Itachi and Deidara had been hanging out a bit again. Deidara still didn't fully accept the raven, but Daisy seemed to like him and it motivated her to work hard. She went to Itachi every time she had tried something new, asking if it was right. Itachi had kind of fallen in love with her and spend as much time as he could with her. This also meant that he spends a lot of time with Deidara, but he didn't mind. He still wanted to fix this and Daisy might be the solution to it all. So far it hadn't worked though.
Today they were in the garden again and Deidara was working with Daisy. Behind the Uchiha mansion was a few hectares of grasslands. They still stayed close to the mansion when they were training, but when the dogs could play, they ran across the whole garden. Lilly really lived up when Daisy had joined them. She was even happier and she had adopted Daisy as her own little girl. The blue girl didn't mind at all and loved being pampered by her so called mom. Of course Lilly also snapped at her and those were the moment Daisy didn't like, but she had to learn. Deidara had to teach Itachi not to react to it. If he petted Daisy right after, she would think that she hadn't deserved Lilly's snap. She would be a spoiled little pup.
Itachi was sitting in the grass and Lilly laid beside him. He was watching Daisy enthusiastically doing the wrong trick. Itachi admired the way Deidara stayed calm and corrected her every time. It was really hard training a dog. He had never realized that.
He fumbled with Lilly's floppy ear between his fingers. She grunted and closed her eyes, letting sleep take over. She loved the fact that she didn't have to go through the training again. It was very difficult remembering all the different commands and it took quite some time to recall the right ones at the right time. She went after Protect once instead of taking care of his safety. She was still young, but she had felt so stupid at that time. It took her some time to get over that, but now she was as confident as ever. She needed to be for Daisy.
A cry out of pure happiness came rolling out of Deidara's mouth. He petted Daisy's blue head and gave her a treat. She had finally done it right and she loved the reward she was getting. Jumping around him and barking a bit, but she was soon shushed again, because you can't bark. You can be happy, but without any sounds. You shouldn't attract any attention, otherwise other people will be bothered with your presence. Daisy understood that, but it was hard. It came natural to her to be happy and make loads of sounds. Barking and whining whenever she saw Itachi again. It just seemed right and Deidara also understood that. It had taken him quite some time before Lilly had been quiet. She still managed, so Daisy would be fine too.
'Just one more time, Daisy and then we're done,' Deidara said, trying to motivate her a bit. The blue girl didn't want to do it anymore. She wanted to sleep, just like Lilly, but she needed to work. Life was so unfair.
When Deidara gave her the command, she looked away and yawned loudly. She avoided eye contact on purpose, but Deidara was used to this sort of behavior. He stayed still right in front of her and gave her a hard look. It was only a matter of time before she would look up and know she still had to do something. Two grey-brown eyes looked up at the blonde, sadness streaking them. Deidara just ignored it and stared hard. Daisy knew she wouldn't be going anywhere and did exactly what he had asked of her.
She went from sitting in front of him to sitting at his left side, facing forward. She had glanced around at her surroundings, looking for anything suspicious and when she found none, she sat down. She picked up rather quickly and Deidara was happy with this improvement. She went just as fast as Lilly, maybe even faster.
'Good girl!' Deidara said, smile on his face. He gave her another treat and then sent her on her way. She ran straight towards Itachi and jumped in his arms. Immediately she wanted to lick his face, but Itachi would have none of that. He said a soft but stern no and she stopped right away. Sadly she licked her snout, but the raven also knew that was just a trick. He had learned a lot from Deidara.
The blonde sat down beside Itachi and Lilly opened her eyes, looking a bit insulted. How dare he not sit beside her? With a huff she stood up and lied down on Deidara's lap. She would show him! She would not be ignored. Deidara smiled softly at her and stroked the rough fur on her back. She closed her eyes again and sighed in content. Her master really was the best.
'She's making a lot of progress,' Deidara said, smiling at the blue pup currently trying to eat Itachi's hand. It was good she could act like a little kid around the raven. It made her happy and she needed to relax after a tough round of training. He had to do all that by himself when he had gotten Lilly and it was hard. He would be exhausted, but he still needed to focus on her. This was a lot easier.
'I am really proud of her,' Itachi said, his black eyes meeting blue ones. His heart skipped a beat again, like every other time he saw that beautiful smile. His breathing would become more erratic and he could stop staring at Deidara.
The blonde had noticed before, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore it. He wanted to say something about it, but what would he say? He didn't even know how he felt about it. He still liked Itachi, but he couldn't just forgive him. It wasn't in his nature to forgive so easily.
'Kisame asked if we could go out again,' Itachi said, smile gone from his face. He carefully tried to see Deidara's expression, but he didn't want to look directly at him.
Deidara let the thought roll around in his head. They could go out and it would be a good exercise for Daisy. She could show off how much she has learned already. 'Alright, we can go, but not to a club. I want to take Daisy too and she isn't ready for that kind of environment.'
