"You're glaring at thin air as if it is the cause for your misery this fine morning. Care to explain?" Itachi questioned casually as he seated himself opposite the seething redhead.

Akasuna Sasori was reputable for a number of things and the first off the list was his short temper with his impatience following close behind. Needless to say, both things, added with the fact of him being a genius, rendered him a scary being and few dared to cross him path and those that did were thoroughly convinced never to do so again. One of the few who actually dared to converse to him when he was in such a foul mood was Uchiha Itachi whom he actually considered a friend.

"Why aren't you bonding with Aristotle?" Sasori asked calmly. His cool disposition didn't fool Itachi though; all that really meant was 'fuck off now', just phrased really nicely. Sasori didn't curse.

"He's buried a thousand miles underneath the ground," Itachi replied, as impassive as ever.

Sasori rolled his eyes but did not attempt to make the Uchiha leave again. Itachi was by no means a stubborn person and he would eventually leave if he was pressured enough but he generally did not poke into other people's business unnecessarily so Sasori did not bother. And Itachi, as expected, did not probe any further and just sat there, absent-mindedly sipping on his mocha.

Five minutes before nine, the two men left their seats and disposed their drinks at a nearby bin. After walking out of the cafeteria, they nodded at each other and parted ways, leaving for their respective lectures. It was a combine class that day and Sasori was definitely not look forward to it. Freshmen were always a nuisance, especially when they were in the same room as the great Akasuna Sasori. He rolled his eyes at the thought of them staring and fawning over him.

The moment he stepped into the lecture hall (at exactly nine sharp), excited whispering immediately filled the place. It was all he could do to not yell at them to shut up. Calmly, Sasori went to the middle row of the lecture hall. No matter which lecture hall he was in, he would always be at this spot as it was far enough from the lecturer so that he can sleep without feeling glares being bored into his skull, and yet it was not too far that the noises from the other students distracted him. The lecturer, as usual, was on time as well. Sasori shot dark looks at the students who were still streaming in and those who felt his glares on them rushed to the nearest seats immediately.

As Sasori respected this lecturer for at least being on time (his lectures were as boring as philosophy), he paid attention for the first fifteen minutes. When a student went up to do a presentation, he decided that catching up on his sleep was a better way to utilise his time. The sudden drop in the volume of the room told him that others were also dropping off already. He almost laughed. It had only been two minutes since the poor guy started talking.

"Seriously, un."

It wasn't a shout but it certainly wasn't a whisper either. That person had uttered that single word in a normal voice but in the silent hall it was practically a shout. The speaker immediately stopped his speech and was probably gaping at the interrupter. Normally Sasori could be less than bothered about someone making a comment about the on-going presentation but this was the first time someone had actually disrupted a presentation. With his interest piqued, Sasori lifted his head off the table and turned to the same direction that everyone else's heads were turned towards.

As there was only one person's whose head was still turned to the front, it was easy to tell who the disruptor was. Sasori could not see his expression – his long blonde hair was covering the side of his face Sasori could see – but judging from his tone, he should not seem very amused.

"Sorry?" the presenter seemed to have finally regained his ability to speak. Sasori noted with some amusement that he took so long to actually respond. "I'll have you know that everything in my presentation is accurate and that I have spent a long time researching this information and- "

"And I know," the blonde interrupted. "But as you can see no one cares and they're all falling asleep, un. And honestly I hate seeing people falling asleep in lectures because it's a reminder that I'm wasting my time in med school with idiots who probably do not even have the actual qualifications to be here. So can you try to make it the slightest bit interesting with whatever little presentation skills you possess?"

"What?" The speaker spluttered and Sasori saw some students flushing with anger. He found himself smirking despite feeling like he should be offended.

"Apparently your brain lacks the ability to process words quickly too, un. What, did you try ten times before getting into this course?"

"No I did not!" The presenter fumed. If he turned any redder, he would probably burst a blood vessel. The thought was morbidly interesting.

"Convince yourself, un," the blonde replied swiftly before sweeping his tote bag off the floor and standing up. "Enjoy the rest of the presentation," he said to the rest of the room before leaving the room. Everyone was too stunned to say anything for a while because never before had anyone just swept out of lecture like that. Sasori did not care much though, immediately dropping his head back into his arms so that he could continue sleeping.

Eventually (somehow), the lecturer managed to convince the student to continue the presentation, though he did so rather begrudgingly. The room was definitely more alive now, but the topic of discussion was definitely not about the content of the presentation, but rather the blonde.

