• After speaking to Leader-sama, I returned to Konan’s room to take a shower. As I washed the last of the soap off my body, a knock sounded from the bathroom door. I shut off the water, grabbed a towel and opened the door. Deidara stood in front of me, a goofy grin on his face.
    I smiled at him. “What’s with the grin?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.
    “I want to paint a picture and I need a model. Konan . . . Well, I’m not going to ask her. So how would you like to, un?” He said, still grinning.
    “I’d love to, just let me get dressed.”
    “No need, put this on please,” he handed me a light purple, silk kimono. I nodded and shut the door.
    After drying myself off, I slipped the kimono on. The silk moved softly over my skin and felt like nothing when I tied it up. “He certainly knows how to make a girl happy.” I mumbled. I slipped my hair into a ponytail and headed to his room.
    I knocked twice then opened the door. He had lit candles throughout the room and had set up an easel on the far side. He was busy setting up paints. When I shut the door, he looked up and a smile spread across his face. I felt my heart skip a beat or two. Was I . . . No, it couldn’t be . . .
    Deidara walked up to me, put one arm across my back and slipped his free hand into mine, then walked me over to the empty side of the room. There were three candles over there, one on a small table in the corner, and two on the shelves that lined the room.
    He spun me around so I was facing the wall, then positioned me for the painting. My left hand — which was closest to the wall farthest away from the easel — was placed on my chest, holding the kimono together at the top and my right hand holding a pink rose at my side. He moved my torso so it was turned slightly toward the easel, then backed away. He walked back and turned my face to look at my right hand — which faced the easel. He backed away again, then moved back for more repositioning. He loosened the top of the kimono so it fell off my shoulders, the only thing keeping my chest covered being my hand.
    He walked behind me and leaned into my ear. “You look stunning,” he whispered, voice almost inaudible. “Hold that pose, and that expression please.”
    My face grew hot, but I held my pose anyway. He returned to his easel and began to paint.
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    A few hours later, Deidara moved away from his painting, regarding it. He smiled and walked away from it and toward me. I kept my pose in case he wasn’t finished. Placing himself behind me, he slipped the rose from my hand — which was already de-thorned — and placed his hand loosely in mine. His other hand was placed gently on my waist. My heart skipped a beat, then began to race like its life depended on it.
    He took his hand off my hip and moved my head up so it was facing the door a few feet away, then replaced his hand. And as his lips brushed against my neck, I realized. I was in love with him.
    I leaned back so I was leaning against his chest while he worked the ponytail out of my hair with his left hand. My still damp hair tumbled over my shoulders, reaching slightly below my shoulder blades, it was longer than usual. He moved his mouth up and began to nibble on my earlobe. His tongue played with the three studs in it. My hair flowed over his head, hiding sections of his blonde hair. He released my ear and began to walk around the right side of me, fingers untangling from mine, other hand trailing lightly across my back. With his right hand, he cupped my chin and turned my face up to his. I stared up into his beautiful blue eyes, pushing his hair away from the left.
    I released his hair and undid his robe, a single tear falling across my cheek. With his index finger, he wiped away the tear, ducking down to look at my face.
    “Why the tears, un?” He asked in a soft voice.
    My hands slid around his back, pressing the side of my face against his chest. “I never thought I could feel this again. Looking into your eyes, I see the same thing I saw before,” I murmured into his chest.
    “And what’s that, un?” His voice vibrated through his chest.
    “Pure love.”
    He buried his face in my hair. “And you’re right, hon.”
    Minutes passed, and we stayed in that tight embrace. My heart raced like it had when Neji was my lover, but it felt real this time. “I never thought I could love like this again,” I whispered.
    “I’m glad you can, hon,” he murmured into my hair.
    We pulled apart a few inches and stared into each others eyes once again. The gap closed slowly between our faces, everything feeling like a dream. Our lips pressed together lightly and my heart fluttered. As we pulled apart, I yawned.
    He chuckled softly. “Tired, un?” He asked. I nodded and cuddled into his chest.
    He swept my feet out from under me and carried me over to his bed. I bounced on the mattress as I was dropped onto it. He held up one finger and left the room. When he returned, he was carrying my pack and a few of my other things with him, which he dropped at the foot of the bed. He then walked around the room and extinguished the candles. While he did that, I had slipped off my robe and the rest of my clothing except my underwear and pulled on the oversized T-shirt. I plopped onto the bed and curled up under the covers as he stripped down to his boxers then fell onto the bed beside me. My hair lay spread out across the pillow behind me, my head nuzzled against his chest and my hands pressed up against my collarbone. His lips pressed into my hair, close to my ear and he began to murmur wordless sounds. I quickly drifted off to sleep.
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    The door slid open a few minutes later, followed by the murmur of voices that were undistinguishable to my ears.
    “Dei-” a voice began to say. “Itachi, I found her,” he whispered. The door shut and they were gone. I drifted off again.