"No, un," Deidara said before he could stop himself. He hadn't meant to reject Konan in such an outright manner but his instincts got the better of him. Konan gave him a sad pout coupled with teary eyes while Hidan stared at him in astonishment. He knew that he never rejected a free meal but no way. Not tonight. He was looking forward to going home that day and spending the rest of the evening and night alone. Konan wasn't ruining that plan with a sudden dinner invitation. No bloody way.

"Come on," Konan whined, pitiful – convincing - look still in place. He thought that maybe this was how she got Pein to do anything she wanted, and if that didn't work, he knew that she was quite violent when she wanted to be. Despite advocating against violence.

"Free meal," Hidan stated simply as if it was the only reason needed to accept the invitation. Deidara supposed it was, but no.

"I don't care. You're coming," Konan said simply and walked off, completely expecting them to follow her. When they didn't, she turned around and gave them that glare. The one that even Pein was afraid of.

"Fine, un."

"It'll be fun," Hidan assured him, grinning. He was definitely thinking about what to eat already. Really nw. Deidara would think Hidan was a beggar with how ecstatic he is every time he gets a free meal. Yes, Deidara was happy most of the time too but he wasn't overflowing with joy like his best friend.

"Fun," Deidara echoed plainly when Konan opened the doors to a private room. They were in a fancy French restaurant in a five star hotel and Deidara had wanted to leave immediately when he caught a glimpse of the menu at the front door, but Hidan wasn't bothered by it at all. Instead, it seemed that the urge to eat at the place became stronger when he realised how expensive the food was. Konan must have known this, because she had a slight smirk on her face the entire time.

Pein was in the room of course (Deidara was starting to think that the two had every meal together), but he wasn't the only one. There were exactly six other people there, two whom he did not want to see, three whom he recognised by sight and one who was a complete stranger. Deidara was ready to bolt. And of course that was the moment Konan closed the door and happily dragged him and Hidan to the three empty seats.

Somehow, Deidara ended up next to Konan and directly opposite Sasori. One of the two people he didn't want to see. Joy. Really. He sighed and resigned himself to fate. There was no way Konan was going to let him leave now. Come to think of it, that was probably why she made him sit beside her.

"Isn't this great?" Konan gushed, beaming radiantly at the nine men seated around the table. Murmurs of assent went round and Konan's grin became impossibly wide. She didn't seem to realise that the agreements were more forced than anything. Pein thought her obliviousness was adorable really, but he also thought that it was slightly evil.

"Who's that fucking kid?" Hidan asked, glaring at the new face. That stupid ass had been smiling non-stop ever since the three had walked through the door and he showed no signs of stopping. If possible, his grin had become wider, wider than Konan's. Hidan was this close to punching him.

"Tobi is Tobi! He's a good boy!" the boy – Tobi – introduced himself cheerily with a huge wave.

"Why the heck is that bloody idiot invited to this damned dinner in the first place?" Hidan questioned, folding both arms and resting them behind his head, cold eyes fixed on Tobi who squirmed a bit under the look.

"Damned dinner?" Konan repeated, raising an eyebrow and smiling sardonically at the younger man. Of course she would pick up on that.

"Lovely dinner," Pein corrected instantly, shooting Hidan a scathing look. "He really means lovely dinner."

"Yeah, that's totally what I fucking meant," Hidan rushed to agree, hoping that the bomb which was Konan didn't detonate on him. She narrowed her eyes at him before turning back to her food.

"He's Itachi's cousin," Konan explained as if it was the most apparent thing in the world. Hidan's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Itachi and Tobi.

"I fail to see the resemblance," he concluded in the end. Itachi and Tobi actually had the same shade of black for their hair and the same magenta red eyes, but with the way Itachi's hair was neatly tied back into a low ponytail versus the way Tobi's short hair was unkempt and sticking out in all directions, all physical resemblance was lost. Also, Itachi's eyes had a cold glaze in them, while Tobi's eyes seemed to reflect rays of sunshine. No one would be able to tell they're related.

"One's a prude and the other's annoying, un," Deidara said, rolling his eyes. "All the resemblance you need, un."

"Tobi's not annoying!" Tobi said, looking horrified and somewhat upset though his smile was still lingering on his face. It was a creepy mixture, but Deidara thought it looked appropriate on Tobi. He was creepy anyway. Who the hell referred to themselves in third person?

