Chapter 11:

"I've never told you about my family, have I?" Sasori asked. It was the next morning and the two boys were lying in Deidara's bed, with the blonde's head resting against the redhead's chest. Deidara looked up at him with wide blue eyes. "No…I don't think you have."

"As you know, I used to live in the Hidden Sand Village," he began, playing with the clay bird that the bomber had made back at the beginning of the semester, "and in that village, leaving to go and pursue other goals was frowned upon; is frowned upon, may I correct myself. My entire life there, I dedicated my time to making puppets…mostly that was because I had to, in order to keep my thoughts from moving to other subjects."

"Like?" Deidara wasn't sure if he should have asked that, but he did anyways. Sasori was being open with him; he didn't want to miss out on a thing.

The puppeteer sighed before continuing. "I had parents that loved me. Take care of me and raised me well. Raised me by the rules of the Sand Village. Then, when I was around 11 years old, they went on a mission and left me with my Granny Chiyo…and never came back. They had been killed on their mission, by someone from the Hidden Leaf Village. Even though my granny hid it well, I knew she was suffering. However, I suffered more. I would constantly walk around the village and see little kids around my age with their parents holding their hands, picking them up when they fell, wiping the tears from their eyes, and I looked on with a sad gaze, wishing my parents hadn't been killed.

Then my Granny Chiyo introduced me to the world of puppets. Told me I possessed the ability to control these human-looking figures with chakra. She taught me how to use the chakra strings, everything. She even showed me the place where you could make puppets, and told me that that place was mine. I was in that room day and night, barely coming out, if only to eat. I focused my attention on creating the most perfect puppets, in order to keep my mind off the one thing that refused to let me forget…the death of my parents.

I created Mom and Dad puppets that looked just like my real parents. For a while…I legitimately thought they were my real parents, the puppets. I controlled them with my chakra strings, making them move as if they were alive. Then one day, something went wrong and the strings snapped and they fell to the ground, a few pieces breaking on each of them. That's when I knew I had to get out; in order to escape the harsh reality of my home. I didn't necessarily run away…I escaped from a place that was making me go insane."

Silenced enveloped the boys as they let the words hang in the air.

Deidara was stunned. He was happy that Sasori had finally opened up to him, but he definitely wasn't expecting a story like that. To him, now, his roommate looked stripped, as if he was lying naked in a room filled with people, stage lights beamed down straight at him, so everyone could see the little mistakes that marred every corner of his body.

He placed a reassuring hand over the redhead's. "You're fine now, Danna. You're safe."

"Yeah…I hope," Sasori trained his amber eyes on the clay bird, slightly smirking, "I guess your art isn't all that bad."

"You're finally admitting my 'child's play' is art?" Deidara sat up, giving his Danna a wide-eyed look. "I'm shocked."

"I'm admitting your clay is art, but your view on art is still totally out of whack," the redhead laughed at his roommate's glare. Deidara harrumphed. "Art is that one fleeting moment of pure beauty that is gone within a second."

"Art is eternal, brat. Meant to continue on for generations and generations, changing lives as it lives on," the redhead exclaimed. The bomber crossed his arms over his chest, turning his head away from his roommate. "Maybe paintings are eternal, but life isn't. Life is fleeting, but it also beautiful."

"Then let's compromise, shall we?" Deidara felt a hand gently grab his chin, forcing him to look at Sasori, who had sat up straighter, bringing his face within centimeters of the blonde's. "We'll compromise on our views. Life is an artfully fleeting eternity. Sound good?"

"You're still saying that art is eternal, Danna," the bomber whined.

"Still so stubborn," the puppeteer chuckled lightly, then trained his amber eyes on his roommate once again, "that's why I love you."

"What did you-?"

"Don't make me say it again," Sasori mumbled, bringing them into a kiss. As they were getting into it, a knock resounded on the door, instantly pulling them apart. Now, it was Deidara's turn to get up and walk over to the door, throwing it open.

Itachi stood there, looking rather sheepish, the blonde might add. The former looked at him, charcoal eyes defensive. "U-um, we need you two downstairs. We're discussing a meet and greet with another fraternity and we need to plan."

"Alright," was all the bomber said before shutting the door again. He turned his head to look at Sasori, who was now over at his own bed, rifling through the drawers. "You told me they heard us last night, right?"

"Yep."

"Funny, didn't even seem like it."

"That's because he's too embarrassed to say anything."

"Well, in other news, they need us downstairs for a meeting," Deidara began looking through his closet to find something to wear for the day.

Though a good shower is what he needed.

"You go on, there are some things I need to take of first," Sasori said, picking up a carving knife.

Deidara was about to ask what he meant when another knock resounded on the door. He walked over and opened it, with a smiling Konan on the other side. The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "May I help you?"

"WHAT TECHNIQUES DID SASORI USE ON YOU TO GET YOU SCREAM LIKE THA-!"

Pein suddenly appeared, clamping a hand down over the girl's mouth, silencing her. He disappeared down the hallway with a struggling Konan, passing Tobi, who was twiddling his thumbs around each other. Deidara looked at him. "Hey, Tobi-"

"TOBI IS A GOOD BOY! TOBI HEARD NOTHING!" he, too, disappeared down the stairs. Deidara closed the door, brows knitted together in confusion. "Were we that loud?"

"You were loud," Sasori corrected him. He gave his roommate a smug look and the redhead laughed when he caught a glimpse of it. "Not my fault you scream like a girl."

"So now you're calling me a girl?!" Deidara reached into his clay bag and took some out, his hand mouth quickly creating a small bird. At the sight, Sasori's eyes widened. "Don't you dare, brat, or I swear I'll-"

"KATSU!"

"…ALRIGHT, WHO BLEW UP MY HOUSE?!"

"TOBI IS A GOOD BOY!"

Finally done! Yay! Thank you for following me through this process! Please R&R! I will be posting a new story eventually! Sayonara, minna! ^.^