Ugh, I really wanted to get this up sooner, but I got distracted. xx;
The first scene is a continuation from the previous chapter, but the events after are the next day.

Previous:

"Sasori, Itachi!"

Both boys looked towards the doorway, seeing Chiyo standing there.

"…Are you two going to go to sleep now?"

"No, Grandma," Sasori answered, "We were just going to get up."

"Oh, I see." Chiyo looked over at Itachi as the teens sat up. "I take it Itachi is staying over?"

Itachi nodded. "I hope I'm not imposing on you."

"No, of course not," Chiyo laughed. "You're always welcome here, Itachi."

Deidara's eyes widened.

Suigetsu laughed. "Hey, no need for the scary face! I'm not here to capture you, New Guy."

"…I find that hard to believe," Deidara retorted, tensing up. A wind blew across, ruffling the grass as Suigetsu sat down.

"I don't blame you for liking Jyuugo," he said, tilting his head to look in amusement at Deidara. "He's a real nice guy."

The blond said nothing and merely stared in suspicion at Suigetsu.

"Maybe a bit too nice for Orochimaru, but he's very lenient," Suigetsu went on. "I mean, even to you from Akatsuki."

"Ino…" Deidara breathed, still glaring in Suigetsu's direction.

Ino nodded in understanding and quickly stood up, running away towards the school entrance.

When Ino was out of sight, Deidara turned back to the purple-eyed boy. "What do you want, un?"

"Nothing!" Suigetsu looked offended. "I just wanted to talk one-on-one with the infamous Deidara! You're all the news over with Orochimaru, y'know. It's always 'Deidara-kun' and 'My precious Sasori-kun' with him."

"Whose Sasori-san?" Deidara bristled, eyes sparking.

"Oh, you really do get all fired up at that!" Lips curled back into a smirk at this. "I guess Sakon was telling the truth when he said your weakness was Akasuna."

"…" Deidara looked away, reddening a little.

"You want him…"

"What?" He snapped back around, his cheeks fully crimson.

"Hey, you didn't even let me finish my sentence." Suigetsu frowned. Seeing the dark red stains on the newest student's face, however, brought the cocky grin back. "I see. Heh, you really love him, right?"

"That's none of your business!" Deidara growled through gritted teeth.

"Well…if you do, then you should really join us. Itachi's in your way, and if you join us and take out him, Akasuna would be yours!"

"…Idiot. What kind of stupid, screwed up logic are you using? If I took out Itachi-san, Sasori-san would never forgive me."

"Mm…you never know."

"Sasori-san would never–!" Deidara was cut short as Suigetsu pulled a folded up picture from his pocket and presented it in front of Deidara's face.

"See it?" he asked, shaking the picture for emphasis. "You can have it and more if you join us."

Deidara stared at the picture of the smirking Sasori for a few moments, before he turned away. "I won't join you. And I won't work for Orochimaru ever again, un."

"What?" Suigetsu looked genuinely surprised. Flustered, he moved the picture to in front of Deidara's face again. "Come on! It's Akasuna! How can you resist this?"

"I thought you said you weren't here to capture me," Deidara snapped, glaring into the violet eyes.

"I…" With this, Suigetsu stumbled with his words. "I'm not! I'm persuading you…!"

"Not exactly."

Annoyance was getting to be almost clearly evident on Suigetsu's face now. "Why won't you just understand?"

"More importantly," Deidara's lip curled as he stiffened, "why does everyone have pictures of Sasori-san?"

Taken aback by the question, the other could only look in shock. "You're asking me? I only have this thing because Orochimaru gave it to me!"

"Orochi–That's it, I'm going home!"

"Wha–Wait, New Guy! Don't–!" Suigetsu's plea reached dead ears as Deidara stood up and stormed off. Purple eyes watched, frozen, as the blond disappeared from their sight.

Then, laughter rang out from behind a corner.

