The wind blew through the trees, and a rustling noise reached Deidara's ears. She stood in the middle of the training field with her eyes closed, her fingers held up in front of her face. She was vaguely aware of Gai practicing his taijutsu on the other side of the field, vigorously attacking the wooden training dummy. It spun at the same speed that Gai moved every time he struck it.

They weren't the only ones occupying the training field behind Obito's house—the man himself was there, as was another one of his many relatives, Uchiha Shisui. Daichi watched from afar, sitting on the low branch of a tree and swinging his legs about.

"Katsu!" From seemingly out of nowhere, Deidara flung her explosive clay in all directions, each of the explosive devices hitting a wooden training dummy. They were merely C1 level, however—she was aiming for excellent control and aim, not power. As soon as they were hit, she engaged one in combat, striking fast and hard with her arms and legs, the training dummy deflecting each blow with its wooden arms. "Ha!" The wood splintered and promptly exploded as she gave it a palm strike in the center.

"Deidara!" Obito's voice shouted as he stopped his own training. "You know how expensive those are?!"

"You're rich, un," she shot back. "Buying a couple more hundred won't even make a dent in your bank account!"

"Alright, ladies," Shisui gave a long-suffering sigh, but smiled anyway, putting his tanto back into its holster. "I think a break might be in order. We've been training since dawn, after all. Just look at where the sun is."

"Yosh!" Gai joined them, retreating from his own training corner, and gave them a hearty thumbs-up. "Our wives are sure to be waiting at home with excellent home-cooked meals!"

Obito sweatdropped. "I'm the only married one here..."

Deidara snorted. "Somehow."

"Hey!"

"Otou-san, you did great!" Daichi jumped down from the low-hanging branch and ran toward his father as fast as his short legs would allow. "But Deidara-nee was so awesome as well! She made one explode!"

"We could have done the same," Shisui pointed out, giving Deidara a sly glance. "We just have more control, that's all."

"Subtle," Deidara huffed, crossing her arms. Her green gi was covered in dust—the other members of the Big 4 were in a similar state.

The members of the Big 4—as they were known as by the general community—retreated back to Obito's house, where the servants had set up a table full of food for them. Rin was out managing either the dango shop or the cotton mill, and Hikarii was sleeping somewhere in the house.

"No rice?!"

Deidara wasn't the only that winced when Obito shrieked that out.

"How did we run out of rice?" Obito demanded, the servant cringing back away from his whiny master. "It's, like, a staple food!" When the servant proceeded to babble something about rats getting into their rice stores and that the problem was currently being tended to, Obito sighed out, "There's only one thing to do now..."

"Go out and eat?" Shisui suggested. He hummed thoughtfully. "But then this spread would go to waste... Any ideas, Gai?"

"All we are missing is rice," Gai said, nodding. "I suggest that we buy our own rice field and harvest the crops! Then we shall all live together happily with a kangaroo in our backyard!" He yelped when Deidara whacked him across the head with what seemed to be a paper fan.

"That would take way too long!" she shouted. "And what the hell's a kangaroo, un?!"

"Maa, maa," Obito calmed them down. "It's okay, I know a lady that makes the best chicken rice in the world."

About fifteen minutes later, Sasori entered the house, a deadpan expression on his face and carrying a box of takeaway. He had a long-suffering look about him, one that was far more developed than Shisui's own expression of long-suffering.

"Delivery," he intoned, using his chakra threads to place the box on the table. "What?" he said when he caught Deidara staring at him.

"Nothing, un. Just..." She struggled to keep down a laugh, biting her lip. "Nothing...!"

Gai, on the other hand, guffawed with wild abandon, and Shisui and Obito couldn't help but snicker as well.

Sasori sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. "I knew I shouldn't have agreed to baa-sama's uniform requests..." He was dressed in a ridiculous red button-up shirt and pants with a sash around his waist. There was a rooster insignia stitched on the back of the uniform, a far cry from the scorpion crest he normally wore on the back of his attire.

"It's not that bad," Obito tried to comfort him, holding out his hands.

Sasori deadpanned at him.

"Okay, it's pretty bad," Obito amended. "In any case, wanna join us for lunch?"