Interesting.

"You're almost smiling. Did something good happen?" Itachi asked as he slid into the seat opposite Sasori, the scene similar to earlier that morning save the lighter atmosphere.

"A blonde student insulted the presenter and walked out of the lecture hall," Sasori explained, shrugging. It was possibly the most interesting thing that had happened for a long time but to Sasori, it was only pure entertainment which was fun while it lasted. He could not say the same for the presenter though. As he was leaving the lecture, he caught of the black haired man packing up his things with a depressed expression carved into his hard features.

"Deidara," Itachi verified with a slight roll of his eyes.

"You know him?"

"You're probably the only one who doesn't," Itachi replied.

"And he is?"

"A genius who entered with the top score of his year," Itachi said. "Much like you."

"And you," Sarori counter, "and that's where the similarities stop." Sure, what Deidara did was entertaining but Sasori would much rather not be compared to such a rude person. He actually had a reputation for being polite.

"Of course," Itachi agreed and the slight wrinkling of his nose told Sasori that Itachi definitely did not have a good impression of the blonde.

"Hidan," Deidara called as he spotted his best friend leaving the faculty building. Hidan frowned at him but made his way over to the tree Deidara was seated under nonetheless. On his way over, he insulted a group of girls (because really too much make up made them look like hags), walked through a couple so that they dropped their interlinked hands (they could attempt to eat each other's faces somewhere else), and glared at a freshman who ran off as fast as he could, all in the name of Jashin. Deidara watched this all in amusement, wondering if Hidan even had any friends in his faculty.

"What the fuck do you want blondie? Aren't you supposed to be in a bloody lecture now?" Hidan greeted as he ungracefully dropped to the ground next to Deidara.

"Walked out, un," Deidara replied, waving his hand to dismiss the matter.

"Oh Jashin! This is why I like you!" Hidan cheered as he stared at Deidara with new-found (sort of) admiration. "Next time insult someone first!"

"I actually insulted the senior doing a presentation, along with the whole room, un," Deidara confessed, a lazy smirk on his face at the look of awe on Hidan's face. Not many could draw that reaction out of Hidan, from what Deidara knew so far, and he considered an achievement. After all, Hidan managed to offend and possibly scar every single one of the professors in the Literature faculty by attempting to persuade them to convert to Jashinism by swinging his ritual staff (scythe) around like a possessed man.

"Fuck you!" Hidan said but the wonderment was all but apparent in his voice. "Did they try to murder you?"

"No, un. Too shocked," Deidara answered, laughing out loud when a look of disappointment came over Hidan's face.

"Damn! You could have kicked their mother-fucking asses!"

Deidara and Hidan had met completely by chance. As it so turned out, both of them were late for the first day of school when they coincidentally literally bumped into each other while rushing. After ten minutes of bickering, they realised that they were way too late decided to skip the whole orientation and go to a nearby café to waste some time instead. Exchanging numbers seemed to only be natural and ever since then, they had been randomly contacting each other. It had only been two weeks since school started but the chemistry between them made them best friends in no time at all.

"So what fucking wind blew you over anyway?" Hidan asked, lying down onto his back and closing his eyes.

"There wasn't really any other place to go, un," Deidara deadpanned.

"Heck, I think I have a lecture in half an hour," Hidan said but he didn't sound overly concerned or concerned at all actually. "Let's ditch."

"That's the best suggestion you have ever made, un," Deidara said and wasted no time in picking his bag up and walking away, Hidan close behind.

They ended up at a park some distance away from the school, because no matter what it still wouldn't do them good to be seen by anyone. Though, Hidan would probably just throw some stones at whoever dared approach them.

"Hidan, Deidara, shouldn't you two be in class?" a familiar voice called out, half amused and half exasperated.

"Hello Pein," Deidara said cheerily, waving while Hidan scowled.

"Who made you our father?!"

"It was simply a question," Pein replied, rolling his eyes and stared at the two. "Want to go for lunch?"

"Fuck yes!" Hidan whooped. "Are you paying?"

"Yes, yes," Pein said bemusedly. The way the two reacted it was as if they had never eaten for weeks, and that they were extremely poor. The latter was probably true though.

"Exactly why did you two skip?" Pein asked when they were seated and had ordered. "This is only the second week of school right?"

"Never knew you were so naggy, un," Deidara said while Hidan sniggered at the look of annoyance on Pein's usually impassive face. "But just to answer your question anyway, I was bored and so was Hidan."

