[Chapter 4]

Deidara had been having a good day until Sakura showed up.

The weather was perfect outside, and Sasori had woken up at the crack of dawn for an unknown purpose, the redhead gone by the time Deidara woke up hours later. This meant a peaceful morning, uninterrupted by the other artist's annoying drawl.

He'd gotten some good work done as well, creating several new clay sculptures. Each one looked rather innocent, like something you would buy at an art auction. Of course this was far from the reality, since each one contained powerful explosives that could be detonated from a distance, leaving behind no trace. There was a reason he had managed to successfully bomb half of Iwagakure.

Then there'd been the knock on the door. Deidara, assuming that Sasori had forgot his keys or something, went to open it. In hindsight, he should have realized Sasori never forgot anything.

It was Sakura's smiling face that greeted him on his doorstep.

Deidara blinked twice and then wordlessly shut the door in her face. With Sakura came trouble, and while he was always up for some explosive fun, the pink-haired girl brought the wrong kind of trouble. The kind of trouble that would land him in jail again.

The door didn't fully close, and looking down, he saw Sakura's foot jammed in the doorway.

"Now, is that any way to greet a long lost friend?" Sakura chided.

Deidara grumbled, trying to get the door to close despite her foot being in the way. "I wouldn't say we're friends, yeah," he said. "Just cellmates."

"Whatever you want to tell yourself," Sakura replied, scoffing. She wriggled her foot a bit to prevent him from closing the door in her face . "But I've got a business proposition that I think you'll like. It involves lots of blowing things up."

Reluctantly, Deidara cracked the door open. "Fine. You can come in. But don't touch anything, yeah," he said.

Sakura grinned and stepped into the rather large artist studio he shared with Sasori. Deidara carefully led her around various easels and statues before gesturing to a plush couch right underneath a large skylight. Sakura silently took a seat and stretched her back.

"Mm, how'd you afford a nice place like this Dei?" She asked in appreciation.

Deidara didn't bother responding and instead turned his back, shuffling through the small kitchen tucked away in a corner of the studio.

"Tea or coffee, un?"

"Coffee, please. I didn't end up getting much sleep last night," Sakura answered. There was silence for a moment, during which the only sound was Deidara opening a cupboard. She spoke up again. "Who ordered this one?"

Deidara turned to see Sakura running her hands along one of his more recent creations, as if to spite his earlier instructions not to touch anything. It was a glazed statue of the sage of six paths, complete with a twisted snarl and horns.

"I told you not to touch anything," he complained, pouring the freshly brewed coffee into two mugs.

"Who's it for?" Sakura asked again, with an odd glint in her eyes.

"Kagami Uchiha," Deidara answered, handing her one of the mugs and taking a seat across from the couch in a love chair.

"You get a lot of Uchiha customers?" Sakura said casually.

"A few, hmm," Deidara narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

She ignored his question. "And you're still in the habit of infusing all your works with explosives?"

"Yeah."

The odd glint was back. "Perfect."

"Sakura-" Deidara started, but the pinkette cut him off.

"Shush, shush," she chided. "Let me tell you my master plan."

He rolled his eyes but leaned back to listen. There was a reason she had been the only prisoner in the history of Konoha prison to make an almost successful escape attempt.

Indeed, Sakura didn't disappoint, weaving an elaborate plan for stealing the Uchiha clan's ten blood jewels. They would enter the palace during the Sharingan Gala, disguised as partygoers, and they would leave filthy rich.

As she finished up, Deidara whistled appreciatively. "So that's what you were concocting all those times you wanted to be left alone in our cell, un."

He wasn't the only one. From the corner of the studio closest to the door came slow clapping.

"That was quite a plan I just heard," Sasori commented, as he walked past the two of them and into the washroom.

There was silence for a moment and Deidara winced at the fact that he had forgotten to tell Sakura about his annoying roommate, who had a habit of showing up at the most inopportune moments. She was smiling though, not seeming at all worried at the fact that her plan had been overheard.

They could hear Sasori washing his hands and as the door opened and he stepped back into the main area of the studio, Sakura nodded at him.

"Hello Sasori," she said cheerfully.

The redhead tilted his head but nodded back. "Hello, Sakura Haruno."

Sakura smiled and there was a long pause before suddenly Sasori chuckled, as if realizing something.

"You knew I was there," he stated.

She nodded and her eyes shone. "How would you like to steal a fortune, Sasori?"

"I'd be honoured," the redhead replied, amused.

Deidara just looked between the two of them, confused. "Un, what just happened, yeah?"

Sakura stood up from her comfortable position on his couch and walked over to him. She gave the blond a consoling pat on the shoulder. "It's called making new friends."

"So," Sasori asked, as the three of them rode the elevator down from the penthouse studio he and Deidara shared. "Who else do you still need?"

Sakura thought about it for a moment, sending a subtle glance over to Deidara, who was leaning against one of the elevator walls and examining his nails.

"Well, I've got one person already," she admitted. "Someone who knows the inside of the palace and can pose as a guard."

Sasori raised an eyebrow, intrigued at the description. "Someone who looks like an Uchiha?"

Sakura winced slightly. "Well… Not just looks like an Uchiha. Itachi Uchiha, formerly one of Madara's most trusted advisors."

At this Deidara looked up and snarled at her. "What the fuck, Sakura. You asked Itachi fucking Uchiha to help you?"

The air in the elevator felt tense suddenly, almost too thick to breathe in.

Sakura gave Deidara an apologetic look. "He's perfect for the plan."

The blond scowled. "That's it. I'm out, yeah. That bastard put me in jail."

"Ah," Sasori commented in understanding. "That Itachi Uchiha."

"Hey," Sakura called out, grabbing hold of Deidara's arm even as the elevator doors slid open. "That was when he worked under Madara. He's fine now."

"Once a bastard, always a bastard," Deidara grumbled, but he didn't try to escape from Sakura's grip.

"You can't quit on me now, Dei," Sakura warned, tightening the grip on his arm to the point of being painful. "I've already told you my plan."

There were hints of frost in the pink-haired girl's words, and Deidara didn't take them lightly for a minute. Silently, he debated his options. He could quit and be hunted down by Sakura or work with her and suffer through seeing that bastard everyday.

"Whatever, yeah," he grunted. "But you can't stop me from punching him in the face the next time I see him."

Sakura relaxed and released his arm from her grasp. "Not the face. I like him pretty. You can punch him in the stomach though."

"You like him pretty," Deidara repeated mockingly. But when the three exited the elevator together, the tension had dissolved.

"He's very pretty," Sakura teased. "Even prettier than you, Dei."

Deidara bristled, offended, but Sasori grinned at Sakura. "So are you saying this Uchiha looks even more like a girl than Deidara?"

She frowned. "Ok maybe not. But his hair is definitely silkier."

Deidara rolled his eyes, as he opened a door for the two of them and the trio stepped out into the daylight. The building in which he and Sasori had rented a studio was located on a side road near the outskirts of the village, since both of them prefered a bit of quiet to the constant sounds of traffic.

This usually meant that to get anywhere they would have to walk for quite a while, but when they stepped onto the street, there was a sleek, black taxi waiting for them.

"I hope you don't mind," Sakura said with a shrug. "I don't really enjoying walking."

Deidara looked over to see Sasori nodding in agreement. The redhead hated wasting time as well.

The driver stepped out of his car and opened the door for the three of them.

"Well," Sakura said, smirking at Deidara and gesturing to the open door. "Ladies first."

The blond rolled his eyes but got in the car. He better be so rich he could swim in a pool of his own money by the end of this, or someone was going to find themselves with an explosive up their rear end.