I LOVE: Loyalty
Okay, so I know it's been FOREVER AND A HALF since my last update, but I was working on this, and I kept re-writing it... argh. Anyways, they should be quicker after this one. Alright. thanks to Fun-Sized-Otaku for their patience and loyalty! Yay! I got your message just as I was writing this, actually. Okay. Now, in this chapter, there's a LOT of SasoDei. Probably because I've been updating Provocation a lot, and I got really used to it. Warning: This chapter contains severely improbable police/lawyer plots, mostly because I don't know anything about detectives or lawyers. I don't own Naruto.
"Are you going already?" Konan asked, leaning against the taxi that would take Deidara and Sasori to the airport.
"Yeah," Sasori said as Deidara shoved the last of the bags into the back of the cab; he'd insisted on doing it all himself, so Sasori wouldn't hurt his shoulder again.
"It's a shame you only stayed a week after getting out of the hospital." Konan said as Pain took her hand. She smiled at him.
"Yeah, well...I felt bad, because you're paying for it all." said Sasori, and Konan scoffed.
"Oh, please. It's not my money anyways." she said, although she did wonder how she was going to pay for the hotel stay. Deidara closed the door of the trunk and grinned.
"See ya, Pain, Konan," he said, hugging Pain and then Konan. Sasori punched Pain's arm then pulled Konan into a hug.
"Woah, that's new," he said, pulling away and looking pointedly down at Konan's chest. She kicked his shin lightly, and he and Deidara hopped in the cab.
"And now... it's just us." Pain said as the taxi drove away, Sasori and Deidara waving from the back window.
"Yeah... but I don't mind." Konan said, grinning, and Pain laughed and scooped her up, carrying her back up to their hotel room.
The next morning, Konan fell out of bed and woke up at seven a.m. She muttered under her breath and clambered up. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so she walked (a little stiffly) over to the kitchen unit and started to make some coffee. She poured the steaming drink int a mug and sat down at the table, smiling a little as she saw Pain stretched out on the bed, his hair messy and mouth slightly open.
She jumped as there was a sharp knock on the door. Konan put down her cup, said 'coming' just loud enough so they'd hear, trying to let Pain sleep in. She pulled on his sweatshirt, which was abandoned on a chair, and his boxers (her clothes were under the bed), then pulled the door open. A tall man with a black goatee and thick eyebrows looked down at her, holding a police I.D.
"Yes?" she said, but her voice had gone.
"What is it?" she asked after clearing her throat. She rather felt that she needed to sit down.
"Konan Amega?" he asked in a deep voice, and she nodded.
"I'm a detective. You speak English?" the officer asked with a thick accent, shutting his wallet. He had a lisp, and pronounced his 'r's like 'arrgh's. Konan nodded and let him in.
"Please don't wake him up," she said when the officer saw Pain. He nodded and turned to face her.
"I'm sorry. Your father was found dead several weeks ago. We had some trouble finding you, as you have no permanent address." he said, and Konan nodded, sitting down as her legs gave way; they were going to be arrested.
No surprise, since they'd killed many people, but she'd childishly assumed that 'they'd get away with it'. So stupid.
"Now, Konan. I have DNA samples from a room below the bar where your father's body was found that proves that you were there at the time of his death." The detective looked at her, his black eyes piercing. Konan had the unpleasant sensation that her stomach was slowly freezing. She didn't speak, and the detective continued. "Now, why don't you tell me the whole story, and I'll see what I can do to help." he said, sitting down across from her at the table, pancaking his hands on the wood tabletop. She bit her lip and began to speak.
"My dad was doing a project, some science thing-"
"Andromeda. We searched his study trying to find where you would be. Odd man, your father." Konan frowned sternly at the detective before continuing.
"Yes. So he told me to come here to visit him. When I got to his house, I fell asleep. I'm not sure what happened then-"
"Chloroform. Traces of it were discovered in your room at your father's house."
"Okay then." she said, glaring briefly at the detective; she hated to be interrupted.
"I woke up, chained to a wall in a dark stone room, and I didn't know where I was. A man was there, his name was Bill, he was Irish."
"We found the body of a William Mackenzie. Five foot nine, red hair, heavyset. Sound familiar?"
"Yes. He told me that my father owed Mr Angelo money. I don't know who Mr Angelo is, but my dad was in a lot of debt."
"Yes. He owed Mr Angelo more money than what Dolce and Gabbana's entire collection is worth in Euros." the detective said, nodding, and Konan blinked at him; seriously?
"...Right. Anyways, so he'd been experimenting on my body-"
"Yup, found the papers."
"Can you please stop interrupting! So he was going to give me to Mr Angelo. Then Bill was shot by some other guys."
"Who?"
"Don't know. They moved me to another room or something, and then this guy Marely (I don't know his full name) came in and tried to rape me."
"And then?"
Konan didn't speak. The detective leaned forwards, looking at her carefully.
"We found the body of one Abele Marely in another room below the pub where your father was shot. Broken neck. Black fibers from a lace garment were found on his clothes." he said, narrowing his eyes. Konan thanked God they'd gotten rid of the lace bodysuit.
"I can prove it was you, Miss Amega. A strand of blue hair was found on his jacket. Not just any blue hair. Naturally blue. Or, rather, genetically altered while you weren't even a fetus. You don't find hair like that very often." he said gruffly, looking pointedly at Konan's messy hair. She sighed and decided to just... she didn't think anymore.
"I killed him. He was trying to rape me, and I killed him. I squeezed his neck with my thighs. Then I got out of the room-"
"How?"
"...he left it open. Then I picked up a knife,"
"Where did you find that?"
"Marley had it in his pocket, and I took it. Then I killed the other guards."
"Some were shot with a pistol."
"I took a gun off of one I had already killed." The detective nodded slightly.
"And then what did you do?" he asked, and Konan tried hard to remember exactly what had happened next.
"I...I went to the bathroom to change, so that nobody would recognize me."
"Where'd you find other clothes?"
"Somebody left a bag in the bathroom. I took the clothes, and flushed the plastic bag down the toilet."
"Okay. What next?" She sighed, frowning as she concentrated. The sound of Pain's steady breathing behind her helped her relax.
"When I left the bathroom, the inn's pub was empty of customers. There were some guys there, and my dad, held at gunpoint."
"You saw your father?"
"Yes. Mr Angelo was there. He was going to take me away, so I...shot him. And the others, but they shot my dad."
"How many others were there?"
"Like...six."
"You took on six armed men and you didn't get hurt?"
"Yes." The detective leaned back.
"Konan, don't lie. According to the files your father kept on you, you have no experience whatsoever with weapons. You've never played any sports. I highly doubt that you, severely undernourished for two weeks, could possibly have escaped such a situation by yourself."
"She wasn't alone."
Konan turned around in surprise. Pain was standing behind her, thankfully wearing pants. He had been so quiet getting up that even the detective hadn't noticed; he blinked in surprise and put a hand in his pocket, where Konan could see the bulge of a gun. She gasped and turned back to Pain, who also had his gun in his pocket. For the first time, Konan seriously wondered where he'd gotten that gun.
"Accomplice?" the detective asked, and Pain nodded.
"No! No, what if you get thrown in jail?" Konan hissed, shoving Pain in the side, but he didn't move.
