THE NEXT DAY

~*~ NORMAL POV ~*~

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Yes, it's fine.."

"But.."
"Deidara ssh, it's okay.."

"But Sasori.."

"Deidara, I can't wait until the end of school.."

"But it's a half.."

However, Deidara never finished his sentence, as his lips were captured by Sasori. He became lost in the boys' kiss, concentrating on the way the redhead was slowly slipping his arms around his waist, or the way his jagged scarlet bangs slipped effortlessly through his fingers. He felt Sasori's tongue sliding along the bottom of his lip, and was about to give him entrance to his mouth, when the classroom door banged open. Instantly, Deidara leapt off the desk he had been perched on, and both boys dived into their seats. They picked up their pens in unison and Deidara fanned his fringe further of his face as he bent over his work, trying to hide his scarlet blush. Sasori smiled at his partner's distressed manner. Anko stood in the doorway, arm outstretched towards the teacher's desk for a bunch of papers she had forgotten, when she spotted her two pupils still sat at their desks, pouring over their History books.

"You boys are still working even though it's only twenty minutes before the end of the school year?" She asked, raising his eyebrow.

Sasori nodded. "Gotta swot up now if I wanna pass my exams next year." He said simply. Deidara, unable to speak, nodded.

Luckily, Anko seemed to take this as perfectly plausible. With a shrug, and a mutter of 'Teenagers', she took what she had come for, then left the room. As the sound of her clicking heels vanished down the hallway, Sasori spun around on his chair to stare hungrily at Deidara once more. The blond looked up from his book, and winked at Sasori. It was too much for the older boy to take, and he almost pushed Deidara right off his seat when he dived to capture his mouth once again.

Once they pulled apart again, Deidara smiled up at his partner.

"Sure are desperate today, Danna."

Sasori smirked. Deidara had started calling him 'Danna' since the hospital, after he had saved his life a second time. There had been an awkward moment that previous night. Sasori had just kissed Deidara on the cheek as his lip was cut, when Deidara's father walked in. At first, Sasori expected the man to freak out like he was certain his would, but after Deidara said that he loved the redhead, his father's face split into an ecstatic beaming smile, and he crushed Sasori in a bone breaking hug. After giving him the standard 'Hurt-My-Kid-And-Face-The-Consequences' talk and making sure Sasori swore on his life that he'd never harm one hair on Deidara's head, the man hugged him again and announced that he was an official part of their family. But the way Deidara put emphasis on the title made Sasori want to tackle the boy to the floor; it was almost as if he were teasing him.

Sasori poked Deidara on the bridge of his nose, then kissed him sweetly.

"Only for you, Dei-chan."

Deidara beamed, then tilted his head up and kissed Sasori.

"Good, 'cos I'm not sharing."

*

"HIDAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

The grey haired boy froze, his fist still curled tightly around the dangling first year's shirt, his other balled fist raised. He had been ready to beat the shit out of the kid for calling his religion pathetic, but ceased all movement at once when an angry sounding voice bellowed from the stairway. Slowly, he turned his head over his shoulder and saw with an increasing feeling of dread, Kakuzu storming towards them. He instantly felt his insides turn to mush, a feeling that he was slowly getting used to when he saw his partner. He tried not to let this show on his face however. They had both agreed to keep their relationship hidden, even from their friends. And for him to smile when he saw Kakuzu would definitely be a big step away from ensuring that nobody found out.

"Yeah Kakuzu?" He asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Just what the hell are you doing?"

Hidan looked from Kakuzu's angry face to the boy he was holding a clear few feet above the ground.

"Um.. Nothing?"

"Doesn't look like 'nothing' to me. Maybe I should report this to Tsunade."

"Fuck no, bitch! I was just fucking playing with the kid!"

"Playing? You were gonna hit him!"

"The bastard called Jashin-sama pathetic! I can't let him fucking get away with that!"

"Put him down Hidan."

"And what if I fucking don't? What the fuck are you gonna do about it?"

