A few days passed and I still hadn't given Deidara his shirt back. "Oi, Aelia!" called Deidara from the other side of the door, "Give me back my shirt!" I opened the door, wearing said shirt. "I knew I was forgetting something!" I exclaimed, punching my palm with the bottom part of my fist. "You're wearing it right now!" he exclaimed, annoyed. "Whatever. I'll wash it and give it back if you want." I shrugged. "Seeing your record, I'd rather not trust you with being on time. Take it off." I shot him a puzzled look. "I ain't stripping in front of you." Deidara smirked, "Oh are you sure you wouldn't like that?" I cringed, "Hundred percent. Extra mouths are a huge turn off." I snickered before heading to the bathroom, taking a random shirt to change into on the way.

"There. Take it back." I threw the shirt at him but he tossed it right back. "Keep it. It's all dirty in your girl hormones now anyway." I shot him a confused look. "So let me get this straight: you come into my room, asking for your shirt, only to let me have it right after? Are you okay?" The boy nodded, looking away. Can you get decent please? You're still only wearing a shirt." I smirked. "Wrong! I'm wearing shorts under this." I chuckled, lifting the shirt slightly to reveal the shorts."What's your problem with being indecent everytime I come to your room?" asked Deidara, facepalming "I just like oversized shirts. You're the one getting ideas." I shrugged, turning my back to him and putting my cloak on.

"Should've guessed you'd be wearing your pajamas under that cloak." joked the boy as he opened the door so that I could leave first, "My, what a gentleman, opening the door." the two of us snickered and headed towards the dining room to eat breakfast. "Good morning everyone." I greeted sitting down next to the blonde since that had now become my official seat. "Good morning sweetheart." I growled and looked at where the voice was coming from. "...Hidan…" I said his name with such distaste that some people on the table actually winced.

"Lia-chan, you should try the crepes! They're really good!" exclaimed Tobi. My eyes widened. They have crepes here? "Maybe later Tobi, I'm trying to lose some weight." I remembered it clearly, that dreaded time I stepped on the scale, the widening of my eyes at the number that was on it. "But Lia-chan is already skinny!" exclaimed Tobi. I let out a small sigh, "I wish my scale thought the same too."

Konan let out a sigh, "You shouldn't care about what people think of your body. It's yours." I nodded, "Yeah I know that. My diet is to be healthy, not to be skinny." I reached out for some strawberries and munched on them, glad that they were sweet enough to satisfy me. "Why is a kid your age even worrying about that?" asked Kisame, taking a bite out of his pancake, "Well, should I remind you that I'm a shinobi? I need to be healthy, else I'll be useless." I shrugged, "Also it'd be nice to have a good-looking body." up until now, I'd always worn baggy clothes and long sleeved shirts to hide my self-harm scars. I had stopped cutting after Sasuke told everyone in the team about my issue but obviously most of them were from my past life. Since my body had transferred to this world, I guess my scars decided to stay too, I don't know really, this is too confusing.

"Your body looks fine to me." mumbled Kisame, "That's because you can't see it under these baggy clothes, Kisame." the man smirked, "Most likely. You've got to let men imagine what the body looks like-" I threw my half eaten strawberry at him. "Do I need to write on my forehead that I am a fucking minor?!" people in the room chuckled while I ate my food pink dusting my cheeks. "Besides, you guys wouldn't understand the struggle since all you need to do to be considered handsome is bite your lower lip." Konan choked on her tea due to her laughter.

"Okay first of all, that is NOT true." started Hidan, "Do you know how hard we need to work not to be considered a creep?! And do you know how hard it is to get abs?!" I scoffed, "The only reason why you're being considered a creep in the first place is because you keep talking about your god as if you'd like to fuck him. As for the abs, you're a shinobi, you're bound to have them at some point." I crossed my arms.

"For girls on the other hand, can't be too tall, can't be too short, not too smart but not too stupid as well, she needs to be skinny but also fit. Body fat? Who's she? She needs to have big boobs and a big butt. Did I mention she needs to have hot friends, and god forbid she's confident because my masculinity is so fragile I need to make sure this woman will need my reassurance for anything in life." I finished my rant and took a slice of bread into my hand, "You talk like you've experienced this first hand." snickered Hidan, I glared at him, "I haven't and I don't plan to." I mumbled looking down having lost my appetite. "I'll go out and train. See you guys in a while!" I mumbled, heading out of the hideout and into the forest.

