A/N: Hi everyone! I know it's been ages (about a year or something) since I last updated. This past year has been pretty hectic. I'm SO sorry! :( Anyway, so... I've wrote another chapter.
Note: By the way, there will be little parts revealed in chapters about what Mizuki did to Deidara. The first part is here. Italics areflashbacks and thoughts.
Title: Akatsuki in High School
Author: FlippingTheBird
Rated: T
Warning: Yaoi, swearing, Hidan...
Disclaimer: I don't own the manga/anime Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.
Chapter 4: Sister
Deidara was standing outside of an old and crumbling restaurant on his own. His parents were away for some family thing that Deidara had no interest in. He didn't want to see his family. Most of them hated him anyway. They all had a very shallow view of the world and little acceptance of the people in it. They were the kind of people who only appreciated others who were spoilt and cruel like them. They sucked up to anyone of a higher status or who had more money than them like the greedy bastards they were.
Deidara was not widely accepted among the family. His own parents kept trying to change him into something he wasn't. He'd seen them try and do the same to his brother. Deidara vowed to himself not to break like he did.
In fact, the only people Deidara actually connected with and the only people who actually understood him were his siblings and his friends.
Speaking of his friends, they had left the restaurant earlier that evening. Hidan had been dragged off kicking and screaming by some of his older and annoying cousins for some reason. Itachi had to meet up with Sasuke and Naruto. And Tobi had to be home early because his parents were going out and if he didn't get home on time he'd be locked out of the house.
Deidara was enjoying the freedom of being allowed to go out wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted without his parents questioning him like he'd committed a crime.
Deidara's parents had been gone for a few days and wouldn't be back for at least another week. They had asked the neighbours to keep an eye on him but as soon as they had left all Deidara had to do was wave a huge wad of money around right in front of them and they had come to a mutual agreement: if he handed over the money then he could go around doing whatever the hell he wanted.
This was why Deidara and his friends had celebrated at a crappy restaurant. They hadn't really minded that the cheap drinks were a bit to watery and that the food tasted slightly undercooked. What mattered was that they were all together without Deidara's parents sticking their noses into their business like it was their own.
Deidara was pleased that there was a bus stop outside of the restaurant. It provided shelter against the rain which was pattering softly against the roof of the bus stop. It was starting to get dark and cold and Deidara hugged himself in an effort to stay warm.
The bus would be there soon, or so the table that displayed the times read. Deidara glanced around the darkening street, feeling quite bored. He noticed that there were about three street lights with broken bulbs. In the back of his mind he thought about how easy it would be for someone to grab him and take him away. He shuddered uncomfortably and prayed that the bus would be there soon.
He yelped when a hand slapped down onto his shoulder, and with surprisingly fast reflexes he turned around and lunged at the person who had grabbed him. His fist paused where it was almost touching the man's face.
"Oh... It's just you, un."
The man standing in front of Deidara was a new teacher who had been working at the school he attended for about four weeks. He was smirking sadistically at Deidara and looked as though he was a predator who had caught his prey.
His name was Mizuki.
Deidara was in a lot of his classes. Mizuki seemed like a fairly good teacher. He didn't put up with bad attitudes from the students – which meant that Hidan was kicked out of a lot of his lessons – and he was good at listening to the pupils and making the work easier for them.
Ever since Mizuki had started working at the school Deidara had been given the name 'teacher's pet' by his classmates. The reason why his friends called him that was because whenever Deidara did something that other teachers would not allow, like swearing or being on your phone under your desk, Mizuki would just pretend to be oblivious to it. Deidara just thought that he was one of those teachers who always had a favourite. Why Deidara was his favourite, the blonde did not know.
Deidara leaned back against the wall of the shelter casually, smiling.
"Where are you off to, Sir?"
Mizuki chuckled. "Actually, Deidara, I was on my way to your house to see you."
XxXxX
"Deidara, for the love of Jashin, you've got bags under your fucking eyes! Start sleeping, you idiot!" Hidan scowled at his friend who poked his tongue out at the silver-haired boy. A tired Deidara and a pissed off Hidan was never a good thing and could only end in catastrophe. Itachi saw this and stepped in to stop a fight breaking out.
"Calm, down, Hidan," Itachi said firmly in an intimidating way that made Hidan shut up immediately. The Uchiha faced Deidara before facing Hidan again, moving his head between the two as he addressed them both. "Hidan, why are you so grumpy? And Deidara, why are you not sleeping?"
