Hey, glad to see some people liked the second chapter to 'Juunin Toiro.' Very glad, thanks so much, (insert bow). I'm so sorry about taking so long to post this chapter, schools held me back as has acting, work, and other crap so I'm sorry. Thanks for the positive feedbacks though, and I'm happy to say my birthday passed (3/28) and I turned 17 so hooray! Sorry, had to add that in.

Note: Juunin Toiro is a fic I've been planning to write for a while, originally with two different main characters. This fic was very much inspired by Hurricane-Rider's 'Vindicated' and Junsui Kegasu's 'Lost and Found.' Both fics have further pushed me into writing this and I thank their creators, I hope to write a GaaraNeji fic someday soon.


"Juunin Toiro"

Chapter Three: Before I Forget

By Invader Nicole


Deidara sighed in content satisfaction as he entered his second period class and noticed he still had two minutes left. He watched as students, some older and some younger than himself, were in a frenzy to get as much work as possible done. Some ran from one end of the class to the other, carrying clear files with negatives and others were waving wet photos in the air, letting droplets of water hit the ground in hopes of drying the photo faster. 'This is insane, yeah,' Deidara thought as the last few students left the room with their photos in hand and a binder in the other. A few kids were already in their seats, watching him and wondering if he was an advanced student or even an independent study kid.

Deidara ignored their wondering stares as he looked around the large room for the teacher. Kurenai had written on his schedule that he was a new student at the school and entering the second semester although the classes had started about a day or two earlier. His eye scanned the area around him, fascinated by the many photography tools and different doors. In an attempt to open the one that said 'camera room' he found it to be locked. As he reached for the second door on the right his hand paused before the handle. He felt a strong grip on his elbow keeping him from opening said door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The students inside might get angry were you to expose their film."

Deidara turned, noting that many people liked to appear behind him and scare the living crap out of him. It was a tall, man with long black hair that reached to the mid-back section of his Jounin vest, a few layered bangs falling in front of his gold serpentine eyes outlined in a purple tattoo. Deidara shivered at the older males pale white skin, seeing a close resemblance to a sickly grey over his prominent cheekbones. Deidara was somewhat stunned by his hiss-like voice as he stated more than asked, "And you must be my new student, Deidara-kun."

"Hai," Deidara said after a few seconds, snapping out of his stupor. "Um, why couldn't I open this door again?"

"That, Deidara-kun, is the film loading room. I'm sure you're aware that if you expose your film to any light, even the faintest, you will ruin all your shots and have nothing to make into photographs. In the room you were about to open are some of my higher students, loading their film onto reels and into tanks as we speak. I'm sure they would've been quite angry at you were you to open the door and erase all their hard work."

Deidara took a step back from the door, almost worried that his presence would open the door. He watched as his teacher went back to his desk, telling the class to settle down as the bell rang. Deidara decided to find a seat as well, but before he could he saw the doors handle turn slowly before opening in towards the room. Deidara prayed that the people inside weren't going to barrage him for almost exposing their film. Instead Deidara saw a lone figure in the doors way, his eye connected with a pair of honey-colored eyes with long black lashes. The guy in front of him stood at about the same height as him and had a short, tousled auburn brown hair, his skin a shade of apricot peach.

Their eyes connected for about two seconds before the person before him muttered a low 'sumimasen' and Deidara moved away from the doorway he was blocking. He watched as the boy walked towards the long-haired teacher and asked him something. From the teachers facial expressions he could see he was slightly annoyed, but complied anyway; handing the boy a pass and telling him "Sasori-kun, this is the last time this week, okay?" The boy, Sasori, merely nodded before leaving the room in a hurry. Deidara stood there in shock for a few more minutes before snapping out of his daze and walking towards an empty seat, sitting down and deciding to avoid his classmates.

"Hey. Psst, hey, blondie."

'Lord Buddha, help me,' thought Deidara someone decided to avoid his put-off attitude and was attempting to get his attention. From what he could tell so far it was a male, his spiky blonde hair and tan skin somewhat sticking out in the class; that and the fact that he'd been loudly whispering to the other blonde for five whole minutes. 'Just ignore whoever it is, probably just some pervert.' Deidara reached into one of his deep pockets on the side of his pants and slid his finger-less glove off. He could feel the tongue searching for clay inside his pocket, licking at the small area until it finally found a bit of brown clay to chew on. As Deidara began to think of what to make something was thrown at his skull, propelling him forward until his forehead hit the table.

