at him which was even more irritating than her trying to get him hot and bothered.

„Good. You passed."

„Huh...?"

„My name is Temari. And you just passed your first test."

„I...I have no clue what is going on anymore. Care to explain?"

Temari just shrugged, showed him a sly smile and threw her cigarette butt into an ashtray.

„Oh, you'll see. Don't worry. Now come on, let's get back inside."

Hidan was tired. He was so tired and his head was spinning, he just couldn't care anymore. Following her back to their table, he was still dumbfounded but at that point just accepted his fate. He pushed his way through the mass of people and ordered a soda, then headed back while mentally preparing himself for the next 'test' or whatever. Komushi had returned as well and Hidan silently sat down next to him and opened his can. At first, nobody payed attention to him. Relieved, he took a big gulp from his soda while mustering Komushi from the side. He was excitedly gesturing with his hands and talking about someone from work. His bubbliness really reminded him of Tobi.

Coincidentally, he noticed the way Temari was looking at him, then at Komushi, then back at him and Hidan was close to dropping his can as he finally realized what was going on.

„You thought I wanted to FUCK him?!"

Kankuro choked on a meatball and loudly began to cough and spit across the whole table. With a red face and tears in his eyes, he managed to squeeze out: „You don't?"

„Oh my god." Temari buried her face in her hands and started to laugh. The red haired boy shook his head and tried to save Kankuro from choking to death. „I told you it was a bad idea...", he mumbled.

„Guys, what's going on?", Komushi asked and gave Hidan a bewildered look.

„Your friends are fucking idiots. They thought this was a date or something like that."

„What?! Oh no..."

Komushis face flushed red in embarrassment and he was lost for words. „I-I'm...I'm so sorry...I mean-I...", he let his hand meet his forehead. „Dude, I'm really sorry for that. I promise you, I wasn't trying to get in your pants or anything..."

He glared at his friends, especially at Temari since Kankuro was still busy dying, but she acted like she didn't know what he was talking about.

„I-I mean, don't get me wrong, you are handsome...", Komushi scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, „but I was really just trying to help. Sorry if that rubbed you the wrong way. Wait no, I didn't meant to say that, like, in a flirty way, I don't know if you have anything against gay peopl-"

Hidan was starting to get annoyed by Komushis stuttering and wanted to reassure him that it really wasn't such a big deal, when Kankuro somehow managed to come back from the dead. Coughing and sounding like he swallowed shards of glass, he stated: „I knew from the start that it wouldn't work out. Just so you guys know."

Temaris jaw dropped in disbelief. „Excuse me? It was your idea! You were the one who read too much into it."

„No, I clearly said that-"

She kicked him a third time, gave him a death glare and redirected her attention to Komushi. „Yeah, we're really sorry. But thank god you're not into him!", she shrugged as Hidan scoffed, „No offense, but you're kind of a dickhead."

„Guys, can we please end this conversation? I think I'm embarrassed enough for today.", Komushi whined, crossed his arms on the table and buried his head in them.

„I agree on that.", said the red-haired boy and sympathetically patted Komushis back, „And next time, you two should just ask directly if it is a friend or something more."

Temari turned her head away with a slight blush across her cheeks and Kankuro rose one wobbly arm to show a thumbs up. He then hastily proceeded to clean the table which was still full of meat and saliva.

„Are you really sure you want to head home now?"

Hidan was standing outside the pub next to Komushis car. Komushi himself was already inside the vehicle and acting like a worried mother hen. He learned from Kankuro that his friend had always been this way and generally speaking, nobody was safe from his kind gestures.

Overall, the rest of the evening wasn't as horrible as Hidan had thought it would be. Even though it took a while to clear up the misunderstanding (Komushi kept on whining for a little while before eventually getting over it) but at the end he actually got along with everyone just fine.

„Yes", Hidan emphasized while throwing his smoke butt on the ground and putting it out with his shoe, „now stop worrying so much. I'm not some kind of brat!"

He sat down on the passenger seat and put his seatbelt on. Komushi started the engine and followed Hidan's directions to bring him to his jeep.

„Sorry. I know it's annoying but I just can't help it, y'know? I don't want to be responsible if something happened. To anybody. I don't think I could handle it..."

Hidan groaned. „Stop apologizing the whole time, dude. There's nothing to be sorry about."

He absently watched the flickering lights of the street lamps they passed. Night had already crawled upon the city but there were no stars to bee seen due to cloudiness. As they drove through the suburban area the bright neon signs and billboards disappeared and were replaced with quiet, empty pavements and houses which looked exactly the same.

„That's a really good trait you have. Keep a hold on it.", Hidan said after a while.

„Really...?"

„Yeah...The world needs more people like you. We don't have that kind of folk in Yu."

Komushi seemed like he wanted to say something in response but decided against it. Instead, he went completely silent and just focused on the road. But after some time, Hidan had almost forgotten the conversation, he spoke his mind.

„This is gonna sound really sappy but...you're the first person to tell me that. Besides my parents, I mean. I..." Komushi let out a sigh.

„I always wanted to work at the police station close to where we used to live. Helping and protecting people, you know? And showing off my badge to my family of course.", his followed laugh sounded more sad than happy. „I passed all the training, all the exams. I thought: 'This is what I want to do with my life.' And I worked hard for it. But the station quickly realized that I was too...uh...kind."

„Huh? 'Too kind'?"

„Yeah. Pretty stupid but...it's true. I'd gotten way too soft and let a lot of people go with a warning even though they didn't deserve it. Then some things happened...and now I'm just a regular parking inspector."

