Broken Youth
(Life of Konoha Academy Teens)
CH2.2: Distance II

Sakura pointed at Ino's cousin arguing with his friend.
"True art only lasts momentarily, it's something that should explode the senses, un," said Ino's cousin.
"Will you ever learn that true art is suppose to be eternal, for future generations to see and be touched by it's beauty,"said his redheaded friend.
"What's the fun in that?" said Ino's cousin.
"Like your idea is any better," retorted the redhead.
The two guys glared at each other with crossed arms. Both theirs eyes had the I'm-right-and-I'm-going-to-prove-it-to-you-even-if-it-is-by-force look. Ino and Sakura had seen that look many times before. So before the boys could do anything imprudent the girls stepped in between them and said "Good morning, gentlemen."
The two guys looked at the girls between them with surprise and embarrassment on their faces. As the boys took as step back they felt a slight blush on their faces which made them turn away.
After a brief moment Ino's cousin spoke while scratching the back of his neck. "I didn't notice you got here," he said.
"I can tell," said Ino with her hands on her hips.
Ino's cousin suddenly lifted Ino off the ground and gave her a tight hug.
"How is my favorite cousin this morning, hmm?" he said.
"Fine, but would be better if I were on the ground, Deidara-aniki," said Ino.
"Here, better now?" said Deidara as he set her down.

_
Deidara and Ino looked very much alike. He had long blond hair just like Ino, but a tad bit darker. They both wore their hair in a ponytail, yet Ino's was in the back of the top of her head while Deidara's was toward the center and was in a much thicker bunch. Deidara had hair loose on the back of his head unlike Ino. They both also had bangs that covered only one eye, Deidara's wore more of a comb-over and cover his left eye and Ino's bangs covered her right. Deidara's eyes were much darker than his cousin; He was also much taller than her. Ino wore a hair pin on the left side of her hair. Deidara always wore gloves that covered all but his fingers and a plain headband.

_
"Much better," said Ino fixing her skirt. Deidara looked over Ino's shoulder and said: "Good morning, Sakura-chan. Hey, wait a minute the shy quiet girl is missing, what's her name...Hyuuga...Hinata,right? Yeah."
"Hello, Deidara-senpai-"was all Sakura said.
"I can't believe you're still forgetting her name. It's so simple. I remember all your friends names, why can't you?" said Ino.
"It slips my mind that's all, and in any case you can't possibly know all my friends names," was his reply.
"Yes, I do, and I'll prove it...Well that right there is Sasori-danna, your best friend," she said pointing at him. Sasori had gone from standing behind Sakura to standing against the wall.
"Then there is: Pein, Konan, Nagato, Kisame, Kakuzu, Zetsu, Hidan, Itachi..." Ino listed on her fingers. "Oh and of course there is Tobi your other best friend..."
"TOBI IS NOT MY FRIEND AND EVEN LESS MY BEST FRIEND!" stated Deidara interrupting Ino. He had an angry look upon his face.
"What's wrong with Tobi?" asked Sakura moving next to Ino.
"Yeah,"said Ino.
Deidara grew quiet thinking of his response. Sasori who had his shoulder blades against the wall and his arms crossed was getting impatient.
"You know it's rude to keep people waiting, especially ladies. Hurry up and tell them what's so 'wrong' with Tobi," he said with a huff.
Deidara turned and glared at him. Then said: "You want to know what is wrong with Tobi? Okay, I'll tell you exactly what's wrong with him. First of all he is immature and childish. He has the mind of a stinkin' 5 year old. Second he is annoying and doesn't leave me alone. He follows me everywhere and I mean everywhere and he doesn't listen to me when I tell him to go away. He's like a monkey always clinging on to me. Half the time he doesn't know what the heck he's doing. He is so dumb! I'm tired of having to babysit him. Ah! I can't believe you like that guy,un."
"Uh...is that all? He's not that bad you know, he can't possibly be more stupid than Naruto, and besides he only follows you because he idolizes you. If those were the only reasons you don't think of him as your friend than they're not very good ones," said Sakura.
"Sakura's right, and besides you can't hate Tobi because Tobi is a good boy," Ino said in a childish voice.
"They're right," said Sasori to Deidara.
"He is still most definitely not my best friend," Deidara said with his arms crossed and his nose sticking up in the air.
"Whatever, you say cuz,"Ino replied then muttered under her breath "He's still your best friend." Sakura giggled.
"What did you say?" asked Deidara.
"Oh, nothing just talking to myself," she said. "Sakura and I should leave now and let you guys be, right Sakura?"
"Yeah,"said Sakura. "We have to go see if Hinata's here."
The girls turned around and were about to walk away, but Deidara stopped them by saying: "Hey, Ino aren't you give me a farewell hug?"
"Oh, okay," Ino said turning around and giving what he wanted.
"What about you Sakura, aren't gonna give me a hug too?" said Deidara after letting go of Ino.
Sakura turned her head and looked over her shoulder and said: "No, Thank you."
"Why not? Wait, is because of what happened the last time I hugged you?" he asked.
"Are you talking about when you sneaked up behind me and I sent you flying? If so then no, I wasn't the one who got hurt. It's only just because blond guys and hugs don't really agree with me" responded Sakura.
"It's true," assured Ino.
"It's also because I'm still mad at you for your little 'incident' where you exploded my science project," said Sakura.
"That was last year, and I said I was sorry about a million times. Just forget about it and forgive me, yeah," said Deidara.
"Even if I do ever forgive you, I could never forget. Remember one thing Deidara-senpai, girls never forget," said Sakura.
Deidara gulped. Then said: "You know Sakura-chan, maybe I didn't want a hug."
"Then why did you ask?" responded Sakura in a smart-allelic tone.
"Just because," returned Deidara.
"Whatever," said Sakura turning her head back around. "Come on Ino let's go." Ino moved to Sakura's side as she did so Sakura lifted her hair to fix into place. Her hair ended up accidentally hitting Deidara in the face.
Deidara glared at her and thought to himself 'You shouldn't have done that, Pinky. Now I'm by all odds getting that hug whether you like it or not.'
Sakura and Ino began walking away, Deidara followed close behind. His arms were opened ready to steal a hug. Sakura only took a few steps before she felt his unwanted presence. Just when Deidara was going to make his move Sakura quickly made a 180 degree turn with her fists ready to attack. Deidara looked at them and gulped. "I'm not afraid of you," he lied. "And I am getting that hug."
"Just try," said Sakura.
"Watch and you'll see, hmm,"he replied.
He took a step forward and as he was about to take another, he was forced back. Sakura was about ready to punch when that happened. Deidara couldn't move his feet, as a matter of fact he couldn't move anything below the neck, he was practically paralyzed. When he tried to move forward only his neck moved. "I can't move my body...SASORI! I know you're behind this! Get your stupid chakra strings off me!" yelled Deidara.
"Huh? Sasori?" said Sakura confused. She turned her head to the right. Sasori was standing directly across from them. Sasori's right arm was extended and out of his finger tips were thin almost invisible threads that went from his hand to all the way down Deidara's back.

