A/N: Okay...whew. So I understand that I have many things I wish I say to you all, as well as the fact that my readers all surely have stuff to say to me as well. But first of all, I will not make any excuses to attempt to defend myself because, obviously, I am in no position to do such a thing. Although I have to admit, I had announced my updating schedule at a really bad timing. Things just came up and... oh look at me, already trying to make excuses. One thing however is that in no way was this intentional and I truly get on my knees and beg for everyone's forgiveness and here, I have eggs and paintballs for you to throw at me. Only one one condition; after you read this chapter, okay? :) I even made it longer. And there are no cliffhangers for everyone's sake. I'm so sorry, everyone. So please forget your anger towards the horrible author for just a moment and enjoy!

That was it, then. Deidara knew that no matter how surreptitious he tried to be at that moment, it was already too late. Sasori had instantly caught the blonde's abrupt halt in all motion and no doubt his face was probably reflecting his inner turmoil like a clear stream on a sunny day. He suddenly found himself trying to go over several possible excuses he could use at once, successfully jumbling up all conceivable thoughts that tried to make themselves known to the clay artist. A quick glance at the redhead's hands told Deidara that Sasori wasn't wearing his ring, but anyone would know that the puppet master's mind was whirling with various suspicions that were probably all very close to the truth.

"What is it?" Sasori asked innocently, yet his hard haze begged to differ.

"Nothing," Deidara answered right away, then wanted to face palm himself right then and there. Of course there's something going on, you dumbass! "I mean, nothing that we should really worry about, un." You're hilarious, Deidara.

Apparently Sasori was thinking along the same lines. A thin eyebrow arched meaningfully at him. Deidara swore in his mind. The ring was beginning to grow uncomfortably hot.

"Deidara," Sasori spoke in a warning voice.

"Yeah, un?" he said, putting on the most fakest smile he'd ever made in his entire life.

"Go."

"I don't know what you're talking about, un." The ring was now scorching his poor finger, and the skin surrounding it was turning an angry shade of red.

Sasori sighed and reached into his bag, and soon fished out his own Akatsuki ring, which seemed to pulse under his very touch. He slipped it on his left thumb and formed the seal, ready to answer the summon any second now. "Go before he asks why we're late," he said quietly, and then closed his eyes.

With a groan of frustration, Deidara copied Sasori and followed suit. At once, he felt his chakra being pulled away elsewhere through a timeless void, until he felt his consciousness returning all at once, only this time, he was standing on top of a familiar, giant statue in a dim, dreary cave. He blinked and looked around, and swallowed when he saw the hologram of the Leader, along with Sasori; pretty soon, more projections flickered on and a few moments later the entire Akatsuki was gathered atop the fingers of the Gedo Mazo. Wonderful, Deidara thought bitterly. And to think that telling only one person what happened would be bad... He could already feel the tension building up.

"Sasori, Deidara." Pain wasted no time in greetings or giving an opening statement as to why they were summoned, as he usually did. This usually meant that something urgent had come up, or he was just hungry for answers. The clay artist knew it was the latter. "I assume you haven't forgotten your mission?"

"Of course not, un," Deidara said immediately, and he could almost feel Pain's eyebrow rise. "We did as you asked."

"I didn't ask, Deidara, I ordered," Pain retorted smoothly. He had yet to give off any signs of anger or accusations, but the blonde could feel them coming. "Well? How did it go?" He sounded almost as if he didn't care if it went badly or not.

"We... set out for the borders and searched thoroughly, like you ordered, un," Deidara began somewhat hesitantly. "He was there. A little way off from the exact place you sent us, but still there, un."

"Did you engage in battle?" Pain asked, almost challengingly.

"He attacked us first," Sasori said suddenly before Deidara could open his mouth to formulate a reply. Despite Pain's insinuations, his demeanor remained calm and composed. "We tried to avoid actual combat and demanded his objective. He told us that he was here to collect data for his researches, be he had two other men with him. They threatened us and we had no choice."

"I see. You did well, seeing as there was no other way." Deidara inwardly sighed with relief, yet he knew why the Leader was rushing things. He had yet to come to the main point, after all. "However..." Pain's eyes narrowed. "What I don't understand is why you did not head immediately to the base after the fight to report back on what happened."

