Sorry about the long wait! :D I got a part time job at PastMania in the airport terminal 3 so been busy. But here it is! :D And thank you Mous, Envyyyyy, HerpyDerpy, MitchiMarra and PsychoPyro for reviewing! :D

The sound of running water in the shower was resonating around the apartment when Sasori stepped in. Deidara had been showering a hell lot more often recently. And he always took a long time.

He shook his head, thinking of the recently increasing water bills and kicked his shoes off at the welcome mat. He dropped his books on the dining table and sighed. After stoning on the couch for a few minutes, he went into the kitchen for a drink.

He eyed the coffee machine, wondering if he should brew himself a cup of coffee. Deciding against it, he yanked the fridge door open and rummaged through all the juice boxes and the few cans of beer.

He was about to pour himself a glass of fruit punch when Deidara walked in, rubbing his dripping wet hair with a towel. Sasori happened to glance up at him and noticed his choice of clothing. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him. He couldn't stand it any longer.

"Brat," he said, setting down the juice box and straightening up against the counter.

The blonde padded over and draped the towel around his shoulders. "Hmm?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"May I ask why you're wearing long sleeved shirts so often nowadays?" The redhead watched Deidara's face carefully.

"I don't know," the blonde shrugged casually. "I have so many of them, un. It's quite a waste if I don't wear them, right?"

"I guess."

"Why the sudden question, Danna?"

"Nothing. Just curious," Sasori narrowed his eyes at him. "You despise long sleeved shirts, don't you? Your nonsense about feeling restricted and everything."

Deidara stared. Blatantly. "I didn't expect you to remember all the rubbish I say, un." He had, in fact said that before. "You looked like you weren't even listening, un."

"Is that what you think of me?" Sasori cracked a small smile. "Someone who doesn't care about what his friend is talking about, no matter how nonsensical or important?"

"Danna, no one can tell if you're listening or not. The look on your face never changes, un." Deidara raised an eyebrow as if to emphasize his point. "Right?"

"That doesn't mean I'm not listening." Sasori gave the blonde one last look before picking up his glass and walking out. "Stay out of trouble, brat."

Deidara waited until the redhead had closed himself in his room before blowing out a huge sigh. "That was close." He rolled up his sleeves and brushed his fingers to his scars lightly. "Can't let him find out, un."

He then yanked open the fridge and grabbed a can of beer.

But Sasori was leaning against the wall outside the kitchen. His forehead creased into a slight frown as he listened to the blonde shuffling around inside.

Can't let me find out what?

Hidan paced back and forth outside the door of his apartment. He knew that Kakuzu was inside and a part of him had unconsciously accepted that he had a disturbingly retarded fetish when he got wasted, so he couldn't bring himself to open the door and let himself inside. His mind reeled with all the possible insults that his roommate would throw at him and he cringed.

Why me…?

He paced another length of the empty corridor, smoothing back his already slicked silver hair.

Why me and him…?

He reached the end of the hallway and automatically turned around, heading back.

I bet Kuzu's fucking pissed.

He shuffled past his apartment again and he looked up from the ground, blinking at the number on the door.

I'm acting like a fucking pussy.

Finally, he spun on his heel and stormed back towards his apartment. He had no reason to avoid Kakuzu anyway. He was drunk, he didn't know what he would do, right? And it's obviously not something that he wanted to do. But Kakuzu did try to restrict him from drinking... and yet he had insisted.

Oh fuck it. Who cares about what that fucker thinks? Let him think about whatever fucking thing he wants to think about.

He twisted his key in the lock and shoved the door open with more force than it was necessary, trying to show that he didn't care, but somehow he still started shaking when he caught sight of the silent, brooding figure sitting on the couch.

Cold eyes lifted to meet trembling amethyst orbs.

"Hidan."

Said man swallowed, dread pooling in his stomach. "Uh huh?"

"Let us have a little talk," Kakuzu drawled calmly.

Suspicion crept up Hidan's spine. He narrowed his eyes at the pleasantness in Kakuzu's tone of voice. "About? I swear to Jashin, you better not try anything on me or I'll—"

"Let. Us. Have. A. Little. Talk."

"What do you fucking want to talk about."

Kakuzu's faux smile vanished faster than Hidan could blink. The albino froze. He had a very bad feeling about this.

"...Oi, Kuzu..."

"About you, and your tolerance for alcohol."

…Fuck.

Konan peered into the room, watching Pein stare at the wall, his textbook opened on the table in front of him.

"Hey, Pein?"

The orange haired man started and turned towards the door. "Oh. Konan. What's wrong?"

"Uhm, what are you doing?"

