"Do you remember where Pein's house is?"

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Of course I do. What time?"

"Well, he'll be home tonight, so say...um, eleven tomorrow morning?"

"We'll be there." Deidara ended the call and drummed his fingers thoughtfully on his thigh for a moment. Then he picked the mobile up again and texted a meeting place and time to Itachi.

Itachi met his blonde friend outside the newsagents as agreed and they walked through the housing estate towards Pein's house. It was a silent journey, both were deep in thought.

The house was in the middle of a row of terraces, an ordinary and mundane building with a front garden full of weeds. Two run-down cars were in the drive, with a motorcycle hiding behind them, which Deidara recognised as belonging to Pein.

The blonde pulled his phone out and texted Sasori, preferring that to ringing the doorbell and having a less friendly face open it. A few moments later and the side door opened to reveal a red-headed figure.

"Hi Deidara." Sasori muttered. He didn't look overly thrilled with the situation, no more so than the pair standing on the drive. "You'd better come in."

Deidara followed first, Itachi trailing after him with reluctance. Sasori led them through the small kitchen into the living room.

Itachi was surprised to realise just how worried he was about this meeting. Of course, he knew damn well that he himself wouldn't be in any trouble, but he didn't want Deidara to end up getting hurt. It was a very troublesome situation the two of them had found themselves in, and if this was the only way to untangle the mess, then so be it.

The room was quite crowded already, and the two new-comers made it positively claustrophobic. The two settees were full, with Pein himself wrapped in a blanket and sat on an overstuffed bean-bag. He had his right arm in a plaster cast and sling – coincidently the same arm Itachi still had bandaged from the knifing – and there was a steri-strip running along his forehead. The other cuts and grazes went without saying.

Five pairs of eyes – six including Sasori's – glared at the two friends. Konan stood up, half confrontational, half protective of her brother. Itachi met the stares evenly, not allowing himself to be intimidated. Deidara was slightly less confident but also refused to cower like they hoped he would.

Finally Pein stopped the mega-watt staring contest and stood up.

"Thanks for coming." He said. The tone of voice made it very clear that he wasn't happy to be having this meeting.

"This needs to be sorted out." Itachi replied equally coolly.

"Yes it does." There was a flicker on the orange-haired man's face, very brief, but there was a definite sign of vulnerability. "Can you stop what's happening to me? Can you get rid of your curse?"

Itachi sighed. "Look Pein, I am pretty damn sure that I didn't put that curse on you." He stated bluntly. "You and I don't know each other, and to be frank I don't actually care what happens to you. But it's my moral duty to help you, as one human to another. Yes, I'll take that curse off, and once I'm done it will clear this whole mess up and we never have to see each other again." He folded his arms as well as he could with his injured arm. "Do you concur?"

Pein raised a pierced eye-brow. "You talk like such a posh snob Uchiha, but seeing as you appear to be my only chance, yeah I concur." He said sarcastically.

"Then you have to do exactly what I say."

Konan frowned at that. "Pein, I really don't like the sound of this. Messing around with something that sounds like it's from Harry Potter? Not good!"

There were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the group, although they sounded reluctant. It had been a long and crazy fortnight as there wasn't a person in the room who wanted things to continue. It was Sasori who voiced this.

"Pein, just do as he says. I may not know or trust him, but I can vouch for Deidara and Dei thinks this is the right thing to do."

Said blonde stared at the red-head in surprise and something akin to grudging respect. He hadn't expected that from his one-time-friend. Pein nodded shortly at Sasori's statement.

"I'm sick of what's going on – that car could have killed me yesterday, and the next accident might finish the job. I want all of this to end and end now." He met Itachi's gaze squarely. "What do you want me to do?"

Itachi took remarkably little time to sort things out to his liking. He made Pein's friends push the furniture to the sides of the room to clear a space, then told them to stand in a large circle. Pein himself was made to stand in the middle next to Itachi.

"Okay, what do I need to do?" Pein asked carefully.

