Author's Note: As said by a great author, Ray Bradbury, in order to become a successful writer, you shouldn't write for anyone but yourself. So, I'll continue writing this for myself—but you know… Reviews are always fantastic and do encourage me to keep going. (: Hope this is starting click to you guys about what's going on—the puzzle pieces are fitting together O:

Between the Walls

Chapter 7 – Is Peace

There was no doubt about it that there was definitely tension rising between the orange haired man and the feminine looking one. Pein had not left the corner ever since they had been put back into their original worlds of white and black. It all began to click to him, that all those visions he had been having—they were all memories of his old past. This blonde haired man, standing right in front of him had played a large role as well if he had appeared in his dreams countless times.

"Deidara," the name rolled easily off his deep baritone voice and pierced tongue, "What are you doing here?" Pein began to repeat his questions, and if the man named Deidara knew better, he shouldn't have to repeat it again.

The pyromaniac smirked, "Friends cannot visit each other? Besides, you saved my life. I owe you mine." He began walking towards the man he called friend. "And because I strongly dislike owing anyone anything or being in debt… I have a proposition for you." The blonde leaned down close to Pein's ear, expertly shutting off the microphone headpiece he was ordered to wear by the researchers.

Before he could say anything, Pein shoved Deidara away from his comfort zone and corner, feeling threatened already, "I don't care. You owe me nothing. Now be gone."

"You might not care but the gang needs you back. We need you back. Everything is now being run by Uchiha Madara and his objectives and goals are much different than ours." Deidara narrowed his sky blue eyes. He was beginning to grow desperate. Ever since what happened to his ex-leader, things back with the Akatsuki was just not the same after Madara claimed full leadership.

Lost, confused and put under pressure, Pein quickly clutched his head and gritted his teeth, hearing them grind together and shut his ringed eyes as tightly as he could. "I told you already, just go away. I don't know what you're talking about. Akatsuki? Madara? Just please…" He groaned as his head began to ache.

Deidara was about to yell in protest until he slowly saw his former leader begin to crumble down. Never before had he ever seen Pein in such a weak, vulnerable and defenseless state. He almost felt guilty. "Do you… Do you even remember what our goals were?" his voice grew quiet as he began walking over to the unused bed lying near the corner Pein sat in.

"Goals…? I do not." Pein slowly began to release the tight grip he had on his head and began relaxing a bit, seeing Deidara sitting on the untouched bed.

The blue-eyed man gave a small gentle smile, his fingers slowly tracing the newly made creases and wrinkles of the white sheets. His expressions were hidden underneath the long blonde hair; however he spoke, "Our goals, before Madara, were your goals. You created Akatsuki. You…" He slowly looked up to see Pein staring at Deidara intently with that same serious gaze he would give to anyone and everyone. "You took the worst people off the streets and gave us a home." He slowly got up from his seat and walked further towards Pein who stiffened but did not move away from his position. He moved his body so it was facing the camera and blocking Pein. "You know, if you don't hurry and remember those goals of yours soon, your plans that you had could all go out… with a bang." He smirked, dropping something cold, smooth and solid in his hands before moving away.

Just as Deidara began walking towards the door, Pein quickly scrambled to his feet, clutching the item in his fist, "What was my goal? Tell me."

The blonde had a hand on the door handle, turning out and gave Pein a devious smirk, "Peace, Pein." He held up his other hand in a "V" shape with his fingers before quickly exiting the room, locked once more.

Pein narrowed his eyes and stared at the black colored door before the lights shut off again, surrounding him in darkness once again. "'Peace'…?" Was it as a farewell? Or was that his answer to his question? He then realized that he was holding onto whatever Deidara had given him. Looking down, his eyes quickly adjusted to the dimness of the room. It was a key. Peace.


In the next room over, the jade-eyed girl's ears were still pressed against the white wall that was slightly stained red due to Pein's violent behaviors from when Ino had shown up. Unknowingly, her pupils began to dilate as her breathing grew shagged as soon as she heard the name. "Pein…" she whispered, barely audible.


"Pein," she whispered, grinning and looking up at the tall man standing in front of her, "That's an interesting name." She looked down at her own sandaled feet that was walking along the cemented road and glanced to her right, seeing black vans. What caught her green eyes most was the dark orange laces. "Your favorite color is orange?"

