Disclaimer: Not mine, or else Hidan would DIE. I hate religious fanatics. Even though Hidan is somewhat likeable. (He doesn't wear a shirt under his cloak :D)

Warning: Shonen ai. Yaoi. Whatever you call it. Kisame x Deidara and vice-versa.

Thanks to kaja1234 for encouraging me to write more, Naitachal666 for giving me the first constructive criticism I have ever received (and desperately needed, in this case), and to Angelus Eros Weiss and Anime-Dudette for making me feel like I chose a good pairing to write.

2. Dango

"So," Kisame said quietly, squeezing the blonde in his arms gently. "You're off to see the Kazekage tomorrow."

"Yep," Deidara said slowly from his position on the Kiri nin's lap. "Off to go blow up more stuff, un."

"Hmmm."

Silence.

"'Same-san, don't worry, un," the teen said, sensing the other's apprehension. "I'm not going to get myself killed by some kid who's from Sasori-danna's village, un. I wouldn't get to see you again in wherever you go after you die, un."

"…"

The artist turned his head and kissed Kisame on the cheek, one hand rising to stroke his lover's blue hair. The shark-like nin squeezed him tightly again.

"…still don't like it," he grumbled. "Sasori's got a death wish. He can't protect you if he lets himself get killed."

Deidara scowled. "I can take care of myself, un," he said petulantly.

For the third time Kisame held him tight, this time turning into more of a bear hug in a sitting position than a tight squeeze. For a long time, Kisame didn't relax his grip.

"Let's get some dango, un," the blonde said after a while, out of the blue. The Kiri nin blinked.

"Nani?"

The artist pulled himself from Kisame's grasp and turned around. "Dango!" he said brightly. "I feel like something sweet right now, un. And maybe we can torment Itachi-san with it, un! That would be fun, un!"

"Eh?" Kisame said, completely confused. Even after three years with Deidara, he still had no clue how the blonde could change moods so fast.

"Come on, un," the artist said impatiently, standing at the door, pulling on his cloak. He tossed Kisame's huge one to him. "We need to move fast before the stand closes!"

"But the stand's ten kilometers away!" Kisame said surprised. "And it's fifteen minutes to closing time!"

"That's why we need to move fast, un!" Deidara said, dancing with impatience.

"But we won't make in time," Kisame pointed out.

"If we run, yeah, un!" his koi said, and flung open the door. "Come on, un!" He dragged the Kiri nin out the door.

They managed to reach the stand three minutes before it closed. Kisame was bent double, gasping, as Deidara cheerfully bought the last of the dango at the tiny kiosk. Finished with his purchase, he turned to the shark like man and said, "Let's head back, un! I wanna torture Itachi-san, un!"

"Hold on… one minute…" the Kiri nin panted.

The blonde pouted. "You're no fun, un!" he complained. "Can't even take a little exercise, un!"

Kisame straightened as soon as he was able, and glared at his koi. "I am NOT a racer," he said stoutly. "And we were running pretty fast for a long time, so don't tell me it was 'a little exercise!'"

Deidara grinned cheekily, kissed him on the nose, and danced out of arm's length to say "Can't catch me, un!" and ran out of sight.

Kisame growled. He really, really hated it when the blonde did things like that. And so, just to annoy his (rather) hyper boyfriend, he took his time, running leisurely and taking at least a half-hour to get back to the hideout.

When he returned, he found an irritated Itachi walking away from the kitchen area. Seeing his partner, he paused and snapped, "Go tell your boyfriend not to eat so much sugar. He's eaten enough dan- I mean, he's eaten enough to be on a sugar high, and it's driving me crazy."

Kisame blinked at him. "How much has he eaten?" he inquired, mildly amused that Deidara had, in fact, managed to piss off Itachi by eating dango.

Itachi scowled darkly. "Something around twenty helpings. I lost count."

The Kiri nin blanched. There was enough sugar in twenty servings to sweeten a barrel of vinegar, and if just a little sugar could give his lover enough energy to run around the country a few times… definitely no sex tonight. Damn.

