Respect was something Sasori observed very sternly. Unless someone proved themselves to be completely unworthy of it, Sasori would never fail to show it to them. Deidara was really an exception, as with many other things. But that was when he had judged the blonde without knowing him personally beforehand. He usually made assumptions about people and that was by far his greatest flaw, though that certainly did not excuse his treatment of Deidara.

Anyway, Sasori knew there was something wrong with Deidara and he wanted to know what but he wouldn't pry. That wasn't in his nature and the blonde must know that because he wasn't bothering to cover up his moody demeanour. He didn't even greet Sasori like he usually did (a huge smile and big wave) that morning when he saw the older medical student at the entrance of the hospital. He merely nodded.

All he knew was that Deidara had gone to the cardiology department the day before while he was watching the neuro surgery. Something must have happened then. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. And he wasn't a stalker. And he most definitely did not pry. A nurse just asked him whether his friend Iwa-san was going to be at the cardiology department again that day.

Friend. It was strange and peculiar that someone actually referred to Deidara as his friend. It was not that he didn't regard him, or Hidan for that matter, as his friends, but he guessed that he had never actually attached a status to Deidara. Deidara was Deidara. That's it.

"Brat, you're being weird," Sasori said eventually.

It was the first thing he said to Deidara that day (because why should he greet the brat if the brat didn't even do so?) and surprisingly, he actually replied.

"I'm not, un."

The shock must have been apparent because Sasori didn't reply. His face, though, was as impassive as ever. Deidara started sniggering and though Sasori would have usually been annoyed by that obvious show of mockery, he couldn't find it in himself to be even a bit irritated. He was really just glad that Deidara was still there somewhere.

"Why are you so shocked, Danna, un?" Deidara asked as if he really had no clue. Sasori started to glare, due to instinct more than anything; the blonde could not be that clueless after all.

Deidara started sniggering again.

"Concerned?"

Sasori rolled his eyes and got up to leave. Deidara, he decided, was in serious need of a consultation with a psychiatrist. That kid had issues. He was gloomy and depressed, acting as if the worst thing in his life had just happened one moment and cheery and bubbly the next. If he wasn't mad, Sasori was pretty sure that he would be the one to lose his sanity. Sometimes he questioned himself as to why he cared about Deidara so much.

He usually put it down to the fact that it was because they were in similar situations and thus he was more inclined to be concerned about Deidara since he was human. Nonetheless, he was starting to think that it was horrible decision made on his part because, for the life of him, he couldn't find anything positive out of being so bothered by the younger medical student (except maybe when he can comfort himself with the fact that the blonde's life was potentially worse than his).

"Really, Danna, you have to relax and stop treating everything so seriously, un," Deidara advised casually with a lopsided smile. There wasn't even a hint that there was something wrong with him, that something had happened that had made him so detached from life the day before.

I only treat you this seriously.

Sasori almost stopped in his tracks when that thought flashed through his mind. It would turn out that he cared about Deidara more than he had initially thought possible. This was bad in every sense of the word. Sasori was never a people person for more reasons than he could count and this sense of concern that he was developing for Deidara was screwing with that, though he supposed that Deidara was just a single entity and thus didn't count for much. But still.

Well, his connection with Deidara was deeper than any he had with any other person so that was probably the reason why. The paradoxical thing would be that they didn't even know each other that well and their understandings of each other were based on assumptions and deductions more than anything. Maybe the fact that their theories always come out right had something to do with deepening the bond between them… those assumptions that were made carefully and not those that they used to insult each other anyway.

"Come on, Danna! Stop ignoring me, un," Deidara said with an obvious pout in his face. Heck, Sasori could hear him pouting.

"Whatever, Brat," Sasori replied with a low sigh. He actually didn't mind, despite everything.

Deidara placed a hand on Sasori's shoulder and there was something in his grip that let Sasori know that something was wrong. The redhead stopped in his tracks and glanced back to look at Deidara, catching his eyes. Sasori never realised how intense they were before and almost turned away but there was something in those cerulean orbs – a plea – that made Sasori continue looking.

He didn't know why and how for that matter, but he knew that Deidara had something to tell him, something that he wanted to tell him in private. Sasori gave a small nod turned around. Deidara let go of him subsequently.

When Sasori went to the hospital that day to tour around the place, he hadn't only looked at the various departments and operating theatre. He had gone around to see if there were any place where he could "hide out" as well. Obviously it wasn't because he wanted to skive off work; it was because he figured that he would need a quiet place to ponder over some cases. A place where no one else would go.

He had found several spots around the hospital which fulfilled the criteria but barely satisfied him. They were mostly small rooms located somewhere at the basement. Then there were some, again small, rooms on the higher levels but they weren't as closed off as the rooms at the basements were. And Sasori was in no way claustrophobic but that didn't mean that he liked small spaces very much either. Every other place in the building was crawling with patients or staff. So he decided to take his space out of the hospital.