"Don't decide for me, you bitch!" Hidan snapped but it was clear that that reason was the truth. After all, he was the one who suggested leaving. "Anyway, blondie walked out of lecture." And he proceeded to recount the tale to Pein who gave Deidara an exasperated look at the end.

"Seriously."

"Seriously, un! Why, did I do anything wrong?" Deidara asked innocently, though the mischievous glint in his eyes said otherwise.

"You are tactless," Pein eventually said, rolling his eyes.

Pein was someone Deidara and Hidan had encountered entirely by chance as well. They didn't meet him though; they met his girlfriend, Konan, who was a senior at Tokyo University as well. Like Hidan, she majored in Literature. After school the previous week, Deidara and Hidan had decided to eat at a Chinese restaurant. Upon entering, they had seen Konan who was apologising profusely to the cashier because she had forgotten to bring her money. To dispel the bad karma he had accumulated over the year, Deidara had paid for her. She had been so relieved that she invited them to dinner the next day as a way to repay them. Of course they accepted and that was where they met Pein. When she had said that she was going to treat them, she really meant that Pein was.

Needless to say, the dinner was an eventful affair.

After ordering their food (Deidara had managed to make Hidan order the less expensive ones by threatening to steal his rosary), they had chatted idly for about five minutes before Hidan realised something.

"Fuck man, I think I've seen you around before," he told Pein, frowning at him in annoyance. "Are you some sort of comedian?"

"A comedian?" Pein repeated, sounding rather offended. Konan tried really hard to contain her laughter.

"I take it as a no then," Hidan said, his frown deepening. He was staring at Pein intently by now. Knowing something but at the same time not being able to put a finger to it was one of Hidan's greatest pet peeves. "Oh fuck, you're that rich bastard CEO of that new freaking Ame Enterprise who took over 15 small companies in a year."

"… Yeah."

"Fuck." He then turned to Deidara and said accusingly, "Bitch, you could have let me order that abalone!"

"I didn't know he was that rich, un!" Deidara exclaimed before turning to Pein with a sweet smile. "So, do you think we could order some more?"

Pein had laughed right then, something he didn't do very often. Konan was shocked as well but she could understand why. Setting up his company from scratch and making it one of the most prosperous ones in Japan within the span of a single meant that he was really smart and capable. As such, everyone who worked for him or whoever he meets always tries to bootlick him, hoping to get something out of it. Needless to say, Pein had grown to hate those people a lot and really, there was a lot. Deidara and Hidan were definitely a fresh change.

"Sure," Pein agreed easily. Deidara stared at him as if he had grown an extra head and Hidan almost spat out his water.

"Dude, that was a joke!" he explained slowly before turning to Deidara. "See, blondie, told you you weren't funny."

"No, it's not that," Pein interrupted before Deidara even opened his mouth to retort. "I really don't mind. It's been a while since people have been that carefree and honest, so to speak, around me."

"Shit man, your life sounds like it sucks," Hidan said before nodding. "Alright, you can treat us more to make you feel better. Go ahead, don't hold back."

Of course they hadn't ordered more food, because despite everything Hidan said he still felt that doing that was pushing it and taking advantage of Pein's kindness.

"But really, what made you think of a comedian?" Konan asked suddenly.

"Oh. I remembered laughing when I saw his screwed up face. Sorry, man, but you don't exactly look smart with all those piercings," Hidan said, trying and failing to sound apologetic.

Pein looked torn between wanting to punch him and just killing him. It was the most expressive face had shown that night (and ever). In fact, that night was the only night the two saw him talk so much.

"You know, I'm glad that you're honest and all but don't cross the line."

Hidan gave a weak laugh and dove into his food, while Konan and Deidara gave up trying not to laugh. The glares that the other two men were hardly enough to stop them.

"Are you two going back to the university later?" Pein asked.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Hidan made a face as finished the last of his mango pudding. "No bloody way."

"I think whoever sees me would just throw stones at me, un. And I have being a martyr is not one of my ambitions , un," Deidara told Pein with a really serious face and Hidan snorted in agreement.

"You two are hopeless," Pein said before getting up. "Well, I have to return to my office now so see you two around."

"Remember to pay!" Hidan shouted after him and Pein rolled his eyes before walking over to the cashier and paying with his credit card. Before he left, he shot the two a dark look.

"So blondie, what are you going to do?" Hidan asked as they left the restaurant. "I'm going to pray the whole day."