"Wow, Suigetsu!" Karin snickered, staggering out into view, holding her stomach. "'Yeah, watch this! I'll have New Guy practically begging to join us!' Oh, yes, he's really begging to join us now! I can't take the pleading face he has on!"

"Shut it, hag," Suigetsu ground out as another bark of laughter escaped the girl's throat. "It's not like you could do any better."

"I definitely could do a better job than you," Karin replied, her laughter subsiding.

"Really? Then show me!"

"Sorry, Orochimaru-san said that you were the last one to try and get him. He has other plans."

"Screw that! Go and get New Guy!"

Karin snorted, shaking her head. "You're so stupid, Suigetsu."

"It takes one to know one, witch."

––––––»

"What?"

"You heard me, Itachi."

"You just let him go? And you went along with it?"

"Of course." Pain's eyes narrowed just slightly as he looked at Itachi's stunned ones. "Sasori can handle himself."

"Pain, I…" Konan glanced away nervously. "I'm going to have to side with Itachi on this one…Sasori can handle himself, but agreeing to send him alone to talk one-on-one with Orochimaru is just…"

"If they're going to set up a compromise, then I'll allow it."

"All Orochimaru is going to do is find a way to give affection to my boyfriend to get at me," Itachi replied darkly.

Pain's lips twitched at the way the word 'boyfriend' was uttered. "Orochimaru won't hurt Sasori."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not." Seeing the threatening look on the Uchiha's face grow more so, Pain added on, "If he does anything, I'll make sure to make him regret it personally."

"That's not very reassuring," Itachi argued. "I don't like you gambling Sasori's safety."

"'Safety?'" Pain echoed, scoffing. "Sasori is–"

"Have you forgotten what Orochimaru did to him before?"

"No, but that was when Sasori was injured. He's fine now, and should have no trouble defeating Orochimaru if the occasion arrives."

"This isn't like you, Pain," Kakuzu spoke up. "You hate Orochimaru with a passion, yet you agree to send Sasori to go talk with him alone?"

"I think all Orochimaru will do is try and force attention onto Sasori…" Zetsu agreed, while ignoring all the surprised stares he got as he continued. "Yes, we all know how much Orochimaru 'likes' Sasori, don't we? Right, so the percent of Orochimaru not trying anything with Sasori at their 'meeting' is very low…I side with Itachi."

This only seemed to make Itachi angrier. Konan bit her lower lip seeing the normally calm, emotionless face sparking with irritation and turned to Pain. "Pain, I…honestly don't think this is one of your smarter ideas…"

"Don't you care about Sasori?" Itachi seethed, his irises a dusty red now.

"Of course I care about Sasori," Pain snapped. "We've been friends since we were kids, haven't we?"

"Then why–?"

"Itachi-san…" Kisame reached over and placed a hand on the dark-haired boy's shoulder, seeing the usually black eyes turn even redder.

"Hey, where's Deidara-chan?" Hidan piped up, blinking at the two empty seats.

"…The art pair is gone?" Zetsu blinked, earning himself more shocked glances. "Yes, it would seem that way…I wonder why Deidara is missing as well…maybe he's following Sasori? Might be…"

"That can't be." Konan shook her head. "Deidara-kun has no idea of Sasori's meeting with Orochimaru. Plus, he's not one to just follow Sasori around randomly…" She paused. "…Is he?"

––––––»»

"See? A new member!" Temari grinned, gesturing to her brother.

"Oi, Temari!" Kankurou protested, "This isn't what I had in mind…"

"…He can be the Sasori-san fanboy then." Deidara tilted his head. "I'm not interested anymore."

"What?!" Temari gaped. "B-But, Deidara!"

"I can like Sasori-san without being in a fan club."

"Well, yes, but–!"

"I don't want to feel like I'm…stalking him," Deidara admitted, turning away. "So…I'm going to quit the Akasuna Fan Club, un…"

"Whoa! Akasuna Fan Club?" Kiba exclaimed, eyes wide as he ran over. "Did I hear you right, Deidara?!"

