Author's Note: At this point, I'd like to hastily announce I will now to blending this fanfic with another of mine, Past versus Present, in which the pairings are Itachi and Suigetsu, previously Sasuke and Suigetsu, and Sasuke and Neji. In Past versus Present, Itachi had brought Suigetsu back to the Akatsuki Lair, but let's just pretend he didn't…

Hidan shoveled a piece of egg-yolk slathered bread into his mouth unceremoniously. While Valentine's Day jitters could change his behavior, he wasn't about to let them curb his eating habits. Sasori was sitting two seats down, across from him, and was making neat incisions in his focaccia with the meticulousness anyone would expect from a puppeteer like himself. Hidan didn't know whether to call the guy a carpenter, because his puppets did look so wooden, but he knew as well as anyone they were human golems.

Hidan looked down at his plate. He still had three eggs to go. As a person who lost shitloads of blood weekly, he needed as much nutrients as he could get. And if that meant leaving close to no eggs for the rest of Akatsuki, well—

"Morning,"

Hidan looked up. Kakuzu was as buttoned up and neat as ever, gliding into the dining room with soft, almost noiseless steps. He watched as Kakuzu blinked expressionlessly into the fridge before stepping back with a salad bowl in his hands.

"I never knew that existed," Hidan called out. Kakuzu shot him a glance as he sifted through the drawer for a fork.

"I hide it," Kakuzu answered evenly. "So that fools like you cannot so much as touch it,"

As Hidan's partner, he knew best of the Jashinist's eating habits and frustrating tendency to ignore common courtesies and eat other people's food.

Kakuzu sat across from Hidan, who got off his seat slightly and peered curiously at the salad bowl. He would reach out and snatch a crouton if it wasn't for Kakuzu's tentacle-like threads at the ready.

"That smells fucking great," Hidan said finally, opting for the more civil approach. He felt Sasori look up with a touch of annoyance at Hidan's crude, loud voice. "Can't I have some?"

Kakuzu eyed Hidan critically. Hidan stared back at him, until it was evident that he'd lost before he'd even begun. The Jashinist sat back in his seat with a look of childish dislike and stabbed his eggs with his fork.

For the next few minutes, silence cloaked the room. It was certainly not unusual, but more than ever, Hidan wanted to break it. There was something bothering him. He opened his mouth to say something when Kakuzu said: "don't,"

Hidan's mouth snapped shut and he glared at Kakuzu. "What the fuck?"

Kakuzu was glad there was nothing in Hidan's mouth, otherwise his salad would probably have been sprayed. Nevertheless, he looked at his bowl to be sure. Fortunately, there were no egg-and-bread bits in sight.

"We all know you want to talk about Valentine's,"

"'We'? You and who else, Kakuzu?"

Kakuzu jerked his head in the direction of Sasori, but said nothing. Hidan glanced at the redhead who was still chewing slowly, his eyes downcast.

"Yeah, well…,"

There was a silence again.

"Personally," Sasori spoke, putting his fork down with a melodic clink. His eyes were still trained on his plate as he dusted his small hands off on his pants. He's certainly taking his fucking time, Hidan thought maliciously. Sasori swallowed the last bit of his breakfast and turned to face the duo. "I would like to hear about what else Hidan has to say,"

"As you wish," Kakuzu snorted.

"See!" Hidan exclaimed at the same time.

Sasori smiled dimly.

"Um…,"

Hidan couldn't keep his eyes on Sasori, but then, he couldn't keep his eyes off. He wondered briefly if this was why Sasori could capture his victims so swiftly. His appearance was ghostly and doll-like, and his aloof-to-the-point-of-sleepy eyes were like a net. A glue.

"I'm still pissed," Hidan finally declared, weakly. "Pein really thinks that going out like a normal man at least once will jeopardize our image,"

Sasori didn't say anything, but finally released Hidan from his vice-like gaze. Hidan almost wanted to let out a breath of relief.

"Don't you want someone?" Hidan almost stammered. "Sa…Sasori?"

Sasori flicked something from beneath his black nails. "I suppose," he said, his voice almost a whisper. Kakuzu grunted.

Author's Note: this is the first point where my other fanfic is effectively incorporated in. After a nasty confrontation with a cheating Suigetsu, Sasuke almost begged Neji to stay with him, and after many bitter exchanges of words and feelings, Neji has caved a little and is keeping Sasuke company. No word on whether or not he wants to reconcile with Sasuke.

Sasuke inspected his glove for lint. He wanted so much to cry, but the last thing he wanted to do was blubber and pine for sympathy in front of Neji, someone he knew he could not possibly demand more of than his company. Neji. It was still difficult to believe that he was here, sitting next to him...not talking to him, yes, and probably not going to forgive him, but-

"Say something, Sasuke," Neji said gently. "Anything,"

Sasuke glanced at him sideways. The breeze was light and continuous, and Neji's familiar brown hair swirled majestically across his face. He was, however, not looking at Sasuke. His eyes, as always, looked literally blank, but unless Sasuke had suddenly turned into the world's dumbest shit, he knew Neji's mind was a whirlpool of emotions.