Itachi was going over the procedure again in his head, but opened his eyes when he heard the question.

"You don't need to do anything, just stand still." He said, moving round the circle. "I'll tell you guys how this works."

It was a confusing concept. Itachi tried to explain what he intended to do, but even Deidara had trouble getting his head round it.

"So let me get this straight." The blonde said slowly. "You take the curse off as if it's a physical thing and it will zap back to the person who cast it?"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes at the crude summery. "Broadly speaking, although 'zap' is not quite the term I'd use. The curse will leave Pein and be recast onto its owner."

Konan was the only one to pick up on the implications. "What happens to the original caster, when the curse goes back to them? Do they then start having these accidents?"

"No." The Uchiha glanced at her. "It hits all in one go, I've seen it before – had it happen to me once – it's rather like being hit by a ton of bricks."

Pein was beginning to look somewhat worried. "And do I feel any...effects?"

"You won't feel a thing." Itachi sighed. "And since we don't know who the caster is, the curse will either hit me because I am the caster – which I doubt – or zoom off out through a wall to its owner and we'll never know who it was."

Pein nodded rather nervously. He didn't like the idea, none of them did, but it was the only way they could see to sorting the mess out.

"Okay, go ahead." He said stiffly.

Itachi bowed his head – a little gesture that reminded everybody of his Japanese heritage. He noted the small roll of eyes and wink Deidara gave him and smiled slightly in return.

"Okay then, no one interferes once this has started, it can be dangerous." He ordered. There was a general muttering – Pein's gang weren't used to taking orders from anyone but their leader – but they all nodded grudgingly. Itachi acknowledged their reply, then blanked them all out to focus on the task in hand.

The Uchiha began to chant softly, a crooning monotone that was soothing and made the edgy people in the room calm down a little. It was worlds away from the harsh tone and vicious mannerisms he'd used back in the alley way. The words weren't English, and only Deidara – being a manga and anime lover – recognised them as Japanese. What he didn't know was that it was a highly formalised dialect, and an ancient one at that.

Very gradually the results became visible. An outline began to form around Pein, a pulsing rolling aura in deep purple. He froze completely, staring in horrified fascination at the thing that surrounded him. His friends all let out variations on a theme of startled gasps. Konan was the exception, giving a small squeal and sitting down heavily on the arm of the settee with her face buried in her hands. No one actually paid her any attention since they were too riveted by what was happening in the circle. Only Hidan eased his way over to her to put an arm round her shaking shoulders.

"Is...Is that..." Pein's voice was hushed, as if he were afraid to break the silence.

"Yes, that's the curse." Itachi replied quietly; he had a slightly thicker accent than usual, something that always happened when he used his second language.

The purple aura began to gently peel away from its victim and rise up above Pein's head. He watched it like one would watch a resurrected velociraptor: in awe, but well aware of just how dangerous it is. It balled up into a dense cloud of rolling anger.

"Well." Itachi stated, slowly walking around Pein and the personal black-cloud. "I can tell you straight away that that is not a curse I cast. Mine are always crimson."

Pein laughed nervously, not daring to take his eyes off the broiling haze that hovered over his head like the Hindenburg. "You cast these things a lot then?"

"Enough of them." The Uchiha was studying the thing like it was some rare and beautiful antelope. "This was put on you by an amateur, a gifted amateur, but an amateur none the less."

"Right, nice, now why is it still on me?!"

Itachi smiled slightly at the visible panic on the villages biggest gang boss's face. "It's searching. It will seek out its caster and then-" the cloud suddenly curled in on itself. "Ah, bingo, there it goes."

The purple haze shot away from Pein's head like an arrow, causing the gang members to all duck out of nervous reflex. It headed towards the far wall as Pein breathed a sigh of relief, then did an abrupt U-turn. Itachi jumped infront of the orange-haired man, ready to deflect the pulsing cloud, but it swerved around both of them.

