Kin had been more than happy to get out of that house and away Haishi. He looked scary to her, though Kin would never admit it. She had her pride after all.

Checking her watch, she realized that she still had some time left to kill before her shift started, much to her annoyance. What could she do till then? Just show up and hang around the store like some loner?

…. Maybe. It wasn't like she had enough time to do much else.

Kin soon found herself standing outside of a small, rather beat-up looking old store in urgent need of redecorating.

'Honestly,' she sighed to herself. 'Anyone would think we didn't make any money!'

Contrary to the shop's appearance, they got a fairly healthy amount of business. Being located so close to Sound and Arts Middle School and Sound and Arts High School – two new, conjoined prestigious schools specializing in all forms of art – they made quite a good profit from students and teachers coming in to stock up on supplies.

Kin couldn't help but flinch a little as the memory of her experience at Sound ran through her mind. Shaking herself, she pushed opened the door, the familiar ring of the automatic doorbell signaling her arrival. Immediately two heads shot up where they had been hidden behind shelves of paint. Both wore similar expressions of confusion when they realized who had just entered.

"Tsuchi-san? Why are you so early?"

Kin shrugged off her backpack and tossed it onto the floor behind the counter.

"I got let out early. I thought I could hang out here until my shift starts, unless you want me to start now."

Her boss shook his head.

"The imbecile next door will undoubtedly find out and most likely accuse me of overworking you. I would rather not risk it."

Just as she predicted. She simply shrugged, and moved to sit on the counter near the till.

"Hanging around it is then. So, anybody got anything interesting to talk about?"

"Oh oh I do un! Wait right here! I have to show you this un!" Kin's co-worker exclaimed, dashing past her. Kin, shocked at the random outburst (the fact he had been standing right next to her too didn't help), nearly fell of the counter, legs and arms flailing everywhere trying to regain balance. Sending an utterly baffled look to her boss, he simply shook his head and rolled his eyes in the direction his employee had disappeared, clearly sending out the message that he thought the younger man as an utter fool.

Not a moment later, her co-worker had returned, slamming a small wooden box on the counter next to Kin. This time, she really did fall off, much to the two males' amusement.

Blowing a stray hair from her face, Kin scowled up at the pair.

"Yeah, yeah! Smirk it up!"

The young man by the counter continued to grin down at her, before offering her a hand up. Kin stuck her tongue out at him, but took it nonetheless. Once back on her feet, she eyed the box he had brought out with curiosity.

"So what's this then? Another one of your art projects from school?"

The boy in front of her grinned almost maniacally.

"You bet, un! You'll never guess what it is," he said smugly.

Kin raised her eyebrows.

"Hm, well it looks like a wooden box," she smirked. This time he was the one to stick his tongue out at her.

"Guess what's inside the box un! Ugh, sometimes I think you have no brains, un!"

Kin tried to elbow him, only for him to dodge it and smirk at her once more.

"I don't know, I give up," she told give. He threw her a look of mock disappointment.

"Oh, but you didn't even try, un! Oh well, open it, un!"

Kin gave him a suspicious look. She silently swore to herself that if this was a prank of some sort, he would pay for it.

Slowly, cautiously, she lifted the lid off of the small box. Much to her relief, it didn't contain a massive spider (which had been the last prank he had pulled on her) , but instead was filled with a bunch of odd-looking tiles with all sorts of random images in reversed engraving.

"Um….okay you got me. What is all of this?" She eyed the contents with undisguised intrigue. Picking up one tile, she noted how it was a rather pretty bird etching on it.

"Deidara, did you do all these by hand?" she gasped. There were at least two dozen small tiles in the small wooden container, and Kin couldn't imagine having to do each tiny engraving by hand. She didn't have the patience – or talent – for such a task.

Her co-worker – Deidara – smirked in triumph at the girl's reaction.

"That's right, un! It's part of a customizable stamp set I'm making, un. I've got lots more design ideas, but it's still in the beginning stage, un."

Kin looked wide-eyed at the boy before her. This wasn't the first time he had showed off a piece of work to her and their boss, but for some reason she always forgot that, for as annoying as he could be at times, how talented an artist he was. So when it came to times such as this, she would never fail to be blown away at his work. Deidara never complained about it – he loved getting that reaction out of people. It gave him something to brag about.

"Sasori-sama! Have you seen this?" Kin turned to ask her boss. The youthful-looking man (who had long since returned to checking the up on the stock while his employees chatted) gave a short nod.

"It's about as close as he's ever been to making a real piece of true art, though he plans on ruining it later."

Deidara glared at his boss.

"What do you mean by that un? I'm not going to ruin it un! I'm improving it and turning it into a true art style un!"

Kin threw back her head and groaned.

"Oh, not this argument again you two! And what do mean 'improve'?"

Deidara's glare was once again replaced with his characteristically smug smirk.

"Instead of just using plain ink or hot, messy wax for these stamps, they can be used with clay instead, to make letters and documents look over old-fashioned and stuff, un," he explained.