"He wasn't there, I was alone." Konan said desperately, but Pain's jaw was set with determination, and the detective wasn't looking at her.
"Two teenagers? Were there more?" the detective asked sceptically.
"No." Pain said, placing a hand comfortingly on Konan shoulder. It helped, but she was still shaking with worry.
"So, between the two of you, you murdered eleven men, and didn't report the murder of your own father."
The detective switched his bold gaze to Konan, who lowered her head; she felt rather like a child being sent to the corner, but this was much, much more serious.
The gravity of the situation was now settling onto her like a blanket of ice. Her father had been dead for several weeks, and not only had she not reported it, but she'd been living off his money, which she didn't rightfully have access to.
Her mother was also dead. Gave herself a fatal head injury in the bathroom. She was buried around the back of the asylum, with only a simple headstone. And though Konan had sent in a letter with money to get Forever in Heaven engraved on the headstone, she felt a pain in her heart to know that her mother had died alone.
"That's right. Are you going to arrest us?" she asked quietly after a while, and she felt Pain kiss the top of her head as she watched the detective as his gaze shifted between them.
"Put your gun on the table." he said, gesturing at Pain, who did so.
"Now. After reading your father's research papers and files on you, trying to find you, I have to say... you have had a pretty unfortunate childhood." the detective said, looking at Konan, who looked back, considering mentioning that thanks to her father, she wasn't exactly a child any more, but she didn't say anything.
"As it turns out, every single man you killed was a wanted felon, many of them in more than one country. All of them were wanted murderers, and had the police caught them beforehand, they would have been executed." Konan could hardly hear him. Her mind was racing. What did this mean? Were they going to be arrested for murder, or...?
"What...what are you saying?" she asked slowly. She felt Pain slowly stroking her hair, and she leaned her head against his hip.
"This means that if I can get statements from both of you..." the detective paused, gazing at Konan, then Pain, in such a way that made them feel like they were being x-rayed.
"...I can let you go with a very severe warning. But no jail time." Konan seriously doubted that that was legal. But she didn't say anything.
"Are you allowed to do that?' Pain asked curiously, and she looked up at him. The man across from them scratched his nose.
"Look. With statements from both of you, we could potentially bring down Mr Angelo's drug ring."
"Since when did he do drugs?" Konan asked, and Pain grinned at her.
"Many of the men found dead at the scene were connected to a very important case that the police of this city have been working on for several years. The Andromeda project was the most recent of dozens of similar incidents. To be honest, had the police arrived before you," the detective looked at Pain,
"They would likely have done the same thing. Perhaps held one member for interrogation, but to no avail; all of Mr A's workers were fiercely loyal. We've captured seven in the past, and all of them swallowed poison before we could question them."
Konan honestly hardly understood a word of what the man was saying; his accent was a little confusing, and she had had absolutely no contact with police and detectives before this. She had talked to an officer, but not about something so complicated. It reminded her a bit of some kind of elaborate Law and Order plot.
"Basically, you can make a statement and I can let you go, or you can come down to the station with me and my officers who are waiting outside, and let a judge and jury decide whether or not to sentence you for murder."
"We'll make statements," Pain said, and Konan nodded.
Four hours later, Konan walked out of the cold room where she'd been writing on sheets of paper and talking into a microphone for the last hour and a half, and sat down on a chair in the lobby.
She couldn't believe it. It was impossible. So many things had happened since she'd left school, all of them more far-fetched and crazy than the last. I won't be surprised if I wake up in the hospital tomorrow with a giant bandage on my head. Like I imagined the whole thing, she thought wryly, pinching herself just in case. It hurt. And she didn't wake up. She was still staring at the grey wallpaper across from her. Bummer. And yet.
"Hey," She looked up, and smiled at Pain, who offered her a hand. She took it, and they walked together out of the police building.
Two days later, there was another early-morning knock on the door. Once again, Konan raced out of bed, whipping the blanket up over Pain, pulling on his t-shirt and an abandoned pair of jeans (which she accidentally put on backwards first) before swinging open the door.
"Yes?" she asked breathlessly to the tall man in the dark pin-stripe suit who stood before her. He had a briefcase and a wide mouth.
"Good morning," he said with a huge smile, thrusting forwards a hand and shaking her whole arm vigorously. Konan stared at him.
"Um...good morning?" she asked in complete confusion, staring at him. He looked like a caricature of a lawyer.
"Are you Konan? Daughter of Jared and Lucille Amega?"
Lucille? Konan's eyes widened in surprise, considering that she was fairly certain that her mother's name had been Suzie, but she said 'yes' anyways. The man walked in, and sat down at the kitchen table. He had a loud voice, with a surprisingly strong American accent, considering that he seemed to know her father, who had lived in Italy for ten years or so.
"Who's he?" the man asked, pointing at Pain who (miraculously) was still asleep. Konan crossed her arms and sat down.
"Who are you?" she asked pointedly, and the man laughed loudly. Louder than Pain. LOUD.
"God, I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. The name's Cameron. Cameron Jackson, your late dad's lawyer. Sorry about that, darling. It must've been a shock."
"What?" Konan asked, and Cameron looked at her with a small frown on his handsome, tanned face.
"...His death, of course."
"Oh, that! Yes... yes it was quite a shock." she said, clearing her throat and concentrating on Cameron's thinning hairline. It was quite obvious that he wasn't a natural blonde.
"Now, I've come here to discuss some legal things with you. Just to settle it, you know, the money, the will, there's a funeral, etc. Money, money, money, eh?" he said, flashing an unnaturally white grin at her.
She smiled back, and imagined her face cracking from the movement. She frowned at him as he pulled a load of thick files, fat with paper out of his briefcase.
"Now, here's the situation, darlin'," he said with a paperclip between his teeth as he rifled through a load of documents. She wished he wouldn't call her that. She didn't particularly want to be his darling.
"Your daddy was in a bit of a pickle, money-wise, but I can sort that all out. The thing you'll be interested in are funeral fees, and of course, the money your dad left you." he said, sliding a paper over to Konan. She looked at him, and then picked it up, reading it carefully. It was a bank statement from her father's account, printed the day before.
"What are these?"
"What, darlin'?" Konan pointed at the numbers on the paper.
"These withdrawals, sending money into your account?" Konan asked, frowning at Cameron, who cleared his throat.
"My wages. Your father had emplyed me to take charge of any and all expenses were he to die prematurely, and that's my payment. We had agreed to this beforehand, darlin', here's the contract," he said, sliding another piece of paper over to her. She inspected it, noting that her father's signature was wrong. She asked to keep the contract, and he agreed, saying that he had a copy at home.
"I shall now read you your father's last will and testament." Cameron said, obviously a little harried now that konan had noticed how much money had been going into his accounts. He produced another sheet and unfolded it.
"Last will, blah blah blah, Lucille if she's in a stable mental state, no...ah, here we are. Andromeda or Konan, isn't it?" he asked, and Konan scowled; had her dad actually put Andromeda on his will! God...
"Yes." she muttered, shuffling her feet, and Cameron continued.
"Right on. To my only daughter, Andromeda or Konan, I bequeath the sum of all my estates in addition to the 4 000 000 dollars in my offshore account." Konan stared at Cameron.