Deidara tensed all over again; there it was. He gulped, trying to wet his parched throat. How would Pain react to this? So unpredictable was the Leader, that he honestly had no clue. Not wanting to show his anxiety, he cleared his throat and mentally steeled himself. "Er... well, you see, un," he began uncomfortably. "There was a bit of an accident, and we had to take cover for—"

"'Accident'?" A few yards across the statue, the loud, obnoxious voice of Hidan interrupted the Deidara's chain of thoughts. "Stop shitting us, blondie! I think you were just trying to slack off while everyone else does all the dirty work. Isn't that why you took so long to answer the summon?"

Pain raised his hand for silence, and then turned back to Deidara, who couldn't help but grow restless under the piercing gaze and undivided attention of almost all the Akatsuki members. "I refuse to believe two of my hardworking members of Akatsuki would do such a thing." This didn't help the clay artist relax one bit. "Although I have to admit, I am curious as to why you were so reluctant to return to the base."

Deidara looked to Sasori almost pleadingly, but to his dismay the redhead didn't even seem to be listening anymore. Even his eyes were closed and he remained impassive to the voices echoing all around him. It was now or suffer a greater consequence... "I'm waiting, Deidara," Pain said warningly.

"The accident, it..." Deidara blurted out. "Things sort of happened, and— Danna lost his puppet body." He quickly spat out the rest of the sentence in a rush he even forgot he had a speech impediment. At once, he felt a huge weight lift off his chest, but at the same time feel another, greater stone of dread settle into his stomach.

There was a suffocating pause that coursed throughout the mute cave. Deidara's mind went white and he felt glued to the spot as he almost heard everyone's mind gears reel and clank in their brains, processing what had just been said. And then—

"What?" The disbelieving voice of the Jashinist barked out, successfully shattering the palpable silence. "Hold on for one minute. So you're saying that puppet boy is now a real boy? That's fuckin' hilarious!" He whooped with laughter. "Oi, Kakuzu! Did you hear that? Blondie's doll got his dick back!"

"Shut up, Hidan," Deidara snarled, feeling his hands tremble with anger. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to—"

"Yeah sure, I bet it's real hard!" Hidan yelled, his cruel, shrieking laugh reverberating throughout the dank walls. "If you catch my mean—"

"Hidan." Kakuzu's deep, menacing growl managed to be heard over the Jashinist's insanity. "Shut your face hole."

"Fuck you too, shitbag," sneered Hidan, but otherwise miraculously did as told. Kakuzu's voice truly possessed a remarkable gift.

"That is enough." Pain cast a warning look to the pair for good measure and turned back to Deidara, and Sasori who still miraculously managed to remain unresponsive throughout the entire thing. "One of you, explain to me this instant." He seemed satisfied at the truthful answer however, and now appeared to be slightly relaxed.

Seeing as Sasori had somehow turned mute in the past ten minutes or so, the spotlight shone towards the clay artist once again. "I don't know, un, alright?" he said loudly, anger and exasperation finally taking its toll. He just wanted to get over with this entire thing and sleep his grief away. "Orochimaru had some sort of potion that was supposed to lead him to his new secret for immortality or some crap, un. But then it exploded all over Danna, and he just suddenly turned human, un!"

"Man, that's fucking tragic, isn't it?" Hidan's leering voice drawled, sounding mockingly bored. "I feel so bad for you, Deidara-chan. Say, does the little bastard know how to jack off?" He let out a snort. "Or wait, did you have to show him!?" He burst out laughing again, the sound threatening to burst the blonde's eardrums any second.

"You— you piece of—" Deidara's almost went blind with rage. "I'll fucking blow you up to a million pieces and kill you in the most sadistic way possible, un!"

Hidan continued to snigger and snort, a shit-eating grin plastered onto his hologram's face. "Good fuckin' luck with that, little girl."

Right when Deidara was about to lunge at the Jashinist to blast his transparent face into smithereens, Pain let out a sharp command of, "Silence!" and everything plunged into instant muteness once more, with the exception of the blonde's thundering heart as he seethed silently with undying flames of anger. Sensing the disarray of the atmosphere, Pain continued to speak in a calm and methodical manner, although one could hear a slight wave of bewilderment in his voice that quickly vanished like the wind. "Sasori and Deidara, what are you planning to do about this situation?"

Once again the clay artist spoke for the both of them. He was beginning to grow tired of doing all the hard work, but the last thing he wanted to do right now was to look at Sasori's face. "We're trying to figure out what happened, and we..." he paused, wondering if he should really say this, but pushed the thought away and went on, "we're on our way to look for Orochimaru so we can put things back the way it was; by force or not, un."