Black eyes went wide and he stared at the blonde with an open mouth. 'We're taking Daisy?' he asked, anger rising in his voice.
The blonde raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah, she needs to learn sometime and she knows you quite well. This could work out really well actually.' Blue eyes scanned over Itachi's face which was turning redder by the second. He narrowed his eyes at the raven and gave him a piece of his mind. 'If you are going to tell me she isn't ready, you better prepare for a big fight. I am still her master and her pack leader and I know what is best for her. You still know nothing about dogs except that you like Daisy and that's it. Do not even try to go against me, because I will eat you alive.'
The anger vanished in thin air and all Itachi could do now was look at Deidara, afraid he might be literally eaten alive. The blonde rolled his eyes at him and pushed him down. It was in a playful manner and it made Daisy even more excited. She had been scared of her master yelling, but she had seen it wasn't directed at her. She felt sorry for Itachi, but she couldn't help him. You can't go against the pack leader.
'Now, where did Kisame want to go?' Deidara asked, acting like nothing had happened before.
Itachi had to calm down a bit again before he could answer. He kept glancing at the blonde next to him. He thought Deidara couldn't really be dangerous, but he even was frightening when he sounded angry. He didn't even need to use martial arts or anything, he just needed his words.
'Just a café or something, maybe go for a bite to eat,' he finally said, noting that the blue in Deidara's eyes was getting lighter again.
The teen nodded slowly. 'Okay, that's good. A bit busy, but not crowded. I might do some exercises with her there if you don't mind.'
The raven raised an eyebrow. 'It's your dog. How can I have a say in this?'
Deidara started laughing. 'I'm glad that getting mad at you works, but I still need to protect you. If you don't want me to focus on Daisy there, but on you, then I have to comply.' He winked at the end and Itachi's heart made another flutter.
Itachi didn't answer Deidara and it made the blonde feel uncomfortable. The raven was staring again and he still didn't know how to respond. The last time Itachi had said something himself, but that wasn't about to happen this time. They were sort of getting along again and Deidara liked that, even though he didn't want to admit it. He just didn't know how they could be normal friends again and he was sure Itachi still wanted more, but he wasn't so sure himself. He still thought Itachi was quite beautiful, but that didn't mean he could fall in love with him that easily.
Deidara hadn't noticed that he had been staring at Itachi just as much as the raven had been staring at him. Itachi did notice and felt he should take advantage of this moment or something. He needed to do something about this. So he placed his hand on the side of Deidara's face. The blonde visibly flinched, but kept his gaze towards the raven. Would he really let him do this?
Itachi leaned forward and stayed about an inch away from that gorgeous tanned face. He would wait for Deidara and let him make the next move.
Itachi's breath ghosted on Deidara's face and the blonde felt a whine rising in his throat. This made him even more uncomfortable. He was so close. How could he act normal now? Still something about that warm breath caressing his face pulled him closer. To block everything out he closed his eyes and in the spur of the moment he leaned forward and kissed Itachi. His lips were soft and a bit sweet. Maybe from the ice-tea they drank before.
Itachi couldn't believe that they were kissing. They were actually kissing! He felt Daisy move around in his lip, but he ignored it. She probably wanted his attention instead, but like hell would he give this up. He put his arms around Deidara's neck and pulled him a little closer.
They had been so absorbed in there kiss, that they hadn't noticed someone approaching. 'Itachi, may we have a word?' Fugaku said, shocking both males. They broke the kiss, but didn't dare look up at the tall man standing next to them. Especially Deidara was scared. He could lose his job over this.
Itachi nodded and got op slowly, letting Daisy fall of his lap. She whined softly when he went after his father, but didn't follow after. The look in the other man's eyes was scary and she didn't want to be around when he would burst.
Fugaku waited for his son in the sunroom and enjoyed the afternoon sunlight shining on his face. Itachi trailed in a few minutes after him and looked everywhere but his father's eyes.
'So you have taken interest in your new bodyguard?' Fugaku asked nonchalantly.
Itachi thought hard about what he asked. His father might sound like he didn't care, but there was always some meaning to it. He had fallen for his tricks many times before. But even before Itachi could answer, his father continued his little speech.
'I myself like Deidara, Itachi and I don't want to fire him. So stop playing your little games and leave him be. I don't want to go looking for another bodyguard.' Fugaku left after that, calling over his shoulder, 'like anyone would still want to be your bodyguard anyway.'
Somehow that really hurt Itachi. He wasn't playing games with Deidara, he really liked him, right? And Deidara still wanted to be his bodyguard, so the ending wasn't true, right? No, Deidara had proved him that he liked him back. He had kissed him this time, even though he had almost forced him. No, he hadn't forced him. This was all mutual. Deidara liked him too, or at least he thought he did.
Characters © Masashi Kishimoto