"Alright… I didn't practice this jutsu much so it'll probably end in failure anyway…" I mumbled, taking out my storage scrolls. "Seitoshi: Fuanna tamashī!" I immediately deactivated the seal on the storage scroll, causing the decaying hands, arms, and just plain body parts to spew everywhere before slowly moving on their own. I attached a few chakra strings on the ones that were further away as they were harder to control and tried to make them merge into a person. "C-come on… just a little more…" I groaned, successfully managing to bring the body parts close enough to each other.

I pumped chakra through the strings attached and created some sort of chakra knitting that attached the pieces together, forming them into a person, it was close to impossible to tell the soulless husk and a normal person apart. "Yeah, this is probably the creepiest jutsu ever." I groaned out, manipulating the person I just created and forcing it to raise its hand.

"Okay, now punch!" the thing punched the air violently, the shockwaves coming out of it enough to knock down a couple of trees. I stared at it, eyes wide and chakra reserves nearly at their limit. "Okay, let me just, undo this jutsu real quick." By the time I dispelled the jutsu, I was covered in sweat, the black cloak not helping as the heat from the sun got absorbed into the cloak.

"What kind of place is this?! It rains all the time in the village yet there are no floods, and suddenly, while there is a shit ton of rain on this side, there is none on that! What the fuck?!" I let out a sigh, "I'm getting mad over the wrong thing here." I sighed, dissing down on the ground. I looked around me to notice that many flowers had bloomed all of a sudden, replacing the stench of the decaying body parts. A smile tugged at my lips, "At least you've been granted a second life now."

My smile quickly turned into a frown as I remembered what Sasuke said the day I showed him the new jutsu, "It's not ethical." he had said, "Imagine if that happened to you? Calling your soul back to its body only to obliterate it in the end." I let out a humourless laugh, "Well, sorry to break it to you Sasuke but you were wrong, this jutsu… it grants them a second life…" I let out a small sigh, "That old man really wasn't as bad as I thought." I suddenly felt a presence behind me, recognizing it. "Jiraiya, what up?" I asked, a smile on my face, "You didn't come to kill me did you?" I joked.

The look on his face softened as he recognized my face. "Tsunade told me to bring more people. I refused." my heart sank. "You'll die you know." he nodded, "I'm well aware of that fact." he hesitated for a minute, "I know your mission is important, I won't interfere with that. Just…" he dug into his pockets and got out a white letter. My eyes widened, those letters were written by shinobi when they thought they weren't coming back alive from a mission. They would usually give the envelopes to someone they trusted to give them to the addressed people in case they didn't come back. I gulped.

"This one is for you." I raised a brow and cocked my head to the side, "Why? We didn't even know each other for that long." the man smiled, "Yet you cared enough to warn Tsunade and push your brother into studying with me." I shook my head. "I can't… I don't want you to die." Jiraiya chuckled, "Aelia, this is a book. Some characters, you'll be able to save and some you won't. My death is important in the series, let me play it out." I gulped, "Jiraiya, there'll be no going back you know." the older man nodded.

"You sound just like Tsunade you know…" he snickered before turning around to leave, "Did you confess your love to her?" the man nodded, "It was the least I could do." he replied, turning away, "After I die, I want you to use my body for that jutsu you just performed, give me a second life, let me be of use again." and with those last words, the great writer Jiraiya disappeared off to Ame, walking straight to his death. I stood there for a while, silent as I waited for Jiraiya's battle with Pain to be over. "It's going to be some time about now," I whispered to myself.

Suddenly, an unexplainable amount of dread filled me. "T-that's it. He's gone." I fell on my knees, shaking as I started to take deep breaths to calm myself. "This is the last time I let someone die. I don't care what I have to sacrifice, I just want the power to protect everyone, whether they be a villain or a hero…" I sat there for a while, silent, just letting the air into my lungs as I finally found the courage to open Jiraiya's white letter.

