Deidara went back into the room, flustered. He blew a lock of hair out of his face and closed the door behind him as he joined Sasori in the storage room again. Sasori looked up when he heard the door click shut. Deidara?

"Sasori, I have to tell you something," the blonde guy's voice was down the other end. Sasori heard him scuffling, then he appeared into view. There were red splotches on his pretty face. Sasori was crouched and was in the process of re-organizing his shelves.

"Um…what is it?"

Deidara looked around, even though he knew they were perfectly alone.

"Well…you know how we're…,"

Sasori nodded, his heart rate skyrocketing again. What was he trying to say? Deidara took a deep breath.

"I don't think we should do it anymore,"

Sasori's breath caught in his throat.

Deidara, on the other hand, was completely oblivious. Surely Sasori wouldn't mind: after all, they weren't even emotionally connected. Deidara guessed that the only thing Sasori would miss was sex. It was definitely something worth missing to the blonde nin, and he knew Sasori would feel the same, in the face of Hidan's random little investigation. But still, he couldn't bring himself to tell Sasori the real reason why, and—

"Why?" Sasori asked, trying to keep his voice level. His hand felt weak, like he'd just been injected with an extra-strong dose of his own muscle-slackening drug. He put the jar down so Deidara wouldn't know he was shaking.

Deidara shook his head. "I just don't think it's safe anymore,"

Sasori raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You didn't care about that earlier,"

"I guess I wasn't thinking," Deidara said simply. He looked sadly at Sasori. After he took care of Hidan, he would come back and explain. And hopefully, the proud Sasori would understand and they could continue to be friends with benefits despite the little hitch.

Sasori felt like they were breaking up, even though they hadn't begun. There was a lump in his throat. I bet this is about Hidan. I bet it is. He hadn't felt like this in his life, like his whole word was crashing down around him in millions of shards and no one could make it all better again. His eyes felt watery and he looked down.

"Fine,"

Deidara cocked his head to the side. Sasori was handling this as he expected, but there was something…

"Are you crying?" Deidara asked, he took a step forward. Sasori patted his eyes with his sleeve, trying to act nonchalant.

"Nah," he said. "It's just the powder in this jar. I've always been…kind of allergic,"

Deidara's brow furrowed. "Okay," he said, worriedly. "Then…I'm gonna go,"

Sasori looked up at him momentarily and nodded. "Bye, Deidara,"
Don't go! His heart screamed.

"Bye,"

Prepare for Valentine's Day!

Long stemmed roses – 82 ryō each

Bouquets (choose from various designs) – 327 ryō to 816 ryō

Cards – 33 ryō

Pre-ordering is recommended for the roses, as the best go first!

See in-store for more gift ideas and details.

Sasuke patted his money bag involuntarily. He'd completely forgotten that there was such a thing as Valentine's Day, despite the fact that the event had been marked by endless chocolate boxes and flowers ending up on his door step when he was back in Konoha. He always got bento, too, especially from Sakura and Ino. Sasuke sniffed. He had never really been into the whole thing, especially since it meant everything even remotely romantic was going to be overpriced on the day. But…

Sasuke thought of Neji, who had gone back to the inn to take a shower, since he didn't the night before. Sasuke had offered his own clothes, but Neji said he'd brought his own. Maybe this was a sign. Valentine's Day. Neji's confession at breakfast had made Sasuk'es heart leap and lit his face on fire. Figuratively, of course: whenever he thought about it, his cheeks burned and tingled happily, like his pores were dancing in celebration. Sasuke had been speechless, and couldn't say anything back. And as if on cue, Neji's own set breakfast came and they both focused on eating. But the atmosphere was completely different.

Sasuke licked his lips, contemplating. If he gave Neji something on Valentine's Day, he would totally nail it. Neji would probably think he was slightly lame, because he, too, received many gifts on Valentine's, but since it was from Sasuke…

"Planning to buy something for your girlfriend?"

A guy who was probably in his late twenties hauled a huge box out to the front of the store and dusted his hands on his checked apron. He smiled widely at Sasuke, his eyes twinkling. Sasuke didn't know how to respond.

"Uh…yeah. Not really. I'm just—,"

"C'mon," the guy teased. "Don't be shy. Girls only play hard to get to see how far you'd go to get them and how much you want them,"

The guy opened the box and took out a roll of metallic wrapping paper. It glinted strongly in the sunlight.

"Have a go. Give her some roses, and see what she says. If she likes you, she won't be able to resist,"

Sasuke nodded. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. He followed the guy into the store.

