Aurora: Well, everybody's been asking for either some SakuDei, or SakuSaso action. It's been driving me nuts!! I'm terrible with romance, especially rushed. But... you should ALL be happy, this time around. Everyone- important anyway- gets some action. And I think I was finally able to make it both very believable, and very 'cute'. Now, I've just gotta say... damn! 20 reviews!! Thank you sooo much!!!
Deidara: Yeah, I get it..un. -looks at the reviews- Um, I'm not stuck in any bird cage Rambonata, so no worries. If you think you have me stuck somewhere, it might be one of my clay clones though, so not responsible if you suddenly 'go out with a bang'. And SakuraKitty, why's it have to be Sasori and Sakura at the end? What's wrong with me liking Sakura?... Like that stupid puppet could ever really have feelings anyway, un!
Aurora: That's the way it HAS to be Deidara. I started this story as a SasoSaku story, and I'm not gonna change it. I'm sorry. And yep, like I've said tons of times before, I pride myself on this being a different kind of SasorixSakura fic. Most have him turning her into a puppet, and acting all infatuated right off the bat. But think about it, if a little girl beat you up when you were supposed to be one of the best ninja on earth, and then she destroyed all of your art, how would you feel, even if during the fight you had some respect for her?... I know I'd wind up hating her guts if I ever saw her again, this is meant to be more realistic as to what would happen.
Sasori: -glaring at Aurora- Are you quite done? Anyway.. Auel Nader, wendy, caitlincowz, MysteriousNekoHanyou, Namine4ever, sandshinobi4eva, pinky101, and SugarChaos, I'm sure Aurora is ecstatic that you reviewed and enjoy her story. She's obviously insecure and needs people like you to tell her shes done a good job. And yes caitlin, I agree. That's the only positive thing I can say about this story, it's written in proper English instead of ghetto slang or chatspeak.
Aurora: Bastard. Okay, let's see... Oh, I know, I'll deal with reviews mentioning that jackass Sas-gay now. :) First off, missyserena214, Sasuke may have seemed to be just a space filler for that last chapter, to make things a bit more interesting. But I'm going to have him be involved in this story- now due to current manga chapters, more than ever. He is after all looking for Akatsuki himself, since he wants to kill his brother. Um, devilswife... I don't mean any offense, but I said this was going to be a Sasori and Sakura fan-fic. I'd NEVER pair her- or anyone- with Sasuke. I hate him. And Gaara.. he's cool and all, but not in this story. Too many characters just confuse people, and he isn't really needed, awesome as he is... And Dokami-san. I'm glad you liked Sasuke's little cameo. I'm bad with writing for his weirdo team though, so I apologize in advance for them being all sucky. I try!!! I really do!! But hell, I can't get their personalities down:( I'm glad you liked Hidan though.. even though I don't like him either, lol.
Deidara: Hmph, who does..un? He's a jackass. Did you see what he said to me? -whining- FakeCompassion, SinisterVoices, and Artemis-kibasgirlfriend, how can you think it's cool that he's in the story, or that he's funny?...
Aurora: He is funny though, I have to give him that. And the stuff he says about you is true Deidara. You look like a girl. Change of subject... As for the three of you and donkey talking about Sakura's mother... Yes it was horrible, but needed to be done. And not only because Leader(Pein) disliked his ex-wife, or because he personally wanted all of Sakura's ties with Konoha broken. Those were factors in it, but well, you'll see in this chapter, that wasn't all of it. This chapter doesn't give it all away though, but everyone should be able to figure it out. He's not telling Sakura either, because think about it- if he tells her, even if he says the step-father did it, she won't believe him. But he's making sure she'll be told at some point- Zetsu knows, as do Blue.. and Tobi I guess too.
Sasori: Are you done yet?... I have things to do, and this waiting-
Aurora: Yeah, yeah, I'm done. On to the story... Thanks for 114 reviews and I don't even know how many story alerts, as of August 1st!!
The summary: Leader-sama has finally won a long and brutal court case against his ex-wife(and yes, this could happen. There have been divorces, and lawyers, since at least the 5th century B.C. Deal with it.). Finally, he's proven that he is the more responsible parent, and has gained full custody of their, now teenaged, daughter, whom he hasn't seen in 10 years. Happy though he is to have her back though, and away from his wife and her second husband, a leader of a terrorist organization of S-class missing-nins, bent on world domination only has so much quality time to spend with his little princess. Therefore, he's enlisted the help of the recently returned Sasori and Deidara, since both have their jinchuuriki obligations fulfilled- and aside from possibly turning his daughter into art, Sasori seems like a level-headed, trustworthy guy. Deidara isn't too far off from her age, and might be able to relate to and talk to her if she needs a confidant in Leader's absence- someone like Itachi sure as hell couldn't fill that role. So, they've been given strict orders, and have to make sure the girl is safe and happy. But is everything going to go as planned, death threats or no?...
Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto. Nor do I own any characters in aforementioned series. All rights and privileges belong solely to Masashi Kishimoto, the series' creator. I just wrote this fan-fic was all...
Daughter of the Dawn
Chapter 9
Sasuke glanced off into the brush with seeming disinterest. "You, out there. You'd might as well come out…dobe. When Karin and the rest of my team return, even masking your chakra won't help you."
Naruto emerged from the dense grouping of trees next to Sasuke, a pile of firewood in his hands. The firewood was quickly forgotten though as anger came over Naruto's face. "You, what're you-"
Sasuke held up his hand to silence Naruto, interrupting him, "So you still haven't learned? Back to try to drag me back to Konoha?... Look, if I have to kill you dobe, I will. And I'm sure that the rest of Team Hebi won't mind finishing you off either."
"Shut up!!" Naruto screamed at him, the Kyuubi's red chakra beginning to leak from his body. "This has nothing to do with you!! I'll bring you back whenever I want to, but I don't care right now! Sakura's been kidnapped by those weirdoes your brother hangs around with, and we have to save her!!"
Sasuke looked contemplative for a moment, though he kept his composure and didn't seem concerned at all by what Naruto had said. "It figures, she always was weak," was his only reply.
"What the hell do you know?! You haven't even been around! Since you left, Sakura's been training super hard, and some people even said she's stronger than Tsunade! The only reason she didn't get involved when we found you at that snake bastards place was because…." Naruto trailed off, quieting down and looking a little sad.
"Who the hell is Sakura, huh Sasuke?" An envious voice broke through the silence. Standing at the edge of the clearing were Juugo, Suigetsu, and a very jealous looking Karin with her hands on her hips.
"Nobody. She was just an old useless teammate back in Konoha." Sasuke muttered as Karin stalked over, grabbing Sasuke arm possessively. "Aw, that's what I want to hear!"
"I've told you before, don't touch me." He angrily shook her off.
Naruto stared at the four of them for a moment, before turning around. "Well if you wanna be an asshole, fine! But I'm going to save Sakura-chan, and nobody is going to stop me, dattebayo!" Before Sasuke even had opportunity to say or do anything, Naruto was gone, back to the rest of the rescue team who had needed to take a rest before going on.
"Wow, someone has major issues…" Suigetsu randomly said, staring after Naruto.
"Yeah, you mean you?" Karin retorted sarcastically.
"Shut up, both of you." Sasuke said as he moved towards the trees Naruto had disappeared into.
"Hey, wait, where the hell are we going?.." Suigetsu said, having just plopped himself down to drink some water, and noticing Sasuke walking off.
"Naruto and the others are after Akatsuki, and due to Sakura's kidnapping might have valuable leads as to where they are. Half the village is probably helping to find her, they're idiots like that. We're going to follow them. We can use whatever information they have to our advantage, and find Itachi. After all, none of you have been any help in gathering information on that bastard." Sasuke replied coldly, not bothering to turn around. Juugo followed immediately after Sasuke, to go find Naruto. Karin and Suigetsu glanced at each other, before hurrying after them.
"Well, I wonder if Zetsu has told anyone yet. I mean, I do hate to keep my poor little Sakura waiting for the news." The Akatsuki Leader said with humor in his voice.
"Pein, I don't really see the point anyway. I mean, I'm sure she'll find out eventually, but just to let you know, from a woman's point of view, it's probably only going to make her hate us even more."
"Well, would you rather her keep all of her loyalties and ties to Konoha? Besides, he ordered that she be cut as much as possible from her home village, and I agree. Konoha was a pathetic waste. Look at the stock it produces, their pathetic mindset…", he said, most likely referring to their old teacher.
"I just don't see how this is going to work, that's all. I don't know why it is that we need her. I mean of course aside from her being your daughter, no offense. She just doesn't seem like she would be of use to us. But he said, I know.." Konan walked off a little ways, frustrated at what she saw as a pointless assignment, as she absentmindedly folded a piece of paper into a perfectly constructed butterfly.
