"Oh, how lovely," Kurenai compliments their artwork, her eyes shining. "All the students really took this project to heart this year, I'm so glad. I can see you two worked well together, Sasori and Naruko. And to think I was a little hesitant to place you two in a group at first! But I'm glad I did!"
Sasori beams over at Deidara, who smiles back somewhat abashed after receiving such praise for their art from the professor. He really didn't expect her to be that amazed by two simple paintings.
"I have no doubt you'll make a great artist someday Sasori, and a wonderful teacher as well. I'd be glad to write a letter of recommendation for you if you ever need one," Kurenai says with a wink. Sasori thanks her multiple times before returning to his seat, looking a little flustered.
"Look who's the teacher's pet now," Deidara nudges Sasori playfully.
"Brat," Sasori mutters, although halfheartedly. Deidara can tell that Sasori took Kurenai's compliment to heart, hearing that from a fellow artist really meant the world to him.
Deidara feels suddenly torn. He wants to warn Sasori to get away, run away if possible and start a new life somewhere. Once Madara gets busted, Sasori is sure to be punished for his crimes, and all his dreams of becoming an art teacher will be flushed away…is Deidara really doing the right thing here? Is he really helping Sasori?
He hopes so.
…..
After class, Deidara makes up some excuse to get away from Sasori. Sasori had wanted to walk him to his next class, but Deidara needed some time alone to think.
He's feeling increasingly anxious these days, with the thought of being so close to the end of this case. It's like a looming, somber cloud hangs around Deidara's head. He knows that soon, Shikamaru and his team of tech guys will locate Madara's base. Once that happens, everything will come crashing down on all these innocent people who were forced into this gang.
After their perfect 2nd date at the lakeshore, Deidara's been feeling worse about seeing Sasori. Now that there's no pretense for seeing him, no reason to stay, the weight of all his lies has been taking a toll on him. He wants to hang out with Sasori, wants to date him, wants to kiss him and hold him and get to know him inside and out. But, he wants to do it as himself, not as Naruko.
So he resolved to take some space, and leave some distance between them for now. He still hasn't received any blackmail from Madara, so perhaps it would be safer if he stays away from Sasori to keep him safe.
He's walking around campus slowly, pondering how to tell Sasori that he needs some time apart, when he hears a familiar voice call out to him. "Oh! Miss Naruko!" it's that high-pitched, annoying tone again. It's none other than Tobi, the silly looking guy from Konan's apartment from the other night.
"Hello Tobi," Deidara greets, unenthusiastically.
"Ah, I was hoping I'd run into you!" Tobi says, hopping next to Deidara and causing a few students to turn their heads and given them quizzical looks.
"Really? Why?" Deidara wonders.
"You're new! I like to get to know the new recruits!" Tobi says, dancing around Deidara like a fool.
"Not so loud Tobi," Deidara hisses.
"Ah, sorry," Tobi says, although his volume barely changes, "I was eager to speak with you, I think you and I are alike!"
"How's that?" Deidara raises an eyebrow up at him.
"We would do anything for our beloved," Tobi says, clasping his hands together to feign romance.
Deidara rolls his eyes, "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm only involved in our little organization to help the person I care about the most in the world, and it seems you feel that way about Sasori," Tobi says.
Deidara's face turns hot. "How do you know how I feel?"
"Well, is it true? Do you love him?" Tobi asks, getting in his face again.
Deidara pushes him away, feeling his temple pulse, "I'm not answering that ridiculous question. He's a good friend of mine who I want to help, end of story."
"Ah, you're getting defensive there. I wish the person I cared for would act like that about me, although, she did tell me once that she would do all she could to protect me and watch over me," Tobi says, somewhat in a daze.
Deidara doesn't want to ask about this person, but it seems like Tobi wants him to. He sighs, about to ask Tobi about her, when Tobi awakens from his daydream and says, "Anyways, I have a class to get to, but it was nice to see you around Naruko! Let's chat real soon, okay?" He's bouncing around with hyper energy again.
"Oh, um, sure," Deidara says somewhat lamely, surprised by Tobi's drastic change in the conversation. Tobi skips off, again causing some heads to turn in his direction, before Deidara is alone again.
That encounter was certainly strange. Deidara hadn't even spotted Tobi before he called out to him, and he wonders why Tobi had asked such personal questions. Is that just the way he is? Does he interrogate everyone like that? Deidara did get the idea that Konan didn't really like him the other night…so why did Tobi join in the first place?
Deidara's head is muddled and confused once more. There's just too much to think about. Perhaps a nice night alone would do him some good. After his last few classes, he'll go to Sakura's place and get cozy in her guestroom (where he's been staying), and try to put some of the last few pieces together of this mess.
…..
"Hey Naruko, there's some mail for you on the counter," Sakura says as Deidara walks in later that day. She greets him with her heartwarming smile as usual, "I'm going out tonight, but there's some leftovers in the fridge."
"Okay, thanks," Deidara says, sifting through the mail.
There's a packet that's quite thick for him, with no return address. Deidara's heart beats fast against his chest and his lungs seem to fail him for a moment – he already knows what this is. He hurries to Sakura's guest bedroom and opens the package up in a frenzy, dumping all the photos out on the floor, seeing a blur of red.
Of course it's pictures of Sasori, who else would it be?
But it still makes Deidara's pulse rise with fear, and he goes through each photo, one by one, with shaking fingers, too numb to utter a sound.
There's a picture of Sasori at his house. A picture of Sasori walking casually to class.
Deidara's heart skips a beat.
There's a picture of the two of them kissing at the park, from just a few days ago.
He lingers on that photo for a few seconds, wondering who was there with them that day. He should've taken a better look at his surroundings. Was this person hiding in the bushes? Looks like it from the camera angle…
The next photo shows the two of them splashing around in the lake water on their date. Deidara's heart is in his throat now, and tears start to prick at his eyes. How could he be so careless? He should've known that someone was watching him, he should have prevented this!
He flips to the next photo and almost cries out loud in horror.
It's a picture of Sasori with his mouth clamped shut by a large gloved hand, but the captor isn't visible in the photo. Sasori's brown eyes are panicked, fear written clearly upon his face.
The next photo reveals an unconscious Sasori in the back of a car trunk, bound and tied, head lolling to the side like a ragdoll.
Deidara's entire body is quivering with dread and anger. The last thing he pulls out is a letter, on which is written:
Welcome to the club Naruko. You seemed too eager to join for my taste, so I figured I would take things into my own hands. Sasori will remain safely in my custody until you can gain a revenue of $10,000 for me. If you attempt to take this to anyone, or go to the cops, then I will kill him instantly. I will know.
Deidara clenches his fist and punches the pillows on Sakura's bed. How could he let this happen!? He should've known something like this might happen…should've never let Sasori out of his sight! He was a fool to let Sasori walk home alone today! A fool to even have thought that taking time apart was a good idea!
The time to find Madara's hideout is now.