He smirked. Hidan know exactly what was hidden in that smirk, although to the crowd around them, it probably only meant he would get into trouble. Kakuzu was teasing Hidan, testing him, to see how far he could go. He'd had immense fun teasing Hidan for the entire day; going to kiss him and then pulling away, taunting him in front of other students when he knew he wouldn't be able to react. Kakuzu knew taunting Hidan was like playing with fire; took it too far and you would get burned. But it seemed that he was used to Hidan's intense raging fire, and he was enjoying the burning sensation teasing the dangerous boy brought. The only problem was that he knew at some point, he was going to pay dearly for this. But he was caught in the moment, having too much fun to care.

"I'll leave that to your vivid imagination, Hidan."

The pink eyes became steely slits for a moment, before he carefully put the boy down. He dusted himself, then sprinted away from Hidan as fast as his legs would carry him. The crowd, now sensing a fight between two powerful gang members could be occuring at any moment, departed the hallway rather quickly. As soon as each one was out of sight completely, Hidan marched forward and grabbed Kakuzu by the front of his shirt.

"You are gonna fucking pay for this later, you do realise that don't you?"

Kakuzu smirked and dislodged Hidan's grip before holding the Jashinist against him and biting his lip hard. Hidan's eyes widened in shock as his partner pulled away; Kakuzu had never been so confident before.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Hidan."

Hidan smiled and looked around, before advancing on Kakuzu and pinning him to the wall. Kakuzu was shocked at first, and tried to pull himself out of Hidan's strong grip, but it was useless. Instead, he tried to talk the boy out of the potentially embarrassing situation they had founds themselves in.

"H..Hidan! Someone could see.."

"There's no-one about. They're all outside, enjoying the fucking sun. Time for payback, now, bitch. There's no fucking escape."

Kakuzu sighed, before pulling Hidan's head towards him.

"Fine, but if we get caught, I'm not fucking you from now until December.."

*

"OHMIGOD!"

"HE'S SO CUTE!"

"I KNOW RIGHT?! OH MY GOD, HE'S LOOKING OVER THIS WAY!!!"

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!"

"OH WOW, LOOK AT THOSE EYES!!"

"AND THAT HAIR!"

"AND THOSE EYES!!!"

Shouts like this had followed Tobi around the entire school that day. It was starting to get rather embarrassing for him, and he was beginning to wish he had never stamped his mask to smithereens the previous night. But then, as if sensing his discomfort, Zetsu would slide his arm around Tobi's shoulders, and growl at all the fangirls until they departed. For the first time in his life, Zetsu had also been getting a lot of attention from the girls. He had decided to not be intimidated by his fellow students anymore, and had worn a short sleeved shirt to school, fully showing off his tattoo. He'd spent the entire half day getting asked things like whether it was real, or did it hurt. He would answer these with a simple nod of the head, but when someone asked about the random colour scheme, he had laughed and said 'It symbolises a promise I made with the most important person in the world to me'. At these words, Tobi had flushed bright pink, which caused his new gaggle of fangirls to almost faint from loss of blood due to nosebleeds. In the end, they had had to run for it and hide in the school car park by the main gates. Luckily, thanks to Konan's yearly training session for them that came free with the dance, they were pretty fast on their feet.

After a few minutes of crouching behind a large white van, Tobi poked his head out and looked at the school. He could clearly see a mob of girls outside the main building, looking in all different directions for them. With a quiet sigh, he withdrew his head.

"Well?" Zetsu whispered.

Tobi shook his head.

"Not unless you wanna be mauled."

Zetsu sighed, and rubbed his temples.

"I never thought fangirls were this scary.." He muttered. "Now I understand why Itachi, Sasori, Pein and Deidara hide away most lunch and break times.."

"Me too.. And just imagine what would happen if they saw us kissing or something."

"God, tell me about it.. But.. Now you mention kissing you.." Zetsu muttered silkily, shuffling closer to Tobi, who blushed again.

