A/N:
This is my first yaoi fic, so be nice! I wrote this for my friend Wren (aka RANDOMNATIONS) cause IT'S HER BIRTHDAY TODAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WREN-CHAN!!

Even though it was already midnight at the Akatsuki base, shouts, laughter, the clinking of wine glasses, and other loud noises could be heard echoing through the forest in which their base was hidden. If someone had actually found the base and walked inside they would've saw seven men and one woman drinking their half of their weight in alcohol.

A dedicated Akatsuki fan might notice that I said seven men, not eight. That is because one of them was standing outside on the second-floor balcony, avoiding the party.

The cool night breeze blew through the Uchiha's long black hair, ruffling it slightly. He was gazing at an object in his hand, a very solemn look on his face. He fingered the picture frame sadly as his eyes lingered on the face of a seven-year old boy.

July 23rd... It's his birthday today...

A single teardrop fell on the protective glass.

The noise suddenly rushed outside as someone opened the door.

"Hey, Itachi, why aren't you inside where the party is, un?"

Itachi's eyes quickly widened as he stuffed the family picture into his cloak, but when he turned to face Deidara all emotion was once again gone from his face.

"I don't enjoy hanging out with a bunch of drunks, Deidara."

The blond laughed. "Aw, c'mon! We're not that drunk, un! Besides," He held out a glass full of calorie-filled alcohol. "I brought you a drink, un."

The smell of beer on Deidara's breath finally made its way to Itachi's nose and, even though he didn't so much as flinch on the outside, on the inside he was majorly disgusted.

"...No thanks."

Deidara frowned as he noticed the dried tears on Itachi's face gleaming in the moonlight.

"What's wrong, Itachi, un?"

Itachi ignored him and walked over to another door that led to a hallway with Itachi and Kisame's shared room at the end.

"I'm going to bed."

He slammed the door behind him, leaving Deidara looking concerned and confused as a loud clap of thunder started a downpour of rain, ruining the blonde's carefully groomed hair.

He looked up, and even though he was drunk, later that day he would vaguely remember thinking, I thought only Leader-sama could do that, un.

--12 Hours Later--

It was noon when Deidara had woken up to find that he had passed out on the balcony. He stood up and stretched as he walked back inside. He wasn't that surprised to see all of the members collapsed on the floor and couch, they had had way more to drink than Deidara had.

He slowly made his way over the snoring bodies to the kitchen so that he could get some breakfast.

Hey, what was I doing on that balcony anyway, un?

He pulled out the gallon of milk and drank straight from the bottle, even though Sasori had told him not to dozens of times. He carefully put back the container exactly where it was before.

Ah! I remember now, un! I had gone outside to give Itachi a drink...The memory of the dried tears staining Itachi's face came back to Deidara in a flash, causing him to take a step back in surprise. Unfortunately, Sasori had chosen that spot to succumb to the alcohol and Deidara tripped over him. And let me tell you, Sasori of the Red Sand is not very happy when he wakes up with a hangover and a blond ex-terrorist on top of him.

"Deidara? Why are you on top of me? And why do you have a milk mustache? I don't see a glass in your hand! Did you drink out of the carton? You did, didn't you? I thought I told you not to do that!" He looked extremely annoyed, and, well, drunk.

The blonde quickly stood up and brushed himself off.

"Uh, I'm sorry, Sasori-danna, but I, uh, have to go blow up some stuff, un."

As he fled to some other room, any other room, he yelled back, "And you should put some ice on that hangover, un!"

As soon as he was in a place that separated him from the living room with several locked doors, Deidara let out a deep breath.

"Gosh, Danna is scary sometimes, un. Now, what was I going to do, un?"

He stood in the dark room in silence for a few minutes before his eyes lit up as he remembered.

"Itachi, un!" Deidara started walking towards the Northwestern part of the base where Itachi's room was.

"I wonder why he was crying, un."

Because everyone was passed out in the living room no lights were on and Deidara's footsteps echoed in an extremely eerie way that made him walk a little faster.

When he finally made it to Itachi's room Deidara was about to knock, but he thought he could hear sobbing through the wood. After a moment he softly rapped against the door with two knuckles.

"Who is it?" The voice sounded sad and stuffy.

"It's Deidara, un."

There was a pause on the other side of the door.

The voice hardened. "Go away, Blondie."

He tried the door and found that it was unlocked, he cracked it open enough to stick his foot inside.

"But, Itachi-san, I thought I saw you crying last night, un. Are you alri- "

As soon as Deidara took another step inside Itachi threw something at him. It shattered into shards of glass on the floor, it was a fishbowl that Kisame had given him for Christmas.

