Disclaimer: Go backwards.
A/N: I just want to say thank you for the reception on chapter 7 that was a huge jump in reviews. Thanks! For anyone who doesn't know gaki means brat.
Chapter 8:
"Incoming!" Hidan exclaimed as a motorcycle came to a halt, in front of the main doors of the school, creating a cloud of dust.
"Tala I think I'm gonna hurl." Deidara moaned in discomfort trying to get his head to stop spinning.
"Sorry, I'll remember to go slower next time." Tala said and steadied the blond, to keep him from falling over once he'd gotten off the vehicle.
"Thanks for the ride. Now excuse me while I barf." Deidara said before taking off beyond the main doors.
"Good morning guys." Tala said looking over.
"Likewise. You got any clue as to why Dei's wearing a turtleneck in the middle of spring?" Itachi looked at him suspiciously.
"If I'm to guess, he's probably going through the motions of getting through what Kushina did. I've read that covering up as much skin as possible is common practice after such trauma." Tala replied and prepared to take off.
"Hold it!" Itachi commanded stopping him.
"Yes?" Tala asked sounding annoyed.
"Come to my house Friday, there's no way I'm letting you fall behind in your school work." The Uchiha replied simply.
"You sure you don't just want me to come over so you can lock me up in your closet and have me at your mercy whenever you want?" Tala made to take off with that, but Itachi stopped him once again with his next words.
"Do you think I'd wait forever? You're not THAT much of a catch Ivanov." Itachi got all up in his face with a smirk after that.
"There's a difference between wanting a good fuck, and wanting a relationship Itachi." Tala retorted blowing a bubble with his gum, and letting it pop in the raven's face.
"Much better. Heed my advice: If you want to get with me be yourself." With that the redhead left, making a much bigger dust cloud than when he'd arrived, due to going at twice the speed.
"Well that was eventful." Kisame said as Itachi tried getting the gum off his face.
"Man you got owned." Sasori said resisting the need to laugh that was showing through his tone.
"What the heck happened to you?" Deidara asked staring at Itachi as he approached them.
"I dunno, but I'm thinking he pissed Tala off." Hidan said as Itachi cursed said redhead to hell.
"What did you do now?" Deidara asked trying not to laugh as the Uchiha pulled at the gum.
"In a nut shell," Itachi hissed. "I told him he wasn't worth waiting for."
"Interesting." Deidara said sounding everything but. "I'm going to class. See you guys."
"Maybe I should heed his advice." Itachi muttered to himself banging his head against his locker. "First he kisses me back, then he's mad at me."
"I'd be willing to bet you deserve whatever you got." Garland said closing his locker a little ways down.
"What was that?" Itachi asked glaring over at him.
"Just as I said, whatever you got, you probably deserve. It's not a secret that you're too much of a jealous freak when you really want someone Itachi, and that's why you've lost every last one of the guys you've liked. Our dear little freshman Neji for example. You practically pushed him right into-"
"One more word, and I'll risk the suspension to put you back in the infirmary." Itachi supplied cutting him off.
"Calm down Mr. Perfect, I think you'll like what I have to tell you. Something happened in this hall yesterday that you'd probably love to know." Garland looked at him with an evil glint after making a peace sign.
"Alright fine, peace for now." Itachi sighed giving into his curiosity. "Now tell me what you saw." He commanded impatiently.
"Your best friend," Garland started.
"What about him?" Itachi let his curiosity show on his face then forgetting about appearances.
"Behaving like a lovesick bitch while ravishing and being ravished by my nemesis not even an hour after you yourself had had the luxury of kissing him." Garland found himself pinned against the lockers the instant he had finished speaking. "Hey! What gives man?"
"Are you certain?" Itachi growled at him. "Are you certain that is what you saw?"
"Of course I'm certain! Tala even carried Deidara out of the school after, and they didn't look like they were even started yet."
"You'd better be telling the truth Garland. If I find out you're lying, you're going to be in for more than just hell." Itachi let go of him after that taking off towards their classroom quickly.
"Did you really have to do that?" Brooklyn asked slamming his locker shut.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch. It's nothing personal just revenge." Garland retorted not affected by the glare Brooklyn was giving him in the least.
"I know that, but the one you want to hurt is Tala, not Deidara. You know Itachi, Deidara will be lucky if he doesn't end up dead." Brooklyn countered and punched his locker. "You're lucky we're friends Garland, because that punch is exactly what you deserve right now."
