Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Naruto! NO SUEING PLZ!

NO FLAMES EITHER!

Chapter 1

The stars… a better place?

"Ok… 55… Apartment 55… hey, wait a second, un…"

"Um… Deidara-sempai… there's no numbers on the doors…"

"I can see that Tobi, yeah," Deidara answered through clenched teeth.

"And how many times do I have to tell you… Stop calling me 'Deidara-sempia'! I'm not your sempai, un!"

"What ever you say… Deidara-sempai,"

"Ughhhh!" Deidara rolled his eyes… this was going to be a long day…

He knocked on the nearest door, hoping to uncover their apartment number so he could count down or up from that.

After the second round of knocks, a small fragile looking female opened the door hiding all but her face behind it.

"H-Hello, c-can I h-help you?"

Her eyes were so light they were almost white, but there was a very distinct trace of a purple in them, and her voice was such a delicate pitch. Her words sounded like a song.

"0o0o0! You have very pretty eyes!" Tobi said, knocking Deidara out of his trance.

The blond looked to the floor, embarrassment crossing his features, along with a slight blush, as he realized he was staring.

"Ah, sorry to bother you, I just moved into the building, and I noticed there're no numbers on the doors, un." He laughed nervously.

She revealed the rest of her features from behind the door. She was wearing a light purple sun dress. It fell softly on her curves, and looked very lovely on her.

Yet, it didn't really seem to match her. She'd look better in something more casual.

"O-Oh, That would b-be a problem." She stuttered.

"They j-just replaced the doors recently, they should put the numbers on s-soon.

Wh-what number are y-you?" she asked.

It took him a second to respond, he really wasn't listening to her words just her voice. It was so beautiful.

"O-oh. Umm…"

"He's number 55 miss!" Tobi said, putting up both his hands so it looked like two 5's… or a 10.

"I-I'm 54. So you're apartment is r-right next to mine."

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. He would get to see this angel more often than he thought.

"Well, my name's Deidara, un. It's nice to meet you." He put his hand out in front of her for her to shake. She did, responding shyly with

"M-my name is H-Hinata."

"What a beautiful name, un." he smiled mischievously as she flushed bright red.

"Th-Th-Thank y-you" she stuttered out nervously.

"Oo! Oo, and my names Tobi!"

"N-Nice to meet you T-Tobi!" she responded laughing slightly at his enthusiasm.

Tobi gasped. "Did you hear that sempia? She likes meeting Tobi!"

Deidara simply ignored his statement and said, with a smile still placed firmly on his lips,

"Well… thanks for your help Hinata!"

"O-Oh, it was no problem D-Deidara-kun." She answered sweetly.

"We've gotta wait for the movers, yeah, so… I guess we'll see you around?"

She nodded, a sad smile covering her features. She knew there was a very small chance they would talk again, but there was no reason to bring that up.

"Bye, Bye Hinata-chan!"

"Bye T-Tobi-kun, bye D-Deidara-kun." She answered, smiling happily at her newly-made friends.

"Bye Hina-chan!" Deidara replied walking to his room.

Hina-chan? No ones every called her that before… but she liked it. It was so… casual.

She liked casual.

Hinata closed her door and walked to the kitchen. Time to make dinner.

Her fiancé Akito would be home in maybe a half-an-hour or more, so she had plenty of time to put some leftover meatloaf in the oven and heat-up some frozen vegetables in the microwave. She could only hope he was in a good mood. He'd been very testy ever since they began living together. She could tell he didn't really care for her, but her father was a rich and powerful politician, who wasn't going to let her marriage ruin his reputation in any way. He no doubt promised Akito a lot of money in his will.

Now that she thought of it, Akito reminded her too much of her father. He was just as cold and heartless, and she couldn't seem to push out the resemblance between her father and mother and Akito and herself.

Her father was ruthless when it came to Hinata's mother. He would beat her senseless for the stupidest things, like sleeping in past 8:00 AM, or taking too long to get the groceries. Her mother cried every night because of it. Hinata had heard her too many times to count, weeping in their bedroom where he locked her. She'd be in there for days on end sometimes.

After a while, her mother tried to leave. Almost everyday he would have to track her down and bring her home again. Their fights happened more often and after a few months she turned up dead, and, because of her father's power, no one investigated the case. It was written off as suicide, which left Hinata, at age 6, to be her father's new punching bag. He wouldn't touch her, though. He wouldn't let Hinata's bruises start any unwanted publicity. So instead, he beat her emotionally, until she became very quiet, afraid that she would say something wrong. That nervousness led to her stuttering, and, by the time she was eight, people made fun of her… proving the horrible things her father was saying to be true, and fueling his hatred towards her.

Akito had hit her, like her father had her mother, many times, but she figured she deserved it. She was an embarrassment, a failure. There wasn't one thing she could do right. She tried many times to do things that would make her father proud, but her grade average was a B., and she never got any awards at school, none that mattered at least. She failed at everything, and succeeded in nothing.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the front door opened and slammed shut. She winced at the sound.

"Hinata!" Akito's voice could be heard from the door.

"I-In the k-kitchen," She said softly. He stormed into the room and took her by her hair.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop that incessant stuttering!" he screamed.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry A-Akito no D-Danna." Her eyes were beginning to water from the pain emanating from the roots of her hair. He sighed and gripped her hair tighter. She winced.