"I said go away!"

But Deidara had already stuck his head inside and what he saw made him step the rest of the way in.

The Uchiha was an extremely unusual sight compared to his usual hardened, emotionless face. He was sitting on the couch clutching a picture in his right hand. There was a continuous flow of tears streaming down his face that, once they reached the bottom of his face, joined with the snot dripping from his nose.

"Itachi-san..."

The blond walked over and sat next to him on the couch.

"I said, " before Itachi could finish his sentence he burst into sobs. "G-Go away!"

Deidara ignored his protests and patted the sobbing man comfortingly, it reminded Itachi of the way his mother used to comfort him, which only made him cry harder.

Deidara also tried to use a comforting whisper, "What's wrong, un?"

Itachi, though, wasn't willing to talk, he just kept crying.

Deidara seemed to understand that Itachi just wanted to cry for a while. He started to rub his back now. "That's okay, cry, un. Crying is good for you, you know."

And so the two sat for a little over an hour in silence while Itachi cried. Deidara would offer the occasional tissue and a "There, there, un." now and then.

Finally, though, Itachi stopped, his eyes were red from crying. He turned towards Deidara. The bomb artist saw so much sadness in the Uchiha's eyes that he was amazed that he didn't start crying again.

"It... It was his birthday today..." Itachi's voice came as a whisper, so soft that the wind could've carried it away.

Deidara stayed silent, knowing that he was going to say more.

"I... I must have made his life hell. I never wanted that for him. I never wanted to... The village made me... I was supposed to kill him, too, but I couldn't... Not my own little brother..." His voice trailed off into the silence.

Deidara pulled Itachi into a warm embrace.

"It's okay, un," He whispered into his ear, "Sasuke's fine, he has a lot of friends, un."

Itachi cried into Deidara's shoulder. "But… you don't understand! It's my fault! It's all my fault!"

"Itachi…"

Itachi continued crying.

Deidara grabbed Itachi by the shoulders.

"Itachi!" His voice had an edge in it now. "Don't say that, un. Do actually you think that your brother sheds tears for you, un?"

"But he… he doesn't know the truth."

"And what is the truth, un?"

"It's… It's too complicated, I could never burden Sasuke with the truth, I love him too much."

Deidara furrowed his brow in frustration. "Itachi…"

The blonde leaned forward and pressed his own lips against the Uchiha's. Said Uchiha raised his eyebrows in surprise, but then he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Deidara's neck and kissed back, the force pushing the artist backwards onto the couch so that he was on his back. Deidara slowly pulled away, leaving Itachi wanting more.

"Do you love me too, Itachi-danna? I know I love you, un. I can't stand to see you so sad, un."

"You… you love me, Deidara?"

In response Deidara kissed Itachi a second time, his tongue making his way into his mouth this time.

"Of course I love you, un. I always have, ever since you beat my art that day I joined the Akatsuki, un."

"But… I thought… what about Sasori?"

Deidara began to gently stroke Itachi's cascading black hair.

"I could never love a puppet, un."

Itachi lay there, on top of Deidara, and smiled.

"I… always thought you were attractive, Deidara."

Itachi suddenly wrapped his arms around Deidara's waist in a tight grip, tears escaping his eyes for the umpteenth time that day.

"I won't ever hurt you like I hurt Sasuke, and I won't let anyone else hurt you either."

Deidara slowly unwound Itachi's arms from his waist and stared into his coal-black eyes.

"Is that a yes, un?"

Itachi laughed and melted into Deidara's lips once more, enjoying their welcoming softness. As he pulled away Deidara could see the traces of a smile tugging at the corner of the Uchiha's mouth.

"Yes, that's a yes. I love you, too, Deidara."

A smile slowly appeared on the blonde's face, too. He wrapped his own arms around Itachi's neck.

"So, promise me you won't be so sad anymore, un?"

"I promise."

Deidara, satisfied with this answer, embraced Itachi's lips with his own, caressing them softly. The two lovers stayed on the couch all day long, kissing each other and exchanging heartfelt words. Itachi felt so… complete when he and Deidara were together, all thoughts of his little brother slipped from his mind as he found comfort in, what seemed like to him, the only person that loved him. As for Deidara, he was just extremely happy that the person that he had loved for all those years secretly loved him back, he was also glad that Itachi had stopped crying. Neither of them had even noticed when Kisame walked in on them, and Kisame just slowly stepped back out again. Although they didn't go too far, Deidara and Itachi had never felt so elated in their entire lives. It was love.