"Deidara, who was that girl outside?"

Sai pulled the cake tester needle out from Itachi's sponge cake in the oven and straightened up again, wiping the needle with a cloth and placing it on the table.

"Huh?"

"That girl who ordered while you were gone,"

Deidara carried over the box of syrups and cocked his head at Sai, trying to read his ghost-white face, but as usual there was nothing in it. "Ino. Why?"

Sai shrugged. "She sounds very troubled,"

"You're worried, hm?" Deidara sifted through the box, found the hazelnut syrup, and took it out. He ripped the plastic wrapping away and disposed of it.

"She is also very beautiful,"

Deidara paused in his unscrewing of the lid on the syrup. He slowly raised his head and stared at Sai.

"Er…," for once, he was dumbfounded. Sai never held any interest in anyone, really, as far as Deidara knew. But then again, Sai never showed on his face that he was into baking and helping Sasori, but Deidara could tell he really actually loved it.

Sai didn't seem to realize he'd just paid a hugely suggestive compliment, and instead just went back to work like nothing had happened. Deidara shrugged to himself and returned the cardboard box to the storage room.

"Where's danna anyway?"

"Sasori is out,"

"Where?"

Sai was washing his hands and paused a little before answering.

"Sasori is thinking of extending this bakery to serve other dishes. He is out looking for a chef,"
"A chef?" Deidara repeated in disbelief. He didn't know what exactly this meant, and was annoyed that Sasori wasn't telling him anything—then again, Sasori probably didn't tell Sai either. Sai probably overheard him on the phone or something. Overall, he was only wondering if this meant more work for him. After all, if there was a chef there had to be a dish-washer and a kitchen assistant. Can Sasori really afford them all?

Then again, the bakery had been doing very well for the past year.

"Yes. He has gone over to the Akimichi restaurant for recommendations,"

"So we're a restaurant now?"

"Not exactly," Sai set about to prepare a quiche. "We are just extending our café to serve more than just what we bake,"

Deidara nodded. Come to think of it, danna has been busier lately, un.

"This means we will get more customers, Sai…," Deidara trailed off, hinting at the fact that it displeased him to have another waiter or waitress around. It made him feel like his position was being threatened. He didn't know why it annoyed him so much, it was just his job, but…

"Don't worry, Deidara," Sai smiled awkwardly and Deidara suppressed a cringe at how wooden the guy looked. "Sasori will not find another person to help you,"

"How do you know?"

"He likes you too much, I think, and he respects what you want,"

Deidara smiled a little, because he knew it was kind of true: his danna was nice sometimes, in a subtle way, and he knew more about his two employees than he let on or allowed himself to admit.

"Thanks, Sasori no danna," Deidara whispered under his breath. He walked out of the kitchen humming.


Sakura fell back on her bed happily, feeling like she was in a dream: seeing Itachi had made her feel light as a balloon, and she hoped the older Uchiha would be there more often.

He has such perfect eyes…even better than Sasuke's.

She rolled around onto her stomach. The afternoon had progressed with no further mishaps due to the clash of she and Deidara's personalities—thank God—and Sakura had managed to wheedle out of Itachi where they were staying. So at least it wouldn't be too freaky if she showed up with some welcome gifts.

I hope there's, like, a group assignment this year. She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling like nothing in the world could faze her.


Sasori rolled his eyes.

"So I get to decide the menu…eh!"

The man in front of him leaning forward and tapped his pencil against the piece of paper. He had pale hair that was slicked back neatly behind his ears, and he was a little brash, but Sasori knew he was the man he was looking for.

"Been a while since I've been able to work flexibly,"

Sasori knew by flexibly the guy meant that it had been a while since he'd been able to work in general: nobody had hired the guy for half a year because he had recently been released from prison.

Sasori didn't care. He, too, had a dark past, but he hid it well. This guy had gotten caught for his killings…and Sasori hadn't. Not that Sasori had achieved the same extent of bloodshed, but…

Besdies…that was a very long time ago.

"Alright. I'll do it,"

The man ran a hand through his silvery hair and stretched out. He'd been working out when Sasori had come, and he had broad, muscly shoulders.

"I need a fucking job anyway," he grunted. "Need to pay the fucking bills,"


Shikamaru hid his face in his blanket as Kiba pounded on the door.

"Come ON, NARA! YOU CAN'T STAY IN THERE FOREVER JUST BECAUSE SHE BROKE UP WITH YOU! BE A MAN! HAVE SOME—,"

"Kiba!," Chōji hissed.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled. Shikamaru heard an exasperated sigh and knew that it was Shino. "Get out of there! I have something to show you!"

Nuisances, Shikamaru thought, his face reddening.

Ino had called him about an hour ago and asked him to come to the bakery. He knew it was bad news right from the get-go, but nevertheless had been completely shattered when Ino told him she wanted to break up.

"It just hasn't been working out, Shikamaru," she'd said gently. "We haven't been seeing each other in ages, and…and I just need that support,"

Shikamaru had grunted his reply and left, knowing he looked totally cold, but also knowing that Ino knew he was breaking down inside.

"THAT'S IT! I'M COMING IN! COME ON AKAMARU!"

And with that, the door flung open and Akamaru barked a greeting. The four boys and a puppy immediately spilled in and crowded around Shikamaru, all talking at once:

"Shikamaru, man, don't tell me you're crying…," Kiba uttered in disbelief.

"Aww, Shikamaru! Come on, it's not the end of the world, right?" Naruto laughed weakly, slapping the Nara on the shoulder.

"Shikamaru, are you alright?" Chōji asked nervously, because he knew Shikamaru best and knew the Nara hated nothing more than to be disturbed like this especially when he was in a foul mood.

"Shikamaru," was all Shino said.

He buried his head back into the blanket. Akamaru hopped up onto his pillow and nudged at his hair. Shikamaru turned to face the dog and scratched its ears, suddenly and randomly realizing why Kiba liked him so much, he looked so…trustworthy. And innocent, and naïve to the troubles of the teenage world. Akamaru barked again.

"Come on, dude, tell us what happened," Kiba lowered his voice to the tone he used when Akamaru was ill and Kiba was coaxing him. Naruto openly winced on hearing it.

"Kiba, since when


did you become so—,"

"Shut it, Uzumaki," Kiba growled, and turned back to Shikamaru. "Tell us. If you want,"

"Don't push him," Chōji warned, but Shikamaru patted the Akimichi's arm reassuringly.

"Tell us at your own pace," Shino said, his voice muffled from behind his shirt. "We're all ears…,"

"…and we have all the time in the world," Naruto finished. He held up a hand for a high-5, but Shino just glared at him.

"It was just a breakup," Shikamaru muttered. He put his nose closer to Akamaru's. The dog whined sympathetically and rubbed its nose against the Nara's softly.

"Why?" Chōji asked. He sat down on the bed and the mattress immediately leaned to one side. He put a hand on Shikamaru's bicep.

"Pfftt. Some stupid girl reason," Shikamaru said, not wanting to reveal that Ino pretty much had lost interest in him just because they never went out on dates anymore and it was his fault. It was true: lately Shikamaru had been avoiding them because he just didn't want to, and hadn't realized it would have this effect. It had, after all, only been two missed dates.

Kiba nodded wisely. "Yeah, girls are like that,"

"Yeah, man, don't be so down over it," Naruto reached over and patted Akamaru.

Shikamaru sniffed. Shino handed him tissues.

"Yeah…," the Nara blew his nose. "I guess,"


Author's Note: I bet you guys can guess who the new chef is. Haha:P