"My dad was in debt! He didn't have four hundred dollars to spare, let alone four million!" she exclaimed, her voice shrill. Cameron tapped his nose.
"Yes, I was quite surprised, too; I knew your father quite well, Konan. But a few months ago he re-wrote this will, and let it slip that he'd been putting money aside for you, on the sly. Tricky man, your father. So, once the banks have sorted everything out, you should receive a cheque in the mail from them, and Bob's your uncle!"
"I don't have an uncle."
"Figure of speech, darlin'." Cameron said airily before making a huge show of checking his watch.
"Oh my, is that the time! Holy crackers on a cow patty! I've gotta run, doll!" he said, swinging up his briefcase and folders. Konan stood up, but he was already out the door.
Four million. Four million dollars. I'm a...I'm a millionaire.
Konan wasn't very happy to think that.
She looked down at the contract in her hands, and sighed.
"What a tool." She looked around. Pain was sitting up, eyebrows raised.
"Who?" she asked, going to him and falling into his arms. He held her and rocked her back and forth before kissing her cheek.
"That Cameron guy."
"Oh, baby, he's a toolbox." she said seriously, and he laughed before rolling them over and kissing her again. After lunch, Konan looked at Pain thoughtfully.
"Do you think we should go back soon?" she asked. Pain yawned loudly and stretched before answering, slipping his hand in her back pocket as they walked back to the hotel from the IHOP where they'd eaten.
"Sure. I don't mind, but you're paying for the hotel, right? So maybe we should." he said, and she nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Right." she agreed.
"We'll pack tonight." he promised.
Well, as things turned out, they didn't exactly have time to pack that night...or the next morning... So the next afternoon, Konan determinedly began shoving their things back into their bags. Not that she had many clothes, but she had gone shopping since they'd first arrived at the hotel.
"Which flight do you want to catch?" Pain asked when she met him down in the lobby. He was clicking away on the guests-only computer in the corner. Konan paid the hotel bill with her credit card, flustered slightly by the large five-digit number on the receipt, and walked over to him.
"Well, I just checked us out, so preferably tonight." she said, leaning on him to see the screen.
"Okay. Our flight leaves in two hours. We'd better go now, don't you think?" he said, and she nodded.
They took the bus to the airport, and quickly got past security.
"Okay. We're arriving...but then we're departing. Are we 'Arrivals' or 'Departures'?" Konan asked, looking from one sign to the other. When Pain didn't reply, she looked at him. He was staring at her with his eyebrows raised, disbelief obvious on his face. Konan laughed and said she was joking.
"So...departures, right?" she asked. Pain rolled his eyes.
"I can't believe you..." he muttered, grinning, ignoring Konan's protests that she was 'just checking'. They got their tickets quickly, and sat down together on the carpeted floor by a large window after checking in their baggage. Konan crossed her legs and wiggled her toes. Pain slipped his arm around her, and she leaned on his shoulder, chewing her lip thoughtfully.
"If you could be any road in the world, which one would you be?" she asked. Pain grinned.
"That's a question you don't hear every day. It depends. Are you also a road?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Okay. I'd be a road that crosses yours. So people would say, 'I'll meet you at Konan and Pain.'" he said, and Konan smiled.
"Okay. You get one brownie point for being cute, but which one would you be? Would you be... Williams road, or Sowerby boulevard?" she asked, and Pain smirked.
"What, only one brownie point? You're so stingy!" he exclaimed, but answered the question when Konan gave him a look.
"Alright, alright. I would be...Abbey road."
"The one the Beatles crossed?" Konan asked, and he nodded.
"Alright. Well, I would be Champs-Élisées, in Paris." she said, and he smiled.
"Look, a plane's taking off." Pain said, pointing out the window. They watched it leave the ground and soar out of sight.
"It looks as if it's going slowly...but it's not." Konan murmured, and Pain nodded.
"Do you have any dreams, or plans for when we graduate?" Konan asked after a while. Pain thought about it for a while.
"Well, I'm not really sure. I guess we'd graduate... maybe get our own place... I'd probably work at the motorcycle garage for a few years, but after that... I'm not sure, but it's gonna be big." he said, grinning. Konan smiled.
"Who's 'we'?" she asked, knowing that she was tempting fate even by asking. Pain looked at her with his eyebrows raised.
"You know what I'm gonna say." he accused and she giggled before he pulled her closer and kissed her firmly, almost persuasively.
"Love-struck teenagers..." an old man muttered almost fondly, as he walked past with a newspaper. Konan broke away and laughed. Pain grinned, watching the man walk away, before tweaking Konan's nose and smiling mischievously.
"Love-struck teenagers these days. Can't keep their hands off each other." he said, and Konan muffled her laughter in his shoulder.
"Well, what about you? Any particular plans?" Pain asked, and Konan opened her mouth to say 'nothing' before a couple ten metres away caught her eye.
They looked to be pretty young, maybe twenty-seven, and the dad was holding the baby above his head, making faces and saying something in baby-talk. The baby was laughing, and the mom was tickling its feet.
"Well?" Pain asked, and Konan zipped back from her own world.
"Hmm?" she asked, blushing, trying hard not to look suspicious.
"What?" Pain asked, turning to glance over his shoulder. Konan swore silently before grabbing Pain's head, yanking it around, and kissing him forcefully. He was staring at her, she could tell, but she shut her eyes, determined not to let him see that what she'd been staring at had been a baby. She opened her eyes and released Pain when she saw that the couple had left.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" he asked breathlessly. Konan smiled.
"I already have all I want after graduation." she said brightly, and Pain smiled and poked her nose.
"You're annoyingly cute." he said, and she smiled and scrunched her toes, watching them instead of Pain. She was silent with her thoughts, sitting in a cloud of obvious embarrassment until their flight was called.
Itachi closed his phone.
"Their flight arrives in half an hour." he said, looking around the room. Yahiko ruffled his hair.
"Our car only seats five, including the driver. Are any of you legal?" he asked.
"Ooh, ooh, I'll drive, I'll drive!" Annie cheered, jumping up and snatching the keys off the table.
"The airport's twenty minutes away, you should make it in time-"
"Let me DRIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!"
"-and the traffic shouldn't be bad. What time is it right now, anyways, one a.m.?"
"I WANNA DRIIIIIIIIVEEEE!"
Yahiko clapped his hand over his daughter's mouth and smiled at the others.
"So, that's Annie-"
"Yess!"
"Plus four. Who wants to go meet them?"
"Shotgun!" Hidan yelled, raising his fist in the air.
"Me and Deidara'll go, too." Sasori said, grabbing his boyfriend by the arm and marching him to the car.
"Okay. Don't die on the way there or back. That car's my baby." Yahiko said with a wink and a grin as the group dispersed.
"What about me? I'm your daughter!" Annie exclaimed angrily from down the hall. Yahiko grinned and turned around, pouring himself some coffee.
"Daughters are different from babies." he called back to her before taking a sip from his steaming mug.
"Thanks again for letting us stay here, even though Pain's not here yet." Itachi said quietly from the other side of the room. Yahiko turned around and grinned.
"No problem. Trust me, it would be boring without you. Besides, you guys are interesting." he said with a cheeky wink before walking off to find his magazine. Itachi watched him go, then raised his gaze to Kisame, who was drumming his fingers on the table.