"Who invited him again?" Sasori asked at the same time, earning a glare from Deidara which he returned with cold eyes.

"I invited everyone," Konan snapped, drawing all the attention to her instead. She was visibly upset, and the others all felt a slight pinch of guilt. They all knew how much Konan hated quarrels and how excited she must have been to set this dinner up… though of course she could have mentioned exactly who was going to be present. "Now stop fighting like little kids over candy and have proper conversations like adults."

The five minutes after was unbearably quiet and the atmosphere was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Konan was still sulking and didn't seem to be intent on being the one to steer things in the cheerful direction. Even Tobi's smile had started slipping. As far as Kisame had known the boy (which was really long), the boy hardly ever stopped smiling so he knew that that was a bad sign. It really didn't help that Sasori and Deidara were glaring at each other as if they wanted to kill each other. They probably did. And as far as Kisame knew his friends, he knew that none of them was going to start talking any time soon, meaning he had to be the one to break the silence. As per usual.

"So, it seems that we all know Konan and Pein," he said and immediately wished he didn't when all nine sets of eyes landed on him. The trouble he gets himself into. He cleared his throat self-consciously and put his knife and fork down, realising a little belatedly that they could potentially be used as weapons against him. "I'm just saying that maybe we should introduce ourselves or something. I mean I have never officially met Deidara or Hidan before. And I'm sure that Kakuzu hasn't either."

He could feel death looming behind him when most of the looks turned to glares. Okay, so he would also kill whoever suggested introductions, but that was the only thing he could think of. And really, he only knew that Deidara was a genius from the grapevine. He knew that Hidan was the most vulgar person on campus, but that information was again from the grapevine. He didn't actually know either of them at all. Still. He was about to say 'forget it' when to his utmost relief, Konan clasped her hands together and smiled at Kisame as if Christmas had come early. Though that didn't stop the glares. If anything, they turned deadlier.

"Exactly, introduction time!" she chimed, eyes sparkling while the rest slowly turned their glares on her which she coolly countered. Their glares also earned them all a glare from Pein. Deidara thought that Konan looked like some sort of mad scientist but kept that comment to himself in case she really went psycho on him. "Everyone knows me, but I'll start anyway. So, I'm Konan and a fourth year at Tokyo University."

And so everyone took their turns to introduce themselves under Konan's threatening eyes. Pein had been a business major before he graduated and was Kisame's senior; the blue haired man was currently working towards a degree in aforementioned major. It was from his acquaintance with Kisame that Pein had gotten to know Sasori and the others. Naturally, Konan had then been introduced to them.

"Tobi's still in high school," Tobi chirped, looking round the table once. He was the last to go and somewhere in the middle of the introductions, his smile had become as bright as the sun again, much to Hidan's dismay. "And he's going to enter medical school next year. Please take care of Tobi, senpai!" He shot his smile in Deidara's direction and the blonde frowned.

"Why are you calling me senpai?"

"Because senpai is in med school!"

"So is that prick over there," Deidara sneered, eyes sweeping over to Sasori.

"But Tobi likes senpai more!" Tobi answered enthusiastically, waving his arms in the air and trying to make a point. He almost hit Itachi in the face and received a glare. He was so lucky that Itachi was never violent. Though Tobi was most likely suicidal.

"Yeah, well, some people are hard to like, un," Deidara replied.

"Talking about yourself?" Sasori shot back. His patience had been wearing thin and now it was completely gone. He had been contented with just glaring.

"Unfortunately, no, un," Deidara said, eyes firmly fixed on the redhead. "I was talking about you actually."

"Shut up, the two of you," Konan commanded and the annoyance in her voice was as clear as day. The two fell silent, though they were still glaring at each other. "What the hell happened? I thought you two were friends already!"

"Sasori has spent the entire past week glaring at Deidara and insulting him whenever he saw him," Kakuzu provided, shrugging when Sasori's glare shifted to him instead. Sasori's glares often promised murder but Kakuzu was more than used to it, having been on its receiving end more times than he could count and still remaining alive aftereards.

"Bloody fucking same here with blondie," Hidan added as Deidara turned his glare to him as well. "What?" Hidan snapped. "I had to literally pull you away or you wouldn't have stopped."

