Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this for you?

…I do?

…Damn you. I don't own, blah blah blah… I wish Tobi was dead, blah blah blah… I like D.Gray Man.

Warning: M/M, shonen ai, yaoi, whatever you call it… and a LEMON! WHOO! SasoDei and KisaIta.

Shinigami- Hmm… I wasn't planning on making him the uke because those're the last three letters of his name, but more because, y'know, Naruto is all better and all that. Not that I have anything against Uke!Naruto.

Yes! He is finally out of the picture! I don't know how they'll get Sasuke away from Mister I'm-A-Gay-Perverted-Pedophile yet, but when I do I'll… write it out in the chapter it's in :D

I don't really think we can judge Itachi just yet, because we still don't completely know his motives in the whole U.M. Besides… I like him :P He's so awesome.

Yay for all reviews! I got like, fifteen on that last chapter :D That's the most I've ever gotten for a single chapter in two weeks :D


7. Festival

The Winter Festival is a place for romance, fun, games and wondrous shows of skill. The wide variety of vendors with hot just-cooked food and warm drinks as well as game booths with great prizes appeal to all ages and genders, promising a long night of great entertainment capped off by the huge fireworks show afterwards.

Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, and Naruto had all planned to go together, and possibly meet up with one of Naruto's non-Akatsuki friends, a Suna nin that Sasori knew- Temari's younger brother Gaara. Sasori and Naruto were going to meet up with the residents of Itachi's house at the mansion, and head off from there in a group- the festival grounds were only a few streets away, so it would be pointless and a waste of time driving. Everyone was getting dressed up in their best kimono for the evening.

Deidara, not having any kimono himself, had to go shopping for his, whereas both Itachi and Kisame already had theirs from previous years. Itachi, claiming to follow the American custom for Christmas gift-giving (despite the fact he was atheist), dragged Deidara out to a store and bought him one. He argued that he had far more money than he'd ever need, so why not get the blonde something nice?

The artist had to admit, Itachi had really good taste in clothes as he pulled it out from the bag to get ready for the festival. The kimono was made of a silk-like fabric with varying shades of blue-green colors, thick enough so that it would keep him warm in the cold weather, with long, trailing sleeves and a light, cream-colored overcoat with a sash matching the kimono's color as a royal blue around his waist. His personal favorite part was on the back of the jacket- a brilliant blue bird with a long, feathery tail that twisted around to the bottom. He had taken a shower and let his hair dry down, and didn't put it up in its normal ponytail. He was actually quite amazed at how long it was- it came down past his shoulder blades, thick and slightly waved. (A/n- -has nosebleed-)

He wore an old pair of cool-looking boots he'd found in his possession from back when he was in LA, and since they still fit him, he decided to use them that night. Also, into the sash he was careful to hide several kunai and shuriken. He had several senbon needles strapped to his forearms if he needed anything else.

Deciding he was done, he glanced at his image in the mirror on the wall and left the room, figuring Kisame would be in the kitchen trying to eat something before they left. Excitement was building up inside- he could hardly wait to get going. He and the rest of the group were planning on wandering around the festival together and then meeting up with the rest of the Akatsuki members in a barbeque restaurant in the middle of the grounds, then head up to a good place to watch the fireworks show.

He did meet the two teens in the kitchen- but they were making out instead of eating anything. It looked like Kisame might have been trying to get some food (judging from the open refrigerator door behind them), but Itachi stopped him. Or Kisame just liked to make out with his boyfriend in front of an open fridge.

Kisame was in a deep, almost navy-blue kimono the exact shade of his hair with a grey overcoat that was secured by a black obi. Tiny black printing on the overcoat gave it the appearance of small scales, further enhancing his overall sharkish look. His hair was spiky as always, but it was minus the large helmet-like thing that he had his headband up in. It made him look less like some crazy football player and more like a normal- well, as normal as he could ever be- teenager.

Itachi, in an unusual deviation from his normally all-black attire, wore a brilliant ruby-red kimono the same style as Deidara's own, with a pattern of black triangular feathers on the bottom. His overcoat was also black, but a beautiful red-orange koi fish caught in the act of leaping out of water was stitched on the back with brilliant red silk threads. The Uchiha's long black hair was down like Deidara's, though somewhat shorter, but just as silky-looking as his red kimono.

