A/N: Here's another chapter for you. Although... it doesn't make much sense lol ^-^u

Warning: Language, violence, etc...

Itachi brought his car to a halt inside a secluded clearing.

On first glance, he would of thought Deidara had just led him inside a forest. But looking around more closely, he noticed a small run-down building hidden amongst the branches and trees. Its walls were brown and cracked, several screen doors hanging off their hinges. He stared at the decrepit building and then looked at the blonde next to him.

Deidara seemed lost in thought as he undid his seatbelt, starting to open the car door.

Itachi grabbed his elbow before he could get out. "Why are we here?" he questioned.

Deidara looked at him over his shoulder. "I just want to confirm something… Follow me."

Itachi sighed, but released his hold on the younger teen to get out the car himself anyway. His dress shoes crunched loudly under twigs and pebbles as he trailed after Deidara, and he subconsciously looked down at himself- feeling out of place with his much too proper clothing for this part of the woods. Black slacks, a while long-sleeved shirt and red t-shirt over top.

Deidara led the way up a rickety porch to the building now noted as a broken down motel, walking idly down the rows of doors until he stopped at one on the far end of the porch. He studied the vine covered number plate on the side of the door and then glanced behind him to check if Itachi had followed, taking a bobby pin out from his hair.

"You're telling me…" Itachi slowly started to say as the blonde picked open the door lock, "that this is where Kabuto lives?"

Deidara snorted, throwing the bobby pin he had used over his shoulder and pushing the door open. "Of course not un." He stepped inside, flicking on a light switch and motioning for Itachi to follow. "This isn't really where he lives now," he said looking around at the messy motel room. "We used to share this place before I got enough money to buy my own apartment and he went to stay at the University dorms. I see nothing's changed."

Itachi felt his nose crinkle as he looked at a dresser and the ever growing pile of dust on it. "Don't people clean this place?" he asked.

"They shut it down- service and the living conditions weren't that ideal," Deidara answered with a wry smile.

"I can see why," Itachi muttered, stepping over a half-eaten shoe and coming up behind the blonde teen who was opening a desk's drawers and rummaging through the belongings inside. "I don't mean to push or sound rude…but why are we here?"

Deidara grunted, not bothering to look over his shoulder. "Sasori told me that you guys ran into this guy Orochimaru that you've been hunting down for a while un."

"And this is important because…?"

"I heard Kabuto was there too."

Itachi closed his mouth, staring at the blonde's back as he moved several papers out of their spot. "Yes…" he slowly said, wondering where Deidara was going with this. "That is true."

"…I thought so."

"What?"

Deidara suddenly turned around, pinning Itachi to the spot with a serious stare. "Kabuto and I share a special bond. We've been friends ever since I can remember- and he's always been there for me. That's why I can't just accept that he would go off and join a person as bad as Orochimaru. The Kabuto I know wouldn't do that un. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with him you know."

"You'd chose him over what you know is right?" Itachi questioned.

Deidara pushed past him and stomped over to the far side of the room, arms folded as he faced the opposite direction. "Kabuto was an orphan from the Osaka District in Japan. My father was a traveling business man who took pity and showered sympathy on those less fortunate than himself. Kabuto was running away from the merchants he had stolen from when he ran straight into my dad," he said, a glazed look in his eye. "He just took him. Right out of that place, back home here with the rest of my family. It should have been illegal- but no one cared about a child with no origin."

Itachi stared at him. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Because that child- my best friend-" Deidara stressed, "could be under a drug." He looked over his shoulder to the baffled raven. "A drug that could hurt him. And I want to do everything I can to prevent my friend from being killed. Him dying is not an option I'll take."

"That's not your choice to make," Itachi told him. "We've seen what the effects of Orochimaru's drugs can do to a person. Until Kakuzu figures out what we're dealing with, there's no way to reverse it once its been injected into the body." He paused. "Besides, we don't know if Kabuto is under this drug or just willingly working for Orochimaru. It could be the latter."

"But it could be the former." Deidara looked back in front of him.

Itachi sighed heavily, rubbing his brow. "I don't know what you want from me Deidara. I really don't. In this world we lose things precious to us. There's nothing we can do about it. If you're worried about losing a dear friend, you've a choice to make. But I can't help you make that sort of decision," he said. "You have to do it yourself."

Deidara kept his back turned, eyes shadowed. "Itachi…how do your illusions work?"

"My illusions?" Itachi thoughtfully trailed his eyes over the disarray that was the motel room, landing on the tense form of the teen across from him. "Through words, sometimes a hand gesture that captures the other person's attention. So long as I have their focus, my tone of voice or demeanor can change their perception on what is happening around them. They won't realize anything's changed until they somehow break out of it or I call it off. Often times, it ends once someone has died inside the illusion."

"So you're saying thing will go exactly as that person sees it being played out?" Deidara questioned, turning around to look the other force member in the eye. "How is that possible un?"

Itachi offered a dry smirk. "People tend to believe what they want to."

"And the downsides to your illusions?"

"It'll capture anyone close to the person being targeted as well," Itachi explained. "Anyone who goes through it afterwards will suffer head trauma and shock to their body. It depends on who it is and how well they can resist my voice."

Deidara scrunched his nose. "Saying you have an irresistible voice hmm?"

Itachi purposefully fluttered his eyes. "As well as an irresistible face. Most people have no chance against me."

The teen rolled his eyes in response before crossing his arms and leaning to the side. "Surely you have more than just one type of illusion other than showing your victim what they want un. What's your other one?"

"You are smart, aren't you?" Itachi muttered, listening to the blonde harrumph. "I can bring to the forefront what a person dreads the most. Instead of showing them what they want, I show them what they most deny. This one tends to be more disturbing though- and I rarely use it unless Hidan needs help interrogating a stubborn convict..."

"Use it on me."

"What did you say?"

"I said to use it."

Itachi stared at him with furrowed brows, studying the grim expression the blonde held. His visible blue eye was clouded over in thought and determination. But determination for what was something Itachi couldn't figure out.

And then his face went blank. "I see…"

"Convince me what's right."

"You're still in doubt about your friend Kabuto. You want to know if sticking with the Akatsuki is in your best interests if it means losing something you hold close," Itachi murmured.

Deidara felt his head grow fuzzy and vision waver. Wha…? His eyes closed to stop the dull buzz in his head.

Itachi's voice grew louder. "But at the same time your sense of loyalty and justice of wanting a greater good are conflicting with your personal emotions. A past which restricts you and a future you cannot see. I will show you your fear."

A cold gust of air breezed through the window, the lamplight flickering out.

They were submerged in darkness.