Deidara twitched a little. "…Yes…"

"Score! I'm in!" Kiba cheered.

"All right!" Temari pumped a fist in the air, her excited attitude coming back. "Come on, Deidara!" She urged, returning her attention to the blond, "Stay in the club! You don't have to come to meetings, okay? Just stay!"

"…Fine." Deidara sighed, not really seeing the point. But if it got Temari to stop bugging him…

Temari practically beamed.

With another sigh, Deidara continued on his way away from the girl. I wonder if Kimimaro and Jyuugo are outside now…

––––––»»

"Stupid Pain…" Sasori growled as he stormed around the corner, his feet trampling the grass. "'Go, Sasori! We're going to end this stupid conflict with Orochimaru! If he's willing to compromise, so am I!' Heh, yeah, compromise. Right."

"Hello, Sasori-kun."

"I hate you," Sasori spat, stopping his stride to glare at the boy in front of him.

"Oh, don't be like that." Orochimaru put on a sad face. "You'll hurt my feelings."

"Tch. Yeah right. What do you want?"

"Why, Sasori-kun, dear! I requested to see you personally! You should be honored!" At the curled lip, Orochimaru sighed. "And here I thought you'd finally warmed up to me…"

"Never."

"Have you gotten taller?"

"I don't know," Sasori scoffed.

"Aw, precious, you'll still be so cute even if you grow to be tall."

"Enough with the fake flirting. What's the Goddamn compromise?"

"You don't like it when I flatter you? But you do when Itachi does…"

"Because Itachi is my boyfriend?"

"Then what about Deidara-kun? I see you like being complimented by him, too."

"…! D…Deidara's my friend."

"Oh my. Did you just hesitate? And…dear, are your cheeks a bit…red?"

"Obviously not!" Sasori snapped, clenching his fists.

"Don't be like that, darling. I wouldn't want you going into denial. It might ruin your gorgeous face."

"Shut the hell up." Sasori backed up as Orochimaru approached.

"You are quite the rare find, dear…" Orochimaru smiled. "There aren't many people who have your beauty."

"I said shut up. I don't need your pointless crap," Sasori countered. He was going around the corner now, and it pained him to think about how cowardly he must look, walking backwards, away from Orochimaru.

"I guess that's why Itachi wanted you. He wanted to have a rare catch, someone unique."

"Don't you ever know when to close your Goddamned mouth?!" The redhead snarled, backing up further. Feeling something behind him, he turned, only to find that he was backed into a corner – literally. Shit…

"You have a woman's eyes, Sasori-kun," Orochimaru purred, walking towards the cornered teen.

"Oh, is that so?" Sasori retorted, "I wasn't aware there was a difference."

"You got them from your mother, don't you?"

Sasori froze.

"And your so soft skin," Orochimaru continued, now close enough to place his hand on the shorter male's cheek. He brought his thumb over Sasori's lips before going on, "And the shape of your face…so soft and feminine…"

The silver-eyed of the two bristled at the contact. "Why you–!"

"But your hair…that's from your beloved father, is it not?"

"…!" Sasori stiffened again.

"You take so much after your poor, deceased mother, Sasori-kun dear…" Orochimaru murmured, briefly pressing his lips to Sasori's cheek. "But your eye color…where, oh where do your elegant silver eyes come from? Your mother had brown eyes and your father had blue eyes, did they not?"

Sasori's teeth ground together as he felt hands gently rubbing his sides, one getting bold and going down further to his thigh.

"Maybe the trait was in hiding…" Orochimaru whispered, his lips dangerously close to the other's. "Like your affection for a certain someone…"

"Shut up!"

Orochimaru had no warning besides that one uttered statement before a fist collided with his face, flinging him backwards.

