Yes, I know I dropped off the surface of the world and I'm very sorry! At least Sasori finally confronts Chiyo here? XD

"You can move in any time you want," Deidara offered after a moment's silence as he let Sasori's surprising but pleasant news sink in. Yes, he was sure that he had never heard anything so pleasing before and now he was beaming like a madman but it didn't matter; he was happy.

"I have a room full of valuable puppets," Sasori reminded him.

"Then make new ones."

"They're valuable."

"Make new ones."

"They're precious."

"They were made under torturous and vindictive circumstances."

"Some of my very first puppets are in there."

"There's a lock. It's a modern contraption to keep stuff inside a room undeniably safe and hidden away from the treacherous world. Oh wait, you use it."

"There's a key."

"Which you will bring over. And I guarantee you that the chances of it getting lost in that place I call home is higher than us relinquishing our love for art."

"… you're asking me to move into a pigsty?"

"No, the human equivalent of one."

"…"

"You're just finding an excuse not to move in because you actually want to stay with beloved Chiyo-baachan."

"Friendship is a fragile piece of glass. And I don't even stay with her."

"That's about where I'm shutting up."

"Let's move into a new apartment."

"I don't have money flowing out of my pockets like fountains but I'm open to suggestions including robbing Kakuzu."

"Not a bad idea per se but hell hath no fury like Kakuzu when money is threatened."

"… Very good point."

"I meant moving into the house on the hill."

"Danna?"

"Hn?"

"I love you."

Sasori rolled his eyes. Damn, it was becoming a habit but there was really no other way to express his utter and complete exasperation when he was dealing with the blonde. Sure, he could simply tell Deidara to shut up but anyone who knew the blonde knew that that was more improbable than Kakuzu donating a five cent coin.

Deidara's calm and collected reaction – calm and collected in the sense that he was not bouncing around in overflowing joy and proclaiming that he was going to quit as well – was expected. Expected but depressing. Sasori had already known before his own proclamation had been uttered from his lips that Deidara would not follow suit and though he had hoped, wished and even prayed that Deidara would just give in and pursue his happiness instead, he knew that Deidara wouldn't.

Why? The answer was simple and logical. In fact, if he were in Deidara's position that would be exactly what he would do as well.

The reason he decided to quit med school and in the process infuriate and upset his grandmother was also simple and logical. First and foremost he had to clarify that he always knew that art was what he irrevocably loved and no amount of love he had for his grandmother would make him put precedence on medicine over art. Okay, he admitted that his actions thus far have proven otherwise because clearly he was in med school and not in, say, art school, but he knew that he had never thought medicine more important than art and the reason why he was could finally act on his true desires was because he now found someone else he wanted to be happy.

After his parents died, Chiyo was all the family he had and as a young boy who knew next to nothing about family was all he had and he had grown up thinking and sincerely believing that Chiyo was all that he had. Of course he discovered his love for art along the way (which ironically was taught to him by Chiyo) but Chiyo was family. Enough said.

For years and as far as he could remember, all he wanted was her to be happy and obviously becoming a doctor was the way to go as far as she was concerned. Sasori didn't mind. Being young and naïve back when he was a child he had foolishly thought that he would simply be able to handle both easily. Not to boast or be proud or anything of the sort but he knew that he was a genius. If the constant praises from everyone he met didn't reflect it, his perfect grades surely proved it. But reality was like running straight into a lamp pole. Reality wasn't easy. The fact is that he was a genius but even a genius can't do both medicine and art flawlessly at the same time and admittedly both were time consuming and Sasori only had so much time on his hands.

He had to be top in his studies and subsequently med school because the legendary Akasuna Chiyo wouldn't accept less than perfect and neither did he want to let her down in any way. On the other hand, he had to be at the top of the game in his art too because he accepted nothing less than perfect from his art works - from himself - too. Yes, they were a family of perfectionists. Chiyo had once quite fondly told him how his parents were too: his father once spent three days and three nights editing (yes, just editing) one of his theses in university because he wanted it to be perfect and his mother had spent the entire day furnishing their newly bought house because everything had to be in place perfectly. Sasori smiled at the thought; he would have gotten along really well with his parents, and that thought brought an all too familiar pang in his heart so he quickly pushed it away.