"What the-?" Itachi spun round at the agonised cry behind him. He was just in time to see the curse slam straight into –

"Deidara!"

The blonde was thrown back as the purple haze struck him square in the chest. He let out a wail of pain as he hit with the wall behind him, the dual impact making him feel as if he had been rammed by a car from both front and behind. There was no way for him to describe how it felt as the curse flowed back through his body, curling up in his veins like a scolded dog slinking back to its kennel.

Then gravity seemed to remember that it had a claim on him, and the artist fell back to the floor with an ornament-rattling thud. He groaned on impact as he belly-flopped onto the hardwood floor, face screwing up in agony and reflexes sluggish when his hands shot out to cushion the fall only after he'd landed. Bright crimson dots were dancing around inside his closed eye-lids as he felt his grip on consciousness loosen.

There were noises all around, people yelling and feet running to and fro. It sounded like a woman was crying – Konan then. And then there was a gentle reassuring weight on his shoulder. The pain began to slowly ebb away, taking the crimson tide with it. After a few moments he managed to open his eyes and turn his head to one side to see Itachi kneeling next to him.

"Deidara, are you alri-"

"Why did it hit me?!"

Itachi looked taken aback for a moment at the fierceness in the question, before schooling his features again.

"Yes, I'm sure we'd all like to know the answer to that one." Sasori put in from behind them.

Deidara pushed himself up so that he was at least sitting upright, Itachi tried to help him do so, but was pushed away. The blonde brought a hand up to his chest, wincing as he gently pressed against a particularly painful area. He knew from experience that the fiery ache meant very badly bruised if not fractured ribs.

"Why did it hit me?" He hissed again, glaring at his friend.

Sasori had pushed his way past the others who were crowding round and wrapped the blanket Pein had abandoned around Deidara's shoulders. The blonde pushed the material away irritably, but with a quick smile to the red-head for the thought.

"Well?" Pein demanded. "Why did it hit Deidara? You said it would go back to the original caster!" His friends knew him well enough to detect the tiny hint of worry there, but worry at what?

Itachi met Deidara's accusing gaze evenly. "It did go back to its caster." He said quietly. "As I said; it was cast by an amateur."

The blonde stared at him open mouthed. "Wha...? Me?? I can't do that!"

"Apparently you can." Pein said coldly.

Deidara switched his stunned gaze to the pierced-man. "You can't seriously think I did it can you?!"

"Well, considering the hard evidence, I'd have to say; yes I do think you did it!"

Itachi was still staring at the shaken blonde - who would have thought that Naru would be right? So the artist was psychic huh? He shook his head with a smile at the thought. That meant he was no longer alone! In this strange country where no one understood or believed in the ancient arts, and he'd finally found someone with a power similar to his own. He could hardly believe it!

"Itachi? What the hell is so funny?!" Deidara demanded, glaring furiously as the Uchiha began to chuckle.

"You honestly had no idea you could do that did you?"

"Because I can't do that!"

Behind them Pein was glancing between the two of them. "Deidara? Didn't you mean to do that then?"

Deidara glowered. "Of course not! I don't know what your game is Itachi – blaming this on me – but I can't curse people!"

Itachi sighed, expecting this denial – it had happened to him when he'd first found out that he was different. He held his left hand up, palm facing outwards. "Put your hand against mine." He ordered. The blonde just looked at his hand suspiciously. "It won't hurt." He added. That made Deidara comply, although not from relief, but to prove that he wasn't afraid. Itachi didn't need to concentrate very hard to cause the little purple sparks erupt from his friends finger tips.

"Recognise the colour?" He asked smugly, letting the blonde's hand go. Deidara just stared at his own fingers.

"That's the same purple the cloud was." Konan supplied hesitantly.

"Exactly. It's a bit like a finger print. That's your colour Deidara, I can't fake it."

Deidara was shaking his head violently by this point. "No, nonononono, you've got it wrong, you must have! I'm not special, I can't do stuff like that!" He sounded panicked as he glanced up at Pein and the rest of the gang. "I wouldn't curse someone!"

