Ok, so this my first story ever and its a crack fick so beware the Hidan X Sakura

and to anybody that bothers to read this story, please give me a review :)

oh yeah, I don't own any chracters in the story, obviously, but the plot was my idea, it's different from all the cliches that I've been reading so far

Morbid Curiosity

A Buried Hope

Summary: After years of being a medic, Sakura has seen almost every kind of medical feat there is. But there is one person who still confuses her because his immortality doesn't make any sense. Sakura sets to find out his secrets and a way to protect Naruto.

"Come on….is that all you know?", Sakura could barely hold her pen straight as she took notes on what Shikamaru had to say. He looked at her critically before staring back up at the clouds. Sighing, he replied in a tone of finality,

"The guy was immortal, he was Akatsuki, and - he killed Asuma." End of conversation. Sakura looked at him and then looked away with a slightly resigned look on her face.

"So then….how did you defeat him?", she asked softly. Without taking his eyes of the clouds, he took a drag of his cigarette.

"I blew him apart and buried his pieces. He's here on my family's land, and whether he's alive or dead anymore, I don't care. He's not going anywhere. And besides-- He turned his head slightly to look at her-- why are you so interested in this guy?"

She stopped writing and looked back at him impassively for a moment before putting the lid back on her pen and flipping her notepad closed. She leaned back on her elbows and began.

"Shikamaru…you know as well as anyone else that I've been study medical jutsu for the last five years, my skills reached the same level as Tsunade-Shisou years ago. Now, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about all other jutsus related to life and death and healing…you see…the thing is, I'll never be as strong as Naruto or Sasuke. They keep getting stronger and stronger, they're always learning new ways to become strong. I need to keep up with them if I'm going to be from their team."

"…"

"Besides- Sakura's voice grew smaller and wavered slightly- I want to protect Naruto. Akatsuki have always been after the jinchuuriki, they obviously know a lot about them and their bijuu…if he's alive, maybe…we can get him to spill some information."

Shikamaru's eyes widened and he looked at her incredulously,

"What!? You want to dig him up?!"

"Well…not all of him, you said his head could still talk when disconnected from the body…", Shikamaru relaxed again and thought the idea over. Finally, he sighed and spoke to her,

"I don't like it, but if it'll do Naruto any good, then maybe I'll help…", he left the sentence hanging.

"But what?", Sakura could barely keep the grin off her face as she tried to urge him on as seriously as she could.

"You need the Hokage's permission first. These things take time and planning.", he took another drag of his cigarette and let the smoke lazily join the clouds above the two jounin.

"Hai! Let's go then!", jumping up she picked up her things and grabbed his shoulder.

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'Knock! Knock! Knock!' (A/N: I'm no good with onomatopoeias)

Shikamaru and Sakura stood in front of the Godaime's office waiting to be let in. A moment later, a muffled 'Enter!' was heard from within and they opened the door to see a pair of ninjas leap out the window. Tsunade was standing by the window as the two came to stand in front of her desk. With a soft sigh, she turned around and sat in her chair and leaned back. Her eyes were closed as she asked them,

"Shikamaru, Sakura, do you need anything?"

No one spoke for a moment but then Sakura took a step forward with her hands clasped in front of her,

"We want permission to dig up the missing-nin Hidan of the Akatsuki." Tsunade's eyes shot open as she stuttered,

"W-What?"

"Well, I've thought about it a lot and since he's a member of Akatsuki, he may know things about the Bijuu and Jinchuuriki that we don't. This is a very good opportunity to gather information and we've had him for the last two years. Akatsuki probably believe him to be dead.", Sakura spoke quickly, unsure of Tsunade's reaction.

"We've gone without this particular bit of Akatsuki's information this long, I'm sure that whatever this member knows from two years ago isn't very updated. For all we know, he may not have a single idea of what's going on.", Sakura's face fell and her voice softened,

"But, Tsunade-Shisou, he may know something about Naruto and his bijuu…anything, even the smallest detail could help him…"

Shikamaru stepped forward and planted his hand firmly on her desk,

"Remember what happened last time? He lost control too quickly and nearly died and us along with him." This time, Tsunade's looked away and her lip quivered. She didn't want to risk the safety of the village or Naruto by exposing them all to an Akatsuki member. The threat for them all from having an Akatsuki member up and around was imminent: Once the rest of the evil organization found out, they would surely come for him or he would try to act on their behalf and fight them again.

"I know you're worried and I know exactly why…but I have a plan figured out if you're willing to allow this.", Shikamaru's voice was low as he spoke, he removed his hand from the desk and stretched back. By then, Shizune, who had run off with some papers came back in and was about to speak when she noticed the atmosphere of the room.

"Go on…", Tsunade commanded.

"We all know from previous experience that Hidan is an immortal and can never be killed, however, when his head is detached from his body, his body can no longer function. But, as I recall, he managed to scream and threaten me as I blew the rocks over him, while his head was detached.-"

"So you want to only get his head out?"

"Hai", Sakura nodded in agreement.

"And then what? I'm sure he won't just willingly cooperate. Besides, carrying a talking head around will attract too much attention.", Tsunade smirked at the thought of the village elders talking to an Akatsuki's head.

"Shisou, that's when I come in. I'll keep his head at home with me and try to get him to give answers. When transporting him, we can just gag his mouth. I doubt he'll be able to do much harm, unless he can do jutsus with his tongue.", Sakura could see a plan forming and was ready to jump into action.

"Nobody else but us four will know, and I'll help her with interrogating the head. If there are any complications, we can quickly dispose of the head."

"Hmm….alright, but on one condition…", the hokage wouldn't let them go this easy.

"What is that?", the two jounins asked at the same time.

"I'd like to talk to the head myself, perhaps examine it. If he gives you any problems or whenever I see fit, you must turn him over to Ibiki for interrogation.", Sakura and Shikamaru looked at her with a slightly bewildered twitch under their eyes.

"Uhh…Tsunade-Shisou…how is Ibiki-San going to interrogate him? He'll only be a head…", she created a mental image of Ibiki pulling out a feather and tickling the head to no end. Uhh...no way!

"In reality, I have no idea, Sakura, but it's his job to interrogate people, even if they aren't completely people. Who knows, maybe he'll be able to find something out if you don't.", Tsunade shrugged and stood up to peer out the window again.

"You have my permission to …be in possession of an enemy shinobi's head for interrogation. Report to me once a day and bring the head by every three days. Only the four of us will know for now."