The Soldier's Art

I actually cried reading some reviews. I love you guys so much. Thank you Kaz, Silk, and guest Ilysm. It's so good to be back and life was a bit rough. I'm in the midst of walking my own path. And I am literally fighting over my own life. So I have two choices; leave home to study and loose my toxic mother's support or stay where I would remain depressed.

And this is why I can write a story like Deidara's without breaking a sweat or dropping a tear. Why I could easily kill of Mikoto's bad parenting without a blink of an eye. Because believing you have someone standing behind you only for them to betray you is real. Deidara is the perfect human being within here because he reminds me that life can only be beautiful if you want it to.

So thank you. Thank you for giving me hope that I'm not alone. And that even if I have never met you, I believe you all care.

Well, here's the chapter. There is a warning of strong sexaul content and traumatic events.

Deidara arose the next morning to the sound of soft singing, not too quiet, yet not hurting his head.

Arising from the soft sheets of Naruto's guest room bed, the blond man scratched at his palms rather harshly and looked around.

The home was rather comforting; soft white and brown colors dancing across the carpets and windows. It was truly a work of art. He did not know if it were Naruto or the colors, but Deidara did not have a single nightmare.

No hands marked his skin, touched his body in sickly ways, busted his face, or covered his mouth. He was safe in the home.

Opening the bedroom door, he awwed at the many colors around him. The home was truly a work of art.

The walls were beautiful and he took the time to run his hands over them like a delighted child. "This is wonderful." He muttered, wondering if the home came this way or if someone recently painted.

All the colors were exaggerated. The browns weren't brown, rather deep shades of orange on a dusking sky. The whites weren't white, rather pounds of cream upon coffee.

The reds became dancing fire. The greens became cool rain on morning grass.

Deidara was broken out of his fascination as he tiptoed downstairs, growing closer and closer to the voice. Stopping by the kitchen, the blond shut his eyes, trying not to understand the words, but the melody in them.

Peeking inside, he nearly smiled at the silver haired man facing the stove as he cooked. There had been few newbies in his broken life that made him smile when he saw them.

Being abused had made him cautious over the years. But this was different.

Seeing Itachi Uchiha was supposed to make Deidara flinch and cower. But he gave the raven his heart, mind, and soul, praying like hell the Uchiha would know what to do with them.

Seeing Naruto Uzumaki was supposed to make Deidara cry and beg for mercy. But he gave the blond his thoughts, praying like hell the Uzumaki would save his life.

And now, Deidara felt a pull toward this singing man, whose shield was so bright and happy.

His voice was smooth and clear and quiet yet powerful. Soothing, in a way. Deidara knew no one really called a man's voice beautiful, but his was. It was the promise of tomorrow. It was beautiful, and the blond wished that he would never stop.

He swore that this man, Naruto's father, kept his mother's soul deep within him. Because when he turned, Deidara smiled softly. "Hello…" He whispered cautiously, trailing off as if 'how are you' should have come next.

The silver haired man smiled rather brightly and wiped his hands. "Well I'll be dipped in shit and rolled in breadcrumbs. You're finally awake."

Deidara covered the smile that crept upon his face. When Naruto offered to take Deidara in, the genius went on and on about his own father who knew how to make a charming first impression and leave it that way. Naruto said that Kakashi's personality was hard to be ignored. It was hard to not smile along with the 33 year old.

"Excuse my language. Would you like some breakfast? I can't eat all this by myself."

Diamond blue eyes skimmed the dishes before him; steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, tsukemono, nori, and natto. "All by yourself? Is Naruto gone?"

"Out with Sasuke. For a date and for his book. They drove out to Suna so it'll take them about two hours to get back."

Deidara nodded and took a cautious seat, afraid he'd be in trouble. When Kakashi simply smiled, he sat fully. "His book." He repeated. "About the beauty of humans."

Kakashi smiled softly. "Yeah. He goes on and on about it. Said he's going to change the way everyone thinks. For Naruto, anyone's life is very sacred and important. It doesn't matter to me whether people believe him or not, as long as he believes himself."

