Falling Petals

Author's Note: Welcome to Chapter 1 of Falling Petals, the sequel to A Detonating Dance! Exciting, no? If you haven't read A Detonating Dance, I am summarizing it in this first chapter so you should pretty much be all set to read from here…this is going to be a Deidara/OC/Hidan story.

By the way, this story is, of course, rated M for good reasons…evidence can be found in this chapter, so if you don't enjoy lemons or limes, please do not read it. Expect violence and such in later chapters, keep in mind that Aiko and Deidara are developing adults/teenagers with uncontrollable hormones; and what Deidara wants the brat is usually successful in getting.

Please, do enjoy!

Chapter 1: Aiko's Dilemma

"Aiko, love, are you awake, hmm?"

Blinking, the blue-haired kunoichi peeked out at Deidara through her heavily lidded emerald orbs. Her lips cracked into a smile at the blonde lying beside her in the white sea of sheets as light cascaded in through the windows, illuminating everything in an unparalleled, blinding sheen of ivory. Deidara smirked that clever grin of his and delicately cupped Aiko's cheek.

He chuckled. "Did that last mission wear you out?"

The female Akatsuki ninja scoffed, smiling wryly, "No, I wouldn't say it was the mission, rather the constant torment of a certain somebody last night." She reached over, extending a pale hand to Deidara's smooth face, and pulled her body across the creased sheets to merge with his. He captured her tightly in his embrace, drawing her into a kiss that she could not evade.

Wrapping her arms around the blonde ex-Iwagakure ninja's neck, Aiko meshed her lips against his, eyes slimming open with adoring lust as Deidara's moist tongue slipped into her mouth. Underneath the coiling sheets, her leg moved to his, hooking firmly together, and winding tighter as his tongue playfully circled hers.

Aiko couldn't get enough of his taste to satisfy herself.

Then again, she doubted she ever would.

Lost in the kiss, Aiko began subconsciously reminiscing, nostalgic memories running through her mind; though her train of thought was rapidly derailed. Deidara moved his lips harder against hers, heated passion invading her mouth with his tumultuous kisses. Aiko willingly opened her mouth, allowing Deidara's tongue to enter, encircling hers.

"Mmm…" Aiko murmured, eyelids falling. "Deidara…"

His taste was so sweet that it became as addictive as it was alluring; when they kissed, Aiko could only hunger for more and knew she wouldn't be satisfied until he was entirely hers. She soon lost her hands in his soft, golden blonde hair, lips avidly meeting each of his turbulent kisses, unintentionally forgetting to breathe. Deidara was smirking against her lips, his hands straying to her rear as he cupped her firm curve and pulled Aiko harder against himself.

A gasp escaped Aiko's lips at the jarring contact. "D-Deidara!"

More noises fled her mouth that was expertly pried ajar by approaching moans as Deidara's hands slipped beneath her tank, arousing the butterflies within her constricting stomach. Heat flooded Aiko's body with warmth that boiled through her veins, touching every part of her and invigorating her with a prurient, aching lust pleading fulfillment.

"Deidara…" Aiko stressed each syllable of his name, bucking her hips. "…Deidara…"

Meandering his hands up the length of her stomach as he quickly and carefully guided Aiko onto her back, Deidara eagerly straddled her level figure, a smirk playing across his lips at her helplessly adorable expression. His knees sank into the groaning mattress, clamping around her tight thighs as his hands began kneading her smoothed breasts beneath her shirt.

"Ah…ahhh…oh!"

Little squeaks and moans of approval fled the blue-haired kunoichi's lips as Deidara gradually squeezed harder, the mouths on his hand releasing their tongues to prod at Aiko's nipple. The expert tongue swirled her tight peak around and around, driving Aiko crazy with a whirl of lust and love. She gasped as the pleasure became even more enticing.

"D-Deidara!" Aiko's hands moved to clamp around his broad shoulders.

He was still grinning, moving his lips to her neck and kissing her soft skin. He pecked at her neck as she inhaled rapidly, his hands massaging her breasts roughly to the point where she was so overcome with desire that she was nearly drowning in it. He flipped her shirt up and, before she could make a sound of disapproval at the sudden coldness piercing her skin, he was caging her against his chest, hands pressing into her back.