"Well, even if the boy doesn't bother to come and try to save her, we can still use her as a replacement member, even though it isn't what he wanted. She isn't a complete waste, and time and training will help. And we know from Zetsu that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is coming, so at least we'll have that out of the way, even if the other doesn't learn of it, or doesn't care." The Leader sighed, getting up and walking over to his partner.
"True. You're right, though you know how much it will take to have either of them join us. But at least if he comes too, we'll have two new members, once we can secure their loyalties. I just wish all this wasn't placed on us. And to think, you a god, you've been demeaned so much that now you have to go capture a jinchuuriki. Well, whatever, he must know it'll turn out fine in the end, or he wouldn't have ordered us to do all this, right Pein?" She leaned back into his arms, trying to brush her worries away.
"Do we have to stay here all day..un?" Deidara griped, glaring at Hidan who had not five minutes before made another comment about his sexual preferences. He leaned against the door frame, in almost as grumpy a mood as Sasori was usually in.
"Well… No, I promise, I'll be finished in an hour at the most, okay? I won't have much chakra left soon anyway…" Sakura stopped healing Hidan for a moment, staring blankly at her hands as she checked her chakra reserves.
"Only an hour, huh you fuckin' whore?... Damn, and I was actually startin' to enjoy this. You should ask Jashin-sama for guidance, I know he'd help a true believer like me." Hidan smiled sarcastically, Sakura doing her best to just ignore him. After thinking on it nearly all night, she realized that by concentrating her chakra a certain way, and using it along with two of the medical jutsus that Tsunade had taught her, usually used for severed limbs and such, she could actually force the tissue that belonged together back into one piece, even if the pieces were scattered, instead of having to search for hours through bits and pieces, and working on him like a puzzle. It saved more than half the time of repairing Hidan, and the medic-nin working on him hadn't been able to thank Sakura enough. Of course, she wasn't able to use such high level medical jutsus, and so was still sitting off to the side, piecing bits of him together and healing them.
And so, Deidara waited, what else was there for him to do? True, he could have gone to the art room and worked on sculpting or something, and he was a little hungry too. But something compelled him to stay there and watch Sakura at work. It amazed him how skilled she was at medicine, it was almost like its own form of art when she used the jutsus, something he knew he couldn't say about anyone else.
Deidara didn't like how he felt about Sakura; it was confusing. The kiss was one thing, but that had been a spur of the moment impulsive type of thing, following the same principles as his art. She had looked pretty, the moment had felt right, end of story. But since then, he noticed he was more and more attached to her, more concerned for where she was, how she was feeling. He couldn't be falling in love- not only would that be crazy, but Leader would kill him for sure.
Finally he spoke up, "Hey, Sakura-san, I'll be right back. Hungry..un," he said, pulling his eyes away from her and opening the door.
"Uh-huh." She replied, barely hearing him, not turning from her work. "I'll be done real soon, so whatever…"
Deidara nodded, leaving the room. Before he could reach the kitchen though, Tobi appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Sempai!! Tobi is so happy to see you!!"
"That's nice Tobi..un." Deidara said, trying to ignore Tobi. When Tobi grabbed him in a hug though, it became kind of difficult to do.
"Get off now Tobi-baka. I'm trying to go get lunch." Deidara tried pushing Tobi off of him, but he was gripping too tightly. "Tobi, do you need another lesson on art…un?" He said angrily.
"No Deidara-sempai!" Tobi said happily, "You taught me all about art, I don't think Tobi needs another lesson. Anyway, we went on this realllly scary mission, and I wasn't sure what would happen. I'm glad to see you again!!"
Deidara sighed angrily, reaching awkwardly over Tobi's arm for his clay pouch, the mouth eating a huge chunk of clay. Just as his hand-mouth was about to spit it out, Tobi let go. "Hi Sakura-san!!" He bounded over to her. Deidara turned and grabbed Tobi by the collar before he could latch onto Sakura; she looked exhausted and frazzled, probably due to all of Hidan's harassment.
"Sakura-san doesn't feel well right now Tobi. Go and find Zetsu-san and bother him, or I'm gonna have to tell Leader that you're making Sakura sick."
Tobi stopped bouncing up and down, and Deidara was pretty sure he had a worried look on is face under that mask as he took in a huge gasp of air and said, "Sakura-san is sick?! Tobi is sorry, I didn't mean to make you sick!!" He almost sounded on the verge of tears.