As expected, Pain did not answer right away. To the blonde's relief, Hidan didn't say anything else and thankfully stayed silent. Deidara watched the flickering hologram of the Leader's apprehensively with baited breath, waiting for the final decision to be made. To be truly honest, Deidara secretly despised the fact that someone else had this much power over him. Now he barely minded it, but sometimes he'd still be occasionally reminded of this disconcerting truth and it was currently driving him crazy. Why did he have to join this cursed organization? Oh wait, he didn't join; he was forced to, he thought grimly. He hated how fast he had adapted to the new environment. Thankfully Pain was never too demanding or watchful, but he obviously didn't want people relaxing too much around him, either.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, he relented. "Very well," he began slowly. "You may go after Orochimaru in what ways you find most appropriate. On the other hand, you must be discreet at all times, and do not risk revealing yourselves too much. When you find him, try and see if you can get any knowledge he has of us. Although, remember that that will not be your first priority anymore and so you will concentrate on your main objective before anything else.

"As for Sasori, I will allow the two of you to take whatever action necessary to retrieve his body back. However, anything unfortunate that happens to you or him will be the consequences of your own impetuosity and therefore not my problem, and the other must take full responsibility for it. Also, I will not aid you because of a mishap caused from either of your mistakes. If one of you dies, the remaining member will report back to me immediately and I will look for another potential individual to fill the space as needed. Understood?"

"Yes, un," muttered Deidara with gritted teeth, torn between relief and anger.

"Good." Pain didn't bother to squeeze an answer out of Sasori. "Also, I wish to see Hidan and Kakuzu separately. I will summon the two of you later throughout the day. Dismissed."

With those words, the meeting was over just as quickly as it started, and the connection was lost. Deidara felt his chakra being whizzed back to its origin and half a second later he opened his eyes to find himself sitting stiffly in the same position on the clay bird as he had left off.

All at once, exhaustion rushed to the top of his head and he had to steady himself before he toppled over. He groaned and massaged his temples; he felt as though he had just raced across the Fire Country without stopping. The last part of Pain's lecture bugged him to no end, but what else had he expected? This wasn't daycare. They'd just have to make extra sure that they didn't screw up. He glanced up at the redhead and swallowed. Sasori looked haggard in every way, his eyes having lost the light it had only recently before. Deidara knew that he was seeing more and more sides of Sasori that he'd never seen or would've imagined to see in the puppet master, and it ate away at his insides constantly. It felt so wrong to have him like this, too tired and defeated to come up with a stinging reply, whereas any other day he'd already have Hidan's limbs hanging on the wall as a clear reminder to anyone who dared to speak about him like that. This wasn't the Sasori he knew. He wouldn't just give up like this. No, hopefully this was just temporary.

"Sasori no Danna," he tried, regarding the redhead in a careful manner. "You heard Pain, right? We can go after Orochimaru freely now, un." Anything to get him speaking, to make sure he wasn't dead inside.

The clay artist's voice seemed to interrupt Sasori out of his reverie, and he glanced up at the blonde almost irritably with his dull, brown eyes. As the seconds passed, Deidara felt that the redhead was proving to be every bit as un-Sasori-like as he had feared.

"I know." He turned away and looked out into the darkening sky. "Go."

Deidara didn't like the redhead's tone of voice. "You know, if it's about what Hidan said, don't pay attention to him, un," he said, supressing his own bubbling anger at the arrogant Jashinist. "He's just a sick bastard, un."

"I know what he is, Deidara," Sasori said, sounding weary. "Stop acting like you know everything."

"What? I— Danna, un!" the blonde said incredulously. "It's just Hidan! Since when did you start taking everything he says so personally, un? And what do you mean, 'acting'? Don't I already know everything that there needs to be known?"

"How can you possibly know?" Sasori asked blankly, his eyes gazing at something far away that only he could see. "How can you, someone who appreciates nothing but your own self and petty explosions, possibly understand the things I'm going through right now?"

In disbelief, Deidara opened his mouth, but closed it when he realized he had nothing better to say. Sasori let out a long, wearisome sigh that hinted at his inner turmoil. "Just go, you brat."

The clay artist had no choice but to comply, as he was at a loss for words.