The rooftop.

It wasn't hard to find the entrance to the rooftop (there was only so many places such an entry could be) but though it was slightly harder to actually get onto the rooftop, it hardly posed a challenge to Sasori. The door was locked, and further enquiry revealed that the reason was because several patients have tried committing suicide in the past, but Sasori managed to pick it open just fine.

"Figures you would choose wide, open spaces, un," Deidara muttered somewhat bitterly.

Sasori turned to the blonde ready with a biting comment when he realised that Deidara looked unease and rather squeamish.

"Are you agoraphobic?" Sasori asked, for once unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

Deidara shot him a peeved look but it wasn't as if Sasori could do anything about his instinctive reaction. He had thought that Deidara, pricing freedom and liberty as he did (inferred), would love the open spaces and the unconstraint it offered more than anybody but it would turn out that he was wrong if Deidara's reaction was anything to go by.

"It's not agoraphobia, un," Deidara replied, walking over to the edge of the rooftop and dropping himself down onto the ground ungracefully. He released a long sigh and leant back against the wall. "It's not a sickness. I just don't like open spaces, un."

"I figured you would like them."

"Assumptions, un," Deidara said with a small smile. "But the basis, which would be that I love the liberty attached to them, would be correct, un."

Sasori let out a small chuckle. He had thought that much.

"So why do you hate them?" Sasori asked as he took a seat beside Deidara. A part of him, the serious and responsible one, was berating him – he really ought to be working and not be frolicking around on the rooftop with Deidara no less but he could hardly care at that moment.

"It reminds me too much of what I love, un," Deidara replied with a sardonic smile. Deidara didn't elaborate and Sasori didn't ask for an explanation either; he knew too well what Deidara was talking about.

"Though," Sasori started, "they still give me a sense of freedom which I relish in, even though it's fake, temporary."

"Oh, Danna, I thought I was the one on that side of the argument," Deidara said playfully with a small victorious smirk.

"I'll have you know that I meant it in an entirely different matter," Sasori answered. "It might feel good at that moment but when that moment's gone I crash back to reality, wishing that I never went up."

"Are you seriously bringing our argument into another context, un?" Deidara asked, sounding half amused and half incredulous as he turned to look at Sasori.

"Art knows no boundaries," Sasori said with a smirk.

"This, we concur," Deidara said, nodding in agreement as he leaned back against the wall with a contented little sigh. "This feels good, un."

"Yeah it does," Sasori admitted. He hadn't expected being with Deidara to be so natural and he most certainly didn't expect to feel so comfortable being around the blonde.

They mostly hang out with their group of friends of course but there was something about the way they acted around them that was different from the way they acted when they were just around each other. The only time they actually did spend time together, alone without the others, was that day when Sasori invited Deidara to his house to slave over the hospital files, but they didn't talk much then and it wasn't as if dinner time was long enough for Sasori to ascertain any feelings of comfort.

"While I do feel like arguing with you on that point, and I know that you know that I know that you would love to delve into that argument as well, we don't really have the right to be wasting time watching birds, un," Deidara said, laughing in between his words. "We have taken enough liberties for the day just by being here, un."

Sasori couldn't agree more and he was just about to suggest leaving when he realised that he had completely forgotten the main purpose why they were on the rooftop in the first place. It was lucky that he hadn't made any appointments with the neurology doctor the previous day or he would have certainly been late; the thing would have completely slipped his mind.

"Brat, are you going to tell me why we're here?" he asked in the end.

The effect was instant. The grin fell from Deidara's face and that depressed look returned though it was milder than before. Deidara sighed and closed his eyes.

"I don't understand your grandmother sometimes, un," Deidara said with a groan.

That caught Sasori off guard because he definitely hadn't been expecting anything about Chiyo. No offense to his grandmother, and he loved her really, but he had noticed a pattern that whenever she came up it was hardly anything good.

"Neither do I."

"You know that relative of mine? The one who has a severe heart condition but refuses to operate because she's such a stubborn bitch, un?"

Sasori looked at Deidara in amusement but the blonde wasn't letting anything up.

"Yes, your mother," Sasori said, barely managing to stop himself from laughing at Deidara's grimace. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's here, un."

Okay, Sasori was definitely not expecting that. Deidara had to stop dropping bombshells on him soon.

"What is she doing here?" Sasori asked, knowing it was a stupid question but still asking anyway. He needed Deidara to elaborate on this after all and the blonde didn't seem like he was going to without being probed.

"She's admitted here, to this hospital, un," Deidara replied in a bitter tone. It was obvious how much he liked talking about his mother.

"Why?"

"She said your grandmother suggested it, un," Deidara answered and a thousand question started swirling in Sasori's mind

How did Chiyo know Deidara's mother? Were they friends? Were they close friends? Was that why Chiyo decided to train Deidara when he was young? If Deidara's mother was Chiyo's friend, then why didn't Chiyo introduce to him? Why wasn't Deidara introduced to him then, for that matter?