"What?" he said the word slowly, as if talking to a child.

She said each word very slowly, concentrating on the syllables. "I'm…. sorry…. Akito….No….Danna."

"Good." he smiled smugly as he let go of her hair. "Now… what's for dinner?" he put his face very close to hers.

She, once again, concentrated on the word. "Meatloaf."

"Any vegetables?" he looked as if he was trying to force a stutter out of her, but she very obediently said, "Peas."

"Good job. See? You can control it if you really want to." He grabbed her chin roughly and pecked her on the lips.

She sighed and, when he released her, got up to serve him dinner. Like usual, he took the plate she had set on the kitchen table, along with his fork knife and spoon, and walked into the living room to watch TV. She sighed again and made herself a plate, walking on to the balcony to eat at the nice white patio furniture that was set there, matching the metal fence that secured the small area.

It wasn't long before Hinata found herself staring longingly at the night sky.

"Hey, un. You like the stars too?" a familiar voice said from the balcony next to her.

"Oh… H-Hi… um, y-yes, th-they're very p-peaceful."

They're like proof of a better place… she added in her thoughts.

"Yeah, I think so too, un. It makes it seem like there's more to life than just this. That's there's something better out there."

She blinked a few times, "S-Strange… I feel the same way,"

They held each others gaze for a minute, smiling, until the door to the patio opened, and Hinata quickly looked down at her meatloaf and picked up her fork.

"Aw… there you are Hinata… I was looking for you. And who is this?" Akito looked over at Deidara.

"I'm Deidara, un. I just moved in today, hmm. Hina-chan here helped me figure out the apartment numbers."

"Oh, funny she didn't mention that. I'm Akito, Hinata's fiancé."

"Oh, nice to meet you, un." He went to reach over the balcony to shake his hand, but couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Yes, nice to meet you. Hinata-chan, are you done? Let me get your plate for you."

Without an argument, Hinata put down her fork and let him take her plate. She knew what was coming the minute they walked inside.

"See ya around Hina-chan, un."

She nodded in his direction, smiling slightly, and turned to walk back to the apartment.

As soon as they entered the 'safety' of their apartment, Akito slammed the plate in the sink, breaking it into pieces, and causing Hinata to jump.

"Who was he?" He annunciated in a low, angry voice, not removing his eyes from the broken plate.

She couldn't control the stuttering that came now.

"H-H-He kn-knocked o-o-on th-the d-d-door a-and s-said h-he d-didn't kn-know w-which a-apartment w-was f-fifty-f-five."

He walked up to her in two long strides and slapped her hard, then he grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Don't. Stutter."

She nodded her head fiercely.

Without another word, he kissed her, roughly pushing his tongue into her mouth. She sobbed quietly, the sound being muffled by his lips. He put his hands on her arms painfully, pushing her closer to him. When he finally let her breath, he brought his lips to her ear.

"Just remember, you're my fiancé, and you love me. Only. Me."

He let go of her, and the minute her weight was put back onto her legs, they collapsed out from under her. He left her there, sobbing uncontrollably on the floor, to finish watching his TV.

It took her about 20 minutes to gain control of the tears, and, when she did, she got back to her usual routine of dishes. She threw out the broken plate, along with her dinner, and went to get his dish from the coffee table. He was asleep, and she couldn't help but thank the Gods for that. She took his plate and went to the sink to wash it. Just then, there was a knock on the door. She let the plate sit in the sink, water still running and dried her hands on her dress.

When she looked through the door hole, she saw a familiar blond. She sighed heavily and thought of whether she should just pretend she was sleeping, and ignore him, but before she could he said,

"I know you're there, I saw you peeking through the whole, un…"

She smiled softly and opened the door.

His features went from happiness to concern when he saw her tear drenched face.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, looking around her form and into the apartment.

"Y-yes… I'm f-fine. I was j-just going to b-bed, r-really."

He frowned at her, the look in her eyes said otherwise.

"Oh… ok, yeah… I was just wondering if you wanted to go to an arts fair this Friday." He suddenly smiled smugly, "They'll be showing my sculptures, un."

"Y-you're a sculptor D-Deidara-kun?" she asked curiously.

"Ya, well… not a very good one, I mean, there little sculptures, not like, life sized, yeah." His voice was clouded with fake modesty.

"That's s-still nice th-though, and I w-would really l-love to g-go… b-but… Akito w-w-wouldn't b-be v-very p-pleased."

Thinking of Akito made her very, very nervous.

"Well, it's at 12PM near the gazebo down town, so just think it over, un."

"Th-Thank you. I d-diffidently will." She said.

"Ok, so I'll see you there, un?" he said smiling.

"W-well… I d-do-"

"Ok… remember Friday at 12!" he said, walking towards his door.

"U-Um…"

"Bye Hina-chan!"

And he was gone.

She sighed. Why did he have to make things so much more difficult?

Closing the door, she finished the dishes and headed towards the bedroom to put on some P.J.s and get some sleep.

AN: YAYY! CHAPTER ONE IS FINALLY FINISHED!

If you like it, plz review! I realllly wants to know if you all likey'd or not… SO REVIEW! - oh, and I know you can't usually see someone through those wholes… but Deidara… is… magic ya that's it! I have no idea how I'm gonna end this story… I have a pretty good idea of the next chapter, but idk where to go after that… so if anyone has suggestions, I'm open to them! Thnx 3

cHi