Hidan frowned. "My mom locked me out of the house last night so I had to go and sleep in the neighbours shed. To top it all off, the woman who lived there came out early, saw me and then decided to beat me with a broom to get me out."
Itachi blinked once. "The usual then?"
Hidan glared at him.
"What about you, Deidara?" Itachi asked, his usually emotionless eyes expressing concern for his blond friend.
"I had a bad dream," was all Deidara offered as an explanation. Itachi understood at once what he meant and he dropped the subject.
They were all in Itachi's back garden, enjoying the hot rays of sun against their skin. Sasuke and Naruto were inside watching a movie in the living room while Kurenai and Asuma - Itachi's and Sasuke's adoptive parent - were at a friend's house.
"Deidara?" Tobi said, hopping on one foot for probably no reason at all. "Aren't you seeing your sister today?"
Deidara nodded absently, getting dizzy as the masked boy ran around him. "Yes, I'm meeting her at the park, un. Then I shall meet you guys where...?"
"Town," Itachi said, grabbing his cousin and forcing him to sit down before he made himself sick. "Kisame wanted to buy a goldfish but he didn't want to go alone so I'm going to a pet shop with him there."
"I'm going to go and have a look to see if any shops have any new masks!" Tobi chirped, giggling madly.
"And you?" Deidara asked Hidan.
"I'm just going there and having a look around and if they have fuck all there then I'm going to go and shout at the people working at the till."
Itachi sighed as Deidara patted his silver-haired friend on the back and muttered the words, "good plan, un."
"Why do you want to hang out with Kisame anyway? Do you fancy him or something?" Hidan asked innocently. Itachi almost tripped over his own feet before composing himself and turning around to glare at his friend.
"We nearly fried him, you know!"
"Well, in all fairness, Itachi, you shouldn't have been standing so close," Hidan shot at him.
"Well," Itachi replied with a bit of bitterness in his voice, "in all fairness, Hidan, you and Deidara shouldn't have been messing around!"
Hidan poked his tongue out at him childishly.
"Whatever, weasel..." He said. "B y the way... Do any of you know why that big tanned guy with the mask keeps fucking glaring at me?"
Hidan and Deidara failed to notice Itachi's sharp intake of breath and Tobi's worried squeak.
Deidara shrugged, disinterested. "I didn't notice. They all seemed like a weird bunch of people... How is the guy with all the piercings not writhing in pain all the time? And the hair colours they all have?! I mean... it can't be natural can it?"
"Kakashi's hair is naturally silver," Tobi muttered absently while trying to braid three blades of grass.
"He's old," Hidan said.
"He's only thirty."
At that moment Deidara's mobile phone vibrated in the pocket of his trousers. He took out his phone and saw he had a text from his sister. He scanned over the message quickly before standing up and reaching for his trainers which he had kicked off earlier. While he was lacing them he spoke to his friends.
"My sister just sent me a text. She's already at the park. I have to go, un."
XxXxX
When Deidara got nearer to the park he recognised a teenage girl, only a year younger than himself, leaning against the rusty grey gates that led to the park. She had a hairstyle similar to him but fairer and instead of her fringe obscuring the left half of her face it hid the right half from view instead.
"Ino, un!" Deidara yelled for his sister happily, jogging towards her.
She turned her head at the sound of her name being called and she grinned when she saw her brother.
"Deidara!"
They hugged briefly – Deidara having the air knocked out of his lungs in the process – before they pulled apart, both smiling and they went to find a patch of grass in the park to sit on.
For a while they just sat there and talked, occasionally standing and stretching to bring back some life in their stiff legs which had lost feeling from being sat down so long. They talked of normal things from the weather, to friends, to school and Deidara realised that he only had a few months left before he graduated.
"I'm not going to go to school on the last day," Deidara predicted. "I know it."
Ino pouted and slapped him lightly on the arm. "You have to turn up on the last day! You can't miss it!"
"Why would I want to go? It's not exactly been a joy to me," Deidara muttered bitterly, glaring at his hands which were folded in his lap. "Actually the only good thing about it is that it's an excuse to get away from home, un."
"I'm sorry," Ino apologised, feeling a familiar numbness wash over her at the mention on her family. "Er... How are ... Mum and... Dad?" She asked hesitantly.
"They're as stuck up as ever."
"Oh... Have they visited Sh-?"
"No."
They entered a rather uncomfortable silence which stretched on for about five minutes before Deidara decided to break it.
"They don't know I still have contact with you," Deidara told her.
"They want you to disown me like they have," Ino guessed correctly. Deidara nodded.
"I won't though," Deidara promised her. "Other than our brother you're the only one I value as family anymore, un."
