Sasori and Kakuzu waited patiently at Sakura's door, ready to begin the next day of the bake sale.

"How much money did you guys make yesterday?" Sasori asked.

"Yesterday we made a little over two hundred dollars. By then end of the day, we'll have enough money to help the Sewing Club."

Sasori leaned against the pillar supporting her porch. "That's good, so how fast did you sell everything?"

"It took all day, but it goes by quickly if you talk while you're waiting for customers," Kakuzu said.

Sasori raised his eyebrows. "You actually spoke? That's astonishing."

Sakura opened the door and zipped up her jacket. "Sorry, I thought it would only take a few minutes to get everything ready," she apologized.

Kakuzu and Sasori walked into the house and grabbed two boxes filled with desserts. She led them to Inoichi's pick-up truck and opened the tailgate.

"I am very thankful to you for helping my daughter's club, Sakura-san," Inoichi said, poking his head out the driver's side window.

Sakura walked over to the truck's window and bowed respectfully. "It's no problem, Yamanaka-sama! She's one of my friends and I can't wait to see the cute clothes she'll be making for the Cultural Festival!"

Sasori tapped her shoulder, getting her attention. "Hey, Sakura-chan, where's the table at?"

She pointed to an old shed to the side of her house. "It's in there, but can you get the other one too? We'll be meeting Deidara-kun at the school."

The redhead turned on his heels and headed toward the shed. He hated hanging around with the blonde idiot - they were complete opposites. Sasori could get along better with Hidan than Deidara. He opened the shed's door and pulled out the two, folded tables and walked back to the truck.

"The two boys can ride in the back of the truck. Sakura, you can take the passenger seat." Inoichi said.

The two boys climbed in the back and sat against the sides. Inoichi started the truck and they drove out to the school.

"I'm certainly not looking forward to this, Kakuzu-kun," Sasori yelled through the loud gusts of wind as the truck accelerated.

"Is it because selling cakes makes you look effeminate?" Kakuzu answered back.

Sasori rolled his eyes. "No, it's because I can't stand working with that arrogant fool!"

"You should be used to him by now, Sasori-kun. You've been in the same homeroom every year!"

Sasori bit the inside of his cheek and snorted, "Just because we've known each other for a long time doesn't mean we get along. We're polar opposites and he just doesn't understand that we have absolutely nothing in common."

"I'm sure there's something," Kakuzu assured.

The junior shook his head. "There's nothing. I guess I'll have to suffer next year with his constant babbling," he sighed.

The truck slowed to a stop and Sasori glared as the blonde greeted them with a wave.

"Deidara-kun!" Sakura hopped from the passenger seat and raced towards him, leaving the others to help unload the truck. "I'm sorry it took us so long to get here. I had to pack everything up."

Deidara grinned and walked to help unfold the second table. "It's okay, Sakura-chan!"

Sasori chuckled to himself. "Of course he can't help us. Too busy being a lazy-ass," he muttered quietly.

Sakura clapped her hands together and walked to the table next to Kakuzu. "Okay! Let's get started!"

Deidara nodded, but grimaced as his sales partner walked next to him. "Don't think I'm excited to be standing next to you either." Sasori said, responding to Deidara's disappointed look.

A few customers walked by and were met with friendly service at Kakuzu's and Sakura's stand - Deidara's and Sasori's... not as much. The two constantly argued of their different roles during the day.

"What do you mean it's my turn?!"

"Deidara, it's not as complicated as it looks. You take the money and count it!"

"I know that, idiot!"

" 'Idiot'? I hope I'm not hearing you right because atleast I can make the correct amount of change!"

Sakura would often have to coax the customers to their stand and apologize for their impolite behavior. After the customer left, Sakura stomped over to the two and dragged Sasori to Kakuzu's side.

"If you don't stop insulting each other, I'll make sure to punch you in the mouth so hard you can't speak!" she hissed.

"That's better than being nice all the time," Kakuzu thought.

"If Deidara would stop talking so much about himself, we would probably make more sales," Sasori spat.

Deidara flipped his blonde hair from his eyes and glared at his classmate. "I'm not talking about myself, idiot! I'm just trying to make the customer feel invited to buy some of the sweets!"

"Talking about your old dog isn't very inviting - especially when you mention its death."

Sakura interrupted their quarrel with her hand raising in the air. "Enough! This is getting ridiculous! Keep your mouths shut until we're done selling the rest of the food!"