The two broke apart as he came into the kitchen. "You guys look nice!" the artist said, laughing happily. The excitement was going to his head, leaving him giddy with anticipation.

Kisame looked sort of shocked, and a trickle of blood was exiting his nose. Itachi smacked him with a fan he'd pulled from his obi, and grinned at Deidara. "So do you. Sasori's gonna have a heart attack when he sees you."

"Or a massive nosebleed," the blonde snickered, indicating Kisame. Itachi glared at the shark man.

"So… how long until they get here?" Deidara didn't seem to notice how much longing was in his voice, though Itachi wasn't surprised- after the whole embassy thing, the blonde seemed to have needed someone to cling to, and Sasori turned out to be it. He glanced at the clock.

"Ten minutes. But if I know Sasori, he'll be here early-"

The door to the room slid open again, and, as expected, Sasori came in, grinning at what the black-haired teen was saying. Deidara's jaw dropped; the only word to describe Sasori was gorgeous. He almost started drooling. Vaguely in the background he heard Itachi whacking Kisame again.

The kimono Sasori was wearing was a really nice one; it looked like it had come from the same store as the blonde's. Starting as sort of a dark tan color at the base, it gradually turned into a cream color at the top, just enough of a tone difference to keep from washing out his normally pale skin. The overcoat was a golden-red, a lighter shade of his hair, with a dark tan obi around his waist. He carried a fan in one hand that had red spirals decorating it in fanciful swirls, which looked like it was loaded with mini shuriken and senbon needles. His hair was the same as ever, though, and it looked like he was getting a nosebleed similar to Kisame's at the sight of the artist.

Deidara was almost to the point of blushing- the obvious look of awe and lust on his boyfriend's face made him feel rather embarrassed. He scuffed at the floor with his boot.

Itachi thoughtfully handed the red-head a dishcloth. "You might want to keep the blood from getting on your kimono," he advised. "You'd have to take it off and rinse it in cold water, and it might get stained due to the fact you can't use bleach on it."

Getting back to reality instead of a dark bedroom with just him and Deidara, Sasori accepted the cloth and wiped his nose, then threw back his head and pinched his nostrils under the cloth to slow it down. The blonde led him over to the table, which he sat on calmly.

"Kami Deidara, you look fuckin' hot," the puppeteer complimented in a muffled voice. "Where the hell'd you get that outfit?"

"Itachi got it for me," Deidara replied cheerfully, sitting next to his boyfriend. He picked up the fan Sasori had been holding when he came in; under close inspection, it revealed that it was indeed loaded with mini shuriken and senbon. The artist realized it was the fan type shukusen (1), a lady's fan- base and ribs were steel, promising anyone a painful headache or deadly cuts with the razor-sharp tips of the slender ribs.

"You went all-out," he observed. "Where'd you get a shukusen, anyway?" It looked really old.

"My grandmother was a geisha before she got married," Sasori said thickly. "It was a gift from her husband. He figured that she had enough iron in her to wield it properly."

Itachi took it from the blonde and inspected it curiously. "I think I have several of these in the armory downstairs," he commented.

"You have an armory?" Deidara asked blankly.

Itachi glanced at him before going back to the shukusen. "Yeah," he said. "Weapons through the ages, it's a family collection spanning several generations. I'm pretty sure that we have something like ten of this type and several older, used specifically by the women of the Uchiha clan, though the men didn't mind stooping down to their level in weapon choice. They are very useful." He flipped the fan fully open and whirled it around his wrist, giving it a twirl that sent it flying in elaborate somersaults through the air. "If you want, I'm pretty sure I could find you one down there."

"Really?" the artist said delightedly.

Itachi paused and pursed his lips, tapping them with one finger. "Yes. In fact, I think I'll take one as well- they make very good weapons. Kisame," he ordered over his shoulder. "Wait here with Sasori for Naruto, and if we aren't back up by then, just stay here. We shouldn't be gone long."

"Yes!" crowed Deidara, and followed the Uchiha out through the door. Sasori looked like he was going to object, but he subsided when Kisame dropped onto the table next to him and whipped out a pack of cards from somewhere.

The sharky teen chuckled, dealing the cards in an almost professional way. "Can you wait until the end of the festival when we're all back here?" he asked wickedly.