~*o*~

When the first signs of the yellowish soil began to appear, none of them made a sign to acknowledge it. Not even when they approached a border and Deidara carefully maneuvered the clay bird over it without arousing any suspicion did they speak. The few times the blonde turned around to make sure Sasori didn't die or anything, he found the redhead in the exact same position he had been in when thy continued the journey and the same, faraway look was forever plastered onto his pale face that was now glowing under the moonlight. The last conversation they had had left them miserable and heavy hearted. As the silence dragged on, and the blonde became more and more exhausted, he decided to stop and spend the night concealed under some trees before they crossed completely over to the desert. Carefully, he circled around and spotted a decent clump of foliage growing near a collection of jagged rocks that would shield them from most eyes. He carefully landed, and slipped off the mount's back and observed their campsite.

Thankfully they were still in the midst of entering the desert so it wasn't absolutely dry. The sandy dirt would provide softer bedding but there were no signs of water anywhere. Deidara knew that he had to save his water for the trip tomorrow, since Sasori had already emptied half of his own flask. Deidara glanced over to said person, and was surprised to see that he'd gotten off the clay bird on his own and was even looking around his surroundings with little interest. At least he's still alive enough to think for himself, Deidara thought bitterly. He shrank the clay bird and stuffed it into his pocket before turning to his partner. "We're going to spend the night here, un," he announced, even though it couldn't have been more obvious. Because right now, Deidara felt that if he didn't explain everything to the redhead, he'd have no idea what's going on. "We need to start saving our water because we won't have enough for tomorrow. I'll take first watch and I'll wake you up later, okay, un?"

Sasori nodded vaguely, which didn't assure the clay artist that he heard anything.

Also, Deidara was beginning to grow sick and tired of the redhead's apparent withdrawal to everything. So much that he stomped up to his partner and shook him by the shoulders violently. "Stop sulking and pull yourself together already, un!" he snapped. "Are you just going to curl up and die because Hidan said a few words? Honestly, I thought you were better than this!" Sasori didn't answer and only avoided his eyes. "Look at me, Danna!" Reluctantly, the redhead brought his eyes up to lock with the blue orb. "I know you're all devastated and all because you lost your lifetime's work, un. But this is kind of pathetic, don't you think? Just because someone took it away from you, does it mean you can just collapse and cry like a child, until someone comes along to hug you and give it back? Honestly; and yet you still expect me to treat you like an adult, un! I had no idea, Danna, but you're terrible at dealing with situations like this. What can I do to make you realize that?"

"I can deal with it," Sasori argued obstinately, but with much less vigor. "I'm not a kid—"

"Then prove to me otherwise, damn it!" Deidara let go of Sasori's shoulders, but continued to hold their gazes locked within each other. "If any other Akatsuki member saw you like this, then they'd immediately take it as a sign of weakness and they'd never let you live it down, Danna. If it was an enemy then you'd be dead already, un. If it wasn't for me—"

"So now you want my gratitude," Sasori said with a half-hearted sneer. "Because you saved my life? Stop dreaming. You're here on your own accord."

"Are you serious, Danna? I couldn't just leave after what happened, un!"

"I'm not thankful at all," Sasori continued, regarding him with a frigid stare. "Why would I be? I never asked for you to do this."

No matter how many times Deidara wanted to scoff and turn away for the sake of his own dignity, he could not deny the fact that those words hurt, and they did far more than anything else that had been said to him. Perhaps it had been foolish on his part to think that the redhead had somehow opened up to him a little after all the things they've been through together, but obviously that wasn't the case. Had his partner always been this cruel? He couldn't remember. Before he had never really paid attention to Sasori's actions towards the blonde, but in this sensitive situation Deidara couldn't help but long for comfort from something other than his own wretched consciousness. He forced a smile onto his face, and laughed bitterly.

"Of course you didn't, un," he said. "But I'm staying whether you want me here or not, so deal with it, or don't, un. Just don't cause too much trouble for me."

Without waiting for a reply, Deidara trudged over to a secluded spot in between two large rocks and settled down on the ground, leaning against his bag for little comfort. He didn't check to see if Sasori found a good place to turn in for the night.

Although there was really no reason to keep watch, as they were in a secluded area in the corner of the Wind Country border that no one cared about, Deidara found himself gazing up at the night sky, absentmindedly counting the stars to pass the time. He drifted in and out of sleep, feeling his stomach churn queasily from hunger. He paid no attention to it however, as his mind was thoroughly exhausted and worn out, yet his body remained restless.

