It was morning, around 7 AM or so, before Deidara opened his eyes. He squinted as the bright sun fell through his window and onto his face. A songbird sang sweetly on his window sill, and he groaned, turning back over and cupping a pillow to his head.

"Deidara sweetie! Time to wake up for school! Come on, or you'll be late!" His mother was at the end of the stairs, shouting up at him. She understood his loathing for school, since that was where his life was the worst. However, she wanted desperately for him to be successful in life, and school was the most important step in that process.

"Ok, un!" He yelled back, hopping out of bed and pulling his pajamas off. Before getting into his school clothes, he inspected himself with a grimace. Well, the bruises from the other day would be gone in another day…or so he hoped. The scratches and cuts were already starting to heal and scab over. He never allowed scabs to hold on him, though. He always found himself bored, picking at one scab or another. He would make them bleed again, but for some reason, none of them ever left any marks. He pulled his school clothes on, fumbling with the small tie that all the boys had to wear. Normal dress code for the prim and proper educational facility he attended consisted of a pair of slacks, usually brown or blue, worn with a white or blue shirt, which always had to be tucked in, and the tie. Girls had to wear the same, only their slacks were blue or pink, and the tie was absent.

"I hate this tie. It makes me look…like an idiot, un!" He swore at the tie, which refused to straighten no matter how hard he pulled and smoothed it. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, it straightened out, coming down almost to his groin. He smiled in the mirror, and looked at his palms, which were already drooling at the prospect of being fed, which he didn't have time for that morning.

"It's time to go, un!" He walked down the stairs, stepping into the kitchen. His mom gazed lovingly at him before licking her thumb and rubbing out a spot on his cheek. He took the cleaning stoically, with hardly any fussing, though he hated it when she did that, especially around others. When she was satisfied, she gave him a pat on the back and opened the door for him.

"Bye mom! See you after school, un!" He walked briskly from the house. No matter what he had to look forward to that day, he always left the house in an upbeat manner. He was always smiling. Perhaps that's why he was always beaten. His smile made him seem obstinate, and this only drove the other children to worse means of punishment. In turn, he smiled back as they beat him, and this only worsened the matter.

Arriving at school, he peeked around, hoping that no one was around to see him go in. He glanced at the swing set and slide, and noticing that most of the children were occupied there, he crept silently across the yard, wishing to reach the building and get inside before any one noticed. Ducking behind a tree, he glanced around the base, searching. He took a dive into a bush, popping up and peering around. So far he hadn't been seen. He smiled, stepping from the brush and turning to make his way inside.

"Hey, freak!" A voice from behind him made him stop. He closed his eyes, sighing briefly to himself before turning. A boy, roughly two years older than him, and a lot taller, stood with a posse of others. All had hateful, scornful looks on their faces as they stared at him. Deidara put on his grin, hoping that it would diffuse the matter. He put his hands up defensively, backing towards the door of the school. The tongues on his hands lolled out, making his retreat look just that much more undignified.

"Guys, I don't want any trouble, un!" he said, giving all the courage to his voice that he could muster. He was answered by a fist, pummeling him in the stomach. Soon, the blows rained down. It seemed to him that every child on the playground felt it was his or her duty to land at least one punch or kick. A hand grabbed his leg, yanking him across the ground. He spat out a rock as he was flipped over. Someone sat on his stomach, making him choke on the air in his lungs. Then, it was over, the children beginning to wander off.

"Hehehe, guess he's done for right now. Adiosu, baka!" The boy walked into the building, followed by most of the others. Some stayed behind, putting in one or two last shots before walking in. Deidara lay in the dirt, coughing as blood pooled from a cut on his forehead.

"Those jerks! Someone should teach them a lesson," said a friendly sounding voice from behind him. He was in to much pain at the moment to turn around, so he stayed huddled on the ground, still trying to catch his breath. "Are you ok? Want me to get the nurse?" said the voice again. It was feminine, beautiful to his ears. He turned, flipping over in the dirt to assess the newcomer and see if she was friendly or not. She smiled back, her brown eyes dancing in the light.

"I would have helped you earlier, but my father always tells me to pick my battles. That would have gotten both of us beaten, so I'm sorry," she said. He grinned at her, a tooth missing from his face.

"No, it would have been stupid for you to have gotten into that, un. It didn't hurt any worse than any other time," he said. Frankly, he was more worried about his poor mother, having to sew his clothes again. It was a daily routine for her when he got home. He took a bath to get rid of the dirt, and she mended his clothes so they looked decent for the next day. He also loathed the fact that she told him, time and again, not to get into schoolyard scraps. Of course, none of them were his fault. The last thing he had ever wanted was to be in the middle of a fight...especially if it pitted him against the entire school.

"My name is Shizune by the way. What's yours?" The girl reached down, taking his hand. She dropped him back on the ground as she felt the tongue graze her palm. "Nani?" She seemed more interested than afraid. Deidara's smile vanished, and ashamedly he held out his hand.

"They are mouths…on my hands," he said. She knelt down, taking his hand and running her fingers around the mouth. He blushed as she put a finger into the opening, laughing as the tongue slid up and down it. Pulling it out, she stared at the orifice, noting the teeth. Then, the mouth grinned at her, panting like a dog. She laughed again.

"Soso!" She stood back up, grabbing his hand without worry and pulling him to his feet. She began to dust him off as he continued to get redder. No one but his mother had ever touched him without using a fist or a foot. Especially of the female variety.

"Thanks, un! Uh, we should get to class now, the bell…" he started to say, but the bell for the start of school rang before he could say the rest. She looked at the school, and back at him, giving him a smile.

"Well, see you at lunch. Adiosu!" With that, she turned, running towards the main building. He looked at her as she walked into the school. Silently, he thanked whatever god there was that one person…at least one person at that horrible place didn't think of him as a weirdo. He smiled. At least he had a reason to, he thought to himself. Walking up to the building, he opened the door, allowing it to slam behind him as he ran to his first class of the day. It was his favorite class of course. Art would be the favorite class of any aspiring artist.

A/N: Redone