It was early in the evening, the hour of twilight. The day wasn't quite gone, but the night wasn't quite here. The time of day when light and shadows mixed together to form the beauty of the twilight, the sunset.

With his assignment completed for the day, Deidara was now sitting on a small hill not far from the Akatsuki Hideout, on his own for a while. There were times he just wanted to sit and think for a bit, play with his clay. It was just something he did to relax.

A bug crawled toward him on the grass, and he spotted it. Even if it was just a bug, he didn't want to be bothered right now. So he shot the beetle his most terrifying death glare.

Although it was, to a certain man.

The beetle, not seeing it, just scurried away in another direction.

With a small sigh, Deidara went back to fiddling with his clay, while sometimes glancing up at the sunset in the horizon. It was beautiful, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere. Not to mention it was transient, which he thought made it only more beautiful.

For some reason, I feel like I'm forgetting something. Deidara thought, furrowing his brow a little.

He didn't know why he seemed to be forgetting about something. He'd done all he needed to do today, and didn't forget anything. Did he?

So why was this stinging the back of his mind?

Shaking his long head of blonde hair, Deidara decided not to dwell on it further and just relax a little.

It was a day like any other day, in his opinion. What could've been so important, anyway?

“Hey, Deidara.” Came a soft voice from nearby.

“Un?” Deidara turned his head and looked up, seeing Casana standing near him. He hadn't even heard her coming. A small smile crossed his face. “Oh, hey Casana.”

The brunette smiled sweetly and sauntered over, sitting down next to him and looking over to the horizon. “The hour of twilight is beautiful.”

“And fleeting.” Deidara put in, not quite looking at her. “That's what truly makes it beautiful.”

Casana looked at him and let out a short giggle. “That's true.” She paused a moment, and then smiled a bit more. “Deidara, I have something for you.”

Puzzled, Deidara looked at her. “You do?”

“Yes.” Casana reached into her pack and held out a small box. “Um, I know it's not much, and not as good as what you can do, but I hope you'll like it anyway.”

Deidara took the box, examining it slowly. He wondered what the occasion was, why she had gone to the trouble of giving him something out of the blue. “Well okay, but, why? What's the occasion?”

Casana giggled. “Deidara...it's your birthday.”

The blonde froze, staring at the box, and then slowly turning to look at her. He couldn't believe it, was it really his birthday? “...My birthday?”

“Yes. Today is May 5th, your birthday. I didn't think you would forget.” She said.

Wow. It really was his birthday, and he didn't even know it. Could that have been what he forgot? His own birthday?

Understandably so, he barely knew what month or day it was. Sure he knew if it was “Monday” or “Tuesday” or whatever, but never specifically. Had he really lost touch with time?

So now he was 19.

Shaking his head, Deidara opened the box to see what she'd given him. To his surprise, it was a little clay figurine. It was in the shape of a cute little bird. Although it wasn't as good as what he created, the fact that she had gone to the trouble of making something out his favourite kind of art like she did was really sweet.

He didn't know how long he sat there, staring at the figurine quite stupidly, and he finally blinked and turned to her.

“You made this?”

Casana nodded.

Deidara looked at the figurine again, and then back at Casana. A true, genuine smile crossed his face and he gently put the box down on the ground. He scooted closer to her and brought an arm around her shoulders.

“Thank you, Casana.” He said to her in a soft, loving tone he used only with her. And before she could answer, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

Her lips were warm, tasting a bit of strawberries, and were just as moist as they usually were. She immediately kissed back, eagerly responding.

After a while, Deidara pulled away, his hand moving up to caress her hair. He smiled and touched his forehead to hers, running his fingers through her hair.

“I love you.” He whispered.

She smiled in return, her blue eyes sparkling with love and adoration. “I love you too. Happy Birthday.”

Those two words sounded so much better coming from her mouth, for sure.

Although Deidara managed all right without her by his side, throughout his earlier years in the Akatsuki. But now that she was here, he couldn't imagine life without her. It was nice having her by his side, especially on his birthday.

He then took the model, admired it for a moment, and then concentrated. It then sprouted longer wings and flew off into the horizon. After a few seconds, it exploded on his command.

Unable to keep the grin off his face, Deidara turned to her. "Oops."

She just laughed in reply, shaking her head. "You're the worst."