"Dear Aelia,

First of all, don't feel bad that I'm gone. While I will regret not spending time getting to know you better, I look forward to seeing you when you finally cross the bridge one more time and step into the afterlife. To you I send my courage, the courage you'll need to stay undercover and the courage you'll need to survive. If on this side of life I'm able to watch over and help you out, know that I will. If I can't, I'm sure I can at least be waiting for you when you come over. This all may sound silly to you, but what the hell, I'm dead, you really think you can argue with me?

Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. May your second life be better than the first. Know that I'll always be watching over you and your brother, it doesn't matter how life changes either of you. Please watch out for your brother and love and help him protect his new found family. It's a good life, no matter how hard it may be.

Jiraiya."

My eyes watered as I hugged the letter to my chest, "For your sake, I won't cry." I smiled, putting the letter back in the envelope and leaving to where I was going to find Jiraiya's body later on, the lake. I waited for the sun to set and immediately went to the seashore, letting the rain drops drench me as I ran towards the freezing water. Without minding the cold, I immediately threw myself in the water, using some wind chakra to form a barrier around my head to keep oxygen in, I dived, deep into the sea, trying to find the corpse of Jiraiya. I know you told me to use your body in battle but you deserve better than that.

I forced myself to go deeper even when the pressure was so high I thought my head was going to explode. After finally reaching the bottom of the sea, I took out a waterproof flashlight I had been carrying on me and searched for the sannin's body.

I finally found a splash where the water was a slight colour of pink and followed the trail to Jiraiya's remains. His body was impaled with so many metal poles it would be impossible to recognize him if it wasn't for his white hair. Emotions taking over, the wind barrier around me shattered, the pressure becoming way more excruciating as the wind shield was the only thing alleviating the pressure. I grabbed Jiraiya's body and swam to the surface, pulling the sannin's body with me, trying not to touch any of the metal poles just yet.

The pressure became weaker and weaker as I saw to the top, and my arms and legs accelerated, my body desperate to get some oxygen into my lungs. After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the surface. I immediately started coughing, spitting out some water that I had swallowed. I got out of the water and dragged Jiraiya's body on the sand, resting him there for a second before pulling the rods, one by one out of the sannin's body. "Heh, the Tales of Jiraiya The Gallant have come to an end it would seem…" tears decorated the sides of my eyes but I never let them hit the ground.

"I'll bring you back. I'll bring all of them back, I promise. So please… wait for it okay? Patiently wait for the inevitable war. I promise I'll do whatever it takes. I'll trade my life for you guys' and then everyone will be happy so just wait." I took out a small vial out of my pocket, "I'll use a part of you in battle." I said, filling the small vial with what was left of the sannin's blood. "I'll send your body to Konoha so you get to have a funeral." I took out a messaging croll and drew Konoha's symbol on it, indicating that it was meant to go to Konoha.

I stuck the sigil on Jiraiya's body, closing his eyes before activating the sigil. "May you rest in peace Jiraiya." I said with a sad smile, clutching his now damp letter to my chest. "I'll never forget you." I breathed out, watching as the sannin's body slowly faded away with the wind, going to where it was supposed to be. "I'm sorry I won't be able to attend your funeral." I said with a sad smile, "But I hope you'll be able to attend mine in the end."

With those last words, I turned around and left, feeling numb as I realized I hadn't stopped holding on to one of the rods that had killed Jiraiya. I examined it, my eyes dull, noticing the kanji for four written on it. "Four… the number of Death…" I murmured, deciding to keep the rod. "I'll go to the armory tomorrow and make you into a battle axe." I decided, noticing just how empty my voice sounded. After a few minutes of walking, I realised that my legs had taken me to Amegakure's armory. "Looks like today is the day." I mumbled. "Sir. Do you have any battle axes?" I asked while squeezing the water out of my Akatsuki cloak.

The man nodded but before he could go down, I stopped him, "Could you just attach the metal part to this rod please?" I asked, the man nodded, ignoring the blood that stained more than half the metal. "Please pick one." the man demanded, showing me a variety of axe endings. Not knowing much about weapons, I looked the man dead in the eye and said, "Please just attach your strongest and sharpest end to it." the man nodded happily, knowing that he was about to make a lot of money that day.