Since Chiyo's Chicken Rice was technically closed today (as were many food establishments, thanks to it being a weekend), and Sasori had only delivered because he and Obito were business partners, he sat down at the table with the rest of the Big 4 and Daichi. He also shed his uniform to reveal that he was wearing his normal clothing—a grey tunic and dark pants—underneath, scorpion insignia and all.

As they ate, they made idle conversation, Daichi merely listening as he poked his rice with his chopsticks.

"And then she exploded it!" Obito was telling Sasori, who was picking up some chicken from a dish.

"Tsk," Sasori clicked his tongue, his brown eyes shifting to Deidara, who'd been listening with a small grimace. "How typical of you. Brats your age never have the kind of self control that comes with age."

"Brats my age could kick your ass, old man," Deidara retorted, her grip on her chopsticks tightening. "You know, we never did have their rematch... I was just releasing some of my frustration."

"Oh boy," Shisui said through a mouthful of rice. "Do I even want to know the story behind this one?"

"Long story short, they had an argument about art," Obito explained. "Hey, Gai, care to do the honors of refereeing the match? Shisui and I are going to be teaching Daichi the Uchiha Style this afternoon."

"If that is what my friend wishes, it shall be so!" Gai agreed. "May we have a clean, youthful match."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "You know, I came here to eat, not fight."

"Does it matter?" asked Deidara. "You're here now, un." She lifted a palm, the mouth on it sticking out a tongue as Deidara smirked. "What? Too chicken?"

Normally, such a jibe wouldn't have roused Sasori. But this went deeper than that—Deidara wasn't mocking just his courage, she was mocking his occupation as well, as well as that ridiculous getup. So Sasori steeled his gaze. "I look forward to our match. Perhaps there's something more than bark in you, brat."

Shisui chuckled. "Ne, Daichi, got anybody in mind for a rival?"

"A rival?" Daichi echoed. "Do I need one?"

"Well, sure. Gai has Kakashi," Shisui gestured to Gai, who nodded, "Those two have each other, apparently," Sasori and Deidara spared him a brief glance, "and your dad has me and Kakashi."

"Kakashi again," Deidara commented. "I'm pretty sure that orphan from the fiasco the other day considers him his rival as well, un."

"Kakashi..." Sasori mused. "Wasn't he once a samurai?"

Deidara was taken aback. "Was he? I know he was a warrior once before retiring, but a samurai?" Seriously? That arrogant troll (who also happens to be my source of income...) was a samurai?

"I'm certain," Sasori answered, his voice hard. "His father..." He trailed off, refusing to say anymore on the matter. "Do you want to start?" he asked Deidara. "I don't have all day, you know."

Obito snorted. "You make it sound like your a busy man. All you do is wake up, eat, train until the sun sets, sleep, and repeat the process again."

"I go for walks sometimes," Sasori stated mildly, as if that justified his mundane routines. "Not to mention that Chiyo-baa-sama has me running deliveries when she's not bothered to. The woman's more fit than young men less than half her age..."

Once they finished eating, they immediately vacated to the training yard again, the Uchiha occupying a space for themselves to train Daichi while Sasori, Deidara, and Gai had the rest of the barren, tree-surrounded field to themselves.

"Alright!" Gai boomed, standing with his legs spread apart and his arms crossed. "I want a clean match, you two! Which means no more than one gallon of blood spilled from the both of you, got it?"

"Combined or individual?" Sasori inquired.

"Combined!"

"Well, then... that gives me less leeway. No matter." He popped two puppets out of the storage scroll he always carried with him. "You'd better watch your head, brat. Or you might find yourself without it."

"Bite me, asshole."

"Match... begin!" Gai announced.

Sasori sent his puppets forward to meet Deidara, and she traded blows with one, then the other before throwing a bomb to obscure the three of them. She burst through the smoke after that, and met Sasori in close combat. Even as he levitated the puppets with his chakra strings, Sasori was still able to fight her at the same time. She spun out of the way of one of his puppets, only to run right into the other one.