_
Sasori was a calm guy who usually maintained a cool head. He was tall, lean and slightly muscular. Sasori looked younger than he actually was, he had a face of a fifteen year old even though he was seventeen. His scarlet red hair was layered and his eyes were a rich chestnut colored. He could be the replica to many girls dream guy for he was: smart, handsome and mysterious,though he had have some flaws. Sasori was a very impatient person, he did not tolerate lateness, being kept waiting, making other people wait, and wasting time. Sasori seemed to be someone who was unapproachable, yet he really wasn't. He was also one of those people that you don't want to make or even see angry.

_
"Let go of me!" Deidara continued yelling.
"No, it's for your own good," said Sasori.
"My own good? How is this for my own good?"said Deidara.
"You should know well enough that I'm not doing this because I want to, but because I have to. It's part of my duty as an Akatsuki, which you're also a part of," said Sasori. "I'm doing you both a favor so don't complain about not being able to move it's not like I'm controlling you." Sasori as he turned his arm around and motioned his fingers towards himself, Deidara's feet slid across the dirt, stopping a few feet away from both Sasori and Sakura. Deidara turn his head and glared at him.
"First off I did this so you wouldn't get shot off into space. Also to save what little dignity you have left (assuming you have any) form getting humiliated for getting beat up by a girl...again," Sasori told Deidara. "I also did this so you wouldn't get in trouble Sakura-chan, even if it was in self-defense I don't want to report you for attempted murder," Sasori said a bit jokingly. Sakura had a small smile appear on her face, she had her gaze down and her cheeks where blushing with embarrassment.
After a moment Sakura walked up to Sasori, Deidara's eyes followed her as she passed him. She stood in front of Sasori and bowed her head as she said: "Thank you, Sasori-danna."
"There is really no need to thank me, I was just doing my job. You know you don't have to refer to me as 'Danna' either, only that brat is required to call me that," Sasori said pointing at Deidara.
"Okay, then what should I call you? Sasori-senpai?or Sasori-kun?" asked Sakura with a giggle.
"Um, Sasori-kun will do just fine,"he replied.
They stood for a moment only looking at each other.
"I know you told me there was no need to, but..." Sakura took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him giving him a hug. "...Thank you," she said near his ear. Sasori was caught off guard, but after a moment a smile began to appear on his face. He was distracted by the hug that he let go of the chakra strings, which made Deidara's body fall forward and almost land flat on his face, but luckily for him Sasori acted fast and reattached the string before that could happen.
"Hey, watch it! If you're gonna hold me against my will then do it right and don't get distracted! Sakura-chan why will you hug him and not me?" Deidara said yelling and complaining with his head facing towards them with a frown. Sakura let go of Sasori and turned around.
"Don't tell what to do, Brat," Sasori said as he let go of the threads with no emotion on his face. Deidara fell like a rock with his face full of rage. Sakura couldn't help but smile when he fell.
"The reason why I hugged him and not you is because he's nice and well...you're not,"Sakura said as she once more began to walk towards Ino. Ino stood there with her mouth open and clueless. Her mind had gone completely blank during the whole scene.
"Nice? You call him nice after what he did to me. You know I can be nice too," Deidara said as he lifted himself off the ground.
Sakura stopped walking right in front of him and said: "Can and Being nice are two completely different things, and until you understand the difference you are not getting anything from me." She then kept walking to Ino.

When she got to her, Ino quietly asked: "What just happened?"
"I'll tell you later," then in a loud voice she said: "Bye, guys."
"Yeah, bye," said Ino.
"See you later. By the way I forgot to mention earlier that you ladies look lovely today," complemented Sasori.
"Thank you!"replied both of them, they turned around and gave him a smile.
"You guys look dashing today too," said Sakura returning the complement.
"Especially you Deidara-aniki, I love how you're trying to add some new color to your uniform," said Ino with a giggle. Deidara had finally gotten up, when he looked down at his white shirt which was all covered in dirt, he immediately turned to Sasori and glared at him as he patted of the dirt.
"Bye," said the girls again and with that they were gone.

To be continued again...