The walk to wherever they were headed to was uncomfortable, a far cry from when they were last in the same situation. Deidara remembered it being a pleasant walk. To think that it had only been what, a week or so since that time? Obviously they hadn't been friends at that time, but the atmosphere was comforting and at the very least, they didn't hate each other. This walk felt like a walk to an execution site. Deidara was already regretting his decision to agree to have this talk.

But it would be a lie if he said he wasn't curious as to why Sasori suddenly hated him. Naturally, he knew why he hated the redhead, but he didn't know what the redhead's problem with him was. To be honest, he wouldn't have openly shown his hatred in the first place if Sasori hadn't started it. He would have acted like nothing was wrong, because truth to be told, he knew that his reason for hating the redhead wasn't even something Sasori could control.

It had been just like any other weekday on campus. Deidara was eating with Hidan in the cafeteria when they saw Sasori with Kakuzu. Deidara had every intention to ignore the two, but Hidan felt friendly for some weird, strange reason which Deidara still hasn't figured out and waved them over. The conversation started out fairly well, but it eventually descended into a verbal war between Deidara and Sasori and things just spiralled out of control from there. Hidan and Kakuzu hadn't even know what sparked off that first insult, and honestly Deidara himself couldn't remember. He only remembered his anger.

"Where are we going, un?" Deidara asked, making sure the annoyance was clear in his voice. And it apparently was, because he swore that Sasori almost turned around to bite his head off. But really, they have been walking for at least fifteen minutes already.

"Somewhere quiet," Sasori replied stiffly instead. Deidara rolled his eyes. He had already figured out that Sasori wasn't particularly keen on talking to him either, which left one conclusion really. Konan had somehow forced him into this. He can't see Sasori wanting to resolve this difference out of his own free will. Yeah, definitely coerced.

"Really, campus, un?" Deidara asked when the familiar building came into sight.

"Really, campus," Sasori answered, not sounding the least bit amused. "What is so wrong with the campus?"

"How are we even going to get in, un?" Deidara asked in disdain. He didn't fancy scaling walls, or attempting to pick locks for that matter (not that he couldn't). And it wouldn't be fun at all if the security alarms went off. Actually… come to think of it, it would be fun. If Hidan was around.

"Who do you think I am?" Sasori snapped.

Deidara made the right choice by biting back his retort. While there was hardly anyone around, a (probably loud) argument would definitely draw some attention. They weren't that far away from the main street yet.

When they finally reached the gate of the medical faculty, Deidara almost let out a sigh of relief. But he didn't, because Sasori looked as if he would murder anything that made any noise. And Deidara was sure that he was pretty high on his to-kill list at the moment. If Sasori wanted to, he could probably delude himself into thinking that Deidara did make some noise and kill him right then. And then claim it was self-defence.

Deidara was still wondering how the hell they were going to enter the campus when Sasori wordlessly pulled out his wallet and then a card from within it. Deidara didn't see the card, but he already knew what it was. When Sasori scanned it against the card reader and the gate flung open easily, his guess was confirmed. Sasori had possession of the entry card, which only professors were allowed to have. Deidara's only conclusion was that the school/ dean – whatever – really loved Sasori. Knowing Chiyo, she wouldn't have given hers to him, relative or not, and no other professor would either. Evidently, the school had issued one to him.

They picked a random empty classroom and entered it. Deidara never remembered the campus being so silent before. There was always some sort of noise which was mostly generated by the students. It felt strangely quiet and a little eerie, not that Deidara was scared or anything of the sort. In fact, he found himself actually relishing in this newfound silence. There was never a moment of complete tranquillity in the city, and while he was most definitely used to the din that came with the hustle and bustle of the living city, he most certainly didn't like it. Suddenly, he found himself wishing that he had rented a hut or something on the outskirts of the forest. Screw commuting to school on time.

"Konan told me to talk to you," Sasori said the moment he closed the door behind them. Deidara found it amazing that his impatience was still so prominent in such a situation. Well, at least that meant that that wouldn't be any more awkward silences. As much as Deidara liked silence in general, he didn't know how much more of that he could take.

"Yeah, figured that out, un," he replied, and decided to make life easier for Sasori. "What the hell is your problem with me then?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Sasori shot back, looking more than a little peeved that Deidara had asked the question first. Still, it meant that they were officially on the subject they should be on and no beating around the bushes was needed.