"Zetsu.. What if they find us..?"

Zetsu cupped the younger boys' chin delicately in his palms.

"Then we'll give them something to stare at.." He whispered softly, pulling Tobi towards him.

The boy smiled before his lips gently met Zetsu's. His smile only grew when he felt Zetsu wrap his arms around his thin body and hold him tight. He loved being held by Zetsu.. Hell, he just loved everything about Zetsu. But being held by him was proably one of the best aspects of being his boyfriend. Tobi just felt so safe and secure in his arms, like the pain and suffering in the rest of the world had gone away, just as long as Zetsu was holding him.

As the kiss began to gain heat, Tobi's heart began to hammer. He would be spending an entire summer with the boy he loved the most, but he knew that at some point, they were going to have to tell their friends. With the exception of Pein and Konan, as they had already accepted Itachi and Kisame, Tobi had no idea of how the others would react. He didn't want to lose his friends, but if it was a choice between them or Zetsu, the lime green haired boy would win hands down. Tobi already knew he couldn't survive without his 'Zetsu-san', and anyone who messed with him got paid back dearly, as Ino was to discover when she woke up tied to the top of the school flag pole.

But that didn't matter at that moment. All that mattered to Tobi was the feel of Zetsu's skin on his, or Zetsu's mouth now exploring the sides of his neck. What mattered was that he and Zetsu stayed together, no matter what.

*

"Itachi is WHAT?!"

"I'm not kidding, I saw them!"

"You gotta be joking!! Please tell me you're joking!!"

"No, seriously!"

"ITACHIII!!!"

The raven haired boy jumped and spun around. Walking towards him were four girls he had seen around the school at one point or another, and he knew for a fact they were all in his fanclub. Behind him, Kisame smiled warmly, knowing he was going to enjoy this. The morning had cause severe disruption when they had both turned up for form, holding hands. By break, they were getting pestered by practically the entire school, asking if they were gay or what. Eventually Kisame had just laughed, then kissed Itachi full on the mouth, right in front of everyone. He wouldn't mind betting that these particular fangirls missed that demonstration, and were now going to their beloved to see if it was really true or not. The thought amused Kisame.

"I..Is it true, Itachi..? A.. A.. Are you and K.. Kisame... Really..?" The girl stammered, bright red in the face and looking anywhere but at Itachi.

Kisame, unable to hold back any longer, burst into fits of silent giggles. He turned away from the group and did his very best to get them under control, but all in vain. Itachi smiled at his partner's behaviour, then turned back to the girls.

"Yeah, it's true."

He found it amusing to watch three identical looks of horror and disappointment ink their way onto three faces, while the last looked smug.

"Told you so."

"W..Well.. I'm not gonna give up on you, Itachi!!" The first girl screamed, going even redder.

Kisame recovered from his fit of laughter, and curled both arms around Itachi's neck protectively, resting his head on the boy's shoulder and planting a small kiss on his ivory white neck.

"You'll have to fight me for him." He laughed, looking at the tiny girls. Each looked terrified at the thought. Then, their ringleader gulped, and took a step closer.

"W..When I'm stronger, K.. K.. Kisame-san!!" She yelled, then turned and ran. Her friends gave the couple one more scared look, before following her.

"Looks like I have competition, huh?" Kisame muttered softly in Itachi's ear.

"No. No-one could replace you, Kisame." Itachi murmered back.

Kisame grinned, and nuzzled against Itachi's neck.

"I love you. I really, really do."

Itachi smiled one of his rare smiles, and gripped both of Kisame's hands tightly.

"I love you too, Kisame."

*

"Konan, come ooon.. It's the end of the year.. I don't wanna be stuck working.." Pein grumbled, following the girl. She turned around, a steely glint in her eye.

"We're the Head Boy and Head Girl! It's our duty to help the school!"

"But I'm tired.. Beating up shitheads is tiring.."

Konan flapped her hands. "Ssh! Not so loud!!"