"Shit!" Deidara cursed as he stood up suddenly and knocked his chair backwards. He clutched his throbbing forehead in both hands and whispered curses under his breath as the blonde stared silently before stammering in a stream of apologies. As he pulled his hands back he noticed the smear of blood across his palms and the warm liquid trickling from his nose.

"Naruto, you stay after class so that I may speak with you. Deidara, go to the nurse," Orochimaru said as he wrote out a slip and handed it to the blonde.

Deidara only nodded as he accepted the pass and stuffed it into his pocket before leaving the classroom with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He didn't turn a glance to the one dubbed Naruto who had thrown the now identified book at him, or to the curious classmates. He looked to the right then to the left of the hallway outside the photography room, having no clue as to where to go. Deciding searching around would be a better option than waiting for someone he turned to the left of the hall. As he walked his step was less straight, a little disoriented from blood loss until he could vaguely see a door next to him. Partially open he could see two students inside the classroom; the reddish-brown hair guy with the honey eyes he saw from photography and a girl with long, melon pink hair sitting next to him. Suddenly he felt a wave of nausea come over him as the pain from his nose, head, and the night before finally caught up with him and he stumbled, his hand reaching for the doors frame before his body fell to the floor.

"Holy shit! Sasori, get Kakashi, someone just fainted at the door!" was the last thing he heard before his eyesight left him.


'Why, out of all electives the school provided, had I decided to take independent study for the second time this year?' thought Sasori as he stared at his empty canvas, an array of pastels strewn across the table in front of him.

Tayuya sat across from him, her back to the classroom's door and her hair tied at the nape of her neck to keep it from blocking her eyes. This being her first year in independent study so she didn't know of the oncoming headaches that were sure to come with the art course. She herself was sketching a portrait of Sasori, taking a few glances of him before using the charcoal for emphasis on his eyes. Sasori stared at the art room door, to the clock, then to his canvas with all the boredom and anguish he possessed. Kakashi had instructed them to do some creative drawing for the period, anything that came to interest at the moment. The problem was he didn't know what to draw; he lacked inspiration ever since the new semester started and he didn't know what to do.

"It isn't so bad, Sasori." Sasori looked back to the girl in front of him, her dark brown eyes looking at him as though to bring him out of his trance-like state. Although she was a senior and he was a junior they were still good friends after having shared art courses together, him having to show her some tricks and tips throughout the courses. "I'm sure you'll get some inspiration soon, just wait a while."

Sasori sighed in frustration as he noticed Tayuya said 'wait a while' which in her words meant 'wait till you get laid then draw your brains out from the passion.' That's what she used to say aloud until Sasori's last breakup, the mere mention of any other relationship would make him angry and detached. "Right, just wait," Sasori said more to himself then to her as he stared at the rainbow of pastels. Just as he was reaching for the gold yellow pastel he stopped, Tayuya's voice yelling at him to call Kakashi about something. He watched as his friend ran to the door where someone had fainted and she was picking him up although they were about the same height. 'Wait, I know that kid.' Sasori was sure that was the beginning student that almost exposed his film that morning before Orochimaru had stopped him.

"He's not here, Tayuya, I think he's in the math wing of the building." Sasori said after looking for their art sensei in the small room. They both new that the math wing of the school could either be in the fourth floor of the old building or the 4th floor of the new building, and that was only assuming if Kakashi was even in the math wing to begin with. Sasori looked over to the smaller male, noticing the small trail of blood from his nose, his pale face, and unconscious state. He sighed before bending over and lifting the blonde onto his shoulders, Deidara's stomach and chest against his back as Sasori's arms held onto Deidara's legs. He bent over a bit to make sure the blonde didn't slip off before getting up slowly and walking to the stairs that led to the nurse, Tayuya behind him to make sure they both got their safely.


'Where. . . am I? Head hurts, a lot, yeah.'