He probably still hates me.

"It's worse to keep them in," Neji continued. An eyelash had fallen right beneath his bottom eyelid, and Sasuke would have reached over to brush it off for him with his thumb, but the tension between them was still so palpable he didn't dare to even try. It was so extremely unlike Sasuke to be hesitant, and it even surprised the Uchiha himself.

"But I don't know," Sasuke murmured. He couldn't help but sneak another glance at Neji. They were only a few centimetres apart, yet it felt like miles. Miles and miles of unsteady and untouched ground, and they were standing on either end. Both of them were hesitant to step first, because they were both equally in the dark about whether or not the ground would break, but they both wanted to step in to some extent. Sasuke knew he had to make the first move. He had to. He owed that much to Neji. But his throat felt like it was lined with concrete and he could taste the saltiness of tears in his mouth. He reached up to touch his cheek. His fingertips came away wet.

"Here,"

Neji's arm reached out. Nestled in his palm was a tissue. Sasuke felt the Hyuuga's eyes on him as he reached out to accept it. Sasuke couldn't find the opportunity to graze a bit of Neji's bare skin, but he could feel the softness and warmth of Neji's palm through the tissue anyway, and that was all that was needed for Sasuke's heart to leap. Even so, his heart felt like it was filled with a bag of stones. It still felt unbearably heavy.

Sasuke wiped the tears away, feeling more and more inadequate as the seconds ticked by. He scrunched up the tissue.

"I liked him a lot," he finally said, sharply intaking a breath of air. He wasn't sure how Neji would react to such a statement, but it was a start. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke noticed Neji's left eye twitch a little, and his mouth moving slightly in what seemed to be hurt, but otherwise he just nodded. "And...we were happy together,"

As soon as that statement left Sasuke's mouth, his mind reeled back to what that happiness was; did he and Suigetsu even do anything other than sex or some physical interaction?

We did. Surely we did. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to think back. Him and Suigetsu were definitely a ying and yang match: each so different, yet they fit together like a jigsaw. Sasuke after some time had learned to appreciate and even adore Suigetsu's cocky manner, as far as Sasuke's adoration went, and he knew Suigetsu had always admired Sasuke's calm control and power.

"Were you?" Neji said. It wasn't so much a question than a statement, and Sasuke fleetingly wondered if Neji could read his mind.

He could always tell what you were thinking, Sasuke's conscience said quietly. It's not the first time it added in a patronizing tone. Sasuke shook his head lightly and brought the tissue back up to his eyes, just to give himself something to do other than stare into thin air and cry. It still hadn't fully hit him that Suigetsu had been seeing Itachi...Itachi, out of all people, behind his back, and for how long? They'd claimed they had met before Sasuke got in touch with Suigetsu, but still it wasn't like Suigetsu had told him, and Itachi didn't even stake his claim in the first place. Son of a bitch.

"Sasuke,"

"What?" Sasuke snapped. He had been so deep in thought he'd forgotten it was Neji sitting beside him, and not some concerned stranger he didn't care about. His lower lip trembled when he saw an expression of hurt pass across Neji's usually emotionless features.

"This is unlike yourself," Neji continued, glancing at Sasuke's lower lip, which was still trembling. "So stop,"

Sasuke said nothing. From the outside looking in, Sasuke Uchiha was meant to be just like his brother: void of emotion. Even more void of mercy, compassion. It was what made them both so supremely and infamously fearsome. He was meant to be power hungry and just as powerful. But he could not even keep a firm hold on his boyfriend. Ex...boyfriend. He had two now, and he'd ruined one of them. Neji. And he'd let the other ruin him. Suigetsu. It was like karma.

The sky rumbled. Neji cast his eyes upwards. Sure enough, the sky was swamped with thick grey clouds who were threatening to spew all their guts out. Neji guessed the time was around three pm. He got up and dusted off any grass or bark that was stuck on his butt and forced himself to look at Sasuke, who still looked positively pitiful.

"It's going to rain," Neji said matter-of-factly. "Let's go somewhere else,"

Sasuke nodded wordlessly. He looked sadly up at Neji, who knew the Uchiha was upset, but was still taken aback by the sheer amount of emotion in his eyes. Neji wanted to hold him and tell him it was alright, that he still had him and he wasn't alone-wait. Neji coughed a little and regained his composure. No. He doesn't deserve it.

"I have a room at an inn nearby," Sasuke said quietly, his voice husky. He wondered if inviting Neji back to his room would send the wrong message, and if it was totally whoreish of him to make Neji spend some time in the same room he and Suigetsu shared, but he couldn't think of any other place. He watched Neji closely. No reaction. Just standing there, waiting for Sasuke patiently. Sasuke's shoe scuffed the grass as he got up. As he walked past Neji, he reached out a little with his pinkie to brush against the Hyuuga's. The electricity surged through Sasuke like wildifire.

The chemistry is still alive, Sasuke thought. That gave him at least a speck of hope that he could win Neji back. And get the fuck over Suigetsu.