"Namikaze Deidara, I want to talk to you." Itachi hissed as he entered the classroom.
"For hell's sake Itachi, what did I do now?" Deidara bit back not looking up from the picture he was working on.
"Come. Now." Itachi commanded coldly, sternly.
"What if I don't?" Deidara asked not paying him the least bit of attention.
"Don't be difficult, I'm taking it outside to avoid the embarrassment you potentially face from what I have to discuss with you." Itachi replied taking the blond's sketchbook and sending it flying out the nearest open window.
"Itachi! You asshole! You want to talk? Fine, talk. Just prepare for me to bash your face in first!" Deidara went for him and Itachi countered.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Yusuke started chanting as Itachi tackled Deidara.
"Itachi, let go of my hair!" Deidara exclaimed grabbing Itachi's as he dealt a punch to the raven's chest.
"Let go of mine!" Itachi growled back punching back.
"Why the hell are you two even fighting?" Shuichi asked trying to separate them with Gohan's help.
"How the fuck should I know?" Deidara bit out glaring at Itachi as he tried to break free from Shuichi.
"Are you, or are you not, seeing Tala behind my back?" Itachi screamed causing Deidara to turn pale.
"Well are you?" The Uchiha asked struggling in Gohan's grip.
"So what if I am?" Deidara countered after some silence.
"So you are?" Itachi asked grabbing at the turtleneck Deidara wore and exposing the hickey the blond had been trying to hide.
"You really are aren't you? You fucking slut!" Itachi saw red, and all Deidara knew after that was pain, lots and lots of pain.
"Main office how can I help you?" Miss Mimi heard over the loudspeaker after minutes of waiting.
"I need security. I think one of my students might be close to killing a fellow classmate!" She supplied watching Itachi pound a now unconscious Deidara.
"Understood." She heard.
"Hurry!" She exclaimed.
"Let go! Itachi let go of him!" Shuichi and Gohan exclaimed trying to pull Itachi off of the now unconscious Deidara by one arm each.
"You knew that I like him, you knew from the start, and you still went for it. Deidara!" Itachi kept repeating that as though possessed, throwing blow after blow at the unconscious blond, too powerful for Shuichi and Gohan to accomplish what they were attempting, if only from sheer willpower to keep it up.
"Kisame, Hidan, Sasori where do you think you're going?" The trio's teacher asked in a classroom on the other side of the school.
"Sorry ma'am, but the two fighting in Miss Mimi's class are friends of ours and we're really not about to let them fight like that." Hidan said before slipping out of the back door of the classroom and rushing to catch up with Kisame and Sasori.
"Dei!" He exclaimed as he caught view of a stretcher, and the unconscious blond.
"I'm going with him." Sasori declared approaching the paramedics.
"We cannot allow that without authority from the principal." A security guard said placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You might want to make an exception." Sasori bit back creepily.
"Why's that kid?" The guard asked.
"Because I'm about two seconds from seeing red, and doing something stupid myself." He replied shrugging him off, and glaring at Itachi, who was standing completely still, in the arms of a security guard, with a look of shock on his face. "Words cannot describe what I'll do to you if he's as seriously hurt as he looks."
"I'm sorry. Dei, wake up! I'm sorry!" Itachi tried to break free from the guard as the paramedics took Deidara and left with Sasori not far behind.
"Itachi! That's enough. The damage is done. You'd best just pray he'll be okay." Kisame offered sounding disappointed in him before following Hidan back to their classroom.
"Have you been cooped up in here all day?" Boris asked as he entered Tala's room.
"Uh huh." Tala replied lifting his crying face from his pillow. "Dad, is it possible to love two people?"
"Perhaps, I mean if it weren't possible there wouldn't be countries that allow a man more than one wife." Boris replied placing a bowl of food on Tala's table for two. "Still hung up over Hiro are you?"
"He keeps calling, and I want to answer, but a part of me keeps telling me not to." Tala replied just as his cellphone started vibrating on his nightstand.
"I thought you seemed pretty serious about Deidara, but love, already? Seriously?" Boris sat down on the bed and watched his son open his nightstand drawer and throw his cellphone inside before shutting it with a violent push.
"When I first told Hiro that I love him I felt just like this dad, like I didn't need anything else to be happy, like I could be poorer than a peasant and not give a damn as long as I had him." Tala said and sighed as Boris started scratching his head gently. "How did you know?"