When their bare upper bodies collided, both were moaning lightly amid blissful rapture.

Sensations of a new kind radiated throughout Aiko when she felt the mouths on Deidara's hands nipping wantonly at the skin along her spine, making her vulnerable to whatever whims Deidara had as she shivered in his hold. Shuddering at the pleasurable sensitivity of the lustful mouths gave rise to a torrent of craving as Aiko held herself closer to Deidara, lips searching for his as they partook in a libidinous kiss.

Deidara simpered at Aiko, breath slightly staggered. "You're all out of breath."

Smiling back at him, a bead of sweat tumbling down her cheek, Aiko throatily retorted, "And you're not?" Deidara chuckled at this, his mirthful laugh dark and seductive as the vibrations of his voice rocked Aiko's already trembling body. She followed Deidara's movements with vigilant eyes as he held her in one arm while the other trailed down to his boxers.

Already Aiko could see his boner throbbing in its weak confinement.

Deidara met her coveting stare with amusement. "Tell me, Aiko," he leaned closer to her ear, warm breath hot and heavy, though it tickled her as he sinisterly whispered, "tell me just how badly you want me right now, hmm?" Aiko stole a sharp, ragged intake of breath, tensing against him as Deidara reached up from his pants to play with her hardened nipple.

"Nnn…ohh…Deidara…" Aiko groaned, head falling back. "Don't tease me."

"Come on," he urged, blue eyes alight with unrestrained fervor. "Don't you want me?"

Aiko's breath fled her groaning lips as Deidara slid his tight, heated body against hers, his length rubbing precariously close to her womanhood, creating an unbearable friction. The ache throbbing in Aiko's center was torturing her into susceptibility. She damned herself for being so weak against his impossible charm that was unreservedly irresistible.

"What's taking so long, hmm?" Deidara huskily whispered. "You do want me, don't you?"

A smirk curled around Aiko's lips, however, when she heard Deidara's arduous breathing fluttering against her ear. "What's the matter, Deidara? You seem anxious yourself."

He drew a long sound from the hollow of his throat. "If only you knew."

Raising an eyebrow to match her cunning simper, Aiko slipped off her shorts and panties, prepared for Deidara's inevitable assault as she fettered her leg to his, hands straying to the waistband of his ebony silk boxers. She tugged roughly, dragging them slightly down his hips, but Deidara forced himself to catch her hand. He wanted to have a little fun with her first.

"Won't you at least beg just a little?" Deidara crooned, pleading with playful eyes.

"You sound like the one begging," Aiko easily retorted, legs entwining tighter.

Deidara groaned raucously, chest swelling. "Unh…you're so evil…hmm?"

"I'm the medic nin of the Akatsuki, aren't I supposed to be evil?"

When she whispered words huskily against his ear, Deidara forgot himself. He could feel his boxers disappearing, erection tightening in the cooler atmosphere, though it was quickly warmed by the inside of Aiko's leg. Deidara smirked weakly, understanding that the invitation she was offering was one he couldn't decline. Already, his length was vanishing into her as Aiko's hands gripped his shoulders, her nails sinking into his smooth skin.

Deidara liberated a groan.

He wanted her.

Badly.

Thrusting and pumping as soon as he invaded her previously wet folds, Deidara started drilling mercilessly into Aiko, her moans reflecting the state of ecstasy he was burying her in. She couldn't deny him, wouldn't deny him—the pleasure he gave her was breathtaking, impossibly entrancing. Aiko tossed back her head and moaned louder with each of his turbulent thrusts.

"Nnn! D-Deidara!"

"Unh…oh God…Aiko…"

"Ohhh…Deidara…faster!"

"Mmm…Aiko…Aiko…oh…oh!"

Heeding to Aiko's desires, Deidara urged his entire rigid length into her until he was sheathed to the hilt, member throbbing until the moment of his ejaculation. Aiko's pleasured cries rang throughout the room, beckoning Deidara's lips to hers as he silenced her with his exhaling mouth, embracing her tighter as her inner walls closed within him, body convulsing.

Deidara never wanted to leave his congenial imprisonment.

