Sorry for not updating in a while (like, two or three days? whatevs) and just so ya know, i didn't get caught on report. i was busy... reading You're My Love Prize in Viewfinder... f!cking hell i love that sh!t! and i got so caught up in that plus a minor case of writers block... and also sorry for this sort of filler chapter but i will continue regular updates from now, and after this, shit is about to go down.

Chapter Ten – Sasori

He woke to an empty room and to the sound of somebody knocking at the door. He closed his eyes and buried his head in his pillow for a moment, not quite ready to get up. There was a faint lingering smell of strawberries that seemed out of place.

"come-in," he called out when the knocking continued. He thought he was in Suna and that Gaara or Kankuro needed refuge from Temari.

The door opened.

A throat was cleared.

Words spoken.

He had missed class.

Class? Class!

Where was Deidara? Had he gone without him? His stuff was still in the room but it felt different. His alarm had been turned off. The girl had obviously come to scold both of them…

"Dammit!"

He was either unaware from that point on or uncaring that the girl from his class was still there. Watching him have an internal – or perhaps not so – freak out.

He got out of bed quickly, a billion thoughts running through his mind at once as he slid on his shoes.

The brat was being abused. He was scared to go home but he was more afraid of being somewhere else and being alone. He didn't want to be alone and so he chose to go back, time after time. Though Deidara had suggested maybe he didn't chose but instead the suggestion was hardwired into his brain. He spoke the night before about a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, that he needed to constantly be where he belonged. And if he didn't go home…

That was where he had gone; there was no doubt in Sasori's mind.

But he didn't know anything about Iwa.

He would only get lost looking for somebody who didn't even want his help.

Deidara hadn't once said he needed help.

He said things like; I wish things could've been different un, or, I don't want to do this anymore, every again un, but everyday I'm alive I know I don't have a choice.

He had already resigned himself to this fate. There was simply no fight left in him.

Sasori could certainly see now why the brat had needed somebody, and he had been fully prepared to be that somebody but now…

He sighed, halfway out the door before walking back in and slamming it shut.

"Are you alright?"

He remembered there was a girl in the middle of his room. She was one of the ones who hadn't been brave enough to approach the two of them, the other night. No wonder she was brave enough to come here now.

"I'll be fine," he murmured. At the same time, he was grabbing his laptop out of his bag. It was the only way he knew of to reach Deidara.

"Did you like, lose something?" the girl tried again.

"More like someone. You're not from Iwa by any chance, are you?"

"Sorry, I'm from Kiri. I take it you're not a local either?"

"Unfortunately not."

Sasori quickly logged onto the Akatsuki page only to find that nobody else was on.

All out having lives, he supposed.

He logged off.

The brat's bag was right there. He could go through it and hope to find something of use. Or he could go to the next session and just hope that Deidara would come back. Though he was more likely to stay locked in his room for the rest of Spring Break and it was unlikely that Sasori would hear from him again. He would probably quit the Akatsuki now that Sasori knew what had been happening to him.

God this was so frustrating!

"Class starts up again in like, five minutes. Are you coming?" the girl asked.

He didn't like it but Sasori knew there was nothing more he could do at this point.

"Alright then, let's go."

Itachi

He had to look after the kids.

And it was days like this that he was thankful that he managed to build up enough patience over the years, not to hit or otherwise harm annoying children.

Because it wasn't just his little brother, but his friends as well which included an obnoxiously loud blonde named Naruto and a know-it-all girl with pink hair, Sakura.

Between the three of them, Itachi didn't know who was worse. He didn't disapprove of Sasuke having friends per se, but were these really the right ones? Surely there were better, smarter eight year olds out there? And if not, at least there must be better behaved ones; preferably who didn't look like the next president of the Uchiha Fangirl Club, like pinky did.

Of course that seemed a little too much to ask for.

This was Konaha after all.

And he thought, if these were the people Sasuke chose to associate with, then he really had no place trying to change that.

Itachi had managed to rope Kisame into helping him watch the children so it wasn't as bad as he had initially thought. Kisame was surprisingly good with kids and surprisingly good with Sasuke who usually didn't get along with anybody new.

Despite the children initial fright at seeing the unusual way he looked, Kisame even seemed to brighten Itachi's mood considerably, though it would only be noticeable to people like Sasuke, who were used to his way of expressing things.

They worked in a tour of Konaha, rather than staying within the compound and although it seemed awfully hot and dry, Kisame seemed to enjoy the large city-like village of Konaha with so many nice people, random stores here and there, kids running around after each other and parents in turn running around after them. It was like some odd kind of movie featuring the perfect world.

Though Itachi assured him this was only the surface and under it all, Konaha was a dark place full of bad people.

Of course Kisame didn't believe him and Itachi hadn't expected to be believed so it didn't matter anyway.

They spent a lot of time at the various food stores around the village as it seemed Kisame had no interest in seeing anything else, unless Konaha had an ocean, which it didn't, and by the end of the day, when it was dark and time to take the children home – back to parents who were probably glad to have a day without them – Itachi was left with barely any money.

He didn't mind though; it wasn't as if he had anything to spend it on anyway.

The only important thing in his life that needed money was college and that was already paid for, by his education conscious clan. Lucky people like Tobi, however, either had to pay their own way or not go at all.

They took Sakura home first, as she lived furthest from the compound. Sasuke spared little more than a nod in her direction though that didn't surprise Itachi; for all her interest in him, Sasuke was eight and therefore had no interest in such things.

Or so he thought.

But then they took Naruto home and that was something else entirely.

They stood outside his gate for about three minutes – well, Itachi and Kisame did – while Sasuke and Naruto stumbled around an awkward goodbye before – and this was the kicker – Naruto planted a chaste, eight-year-old innocence kiss on Sasuke's cheek before rushing inside.

Sasuke looked down at his feet, a red blush coloring his skin.

Itachi groaned. "Tobi was right," he said, "we're all doomed."