There was a click, and a large blade flipped out of the one of the puppet's limbs. Deidara skirted out of the way just in time, flipping through the air and elbowing the other puppet in its wooden face. The one with the blade came after her, and she dodged quickly, grimacing when it manage to make tear in her gi. The blade swung at her again, slamming into the ground when she jumped out of the way.

Using the momentarily stuck sword as a makeshift platform, she ran up the large blade, littering small amounts of clay between its joints before leaping off to face the other one. "Katsu!"

There was a loud explosion that distracted Daichi from his basic katas, earning him a smack on the head with a wooden pole, courtesy of Shisui.

Deidara was still fighting the other puppet when Sasori officially jumped into the fray, spurred by the fiery destruction of his other puppet, and forcing the blonde woman on defense.

His elbow knocked against her jaw and nose, and she nearly caught her tongue between her teeth. As her teeth clattered together, she swung her leg upward, landing a hit on nearly the exact same place that he had struck her.

There was a whirring noise and a load of kunai rained upon Deidara, courtesy of the puppet. Cursing, she evaded the weapons to the best of her ability, but some still managed to cut her. Grumbling, she spat out a wad of blood and mucus which had come from her bleeding nose. Sasori had rigged the launch of the kunai so that there would be painful criss-cross cuts across the victim's skin, the wounds on Deidara's arms and legs being testimony of that.

"Looks like I've drawn first blood," Sasori said, massaging his jaw as they stood apart from each other. "You've been extremely troublesome, blowing up one of my puppets like that... You're lucky I don't normally carry with me more than two at a time."

"Heh..." Deidara grinned, her teeth red as she wiped the blood dribbling from her nose away. "Does that piss you off? Exploding one of your precious puppets with my art? I've told you before, my art is superior."

"And yet, you are the one bleeding out onto the Uchiha training grounds, not me." An irk mark appeared on his forehead. "And yes, I'm damn pissed. Do you have any idea how long it takes to build one from scratch, brat?"

"I'm glad that you're angry." She shifted into a stance, ignoring the blood dripping down from her cuts. "That makes me extremely happy, you know. Now why don't we prove whose art is superior once and for all?"

Sasori sneered at her. "You'll be calling me Danna after this."

Gai coughed into his fist, a slight blush adorning his cheeks from the implicaton. "Ready to restart?" How youthful their rivalry is!

They gave him no verbal response, Deidara answering by dashing toward Sasori, only for her punches to be blocked by his puppet's. Her chakra flared through her body, and she cracked through the puppet armor, making Sasori frown.

Deidara's hand disappeared into her sleeve before reappearing with pre-molded clay between her fingers. "Ready to fight me on your own? I'll destroy your other dummy if I have to."

"It wouldn't be a battle of art if I were to do so," Sasori pointed out, floating his puppet beside him like it was a shinigami. The thing was larger than he himself, and had a face worthy of nightmares.

"True, un. Take solace that it'll be probably be going out with a bang."

Their battle resumed once more, Deidara alternating between hand-to-hand combat with the puppet master and trying to destroy his annoying puppet with her clay.

"You have excellent chakra control," Sasori remarked as he blocked Deidara's fist. "You could do a lot more with that clay than just explosions."

"Yeah, but..." Deidara broke through his defense, forcing him to leap a few steps backwards. "There's nothing artful about that. Because art...!" Sasori held up his forearms just in time to shield his body from Deidara's heavy blow. "Is a bang! Katsu!"

"What—"

There was an explosion that engulfed Sasori, and smoke billowed out. When the smoke dispersed, Sasori was still standing, albeit glaring with cuts and burns littering his body. "What the hell did you do?"

"I'm creative," Deidara replied, a smirk on her face. "When you told me that I could do a lot more than explosions, I improvised, un. Created a thin clay armor on my fists that I spread onto your clothing in small chunks every time I made contact with you."

Sasori's gaze darkened. "I see." Jaw rattling, his puppet flew toward Deidara, blades at the ready, but though she was wounded, she was still agile enough to dodge them without risking further injury.

"You're slower, un," she taunted. "I'm not the only one who's 'bleeding out onto the training grounds' now, am I?"

"You'll be bleeding a whole lot more when I'm done with you, you insufferable brat."

