Blue eyes traveled from the left to the right, focusing on the people sitting in front of him. So these were Itachi's friends. Deidara would never even think of them as the same kind of benders, let alone friends. They were so outgoing and somewhat crazy. Especially that Tobi guy, but Deidara thought he might have a mental problem and that was said nicely. Who talks in the third person about himself? That's just plain creepy.

Itachi was sitting in the middle, Yahiko on his right and Tobi at his left. Yahiko was having an animated conversation with himself. He was gesturing wildly whenever he found the need to emphasize his words and smacked Itachi in the shoulder a few times. The raven himself didn't even seem to notice. He listened to what Yahiko was telling him, but not responding. Even Tobi nodded once in a while and screamed a loud yeah, but Itachi made no move to acknowledge the conversation. Maybe that was worked for them, Deidara thought. It was what stabilized Itachi. He needed people around him who would bring him out of his shell.

Black eyes looked up at blue ones and Itachi smiled softly when he noticed Deidara looking at him. Only then did Itachi look at Yahiko and showed him he had heard everything the male had said. Yahiko was smiling brightly and started talking even faster than before. It amazed Deidara how much words he could produce in one minute. He would have died due to a lack of oxygen.

'Deidara, I have a question for you!' Yahiko said enthusiastically, finger pointed at the blonde. 'How did you become friends with Itachi?'

Blue eyes widened and a blush adorned his cheeks. Itachi hadn't said anything, right? 'I-I don't k-know,' he stammered. 'We just hang out a lot since he lives here too.'

'I think there is more to it than that. You actually make him smile. The idiot never smiles.' Yahiko shut his thumb up at Itachi and rolled his eyes. It actually made Deidara smile. So he didn't smile for others, huh.

Suddenly Tobi started flailing his arms around and had a scared look in his eye. 'Don't call Itachi an idiot! He's a lord! He can lock you up!'

Both Itachi and Yahiko looked up at the frightened boy with a look that said, just shut up. Even Deidara didn't think Itachi would really mind being called an idiot and especially not by his friends. Tobi was probably only afraid of his heritance. The Uchihaclan was a feared clan, but Itachi never seemed to live up to that prejudice.

Four heads turned to the left. The earth benders came walking towards them and where whispering things to each other. It seemed strange. Why would they whisper in the first place? Curious glances were shot their way, but they didn't seem to care. Sasori only looked irritated as usual. Were they still whining about being here?

As soon as they came into hearing range, they stopped talking. Sasori let out a sigh of relief and walked away from the other two. He sat down beside Deidara and grabbed the blonde's hand to play with his fingers. Deidara raised an eyebrow, but was ignored. Itachi gave Sasori a dirty look and was only jealous of him. Why could Sasori touch him in front of his friends and Itachi couldn't? He really needed to tell his friends, otherwise he would go crazy. He couldn't go a day without touching Deidara.

Deidara ripped his hand away from Sasori and stood up. 'I'll go look for Hidan. I want to train for a little while.' And with that he left. Somehow it felt strange now to only be touched by Sasori. He didn't like the look Itachi had on his face. It should be different, more loving and more directed to him.

Itachi also stood up, getting two frightened looks from the other fire benders. They really had separation anxiety since they found him again. He wasn't even really going anywhere. 'You are both idiots,' he said and left without a further word. He would only resume his training with Kisame. He made it pretty clear he wasn't leaving this place the other day.

Sasori looked after the two retreating backs. They went the same way and somehow he thought they were leaving to be alone with each other. Was he being dumped just like that? That couldn't happen. He would fight for the one he loves. With a jerk he stood up and stalked after the two males who were nowhere near each other anymore.

When he finally found one of the two, it was Itachi and he was only training. Was he really going insane over another male? Would this all really get to him like that? He needs to calm down. This was nothing like him and even his students found him acting strange. Maybe he should leave for a while and let Deidara be alone, but with Itachi still here he might be forgotten as soon as he leaves the grounds. He can't let Itachi win like that, but he also can't calm down as long as he's here. How was he going to fix this? He needed to talk to Itachi.

He was about to take a step forward when he overheard their conversation. They were talking about something and it was just what Sasori needed. He didn't need to talk to Itachi anymore, since he was already leaving. He needed to talk to the other earth benders and plan his own trip. He would be the first one to leave, so he wouldn't hurt Deidara as much as Itachi would. This would be a great strategy!