"You may come back to retrieve it tomorrow, that's the soonest it'll be done." I nodded, "I'll pay once I get the axe. I'll come retrieve it at noon. Please be here." the man nodded and saluted me in a playful manner. I returned the gesture, not finding it in me to smile. "I wish you a good night." I spoke and left the store, heading towards the Akatsuki hideout. About thirty minutes later, I finally reached the hideout, the sun had already set a long time ago so I assumed everyone would be asleep. I entered the hideout and headed towards the lobby, wanting to cool my head for a while.

"Not going to eat dinner?" asked Konan from the dining table, "I'm not hungry." I answered, getting up from the chair I had sat on and stopping by the library door, "I'll be in the library if anyone needs me." I heard Hidan call "We won't." as I entered the room. I ignored him, too tired to respond with a snarky comment.

I picked a random book from the thousands of shelves that were present in the room and sat down in a random chair and started reading. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Sadly, since the original version is in russian and that isn't even a thing here, I had to read it in japanese which honestly saddened me. "I wish I could read the original." I mumbled, flipping through the pages and sighed. "I have a love hate relationship with this book." I muttered, shutting it quietly and putting it away. "I relate to the character a little, he sees himself as superior to others which keeps him from relating to anyone. I used to be like that." I told myself, "But at this point even I know that just knowing things won't help me prevent the inevitable."

I flinched at the sound of a knock on the door. "This isn't my room you know, you don't need to knock." I said to whoever was on the other side. "Assumed you needed some time alone," said the voice. "I do. Fuck off." The voice chuckled, "That's no way to talk to your partner now is it?" So the voice behind the door belongs to Deidara… "I really need some alone time so if you could please…" I trailed off, he knew what I mean anyways so what's the point? "You need to eat, you know? You didn't eat much breakfast this morning as well, you can get anemic." I let out a sigh, "Deidara, I'm a medic, I'll be the judge of when I need to eat."

"Fine. I tried." I heard his footsteps become distant and let out a small sigh of relief. "I need some time to process this." I murmured, deciding not to leave the library for the rest of the night. "I'll just sleep here. It's not like many people come to the library anyways." I sat in my seat for the rest of the night, already knowing that I wasn't going to get much sleep. I reopened the book I was previously reading and continued.

After a few more pages, I came across a quote that hit close to home, "Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love" I let out a humourless laugh, "Fyodor you bastard…" I mumbled, shutting the book once and for all. "Knowing people so well." I murmured, getting comfortable in the chair and slowly drifting off to sleep.

I woke up in my bed this morning. "What the…" I let out a small sigh, "Someone probably brought me back…" I mumbled, noticing how raspy my voice had been. I got out of bed and got ready for another day. "Oh right… my battle axe will be ready at noon today…" I immediately wore my clothes and left my shared room with Konan, she had already left by the time I was awake. I headed towards the lobby and sat down. "Come join us for breakfast." ordered Pain. I let out yet another sigh and got up to join them.

"Yeesh! You look horrible!" commented Tobi, I shrugged, "I didn't get much sleep last night." I said, not touching anything that was on the table. "Eat." demanded Deidara as he put some eggs on my plate. "I'm not hungry." I declared, my voice void of any emotion, "Did I ask you to eat? No, I ordered you to." just as I was about to protest, an egg was shoved into my mouth. I swallowed the bite, almost choking on it. "Fine. Now that I've done what you asked, I'd like to leave." Deidara put a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to sit back down.

"What crawled up your ass and died? You look like a fucking zombie, un!" he exclaimed, leaving his hand on my shoulder to keep me down in case I try to leave again. "I'm just not feeling it today." I said with a shrug, "You weren't "feeling it" yesterday either." said Pain, "You just went into the library and fell asleep there." mumbled Deidara, "I had to carry you to your room!" he whined, "So that way you, huh…"

I said while scratching my chin, "Thanks I guess-" some more food was shoved into my mouth. "You were way too light so you're not leaving this table until you eat." the blonde mumbled, "What are you, my mom? I'm old enough to decide if I want to eat so get your hands away from me and leave me alone!" I got up and left, hearing the very annoying comment of Hidan as I walked past him. "Bitches really do be crazy…" he said under his breath. I rolled my eyes and left, not having time for his shenanigans.

