So, the first part of this chapter is pretty much irrelavent, mindless fluff, just a fair warning, because i felt like this story didn't have enough mindless fluff in it already, so i put that there. just another warning, the next few chapters will also be filled with mindless fluff, of course there WILL be reason and plot as well, but it will be based around the fluff ^^ im in a very fluffy mood today.

"You're such a brat."

"Shut up Danna un! It's not like this was my intention!"

It was after the show and Deidara was in the infirmary, having his stitches redone by a none-too-pleased Sakura, who had warned him to be careful.

"Un, that hurts!" he yelped when the needled slid a little too far into his skin.

"Shut up brat, this is what you get for not taking proper care of yourself," Sasori growled, but at the same time he didn't like to watch Deidara in pain like that, even if it was his own fault, so he held out his hand, as a small gesture of comfort, "you're not going to bite me, are you?" he asked before letting Deidara take his hand.

"I'll try not to," Deidara replied, "but I don't always have control over them, un."

Despite finding them initially disgusting, Sasori now found Deidara's hand mouths rather interesting. He was born with them, just like any other part of his body and it wasn't just something some sicko's had done to him in a prison cell over time. And still, nobody seemed to know much about them at all, only the most basic things which Deidara had learned through observation.

Deidara flinched every time he thought he heard a crack from Sasori's hand, but it hurt. It wasn't that Sakura was a bad nurse, but she sometimes underestimated her own strength which led to unintentionally harsh treatment. But Sasori never said anything; it was as if he didn't notice the tight grip Deidara had on him. He just watched with passive interest as the needle pushed through Deidara's skin, dragging the thin, wire-like thread through along with it and occasionally causing blood to pool at random points.

Every time Deidara wanted to voice his pain, he simply tightened his grip until that hurt more than his shoulder. It hadn't hurt this much when he was shot, though they'd said the pain had been dulled by the adrenaline.

It seemed like this was going to last forever, when the final stitch was made and Sakura ripped the thread, tying a small knot and offering a sheepish smile to try and apologize.

"I'll go and see how they're getting on in there," she pointed towards the curtain-separated room next to theirs where Hidan was being sewed up, having been cut in half before the crowd that night. They almost never did that because it was such a messy job and terrible to patch up. "Then I'll come back with something to make sure you get some sleep."

Drugs.

That was his favorite part of getting hurt.

They'd give him drugs to make everything wonderful and numb.

As Sakura left the makeshift room, drawing the curtains behind her, Deidara let go of Sasori's hand and lay back on the bed he'd been put in – thankfully not overnight. His fingers were red from the pressure he'd put on them and his hand was sore, but looking over at Sasori, nothing was different with him.

Sasori was weird, and he'd noticed that in Ame the first time he saw Sasori's act. And, like most members of the Akatsuki, he wasn't fully human. Deidara wondered idly if that non-humanness affected the way he processed things. Because if Sasori was allowed to be curious, then so was Deidara.

"Danna un," he said absently, "what does it feel like?"

"What does what feel like?"

"I don't know un, anything. What does anything feel like? Do you feel things like I do, un?"

"I don't know how you feel things brat, so I wouldn't be able to answer that accurately even if I wanted to. Which I don't."

Deidara frowned, concentrating hard on a way to reform his question so as to get the best possible answer… but he didn't have to think for long because the answer came quite quickly. He flicked Sasori's forehead and said, "Did you feel that, un?"

"Of course I did," Sasori growled in response, glaring at the retreating hand with its smug looking mouth. Even without eyes that hand could seem arrogant, although that was probably more to do with its owner.

"Okay un, but how about this?"

"I swear to god brat, if you flick me again I'll cut those fingers right off."

Deidara fought down the smile that tugged at his mouth, this had become about more than just figuring Sasori out, but also about annoying him. It was now a game which would end with either him finding all the answers – or at least sufficient answers to keep him satisfied – or Sasori cutting his fingers off.

"But Danna un, how are you supposed to know, if you don't feel it?"

Deidara didn't flick this time but instead dragged a sharp black nail across one of the wooden fingers resting on the side of his bed. Both of Sasori's hands were comprised of two wooden fingers and three flesh ones, yet all were properly functioning and everything but, this time he got no reaction.

"Did you feel that, un?" he asked.

"No."

Next Deidara grabbed his hand, bringing it to eye level and staring at it curiously. "So is it just that finger or can you not feel your hand at all?"

"I feel it, it just isn't very strong," Sasori replied begrudgingly. Because it seemed Deidara wasn't going to let this go. He frowned when he felt Deidara pushing up the sleeve of his Akatsuki cloak.

"So then, where is it strongest, un? Are there like, patches all over your body where you literally can't feel anything and then parts where you can barely feel anything and then –"

"Jeez brat, if I'd known you would ask so many questions, I never would've played along in the first place," Sasori's words seemed to stop Deidara in his tracks, his hand gliding over Sasori's skin and logging the details of every moment, touch and small minute reaction.

