Chapter 20

I am VERY sorry that I died! Well, I didn't DIE, but the inspiration for this story did for the short time, but it's back! So get ready world! I'M BACK BABY! 8D

Now, enjoy this to the best of your abilities, and expect the next chapter within the next few days. I have a goal to get caught up with all of my unfinished stories THIS MONTH! Wish me luck!

Enjoy~

~Sasori~

"Come on, Danna. Please, un!" I sighed in annoyance as I listened to the blonde continue to plead with me.

"Why should I? Do you honestly think that it's good enough?"

"Yes, un! I do think it is!" We were currently arguing about whether of not to start working on art again instead of math. I – of course – wanted to work on art, but I wasn't going to have Deidara failing a class if I could help it.

"I do admit that a C+ isn't bad, but it could be better." I said slowly. I had been giving into him a little more lately, but not much. Konan said it was because I was now dating him. I begged to differ. It was those damned eyes. He always used them to his advantage, even when he wasn't even aware of it. Well, I really could only see one of his eyes and that was bad enough. If he had his other eye showing he would have two secret weapons at his disposal.

"Please could we just go back to working on art, un?"

"Hmm...I don't know..."

"Please, un?" He had taken to coming over to my house even more often. Yes, he did come over on some weekends before, but now he normally came over here on all weekends. Or when he was bored, as he put it. If that was how it was he must get bored an awful lot.

"Maybe..." I said slowly. "As long as you promise to work harder at it, ask Asuma more questions, or me if need be. Also as long as you admit that true art is eternal." I gave a triumphant smirk at the look on his face. We were both watching television, or we were supposed to be. I believe that was the reason the movie Thor was now playing. I should probably just take it out, neither of us were watching it.

"The hell I will, un!" He shouted. Yet again, he hung out with Hidan too much. "True art is fleeting!"

"Ha! That's a laugh, brat. I guess we won't be working on art. We will just continue to work on your math."

"Wha-! Hey! You can't do that, un!"

"I think I can." In return he just frowned at me. I had to admit that I kept getting more and more attached to him, even more so than before. Yes, we were dating, but that still didn't mean anything. He still claimed to love me, but I didn't exactly know what I felt for him. I did admit that he looked cute with that pout on his face, though.

"But you want to work on your art too, un." He muttered.

"So? Just because I'm not happy with doing something doesn't mean that I won't do it." I stated as-a-matter-of-fact. It was true that I would rather work on art than math, though. That was probably why I was going to break soon, and because of the looks that the other male was giving me.

"Come on, Danna." He whined. I noticed that he dropped the 'un' at the end of the sentence. He only ever did that when he really wanted something, and I also knew that he wouldn't let this go. I let another sigh escape my lips.

"Fine. Just, keep your grade up for the next couple months and we will be fine."

"Yes! Thank you, Danna, un!" He said and wrapped his arms around me in a grateful embrace. I was used to the surprise hugs from the blonde by now. He had been doing it for the past few weeks that we had been dating. It still felt weird to call him my boyfriend, and I still had my doubts about this relationship, but so far it had been working out fine.

I wrapped my arms around him gently in return. I wasn't used to the physical affection, but I found out that it happens with Deidara more than I would have thought. He was the type who liked affection and cuddling more than doing anything. Which, I guess I didn't really mind because I didn't want to do anything with Deidara.

Yet.

I frowned at my inner self. It was annoying. It was always butting in where it wasn't wanted. Then I shifted my thoughts back to Deidara and his cuddling fetish. It's not that I thought it was odd. It was more that I thought it was...girly. I thought that it added to his womanly appearance.

When he let go I did as well and rested back against the couch. We had missed a fair part of the movie as it was, but I felt that we might as well continue it: considering that it was the blondes' idea to watch it in the first place. I really wasn't a big fan of the parts that I did see, but I had to admit I liked Loki better than the others in the movie.

"Thanks, Danna, un." He smiled before sitting back and resting his head on my shoulder. Yet again, he had a fetish with physical contact. I didn't care that much with Deidara anymore, but with other people I did mind.

"Don't mention it. Just be lucky that I really would rather do art than math."

"I am happy, un." He said, and I knew that he wasn't just talking about the whole going back to working on art thing. He was happy with me, and I really didn't see why.

I knew that no matter how much I tried to deny the fact that I still didn't like him, the more that I knew that I did. I liked him more than I cared to admit, but still part of me thought that he was going to hurt me if he got to close. The other part of me was saying to just go with the flow of things. That wasn't exactly what I did.

