A tall woman, 5'8, with pale skin and silky black hair stood on the cliff watching the occupants of Suna, there was a smirk on her face as she bid her final farewells to what had been her home, no, her prison for the last 21 years of her life. A harsh wind picked up and blew her hair into her face, blocking her view. "Good bye Suna." She muttered before turning around to begin her journey through the dessert, to her freedom.

Raveling bye her side was a small girl of about 8. She had long red hair, and green eyes that spoke volumes of pain, hate; in her eyes, one could see, she had the innocents of a child, but had seen more pain, suffering, death, and sorrow than even the most field experienced Anbu. She had her mothers pale skin, and her lips were pressed firmly together. Her mother held her tiny pixy like left hand, her other hand was occupied by a giant bear, a little more than half her size. She looked up at the goddess that was her mother and opened her small mouth but closed it, fearing her mother's wrath. She tried again. "Mommy?"

The woman looked down up on her child, pain tearing at her heart. She had been a horrible mother. As she stared into the 5 year old eyes, all the regrets of what she'd done to the girl filled her eyes for a split second before quickly disappearing. He daughter was so much like her father, quick to see beneath the surface. "What?" her voice was soft, and kind. It seemed to catch the girl bye surprise.

Her mother's voice was filled with kindness. Her eyes widened for a second before they went back to their stoic appearance. "I was wondering…" sudden shyness seemed to over come her tong and she quickly closed her mouth.

Annoyance passed through the woman's eyes. "Spit it out Iris. A shinobi must be fearless. Say what's on you mind and deal with the punishments if one is to come."

"Yes mama, I was wondering, where are we going? We're leaving Suna, and I don't think we're coming back."

She was smart for a five year old; always had been, and most likely always would be. After all, not many five year olds made it to Anbu level at five. She sighed. If she lied, the child would know. "We are going to find a certain man."

The girl fell silent and didn't say anything else. Her mother had been patient, and had answered her questions. She didn't want to test that patience. Besides, anything else would be pointless in asking. Her mother had said they were going to find a certain man. That was that. Her mother would search and search until they found him. They could be going to a lot of places.

A few weeks later found them traveling through some forest, her mother muttering something about Akatsuki. Iris didn't ask. Her mother temper was growing fouler. She had stopped holding her mothers hand, taking to traveling beside her, a silent shadow.

"Iris. Stop here."

"Yes Mama." The girl stopped and jumped to the ground. She watched her mother calmed down and search the perimeter. She watched as her mothers eyes widened and she cursed. She found a cave like area and led her daughter into it.

"Iris, I want you to stay here. Don't leave, no matter what you hear. Unless I call you, don't leave for anyone." This was it. This was why she'd been so cold to the girl. Because she wasn't coming back, these years of cruelty had made her daughter's heart strong and cold, they had made her a survivor. If the girl's father was to find her, then she'd need to be stronger than your typical five year olds in order to survive. There was a battle brewing, she could smell it in the air. Her daughter was saying something. "What?"

"You're not coming back are you?"

"Probably not."

She hugged her mother and looked into the cold green eyes before backing off. She watched her mother leave and sat down and hugged her bear. This was it. She had a gut feeling about this, her mother, this fight, this leaving her in a cave. There was a powerful aura on the air, and even more powerful chakra, two signatures. Could her mother win? Would she win? After all, she had said…NO! Iris shook her head. Her mother wasn't the kind to purposely lose a fight just to embrace death. She would give it her all.

Dark green eyes stared at the two men wearing the black cloaks with red clouds; one blonde and the other the form of a sluggish man. She held her wound, it dripping with poison, and stared at the scorpion tail of the sluggish man.

"It's cause of these left over human feeling that I'll end you suffering Alysia."

She watched the tail creep closer and closer. "Stop!" She yelled. The tail stopped right before hitting her in the head. She closed her eyes. WEAK IDIOT! She yelled at her self. 'Are you really going to make her go through that?' "Before you kill me, you should know…" 'Come on. Say it. Four words. You have a daughter' just say it.'

"Well, I'm waiting. And you know how much I hate to be kept waiting."