Sasori picked up his hand after shifting the stained dishcloth to his right. "Nope," he said, grinning broadly


Deidara followed Itachi through several rooms to the back of the staircase leading up to the second floor. There Itachi turned and walked into the tiny closet at the base. The artist got in as far as he could and watched as the Konoha nin pulled open a hidden door behind a curtain of coats and old clothes.

"We had to keep it hidden because after the Meiji Revolution(2) there were laws made that limited the number of weapons you could own," Itachi explained as they went down a smaller set of stairs that led to an underground room. Deidara knew it was underground because the air got a lot colder and a faint earthy scent permeated it. "Not to mention most of the family was incredibly paranoid."

At the bottom of the stairs there was a vast black space. The blonde heard Itachi muttering under his breath and lights suddenly flickered on, revealing a glittering collection of ancient weapons and archaic armor. He gasped in awe.

Everything from regular katanas and wakizashi to more exotic shaped blades and distinctly European-style broadswords were assembled here. One wall seemed to be devoted entirely to shuriken; every size, shape and color imaginable was displayed proudly upon the wall. Another had spears, naginata, pikes and staves leaning against cushions. Between each display case were low chests, presumably filled with more tools of war.

Itachi went to one of these, and lifted the lid carefully. Inside were brilliantly colored fans, from several large ones he'd seen used at school by a few Suna nin to the smaller ones the size of a butterfly dangling on earrings- mini shukusen for women (and probably gay guys, the blonde thought briefly). The black-haired teen lifted out a large box- this he dropped carelessly on the floor next to Deidara. Several muffled thumps were heard. The Konoha nin pulled off the lid, showing a huge collection of regular-sized shukusen.

"Here we go," he remarked, pulling out a blue-green one. "This'll go with your kimono. And your eye color is the same, so it'll look even better." He grinned cheerfully. "Make Sasori pay through the nose (3) over it."

The blonde pulled out a red fan with a black base and black Sharingan tomoe decorating the red band across the top, handing it to the Uchiha with an answering grin. "Yes," he agreed evilly. "You do the same to Kisame and it's a deal."

The black-haired teen cackled and the two shook hands.


Upstairs and back in the kitchen, Naruto had arrived. By the time Itachi and Deidara returned, he and the other two were on their fourth game of poker. He appeared to be winning, if his grinning face with an evil glint in his eye meant anything.

At the sight of the two teens coming in through the door, he whistled appreciatively. "Nice," he complimented them. His grin grew, if possible, even wider.

Deidara took in the Konoha genin's appearance. His kimono was the royal blue of a kingfisher, matching his eyes perfectly. His overcoat was a dark gold that shimmered, with a red spiral on the front and back. His obi was the same blue as his kimono, and his hair's spikes seemed to droop gracefully with no headband to hold it up.

"What? No nosebleed?" Itachi demanded in a mock angry voice. "Kisame and Sasori did. Why not you?"

"Me?" the spiky-haired blonde said grandly, spreading his arms. "Why I am already a huge pervert. Nothing makes my nose bleed anymore." He grinned again.

"Yes," Sasori added. "We're growing used to your incredible hotness."

"You can say that again," Kisame approved.

"Well then," Itachi said. "Now that we're all here, why don't we head down to the festival?"

"Whoo!" Deidara cheered with Naruto. Sasori and Kisame simultaneously punched the air. "Let's go!"

The headed out to the grounds through the back, going through the huge yard behind the mansion. The whole group was in high spirits as they walked the three blocks to the festival. It only took them ten minutes, and then they were hit by the blaze of light, color, laughter and happy chatter that was the Winter Festival.

The group made their way through the twisting streets of bright, cheerfully colored stalls and kiosks, pausing to get some hot sweet tea and dango and play games. Naruto won several water balloons at one, and had fun making them explode by spinning the water around in them.

They met up with Gaara at the tea vendor's stall, and he talked with them for a while before leaving with his sister and older brother. The group also saw many of the other Akatsuki members as they wandered around.

After and hour or two, Sasori glanced at the huge festival tower's clock in the middle of the grounds and said, "I think it's almost time to meet the rest of the guys at that barbeque place, Itachi."

"Really?" Itachi looked up at the clock. It read 7:07. "Whoa, you're right. Come on, it's only a few streets away."

They hurried to the place, a small but cheery restaurant near the base of the tower. Upon entry they were hailed by a large group at one of the tables, where the Akatsuki members were all sitting at.

