Well, it is I once more... thesepeopleareus! Anyway, I have to admit that I terribly enjoyed writing this, because I know you'll be rather surprised. Michiko, Maddie (sorta), Eris, and Ripowal are mine. This means everyone else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, the actual creator of Naruto. And no, I am not Kishimoto. I mean, dudes, this is fanfiction.net; do you expect it to be anything but fanfiction?

Michiko Cries Out in Indignation and Reclaims Control of the Happy Story

Michiko was really beginning to hate that oven. It was like some sort of contemptible entity that spewed out those clichéd ghosts from one's past, except hers were only a few days old when they came back.

No, even better; it was like some sort of parody of an oven – someone dies and a few days later out pops a fresh ghost, ready to skew with the vague semblance of a readjusted life she had managed to piece together. Like losing the piece of that puzzle that scared you half to death as a child and then it turns up again, but now it's all wet and it doesn't fit in its slot anymore. So now the puzzle of your life has a frightening and wet piece trying to force itself into place.

And it got even harder once she realized she couldn't even keep track of where either of them were anymore. They were as quiet as – ha – ghosts, and they didn't have a smell. Not that they were devoid of smell (it was easy to spot Eris because she was a moving void), but because smells passed right through them, just like everything else. When they actually spoke to her she could pinpoint them, but never when they didn't hail her specifically.

It frightened her.

Not because she was a wuss, though. Imagine having several people around, you have little idea how they will behave and you have no idea where they are unless they want you to.

See?

Itachi, though, had found that through severe concentration that he claimed would break a lesser man, he could actually make himself more solid. He was never complete, but touching him was more like trying to force through some breed of thick putty rather than just another slice of air. Usually he opted to stay non-corporeal because the alternative left him perpetually exhausted. So they saved it, for when he would have been exhausted anyway.

Deidara… was better. Than he had been, that is. It was actually somewhat near enjoyable talking to him, about anything, anything at all. Whenever Itachi wasn't around. Otherwise she was with him, always. Almost like he didn't trust her or something.

Funny thing, she couldn't imagine why… Honestly…

But she liked it like that; she tried to keep it so wherever Itachi was, Deidara wasn't. Because whenever they were in the same room she sort of faded into the background and it was just the two of them all, like, "grr".

This in mind, Michiko still hadn't thought anything of finding Deidara out by the rabbit pen and having a little chat while she drank.

"…No, so the guy said that straight to my face, and I'm like, 'I'd rather chew glass.'" She laughed, taking another bite into her chosen rabbit, a solid white one named Murphy, who had stopped twitching a minute ago. She set him down within easy reach and stretched out again, positioned as if to make a grass angel.

Deidara laughed too, clinging to the surface of the wall. "A classic example of 'Friends Don't Let Friends Drink and Talk'."

Michiko laughed again, absorbing the rare perfection of the conversation. For once nothing had gone sour, nothing had gone off course, nothing had gotten awkward. Just friends, each talking the other's ears off.

"Hey, lovebirds," came Itachi's voice right by her ear, as if he had just risen up out of the ground. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had, but she didn't let it startle or aggravate her.

"Oh, hey!" she smiled turning her head to face his general direction. She felt a brief tingle overtake her lips, like whenever he went through her.

"Hey, Itachi…" Deidara's voice had a curious chortle to it, but Michiko dismissed it. It was just left over from their last bout of laughter.

"What's up?" she asked, inching her head forward until she felt the tingle again. "You staying out here? Or are you going back inside? The first one is the correct answer, hint hint."

"Oh, no, I just wanted to know how you were doing…" he informed her, trying not to mumble.

"Oh, such a liar!" Deidara exclaimed, and Michiko could hear him smirking from ear to ear. "The only reason you're out here is because you're just jealous that your girl is having a civil conversation with another guy. A former lover, no less."

Michiko bristled, glancing ineffectively at him out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't see him, of course, but his voice was full of a mocking smile. She was getting a chill from Itachi, though, which was beginning to worry her.

"Okay, maybe I am. Wanna tell me what was with that smug little grin back there?"

"I… um, have to go…" Michiko mumbled, trying to slink away before it got any worse and they used her as a tool with which to verbally beat each other.

"Oh, no, please stay, Michiko," Deidara insisted with a harsh cheeriness that compelled her to stop. "This shouldn't take long."

"What shouldn't take long?" Itachi demanded. "Is this the only reason you came back? To try tearing us apart again?"

"I only hope the irony of this situation isn't wasted on you," Deidara replied drolly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Itachi huffed.

"Oh, come on, you aren't that blind, are you? Hm, lets see now… 'I'm so sad Michiko doesn't love me anymore, I'll go pin myself to a tree. No, wait, instead I'll come back and ruin any chance Deidara might have had with her, because that'll make my suicide worthwhile!'"

"Shut up, that's completely different."

"Oh how?" Deidara snapped.

"…Michiko, tell him."

"What?" she asked, startled. "Don't drag me into this; I'm just an innocent bystander…"

"Yeah, good gods," Deidara snorted. "Can't you see she doesn't enjoy it when you go picking fights with the other children?"

"You say that like it's my fault you came back."

"I didn't come back! I was sent back by Eris' stupid brother! D'you think I wanted to stay here?" Michiko was surprised at the bitter sadness in his tone. "The only reason I'm still here is because I wanted to see if what you two have is worth what you did to me… And as much as I hate to admit it, it is…"

The next time she heard him he was right in front of her:

"So don't screw this up, okay? I don't know, but somehow he brings out the best in you. You know, the part that isn't a bloodsucking lunatic? It's good for you."

By the time she blinked he wasn't there anymore.

"I had no intention of returning to try and win her back, so no, this isn't some kind of revenge, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. And you'd be lying if you said you didn't do anything to deserve it.."

There was a pause, in which Michiko picked up a tenuous rage, but it fell apart when Deidara picked up again.

"So you don't screw this up, either. She's sacrificing a lot for your dead self, so give her a break, huh? …Or, you know, I'm going to have to come back and kick both your asses. …So I guess what I'm sort of trying to say is, you dolts have my blessing… You know, in case you cared."

Michiko almost could have cried if she hadn't loathed the very notion; it was the kind of thing you only read about in stories with ridiculously soppy names, like "Happy Story". She reached out until she felt the spot where her hand started to tingle and hugged him.

"That was very big of you," she whispered warmly, trying not to go completely through him.

"Ha, did you hear that?" he asked himself when she pulled away and smiled. "She thinks I'm big."

Her smile cracked a little, but she laughed anyway. She nodded at him to Itachi, who totally wasn't picking up the hint.

"Oh! That reminds me!" She didn't hear anything else aside from a muted whispering until his voice got louder again. "…but then again, would you really be that surprised?" Deidara asked roguishly, completing a thought she apparently wasn't allowed to hear.

"Um, th-thanks?" Itachi ventured.

"Nah, don't mention it! Well, you two have my permission to start kissing each other senseless now. Bye!"

Michiko glanced shrewdly at where Itachi seemed to be. "Do I want to know?"

"Er…"