"Look," Deidara said in irritation, his own patience wearing thin. For heaven's sake, he wasn't the one who suggested having a talk. He found himself feeling resentment towards Konan. If she wanted them to make up so much, she could at least be the facilitator or something. Though she probably didn't come because she knew that they wouldn't say anything in front of her. "My problem with you is innate, un. You don't really have anything to do with it, okay? So you don't have to know, un."

"If I don't have anything to do with it, your actions are more than a little unreasonable, don't you think?" Sasori replied swiftly.

"Why, pray tell, what did I do to you then? I certainly don't remember. It seems that your actions are "more than a little unreasonable" too," Deidara quoted back, glaring at the redhead who somehow still looked more impassive than he probably felt, which made Deidara even angrier. Why was he the only one whose anger was so raw?

"And they are," Sasori admitted and though it wasn't obvious or even detectable in his expression or voice, Deidara just somehow knew that Sasori felt just a tad bit chagrined. Deidara's own anger ebbed away a little. Maybe they could have a proper talk after all.

"They're probably innate problems too, just like yours," Sasori said finally. He crossed to the other end of the room and stared out of the window which overlooked the campus lawn. Deidara went over to the row of desks and sat at one of them, somehow feeling more relaxed around the redhead than he had been in days. It was kind of humourous how their problems with each other sounded so similar. He would have laughed if he hadn't been so angry before. Their anger was still lingering in the air, a reminder that their problems are still problems if they aren't solved, and that they are still problems even if they were innate problems.

They were silent for a few minutes and Deidara couldn't help but wonder why Sasori was suddenly so miraculously patient. He was expecting to be asked to spill his problems about five minutes ago. He was about to say something when Sasori spoke.

"It's not jealousy," Sasori said, and while Deidara did not understand what the heck that meant, he realised that Sasori wasn't waiting for him to start first. He was simply gathering his thoughts. "What I'm going to say may sound like jealousy to you, but it isn't."

"Okay, un," Deidara replied, eyes drifting to the white board instead. From the tone of Sasori's voice, it was apparent that he hasn't told anyone about this before and Deidara just felt more comfortable not looking at him when he sounded like he was going to bare his soul.

"Being a neurosurgeon, a doctor, is not something that I wanted to do," Sasori started and Deidara almost interrupted him but he didn't. He would wait his turn; Sasori was the one who was anti-patience. "It was something forced onto me by Chiyo-baasan. Not literally of course but I supposed it could be considered so. My parents died when I was little, so my father, her son, obviously couldn't be a doctor anymore. She was a great neurosurgeon and my father had such a promising future and now that beautiful dream of hers was snatched away just like that. And she simply couldn't bear it I guess. Every day, she would lament it, how my father was excellent and how his death was in vain. She wouldn't stop saying it. So what was I supposed to do? It was obvious that she wanted me to replace my father. But she would never say it directly to me. So I pretended that I was interested in medicine, even made it my life."

Deidara wanted to laugh at that moment, because whatever Sasori just said was kind of related to why Deidara hated him so much. But he didn't know that yet, and Deidara couldn't say anything yet, because Sasori was obviously not done.

"So imagine my shock when I find out that instead of coaching me, she has been coaching you for years," Sasori continued, the venom in his voice more than apparent. If words were poison, Deidara would be dying an excruciatingly slow and unbearably painful death. The only positive thing, Deidara thought, was that Sasori wouldn't actually see the moment of his death, because he wouldn't be able to wait that long. "I'm talented. Everyone knows that and I know that. But we also all know that talent is but a factor in terms of medicine. There is no way anyone can complete a complicated surgery so successfully the first time without any guide."

"So you knew that someone had taught me that procedure before, un?" Deidara asked. Sasori hadn't specify any incident but he knew that Sasori was talking about the incident at the pub anyway. "And when you found out that it was your grandma, and I'm guessing she didn't teach you at all nor tell you about her teaching me, you started hating me, un. But that's not really it, right? It's the fact that she practically pushed all her hopes onto you, and you had no choice but to carry them as a burden on your back, giving up everything else, and then find out that it seems that she has placed her hopes somewhere else. I know it's not jealousy, un."

Sasori turned around, leaning his back against the window. When Deidara felt his eyes on him, he turned to look at him. He was expecting Sasori to look furious, or at least have flames dancing in his eyes, but no. Sasori looked as emotionless as ever. It was only because Deidara was looking in his eyes that he knew that Sasori wasn't the least bit angry.