Deidara stared at him incredulously.

"What?"

"Sorry, religious duty calls." Hidan shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He offered Deidara a somewhat apologetic look but it was clear that no matter what Deidara said, he was not going to relent. The blonde wasn't going to try to persuade him otherwise either. Hidan might be boorish and the most vulgar person Deidara had ever met, but he was also the most dedicated to his religion.

"Fine, see you tomorrow or something," Deidara said with a happy smile as he waved.

Hidan waved back and turned. It was not that crowded, seeing as it was weekday and lunch time was over. Deidara stared after Hidan until the Jashinist turned the corner and disappeared from view. Deidara sighed and turned the opposite direction, trudging down the pavement. There really wasn't anything to do. Of course being in med school meant that he had plenty of assignments to complete but he wasn't a genius in name only and had completed them already. They were relatively easy since it had only been two weeks since school started and there wasn't much that could be done. He did have a test later in the week but he didn't feel like studying either. Deidara sighed in annoyance and continued on his way, just walking around aimlessly and hoping his feet would take him somewhere interesting.

As it turned out, somewhere interesting was back at Tokyo University campus. He scowled and cursed his own feet but decided to enter anyway since there was nowhere else to be. Since it was break now (for the juniors and seniors at least), there were plenty of people outdoors, laughing, chatting, studying and whatnot.

"Heard you made quite a ruckus today."

Deidara rolled his eyes at the familiar voice and turned around with a bright smile plastered on his face.

"Nice to see you too, Itachi, un. Did you transfer to med school because you realised how utterly useless philosophy is?" Deidara greeted. He then noticed that Itachi wasn't alone. A short (still taller than him, he noted with slight irritation), red-haired man was with him. Deidara recognised him of course. Everyone knew of the genius, Akasuna Sasori.

"Philosophy is too complex to be understood by people such as yourself, so I do not find it surprisingly in the least bit that you find it to be useless," Itachi replied calmly. Deidara felt himself being increasingly frustrated. Maybe it was because the Uchiha was always so composed and always looked that way too, but Deidara was easily angered by him. Yes, Deidara was short-tempered and exploded more often than not but Itachi was definitely the only one who could make his skin crawl with irritation the moment he saw him.

"Anyway, hi Danna, un," Deidara said to Sasori, still beaming brightly. Itachi might have annoyed him but he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing.

"Are you talking to me?" Sasori asked. Though his voice was emotionless and his face was blank, his voice held a note of incredulity which made Deidara smile wider.

"In case you haven't notice, besides this dufus over here, you're the only other person around, un," Deidara replied smoothly, relishing in the annoyance he felt radiating from Sasori. He loved riling people up. Their reactions were always so amusing. It was kind of ironic actually that he found their reactions so hilarious when he himself was so easily set off. However, despite all the impatience he felt from Sasori, the older student's expression gave none of those feelings away. His eyes, however, were narrowed.

"Brat, your mouth might get you in trouble one day." Sasori's voice was sharp and laced with venom. Deidara took no heed to them though.

"Are you referring to that lecture, Danna, un?" Deidara asked while laughing. "You were sleeping."

Sasori was shocked that Deidara actually knew who he was prior to this but he supposed that he was rather famous. Scratch that. Really famous. He tried not to roll his eyes.

"In no way did my actions caused him any disturbance, unlike yours," Sasori drawled before adding, "brat."

"I was just trying to tell him that his presentation was too boring to be worth listening to," Deidara said, smirking.

"And storming out of lecture was the best way to express that?" Sasori countered, raising a sceptical eyebrow. He felt rather amused by the approving twinkle in Itachi's eyes.

"No, un," Deidara replied. "It was just the most expressive way."

"Right," Sasori said curtly.

"Seriously, Danna, you need to loosen up or you'll only have friends like that, un," Deidara told him in a mock sympathetic tone, gesturing openly towards Itachi. The Uchiha shot him a glare that would have most cowering in fear by then but the blonde just continued to stare at him with a smirk.

"I don't need you to tell me what friends I ought to have, brat," Sasori snapped before turning swiftly and walking away. Itachi followed silently, leaving Deidara very much amused.

"What did I tell you," Itachi said.

"He's annoying as hell," Sasori admitted, still feeling rather angered by the previous confrontation. The self-assured air of confidence and the way Deidara spoke to him as if they were friends for a long time annoyed him to no end. "What a brat."