He'd never known a time when he'd been this conflicted before. He'd never had to deal with more than two or three emotions at once, and being a complete stranger to the foreign feeling, it didn't help cease the headaches that he'd been having much more often lately. Nevertheless, he had yet to break down completely despite the prodigious amounts of voices whirling inside his brain and that he took some pride in. At least he didn't bury his soul in grief like a certain redhead, he told himself grimly.

As he lingered on that thought however, a new realization popped up inside the great hurricane of inquiries. Although Deidara had admonished the puppet master's ways of dealing with his problems, he had never actually thought about it in his partner's perspective before. He'd been too busy chewing his nails over the overly uncharacteristic guy. Deidara frowned, as he noticed the small flaw in his seemingly well-formulated lectures he'd been giving.

What would it be like to put himself in Sasori's shoes?

Deidara knew that he treasured his artful explosions dearly, and the ability to create said explosions. But what if one day, a vile, creepy-looking snake bastard like Orochimaru came along and took that ability away from him without warning? Whether it was on purpose or not, Deidara came to the conclusion that, to put it delicately, he'd be pretty fucking pissed. And so he asked himself what he would do next. The answer was obvious; chase down Orochimaru to the ends of this universe to get it back.

The clay artist sighed and smacked his head into the rock behind him. He accidentally hit it too hard and he felt a lump beginning to issue from his scalp, but he ignored it. He'd been too selfish the entire time to understand exactly what Sasori must be going through. He recalled the redhead's biting words from earlier on:

"How can you, someone who appreciates nothing but your own self and petty explosions, possibly understand the things I'm going through right now?"

Once again, his stupid partner was right. Deidara was frustrated at how Sasori seemed to know him so well, when despite the years of working with the redhead, the clay artist found him as readable as a brick wall. But whatever he discovered now was too late. At the moment, he'd just have to concentrate on getting to Orochimaru and make sure Sasori doesn't kill himself in the process, no big deal. Deidara did not sign up for this.

Or perhaps in a way, he had.

Whatever he did, he didn't want to think about that right now. The clay artist straightened up and looked for Sasori. He spotted a familiar mop of red hair that, to Deidara's amusement, stood out just as fiercely as ever about ten yards away. Knowing that he had been sitting there mulling over his thoughts for a long period of time, he decided to wake his partner.

Standing up and stretching his sore limbs, he approached the sleeping redhead none too discreetly and flopped down next to him. Now that he had made some sense out of his thoughts, his previous anger towards Sasori had vanished, and was left with the same, familiar pity that always seemed to settle in his stomach when he saw the puppet master. Sasori was curled up on his side facing away from the blonde, his arm-pillow pressing his cheek into a pout (just like at the motel) that looked unbearably funny, and if he dared to say again, cute. All the years of effort the redhead painstakingly put in building his cold, impassive demeanor crumbled upon this small scene. Well, at least to Deidara, anyway. In a way, he felt special, knowing that he was probably the only other in this entire world who would witness this side of Sasori, and yet felt afraid for himself at the same time, as he might be getting a good taste of Sasori's own venomous concoctions later.

Reaching out a hand he shook his partner until he saw the eyes crack open blearily, taking in its surroundings. It took a while for him to notice the blonde, and when he did, his face darkened considerably, and turned away again.

"Come on, Danna," the clay artist insisted, shaking him again. "Your turn to keep watch, un."

"Go away." Was the reserved response he received from the redhead. He was obviously still upset from before. Well, he would have to get over it now that the blonde was here.

"I don't think so, un. I need to rest, too." When Sasori didn't move, Deidara sighed and shoved his partner's shoulder as hard as he could. Sasori's balance slipped, and he smacked his face into the ground from the impact with a cry of pain.

"What was that for!?" snarled the redhead angrily as he picked himself up to glare at Deidara. The latter shrugged and made to lie down, but was stopped by a hand. Sasori was regarding him with a discombobulated expression. "What are you scheming?" he demanded quietly, his eyes never leaving the other's.

"Nothing, Danna. Geez, calm your horses, un." Deidara yawned and made himself comfortable, looking up at Sasori contently, who still seemed somewhat unsettled. "For God's sake, Danna, I mean—"

"If I recall correctly, you were commenting on your displeasure of the way I acted about this whole situation; in other words, you didn't like me," Sasori said matter-of-factly. "What made you change your mind?"