Anyway, the point was that he found someone else he wanted to make happy: Deidara. He didn't how or why or even when it happened but he just knew that it did, hence his decision. It wasn't that he loved Chiyo any less (granted he had been habouring his share of contempt for her for a while now), it was just that he… that he had a desire to make Deidara, instead of Chiyo, happy now. And he knew that the only way to make the blonde happy at this stage was to quit med and go to art school.

Simple as that.

Not that he was actually planning on going to art school; he was planning to simply start working as an artist. He never saw the point in art school: for one, creativity cannot be taught. Call him confident or over-confident even, but he was certain that he would be a successful artist, more so than a successful medical student or a doctor, because he actually loved and had a burning passion for art. All the same, he was no fool and didn't think that the beginning or the transition for that matter would be easy. It would be hard but that would just make the results all the more worth it. And honestly, any amount of suffering for the sake of art was infinitely more pleasurable than the gains of being a doctor because in the first place, if it was for the sake of art, he wouldn't consider it suffering anyway.

But don't think him a selfless and stupid man for placing other people's happiness before his own. He was a genius. He was perceptive. He was mature. He was a lot of positive things and a lot of negative things, sometimes combined and he felt like a walking paradox at times, but he was definitely not a selfless or stupid man. He knew that eventually he would have walked out on medicine; the problem was when. It might have taken months, he might have taken years and (God forbid) he might even have taken decades. He could even have just upped and left it all behind one random day with no warning. All of these were possibilities.

The fact that Deidara came sauntering into his life as if he belonged there and Sasori's subsequent feelings for him were all coincidences - in the sense that they were not planned. Sasori hadn't planned on feeling anything for Deidara. Ironically, they had hated each other at first. And Sasori didn't even intend to leave med school until quite recently. Just, actually. And while Deidara's happiness was a definite reason that prompted him to come to that decision, it undeniably also acted as a perfect excuse for him to actually do so and pursue the art he so loved. After all, if he didn't care about the blonde in the least bit, he wouldn't be able to justify his leaving med school and leaving his grandmother, quite certainly, brokenhearted.

He held back a snigger. A brokenhearted Chiyo… he never thought that he would live to see the day come. Though actually, she could much as likely swing to the other end of the spectrum and go all Javert on him. Honestly, it was not something he wanted to dwell on.

So yes, he was most definitely not a selfless man. And no, he was not the least bit ashamed of it. There could only be so many saints in this world and while he was no crook, calling him a saint was too farfetched and he was alright with simply being human with all its flaws.

"So what now, un?"

"We go to sleep or continue star gazing."

"… That is so not what I meant and you know it, un," Deidara muttered, prodding a nearby pebble just outside the tent with a fallen tree branch he had scrounged up a while ago.

"So we move," Sasori replied simply.

"Right and see how things go from there. Carpe diem right?" Deidara said cheekily while nudging Sasori lightly in the ribs.

Sasori swatted his arm away with a lot less force than intended.

"That's your style; not mine. I'll plan after we move," Sasori told him pointedly. How Deidara managed to live his days not planning or preparing for anything was, quite honestly, beyond the logics of Sasori. But, if he were to be completely honest with himself, that made Deidara Deidara and he was glad.

Beside him, Deidara let out a derisive sound and shook his head. He fixed affronted eyes on Sasori.

"Seriously, Danna, your style of life is so boring," he dragged out the 'o' and let out an insufferably long sigh. "Life is short and there's really only so much time for planning, un. But don't let me stop you from doing such a banal task. You wouldn't be my boring ol' Danna otherwise, un." And he topped his short speech off with a smirk.

Sasori tried not to murder him. Instead, at the risk of being very uncharacteristic, he simply snorted and turned away.

"You're having a fever," Deidara concluded loudly and the mirth in his voice was as clear as day.

"You're going to have start getting used to me being nice to you," Sasori somehow managed to say despite not even having thought of that sentence before it left his mouth. He shifted slightly, suddenly uncomfortable and feeling awkward.