The first thing Deidara saw when he opened his one eye was a white brick wall. Focusing more he realized he was sleeping with his face to the room wall and his back to the rest of the room. He winced from the small pain as he turned from the side he landed on before noticing he was in a white room, a door slightly open on his left with voices on the other side. Slowly Deidara got up and went to the door, picking up his stray backback that rested against the wall before peeking through the crack.

"You can come out now if you're feeling better, Deidara-kun."

Deidara obeyed and fully opened the door to see that the speaker was a young female who appeared a few years older than himself. Her hair was long, blonde, and tied into two separate ponytails against her back, a small blue diamond in the middle of her forehead. "I am Tsunade, head nurse and doctor of the school. You fainted from blood loss and fatigue so you were brought here. Are you feeling any better?"

Deidara took all this in, not really remembering much after walking half way down the hall then waking up. "Yes, I do feel better, but I don't really remember much."

Tsunade smiled weakly at Deidara as he stared at the floor and avoided meeting her soft brown eyes. From reading his medical record she knew why he avoided the subject so she decided to not touch upon it, for now anyway. "If you're feeling better I'll have one of my assistants take you to your next class. You've been out for second period and half of third. Sakura, please take Deidara-kun to his next class."

Deidara turned to see a girl about an inch shorter than him walk towards him, bow to himself and Tsunade and leave the room. As they walked he took in what little info he could see of her to remember for later usage. Long bubblegum pink hair held with a white hair tie, the bangs held back by two white bobbles on each side. Greens eyes outlined in pine green shadow, silver glitter, and black mascara. Her red tank top was of a Chinese design and clung nicely to her thin frame along with white elbow-length gloves and a long, black skirt that practically reached the floor.

"Deidara-san?"

"Yes, Sakura-san, was it?"

"Hai, but are you feeling all right? You've been spacing at since we left the nurses' office and we're already outside your classroom."

"What!" Deidara asked as he stopped and sure enough they were outside a classroom. He didn't even remember anything except leaving the office and turning a left down a hall with the pinked-haired teen, and already they were at his next class. "How long have we been walking?" Deidara asked nervously.

Sakura blinked, surprised before saying "We went through a hallway, up a stairwell in the new building, up two more flights to the 4th floor new building, then crossed the bridge and took one more flight of stairs to get to the 4th floor old building."

Deidara looked at his converse disappointedly. He'd spaced out again and still didn't know how to get through the school without help. Worst of all he failed to remember anything other than Sakura and Tsunade.

"You don't remember much about your past; do you, Deidara-san?"

Deidara looked up at the girl who he just met. 'Did she know?' Deidara bit his lip in worry, hoping Tsunade hadn't told anyone his secret. Sakura decided to drop the subject since it was obviously making the blonde junior nervous. Instead she smiled and nodded to the door marked room 411. "This is your chemistry class; Tsunade-sensei told me where to take you to since your new."

Deidara only nodded before opening the door and entering. The full class turned to him, glad for a distraction from the speeches of the Periodic Table elements and such. As Deidara took in the teacher's appearance he thought it a bit . . . strange, to say the least. He was about six foot two and wore a pair of grey goggles to hold back his black, spiked hair from falling into his face. His eyes were narrowed slightly, giving his small black eyes the appearance of a warrior more so than a teacher. A black muscle shirt was hidden under an un-buttoned white lad coat, the hem reaching the floor and the sleeves a grey camouflage color to his wrists. His pants were a paled blue color with then, black vertical lines running along to mid-calf, white bandages and black sandals (shinobi brand) over took the rest of his legs. 'What the fuck . . . ?'

"You must be my student, Tsuchikage Deidara. You're late. I make no exceptions for the spawn of any Kages' so don't think you can get away with this, only because it's your first day." Deidara caught the faint rasp in his sensei's voice; not of age or tenderness, but more of one who yells far too much for his vocals to handle that ultimately led to a much harsher voice then needed.

'What the hell's this guy's problem? Only reason I'm late is 'cause I freakin' fainted.' Ready to tell his teacher so, before he could Deidara realized he didn't even know the teachers name yet.

