Deidara arrived at the Akasuna's house at 10:00pm sharp. He clicked the buzzer outside and waited for a response. Surely Sasori was home by now and was just waiting for Deidara even though he wasn't answering his phone.
He frowned as Chiyo's voice answered, "Who's there?"
He pressed the button and spoke into the box, "Ne, Chiyo-baa, it's Deidara, hmm."
"Say that again, boy, but with more manners," was the old woman's response.
He sighed and tried again, "Good evening, Chiyo-baa-sama. It's Deidara, hmm." He flipped his blonde hair back and leaned on the gate waiting for another smart ass reply from Chiyo. He was mildly surprised when he felt the gate moving to the side. He made a mental note to ask Sasori for a spare key so he wouldn't have to go through this again.
The blonde shivered from the cold rain and drew the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. For summer, the weather felt quite chilly. He was glad he grabbed the hoodie before leaving his house.
He hurried into the courtyard, keeping his head low to ward off the wind and down pour of rain.
He stopped to look past the shaped juniper trees on the side of the house to look at the Nagara River. A mist creeped up to the back of the house from the river but through it Deidara could see the rain pelting the river, making it look like the river was in motion, moving by itself in unrest. He thought it looked really cool though.
Deidara continued his walk to the house and was relieved to see Chiyo at the door waiting for him, no more standing in the rain for him.
He grinned widely at the old woman and thanked her as he stepped into the house.
"Take off your shoes," she barked at him. He playfully saluted at her and did as he was told. "You look like a wet rat."
His grin turned into a frown and he retaliated, "I can't help that it's raining outside. I'm pretty sure if you went outside in it that you, too, would look like a wet rat, hmm."
They stared each other down until Chiyo broke the eye contact by hitting Deidara upside the head. "Baka. I wouldn't and that's the end of that argument." Deidara wanted to interrupt but he held his tongue. The grey-haired woman closed her eyes and continued, "Besides, you're here about Sasori."
She walked into the next room, a small tatami room. She gestured for Deidara to aid her sit down. The blonde took her hand and lowered her into her seat and she gently rested her chin on her hands and looked to Deidara to sit across from her.
He sat down on the futon and placed his legs under the low kotatsu table, stretching his wet socks out close to the heater to dry them. Deidara met Chiyo's gaze and neither spoke for a moment. Finally Deidara broke the silence, "Chiyo-baa, where could Sasori be? We both know he wouldn't run off like this."
The old woman was frowning as she mused to herself, "I cannot figure out where he could have run off to. Deidara... I had never seen him so upset."
"He never gets upset, hmm," Deidara muttered after hearing this.
Chiyo straightened her back a little and leaned over the table to whisper to Deidara, "What did you say to him?"
He averted his eyes and stretched out his feet further. He sighed and only said, "I don't know, hmm."
She slammed her fist onto the table and her voice rose, "You listen, boy! I know Sasori better than you. Even if you didn't recognize what you did, you did something to make him mad." Her eyes were wide with anger. Deidara was kind of frightened. Even though she was old, Deidara could see why she was feared and respected when she worked and owned the hospital downtown so many years ago. Deidara heard from Sasori that she even had other business in illegal poisons on the side.
Deidara was silent. He slumped his arm onto the table and cupped his cheek into his hand. He looked about the small room. Chiyo opened her mouth to tell of Deidara but he finally began to speak. "I'm not going to Gifudai. I didn't want to tell Sasori. So I waited until now to tell him."
"Stupid boy. Sasori hates waiting. You know that is what he's upset about. Deidara, I must admit, I'm not happy about this either. That's not very mature of you to change your plans so close to the deadline," she spoke under her breath. Deidara had to strain to hear her.
"You don't understand, hmm," he defiantly stated.
Her eyebrow raised in surprise and she answered back, "People put themselves first. I understand."
Deidara stopped and bit the inside of his lip. He couldn't argue with the old lady, he'd never win.
The old woman tried to read Deidara's face. His hair shadowed the look of pain on his face but his pale blue eye was calculating and looking for an answer. She snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Just do Sasori a favor, if you're going to leave him, you do it the right way. I assure you if he stays upset, you'll be seeing the consequences no matter where you go. He's a shy person, but he's never done anyone harm."
The blonde's foot hit the heater and he swore as his toes brushed up against the hot charcoal. "Shit!"
He looked up at Chiyo. Her face was stone. She wasn't happy at Deidara. The blue eyed teenager quickly apologized and told her, "No, no, Chiyo-baa! I touched the coals! I... ugh... damn." He swore again. Her frown seemed to deepen. He continued on, "Look, I'm going to wait outside for him. I'll be here when he gets back. I'm not leaving him, hmm..."
Saving himself from worse embarrassment, he quickly stood up and fled from the room and Chiyo.
He grabbed his Birkenstock sandals before heading back out into the rain. His face was glum as he stepped back out into the pouring his rain. He checked his phone. It was 10:15pm.
Deidara walked up to the gate and slipped his hand through the gate to press the buzzer on the outside. He dreaded having to talk to Chiyo again but he forced himself to press the buzzer.
"Hey, Chiyo-baa. Open the gate. I'm waiting for Sasori outside, hmm."
He waited for the old lady to open the gate. But... she didn't.
"Chiyo-baa! Open the gate, hmm!" he yelled into the speaker once more.
No response.
Deidara's nostrils flared in anger and he tried once more, "Please open the gate."
Then finally, the gate slid to the side. Anger level rising, Deidara stepped out to the sidewalk and scanned the streets for Sasori. But, no luck.
He leaned against the gate as it closed and threw the hood up over his head once more.
Why did Sasori have to make everything so complicated? He was so sentimental... It wasn't like he was obligated to Gifudai but Sasori felt like he had to go there. Deidara didn't want to be tied down... But... maybe Sasori could talk him out of it. He could always get Deidara to do what he wanted in the end. He was a perfectionist and wanted his life to go the way he wanted. He wasn't exactly controlling, but he could pull strings to get what he wanted, Deidara supposed.
He was also a little worried when Sasori called their love eternal... How could he know so early? Deidara loved Sasori but... just in a different way. Deidara's life wasn't planned like Sasori's.
The blonde tilted his head up to the sky and closed his eyes, letting the rain run down his face.
He'd just wait to see what Sasori had to say.
He finally snapped back to reality when a quiet noise startled him. He opened his eyes and started with fright as Sasori stood in front of him.
Deidara grabbed Sasori's shoulders and shook him lightly, "Hey, Sasori-danna. What are you doing scaring me like that, hmm?" He was worried for Sasori. Something wasn't right with him.
Then he stopped and just pulled Sasori close to his chest. He rested his chin on Sasori's head, breathing in his scent. An odd metallic smell flooded Deidara's nose but he thought nothing of it. He buried his face into Sasori's rain-drenched hair. Sasori trembled slightly as he held him. "Come on, Sasori. What's wrong? You have to talk to me."
The blonde heard Sasori say something but couldn't make out what he was saying. He backed away from Sasori and placed his hands back on his shoulders. "You gotta repeat that, hmm," he remarked as he looked Sasori up and down. He was wearing different clothes than the ones he saw him wearing earlier that day. They looked too big for Sasori.
But he forgot about Sasori's appearance once Sasori spoke again, "I feel so cold."