Chapter 7
Despite being pissed at Deidara and running out of the restaurant, Hidan didn’t stray very far. He was pissed, yes, but he still wasn’t angry enough to run deep into the woods and risk getting lost.
….except maybe he was-
He stopped and looked around as he realized he could no longer see the restaurant or the lights coming from it. He hadn’t been walking for that long, has he? It certainly didn’t feel like it.
Well, fuck, now what was he gonna do? He just wanted to blow off some steam – before he ended up yelling at Deidara and accidentally letting Sasori know about his stupid crush – and now he was lost in some forest.
“Fuckin’ dammit-“ He muttered to himself before walking in the direction that he thought – hoped – the restaurant was in. It shouldn’t be too hard to find his way back, should it?
…
“Hey- where are you going-?” Deidara asked, honestly not surprised that Sasori was going to follow Hidan but wondering what his explanation would be. The blonde was certain Sasori liked Hidan back but if he could get the redhead to say as much it would make things so much easier.
“Outside.” Sasori stated, planning to just leave it at that. He wanted to go talk to Hidan and he really didn’t want to be stalled by Deidara’s pointless questions. Unfortunately for him, he could tell Deidara wasn’t just going to leave it at that so he impatiently continued.
“I need to bring Hidan back.” He turned away again, not even waiting to finish his sentence before he was on his way outside. He wasn’t about to be stuck there for a while talking to Deidara when he knew how reckless Hidan could get when he was mad or any other form of upset.
“Listen to him-! He /needs/ to bring Hidan back, yeah? He’s-“ Deidara paused as he looked over at Tobi, his amused tone turning into one of confusion as he saw that the other was standing up. “Where are you going, hm?”
Tobi’s movements stalled as he torn his gaze from the door and looked back at Deidara. “Shouldn’t Tobi and senpai help get Hidan-san back?” He tilted his head to the side as he spoke, seeming genuinely confused. It made sense to help, after all that’s what a good boy would do-
“Nah,” Deidara said waving his arm dismissively. “We should let those two love birds talk it out.”
“Okies-“ Tobi nodded, sitting back down before he looked back at Deidara. If he wasn’t wearing his mask his confusion would be evident but even so it was somehow clear that Tobi didn’t quite understand. “Hidan-san and Sasori-san are birds-!?”
“What- no, they’re-“ He sighed, shaking his head. “Never mind, Tobi. Let’s talk about something else, yeah?”
“Tobi doesn’t understand but okies! What does senpai want to talk to Tobi about!?”
“How about your crush, hm?”
“Tobi doesn’t-“
“Soo you like a biracial guy? Didn’t think you liked guys but maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re gay.”
“Tobi’s not-“
“I mean, you do act a little gay every-so-often, okay, maybe like, /really/ gay. Maybe I’m more surprised because he’s biracial, yeah? Because we don’t really know anyone that’s- wait- is it Kakuzu? Is he even biracial? Please tell me it’s not Kakuzu-“
“It’s not-“
“Yeah? Good- I don’t really care what happens to you but I’d hate to see that, yeah? But- then who is it?”
“Tobi doesn’t want to-“
“But Tobi should. Come on, I won’t tell anyone! Just tell me so I can stop being so curious! I won’t do anything bad!”
“Can senpai ask about something else-?”
“What’s it gonna take for you to tell me, un? I’ll get you dangos~.”
“No. Tobi doesn’t want to-“
“Not even for dangos?”
“Not for anything.” Tobi declared, half pouting and half serious. He wasn’t about to let anyone know who his crush was. He had already decided not to act on it, after all. He was doing everything he was doing for /her/ and he wasn’t going to let that go to waste.
.
Sasori briskly stepped outside, only stopping once he realized he couldn’t see Hidan. Did he really have to run off like that? Knowing him he would probably get lost and-
Oh.
Hidan was probably lost and probably still moving around like the idiot he could be half the time. If Sasori wanted to find him he had to move now and he had to stay alert.
With that thought he began moving again, looking out for broken twigs or footprints or anything else that could clue him in as to where Hidan disappeared to. He knew the younger man wouldn’t die out there and that he had been on his own for quite a while before he joined the Akatsuki but that did nothing to lessen the worry he felt at Hidan being gone.
Yes, worry. Sasori was actually worrying. It still gave him pause half the time, the amount of emotions Hidan made him feel, both good and bad – or annoying as pointless worrying could often times be – and yet, he relished it.
