Sasori sighed as he followed a singing, skipping Deidara. Kisame didn't seem to mind his friend's childish behavior, chatting merrily away with Itachi, who was nodding in reply. Kakuzu was walking besides the red head, long hair flopping in front of his face and hiding his expression from Sasori.

The wind was picking up, and their coats flapped around them as they headed through the streets. The houses here where slightly run down, with chipped paint and slightly grimy windows. But the lawns were tidy, dried grassed and flowers neatly arranged and children's bicycles littering front walkways, giving the homes a pleasant lived-in look.

"Hoo...." Deidara was slowing down, stopping shortly before turning to face the group abruptly. His arms were crossed behind his back, his eyes unusually somber, considering how carefree he had been acting moments before. "How are we going to get Hidan to tell us the truth, un?"

The group stopped short, and Kisame gave Itachi an uncertain glance. The weasel was studying the ground, lips thinned. Sasori was shifting from foot to foot, eyes flickering to Deidara's face and to the sidewalk. Kakuzu raised his head, eyes bored and glazed.

Deidara was looking at them expectantly, eyes bright and questioning. As the seconds past, his eyes lost their spark and he slumped over, allowing his hands to fall limply at his sides. "You're all useless, un."

"Hey, you are too, then!" Sasori snapped. "You're not thinking of anything either!"

Deidara grinned cheekily. "Yes, but I'm an idiot, so it doesn't matter, un!"

Kisame rolled his eyes as Sasori let out a noise of shock. "Your IQ is perfectly fine, Deidara. You're just ADD, hyperactive, and legally insane. You're a genius; just a moron."

"Un." Deidara scowled again. "Shut up, shark bait. We're not talking about me, un."

Itachi was giving Kisame an amused look as he hurriedly scrawled something down on his paper pad before passing it to the shark.

"Itachi says -" Here Kisame had to bite his lip to keep from laughing - "that while it is true that you are not bright, and we are not discussing you, we seem to be spending a lot of time on this subject, so do continue with telling us why we need a plan to get Hidan to tell us the truth."

Deidara flipped Itachi off as Sasori snickered. The weasel merely smiled.

"...I say we just beat it outta him," Kakuzu said blandly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Let's just get this over with. My sis is going to flip if I don't get home soon."

"Why, un?"

"It's my turn to make dinner," Kakuzu said tiredly, shoving by Sasori and starting up the sidewalk again. "And skipping chores is not something wise to do when it's Tenny that hands out the punishments."

Hidan had just gotten dressed after a burning shower when the doorbell rang.

Cursing under his breath, he stumbled down the stairs, wet hair flopping into his tired eyes. He had ended up falling back asleep after talking to his brother, and had only woken up a few hours ago, then had dragged himself upstairs, turned the shower onto the hottest it would go, and had sat on the floor as the boiling hot water washed over him. He felt exhausted and disgusted with himself.

He hated his father, and his mother, and even his brother. Right now, he hated his friends, his teachers, anyone who had seen him in the last week and not noticed how filthy he was. And they wouldn't notice, either.

Opening the door, he blinked at the sudden light, trying to get the spots to clear away from his vision. He lifted a hand to his face, seeing the shadowy forms of four or five people standing there, before one of them leapt at him.

"Hidan, un!"

Something crashed into him a moment later, sending him sprawling on the floor. A shock of pain ran up his spine as his back screamed. Hidan yelped, but the sound was washed away by Deidara's yelling.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO SCHOOL, UN?! ARE YOU HURT?! SICK?! DID YOU BREAK A BONE, UN?! OH NO, HE NEEDS AN AMBULANCE! CALL 9-1-1, UN!" the blonde screamed. Hidan could swear he heard glass cracking. His eardrums were throbbing from the shock.

"Get off him, brat! You're going to kill him!"

Suddenly Deidara was pulled off Hidan, leaving him winded and sprawled on the floor. Stars exploded in his vision as he groaned, turned onto his side and clutched his sore stomach. "....I fucking HATE you, Deidara..."

"Are you okay?" a deeper voice asked. Kisame's. "What? No, don't write that, Itachi-kun. That's just rude."

So Itachi was here too? Nice. Someone else as well, whoever had pulled Deidara off him.

"But Sasori...he didn't tell me why he didn't come to school today, un! I need him to tell me!"

Ah. So it was Sasori, then. From what he had learned from the red head yesterday, Sasori seemed like a cool dude. More level-headed than either Kisame or Deidara, and patient.

"You do not need to kill him to get him to tell you something, brat. Do you know how annoying it is to get rid of a body?"

Hidan could picture Deidara's face exactly; wide eyes, slack jawed as he stammered, "...And how do you know that's hard, un?"

"...Best not to ask."

"Oh fuck it. Are you going to ask him what we came here to ask? 'cause if not, I'm leaving," another voice cut in as Deidara tried to say something. Hidan's vision was clearing, and looking up, he saw himself staring into emerald green eyes, surrounded by black.

Well, shit.

Of course they had had to bring Kakuzu Frazier too. Because it wasn't enough to show up when he hated himself as much as he did now, when he was tired, sore, and mad at the world and his father. No, they just had to bring a money grubbing bastard with no sense of privacy, who had already seen him cry once.

Hidan came to the decision that the universe hated him.

Author's Comment: Plot will be moving along soon...at least I wrote something....