I always proceeded with caution. In all aspects of my life.

~Deidara~

I was happy. That much was true, even though I was actually more than happy. Sasori had given me a chance and so we had been dating for the past few weeks. It made me happy to know that he was willing to have a relationship with me, or to even give me a chance, with the things against it. That he claimed were against it.

I shot all those reasons down though, and I was glad that I did. I really never realized that I actually loved him until I was so close to getting rejected by him. That would have hurt me more than anything. I mean, we still would've been friends, but it wouldn't have been the same.

That's when I realized that I loved him. When he was giving me all the reasons why we shouldn't be together. I wasn't exactly sure where the courage that I had at that time went, but I was glad that it had shown up when it did.

When I rested my head on his shoulder I smiled. I could feel the heat seeping out of his body, even through his shirt. It made me feel safe and happy when he let me cuddle up to him like this. It made me feel special, because I was certain that he wouldn't let anyone else do this.

"Thanks, Danna, un." I said with the smile still on my face.

"Don't mention it. Just be lucky that I really would rather do art than math." Whatever you say, Danna. I thought. I knew that he actually liked the contact, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"I am happy, un." I said, and I wasn't just meaning him agreeing about the art. He knew it too. Out of all the people that I could have fallen in love with, it had to be the famous artist that I had met on my first day in California. I could have fallen love with some girl in our school, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

I kinda always knew that I liked men more than women, and I don't think that I could be happier with anyone besides Sasori. He was one of the only people that I could really say that I loved. I would probably tell him anything about me, if he asked that is. I guess I could just tell him, but I wanted to talk with him about things if he wanted to know them.

We watched the rest of the movie in silence: me just resting my head on the red-heads shoulder. I really enjoyed the movie, and I had to admit that I liked Jane. She was my favorite of the whole thing. It wasn't the best Marvel movie out there, but it was still pretty good.

Once it was over the older male got up and put the DVD back in it's case. Then he put it down next to his other movies, so that I could take home later. He had a wide variety of movies, but I knew that he didn't watch that many of them. He preferred to read for some reason. I had brought over my movie because he didn't have it.

"Deidara." He said with some annoyance in his tone. I looked at him and I realized that he had spoke to me before.

"Yes, un?" I said sheepishly.

"Are you going to pay attention this time?"

"Yes, un." I replied as he sat back down next to me.

"How did you get that scar on your eye?" He asked. I panicked for a few minutes, but then I remembered that he saw it when we were messing around with some of the art supplies a couple months ago. Actually, he was watching as I messed with the paint.

"Why do you ask, un?" I should have known that what I had thought would come back to haunt me. I didn't really mind, but I wanted to know why he wanted to know.

"I was just curious." He replied, and I knew that he meant that seriously. He was never curious about something, or he just never showed it and said that he was. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, un. I do." I said as I leaned against him again. "It was from a car accident." I said the words softly.

"What happened?"

"When I was 12 my mother had went out with her new boyfriend. I was staying at a friends house that night, and we went out riding our bikes. We were along the side of the rode like we were supposed to be, but some drunk guy hit another car; sending it our way. We both ended up in the hospital, and the doctors said that we were lucky. I got this scar from that, and I can only see to a certain extent in that eye."

"Hmmm. What about the other kid?" He asked and I could feel his fingers running gently through my hair. It made me happy to know that even if he didn't like showing affection that he would.

"His name was Shadoe, and he got a broken leg out of the deal. It took a long time to heal, but my mom told me that if I ever went riding a bike with him again, it had to be during the day, and to stay away from major roads."

"I wouldn't blame her."

"Danna, un?"

"What is it, brat?"

"Did you know my mom, un?" I felt him tense slightly at the question, but I didn't know why. He relaxed shortly after, so fast that I thought that I imagined him tensing in the first place.

"Kind of. Not as well as you'd think."

"If you were Haki's best friend wouldn't it make sense for you to know her well, un?"

"Just because I was Haki's friend doesn't mean I was hers. The only reason I knew her at all was because I had a couple classes with her. I advanced in Science and Math quicker than most children at my age, so I got put in a couple classes with her."

"So you didn't know her through Haki, un?" I asked. I was slightly confused at that. Wouldn't Haki have introduced Sasori to his sister or something.

"No I didn't. He introduced me to her the first time that I went over, but every other time we stayed in his room. We didn't stay at his house that often – we normally just stayed on school grounds or went to the park." He said. His voice didn't reveal anything, but I knew that talking about my uncle was bothering him.