As amazing as it was that he felt things it was even more amazing that Hidan made him /want/ to feel things. He had been stalling the completion of his puppet form, stalling purging himself of all his emotions for good – the pain at his parents death, the anger at his grandmother for deceiving him, the guilt at Komushi’s death, the fear anytime anyone was even one minute late – of all of the things he kept locked away. The things that touched the service only occasionally.
Hidan made him consider living with those things, if only it meant he also got to feel the way Hidan made him feel. The flutter in his chest when the silver haired male stood up for him, or even looked his way. The way the man’s well, his /everything/ - his body, his dumb humor, his stupidity, his eternal life – made him stop him his tracks, made him want to soak in all that Hidan was. Even the acute sadness he felt at being away from the other for too long.
All of it Hidan made him feel and all of it made him want to feel. He would take all of the bad just to feel that way.
But if he couldn’t find Hidan, if the man managed to get so lost they couldn’t find him or managed to somehow actually die then Sasori would not only lose Hidan but he would lose those feelings too and with it the want to feel at all.
.
It didn’t take long for Sasori to come to a pause in his search. It was clear that Hidan had paused in this same area earlier – the grass where the Jashinist had stood was still bent, more so than the rest of the grass – this must have been when he realized he was lost. If Hidan had been smart he would have done a 180 and headed back but, judging by the newly broken branch to his right and a few barely visible footprints, it was clear Hidan wasn’t that smart.
Sasori quickly turned and headed in the new direction, hoping that Hidan had paused for longer than he had. Any extra time would be beneficial to him. Luckily for him, Hidan had been walking slower than him once he realized he was lost so it didn’t take much longer for the redhead to come to an area where the tracks stopped. Hidan had to be around here somewhere.
Sasori looked all around him and, once he determined that Hidan wasn’t on the ground, he looked up to see the man sitting in a tree with his eyes closed. Was he seriously trying to take a nap?
“Hidan.”
“HOLY FUCKIN-“ Hidan jumped, nearly falling off the tree. “You just scared the shit out of me-“ He easily climbed down, coming to stand in front of the shorter male. “What’s up?”
“…what’s up?”
“Yeah- you know, whatcha doing? What’s up?”
“I know what it means.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“I came out here to find you and you’re sitting in a tree and asking what’s up? What were you even doing? Enjoying being lost?”
“Hey-! I couldn’t find my fucking way back so I decided to wait until one of you guys found me! Wait- I like just fucking got up there. How the hell did you find me so fast?”
“I’ve been looking for you for the past half hour.”
“Come on, I wasn’t gone that fucking long. It had to of taken you at least twenty minutes to realize I was lost-“
“I didn’t start looking for you because you were lost, Hidan.”
“Huh- then why-?”
“I was going to talk to you, bring you back to the restaurant so we could finish our meal. Speaking of, Deidara and Tobi are still there. We shouldn’t leave them waiting.”
“Wait- you fucking came out here because I was upset /then/ you realized I was lost?”
“Yes.”
“Holy-“ Hidan, without thinking much about it, hugged the other male. However, he pulled away before Sasori could respond.
“Shit I’m sorry- I didn’t- I know you don’t fucking like people in your personal space it’s just I love ya, man an-“
“I wasn’t complaining-“ Sasori said at the same time as the last part slipped out of Hidan’s mouth.
“Wai-“ He didn’t mean to- oh fuck- “…what-“ Sasori didn’t care that he had hugged him-??
“What did you just say?” Sasori asked, heart almost stopping at hearing those words come out of his crush’s mouth. Hidan- Did he really-?
“Uh- I- like a friend-? Yeah, we’re friends right? Friend’s tell friend’s they love each other all the time- that’s what that was-“ Funny, apparently if he was nervous enough his cuss words would just vanish from his vocabulary. That was probably the most he’s spoken without cussing in years-
Sasori nodded, a part of him not believing Hidan had meant it platonically but he was sure if that was his emotions or his logic speaking to him. “Yeah, they do.”
Hidan smiled widely. “See? I can say it all I want- I fucking love you-“ It was both terrifying and amazing to say it out loud, even if he was saying it under the guise of being platonic.
Sasori couldn’t help but to smile at that, even knowing how Hidan was meaning it. He shook his head at the other’s antics, muttering ‘You’re gonna be the death of me’ under his breath as they started to head back.