The young man next to her grunted, beginning to grow annoyed of the smaller presence and stopped walking, "Miss, why are you even following me? Aren't you supposed to be finding a new apartment or something now that everything precious you have is now ruined back in the fire?" Lately, this strange pink haired girl had been following him two days after the fire incident. She immediately recognized him as the person who saved her neighbor, the starter of the fire.

"Sakura."

"Excuse me?" He raised a pierced orange eyebrow.

"Haruno Sakura," she stated, stopping and stood in front of him, "That's my name. It's not 'Miss'. I'm staying at my friend's house until I get back on my feet." She turned swiftly and began walking again, a small grin on her face as the pale yellow sundress she wore flowed with the little breeze that danced by.

"'Haruno Sakura'," Pein quietly muttered to himself before walking again, his long strides quickly catching up with her quick ones. This girl was amusing. They continued walking in a peaceful silence despite the outside disturbances from the chatters of other walkers to cars driving by in the opposite direction.

Sakura glanced to her right again and a smile plastered itself onto her face, "So you like the color orange?"

He was lucky he didn't trip over his own feet at her outrageous and odd question. He threw her a menacing glare, but then saw that his hard stare had no affect on this girl—on Sakura. After a few minutes of silence, he let out a small sigh and grunted, "Yes."


Her breathing finally evened and a small smile began plastering on her pale face at the memory. She blinked, slowly gripping the white wall with her fingers as she attempted standing up for the first time in ages. At first, her legs began to wobble dangerously as both her hands pressed against the wall, her breathing rough again as she fell back down again with a loud thud.

Pein had heard this loud noise and came to realization that it was his silent angel from the other side. He immediately ran towards the corner and started shouting, "Tenshi-san? Are you there? Please answer… Please…"

Sakura gritted her teeth before attempting to stand again, knees shook but her hands pressed against the wall helped. As she finally stood straight up, she breathed out, hearing Pein's concerned voice calling out her nickname and a plea for her to respond to his questions. She dropped her head, letting it rest against the white wall and gave a soft grin, "Sakura." She said at last.

"Excuse me…?" Pein's ringed eyes widen at the gentle and melodic voice from the other side. Was this her?

"Sakura," she stated again, this time more clearly, "Haruno Sakura. That's my name."


Tsunade's hazel eyes widened a fraction at what she considered a miracle. Both Pein and Sakura's progress had been significantly rising and she wasn't so sure that was a good thing, or a bad thing. She turned up the volume to the security cameras to hear Sakura speaking to Pein in a pure tone. It must be the frequent visits they both have been receiving. "Shizune," she called out to her assistant.

"Tsunade-sensei?" Shizune quickly walked over, glancing at the miracle on the screen and then back to her mentor. "Is there anything I can do?"

The blonde's hand began to naturally fold again, chin resting upon them as her hazelnut eyes never leaving the screen. "Yes, cancel all visits for both Sakura and Pein."

"Are you sure?" Shizune's eyebrow raised in confusion. Weren't they only progressing because of the constant visits?

"Must I repeat myself?" Tsunade's gaze hardened as she began to rapidly take down notes of her observations and of what she heard from the two of them. Now, it was just harmless chatter Deidara and Ino.

Shizune pursed her lips and nodded, "I'm on it." Slowly leaving the room, she made her way to make several phone calls to visitors, telling them that there has been a change of plans and that all visits are now canceled.

Tsunade glanced back up at the television screens to notice the two of them retreating back to their corners, slowly falling asleep. She quickly checked the time—23:47. It was almost midnight. She heaved a sigh, sliding back in her chair and casually slouched. It was getting late, and she had to make a quick stop to a 24 hour convenience store before finally heading home.

She switched off the lights to her research room and locked the doors, checking and making sure all other doors were locked before informing to her dark haired assistant that she would be heading home and to recheck all locks. It would be unfortunate and deadly if Sakura and Pein were exposed to the real world so soon, especially in their condition now.

Her heels clicked against the graveled road of the parking lot before finally stopping in front of her red Volvo. Right before she could even unlock the door, she tensed up, feeling an eerily familiar presence in the dimly lit parking lot. "Who's there?" she murmured, paranoid eyes darting in every corner.

"How are their conditions?" a deep voice invaded her ears not too far from her as she gulped, hard eyes staring into her back as she let go of the car door handle. It was the same man that had given her permission, space and equipment to run her experiments.

"The same," she lied to the man near her. "What do you want, Uchiha Madara?"

TBC.

4th reviewer of this chapter gets a special prize (: