RIP Hinata's mom D:

-:-

Deidara cleaned up Sasori's bed - er, the guest bed - and smoothed the sheets out until it started to look almost as clean as his own bed. He hoped Hinata didn't mind the minor scruff here and there. He looked out his window and Saw Hinata packing her things. He didn't quite understand - it was only the night, right? Shrugging, he went downstairs to open the door and help her get settled.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, Deidara." She said as they walked up the stairs. "No problem. I don't mind." he smiled at her, even though she was in front of him, and couldn't see his smile.

"Where's your room? Here?" She opened his mother's room, and after a few closets found Deidara's. "Oh…" Deidara saw the look on her face and then the beds. They seemed pretty small, compared to Hinata's bed next door. "Um, I know its not what you're used to, but-" Hinata swiftly turned around. "No, no! It's alright!" She swung her bag onto Deidara's bed - note, not the guest bed - and unzipped the opening. Before he could correct her, she asked, "Is there a bathroom I can change in?"

"The bathroom's down the hall to your right." Deidara directed awkwardly. "Okay, thanks!" Hinata took all her stuff and carried it to the bathroom, leaving Deidara to assess his awkward bedding situation.

He hadn't changed the bed sheets - neither of them, since it was so unexpected. They probably smelled a bit old and musty. And there was still laundry on the floor - his underwear was in plain sight! How embarrassing! Sasori still kept his pointy rock collection under his mattress, which wouldn't be good for anyone who slept there. Logically speaking, and being a gentleman, he would have to sleep on Sasori's bed. It was only a night, right?

After a few minutes, Deidara started getting ready for bed. He threw his shirt and pants on the floor and slipped into a pair of boxers and a shirt. He patiently waited for Hinata to finish her time in the bathroom by reading a book. However, he felt that she was taking a ridiculously long time after he finished the book from beginning to end. He stood up and made his way to the bathroom.

"Hinata?" He knocked on the door. "J-Just a minute?" Hinata cried from the door. "What are you doing?" Not that it was any of his business. "Just adjusting the make-up…" Make-up? For sleeping? The rich were crazy. "Hinata, no offense, but putting on make-up before sleeping is completely illogical." The door opened with a high squeaking noise. "It's not for sleeping! I'm just… Um…" Deidara tilted his head to the side.

"I've never slept in another person's house before, so I thought I should look presentable. That's all." Hinata slowly closed the door again, leaving it almost open so she could hear Deidara if he spoke. In truth, Deidara wanted to laugh. The idea of dolling yourself up because you wanted to look presentable for a sleepover was hilarious. Hinata heard him chuckling and almost shouted. "Its not funny! I was serious! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll wipe it off and get ready to sleep!" She slapped the door closed while Deidara chuckled all the way back to his room.

--

As the two got ready for bed, Hinata crawled under Deidara's blankets. He stared at her for a minute, then continued his search for Sasori's pointy rock collection under the mattress.

"What?" He heard Hinata say. He looked at her. "Yes?" He looked at her, and she buried herself up to the shoulders with his blanket. "When you looked at me just now… why did you?" Deidara shook his head. "Its nothing." he said reassuringly. Hinata huffed. "No. Tell me." Deidara lightly scratched his cheek and looked away. "Well, you see… that's my bed you're sleeping in." he laughed a little. "Oh. Sorry. Do you want to switch?" She asked, not really making a move to get out of bed. "No, I'm fine, I mean… Its only one night." He trailed off as he heard the phone ring downstairs.

"Its alright. I'm going to answer the phone real quick." Hinata listened as Deidara left the room and went down the hall to answer the phone.

"Hello?" She heard him say.

"Deidara… Hinata's mother… she…"

Hinata shifted herself so that she was facing the door. After a few minutes, Deidara returned, and she forced herself to open one eye. When she saw his face, she sat up. He looked like he was about to cry. "Deidara? What happened?" She walked towards him, but stopped when he spoke. "Hinata, get dressed. We have to go to the hospital." He stiffly slipped into clothes from his closet, while she got into her clothes from the day before. "What happened? Is mother okay?" she asked as they walked down the stairs. "We have to hurry, the bus arrives in ten minutes."

Hinata huffed. When they got outside, she stopped. Deidara was at the gate already, and looked back at her. "Hinata?" He called, a hint of urgency in his voice. "Answer me!" She shouted. After a minute, he sighed and walked back to her. He boldly pulled her into his arms and whispered the news into her ear.

"Your mother just died."

Deidara closed his eyes as she began to tremble. "What?" She whispered as he slowly let her go. He held her hand and led her down the walk. "We have to catch the bus and get to the hospital." Right when he finished his sentence, she bolted down the sidewalk, toward the closest bus stop she always passed on the way to school. The bus was on its way, and Deidara just caught up to them when it arrived.

Deidara and Hinata were the only two on the bus. He had an arm around her shoulder as she cried silently into his shirt.