It seemed like Deidara had the answers to all these questions and Sasori never felt a greater urge to pry but he didn't. It wasn't what he do. It wasn't him.

Deidara seemed to know what he was thinking though because he said, "That's another story for another time, un."

It really just translated to 'I'm not really comfortable about talking about this to you right now' and Sasori could understand but there was just this part of him that was severely annoyed and really wanted to know, because he was somewhat involved in that web of events even if it wasn't directly so. But still, Sasori could understand.

It wasn't like Deidara was withholding the information on purpose (in a way he was but Sasori wasn't about to be a total bitch and go in that direction); the blonde didn't look very happy knowing all those things either.

"Is that why you were so gloomy yesterday?" Sasori asked.

Deidara nodded curtly. There was something else that happened. Sasori just knew if from the way Deidara kept silent and kept fidgeting with his hair. This was something he wouldn't pry though. It was completely up to Deidara to decide whether he wanted to tell Sasori about it or not.

"She was being a total bitch, un," Deidara muttered eventually, "going on and on and on about how I should be a doctor soon without taking into account the fact that I'm in freaking med school and on a fucking internship all because of her, mother dearest, un."

"Tell her then," Sasori suggested with a shrug. He didn't know how to deal with annoying people; they usually left him alone.

"I did, un," Deidara said darkly. "Then she went on about how I wasted my time with art hence I couldn't enter med school earlier. Mind her; I'm only nineteen, un."

Sasori didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything. Though, despite how terrible Deidara's mother sounded like, there was no doubt that Sasori's interest was piqued. He wanted to see Deidara's mother, wanted to see with his own eyes the woman who had caused Deidara's life to be so miserable. He felt an irrational sense of anger towards the woman, something that he had never done before. Deidara was really screwing with him.

"No wonder you were so upset yesterday," Sasori concluded since Deidara didn't look like he was going to say anything soon.

"And why I didn't want to go to cardio, un," Deidara continued.

"Because you just left that place."

"Exactly, un."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before both their sense of responsibility seized control of them and they decided that they should go back downstairs.

"Want to go to cardio, un?" Deidara asked with a slight smirk when they were safe within the confines of the four white walls.

Sasori had plans that day. He had plans to watch a certain surgery that was about to take place in ten minutes and take notes so that he could have a discussion with a neuro surgeon later. He had planned for that to be in his report for that week. He never messed up his plans and he always killed whoever attempts to mess his plans up in any way. But now he thought 'screw it'.

"Let's go."

The walk to the cardiology section was relatively silent. Deidara was busy smirking away and Sasori didn't know why and he was too busy coming up with images as to how Deidara's mother would look like. He was so busy trying to picture it that he hadn't realised that Deidara had stopped until he bumped into the blonde.

"There, un," Deidara said, nodding his head in the direction of a private ward. The curtains weren't drawn so Sasori could easily see the blonde woman sitting on her bed from where they were standing.

He wasn't shocked but her appearance; she looked normal enough though he supposed that she was considered pretty. He was more shocked at how she looked so similar to Deidara. If he had just seen her back view, he was quite sure that he would mistake her for her son. That was how alike they looked.

"Doesn't she look like me, un?" Deidara said in what Sasori thought was a really good mockery of a proud mother. "Or more that I look a lot like her since she gave birth to me, un."

"You're practically identical to her," Sasori agreed while Deidara nodded as if he had expected that… which he probably did.

"Everyone says that, un," Deidara said in a bored tone. He had probably heard that statement a million times, which wasn't surprisingly really. Sasori supposed they could pass off as twins. Deidara's mother didn't look that old and Deidara look all that manly, but Sasori wasn't going to risk telling Deidara that. The blonde had a tendency to be violent.

"You'll find, unlike other people, that the similarity stops at the looks" Deidara said, sounding rather smug. Sasori was starting to suspect that the only reason Deidara brought him over was just so that there would be someone to tell him that he was different from his mother and he pointed that out to the blonde.

Deidara's nose wrinkled.

"Your impression of me is too low, Danna, un," Deidara said in an offended tone before adopting a more childish one and saying with a wink, "but you're partially right."

Sasori rolled his eyes.

"Obviously."

"Do you want to talk to her, un?" Deidara asked and there was a sparkle in the blonde's eyes which Sasori did not quite like, but he was already there and what harm could a simple conversation with a patient do?

"Fine, Brat, fine."

Sorry this took so long! :x I know I'm horrible. D:

But this chapter is longer than the previous few to make up for that! ^^

I really wanted to update earlier because I was so happy but school got in the way. D: The last chapter was the first that received 8 reviews so I was really, really happy! :D I'm really sad that I couldn't update earlier either.

Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this chapter too! ^^