I looked at my watch and noticed that it was noon, I counted the money that was in my pockets and decided that it would probably be enough for a custom made battle axe. "Good morning sir, do you have my axe ready?" I asked, the man nodded, a bright smile on his face as he handed me his finished work, "Now be careful because it's very sharp." the man widened his eyes as I slightly cut my balm using the blade, "It really is sharp! I barely touched it," I said, satisfied. "I've noticed you're a shinobi, so I made adjustments so that you can charge the blade with chakra." I smiled at the man.

"Here's your money. I hope it's enough." the man counted the bills, nodding when he was done, "It's more than enough." I shot him a slight smile, "Then perhaps you should keep it. I believe I'll be here quite often." the man nodded and smiled as I left. I examined the axe, my thumb brushing over the carving of the kanji for four ever so slightly. I immediately noticed I felt better, as though a part of Jiraiya was now forever with me. It sounds stupid I know, I mean… why would anyone want to carry around the very thing that killed someone important to you as though it was a prize, but it really did make me feel as though he was with me, guiding me.

I strapped the axe on my back and went to the Akatsuki "training grounds" which mostly just consisted of a forest with a few knocked over trees. I unstrapped the axe and swung it at a tree, cutting its branch effortlessly. I noticed something shift around me as a small flash of light appeared next to my head. Next thing I know, a small section of my hair is now white.

"Nice axe you got there." I turned around to meet Deidara's gaze. "Thanks. Just bought it." he nodded and sat down on a log near me, patting the seat next to him. I strapped my axe to my back and sat down next to him. "What is bothering you?" he asked, a caring look in his eyes. "Tell me." I looked away from him, "It's personal." I mumbled, remembering Jiraiya's letter, "Well it had upset you and made you more of a pain in the ass than you usually are so I'd really like to know, un." I chuckled at his joke and met his eyes once more. He really does care, doesn't he?

"It's just…" I started, begging my tear ducts not to give up on me in front of the boy, "An old friend of mine died yesterday. I'm just sad I couldn't be there for him in his last moments." Deidara nodded, "I see." Suddenly, the boy grabbed the side of my head and rested it on his shoulder. "What are you doing?" I chuckled, not moving from his grasp, "W-well, I'm comforting you, un." he said, flustered, I laughed once again, "Thank you."

"D-don't go getting used to it." he mumbled. "Wouldn't dream of it," I yawned, comfortable in the position that I was in. "Who was this friend that died?" asked Deidara after a long pause. "That's a secret." I mumbled, "Besides, he's gone now so what's the point of talking about it?" The blonde shook his head, disagreeing, "If it's going to make you feel better, I'm all ears." I chuckled, "Thanks but no, I think it's just going to make me cry if I talk about it."

The boy rested his head against mine, "What's wrong with that? Everybody cries, un." I chuckled, "I promised him I wouldn't cry." Deidara let out a humourless laugh, "If we all kept our promises the world would be a better place." I nodded, not minding if the moment never ended. Am I seriously about to have a crush on my teammate? I can't… I can't do that to myself or to him, I'm nothing but a spy after all. I shut up and let my head rest on his shoulder for a while, enjoying his warmth.

"Do you know who killed him?" he asked after a moment. I nodded once again, "But it's pointless, that person is way more powerful than I am, I couldn't hope to defeat him in a thousand years." I chuckled humorlessly. Deidara raised a hesitant hand and put it on my head. "You'll be fine." he mumbled, stroking my hair gently. No stop that, I'm going to catch feels if you don't. I hummed gently as I enjoyed the feeling of his fingers running through my hair, "Aw, what a cute couple!" I heard Hidan mock from behind us. I immediately blushed and pulled away from the blonde.

"S-shut up!" I exclaimed, face red. "W-whatever I'm heading back inside." I mumbled, getting my stuff and helping Deidara up. The two of us stayed silent all the way to the hideout. After a few minutes, we entered said place and went our own ways. "Aelia, you got a new weapon." stated Kisame, I nodded, a small smile on my face. "Looks like it was all that I needed to cheer me up." I said with a smile. Plus a few headpats from Deidara who's now apparently my crush. I went to the kitchen to grab myself a cup of tea.