"You know nothing about me!" Sasori snarled, wiping an arm across his cheek and lips before advancing on the fallen Orochimaru. "You know nothing about my parents either! Yet you have the guts to tell me about myself and them?!"

Laughter sounded from the golden-eyed boy's mouth as he sat up, and Sasori wasted no time in kicking him in the stomach. Blood dripped down from Orochimaru's mouth and he coughed, holding his gut and breathing heavily to get his lost breath back. But still, he continued to laugh, eyes locked with Sasori's.

"Come now…Sasori-kun…" he wheezed between coughs and snickers. "…Didn't you once love…to confide in me…as a friend…? When no one else…understood you…?"

"You were never my friend," Sasori growled, eyes narrowing. "Don't lie to make yourself feel better; I never was close to you."

"Oh, that's right…" Orochimaru smirked, his laughter settling down. "That was always…Itachi, was it not?"

Sasori's face grew even more infuriated as he heard Orochimaru's reply.

"How does it feel, Sasori-kun…" Orochimaru slowly stood up on trembling legs. "…To have your heart beat for two different people…at the same time?"

"…Leave from my sight," Sasori ordered, fingers drawing together. "Now."

"Sasori-san?"

"Here he comes, Sasori-kun." Orochimaru chuckled. "What will you do?"

"Deidara is just a friend."

"We'll see in the near future."

"Sasori-san–!" Deidara skidded to a halt, now close enough to see that the person in front of Sasori was Orochimaru.

"Judging by how much I was able to do with you," Orochimaru informed haughtily, "I know your weakness now. My suspicions were correct."

"What?!" Sasori hissed, taking a step forward.

"I'm just a bit ashamed I never figured it out before. Well, anyways, as you probably were aware, there was no compromise." A dark chuckle vibrated from Orochimaru's throat. "You can tell Pain that he fell for a simple ruse."

"Orochimaru!" Deidara glowered as the amber-eyed student burst out laughing while walking away, leaving an enraged Sasori. He started after the departing Orochimaru, but quickly discarded the idea as he saw Sasori drop to the ground on his knees.

"Sasori-san!" He wasted no time in running over to the shorter boy and kneeling down next to him. "Are you alright, un?"

Sasori mumbled something incoherent before answering, "Get me a towel and some soap and water and I'll be dandy."

"What'd he do?"

"Take a guess, brat. I want a towel, water and soap. No, actually? I want a shower."

Deidara's eyes widened, realizing what had happened. "How did he…?" The sentence remained unfinished as Deidara remembered what Sasori's weak point was.

"…In any case…I think we should move you to a place you can…relax." He changed the subject, not wanting to hurt Sasori himself.

"What do you–?" A faint blush coated Sasori's face as he was suddenly picked up, bridal style, and therefore pressed against Deidara's chest.

"Wha–What are you doing, brat?!" He spluttered, quite sure that his face was as red as his hair, if not redder.

"Moving you." Deidara looked down at Sasori, blinking and looking like he was doing the most normal thing a person could do.

"I can walk on my own, idiot!" Sasori snapped. His infuriation only grew, as Deidara appeared to ignore him and continued to walk towards the wall. He began to wiggle uncomfortably, not liking the vulnerable position he was in one bit. "Oi! Deidara!"

"Stop moving around so much!" Deidara frowned, gazing back down at the silver-eyed teen. "You'll fall!"

"Tch!" Sasori looked away, absolutely hating Deidara right then and there. When he was finally set down, he glared up at the newest student, receiving a shrug in return.

"…So how did this all happen, un?" Deidara asked as he sat down next to the other. "Why were you with him, anyways?"

Sasori considered not answering to get back at the blond for picking him up, but ultimately grumbled out, "…Pain."

"Pain-san? He sent you to talk with Orochimaru?"

"Orochimaru said he had a compromise to stop the fighting, so he would talk one-on-one with me about it. Obviously, Pain went along with it and agreed."

