my first evar multi chapter story!! and Deisaku of course, because that pairing is sooo fucking hot.

"Sakura-chan!!" Sakura ducked out of the way of a few flying kunai at Naruto's screech. Whipping a few shuriken out of her medic pouch, she launched them at her attacker, hitting the ANBU in the chest with two loud thunks. The back of her gloved hand caught a particularly sharp twig as she and Naruto whisked away, sending chakra to their feet to increase their speed. Tsunade's hunter ANBU were fast, she had to admit. It would take all their willpower to get out of the Fire country alone, much less to wherever Sasuke might be. The lush trees that covered Fire country whizzed past. Every once in a while, a small sparrow would fly past her in an effort to get out of their way. Two shuriken thudded into a tree a few feet off, and she swore. The hunter nin were closing in on them, and in a last act of defiance she cast a large genjutsu, grabbing Naruto's hand so he wouldn't get caught in it as the two of them made a run for it.

It had been two months since she and Naruto had abandoned Konoha, two months since they scratched out their hitai-ate and made a run for it, two months since they decided that they needed to save Sasuke, wherever he might be. Two months since they gave up their entire fucking lives for that bastard. And yet…they had found nothing. Not a single trace, not a single sighting. They were losing him, and they were losing hope. Stuck in shitty hotels, barely having enough food and water to last them, they needed somewhere to start. They needed a lead, but they had no way of getting one. Their teammate may be fucked in the head and mentally unstable, but he was sure as hell good at hiding. Tsunade was on the look out for them, all the other hidden villages had orders to capture them alive…whether or not they listened to those orders was another matter. Iwa wouldn't she knew that. Konoha would try to bring them back, but as long as they were going to kill Sasuke, as long as he was treated as a missing nin, Konoha was not their home. God damn it, they missed him. He was their brother, and Sakura still loved him, even though he was a narcisstic, egomaniacal, emo, and power hungry lunatic bent on revenge. But Naruto loved him too. Not like that of course, but they needed Team 7 to be whole again, and God help them if anyone got in the way of that.

Sakura sat down on the bed opposite of Naruto, the springs creaking under her weight. Naruto continued to pace, muttering under his breath and emitting a couple 'dattebayos' as he did so. Every once in a while, he would get an idea, his face would light up…and then he'd realize that he was insane, and go back to his fruitless planning. She stared at the pale yellow flower wallpaper that was peeling of the walls, and wrinkled her nose at the smell of urine drifting from one of the back corners. She had been thinking, her brilliant mind turning and idea over and over. It had been three months…would a trail still be there?

"Naruto…" she murmured. The blonde stopped pacing and looked at her expectantly, his blonde hair, longer than it had ever been, flopped over his bright blue eyes. "I had an idea…I'm not sure if it'll work or not…but…" Naruto shook his head.

"Sakura-chan, any idea is worth it if it means finding Sasuke-teme. Spit it out!!" he was nearly bouncing up and down, and she smiled at his impatience.

"We could go to the spot where he and the Akatsuki bomber fought. There might be a trail there…the only problem is that it's in Fire country. I don't want to risk getting caught…but it may be our only chance." She knew what the answer was. There was always a risk getting caught, but they were willing to take it. Sasuke was their teammate and their friend. They weren't going to back down now.

"When do we leave?" Naruto's voice, full of excitement, pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked into his cerulean eyes, eyes that now lit up with the fire that had been gone since Pein's death. She nodded, her face just as excited as his.

"Now."

Three days. No food. God damn it, where was it? They'd gotten attacked by hunter nins as soon as they had crossed the damn border, and they were still exhausted. They had run into Team 8, and that had been nearly disastrous. Hinata had tackled Naruto from behind, but luckily the expert trackers let the two go on their way, completely understanding their mission. Just as they had been about to leave, Hinata had grabbed Naruto and kissed him, and although Sakura knew he had liked it, he'd been gloomy and upset since they left the three chuunin. Suddenly, Naruto tensed in excitement.

"Found it!!" he proclaimed, and they dashed into the open clearing. The plants still hadn't grown back, even after all this time. The ground still was dusty, and the crater in the center still reeked of blood and the Akatsuki's chakra. She briefly recalled the last explosion that had ended that blonde Akatsuki. It had been the most breathtaking experience of her life. An explosion of pure chakra, so much that it sent enormous chills down her spine. It had been there one moment, and gone the next. It had been beautiful. Sakura heightened her senses. She noted a faint trace of chakra by the cliffs, and, thinking it was Sasuke, ran toward it. What she found was not Sasuke. It was a house, built into the cliff's side. She had no idea who it might be; she didn't know anyone who could use douton style ninjutsu at this level. The house was several stories high, and it reminded her of the wood houses that Tenzou would make when they were first searching for Sasuke. She knocked on the door. Once. Twice. Three times. A shout was heard from inside.

"Hold up, yeah," the male voice said, and an irregular thumping followed, getting closer, until the man pulled the door open. Jade eyes and dark blue met. She could not believe her eyes. This man…was reported dead! How had he survived again? Naruto was just as shocked, and pointed at him angrily.

"You!! You should be dead, you blew yourself up!" he stopped his tirade to count his fingers. "Twice!!" In a flash Sakura had the man pinned up against the wall, a kunai to his throat. He hung from her hand, a look of pure fear on his face.

