Disclaimer: That word it starting to look strange...I don't own Naruto.

17: Zetsu

I couldn't figure it out. I was so happy because I was with Tobi, but at the same time, I was miserable because Sasori wasn't happy. And on top of all that – I hate it when I have so many things going on at once – Leader was trying to get things together for the gang war that he was insisting must happen because The Guardian have been bugging us for awhile anyway. It was so overwhelming – like most moments of my life. But I'd learned a long time ago that I shouldn't let it all get to me at once. Normally, I'd go to Sasori for help, but I decided that it might cause even more problems, and wanted to try solving them for myself.

When I got home that evening, I went straight to my room, threw my backpack on the floor and sat on my bed. I pulled out my iPod, pushed play and closed my eyes. Slowly, I sifted through all my problems and pushed them all away. Then my mind's hand picked up one problem and placed it in front of me. Sasori and Deidara. It happened to be the hardest problem to get through – partly because it wasn't mine – but it was also the most important. I got through three songs before I decided that I couldn't solve that one. They screwed themselves up and I couldn't fix it for them.

So I moved onto the next one. Deidara's training. It was pure torture; even as I sat on my bed, completely relaxed, every muscle in my body ached. He had us all attacking him at once and he could fling almost all of us off in the second we touched him. It was really annoying, because then he told us to be creative in our attacks and by sunset, Leader, Sasori and Itachi had managed to hit him once. The rest of us all collapsed on the ground groaning. And this was only the first day.

As I thought about it, my muscles began to throb, so I quickly picked up a different problem. This one was Leader's plans to ask The Guardian to a gang war. He was taking Deidara's advice and was going to personally ask the leader of that gang. I say it's dangerous, but I won't say that aloud. Besides, it wouldn't help anything. I'm already one of the people Leader chose to go with him. I was really unhappy about that. There was no such thing as choice when Leader told you to do something, though.

I didn't know why I considered this to be a problem. I mean, problems usually consist of questions that you can answer and solve. But this didn't have a question, and definitely had no answer. I was stuck going, I couldn't stop Leader from going, and – this one was a killer for me – Tobi wasn't coming. Neither was Deidara for that matter. I didn't believe the blonde's excuse about how it would be bad if the leader saw them. Deidara just didn't want to go. But I was happy that Tobi agreed to the excuse because I didn't want him to get hurt.

Instead, though, Hidan, Kakuzu, and Itachi were coming. I almost laughed. I swear, it was like Leader thought he could scare The Guardian into a gang war with us. Still, I felt almost scared to go see the leader. Deidara knowing him "personally" didn't really make me feel any better about going.

The last problem I had was my feelings. I hated thinking about them because I always confused myself. But this seemed pretty crucial. I wanted to be happy with Tobi – because his friend was just as upset as my friend – but, then I wasn't very happy because Sasori wasn't happy. It was like a big love/hate triangle thing. After what felt like hours of sitting and thinking, I finally came to the conclusion that I could be happy and then feel sorry. Not at the same time because then my head would start to hurt. It was the best I could come up with and I was suddenly really aware that I couldn't please everyone like I had always hoped.

After sitting for so long, my ass started to hurt and I was hungry. So, I got up and went in search of food.

When Sasori and I became friends, it confused me. I was really embarrassed when the teacher asked everyone to introduce themselves. When it came to me, I started with just my white side. I thought I could get away with it, be normal like everyone else. But I had heard the other kids whispering about why my body was painted in two different colors and when my white side was done, my black side came out. I had felt horribly depressed. Because I had shifted, I thought that my chances of being normal were over. Then Sasori came over to me and said I looked normal to him. It was a start, but I felt better. Someone liked me and didn't think I was weird!

We were really good friends until my seventh birthday when Sasori signed a birthday card with "your best friend". I was ecstatic. I don't think that he knew that, but I was. He had been my first real friend and then he was my first best friend. My black side actually predicted after that, that it would probably lead to other things, but I had ignored him.

He was right though. In sixth grade, Sasori and I started dating. It wasn't anything special; it was just to see what it was like and to see if we had "a connection". I didn't really think about my black side's earlier prediction, I just went with it. Sasori had been a marshmallow through most of our lives and it kind of bothered me. When Leader had invited him into the gang, I couldn't figure out why at first. Then, I realized it was because during that summer – Leader lived nearby – Sasori had gotten mad at someone because they were making fun of me and he'd beat him up. I figured that Leader had seen it and thought that Sasori was gang material. I had been tempted to point out that Sasori had felt bad about it later, but kept my mouth shut because Sasori seemed happy.