Panting against the hot, wet kiss, Aiko was helpless to resist as Deidara slowly pulled out of her, her walls gradually widening and granting him freedom. She avidly kissed his neck to keep her mind occupied, his slipping in and out of her too wonderfully pleasurable to bear. When he was finally emancipated, she greeted his lips with an amorous, passionate kiss.

Deidara held her quivering frame in his strong arms, returning her affections.

"Deidara…Deidara…I love you…I love you so much!"

They were always together like this; closer than close. Deidara loved being able to call Aiko his beloved angel, his life partner. The momentary bursts of passion he felt when he was with her were little detonations of art. She was art. Aiko embodied everything he loved; strength, compassion, amiability and aptitude. Deidara never wanted to be with anyone else.

"I love you," Deidara whispered into her sweet-scented hair, nostrils evoking the lilac fragrance.

Aiko snuggled closer to him, lips eagerly connecting with his. "Love you more."

Capturing her face between his hands, Deidara held Aiko still as he ground his lips against hers, unhesitant and unyielding. Aiko smiled. That's what she loved about him; his audacity. Deidara possessed no inquisitions that would halt him, refused anything that opposed his chauvinistic opinions.

Although he was sometimes domineering over her, Aiko found herself able to mind it, often flattered; as long as he was well-behaved around everyone else.

Well, there was one exception she supposed.

The only person Deidara was ever particularly spiteful against when it came to affection for her was Hidan. The silver-haired Jashinist had a lascivious obsession with her that inundated them every time they met. Aiko couldn't contradict what a fanatical lover Hidan might be if one offered him the chance, but she wasn't about to leave Deidara for anyone. She closed her eyes, consuming and absorbing her thoughts in a careful, quiet reflection.

Yet, when she was captured by Orochimaru two years earlier, Hidan and Deidara had triumphed over their differences to rescue her against all the odds preventing them from doing so immediately. Sasori and Kisame had joined them as well, and it ended horribly for her former believed-to-be-dead lover, Kimimaro.

Thinking of the white-haired Otonin struck a painful nerve and Aiko slowly opened her eyes.

Kimimaro.

Gaze clouded, Aiko wiped at her emeralds, blinking and reopening them to find Deidara staring at her when her gaze finally came into focus. The blonde was silently observing her as he lazily lifted his hand to stroke her cheek, making Aiko wince slightly at the gentle contact. Though as she reined his adoring affections in, she gradually birthed a wry smile.

"What are you thinking about, hmm?" Deidara muttered, grinning.

"Just about a couple years ago," Aiko dazedly admitted, voice quieting.

Deidara's expression was plagued with exasperation. "Why that of all things?"

Anyone could tell that it wasn't a pleasant memory for Deidara. He loathed the time he spent with Hidan, Kisame, and Sasori, searching endlessly for the kunoichi. When they finally found her, Deidara was almost killed by Kimimaro, who would have claimed victory over his life had Aiko not intervened. Deidara sighed heavily, nostalgically, and Aiko frowned concernedly.

"What's wrong?" she inquired, touching his hand.

He dropped his gaze. "I was thinking about everything that's happened since you came here." Aiko prompted him to continue with an expectant stare. He smirked at the curiosity inherit in her emerald jewels overflowing with unspoken questions. "You've been here for so long, so much has happened. When did Itachi, Kisame, Sasori and I first bring you here? Hmm?"

Aiko calculated a quick estimation. "About three years ago."

Deidara nodded in agreement. "Your first Akatsuki mission was with Kisame and Itachi to the Land of Waves to recruit Zabuza as I recall. Then you went with Sasori and me to Iwagakure for some scrolls or something like that." A knowing expression devoid of cheerfulness sank into Aiko's lips, dampening her spirits, as she anticipated Deidara's next statement. "And then you, Tobi, and I went to Sunagakure and we ran into Orochimaru."

The kunoichi was no longer looking at him, and Deidara gently brushed his hand against hers.

Aiko glanced up, heart skipping a beat, and smiled halfheartedly. "I'm okay."

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "You're not lying to me, are you?"

Shaking her head, Aiko responded, "No, I just lost myself in my thoughts for a moment there. But then, I avoided you because of something, didn't I? I don't remember what it was now. I was stuck on another mission with Itachi and Kisame—we still weren't talking to each other. And then I ran into Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai; that was a mess. Kakashi was furious."