"Would you like some too?" I asked the blonde, he nodded, "Thanks." he mumbled, reaching out to grab the cup. "Eh~ Aelia, of course you're going to be nice to him~" teased Hidan, snickering from behind me, "S-shut up. You know nothing." I mumbled, looking away from him and walking towards Deidara, handing him the cup of warm tea. Hidan snuck up from behind me and pushed me into Deidara, causing me to drop the cup and fall. The boy caught me before I could hit the ground, holding me by the waist. "The hell?!" I exclaimed, glaring at Hidan, holding my hand in slight pain. "I spilled hot water all over myself," I mumbled walking towards the sink to wash my burned hand with cold water. "What gives?!" exclaimed Deidara, glaring at Hidan.

The man did nothing other than snicker. "Just let him have his fun… fucking man-child." I muttered sitting on the couch. "What's going on?" asked Konan, confused. Hidan snickered while Deidara and I blushed. "I caught-" the two of us jumped on him and clasped our hands on his mouth. "Shut up!" exclaimed the blonde. Kakuzu rolled his eyes, "Based on context, I'll assume the two of you were caught fucking." I whipped my head around, "That's not it at all you pervert!" I exclaimed, my face flushed. "Yeah it's way worse than that." said Hidan since Deidara and I unclasped our hands from his mouth.

"No it wasn't, you idiot!" screamed Deidara, "What could be so bad that Hidan teases you about it?" asked Kisame, now interested. "I-it wasn't anything bad! Jeez just let it go!" I exclaimed, face redder than Gaara's hair. "I caught them having a moment~" singsonged Hidan, jumping around like a schoolgirl. "What kind of moment?" asked Kisame, now even more interested. "It wasn't a moment!" Deidara and I exclaimed in unison. "You were stroking her hair~" continued Hidan.

Deidara and I blushed, "I was comforting her as a friend, un." he mumbled, looking away, "She was resting her head on your shoulder." pointed out Hidan. "Like he said, I needed comforting." I mumbled looking away, "Comforting from what?" Pain asked, standing in front of the lobby. "Depends. How long have you been standing there?" I asked, trying to decide how elaborate my lie had to be. "The entire time." I let out an "Oh." then just threw the battle axe at him. He caught it and nodded in understanding. "I'm sure you understand why I did it."

I nodded, even though I didn't understand one bit. "Then why are you mad?" he asked, "You prolonged it. Made sure he felt the pain." he nodded, "But why do you care anyway? He was one of the first people to sell you out." I shrugged, "I respected him. It doesn't go any further than that." he nodded, "I'm going to assume you knew of our past together." I nodded, "I'm still angry though." Pain shrugged, "I don't have to explain myself to you." he threw the axe back to me and walked back to his office. "I know you don't." I sighed, making myself another cup.

"So wait he was the one who…" Deidara trailed off after seeing me nod. "Told you there was nothing I could do about it." I shot him a sad smile and sat down next to him. "So you cuddled Lia-chan because she was sad." assumed Tobi, crossing his arms, "Deidara-senpai, you've never done that to me when I was upset!" he exclaimed, angry. "She's a sensitive person, dimwit!" exclaimed Deidara, crossing his arms and taking a sip from the tea I gave him.

"B-besides, we didn't cuddle." I added, "Upset?" teased Hidan, snickering. "Ugh! Can you stop being an ass for one second?! Go find a sacrifice for Jashin or something, you weirdo!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms and turning away from him, "So that you can go back to cuddling with your darling?" I let out a sigh, giving up on contradicting the man. "Whatever I'm done at this point." Hidan continued snickering while I tried to tune his voice out.

