I WOULD LIKE TO STRESS THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING IN THIS CHAPTER COMES BACK IN THE END.

He didn't want to open his eyes just yet, and so he ignored the sound of someone attempting to run, but stumbling with every step, as well as the sound of the door being slammed open and the rush of light that entered the room immediately after. He knew it was around midday but that didn't mean he was ready to get up.

"Danna un, guess what!"

But he couldn't ignore that voice. Much as he might want to, it simply wouldn't leave him alone. And so, tiredly, he opened his eyes, to show that he was awake and listening.

"What do you want, brat? I'm trying to sleep," he said, as if the other cared.

Deidara had been in a great mood lately; it seemed like the misfortune of everyone else around him seemed to make the brat happy. He had spent at least half an hour laughing at Hidan the night before, who had had almost everything he owned, destroyed by lightning. Of course, so had Kakuzu but nobody was dumb enough to make fun of him.

The two had to take up temporary residence on the other side of the camp, where the children slept, which in itself was pretty funny, but Sasori didn't think that was what this was about.

"Sakura just said I'm getting better un, which is great! And look, I can even stand on my own!" sure enough, he had had no help in getting to or from therapy that day, "so I asked if I could perform again this week and they said yes, un!"

Sometimes, Sasori just had to stop and remind himself that these people enjoyed being stared at, and Deidara particularly liked to freak people out and to hear the crowd scream. And, although he didn't understand it, Sasori knew that this was good news and not the other way around.

"That's great, brat," he said through a yawn, "but aren't they worried you'll get hurt again or something?"

"Nah," Deidara said cheerfully, now rummaging through a box of things beneath his bed, "Un, they're all so caught up in being back here, that they don't even care what I do! It's great."

He finally found what he was looking for, a yellow sharpie, and proceeded to scribble on the wall where there was free space, never felt so happy!

Even his writing looked happy, compared to the other, miserable little scribbles that covered the walls. Deidara capped the sharpie and threw it back into the box which he quickly kicked back beneath his bed. He didn't bother getting up; content to instead sit on the floor and stare up at his life covering the walls.

"I meant to ask you about all this, brat," Sasori had sat up by now, watching the way his brat seemed to take on a different personality every three seconds. Right now, it seemed like he was nothing more than a child, watching his favourite TV show and content to do just that for an eternity.

"This, un?" Deidara asked distantly, stuck on a sentence he'd written when he was thirteen and Konan hadn't yet taught him how to spell properly. "Nothing but six years of wasted time, un."

"Six years, huh? You weren't very happy back then, were you?"

Deidara shrugged, "sometimes I'm still not happy. But it's a state of mind, not circumstance, un."

"What does that mean, brat?" it wasn't every day you heard Deidara say something like that – or it might be… really, Sasori hadn't know him long enough to say that yet.

"Like, I wasn't always unhappy before, when I had no home. It's the way you see things… happiness is a state of mind un, it has nothing to do with the way things are in your life."

"But you're happy now, because you get to perform soon, which is a circumstance, not a guarantee."

"And I might not be upset the other way around, un. Understand?"

"No. your philosophy confuses me."

Deidara laughed lightly, "Yeah un, I get that a lot."

A moment of comfortable silence filled the air. Comfortable, because neither of them minded, they weren't silent because they were thinking about anything in particular, but because they really didn't need to say anything. It was one of those perfect moments that almost never happen. Until…

"Un, we should go into town!"

"No brat."

Deidara resisted the urge to pout and made his way closer to the edge of Sasori's bed.

"Oh come-on un! It's not like I've never been in Konaha before! It's a nice place!" Deidara knew he'd just told a blatant lie.

"That's a lie brat and we both know it. Even Tobi says it's a lousy place to be, and he likes everything!"

Deidara scoffed, "shows how much you know about Tobi, un," he said, before remembering himself and his cause, "come-on please, un! I promise I won't get hurt!"

"You can't say that for sure. There are tons of things that could happen to you brat, none of which you can control!"

Deidara made an angry little noise and said, "Un, you care too much, Danna! I'm not a child."

"Might as well be."

Sasori knew it was better for the other to be angry and alive, rather than happy seconds before his death.

He watched this new personality and watched Deidara take his time to visibly calm down.

Finally, he said, "alright un, if you won't take me into town… can you help me practise? I haven't had the chance to work on my act since Taki."

Sasori thought about it for a moment, he thought about the chains and cages and weird little things Deidara did, as well as the likelihood that he would hurt himself again. But, if he didn't find a way to appease the explosive blonde, it might mean trouble.

"Fine, but let's get something to eat first," he said finally.

Deidara was right about to protest the wait before he realised he actually was hungry.

The show wasn't for at least another five hours… practise would just have to wait.

Konan sat in a tree, like she had seen Deidara do many times before when Itachi and Kisame would practise their fighting. However, she wasn't here to watch that, but to simply regain control of her circus. It had been easy before, when she knew what was going to happen long before it did, but now she had to use her instincts to try and guess what would happen.

From here, from the top of this particular tree, she could see everything.