"Naruto!" called Sakura. She was wearing a kimono of a pale pink, a white overcoat with prints of cherry blossoms covering it and a darker pink obi. "You guys are finally here!"

"We were getting hungry," complained Hidan. His kimono was light purple, overcoat also white, and a triangle was inscribed in a circle on the back.

"Shut up," called Zabuza. His kimono was tan like Sasori's, but the overcoat was black. His sword was strapped on, despite the strange looks being attracted. Haku, splendid in a blue kimono with brown overcoat put a calming hand on his arm.

"Hey, hey, we're here now," Naruto said boisterously as he took a seat next to Sakura, who in turn was sitting with Takikko and Yuri. Sasori and Deidara took the open spots next to him, Itachi and Kisame going to the spots beside Haku. "And I'm hungry. What've you weaklings ordered for us?"

Hidan took aim and hit him with his flying chopsticks of doom. "We haven't ordered anything yet," he said cheerfully. "We just got here."

"Oho!" Kisame cried, faking a look of being aghast. "And you complain about us? Shame upon thee, good sir!"

"Damn Shakespeare," Sasori interjected.

"Amen," added Deidara with feeling.

"Waitress!" Naruto yelled in the direction of the kitchen. He had recovered from Hidan's attack. "Come and take our orders!"

The girls glared at him.

"Uh… please!" he added sheepishly, doing his characteristic rubbing of the head.

They clapped, and the rest of the group cracked up. The waitress came over. They ordered drinks and appetizers consisting of gyoza and more gyoza (it was a popular food), and for a while the table was filled with happy chatter as they exchanged the most recent news and what they'd all been doing. Listening to it all, Deidara smiled and sighed happily.

Sasori glanced at him. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, I'm just happy," Deidara reassured him. "It's not like I have many fun memories like this. And I've never been to a festival, so it's new for me!"

"Oh, if that's all," the red-head drawled, grinning at him.

"Oh hey yeah," Naruto said blithely, entering their conversation. "You two are like, going to Deidara's room tonight over at Itachi's big mansion thing, right? Where'm I sleeping?"

"'Deidara's room?'" Sakura repeated. "Deidara, are you living with Itachi-san and Kisame-san now?"

"Er… yeah, I moved in with them," the blonde replied uneasily. "They have more room, and I needed a place to stay…"

"But what about your dad?" she asked, confused. "I thought you lived with him."

"He… had to go back to the states, and he wanted him to finish his schooling here instead of uprooting him again," Sasori lied smoothly.

"Oh. That's good then, isn't it?" she said, smiling happily at the artist.

"Yep," he said just as cheerfully.

"… and so anyway, I heard a rumor that those four- five subordinate dudes for Orochimaru were going to be sent to take some of us out, or attempt to like that wimpy trio," Kakuzu was saying to Kisame and Itachi. "You know, the Kaguya guy and the other four. They're called the 'Sound Five' or something. Not sure if it's just a rumor or if it's actually true."

"Really?" Itachi said thoughtfully. "We have some information on them, if they do come after us. Kisame, isn't Kimimaro-kun from your village?"

"Huh?" Kisame said blankly. "Kimimaro? Oh, the Kaguya clan guy. Yeah, the Kaguyas've always ended up in Kiri, for one reason or another. They're all dead now, they fought too much in World War II, and the rumor is Kimimaro killed off the last of them. The rest all disappeared, anyway."

"I think the flutist, Tayuya, is from Kumo," Hidan said. "She's been with Orochimaru for four years now, he got her as a genin."

"The rest of the Sound Five have been as well," Itachi told him.

"Well, whatever…" Hidan said, flapping one hand and searching for any remaining gyoza. His chopsticks met with an empty plate. "Damn it, you guys ate it all!"

"We can order you know," Zetsu said rather uneasily, glancing nervously around. Deidara figured it had to do with the fact that he was a part-time spy, and that staying in open view so much was nerve-wracking.

"Right," Hidan said. "I knew that. Waitress!"


After the meal, the group split and headed to their firework-show spot- it started at 8:30 and it was already 8:10. Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, and Naruto all headed to the tower in the middle of the grounds- they were planning on scaling it and sitting on the roof for the show. Completely at ease, they threw invisibility jutsus over themselves (they had a pretty good idea they'd get stopped if they were seen) and started to walk using the wall-climbing chakra control technique they'd all learned in their first years of school. Once at the top, they sat in a row on the edge, facing the northern side of the grounds. Deidara was on the left with Sasori to his right, Itachi after Sasori, and Kisame between him and Naruto, who was on the far edge.