"So...what's your favourite colour?" he asked. Kisame turned around.
"You're terrible at making conversation." he said, and Itachi's mouth curved up slightly.
"Thanks for being frank."
Konan screamed and threw herself into Deidara's arms, almost knocking him over. Pain and Sasori watched awkwardly until Annie flung herself at her brother before taking money out of his pocket and disappearing off to buy a magazine.
"Hey...isn't she kinda... not supposed to do that?" Hidan asked, referring to both Annie and Konan as he grabbed Pain and Konan's bags and easily swung them up onto his shoulders.
"I missed you so much, I did! How are you?" Konan asked, hugging Deidara tightly. He hugged her back, grinning, lifted her up, and spun her around. When he put her back down on the ground, she backed away, staring at him.
"Have you been working out, or did I get fifty pounds lighter?" she asked, and Deidara laughed.
"You're not that heavy, okay?" he asked.
Konan grinned and jumped at Hidan, hugging him.
"Motherfuck, when did you get those?" he asked her, nodding at her chest, which was pressed into his stomach. She scowled at him.
"Is that seriously all you're going to say after we haven't seen each other for weeks?" she demanded, blushing, and he laughed and hugged her again, almost squashing her with his huge bags. Meanwhile, Deidara had seized the chance to talk to Pain.
Konan turned her head and smiled slightly when she saw Deidara talking quickly, and Pain grinning; Pain had told her before that Deidara considered him his best friend. She was about to ask Hidan how bounty hunting with Kakuzu had been, when two cool hands she recognized immediately looped around her shoulders and pulled her away from him, and into the embrace of another.
"Seriously? You hug him before me?" Sasori asked, annoyed, ignoring Hidan who shot a cluster F-bomb at him.
"Sorry, I-" Konan began, but Sasori was already kissing her.
Almost immediately, Deidara and Pain were there, and Deidara pulled Sasori off of Konan by the collar.
"Hey! What was that for?" Konan asked, pink in the face as she rubbed her mouth. Sasori grinned at her before turning to Deidara, who honestly looked dangerous. Konan sighed when she caught Pain's expression.
"Sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know he would do that." she muttered, her cheeks still pink, but with shame. Pain's easy smile didn't falter as he put his arm around her.
"It's okay. I know it's not your fault." he said, and Konan shot him a look.
"That doesn't stop you being mad. I know you're not fine." she said, rolling her eyes when she saw that he was still smiling.
"I'm not angry with you." he repeated before taking his bag from Hidan, who had somehow gotten into a fight with a security guard.
Saying that the drive home was only a little awkward would be the understatement of the century.
Around three, Konan woke up. She always got terrible jet lag, no matter where she went, and after attempting several times to go to sleep, she gave up and slid out of bed. The floor was cold, so she pulled on a pair of fuzzy red socks and wrapped the extra blanket around herself for comfort's sake. She glanced at Pain, who, as usual, didn't seem to notice the cold at all; he was stretched out on the bed, one leg sticking out from under the blanket that only seemed to cover his lower back.
She smiled slightly, and snuck out of the room. The hallway was dark, as expected, but she found her way to Sasori's room with relative ease. She opened the door silently and stepped in. She focused her eyes on the bed, but could only see one form under the blankets.
"Where's Deidara?" she murmured, and glanced around the empty room before shutting the door again and thinking. She checked all the rooms except those of Pain's family, before finally giving up and padding quietly to the kitchen. She shut the door and flicked on the light, shutting her eyes tightly until she got used to the blinding brightness. She opened her eyes, squinting around, before blinking a few times and keeping her gaze lowered as she walked to the cupboard, looking for a mug.
A few minutes later, she sat at the table, watching her marshmallow gradually dissolve into the mug of hot chocolate. There was a creak behind her, and she stiffened in shock. Deidara sat down at the table across from her. She breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't look at him; now that she'd found him, she wasn't sure that she could face him.
But she had to. She had to try.
"I was looking for you. I didn't know where you went." she said quietly. He didn't answer. She chanced a quick look, and found him looking up at the ceiling, tapping his fingers soundlessly on the wooden table.
"Deidara, please talk to me. I know you're angry, and frankly, I don't blame you at all, but...please don't ignore me." she said beseechingly. He glanced at her. It was a while before either of them spoke again. When they did, it was Deidara who broke the silence.
"I'm not mad at you, un. Not really." he said, but Konan lowered her gaze.
"You're lying." she murmured, but Deidara ignored her.
"He spent so much time last year trying to get me to go out with him, and now that I am, he goes and hits on you every chance he gets. I don't understand him, un." he said, looking at his hands. Konan took a gulp from her hot chocolate before sliding the mug to Deidara, who said 'cheers' and sipped it gratefully.
"Did you talk to him about it?" she asked quietly, and he nodded.
"Yeah. I was pretty mad," he said, grinning ruefully. "He said that he did it 'for fun'." Deidara rolled his eyes and took another sip of hot chocolate. Konan sighed and scrunched her toes in their fuzzy socks.
"For fun? I hope he realizes that I don't like being played with." she said scornfully, looking out the window at the darkness beyond it. Deidara mumbled something.
"What did you say?" Konan asked, and he repeated, louder.
"But you do like being played with. I know you do. So does he, un." Konan watched Deidara carefully. He was tracing a finger over the lines on the owl design on the mug, his eyes cold. Konan chose her words carefully, aware that Deidara was feeling more than a little unstable.
"That's true. I lied, I do like it. But I also hate it." Deidara glanced at her, and she continued, scooting her chair further forward.
"I hate it. I hate it, because of what he's doing to you when he does that to me. He does it when you're watching, when you're not, completely ruining your trust in him. And it makes me feel sick when he does what he does, because you're my best friend. And no matter what, I don't want you to be hurting." Deidara nodded slowly.
"And what about Pain?" he asked, and Konan sighed, blowing hair out of her eyes.
"Pain knows about it, of course. He knows it's Sasori doing it, and he knows why he's doing it. He never gets mad at me, but I can tell... every time it happens, I know he trusts me a little less, he's disappointed in me... and the face he makes, that stupid smile hurts so much more than anything he could ever say to me." she confessed, her eyes lowered.
"Don't cry." Deidara said, pulling her closer and wiping her cheeks.
"I know, I'm sorry, it's pathetic. You should be the one crying, here." she said, sniffing loudly, and rubbing her eyes. Deidara snorted.
"Believe me, I've cried enough tonight, un." he said, and Konan took his hand, running her thumb over his tanned skin comfortingly.
"It's not the first time that's happened, then?" he asked finally, in a detached tone. Konan looked at the ground, her throat tight. She couldn't say anything, so she shook her head. Deidara looked so tired, as though he'd lived a hundred lives of disappointment. He brought his fist down on the table hard, and Konan flinched in shock.
"I just... just..." Deidara didn't finish. He angrily wiped his eyes and chugged the rest of the hot chocolate. Once again, they lapsed into silence. The only sounds in the house were the drip of the leaky faucet upstairs, Kisame's snoring from down the hall, and the creaks of the house settling.
"Deidara...can I ask you something?" Konan asked finally, pulling her blanket back over her shoulders.