Deidara was silent for a moment before he said in a tiny voice, "Yeah, the same goes for you, un."

The atmosphere was suddenly lighter and more relaxing all of a sudden. Deidara tended to have that kind of effect. Sasori bit back a small smile. He could feel that, somehow, their relationship was changing already but he wasn't going to risk everything by jumping straight into… he didn't know what to call it. The point is, the way they were was fine and he was happy with that, and he was sure that Deidara was too.

"What about Chiyo, un?" Deidara finally asked. As usual, he couldn't keep things in his head even if he wanted to. From the moment Sasori declared his intention to quit med school he already knew that Deidara would be wondering about Chiyo.

"She's my problem, not yours," Sasori replied dismissively and he could feel Deidara pouting.

"She's as much of my problem as yours, un. Who do you think she's going to take out all her anger on when you march out of med school?" Deidara demanded and even Sasori had to admit that he was right.

"I honestly don't know yet," Sasori admitted. "But whatever she says I'm not backing down on my decision."

"That's my Danna, un," Deidara said in a soft tone, smiling with his eyes twinkling.

Sasori really wanted to grab his hand but he offered Deidara a smile of his own.

"We're going to make it, un," Deidara declared confident and Sasori saw that impetuous and imprudent brat who caused a din in the lecture hall again.

He nodded.

"We are."

Chiyo picked up the heaviest book on her desk and flung it across the room. It hit the wall with a resounding bang and dropped to the fall with another loud thump. The book opened up into half upon impact on the floor and the pages were fluttering due to wind from the ceiling fan. For a moment it was the sound of flipping pages and Chiyo's heavy breathing were the only ones in the room and Chiyo took that moment to recollect herself.

She usually wasn't one to let anger overcome her, much less let it dictate her actions. This time was an exception. She had heard the news about Sasori's withdrawal from medical school that morning and had been repressing the fury ever since then. It didn't help that she had to pretend that she knew about it and had to plaster that fake, serene smile on her face when enquiring looks or queries were shot her way.

But there was something else that was mind boggling for her. If Sasori had quit then why not Deidara? She would have expected to them to quit together or not at all. She didn't exactly know the extent of their friendship but she eventually concluded that they were close when she saw them in Sasori's car the previous Friday.

From Iwa-san's complaints about Deidara being obsessed with art, she knew that he was desperate to leave medicine school, as Sasori was. So it didn't make sense that one would quit while the other stayed. She needed to find out because if she could find out the reason Deidara stayed then maybe, just maybe, she could use the same reason to persuade Sasori to return.

She clenched her fists by her sides as the anger bubbled up within her once again. Putting Deidara close to Sasori was a misjudgment on her part and a mistake that she had to fix. She would talk to Deidara because, more than anything, she wanted Sasori to return.

She wanted him to return now.

"This is stupid, un," Deidara muttered under his breath and he meant it even if he wasn't the one who had to directly face Chiyo's wrath.

"What's so stupid?" Sasori almost sounded like he was demanding for an answer instead of asking for one; the only clue that he was even slightly nervous about the situation he was in. His face was once again set in stone and though Deidara knew him better than that, it was always nice to know for sure that he wasn't the only one with butterflies (carnivorous ones no less) in his stomach.

"This, un," Deidara clarified, rolling his eyes.

"Because that's such a clear explanation," Sasori all but snapped before sighing. He slackened his shoulders and stared at the ground for a while. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Deidara replied before his tone took on a teasing edge. "It's always nice seeing you come undone, un."

"Always?" Sasori scoffed. "I'm hardly coming undone."

Deidara laughed despite himself. Sasori could be so amusing sometimes.

"Well, seeing as you are usually so impassive and stoic and all bow-before-me, this is probably what coming undone is like for you, un."

"You make no sense," Sasori retorted, not even bothering to vocalise how he much he resented Deidara's description of him because, yeah, he didn't make sense.

"Whatever, un," Deidara said, sounding way too pleased with himself. He was actually happier about managing to lighten the atmosphere than teasing Sasori but the red head didn't have to know that. "Let's go then."