They did as they were told and listened as Kakuzu and Sakura continued to chat with each other. Sasori would steal glances at the annoying blonde and would often find the boy staring also. They would quickly jerk their heads back to center and obey whatever orders they were given.

As the sun began setting, Sakura texted Inoichi to pick them up and quickly began stacking the empty containers in the boxes. Kakuzu raked in the money and placed it in his old, worn-out suitcase underneath the table. "Let's get this stuff ready and we'll head back to Sakura's to count the money." he grunted in his deep, rough voice.

Sasori and Deidara folded each table and held them, waiting for Inoichi's pick-up to drive by.

On the way, both boys ignored each other's presence while talking to Kakuzu and Sakura.

"So, Kakuzu-kun, how much do you think we earned?" Sasori asked, staring down at the suitcase.

Kakuzu's fingers tapped down on the leather-bound suitcase. "I'm not sure, but from how much she made, it will be a large sum." He could feel himself slip into a state of euphoria as he thought of counting all the loot.

Inoichi pulled into Sakura's driveway and waited patiently as they removed their supplies. He waved goodbye and drove home.

Sakura turned to Sasori and Deidara as they pulled out the folded tables. "Can you guys stick them back in the shed?"

They agreed and opened the door to the old storage. As they stepped inside, a gust of wind blew over the town and slammed the metal door shut. Sasori rushed over and tried pushing the door open. "Hey, Sakura-chaaan! The door's locked can you open it?"

Sakura and Kakuzu rushed to the door. She pulled with all of her strength, but had no success. "That's so weird. It's never locked like this on its own before." she said, puzzled.

Kakuzu's nose crinkled up in confused. "But, Sakura-"

"Get me out of here! I can't be stuck in this place with him," Deidara exclaimed, pushing on the door.

Sakura walked to the door and called through the thick metal. "It's okay! Kakuzu-kun and I will go look in the house for the key!"

She pulled Kakuzu to the house. "But, Sakura-chan, you locked the door." Kakuzu whispered.

She turned to Kakuzu and smiled. "Yeah, I know, but I think this is a way for them to finally settle on their bickering."

Deidara continued pounding on the door while Sasori took a seat on old, cardboard boxes. "You're wasting your time. You're not strong enough to open it," the redhead said.

Deidara turned his head and rushed to the window at the back of the shed. "Don't bother. It doesn't open," Sasori said, predicting his move.

The blonde was fuming at the relaxed, stoic expression Sasori had on his face. "Stop acting like you're so cool, Sasori," he barked.

Sasori's brown eyes slowly trailed over to Deidara. He flipped his hand in the air as if motioning the boy back. "Stop acting so overemotional; you're such a woman." he said blandly.

"I'm not acting like a woman! It's okay to have emotions unlike some lifeless freak!"

Sasori's eyes widened at the insult, but turned his head to hide the fact Deidara's insult bothered him. Unfortunately, Deidara caught his upset expression and smirked, "I'm sorry did I hurt your feelings by calling you that?"

"No," Sasori lied, continuing to avoid gazing back at Deidara.

"Good because I wouldn't be able to understand why something like that could hurt your feelings," he replied.

Sasori ended their conversation and stared outside the window. He wondered in his mind what was taking Sakura so long - keys weren't that difficult to find.

Although Sasori took the mature approach to end the foolish fight, Deidara wasn't ready to leave the redhead alone.

"It's really great to see you upset, Sasori. It's too bad that I have to suffer along in your company."

He glanced down and continued, "You act like you're better than everybody else and it makes me absolutely sick! That condescending look you give everybody in the club is something I hate most about you."

Sasori's head turned sharply. "I don't care if you hate me, Deidara. I don't care if nobody likes me in the club. I only joined so I wouldn't have to go home to-" He broke off, letting his mouth stay open for a moment afterward.

Deidara became curious. "Go home to what?"

"Nothing." he mumbled, playing with the end of rolled up tape coming off the box he sat on.

"See? This is why you don't have any friends because you shut yourself off from everyone. You think you're so perfect, Sasori." Deidara turned away from Sasori and frowned. "Your parents must be so disappointed in you."

Sasori tackled Deidara into a tower of boxes, causing them to fall on top of the two boys. Deidara laid against the hard floor, his eyes meeting with Sasori's. The boys stared silently at each other as Deidara tried reading through Sasori's powerful gaze.