…

Deidara was lying in the grass, catching his breath due to the rough training he had with Hidan. He was really satisfied with the progress he was making and Hidan had actually told him he wanted Kisame to help them with the training. He could finally learn how to combine the elements. This turned out to be such a great day.

He had his eyes closed and was enjoying the late summer breeze. It was still warm and felt almost like a blanket. The crunching of the grass told him that someone was approaching and he opened one eye to look who it was. Sasori came his way, a serious expression on his face. Was something the matter?

He sat down beside Deidara, just like he had done this morning, but this time he kept eye contact. His muddy brown eyes went from one blue eye to the other. 'May I kiss you?' he asked.

Deidara was taken aback. Did he really ask that? He assumed Sasori would just kiss him whenever he pleased, but this was actually really nice. It just didn't show how much Sasori actually wanted him and that bothered him a bit.

The blonde nodded and Sasori leaned forward. He softly placed his lips against the other's and held them there. He had his eyes closed and didn't see that blue eyes were looking at him a bit stunned. It was over in a couple of seconds and it left Deidara wondering. That was seriously it?

'I need to tell you something, Deidara. I'll be leaving, today.'

Blue eyes narrowed and he leaned away from the redhead. 'Why?' he asked accusingly.

Sasori sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. 'I need to spend a little time by myself and the others are complaining that I should be training them. I might go after Shisui too.' He averted his gaze and looked up at the sky. He hadn't thought about the fire bender in a long time, but now that he thought about it, he needed to find him. He needed to kill the man and find some peace in his heart. It was his quest.

'Alright, good luck then,' the blonde said. He understood Sasori's reasons and he knew it might be best if he went away, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He hadn't even figured out who he liked most and then one of them left. It did make it easier, but it's not the way he wanted this all to go.

'I'm sorry, Deidara.' He gave him another kiss and he reluctantly pulled away. With one last look in those beautiful eyes he left. 'I'll be back before you know it,' he called back, but never got a response.

After a while Deidara stood up and walked over to his room. The thought of Sasori leaving hadn't really hit him yet. Of course he still had Itachi and somehow that made up for the other a bit. At least he wasn't completely alone.

When he got to his room, he noticed a dark figure leaning against the door. Another step closer and he saw the blood red eyes, shining in the moonlight. A smile crept up on the blonde's face. Just who he needed, Itachi.

'I need to talk to you,' the raven said.

Again with this serious tone. What was happening now? He couldn't bear more bad news.

Deidara nodded and opened his door. He motioned for Itachi to go in, but the raven stayed put. It made Deidara worry even more and now he really wasn't sure what to expect.

'Kisame says I'm ready to tell my father about my water bending skills and that's why I'll be leaving soon. It's time I stand up against my father and show him how we could also live. It's now or never and I'm really sorry.' Itachi saw the tears well up in those blue eyes and he had to hold back and not touch his pretty face. He knew Deidara didn't want his attention now.

'You can't leave!' Deidara yelled out. He grasped the collar of Itachi's shirt and pulled him close. He couldn't leave too. He couldn't leave him alone. He would stay and make him happy.

Softly Itachi laid his hands on top of Deidara's shoulders and pushed him a step back. 'I need to go, Dei and you know that.'

Tears now streamed out of the blonde's eyes. He couldn't believe they were both leaving them. 'You can't leave too. Sasori left and now you. How can you do this to me?'

Red eyes widened and he wore a shocked expression. 'Sasori left?' he asked.

Deidara nodded and now guilt washed over Itachi. He didn't know Sasori was planning on leaving too. They couldn't just leave like that. One of them needed to stay with Deidara, but it wasn't an option for Itachi anymore and Sasori already left. How could he make this up to him?

Tanned arms were wrapped around his neck and he was pulled against Deidara's warm body. Soft lips met his and they kissed. Alright, he could give Deidara this one thing. He would make love to him tonight and leave in the morning. He wasn't in that much of a hurry and Deidara could get used to the idea a little bit longer.

Tongues battled for dominance, but Deidara didn't really want to win. He wanted Itachi to show him how much he cared. He was pushed inside his room and clothes flew everywhere. Soon two naked bodies collided with the bed.

Characters Masashi Kishimoto

Another lemon in the next chapter