The clay artist looked at him for a while, until he sighed and muttered, "Look, I'm sorry about before, alright? It's like you said, I was only thinking about myself, un. I realize that now, so I'm trying to make things less awkward for us but you're making it very hard for me, un."

"Why try?" Sasori asked in a challenging manner.

"Why wouldn't I, un?" Deidara shot back. "But every time I do, I learn that you're not going to change much. Yet I just don't seem to learn, do I, un?"

There was a small pause, where neither of them looked at each other until Sasori finally made to speak.

"I know," he declared softly. He said no more on that matter. Deidara watched his partner with a hint of sorrow. It felt as if the redhead was never going to open up to anyone after all. Although he understood why, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Sensing the puppet master was still disheartened from earlier events, Deidara leisurely jabbed at his waist to grasp his attention. What he didn't expect, however, was the sudden flinch he received from the action. They stared at each other for a full second before Sasori realized what happened and frowned. "Don't," he warned the blonde. However, that only fueled Deidara's curiosity and he abruptly poked at the same place again. When he got the same reaction, he came to full understanding and the clay artist could feel a grin creeping onto his face. What if…? If this worked, then he just might be happy that all of this happened. Sasori only watched Deidara with an apprehensive look, not sure what was going on.

"Hey Danna," said the blonde suddenly. "Are you ticklish, un?"

"...What?" A bemused look crossed his face at the sudden change of mood and subject.

"I asked if you're ticklish or not, un."

"Wh— of course not!" scoffed the redhead hotly, as if the question greatly offended him. However, it did not wipe of the grin that was now fixed onto Deidara's face. "As if I would!"

"I guess we'll find out if that's true or not, un." Deidara shot up and reached out with dangerous fingers. Sasori paled visibly.

"Wait— you brat, I swear if you touch me—" Too late. The clay artist had lunged forward and tackled the redhead to the ground and began to tickle him relentlessly. All of a sudden, the small pine forest erupted with unexpected bursts of laughter with no regards to discretion that, to both their surprise, emerged from Sasori's throat. The pair rolled and tossed each other all over the ground, mercilessly jabbing at each other's waists, armpits, necks, and anywhere else that they would discover to be a target for their tickling. The sound of Sasori's melodic laugh echoing throughout the woods was truly marvelous, and Deidara swore to engrave them in his mind forever, for the puppet master would probably never allow himself to laugh like this ever again. The blonde felt his spirits lift and together they continued to attack each other, until neither of them had the energy to lift another arm. A few minutes later, they lay side by side on the ground, still panting and chuckling.

"Don't ever do that again," Sasori said breathlessly, wiping his streaming eyes. Deidara poked him one last time. "Stop!" he cried, laughing once more. By the time he was able to pull himself together, Deidara saw that his cheeks were tinted a darker pink from embarrassment.

"You never fail to surprise me, Danna, did you know that, un?" Deidara asked casually, facing the sky again.

"I'm not forgiving you for this one, you brat," Sasori snapped at him, sounding thoroughly irritated that Deidara succeeded in making him laugh. "You caught me off guard."

"Which was the whole point of it, un" said the clay artist, rolling his eyes. "I like this part of you more, Danna."

"I don't find pleasure in indulging myself with useless fidgeting to waste time on," Sasori retorted.

"But you're more alive, un. You're human; you can feel things now."

"Which is exactly why I need my puppet body back," Sasori said, the atmosphere turning solemn once again as they approached a sensitive topic.

"...I know, un. But until you do, can't you just try and enjoy it for the time being?"

Sasori turned to look at the blonde, who was still gazing up at the stars with a peaceful expression.

"I don't know how to answer that, brat."

Deidara gave the redhead a small smile. "I know, un."

Alright, alright, paintball/egg-throwing time! Wait, wait— *ducks behind a poorly made shield* okay, go! But WAIT! If you liked the chapter, then maybe... you don't have to throw things at me...? ;^; (Oh, and the tickle scene was suggested to me by a wonderful reviewer 'ilovedeidara'. I am forever grateful to you for giving me the idea for this wonderful scene. It was the best suggestion ever! Thank you very much! And if anyone else feels like I should add in a small scene (nothing too big that would change the storyline, of course), feel free to leave it in your reviews and I will take it into consideration. :) )

Like? Love? Hate (me)? Please tell me what you think; your reviews will be greatly appreciated! :)