The kiss was so random that Deidara had no idea what to do about it. His hands clasped her shoulders and gently pushed her away. "I can't." he said. Hinata blinked back a few tears, nodding. She looked down and the tears flowed freely onto the sheets. "I'm sorry, Deidara-sensei." She whispered. "I don't know... Well, I mean... I just..." She bit her lip. Deidara scratched his head. "That doesn't mean I don't love you." he let his fingers brush her face before moving to get off the bed. "I guess it's morning now. 5:30." he stretched and yawned. "That was quite the eventful night, wasn't it?" He put his cell phone on the table.

"I'm gonna go get changed. You can go sleep a little; I'll wake you up."

Now that he mentioned it, she was quite a bit tired. Hinata slowly lowered herself to the pillow, closing her eyes and relaxing a bit. Deidara glanced back at her and smiled.

-:-

"So, how was your one-bed sleep with Deidara-sensei?" Sakura prodded at lunch. "Hm." Hinata said softly. She was completely unaware of her curious group of friends leaning over her, anxious to hear of her romance with a teacher.

Unsatisfied, Ino asked, "Did he kiss you?" Hinata shrugged.

"Hug?"

"Hm."

"Sex?"

"Hm."

Annoyed, Sakura shook Hinata by the shoulders to wake her up. "You're acting like a lovesick fool! Snap out of it!" She yelled. Hinata was awake now, and she was crying. "Ah." Sakura started to apologize. "Jeez, Sakura, look what you did!" Ino shoved Sakura over and hugged Hinata tightly. "It's okay, I'll make sure she doesn't hit you anymore." Hinata shook her head, wiping her eyes quickly. "I-I-It's okay. It's n-n-not that..." She said between sobs. "Then what is it?" Ino glanced at Sakura, who was at Hinata's other side in a second. "I-I-I'm just... confused. I'm sorry, It's not a big deal." She tried laughing, but it only turned into more sobbing.

Sakura and Ino glanced at each other. Deidara-sensei. They hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Hinata." Ino said, patting her head. "Yeah, It'll be alright." Sakura patted her shoulder. "Thanks..." Hinata whispered.

"Hey, Hey, what's going on here?"

Hinata flinched. Deidara walked by their table, carrying a breifcase. "What's up with her?" he asked, trying not to sound too worried. It worked, to Hinata's dismay. She began to sob again. He rolled his eyes as a part of his act. "Come on," he helped her stand up. "I'll take you back to our room. If you'll excuse us, ladies." He nodded to Sakura and Ino, who exchanged worried looks. Eventually they nodded, watching the two walk away.

When they got back to the hotel, Hinata got a drink of water in the bathroom. Deidara waited patiently until she calmed down.

"Why were you crying?" he asked, leading her to the bed where they could sit down. Hinata shrugged, looking away. He tilted her head so that she looked him in the eye. "It hurts me to see you like this, you know." Tears were in her eyes again. "Why are you crying?" he wiped the tears that streamed down her cheeks. He made sure that only his hands were touching her.

He isn't hugging me. He isn't kissing me. He isn't... She couldn't stop the tears from flowing. It hurt so much in her heart. "Aw, Hinata." He handed her a box of tissues as he stood up to dry his cuffs. "I-I'm sorry..." Hinata blubbered, blowing her nose.

Deidara stretched, looking at her through the side of his eye. He didn't know what to say. If he said that it was okay, it would be a lie. He didn't know if it was okay or not (and by the looks of it, things were far from okay). If he said the truth, it wouldn't be the best course of action, either.

Instead of speaking the truth, he thought, I'll seek the truth.

"What do you want, Hinata?" he walked to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and sitting beside her. She looked up at him, confused. "What will make you feel better?" he rephrased. She was silent for a few moments. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. He slowly hugged her back. "Are you better yet?" he asked. He felt himself trembling. He didn't want to hear her say this was wrong again, or that he wasn't being honest... or that she didn't love him, worst-case scenario. She felt him shaking too and hugged him tighter. She looked up at him and puckered her lips slightly. Deidara wanted to avoid this part so much, but he couldn't pull himself away. He had been resisting her touch for as long as he could, but not long enough to prove the point he had long forgotten by now. He slowly leaned down, hesitating just before their lips met.

He pulled away too soon; Hinata's lips were still puckered. He cupped her face, running his thumb over her lips. "Are you better yet?" he asked again. She shook her head. "What else do you want me to do?" he asked, holding her tighter. She obviously wanted him to kiss her again, but he didn't. "I want you to say it." he whispered, sliding a strand of hair to the side. "K...Kiss... me." she mumbled. "Louder." he teased her mouth with his warm breath. "Kiss me," she said, louder. "Kiss me, Deidara-sensei!"

Deidara pushed her onto the bed. "Why? Why do you want me to kiss you?" He asked, torturing himself by bringing his face close to hers. "Because..." Hinata struggled with the words. She began to cry again, her feelings conflicting with each other. "Why!?" He demanded.

"Because I love you!" she shouted, finally. "I love you with every fiber of my being! I've loved you, Deidara-sensei, since before the trip! Before the nurse's office, before everything!" She tilted her head away from him to let her tears fall. Deidara kissed her exposed neckline before tilting her head towards him. "I love you." he said feircely. "Even before you loved me, I've loved you. When you turned in your first paper to me three years ago, I was in love." he gave her the biggest kiss he ever gave, gentle yet holding all the intensity of his love. "Do you mean that, Deidara-sensei?" she asked, the effects of her heart being hopelessly in love affecting her thoughts. "Every word." he kissed her jaw line and collar bone.

"I'm sorry." Hinata whispered, wrapping her arms around him. "What for?" He rolled so that he was under her. "You were confused. Or... playing hard to get." he kissed her cheek. She smiled.

-:-

Where'd you two go at lunch?

We got lovey-lovey with each other.

Oh really?

She was crying, and manly me helped her get better :x

Oh my god, you two had sex.

NO! Jesus. We made out.

Haha just kidding. So are you two going out now?

Hmm... I'm not sure. I mean, people who aren't dating make out sometimes too, right?

True. Why don't you ask her?

"Hinata?" Deidara turned to her on the bed the next morning. "Hm?" She was still sleepy, her eyes closed and under the blankets. "Are we... going out?" he felt a little shy about it. "Well, we're on a school trip. We can't spend it in our hotel room..." she yawned, turning a little so that she was face-down in the pillow. "Totally not what I meant." Deidara slid down to her level, wrapping his arm around her. "Are we dating?" he clarified. Hinata turned to him, blushing. "I-I-I guess..." she looked away. "You can't say no after that make-out session last night." he whistled. "We weren't even having sex and you were moaning a lot." he felt her wriggle under his arm. He held her tighter. "That's okay, though."

They stayed like that for a little bit. "Why do you always text at night?" Hinata turned to hug him. "It's free. Our phone companies let us text at night for free." he explained. "Oh. Why did you take up teaching?" She asked. He shrugged. "Me and Sasori said we would, so we did." he toyed with her hair. "Do you like it?" Hinata looked up at him. "Hmm, yeah. I mean, I met you through teaching, right?" he kissed her head. She smiled. Maybe if I ask him enough questions... he'd tell me his age. she thought.

"Did you always want to be a teacher?"

"Heh, No. I thought that kids were repulsive creatures that wanted to make people older than them miserable. Well, that was the case when I was a child. All the kids around me wanted to make the teacher explode. He quit after October. Haha."

Hinata kept asking him questions, even through breakfast and his shower. She knew almost everything about him except his age. When the right moment came to ask, he was walking with her down the sidewalk outside their hotel.

"Deidara-sensei, how old are you?"

"Nineteen."

The second he said it, he wished he hadn't. That sneaky little... he saw her entire plan flash before his eyes. The whole barrage of questions was to ask how old he was! And he fell for it! He felt like an idiot for a minute. Couldn't she have gone on without knowing how old I was? He guessed not, then thought to look for her reaction.

"Nineteen, huh? Well, that's not so old..." The number sunk in. "N-Nineteen!? Nineteen? Nineteen!?" she shreiked louder and louder. He clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shit, Hinata! Why would you do that?" he hissed. "B-But we're... WE'RE IN THE SAME AGE GROUP-" He shushed her. "I shouldn't have told you!" he said. "Why not? That explains everything!" Hinata said, still shocked. "It explains everything, but it doesn't solve everything." he ran a hand through his hair. "But..." Hinata began to think. Why would his age cause problems?

Well, for one thing, he was underage. Much too young to be a teacher, or too close to his student's age group to be given the job. He probably lied about his age and experience to get a job. He looked young as well. Attractive. Being nineteen explained that entirely. But a lot of other teachers were young-looking as well, so what did that mean? Hinata studied Deidara curiously. When he noticed, he blushed and looked away.

"How long have you been teaching, Deidara... sensei?" Knowing that he was practically the same age as her, she felt odd calling him a teacher. "Uh... Not long, actually. Three years, i suppose." That would have made him sixteen. Sixteen! He was among students his age, and he was the teacher! Where did he get the education?

"I had no experience in teaching, so I had to stay up late to know the lesson to teach tomorrow. I'm glad I took Language Arts, otherwise I would've been killed." he scratched his neck absently. Hinata tilted her head to the side. "You have a lot of explaining to do when we get back to the hotel." she warned as they parted ways. As she walked up the sidewalk towards the place where her friends were going to meet, she felt arms wrap around her. "Have a nice day. I love you." He kissed her cheek. She turned to look at Deidara, who was blushing as well. "Y-You too." She stammered. Now that he was Nineteen, he looked even younger. More normal.

He was beginning to look a lot like Mr. Right, if you know what I mean.

-:-

"You what!?" Sasori almost yelled, if it weren't for the fact that they were eating at a restaurant. "I-I couldn't help it! She tricked me!" Deidara covered his head with his hands, chin on the table in guilt and despair. "She could blow our cover, you know that?" Sasori continued. "I know! I know. I just... really like her and..." he turned a light pink. Sasori sighed. "I was totally into you being in love, but jeez Deidara, I thought it was just a big crush." he rolled his eyes. "How did she trick you?" Deidara explained how she kept asking him questions throughout the morning. He could tell Sasori was getting annoyed.

"That's it? I thought she brainwashed you or something. That's such a simple trick, Deidara! And you fell for it!" He just kept scolding and scolding until their food arrived. Then he scolded him with his mouth full.

"But I'm sort of glad she knows. I mean, now I can be really honest with her. Just like she wanted." he said dreamily, playing with the straw in his drink. Sasori hit him. "You realize that if your age even slips her mouth, we'll have to quit our jobs as teachers and move far, far, far away. Right?" he said. "Us, along with all the other young teachers at our school. I told them it was risky being at the same school, but no..." He berated, leaning back in his chair with a huff. "Oh well. I guess it can't be helped." he paused.

"I mean, you can never forget a secret once you know one."

-:-

This is some weird feild trip we're having.