Dream Of Waking.

The next day was Monday which meant they had to return to their daily mission work with their respective partners.

Sasori had grudgingly noticed Deidara's suddenly happy behavior. The blond was starting to get on his nerves by the days' end and finally snapped at him with a "Shut the fuck up already!"
Dei only smiled wider and continued his excited chattering, loving the fact that he had a chance to get back at the red head.

Even Itachi had a slightly less withdrawn way about him as he and his team-mate traveled toward their predetermined target. Kisame was casting him random side-long glances and chuckling whenever he noticed a sly grin pass over the Uchiha's face.
"That kid has really gotten to you, huh?"

"Eh?"

"You've been grinning like a horny idiot all day."

"Oh..."

"Since when are you interested in the human race, 'Tachi?"

"Since that blond wormed his way into my heart."

"You mean your pants? Some of us heard you two going at it last night. Sounded pretty steamy." the shark-man winked as he looked at the raven from under his hat.

"I ...uh.."

"Don't worry, was just Pein, Kakuzu and I. Luckily the three of us could care less about gossip. Although I wouldn't put it past Konan to somehow draw it out of Pein."

Itachi's eyes rolled dramatically. "I'm sure she will."

"So what happened anyway? I thought you two gals just had a little pity club for your loneliness, never knew it was serious."

"It wasn't.. I dunno. It just kind of happened Saturday as we left the beach. I've always..." the raven trailed off, suddenly embarrassed at how open he was being with his partner.

"...always? Aw, 'Tachi did you have a crush on little Dei-Dei?"

"Hn." The raven grumbled and remained silent for the rest of the trip. They were going to be together for at least two more days and he had already spilled so much to his suddenly curious team-mate. How was he going to avoid that subject for the rest of their time on this mission?

--

That night as Deidara and Sasori came back from their short scouting mission to a village nearby, Sasori basically sprinted the last couple of yards to the hideout and stomped angrily all the way up to his room, shutting the door with a ridiculous slam.

The blond giggled as he wandered into the living room. Only Kakuzu and Hidan were home, the two of them reclining and snacking as they watched something on the wide screen tv.

"Oh hey girly." Hidan said with a smirk and Kakuzu only grunted a short greeting.

"I'm not girly you fuck-head." Deidara said but his smile remained.

"So whats up with ol' bobble head? He stormed through here like his Play-girl sub got canceled."

The blond chuckled. "Oh I dunno..." he ran a hand through his hair absently and then sat on the recliner next to the couch.

Hidan shrugged and returned his gaze to the tv, dropping a hand around the brunette next to him.

Kakuzu growled and tossed the hand away. "The fuck, horn dog?"

"Eh, angry girls (Sasori) make me hot."

"Go fuck with him then shit head."

"Good idea". The Jashinist grinned as he got up and made his way upstairs.

Deidara raised an eyebrow as Hidan passed and then got up to make dinner.
"Hey Kaku, spaghetti sound good?"

"Sure, whatever." the brunette's eyes didn't lift from the tv as he spoke.

The blond shrugged and moved into the kitchen to start cooking.
After putting the noodles in boiling water, he stepped back out.
"Hey do you know when Ita-kun's mission is over?"

"Uh, like two days I think."

"Oh" the blond frowned and went back to the food.
Well that sucks.
By the time he had finished preparing the food, Tobi, Pein and Zetsu had come home so he asked Tobi to help set the table and then placed the dishes on it before calling the rest in.

"Lots of short missions today, eh?" one half of Zetsu said "Yes, most of us seem to be home tonight." the other half agreed before he scooped a small helping of food onto his plate.

"Tobi is home!" the brunette said happily, his mask pulled up to reveal only his mouth.

"Yeah, until we go for one of the more important tailed- we won't have a whole lot to do." Pein replied as he reached for a piece of garlic bread.

"What are Kisame and Ita doing anyway, Pein-sama?" Deidara asked.

"Checking the location for the four-tail. If its correct we'll have it brought back and then extracted like the rest."

"Ah, well that's cool."

