Woot :D

~~||~~||~~ 37's PoV ~~||~~||~~

My left palm – the one that Deidara-sama had grabbed – was red and hurting like nothing before. It was like something… had bit me.

No, that couldn't be right.

Deidara-sama was staring up at the sky, completely calm – bored, almost, with his hands shoved deeps into his pockets, back slouched, eyes sleepy. The sun cast a gauzy golden glow upon him, making him look like something unreal. I paused, for a moment, before my hand throbbed impatiently again.

This time, though, I noticed something different. There were teeth marks in my palm.

What. The. Hell.

"Deidara-sama? Are there any… wild animals in this area?" But that couldn't work, unless those wild animals were invisible, flesh-eating, and had weird jaws.

"Probably, yeah." But there was something altogether too casual about his stance – too casual when compared to how he had dragged me out onto here a moment before. He was hiding something.

"Okay… hey, another thing, Deidara-sama." He looked up, long, blonde hair fluttering slightly to nearly cover both eyes. Bastard. He IS hiding something, and he's doing it on purpose.

"Show me your hands, please." I felt stupid asking this – mentally retarded, in fact. He looked surprised, and for a moment, I was certain I had lost it. But no – the proof was right there, painful in my skin.

"What? Why, un?"

"Just show them." My tone was firm for someone nearing a mental breakdown.

"Uh… okay, un." He drew his hands out of his pockets – god, there really was something wrong with me! Plain, brown, fingerless gloves assured the fact that I was completely screwed up.

There was no way he could have worn a pair of gloves in about nine seconds – all without me noticing. So there being a set of teeth in his hands was out of the question.

Thank god.

Wait.

"Do you have a habit of wearing your gloves inside-out?"

There was no answer, and suddenly, Deidara-sama looked distinctly nervous. Deidara-sama – cool, relaxed, confident – was uncomfortable. Wow.

"Just show them, please." I gestured towards his palms, suddenly sick of the awkward silence. Deidara-sama sighed, and pulled off the gloves, as I felt my stomach twist with anticipation. "Don't think… too badly of me, okay?" He echoed my words, extending his hands towards me.

Oh, my.

Two perfect, identical mouths stared at me, from Deidara-sama's hands. What's more, they were grinning – smiling that same wolfish smile of Deidara-sama's, and I felt my jaws slacken with shock.

"W-wow…"

"You don't really think that, un." He mumbled, tucking his hands back into his pockets. "You're stuttering again."

I felt myself flush – he was right. As usual. "Shut your mouth."

He looked towards the ground. "Which one?" I was suddenly aware of how very defeated-looking Deidara-sama looked, and on an instinct – some stupid, wild instinct – I grabbed his wrist, and drew out his hand again. The mouth was drooping downwards now, in a comic, albeit weird, mockery of Deidara-sama's expression.

"All three of them. Or do you have more, say, on your feet maybe?" I smiled at him, and he grinned back – and I blushed. Again.

"Nope, un." I had a feeling that he was lying, though.

"Well, that's good. Imagine three Deidara-sama's talking all at once. Pure horror." I watched his mouth (the one on his face) drop open in a round 'O' or annoyance, and felt a chuckle escape my throat. It was surprisingly fun to tease Deidara-sama. Honestly, I was struggling to come to grips with the fact there were mouths – lips and teeth and tongues – embedded in his hands. Suddenly, my own abnormalities faded in comparison. His extra body parts were just so… weird.

And then I knew that I could never call Deidara-sama weird to his face. It would hurt him too much – he was too edgy and sensitive about this topic. Suddenly, it made Deidara-sama a lot more human.

"There's not a voice box shoved at the back of my wrist, idiot. They don't talk, un."

"Well, I'm sorry. Do you… feed them?" I had the strange urge to poke his hands with a stick. Or a noodle.

"Girl, they're just mouths, not the openings to digestive systems squeezed in my arms, yeah." But he was smiling openly know, butting me playfully on the shoulder, and something quite like butterflies flitted in my stomach.

"Fine, fine! I've just never met a person with extra orifices before!"

"Yeah, well, I've never seen someone nearly kiss a piece of seaweed before either. We're pretty much even."

I went red. That was such an exaggeration, it wasn't even funny.

"It's true, un."

So he could read my mind now, could he?

~~||~~||~~ 3rd Person ~~||~~||~~

You see, as 37 and Deidara sat on that high, grassy plateau, they forgot that they were actually there to see the sunset – and it was now night, with stars glinting from a velvet sky.

"Hey, Deidara-sama? Can a short person 'talk down' to a taller person?"

"I don't know, un. It depends on how scary the shorter person is. Anyway, what kind of question is that?"

"Shut ut, the stars make me feel delirious. Hey, talking about the stars, do you see any constellations?"

"No, not yet." Deidara leant back, lazily watching 37 point at various stars. He didn't pay much attention to the stars, to say the least.

"I mean, I've never understood them. They're just a bunch of dots joined up any way you please. Look! I just made a mushroom constellation!"

"That is the worst mushroom I've ever seen, then." And it was true – 37's nose didn't look anything like a mushroom, to Deidara, anyway.

"Is it? Let me see it from your angle." She flopped down, resting her head against a particularly soft tuft of grass, twisting her head to better inspect her new-found heavenly body. "Oh, well, it still looks like a mushroom to me. Maybe you're looking at it wrong, Deidara-sama. Or you need a pair of—oh."

Her breath caught, and a pink blush unfurled it's petals across her cheeks. Deidara was smiling quietly at her, his eyes betraying his amusement even in the darkness. Suddenly, 37 was aware of how close they were – not two feet apart.

"Hey, un?"

"Y-yeah?"

"What's your name?"

The blush faded from her cheeks, and she sat up, all hazy, contented happiness gone. "I don't have a name, Deidara-sama. You know that."

"Well, can I give you one, un?"

"Y-yeah." Her breath shallowed, anticipation lighting up her face. This was it. Her name – her identity.

"Well, how about Kuni?"

"K-K-Kuni?" She blushed bright red. "I- I like it. Thanks, Deidara-sama!" And without hesitating, without waiting a heartbeat, 37 – no, Kuni – flung her arms around Deidara, enveloping him in a hug. He hugged back, without hesitating either, even though an image of Sasori's angry face popped into his mind.

Kuni. 'Meaning unknown'. The reason that name suited her so well, was that Deidara didn't know what he felt whenever he looked at her.

Haha, congratulations to everyone who guessed correctly as to what Deidara's 'mistake' was!

Do you like 37's new name?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter – please review :( I keep getting messages from telling me people have favourited this story - could I maybe-possibly squeeze a couple words out of you guys XD?

XX Tutti