Chapter 7

"WHAT? DEI-CHAN IS ON A FIELD TRIP?" Hidan screeched as the whole class turned to look at him.

Sasori nodded. "And he's Itachi Uchiha's field trip buddy."

Tobi shook his head sadly. "You're finished, Sasori-san! Four days can make love blossom between the two teenagers - OW." One punch from Sasori and Tobi fell onto the floor unconscious.

"Bird-brain," Sasori muttered.

Kakuzu sighed. "He's right, you know. We know you like Deidara. We know, we know."

Sasori felt his cheeks redden. "As a friend," he said.

"More than that," said Konan, folding a paper flower.

"And I suggest that we help Sasori get back Dei-chan before its too late," said Hidan, punching a fist into the air.

"What do you think this is? A drama serial?" Sasori scowled.

"Seriously, Sasori," said Pein solemnly, "four days is more than enough time to make Deidara change the way he sees about Itachi. He might dislike Itachi now, but he might like him after the trip."

"But Itachi doesn't really like Deidara, and vice-versa," said Sasori quietly.

"There are many possibilities in this world, Sasori," said Kakuzu.

"I therefore suggest that you take some action soon, or you'll regret it," Hidan said.

Sasori looked away. "I don't like him!"

"Oh?" Pein asked, "then why are you looking away? You can't hide it from us."

"I said no means no! You guys are just being overly-dramatic!" Sasori said, feeling very irritated. He got up and stormed away, stepping on Tobi's face in the process.

"What?! He obviously does!" Hidan said, folding his arms.

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"This place is humongous!"

Deidara stared at the beautiful theme park with huge, sparkling eyes. It nearly took his breath away. He wanted to do on every ride there was, play every game there was and see everything there was to see in the theme park. After all, they were given a full day to enjoy themselves! The students had put their luggage in their rooms and had been dismissed to play at the resort's theme park.

Itachi stared at the childish brat, feeling amused. Who knew that seeing a theme park could make Deidara this happy?

"Hmmm - shall I go for today?" Deidara thought aloud, looking at the map of the theme park. It was just so exciting!

"Hey," said Itachi, "are you forgetting something?"

Deidara's face fell. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to follow Itachi throughout this whole trip. Stupid weasel!

"Glad you did remember," said Itachi, smirking again, "anyway, you wouldn't be able to ride anything in this park if you didn't go with me."

Deidara looked surprised. "Why?"

"Because, every ride here is expensive. One ride on the roller coaster costs about two months of your salary."

At this point, Deidara's heart sank. What on earth was this? Oh yeah, he had forgetten that this was a resort belonging to a rich girl. The prices of the tickets would definitely be expensive too. Way too expensive for him to afford even half a ride.

"Yeah, so I can't afford to ride on anything, hn. You can go and play some games now - I'll go back to the hotel room and read a book." With that, he trudged back slowly to the hotel, feeling very disappointed.

But Itachi grabbed his arm. "Hey, I'm not finished talking to you yet."

"What's there to say, hn? I can't ride anything. I didn't bring so much money along with me, hn. Even if I did bring all my savings, I wouldn't spend it on these rides."

"You are going to come with me. You're my field-trip buddy, remember?"

"I have no MONEY! Can't you understand, hn?"

"Then I'll pay for your rides. Since I have to be stuck with you anyway."

"I don't want to owe you anything, hn."

"You will not owe me anything. Just take it as a reward for working in the stationary store."

"HUH?!"

"Just shut up. Don't you understand what I'm saying? OK - if you do not follow me to ride on the rides, I will fire you. Immediately. On the spot."

"That's unfair! Don't keep using 'I will fire you' as something to threaten me, hn!"

"Hey, if you go back on your own, sensei will scold us! I'm supposed to stick with you throughout the whole trip. What's more, you can't go back, cos' Sensei's got all of our room keys and who knows where he is now. So, now, you'd better come with me to the ticket booth."