"Lia-chan, you'd cuddle Tobi if he was sad, right?" asked the boy, probably giving me puppy eyes from behind his mask. "Uh… sure." I said with a smile. "Good because Tobi feels sad!" the boy threw himself on me and hugged the air out of my lungs. "T-Tobi… I can't breathe." I could feel my face turn purple as Tobi continued to squeeze me. "You won't escape Tobi that easily!" exclaimed the masked man as he tightened his hold. "O-oi be careful you're choking her!" exclaimed the blonde, pushing Tobi off of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, noticing that I coughed a few times. "Y-yeah no worries." I mumbled, rubbing my throat. "Eh~ I thought you of all people would've enjoyed being choked." snickered Hidan. "I'm fifteen, man keep it in your pants." Hidan continued to snicker while I tended to poor Tobi that had fallen down. "Next time don't squeeze me so tight okay?" I said, helping him up. "Tobi is sorry… he didn't mean to hurt Lia-chan." I gave the boy a small hug, patting his head, "Aw, Tobi you're so cute!" I exclaimed, ruffling his hair. "Lia-chan isn't mad?" he asked, jumping around like a puppy, "No, I'm not mad," I chuckled.

Hidan leaned into Deidara's ear, whispering just loud enough for the two of us to hear, "Bet you're real mad you're not the one she's hugging, huh," Konan chuckled from her seat, indicating that she had heard as well. "I'm not going to stop hearing about this tonight aren't I?" I asked her. The woman chuckled, "Come on, our chats aren't that bad."

"Sure." I mumbled, taking the last sip of my tea, putting the cup into the sink, too lazy to wash it. "What do we have for dinner?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject. "Oh you know, a few natural aphrodisiacs…" replied Hidan, giving a bottle of pills to Deidara, "They'll help you get some." he said. Deidara thanked the missing nin before exploding the container. "You're sick." said Konan as she shot a death stare at the man. "Telling him to drug a girl, what's wrong with you?" I continued, "We're all missing nin, what's one drugged girl going to do?" Hidan defended himself.

"I genuinely believe you are everything that is wrong on this earth." I said, annoyed. Hidan let out a sigh, threw his hands in the air and left the lobby, going into the library. "Well then… what do we have for dinner?" I asked once again. Konan shrugged, "It's your turn to cook." I facepalmed. "Right… I'll figure something out." I looked at the time and noticed that it was in fact almost time for dinner. "Fuck this shit I'm making pizza." I immediately went to the kitchen and got out some ingredients. "Pizza? What's that?" asked Deidara.

"It's basically just bread with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperonis which is basically pork." he nodded. "Sounds weird." he said, "Tastes better than it sounds." I countered a small smile on my face. "You can help me if you want." the boy shrugged, "Whatever might as well." he got up from his seat and came to the counter, helping me make the dough and just make everything.

After about thirty minutes, we popped the raw pizza in the oven and went to wash our hands. "This was fun, un!" exclaimed Deidara, sitting down only to stand back up, "It smells so good!" he exclaimed, craning his neck to shoot a look at the oven. "Tobi wants to know what's in the oven." declared Tobi. "Pizza." Deidara said while getting up and helping me set the table. "Tobi thinks it smells nice." he said with a smile, "But Tobi would love to eat anything Lia-chan makes." I blushed at that, "Thanks Tobi, that's really nice of you to say."

Forty minutes passed and it was now time to take the pizza out of the oven. "That looks good." complimented Kakuzu, taking a slice, "Tastes good too." I thanked him and took a bite as well. So long my diet. I ate about two slices before feeling "full." Obviously I wasn't, in fact I was even hungrier now, but one can't look like an animal in front of their crush. "What, you barely ate!" exclaimed Tobi as he put some more food on my plate. "I'm really full Tobi, you should eat though." I smiled as I handed his slice back. "If you say so, Lia-chan!" exclaimed the boy as he took a bite of the pizza. He's so gullible…

I got up from my seat and bid everyone farewell, "I'll be in the library." I twisted the knob of the door that led to the library, Hidan's face appearing in front of me as I opened the door. "Hey there." I greeted, pushing past him and getting into the library. "What book are you reading currently?" I asked, noticing that he was about to leave, "The Great Gatsby." he answered, I widened my eyes, "Never would've thought of you as a classics guy." the man shrugged, "People aren't always the way they seem." and with that, he left the room, probably to join the rest of the Akatsuki.

I climbed to the top shelf using a ladder and picked out an old book. Surprisingly, it was written in the russian alphabet. "What the…" I opened the book and flipped through the pages, "Is russian an ancient language here or something? How did this book get in here?" I decided not to think much of it and put the book back to its shelf. Suddenly though, the door opened, surprising me to the point where I lost my balance.