"Please!!" he cried, and she hesitated. "I can't fight back. I can't even walk on my own!!" she glanced at the crudely made crutch that lay abandoned on the floor. She had never seen this man, an Akatsuki member, or any man, actually, this afraid. The blonde man sighed.

"I know what you want, yeah. You want to find that bastard Sasuke. I can help you." His blue eyes were bright with fear.

"On what conditions?" Naruto asked. He and Sakura looked at each other. Their first big lead!! If he knew where Sasuke actually was, that is.

"Heal me. Keep me hidden from Akatsuki. That's all I ask, yeah." She surveyed his halfway broken body, contemplating if she could actually heal him or not. He had large burn marks stretched across his face, almost as if someone had scratched him with large, blunt claws. On the palms of his hands, where there used to be mouths, was large cuts and threads tying them together. He'd given up his…art? The large and thick bandages wrapped around his chest were stained with fresh blood. It looks like he had a large cut on his chest. His left leg was broken in four places, and shattered in three. His long blonde hair, normally shining and well kept, was dirty, bloodstained, and messy, full of tangles and even a couple sticks. He hadn't shaved this morning, she noted, there was fine blonde stubble on his chin and jaw line. His eyes were tired, and the dark eyeliner that usually ringed them was gone. His breathing was hoarse and fluidy. He either had pneumonia of a punctured lung, probably the latter. She let him go slowly, allowing him to balance on his good leg as she got his crutch.

"We'll help you if you help us." She held out her hand, ignoring Naruto's gasps of protest. "I'm Sakura, by the way, and that knucklehead over there is Naruto, as you should know." The man smiled, but instead of taking her hand and shaking it, he tapped her palm with his first two fingers.

"Deidara, yeah. I don't shake hands. It's an old habit, yeah. But I don't think you exactly want to touch this…" he looked at the scarring on his palms. Naruto, for once being his age, added haughtily,

"That's what she said." Next thing he knew he was a pile of hurt under an earthen table. She carefully took Deidara's right arm and slung it over her shoulder carefully, noting that one of the bones was broken and his wrist was sprained.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I can't do anything like this." She smiled sympathetically, and he grinned back at her, and she noticed his grin was crooked. It suited him…or, at least the old him.

"Where's your room?" he glanced sharply at her.

"B-b-but we hardly know each other, and I can't do shit like-" she cut him off.

"No, you pervert. I want you to lie down so I can assess the damage." A faint blush adorned his cheeks, and he let her lay him down on the bed.

"Stay put, okay? I'm going to go get us some food." She walked out of the bedroom, and Deidara watched her in awe, not quite believing his luck. This spitfire of a kunoichi was going to heal him, even though they had been enemies. Fuck, he was so lucky he guessed right about the Sasuke deal. It was the only thing he could think of if the Kyuubi kid was out here. Their hitai-ate's were scratched out too…he wondered what the next month or so was gonna be like. Scary was the word he finally picked.

Sakura rummaged through Deidara's cupboards, finding nothing but instant ramen. He's just like Naruto, she thought distastefully. Walking to the refrigerator, she discovered pomegranate juice of all things. Shifting to another cupboard, she pulled out a wineglass, because it seemed to be all he had. She poured the juice into the glass, noting how it looked much like red wine. Naruto cautiously poked his head out from under the table.

"Sakura-chan," he moaned, "don't drink that, you can't heal the teme if you're drunk." She laughed at his concern, noting that Deidara seemed to have adopted Sasuke's old nickname.

"It's not wine, silly. Its just juice."

"What kind?"
"Pomegranate. I've never had it before." She took a swig, and was surprised at the bitter taste. She swished it around in her mouth a bit. "It's bitter, but it's not that bad I guess. That's what I get, I suppose." Naruto was just itching to throw in a joke similar to the one that got him kicked under the table, but the large bump on his head disagreed. Poking her head back in the fridge, she discovered a cantaloupe, and decided that Deidara would have to make do with this until she could find some healthier food. In the meantime…

"Naruto, can you finish off as much of this ramen as possible?" She didn't even need to ask, as he was already boiling the water. Sakura shook her head, and continued to Deidara's room with the cantaloupe, and stumbled over something small, soft, and very pissed at her. She looked down to see a small black kitten glaring up at her, if kittens could glare. She picked it up by the scruff of its neck and deposited both it and the cantaloupe on his lap.

"Nice cat," she said irritably.

"Not mine, yeah. Found it two days after I made this place, wouldn't leave me alone." The kitten glared at Sakura once more, the kneaded it's claws into Deidara's stomach as he winced in pain.

"Does it have a name?" she asked, slicing up the cantaloupe with her chakra.

"I just call him cat, but occasionally, I'll call him Kit Kat. When I'm insane, anyways." Sakura laughed at the nickname.

"Kit Kat it is. Come on, Kat. Time to stop tearing up Dei-chan's tummy." The man in question looked at her incredulously.

"Dei-chan?"

=D hope you like. Read and Review, i want ur input. Special thanks to Cynchick, for introducing me to the goodyness of DeiSaku and for her stories being a constant inspiration and a motivation to get as good as she is!!