Sasori began to undo the first few clasps of his cloak and said, "You want to know where it feels the strongest, right?"

He allowed the cloak to slip slightly down his shoulder and took Deidara's wrist, pulling him closer to place his hand over the cylinder type thing jutting out of his chest, breathing in sharply when Deidara's hand actually made contact.

For a moment, the blonde was in awe, simply focusing on the way it felt and feeling more than hearing the thump, thump, that lay beneath his fingers. Was this… well it was certainly a weird feeling and from the looks of it, it had a big effect on Sasori, who had his eyes squeezed shut and hands clenched in the bed sheets.

"What is this Danna, it feels strange, un," he murmured, leaning down to get a closer look and pushing the cloak aside a little more. He already knew the answer but wanted to hear it said out loud.

"My heart… sort of," Sasori rasped, trying to get a hold of himself, "back in Suna, a while ago, they took me apart and replaced my heart with… this."

"Un, so I literally have Danna's heart in my hand?"

Sasori had to laugh at that one, "Yeah brat, in a way I guess you do."

Deidara removed his hand so only a single finger remained, and traced invisible patterns, logging the fact that with every movement, Sasori seemed to flinch. "Does it hurt, un?" he asked, not pausing in his movements at all.

"No it's just, really strong. I can't tell what it is."

"Oh un."

He would've continued what he was doing – having decided he liked the way his Danna's heart felt and liked having his heartbeat so close – had Sakura not walked back in right then, covered in blood of course, since the next room was probably completely red by now. She held a small cup of water and packaged pills and took in the scene before her with wide green eyes.

"Uh... h-here," she said, looking away and holding out the pills for Deidara to take, "th-these should get you through the night."

"Thanks un," Deidara took the pills with a smile, expertly pretending nothing had happened, and watching with much amusement as Sasori did the same thing. "You'll be seeing me again tomorrow, right, un?"

Sakura only nodded, before making a quick excuse to leave the room.

Konan sat with a large piece of paper spread out across Pein's desk – having found his office empty an hour ago and finding the necessary equipment in a locked drawer. Everybody else was asleep but she simply couldn't bring herself to keep her eyes closed, not when it did nothing whatsoever to stop the doubt clouding her mind.

So she decided to write it all out, draw a timeline or something and try to get some perspective.

Right now, the only things that seemed imminent and important were Deidara and Itachi's deaths, so she focused on them. But then by doing that, she also had to focus on the people around them; Sasuke, Kisame… Sasori – no, not him.

Sasuke's fate was going off on a steadily down sloping tangent right now, though there was a big gap in the day ahead of them. That must be when he was going into town with Itachi to say a final goodbye to their family. But Itachi was supposed to collapse tomorrow in the Uchiha compound, leading everybody to believe he was done for this time. And they wouldn't have been there in town, away from Itachi's doctor – or faux doctor, whatever – had Sasuke not provoked action from his father.

So in a way, didn't this stem from what happened on stage, between Naruto and Sasuke? The future she had fought hard to protect, was spurring on the future she was dreading.

Dammit, why hadn't she seen this coming?

Then as a result, Kisame and Sakura would spend a ton of time in Konaha visiting the hospital, that definitely wasn't going to change, but what was it that caused Deidara to venture into town? That was the big question, the problem she had yet to solve. She knew that Sasori wasn't letting him set foot outside the camp, so then Deidara should be safe, right?

Though it could be assumed, that Deidara was in town for some reason that related to Itachi's illness, so then it was her fault again, for forcing the future to head in a direction she could see. Maybe this was fate's ultimate punishment.

She really would go mad soon if fate didn't get out here and fix what it had done.

The tragic truth about a fortune teller, is that they must sit back and watch everybody they love, die.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying unsuccessfully to clear her head, opening them again when she heard the paper begin to fold itself. Sure enough, the paper folded into itself and flew across the room where Pein promptly caught it and unfolded it, reading its contents

"You know, it's not your job to save them," he said, seeing many times, the word dying scrawled down on the paper. "You're only one person and they don't expect you to save their lives."

"Yes they do," Konan replied bitterly, "they think they're safe just because I know what's going to happen to them. But they're wrong and I can't even tell them that!"

"Your predictions always come true anyway," Pein reminded her, "one way or another. Even if you told them, it wouldn't stop fate from taking over. Everyone has to die during some point in their lives, usually the end, and it's not your job to postpone that end."

"So what am I supposed to do then? Just sit back and watch?! Watch while these bad things happen? Watch and do nothing?!"

"Yes. At this point, that's all we can really do."

It had been a long day. A long life, really, but he was coming to terms with the fact that soon, it might be over.