He walked into the kitchen and was treated to the sight of Deidara sitting on the table with no shirt or cloak on, eating dango. The bag from the kiosk looked like it was only half-full, and Kisame dreaded the fact that the rest had been eaten already.

The blonde brightened considerably at the sight of the Kiri nukenin, straightening up and waving to him with his free hand, probably trying to say "Hi 'Same-san!", though it came out more like "Hhh 'sme-sn!". He smiled cheerfully around a full mouth that he had stuffed with the sweet red-and-green dumplings, crumbs everywhere.

Kisame at once strode forward and snatched the bag of dango. He peered curiously inside, and was horrified to see that it was indeed only half full. "You ate half the dango!" he cried.

Deidara tried to speak, but only gibberish came out, so instead he nodded enthusiastically. He swallowed several times to regain the use of his mouth, and finally managed to crank out "'s good, 'Same-san, un! Better than usual, un…"

"No more," the Kiri nin said sternly, rolling the top of the bag closed and stowing it in one of his many hidden cloak-pockets. "You've had way to much already."

"No!" cried his koi, and dove for the bag. Kisame kept him at arm's length as the blonde frantically tried to regain his precious sweets.

After several minutes' worth of furious grappling, Deidara went limp. He decided to use Plan B to get his dango back.

"Please, un?" he said, trying his hardest to look pathetic and innocent. "Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

Kisame looked uncomfortable. It was very hard trying to resist that damned puppy-dog eye look. "No."

"Pleeeeeeeeease?" begged Deidara, sensing a crack. He turned up the innocence. "Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"

The Kiri nin's resolve cracked. "Fine," he groaned, and withdrew the bag from his cloak. He handed it back. Deidara squealed and instantly shoved a helping into his mouth happily.

Kisame scowled. "However," he said firmly, "you are getting out of this kitchen. You'll probably tackle Hidan if he comes in here and starts preaching."

"So?" Deidara wanted to know. "He's a religious fanatic who uses long and complicated ceremonies to attack his enemies."

"But if you tackle Hidan and Hidan does one of those freaky ceremonies on you, Sasori won't like it."

"Oh. Yeah." The blonde contemplated this reasoning of logic, and hopped off the table. He started walking.

The Kiri nin snagged his boyfriend's clothes as the other walked out of the room. He hurried out the door and followed the hyper Iwa nin to his room. Where the blonde promptly sat and continued munching on dango.

"You know there's no sex tonight," Kisame pointed out, scowling.

Deidara made an unintelligible sound.

Kisame's scowl became more pronounced. "And I was looking forward to it, too," he grumbled, waiting for the blonde's reaction.

Deidara glared at him.

The Kiri nin inwardly grinned.

Deidara stopped eating dango.

Kisame raised an eyebrow. "What?" he inquired innocently. "Not hungry?"

The blonde tackled him.

"Now, wasn't that fun?" the Kiri nin murmured huskily in his koi's ear. Deidara shivered. Kisame took that as a yes.

"Aren't you happy you stopped eating that stuff?" he pressed.

"…maybe, un."

Yep. Definitely yes that time.

"…it was still good dango, though, un."

A/n- Yes, I have continued this. For one chapter, I had, within a week, four reviews, two favs, and three alerts. So, I edited the first chapter about three different times, reposted it, three different times, and then wrote this. I didn't write a lemon in this chapter because 1) it would make this story seem more like something in a whorehouse, and 2) because I am basically lazy.

Just a note for you guys- if this isn't updated by Sunday July 16th, then it is very likely it won't be updated for another three weeks after that. Because on Sunday my family is moving back to the hell known as Fresno (let's just say… moving to Visalia was a GOOD thing), and a few days after that, we're heading to Ecuador in South America for two weeks. I probably won't have much access to a computer just to check my email and download the latest chapters of Naruto, let alone write a lot of chapters. Unfortunately.

So, until then… ja ne.