The redhead had a tight grip on Deidara's shirt and pulled him close. "Don't ever say anything about my parents again. Do you hear me, you piece of shit!" he cursed sharply.

Deidara tried pulling away, but Sasori only pushed him closer. "Get off of me, freak!" he shouted. Deidara struggled with his classmate until Sasori's fist hammered into his cheek. Sasori startled himself and scooted away to the opposite side of the room.

Blood began filling Deidara's mouth and leaked through his teeth and out his lips. He stood up and wiped the blood from his chin. Sasori was ashamed of his behavior - he knew better than to unleash his anger like that.

"That hurt like hell," Deidara said.

Sasori looked up. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Sorry isn't gonna' cut it!" Deidara tightened his hand into a fist and was ready to strike. Sasori shut his eyes as he waited for Deidara's punch, but opened them to find his fist only inches away from his face.

"Why didn't you hit me?" Sasori asked, puzzled.

"Why didn't you flinch?" Deidara countered.

Sasori lowered his head. "Even though I don't like you very much, I shouldn't have hit you. So, I thought it would be fair if you hit me back." he said.

Deidara slapped his hand to his forehead and shook his head. "You're hopeless, Sasori."

Sasori buried his face in his hands and sighed, "I know. You don't have to tell me."

Deidara put his hands on his hips and scowled, "Stop acting so gloomy. Let's just wait quietly until Sakura-chan and Kakuzu-kun come back."

The boys sat in the dark shed as the sun disappeared over the landscape. Sasori continued to stare out the window while Deidara began searching through the boxes.

"You shouldn't be looking through their belongings," Sasori stated.

Deidara rolled his eyes and continued his search. "I'm not really looking through them. I'm looking for a flashlight or something." He pulled out a few old books and pushed the empty box away.

He cheered as he pulled out an old, crank-powered flashlight and powered it up. The flashlight slowly charged and grew brighter as it illuminated the room. He hovered over a few more cardboard boxes and began lifting their flaps.

Sasori walked over to the nosey blonde. "I thought you weren't going through their things?" He crouched down and looked over his shoulder.

"Hey look! An old yearbook! I wonder if we're in here?" Deidara ignored Sasori's remark and began flipping through the pages.

He stopped at a page labeled as 'Parents' Day' and found a young Sasori with his parents standing next a random student. "Hey there you are. Why do they never put pictures of me in here?"

Deidara turned to Sasori and was surprised with his expression. Sasori pulled the yearbook away from Deidara and brushed his fingers against both of his parents' faces. His brown eyes were shadowed with sadness and his mouth curved downward into a frown.

Deidara had not been introduced to Sasori fully until last year when they were accepted on the Student Council, but they shared the same class each year. Sasori was quiet and often pushed others away from him. He always acted like he didn't want friends, so nobody really liked him very much.

The only time he would speak was if a teacher called on him to answer a question, but that happened a handful of times. He also would never participate in the cultural festivals and didn't even attend his middle school graduation. Deidara wondered why he would even skip something like that.

"Sasori, what happened to your parents?" he asked, his tone was serious as he gazed at his classmate.

Sasori snapped out of his thoughts and turned away from the blonde's sight. "It's nothing that I need to tell you," he muttered.

Deidara crossed his arms and yanked the yearbook from Sasori's grasp. "Why do you do that? You think it makes you look cool?! Break down those stupid walls you built up and tell me what's going on!" he yelled.

"You wouldn't understand, idiot!"

"I can try," Deidara argued.

"You can't! You've never had to deal with the loss of your parents!"

Deidara frowned and stayed silent as the brown-eyed boy's face twisted into an expresson of disgust.

"I hate living here! I hate everyone and everything!"

"How can you say that? We're all your friends," Deidara snapped.

Sasori waved his fists in the air. "How can I be friends with any of you? Everything you guys have is what I want!"

Deidara was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Is it that hard to understand? Parents and love! I don't come home to a cooked meal or welcoming smiles! I come home to a drunk grandmother that always calls me by my father's name! I run to my room when I go home because I hate listening to the shit!"

Sasori's eyes stung as tears streamed down his face. "I hate going to school festivals or trips because who will come and praise me for my accomplishments? I always hear kids complaining about their parents, but that's what I want so desperately! I would give anything to bring them back to me!"