The view from the rooftop was breathtaking; the festival grounds lay spread out over two square kilometers around the tower. Beyond it they could see the city of Tokyo, glowing like a velvet cloth with gems of all colors and sizes sparkling on it. It was a beautiful sight, and, Deidara was pleased to say, now his home.

…now his home. His newfound freedom hadn't yet sunk in, and he was still in the mindset of carefully guarding his existence of life beyond the schoolwork and constant practice his father had forced him to live. Though his father was no longer around to discipline him if he did something he did not approve of, the constant living one way for nine years was hard to break.

Sasori's arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him closer to the red-head when he shivered from the chilly breeze blowing past. "Cold, are you?" he asked the blonde.

"Not anymore," Deidara replied as he leaned against the puppeteer. Itachi and Kisame seemed to be sitting comfortably together in silence; Naruto was staring into the distance with a faintly sorrowful look on his face.

A few minutes later, a voice boomed out over the grounds and the lights from the stalls began to blink out one by one. "The fireworks show will be beginning in a few minutes! Please find yourself a place to watch this year's show at this time!"

An excited babble rose above the grounds as the lights continued to go out. When the final light was extinguished, cheers began to ring out. Deidara was pretty sure he could faintly hear Hidan shouting "Hell yeah!" down there someplace, but he couldn't be certain.

There was a fizzing sound and a bright spark shot into the sky. Two seconds later it exploded magnificently, throwing bursts of red and gold sparks into spiraled arms. The crowd below "oohed" and "ahhed" as the arms slowly sank down back to the ground.

Two more rockets burst out up high, then another two, and another two, exploding one after another. The crowds below cheered in appreciation for the spectacle.

The whole thing lasted only twenty minutes, but it was a worthwhile twenty minutes. Like the collection of deadly fans in the Uchiha's armory, the bursts of light were as beautiful as butterflies (4), glimmering like precious gems in the night sky. Naruto and Kisame had made it their personal mission to whoop loudly after each explosion, make Itachi flinch slightly (you would have thought he'd be used to it by now), and now while they were making their way back through the streets to the Uchiha mansion, they tried to replicate the colorful explosions with chakra. Naruto was getting quite good at it.

"Nice," Deidara commented on a particularly pretty one; the flare of chakra burst into many hues of rich red and royal purple.

"Thank you!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Haha!" Kisame crowed. "You have seen his pathetic attempt… now see mine!" He flourished his hand, where a small explosion took place, showering the rough skin with small, dull blue sparks and a lot of grey smoke that had them all coughing.

"Ack… Kisame, you suck," Sasori said disgustedly as he coughed into the smoke. The Kiri nin was trying to clear his own lungs and was not paying attention.

"Hmm… maybe I can do it," Deidara said thoughtfully, and started coughing again. Sasori pulled out the shukusen and started waving it around their heads, blowing the smoke away from them both.

"Make sure there's enough oxygen at that level," advised Itachi. "Or else nothing will happen."

Deidara held out his hand and gathered chakra in a glittering small explosive ball- dealing with exploding clay did help, he saw, as the ball blew apart violently in huge showers of gold and orange sparks.

Naruto and Itachi clapped. Sasori grinned. Kisame glowered.

"That was magnificent," the Uchiha approved.

"Whoo! Outclassed Kisame and me!" Naruto said, clapping him on the back.

Itachi's gait slowed, then stopped. He frowned and held a finger to his lips, eyes darting around as the other four instantly stopped.

There! Deidara pinpointed what Itachi had sensed. Five… six faint senses of chakra up around the huge tree behind the Uchiha mansion. As one, five different projectiles hurtled off into the darkness as they whirled to face whoever was so expertly hiding themselves.

Six teenagers were standing or sitting on the tree branches: a much younger version of Itachi was sitting calmly of a branch, legs crossed nonchalantly; a tall, silver-haired male with pale green eyes and red spots on his forehead was leaning against the trunk next to him; a girl with bright pink hair, darker than Sakura's underneath a helmet-type headpiece was staring down at them, feet glued to the underside of the branch above using chakra; an incredibly obese orange-haired kid at the base of the tree; another silver-haired teen with a second… head near the fat one; a dark-skinned six-armed boy clinging to the tree trunk itself. All regarded them steadily, not flinching when the various shuriken, senbon, and kunai thudded around them.