Deidara was speechless. He couldn't afford to be fired. He also knew that what Itachi said made sense. And he badly wanted to ride on the roller coaster. But...

'Oh well, nevermind. I shall treat this as a reward from my boss, then,' he thought as Itachi pulled him over to the ticket booth and got both of them tickets for every ride. After all, why should he worry? A theme park was no place for worry and sadness!

So Itachi and Deidara went around the theme park, having fun. Deidara even started to feel that Itachi was actually quite nice. Itachi got the both of them popcorn and a cola, and he even got Deidara a balloon because Deidara was staring at it so dreamily.

"You really are a kid," said Itachi said, handing him the balloon.

"Ahh? No I'm not! You bought that pair of goofy sunglasses, you are a kid too, hn!" Deidara said, laughing. He was enjoying himself thoroughly. Itachi looked at Deidara as the latter smiled at him. It was the first time he had seen Deidara smile at him.

'He looks better when he smiles,' Itachi thought.

Next, both of them went to ride on the merry-go-round. Itachi was embarrassed as the people riding on the merry-go-round were mainly kids. He refused to ride the merry-go-round, so Deidara sat on one of the bronze horses and waved at Itachi as he went round and round and round. Itachi took out his camera and snapped a few shots of Deidara, and Deidara started shaking his fist angrily at Itachi.

"Delete them, hn!"

"No."

"Delete the photos right now, hn!"

"Hey, its my camera you know."

"But its my photo, hn!"

The next ride was the most-exciting of all - the roller coaster. Deidara was so happy when Itachi said that they would be going to the roller coaster next. But when they sat down on the roller coaster seat, he began to feel nervous.

"Itachi, this - this ride - will it be scary?"

Itachi looked at Deidara. "Of course it will not be scary," he lied. He wanted to see how Deidara would react when the roller coaster started moving. This ride was the scariest and most exciting ride in the whole theme park!

"O-ok then. Then I shouldn't be feeling so scared..."

The roller coaster started moving. It went so fast that Deidara started shrieking like a mad woman.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ITACHI YOU LIAAAAAAAARRR! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THIS RIDE IS SCAAAAAAAAAAAAAARYYYYYYYY AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"REALLY? I DO NOT FIND IT SCARY!" Itachi shouted.

"SHUT UPPPPPPPPP! AAARGGGGGHHHH! SASORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! SASORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!! HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Itachi felt puzzled. Why was Deidara screaming out Sasori's name? But he had no time to think - Deidara was so scared that he grabbed Itachi's hand tightly. At that moment, Itachi felt his cheeks grow hot.

'What's - happening?" He thought as the roller coaster went down the slope at such a speed that Deidara gripped his hand even tighter. Deidara was so scared that he was now in tears.

"SASORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! HELP MEEEEE! THIS IS SCARYYYYYYY I DON'T WANT TO RIDE IT ANYMOREEEEEE!!"

Itachi sighed. (He had ridden this ride many times so he wasn't scared anymore) Deidara was really a childish brat.

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"It was scary! You lied to me, hn!" Deidara said, still feeling shaky from the ride. They were now at the cafe's theme park, eating lunch.

"If I had not lied to you, you would have jumped of the roller coaster before it even started to move," said Itachi, taking a sip of cola.

"Hn, liar."

"Anyway, just now, you were screaming for Sasori," said Itachi, remembering what he had heard on the roller coaster, "why were you screaming for him?"

Deidara looked up at Itachi. "Uh, well...this sounds weird but, I've always gone to him for help since I met him in middle school. He's really nice to me, and we're best friends. When I'm in deep trouble, he'll always help me. So I'm really used to calling out his name when I'm in trouble, hn."

"Trouble?" Itachi asked.

"Like when people tease me for being a girl. In middle school, a group of people tried to steal my books. Sasori beat them up, and was sent to detention. I felt really guilty that he was sent to detention when he could have minded his own business and watch me being bullied..."

"So, riding that roller coaster was really that scary for you?"

Deidara glared at Itachi. "Of course, hn."