Sasori raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"What now, un?" Deidara asked, wondering if this was some ploy of Sasori's to delay meeting Chiyo.

"We?"

"Well, of course. Do you see anyone else around, un?" Deidara asked and folded his arms; he was starting to lose his patience.

"No," Sasori replied but he wasn't really replying to Deidara's question. "Not us. Me."

Deidara's eyes widened and he stared at Sasori.

"You're going in alone?" Deidara tried not to screech but he obviously failed because Sasori was wincing and shooting him a withering glare.

"Yes."

"No way. That's like throwing you into a labyrinth, un."

"Are you comparing Chiyo to a minotaur?" Sasori questioned in amusement, sounding way more interested than he should be.

That was totally not the point but, "Well, duh! Look at her, un."

Sasori started sniggering and there was no doubt what he was picturing. Deidara rolled his eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten so close to Sasori; the other could be surprisingly childish when he wanted to be.

"That's not the point, un!" Deidara let out in the end when Sasori didn't show any signs of stopping his laughter.

He waved him off casually enough and Deidara was about to give him a piece of his mind when Sasori shot him a question.

"What happens to the minotaur in the end?"

"What?" Deidara splutters because why the heck were they discussing about Greek mythologies?! In his opinion, Chiyo was worse than all the mystical creatures combined.

"Answer the damn question," Sasori commanded easily.

"It dies, un," Deidara replied, rolling his eyes.

"It was killed," Sasori corrected patiently as if Deidara were but an ignorant little child.

"Same difference, un," Deidara snorted.

"So I'm Theseus," Sasori said anyway, knowing the exact moment Deidara got what he was trying to say when his facial expression changed from simple annoyance to understanding. But then a look of amusement came over his face again and Sasori just dreaded what he was going to say.

"Killing your grandmother is so not cool, un," Deidara said cheekily, grinning way too happily given he was so annoyed just a while ago. The speed of his mood swings, while not drastic, certainly still needed getting used to. It doesn't help that it could be drastic sometimes either.

"It was a metaphor," Sasori replied, emphasising the last word and eyeing Deidara with a degree of superiority. It wasn't that he thought Deidara didn't know it was a metaphor; it was just entertaining to treat Deidara like an idiot. Because his reactions were hilarious. He would usually shoot Sasori an indignant look, like the one he was giving him right now, then he would complain…

"Seriously, Danna, what the heck is your problem, un? I totally knew that."

Then grumble some more.

"Seriously, I'm not an idiot and you know that better than anyone, un. I'm a fucking genius."

Complain about Sasori.

"And if I'm an idiot, you're an idiot too because guess what: we got the same points for the admission test."

Somehow link it to art.

"Oh right, un. You are an idiot. You think art is eternal, un," and he spat the word out like it was the worst tasting food on earth.

And then manage to forget what he was bitching about.

"What the fuck were we talking about anyway?!"

Right, and get angry about it.

This was the only time Sasori didn't bother retorting Deidara or defending his views on art; it was too much effort. It was much better for Deidara to complete his rant so they could get back to the task at hand as soon as possible. Besides, Sasori was much too amused so he let Deidara get away with it. Most of the times anyway.

"So I'm going to see Chiyo now," Sasori said calmly and walked off, leaving Deidara to splutter indignantly behind.

He wasn't doing it on purpose. Normally he would try his best to persuade Deidara to do something and then let the younger one come along if he was really that insistent. But today was different; he had to do this alone and while Deidara would understand… eventually… he didn't really want to waste time doing that now. He wanted to get this done and over with so he can get started on his art proper without feeling like he owed Chiyo some sort of explanation. Besides, he knew that Chiyo was waiting, and he hated making people wait.

If he were to ever be in a horror film, Sasori figured that this would be exactly how he ought to feel like. Nothing was exceptionally scary: the guard greeted him as normal – with a knowing grim smile (because he made it obvious that he only visits grandma dearest out of a twisted sense of familial obligation) and a salute, the elevator is as creepy as ever – pink and floral, and the long corridor to Chiyo's apartment is as broody as the occupant, a complete contrast to the interior of the elevator.