At the sight of the six kids, Sasori had moved nearer to the blonde so as to be in a better position; Kisame subtly backed the elder Uchiha up from behind, and Naruto stood alone between the two pairs, defiant. He was glaring at the black-haired teen on the branch.

Deidara noted Itachi's eyes had narrowed when they had spotted the look-alike sitting on the tree branch, and figured that this was the younger brother; any resentment or anger Itachi might have had was not apparent, however, when he greeted him.

"Sasuke," he said coolly. "What are you doing here? The last time we met, you swore that you wouldn't come face to face with me again unless you were there to kill me."

Sasuke, if that's what his name was, ignored this. Instead, he seemed to simply watch Naruto.

"What do you want, you red-eyed bastard (5)?" Naruto snarled rudely.

The Uchiha gave a faint sound of something like contempt. "Dobe, we have an offer for you. Orochimaru offers you a position in his ranks."

Deidara and Sasori exchanged startled glances as Kisame and Naruto did the same. Itachi continued to watch the now-identified Oto nin carefully.

Naruto snorted. "Become a traitor like you?" he demanded bitterly. Deidara didn't miss the tiny note of longing in it. "Hell no. You see, I, unlike you, know where one can gain true power. You, unlike me, are an idiot who wouldn't know power if it bit you on the ass."

Kisame snickered, and Sasori let out a laugh disguised as a cough.

"Furthermore," the blonde continued spitefully, "your source of this so-called 'power' comes in the guise of a twisted, perverted, dirty, gay, fifty-year-old man."

"Do not insult Orochimaru-sama," the teen with the long silver hair and green eyes said coldly, glaring at the blonde.

"Even if it's true?" Sasori said with raw sarcasm. "I believe, gentlemen, that this would be the last member of the Kaguya clan."

A sneer appeared on Kisame's face. "I do believe you're right, Sasori," he said with his crazy shark-grin.

"Silence," Itachi ordered briskly. "We do not want to start a fight here." He hand signed "They have the upper hand at the moment; do you really want to fight in your kimonos?"

Kisame scowled, but backed off. Itachi did have a point; these kids were in clothes for fighting, and they were still in their festival garb.

Sasuke's mouth had curled with a disgusted twist. "I suppose you never would know anything, usuratonkachi. It appears to affect your judgment far too much."

To the other five, he said, "We're done; let's get back to Orochimaru."

Six puffs of smoke heralded their disappearance. They were gone, as though they had never been there, leaving the Akatsuki members to stare at the empty tree.

Naruto was the first to break the silence. "Well fuck him!" he yelled hoarsely, turned, and punched a smaller ornamental tree in a fit of anger. It broke in half with a crash, splintered from the force of his blow, and fell over.

The others watched it in silence. Then Itachi made some familiar hand-seals and burned what was left in a huge fireball that held more intense burning power than normal.

"You two are pissed," Kisame commented drily.

Naruto glared at him. "Shut up," he snapped, chest heaving.

"I think that we should put some wards on our rooms tonight," Itachi commented calmly, as though he had not just burned up a small and defenseless tree.

"Yeah," the until-now silent artist agreed.

"Which ones?" Sasori asked curiously.

"How about the two off of the small living room with the tiny kitchen on the side?" the Uchiha asked. "We can stock up the fridge and it should be fine."

"You mean that small wing off the main house?" Kisame clarified.

"Yeah," Itachi said.

"Got any booze?" added Sasori. "I think Naruto here's gonna blow a fuse if we don't get him plastered."

"As long as he doesn't try any of those fire-jutsus I taught him while inebriated," came the reply.

Kisame threw an arm around the spiky-haired blonde's shoulder and steered him up to the back door as he fumed, with the rest trailing behind.

"That was messed up," Deidara commented quietly to Sasori. The red-head wrapped an arm around his waist as the walked through the door.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Did you get the sense that Naruto wasn't happy about it?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied softly. "If I had any thoughts on the matter, it would be that maybe our blonde friend has a crush."

"You may be right," Sasori agreed in undertone. He grinned suddenly. "Hell, what do you think Itachi'll say to that?"

Deidara couldn't help it. He cracked up. Sasori joined in.