"And, is Sasori that important to you? He's usually quiet and reserved - who knew that he could tolerate a childish brat like you..."

"SHUT UP! I know I'm childish, ok? What about you? Stupid weasel..."

Itachi sighed. What a childish teenager.

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"Itachi! This car racing game is fun! Play it with me!"

"Itachi! This dancing game rocks!"

"Itachi! I'm losing the game! HELP ME!"

Itachi was already quite tired from hearing Deidara's excited voice call for him. They were at the arcade, and it seemed that Deidara was the only one enjoying himself.

"Hey, you done yet?

"No!"

"You've been at that game for an hour."

"Play the game with me, Itachi!"

"No."

"PLEASE?"

"NO!"

'GAME OVER'.

Deidara lost control of his car (in the game) and the car banged into the wall. He looked angrily at Itachi.

"Now look what you've done!"

Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, now lets get out of here. I wanna show you something." He pulled Deidara to a machine with lots of toys and gadgets inside it. There was a huge metal claw in the machine too.

"Hn? What's this?"

"A toy machine, where you direct the metal claw to pick up the toy or gadget which you like, and then if you successfully pull it up, you will win the toy."

Upon hearing this, Deidara's eyes sparkled. "Wow!"

Itachi smiled. He knew Deidara would like to play this game. So, he and Deidara started trying to catch random toys and gadgets. They didn't succeed in winning anything until -

"Hey! I got something!" Deidara said excitedly as the metal claw pulled up a box and dropped it into the slot. 5 seconds later, the box slid out of the machine and Deidara picked it up.

"A cellphone, Itachi! I GOT A CELLPHONE!" Deidara exclaimed happily, jumping up and down.

Itachi smiled. "Keep it, its yours from now on."

Deidara's eyes widened. "What on earth? I can't accept this. It's yours. You paid for this game, it should go to you."

"But I want to give this to you. You'll need a cellphone. Everyone needs a cellphone. And I don't want people to tease you for not owning a cellphone."

"But - "

"No buts. Keep it. It comes with a cellphone number already, so you can call anyone you like now. Or even send them messages. I will help you register your name with the phone company this evening."

"Whoa, Itachi. Thanks a lot." Deidara said quietly, looking at Itachi.

"No problem. Now, switch on the phone and call anyone you like. Check to see if the phone is working properly."

Deidara nodded excitedly, and switched on the beautiful cellphone. After a few seconds of pondering, he decided whom he would call.

"Hello."

"HELLO SASORI! I'VE GOT A NEW CELLPHONE, HN!"

"Huh? Who's this?"

"I'M DEIDARA!"

"Deidara? Don't shout, stupid! Are you okay? And how did you manage to afford a cellphone?"

"I won it! Itachi and I are now at the arcade in the resort, hn!"

"Oh..."

"How are you doing? I tell you, I went for an extremely scary ride on the roller coaster just now! I was screaming away, hn!"

"That's so typical of you."

"OI! Anyway, the rides in the theme park are really fun! I really wish you could have come for this trip..."

At this moment, Sasori's eyes widened. He dropped the pencil he was holding.

"Uhn...really."

"Yes, hn! Anyway, I can't talk now. I'll talk to you when I get back to the hotel resort. Itachi's giving me this stupid look - what? I'm talking to Sasori, don't give me that impatient look! - I'll try messaging you with this cellphone later. See you!"

"Oh, ok. See you." Click.

Sasori put his hands on his cheeks. They felt hot.

'What was that all about...'

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"You called Sasori first, huh?" Itachi asked as the sun began to set.

Deidara nodded. "Obvious, isn't it? You heard me say his name!"

'That's not what I meant,' thought Itachi. "Anyway, enter my number into your phone. That way, I can contact you if I get lost."

"OK, what is your number?"

"I'll help you enter my number into your cellphone." With that, Itachi took Deidara's cellphone and entered his number into the phone. As he pressed the buttons on the cellphone, he was thinking of something.

'Why is Sasori so important to Deidara?'