Suigetsu scanned the room one more time. It smelt like mint, and it looked pretty much untouched. The only thing that was messy was the bed sheets, and it was damn obvious why. Suigetsu sniffed proudly at the memory. The mist nin rooted around in his bag for his water bottle when the door opened.

Oops, Suigetsu thought, plastering a serious expression on his face. Definitely should've chosen a better time.

Sasuke's eyes scanned Suigetsu. It was just like when they had first met…meaning Sasuke was looking at him like he was a worthless stranger who was no more worthy of his attention than a crushed bug beneath his feet. Before now, Suigetsu had thought with confidence that nothing Sasuke could do would bother him, whether it was having another boyfriend, dying in battle or even trying to kill him. But right at that moment, Suigetsu felt something that was an undeniable indication that he still felt something for Sasuke, no matter how miniscule it was. The blue-haired nin wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste of his own feelings. Then he suddenly remembered where he was, slung the bag over his shoulder and brushed past Sasuke and—Neji, was it?—with nothing on his face. He turned a little before he went down the stairs to check Neji out.

Predictable choice of Sasuke's Suigetsu thought. It was obvious that the Uchiha and Neji were two twigs off the same branch: guys who had stores of natural talent passed through blood, and who were unafraid to show it.

Suigetsu walked casually over to the reception counter. He would do this one last thing for Sasuke.
"Room one-zero-seven" Suigetsu said. He reached in his bag and extracted a stack of bills. He held them up and smiled at the receptionist. "I'll pay for one more week,"

As soon as Suigetsu left, Sasuke pulled off his shoes and glared at the bed. He was definitely going to ask for a room change. But first, he needed to take a shower.

"Sasuke," Neji said. His voice was a stark contrast to Suigetsu's cocky, gruff one. Neji's was smooth and controlled. But of course he would sound that way: the guy was as well-learned if not more than Sasuke. Sure, Sasuke probably had more experience, better jutsu, but Neji was...Neji was Neji. His name might as well be synonymous with genius.

"I'm fine," Sasuke muttered. He glanced at Neji, who was inspecting the room with nonchalance. With those pale eyes, it was usually hard to tell exactly what he thought about anything. "Don't worry that much,"

Neji seemed to glare at him with what Sasuke noticed to be a touch of defiance, as if to say, so what if I want worry about you?, but out loud he said "Fine,"

Sasuke could tell things were going to be awkward for a long while yet. I'll take a shower, he thought, his mind a bit clearer than before. Then I'll come out and tell him everything.

Even at the thought of it, Sasuke was nervous. He ran a hand through his hair. Neji was watching as the strands settled back into place, framing the Uchiha's face perfectly.

"I'm going to take a shower," Sasuke managed to say. Neji's analytic brain wondered for a moment if it was an invitation of any sort. He wondered if he wanted it to be, then firmly decided he didn't.

In the end, Neji just shrugged.

Deidara said nothing as he thumbed a small well into the lump of clay. He thought about what Hidan had said to him yesterday. He glanced momentarily at Sasori, who was eyeing his stack of puppets critically. Even though the puppeteer's hands were by his side in a decidedly relaxed pose, his right thumb was rubbing his right pointer finger in annoyance. Deidara stifled a smile, proud that only he knew about this habit of his danna's.

"This puppet needs fixing," Sasori said suddenly, bending over and wrenching a scratched, female puppet from the pile. He wasn't talking to anyone in particular, really, but he knew Deidara would respond.

"What," Deidara said jokingly. "You want to spend Valentine's with her, hmm?"

Sasori shot Deidara a glare worthy of the ones Kakuzu gave Hidan. Wow Deidara thought, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning widely like an idiot.

"No, you buffoon," the redhead responded. He scanned the puppet in his arms and walked over to the work table he and Deidara shared. He took a moment to look at what Deidara was doing.

"She was an old favourite," he continued, picking up one of her arms delicately and running his eyes along its length. "When I was younger,"

"What happened?"

Sasori blinked dolefully twice before he answered. "She broke," he said simply.

"Um...right," Deidara looked down at his hands. One of them was busy chewing, and the other was trying to lick at the lumps of clay on the table. Deidara rolled his eyes and shoved that hand in his pocket. The mouth there gave him an annoyed bite.

"I gave Itachi a love letter," Hidan said all of a sudden. Deidara's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at Hidan strangely.

"You what?"

"A love letter! You know, those-,"

"I know what they are, Hidan," Deidara snapped in annoyance. "But seriously...Itachi? He's your choice?"

"Okay, before you say anything, I'm not like-,"

"You wrote him a love letter, Hidan, what else do you expect me to say?"

"Shut up for a moment and listen to me, you shemale," Hidan said, giving Deidara a playful shove in the hope of reassuring him he didn't mean the name-calling. "I only did it because I think Itachi's up to something,"

"One thing is for sure," Deidara muttered. "He's never going to be up you,"

"Look, that's fuckin' gross," Hidan gestured wildly. "I don't even want ... I mean I'm not into that!" he glared at Deidara. "I mean that I think there's a reason why Itachi is the only one who's not whining over Valentine's,"

"If you haven't noticed, Hidan, you're actually the only one who whines at length about V-day,"

"Oi! Will you stop being such a little bitch? Just listen to me!"

"I'm listening!"

They both lapsed into a silence. Then Hidan grinned.

"I think Itachi has a lover,"

Deidara furrowed his brow. It seemed impossible that Itachi was capable of anything other than the art of massacre. But then again, even he had a lover. Sasori.

"Y-you do?" Deidara stammered, suddenly nervous. If someone as, er, observant as Hidan could notice that the elusive Itachi had a lover, surely someone should have noticed that he and Sasori...

"That's why I gave him a love letter," Hidan said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He looked pointedly at Deidara, who said and did nothing. Hidan threw up his hands in annoyance.

"Wait... you mean, you want to lure him out?" Deidara said. He made a mental note never to write or respond to love notes in the future. He didn't want him and Sasori exposed. It was a potential Akatsuki expulsion, and not to mention humiliating. It wasn't like he really thought that homosexuality was an embarassment: it was a joy for both him and Sasori, that was for sure, but he just didn't want to know what the others would think of him..and how his reputation would undoubtedly crash and burn should he ever be revealed as... "that type".

"Yes! Thank you, Jashin," Hidan mock-prayed. He grinned deviously at Deidara and elbowed him in the ribs. "So, you in?"

"In on what?" Deidara couldn't help but exclaim. He had to admit, he was doing a mini freak out inside, and even his palms felt clammy. Hidan looked at him weirdly.

"What's gotten into you? You seem so...actually, never mind. What I want to say is, you're going to help me and you will fucking have fun doing it,"

Deidara said nothing, just scrunched his toes together tightly.

"I take that as a yes," Hidan said. "Because I was about to ask Sasori, but then i realized-,"

Deidara closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Oh, fuck.

"-that he probably has a lover too,"

As the word left his lips, Hidan's eyes glimmered.