Author's note: If you guys wonder what Rika looks like, check out this sketch I made of her by copying the following link to your browser:

http: / / kaizenkitty . deviantart . com / gallery / 34179118# / d4ivrpt

(without spaces in between - I had to add them, because this site wouldn't let me paste a link in my story...Grrrr!)

And thank you for reading and reviewing my story!


From a distance

Long, dark brown hair flowed down on her shoulders. It wasn't cut in any particular style, her hair just dangled wildly all around her. Her eyebrows were of a slightly lighter colour and, not being bushy enough, were almost invisible. She didn't epilate them though. From under long dark lashes two deep poules of grey protruded. But they seemed to change colour, so he didn't really know with certainty. She had a funny nose… somewhat reminding him of a pig. 'But she probably wouldn't like me calling her 'Piggy'…' he thought to himself. She didn't wear any make up: her lips had a natural pinky colour, and would get white when she pressed them together. His gaze slowly went down… Sadly enough, the rest of her body was camougphlaged under her Akatsuki cloak. And she never took it off in the common room… She wasn't really tall, but she was no shorty either. He estimated her to be a little taller than his danna. But then again, he didn't know for sure… After the 'Hidan-incident' she had been extremely cautious of her surroundings, and never let anyone approach her. Except Kisame, ofcourse. 'Why is he so close to her? Why can't I be close to her like that?' Deidara sighed, and looked out of the window. He had been sitting in a corner of the common room, supposedly reading a magazine, but was actually checking Rika out.

"Like what you see?"

Deidara bolted up from his position, only to catch Sasori towering over him. His partner had made a habit of tormenting him with double-meaning puns. He glared back at Sasori.

"What were you reading?" Sasori asked innocently, acting as if his first question didn't have a deeper meaning.

"An article on nitroglycerine, hmm." Deidara answered, choosing to ignore the pun.

"Ahh…interesting…" Sasori shifted and started to read over his shoulder.

"You said explosions weren't works of art, danna, why would you be interested? Hmm?" Deidara asked a little annoyed. He didn't want to read this damned article, he wanted to spy on Rika, but couldn't do it with Sasori watching over his shoulder.

"You're right, it isn't art. But it has practical use…maybe something I could encorporate in my puppet design…" Sasori trailed off.


Rika stood up. She looked at her fingernails – they seriously needed repainting! She had tried various colours since she had joined the Akatsuki: first red, then pink, orange, white, black, even grey. Blue was her favourite colour, but she knew it wouldn't fit with the cloak: red and blue didn't match…in her opinion. 'Then again, why not give it a try?' she asked herself, and stretching, decided she'd go with blue. She saw Deidara sitting in one corner of the room. After two weeks, she still didn't really know how to approach him or behave around the guy… 'I was always so bad at making friends with kids of my own age… Oh, well.' She smiled awkwardly at him, wondering if she should wave or say bye. He gave a shy smile back. 'Weird kid… Don't know what to think of him.' as she turned and left the common room.


"You know, Deidara, girls usually want boys to make the first move…" Sasori commented on the rather awkward scene.

"DANNA! What are you getting at! Hhmmm!" Deidara seethed jumping up from his chair and facing his partner, fists clenched.

Sasori chuckled. "You know I'm just trying to help, I'm giving you invaluable advice! If you're just as stubborn on this topic as you are on your 'art' – " here Sasori used his fingers to make brackets in the air " – , then you'll just remain a wannabe lover just as you are a wannabe artist."

Deidara couldn't take it anymore, and went all out on Sasori!