It was the fact that he was going to meet Chiyo, and this time actually defy her so openly, that made him, well, fearful. Sasori was a proud man and he would never admit that he was scared out loud, but he wasn't dumb so he knew what fear was when it presented itself so shamelessly before him. But there was no way in hell that he was going to back out now. Now was the time to finally do it.

Now, Chiyo wasn't the one he wanted to make happy.

And so he took a deep breath and knocked on the door before letting himself in. Chiyo always allowed him to enter as he pleased. He supposed it was so that he would actually use the key she had given him (and justify the need to give it to him as well if he was being brutally honest with himself) but he didn't want to go into any intricacies with her. She was a book that he could read ten times over and still be utterly confounded. And that was coming from him.

"I've been waiting," she stated and it was apparent that she was. She was sitting in her arm chair, the one which she always used whenever she was thinking about a particularly hard case or working on one of her books. Sasori thought it rather an honour that she perhaps felt as perplexed about him as he was about her.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Sasori said despite it not being the most appropriate or relevant thing to say. He couldn't help it though; he really hated to keep people waiting. And Chiyo must know that because the corners of her lips curled up into a, if Sasori was to be completely honest and not critical of her for once, fond smile. But it disappeared as quickly as it came so it wasn't as if Sasori had the time to contemplate it.

"Why?" it was the natural question to ask but it sounded more like a demand. An arrow laced with poison.

"Because I decided to stop being your puppet," Sasori replied calmly. "Because I want to be the puppet master now."

Chiyo let out a dry laugh and she glanced at Sasori, a withering look in her eyes coupled with something akin to despise. But somehow, Sasori knew that the contempt in those eyes weren't for him. He blinked once and looked away because he wasn't sure if he could keep from yelling at her then. As much as possible, he was going to make this into a civil conversation.

"Why now?" she clarified and Sasori thought that of course she had to pry all the way. It didn't matter if he was an abyss; she would plunge straight in and try to scrounge up any information she could.

"Because I decided to stop being your puppet now," Sasori replied. He was being evasive but from years of dealing with Chiyo he knew that staying hidden behind a mask was the way to prevent himself from being hurt and to prevent her from finding out anything to manipulate him.

But oh did he make her angry. He annoyed her a couple of times before, sure, but he had never made her angry, much less to say this angry. Her eyes flashed with poison and she was clenching her fists so tightly that her nails were digging viciously into her palms. Sasori was pretty sure that she would draw blood pretty soon.

"Why?" she demanded again.

Sasori thought that she should give up because he wasn't going to give in any time soon or ever but he didn't tell her that. Of course he didn't.

"I'm sick of listening to you," Sasori eventually replied and that was the first time he was ever so honest with her, the first time he didn't sound polite when addressing her. "I'm sick of this life that you have constructed for me and I want out."

Chiyo wasn't having any of that though.

"Return to med school immediately," she commanded stoically, obviously not taking no for an answer. "I'll explain to Tsunade and get her to nullify your letter."

"Then you'd be lying to her," Sasori answered levelly. "Because I won't be returning."

"Now, Sasori- " Chiyo started, in that somewhat grandmotherly tone she used with him when he was child and wanted him to do something. At that time he had thought that it was for his own good but now he knew better and how he loathed that tone.

"Don't," he said simply before she could say anything else.

"What is your problem?" she seethed. "I'm conceding already. I'm not even asking you to apologise."

It was Sasori's turn to be angry. Conceding? That was conceding? What, did she think that he got himself into some trouble and needed her to clean up after him? He closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down.

"No."

"Sasori -"

"I said no."

They glared at each other, neither willing to back down, both believing that they were right. Sasori would have backed down. Before this, he would have backed down and listened to Chiyo. Return to med school? Done. Apologise? Sure. But not now.

He knew that Chiyo was shocked even though she was doing a perfect job of hiding it. He didn't find it amusing or unexpected. Of course she was shocked. He had never defied her before after all. And it wasn't as if she could blame this on him being a kid and not knowing better or him being a rebellious teenager. He was an adult now and he was consciously making this decision after thinking it through. Naturally she would be shocked. In fact, he thought that maybe the fact that he was intentionally doing this that riled her up so much. He wondered if it hurt her… or her pride.