Deidara bit his fingernail, tracing bodies upon the table with another. "The beauty of life." He murmured as if the idea and words were foreign to him. A lie. A lie. A lie is what he told himself.

Kakashi said nothing for a while as he fixed their plates, coming over to the table, he smiled sadly at the 25 year old. "Of course. Life is sacred. You must respect your own existance or expect resistance from others."

"And that's what Naruto does?" He whispered in reply.

"Of course. You know, he's told me a lot about you. He said you're a very brave and beautiful person. Of course that's all he says though."

"Really?" Deidara asked, voice heightened but still soft.

"Of course. He says 'Deidara-san is a special person. I've met a beautiful heart and a beautiful mind. But tousan, I knew I was missing something. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it when I found it.'" Kakashi laughed softly as he took a bite of his rice. "He said 'tousan, it's the soul. You cannot live without a soul. Now I can't see the soul like I can see the brain and heart, but I swear you need it to live. The soul is Deidara's strongest organ.'"

Deidara stared at the soft eyes of Kakashi, wondering if he should believe the words of Naruto. His memories...they wouldn't…

Deidara came home, his school bag hanging from his arm carelessly from his arm. Quietly, the 12 year old dropped the extra weight upon the floor and attempted a run from the door to his room.

"Deidara!" His caretaker called. "Where did you put my beer? I know you hid it."

Reaching back down, the blond grabbed the bag, clutching until his knuckles grew white. On cue, the older man came from the kitchen naked, penis swinging between his legs as he stare grimly at the child.

Deidara clenched the bag strap tighter. This 'father' was the meaner one. At least the other had the decency to wipe cum from his body when finished with him. The other one had at least given him food once a week. Only bruised parts of his body Deidara's sensei's could not see.

But this one was the fire. His tempers were menacing and the 12 year old could feel a tantrum coming.

The tantrum began with his breath turning from quiet and regular to a panting gasp. The man sucked at the air like it had suddenly become thick and was now almost too difficult to draw in. He became deaf to the soft face of Deidara, rapidly backtracking on the boy's previously tough stance; now offering him more than he had asked for in the first place. But by then it was irreversible. His next stage was always to smash whatever he could lay his hands on.

Deidara had seconds to hide everything he cared about. Years ago, he could have just ran, but not anymore. He clenched the bag tighter for mental safety.

When his caretaker finally exploded, he didn't go for the pictures as usual, he went straight for the boy; pummelling, hitting, kicking, biting. When his other 'father' arrived, Deidara was balled up unconscious on the floor.

He would stay there and clean himself up.

Kakashi stared at the young man as if he already knew they were coming, as if Naruto warned him it would happen, as if he were expecting their welcome.

The blond bit his tongue, trying to hold the tears that threatened to leave his eyes. And that was when he couldn't hold them back. First, one small crystal bead escaped from his right eye. He could feel the warmth, sliding down his cheek, and rolling off his chin. Then another. And another. Until his eyes flooded with them, coming like a rainfall. Sniffing every ten seconds, they fell, and fell, and he let them.

And yet, he did not falter, he did not wipe them. He only looked down, watching in pity as the salty droplets ran over his mouth and within his soup.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I'm trying not to cry everytime…." He apologized in a murmur, hating that this was the way he would be remembered. He could not steady his tear ducts and they spoke when they felt the need. No matter the circumstances, the memories found him.

Kakashi stood, grabbing a clean towel. Coming around, Deidara's mother's soul within, he dabbed the blond man's face gently.

"Don't be sorry. This is progress. If you aren't willing to be brave and face your fears, no one can help you." He smiled. "But...if you're determined to be brave, no one can stop you."

Deidara laughed between his tears.

"That's the spirit. I noticed you blankly drawing a second ago….on the table."

"Oh...I'm so-"

"No, no. You're not in trouble. Do you like drawing?"

"I used to…" The blond whispered. "When I was younger, it was a safe place to draw."