More blades appeared on the puppet, these ones curved like a person's rib cage, and swung mercilessly at Deidara, who had to run up a tree at the edge of the field to escape the puppet's wrath. She jumped backward as the puppet twisted around and continued to attack her. She scowled when the tip of a blade nicked her. She was tiring quickly thanks to the wounds she had gotten earlier in the fight, and she would lose if she didn't do something quick.

Dammit! she cursed inwardly, having to backflip unsteadily to dodge one particularly fast moving blade. More clay emerged from the mouths on her hands, and she threw them at the wooden behemoth, turning her attention on Sasori, who had shifted his stance in preparation.

Deidara could feel his chakra probing at her body, testing if she had anymore of that clay armor on her hands. I shouldn't have told him... shit, I'm so screwed. Satisfied that she was clean, he defended himself, their blood mixing as they fought hard and fast.

Perhaps it was the heat of the battle that got to him, but Sasori was no longer dividing any time to attacking with his real body and attacking with his puppet. His puppet lay strewn on the ground, useless, as he fully engaged with Deidara, who hadn't noticed what he'd done just yet.

"Deidara," Sasori said as he swept her feet out from under her, his eyes never leaving her as she got up instantly. Both of them were breathing heavily. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings."

Her gaze sharpened. "You—" She hissed when something sharp sliced across the back of her right shoulder, sending a spray of blood flying through the air. Muttering curses, she involuntarily fell to her knees. The puppet! Shit!

"It's over," Sasori declared.

"Fuck... it's not." Deidara glared up at him, her eyes cloudy with pain. A chill went down her spine when she felt the cold blade of Sasori's puppet resting on her neck.

"Yes, it is, brat. You fought well. It's time to give up."

"Asshole..." She bared her bloodied teeth at him.

"I think you mean 'Danna'."

"Oh, sorry," she bit out sarcastically. "Forgive me for my insolence, Danna."

A muscle twitched in Sasori's jaw. On second thoughts, it doesn't sound as good as I thought it would, especially coming from her mouth. "I changed my mind. Don't call me that."

"Get a healer over here, Danna, and we'll see." Deidara buckled underneath her own weight, and Sasori caught her before she could hit the ground. It would do her no good for her to get even dirtier than she already was, what, with those injuries and all. He looked up and saw Gai running toward them. His puppet lay on the ground, forgotten.

"That was a youthful battle!" Gai proclaimed. "But for now, it would be extremely unyouthful for you two to stay out here and bleed! Come into the house—Obito has gone to get a healer. Well done, you two. The power of youth runs through your veins!"

As Gai chattered on about how great they'd been while helping Deidara and Sasori walk painstakingly back into the house, Deidara hummed, the sound nasally thanks to the blood clogging her nose. "You know, I think I'll stick with calling you 'Danna' from now on, un." She smirked at Sasori, knowing how much it irritated him and enjoying every moment of it because of that. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think, Danna?"

"By calling me that, you're admitting that my art is superior to yours," Sasori told her, scowling.

"Nonsense, un. It just means that I respect your art because you bested me in battle. Your puppets still have nothing against my explosions."

"Tch. Think what you like, brat."

Both of them flinched when Gai began to cry, tears rolling down his cheeks in comical waves. "The senpai and the kohai! Master and apprentice! How youthful this relationship is!"

"I am not her master!" Sasori snapped, wincing when he felt the large burn on his cheek throb with a vengeance.

"Like hell I'd ever be this guy's apprentice!" Deidara added indignantly.

Gai sat Sasori on a stool and laid Deidara on a spare futon in the drawing room, hastily collecting towels. Shisui came to relieve him from all the work, having left Daichi to perform his katas until he perfected them.

"You two seriously messed each other up," Shisui said as he dabbed at Sasori's wounds with a wet cloth, Gai doing the same for Deidara. "I mean, I get that you're rivals in art and all, but man!"

Obito arrived soon with the healer in tow—a pink-haired woman with the brightest green eyes any of them had ever seen. She was wearing the traditional healer grab: a white outer garment with gold highlights. When she removed the cloak and hung it on a nearby chair, it revealed that she wore a plain red yukata underneath.