She bit her lip. "You have a daughter Sasori of the red sand. She's about 5 now. I don't know. I never paid attention." With that she turned her head. "All I ask is you spare her." 'WEAK.'

The sluggish man stared at her and began chuckling. "Are you trying to save your life?"

"Come now Sasori. You know me better than that. I'm simply trying to spare her."

"If that's true, where is she?"

"Sasori-Danna?"

"Shut up Deidara. If this bitch is telling the truth, then she should be able to lead me right to the brat."

'SHIT!!!!!!!! If I bring then to her, then they'll probably kill her. Curses, this is the other reason why I ignored the brat. FUCK!' she was weak. Just so she could see her child one more time, she was goanna bring death to the girl…again. She nodded and stood up. She let the blonde tie up wrist behind her, and proceeded to the cave she'd left her daughter at. "Let me say good bye to her, before you kill me."

"I'll think about it."

She nodded. She was lucky to not be dead. "Iris." She barked, making the two men jump slightly at her tone. All the motherly care, and pleads gone, leaving a bitch of a woman.

Iris walked out of the cave and stared at her mother. She stared at her mother, then the two men, then her mother with blank, cold eyes. These were the men they'd been looking for.

"Come here child. When I call listen."

"gomen." She stepped forward so she was right in front of her kneeling mother. She could read the two's auras. They planed on capturing her mother. She knew her mother well enough to know that she didn't want to become a puppet for that man.

Sasori watched the little girl watch her mother, a strange look in her eyes. "So you were telling the truth. You can die in peace knowing that I didn't kill her."

"Thank you."

Her sent his tail through her heart and watched as the little girl didn't react.

Iris watched indifferent. He couldn't be that bad if he was letting her mother die quickly instead of the three day death. She closed her eyes as her mother coughed up blood. "Die in peace mother, knowing I never hated you for the way you treated me, knowing that I knew you did it for my own good." Even with her heart punctured, she wouldn't die for a few more hours. She wouldn't let her mother die like that. Instead, she withdrew a katana, and cut her mothers head off, and the katana disappeared in smoke. She brought her hand up to her face and pulled it away.

'Blood? My mothers blood, on my hands.' She stared at the red liquid dripping from her hand, then up at the two shocked men. Then back to her hands, a confused look in her eyes. She'd seen death before. It wasn't new. Her mother went on a mission, and made her daughter watch as she killed countless people. She'd even help from far off.

But this was new to her. This felling of, what was it? Was it fear? No, it wasn't fear; it was acceptance, and even joy. Why was she feeling joy? She had never felt anything when she fought with her mother, she couldn't; her mother would have killed her. Was that why she was feeling joy? Was it because she was finally rid of that woman?

Deidara watched in shock, first as coldness filled Alysia's voice, then as a little girl came out of the cave. He watched the girl as Sasori stabbed his tail through his friend's heart, she didn't react, then as then girl finished the job with such skill befitting a grown up. Now as he watched the girl stare around her, his mind drifted to his days with Alysia. When she had been in the organization with them, she had always been a kind soul, if a little lost. Now her own daughter had killed her? What had she done?

"Girl." Sasori barked.

She stared up at him and cocked her head. The sluggish man had been the one to call her. The sluggish man…that wasn't right. It wasn't a man. It was a puppet. "Sir, if you are going to kill me, I wish to see your true face. I'd prefer to be killed by your hand, not a puppets." She blinked a few times and the wind blew her read hair. Silence filed the clearing.

"What's your name?"

She stared at him with wide eyes. He was asking her name? "Why?"

"I am asking because I want to know my daughters name."

She hadn't realized she said it out loud. Moron. That could get her killed. "Iris."

"How old are you?"

"Five."

He studied her. Thinking, debating. She seemed very perceptive, very skilled. He had barley seen the katana chop his ex's head off. The base wasn't a place to raise a little girl who couldn't fight for her self, and he didn't have the patience to deal with a little girl. His tail shot forward and she jumped. He brought it back around and she ducked. Why were her eyes closed? Was she listening for the sound of his tail? She was bright, and she had called his body a puppet. She was five.