Pein's initial reaction had been anger, but seeing how distressed Deidara was, he wondered if the blonde really was to blame. Sasori was very much of the same mind, and felt that he ought to stick up for his one-time-friend.

"Are you sure about this Itachi?" He asked. "Deidara's never shown any signs of being able to do this."

"On the contrary." The Uchiha stated. "He's been exhibiting all the signs of the classic untrained psychic."

Deidara spluttered incoherently. "I what?!"

His exclamation was mirrored by similar ones around him.

Itachi nodded, looking around at the confused faces surrounding him and the blonde. Said blonde was panicking to the point of hysteria, not having a clue what he was being blamed for and what the repercussions were going to be. It didn't help that he was still in pain and having difficulty breathing. There was a calming touch on his shoulder and he glanced up to see Itachi smile at him.

"Deidara, do you remember how I knew you were in trouble when this lot were trying to beat you up?" The Uchiha asked. The rest of the group bristled at the reminder.

"I...Yeah, you said something about hearing me call for help." Deidara said, thrown by the abrupt subject change.

Pein frowned, looking puzzled. "But he didn't make a sound." He pointed out hesitantly. Things were beginning to go from strange to downright freaky and the gang leader just wanted it all to be over and done with. The curse was apparently gone, and he didn't care who was to blame any more, it just made life too confusing it seemed.

"No, but I definitely heard him. Anyone care to explain that?" Itachi asked smugly.

"You can read minds." Sasori stated bluntly. "You can do other freaky stuff, so I suppose you heard him mentally screaming. ESP and all that crap."

The Uchiha did the little nod-tilt-head movement that suggested that the red-head had got it half right. "I can't read minds, it's my big failing. But a psychic can speak into others minds – even if those others don't have the gift."

There was a general movement as all gazes switched to fall on Deidara, who continued to stare in horror at his friend.

"So as you may have guessed, my theory is that Deidara was mentally calling out, and that's what I heard." Itachi continued. "More evidence to that is the way you-" And here he directed his comments directly to the blonde. "- tend to answer a question I haven't actually spoken out loud, and have an uncanny knack of getting me to trust you. Remember that first day we spoke? Within the few hours of first meeting I'd told you what I could do and even demonstrated some things. I'd never have done that under normal circumstances!"

Deidara had visibly paled, and was beginning to tremble violently, mutely shaking his head.

"So are you saying he could also have put the curse on me mentally?" Pein asked, beginning to see where the Uchiha was going with this.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Deidara managed to regain his voice. "What? No! I didn't...wouldn't...couldn't!" He pulled himself away from Itachi. "I can't do these things. You seem adamant that I can, but really, I swear I don't know how." He switched his frantic gaze to Pein. "And even if I could I wouldn't do that to you!"

"Not intentionally you wouldn't." Itachi put in. "But down in that closed up alley way, with no one to save you and a beating on its way, how were you feeling right then Deidara? Scared? Angry? I bet you would have done anything to get out of that situation. And you didn't know it, but you had a survival instinct that cut in and did the job for you. If you can mentally connect with someone who has no ESP, placing a curse on your attacker would be easy. And you'd never even know that it had happened. As I said that first day we met; there are many ways that people gain paranormal gifts, and one is through a life changing event such as bereavement."

Deidara stared opened mouthed at him. "When mum died..." He whispered.

"Most probably."

Pein put his uninjured hand to his head with a groan. "Did he do it or not?" He asked tiredly.

"I think the answer to that would be 'yes', but he didn't do it intentionally." Itachi said, grinning at his stunned blonde friend.

Deidara hesitantly raised his gaze to see what Pein's reaction to this was. He wasn't the only one now staring at the gang leader, most – if not all – gazes in the room were focused on the orange-haired man. The weird developments had screwed with enough people's heads for them to just leave it to Pein to deal with it all.