"Konan is ...visiting some friends. At least she won't be drinking here tonight." Pein said somewhat relieved.

"Boys night!" Tobi chimed with his mouth half full.

"Ooooh" Hidan groaned and shifted in his chair.

Sasori glared across the table at him. "Are you ever not horny?"

"Nope!"

"Ugh" Kakuzu said, making his first contribution to the table.

"What's got your woody in a knot today anyway, red?" Hidan asked as he leaned forward curiously.

"Didn't you go up there earlier to figure that out?" Dei asked, his eyebrows raising.

"No, I went up there to fuck him." Hidan said simply and licked his lips.

Sasori sighed at the Jashinist's unnecessary mention of their recent interaction.
"This little betch has been yapping about his love life all day. Honestly, it makes me sick."

"Are you guys together?" Pein asked, glazing over the red head's complaint about Deidara.

"Nah, I just take advantage of him" Hidan said in reply as he squirmed again in his seat. "Shit its getting me horny just thinking about it."

"Again??!" Sasori said angrily and stood from the table. Everybody noticed as the male basically limped towards the stairs and Hidan laughed at his handiwork. "I think that's my cue!" he said dangerously and rose from the table to follow.

Pein sighed. "I should probably have stopped him."

"There is no stopping Hida-kun" Tobi said as he pulled his mask back over his face. "Tobi knows from experience." He slumped, somewhat embarrassed and then slipped out of his own chair to leave. "Thank you for the yummy meal, Dei-kun."

"Oh..of course, Tobi." he said as the brunette walked away.

Kakuzu was dishing the last of the spaghetti on to his plate making his third serving and Pein sat there, not eating or willing to get up. He rubbed his stomach and scowled.

Zetsu muttered his own thanks for the food and then slipped slowly into the ground.

"Feels like I let that guy just run amok." Pein said in regards to Hidan.
"Maybe I should crack down on him before the whole group is raped."

"Despite what you may think, I believe that most of them enjoy it." Kakuzu said between big bites. "I think they just don't care to admit it but apparently he's quite the...accomplished lover."

"Oh, and do you know this from experience?" Pein asked, seeming suddenly more interested.

"Unfortunately yes. The little fucker slipped in my room soon after we were made partners and said he was 'marking his territory' I'm not sure what that meant but he sure as fuck didn't piss on me."

"I think that means he owns you, Kaku-san" Dei said, stifling a laugh.

"Well whatever it is, he hasn't come back since. I guess he's found more submissive partners within the group. Anyway I'm glad of it, I don't really care for sex."

Both Pein and Deidara widened their eyes in shock.
"That makes you the only one in the group, I'm sure" Pein said and finally rose from his chair, groaning as he did. "Alright, well good night you two."

The remaining males bid him goodnight and Deidara watched as Kakuzu hurriedly finished his meal. After a moment the artist got up and started putting dirty dishes into the sink.
"It's Tobi's turn to clean these right?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I think so."

Deidara nodded and headed toward the stairs. "Night, Kaku."

The brunette grunted and turned back to his dish.

When the artist reached his room, he fell onto his bed and sighed happily. He had been friends with Itachi for quite a while but never before had he been so anxious about the raven's return from a mission. He thought back to Sasori's angry demeanor and wondered if he had laid his revenge on just a little too thick. Nah, the jerk had been flaunting his sexual endeavors in front of him ever since they had broken up and that little escapade in his own room had been the icing on the cake. It was nice to rub his own happiness in the red head's face but the best part about it was that he wouldn't have cared even if Sasori wasn't upset. Itachi made him feel good and it had been too long since somebody had done that for him.

For the first time in a while, Deidara slept without relieving himself. He had resolved to wait until his partner returned at which time he would ravage the raven and take what he so desperately craved. It was hard to sleep with the erection that seemed to naturally know what time it was and only grew worse as dirty thoughts crossed his mind of the previous day. But after a time he drifted off to sleep only to enter quickly into a jumble of wet dreams.

