Chapter 12
When they both came down, Neji was immediately jumped on by an overly excited Kiba and Suigetsu, screaming how happy they were he was ok and how worried they had been. While chuckling he shrugged them off, to meet Sasuke's brother and said guy's boyfriends. Like Sasuke had said, Sasuke's brother, his older brother, obviously, was very calm and seemed like he had every muscle in his whole body in control. The guy looked really serious and wise. Exactly the opposite of the hyperactive blonde who complimented him on his 'beautiful hair' which was, according to the crazy Deidara, 'a piece of art'. The guy told him that he was an artist (and the huge man in the background abruptly started laughing at hearing this) and that he started to live with Itachi about a year ago. The huge man, Kisame, was just like Sasuke had told him as well, but Neji thought that no matter how evil and mean the man looked, he probably was like a big dog from the inside. Sweet and caring. Neji immediately had respect for those three, and he was even happier that Sasuke had met them as well. Especially Itachi. Sasuke could probably find a lot of himself back because of his brother, and Sasuke seemed to listen to him and look up to him as well. It would do Sasuke good.
"So, Neji right? Are you telling me that your hair is it's natural colour un?" Deidara asked curious, as everyone had sat down at the giant dinner table of the house they were staying in. Sasuke shook his head at this and looked at his brother, almost about to ask him how in heavens name he put up with that guy.
Itachi just shrugged, as he shook his head as well.
"...I wouldn't even know how to give it another colour, so yes." Neji answered, bringing one eyebrow up as he looked at the blonde. What was up with him and his hair?
"There are lots of ways to colour your hair." Deidara said. "I can't believe no one coloured yours un. Just like I couldn't believe that with Kisame. I mean, whose hair is blue?"
"I already told you why I look how I look." Kisame said. "It's practically the same story as Kiba told us about him and his wolf side. My hair colour is natural."
"...You also have animal blood?" Kiba asked, astonished. Kisame simply nodded.
"Shark blood."
"Yeah well it's still odd that that gives you blue hair un. I mean, sharks don't even have hair so." Deidara said.
"I really don't get how anyone can have animal blood though. I mean, what happened, did some human produce offspring with an animal?" Sasuke asked frowning.
"My ancestors changed into animals, and one of them kept on changing into a wolf." Kiba explained. "He did this so often that in the end, he couldn't leave his wolf form anymore. He ended up impregnating a female wolf and that's how the Inuzuka clan started: a mix between wolves and mankind."
"That's just weird. So Kisame, can you change into a shark as well?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes." Kisame answered, nodding. "I can transform into a shark as much as I want to."
Deidara looked disgusted now and nodded.
"He can also 'partially' change into a shark. And then he's even scarier than normal un." He said.
Kisame sighed now, a little annoyed.
"Shut up Deidara." He said.
"Shush, the two of you." Itachi said. "It's just a talent Kisame has, and apparently, Kiba does as well. As to go back to the point of the conversation, this is Kisame's real hair colour, the same goes to his skin."
"And as for me, that's the same." Neji commented.
"Well I'm sorry for asking un." Deidara said offended and crossed his arms.
"Are you always offended this quickly?" Neji asked Deidara.
"Yes I am. Got a problem with it un?" Deidara snapped. Sasuke had already had the pleasure of knowing not to ask Deidara those kind of questions. At some point, Deidara decided he needed a glass of cold water poured on him for doing just that. He hoped Neji would just decide to shut up.
"Perhaps I might in the future, but for now I was just wondering." Neji said, shrugging.
Deidara hissed something now, making it unhearable because those words were not to be said out loud. He then left to the kitchen to yell at Karin to hurry up with the food.
"Has he always been like this or is something making him jumpier then normally?" Sasuke asked Itachi.
"He's always had a temper, but lately he has been a little more... explosive then normally." Itachi answered, frowning in thought.
"Oh I know what it is." Kisame growled. "He's jealous of what you and I have. He can't stand it."
"Well I can understand 'that'." Sasuke said. "Maybe you should talk to him. He's making Karin's life a living hell now that he decided she is going to be the one he yells at when he's mad."
"I'll go to him." Itachi said and abruptly stood and walked to the kitchen. He saw Deidara fuming against Karin, who was looking horribly offended, and then turned his lover around.
"Deidara." He then said. "What's going on?"
Deidara angrily pushed Itachi's hands away from him.
"Just let me be angry will you un." He snapped.
"If you would just do that without making others angry as well, then it would be ok." Itachi said. "Leave Karin alone Dei."
"I wouldn't need to be angry if you just... well whatever un." He snapped, crossing his arms and giving Karin a glare when she dared to look at him.
"If I what?" Itachi asked, raising an eyebrow. He sighed when Deidara sent him a foul look as well. "I think we need to talk."