The children were on the opposite side of the camp, happily playing one of the safer games they'd invented, against the adults, both those who were part of the circus, and the ones who had come from the village to visit. That would end in the adults losing, which would be funny, but many of the villagers were sore losers and would likely hold grudges.

She could see Kakuzu walking towards leaving the camp, Hidan following him complaining no doubt, about how he hated sleeping surrounded by annoying little brats, while going completely ignored. That would likely end in Hidan being publicly decapitated, which in turn would probably provide both positive and negative exposure for the circus.

Deidara was looking a lot better and walking properly again. He was also kind of happy looking, despite the fact that he must've had a long way to go before he was properly healed.

Maybe he will perform on the fourth night, Konan mused. She caught a brief glimpse of something through the static but was unable to properly interpret it in time before it disappeared.

Kisame had been asked to escort Sasuke into town to see his family and the two had left about two hours ago. They would stay out as long as Sasuke could manage to keep the other and would probably be late for the show, but it wouldn't really matter at all, because Konaha shows were never orderly or on time.

And there, leaning against the tree Konan had climbed – and having acknowledged her presence immediately – was Itachi. She was unsure whether he was sleeping or otherwise, because his thoughts were blank, but that may have been intentional. He'd always been annoyingly good at hiding his thoughts from her.

He wasn't by himself for much longer though, as Tobi came barrelling out of nowhere, slamming into him and sending them both to the ground. Tobi had never given much thought to Itachi's health unless it was a bad day. He knew the other didn't like to be treated like a fragile glass vase, or something else of the sort.

Thoughts returned to Itachi's mind, but Konan didn't bother to read them.

"Tobi, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and pushing Tobi off of him.

"Nothing!" Tobi exclaimed in his overly enthusiastic way, looking around carefully, and seeing nobody – except Konan, but there was no point trying to hide anything from her anyway – "why didn't you go into town with Sasuke?"

"Why didn't you?" Itachi countered.

Tobi sighed, leaning back against the tree, "those bastards didn't really want to see me. I went for the mandatory yearly visit; I'm not obligated to go back."

"Right. Sometimes I forget how much you hate it here," Itachi said, the smallest hint of a smile forming briefly, before disappearing.

"So then, what's your excuse?" Tobi pressed.

"I'm just not feeling up to it right now. I don't have the energy to deal with them." had he been in the presence of anybody else, Itachi would've given a very different answer. But his cousin always knew when he was lying. Eighteen years had insured that much.

"Hm, so it's a bad day after all?"

"Yeah, you could say that." He leaned back against the tree, finding himself unbearably tired.

"Hey, lighten up! We've still got another few years yet before we can retire!" Tobi exclaimed, pushing Itachi slightly, "are they letting you perform tonight?"

In response, Itachi looking up at Konan, who he knew was eavesdropping. Tobi followed suit and stared up.

Konan sighed, "Don't look at me, I don't care what you do. If you get hurt, it's not my problem," she said.

It wasn't part of the old future for him to get hurt, but who the hell knew what was going to happen now?

"Well, there's your answer," Itachi said. He closed his eyes again.

"Alright, but just remember to be careful. I won't be taking care of Sasuke if you're killed on stage."

The words were said in light, but neither could deny they were worried about what might happen. Still, it was a lot easier to make fun, than to face the facts. That was why Tobi had let himself become the way he had, once the Akatsuki had promised to take care of them, rather than constantly watching after his cousins like he would before. And it was why Itachi had let himself make friends, and more, within the Akatsuki; to pretend.

But, when it came down to it, weren't they all just pretending?

Pretending to be normal.

Pretending to be happy.

Pretending not to care.

Konan sighed as she heard both Itachi and Tobi's thoughts take a depressing turn for the worst, and turned her attention back towards the rest of her circus. Or at least tried to.

She found it sadly ironic, that although he was a nice, sweet boy who cared for his family – or the family he had here, anyway – and the ones around him so, so much, all he needed was a new heart. But they'd find that out during the autopsy in Iwa, as long as that future hadn't been changed as well.

After helping Deidara with his act – practising of which basically involved tying him up and keeping track of how long it took to escape – Sasori ended up in one of the smaller tents helping Konan. She hadn't been herself lately, though he credited it to the fact that she was adjusting to a new situation.

But she was still her old, angry self.

He'd had to dodge several plates thrown at his head and had succeeded each time. Because Konan's throws were off and uncalculated.

He'd also had to put out several fires, break up a few fights and deal with a nightmarish wardrobe malfunction – courtesy of an angry Uchiha and an annoying blonde – while Konan attended to unimportant matters.

"Hey! Hey, cut it out!" once again, Sasori was forced to pull Sasuke and Naruto apart. "Idiots! What do you think Konan would say if one of you was hurt?"

"Not like she cares," he heard them both mutter, before both shouting, "he started it!"

Those kids had more issues than a public school staff meeting during midyear exams.

"Well I'm ending it. If you're having so many problems then stay away from each other until you have to go on!"

"Whatever," they both grumbled, stalking off in opposite directions.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. He was sitting at the table, watching with bored, half-lidded eyes.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Sasori snapped. He was channelling Konan because he had a million things to do and didn't have time for this.

