I was not surprised Sasori was gone the next morning. He did have work and he had mentioned it that night. I elected to lay there a while longer and think about what I'd done. Starring up at the ceiling I decided that I hadn't meant to kiss him, and he probably hadn't meant to kiss me. That was that and nothing more. We were drunk and that was excuse enough. It wouldn't have been the first time Id done something I regretted while I was drunk. I could just move on now, not say anything to him and move on. He probably didn't remember it anyway, he had a much lower tolerance he said it himself.

If there was nothing to worry about, I reasoned, then why was it still bothering me?

My chest felt heavy, like my nerves had coiled like a ball of snakes and threatened to burst from my chest I was so nervous.

Tobi wandered downstairs next, shirtless with a towel slung around his neck like he'd just gotten out of the shower but his hair wasn't wet. I didn't ask.

"Want some breakfast?" He asked, examining the table for rings the glasses had made last night or imperfections in the finish. I shook my head.

"I'm sick," I croaked, and I certainly felt sick. He disappeared into the kitchen for a second and I heard the water run before he returned with a cup and a pitcher of water.

"Hangovers are caused by dehydration," he smiled, setting it down in front of me. How could he still be so happy?

"Who do you live here with?" I asked once more. This room was trashed with the blown out TV, the disposable plastic cups and shot glasses littering the floor and I supposed the decorating style didn't look much like his doing, unless he really liked flowers.

"I live here with my aunt and uncle, Konan is my mother's sister," he replied, sitting down next to my feet and running his hand though his bed head. How old did that make him?

"I play the system, I pretend to be an idiot so I don't have to make anything of myself," he continued as if he knew what I was thinking, "I'm twenty five, and I've never had a job. My parents just hand me money because I'm an embarrassment to them, I suppose, but it's all part of my plan. I'll straighten out once I get my inheritance. I'm grandpas favorite," he snickered, looking over at me with a devilish smilie.

"Your psychotic," I said bluntly, but he wasn't offended. I supposed that explained a lot, his parents wouldn't have to deal with him here, but we did. He shrugged and disappeared back into the kitchen, minutes later I heard bacon frying.

I was content to lay on his couch all day and drink water and never think about going home until I realized I too had to work today. Begrudgingly I left and trotted my sorry ass back to the boarding house. I swore it looked like it was going to swallow me whole as walked though the looming back door.

The house looked like a bomb went off and Hidan sat in the middle. He sported a black eye and sat with the baby on the floor, spread out on the floor with blankets, bottles and toys. The rest of the house was worse, like he was the epicenter. Papers were spewn around and a chair sat propped up in the corner, standing only on three legs. Some cups were broken and a plate lay in ruin next to the garbage instead of in it.

"What the fuck happened?" I asked, restraining myself from shouting and scaring Mirai.

"Kakuzu and me got in a fight. Hey, will you watch her while I go have a smoke?" He responded, and my jaw almost hit the floor.

"No I will not watch her so you can smoke!"

"Why?" He snorted, " you gotta clean this shit anyway."

"No way, my job description is light housework and meal planning. Do it yourself," I seethed. Like hell I was gonna clean up his mess. I then proceeded to drag myself upstairs, grab my money out of my bedroom and leave again, going back over to Tobi's to throw myself back onto his couch.

"Honey, your home," he jested, and if looks could kill, he would have been dead.

He was in the process of cleaning up his broken television and on the phone with the company a short time after, apparently he and his powers of persuasion were trying to get another for free. I listened to him talk for a while until I finally rolled over, facing down. I wondered just what the hell was wrong with me that I thought it was just okay to get drunk and kiss people. Sasori probably never wanted to speak to me again. Wait just one damn minute here, why did I care? It wasn't like I was in love with him or anything. This was all his fault. My fingers twitched, and my chest still felt heavy, I was fortunate I hadn't panicked yet.

"Tobi," I said I to the couch, twisting my head around to repeat it again once I was sure he was off the phone, "I know you said to humor you but I can't do it. This is killing my nerves."