--

When they got there, Melinda was sitting in the waiting room, her head buried in her hands. Deidara lightly brushed her shoulder, and she looked up. They hugged, and Melinda pulled Hinata into a hug as well. "Hinata, dear, I'm so sorry." she whispered. Hinata hugged her back, tightly.

A doctor approached them, saying that they could say their goodbyes. Melinda led them to the room. Hinata stayed outside while Deidara and Melinda stepped into the room.

"Hinata?" Deidara walked up to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. She was shaking, but she followed him inside.

It took Hinata a minute to actually look at her mother. She slowly lowered herself to kneel beside the bed and lightly touched her mother's hand. A sudden rush of emotion made her tears fall, and another rush made her almost scream - if it weren't for the fact that she was taught composure in her early years of childhood. Deidara couldn't watch, so he stepped outside and decided to call Sasori, who he knew was better than to sleep at night.

"Hello?"

"Sasori. Come to the hospital, quick."

"What happened? Is Hinata okay?"

"She's fine, I think. Its her mother… she… Just get over here." Deidara was tired of being the bearer of bad news. However, while he was at it, he should call Itachi. He and Hinata were friends, right? Deidara called, told Itachi the same thing, and a few minutes later he arrived. He bet he took a car. Sasori was walking.

"Where is she?" Itachi asked, walking up to Deidara. "In the room." He answered, stepping out of the way. He watched Itachi go up to Hinata and pull her into a hug. Then he knelt down with her beside Maylene, a sorrowful look in his eye. Before a form of jealousy could get to him, Deidara stepped outside, where he found Sasori leaning over and catching his breath. "Sa-" Sasori glanced up at him before dragging himself into the room. Deidara sat on the bench just outside the room and bumped his head against the wall. He imagined Sasori hugging her, and never letting her go until at least ten minutes had passed.

Deidara leaned a little to see what was going on. Sasori had Hinata in his lap. They sat on one of the chairs in the corner. She had an arm tucked under her leg and another around his neck. Her head rested on the cushion behind his head, so that their heads were close to each other's. Sighing, he resumed his sitting outside and closed his eyes. Now that he thought about it, he was crazy tired. Also, he was weird. He had an odd way of thinking. He over or under observed a lot of things. Like, Hinata's sudden relationship with Itachi that he never heard about until recently. He'd known him for a while, but apparently not Itachi and how he knows Hinata. It was strange.

Then there was Sasori, who suddenly went out with her. Sure, he turned the charm on overdrive, but what about Sasori made her fall head over heels? Does Sasori really like Hinata? Does she really like him? Well, its not like it matters. I mean, it's not like I'm jealous.

Deidara blinked his eyes open. His mother was standing in front of him. "I know you don't know Hinata's mother very well, but you should be there for Hinata." Deidara tried to hide a skeptical look. "I think Sasori has that taken care of. And Itachi's there to make it all better, too." He looked downward. "She doesn't need me." He heard his mother shake her head and 'tsk' him. "You know, while you were out here, Sasori told me that he found a way to make peace with his parents." Deidara looked up at her, surprised. "He could stay out of their way, and they'd stay out of his. He'd behave, they'd stop bothering him." She shook her head again. "Such crazy families these days." she said softly.

Deidara thought a little. "Mom, that's great, but what does that have to do with right now?" he asked. "Well, it means that Sasori won't need to visit us as often. So, Hinata can sleep in your room, which leaves space for you two to become friends. Get it?" Deidara nodded. "Okay. I see." he still didn't feel satisfied. Didn't change the fact that she was still going out with Hinata and childhood friends with Itachi. What chance did he have with her anyway-

Wait a minute.

When was he ever after Hinata in the first place? Sure, she was beautiful, and cute, and at least tried to be polite, but she wasn't exactly his ideal girl. Woah. Maybe he really was jealous of Sasori.

--

At the funeral, Hinata was standing in between Itachi and Sasori. Deidara looked at them and thought about the chances he had of getting close to her. He didn't fit in with them at all. Maybe he should just leave her alone.

-:-

After the funeral, the two sat on each other's beds in Deidara's room. Hinata stared out the window, at her old house, at her old room. She had agreed to sell both the house and most of its furniture - she never really liked it there anyway. Her room was bare, except for the few boxes filled with hers and her mother's things.

"You know…" When Hinata spoke, Deidara jerked his head up to look at her. "Sometimes…" She sighed. He saw a tear slide down her cheek. "…All the time, now…" The tear slid down her cheek, down her neck and soaked into her dress. "I wish I wasn't such a spoiled brat." Her words surprised him. Did this mean that all rich girls knew they were spoiled brats? Or was it the death of her mother that brought some sense into her mind?

"Well, you can always change." Deidara shrugged and studied her carefully. She struggled to keep her composure. He moved and sat beside her, and instantly she fell into his chest to cry. He pressed his cheek to her head and lightly stroked her back.

A little later, she fell asleep, and he went downstairs to his mother in the kitchen.