"Sure." he said, hiccoughing. Konan scooted her chair closer and offered Deidara half of the blanket. He took it and wrapped it around himself, keeping her hand in his.
"How...how did you and Sasori get together? I know when I asked before, you said that he kept on asking you out, and you'd always say no. Then you'd see him flirt with other people and you got jealous, and finally realized you loved him, but is that really all of it? I'm just wondering." she said, leaning against him. He leaned back, something that was relatively easy to do considering they were almost the same height. He sighed.
"No, that's not it, un." he said, and Konan nodded.
"It's true that he was asking me out all the time. He also kissed me and stuff, even when I told him to stop. And I did get jealous, but he mostly stopped flirting after he got serious about me. He told me he loved me a lot, too."
"Didn't you like him back?" Konan asked, and Deidara grinned slightly, in spite of himself.
"Yeah. Yeah, I did. I probably loved him from the start, even though he pissed me off so much. But...I could never admit that." "So...you were stubborn?" Konan guessed, and Deidara nodded.
"Yes. And after a while, Sasori got annoyed about that. I can't blame him. He knew I liked him, Pain knew, everybody knew. But I continued to push him away."
"Poor guy." Konan mumbled before realizing that they were both awake in the middle of the night, because of that 'poor guy' and his serious issues with commitment.
"No, you're right. I feel bad for him, actually, un." Deidara continued, squeezing Konan's hand slightly. "So we would fight. Our first big fight, I was the one who went to go get him. I think it was on that night that I consciously knew that I liked him. But I still wouldn't go out with him, wouldn't admit I loved him. So, we had some more fights after that. When he got really tired of it, I used to try and make him jealous," Deidara recalled with a smile.
"But we both got bored of that, I think. Anyways, long story short, I stopped being stubborn, and agreed to go out with him."
"Finally." Konan pointed out, and Deidara laughed.
"Yeah. But even after all that... I think he still thinks it's all a game, un. I think... I think he just thinks it's fun." he said, raising his eyes to the ceiling. Konan wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. He hugged her back gratefully, and Konan kissed the top of his head.
"Well, you know what I think?" she said finally. "What?" Deidara asked, his voice muffled as he wiped his eyes on her shoulder. Konan smiled, stroking his long hair.
"I think I know what we should do. We're going to beat him at his own game. If we win, he might give up. And if he doesn't, then we just keep on playing until he gets bored. He gets bored of stuff, doesn't he?"
"Like a kid gets bored of a Barbie doll." Deidara grinned.
Konan let him go and sat back on her chair, unable to stop a wicked grin from spreading on her face.
"Alright. Here's what we'll do..."
"...and that's why I have to do this. Can I? Please, please? I swear, as soon as this is over, I'll make it all up to you, and I'll never do something like this again. Please?" Konan begged. Pain rolled over and yawned again.
"Sure, okay, fine. But did you have to wake me up at...what the hell's the time... oh, God, no... seven-thirty?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Yes, I did." she said with a smile, kissing his forehead before unzipping her suitcase and digging around in the shopping bags she'd amassed.
"Alright. Showtime." she murmured, grinning as she found what she was looking for.
"Break a leg. You'd better make this up to me. I'm being very nice, you know." Pain mumbled from the bed before yawning again. Konan turned around and jumped on the bed, crawling to him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her, aware that she was pulling his face into her chest.
"I know you're being nice. You're so nice to me, Sexy-Pain. You're the best, and I promise... I'll make it all up to you." she said with a smile. Pain grinned and laughed, but it was cut off when she pulled him closer, squashing him into her chest. Just for fun.
"Okay, I'm awake!" he said when she released him. She laughed and picked up the shopping bag again before disappearing into the bathroom.
"Okay, do you think this'll work?" she asked a few minutes later, emerging rather shyly in a black corset teddy with matching stockings and garters. Pain stared at her.
"It's the most conservative one I could find..." Konan mumbled, trying to zip the back up.
"It was the only one in the entire store that didn't have a thong at the back, you know." she complained, turning around so Pain could help her with the zipper.
"Honestly, if your dad could see you know..." he mumbled, zipping it up properly. Konan sighed.
"I know, he'd probably have a heart attack. But there was a huge sale, and I got it for emergency purposes. Like this one." Konan turned back around and scuffed her stockinged foot on the ground.
"Well? Do you think it's okay?" she asked. Pain raised a hand to his face to cover a smile.
"Deidara, you lucky bastard..." he murmured, and Konan laughed, swatting at him.
"Well thank you, but do you think... do you think it'll fool Sasori?" she asked. Pain grinned and unhooked one of her stockings, and twisted the teddy to the left slightly.
"Okay, that's better. Now, get away from me before I lose it and tackle you to the ground, woman." he said, grinning and ducking her hand which swung out to hit him. She left the room, a blanket wrapped around her in case anybody saw her. She zoomed into Deidara's room and shut the door.
"Hey," she said quietly. He looked up at her. He was lying topless in bed, the blankets down by his waist. There were unlit candles around the room, and a pile of clothes on the floor.
"The candles are a nice touch." she said, and Deidara grinned.
"Yeah. I decided not to light them, because... you know, it would be like they'd been on all night, and that would've been a fire hazard, un."
"Very thoughtful." Konan said, grinning before turning around and dropping the blanket. Deidara tried to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. Blushing red as a tomato, Konan zipped into the bed as quickly as possible.
"Do you think this'll work?" she asked, and Deidara cleared his throat.
"Well if it doesn't work, he'll still sure as hell be jealous, considering you're wearing that thing, un." he said, and Konan blushed harder.
"I can't believe Pain let you wear that...you know... not around him." Deidara commented, and Konan grinned.
"I know. But I promised I'd make it up to him."
"I bet." Deidara said, raising his eyebrows.
"Okay...um... look like you just woke up. So... I'll go... here..." Deidara moved to the other side of the bed.
"Okay, and I'll...go over here, like I fell asleep in your arms, or something." Konan said, scooting over right next to Deidara, resting her head on his outstretched arm.
"Okay, and we should pull the blanket off of you a bit, so he can see what you're wearing, un." Deidara said, and Konan obeyed, instantly feeling cold as the blanket left her top, side, and right leg.
"Okay, that's good, un."
"Yep."
...
"So... this is awkward..." Deidara commented after a few minutes, and Konan giggled.
"Yeah. By the way, I just want you to know, you're totally my best friend." she said, patting Deidara's shoulder. "Really?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Huh. Well, you're not my best friend."
"Ouch." Deidara grinned.
"But, see, Pain's my best friend, and since you're dating him, you're my... Best-friend-in-law, un."
"But Pain and I aren't married." Konan pointed out. Deidara shrugged.
"Close enough. But, you're my second-best-friend, at least, un." he said, and Konan smiled. "Alright, then. Well, Sasori's my second-best-friend, and he's my Best-friend-in-law, too, because you two are dating." she said, and Deidara nodded.
"I guess so. So Sasori... is Pain's...uh... what is that? Best-friend-in-law-once-rem-"
"He's coming!" Konan interrupted, as footsteps padded towards the door. Deidara swore.
"Okay, okay... uh...uh... play dead, un!"
"Asleep, moron!" Konan hissed before shutting her eyes and scooting once more closer to Deidara, who put an arm around her, and closed his eyes, too.
The door opened.