The gang leader was silent for a long time, staring at Deidara with worrying intensity. The blonde huddled up even smaller under the close scrutiny, refusing to let Itachi mollycoddle him but also too intimidated to meet Pein's gaze. He was well aware that the guy could beat seven kinds of hell out of him and still have enough energy to kick his ass too, it wasn't a nice thought.

Pein could see all the various emotions flit across his victims face as he stood over the blonde, arms folded as well as he could with his sling. This guy was the reason for a fortnight of pain and accidents. This guy was why he'd nearly been killed by that car and why he was too nervy to ride his bike. Reason kicked in to remind him that the blonde had never intended to hurt him, but even so...

He looked down at the hunched up form that seemed to flinch under his gaze. He really ought to beat the little shit up; he needed to save face infront of his gang. It wouldn't look good if he let the Barbie-look-alike get away with it, he had an image to think of.

But the whole time his mind kept going back to one crucial point: all this time you believed in the paranormal, and now you know that it's REAL! Do you really want to frighten off the people who can do this magic?

So many different thoughts, too many different thoughts!

And the whole time Deidara had such a...a scared look on his face!

Pein couldn't help it. This was such a bemusing, unusual and new situation that there really wasn't any other reaction that his brain could come up with.

It was a shock to the whole room when the infamous leader cracked up laughing. He just couldn't help it! Hunching over and clutching his stomach he laughed and laughed until he was red in the face.

Deidara stared at him, mouth open and eyes wide. Of all the reactions that this freakish situation could have caused, humour was not one he'd expected. He turned to look at Itachi and saw the same gobsmacked expression on his friend's face.

The other members of the gang were just as taken aback at their leader's reaction as the two outsiders were. Konan especially was shocked beyond belief at just how her brother was acting. Pein had been adamant at just how harshly he would dish out a punishment to whoever had made his life a living hell. And here he was laughing harder than he had in years. No one knew how to react to this development!

Oblivious to the stunned silence around him and still chuckling, Pein lent down and extended his uninjured hand to Deidara. The blonde stared at him in utter amazement. Slowly and with all eyes on the two of them he reached out and hesitantly accepted the hand. Pein pulled him up to his feet and then clapped him on the back.

"Wha-what? You aren't mad at me?" Deidara sounded stunned.

Pein shrugged with a smile. "To be honest, I don't think I can be. This isn't exactly a situation I know how to handle. And you seem genuinely horrified by what you did." He shook his head. "Lord knows, I should be beating you to a bloody pulp."

"So...You aren't going to?"

"I'm still considering it, believe me." Pein stopped laughing at last. "You looked so scared, it was hilarious!"

Deidara was confused, upset and hardly what you would call happy with the situation and having Pein laugh at him wasn't helping. He pulled away from the hand on his shoulder. "I'm not sure what you're getting at here!"

"What I'm saying is that we appear to have reached an impasse." Pein folded his arms awkwardly over the plaster cast. "The curse is gone, but I'm still hardly happy with you."

The blonde understood where he was coming from there. After all, he supposed that technically he was the one at fault for everything now. Man that sucked! He looked around the room at the other members of Pein's gang.

Most faces were still holding a similar stunned expression, although Itachi was grinning somewhat smugly. Konan was sitting on the arm of the sofa, watching the blonde, her expression rather shuttered. Deidara looked back at Pein, a new light in his eyes.

"I know how I can sort this out once and for all." He said firmly. "We'll be back where we started and can go back to not having to talk to each other ever again." At Pein's nod of acquiescence he turned to the man's sister. "Konan, can I talk to you?"

She tilted her head to one side, eyes narrowed for a moment as she studied him. Finally she nodded – just once – and rose up from her seat, indicating for him to follow her.

They went into the kitchen, and the girl closed the door behind them both. She leant against the counter and folded her arms with a glare. "Okay, what did you want to say?" She demanded.