"You should start again. It's a good hobby to keep your mind on. Like scavenger hunting in the woods. Naruto's wonderful at those."

"Oh. He likes camping?"

Kakashi laugh was soft and filled with love. So much love everytime the blond genius' name came up. And Deidara wished he had someone who loved him just as much as Kakashi loved his son.

"I wish, Deidara. He had this phase where he got lost in the woods a lot."

"When he was younger?"

"...No. Last year."

The sound that rumbled from Deidara's gut to his throat was so foreign, it nearly made him sick. His eyes stung and his stomach hurt, and it took him a while to realize that he hadn't laughed in so long. That the sound was hoarse. And he was the dead, just rising again.

Kakashi gasped softly. "You laughed. See, kid, this is progress. Wait until Naruto hears."

Sasuke laughed loudly as Naruto grabbed him close. "Naruto...we have to go home. Kisame is watching Itachi, but he needs to go work."

"I thought we were spending the whole day together though." The genius muttered, kissing the pale neck.

"No. You said you needed to observe me and my emotions."

"I am observing you. I'm attempting to discover your excitement, which is the action of various agents on nerves, muscles, or a sensory end organ, by which activity is evoked."

Before Sasuke could warn the genius, a notification sound cut them off. Naruto pulled out his phone and upon looking at it, he smiled softly. "Sasuke, look what tousan sent me."

The phone was pushed into the raven['s face gently and the Uchiha stared as Deidara skimmed professional art materials such as canvases and paint.

"It's progress." Naruto smiled, staring intently at the photo. "Deidara's soul is his strongest organ and no matter what happens, even if his heart fails, his soul will live forever."

Sasuke raised a brow at the genius. "You should know better than me that a soul isn't an organ, Naruto."

Naruto shook his head. "One check on Deidara and the world is wrong. We need our hearts to be pumping. Our minds to be stable. Our limbs to move. Not him. Not Deidara. His soul is the only thing left, and it's making him immortal, Sasuke."

Sasuke focused on the his lover, his curiosity building like a cat fixated upon its prey. "He seems to be growing on you."

"It's just….there was a moment in the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole-"

"Time, Naruto?" Sasuke interrupted, brows furrowed at the long definition of the short word.

The blond nodded absentmindedly. "There was a moment in time where I thought I would get a phone call from Tsunade. I'm not sure; maybe he'd hang himself, overdose, or find a gun, but I once thought Deidara would be gone from this soil. Like a bird, Sasuke. One whose wings have been broken and tattered, and there's nothing to do but put him out of his misery.

He carries burdens I can never repeat to anyone else. There was the single abiding certainty that he would never be at a loss for things to carry. And he'd sit there, telling me these things, reliving the past that's too heavy.

He really wanted to die, Sasuke, but he was afraid. And he didn't want to talk about it. Deidara hates being seeing as weak and frightened. He was afraid of dieing, but he was even more afraid to show it.

That's why it is so heartwarming to see him alive again. It feels sacred, you know, to save a life."

Sasuke smirked. "Seems like you found a new best friend." He suggested.

The smile that erupted upon Naruto's face wasn't so large nor forced. It kind of brushed his teeth, making his lips go dry. It was crooked and one side showed two bare teeth while the other dry side gripped harshly at the dentures. It was a beautiful grin of sorts, the kind that was so wide it appeared small. It was all anyone had to do to get this kind of smile out of Naruto. Just mention Itachi and a deep curve on tan lips made the world stop. A smile that created a million memories in a split second. The precious dimple that crinkled skipped a beat. The Itachi smile was what Sasuke called it.

There was also one Itachi held each time Naruto was mentioned. Whether it be Kakashi or Kisame...whether the genius was near or far, Itachi had a beautiful carefree grin when it came to his best friend as well. The way butterflies seemed to escape from the pit of his stomach and the way the sun had somehow toppled down from the sky and made a home right there in his heart. He had a kind of smile for Naruto that made other feel happy to be alive and just that little bit more human.