"I was mugging for tomorrow's test, but I guess I got distracted."

Konan raised an eyebrow. "What were you thinking about?"

Pein shifted in his chair and motioned for her to come closer. She looked at him suspiciously but walked in and sat on the bed.

"Do you notice the tension in the air whenever we have a gathering with the rest?" Pein paused, seeing the confusion on Konan's face.

"Tension, you say..." she frowned and tapped her forehead with her finger. "Tension. Between who?"

"Three different kinds of tensions. Among six different people."

Konan's eye twitched. "Sensei, please break it down for me."

Pein blew out a sigh. "Doesn't the atmosphere feel weird and awkward whenever we have gatherings?"

Now that she thought back to it, Konan realized that there was a weird sort of electricity crackling in the air whenever they met up. "...sort of."

"But it's not among everyone. Do you feel different sorts of awkwardness between three pairs of people?" Pein continued, looking at her expectantly.

Three pairs of people?

"I think the most obvious is Hidan and Kakuzu," Konan muttered, thinking of the previous weekend.

"That's one. What about the other two?"

"It feels a bit funny between Kisame and Itachi..." she thought of the way the blue tinted man occasionally stuttering when the Uchiha was in close proximity.

"The last?"

She had noticed a change in the frequency between the two artists as well, but it wasn't exactly awkward. It was more of a tensed, hostile feeling. "Sasori and Dei?" She frowned. "But it's like they're more of... closed. Not exactly weird and awkward."

"I agree it's weirder with those two but we'll just focus on Kakuzu and Hidan. It's probably the same kind of weird but those two are the most obvious." Pein leaned closer to Konan, who had unconsciously inched nearer to him, curiosity overwhelming her.

"What's the point of this discussion?" Konan blurted out, somewhat amused.

"Listen."

"Right. Okay. Go on. Continue. Hmm. Interesting. Wow."

Pein decided to ignore the blatant sarcasm and dropped his attention back to the topic. "So, what can you observe from the way Kakuzu and Hidan interact?"

"I feel like we are talking about experiment subjects. Like they're lab samples."

"Answerthe question, Konan..."

"Hah. Well. Violent and annoyed at each other?"

"What do their arguments remind you of?" Pein hinted, almost desperately.

"...uhm. What? Uh... Chickens in a pen?"

"Bloody hell, Konan. God."

"What?Just tell me." She gave an irritated glare and bounced once on the bed, slapping her hands on the mattress in exasperation. "Stop playing detective."

"Lovers quarreling. Don't they remind you of couples arguing?"

"How in the world...?"

"See, they argue about idiotic things, and then Hidan throws weird girly temper tantrums and then Kakuzu just tries to stop it and avoid the whole thing. Lovers' quarrel. Right?"

Konan gave him an incredulous stare, and went back to pondering his words. "I guess I can see the similarities..."

"So I'm guessing, they like each other."

Konan choked on her breath. "Uh?"

"I'm serious. Stop it." Pein leaned back in his chair and it creaked a little under his weight. "They just need to confess to each other."

"Well," Konan said, "if that's the case, fine. What about Kisame and Itachi?"

"I think I can safely say that Kisame's got it bad for the Uchiha."

"And Itachi?"

"He probably doesn't know, he's a total idiot when it comes to love. But I can tell he cares for Kisame. Maybe even more than he should," Pein added with a grin.

"Okay," Konan said slowly. "And now that we've figured it out, what do we do?"

There was a stretch of silence.

"Hey Konan?" Pein finally said.

"Uh huh?"

"What do you say we play matchmakers?"

"Pein. Seriously."

"As I'll ever be."

She inhaled deeply, and Pein raised an eyebrow.

"Brilliant idea!"

"I know."

They sat facing each other, grinning, until Konan stopped and remembered something.

"What about Sasori? And Dei?"

"Them?" Pein frowned. "I can't figure them out. They're too weird and unnatural. Maybe I was mistaken. They don't seem to show much affection."

"I think they're perfect for each other."

"...I think we should give our lives priority and not interfere with them. They're dangerous, you know?"

"Hmm. True, true."

"Now, our plan..."

"So, you'll go for the checkup this coming Sunday, Kisame?"

Kisame narrowed his already small eyes at the Uchiha, trying his best not to shiver under the cold crimson gaze. "But I'm really not going crazy…" the blue tinted man wanted to crawl into a hole and die in it. How did things turn out this way? This is ridiculous. The person I like thinks I'm crazy.

"I want confirmation."

"…Can't you see that I'm perfectly fine—"

"So, you will go, Kisame?" Itachi's face was an inch from his and Kisame almost died right there on the spot. He could feel the Uchiha's cool breath on his face, and he gulped.