"Shitsurei shimasu, Zabuza-sensei, but it's not Deidara-san's fault that he's late. A problem occurred in his last class in which he had to be sent to the nurse," piped up Sakura as she saw Deidara's anger flash across his features. "He fainted on the way there and was brought by Sasori-san and Tayuya-san before he regained consciousness. Tsunade-sensei has asked that I bring him back now since he admitted that he was feeling better."

'Sasori and Tayuya? Who are they . . . ? ' were the words that slowly eased through the blonde's mind.

Deidara gave her the 'whoa' look before turning to the one entitled Zaubza. A calculating look crossed his eyes before he half-nodded, almost unbelievingly before dismissing Sakura from the class. He turned to Deidara and pointed to a seat in the middle of the sea of students, saying "You're seats over there, start page 45 and do the work at the end of the chapter, due tomorrow," in his low, raspy voice. A nod was returned back with a low 'Hai' as Deidara half-limped to his chair and sat down with his book bag falling from the crook of his elbow to the tiled floor. Realization dawned on him as he saw that he had no page 45 to turn to, nor did he have the bloody book he needed. Banging his head slowly, but softly against the schools fake wooden chairs he wondered if he continued this he would go to the nurse again and miss class. His self-beating was stopped as he felt a soft tap on his right shoulder and turned, only to double take back into his desk as he was greeted with a pair of sky blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, spiky blonde hair and a tan face with cat-like whiskers across the cheeks.

"What the hell do you want!" Deidara yelled, remembering all too clearly he was the one who'd caused him to have to go to the nurse in the first place.

"No, wait! Lem'me explain," Naruto said as he began to stand and reach out to calm the panicking, older blonde.

Deidara began to shake, his mind playing tricks on him and distorting Naruto's image to that of a more horrifying one. Gold became platinum, longer and silkier. The eyes narrowed and changed from the friendly sky color to freezing ice, warm san-graced to pale, cold-to-the-touch skin. He saw the small, tan hand reaching out to him turn into a thin, vice-like claw that grabbed at him as he begged it to stop. The teens comforting voice contorted to a low, teasing whisper of lies as Deidara felt himself shake all over.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled hysterically.

"Naruto-kun! Stop!"

Deidara snapped out his distressed state as he found himself soaking wet and cold, a slight cascade of water falling from a shower over his head. Droplets of liquid fell from his now damp hair, skin, and clothing as he took in everything around him. His classmates all stared at him as though he were mad; if one would call sitting under the classroom emergency fire shower, soaking wet in a puddle of water after going into near hysterics mad.

"Are you okay now, Deidara-san?" asked a quiet voice.

Deidara turned to his to his side quickly, still a little shaken up from the slight flashbacks and trauma. A teen that looked about a year or two older than him, squatted down at his level with a mix of worry and happiness etched into his fine appearance as one of his rested on Deidara's shoulder on the other in the puddle around them.. His black turtleneck sweater and tight brown jeans were soaked thoroughly through, his waist-length, sepia-colored hair falling in straight, wet locks that seemed to create a veil around his porcelain, heart-shaped face and matching sepia eyes.

"Deidara's san?"

Deidara nodded slowly, finally taking in what must've happened. If he guessed correctly it might've looked as though he was having a panic attack during class. This classmate, for reasons unknown to Deidara, decided the best thing to do to aid the blonde from his quickening heartbeat and near-convulsion, would be to drench him in ice-cold water to 'wake him up'.

"I'm all right, yeah," he managed to choke out before rising from the icy depths of the puddle. He extended his hand to the teen before helping him up, noticing the teen was a good four or five inches taller than him. 'Am I just the shortest male in this whole freakin' school or what?' thought Deidara.

"Deidara, you okay? I didn't mean to scare the crap outta you. I just wanted to apologize for earlier in second period class."

Deidara shuddered as Naruto's voice sunk in and he remembered all too clearly what had occurred throughout his day so far. He turned, sighing in relief as he noticed Naruto was about three inches shorter than him. Not much of a victory, but a victory nonetheless. He did look worried though, his bright blue eyes appearing as though they actually wanted to know of the taller blonde was okay or if he was forgiven.

"It's okay, Naruto-san. I'm fine anyway, no problem, yeah."

"Don't call me that, just Naruto's good," insisited the loud classmate.