When Aiko forlornly spoke Kakashi's name, Deidara felt a tinge of jealousy.

Sighing, Aiko continued, pausing after the mentally-disturbing mentioning of those who she had ultimately decided to forget for the sake of her own sanity. "I ran away from Kisame and Itachi in the end though, to come back here." A sardonic grin suddenly found a home for itself upon her lips. "And I went running to you." Deidara reacted to this comment, smirking.

"Then what happened?" he encouraged, stroking her hair, one hand falling to her chest.

Blushing, Aiko found her thoughts slipping like pearls off a broken string as Deidara began thumbing her nipple, rolling her pink peak between his fingers. That wasn't helping her concentration in the least. Aiko opened her mouth to babble something, anything, but Deidara drove his lips against hers, holding her tightly and kissing her roughly.

Aiko good-naturedly tried to push him off, hoping for at least a slightly decent conversation.

Deidara self-righteously released her after a minute of his nibbling on her lower lip. "Sorry; I couldn't help myself." He drew his hand beneath his mouth, erasing the accumulated saliva. Aiko raised a cynical eyebrow as if asking whether she had his permission to continue and he chuckled. "It's not my fault I can't resist you when you're, you know, like this."

Running his warm fingers over her tightening skin, Aiko could feel that sexual heat emerging in her womanhood, returning, becoming an ache as Deidara allowed his hand to sweep down to her lower region. She drew in a sharp intake of breath as Deidara inserted one finger into her, brushing against her clit, the tongue on his palm slowly coming out to lick between her folds. She convulsed immediately, jerking back simultaneously, face flushing crimson.

"D-Deidara!" Aiko was redder than red. "What the heck are you doing?"

He simpered innocently, removing his fingers. "Nothing."

Untrusting, Aiko kept a watchful gaze on her licentious lover as he started running his hands up and down her body as she leisurely shifted closer to him, daring to place her faith in him again. He successfully drew her into his arms without struggle, hugging her tightly. Just as Aiko was getting comfortable, however, Deidara's grip constricted.

Aiko squirmed and Deidara chuckled sadistically. "You know I love it when you're moving against me like that, hmm?" Aiko scoffed softly, libidinously, seeking liberation and purposely brushing his throbbing erection with her long, smooth leg as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Deidara moaned when Aiko inadvertently pulled her body harder against his, able to feel her rounded breasts and erect nipples squeezing against his taut chest.

Deidara could feel the heat pooling in his groin, readying himself for more intercourse.

"Ah…Aiko," he ground out the words, lacing them with a sore desire. "I need you."

Aiko breathed in and out in shortened pants. "Deidara…ahhh, Deidara!"

As they both conceded to a hungering kiss, however, there was a disruptive knock from the door. Aiko flinched and clamped tightly onto Deidara, eyes wide before they narrowed in annoyance. Who would have the nerve to interrupt them while they were in bed together? When Aiko thought about it, there was one person who would be droll enough to bother them during such an occasion. Aiko grimaced, realizing the culprit's identity.

Sasori.

"Deidara? Aiko?" Sasori called from behind the door. "Are you two awake?"

Deidara's expression hardened into an irritated scowl, hollering back, "Yes!"

Sasori grunted, shifting around. "Well then hurry it up! We have an agenda!"

Scrambling out from the hold of the infuriated Deidara, Aiko made her way to where her clothes lay in a crumpled heap, quickly dressing herself. Deidara watched her dress with a pout, unable to avert his eyes. When Aiko whirled around on her heel to leave, Deidara left the bed, inaudibly wrapping his arms around her waist. He nuzzled his nose into her neck, kissing her. "We'll always be together Aiko," he murmured. "I promise, hmm?"

Aiko leaned back, laying her arms atop his. "Yeah," she whispered. "Forever."

The wind whistled a wistful tune, summoning memories of old as Kakashi met up with Tenzo again. Only this time it was not to discuss Aiko, but rather, to talk about the possibilities of Tenzo working with his team should he ever become unable to do so himself. They both sat on the rooftop of a house, quietly conversing before each of them stopped to admire the autumn beauty surrounding them in vivid, enchanting colors.