"I'll… go. I'll go. Ack."

"Good." Itachi slipped a piece of paper into his hand and turned to walk away. "I've written down the department details and your time of appointment, so you have no excuse to say you got lost on the way or you can't remember what time you should turn up."

Kisame wanted to tear the slip into pieces. "…yeah. Okay. I got it."

"By the way, Pein just called."

Kisame glanced up. "Why'd he call?"

"He wants us to be at his apartment because he has things to say to us."

"Who else will be there?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Everyone."

"I see."

Deidara was lazing on the couch watching dramas on the television. He held a lump of clay in his hand, idly moulding it and then rolling it back into a shapeless lump before moulding it into something else.

Sasori shoved a foil tray of prepackaged lasagna into the microwave and walked out, noticing him. He's been watching dramas the whole week since that time I asked him about his long sleeves. Is he going to spend the weekend at home festering as well? The redhead sighed and dropped himself onto the couch next to him, grabbed the remote control and switched the set off.

The blonde blinked in surprise. "Danna?"

"You're decomposing in here. I sense signs of depression." Sasori eyed him hard. "What's wrong with you?"

"Me? N… nothing, un."

"You were happier last week. What happened?"

"I'm happy every day, Danna. What's up with you?" Deidara forced out a laugh, and smacked the lump of clay into Sasori's hair.

The redhead froze. "Brat."

"Un?"

"I. Just. Showered."

"Uh… I'm… sorry, un?" the blonde swallowed. "Danna?"

"You are going to take that muck out of my hair. Now."

"Y…yeah. Of course. Right away, un."

"And you're going to tell me why you've been acting like a lovesick schoolgirl."

"WHO'S A LOVESICK SCHOOLGIRL, UN, DANNA!?"

"…chill." Sasori raised his eyebrows. "Anyway, Pein called. We're going over to his place later. He says it's important. Everyone will be there."

"I don't actually give a fuck about that right now, un. Danna, what were you saying?" Deidara glowered at him, and flattened the clay over more of Sasori's hair.

"GET that crap OUT of my hair."

"TELL me more about who that lovesick schoolgirl is, un!"

"GET. IT. OUT, BRAT."

They sat glaring at each other until the microwave started to beep.

Hidan and Kakuzu sat on the couch glaring at each other.

"I have high alcohol tolerance, Kuzu," Hidan said for the millionth time.

Kakuzu gritted his teeth. "Fuck no. I can't even count the number of times you got drunk using your hair."

"Shut the fuck up. Who cares, anyway?"

"I do. I have to deal with all the fucking crap you give me when you get wasted. I have no fucking intention to deal with it anymore. So we need to stop you getting drunk." Kakuzu gave Hidan a look that dared him to counter him.

"And what do you suggest?" Hidan growled.

"One a day."

"One what a day?"

"One can of beer a day. One shot of alcohol a day."

"Fuck no, Kuzu."

"I say fuck yes."

"But I say fuck no."

"Yeah. But I say fuck yes, and—"

The phone rang. Hidan gave an annoyed grunt and grabbed the receiver, stretching the telephone cord all the way to where he was sitting. The telephone slid over to the edge of the table and teetered.

"What?" he said. Kakuzu watched him, irritated. "…huh. Is it? Fine, yeah… I said okay, what the fuck are you going on about now? Yeah, yeah. Yeah." He slammed the phone back and turned to Kakuzu.

"Who was that?"

"Konan. Says we're to go to their apartment because they have important crap to tell us."

"Now?"

"Yeah. Now. If not, when? Oh, like ten fucking years later, right?"

"Shut it. Let's go."

All pairs of eyes were on Pein and Konan.

"What's up?" Kisame asked cautiously.

"Why didn't you guys call Zetsu or that idiot Tobi, un?" Deidara narrowed his eyes at Pein, who smiled back in response.

"So, are you guys going to fucking spit it out or can we fucking scram already?"

"Chill, Hidan. We're getting there," Konan offered him a grin, stunning the albino.

"I have a fucking bad feeling about this, you know…"

Sasori sat beside the blonde with his hands clasped below his jaw, his eyes carefully observing Deidara. Something is not right with him…

"…just confess!" Konan ended happily.

Sasori looked up, the word catching his attention. He had just missed the entire conversation, and apparently it had been the highlight of the meeting because everyone's face had suddenly switched into something resembling doomsday. He flicked his eyes towards the blonde, but he was only surprised.

Hidan and Kakuzu however, had looks resembling horror and disgust and disbelief and embarrassment merged together on their faces.

Kisame's blue had morphed into pink and the Uchiha just looked confused.