"If your a hundred percent sure," he sighed, "what'd you two do last night that made you change your mind?"

I shook my head. I didn't want to tell him.

"You guys have sex? Eww, jesus, now I need a new couch," he smirked.

"Oh screw you! No, we just kissed," I sighed. Oh whatever, he knew he was going to get it out of me regardless.

"Figures, he likes you, but I knew that before he did," He returned, plopping down in the chair next to the couch, "I dunno, he's a hard nut to crack. Keep at him."

"Tobi I can't, you can't force me into this," I sat straight up, my tone accusing and harsh.

"I'm not forcing you. I never said anything bad would happen to you didn't want to participate," he shrugged, "but whatever, I'll tell Deidara to cancel what we set you guys up tonight. It's the poor guys birthday."

"Is it really his birthday or are you screwing with me?" I had to ask. This was too good to be true.

"No, really, and he hates birthdays. He wouldn't have mentioned it to anyone either so, I mean," Tobi pulled out his cell phone and started on a text message when I cut him off.

"Fork over the money and I'll go, jesus, do you have no manners?" I scowled. Okay so I wouldn't cancel tonight, Id cancel the next one. Just like Id asked, he handed me sixty dollars in cash and I pocketed it.

"He'll appreciate it," Tobi smiled, and as if on cue, a truck pulled into the drive way and we spent the rest of the afternoon installing his new television that looked suspiciously like the old one. I had no idea what time it was until Deidara walked in the back door and found me tangled in cords, reading an instruction manual. Tobi had gone upstairs to watch the tv in his room, bored of our task. I wasn't sure how I'd ended up doing this.

"Need any help?" The blonde offered, kneeling down to pull a thick black cord from around my chest and shoulders. He then proceeded to plug it in and the step Id been puzzling over made sense now. He sat down this time, taking the instructions from me. I rolled my eyes, he hadn't even waited for my answer. I noticed Deidara had wore his long hair down today, parting in the back it to lay across his shoulders and cover his neck. In the time Id known him, I'd never seen down.

"What's with your hair?"

He jumped about a foot and his cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Oh, nothing, I couldn't find my hair tie this morning to go to work," he lied though his teeth.

"Let me help you," I smirked, pulling the tie out of my own hair and standing up. I brushed the cords off of me and they fell in a heap at my feet. I was already pulling his back when he started protesting, but I wouldn't hear it.

"No, really it's fine, I've got a million ties back home," I assured. I'd just looped the black elastic when I noticed exactly what he'd been hiding. The blonde sported a massive, dark hickey on the left side of his neck, and two more smaller ones on the right. He was quick to cover the one on the left, using his free hand to cover his face with the manual.

"It's not what you think," he muttered, embarrassed.

"What? You hooking up with that girl from the store? Jesus, don't worry. I won't tell Sasori, he'd probably kill you," I laughed a little and patted his head. Sasori probably would kill him for dating his niece too.

"Oh, oh yeah, uh, yeah," he stuttered, the flush leaving his cheeks, "thanks for not uh, telling."

"Don't mention it," I sighed, sitting back down with the cords and stealing the manual back.

"Don't you have to go get ready?" Deidara asked innocently and I looked up at him once more.

"I'm not dressing up, and I'm not putting on make up, this isn't a date," I told him very matter of factly.

"You usually wear make up," he pointed out, and I sighed. I supposed fixing myself up a little wouldn't hurt. I headed home and found a thin cardigan to put over my tank top, I braided my hair to the side and put on some foundation. After giving Kisame the task of ordering dinner for tonight, Sasori came down the steps.

I paled.

Up until now, I hadn't been nervous, but as his eyes settled on me and every step he took brought him closer my stomach dropped. My knees buckled and my fingers twitched, the familiar ache in my side returning. All of this on top of my hang over made me think I might puke.

"If your ready," he said, scowling. I could only nod as my mouth went dry and my breathe caught in my throat. The next thing I knew I was sitting shotgun with no idea how Id gotten there. The car was silent, not even the news radio Sasori liked was on.