Deidara quailed slightly under her furious gaze. "I...I wanted to apologise." He said quietly. At Konan's raised eyebrow he tried to emphasise his point. "I behaved terribly towards you, and I owe you a big apology. I was a complete and utter twat and I'm really really sorry."

"You're sorry." Her voice was flat and devoid of warmth. "You called me such horrible things infront of our whole class, you cursed my brother, and then you tell me you're sorry?!"

"Yes?" Deidara shirked under the glare laid on him. "Look, I can explain!"

"Please do, I'm dying to hear what excuse you'll come up with."

"I'm gay!"

"...Oh..." Konan faltered with her next come back. Well...That was unexpected. Very unexpected! Gay, huh? She intensified the glare. "If this is a joke..." She let the threat hang.

Deidara shook his head hurriedly. "I mean it, I'm not lying." He twisted the hem of his shirt wretchedly. "Look, this isn't something I like to make public. I told you because I need you to understand."

"All you've done is confuse me even more."

He rubbed his eyes with a groan. "Okay, look: You are a very very attractive girl Konan. I...If I just turned you down then everyone would know I'm not exactly into women. I had to come up with a way to...to..."

"To turn me down without losing your masculinity in the process?" Konan asked with an acidic bite to her voice.

"Uh...Yeah, something like that." Deidara said wretchedly. "You're the most desired girl in sixth form, I'm already considered weird for turning you down, I had to do something drastic."

"And that involved slagging me off like you did?!"

"Yeah...I didn't handle that very well I guess."

A tiny smile lifted the corners of Konan's mouth. "No, you didn't."

Sensing the change in her mood towards him, Deidara risked a smile of his own. "I was a jerk and I know it. I'm really sorry; I never should have said what I did."

"No, you shouldn't have." Konan sighed, but her defensive posture relaxed a little. "Y'know, I never would have put you down as gay. You don't look or act it."

Deidara shrugged with an embarrassed grin. "Maybe not in public." He smiled tentatively at her. "So...Am I forgiven?"

"Maybe..." Konan tried to look stern, but her eyes were laughing.

"How about this," Deidara recognised that the tide was turning his way. "Do you want to go and see that Indiana Jones film you mentioned? My treat?"

"What?" The blue-haired girl looked surprised but pleasantly so. "You mean it?"

"Sure. It can't exactly be a date, since as I've just said; I'm not really one for girls, but I'd love to take you out for a film and dinner as friends."

Konan's smile grew and a faint blush coloured her cheeks. "O-Okay then, as friends." She reached out and shook his hand.

"Next Wednesday, after college?"

"Yeah, sure."

They went back into the main room, Konan beaming. Pein looked between his sister and the blonde.

"Did you two sort everything out?" He asked coldly, obviously unhappy at being left out of their little conversation. His eyes narrowed at Konan's happy smile and he glared suspiciously at Deidara.

"Yep, everything's grand!" Konan chirped, throwing herself back down onto the settee. She raised an admonitory finger as her brother opened his mouth again. "No, don't interfere, don't say anything, just accept that this is all sorted, done, finito, over!"

Pein raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, fine, don't start PMSing at me!" He snapped. He turned to glare at Deidara, who was standing next to Itachi again. "And do you think that this is all over?"

Deidara nodded, meeting the gang leader's gaze head on. "We're back where we started; Konan and I have patched things up, there's not much else that can be done."

Pein's glare switched to Itachi, and he toned it down to a penetrating stare instead. "Are you certain that the curse is gone?" He asked sternly.

Itachi inclined his head. "Absolutely certain." He put a hand on Deidara's shoulder. "And I'm going to make sure a certain someone doesn't cause another accident like this again." Deidara flushed an embarrassed red at the slight reprimand. "With a bit of training this won't happen again."

Pein looked satisfied with the answer and his aggressive stance relaxed somewhat. "Fine then. If that is all sorted then I guess there is no need to hang around." He stated evenly.

Dismissed, as easy as that. There had been a problem, they had found a solution and now it was sorted. Pein had accomplished his aims of having the curse removed and was now no longer interested.

