A/N: YAY! My beta has returned and finished betaing my chapter *does happy dance* for all those who followed the story from the beginning, here are some of the answers. Hope you like it. Lots & lots of hugs and kisses to my beta Angelic-chan for being so sweet and so smart and Lots & Lots chocolate-chip cookies for those who leave review.
Enough drabble, read on. It's a bit shorter than usual but… *shrugs* (:

Chapter 10: Cold

It was dark. He couldn't feel his own body- his arms, his legs, his feet… nothing. At first, he thought they had cut off his limbs. Then came the pain of millions of needles piercing his body making him wish that they had removed his limbs.

It was cold.

Unbearable.

His will to live had diminished, leaving hope for the cold but painless grip of death, or so he hoped it was painless.

Opening his blue depths, he regretted the move at once. He couldn't see anything but darkness. Nothing but red and black spots danced before his eyes. He wanted it all to go away. He couldn't feel his own face. It felt like it was frozen. He couldn't speak. Somewhere in the back of his mind he, wondered if they cut his tongue off, but the face of a certain redhead stood out in his mind.

Why this? Why did he deserve to go through this pain?

Because he loved Sasori? Because he decided to pursue his own happiness? He knew that Tobi was tricky, but he didn't expect this from him. Never had he expected that he could be so cruel and do such a thing. He wanted to talk things over with him. Was it because he spent Halloween with Sasori? He loved that Halloween- that will never change. After the party, he left with Sasori and they waited for dawn to arrive sitting on top Tokyo tower. This party was unlike last year's, it was a lot better. Did he really deserve to be beaten for being happy? Was Tobi that twisted?

Deidara closed his eyes. He wanted to go… to go anywhere but here. Anywhere but here…

Hyuuga household:

A blonde bundle sat in the corner of the bed sipping at a mug of hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon. Beside him, also huddled, was Neji, with cup of strong black coffee.

Normally, this wouldn't be unusual, the cousins often spent sleepless nights together like this, but the presence of four other persons was quite a sight: Hidan was "sitting" on a nearby chair, legs propped up and knees hugged to his chest, he was seated on the left of Neji and Naruto. Across the two "brothers" sat two other brothers who were biological- the two Uchiha brothers sat still and silent. Beside them sat Sasori, his eyes blood-shot red with black circles around them, exhausted to the point of fainting.

Everyone was silent. No one moved for few more minutes. It was Hidan who broke the silence: "This sucks."

Five pairs of eyes, all tired and sad, turned to him and he raised eyebrows: "What?! I hate when I don't know what is happening. No one knows where Dei is and I cannot take it for much longer!" He almost sobbed as he buried his head in his hands. Itachi calmly stated: "Calm down Hidan. You cannot speed up time even if you act like that. Everyone here cares about Deidara." His voice was calm, but his facial expression told a different story.

Hidan looked up at him and glared: "What the Hell do you know!?" Itachi blinked, eyes narrowing a little. "The only side of Deidara that most of you know is the crazy lunatic who blows up ovens and bottles with fireworks; there's more to him than that, there is another side of him," he muttered darkly.

"It's true what you said, but hyperventilating will not help you, or anyone, save him so calm down," spoke Neji quietly, barely audibly.

Itachi looked at Hyuuga mildly surprised for support from him. Sasuke shifted, his eyes falling on the still huddled blonde: "Naruto, you okay there dobe?"

Naruto didn't move- the blonde pyromaniac had really grown to Naruto's heart since the time they forced him to wear that cheerleader's outfit.

Sasuke didn't call out for him again but his look fell every so slightly however even that little thing didn't escape Neji's sharp eye- the younger raven was sad because Naruto didn't answer to him. He wondered what was happening between his cousin and the Uchiha.

He turned his look at the elder one- his hair was total mess. Neither of them have had a blink of sleep.

From the time Neji called Itachi to tell him about Deidara, no one slept peacefully, they were all anxious. Everyone was gathered in Neji's house for almost four days and couldn't leave the house under orders of the police.

Deidara's kidnapping had shadier, more sinister motives, everyone there knew that. Of all of them, Sasori looked like he had been killed several times in a row. It was painfully clear how much redhead loved Deidara.

Now, everyone was in danger.

Masson Tobi disappeared as soon as Deidara did. Uchiha Madara stood by his side and gave an alibi that stated he was in the U.S. since last week. Naruto wanted to kill him right there in police station because of the calm, mockingly innocent expression he had on as he lied, and if it weren't for Sasuke and Hidan, Naruto would be in jail.

Itachi had explained to the group what kind of power Madara has- he finally decided not to play around and hide facts from his little brother, though now, Neji and Naruto who were never suppose to play any part of this dangerous game, got dragged in.

It has started on the day when their parents died. The autopsy report showed that their deaths were caused by was extreme food poisoning without any traces or clues as to who was responsible. He received a call from their uncle that exact same day saying that he was going to take them under his care.

Itachi's face was covered with sheen of sweat while talking.

Uchiha Madara was one of the leading CEO's in biggest five companies in the world. He didn't need anything. He had all the money he had ever thought of and wanted.

The problem was that his reasons as to how he got the money were still causing suspicion and he needed someone, or something, that could give him good and strong facade.

Then opportunity rose as he heard of Sasuke becoming one the world's highest paying manga artist. All he needed was to get rid of Sasuke's parents so he could obtain guardianship over him.

The one important thing that he oversaw was Itachi; he had turned seventeen making him, under regulations written in laws governing the Uchiha family, fully capable of becoming Sasuke's legal guardian.