"Thanks."
Deidara laid back on the soft green grass, as did Ino.
"So," he said casually. "How are things where you're at?"
"Good, I suppose. After I left I was staying at Chouji's house but his family moved away. Now I'm staying with Hinata. Her family was nice enough to let me stay for free so there's not really anything to complain about. I miss you," Ino told Deidara sadly. "Why don't you move in with me or at least go to the same school as me?"
"Well, I've already been moved from the last school I was in to the one I'm in now which I'm relieved about."
Ino gave him a knowing look. "Mizuki?"
Deidara shuddered. "I don't want to talk about him. As for living with you... Our parents may have let you go easily, un. But they're not going to let the only child they have left leave. Not unless I give them a reason to kick me out."
"Then give them a reason," she responded.
I honestly have no idea what's stopping me from doing that, Deidara thought. He sat up and twisted around where he was seated, making his bones crack slightly, while also moving his hand back and forth to make them crack too. He stood up, tied his jacket around his waist and helped his sister to her feet.
"I'm sorry, but I have to be meeting Itachi, Hidan and Tobi."
"I should be heading off too. How are they all, by the way?"
Deidara shrugged. "Same as always, I guess. Itachi is creepy, Hidan is swearing and Tobi is... Tobi."
As they walked towards the nearest bus-stop Deidara turned towards his sister for the final time the day to ask the question which had been biting at the edges of his mind all day.
"Do you know where our brother is?"
Deidara knew right away that she didn't, if the depressed look on her face was a clue.
"I'm sorry. I've been looking, I really have and I will keep looking. I really don't know what asylum he is in."
XxXxX
"Thanks for coming with me here, Itachi," Kisame said to the raven-haired teenager as he looked adoringly at his new gold fish which was in a small bag filled with water. The corner of Itachi's mouth lifted up into a half smile.
"You're welcome, Kisame," he replied kindly. Itachi liked Kisame. He was friendly, funny, listened to him and he was very easy to get along with. "Do you need to go anywhere else?"
"Er... No, I don't think so. I might stay here for a bit and grab a coffee or something. Would you like one too."
Itachi shrugged. "Why not."
"Awesome," Kisame said as he disappeared into a coffee shop. Itachi took a seat at one of the small table's outside.
When Kisame had asked Itachi to go to town with him Itachi hadn't known why. After only two minutes of leaving the house Itachi knew why. It was because every time a parent and child walked past the child would scream and hide behind the parent at the site of the blue-skinned man. Also, Itachi had lost count of the amount of times the name "freak" had been shouted at them. Kisame would try to hide how hurt he was and would stare at his feet but Itachi saw right through the shield.
Itachi knew what it was like to be called a freak.
Not exactly in the same sense at Kisame but he did know what it was like to be different. He remembered when he was a lot younger, before he was friends with Deidara and Hidan. He was the top of the class. The top of the school. He had had no friends at all back then. Whenever he tried to make friends with other people they would call him names. They would talk about him behind his back. He remembered all of the lonely school days by himself.
Itachi shook the thoughts out of his head. They didn't matter now. Things had changed for him. No matter how nuts his friends were they were there for him always.
"ITAAAAAAAAAAAACHI!"
"Hi Deidara," Itachi said, biting his lip to battle away a chuckle that threatened to rise. When Deidara had called his name, the raven-haired teen had looked up to see the blond racing towards him – closely followed by Hidan and Tobi – crash into three people, knock over a table, fall flat on his face twice and he got a lot of strange looks from people.
"How's your sister?" Itachi asked politely as Deidara, Hidan and Tobi sat at the table with him.
"Huh? Oh, she's fine. Same as always," Deidara said chirpily. Apparently seeing his sister he so rarely got to spend time with had put him in a good mood. For now at least.
"Found out anything about the...?" Itachi knew how uncomfortable Deidara got talking about his brother who he missed so much. Itachi hoped that Deidara was in a good enough mood to not care at the moment.
Apparently he was.
"Nuh-uh. But I'm still going to keep looking."
"If you need any help we'll be glad to give you a hand," Itachi said. Hidan and Tobi muttered words of agreement.
Kisame emerged from the coffee shop, carefully carrying a tray with two mugs of coffee on it and a few packets of crisps. He smiled at Deidara, Hidan and Tobi.
"I thought I heard your voices from in there. I got you some crisps f you want any. I didn't know whether you would want coffee or not or if you liked it so..."
"That's fine," Deidara assured the blue-skinned teen. "Hidan and I brought cans of Coke and under no circumstances is Tobi allowed to have coffee. He's lucky we let him have soda."