Itachi nodded once to the gang leader, before silently turning on his heel and leaving the room without another word. Deidara ran after him, surprised at the turn of events. He caught up with the Uchiha on the drive, where Itachi had paused to wait for him. A few moments later Sasori appeared.

"Sorry about him, he's not one to say thanks." The red-head sighed, running a hand through his thick hair. "You did a great job in there, Itachi." He grinned at Deidara. "And you! My God, who'd have thought?!"

Deidara shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets and kicking at the gravel to hide his embarrassment at the reminder of his...weirdness. "Yeah, I didn't exactly expect things to go like that." He said with a small grin. "I feel like Harry Potter." He looked up and met Sasori's gaze. "Thanks..." He added in a small voice. "You stood up for me. Why?"

Sasori grinned slightly. "Well, I guess old habits die hard." He said, refusing to meet Deidara's surprised gaze and watching the small stones that the blonde had kicked bounce along the drive-way. "And besides, you did agree to help Pein."

"Yeah, but still..."

Itachi looked between the two of them and quietly backed away to give them space. It looked like this was a rather important step in the relationship between the old friends. Neither noticed him leave.

"Do you remember that time when Pein was ill, back in year ten, and we spent the whole weekend over here playing on the Play-station and keeping him company?" Sasori asked finally.

Deidara gave a little snort of laughter. "Yeah, I remember. It was the only time him and I ever really got on, when we worked together to beat you on Grand Theft Auto." He shook his head with a sigh. "That was a great weekend."

"Yeah, and what about that time you and I re-enacted all three Starwars movies and you ended up having to play Princess Leia? That was hilarious!"

"And when we had that chemistry lesson and set fire to Sarutobi's desk!" Deidara laughed, nodding enthusiastically.

"And the infamous PE lesson with that badminton racket." Sasori gave a theatrical shudder. "I'll never forget that no matter how much I want to!" He looked up to see Deidara doubled over with laughter. "Oh, it wasn't that funny!"

"It so was! Your face! I still have the photo you know!"

The red-head groaned. "You promised to delete it!"

"Yeah, well, I also promised not to put it on Myspace!"

The two looked at each other for a long moment before bursting out into uncontrollable laughter. The adrenaline was still running high, and now found its escape in bubbling giggles that reduced the two adults back to children. Deidara lent against the wall for support whilst Sasori was bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath. The memories they shared were still obviously precious to both of them.

"Y'know," The red-head said, once he was able to speak again. "As much as I hated school, I really miss those times."

Deidara nodded, resting his head back against the brick wall. "Me too. Itachi's great, but he's not exactly the sort to joke around as the two of us did. He uses study periods to study in!" He pulled a face at that, then glanced up shyly to meet Sasori's gaze. "I miss having you around."

Sasori moved over to lean against the wall next to the blonde. "Yeah, Pein's good fun but...he isn't you."

"That's unbearably mushy, you know that right?" Deidara didn't move his head and just glanced sideways at the red-head instead. "But I have to agree; I miss having you around."

Sasori turned sideways to face the blonde. "Do you think we can ever be friends again? Or did we do too much damage to our friendship?"

Deidara did move his head then, to face his companion. "I don't know." He said slowly. "Maybe we did, but if that was the case would you have cared to stand up for me? And would we be able to have this conversation? Maybe we screwed up royally, but perhaps we can start over."

"You think?"

"Well not as a rule, since I'm blonde, but in this case yeah I do think." He grinned. "What do you say?"

Sasori smiled and nodded, holding out his hand. "Okay, let's give it a go. Friends?"

Deidara accepted and shook the proffered hand. "Yeah, friends."

"You two are so cute! I'm so glad you made up!"

They both looked up like guilty children to see Konan hanging on to the door frame and watching them with a goofy smile on her face. She giggled at their faces and patted them both on the head. "And I'm so going on to Myspace now to see that photo!" She whirled off again, leaving two stunned boys behind her.