Kakuzu nodded in silent agreement. That was actually how he had met Hidan. He had seen Hidan just the previous day after school and they had spent a good one hour bitching about Sasori and Deidara. That was all they did though, so they weren't exactly considered friends. Still, he supposed it was a start.

From there, Pein took matters into his hands and banned any insulting which they all, some grudgingly, agreed to. But no insulting meant that Sasori and Deidara didn't have anything to say so they kept quiet for the rest of dinner. Hidan was allowed to talk, because cursing didn't have the same connotations as insulting, or so he argued. Pein gave in. For the life of him, Hidan couldn't – even if he tried - say anything without cursing.

No insulting also meant that Deidara and Sasori couldn't glare at each other, because that was the way it worked with Konan, and no one tried arguing with that. Konan would win hands down. They then busied themselves with their food. They couldn't look up since they were directly opposite each other, and while Konan was content that the others were all talking (surprisingly) happily, she didn't seem to care about the silence of the two of them. It was unusual since Konan loved to include everyone, but no one said anything.

Finally, the dinner ended. Peacefully. And that naturally encouraged Konan and made her think that this dinner was an excellent idea. A perfect idea. The first part of the dinner was all wiped from her mind as she beamed at the men when their dishes were all cleared.

"Let's have dinner again next Friday," she suggested before anyone had the chance to leave the room. Well, it was supposed to be a suggestion but it was more like a demand, with her 'I dare you to challenge me' tone and eyes. Tobi agreed ardently, cheering and clapping. He even suggested meeting up before dinner time, but that idea was pushed aside when the rest, save Konan, started complaining about how busy Fridays were. Eventually, they all nodded, because Konan wouldn't take her eyes off them or let them leave otherwise. "See you all next week then!"

Tobi was the first to go, bouncing off merrily and chattering next to the other Uchiha, who looked like he was trying to restrain himself from murdering his cousin. Hidan said that he should just do them all a service and kill him already. Tobi gave a mega-watt smile and assured everyone that Itachi loved him too much to do that. After all, they were family. Itachi kept quiet, but Hidan could see that he was seriously contemplating the idea. He was about to tell that to Tobi but a look from Konan sealed his mouth. Really, Konan was the scariest person he had ever encountered and he has met many people who were considered terrifying. Himself included.

Kakuzu and Hidan ended up going off together when they discovered that they lived in the same direction and could share a cab. It was Hidan's idea actually. Kakuzu had vehemently refused initially because a cab was at least twice as expensive as taking the subway was. He only agreed when Hidan snapped and said that he would pay for eighty per cent of it so "just bloody agree already, you fucked up idiot". Kakuzu hadn't taken too kindly at being called a fucked up idiot but he supposed that that was Hidan's way of being affectionate. Deidara had left with them, but they had parted ways at the entrance, since the blonde lived in the other direction. Kisame and Zetsu stayed on campus so they were waiting to hitch a ride from Pein who had kindly offered. Sasori declined it, saying that he had somewhere he needed to be. No one asked where. They all knew that he wouldn't tell.

Sasori had just started to walk away from the group when Konan called his name. He wanted to ignore her but there was something in her voice that made him turn around. "Yes?"

Konan ran the short distance to him, so that she wouldn't have to shout, but more importantly so that the other two wouldn't hear. She knew how much Sasori hated people poking into his personal affairs and how much he would love to keep them private, but she also knew that she was about the only person who could get something out of him and get away with it unharmed.

"What's wrong with you and Deidara?"

"Nothing."

Expected. Konan sighed, while Sasori crossed his arms and stared at her. He really hated waiting.

"Look, I don't know what it is that happened between the two of you and I know that something did happen even if you deny it and refuse to tell me," she said before Sasori had the time to do exactly what she said. He remained stoically silent but Konan could tell that he was becoming more annoyed. "Just fix it okay? I really like you, and I really like him too. You saw how dinner went just now. I think we could all be good friends if we wanted to."