Fall had always and undeniably been Aiko's favorite season in Konohagakure.

Kakashi's silvery gray hair rustled in the breeze. "It's a nice day, for once."

Tenzo beamed, eyes softening. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? Autumn already…"

They sat together, each sharing an unspoken sigh. Kakashi's whimsical voice shattered the silence. "You know, it's been a while since we've gotten together like this just to talk—almost three years." He chuckled, expression enigmatic as his face remained hidden beneath his mask. "I can't help but to wonder what this season will bring for us."

Tenzo nodded conclusively. "Indeed!"

Allowing a flowing breath to trail from his masked lips, Kakashi mused aloud, "I wonder how Aiko is doing; you haven't talked about her in a while." His obsidian eye halted upon his friend, who recoiled at the mention of Aiko's name. Speaking her name was like speaking Sasuke's name to Naruto and Sakura; it was taboo. Kakashi quietly apologized. "Sorry."

Inhaling, Tenzo replied with a winded sigh, a wounded pause, "Eh, you don't have to be."

Kakashi's heavily lidded eyes faltered. "You still miss her, don't you?"

There was hesitation on Tenzo's part. "Always."

Drawing a book from the pouch located at his lower back, Kakashi withdrew Make-Out Violence, skimming the heavily worded paragraphs loaded with inferable adult content. Tenzo watched his friend in silence, closing his eyes and running his fingers through his bristling brunette hair, the overwhelming atmosphere causing his stomach to knot with each breath.

Kakashi sighed dejectedly. "I should've tried harder to get her back from the get-go."

"Hokage-sama?"

"What is it, Kakashi?"

Standing before the Hokage for the fifth time that week, Kakashi held his long, hard stare as he murmured the words, "Any news on Aiko's disappearance?" The Hokage shook his hand, and an expression of angst, anger and anticlimax flashed through the Copy Cat ninja's only visible eye at the unbearable letdown.

Yet, it wasn't startling in the least.

Kakashi suspected as much of a response.

He struggled to keep himself properly poised.

Sighing and exhaling the smoke from his pipe, the Third Lord whispered in a husky voice, "I am deeply sorry. There have been no leads on her whereabouts. There is nothing that I can do." He tugged down on his hat. "All of the tracker ninjas that I have deployed have failed. Even Jiraiya is so seriously wounded that he cannot be released from the hospital yet."

Kakashi could not help, but to intervene. "It's been three weeks, please, Hokage-sama just allow Tenzo and me to go out ourselves and find her." He lowered his voice, softening his tone. "The Akatsuki has to have her somewhere. I'll track her myself, it won't be a problem."

Fatigued weariness with the situation wilted the Hokage's expression.

A sigh lengthened the elderly man's exhale. "I cannot allow that Kakashi," the Hokage replied, rejecting Kakashi's request once again. He attempted changing the subject, striving to soothe Kakashi's implacable spirit. "How are things going with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke?"

Kakashi kept his tone collected. "That doesn't matter."

"Kakashi, please don't misunderstand."

"I'm not."

The Third Hokage gazed concernedly at Kakashi, knowing that there was nothing that he could do for either of them. He watched painfully as Kakashi turned away, walking out the door, thoughts of apologies swimming in his eyes as he bowed his face over his face, veiling his expression as the door clacked shut.

Leaving the room, Kakashi met Tenzo who had been waiting just outside the Hokage tower. He turned dejectedly to his friend, heaving out a defeated sigh. Tenzo looked up at Kakashi, refusing to say anything for a moment. Rain drops began to plummet from the clouded sky.

"He said no, didn't he?" Tenzo averted Kakashi's empty stare.

Heart sinking at the echoing sound of the impending reply, Kakashi vacillated for a heavy moment. "Yeah." He kicked a rock into a newly formed, spreading puddle. The rain fell harder, soaking both of them. Kakashi's wet, silvery hair glinted in the rain. "I'm sorry, Tenzo. But at this point I don't know what to say."

Peering into the void of a sky lurking above them, Tenzo whispered, "I should've stopped her. I should've…I should've gone with her when she left with Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi clamped his hand on Tenzo's shaking shoulder. Tenzo looked up, eyes wide and miserable.

Kakashi tightened his grip, eyes intensifying.