"Oh do you now?" Deidara asked. "That would be a nice change in our relationship un."
"Don't be like that now, you know as well as I do that I'm talking a lot to you." Itachi said. "The only reason why I talk to Kisame more is because he comes to talk a lot more then you."
"You never talk to me like you do to him un." Deidara said and then turned to Karin. "Would you piss off?"
"I'm cooking here, piss off yourself and go to your god damn room for your little chats!" Karin snapped to Deidara. Itachi now grabbed Deidara by the hand and dragged him upstairs. He took him into their bedroom and then closed the door behind him.
"What on earth is your problem Deidara?" He then asked, frowning.
"I'm sure you can guess it." Deidara snapped and turned away from Itachi.
"You probably think you don't get enough attention." Itachi said, frowning even deeper.
"Yeah I only 'think' that right?" Deidara hissed. "I mean, why would anything I think matter un."
"If nothing you think mattered, then we wouldn't be in a relationship." Itachi said, sighing. He then sat down onto the bed. "Trust me Deidara, I'm giving you all the attention I can. But when Kisame is already there, it's hard to say no to him. You know that he doesn't take no for granted. It has no use."
"No it's because you like him better than me un." Deidara snapped. He watched as Itachi sat down on the bed.
Itachi gave Deidara a stern look.
"That's not true." He said. "If I cared about one of you more than the other, I would let one of you go."
"Then why do you always side with Kisame, always pick him first and always end up in bed with him un?" Deidara snapped.
"The first two things aren't true, and the last thing is because he pushes me in." Itachi answered.
"You do side with him, you just don't notice you do un." Deidara snapped. "And you could say no to him. Right now I'm the only one who has to sacrifice things for you to be with both of us un."
"I think I have more reason to be angry with you then you with me Deidara." Itachi shortly said. "You hate someone I love, and you're not even hiding it."
"Sure put it all on me un." Deidara snapped and looked away, trying to hide that what Itachi just said hurt him.
"It's you who's making this into such a big problem." Itachi said. "You never come to me to talk, I'm the one who's making the contact between us. And yes, that's difficult when Kisame is always there. Kisame loves me and he doesn't mind you being here as well, because he knows I love you. And he loves everything I love. I think it's about time you drop your hate, or you drop all of this. I can't stand it anymore that the two of you are always bickering because you snapped at him for just being there."
".. Fine.. I'm wrong then un." Deidara said, trying to snap. "It's abnormal to be jealous. You don't even realise that this isn't normal."
"I do realise it." Itachi said. "But you're forgetting that me and Kisame have been together for some time already, before allowing 'you' in 'our' relationship."
"Yeah because 'I' wanted it so badly right?" Deidara snapped now. "If you didn't want me in 'your' relationship, than you should have just rejected me back then."
"You should know by now that I only let people in when I care a lot about them." Itachi said. "I love you Deidara, but I love Kisame as well. If you can't cope with that, then you're going to have to leave me, because I can't let go of any of you. I refuse to break up with Kisame, and I refuse to break up with you."
Deidara glared at Itachi now and then walked to the closet, pulling out a suitcase. He didn't want this anymore. He didn't want to be the one to get blamed or the one who joined in someone else's relationship. And he didn't want to be set aside anymore. No matter how much he loved Itachi.
"Deidara... what do you want me to do, except for leaving Kisame?" Itachi asked.
Deidara didn't answer for a while as he opened the suitcase and already dumped some of his clothes in them.
"You know I can't answer that question un." He said, his voice hoarse from trying to hold back tears.
Itachi stared at the ground for some time, before getting up and suddenly grabbing Deidara, slamming him up against the wall.
"Don't you dare to leave." He then snapped, giving his blonde lover a glare.
Deidara swallowed as he looked at Itachi with wet eyes.
".. I don't know what else to do anymore un.." He softly said.
Itachi looked at Deidara for some time with a frown on his face, before suddenly grabbing Deidara's chin and bringing him closer. He sealed Deidara's lips with his own, giving Deidara a possessive kiss, showing Deidara he was Itachi's and not supposed to leave him.
Deidara moaned slightly as Itachi did this. He couldn't help but give in and grabbed Itachi's shirt slightly. It sucked that Itachi could always convince him to stay, because in the end, Deidara knew he would break down at some point.
Itachi kissed Deidara roughly for some time, before letting go of Deidara's chin and resting his forehead against Deidara's, while stroking over his lover's chest.
"...I don't want to stop you if you want to go... I won't force you to stay." Itachi said, sighing.
Deidara was silent now, glad that Itachi's forehead was on his, so Itachi couldn't see that he was crying.
"...I do want you to know that I really love both of you equally." Itachi said.