"This is Haruno-sama, one of the best healers in the city," Obito briefly introduced. "She'll be taking care of you two."

The woman bowed. "Nice to meet all of you. Please call me Sakura-san. -sama was used to refer to my shishou."

Obito gave her a friendly smile. "Tsunade-sama from the north, right?"

"Right." Sakura returned the smile before getting straight to work. "Medical jutsu is classified as a very rare kekkei genkai—once I heal you, you'll feel brand new." She gave Sasori and Deidara a look. "However, I don't want you two fighting or training for at least a few days. It wouldn't do to have your body undergo immense strain after just being healed."

"Doctors," Deidara muttered, while Sasori made a noise that sounded like begrudging agreement. Either to Deidara's remark or Sakura's orders, nobody was sure.

"Yeah, well, this doctor is about to save your life," Sakura said in a clipped tone. "Now don't move..."

The healing process took about fifteen minutes thanks to the intensity of Sasori's burns and how deep the gash on Deidara's back was.

"Don't sit up so soon!" Sakura admonished when Deidara attempted to do just that.

"My joints are stiff, un," Deidara complained.

"Just give your body five minutes to adjust," huffed Sakura. "Please," she added as an afterthought, evaluating her bedside manner in her head. At least she wasn't as bad as her master yet.

Yet.

A servant hurried to them, bowing hastily. "Obito-sama, Sasuke-sama is at the door."

Deidara's mood soured. Sasuke again? She hadn't seen him since the Hoshigaki-Uzumaki fiasco a few weeks ago, and had hoped to keep it that way. That boy had a stick so far up his ass, it was messing with his brain as well.

"Oh, right on time," Obito said. "Let him in. He's supposed to be teaching Daichi how to use a gun."

"Excuse me," Sakura interrupted. "Is this the same Sasuke as the Chief of Police's son?"

"Indeed he is," Shisui said. "Hey, Gai, you might want to step aside before my cousin tries to arrest you... again."

"But I'm not disturbing the public this time!" protested Gai. "I wasn't even disturbing the public last time."

"You threw a chicken at an old lady," Shisui pointed out.

"Just a minor accident. Happens to the best of us."

"So it is that Sasuke," Sakura sighed sadly before steeling her eyes. "Stupid jerk..."

"Can I sit up now?" Deidara said loudly. "Danna—Sasori's already gone to get his ugly puppet."

"Hm? Oh, yes, you can, but take it easy. He really roughed you up."

Deidara grimaced, sitting up and popped the joints in her shoulders and neck. "Got history with Duck-Ass?"

Sakura blinked. "Duck-ass?"

"Y'know... because his hair looks like a duck's ass, un."

Sakura held a hand over her mouth, snickering. "Oh my god, you're right! Now that I think about it..."

Sasuke strode into the room with Obito, looking thunderous as always. At the same time, Sasori returned from his venture outside, carrying his storage scroll in his hand.

He glanced at all of them once, eyebrow cocked, before going to the training field to meet Daichi.

"He could have said hi," Sakura grumbled. She turned to face them all. "You two should be fine now, so I'll take my leave. And don't strain yourselves!"

Sasori and Deidara exchanged a glance before the latter smirked.

"Oh, we won't," Deidara said. "Right, Danna?"

His wrist flicked, and there was suddenly a blade sticking out of Obito's table—the kunai had barely missed Deidara's nose.

"See? He agrees, un."

"That was a gift from my grandmother," Obito piped up, only to be ignored.

Sakura gave them a dry look. "Might not want to do that in front of a medic next time."

"Daichi! Over here!"

Sarutobi Konohamaru was waving at Daichi in an invitation to join him, Naruto, and a few others at the table. It was lunchtime, and the orphans at the cotton mill were on their break.

"How's your training going?" Konohamaru asked when Daichi took a seat next to him. There were plates of skewers in front of them—from the smell of it, there were once fish balls stuck the sticks. Naruto was devouring his fifth bowl of ramen while Moegi and Udon were picking at their teeth with toothpicks.