"I don't believe so." The blond mused. "No one can keep me from Itachi and vice versa. No one can change what we have and I believe we've been waiting our whole lives to cross paths."

Sasuke couldn't believe the man more. Not even Deidara and Itachi were once like the raven and the genius. The two had somehow found ways where they could both help one another and be helped. Sasuke knew deep down how much Itachi cared for everyone. But hell, not even Kisame could tell Naruto off without Itachi defending the blond.

In Itachi's eyes, Naruto could do no wrong. He could never be wrong. And the same went for him in Naruto's eyes.

"It's hot." Itachi muttered, feeling nothing as he and Naruto sat by the edge of Konoha's pond at three a.m.

Naruto nodded, feeling no breeze on this fall morning. "Let's try putting our feet in the water then."

Together, the men removed their sandals, dipping their feet in the cold liquid. Itachi sighed. "It cools my body down."

"Mine too."

The two sat in silence for some time, enjoying the other's company while the world lay asleep. Naruto seemed content with the mentally disabled man near him. Together, they would understand a world not made for men like them. They saw each other for who they were inside, quelled the inferno, transformed it to passion for life and nature. With each other, their souls were at rest, contented. They loved one another like brothers,, and neither could no more abandon one another than.

Itachi inhaled, head tilted toward the already black sky. The moonlight streamed down upon his wintry pale skin. He pointed to the moon, the shape of his lips reflecting the crescent above. "Finders keepers, losers weepers. There, it's mine. That's settled. How much do you think I can sell it for?"

Naruto smiled too. "Its real precious to everyone. They'd all pay fortunes for it."

"I think….I think I like it up there."

"Me too. It keeps our shadows alive."

Once again, the silence hugged them, looming over like a protective mother. Itachi bit his lip. "How's….how's taking care of that boy….Deidara?"

Once he asked, his mouth was sealed and he vowed not to repeat anything, knowing that Naruto trusted him.

When the pressure of his sessions were inside him, not like a tangled knot but like a ticking bomb, Naruto needed to let it explode somewhere safe. He needed to go somewhere it couldn't do lasting damage - and that was why he had Itachi. That was why Itachi had him. When He needed to vent, he called his best friend up. He got to yell his fucking lungs out and be a vengeful, crass, man of fury and Itachi sipped his juice and nodded in the right places.

They were made for one another….in just this way.

Naruto laughed softly and kissed Sasuke. "We should probably get back. Kisame has to work and Itachi can't be alone for long."

"Yeah." Sasuke mused, not wanting to go back to Konoha, just wanting to stay with Naruto forever. He'd been living for everyone his whole life and when time came for him, he wanted to keep it.

But Itachi was more important for him.

"Where are they?" Kisame asked himself bitterly as he looked at his phone. Obito had just left for work and Kisame had to be at work in less than two hours. Sasuke said he'd text when they were on the way back, but that hadn't happened yet.

His worries ceased as a loud bang sounded up the steps. As if someone had fallen. Right above him...where Itachi's room stood.

"Tachi!" He called, receiving no answer.

Sighing, the man wandered mindlessly upstairs, dropping his phone upon the couch along the way. "Tachi!" he called once more.

With no answer, he walked down the hall, tapping on the man's door. With no answer once more, the shark man opened and peered. The mid August weather gave gifts of dark clouds, making the dark room dimmer, as he always remembered.

With nothing to see, Kisame fully walked in only to be pushed against the door. Hot hands pushed down on his work shorts and the man looked in time to see Itachi moving down.

"Tachi...what are you doi-ah!"

In this moment, his face washed blank with confusion, like his brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information from his wide eyes. Every muscle of his body just froze.

Itachi's teeth had grazed down his thin shorts and up, ever so slowly, came his tongue, taking the path once treaded by his pearly whites.

"Itachi stop!" The man hissed in a whisper, attempting to pull the pale man's hands from his clothes. The Uchiha's grip tightened however, as he pulled Kisame's shorts and underwear down in a swift motion.