"Love, especially when contemplating it, is always a headache son." Boris replied moving to massage his temples.
"I still love Hiro, I told Deidara I would try to get over him quickly so as to not keep him waiting long, but I don't think I can do that dad. I don't think I'll ever stop loving Hiro, and now somehow I feel that same way about Deidara. I have to choose one, but I don't want to." (Tala)
"From what I could tell, Deidara may very well be in love with you, but he's not completely aware of it yet. Drinking problem aside you know well that Hiro loves you, those constant calls are only one of the many pieces of evidence that prove it. Stop wracking your brain for an answer, and just let love run it's course. What will be will be." (Boris)
"This is Boris what can I do for you?" Boris asked answering his cellphone.
"This is Sasori. I'm a friend of your son. He's not answering his phone, so I decided to call you. Do you know where he is?" Sasori's voice reached Tala's ears and he blinked. Why would Sasori be calling him?
"Give it dad." He said sitting up.
"I'll be in my study if you need anything." Boris said forking it over.
"Sasori it's Tala, what's up?" (Tala)
"Tala, you need to come to the hospital, pronto! Itachi found out about you and Deidara, and he lost control of his jealousy and anger." (Sasori)
"Which hospital?" Tala asked trying to stay calm.
In an hour Tala had arrived at the hospital, and found Sasori pacing the span of the waiting room, along with Minato who was on the phone going on about canceling what he had scheduled for work until further notice. Itachi was sitting on the floor hugging his knees, and staring blankly down the hall where various hospital staff was running about. His eyes were looking beyond them, at the door at the very back of the hall where Deidara was or rather at the red glowing box above the door that meant that Deidara was still in critical condition.
"Have they said anything?" He asked Sasori.
"Nothing. It's been almost two hours, I'm at a loss as to why they're taking so long." Sasori said as he continued to pace the room.
"Will you stop doing that Sasori? You're making me even more worried than I already am." Minato supplied with a pleading look.
"Then you'll be happy to know you have nothing to worry about sir. Deidara will be fine, he just needs some rest. He's asleep." A voice Tala knew all too well was heard, and while Minato and Itachi sighed relieved to hear those words, and Sasori went over to the figure and started asking what took so long, all he could do was stare.
"Deidara had suffered some minor head trauma. The doctors wanted to make sure they checked for any possible complications. That, combined with the debate they had about whether or not he could have visitors, made it last this long." Right before his eyes was the man he was trying so hard to forget, giving his friend the lowdown on the guy he was here to see.
"Can we see him?" Minato asked.
"One at a time." Hiro replied causing Itachi to get up, and make a break for the room.
"Itachi!" Sasori exclaimed chasing after him.
"No, stop Sasori. Let him go. He deserves another chance." Minato caused Sasori to come back, although Sasori started muttering about Itachi being entitled to nothing of the sort, if anything at all.
"Hiro?" Tala needed to know if he wasn't hallucinating, and he needed to know stat!
"Am I allowed this close to you, or am I risking prison time?" Hiro asked in a cold tone as he looked over at him with hate in his eyes.
"That's Hiro?" Sasori asked surprised.
"Yes." Tala replied.
"This is the guy that beat you? The guy who almost suffocated you?" Sasori asked in pure disbelief.
"He's a lot stronger than he looks Sasori." Tala said as Itachi came back into the waiting room.
"Good, that means he won't feel this." Itachi said before making to punch Hiro's face, but his fist was grabbed and held tight.
"Not very impressive." Hiro said before catching Itachi's other fist.
"Kid, I could do this all day." He added blocking a kick.
"Good, dodge this!" Itachi tried to tackle him, but found himself in a headlock.
"He's good." Sasori said watching Itachi and Hiro go at it. "He's almost as good as me."
"Better." Tala said watching the two with nostalgic eyes.
"Huh?" (Sasori)
"He's better than you. This is Hiro playing. Most of that is just engraved into his brain." (Tala)
"I need to train with this guy." Sasori said as Itachi met the floor.
"I admit you're very skilled." Itachi said as he got up. "However, I don't have to deal physical blows to you in order to pay you back for hurting Tala. I'll do you one better. Not only did he file a restraining order against you, but he's moved on, with the guy you just tended to."
"Is that supposed to bother me?" Hiro asked.
"I don't know, you tell me. You've been replaced by a dumb blond." Itachi replied, and went to have a seat. Hateful though he was, he still owed Deidara an apology.