Boring his eye into Tenzo's, Kakashi roughly argued, "This isn't your fault. You're still young and I don't believe that Aiko is dead; she will come back to this village someday. You know just as well, if not more so, that she will. Aiko is a loyal girl." Tenzo solemnly closed his eyes.

Withdrawing an envelope that Kakashi immediately recognized, Tenzo carefully removed the note within, backing underneath a ledge to keep the paper protected. On the front of the envelope, Tenzo's name was written in Aiko's small handwriting, a little sketch inked in on the side. It was the note that Aiko had given to Kakashi to deliver to Tenzo just before she left.

"That's…the letter I delivered to you for her," Kakashi murmured.

An electrifying jolt of nostalgia coursed through Kakashi, remembering Aiko's warm smile on that day before she disappeared.

"Did I ever read this to you?" Tenzo asked quietly. Kakashi shook his head. Tenzo smiled sorrowfully as a spark of lightening flickered through the heavens. He cleared his throat, voice trembling, "This is what it says: 'Tenzo, I want to thank you for everything that you've done for me. I have a feeling that very soon we might be separated, but I'm not sure; something hasn't felt right lately and I fear that my life is going to change, that I'm going to lose you.

"'I can't express my gratitude towards you and Kakashi, but I want you to know that I owe you a favor. Any favor you desire. I'm sorry for never being clear with my emotions; I just can't be. I don't know how to communicate. Tenzo, before I do go and leave for Sunagakure please promise me that you will always protect Konohagakure, even if it is eventually from me. My dreams predict that I may change alliances. I can't be sure.

"'Don't show this to anyone; you can share it with Kakashi, but he's the only person I would trust with something as personal as this. If I should ever come close to harming the village then there is only one course of action that I want you to take regarding that promise I feel I must have from you.'" Tenzo's voice lowered to a croak, as a clap of thunder boomed throughout the obscure abyss of blackness above their heads.

"'Kill me.'"

Kakashi exhaled the breath that had caught in the hollow of his throat. "I received the same letter."

Eyes widening, Tenzo whipped around to stare at Kakashi, mouth agape. "R-really?" His friend gave a tiny nod and Tenzo left it at that, satisfied. The Copy Cat Ninja kept his eyes glued to the writing in his book, avoiding his friend's compassionate stare. They were Shinobi; they didn't need to possess such tender, weakening emotions. But where Aiko was involved, such a thing was unavoidable. Tenzo slowly stood up.

He calmly announced. "My guard duty is starting soon—I've got to go."

Kakashi continued peering into his book, a smile in his voice. "Sounds good."

Wondering where Aiko was and what she was doing, Kakashi tried to distract himself as best he could with his reading, but he found that as soon as Tenzo was gone, another old friend from long ago was returning. He glanced up to see his former knuckleheaded student energetically calling his name with practiced enthusiasm; Uzumaki Naruto had returned.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, hand flying. "Hey! I'm back!"

The Jonin grinned contentedly beneath his mask.

Some things never did seem to change.

"Excellent boy!" Orochimaru crooned. "Beautiful!"

Sparring, Sasuke and Kimimaro matched blades, neither one of them certain who Orochimaru was praising until Sasuke's chakra-enhanced sword bit into Kimimaro's bone blade. Kimimaro was quickly awarded, however with commendation upon deploying his eighth dance Kiku no Mai, the Chrysanthemum Dance against Sasuke to fight him off.

"Excellent Kimimaro, excellent!"

Perspiration slid off Sasuke's brow from their training, discovering that battling against Kimimaro was physically exhausting. Orochimaru watched the white-haired man with longing eyes, though he continued to honor the promise he made to Aiko not to use Kimimaro's body for his transference jutsu with hopes that he could do some bartering to get her back.

Now that he was certain she was alive, he would stop at nothing to have her.

Noticing the look in his beloved master's glistening orbs of gold, Kimimaro paused. It was that adoring look Orochimaru almost constantly wore when he thought about Aiko. Kimimaro's jade eyes lowered carefully to the bone sword in his hand. If it weren't for Aiko healing him, he wouldn't still be alive, nor would he be able to continue pursuing his purpose in life…

…her.