When he woke, he was panting, his legs twisted into the sheets. The blond got up quickly and hopped into the shower if only to ease his remaining excitement with the harsh, cold water. He then took his time pampering himself. He had no mission for the day so spent hours doing his hair, repainting his nails, taking care of unwanted body hair and tending to his precious face. It was a long process so usually he'd do a quick job of each of those things but today he was sure to be thorough. When finished, the artist dressed and then finally emerged from his bedroom, lazily making his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Konan was there with a bathrobe on, her hair a mess.

"Hey" the blond said as he sat next to her. "Have fun last night?"

She looked up at him and smiled sleepily. "Yeah, I did. Was nice hanging out with girls for a change."

"I bet."

"You look great today."

Deidara blushed and hid beneath the veil of his bangs. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I'm sure I look terrible but I wanted some coffee before Pein woke up. I came home pretty late last night so I'm sure he'll give me a stern talking to."

"Aw he just cares about you."

"Yeah." with that she got up and walked off, her feet dragging as she left the room.

The blond smiled and leaned back in his chair, the warm sun from a nearby window splashing over his face.
One more day..

---
Itachi sighed as he followed his partner around the village jumping from roof to roof. They had spent two days there and found nothing. For them, that meant there probably wasn't anything to find. After an hour, Kisame slowed and turned to the raven.
"Don't think we're gonna get what we're looking for here."

Itachi nodded.

"Well lets find some food and head home."

"Okay!" the raven said happily and Kisame gave him a funny look.

"Generally you enjoy going on long missions."

"Well I have something to go home to now."

"Hmm." the shark-skinned man shrugged and they started off again to exit the village.
"We'll get something when we're closer to home. Maybe pick up some stuff for the gang."

Itachi smiled and nodded as they moved at a particularly swift pace back toward the Akatsuki hideout.

---

Deidara paced around the living room, his fingers twitching nervously.
He'd had more vivid, wet dreams the night before and was on edge as the afternoon of the third day rolled around. He knew Itachi might not be home until nightfall or the morning after but he couldn't help but feel restless. There was a slight possibility that his partner was hurt if they did encounter the tailed beast they were after although they weren't supposed to approach it if located until they had returned to Pein with the information.

"Chill blondie and get the fuck out of the way" Hidan complained. A couple other guys groaned their agreement as Deidara slowly marched away from in front of the television. "Sorry.." he said absently and moved to the kitchen. He stopped at the window and stared longingly, searching for any signs of two cloaked figures. Earlier, Sasori had retaliated by bringing two obnoxious girls into the hallway outside of Dei's room and screwing with them loudly as the blond sat in his room, trying desperately to ignore it. Eventually he had snuck out his bedroom window and then took a walk to stock up on clay. He even tested some of it down at the beach by molding little replica's of Sasori's head and tossing them into the water where they would soon explode. It served as a good way to pass the time and soon the sun had fallen half way from the sky to where it seemed to hang teasingly.

Deidara dropped his hands to the window sill and breathed out with a frustrated sigh.
"Just this once, couldn't he come home early?"
Then he spotted the two distant figures racing in the direction of the hideout.
His heart leaped and he waited patiently to confirm that it was definitely them and as the two came closer, he spotted a couple of bags under one of the guys arms.

"FOOD!" he exclaimed and ran out, using the meal as an excuse to rush towards the approaching males. By now he could tell that it was Itachi and Kisame and he ran toward the raven, hopping into the unsuspecting but happy Uchiha's arms.
"Dei-chan!"

Kisame chuckled and continued toward the door with the hot food. "Better not stay out here too long, love-birds or your dinner will be claimed."

Itachi nodded at his retreating partner and then looked down into the artists shining eyes.
"I missed you." he said softly and then drew the blond into a warm kiss.

Dei pulled back and purred as he spoke. "I missed you too...Ita.."
He swooned and leaned forward into the raven, his arms wrapping tight around his partners slim waist.

"Somebody's all worked up!" Itachi said with an amused look.

"Mmm."

"Well lets save that for later, k? I'm starving. Kisame and I practically raced home so we'd make it back before the morning."

Deidara nodded and pulled away with a huff.