"Then what did you come for?" Chiyo demanded, sounding furious and exhausted and helpless – a whorl of so many emotions – that Sasori almost felt sorry for her.

"To make you give up on making me return," Sasori replied steadily. Because I never will.

"Get out," she spat.

Sasori didn't need to be told twice. If he didn't have as much self-control as he did he would have fled the place already but he wasn't about to expose his fear – so raw and new – to Chiyo.

If he was being completely honest to himself, he would admit that part of the reason why he wanted to make Chiyo give up so quickly was because he didn't want her to be pained by the ruined hopes of getting him back. In a way he supposed it was an act of care but to her it must have been nothing more than a heartless deed on his part. Needless to say, he didn't think that he would be seeing her again anytime soon. That thought brought him a mixture of relief and sadness.

He was still lost in his thoughts and pondering over exactly what he felt towards Chiyo and this conflict between them that he somehow managed to craft when he exited the building. His thoughts were immediately tossed aside when he saw Deidara though.

The blonde was frantically pacing the length of his car and Sasori was pretty sure that he would burn a massive hole through the pavement if he didn't stop soon. Deidara was so amusing. He chuckled lightly to himself. That somehow caught Deidara's attention and he ceased his pacing immediately to glare at Sasori for all he was worth. Sasori took his time walking over casually.

"Very funny, un," Deidara commented the moment he was within hearing range. Sasori didn't really know what he was talking about but in the end decided that Deidara, being Deidara, was probably talking about everything.

"I thought it was too," he replied just for the hell of it.

Deidara reached out to smack his arm hardly and Sasori winced a little. Deidara was strong despite his feminine looks.

"Jerk," he fumed and headed into the passenger seat, slamming the car door loudly.

Sasori shook his head in mock horror before seating himself into the driver's seat and taking off. The drive was silent until Deidara decided to break it.

"So?" he asked impatiently, shifting in his seat so as to turn to look at Sasori.

"So what?"

Deidara, in a complete disregard for traffic safety, reached over to hit Sasori's arm violently again. Sasori spared him a short glare before returning his eyes to the road.

"At least wait until I stop somewhere."

"Asshole," Deidara huffed but crossed his arms and waited anyway, even though most of his waiting time was spent trying to burn a hole through Sasori's window.

In a moment of nostalgia or maybe it was because that place actually meant something to Sasori, he drove them to the beach.

Deidara got out of the car first, immediately stretching when he did so. He cast his eyes upwards and brightened up considerably.

"It's going to rain," he announced gleefully when Sasori walked over to him.

Sasori glanced up at the sky and indeed saw the dark clouds that were gathering, covering the sun behind a mass of grey.

"So let's get to the cave before we get drenched."

And then Deidara got that glint in his eye which always spelled trouble for Sasori.

"What?" he asked drily even though he really didn't want to know.

"Race you there, un," Deidara challenged and took off immediately after.

Sasori usually wouldn't be bothered with such menial and immature activities but he hated to lose. Damn Deidara for knowing him so well! Without further ado, he took off in a sprint as well.

"You cheated," he said later when they were settled in the cave and the rain had well turned into a thunderstorm.

"So I did, un," Deidara agreed before sticking his tongue out at Sasori. "But I won."

"Whatever," Sasori replied, opting to stare out at the rain and the sea beyond instead.

"Since we have stopped…" Deidara muttered.

"What do you want to know anyway?" Sasori asked and was actually genuinely curious. It was quite obvious what went down to him. He made his intentions clear to Chiyo, she wasn't very happy about it – okay so she was positively steaming – and then they parted on bad terms. It wasn't exactly an interesting novel.

"What happened, un," Deidara deadpanned.

Sasori stared at Deidara like he was an idiot. Deidara stared back, unrepentant. Sasori rolled his eyes. Seriously. The blonde could be perceptive when he wanted to but evidently those moments were rare and few in between.