"Are you hungry? How about Hinata?" she asked. Deidara shook his head. "Hinata's sleeping." Melinda nodded. "Alright. I suppose I could use a nap, too." She began to get up, and Deidara watched her go up the stairs. "You can order pizza later if Hinata's awake then. Or if Sasori comes over. Either way…" She waved to him and walked to her room.

Deidara sighed and got ready to take a walk. He decided it was a good idea to cool off by taking off his tie and blazer. He went up to his room as well, careful not to wake Hinata. But she was already awake. She lay there, staring out the window absently. When he entered, she stared at him.

Silently he removed his tie and hung his blazer over his desk's chair. He sat across from her, on their beds, and stared back at her. "I'm, uh, going for a walk. Do you want me to order you some pizza or something before I leave?" Hinata shook her head and stood up. "I want to go with you." she said softly. "Oh. Okay." Deidara left the room, and she followed.

They walked to the park and sat at a bench, the sky quickly turning darker above them. He awkwardly offered her his coat, but she refused. "Deidara," she started, but paused. "Yes?" he gave her a sidelong glance; she looked downward. "I don't know what to do…" He fully turned to her this time. "About what?"

"Remember when I told you about… kissing Itachi?" Deidara shifted, then nodded. "Well, I don't know what to do. I mean… I… love both of them?" How was he supposed to know? "You can only choose one, I think." He said. "Maybe… I should break up with Sasori?" Hinata wondered aloud. She seemed to be looking to him for an answer. "Um… Sure? I mean, if you feel that you can't be with Sasori anymore, you should tell him." Hinata thought about this. Then she nodded. "Okay."

-:-

The next few days at school were weird. They seemed to pass Deidara by, but very important and significant things happened.

A thing that he noticed was that he was seeing less and less of Sasori every day. Hinata was hanging out with Itachi more, who was hanging out at their house more, therefore, he (Deidara) was hanging out with them more. So, maybe Hinata broke up with Sasori and got together with Itachi? That seemed likely.

-:-

Deidara found Sasori sitting in the school's 'backyard', as they called it. There was a small garden from the gardening club, and a storage shed full of equipment. Also, there were benches and a small pond with no water. Deidara sat beside Sasori, who was kicking pinecones into the empty pond space. Judging by the amount of pinecones, he'd been there a while.

"Hey." Deidara said.

"Hey." Was Sasori's dejected response.

"How've you been?" Deidara tried again. Sasori didn't respond this time. "Hinata broke up with me." he said after a minute. "Why?" Though, Deidara already knew the answer. "She thinks she loves Itachi." Sasori picked up a particularly sharp pinecone and crushed it in his hand. It bled a little. "It sucks." Deidara sighed and stood up, heading for the gardening hose by the shed. He brought it over to Sasori and washed his bleeding hand. "Well, maybe she's just trying to see if you really are the one. You know?" Deidara returned the hose to its holder and sat beside Sasori again.

"By breaking my heart into pieces? I don't think so." he scoffed. "No, like…" Deidara contemplated telling Sasori about how Itachi kissed her before they broke up. "Well, something in her decided to see what dating other people was like. I think." He shrugged. Sasori rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving. See how she likes that."

"What?"

"I'm going to move with my parents up north. They gave me the option to stay, but I don't think there's anything holding me here anymore." Sasori explained. Deidara sat there, mouth agape. "Thanks for telling me, you jerk!" he half-joked. Sasori chuckled. "You shouldn't move, I mean… You have friends to hang out with. Like, oh, I don't know, me?" Deidara gestured to himself with his thumb. Sasori shrugged. "I'll visit. Maybe. But for now… I think I just want to get away."

He stood up and began walking to the front gate, Deidara awkwardly following behind. "When are you leaving?" He called. "When I get home." Sasori answered smoothly. "What!? Dude, not cool!" Deidara ran to catch up with him, but Sasori started running. "You can't be moving now, of all times! I need you, man!" Deidara stopped when he saw Sasori stop ahead of him. "Nobody really needs me." he said, leaning to look up. "You should just let me go. I'll come back, I promise." He said half-heartedly. Deidara caught his breath in his throat.

"You can't let Hinata breaking up with you be an excuse to run away."

"Watch me."

And with that, Sasori crossed the street, took the left to his house, and was gone from Deidara's life.

-:-

When Deidara got home, he saw Hinata and Itachi in the living room, watching a movie together. Hinata waved lightly to him, and he smiled a little, heading upstairs to his room as soon as possible. Right now, Deidara felt alone. He felt like being alone.

He didn't really know why he was so down about Sasori suddenly moving. Maybe it was the fact that he had no other friend to really turn to. Without Sasori, he felt unbalanced. He only vaguely remembered having a fight with him about Hinata. Now she was totally separated from both of them, going out with Itachi and just being her friend on the sidelines.

In truth, he felt left out.

-:-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHH.

I'm so TERRIBLY SORRY for not updating.

Like, seriously? It was killing me.

I was just so busy, being a freshman and all.

JEEZ I'm such a NOOB.