"..It doesn't feel like that un.." Deidara whispered. He knew that by talking, he had betrayed his crying to Itachi. That stupid bastard never missed anything.
"I know." Itachi said. "You want me for your own." He brought up his hand and stroke away some of Deidara's tears, while removing his forehead from Deidara's. He could still not stand it to see Deidara cry.
Deidara looked at Itachi and then he really started crying.
"I-I'm sorry un... I thought I could do it.." He said.
Itachi bit his lip and then brought Deidara closer, letting him cry on his shoulder.
"If that feels best for you Deidara..." He then said.
Deidara grabbed Itachi tightly as he cried.
".. I don't wanna go.. b-but I just.. I don't know what to do un.." He said.
"Perhaps you should sleep somewhere else for some time, so you can think of what you want to do." Itachi said, shushing Deidara. "It's not like you'll be able to think about what you want better when Kisame is here the whole time."
".. You'll stop loving me if I do that un.." Deidara said and took deep breaths.
Itachi chuckled a little.
"Trust me, there is more needed for that." He said.
".. But if I leave Kisame and you will get an even better relationship and ours will be.. will be left behind even more un.." Deidara said.
"Me and Kisame have been together already when you came, so that says nothing." Itachi said, as he shook his head. "If you think our relationship will become better because you leave, then it's not really true that we never speak or talk."
"Well Kisame would be happier if I was gone un." Deidara said, shrugging slightly. "I don't wanna leave, but we're really not working right now with Kisame there..."
"Kisame would be happy that you're gone because you don't accept him." Itachi said, frowning slightly. "I don't want to be mean Deidara, but it's you who's making it more complicated and not Kisame. The only thing he is doing now is nagging you to get you back for the hate you're sending him."
Deidara now immediately pushed Itachi away and looked down. This was exactly how Itachi always reacted. It was all his stupid fault and neither Kisame nor him were the ones in the wrong.
Itachi sighed as he shook his head.
"Deidara please.. do you want me to lie to you the next time?" He asked.
"I don't want you to do or say anything anymore." Deidara said. His hands were slightly shaking now. "Of course you had to say 'that' out of all things un."
Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly now.
"If you expect me to let Kisame take the blame who did nothing but react naturally, then you know where to find the door." He said. With that, he turned around and left the room.
Deidara watched Itachi leave and then silently started packing. If Itachi wouldn't even try his hardest to keep him here, then he knew it was time to leave. Once he had packed all of his stuff, which really wasn't that much, he sat down on the bed and started crying silently.
Itachi walked down the stairs and walked through the kitchen and living room, not saying a word. He then took his coat and left the house.
Sasuke frowned as he saw Itachi leaving and even more when he saw a crying Deidara coming down with a suitcase. Sasuke quickly got up and followed Itachi. He knew something was wrong now. Once he was outside, he spotted Itachi and ran up to him.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Nothing." Itachi shortly said, as he was heading for the forest. "Go back into the house."
"No, I know you're upset now." Sasuke said. "Just talk to me."
"Deidara is acting difficult again." Itachi said, as he kept walking. "He's acting dramatic and blaming Kisame for everything."
"Yeah but that's not new. I men, I saw Deidara with a suitcase." Sasuke said.
"The fact that I'm not agreeing with him that because of Kisame our relationship isn't going well makes him want to leave for real." Itachi said. "He can't cope with the three of us being together, he wants me for his own."
"So he's leaving?" Sasuke asked, frowning slightly. He could only imagine how that made Itachi feel right now. Even though Itachi wasn't showing anything but just a slight irritation.
"Yes he is." Itachi bit out.
"Aren't you going to stop him?" Sasuke asked carefully.
"He doesn't accept anything except for me breaking up with Kisame." Itachi snapped. "I'd rather die than do that."
"Don't snap at me." Sasuke said. "I get that you're upset, but maybe you should just try talking to him some more."
"You have no idea how many times we talked about this crap." Itachi said. "And if you don't want me to snap to you, go back to the house then, because I'm angry."
"Fine then you just have to snap at me." Sasuke said. "I just think that if you go back now you could stop him from leaving."
"I'm not sure if I want him like this in the house any longer." Itachi growled. "He's only snapping and whining, nothing else. I'm sick of it now. Perhaps it's best to be apart for some time."
"But you love him right?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, I do." Itachi said. "But he only believes it when I leave Kisame."
"Well, I don't want to make you angrier, but you do tend to say the wrong things." Sasuke said.
"Do you want me to hit you?" Itachi snapped. "You have no idea how often we talked about this, but it just doesn't get through his head. The situation is clear, Deidara is jealous so he is mean to Kisame, he shies away from getting near me because Kisame is there as well, Kisame defends himself and snaps to Deidara as well and shows him he has power. That's it. 'Deidara' is the one making problems here, not Kisame. And nor am I."