"I talked to Chiyo, she got mad, I left," Sasori surmised in a bored tone.

Deidara glared at him heatedly.

"That's obvious, un," he grunted and gave Sasori a pointed look. "I want the details."

Right. He should have known. Deidara could be such a busybody sometimes. Though it was comforting to know that part of the reason was because it was him that was involved. If it were someone else, he doubted that Deidara would be as concerned. In fact, Deidara would probably be completely unconcerned.

"She flared up," Sasori started and he hadn't even gone into the details yet but Deidara was gaping at him already.

"Chiyo never flares up, un," he said in awe but it wasn't accusatory or anything.

"I seconded that till today I guess," Sasori replied with a shrug. It was true in a way. He had never thought Chiyo immune to the emotion of anger, had always known she was capable of it. It was just that she had never shown it so it just seemed as if she never got angry. Or maybe she just hid it really well. Sasori idly wondered if people viewed him in the same manner. Sure he knew that he got angry. Deidara would be the witness to that any day, but somehow he had the feeling that people just assumed he was like Chiyo.

"Well, un," Deidara said. "Should have expected it."

"Well," Sasori echoed.

"What else?"

"Nothing much really," Sasori admitted. "She flared up, then tried to force me to go back to med school and then I left. She told me to get out if you must know, but I was planning to leave anyway."

"Woah," Deidara said, looking as if it was a lot of information to take in. Well, Sasori did suppose that he was rather close to Chiyo as well.

"About that," Sasori said as he remembered what he was so angry about. "She tried to play if off as me going through a rebellious phrase and wanted to talk to Tsunade about it."

"Because you're totally incapable of making decisions on your own, un," Deidara snorted derisively.

Sasori felt much better already.

"Oh well, now that she's out of the damned way, when are you going to start on art?" Deidara asked and Sasori could practically see the glow on the last word.

"I'll start planning tomorrow and see what happens," Sasori replied, expecting the eye roll before it even happened.

"Still going on about the planning, un?" Deidara asked scathingly. "So boring."

"Yeah and your life is so interesting because you have lectures tomorrow. I'm awfully jealous," Sasori mocked, intending for it to be lighthearted and casual but it sounded worse and more serious in reality. He was about to take it back when he noticed Deidara's (fake) glare on him.

"Seriously Danna, so mean." Deidara pouted.

Sasori couldn't help it. He smiled.

"But we need to move first though," Sasori told Deidara. "We could start today actually."

"Wait, you're serious about that?" Deidara asked, sounding so shocked that someone would actually want to live with him that Sasori almost felt sad for him until he realised that Deidara was staring at him incredulously. Indignation flared.

"What," he snapped. "I'm a good housemate."

"I'm not, un," Deidara confessed though it sounded like he didn't believe Sasori either.

"I am," Sasori insisted, affronted.

"I'm messy, un," Deidara said because he knew just how much Sasori prioritised his tidiness.

"So limit it to your room," Sasori replied.

And I have crazy mood swings… was what Deidara wanted to say.

"And I know you have crazy mood swings," Sasori said dismissively even as Deidara's eyes widened. "I don't mind."

Deidara really wanted to hug Sasori but doing so would undoubtedly result in him being tossed into the pouring rain and be drenched to the bone as a result so he satisfied himself with a smile. Sasori didn't know about his random moments of low despite his knowledge of his mood swings and Deidara wasn't exactly sure how to tell him about it despite wanting.

It seemed that living together was the solution to that though. He wouldn't have to tell him; he would just have to show him. And if Sasori had already accepted him thus far, he surely wouldn't mind that Deidara could be randomly depressed about nothing in particular.

"And I know that you have patience the size of a peanut, un," Deidara retorted though he couldn't keep the smile out of his voice. "So I guess we had better move once we get out of this rain."

"Best suggestion you ever made, Brat," Sasori praised, ignoring the pebble that hit his shoulder.

There you have it! I actually wrote the front part a while back (last year) but then I haven't had time to continue between looking for a job and settling university stuff. But it's finally here so yay! XD Hopefully the next chapter wouldn't be so long... :D