Kin nodded to show she was still listening. So far it sounded like a good idea, so what did Sasori mean by "ruin"?

Deidara's smirk only widened.

"Well –and this is the big money-maker – I'll be using exploding clay instead of the boring, normal stuff un!"

Kin's eyebrows shot up.

"Exploding clay? Did I really just hear you right?"

Deidara nodded excitedly, while Sasori simply rolled his eyes at the blonde's back before returning to whatever it was he was distracting himself with.

"Yeah un! Like those self-exploding letters you see in spy movies, only real un!"

Kin had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

"Exploding letters? I wish you luck with that, I really do," she sniggered, giving the tall male a patronizing pat on the back as she did so. Deidara simply scowled at her.

"See if you're laughing when I'm rolling in money, un!" he huffed. Kin was ready with a resort, only to be cut off by having an apron thrown over her head.

"Your shift starts in three minutes, I suggest you get ready."

Kin nodded and put it on. Luckily for her, Sasori didn't require her to wear a uniform – uniforms were expensive and she didn't have a lot of money to go around.

A cold January breeze whipped through the shop as the door bells chimes.

Kin looked over her shoulder to glance at who had just come in, and felt herself smile immediately.

"Well hey! Long time no see!" she grinned.

She caught Deidara rolling his eyes next to her.

"Hn, one whole day without each other, un," he grunted. Kin moved to elbow him again, only for him to dodge it for a second.

Both turned to the falsely grinning boy lingering in the doorway.

"I had stayed up all night again working on my manga, so I slept through the morning," he explained. Two sets of eyebrows shot up while one pair of eyes rolled. No need to guess who did what.

"All morning? And you still went to school?"

Deidara shook his head in disbelief.

"If it was me, Orochimaru sensei would have murdered me."

The false smile the boy was wearing twitched into a more genuine one.

"Luckily I wasn't sent to him. I just went to see the distraught look on my art history teacher's face when he realized he won't go for a whole day without me. It was worth it."

Kin laughed and nudged the boy next to her with her elbow.

"You're so evil sometimes Sai! If you're not careful you'll drive that pour man into an early grave!"

"Or a mental hospital," Deidara quipped.

"Isn't he already working in one?"

The odd group of three sniggered. Sasori – still standing a good distance away from them – rolled his eyes again.

"There is no hope for any of you in the future," he muttered. If anyone had heard him, they didn't show it. The three simply continued to stand there throwing quips and half-hearted insults at one another. It was strange friendship if there ever was one.

The laughter was short lived though, as yet another cold breeze and chiming of the door bells signaled a (real) customer's arrival.

Deidara and Kin both rushed to get behind the counter, with Deidara taking the short route by jumping over it. Kin however, had scrambled to run around the counter, nearly tripping and falling (yes, again) as she did so. Sai couldn't hide the amused glint in his as he watched the two. Unlike those two, he didn't have to pretend to be working.

Three heads (Sasori had returned to the back of the shop) turned to take in the customer. Ordinarily, Deidara would be the one to ask them if they need help, while kin stuck to the checkout to keep eyes off of her and avoid anyone noticing her young age. It had worked for them so far.

However, this 'customer' didn't immediately start roaming the store, like most did. Instead, after a few moments of him just standing there in a shocked silence, a devious look flitted across his face. He walked up the cashier slowly as though he had all the time in the world. His eyes were focused on Kin, making her feel more than a bit on edge. Deidara and Sai noticed her tense up, and immediately scooted a little closer to her. If this stranger was going to try something, he would have to get through them first.

The stranger was smirking now. With of jolt of surprise, Kin noticed he had the exact same eyes as the girl she had met earlier.

'This must be Kurenai's student!'

Kin's eyes were as wide as saucers .If this boy was one of Kurenai's students, that meant –

"You forgot to take your compensation money from my oji-san*. See you tomorrow, Tsuchi-san."

The pupil-less boy placed an envelope on the counter. With one last knowing look, he left the store far faster than he had entered it.

She couldn't move. She couldn't even take her eyes off the envelope from where the unnamed boy had placed it.

"Kin-chan?"

Kin forced herself to drag her eyes from the enveloped to meet the inquiring (and oddly concerned) expressions of her two friends.

"Who was that, un? Was he from your school, un?"

Kin shook her head, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. The boy from before, though he hadn't been wearing their school uniform for some reason (it most likely had something to do with his skipping school), if he was Kurenai's student, then there was no doubt he from Konoha Junior High. There was no reason to tell Deidara and Sai that though – she didn't think they would handle that information too well, considering the relationship between her and their schools.

'See you tomarrow Tsuchi-san.'

Oh God, she thought she was going to be sick.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

- I believe this is the correct way of referring to one's uncle. I looked it up, but I know that when it comes of family relations honorifics tend to be ten times more complicated than normal. If I ever get any wrong, feel free to correct me in a PM or a review.