"If he got Tala's attention, he can't possibly be dumb." Hiro said but gave Tala a questioning look.
"Well, it's half true. I did fall in love with Deidara, but I've yet to stop loving you Hiro." Tala didn't dare look at him directly.
"I wish you'd answered your phone the two hundred and thirty nine times I called you. You're not the only one who decided to find someone else when you put our relationship on hiatus Tala. I am not nearly so far gone though." Hiro didn't want to look at him much at the moment either.
"Can we take this elsewhere? I doubt anyone here needs to hear this." (Tala)
"Sure. Deidara was the last patient had to check on for the day anyway." (Hiro)
"One question." Sasori said stopping the two from leaving.
"Yes?" They chorused.
"How old is Hiro?" He asked.
"I'm eighteen, and no Sasori I am not a doctor. I'm planning on becoming one, so I'm here as a nurse's assistant as part of the required community service hours I need to graduate from high school this year." (Hiro)
"Sasori, when Deidara is awake, please, come get me at the cafeteria." Tala said before putting his hand in the one Hiro offered him and walking away with him.
"What was that all about?" Minato asked managing to catch a glimpse of the two before they turned the corner.
"As far as those two are concerned, they're on hiatus. Both are seeing other people, but I get the impression they're still, far from over, and I'm worried, because Tala's choice of person to see during this hiatus, is none other than your son." Sasori said looking up from a magazine he was reading.
"Well I can see why Deidara would be interested, and while I personally want to tell him not to be with him, I'm not going to. It's Deidara's decision if he wants to see where it goes with Tala. He's old enough to make this kind of choice now." Minato said as he sat down and grabbed a magazine from the table next to him.
"I hate to say it, but you're right. Deidara's not the child I spent years trying to toughen up anymore." Sasori sighed recalling the past ten years. "Still, I'll be damned if I let him be hurt to the point where the person he is now disappears or changes for the worst."
"If anything, I can say my son has made some good friends in his life." Minato said smiling. "Your gaki has grown up well hasn't he Sasori?"
"Humph. I think we knew even when we were kids that we'd all be stuck together for life thereafter, and yes I do believe my gaki has grown up well." Sasori said nodding his head towards Hidan and Kisame. "Took your damn sweet time didn't you?" He asked not looking at them.
"Unlike you and Itachi, we weren't so lucky to get excused from school for the day. We had to find a way to leave the school without being caught since the security got super tight because of what happened." Hidan retorted.
"Can we see him?" Kisame asked.
"One at a time." Minato replied.
"You go Hidan, I'm going to have a talk with Itachi." Kisame said causing Hidan to shrug and head for the door Minato pointed to.
"What do you want Kisame?" Itachi asked as Kisame sat down next to him.
"Do you still plan on trying to get with Tala?" The elder asked.
"I don't know. It's not like he'd give me the time of day after what I did to Deidara, is it?" Itachi wished so badly that he could turn back time right then.
"You don't know that Itachi." Kisame said attempting to lift his mood.
"Kisame before you and Hidan got here I got to meet Hiro. I told him Tala had replaced him with Deidara. He wasn't the least bit affected, and if he was he didn't show it. Tala said to him, that what I said was half true because he's in love with Deidara but has yet to stop loving Hiro. Knowing that, do you think Tala would give me a second glance?" Itachi unknowingly started crying then and Kisame sighed mentally.
"Well I know one thing," He started. "Tala's not going to be interested in giving a crybaby a second glance, so heed the advice he gave you this morning and be yourself. All of the impressing you've tried, and your jealousy have gotten you nowhere." He finished looking away from him all the while. To Kisame seeing Itachi cry was just a big no-no. It just freaked him out.
"Do you really think he'd give me a chance?" Itachi asked wiping furiously at his eyes.
"He's on hiatus right? That means anyone can try and get with him. Show him the real you, you might just be the one he's looking for." Kisame retorted.
"But he's in love with Deidara." Itachi reminded him.
"Yes and? He did say he's still in love with Hiro didn't he? That means there's a chance you can also reach that point with him." Kisame countered.
"You really think so?" Itachi asked.
"I will hit you so hard right now, if you don't get it together, and give Deidara the war you tried giving him through hits, in the right way." Kisame replied seriously.
"I'll try, but I doubt I'll get far." Itachi said causing Kisame to hit him on the head.
A/N: -looking at bar- YES! LONG! Enjoy! RNR!