"Sorry, sorry.."

"Now come on! And stop complaining!"

Pein rolled his eyes as soon as Konan's back was turned. Sure, she was rather annoying at times, overprotective, bossy and quick tempered, but he still loved her like a sister. And he had to admit, without her, he'd probably be a very fucked up kid, instead of someone people looked up to. In a way, he owed her his life. Her house was a safe haven to turn to when things got rough at home when he had been a lot younger, and her mother had taken him in when both of his parents died in their car accident. But there were still times where she could annoy him, and making him run around on errands for the school reception on the last day of term, half an hour before they'd be free for six weeks was one of those times.

Pein entered the reception with a sense of dread, but the receptionist, Shizune, quickly lifted his spirts by wishing him and Konan a cheerful good afternoon. Konan practically beamed as she swept right over to Shizune, who was sat behind the large desk. With a quiet sigh followed a snigger, Pein followed and stood directly behind his best friend. Instead of focusing on the conversation between the two women before him, Pein studied the five screens stuck on the wall behind Shizune. He knew that each screen was connnected to the images produced by several cameras each dotted about the entire school, so that the reception could be alerted of trouble almost instantly.

"Hi! Me and Pein were wondering whether you needed anything done before school ended. I know it's a bit hectic right now, so yeah.." Konan said, her voice bouncy and light.

"Oh, that's very kind of you! I'll just go and ask Tsunade, you two wait right here."

Shizune then stood, and bustled out from behind the desk, disappearing behind a door at the back of the room which led to Tsunade's office. Konan turned to face Pein, still smiling.

"See? They're grateful!"

"I'd still prefer to be outside to be honest, Konan.."

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes at him. She didn't understand why he would prefer to be lazing about when they could be helping the school sort out its problems. Then again, she realised, he had always been the lazy type. She continued to stare at him, looking over his shoulder every now and then to check if Shizune was coming back. When she looked back after the third time of doing this, she jumped. Pein's grey eyes were wide and staring, and his jaw had dropped. His entire face seemed to have paled, and it looked as if he was shaking.

"Um.. Pein..? You okay..?" Konan asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.

Instead of speaking, he raised a shaking hand and pointed at something.

"What? What's up?"

Still pointing at something just behind her, Pein managed to talk this time. However, he was in too much shock to be able to form the words properly, so all that came out of his mouth was gibberish. He saw Konan begin to get annoyed with him not making sense, so he tried to nod over her shoulder to emphasise his point. When she still failed to understand, and he spotted the icy glint in her eyes once more, he reached forwards, grabbed the sides of her face, and forcefully turned her head around. There was no way Konan could have prepared herself for what she saw, but she instantly understood Pein's reaction. One of the screens was showing the car park, while another flitted between four classrooms, and the last on five seperate hallways. Clearly visible in each time a certain hallway, classroom or car park camera angle was shown all of their fellow Akatsuki members, apart from Itachi and Kisame, kissing.

Konan's jaw dropped, and she slowly turned back to Pein, a massive grin lacing her lips.

"W..What?" He asked, still taken-aback from what he had seen.

"My plan finally worked! Now, just wait here a second, I'll be right back!!"

"Wait! Where the hell are you going?!"

But Konan only smiled, and pointed back to the screens. Witholding a sigh, Pein leant back on the wall on the far side of the reception opposite the screens, and watched. He looked around then pulled out his mobile, before dialling Sasori, Hidan and Zetsu all at the same time. The boys picked up after about the first ring, and spoke almost silently.

"Hello?"

"What's up Pein?

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Listen guys, I don't have long to explain. You've all been caught on the school camera system, and Konan's seen. I think she's coming to get you for keeping this hidden."

"Oh shit.." Sasori.

"What the fuck are we gonna do?!" Hidan.

"Oh joy.." Zetsu.

"Well I have a suggestion." Pein grinned as he heard footsteps down Kakuzu's line. "Run for your fucking lives."