"But there was no compromise, un?"

"No, of course not. It was just some stupid way to find my weakness and force physical attention on me."

There was a look in his eyes that Deidara couldn't quite name. And before he could actually think it over, Sasori turned away. If he hadn't known better, he would've concluded that it was disgust. But no, it wasn't disgust. It had looked more like…confusion. But the topic wasn't that confusing…was Sasori thinking about something else?

"Where did he…?"

"Mm?" Sasori turned back around, the puzzling emotion within his irises now gone.

"…Was it here?"

Deidara's hand made contact with the cheek that Orochimaru had pushed his mouth to.

"…" Sasori stared, face heating up again. "Y…Yeah…"

"Un…" A troubled look arose on Deidara's features. "He always goes for your face…"

…Wait. Something wasn't right. Sasori looked at Deidara closely, and his eyes widened. Deidara wasn't blushing. There wasn't anything. Not even some stupid pink. Deidara had his hand on Sasori's face and he wasn't embarrassed. Come to think of it…he hadn't been blushing when he picked Sasori up, either…

"…What…"

"Un?" Deidara blinked.

"…Is wrong with you…?"

Blue eyes widened as Sasori launched himself at the taller boy. Deidara found himself looking up at narrowed silver eyes, his body immobilized.

Sasori's fingers dug deeper into Deidara's shoulders as he ground out, "Why aren't you blushing?"

"Wha…" The blond's voice was dripping with misunderstanding.

"Don't you love me?!"

At this, Deidara's cheeks finally flushed lightly. "Wh-Why are you asking me that, un?"

"If you do…" Sasori's eyes narrowed more, almost giving an expression of…pain? "Then show it…"

"Sasori-san…?"

He brought up one of his hands to cover his eyes, and Deidara realized that Sasori was extremely confused at that moment, that something was troubling him.

"D-Did Orochimaru…?"

"…It's nothing, forget it." Sasori rose and pried his hand off his face. "Sorry I startled you like that."

"It's okay…"

"…Could you forget what I said?"

"Un?"

"…If you don't remember, that's fine as well."

"A-Alright…" However, Deidara remembered exactly what Sasori had requested. He saw the look on Sasori's face change into an expression of unhappiness, and he sat up, still gazing at the redhead's face. "Sasori-san? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sasori promptly whirled around and began stalking off, the unhappy look dissolving into an irritated one.

"Sasori-san!" Deidara was up instantly, and he ran after the other, catching him by the shoulder. "What's wrong? I know something is, un!"

Teeth gritted together, Sasori stopped. "It's nothing."

"Tell me!"

Once closed ash-rose eyes opened just a small bit, and Sasori replied quietly, "…I miss them…"

Deidara's eyes widened.

Sasori turned to face the taller male, an almost angry expression masking his face. "I want them back…!"

"Sasori-san…" Deidara stared in shock at Sasori before he looked away. "…You don't want that…"

"Why not?!" Sasori turned on Deidara, facing him fully now. "How could you say that when you know nothing?!"

"Because." Blue eyes moved back to lock with silver. "If there's anything worse than having to watch the ones you care about die…it's having to watch the ones you care about die twice."

"How would you know?!" Sasori snapped, fists clenching. He took a step forward, trembling slightly. "You've never had someone die and then come back, only to die again! That's not even possible!"

"…I haven't," Deidara admitted, "but going by logic–"

"I don't give a damn about logic!"

"…!" Deidara stumbled backwards as Sasori's fist collided with his face. "Sasori–!" He stiffened suddenly, as he found himself in an embrace. "Wh…What…?"

"…It's going to happen again…" the redhead murmured, his face pressed into Deidara's shoulder. "…He knows my weakness…and he's going to tell everyone…"

"I…" Deidara hesitantly wrapped his arms around Sasori, not knowing what to say to soothe him.

"And I'll have to go through it all again…only this time…" Sasori's nails dug into Deidara's back. "Only this time, they'll be taunting instead of asking…!"

