Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The story is mine. Thanks to all the other SasoSaku writers. I'm sorry to those who were looking for a cool dramatic Kakashi confrontation. I hope that the OTHER confrontation will make up for it. Thanks to Kikikun, Blackbelt and Gigi. I got into a C2! YAAAY!

"Isn't it disdainful and curious that both of us think we know everything." – Incubus

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed rushing over to the window. Immediately the smell of alcohol pervaded her nostrils. The silver-haired jounin almost fell into her window if Sakura had mpt caught him.

"SSSSssakuraaaa" he slurred as his student held him up. Silently Sakura thanked whatever deity up there that he was too inebriated to notice Sasori leave. 'Is he safe? What if they think he saw them?' she thought

"Kakashi, did you see…"

"You're getting older." He slurred, grabbing her by the cheeks. "Just like Rin. She would have looked….like…"

"You knew Aunt Rin?" Sakura asked dragging Kakashi into a more comfortable position on the floor, with his back leaned against her somewhat cracked bed.

"Obito…he's not Sasuke. I'm so sorry Sakura. Obito is not Sasuke."

"Sensei you're not making any sense. You're drunk." Sakura scolded. Tsunade had taught her long ago how to get rid of an intoxication by removing the liquid from the body, but this was not worth the chakra or the effort.

"If I hadn't taught Sasuke Chidori….hehe, he's not Obi…not Obi…Sakura would be happy…." Kakashi rambled.

"Sensei…" Sakura whispered sadly. She was not in the right state to be comforting a drunken angsty copy-nin. She made a mental note to find out which jounin decided to have an after-party at the bar and kill whoever decided to let Kakashi walk home alone.

"Come on, I'll take you home…ugh, at least you're not like like Lee when he's drunk." Sakura shuddered.

By the time Sakura had pushed the half-conscious Kakashi down the several blocks and into his apartment, Sakura was ready to scream out of exasperation. It was just about to reach midnight and all Sakura wanted was a hot bath and some decent sleep.

Fate would not grant her ease. Outside of Kakashis apartment, she heard some rustling noises. Sakura continued on the pathway home, hoping it was just an animal.

'See underneath the underneath.' Her teachers words rang through her head. She heard another rustling from one of the landscape trees near the street. Seeing nobody else around, Sakura decided.

She withdrew a kunai and shot it directly at the noise.

A white bird flew out of the tree. Sakura watched it fly around in the blackness for a few more seconds, before she continued on her way. She almost reached her house before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In one instance she pumped chakra to her feet and in the other she was on a rooftop of the building across the street.

Not surprisingly, more white birds were there. They all flew away at the sudden intrusion.

"Come out. I'm not stupid. What kind of idiot thinks white birds are so damn active at night?" Sakura said impatiently. She moved her feet into a fighting stance and readied another kunai.

"Ummm….you're pretty smart." An unfamiliar voice said behind her. The kunoichi whirled around to face another Akatsuki member sitting calmly underneath a watertower. He looked relaxed and calm, with his body stretched out as though he was sitting on a couch. Another white bird seemingly came from the palm of his hand and flew out to join the rest of hem.

"It gets boring following you. I like to practice." He explained.

"Who are you? Another Akatsuki?" she asked.

"Deidara. Yea, it's a pleasure." He said. "I'm Sasori-danna's partner. He's not here, he'll be back. It's frustrating, yea."

"Waiting? Waiting for what? Why didn't you guys wait and take me soon thereafter dropping me off?" Sakura asked

"Ummm…it's a secret." Deidara replied. "Why don't you ask Sasori-danna? Akatsuki policy says partners can't be apart too long."

"Where is he?"

"Sasori? Ummm…another secret." Deidara replied with a sadistic grin. Sakuras fist tightened. Did he like torturing her?

"I mean it's annoying. Sasori-danna hates waiting and keeping people waiting, but he has to. I just want to get this over with and out of here, you know? Yea."

"Well you're screwed. You can't get Naruto and you can't get Gaara. And in both villages they know you. "

"Ummm…no, that's not true. Nobody knows what Sasori-danna and I look like over here. In fact Sasori-danna and I could walk around town 'cause ummm…nobody knows us." He said with a proud smile.

"Are all Akatsuki this insane?" Sakura sighed.

"Like…is that a tirck question?" Deidara asked. Sakura let out a frustrated cry.

"One more week…" she grumbled.

"Hey, I wanna get out of here as much as you do. Deidara said.

"THEN. WHY. DON'T. YOU. DO. IT." Sakura yelled through clenched teeth.

"Maybe you should go back to bed. You're getting cranky." Deidara suggested. Sakura facepalmed.

"How can a girl sleep knowing there are criminals outside her bedroom?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Umm…I can help you with that..yea. You don't look so good when you don't sleep. Not as beautiful, y'know." Deidara said back. He put his finger underneath his eye. "Gives you crows feet. Ugly, y'know? Yea."

"Oh shut up. I'm not taking beauty tips from an Akatsuki."

"Umm…suit yourself." Deidara shrugged. "But you should at least go to your room now. Your parents are coming in…yea." Deidara said, p pinting down to the street. It was true. Her mother and fauther were both approaching her house. "If they find you gone they'll be upset. So you should go now. Yea. Or I could just tell kill them so they won't be upset. You want that? Yea…"

Sakura didn't give him a chance to reconsider. She pumped Chakra into her feet and leapt from the building onto her windowsill. She tumbled into her room and jumped into her covers just in time to hear her mother crack open the door and check on her.