We were currently on the highway, moving slowly to our destination. Traffic was backed up for miles and from our current position on top of an over pass, it looked like there was an accident up ahead. The car crept foreword until it finally stopped, and Sasori decided we were probably going to be here for a while, throwing the car in park and heaving a heavy sigh.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," he muttered, leaning back on his leather seat and resting his hands on his thighs. I wasn't going to say anything, but I thought maybe I should.

"What happened?" I asked meekly, my voice barely stable enough to speak. He looked over at me and sighed again.

"Nothing worth mentioning," he replied and it was quiet for a while longer.

"I suppose we aren't going to be to dinner any time soon, and I hate to wait. Here is as good a place as any, what did you want to talk about?" He asked, raising a hand to examine his nails.

"Nothing, why?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows, but then I realized, "today isn't your birthday is it?"

"My birthday is in November," he returned, and sighed for the third time, realizing what was happening too, " I warned you about the company you keep."

"Yeah, well you fell for it too," I muttered and looked away from him. I thought I heard him stifle a laugh.

"So I did," he said, the ghost of a smirk set on his features. The car was quiet for a while longer before traffic started moving again. The car felt like it was closing in on me as we approached our exit, and I thought I might have a heart attack as we arrived at our destination. We seated ourselves in this little hole in the wall Italian place and our drinks came quickly.

I couldn't seem to make sense of the menu in my impaired state so I decided to just order whatever Sasori ordered. I picked nervously at my fingernails and my legs twitched under the table, not aware that I had attracted attention to myself.

"Am I that intimidating?" Sasori asked, pulling me out of my self induced, closed off state of mind. I was horrified.

"No, no, no, no, it's not you," I stuttered, "people make me nervous."

He seemed to conciser it a second before he pulled out his phone and started a text message. I didn't think anything of it until he got a return message, I heard it ding, and asked me if I'd like to go with him to meet a friend of his after dinner. I didn't want to inconvenience him, I could just stay in the car after all, so I agreed.

We ordered and waited on our food, the night before never coming up in conversation. I paid with Tobi's money after but we sat a while longer, picking over fettuccine Alfredo and light conversation topics. I thought maybe Tobi was right, Sasori did like me. I was starting to think maybe I liked him too, maybe.

"No way, I don't know how you could stand it," I smiled, and it was my turn to stifle a laugh.

"I don't know how I did, Deidara was covered in paint, my nephews were pulling wood shaving out of there hair for days, and Temari's boyfriend never set foot in the door again," he smiled back. He had sort of an unhappy smile, like his face refused to let him express his joy.

His phone dinged again and he expressed that it was time to leave, that his friend was getting impatient. We got back into the car and headed further into the suburbs.

This time as we rolled up to a house, about twenty minutes away from home, the radio was on. Sasori got out and came around to my side, opening the door like a gentleman and ruining my plan to stay in the car. The house was immaculate, and fairly large for the suburbs. The door was painted a deep purple to match the trim around the windows, perfectly manicured grass meet a cobblestone path that lead up to the door, lit by solar lights.

"This is my friend's home, his name is Orochimaru. I'll ask you not to mention the teenagers running around, he's a foster parent and very touchy about them," Sasori instructed, knocking on the door. I kept my mouth shut in fear of angering or disturbing him, though I knew it was irrational.

I recognized the red headed girl that opened the door as Sasuke's girlfriend, though I realized we'd never actually meet. She let us in and screamed though the house for her foster father and left for the living room where she resumed fighting with her foster brother over the television. Orochimaru decided the modest sized stare case and smiled. His black hair flowed to almost his thin waist and he wore a very tight fitting plum colored shirt, a single ear ring dangling from his right ear. He looked almost feminine as he approached us, and his voice did not help his case.

"What a pleasure it is to meet you," he grinned, sauntering over to kiss my hand. It was meant to seem charming, but I thought it creepy.

"It's wonderful that you've came, but tell me, Sasori, what do I owe the visit?" He sneered in a way that reminded me of a snake. Sasori never flinched.