"It…It'll be alright, un…" Deidara attempted to calm the other, stroking his red hair.

"It won't be!"

"Just calm down…we'll figure something out…" Deidara heard Sasori inhale and waited for him to relax just a little more, to indicate that he had calmed, before asking softly, "Why haven't you changed yet, un?"

"I don't know…" Sasori replied, the tone of his voice cold. "Maybe because you haven't tried to leave."

"…" The blue-eyed of the duo kept silent for a few moments. A small smile lit up his lips suddenly, and he asked, "Hey, you know what?"

"…What?"

"I didn't get a zero on my English homework from yesterday."

"Really."

"Un, I remembered the 'Don't run with scissors' thing."

The tiniest of smiles graced Sasori's expression. "You should've, idiot. If you'd gotten it wrong, I would've kicked your ass."

Deidara chuckled and loosened his hold. "I take it you're feeling more…secure?"

"…I guess."

He had hesitated, which told Deidara that his attempt to make Sasori feel better hadn't worked fully.

"Let's go back in," he offered, stepping back from Sasori. "I'm sure Pain-san and Itachi-san will know what to do."

Sasori said nothing, merely averting Deidara's gaze and nodding slowly.

––––––»

"Sasori!" Itachi stood up as he saw the two other members of Akatsuki approach the table. His eyes narrowed at Deidara as he simply questioned, "How was your compromise?"

Deidara's mouth opened as he started to answer, but Sasori beat him to it with a sharp, "Pain, you owe me so Goddamn much for all that bullshit I went through."

"Orochimaru didn't…"

"Didn't what?" Sasori snapped, cutting Itachi off. He forced himself to calm down after his retort to the Uchiha, and walked over to his seat and sat down.

"Sasori–" At the sight of the silver-eyed male turning away from him, Pain clenched a fist. "Deidara, what happened?"

"…He found Sasori-san's weak point, un," Deidara muttered in reply, stealing a quick look at Sasori's back.

"'Weak point?'" Pain repeated. "You mean…?" When Deidara nodded before going to his seat, he cursed quietly and held his forehead.

"I told you it was just a plan of his to get Sasori," Itachi seethed, glaring at the leader.

"Now what are we going to do?" Konan questioned. "They're going to start targeting Sasori."

"We'll have to keep someone with Sasori at all times…"

"That's impossible!" Hidan argued, getting an evil look from Pain. "Even I know that there isn't someone who's with redhead all the time!"

"I have music, science and gym with him," Pain argued. "So he's set for most of the morning."

"…I have health with him," Hidan grumbled as he stabbed his dango stick into his rice on accident.

"I only have science with him," Itachi informed, his face gaining a tint of anger.

"I sit next to him in art. I could protect him from Tayuya if she ever tries anything, un," Deidara added in.

"He's in my English class," Konan spoke out, twirling some of her hair around her finger.

"That still leaves history and math…" The orange-haired teen turned to Kakuzu. "Don't you have anything with him, Kakuzu?"

"No."

"Kisame?"

"Sorry…"

"Zetsu?"

"Math. But I don't sit near him."

Pain sighed. "We'll just have to have someone check on him after history then."

"I don't need protection," Sasori protested, eyes narrowing.

"Stop acting tough, Sasori," Konan shot back. "If Orochimaru has found your weakness, we can't afford to let you just go around on your own. We need you against Orochimaru, and we care about you."

"…Fine. But Pain owes me."

"I'm aware."

Deidara rested his chin on his arms, vaguely remembering that Kimimaro mentioned having history with Sasori.

Konan doesn't know Sasori's weakness. Just in case that sentence was a little confusing.
School starts in like, two weeks for me. So I might not get much time to write, from now on. D:
Lol, Hidan and Kakuzu finally show themselves in the anime! (-Is one week late and shot-)

〜Arrina