Chapter 4:
Lunch came rather quickly and the cafes were a mess with students running in out of the revolving doors. Deidara's art class had been a total sham compared to what he had learned back in high school. Guess that was one of the unfortunate perks about being a student that took only hard classes all his life.
He stepped into the bustling café, surveying the area until his eyes landed on the Akat Suki Sigma fraternity, all the members wearing the cloaks, including Sasori, who was placed right in the center of the loud group, all eyes trained on them. Deidara's face contorted into a snarl and he proceeded over to the sushi bar, where he grabbed whatever looked good and sat down quickly, trying to look inconspicuous.
He opened the container of sushi and prepared the soy sauce and wasabi, blue orbs watching his roommate's every move. Sasori sat down at a long table along with the rest of the fraternity, each one asking him questions that Deidara couldn't pick out. He then summoned one of his puppets out into the open and gray smoke filled the air as the puppet finally appeared and everyone caught a glimpse as to what it was.
Deidara's eyes widened as he recognized who the puppet was.
The Third Kazekage, the most powerful Kazekage from the Hidden Sand Village. How on earth did that asshole manage to create an exact replica of the deceased ruler?
The blonde shook his head, gaze traveling down to his clay bag. He unzipped it, his palm mouths becoming alive and snapping for a taste of the clay. He reached his right hand into the bag, feeling the palm's tongue lap at the clay, making it wet before its teeth took a chunk out, chewing into a shape that was small enough to stay hidden.
Deidara opened his hand and a little butterfly sat in his palm, its size miniscule but had enough explosive chakra inside to cause damage. He aimed his hand lowly over to his roommate and the butterfly took flight, not a single person noticing the white spec flapping through the air. His gaze continued to follow it, until it reached its target: on the table, right in front of Sasori.
The clay artist smirked evilly, placing his hand in the sign he needed to detonate the clay. He closed his eyes, breathing steadying until it felt he was almost asleep. Then, he threw his eyes open, silently whispering, "Katsu!"
He guessed that there had been way more explosive chakra in that butterfly than he had originally planned out.
The butterfly exploded right in the redhead's face, and gray smoke filled the air, the cloud much more massive than the one created by the puppeteer. Innocent bystanders turned their backs as they hacked up the smoke that was filling their lungs. The entire café was now extremely quiet as they waited to see what would emerge from the cloud, most obviously thinking it was something normal.
When the smoke finally cleared, Deidara nearly fell to the ground laughing. Every single one of the Akat Suki Sigma members was fine except for Sasori. His face had been blackened with soot from the explosion and his puppet, the Third Kazekage, laid in shambles on the floor, which no amount of chakra could fix before he had to redo the whole thing by hand. His amber eyes were wide with shock, his face looking like it was trying to comprehend what just happened.
Itachi, on the other hand, just laughed loudly. "Okay, that was fucking epic! Who did that?!"
Deidara was about to stand and take credit for the incredible performance his art just gave, when he caught sight of Sasori glaring at him.
Guess his standing ovation would come from someone else.
"DEIDARA, YOU BASTARD!" his roommate screamed, standing up and slamming his hands onto the table. "YOU DARE DESTROY MY MOST PRIZED PUPPET?!"
"SERVES YOU RIGHT FOR BRINGING IT OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Deidara screamed back, standing up. Everyone was silent as the confrontation happened in front of them. Tension was thick between the two roommates, one could almost cut it with a knife. No one dared even a breath as the silence continued on.
The blonde was on the verge of just blowing the whole place up. He wanted to feel appreciated and have his art recognized, not be downgraded by some punk ass puppeteer who thought he's so cool.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, guys," Itachi spoke up, leadership role coming into play, "It's obvious you two have some disagreements, but you need to calm down before you all blow up this café. That happened last year with Tobi over here."
"Sorry, boss," the masked boy mumbled, looking sheepishly at the ground. The raven-haired boy turned his black eyes over to Deidara. "I met you on Activity Day. Your name's Deidara, right?"
"Yes, un," the blonde snarled, eyes still trained on his roommate, who was equally glaring back.
"What's your specialty, again?"
"I specialize in explosive clay because I possess the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai," he explained, hearing audible gasps from around the room. He finally released his glare on Sasori and turned a softer look to Itachi, he was looking at him with eyes like that of a predator looking at his prey. He watched the Uchiha smirk. "Explosion Release, eh? You could be a vital asset to our group, Deidara. What do you say, wanna join?"
"Itachi, you can't be serious?" Sasori swiveled his head to look at the leader, who's jaw twitched with annoyance. "Sasori, you have just been placed into the group, which means you can still be easily kicked out. So I suggest you shut up and keep quiet!"
The redhead harrumphed, but did as he was told and sat down, face still covered in black soot. Itachi smiled at Deidara. "So…what do you say? Wanna join Akat Suki Sigma?"
His blue eyes found amber ones as he replied smugly, "but of course."
"Alright," the Uchiha stood up on the table, "to celebrate the recruitment of two new members, Akat Suki Sigma is throwing a party tonight at the fraternity house!"
Everyone began cheering and screaming, many taking out their phones to probably text others the news. Deidara reached under the table and placed his clay bag on his chair, zipping it back up as the fraternity group made its way over to him. Itachi was the first to walk up, clapping a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Welcome, sculptor. Better keep surprising me with your work. And here," he tossed Deidara a cloak that was now his, "you and Sasori should be moved into the fraternity house by 3 this afternoon. We need help with getting this party set up."
"Wait, we're moving out of our dorm, un?" Deidara asked.
"Yeah, it's one of the perks about being in a fraternity. You get to live in an actual house on campus," Itachi explained, smiling. "See ya later, then."
He then proceeded to walk out of the café, most of the other members following suit. Except Sasori, who walked right up to Deidara and jammed his finger into the blonde's chest. "You'll pay for what you did my puppet, brat."
"Oh, Sasori, are we a little bit angry at a broken doll?" the clay artist smiled wickedly at the pissed off face now looking at him. "I just did what you told me to do."
"And what the hell was that, bastard?" Deidara leaned in close, smile turning into one even the Cheshire Cat would have a hard time competing with. "I proved myself. See ya at the house, un."
He turned away abruptly, throwing the cloak on over his head, placing his arms through the sleeves. He grabbed his clay bag and, without turning back to see if Sasori was watching him, walked purposefully out of the café, his ego fully restored.
No one messed with Deidara and his art.
No one.