Deidara grabbed both of Sasori's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. Sasori struggled, but Deidara's firm hold couldn't be broken. Sasori looked down at the strange boy.

"I'm sorry," Deidara whispered.

Sasori pushed him away. "Don't hug me like that!"

"Sasori, I know that I can't truly understand how it is to lose my mom and dad, but are you sure your parents would want to see you like this - all angry and filled with hate?"

The flashlight began losing power as the light dimmed. Deidara picked it up and cranked it again. "I'm not as smart as everybody else and I don't give out very good advice, but you should lighten up. I mean, I still really don't like you, but your story really makes me want to go home and hug my mom and thank her for everything."

"I wish that I could do that," Sasori said, looking down at his worn sneakers.

Deidara smiled. "If you really don't like going home then why don't you just stay at my house once in a while?"

"I'm sure your parents wouldn't want to deal with me."

"Com'on! If you stop bringing yourself down like that, you'll probably be a lot happier. My parents are pretty cool and they like it when I bring friends over."

"I'm not your friend though." Sasori stated.

Deidara laughed, "They don't have to know that."

Sasori nodded and watched as Deidara stuffed the old yearbook back into the box and searched through others. He gasped and pulled out a small box behind the others. "Hey look.\, There's a bunch of little kid toys in here." he said.

"Probably Sakura-chan's from when she was little," Sasori noted. Deidara took out a few cloth dolls and old coloring books. His eyes widened as a small clay-building set sat at the bottom of the box.

Sasori raised his eyebrows as Deidara opened the box. He picked up the old clay and smiled. "Wow, it's still pretty moldable for being so old," he said impressed.

Sasori took the box and searched through it to find an old sketchbook. He flipped through the pages and found an empty sheet. He pulled out a box of crayons from the same box and began drawing.

Deidara molded the piece of clay into a bird and presented it to Sasori. "It's a Pygmy Woodpecker!"

He looked over Sasori's shoulder and watched as he finished the body of a woman. Sasori turned to Deidara and both were quite surprised with their skills.

"That woodpecker almost looks alive. You even got the patterns on its head, wings and breast," Sasori said astonished.

Deidara thanked him, but continued to watch as Sasori drew the woman's face and hair. "You're really skilled at drawing! Can you draw animals?"

Sasori smiled sheepishly. "Not as well as I can draw people," he answered.

"Why didn't you join the Art Club?" Deidara asked.

He finished the drawing and tore it from the sketchbook. "I wanted to, but I never had enough money to pay for the tools and fees. Why didn't you?"

Deidara folded his arms behind his head and leaned against the boxes behind him. "I would have, but Itachi-kun asked me to join the Student Council. Being in two clubs would be a hassle to deal with, you know?" Deidara chuckled to himself.

"What?" Sasori asked.

"It's funny that we actually have something in common - art!"

Sasori nodded and picked up the yearbook from the box. He turned to the page with his family's picture and ripped it out.

"My grandmother burned all of their photos, so I barely remember their faces. I'm positive Sakura wouldn't miss this section of the yearbook anyway." he said.

"Me too," Deidara agreed.

Speak of the Devil!

An audible click came from the door and the metal shifted. Sakura peeped behind the heavy door and smiled. "Sorry it took us so long! That key was just so hard to find!" She opened the door fully and the two boys walked outside. Deidara fell to the ground and pretended to kiss the ground.

"Sweet, sweet earth!"

Kakuzu walked over to Sasori. "I'm surprised you both are still alive." he grunted.

Sasori laughed softly and listened as Sakura complained over the mess in the shed. He watched as Deidara lied of his brilliant fight against Sasori and smashed the boy into the boxes around the shed.

"It was good timing that you came when you did, Sakura-chan! I almost beat Sasori into a pile of dust!" he boasted.

"Yeah, I was scared for my life." Sasori said sarcastically walking over to Deidara.

Sakura stood by and noticed Sasori handing Deidara a folded piece of paper. "I still don't like you very much, but here is this drawing," he said, a very small smile on his face.

Deidara grinned and placed the small mockingbird in his hand. "You're a real pain, but atleast you're less of pain than before!"

She glanced at both boys and smiled happily. "They may not like each other yet, but atleast they're not at each other's throats."

xxx

Some SasDai <3 Heh, hope you liked. Comments, votes and suggestions recommended. C:

xTsu