Deidara/Shisui??? How would that even work?
“Who the hell are you supposedto be, un?” Deidara demands, bristling. “The villain from a shitty PrincessGale movie?”
“Hey, that’s hurtful!” thegrinning idiot in Deidara's new room says cheerfully. He reaches up andpointedly adjusts his eyepatch, then gives Deidara a wink. Or maybe a blink. “Thereare no shitty Princess Gale movies and I'm offended that you would thinkotherwise.”
Deidara snorts, but he takes astep into the room, letting the door fall shut behind him. They're in the middleof the Akatsuki base, and Deidara's pretty sure they wouldn’t have gone to allthe trouble of recruiting him if they intended to let some pirate-looking bastardkill him immediately. “If we have to share rooms, I'm going back to Iwa, un.”
“No, you get your own room, don’tworry.” The other boy—a little older than Itachi, maybe, Deidara thinks,squinting at him—rises smoothly from the bed, and he’s a tall bastard, whipcordlean and quick in his movements. Deidara tenses automatically, still on edgefrom the fight and from suddenly being surrounded by the most dangerousmissing-nin in the world, and the boy catches the reaction and laughs like it’sfunny.
“None of that, now,” he says,and in an instant he’s in Deidara's space, just a step away from him. Before Deidaracan even brace himself, the boy reaches out, picking up a lock of blond hair,and smiles like they're sharing a secret. “Don’t panic, you're fine. I justwanted to see the guy who gave my little cousin a hard time.”
Uchiha, Deidara thinks, and it’s a chill down his spine as hewrenches his gaze away. “That pretty asshole is your cousin?” he demands.
“Hey! Don’t say it like that!”the Uchiha protests. “I got just as many good looks as he did, I just got themfrom a different branch of the family. He really is my cousin.”
“I can't see the resemblance,un,” Deidara says flatly, and knocks his hand away from his hair. “What thehell did you want again?”
“Just to say hi,” the Uchiha sayseasily, though he doesn’t step back. “I'm Shisui. The leader is still debatingpartners for you, but I might get lucky. It’d be fun working with someone ascute as you.”
Deidara's brain trips overitself, and he jerks back a step, running up against the door. Gapes, even as Shisuismiles, and can feel heat flood his face in a rush. “What?” he screeches.
Shisui beams, bright andcheerful and open, but his dark eye spins slowly to red and black, a twist thatdraws Deidara's gaze even though he knows he should look away. “You’re cute,”he repeats, and leans forward, one hand braced against the door beside Deidara'shead. “You also don’t want to be here, do you, Deidara?”
“Of course I fucking don’t!” Deidarahisses, and the sting of how easily Itachi beat him is all too present. “Yourfucking cousin is the only reason I am!”
Beneath the cheer on Shisui's faceis something cold and dark and calculating, farmore dangerous than Itachi's blank violence. Deidara swallows, but there's nowhereto retreat to, just Shisui in front of him, and that lazily spinning Sharingan.
Then Shisui smiles, and it’s alittle wry, a little sad. He closes his eye, and when he opens it again it’splain black, dark and warm and weary. “No,” he says to himself. “I shouldn’t alwaystake the easy way out.” Glances up, meeting Deidara's gaze, and says wryly, “Wantto know a secret, Deidara? I don’t want to be here either.”
Deidara couldn’t speak a singleword right now even if everything depended on it. His voice is stuck in histhroat, but that doesn’t stop Shisui from leaning forward, putting his mouth byDeidara's ear. He’s warm even from this distance, smells of something sweet andearthy with an undertone of ash. When he speaks, it’s a bare murmur, hardly loudenough to make it understandable even across the brief distance between them.
“I don’t want to be here,either,” Shisui repeats, and just for a moment Deidara can see his shoulderssag, weighted down with something. It’s automatic to put a hand up, to touchhis arm like Deidara is going to hold him on his feet, and it’s only after Deidarahas done it that he realizes. He swallows, but doesn’t move his hand.
“Then why are you, un?” hedemands, though it’s not as sharp as he intends it to be. “They drag you in onsome shitty deal, too?”
Shisui laughs, startled andrough, and dips forward, spine bowing. His forehead drops on Deidara's shoulder,and he chuckles again, though it’s not a sound of amusement. “Someone has tokeep Itachi from making even more dumb decisions than normal,” he says.
“That must be working so well,” Deidarascoffs. “Good job, un.”
“It’s a work in progress,” Shisuijokes, and one of his hands settles on Deidara's waist, fingers curling gently.He breathes out, and then says, “This doesn’t have to be forever. My clan’spowerful, even now. Just—help me keep the terrible life choices to a minimumand I can make sure that you have a place to go afterwards, and no chance of Iwatouching you.”
Deidara hesitates, but—that’s atempting offer. Ōnoki is a relentless bastard, always just a little too closeon Deidara's trail for comfort. He doesn’t know a damn thing about the Uchihabeyond the fact that Itachi is a pretty asshole, but with their eyes they have to be strong. Besides, Deidara reallyfucking doesn’t want to be in this place, with these ridiculous people. He’snever regretted losing a fight more, and to have a way out—
“You're shitty at asking forfavors, un,” he says, but he doesn’t shove Shisui away. Slides his hand up,instead, to cup the vulnerable nape of his neck where it’s bared by his curlyhair and the amount he has to bend to rest his forehead on Deidara's shoulder.
“Probably,” Shisui laughs, buthe doesn’t let go either. Glances up, his one dark eye framed by long lashes,and the way Deidara's heart trips and stutters is entirely uncalled for. “Did Imanage to convince you anyway?”
Deidara takes a breath. “You’dbetter live up to your end of the bargain, un,” he challenges. “But fuck yes. Idon’t want to be here, and I’ll take any chance to get the hell out.”
Shisui chuckles, smiling up athim, and—well. It’s possible that on second thought he’s actually prettier thanItachi, which is just stupid. “I'm soglad I didn’t have to brainwash you,” he says cheerfully, and then, “Welcome toTeam Traitor, glad to have you!”
Deidara blinks at him. “Brainwash?”he asks. Shisui winks and pulls away, and the sudden lack of his heat is almostenough to distract Deidara from his question. Not quite, though, and he twists to follow Shisui as the other teenagerretreats. “What the fuck do you mean, brainwash?”
“Whoops, look at the time,” Shisuisays with a grin. “I need to go beg Leader-sama to give me a cute partner.Later!”
He’s gone in a whirl of leaves andwind, the door flying open, and Deidara snarls, lunges for the corridor.
“What the fuck did you mean, asshole?” he shouts, but the corridor outside isempty of cheerful idiots. Deidara hisses in fury, slamming the door shut again.Fucking pretty bastards. Fucking Uchiha,making his life ten times as complicated as it needs to be. Shisui had betterhope he lives up to his end of the bargain, or Deidara is going to have a poundof explosive clay with his name on it.