"Hey, Deidara, did you borrow my- OH MY FUCKING JASHIN, YOU'RE NAKED!"
Deidara and Konan snapped their eyes open. Hidan was in the doorway.
"Shut up, shut up, come here, close the door!" Konan hissed, leaping out of bed. She seized his wrist, pulled him in, and slammed the door.
"What the fuck are you wearing? It's so... hot. And unlike you." Hidan commented, staring at her.
"Thanks." Konan said dryly before leaping back into bed.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Hidan asked, but Konan put a finger to her lips.
"Can you... hide in a closet, or something? If you go out now, he might see you, if he's out of his room!" Deidara exclaimed, making shooing motions at Hidan, who slowly clambered into the closet, still staring at Konan, who shot him a sharp look.
"Okay, now, stay there and be quiet until we say you can come out, okay? Promise?" she asked, and Hidan gave her a thumbs-up before shutting the closet door.
"That was so-" Deidara began.
"Shh!" Konan hissed as once again, footsteps padded towards the door.
The door opened.
"Hey, have you seen Hida- WHAT THE HELL?"
Deidara and Konan snapped their eyes open again. Kisame was standing in the doorway, one hand slapped over his mouth, the other pointing at them.
"Are you naked?" He hissed, coming in and shutting the door after seeing Konan and Deidara signaling at him frantically.
"No, no, no, we'll explain it all later, but get in the closet and shut up, okay? Please, please, please?" Konan begged, and Kisame rolled his eyes and obeyed.
"Hidan, there you are!" he said when he opened the closet door.
"'There you are' my fucking sexy ass! This place is rat-shit tiny!" he growled, and Kisame chuckled, clambering in also.
"Shut the door, un!" Deidara reminded them. He and Konan stared at the little closet, which now seemed to be creaking in a similar way to a dying man's death throes.
"Okay, okay, he's coming now!" Konan hissed as more footsteps padded towards the door.
The door opened.
"Deidara, do you know where my hairbrush is? ...Oh... I suppose I'm interrupting."
"Itachi, get the fuck in here, shut the door, and hide in the closet, please!" Deidara hissed. Itachi raised his eyebrows, and shut the door.
"Why can't I just leave?" he asked. Konan sighed in irritation.
"We're waiting for Sasori! If he comes down the hall now, and hears us talking... and what would we do if he asked you about us? Honestly. Just hide in the closet." she snapped.
"DON'T FUCKING HIDE IN THE CLOSET!" Hidan said angrily.
"No, oh my God, footsteps..." Deidara muttered, listening to the padding of feet in the hallway.
"Itachi, get-in-the-Goddamn-closet!" Konan hissed pleadingly. Thank God, Itachi did what he was told, to the grumbled complaints of the other two in the tiny closet.
The creaks now resembled those of an old coffin. Deidara and Konan closed their eyes as the doorknob turned.
The door opened.
"Motherfuck, what the-"
"It's not him." Konan sat up with a sigh. Her grouchy expression turned to horror when she saw Yahiko in the doorway.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed.
She remembered what she was wearing.
She remembered that she was in bed with somebody who wasn't Pain.
She remembered that Pain is Yahiko's son.
"Son of a bitch..." she said as Yahiko assumed the identical expression of an easy smile and cold eyes that Pain did whenever Sasori kissed her.
"Okay, okay, will you please, please, please listen to me?" she begged, jumping out of the bed and pulling Yahiko into the room before shutting the door.
"Alright." he said in a guarded tone.
"Okay, um... can you hide under the bed, please, please, please?" she pleaded, thanking God all the while that Yahiko was such a chill father. He did so. Konan got back into the bed and leaned over the side to explain.
"Okay, I don't have much time, but this totally isn't what you think it is."
"Isn't it?" he asked in a falsely pleasant tone.
"No, it's not!" Konan insisted.
"Sasori was being an asshole, so I'm helping Deidara make him jealous so he won't be any more-"
"That sounds like a crap plan."
"Shut it. I mean, I'm sorry... I'm sorry, but it was three in the morning, and believe me, I know it's crap. So I dressed up like this just for that reason, Deidara and I have not done anything, and Pain knows about it. He let me do this."
"That boy must have some serious self-control. If it'd been me, I'd've jumped you right then and there." Yahiko said with a wink. Konan blushed in spite of herself, then continued explaining.
"Right, okay, but then Hidan and Kisame and Itachi came in, so we stuffed them in the closet-"
"And it's damn uncomfortable!" Kisame said loudly. Yahiko laughed.
"Alright, and now we're just waiting for Sasori!" Konan finished.
"Okay, okay. So I bet you want me to be quiet, right?" Yahiko asked, blowing some dust out of the way of his face.
"Yes, that would be great, un." Deidara said.
"Right." Yahiko said, and Konan beamed at him before returning to her spot next to Deidara.
"Hear anything?" she asked. Deidara nodded, and closed his eyes. She copied him.
The door opened.
"Hey, Deidara, I just wanted to apologi-"
Sasori stopped talking. Konan's heart was pounding so loudly, she was certain that he must be able to hear it from where he was standing, by the door. She felt Deidara squeeze her hand tightly under the blanket.
Sasori walked towards them. Every one of his footsteps made Konan flinch. Finally, he was right next to the bed, on Deidara's side. Konan was suddenly struck by the thought that this was the worst possible idea she could ever have come up with. She felt sick. This was bad, this was so bad...
"Deidara," Sasori's voice was close.
Deidara opened his eyes and looked up at Sasori. Konan was amazed he could be so calm. Sasori sighed. And then there was a yell, a bang, and Konan snapped her eyes open as Sasori stormed away from the bed. Sasori paused by the door. His expression was calm, but his eyes were clearly burning with hate and horror.
"I feel bad for Pain. All fourth year he was dreaming of the perfect girlfriend, and just when he's sure he's finally met her, it turns out she's a whore." he spat, and left.
Blood was thundering in Konan's ears. She turned to look at Deidara. There was blood on his face, and he had the symptoms of what would become a terrible black eye. The closet door swung open. Hidan, Kisame, and Itachi clambered out, and Yahiko came out from under the bed.
"I have to say it, this plan was fucking crap." Hidan said, and Konan nodded. She felt like crying. But it was her fault, all her fault, and Deidara was bleeding and she knew he was crying, and it was all wrong, all her fault. A warm hand on her shoulder made her jump.
"Hey. It'll get better." Yahiko said with a warm smile.
"And you," he said to Deidara, who looked up at him.
"You'd better go catch him." he said with a grin.
Deidara nodded, determination in his eyes. He wiped his face, jumped out of bed, pulled on some pants, and ran out of the room. Konan watched him go as tears flooded her eyes, and overflowed down her face. Yahiko sat down across from her on the bed. Hidan, Kisame, and Itachi looked terribly awkward, and shuffled out of the room quietly.
"Now. This was a sucky idea-" Yahiko began, and Konan nodded, moaning as she started to lose her control and cry for real.
"But what really matters is you tried. And all though dressing up in an outfit that you probably would have needed fake ID to get was not the best plan... It just shows how far you're willing to go for a friend. You were even prepared to let Sasori get the wrong idea, and lose his respect for you, just so that he and Deidara might manage to make up somehow. That's a lot of determination." Yahiko said as Konan cried loudly.