"I was wondering if I could call in a favor for my friend here, she's very concerned about people," the red head spoke very calmly and matter of factly, never breaking eye contact with his colleague. The man in front of us seemed to conciser it, analyzing Sasori and myself.

"If you'll fallow me," he spoke, voice just as calm and quiet. Sasori lead the way, pulling me along by the wrist through the house. We ventured down a hall way, though a large kitchen, a moderate sized dinning room with an expansive dinning table to a room at the back of the house containing an executive desk. Books littered every surface and pens were spewn about, large black filing cabinets framed the desk, some drawers open to reveal Manila file folders. Orochimaru took a seat at the desk, motioning for Sasori and I to sit in matching green velvet chairs in the center of the room facing the desk. I noticed a university degree hanging on the wall near hm this man had graduated from our state university with honors it appeared, and as far as I could make out, he was a psychiatrist. Before I could so much as sit down or focus, he started asking questions.

"Your well aware I cannot just dispense medication to you, are you not? I'm neither a pharmacy nor am I crooked man," the older man spoke, folding his hands into his lap. I watched Sasori pick up a pen and throw it into the other mans lap, seemingly uncaring about the manners he'd ignored to make that action.

"I'll add her to my insurance plan for the store," Sasori sighed boredly, crossing one leg across the other and examining his nails, as if he couldn't be bothered, "besides, I know you've got more drugs in this house than the factory."

That crack made me think Orochimaru had lied when he said he wasn't crooked earlier. I wasn't entirely sure if what was happening here was legal, but neither seemed bothered by my presence, someone who could have very well ran screaming from the house and called the police. My nerves had not calmed any, my fingers still twitching. I felt very small in this room, in this house, I felt more helpless than I usually did.

The snake narrowed his eyes, the two caught in silent turmoil until Orochimaru gave in and pulled out a pad of paper from the desk drawer.

"What seems to be the problem?"

Sasori looked at me this time, and I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I shook my head and pulled my hands to wrap gently around my lower body, sort of like a hug in hopes of calming myself.

"Spit it out," the black haired man hissed.

"I, I, I uh," I stuttered.

"She's very nervous in public. She has a hard time sitting still and talking," Sasori finished. I could tell his friend wasn't happy about him answering for me, but he wrote it down anyway and then asked how long my problem had been persisting.

"Years," I managed. I felt my lips begin to tremble and the ache in my side return.

"Anything else?" He asked, writing what I'd just told him. He then preceded to pull a smaller note pad from the drawer.

"Anxiety attacks," I muttered, and he nodded. He wrote something on the smaller pad and then tore it off. What he did next I couldn't believe. He pulled out another drawer lined with pill bottles of various shapes and sizes until he pulled one out and opened it. He shook out a hand full of white pills and then put them in a smaller bottle.

"There's chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters, and one in particular, called gaba, is a natural anxiety fighter, however, your brain releases it all the time, so it doesn't do any good for you, causing what I believe to be social anxiety. These should help," Orochimaru explained, " Sasori, these are only to hold her over until the paperwork goes though," the older man instructed, "you'll take a pill in the morning and then another half if you need it."

"What's this going to do to me?" I thought to ask as Sasori stood up and took both the pills and the prescription from his friend.

"You'll find yourself much calmer," the black haired man replied, holding out one of the white pills for me to take. I scrutinized the possibilities thousands of combinations of germs that might be on his hands but took it anyway, swallowing it dry.

"You'll stay for tea won't you?" Orochimaru asked, and Sasori agreed, pocketing my medicine and fallowed his friend to the kitchen to prepare the tea. I sat back in the chair, waiting and wishing I was drinking. I didn't feel it when the medicine first took a hold of me, but the longer they were gone the more relaxed I felt. I sank deeper into my seat, feeling as if the knots in my stomach, the snakes in my chest, and fog from my mind has finally been expelled. Why hadn't I done this years ago? My fingers curled back into my palms, able to rest now. My heart wasn't pounding and the ache in my side was all but gone. When the men returned with the tea I was completely calm.

