AN: Surprise, I still don't own Naruto or its' characters.

Itachi was sitting down on the couch, sighing irritably. Wonderful, just absolutely, positively, w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. Sasori had given him the good news right after he had put Deidara to bed. And to tell you the truth, he wasn't at all thrilled.

"I'm going to be gone for about 3 or 4 days, Itachi." The red haired man said as he tucked the sleeping blonde gently into his bed, who had already been told about this.

"…What..? What do you mean gone, you just got back." Came the ice cold reply from Itachi, who wanted to pummel Sasori into the ground right about now. Sasori only laughed in response, which was getting a bit irritating as of lately.

"You better be kidding me…You don't expect me to watch that little brat…" He growled, "Again…" Sasori nodded,

"No." He said, shaking his head, "No, no, no." He argued, but he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with it.

Because here he was again, stuck in this godforsaken house, with this godforsaken child.

For some reason, he just wanted to bash his face into the nearest wall, and hope it knocked him unconscious for the next three days. He decided against it.

"Itachi-san." Came a quiet reply from Deidara, in whom had his hands behind his back, looking up at him innocently. Itachi looked down at him, "What now?" He asked, "Hungry? Tired?" He began listing off things, trying to shoo the kid away.

Deidara shook his head, his short blonde hair whipping around slightly, smiling, "No."

"…Well then what is it…If it's not important…Then I don't care…" He said flatly, his eyes showing no hint of interest.

The boy held out his hands, 'I made this, un." He smiled again, holding it up towards Itachi. "For you." He held up a small sculpture that he had made out of clay that Sasori had gotten for him not too long ago.

Itachi took the small sculpture, inspecting it. For a moment, he looked almost amused. Everything…Every detail seemed to be perfect on it, "You did this, kid..?" He asked, twisting it around in his hand.

But before Itachi had the time to take everything in, Deidara had preformed a hand seal-

And the next thing he knew, the sculpture was exploding dangerously close to his face. He practically jumped straight out of his Akatsuki cloak, his eyes wide.

Deidara was laughing. Him: 1. Itachi: 0.

Itachi growled, glaring dangerously at Deidara. His fist clenched tightly, twitching, "You're dead for that, kid..." He growled, his hand rising, in what looked like a threatening manner.

But then the laughter stopped, and Deidara's eyes grew wide at the rising hand, plain fear written on his facial features, as tears began to well up in his eyes, flinching, as if he was preparing to be struck. "D-Don't hurt me, un..." Came a shaky whimper, a few tears falling, looking as if he was lost in a memory.

"Feh? Don't hurt you? After what you did, I should be-…" Itachi stopped, noticing the boys tears, and the look of terror on his face. And for once since Sasori had brought him here, his heart almost tore in half. He had never seen someone look so helpless before. "Deidara..?" He asked, his hand reaching out slowly, running one hand through the boys hair.

Deidara flinched again, whimpering at the touch, clenching his eyes shut as silent tears ran down his face. That wasn't Sasori's hand…That wasn't his touch…He wasn't safe anymore, or he didn't feel safe, anyways.

"..Kid..?" Itachi repeated, trying to shake him back to reality, "Deidara!"

The boys' eyes shot open, his small form trembling, staring up at Itachi. "I want Sasori.." Came a rushed, scared reply from the blonde, his lower lip trembling, fresh tears welling in his eyes.

Itachi knelt down next to him, "Deidara…You know he's not going to be back for a few days, don't even start." He ended the sentence strong, trying to keep his composure.

But the next thing he knew, he felt tiny arms wrap their way around his torso as far as they could go, keeping him in what was practically a death grip, a tearstained face buried into his chest, fresh tears falling, soaking into his cloak.

Itachi wanted to shove him away, lock him into Sasori's room for the rest of the day and just let him cry there. He'd do anything to show this kid that he was the strongest one right now, and that he wasn't going to let him push him around.

…But for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to do that. He quietly picked him up, mimicking Sasori's movements as he let the boy rest his head on his shoulder, running one hand through his hair, hushing him quietly. Sasori had told him about the nightmares that the boy would have, and suddenly he felt a pang of guilt wash over him.

Dammit, how the hell could this kid just work him over like that? It just wasn't right…But he was torn from his thoughts when he heard a tearful reply from Deidara.

"I-Itachi-san..?" His voice quivered, looking up at him through tear blurred eyes.

"Yeah, kid?" He asked, his voice sounding somewhat gentle.

"I-I'm sorry, u-un…" A few more tears trickled down his face, "D-Don't hurt me..."

"Just relax, Deidara…" He said quietly, trying to calm the boy. He sat back down on the couch, wondering just how in the hell Sasori could get him to stop crying so quickly…

Deidara snuggled closer into the embrace, his eyes growing heavy, stinging from the tears. Eventually, they closed, as once ragged, frightened breaths calmed into even, quiet ones, a thumb stuck childishly into his mouth.

And at that moment, Itachi couldn't help but smile.

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