Slowly, but reassuringly, a wet tongue grazed the head of his manhood. Timidly for a first taste and then as Kisame tried pushing the man away, Itachi kissed it.

The Marine biologist hissed in both pleasure and disgust with himself. This was wrong. He was taking advantage of a man that could easily drown himself in a small tub, but it felt so right. The last time they'd done this...the last time Itachi touched him like this was a day before they returned from their third year in university.

His thoughts ceased as he felt lips wrap around the head of his cock, touching nothing else, just a tongue swirling around slowly. Itachi's mouth slid all the way down to the base.

And he sucked.

Hard.

Just once. But it was enough for Kisame to feel like the raven was pulling the semen out of him.

It had taken some time for the shark to get over his self-deprecation to twist his fingers in Itachi's hair. It had always been long and silky and cute. At moments, he put his hands in the Uchiha's hair to guide his speed.

It was so wrong. So so wrong, but it felt so good. So good that he whimpered when the Uchiha finished, moving back with a lick of his lips.

Itachi stood once more, kissing his lover forcefully. "Please love me, shark man." He asked, pulling desperately on the other man's shirt. "Please love me like you used to."

Those were the only words needed for Kisame to lose himself and everything he's worked on in three years. Enough to make him forget the present and remember how they used to be.

"Okay." He mumbled.

In a swift motion, Itachi held onto Kisame's shoulders and jumped, like he used to. He straddled him. His hair was loose. It was cut straight across at the level of his shoulders. It was hanging forward, hiding his face, except for his eyes, which he was holding shut tight.

Kisame had to push his anxiety away. The raven was dragging his hair across shark eyes. Kiss me, he thought, anguished, because Itachi wasn't going to, he knew. He lightly bit his shoulder, making Itachi smile and begin kissing his neck.

Walking to the bed, Itachi still straddling and kissing, Kisame slipped his hands under the pale man's cotton shirt.

Itachi's body spasmed and slackened and Kisame cupped his small, nonexistent breasts in his hands, feeling the hard pearls of nipples, like tiny secrets, against the barked palms of his hands.

He felt the gradual winding down of Itachi's living heart and could see a bluish tinge blossoming on the skin of his skull through his thin hair.

Putting his hands beneath the other's knees, he manoeuvred Itachi carefully so that his bottom rested comfortably upon the bed. He slipped his fingers onto the elastic of his lover's pants, kissing him slowly, passionately, wantingly.

He slipped everything to Itachi's ankles. The Uchiha was still a masterpiece as he lay naked upon the bed, smiling softly and dazedly at Kisame.

It almost made the biologist falter, wondering is he were messing up. But Itachi had always made this face during sex. As if he were so in love with the Hoshigaki.

He grabbed the shark man's hand and pulled him over him so that they were completely touching...every part of their body.

"Kiss me, shark man."

Once he'd been whipped when he was thirteen and time healed nothing as he complied, hungrily closing their mouths together.

Itachi's every command would always be sacred and he'd go to the ends of the earth, trying to make it happen.

Kisame moved all over the Uchiha's body, exploring what he'd missed more than anything in three years.

They'd gone far. So far to the point where Itachi helped in preparing himself.

Softly, he drew apart Itachi's knees and felt again an ardour in his eyes as he moved in, eyes never leaving the obsidian ones before him.

Once in, He thrusted once, cautiously. He thrusted again, and he was gone, off into the careening nowhere. He lived for seconds in that soaring agonizing perfection. It was Itachi, only him, He lost to Itachi, and was therefore no one, but obliterated, there was no Kisame at all, there was only Itachi.

"Oh….Kisame." Itachi spoke as he leaned up, grabbing onto the man and using his bluish shoulder as a pillow.

Kisame heard himself gasp in wonder. He falls into an ecstatic burning hardness, losing, lost, unmade.

"Oh….Kisame." His name had never came better. It made him feel like a man. Like Itachi needed him. "Oh...I love you."

But, it had been so long and maybe he wasn't really ready.