The other three looked back at them. "What's so funny?" Naruto said suspiciously.

The blonde and the red-head struggled to regain control, but the look on Naruto's face, combined with the fact that it was Naruto they were talking about just made them laugh harder.

"Eh," Kisame said, shrugging. "Probably something stupid."


After another hour of alternately drinking, playing cards, and talking, the five friends went to bed for the night at around ten thirty. Naruto fell asleep on the couch, and Kisame and Itachi disappeared into one of the side rooms. Deidara and Sasori took the other. As the blonde closed the door behind them, Sasori snagged him around the waist and pulled him into a long, deep kiss, hands tugging his sash off. It fell to the floor with a muffled crash due to the amount of weaponry hidden in its folds.

Sasori looked at it, amused. "You're prepared," he said, smirking.

Deidara fairly tore off the red-head's own. "Shut up and kiss me," he demanded.

The puppeteer eyed him as the blonde pulled off his overcoat. "Really?" he said musingly. He smirked again and pulled off his own overcoat. The gold-red cloth fell in a heap on the floor as Sasori bent down and drew him into a possessive kiss that reflected the pent-up sexual tension and lust that had accumulated over the last few days and tonight especially.

When they at last broke apart, Deidara casually pulled off his silky kimono and stripped the skeletal wire frames he'd used to strap the senbon on his forearms with off as Sasori's tan-and-cream robes were tossed carelessly into a corner. Sasori then picked him up (damn his lightness and small frame), both completely naked, covering the smaller with butterfly kisses as he walked over to Deidara's bed. The blonde avidly kissed back, very aware of being laid on the bed beneath the puppeteer, who promptly straddled him at once upon aforementioned bed, running practiced hands up and down the blonde's body.

Deidara's hands tangled themselves into their more often than not position in Sasori's hair, pulling the red-head down closer to him. He moaned appreciatively as the puppeteer nipped and sucked the sensitive spots on his neck, while his skillful hands were busy fisting and stroking him. He rocked his hips in the Suna nin's hold, humming appreciatively at the sensations he felt in response. He felt Sasori chuckle at his actions as the red-head sucked hard on his collarbone.

Heat and warm slush seemed to have taken residence in Deidara's stomach and hips, making him groan, hands tightening hold on red hair, as he came under the other's skillful treatment. Sasori kissed the skin under his lips and reached into the drawer in the bedside table-thing where he knew there was a handy stash of lube. Slathering his fingers with some, he began to prep the blonde.

The artist relaxed as soon as Sasori entered him; from experience (almost a month of the supposed "study group") he knew that if he relaxed and didn't pay much attention to what was happening, he wouldn't feel any pain. Not to mention that he'd discovered Sasori could be rather impatient and wouldn't spend too much time on the pre-sex- he'd far rather go through a whole long session than do any foreplay. So he wasn't surprised when his boyfriend spent about five minutes beforehand and then fully entered while kissing him thoroughly. Not that he minded. Sasori did have good aim, and rarely missed.

Deidara spent the next ten minutes alternating between pleasure and a haze of the unknown as the red-head managed to thoroughly please him, until the puppeteer finally came into the blonde with his own groan of pleasure. The five minutes after that was an intense make out session while both recovered from the previous endeavor. It ended with Deidara dozing in his position of spooned against Sasori.

The puppeteer kissed the top of his head and muttered, "Aishiteru…"

"Mmm…" the blonde said, half asleep already. "Aish'teru, Sasori."


A/n- Finally! It's finally done! I am truly sorry that this hasn't been up sooner, but a busy weekend last week ruined my plans for finishing this any sooner. And then my mom kept walking in when I was writing this last part… And sorry the lemon is so short :( I'm being driven out of my mind here.

(1) shukusen- I got the idea from Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet. I really recommend reading them; they're very good.

(2) Meiji Revolution- When Japan was finally opened up to other countries and it became all technological.

(3) Literally. Through the nose. –wink wink-

(4) Have you ever gone to the Amazon? I have. The butterflies there are beautiful.

(5) I seriously got this line from Gigabomb's A Fox and a Shark Walk into a Bar. Read it. I command thee.

I love reading all your answers. Did I mention that? I really do. It's a lot of fun. So here's the question for this time:

What do you think about Charles Dickens' books, if you've read any? How about Oliver Twist? If you haven't read any, just tell me your favorite book instead. Or do both :D