"I am ready," Shikamaru drawled.

He was usually the first one ready anyway since it allowed him a lot more time to laze around.

"Right," Sasori said, pausing for a moment. Maybe things would be alright. Maybe… "Hey! Quit fighting and get ready you idiots!" disregarding that previous thought, he stomped off down the hall to once again break up a fight. These kids were complete morons.

He didn't manage to get them all together and ready until five minutes before show time and even then he still found himself busy with menial tasks such as tying bows, straightening clothes, securing weapons and keeping the children form fighting offstage.

Recently – recent meaning four hours ago – Sasuke and Naruto had come to Konan proposing a combined act, like the one the elder Uchiha performed with Kisame. Sasori had thought it was a terrible idea, but Konan had decided to allow it.

They would be going on first and ultimately trying to kill each other – he thought it was their way of fighting with no interruptions – thought Sasori was prepared to step in, should the need arise.

Konan strolled past carelessly two minutes before they were due to start. Since she was incapable of coherent thought, Pein would be opening the circus tonight, so she had time to stand around back stage and be a general nuisance.

"Alright kids," she said, pausing for a moment as though to collect her thoughts, a smile crossed her face briefly before she said, "have fun."

She knew something they didn't.

Sasori sighed, seeing the shocked faces of the children and the sudden shift of Konan's own expression, showing annoyance at their thoughts.

"You heard her," he said, though he wasn't really feeling as enthusiastic as the words suggested he should, "that was your cue, get onstage boys."

Sasuke and Naruto eagerly did as they were told and Konan followed them slowly out into the main tent. Sasori quickly announced the order everyone else was to go up in before rushing after her and taking a seat in the front row beside her.

"What's –"

"Shh! It's about to start!" Konan hissed before Sasori could get out his question.

Konan wasn't going to take any chances at all with this future. If Sasori got involved, no doubt it'd be ruined and much less entertaining.

Sasuke and Naruto had very different ways of interacting with the crowd. The former wasn't really one to interact with them at all and preferred to get his act over with, while Naruto was a lot like Tobi and liked to talk and joke around with the people.

Sasuke pretended to wait patiently for the first few moments before launching right into it. Naruto had barely enough time to dodge the punch thrown in his direction.

Just as their stage presence differed from each other's, their fighting style differed greatly from their older counterparts. Mainly because they didn't have as much at their disposal, but also because it was clear, to anybody watching, that they were trying to seriously hurt each other.

They were strong, moved fast and barely managed to get a hit in edgeways. It wasn't as good as an Akatsuki act, but it was much better than a fight between normal people. They flitted around stage as though they had Tobi's teleporting power, moved with all the grace Itachi carried and stuck with all the strength of their freakishly strong nurse. Neither of them stopped, even when they were bloodied and bruised.

"I'm beginning to think this really wasn't a good idea," Sasori whispered to Konan.

"Shh!" Konan whispered back.

But the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Sure, this wasn't exactly what they'd paid for – not that they knew what they'd paid for – but it was alright for opening act.

Then they stopped, frozen centre stage, shirts bunched up in each other's hands, fists clenched and ready to strike at a moment's notice. Sasori had been just about to step in, but he guessed what happened next was the thing Konan was excited to see.

Right then, right in front of everyone – including both of their families – Sasuke jerked his wrist forward, bringing Naruto closer, crashing their mouths together. Oh, did he mention this was in front of everyone?!

Sasori didn't know whether he should intervene or not, but decided not to, as Konan was obviously having fun with this and the crowd wasn't exactly complaining.

He didn't understand why they'd spent all day – and pretty much the whole time he'd known them – fighting, and yet come to this conclusion, but he was sure it would make sense once he got the chance to yell at them for it. However, the rest of the show, wasn't so bad. Actually, besides the first act, it went off without a hitch and before he knew it, he was helping to clean up after everyone was gone. Or, almost everyone.

Still, he couldn't ignore the sound of arguing coming from one of the many exit/entrances.

"What have I been teaching him? Don't you think you should be a little more concerned about the things he's learnt from you?" that was Itachi.

"He doesn't look to me for guidance, he copies the things you do," and that, if Sasori wasn't mistaken, was the voice of Itachi's father.

He hadn't heard very good things from Deidara and Konan about Fugaku Uchiha. Or about the family in general and he knew it was bad to eavesdrop, but he needed to witness it for himself.

"I wonder why that is," Itachi drawled, "perhaps he would be better off, had you been honest with him from the start."

"That isn't what this is about, boy," Fugaku growled.

Peeking a little further, Sasori saw Itachi's eyes burning red and his father about two wrong words away from hitting him, regardless his age or the fact that he'd done barely anything – if anything at all – wrong.

"Is there a problem here?" Pein stepped into the tent, looking bored as ever.

The elder Uchiha seemed to weigh his options before huffing and saying, "no. I was just leaving," and storming out.

Itachi sighed in annoyance. He knew it was wrong to do so, but he hated that man.

Again, much as it may seem abitrary, everything in this chapter is more or less relevant. i have given great thought to the way this story will play out so yall better appreciate ^^