"And when the time comes, when this is all over and those two are back together like always, I'm sure you'll get your friend back. I'll bet that if he didn't respect and admire you so much, Sasori would never have said something like that. If he didn't like you, if you weren't such an important friend to him, he'd never have been so harsh." he continued. Konan began to quiet down, her face buried in her knees.
"However, maybe next time you should think of a slightly less drastic plan." Yahiko finished, smiling. He ruffled her hair. Konan raised her head.
"Why are you such an awesome dad?" she asked,hiccoughing and wiping her face. Yahiko laughed.
"Maybe I was born to be an awesome dad." he joked, and Konan smiled weakly. Yahiko glanced at the door, and smiled.
"Alright. Now I'd better let Deva take over. Oh, yeah, I should probably ground him for letting you wear something like that..." Yahiko muttered, grinning, as he stood up and patted his son's shoulder before leaving the room.
Pain sat down on the bed, right where his father had been sitting. Konan looked up at him and gave him a shaky smile. He scooted forwards and looped his arms around her. She rested her head on his shoulder, and tried again to stop crying.
"Hey. It didn't work, huh?" he asked quietly. She shook her head.
"That's too bad. Oh, um...Hidan said something about being shoved in a closet...?" he left the question hanging. Konan let out a watery laugh.
"That's right. Me and Deidara thought it was Sasori coming down the hall, but it was Hidan, so we shoved him in a closet. Then Kisame came, so we hid him, too. Itachi, too, so they were all in the closet. The poor piece of woodwork sounded like it was dying. Then your dad came-"
"Oh, crap."
"Yeah. So I had to explain to him that I was not cheating on you, and we hid him under the bed." Pain laughed, and Konan smiled, still crying.
"Yeah. And then Sasori came, and... and then it was bad." Pain rocked her slowly, knowing that it made her stop crying, usually.
"What happened?" he murmured. Konan shook her head.
"He...he hit Deidara, and then he left." she said in a choked voice. She hated herself. She hated herself for crying like this when it was all her fault, and she got exactly what she deserved, but cried anyways.
"If that was it, you wouldn't be crying." Pain said, and Konan could tell by his tone that he was smiling a little bit. "I hate how you know me." she muttered, and he laughed lightly.
"Fine. But first, I wanna ask you something." she said, raising her head. She wanted to see his face when he answered.
"Sure." he said, and she nodded. "Sasori said...earlier... He said that all of fourth year, you'd been 'dreaming of the perfect girl'. Is that true?" she asked. Pain raised his eyes to the ceiling and grinned sheepishly.
"I hate it when he talks." he muttered before looking back to Konan.
"Well, truthfully, most of fourth year I spent laughing as Sasori tried to get Deidara to date him."
"What?" Pain grinned, "Trust me, it was hilarious. But, yeah, I guess you could say that I was thinking about what I'd want in a girlfriend." Konan nodded, and closed her eyes.
"Right. And...and now I want you to tell the truth."
"Okay."
"Are you disappointed? In me?" Pain stared at her.
"You mean, 'Are you not everything I imagined'?"
"Uh huh." Pain shook his head slowly before looking back at her.
"It amazes me you have so little faith in me, Konan."
"That's not tru-" she protested, but he stopped her with a finger over her mouth.
"Yes, it is. Seriously. Okay, granted, when I was thinking about what I'd like in a girlfriend, those were the thoughts of a fourteen-year-old boy, but that doesn't matter. You have exceeded them in every possible way. Honestly." He paused to kiss her softly before continuing.
"Okay, sure, when we first met, you were a little smaller in certain areas than what I'd imagined-"
"You suck." Konan said, and he laughed.
"But that's all cleared up now, so it's fine!"
"You're terrible. An incurable case of stupid."
"I know, I know, and I love you so, so much for sticking with me and trying to find a cure for this stupidity. But I'm being serious. In fourth year, I could never have imagined how funny you'd be, or how beautiful-" Konan blushed and shook her head.
"Or how smart, and loyal, and awesome... Even now, in my wildest dreams, I could never, ever, imagine anybody or anything I'd want more than you." he finished, and kissed Konan firmly when she looked like she was going to protest. She kissed him back, as the last of her tears dripped off her face like rain.
"Sasori, stop!" Deidara yelled, sprinting after the redheaded figure ahead of him.
They were far from Pain's house now, running along a strip of beach. The sand got between Deidara's toes, and his bare feet were already bleeding from stepping on barnacles, but he hadn't stopped once since leaving the house.
"Stop already, okay?" he yelled again.
The edge of the beach came into sight as the coastline curved around. A hundred metres ahead, Sasori raced around the corner. Deidara willed his feet to move fast, running harder than he had his whole life to catch up. He sped around the corner, but skidded to a stop. Sasori was nowhere in sight. Deidara stared frantically into the distance, then looked at the forest above the rocks. Nothing moved in the trees.
"Shit..." he muttered, and began running again, slower, trying to see into the forest, checking behind rocks, and staring into the distance, as far as he could see. He couldn't see anybody at all. He sat down on a rock and looked at the ocean. He wouldn't cry. He'd cried enough for a lifetime in the last two years alone.
"Enough. Enough, now." he murmured, watching as the blue-grey waves crashed on the rocks and slid up the sand.
It felt like an hour, just watching the ocean, but Deidara checked his watch and saw it had only been ten minutes, when he heard a sigh. He turned around, expecting a hiker, or a beach-goer, or a dog.
Sasori was sitting on his rock, on the other side, facing away. Deidara stared at the back of his head, double-checking that it was him. He examined the layers of dark red, the curl just at the bottom, the messy cow-lick on one side. No mistaking that bed-head.
"How long have you been sitting there?" Deidara asked finally in a low voice. Sasori sighed again and raised his wrist, glancing at his watch.
"Ten minutes." he replied. They didn't speak for another ten, listening as the waves pounded into the shore with a slow, steady rhythm, always accompanied by a splash, which, to Deidara, sounded rather like a hushing sound. Like the ocean was letting the shoreline know it was time to sleep. It was a calming sound, and Deidara let it wash over him like the rain.
"Well, I'm content to sit here all day, but I bet you want to talk, don't you?" Sasori said casually after another long silence. Deidara watched a seagull dive into the water and emerge a second later with a fish.
"Yes. For one thing, I know you don't think that I actually slept with Konan, un." Sasori snorted.
"Of course not. You're gayer than Elton John."
"...whatever. I know you'll probably hit me again if I ask, but... if you knew that, why did you get so mad at me?" he asked, bracing himself. He heard another sigh.
"This morning, I came into your room to apologize to you."
"That's rare, un."
"I know. When I saw you with Konan... I don't know. I was shocked, to say the least, that you'd actually go and do something like that... to make me mad? To make me jealous? I'm not sure. But... I don't know. I've been thinking thing for a while..."
"You? Thinking? Impossible."
"Shut up. But the things I've been thinking... I don't know. I was just so angry, and kinda... desperate, I guess. I'm sorry I hit you. I can kiss it better, if you like." Sasori offered, joking a little to lighten the mood. Deidara turned pink and was thankful that they were facing away from each other.
"Not right now, un,-"
"So that's a yes, then?"