"W-woah!" I exclaimed, falling back, "I got you!" exclaimed Deidara in panic, but before I could tell him that I could most likely land on my feet, I fell on top of the boy, causing him to fall as well. "Owie… Are you alright?" I asked him, getting up and extending my hand at him, "Y-yeah, thanks." The boy took my hand and pulled himself up. "Why did you rush here all panicked?" I asked. The boy blushed before answering, "Hidan told me you found my art room." I cracked up, "Your art room is in the library?" he nodded, "If you pull one of the books on that shelf. A door will appear."

"Is it so bad that I had potentially found your art room?" I asked, chuckling. The blonde shook his head, "I was going to show you it anyway. I just... you know… didn't want you to see it until I was ready." I nodded, "And I respect that but… can I see it please, please, please?" Deidara chuckled, "Sure. Why not. Get ready to be blown away… pun intended, un." the boy reached out for a book behind me and pulled it, causing me to fall backwards.

"You planned that." I mumbled, pulling myself up. The blonde snickered. "Of course." I got up and turned around. Countless drawings of people, animals, birds, there was a pottery roller at the corner of the room, a few clay birds sitting on a desk near said roller. "These are beautiful." I exclaimed, looking around the room in amazement. "Did you make all of this?" the blonde nodded proudly, "See, my art is just as beautiful as I claim it to be, un!" I shook my head, holding a clay bird in my hands, "It's way more beautiful than how you describe it!"

I picked up a drawing, recognizing Konan and the rest of the Akatsuki on the canvas. I checked the date, this was a week before I had joined. I smiled at the drawing, seeing smiles on everyone. "Huh…" I mumbled noticing that I had never really seen either Zetsu anywhere. "Where are the Zetsus? I haven't seen them around at all." Deidara shrugged, "They usually leave for long periods of time. They'll probably be back in about a month or two."

I nodded, finding the fact suspicious. Perhaps they decided to speed up their plan? I shook the idea out of my head and focused my attention on Deidara. "Wanna try to spin it?" he asked, his signature smirk on his face. I joined him near the roller and sat down. "Why not. Gotta get my hands dirty at some point." the two of us chuckled as I spinned the roller and made a futile attempt at creating a bowl. "Oh my gosh you suck!" laughed Deidara while I pouted. "Oh shut up, this is my first time!" the boy continued to laugh and took my hands into his. "You've got to be gentle."

My cheeks flushed at the contact but I forced it away. Don't hurt yourself more than you have to. He'll hate you after learning that you're nothing but a spy after all. Get over these stupid feelings and focus on your mission. You aren't here to play. But on the other hand… he's so sweet and kind to me, he cares about me even though we've known each other for about a month at most. "There now if you pull up slightly, you'll have your shape."

I looked at the bowl we'd created in amazement. "Woah that's so cool!" I exclaimed, a slight smile tugging at my lips. "Hehe, of course it's cool. I'm teaching you after all!" exclaimed the blonde, standing up. "Now, let's wash our hands." I said, a little sad my time in Deidara's art room was over. "Do you do any art?" I nodded, remembering the poetry I used to write about my life with my parents. "I used to…" Deidara's eyes lit up. "Really?! What kind?" I scratched the back of my head, "It's very different to your kind of art." I said chuckling awkwardly, but it was obvious Deidara wasn't going to let it go.

"Art is art! No matter what shape or form it is in." I let out a sigh, defeated. "I used to write poetry…" I said silently, drying my hands with a towel. Deidara's eyes lit up once again, "Really?! I'd love to read some one day. Do you plan on ever writing again?" I looked into his mesmerising blue gray eyes. "I-I might…" I murmured looking away, suddenly incredibly shy. Stupid Aelia, letting yourself fall for the enemy

We left Deidara's art room and headed to our respective rooms. "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning." I said with a slight smile on my face. "Let's go on a mission tomorrow." suggested Deidara, I nodded, though it did make me feel happy, another part of me knew that this mission would probably be as awkward as the last. "Tobi will be there too," the blonde added quickly. I chuckled at that, "Of course he'll be there. We are a team after all."

I headed to my room and threw myself on the bed, falling asleep instantly.