Coincidence

Chapter 5

By: Mitternachto

"…so his name's Pain, huh?" Sasori asked for the third time.

Deidara nodded fast.

Sasoris eyes shimmered with excitement as they started walking towards the exit of the long tunnel. He was a bit jealous of Deidara, who had spoken to the Leader personally. But since Deidara had told him everything that Pain had said, it felt better.

They kept walking, until they reached the end of the corridor. They entered the hallway cave again, and walked towards another door, when suddenly they heard a scream.

Deidara turned around fast, only to see a boy running towards them. He was running very fast, apparently he hadn't noticed them yet. A minute later, he collided with Deidara, who had been too chocked to jump out of the boys path.

"Ouch!! Watch it, you moron.." The boy shouted as he tried to get up on his feet again.

Deidara rubbed his head, which was aching fast, and stared up at the boy.

He had pale, almost white hair, combed backwards in a backslick haircut, and his purple eyes were filled with anger as he stared at Deidara.

"What are you doing, you complete IDIOT? Watch your steps next time, blondie-chan!"

Deidara could feel tears rolling down his cheeks. Why was this boy so angry at him? He hadn't done anything wrong, except that he'd tripped when the boy collided with him. What kind of rude boy was this?

The boy turned to Sasori.

"Is this fart YOU'R responsibility, Sasori? You'd better watch over him. Look he's even started crying. Poor little blondie-chan is crying, Sasori! Comfort him or else he'll send his mom after me. Boo-hoo."

And with those words, the boy ran off.

Sasori helped Deidara up on his feet, and brushed away some dust off his cloak.

"Ignore him, Deidara. His name's Hidan, and he's a real bully. Leader-sama has told him to stop being such an idiot a thousand times, but he never learns. He's a novice, like you and me, but I have no idea what his abilities are..."

Deidara sniffed, and immediately got angry at himself. Why was he crying? He remembered Umi's voice echoing in his head;

"A boy shouldn't cry... "

He shook his head, and nodded towards Sasori.

"I don't like him, un..."

Sasori let out a laugh, and then started walking again, with Deidara following him as a loyal shadow, frightened to bump into some other scary novice.

They kept walking, and Deidara started to wonder if this underground cave even had an end.

As they moved on, Deidara noticed that the cave started to get friendlier, the corridore they were currently walking in were painted in a beautiful ashred colour, making it look like a dawn over a dark field. Deidara "Aww"-ed, and "Ohh"-ed as they kept going straight ahead.

Sasori stopped in front of a door, painted in dark blue, with a sign on it; "Sasori's Room".

"I guess we need to change the sign now, since it's your room too now, Deidara..." Sasori smiled towards his younger friend.

As he opened the door, Deidara walked in slowly, his eyes wandering around the room.

It was a pretty room, with the same ashred colors on the walls as the corridore outside had been painted in. The floor was made of dark wooden planks, and a dark blue carpet was spread over it.

In the room, there was also two small beds, a table, two chairs, a wardrobe and an old, dirty workbench.

Sasori pointed at the bed to the left.

"This bed's yours, Deidara. The wardrobe contains our clothes, and some personal stuff. This workbench is for my personal use, so please do not touch it, or the things on it, as it could be dangerous."

He nodded towards some tiny bottles standing on the bench. They were filled with a strange, yellow liquid – probably poison. There were also a bunch of tools, planks och rusty old screwes lying on the workbench.

"I won't, un... But, where can I keep my personal things, Sasori-kun?"

Sasori looked surprised.

"Have you got personal things with you? I thought you didn't bring anything from Iwagakure?"

Deidara lowered his head, and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a hairband. Shining red, and made out of some sort of elastic material. It reflected the light from the torches in the roof, casting a shimmering light around it.

"It was Umi-chans..." Deidara whispered "She gave it to me as a birthdaypresent... I got angry at her for giving me such girly presents. But she'd just smile towards me and walk away, un."

Sasori laughed. "Well, you liked the present, right? Why don't you use the hairband instead of putting it in the wardrobe?"

Deidara blushed. The thought of having a hairband in his own unruly fair har, had never occured to him. It was after all, a girl accessory.

But Sasori just smiled, got over to Deidara and took the hairband form his hands. After that, he started to comb through Deidaras hair with his hands. He put up a high ponytail, and used the hairband to make it stay put.

"There. In that way, you can use the hairband without looking too girly." He said, grinning.

-Later on that evening-

Sasori and Deidara sat on their beds, talking. It was dark outside, and they were supposed to be asleep. Tomorrow there was time for Deidaras first combatlesson, and it had been a tough day. But Sasori and Deidara wanted to get to know each other, therefore they were still awake.

"So, Deidara... What's your favourite animal?" Sasori asked.

Deidara ponered for a second.

"Uhm... I think I like... birds. They're pretty and they can fly really high, un! I like to watch the birds fly, because then you feel all dizzy, and that's fun, un." Deidara replied "What about you, Sasori-kun? What's your favourite animal? Scorpions, un?"

Sasori looked confused.

"Why would I like scorpions?"

"Because your name means Scorpion, un!"

Suddenly Sasori looked ashamed.

"That's just what my... parents... named me. I have nothing to do with my name, and I would change it if I could. But Leader finds it necessary for me o have something left that can remind me of where I came from."

Deidara looked confused.

"But, you're from the Sands, eh? Why would you forget about that?" Without waiting for a reply, he continued "My mom used to say that 'Deidara' means 'Bird of Duty'. She used to tell me to always do my duties, to always do what I was told to, because then I'd be happy in life. But I wasn't happy at all when I did my duties in Iwagakure, un. I don't like to have other people telling me what to do all the time, un..."

Sasori snorted.

"Your mom was wrong, Deidara. You can NEVER do aeverything you're told, because then you'd destroy yourself from the inside. You've gotta live your own life, and do what you want to do, otherwise you'll live an unhappy life, obsessed with what others may think of you, and that is only a half life – a CURSED life, if you ask me..."

Deidara didn't reply. He didn't understood all Sasori had said, but he got a feeling that Sasori'd been through a lot. Instead, he changed the subject.

"I'm glad I got into the Akatsuki, Sasori-kun... My parents doesn't love me, and everyone thinks I'm a monster. Even Umi-chan hates me now. And I've never got a real friend before, so I'm glad I met you too..."

Deidara couldn't see Sasoris face, since it was hidden in the shadows, but at those words, Sasori blushed so deep that it was hard to tell his skin apart form his hair. Sasori had never had a friend before neither, even though it was a bit early to call Deidara a friend, since they'd only known each other for a day.
A voice inside Sasoris head warned him to get too close to Deidara, since it was a weakness to have friends. But Sasori were able to ignore that voice. For now.

As dawn started to roll over the land where the Akatsuki hideout lay hidden, morning combat practise started. If you looked closely, you could see the silhouette of two young boys, running torwards the training area. They seemed to have overslept. But the boys looked happy, laughing and joking.

Yes, Deidara and Sasori were good friends.

A friendship that would be tested in the future.

A friendship that might die.

But a friendship that also could pass the trials.

Only time would tell.

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Ah, short chapter. Also, a kind of filler-chapter where not much happens, but believe me – the next upcoming chapters will.

I also wanted to introduce Hidan, and I liked the thouht of him as a teasing bully. But I was tired when I wrote it, so I'm certain there will be spelling/grammar errors. I WILL overlook them as soon as possible. Probably XD

THANKS so much for commenting and adding your thoughts, it's helping me a lot, believe it!

-Mitternachto