Kisame raised an eyebrow. "Does he really get that bad?" His eyes flickered towards the happy masked boy. "I mean, he seems a bit hyper but..."
"Last time we let his have coffee he stole a kids bicycle, set someone's pants on fire and tried to join a strip-club," Deidara informed him with a serious expression set on his face.
"Ah."
"If only we he was lying," Hidan said, taking a sip of his Coke.
XxXxX
A few hours later found Deidara, Hidan, Itachi, Tobi and Kisame strolling around the town, entering various shops to have a look around or peering through windows.
When they came across a shop that had sketchbooks on display through the shop's windows, Deidara's attention was caught and he dragged Itachi into the shop so that he could have a look around.
The shop was fairly big, with long aisles and Deidara grabbed the end of Itachi's sleeve so that if he got lost he wouldn't be alone. Itachi frowned at the action but he allowed Deidara to drag him around the place. Neither of them could help noticing that the place was almost deserted except for a few people.
They both paused when they heard a sniffling sound coming from a near-by aisle. Itachi, believing it was the sound of a crying child started to drag Deidara towards the sound.
Itachi was proved correct when he soon found a child, who looked no older than five or six, sat on the floor in an empty aisle, with his knees against his chest and his arms around them with a teddy-bear clutched loosely in one hand. He had startling red hair and black rings around his eyes. He also had something that appeared to be a tattoo on his forehead that read 'love.' There were tears falling down his cheeks as he choked out short gasps. Itachi's and Deidara's hearts broke at the sight.
Deidara and Itachi knelt down beside the small boy and the blonde haired male patted the boy on the head slowly to get his attention. "What's the matter, un?" He spoke softly.
The child studied the two teenagers warily before breaking out into fresh tears.
"I... I can't find my cousin!" He cried out with panic.
Aw... Deidara thought. "It's okay," he reassured the boy while gently rubbing his back soothingly.
"We'll find them," Itachi promised. The child stood up and grasped Deidara's hand with one of his own. They wandered the shop searching for the child's family.
"GAAAAAAARA!" A voice called out which made the boy stop dead in his tracks.
"Hn. What is it?" Itachi asked the boy with concern before realising that the child had a happy look on his face now. "Oh. You're Gaara."
Itachi was shocked to see the red-haired boy from school, Sasori he recalled, awkwardly making his way towards them carrying numerous bags in one hand with a young boy and girl following behind him. Sasori grunted as he put down his bags and moved his fingers around to bring the life back to them. Gaara ran towards him and almost knocked him off his feet despite how small he was. Sasori patted him on the head.
"What did I tell about wandering off, Gaara?" Sasori said sternly. Gaara looked slightly ashamed and shifted from foot to foot before holding out his teddy-bear to Sasori.
"Here, if I give you my teddy will you not be mad at me?"
Sasori looked surprised before sighing. "I'm not mad at you, you can keep your teddy. If you help me carry these bags, that is. Will you help me carry these bags? Temari, Kankuro, you two can help as well."
Gaara picked up the smallest bag happily. The other two children – Temari and Kankuro – groaned and refused.
Sasori glared at them. "Right, you little twits," He started. "I have brought nothing for myself in this shop. All of this is yours. I paid for the stuff, the least you could do is help carry them."
Temari and Kankuro weren't happy about it, that much was clear on their faces, but they each picked up two bags.
Sasori then looked up and noticed Itachi and Deidara standing there staring at them. "Uh..." He started saying. "Thanks for bringing Gaara back."
"No problem," Itachi replied.
"Un," Deidara agreed.
Sasori frowned. "Whichever one of you likes art you're wasting your time here... There is hardly anything that isn't tacky here."
"Aw..." Deidara said with disappointment evident in his voice. "Do they at least have clay, un?"
"Afraid not," Sasori said, half paying attention to him and half paying attention to Kankuro and Gaara who had put down their shopping bags and were wrestling over the young red-head's teddy.
"MINE!" Gaara wailed, sounding panicked that someone was trying to take his toy from him.
"I left mine at home!" Kankuro cried back with equal distraught in his voice. "Give!"
Temari tugged on Sasori's sleeve, wanting her brothers to stop before their miniature wrestling became an outright war.
Sasori turned to glare at his youngest cousins with so much venom in his expression that Gaara and Kankuro both swallowed and picked up their bags. Gaara put his teddy in one of the bags.