He stopped his little test and studied her. "Turn to the left." She followed his orders with a confused gaze. "Right." She did. She was very obedient. That was good. "Turn your back to me." She didn't move. "Girl did you hear me?" she was silent. "Answer Me."

"I heard you."

"You didn't obey."

"One rule she told me and one I've learned in the recent year of being a junin, NEVER turned your back on the enemy." She nodded to her mother's body.

He was shocked. Defiant and not a mindless tool. That was good also. "I'm your enemy?"

"I haven't decided yet. You haven't given me a reason to call you one, bu nor have you given me a reason to call you friend, acquaintance, or father."

"I killed your mother."

"She was looking for death. You did her a favor."

What was with this girl? "Did you not care for her?"

"I couldn't afford to care. She would have killed me."

Ah…that explained a lot. She couldn't afford to be a normal little girl. "Alysia. What have you done to our daughter." He was shocked to hear an almost caring tone in his voice. He looked as the girl turned to face him again and he noticed a little bear in her tiny hands. Then she noticed that her hands were trembling, never mind her hands, her whole form was. It stopped and he stared back at her face. Annoyance was in her eyes.

"Well? I hate to wait. If' you're going to kill me, just do it already."

Did she just say she hated to wait? He was almost carious. "What is your view on…art?"

"What's the point of asking that?"

"Just answer it."

She thought. "It should be eternal. Never fading, always reminding us of what was, and can never be again."

He went back to studying her. She looked just like he had at that age, only her eyes were a very dark green. "Do you have any stuff in that cave?"

"No."

"Then let's go."

"What?" did he just say lets go? It had to be a trap. He had killed her mother, and he belonged to Akatsuki. There was no way he had time to raise a little girl, so why?

"Girl. Currently I have no reason to kill you. And I'm not so uncaring that I'd leave my own flesh and blood out here to die. Nor am I so cold to leave my own flesh and blood with out parents." He remembered that pain of being raised by his grandma and grand uncle. He wouldn't leave her to suffer that pain. She took a shaky step forward, then another. It was obvious she didn't trust him, and the thoughts in her head were probably along the line of him trying to gain her trust so that he could hurt her later. "Deidara."

The blonde man jumped. "Yes Sasori-Danna." He formed one of his giant birds and he jumped on. Sasori picked the girl up and he too jumped up. The girl let out a long yawn. Sasori watched, still holding her. She was a strange one. But after seeing the way she had been treated from her mother, he couldn't blame her. She was probably bubbling with questions. "You're bubbling with questions."

"And you're trying to form a bond with me bye trying to act nice and like you care. I doubt you do. No body ever really has. I was a mistake on my mother's part, and an out cast in Suna, the daughter of a demon and traitor. So don't try to lie to me. And another thing. I hate waiting, and I hate pointless, little statements like "you have questions." Of course I have questions. I'll ask when I'm ready to ask."

"Wow Sasori. She's just like you."

"Deidara. Do you want to become my next puppet?" the blonde man had been annoying him persistently all fucking day. The blond shut up and Sasori turned his gaze back to the girl. "How bout this, I ask a question, you answer truthfully, and then you ask me a question."

"Fine, whatever."

"You said you were five, but you act a lot older, like a 12 year old."

"Was that your question?"

"Yes."

She thought about it. He seemed nicer than her mother at the moment so she thought she would test how far she could push. If he was letting her live, she needed to know how far she could go before he killed her. "Are you ever going to let me go?"

"What?" she looked down and so did he. He still had her in his arms. "No. you could fall. What are you trying to do?"

"First off, you said ask question. The first "question" wasn't so I asked one. You answered with yes so I got another one. You just said no you're not going let me go…why did you kill my mother?"

He blinked "Was she trying to be cleaver?" "I killed your mother because she was a tratoir to our orginaizetion…that and she tried to kill me on several accounts.

"Fair enough. She betrayed you and tried killing you, you killed her. I can respect that, yes. Is it working?"

"What? No."

"You asked that out loud."

He wasn't going to get any information out of the girl like this so he stopped talking.

Not getting a reply she smirked and let another yawn. She cuddled out next to him, hugged her bar in closer to herself and feel asleep.