„What kind of – hey, we're here!"

The chat ended abruptly as they reached their destination. Komushi insisted on exchanging numbers and Hidan begrudgingly went along with it, regretting it almost instantly. But on the upside he could finally drive home, falling into his own bed and not sleeping in the drivers' seat. At first he didn't notice anything different about his jeep. But the closer he got, the more it seemed like something was off.

„Holy shit!", he exclaimed while bending down to take a closer look. Somebody had slit all four of his tires.

„I have someone living with me right now, I hope you don't mind!"

Komushi unlocked the door to his apartment and kicked his shoes off on his way in. Hidan followed him, feeling comfortable right away because this apartment was just as messy as his own. There were half empty plastic bottles, T-shirts, pants and bags lying around on the floor. The windows had no curtains and on the window sill in the kitchen stood a dead plant next to a used ashtray. Hidan guessed it was from the person living with him since he didn't see him smoke the whole night.

„I'd like to offer you a place to sit but...all my chairs are kind of...full of clothes. And garbage. Yeah. That, too."

Komushi briefly touched his nose and an awkward smile appeared in his lips. „The guest room is taken but hey, the living room is all yours! Let me just uh...clean up a little bit. You can go on the balcony for a smoke if you want! But don't forget to take the ashtray."

Hidan stepped outside and watched him rushing through the whole apartment, hastily throwing piles of trash and clothes on...other piles of trash and clothes in different corners. Seemed like goody-two-shoes had a dark secret after all: Laziness. Or he was a compulsive hoarder. Maybe both.

He laughed at Komushi getting flustered when he was met with a mocking grin and he turned around with an incredibly red face to pick up litter from the ground, stuffing everything in a small plastic bag. As Hidan kept enjoying him being a moron he noticed crumbled tissue papers lying on a small table between the couch and TV. At first he was really disgusted due to knowing what those probably had been used for but quickly observed the dark-red, brownish splotches covering the white fabric. However, he wasn't able to really make out what it was exactly since Komushi, also known as the walking vacuum cleaner, swept them away into his bag and made a run for the kitchen.

Was that...blood?

Hidan decided to abandon the thoughts crossing his mind. It wasn't his business anyway. Judging from Komushi's character it was probably just a nose bleed or something similar. He put his cigarette out and went back inside to look for him; turned out he was was busy tidying the kitchen.

„Dude, you seriously don't have to clean the place, I don't give a fuck how messy it is."

„Yeah I know, but my other guest does and there's a chance he will actually kill me this time if I don't do it.", he said with a laugh, „By the way, I wonder where he is. Oh, and there's a fresh towel and a new toothbrush for you in the bathroom! Feel free to use it while I try to delay my prospective death!"

Hidan laughed at the joke but felt kind of frustrated inside. It was hard for him to handle so much kindness at once and it pissed him off because now he felt responsible for repaying the offer but he didn't know how.

„Fine.", he finally grunted. „And...thanks, man. You're a life saver."

Komushi shrugged and waved it off. „Well, I have to be useful for something, don't I?"

The hot water running down his back was the best thing Hidan had felt for a while. Washing off the stress and anger from the past two days was incredibly relieving and he almost fell asleep in the shower due to the rare sensation of not having his head crammed full of thoughts.

After getting out of the shower (he put his clothes back on even if they were used, feeling gross, but since Komushi didn't offer him any of his own he was left with no other option and also, it would probably sound creepy if he asked for them himself) he heard the front door unlock and someone getting inside the flat.

Oh no. Please tell me that his roommate is an antisocial weirdo so he won't talk to me.

Hidan subconsciously listened to the muffled conversation between Komushi and the other person while brushing his teeth. And if he hadn't been so busy simultaneously trying to turn on his phone – he forgot that it wasn't charged – he would've noticed that the voice sounded strangely familiar.

„Hey, where were you?...I was worried."

„None of your business. Why does your apartment still look like a dumpster?"

„Sorry, I kind of got held up at work today..."

„Work."

„Yuuup...work..."

„So you just got home then."

„Yeah...nightshift."

„As a parking inspector..."

„Uh...I'm just as surprised as you are! Aaaanyways, change of topic...I have to confess something to you."

„You sure have."

„I kind of...invited someone to stay here over night."

„You what?!"

„I know, I know, I'm sorry please don't be mad! He's just a regular guy, don't worry about him! He got lost and I helped him out."

„...you're fucking him, aren't you."

„No! Why does everyone think that! Jeez, first Kankuro and the others and now you!"

„So you were lying about the whole nightshift thing."

„Umm..."

Pissed as hell, Hidan slammed the door open and came stomping into the kitchen, toothbrush still in his hand. „For the last fucking time, we're not –"

His words got stuck in his throat as did the air and he felt like he was about to have a blackout. Not remembering what he wanted to say or do and not knowing what he was supposed to do, he awkwardly stood there for what felt hours, staring right at the person who made him react that way in the first place.

Komushi looked between them both and scratched the back of his head.

„What's going on, Sasori? Do you guys know each other?"

Hey guys! I'm finally back with another chapter. Please note, if you've been reading this fic since I uploaded it in February, it underwent minor changes since I discovered a lot of loopholes and overall wasn't statisfied with the results. No big changes have been made to chapter 1 and2 so you don't have to re-read everything. Chapter 3 is a brand new chapter though so I would recommend you to take a look at that one.

Thank you so much for your patience! I'll see you soon (hopefully) with chapter 5.