"Ah, interesting. Have you rejected anyone?"
"I haven't had to. If there's a bond there, both people know."
Deidara finally moved away from me, his gaze drifting across the room. "Is that how it works? I wouldn't know."
His words brought an entirely new emotion to the forefront, and this one drove out my fear. I quickly closed the distance between us and grabbed his hand. He glanced at me in surprise but did not pull away. "You do now."
***
I spent the next three days hanging out with Deidara and Kiku. Occasionally, Tobi joined us. Deidara seemed annoyed but did not stop him. It seemed he was glad that the two of us were getting along and did not want to interfere, which I found sweet. For now, I avoided spending time alone with Tobi. Just because I no longer feared him did not mean I was not wary.
Deidara and I were talking in the living room when Itachi and Kisame returned from their mission. "We're back!" Kisame said loudly, smiling when he saw me.
I waved at him. "Hey, Kisame. Welcome back." I hopped off the couch and walked over to meet them. "Itachi, guess what? I got over my problems with Tobi."
"Really?" Itachi said with an unreadable expression.
"I helped," Deidara said. He strolled up to me and slung an arm around my shoulder. "You're welcome."
Itachi ignored him and focused on me. "I am glad you worked it out."
I did not need a bracelet to feel Deidara's irritation. "Yeah, Deidara was a great help," I said. "And we've been training together. We came up with some really cool combo moves!"
From the bracelet, I felt a weird combination of satisfaction and disappointment. "You should be careful about showing off your moves around here." And then he walked past me towards the hallway.
"Hey!" Deidara shouted angrily. "I wouldn't use anything I learned against her!"
Sighing, I jogged to catch up with Itachi. "He really did help me, you know," I said. He did not respond. "Would it kill you to give him a little recognition?"
"Yes," Itachi responded.
I rolled my eyes. "Right." I stopped following him and turned around, nearly bumping into Kisame.
"Don't take it too personally," Kisame said. "He's exhausted. He overused his Sharingan again."
"Oh, thanks for the heads up." I knew how much rest Kakashi needed after using his Sharingan, although he never showed any attitude. Still, it might be best to give Itachi some space.
"He'll come around. See you later, Katsumi."
After he walked off, I returned to Deidara, who was still scowling in the living. "He does appreciate it, you know," I said.
"You're just saying that, hmm," said Deidara.
I shook my head. "No, it's true. Just look at his actions. He trusted you with me when he was gone even though he spends every other minute telling me why I should stay away from you."
"That makes me feel better."
"Well, then just forget about him." I took hold of his hand and felt him relax. "Let's go outside. I want to see your art."
Deidara smiled. "That sounds like a great idea to me."
So, I spent more time with him while I waited for Itachi to recover. The following morning, Itachi seemed a little better, so I tried talking to him while he sat on his desk and I paced the room. Kiku lay on my futon, her eyes following my movements.