"Um...anyways... What were you thinking about? If you're thinking -a dangerous pastime-, then talk to me, un. Talk to me. Remember you told me that in fourth year?" Sasori laughed.
"Oh, yeah...right."
"So, talk to me. Tell me, un."
"Tell you...?" "Sasori, stop stalling. I'm getting cold, and I want to know what you were thinking." He heard Sasori scoot around on the rock.
"I'll keep you warm." he offered.
Deidara bit his lip, watching another seagull dive gracefully into the frothing ocean surface, then turned around. After dating Sasori for more than a year, Deidara had gotten used to what he would normally do. So he kind of expected Sasori to kiss him. But he didn't, he just gave Deidara his jacket and rubbed his bare feet, making little 'tsk' sounds when he found the cuts.
"Thanks." Deidara said, wrapping the jacket around himself, blushing slightly when Sasori looked up to find him sniffing the sleeves. Sasori smiled and looked back down.
"Talk to me, what have you been thinking? Stupid stuff, I bet, un." Deidara sniffed. Sasori's smile faded a little.
"I was thinking... I was wondering why you're going out with me." Deidara raised his eyebrows.
"Uh...because you asked me to?" he asked, and Sasori scowled.
"Exactly. I'm not even sure you really want to. No, let me finish." he said when Deidara tried to interrupt him.
"In fourth year, I basically harassed you until you let me do what I wanted to do-"
"Now you admit it, un." Deidara said, rolling his eyes, and Sasori continued.
"I mean, I knew you liked me, but... for a while now, I've been wondered if... if I just persuaded you. If I just kept bothering you and kissing you, until you decided that enough was enough and the only way to stop me would be to go along with what I wanted."
"So with Konan... I was trying to see if you'd get jealous. When you got mad, I thought it might be just because you were angry I'd cheat on you, not because you were jealous that I was kissing her, not you. So, even now... even now, you might have just chased after me because that's what everyone expects you to do, not because you wanted to. So, I don't know. I don't know that I didn't... just force you into this whole thing." he finished. Deidara stared at him. The seagulls began calling loudly across the ocean as a particularly loud wave smashed into the shore.
"I can't believe you're so stupid." Deidara commented. Sasori didn't raise his head.
"Don't you remember? Don't you remember the day I decided to go out with you? I'd have thought that that day would have erased any doubts you ever had about whether or not I liked you. If I was forced, would I have tried to God-damn hard to find you that day? I don't think so, un." Deidara said, patting Sasori's head absent-mindedly as he looked determinedly at Sasori.
"Honestly. If I was forced, don't you think I'd've insisted on you forking over money for me? Come on. You know how I am, don't you? If I didn't want to date you, you'd be bowing to my every whim, buying me whatever I wanted, and you'd consider yourself lucky if I slept in the same bed as you more than once a week, un." he said, and Sasori laughed.
"If you think you could ever have forced me to do something that I didn't even slightly want to do, than you must not know me very well at all, un." Deidara said seriously, tilting Sasori's head up to look at him. Sasori looked at him calmly, but Deidara saw the disappointment in his eyes. Deidara's expression hardened.
"You don't believe me, un." he said coldly. Sasori said nothing. Deidara narrowed his eyes.
"You, of all people, should know I hate it when people don't believe me." he said, and seized Sasori by the collar of his t-shirt, pulling him off the rock.
"Are you gonna hit me or something?" Sasori asked, slightly breathless. Deidara narrowed his eyes again, and scowled.
"Or something," he said, and slammed Sasori back against the huge boulder, pressing him hard against the rock.
Sasori gasped, swearing as back slammed against the stone. He caught one glimpse of Deidara's hard, burning expression before he was slammed against the boulder again, Deidara's mouth on his, dominating him easily, pressing him against the rock and pushing him up, scraping his back as Deidara kissed him fiercely, his hot breath in his mouth and on his skin, torturing his tongue and bruising his lips as Deidara's hands dived into his shirt, playing with his nipples before going up around the back and scratching his neck and tugging on his hair. Deidara only pulled away when Sasori was staggering under him, seeing stars.
Deidara grabbed him by the collar again and slammed him down on the sand. Sasori coughed, gasping for air, as Deidara followed him down, one knee on either side of Sasori. Deidara tore Sasori's shirt off, and tossed the shredded remains aside. Sasori had no chance to get his breath back before Deidara was ravaging his neck, kissing and sucking and biting, leaving hickeys everywhere he went. He grinded his hips into Sasori's ignoring the redhead's moans as he scraped his bleeding feet through the sand, flicking some onto Sasori's chest and rubbing it all over, grinning sadistically as Sasori gasped, his skin turning red and covered with tiny scratches.
Deidara pressed down on Sasori's hips again, and as soon as Sasori opened his mouth to moan, Deidara was on his lips, biting and tugging at them to get inside. It was like he was everywhere at once, abusing his mouth, sucking his neck, biting his nipples, grinding on his hips, sucking his fingers, pulling his hair. Finally, when Deidara seemed to get bored with that, he pulled Sasori up roughly, and dragged him into the water. About waist-deep, Deidara grabbed Sasori's head and shoved it underwater.
A few seconds later, he pulled him up again, and kissed him after letting Sasori inhale once. Deidara's tanned hands ran through Sasori's wet hair before trailing down his chest, twisting his nipples before stroking, ghost-like, up his back. Sasori was shaking from the cold, and Deidara soon dragged him out and up onto the rock again, this time focusing more on his head. Whenever Deidara would get bored with Sasori's mouth, he'd move to the ears, or the cheeks, or the neck.
"Deidara..." Sasori mumbled.
"Mm?" Deidara replied, Sasori's earlobe between his teeth.
"...you're a good kisser." Deidara let go and sat up, grinning wickedly.
"Oh, I know that, un. That's why I know I'm spoiling you." he replied, returning to Sasori's mouth to shut him up.
"By the way... did you try to drown me?" Sasori asked, his words a little muffled by Deidara's mouth, which at that moment was concentration on torturing his lower lip.
"A kiss with a fist is better than none, don't you think?" Deidara replied, and Sasori laughed weakly, still as breathless as he'd been ten minutes ago. Deidara never let him catch his breath.
"Do you think they'll be worried? We've been gone for four hours." Sasori said, checking his watch, which miraculously still worked after being immersed in water and bounced around on rocks. Deidara grinned.
"No. They're probably still talking about Konan's outfit, un."
"Oh, right, that was hot..."
"Shut up. You're supposed to be in love with me." Deidara said, rolling his eyes. Sasori glanced at him. They walked side by side on the sand in silence for a second. Although Sasori had initially insisted on carrying Deidara, because of the cuts on his feet, Sasori was too exhausted to get him off the ground, so they just walked. Sasori smiled to himself before shoving Deidara.
"I do love you. I love you more than you know." he said, and Deidara turned to grin at him, giving him a teasing grin.
"Prove it." he challenged. Sasori smirked and hooked his fingers through Deidara's belt loops.
"I will." he promised.
WHEEEEEWW! Okay, so that was a lot of SasoDei in a story that's kinda supposed to be KonaPain. Oh well. I know it's been forever since my last update, but seriously, I personally think this chapter was worth the wait. Just because I like it. But that's only my opinion, and I'd love to hear yours!
:D SailorNova