"Hai, fine then, same for me. Deidara, yeah."

"If you're done with aquintences, then I suggest Deidara-kun and Haku-kun go to the nurse's office. Now," came the command from Zabuza. His arms were crossed against his chest and he looked angry. "Although you're reasons were for good, it's still against school rules to use the fire shower for anything other than fires. Therefore, Haku-kun, you have detention after class.

"Haku-kun?" wondered Deidara, finally understanding who he was. He turned back to the taller, attractive teen and watched as he simply nodded and responded with a "Hai, Zabuza-sensei."

"Wait, why do we have to go to the nurse?" asked Deidara, not wanting to have to visit twice in half a day.

"You're soaking wet and have a possibility of getting pneumonia if you stay like that. Tsunade-san will either call your homes or parents to drive you home and get a change of clothes, then come back to school. Or you can walk home if it's within close distance. Doubtful that you have extra clothes for gym on you since this is your first day here so I suggest you get walking to the nurse's office," Zabuza said without a hint of emotion.

"No, I can't let Tsunade-san call foster-dad. He'll think I'm only a bother, and on my first day too! Crap, what am I going to do? Can't walk home, it's a long way away and by the time I get back I'll probably have missed at least two classes."

"I'll take Deidara-san to the nurse. Since it's his first day I don't believe he knows the way there yet. Is that all right, Zabuza-sensei?" Deidara heard Haku ask nonchalantly, either ignoring Deidara's look of sheer worry or not noticing it to begin with.

"That's fine," Zabuza said quietly as he nodded to Haku and passed a slip for him and Deidara.

"Arigatou, Zabuza-sensei. C'mon Deidara-san, let's go," Haku said as he gently held Deidara's arm and half pulled him to the door and out of the class as Deidara seemed rooted to the tiled floor. "You can relax now, Deidara-san. I've already thought up a plan to make sure we don't go home and get cuts for classes."

"What?" Deidara asked, confused as he tried to take in what Haku was saying and what way they were walking. 'Down a flight off stairs, through a bridge to the new building.' 'Mental note, I can see the front of the schools courtyard from this bridge. Must remember that.'

"When you arrived with Sakura-san I knew that you came from the nurse's office before coming to class since Sakura is an assistant nurse and takes medical courses throughout her schedule. Anyway, knowing that you came from the nurse's office already it's kind of obvious you don't want to be there again so I think I can solve out clothes problem easily." 'Turn left at the bend at the end of the bridge, walk fifteen feet and turn right to go down two flights of stairs and into dark hallways. These stairwells go down to the 3rd floor, new building, then down to the second floor new building.'

"How?"

"You'll see," Haku said with a smirk on his lips.

Deidara didn't know how to react as he didn't really know anything about Haku so he decided to go along with what he said. He followed Haku out of the stairwell and nodded as Haku raised his index finger to his lips, drawing his fingers with his other hand in a 'follow me quietly' gesture. He followed Haku as the older teen opened one of four large, wooden doors next to the stairwell and looked through the small crack in search of something. Grabbing Deidara's hand he pulled the blonde into a crouching position as they quickly, but quietly ducked from view of a large window in the room and passed the closed door of said room. Deidara took in the fact that kids around them were watching them, some cracking up at the fact that the teachers hadn't noticed them yet and that they were tracking water behind them and some just didn't notice or care since they were playing either archery, volleyball, or basketball in the three separate parts of the huge gymnasium. 'So we're in the gym,' Deidara noted. Silently he followed Haku as he opened the door, the words 'Men's Locker Room' as a sticker on the door front in bold letters and sneaked inside with Haku in front as they slid in, closed the door behind them and went down the flight of stairs.

"Why are we in the guy's locker room, Haku-san?"

"Because this is where you're going to get a change of dry clothes so you don't miss class," Haku said, deciding to put off Deidara's still curious look. Opening the wooden door at the end of the stairwell, Haku walked in with Deidara behind him to be greeted to a view of small red lockers on the left side of the white-painted brick locker room, eight sets of showers that hadn't been used in some time on the right side, and rows of tall, blue lockers from their end of the room to the other end.

"What the hell . . . ?"