It was a cool summer right, the crickets singing loud enough to be heard though the large windows in the room. I enjoyed my warm drink in silence, listening to old friends talk. Apparently they'd been friends in college. We were longer here then at the restaurant, and wed left fairly late. Orochimaru insisted we stay longer but the three of us still had work tomorrow, so he settled for Sasori dropping by again another time. He walked us out, and after the door closed I could vaguely hear him telling his kids not to fight and to go to bed.

"I can't thank you enough, I swear, this is the best I've ever felt," I told him after he got on the highway,

"I'm glad I could be of help," Sasori replied very plainly. I think as much as he tried to make himself look like a big bad business man, he was really just a nice guy. I mean why else would he have done this for me, why else would he keep Deidara around and employ his family when he could have easily hired better help. We arrived home without any other events.

We sat still for a while, even after the engine was off and the tires lay at rest on the cement of the driveway.

"I suppose we've finished tonight's venture," I turned to look at him, unbuckling my seat belt as he spoke.

"I'll see you again?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. He was going to kiss me again, or rather he was waiting for me to kiss him. The way his pretty brown eyes watched me, the way he sort of leaned my way, like he wanted something, but was too afraid to ask. Of course he'd act like he couldn't, but then take control.

"You'll see me again every day so long as we both live here," he responded, growing a little impatient.

"You know what I mean," I huffed and he did the same.

"Of course. You'll see me again, now, I don't like to be kept waiting," he took my chin in his hand and pulled me close, our lips meshing together in a soft kiss that reminded me of touching rose petals. This kiss was gentle and passionate and it held meaning. It was short, sweet, and just enough to leave us wanting more. However he did not indulge the desire. He only sighed, got out of the car and walked up to the house.

Hold on just a second, what the fuck just happened?

Of course I couldn't feel much, the medicine had limited my emotional range, but I was able to feel so angry I tore out of my seat and fallowed him inside. I threw the door open only to see he'd disappeared and three of the boarders starring at me like Id lopped my head off.

"You okay squirt?" Kisame asked, looking away from the football game on TV for just a second, only to jerk his head back as a whistle blew.

"Fine," I muttered, kicking my shoes off and plopping down on the couch. I folded my arms, brooding and twisting these actions in my head.

"Don't look fine," he muttered, handing me a bucket of left over fried chicken, his eyes never leaving the screen this time. I didn't answer him and I didn't stick my hand into the bucket, unsure who all had had there filthy hands in it. Itachi sat opposite me, watching the game boredly and Sasuke sat on the floor, legs folded up, engrossed in his phone. Come to think of it, this was the first time Id seen them out of there rooms besides for dinner.

"Where is everybody?" I asked, looking around after thinking about the wreckage Id see this morning. For whatever reason it was clean now.

"Kakuzu took Hidan to the hospital, Mirai's mother is getting out I guess, so he's gonna stay with her a while, Deidara is next door, I think that's everybody," he explained before throwing up his hands angrily at the game, "oh come on!"

"Sasori came in before you squirt, did you go somewhere with him?" Kisame asked, taking a sip of his drink only to slam it back down on the table after another unsatisfactory call.

"I don't want to talk about it," I responded, kicking back on the couch after setting the chicken down.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Itachi spoke, much to my surprise, "Nothing he does concerns anyone else."

I looked at him quizzically, confused. Hadn't Sasori said the same thing about him?

"Not to say Sasori is not a good man, he does a lot for a lot of people, however," Itachi sighed.

"He's an asshole," Sasuke interjected, earning a dirty look from his brother.

"No, that's not what I mean," Itachi paused, however he did not pick his sentence back up. That was it, he was an asshole. An hour ago I wouldnt have believed him.

"I'm going into work tomorrow early, wanna go?" Kisame asked, elbowing me. I thought for a second before nodding. That'd be a nice change, actually. No red headed jerks with superiority complexes, no stupid blondes that coerced me into things I didn't want to do with help from his black haired friend with bad ideas.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."