When we went into seventh grade, Sasori's parents handed him over to his grandma to take care of. We didn't know why and his grandma hadn't said anything about it. Then, Sasori took interest in the puppets that had intrigued him for most of his life. He spent what little time he had after school making puppets and hanging them in his room. Whenever I went over to his house, when I went into his room to see him, I literally had to move puppets aside so that I could get into his room.

I was getting mad at him because he seemed so depressed. I couldn't really talk to him because I could tell that he wasn't listening. I had told him several times that he had enough puppets and he should do something else with his life, but he responded by making three more puppets and finding a space for them.

By the middle of seventh grade, the stress was building up for Sasori. He'd never admit it, but it was partly because of his depression. I only knew of two other reasons because they were the reasons that I was getting stressed. He didn't like me as anything besides a friend and the SAT tests were coming up fast. I hadn't said anything to him about either of these things. I was really hoping that if he exploded, it would help him. So when Sasori blew up on me and dumped me, I applauded him. He was back to normal – well, as normal as he could be.

After that, all the stress melted away and everything was fine for him. He got rid of most of his puppets over the summer, selling them – and let me tell you, he got a lot of money out of them – and the ones he didn't want to sell, he put in a box that he shoved into his closet.

He kept one close; it was one that he told me he made because of how grateful he was for his family and friends while he was depressed. If I can remember correctly, that was the puppet that Deidara had thrown on the ground when he broke up with Sasori. But maybe I was imagining things; they might have been similar.

When I went back up to my room, I took off my headphones and threw them on my bed. It was midnight, but I wasn't tired yet. My parents weren't home yet either. I figured they went out and would be home when I woke up at noon tomorrow. I went to my closet and started digging through all of the clothes and things that I had shoved in there over the years. Eventually, in the middle of the third pile, I found the puppet that Sasori had made for me in the eighth grade. By that time, it was two in the morning. (Yeah, that just tells you how much stuff I had in there.) I put the puppet on my bedside table, put my iPod on my desk and went to bed.

The next morning was not kind. I woke up at eight to my drunken parents scream-singing. Now matter what I did to drown out the noise, I could hear them through it all. I decided that even if I could block out their stupid songs, I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. So, I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and shoved my phone into my front pocket and my wallet in my back pocket. When I went downstairs to get a quick breakfast, my parents attacked me with their over-happy selves.

"Sing with us!" my mom cried.

"It's fun!" my dad agreed.

I shook my head, grabbed an apple and, as I inched toward the door, I said, "No thanks. I've got places to be." Then I ran outside. I didn't have anywhere to be. I didn't even know where to go. But I didn't want to be at home with my drunken parents. It didn't sound fun. I pulled out my wallet and checked to see how much money I had, then put it back into my pocket and went to the comics store in town. Since I didn't have a car yet, I either had to steal rides from my friends, ride my bike everywhere or walk. I decided that I needed the exercise and walked.

When I stepped into the store, Tobi called and asked if I could stop by his house for awhile. I sighed, turned around and started walking to his house.

This is going to be a very long day…

A/N: This was the killer chapter. Man, I thought I was going to die. I hate it when I've got things planned for later and then I have to add chapters to the ones that I want to write. (Did that make sense? I hope so…) Zetsu's chapter happens to be one of those horrid chapters that I have to write before the good ones. But I did it! I did it! -"dance, monkey, dance!"- (Don't ask...)

I know that a lot of you must be wondering at this point: "what grade are they in?" Well, I'll tell you. I figured that if Deidara and "Mystery Man" got together in eighth grade, then they broke up in at least the middle of ninth or tenth grade. Then Deidara moved. In the beginning of the story, it wasn't the first day of school, and it would take a few months to get settled in a home. It would be pointless to go into school a few weeks before school ends (trust me, I know). So, by the time Deidara gets into school, it'd be the third year in high school – or eleventh grade. Therefore, they are all in the 11th grade.

Big process, I know. Well, now that you know, please review. (lol)