A figure cloaked in blackness paraded about the room, cloak trailing behind him in a billowing ebony wave, crimson clouds flapping fervently. His voice rang deep and commanding through the chambers in which he paced, order directed at the couple standing stiffly side-by-side, prepared to carry out his will unhesitantly.

"Nagato, Konan, see to it that Six-Tails and Seven-Tails are tended to immediately."

Looking up at their leader in the obscuring darkness, Pain and Konan nodded, although it was Pain who answered verbally, "Yes, Madara-sama." He stared at the orange-masked man referred to by the entire Akatsuki organization as Tobi, leaving Pain to perform the powerfully sinister Shinobi's plan for world domination. "Is there anything else?"

Madara tilted his head, voice hard. "Yes, before you depart I must ask; how is Aiko?"

The pair consisting of Pain and Konan exchanged short glances. Pain leisurely replied, "She is doing well and currently she is traveling with Deidara and Sasori; she prefers them." Madara said nothing, simply taking in the information, followed by an unhurried order for them to depart. When Pain and Konan promptly vanished, Madara slumped into a throne-like chair.

"Dearest Aiko…there is still so much you do not know."

Pulling out a newspaper and straightening it in front of himself, Sasori glowered at his cohorts as they smilingly joined him at the table, both grinning like foxes at the deadly glare they were receiving. The redhead arched an eyebrow, nose twitching in annoyance at their self-satisfaction.

They were more than well aware of what torture they put him through night after night.

Sasori slammed his paper down on the table. "You two are awfully…loud at night."

Aiko stifled a laugh as she glanced at Deidara who was covering his mouth.

Sasori raised both eyebrows, hissing, "Do you think this is amusing?"

Deidara replied with a fluent, round-about, "I don't know; I would describe your current expression as amusing, Sasori no danna, but the sex is more along the lines of pleasing; unless Aiko is flustered about something, in which case it's pricelessly entertaining, hmm?" Aiko flushed and Sasori narrowed his brown eyes, clearly anything but amused.

The kunoichi, however, retorted before Sasori got the chance. "Don't even go there, Deidara."

Deidara folded his arms across his chest, reclining in his chair. "What if I do?"

Aiko smiled callously, tone light. "I'll invite Hidan over to 'visit'."

Deidara blinked, irritated. "You wouldn't, hmm?"

The kunoichi shrugged, tone convincing. "Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't."

Pouting, Deidara effortlessly reached over and pulled Aiko out of her chair and into his lap. Ignoring Sasori's disapproving grunt, Deidara buried his nose in Aiko's hair, whispering arduously into her ear, "That sick immortal bastard can't have you; you're mine."

Aiko adored the way his tone roughened to a growl, a protective, desiring monotone. It made her shiver with delight from the inside out. Smiling, Aiko whispered, "I won't…unless you give me a reason."

Deidara tightened his grip, releasing only when the kunoichi between his legs began leaning back to steal a kiss. Sasori rolled his eyes in the background, muttering something about how overrated and disgustingly unnecessary an amorous atmosphere full of nauseatingly engaging lovers was, especially in front of someone else.

Before Aiko or Deidara could pull apart, however, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Scrunching up her eyes, Aiko dislocated her lips from Deidara, who glared pointedly at Sasori who lazily looked away.

Aiko sighed. "Is anyone going to get that, or should I?"

Neither Deidara nor Sasori answered as the waiting person hammered on the door again. The blue-haired kunoichi gently pushed her hair over her shoulder, allowing it to bounce down her back as she popped up from the chair and strolled over to the door, leaving Deidara behind.

Unlocking the door, Aiko gradually hooked her fingers around the knob and pulled it open.

"What took so fucking long, eh?"

Eyes widening, Aiko found her gaze locked in the lavender stare of Hidan. For a moment, she said nothing, only slightly aware of the blush creeping into her cheeks as her eyes absorbed his entirety. It had been at least a month since she had seen him last, but the way in which she saw him was different this time.

Completely different.

Author's Note: Dun! Dun! Dun! What's Aiko going to do now? Hmm? This is going to be a Deidara/OC/Hidan story as of the sequel; expect the unexpected. If anyone has questions regarding what they may have missed in the first story please say so!

Review, review, review!

-Aiko of the Akatsuki