"No. Fucking. Way." Hidan stood up and jabbed an accusing finger at Kakuzu, who seemed frozen in his chair. "Me? And him? You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"From the way we see it, you're just shy," Konan chirped, completely unaffected by Hidan's choice of words or his current expression. "You don't have to be. Aww, that's so adorable. I swear."

Sasori's eyebrow shot up. What's going on?

"Confess? Confess what?" Kakuzu said, teeth gritted, and obviously trying to maintain his self control to save what little dignity he had left after Pein and Konan's great speech.

"What, you ask," Konan's eyes widened in disbelief and she rolled them. "Confess your love, of course."

"And may I ask, what love?" Kakuzu growled out.

"Your undying love for Hidan, and Hidan's eternal affection for you," Konan grinned.

The room fell into a kind of uncomfortable silence. Sasori could feel the horror radiating from Hidan and Kakuzu, and the embarrassment creeping out of Kisame, complete with the euphoria of Pein and Konan, and the confusion from Deidara and Itachi. Himself? He didn't even know why they were all getting so worked up over such a trivial thing.

"Konan." The redhead noticed Deidara turn towards him when he spoke. "Why, why exactly have you called us here today?"

"Yeah, un. This is getting kind of weird."

The blue haired optimist directed the full force of her smile upon all the stone faced people in the room. "Come on, guys! This is actually really exciting, right? You two," she whirled around to face Hidan and Kakuzu. "Cut it out already. You're besotted with each other. Just come on out and admit it already! You guys can live happily ever after then."

"And what do you gain from this, if it does happen?"

All eyes settled on the Uchiha. He was watching the room quietly.

"Gain?" Pein said. "Gain what?"

Konan stood up, almost glaring. "There is nothing to gain from this. Not for us. But for you," she stared pointedly at Hidan and Kakuzu, "there is much to… gain. Now," she paused for effect, "are you going to accept our help, and accept your own feelings?"

Nobody spoke. Sasori glanced over to see Deidara looking at Hidan and Kakuzu.

Hidan stood up first. "I'm not taking anymore of this fucking shit. I'm going home." Then he grabbed his keys and left Kakuzu sitting on the two seater couch by himself.

Pein smirked at Kakuzu. "Hey buddy."

Kakuzu looked over grimy. "What?"

"Are you going to chase after him or what? Knowing Hidan, he'll probably get very drunk and maybe follow someone home thinking it's you."

It took a few seconds for Kakuzu to uncover Pein's hidden message, then he gave a groan and stood up. "Shit. That fucker better not... do any… anything weird… like…" he froze. "Like… Urgh."

After he left, Konan turned to Kisame, who gulped.

"Uh, Konan? I think I've got a project to do. I'm going back now."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "What project?"

"Um, you know, a report on the different habitats and characteristics of aquatic mammals... That one." Kisame looked hard at the Uchiha, hoping that he would catch on, nod and happily offer to drive him back. From what he'd observed Konan and Pein do to Hidan and Kakuzu, he could safely conclude that this was a matchmaking session. And he didn't want Itachi to find out. Not yet.

Unfortunately, Itachi gave him a confused half smile. "You mean the one you were doing last week and handed up on Friday?"

Pein grinned. "You're not escaping, Kisame. Konan," he turned to her and winked. "Do what you do best."

His girlfriend tossed her blue hair back. "You can count on me."

"Like one, two, three, baby."

"You bet."

Sasori blew out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Brat, I think we should leave them so they can discuss their business in private."

"Yeah, un." Deidara shot Pein and Konan a skeptical look and ran his hand through his hair, dragging his long bangs down and arranging it in front of his left eye. "Why did you guys even include us in this meeting? It doesn't even have anything to do with us, un."

Konan placed her hand under her chin, as if contemplating if she should let them leave. Then she scooted her attention back to Itachi and Kisame. "All right. You two can go back first. We'll settle your problem some other time."

"We have problems, un?"

"I do not think so. Brat, let's just go."

"What problems—"

"Now, brat."

There was a flash of red and yellow, a stunned yelp and the slamming of doors. Then there were only four people left in the room.

"Now, you..." Konan mused.

Kisame started to tremble.

A/N: I thought I've been making it a little depressing, especially the previous chapter, so i put a bit more humor into it. Are the characters becoming OOC? ): I really hate it when that happens. Please tell me. I mean, I can't make them completely in character since this is AU, but i don't like it when they stray until they become those kind of idiot, air headed people, if you get what i mean. Anyway, please review! And I love all you SasoDei shippers too :D Let's be friends! Let's be best friends! :D We are a rare species :D