Sasori couldn't deny that the dinner had gone well (way too well in his opinion), but there was the fact that he and Deidara hadn't said a single thing. He supposed Konan had taken that into account, which was why she was confronting him about it. But his problem with Deidara couldn't be resolved overnight. Honestly, he didn't even know why Deidara was so annoyed by him. He knew why he was annoyed by the blonde, even hated him, but he had no clue as to why Deidara was so hostile. In retrospect, Deidara was probably as clueless as to why Sasori was behaving this way as well. The ironic thing was that this hatred of his had developed overnight. One thing he was (somehow) sure of was that the blonde's hatred had developed in one night as well.

"I'll do something," he promised Konan eventually, just to get her off his back. For the time being. She was sure to pester him about it again when she realised that the situation wasn't resolved. The blue haired girl smiled gratefully at him and for the first time Sasori realised how important this was to her. He wasn't sure why though. He was about to ask but a car horn sounded and they saw Pein's BMW waiting at the pick-up point. A queue was starting to form behind it and the driver in the second vehicle didn't look at all elated at the prospect of waiting. Sasori could totally relate.

"Thanks!" Konan said and gave Sasori a quick hug before she rushed off to the car, waving as she did so. Sasori watched the car drive past, and nodded when Kisame and Zetsu gave him a wave from the backseat. He waited till the car had disappeared into the main road before heading off. He didn't really have anywhere to be, but he wanted to be alone.

He glanced at his watch and watched the second hand move a few strokes before hitting the number twelve. It was exactly nine. Dinner had actually taken a whole 2 hours and a half. He hadn't expected it to last so long, even if it had felt like eternity in there. Still, it was too early to go home. If he went home now, he would spend the rest of the night working on his assignments and other some other internship stuff, which he really didn't feel like doing at the moment. In the end, he settled for walking around.

There was nothing interesting to see on the streets on Friday nights. Ever. Salarymen were mostly drunk out of their minds, while the lecherous ones would leer at any women unfortunate enough to cross their paths. High school students would be all around, talking and laughing out loud as they prowled the streets, free from clutches of the hellhole otherwise known as school. Office ladies would be in groups of twos or threes, sometimes more, and chattering non-stop, catching up on whatever gossip they had missed over the week. Everything was the same every week. The most prominent similarity was that it was always noisy. There was no moment of silence. Ever.

Of course it was also crowded. As Sasori ambled down the sidewalk, he was beginning to think that he had made the wrong choice. After the tenth person bumped into him, he was thoroughly regretting his decision. Going home where it was quiet and tranquil wasn't such a bad idea after all, even if all he had for company was papers. At least they didn't annoy him. Not much anyway.

Somehow, as fate would have it, Sasori found himself outside the art store. He almost stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, but that would have earned him more curses than he could be bothered to count. He hastily made his way over to the store and leant against the wall. And he felt more stupid than ever.

He had passed by this store so many times only to ignore its presence and continue on his way and now he was stopping at it. Completely of his own free will. Damn it. Sasori thought that he might have found another reason as to why he hated Deidara. He was about to walk away when a flash of familiar blonde hair caught his eye. He looked up into cerulean eyes which stared back into his own hazel ones.

Seriously.

Deidara looked away first and rolled his eyes before walking away, muttering something inaudible under his breath. Sasori had a good guess as to what it was. Probably 'fuck' or something, seeing how he was so chummy with Hidan. It certainly was the first word to cross his mind, and he usually didn't curse.

At that moment, his mind chose to materialise Konan's voice in his head.

Just fix it okay?

He cursed his own mind, and Konan. Really. He would not have bothered if it had been anyone else who had requested that of him. Honestly, even if it was Konan, he wouldn't have even tried to do anything. He could deal with her pestering him. If needed, he could always deal the 'internship is stressful' card. There was just something in Konan's voice that made him feel like he had to try. For whatever it was worth, Konan seemed to be more concerned (overly concerned) about this than him. Cursing himself one last time, he walked up to Deidara before he lost sight of the blonde in the mass of people.

"We need to talk."

Deidara stared at him for a few moments with calculating eyes. He knew that the blonde needed time to contemplate, but really, it was common knowledge that he hated waiting. Much less in the middle of a crowded sidewalk. Outside the art store. Seriously. For a second, Deidara looked as if he wanted to leave and just walk away but he didn't.

"Fine."

So, yay! I managed to update before Friday. XD The next chapter should be up pretty soon. ^^ Once again, thanks for all the reviews! Also, thanks to all those silent readers out there. :D I hope you guys are still enjoying the story!