First, his nose grew very red at the tip; then, his mouth screwed itself around by his left ear; gradually, his face wrinkled till it resembled a withered crabapple; and finally, if Itachi listened intently and watched closely, he could hear small sniffs and see two infinitesimal drops of water issue from the nearly closed and wrinkled eyes.

He sat still and silent on the couch when Sasuke walked in with bags. Itachi was sitting on another couch, smiling to himself on occasion.

He never asked for the man to keep quiet, so if Itachi said anything Kisame was willing to confess to his sins and run away from everything.

Sasuke smiled and ruffled Itachi's hair, making the man smile too. "Hey, Kis. I hope he wasn't an trouble."

Kisame grit his teeth in pain and stood, grabbing his keys and ignoring the stinging pain of the scars on his back. "No. As always he was fine."

"I did."

Itachi's small outburst made himself giggle and the other men looked toward him.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke questioned, looking into his bags.

Itachi caught the eye of Kisame, blushed like a schoolgirl and smiled softly at the ground. "Nothing….just tired."

"Well, I should get going. Have to go to work." Kisame made his way to the door. "I'll see you guys."

"Bye. Thanks, Kis."

"No problem, Sas."

Just as he opened the door, a timid voice spoke out. "Bye, Shark-man."

Kisame looked to Itachi, and smiled slightly. "Bye, Itachi."

Kisame trudged to his car in guilt. He'd taken advantage of Itachi. Itachi was a child in a man's body. It was wrong, but he fucking loved it.

It was ten at night, and the house was asleep, so Naruto decided to explore the new room Kakashi had set up for Deidara.

The long haired blond had already began painting as soon as they got home from buying and Naruto was so busy keeping him company, he didn't have a chance to look.

The room was beautiful, filled with shelves of supplies and blank canvases. Walking up to a canvas, Naruto smiled, staring in awe at the dove soaring upward. It was unfinished, but Naruto knew it'd be a masterpiece.

He never much enjoyed art. He couldn't abide the art that was printed by the thousands. He wasn't a carbon copy person and he didn't want carbon copy art. He wanted something beautiful on the wall, but he also wanted to know the artist that made it. He wanted to know what moved them to make something so beautiful. Even pain and sorrow was beautiful in art, it showed others who they are, who they have been, and helped others to see where they were heading. Art took time, art took love.

Loud knocks sounded on the door and Naruto cursed, running out. The knocks would surely trigger Deidara in his sleep, which was a pain Naruto didn't want the man going through.

He reached the door quickly. Opening it, he spotted Itachi with food in his arms. "Itachi….what are you doing here so late?"

"Can we watch a movie?" The raven asked.

Anything for his best friend, Naruto moved aside, watching as the Uchiha flopped upon the couch. "What's wrong?" he questioned, grabbing his television remote and flopping next to Itachi, stealing a snack from him.

Itachi swatted his hand playfully and smiled. "Nothing's wrong, Naruto."

"Then what's on your mind?"

"I wanted to tell you something."

"Proceed."

"Me and shark man did the thing."

Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion. "Did the wha-" One look from Itachi's bug eyes and the blond covered his mouth. "What?"

"We did the….thing."

"I know...I know."

They sat in silence for a moment, thinking the situation over. Until eventually, Itachi laid his head on his best friend's shoulder. "Naruto."

"Yeah, Ita?"

"I don't want this."

"-"

"I known my mind is messed up. But I known I wasn't born like it. I want to be smart again. I want my brain fixed like Sasuke said I could. I don't want to be a kid."

Naruto processed the words, mulling them over as if it were a decision he had to make. Wrapping his arm around his friend for comfort, the man sighed, feeling the constricted emotions in Itachi. "I know, Ita. I know."

So Uh…..that chapter huh. I'm writing this at three in the morning for my babes. I love you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed this progress from both Itachi and Deidara. It's kind of weird that I've been reading Naruita a lot lately. It's a side affect of their strong relationship in this story, is all. Anyway, don't hate Kisame….nothing is his fault. This story is in the right direction. Hope you can review and give feedback.