"It's not jealousy," Sasori agreed, a small smile tugging at his lips in spite of himself.

"You're going to laugh when I tell you my problem," Deidara declared, turning his eyes back to the white board. Sasori's eyes were still on him, but it didn't feel uncomfortable anymore. It was surprising how it took one second for them reach this level of understanding. Especially when they were ready to kill each other just three minutes ago. "If you can laugh."

"Don't push it," Sasori warned but he didn't glare.

"I didn't want to be a doctor either, un. Never even considered it once in my life. And unlike you, I was literally forced to become a doctor, un. My mother has a heart disease, un. It's terminal and she'll die if she doesn't go for the operation. But she refused it, un. She would only do it on one condition. The condition was that I would be the one to operate, un. When thrown with something like that, I had to become a doctor, don't I? She's my mother." Deidara paused and Sasori didn't rush him, surprisingly. Maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all.

"Even so, I didn't have to like it," Deidara said and smirked slightly. "You should know, especially after what I said during that combined lecture."

…it's a reminder that I'm wasting my time in med school…

"I remember," Sasori said as the phrase immediately assaulted his head. "You weren't just being an annoying brat then."

"No, un. I was being honest, un," Deidara replied before laughing a little. "This is the funny part."

Sasori raised eyebrow and motioned for Deidara to continue. He hoped that the blonde wouldn't start laughing like a lunatic though his hopes weren't high.

"You were my role model, un. Not the normal role model where I look up to you and all that shit, un. You were supposed to remind me that I have to be like you. That someone like you exists. And this is the funny, ironic part, un. You were supposed to remind me that someone like you, very much a genius like me, but who loves medicine and takes medicine as seriously as his life because he wanted to help people, exists. And I had the talent too, so if I didn't use it, I'd be scum, un."

Deidara started laughing. He couldn't help himself. It seemed so stupid now that he thought about it. It was so ironic, and he thought that the only thing that prevailed in his life was paradoxes. Life just loved to throw random things at him.

"And I hate medicine," Sasori confessed, smiling despite himself (he was right about Deidara laughing like a lunatic after all) and ignoring the fact that Deidara had indirectly called him a 'scum' as well. He shook his head slightly before chuckling a little. "The irony."

"Yes, un," Deidara said, a little breathless from all the laughing. "And then I found out that this guy hates medicine. That was at the art store of course. And I got so mad at you, un. Now I don't even know why I'm in med school, un. My mother doesn't count. Its function as a reason declines every day."

"Innate problems," Sasori concluded.

"Innate problems," Deidara agreed before laughing out loud again. "This is absurd! Now I don't even know why I hated you, un."

"Tell me about it," Sasori replied, rolling his eyes. The whole situation seemed nothing more than a joke now. Sasori can't remember the last time he let something get to his head and then actually act on it. And to think that the first time he let his anger get to him was because of something so seemingly stupid. Though, despite everything, Sasori found that he was quite glad. Deidara was almost in the same situation as him.

"So anyway," the blonde said, staring pointedly at Sasori. "I totally dig cardio, so you have nothing to worry about, un."

"Unless I get into an accident and you have to operate on my heart in the middle of the road," Sasori retorted drily.

"I can do that successfully, un," Deidara replied confidently, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "And maybe prove that people can be successful on first attempts."

"I'm sure, Brat," Sasori said, the nickname slipping out unconsciously. He was about to apologise, because while they might have reached this understanding, it didn't mean that they were friends. He was alright with the blonde now of course but he didn't know if Deidara was still angry.

"That's nostalgic, Danna, un," Deidara replied, smiling lightly at Sasori.

The redhead rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the window pane.

"Let's go. It's late."

"Impatient as always, un," Deidara chided playfully as he got up from the chair and pushed it back under the table.

"So hurry up."

"Hey, Danna, un," Deidara said as they walked out of the classroom. "What did you want to be?"

"And what about you?"

"An artist."

Woohoo! 3rd update this week! ^^ I think... XD

Thanks for all the reviews and support guys! They made me really happy. ^^ Please do keep reviewing. And thanks to silent readers too, if you exist. XD On a random note, I've been replying to reviews now because I have time, but I might be getting busier again (just realised the amount of homework I have) so I might take a while to reply. ^^

So this was the reveal of why they hated each other. I'm not sure if this was what you guys were expecting and I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone. D: Tell me what you thought about it. In any case, I hoped that you all enjoyed it! ^^