Sakura did not sleep a wink that night.

After what seemed like hours and hours of tossing and turning, the sun finally rose. Abandoning the notion of a peaceful sleep, Sakura decided to pack her things for her trip to Sunagure instead. Her increased paranoia had heightened her senses, so when she heard her bedroom door open she almost killed her best friend.

"SAKURA-CHAN! HEY! Come on! Your parents let me in on their way out!" Naruto said as he held his arms in front of him. Sakura lowered her weapon and gave him an apologetic look. Behind him she saw Satsu scurry around his ankles. The puppy ran around Sakuras room a few times and then jumped onto her bed. It ran in several circles before curling into a ball and falling asleep.

"Naruto, I'm sorry." She said as she stopped folding her clothes. In her mind, she wasn't packing for Sunagure, she was packing for the rest of her life. Sakura sighed and sat on the bed next to Satsu, as she scratched it behind the ears. 'It must have run under the living room couch as soon as he smelled Sasori. I was too stupid to notice.' Sakura thought.

"Hey, why are you taking so much stuff? You know you're coming back, right?" Naruto walked around Sakura and peered over her shoulder to see the various items she was adding.

"A ninja must always be prepared. Now stop looking at my stuff!" Sakura yelled at him. Naruto turned around and cupped the back of his head with his hands.

"Heeheehee. Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto looked around the room for a few seconds before sitting on the bed next to Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, isn't it cool that we get to go back to Sunagure? You think they'll throw a party for us?" he asked. Sakura propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the ceiling.

"Don't think so. But who knows."

Naruto mimicked Sakuras actions, only he placed Satsu on his stomach. The puppy stirred at the movement but cuddled back into Naruto moments later.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, know what's funny?" Naruto asked as he stroked Satsus soft fur.

"What Naruto?"

"The last time you really talked to Gaara was when he tried to kill you three years ago. And then you saved his life! Isn't that funny?" Naruto began to laugh loudly when Sakura cut him off.

"I do't think that's very funny." She said stoicly. Naruto turned to his friend and gave her another one of his trademark grins.

"Aw, come on Sakura-chan, the sand squad is grateful, I bet."

There was an awkward pause, and then Sakura said to him "Naruto…do you think that Sunagures customs are harsh? The way their children are raised?"

"Ne, Sakura-chan, just because of the way they were raised doesn't mean they'll always be bad. Gaara said that he wasn't loved, but now he's the Kazekage. Temari and Kankuro seem to have come a long way."

"Yea…" she said wistfully. She recalled what Chiyo told her in what seemed like years and years ago.

"What made him this way is the terrible customs and teachings of the sand…." She said. 'It's no excuse!' Inner Sakura yelled when Chiyo said it. Inner Sakura was screaming it now. 'Naruto had no parents, and he's fine. So did Gaara. And Sasu…no…but…great shinobi have been raised as orphans.' She told herself.

"Hey, Sakura you're too quiet. Just be nice to Gaara and he'll love you like everyone else does!"

That seemed to shock Sakura out of her stupor. A warm smile crossed her features. Sakura sat up properly and looked at the sleeping Satsu on Naruto's stomach. She reached up her hand and tenderly pet the creature.

"Naruto…are you ready to leave?"

In the moonlight, Sakura bathed. The others would be fast asleep, and she refused to bathe anywhere where Naruto was conscious. Even so the thought of cleansing herself in the nearby river was a very dangerous one. And yet her logic overtook all else. Sakura remembered Tsunade lecturing her at the beginning of her training all those years ago about how a ninja smells.

"Never wear perfume, and never stink. Some ninjas have exceptional smell, and you can become easily detected." She would say. Sakura noted that she did indeed reek from the whole day of running and worrying about the Akatsuki.

It took Sakura almost ten minutes to set up all of her traps. Most were rigged to explode and some even triggered a genjutsu. Not only did she have to worry about the Akatsuki, after all, but she also had to worry about bandits and attackers. They were only hours away from Sunagure, so thieves, bandits, and rogue ninjas would be thick in that area of the woods. In fact, Sakura was sure that in a few short miles the trees would begin to thin out until there were only palm trees, and then cacti, and then desert for miles and miles.

To travel during the day would be the best choice of options, due to its short distance. The heat would prevent bandits and attackers from waiting too long due to the risk of dehydration.

'And I am NOT going to smell of two days worth of sweat when I get to Suna.' Inner Sakura raged once again.

Finally deciding that her traps were set correctly, Sakura quickly stripped of her clothing and jumped into the river. She had already decided on a quick cleansing bath rather than a relaxing one. She had ducked under the water for only two seconds. It was funny how that was all it took. Two seconds without sound, sight or smell, and then there was a crazed half-puppet half-man in front of her.

The moon and stars offered little light. The small speckles of light reflected off the water and onto Sasor's face. He was watching the paranoid kunoichi with a mild interest.

"If you had just asked for some privacy instead of this elaborate show…"

Thanks to all my reviewers. I like writing for Deidara. I think I'll write for him more often. Well, the next chapter will be a little bit more different. Thank you again.