"Well sorry." Sasuke said. "I'm not saying it's not his own fault, I'm just saying that the things you and Kisame say right now, aren't going to make him happier about the situation."
"What, me putting him on his place and Kisame taking revenge for Deidara snapping against him for just sitting in a room?" Itachi asked.
"You just both say things that could come across as thinking of him as a third wheel." Sasuke answered.
"Funny that you have judgements like that after just knowing us for not even a week." Itachi growled. "He takes everything personally, and sees everything as something offending. If Kisame would have been like him, he would have killed himself from the things Deidara said to him. Sometimes it's just plain cruel."
"I don't have judgements Itachi. You're right, I don't know the details of your relationship. What I do know is that you love him and you don't want him to go." Sasuke said. "It's ok to admit it hurts you know."
"Please don't press it in." Itachi muttered. "I need to be alone now Sasuke... Or at least have Kisame here. If you go back to the house, could you please ask Kisame to come to the edge of the forest?"
Sasuke looked at Itachi for a while, then looked to the ground.
".. Sure." He said and then turned around. He felt stupid for not being able to get Itachi to talk it through with him.
Itachi walked a little further and then sat down near a tree, his back to the house he had left just now, and thus to Sasuke.
Sasuke gave Itachi a brief look before walking back to the house. Once inside, he told Kisame to meet Itachi there and when he looked out of the window, he could see Kisame sitting down next to Itachi. And then giving him a hug. At least someone could help Itachi feel better.
A few days later, Sasuke and Neji were laying on their bed, kissing. Sasuke had his hands in Neji's hair, but his kiss wasn't what it normally was. He had other things on his mind right now, but he was hoping Neji wasn't noticing. He didn't want Neji to think he wasn't enjoying their kiss.
But Neji did notice something was off. So after trying for a few more times, he finally gave up and broke the kiss.
"What are you thinking of?" He asked.
Sasuke looked at Neji and then sighed. Damn, he'd been busted.
"It's Itachi... He just isn't happy anymore. I'm worried about him." Sasuke answered.
Neji moved himself up a little and looked at Sasuke.
"I noticed." He then said. "He's probably missing Deidara."
"Yeah but it's out of control. He doesn't talk to me, he doesn't laugh." Sasuke said. "I don't think I've ever seen him like this before."
"Does it also feel like he has never been like this before you lost your memory?" Neji asked.
"Yeah it does." Sasuke said. "I mean, with everything else he has done so far, I felt it was familiar. I'm sure he has never been like this before. He's miserable and I don't know how to cheer him up."
"I doubt if there is anything to cheer him up with." Neji said, as he sat up fully now, on the edge of the bed. "Poor Kisame is trying so hard, but it seems to have no use."
"I know. They should have never decided to be in a relationship with the three of them. Of course that wouldn't work out." Sasuke said. "And now Itachi's miserable because of it."
"Itachi obviously made a mistake by starting to like Deidara as well." Neji said, nodding. "Of course it's his own fault and he could have seen it coming. But it's still a sad situation. If Deidara and Kisame would have loved each other too then it would have been a lot easier."
"I know, it just sucks it's Itachi who has to suffer now." Sasuke said. "Itachi might really do something stupid if Deidara decides he never wants to come back."
"Do you think it would really be better if he came back then?" Neji asked, frowning slightly. "I think Itachi is just grieving for Deidara's loss now, so he can continue on later."
"He's not dead you know." Sasuke said. "And I do think it would be better if Deidara comes back. For both of them. If not even Kisame can cheer him up then it's obvious it will take forever for him to get over Deidara."
"Do you really think the problems will be solved when Deidara comes back?" Neji asked.
"I think it would make Itachi happier." Sasuke said. "And that's really all that matters now."
"I doubt it, I don't think that Deidara suddenly agrees with being with both Itachi as Kisame." Neji said, as he shook his head.
"Well that's up to them, but they need to at least talk because Itachi can't go on like this. Kisame told me he's already losing weight and he barely has anything too loose to begin with."
"..That's worrying indeed." Neji said, sighing. "And it has just been a few days for that matter."
"Right, he'll starve himself to death if it goes on longer." Sasuke said.
"The stupid thing is that he probably doesn't even notice it himself." Neji said.
"All he notices is that Deidara isn't there." Sasuke said. "Another reason that little asshole has to come back, I can't focus on kissing you."
Neji let out a snort.
"Don't worry, I'll bring your focus back in a second if I want it." He then said. "But perhaps it's best for now to focus on Itachi. He needs it a little more."
"Yeah I guess it is." Sasuke said nodding. He was trying his hardest to be there for Itachi. Sadly enough, right now the only one Itachi needed, was the one who had hurt him in the first place.