"Do you know what happened with my mother, un? Why she left?" I asked. I was faintly recalling a conversation – rather an argument – between Haki and Sasori. It got me to thinking that my red-headed teacher knew something about her.

"I do not need to do anything of the kind. Are you saying that if any of your family died, and left you with a child then you would take care of it without question and give up your ways?" Haki demanded.

"Yes, I would." Sasori told him with all seriousness. "Now, do as you have to, and take responsibility for your actions." He paused and his eyes hardened a little more. "Do what your sister did."

"I do." He said slowly.

"What happened, un?" I needed to know, and Sasori was the one who was going to tell me. I didn't want to hear my uncles' story. His side of things was often filled with hatred of something, and was made up of at least one lie.

"I suppose it is about the same thing that happened with Haki and Diana – the mother of Dean, Daren, and Dylan. It's the same, but different at the same time."

"How so, un?"

"Well, as you know Haki went to Diana when he was 13 the first time because he was angry. He felt forgotten by his sister, and – I assume – that you know that your mother was 16 at that time. She left with her boyfriend, because she was expecting a child. Crystal left the town so that you could grow up with a father."

"She left because of me." I said quietly. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"She did what she had to do to make sure you had the best family that you could. She took responsibility for the life that she created."

"I never really grew up with my father, un." I responded. "He died when I was 6, and I really didn't know him that well."

"At the time, she thought that it would ensure you're future if you left."

"You said that you didn't know her that well, un. Why do you talk like you did?"

"I didn't know her as well as I knew some people, but I knew her well enough. When I could, I would talk with her, but most of the time I didn't get the chance to."

"So, it's my fault that Haki is the way he is, un." I said quietly. That's how it sounded to me. I looked up at the red-head as he squeezed my shoulder.

"Don't take it like that."

"How do you expect me to take it, un?" I challenged lightly. Sasori tilted his head a little as he spoke.

"You like Dean, right?" Well, that was totally off topic.

"Yes, un, but that doesn't have anything to do with anything."

"What about Daren and Dylan?" He was confusing me. I hated when he did that. Actually, I hated when he did a lot of things, but at the moment none of those things were that important. The only thing that was is the little fact that he was confusing me.

"Yes, un. They are all really good friends."

"That's what you have to think about then." He said it as if I should have known this.

"What, un?" I asked. I still didn't get it.

"If your mother had never gotten pregnant and left Haki, than he would never have gotten so upset that he felt he had to take his frustrations out on a whore. If it wasn't for the fact that your mother left, those three would never have been born."

"So, it's a good thing that I was born, un? That my mother left?"

"Sometimes." He snorted, but I could hear the small tone of affection that he rarely ever showed. "Those three are annoying idiots, and you are annoying."

"But you still love me, un." I said and I watched as he stiffened slightly before relaxing again. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. You don't know that for sure." He mumbled.

"Neither do you, un." I pointed out. He claimed that I didn't, but I was sure that he knew and just didn't want to recognize it.

"Are you doing anything next Saturday?" He abruptly changed the subject. I knew not to press the subject, even though I wanted to. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"No, un. Why?"

"Because, you are coming with me."

"That's not specific, un. Where will we be going?"

"To my Granny Chiyo's house. I'm supposedly agreed to take a date with me, and you are coming."

"You mean the Chiyo that subbed for you, un...?" I asked. I was hoping not, but I was sure that's what he meant. Who he meant...

"The very same. Considering she is my only living Grandmother." He said dryly.

"So I am going on a date with you to your Granny's house, un?"

"Yes. Any other questions?" He raised an eyebrow at me. I was sure that he wasn't expecting one to come from me. Jokes on him, though. I had a very important question.

"Do I have to go, un?"

"Not funny, brat."

"Who said that I was trying to be funny, un?" I was slightly teasing, but slightly serious. I didn't want to face that psychotic bitch that I only met once. Though, I was pretty happy that I could spend the day with Sasori. Maybe he would agree to not go since I didn't want to go?

"You have to go, brat. You're not getting out of it." I guess hoping doesn't get you anywhere when Sasori is the person you are talking with.

Thank you for waiting so long and thank you for reading it after so long! I hoped that you enjoyed, and as I said, expect the next chapter shortly!

Would anybody mind a review or two? I know that I don't deserve it for how long I have been absent from this story, but please look deep into your heart, and try to forgive me.

You get some lovely SasoDei on top if you do? ;3

Don't feel pressured. It's not like I need them to survive. Or DO I? Dun Dun Dun...

Thanks again for reading!