Sasori was mad at him, Deidara was quite sure. He was definitely seething and thinking up of the many ways in which he could kill Deidara painfully and torturously slowly. But he wouldn't risk getting his own hands dirty or getting caught by the police or Chiyo (whichever was worse really), so he was more likely thinking of a list of possible assassins. Heck, he was probably friends with a bunch of assassins.

"I'm not angry you know," Sasori said and Deidara stopped in his tracks.

"You are so trying to make me let down my guard, un," Deidara said immediately.

Sasori rolled his eyes but did not stop to wait for the blonde. There was no way in hell he was going to risk even being a second late because Deidara realised that the sky was particularly blue and beautiful that day and thus decided to stare at it. Deidara, of course, realised that Sasori was as impatient as ever and quickened his pace to catch up with him.

"I am not," Sasori said eventually, though Deidara still eyed him sceptically.

"I freaking stole your spotlight again, metaphorically speaking, un," Deidara stated, because really he did and they both knew it. A freshman getting an internship offer? Never. If things like that ever happened (and they obviously did because Deidara now had an offer), Sasori should have been the first one to be offered such a chance.

"How petty do you think I am?" Sasori asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not being sarcastic. I'm really curious."

Deidara rolled his eyes. Sasori couldn't sound not sarcastic even if he tried.

"Dude, you wanted to murder me because you thought I was better than you," Deidara retorted.

"I did not think you were better than and for the record I never will."

"I didn't mean that literally, un!"

"I don't really care."

Deidara felt like killing Sasori at that moment, but the guilt was preventing him from executing said measure. Strange. Deidara never ever recalled feeling guilty about anything towards anyone. College was seriously screwing with him.

"Look, Brat, you want this internship as much as I want it and we both know how much that really is," Sasori started and only continued after Deidara nodded. "I don't hate you and honestly the other medical students in this faculty should hate us."

"You talk too much, un," Deidara replied simply but he gave Sasori a small smile anyway. "See you at break."

With that, Deidara walked off to his lecture, but not before turning around and telling Sasori that he was still on the lookout for possible assassins.

Sasori rolled his eyes, despite some fondness that crept into his heart.

Brat.

"Is my fucking best friend's life in bloody danger?" Hidan asked Kakuzu. The accountancy major finally put down his calculator and stared at the albino seriously.

"I don't know."

"Fuck you!" Hidan cursed. "Don't you have fucking lecture?"

"Not now. Don't you?" Kakuzu shot back.

"Not now."

"Look, Sasori isn't some psychopath murderer," Kakuzu said, rolling his eyes and picking up his calculator again.

"Has your dim-witted brain forgotten last last week or something already?"

"I'm sure yours has," Kakuzu retorted. "Deidara wanted to kill Sasori too. Apparently you don't remember that."

Hidan growled at the older student but said nothing.

"Sasori has better things to do anyway."

"And apparently you bloody don't," Hidan snapped.

"Don't you have to study?" Kakuzu asked in exasperation when he realised that Hidan had no work or notes spread out on the table and that he was just glaring at Kakuzu.

"I'm a fucking genius at lit," Hidan retorted, though he did pull out a book to read in the end.

Kakuzu rolled his eyes again (he seemed to be doing that a lot these days), but he realised that he wasn't as angry as he usually would be. If anyone had interrupted him when he was doing his work, he would have shouted at them or something along those lines; he definitely would not have a conversation with them.

Conclusion: Hidan had a weird effect on him.

Kakuzu sighed. It was probably because they bonded while trying to stop Sasori and Deidara from murdering each other that he could tolerate Hidan so much. It was nice knowing that someone is, well was in this case, in the same situation as you.

Sasori knew for a fact that he really wasn't angry at Deidara, nor did he intend to kill him whatever the blonde believed. Still, it didn't mean that he was happy.

Sure, he was actually kind of glad that he could have some company during the internship. He was actually glad to have Deidara's company more than anything because no matter how much he treasured his friends, they just didn't understand him, and while Deidara certainly didn't completely understand him, he definitely did know him better than his friends. Well, not that Sasori would have minded going for the internship completely alone.

He was used to being alone more than anything, not that it was "weird" or "sad" or whatever. That happens when you spend almost all your life studying so hard so that you can secure yourself a seat in one of the most difficult faculty to get in in the best university in the country. Being a genius helped but that also meant that he always wanted to know more.

Anyway, despite everything, he was not happy. Deidara deserved the internship. He knew that better than anyone, maybe except Chiyo since she was the one who offered him the chance in the first place, but he still could not bring himself to feel joy for the blonde, because the only reason the blonde was so good in the first place was because Chiyo decided to nurture his talent instead of her own grandson's.

He didn't want to think about it too much though. Thinking too much about these kind of things always created an artificial sense of depression in him which logic could not sift out.

The only thing that comforted him was that Deidara probably didn't know that Sasori was feeling this way. Deidara might be on par with him in terms of medical skills among other things, but at least Sasori was certain that he was superior in terms of emotions and in this case, masking them.

Sasori stared at the lecturer as he droned on and on about some procedure which Sasori had memorised in his first year. He wondered why he even bothered coming to lectures. He studied so far ahead that everything that was lectured wasn't even applicable. But he knew why he came. He needed to remind himself that he was a medical student; that he wasn't in art school, because it really didn't help that there were several art schools near his apartment.

And then he sniggered.

He reminded himself of Deidara...

… which was in itself disturbing but he did not bother to dissect it.

He wondered why he kept thinking about that incident. It was nothing special as far as he was concern. It was the first time he saw the brat and that was it. He didn't even like Deidara at that time. Deidara embodied everything he disliked, so much so that he wouldn't have paid attention to him at all if the blonde hadn't created such a ruckus. In fact, at that time, he could hardly tolerate Deidara. In the end, he supposed it all boiled down to those words, those words which have been spinning round and round his head for a long time now.

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

To be honest, those words scared him more than anything.

Art was eternal. Life wasn't. Life in itself went against Art, and in turn everything he believed in. Medicine went against art. Sure, it extends people's lives but that was it. It didn't grant them the immortality that Sasori was so thirsty for.

To think that he was wasting time… time that he, that everyone on this earth, did not have… that thought was unbearable. He couldn't afford to think like that, because if he did, he would walk out of this lecture right now and head over to the art store before going home and unlocking the room which contained all his beloved puppets.

Crap.

He couldn't think of that room.

It was, Sasori thought to himself with a sardonic smile on his face, a reminder that I'm wasting my time in med school.

Sorry that this is later than ever!

School. Started. Again.

But! I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know it's not much especially after such a long wait but I promise the next chapter will be longer! Please review! ^^