"So, you'd like to pre-order I'm assuming?"

Sasuke nodded. "Um…yeah. I mean—,"

He was so not used to this. The only thing he'd ever bought Suigetsu was aspirin, when he got a headache after a night of particularly heated sex on a cold night.

"Don't be shy," the guy swiveled around and took out a notepad. It was all lined up in columns and rows. He clicked open a pen. "Is this your first time or something?"

Sasuke nodded, not trusting his voice.

"Guy like you, you probably have girls chasing you all the time. This shouldn't be so hard right?"

Sasuke smiled. It's not for a girl. But, of course, he couldn't tell the guy that. That would just be—

"Or is it for someone else?"

Sasuke looked up, completely shell-shocked. The guy laughed, like Sasuke's expression was the most hilarious thing in the world. But then he stopped and smiled gently. Even though Sasuke guessed he was only around 28, there were laugh lines around his eyes.

"I've spent years and years helping my father run this store," he said, his voice soft and understanding. Sasuke felt a little bit. "You think I don't know when I see a guy who isn't…?"

Sasuke smiled again, the apples of his cheeks pink. The guy laughed softly.

"What's his name?"

Sasuke didn't answer. The guy clicked his pen open and closed.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me," he flipped to a new page. "Those poor girls…," he sighed in mock disappointment. "But that lucky guy, right? Okay. So what do you want to give him?"

Sasuke thought about this for a moment. Did Neji even like flowers? Wasn't Hinata the flower-arranging person in the family? Did that mean Neji was put off flowers and didn't want more for his house?

"Do you think guys like flowers?" Sasuke blurted, his face reddening even more. He couldn't believe this shopkeeper knew his deepest secret, but then again, he would probably never see the guy again. He could have denied the fact that he was into guys, but he knew that the guy would see through it, and Sasuke would feel even more embarrassed.

The shopkeeper nodded, putting the pen to his teeth. "Sure. No rule saying guys can't like flowers on Valentine's,"

"What do girls usually get guys on Valentine's then?"

"Ah," the shopkeeper waved his pen at Sasuke. "Now that's the wrong thing to ask. You're not a girl, are you?"

"Yeah, but—,"

"Girls give their boyfriends something for the stomach. Chocolates, cookies, usually hand-made. But the lazier ones, and the one who don't trust their culinary skills, buy them and make them all pretty. Speaking as a man, I don't mind what my wife gives me, as long as she shows me she's still in love with me,"

This made Sasuke smile.

"But I'm just speaking generically. There's usually a lot of thought in Valentine's Day gifts. You wanna make yours stand out, and if you're giving it to your boyfriend, you want to show him that you know him well and you give him something you know he'll love," the guy paused. "Besides yourself of course,"

Sasuke thought about this. What did Neji like?

"Let me help you out a bit here, you look mighty confused,"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah…I am,"

"What's his favourite pastime?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow. "Um…I think he likes training,"

"Training?"

"Yeah. Like his mind,"

The guy nodded. "Ooooohhh. You like that kind of guy, huh?"

Sasuke glared at him, but he was smiling just like a guy in love.

"You know what? I think he would like flowers,"

"Why?" Sasuke shot back instantly.

"Because guys like him appreciate nature. I mean, I don't know how, because it's pretty damn boring to me, but what can I say? Ever wondered why people who meditate listen to the sounds of the leaves rustling and all that?"

Sasuke nodded again. The guy kind of had a point.

"Okay," he agreed slowly.

"But probably not roses," the shopkeeper went on. "I think he'd like orchids,"

"Do…do you sell orchids?"

"Of course I do," the guy chortled. He gestured behind him. In a shiny, pale pink pot, was a beautiful orchid lily plant. "May not look like it, but I do. But they're more expensive, because they're harder to maintain" he warned.

Sasuke nodded. Nod, nod, nod. That was all he did when he was here.

"I don't mind,"

"Of course you don't," the shopkeeper replied. "Now what's your name?"

"Sasuke,"

"Sasuke," the guy repeated. He wrote his name down in one column. "So you'll want them on Valentine's Day, or do you want to decorate them yourself and I'll give them to you tomorrow?"
"Uh…I'll get them on the day,"

"Alright…so you want just the one?"

Sasuke nodded. From that moment on, he didn't think this was a bad idea at all.

"So that will be 735 ryō,"

Sasuke gave the money to him. He got five ryō change. The guy wrote out an invoice for him, and stamped PAID on his notepad.

"Good luck," the shopkeeper said. "I think he'll like the orchids,"