Madara had confronted him many times since the death of the two brother's parents. But Itachi was no fool- all promises and good wishes that Madara offered him for Sasuke were followed with a strange gleam in old man's eyes. Gleam that didn't promise anything good. He was proven to be correct very soon.

Madara started using force. Although he succeeded in hiding it from the rest of the world, Itachi and Deidara knew what was happening. Unfortunate events brought in Neji as well, the time when he saw the elder Uchiha brother being beaten to bloody pulp on the rooftop. That was another reason why Itachi became more unnerved when Deidara disappeared- those who saw Itachi beaten up were all "taken care of" in some way. In other words, he was scared that Madara might come after Neji next.

The story was like cold shower to whole group. Fear was clearly written all over their faces in the form of panicked. Also, that was why they had to remain in the house, under surveillance of the police. Sasuke looked like he died on the spot. Itachi was on the verge of crying, constantly repeating that he only wanted to protect Sasuke and that he didn't wanted to drag in anyone else. Neji was strangely calm while Hidan tried to calm down Sasori.

To an outsider looking in, it would seem as if they were going through the end of the world. But everything had its solution and the police was on the trail of Tobi Masson. All they needed was to capture him and coax out proofs of Madara Uchiha being guilty. After all, Tobi was under surveillance because of suspicious and inappropriate behavior. Madara, on the other hand, remained strangely calm.

Four days passed without any word of Deidara from the police. Neji tried to maintain calm atmosphere in the room, but it was clearly spelled out in the air that everyone was on the verge of snapping and fighting with each other for no reason because as well as not knowing anything, they were all trapped in the house without being able to go out. Not even to school.

Heavy silence had settled over them, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Hidan was cursing in his head, Sasuke wondering if Naruto had crush on Deidara, Itachi was telling himself not to apologize to Neji, Sasori wondered if Deidara was alright, and Naruto wanted to hug Sasuke and somehow help chase away what was giving Sasuke shivers.

Neji was thinking about what to do to occupy them and keep their thoughts away from Deidara. Then he got an idea.

"Everyone listen to me. Just sitting and waiting, becoming more and more irritated won't bring back Dei. We will be stuck here for who knows how long and you all know that we have to continue to live. So here's the deal- we need to clean up the house and prepare something warm to eat. We have only two rooms so we need to make more space. We cannot sleep on floor again," he glanced at Hidan, "or not to sleep at all," he glanced at Sasori who blinked tiredly.

"Naruto, you and Sasuke go and clean up the guest room from the excess stuff and try to bring down the beds from the attic. Sasori and Hidan, you clean up the living room and bathroom while Itachi and I make some food that is not fast food sandwiches. Am I clear?"

Everyone nodded. "You have a point," Itachi said with sigh. "Let's go and do something. But keep an eye on your cell phones in case the police or someone calls." The group nodded and went to start on their respective jobs.

Kitchen:

Neji worked slowly around the kitchen in his own thoughts, gathering ingredients from different cupboards and the, fridge, spices from racks and pans, and pots from lower cabinets.

Itachi quietly watched him gather the things needed, not being able, nor having the will to tease him in this kind of situation. He knew that he was guilty for dragging him, along with his cousin, into this huge mess.

Neji turned to him and blinked questioning. He wondered what has gotten into Itachi. He was unusually quiet, no snide comments about him or his house. He raised an eyebrow at him:

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Itachi looked at him and then looked away, staring at some random spot on stainless tiles of the sparkling white kitchen. He shrugged and moved from the doorway and approached him slowly. He glanced at questioning white eyes, and sighed.

"I owe you and your cousin an apology," he said quietly.

Neji shook his head and sighed too: "You don't owe anything to me, less to Naruto. You are our friends, it's normal for us to help you," he said with warm voice and sent a small smile to the raven and then turned back to cutting mushrooms and stirring boiling rice.

Itachi approached even closer to the other man, his hands coming up to cross his chest, as he stared at brunettes head. The soft sound of chopping and boiling was the only sound in the kitchen now. He looked away, but something made him look back at the brunette. There was just something that made him want be closer to Neji. He could swear there was a faint scent of peppermint and menthol around Neji, causing him to inhale deeply but ever so carefully as not to draw his attention.

Neji, on the other hand, had to suppress shivers as he felt the closeness of the raven behind him, but he failed. He had to breathe out heavily and close his eyes and then to continue his work now cutting meat and vegetables.

As Neji shivered, Itachi was brought back in reality and smiled a bit: "Thank you then. I would hate for you to hate me."

Neji stopped in mid-cut and turned towards him with raised eyebrows: "Oh but I do hate you. You are, after all, my enemy too." He had to smirk at the baffled look on Itachi's face.

Upon realizing that Neji was just messing around, he snorted and then caught him in a head lock, messing up his hair and making the other yelp in surprise. Laughter broke out in the once "cold" kitchen as Neji tried to get away from the tickling of the taller male who didn't even budge; he just chuckled at the brunette's failed attempt to escape.

After few more moments, Itachi let go of Neji, who staggered backwards and bumped into the counter behind him, breathless and light chuckles escaping from him. He waved his finger at Itachi in a threatening way, at which the other just smirked and turned to stir frying rice. Neji soon joined him, a small smile plastered on his face as he continued to prepare a meal for the depressed occupants of this small house.

TBC…

A/N: Yeah… little angsty and stuff but I think it was pretty good and that explained lots of things. Once again, Angelic-chan, thank you for your hard work and readers, please review. It's not hard to press button and leave few words, is it? Until next chapter (which I think it will be soon : ) ) love & hugs to all!