Kisame, Hidan and Tobi, who were without a doubt wondering what was taking the raven and blond so long, entered the shop to look for them. When they found them Kisame looked surprised to see Sasori.
"Oh, hey, Sasori, taking out your cousins, eh?" Kisame grinned at the kids and waved. The kids were used to seeing the blue-skinned man so didn't question the way he looked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Sasori replied flatly, looking colder as each second passed. Especially since Temari and started flicking Gaara's forehead, right where the 'tattoo' was. Gaara just stood there and allowed it to happen. "Those kids will be the death of me," he told Kisame darkly.
"Aw, they're kids, leave them to their own devices," Kisame said fondly.
"If I wasn't so afraid that they wouldn't kill each other, I would," Sasori replied, starting to walk towards the exit, with his cousins hurrying to keep up with him. Kisame chuckled deeply and followed, with Itachi, Deidara, Tobi and Hidan behind him, chatting amongst themselves. When they got outside there were dark clouds in the sky, signalling that a rainfall was on its way.
They walked to the bus station, Itachi and Tobi getting on one with Kisame. Sasori, his cousins and Deidara got on one together and sat near the back, facing each other.
After a long and awkward silence Deidara got fed up and decided to break it. "Where are you getting off, un?"
"Near the school," he muttered, distracted by a text message from one of his friends. "You?"
"Two stops after the school, un. Got to catch another bus," Deidara explained.
"What's the point in going to this school if you live so far from it?" Sasori asked, frowning, although he seemed quite disinterested in their conversation. "I get that you burnt down the last one you attended but why did your parents send you to one so far away?"
"I wanted to be at a school with my friends, I suppose, un," Deidara answered, his tone quiet and careful.
"Hm. Fair enough. Say... what was your name again?"
"Deidara, un," the blond told him. "Yours was?"
"Sasori."
Deidara half-smiled. "Scorpion, un."
"Yeah. Why do you say 'un?'" Sasori wondered.
"Oh, that. Speech impediment, un."
"Hm."
"Un."
There was another uncomfortable silence that stretched on for a while. Deidara didn't like the silence but Sasori just ignored his discomfort and went on his phone.
When Sasori stood up and got off the bus without a word to Deidara or even a glance, Deidara muttered the words "fucking rude bastard" under his breath. At least Sasori's cousins had the decency to say goodbye to him. He poked out his tongue playfully at Temari who had heard what he said about her cousin and was smirking at him.
Deidara's parents weren't home when he walked into his house. There was a note on the coffee table in the large living room that said, 'We've gone to a dinner party and we're booking into a hotel tonight. Lock all the doors and go to bed on time. Mum.'
Deidara made a sound between a gag and a retch. He scrunched up the note and tossed it in the bin. He remembered the last time he had been forced to go to a dinner party. He had been so bored and made that clear by acting like a child there. The one good thing that came out of that was that his parents hadn't taken him to a dinner party. That was almost worth the punishment.
Deidara sent a text to Itachi, Hidan and Tobi. 'Got the house to myself. Come over if you want.'
Less than an hour later Itachi, Tobi and Hidan knocked on his front door. Deidara spent ten seconds wondering how the hell they managed to get to his house so fast before seeing Tobi's dad outside in his car. Jiraiya drove like a crazy guy.
They spoke for a few hours about irrelevant, unimportant things before going to bed. It was about two or three in the morning when Itachi's voice spoke in the silent and dark room.
"Dei... are you asleep?"
"No," Deidara answered immediately.
"Nightmares?"
"No... I'm just thinking about everything. Mizuki, mum, dad, Ino... my brother. I can't sleep."
Deidara heard movement from where his friends were laying on an air mattress on the floor next to his bed. Then he felt Itachi's hand reach out and grab his own in a comforting gesture. It reminded him of the way his brother and sister used to lay in one bed with him and they would hold each other's hands to give them the strength to get through each day.
"It'll be okay."
Deidara squeezed his hand as a thank you. It made it easier for him to get through the night without crying.
I love Deidara, why do I hurt him so? ANYWAY, thank you for reading, please review and leave constructive criticism. NO FLAMES. I think this is my longest chapter for this fic so far. I'm still getting back into the habit of writing so sorry if it was bad. And it was probably a bad idea for me to write most of this chapter at one in the morning. I tried. Again, thanks for reading and I will get started on the next chapter soon. Maybe. Hopefully.
By the way, I checked for spelling mistakes but I probably missed a few. Also, in this fic I have been spelling Pein's name as Pain. In other fics I have in progress I spell it as Pein. Should I continue spelling it as Pain or do you prefer it spelt as Pein?