Sasuke was growing up, that much was clear by the fact that they were here, in their old house, about to sign a disbandment contract, to break the old one. No more annual mandatory visits. They never had to see their family again, and Sasuke was fine with that.

Itachi wondered if his little brother had known the whole time; if he'd simply played the part of ignorant younger brother to make him happy. This whole time, he'd thought Sasuke was the one who needed humoring and yet, he was the one being lied to.

"You're sure about this?" Itachi asked, his pen hovering above the paper while their father watched.

Sasuke nodded, sure of himself, he said, "you're all the family I'm going to need."

But then he said something like that, and Itachi knew Sasuke didn't know nearly as much as it seemed. He had been kept in the dark, about the full-extent of his older brother's sickness and the fact that he might not have much time left. Still, Itachi wasn't about to tell him that tomorrow could be his last day, or even today. It felt good to know that there were still a few things he knew, that Sasuke didn't have to worry about.

He signed the paper in front of him and it was official.

"Alright, you're no long affiliated with this family," Fugaku said, rolling up the contract, "it's like you never happened."

"It didn't take a piece of paper for me to forget your existence," Sasuke replied coldly. Because he could say things like that now, since they were no longer related.

"Get out of my house, both of you," Fugaku growled, "and don't you or your idiot cousin, ever come back here."

"Don't worry, we won't!" Sasuke yelled, playing the part of angered teenager, he stood up and stomped off, realizing after a few moments that Itachi wasn't following him. he turned back to find his brother still seated, a distant look on his face, hands clutching the couch tightly, knuckles white from the pressure.

"Brother, what's wrong?" faux anger quickly melting away to make way for concern.

Itachi blinked and tried to focus his eyes, but everything was blurry. "Nothing," he lied, pausing to cough into his hand. He couldn't see it but he knew he'd coughed out a considerable amount of blood. "I'll be fine Sasuke, let's just go," he tried to stand up; really he gave it his best shot, but fate shot him down.

He registered falling over, though he couldn't see and now found he could barely breathe. He felt Sasuke shaking him, telling him to wake up, calling out his name, lying and telling him everything was going to be alright, but somewhere deep down in his mind, he realized it wasn't. Somewhere deep down, he knew this was the last time.

"Have any of you seen Itachi?"

Konan ignored Kisame when he barged in, uninvited, into the children's tent. She'd decided it was none of her business, what was going on, and so ignored it.

"He's supposed to be back by now."

"Didn't he go into to town today?" Naruto asked, "Yeah, he and Sasuke went to break up with their family!"

"Have you asked the rest of the Akatsuki?" Sasori asked, as everyone decided Naruto would be ignored as well.

"Of course, I went there first and they haven't seen him."

Konan tried to stop herself, but the words left her mouth before she could control them, "I'm sure he'll be fine," she lied, cringing internally as she watched Kisame visibly relax.

"You're sure?" he asked hopefully and Konan hated herself for a split second, as she nodded to confirm her words. "Alright then, I guess I'll go and get ready, then."

When Kisame left, Konan decided to ignore Sasori's stare. Because he knew just as well as she did, that she didn't know whether or not he would be fine. Well, he thought he knew, anyway. But he was wrong, just as she had been wrong to say anything in the first place.

The show started and still, neither Sasuke nor Itachi showed up, so a few Acts had to be shifted and changed, but Konan had already prepared for that.

She watched the Akatsuki perform, their acts lacking due to worry for Itachi. Tobi's own act seemed to suffer a great deal as he was left without his usual charm offensive and adorable clumsiness to make the crowd laugh, he ended up scaring more people than he made laugh.

Then at the end of it all, when they were packing up, Sasuke showed up. Konan thought the scene would've looked better if it had been raining outside, but it wasn't. Still, it looked like rain had been pouring down over the younger Uchiha's face, he'd been crying for hours, from the looks of it. Everyone noticed his arrival and watched with unintentional intensity as he dragged himself through the tent. He had to tell somebody, he had to tell everybody.

"Teme, where have you been?" Naruto was the first to speak, to break the silence which he was oblivious to anyway. It was as if he hadn't even noticed the distraught look on the other's face, thought really, he probably hadn't.

"Hospital," Sasuke said, he was exhausted but he had to get this message out. He saw the room tense up when he said that single word, because they all knew. "They said this time… this time, Itachi i-isn't –"

No, he couldn't bring himself to say it. He wouldn't!

This wasn't happening! This wasn't real! No! No! No!

"This time's the last, huh?" Tobi asked. He received a solemn nod from his younger cousin.

"That's what the doctors are saying," Sasuke said almost quiet enough so that nobody would hear.

He hoped deep down inside, that if nobody heard and nobody knew, it wouldn't be true at all.

You've heard the phrase, "everything happens for a reason," right? because that's true, and everything that has just happened, happened for a reason ^^