so those that are waiting for Morbid Curiosity , I hope you understand that I can't turn in incomplete chapters for that, which is why I'm updating this.

Writing this little story helps me play around with my writing. I'm not very serious about it, it's more of a 'sketchpad' but I may come back and rewrite it all if I feel like it's worth it.

The chapters are short and incomplete. I update in small bursts, but if there are a lot of people who like this, I may focus on it more.

READ

REVIEW and TELL me what you think :)

writing fluff is not my forte so sorry if this turns serious or there's not enough action yet

Thoughts

Inner Sakura's thoughts

Present actions

Sakura groaned and slapped his hand away from her shoulder. She really didn't want to know just what kind of masterpiece he had in mind. Hopefully not the exploding kind, but there wasn't much chance of that happening. She just wished he'd go away.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to talk about your name, un. It really means nothing to me." Deidara stated with his hands behind head as he casually walked beside his so-called 'muse'.

"YOU mean nothing to me, so get lost!" Sakura snapped as she sped up to leave him behind once more. Deidara watched her figure grow smaller and smaller but never let it out of his sight. Once she slowed down, he simply caught up to her and waited, mentally counting down to what he knew would happen next. 3…2…1…

"If what you said is true, then why did you even bother to ask?" Sakura questioned, throwing him a glance from the corner of her eye. Deidara smirked, he knew curiosity would get the better of her.

"Because, if I kept calling you 'muse' then everybody else would simply know you as a 'muse' and then you wouldn't be my muse, un. You'd be everybody else's. I needed to know what to call you for everyone else's sake, yeah."

Sakura bristled at the idea of being under any kind of ownership. She was a free woman! A kunoichi! Not an object! Although another part of her, the instinctual part, noticed something else. He's possessive, isn't he?

"I already told you! I'm not your muse!" she shouted to the road in front of her because she refused to look at the stalking blonde or even acknowledge his existence.

"So you've been somebody else's muse already?" Deidara looked at her concerned.

"NO! I've been nobody's muse!"

"But now you're not denying that you are one, yeah. I guess that's a start."

Sakura's eyes bugged out at the man's stubborn insistence circular logic. She massaged her temples in frustration to ease the rising headache because arguing with him was going to get her nowhere. Her predicament was so unthinkable, so unimaginable, she just wanted to pull her hair out, or better yet, pull his hair out and shred him to pieces. Why in the world did she have to end up having an Akatsuki Stalker? She was about to beat him up and leave him for the dead while he was getting ready to blast her into nothingness, but now, somehow, this had come forth. Was this karma? Was this her punishment for being mean to Naruto when they were young? Or was this fate that blonds always attached themselves to her in some way, shape or form? First, it was Ino, her best friend and rival. Next, it was Naruto, her unpredictable teammate and self-assigned responsibility. And now, it was this Akatsuki member who had tried to capture Naruto, had killed Gaara once, and had recently been trying to do the same to her.

She seriously had to find a way to drop him before she got back to Konoha. Who knows what would happen if he followed her there. Of course, he'd be captured, but then he'd be in his cell and probably pine for her the entire time. Then her friends would laugh at her and tell her she should go see how many other Akatsuki members she could drag home because it'd be easier to stop them this way. Better yet, Tsunade would likely approve of the idea and come up with a plan saying that it is a kunoichi's duty to use her amenities for a mission to be successful. NO. There was NO WAY she would let that happen.

For the rest of the journey to the small, side village, Sakura pretended that Deidara wasn't there. He walked beside her and studied her face. She tried to ignore his blatant staring, but he wouldn't stop. Even when she would turn and stare back, he would simply give her a crooked grin that would cause her to turn away, madly trying to suppress her blush. Neither of them spoke.

Deidara was going to go along with whatever would happen. He didn't have any plans. There was only the slightest niggling in the back of his mind that told him he was a member of Akatsuki and he was walking next to the Kyuubi's friend. The one that had beaten his previous partner, Sasori. Speaking of which, didn't he have a new one? What happened to that Tobi kid? Deidara stopped staring at his muse and glanced over his shoulder to see if Tobi was somehow following him.

While Deidara removed his eyes from her to search for his missing partner, Sakura could finally think and breathe properly. His incessant observing of her was somewhat freaking her out and clouding her thoughts. She wasn't used to being looked at so carefully. Most of the time, she'd be observed by Kakashi Sensei or other shinobi who helped train her. They'd be looking for faults in her form or openings in her guard. So what was he looking for?

Sakura shook her a little to forget about that, because regardless of what he wanted, she had to get rid of him, and right now, she could come up with a plan.

Ok, so he says he going to follow me everywhere. Oh, god, he's staring at me again.

Pay no attention to it.

When I go into town, I'll have to find a room to spend the night in.

Right. He'll probably follow you in.

Yeah…so maybe I can trick him. But how?

I don't know. First observe him. He thinks he already has us figured out.

What's there to observe? He's blond, he's unpredictable, he's stalking me, he sounds a lot like another certain shinobi that we all know in Konoha. Oh, an he's Akatsuki.

No, you're not looking hard enough. Anybody can see all those things. A shinobi has to see what's underneath the underneath.

Sakura shifted her gaze over to Deidara again, they made eye contact and he grinned. For some reason, whenever one person smiles at another, the smile becomes infectious, and the other one smiles back. It's a characteristic of human nature that very few are able to suppress. Unfortunately, Sakura was now used to his constant presence and the training she had to keep her expressions at bay, faded. She gave a small, uncertain smile, too. Immediately, Deidara's grin disappeared and he studied her suspiciously.

"Why are you smiling, un?" he inquired. Sakura's small smile turned into a tight frown.

"I was hoping you'd get inspired and hurry up with you masterpiece. That way you'd be out of my hair faster." She retorted automatically.

What!? What am I doing? Why the heck did I say that?!

Actually…that may just work.

NO WAY. That is the last thing I'd do. I'm not that desperate yet.

Ok…but did you notice something?

What?

He doesn't trust us. If we do anything different, he gets suspicious.

Yeah…he doesn't. Maybe if we scare him, he'll leave us alone?

No. But this may help in tricking him.

Meaning, we earn his trust and then when he lets his guard down-

We ditch him!