Haku stifled a laugh at Deidara's dumbstruck expression. "Red lockers are for putting regular clothes in, blue for backpacks and other things like wallets, jewelry, and crap and the showers are self-explanatory even though most of the times only jocks use them."

"Oh, I get it now, yeah," Deidara said as he examined the lockers, noticing that some of the red ones didn't have locks on them, while others did. He watched as Haku went to an unlocked locker and searched its contents, checking the size, smell, and design of the clothes he pulled out. "Do you know that person?"

"Too big for me," Haku said as he returned the clothing articles back from which they came. "And no, I don't," was his response as he opened the next unlocked locker and looked at the apparel. Tight, faded blue jeans and black Timberlands. "This'll do, they're my size at least." And with that Haku stripped of his wet pants and shoes in front of Deidara and began to change into the clothes that deemed 'his.' Deidara turned away, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks and warming his body as Haku looked a lot like a woman as he changed with his back to Deidara.

"What do you think?"

Deidara turned back to the revealed clothing klepto and saw that the jeans looked well on him as did the shoes, but he still needed a shirt to cover his naked torso. "Not bad, but aren't they going to notice you took their clothes?"

"They'll notice when they come back to change, but they won't figure out it's me. Chances are they'll never even know seeing as there are 1700 kids in this school and it'd be pretty hard to pick out one distinct kid who might've taken it. Besides, I'm mix-matching clothes so I lower my changes," Haku said as he opened another locker in the next aisle and picked out more clothes.

Deidara nodded, agreeing with Haku's logic of chances, but still quivering as he walked into a red locker aisle, and picked an unlocked locker. Letter L, number 61 so red locker L61. 'I'll just borrow them for the day and return them,' Deidara thought to himself as he picked out a pair of tight black jeans with small red chains on the sides from hip to hem, a red broken heart patch on the left back pocket and the words 'S (heart) I' written in barely-there white out on the right back pocket. "Strange, but interesting," he said aloud as he pulled off his own pants and put on the new pair.

"What was that?" Haku asked as he appeared next to Deidara, his chest now covered by a black T-Shirt with the word HIM in fluorescent pink lettering on the front with a heart-o-gram for the background.

"These pants, they may look strange, but they feel nice," Deidara said as he tied on a pair of black Doc Martens from another locker, not even bothering to remember the locker as he was too concerned with the pants.

"They look good on you, so keep them."

"No, I'm going to return them tomorrow during my gym class," Deidara said as pulled off his wet Gackt T-shirt and replaced it with short-sleeve fishnet shirt that stuck to his lithe form and exposed a bit of his stomach and the small of his back. "I like this, but it's kind of small."

"It suits you though. I think you'll get quite the number of stares from some with that on," Haku said as a slight smirk played across his face.

Deidara blushed again at what Haku said as he pulled on a jet black jacket, the five clasps on the front made in a belt-like fashion and button at the collar. "I think that's good now, yeah. Right?"

"Yeah, just in time too." Haku pulled grabbed Deidara's wrist as he was putting on his backpack and ran out of the locker rooms front entrance just as the bell rang and feet could be heard coming down the stairwell steps from inside the locker room. "Can't have them finding us at the scene of the crime," Haku said with another innocent smirk as he led himself and Deidara across the 1st floor new building bridge and into the 1st floor old building. They began their stair-climbing as other students began to file out of their classrooms and into the stairwells. "What class do you have next?"

"English in 221N. Isn't that in the new building?"

"Yeah," Haku said as they stopped at the second floor. "Just turn a right down this hallway and then another right at the end, and follow the stairs that lead you to a back bridge on the lower level and you'll be in new building, on the second floor."

"All right, and thanks Haku-san," Deidara said as he bowed to Haku.

"No problem Deidara-san," Haku said as he quickly bowed back and went up the rest of the stairs in the old building. Deidara nodded and followed Haku's instructions, hoping to get to class in time and that the day would get better. It looked like he made a friend, and he hoped that would continue as he ran his way to fourth period.


Hey, sorry again for the major time gap between updates. Gomenasai, please don't hate me. I hope you guys liked the chapter, it was fun writing it. Until the next update, which I promise will be much sooner than this. –Invader Nicole