Ever since Daichi had started training with his father and Shisui—one half of the Big 4—the orphans had started to tentatively approach him. Daichi knew that prior to starting his new training regimen as a taijutsu user, they had thought little of him, especially since he was their boss' son and heir to the company—a boy set up for life while they had to work for their meals. But they showed interest in him now, and he wasn't about to pass up the chance for new friends.

"It's cool, I guess," Daichi said, trying to downplay everything. But when Yamanaka Ino and Yamanaka Hitomi showed up at the cotton mill slash tea house for tea, Daichi raised his voice. "I'm learning all sorts of new things, like how to slice a man in half five different ways!"

"Uhh," Moegi said, tilting her head to one side. "Is that possible?"

"How can you slice someone in half in five different ways?" Udon wondered, rubbing his nose to chase away a sniffle. "I thought there was only one way, 'cause, y'know," he sliced his arm downward, "this is the only way that you can have matching halves. Symmetry is very important."

Out of the corner of his eye, Daichi saw Hitomi turn away from them. "Uhh..."

It turned out that Naruto was a lot more perceptive than he let on at times. His eyes gleamed. "Oh, I see what's going on here!"

Daichi gulped. "You do?"

"You like her!"

"Not so loud!" Daichi hissed.

"Who, Hitomi?" Konohamaru scowled. "She's pretty and all... but she's a snob. Like her sister. And isn't she younger than you?"

"Oi, Ino isn't that bad," Naruto defended. "She can't help being born rich, y'know. And she's not a snob!"

"Only by two years," argued Daichi. "And she's very mature for her age."

The orphans all watched Hitomi throw a tantrum because the lady serving tea had accidentally spilled a very minuscule drop on the girl's doll. Ino was trying to get her to calm down, looking frazzled when Hitomi grabbed her cup of tea and threatened to hurl it at an innocent patron.

"Are we talking about the same girl?" Moegi wondered, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Daichi grew indignant on Hitomi's part. "Hey!"

"We're calling it like we see it," Udon said, Konohamaru and Naruto nodding once in agreement.

"Oi, you guys!" A girl who wore her chocolate brown hair in twin buns was waving at them. "Break time's over! We have to get back to work. Lee can't spin the cotton wheel himself, you know."

"Coming, Tenten!" Naruto called back. "See ya, Daichi. Show us some of your new moves next time. And that sword you use to cut people in half, too!"

The younger orphans all voiced their agreement and Daichi sweatdropped nervously.

I haven't learnt any cool moves so far! Daichi thought miserably. I shouldn't have said anything about cutting people in half... A shadow loomed over him and Daichi looked up backward, his eyes meeting Sasuke's. "O-oh, hey, Sasuke-sama..."

"Daichi." Sasuke scoffed. "I bet you're regretting showing off so much, huh? Especially to a dobe like Naruto."

"Yeah..." Daichi sighed, plopping his chin on his open palms. "I just wanted them to like me."

"What's the point of that? You're going to be their boss in the future. They're your future subordinates, nothing more."

"But...! I want to be friends with them. I don't have that many friends, y'know."

Sasuke made a noncommittal noise. "Daichi, I know I put a lot of emphasis on guns and modern weapons, but..." His coal gaze slid to Daichi. "I also put great value in the art of kenjutsu."

"Huh?" Daichi blinked. "You mean like swords and stuff? Like Hoshigaki-sama?"

"Exactly, though our styles are nothing alike." Sasuke took out his katana from the holster with a shiing! "Daichi... what do you say about learning kenjutsu? I can't teach you how to cut a man in half five different ways—because, frankly, that's impossible and you're an idiot for ever suggesting the notion—but I can teach you how to gut an opponent and twist in just the right way so that his intestines are shredded."

Daichi's eyes grew wider. "When can we start?"

Sasuke stood. "Tomorrow, first light. Do not be late. If there's one thing I don't tolerate from a student, it's tardiness." Daichi didn't know why but Sasuke pinned his harsh stare on the silver-haired man that worked at the kite shop.

Seemingly oblivious, Kakashi yawned underneath his mask and flipped to the next page of his orange book.

A/N: I wanted to build more relationships before the invasion, so there.