"Oh, Tobi-san, I'll be fine.." Sakura said tiredly.
"Hmph, just leave her alone for now…un. Like I told you." Tobi nodded, and walked off slowly. Deidara thought of using his explosives on the little idiot anyway, but as Sakura walked closer, he shoved the clay back into his pouch. "Well, I guess you really did use up a bunch of your chakra, huh? This is great." Deidara said, smirking.
Sakura looked at him, confused and a bit angry, "How the hell is that great?.."
"Well, now you don't have the strength to try and run away anywhere…un. We can actually go and do something, without me having to worry about you beating my face in. Come on." He grabbed her arm, being careful yet again to make sure he didn't accidentally lick her of anything, and led her down the hallway.
Sakura was surprised at how trusting he seemed to be. True, she was too weak and low on chakra to try an escape now, she hadn't been lying; but Deidara led her through the maze of hallways without so much as covering her eyes. Of course, she had to admit that it was nearly impossible to discern one hallway from another, or remember in which order they went. Akatsuki must have put some kind of jutsu on the place or something, to ensure that prisoners couldn't escape, and intruders would get lost and never find their way out. Sakura sighed in defeat.
"Something wrong…un? If you really don't wanna go out, we could do something else. I just thought you'd want to." Deidara looked down at her with concern.
"No.. no, it's not that. I'm fine, and would love to get out of this place, thank you." Sakura smiled reassuringly at him. They had finally reached the outside, and not some opening in the middle of the cave complex either, no, the true outside. Sakura blinked in the blinding sunlight, looking around her, smiling and taking it all in. It had been over a week since she'd been taken, and being outside again felt so good. "How far is this.. wherever we're going? I don't know if I can walk really far with so little chakra…." She said, concerned. She really looked forward to wherever they were going.
"Heh, walk..un?! Like hell I'd walk, you've gotta think more artistically Sakura-san." He smirked again, and Sakura was pretty sure she heard him laugh a little as his left hand delved into his cloak, and emerged chewing a piece of clay. When the mouth spit it out, there was a tiny owl sitting on his palm. He let go of Sakura's arm and threw the bird, doing a few handsigns; the bird landed with a 'poof', appearing 10 times its original size. "I know you must've seen this before..un. When we had to go get that stupid Ichibi kid. We're gonna fly."
Sakura approached the clay bird hesitantly, staring at it in amazement. True, she'd seen Deidara flying on something briefly when they'd rescued Gaara, but she had no idea how detailed it was up close.
"It doesn't bite…un." Deidara laughed. "Not unless I make it anyway…" He walked over quickly, grabbing Sakura and lifting her up onto the bird, jumping on right after her.
Sakura did her best not to scream, or throw up her breakfast, as the bird took off on a quick, nearly vertical ascent. She clawed at the back of the bird in terror, doing her best to hang on. Deidara smirked, bending down with seemingly perfect ease and wrapping his arms around her. She didn't know how he didn't fall to his death- he hadn't been holding anything, and moved around on the bird like it was flat ground.
"Ha, you're not scared are you Sakura-san? Don't worry, Sasori no Danna and Tobi both did even worse than you the first time flying. Sasori no Danna was cursing the whole time, and then he fell off and the rest of the day I couldn't even land because he swore he'd kill me…un. And Tobi-baka cried like a baby!" Deidara laughed. Sakura didn't seem to find it funny though, only gripping the clay tighter. "Don't worry, once we're up high enough, it gets better…un." True to his word, he leveled the bird out, and aside from the strong winds whipping Sakura in the face, the bird bobbing on the wind currents felt almost like a peaceful boat ride.
Her life no longer in danger, she stared purposefully down at Deidara's hands, holding her in place. He immediately let go and they spent most of the remaining flight in awkward silence.
Naruto had finally convinced everyone to get up again, and they were moving quickly through the trees, Gai and Lee towards the front, having said something about how if they couldn't run at a certain speed when they returned to Konoha they would have to do 5,000 pushups after circling the village 600 times on their hands or something.
Kakashi had barely heard them, thinking on what Naruto had told him when he returned. Sai had made a comment about how he was so dumb, and.. lacked so much manhood to put it carefully.. that he couldn't even manage to get the wood for their fire. He'd ignored Sai and whispered to Kakashi about who he'd run into, and Kakashi couldn't help but feel uneasy. He knew that they were being watched. Looking over at the others, Sai seemed to notice something was wrong too; although his face was pretty blank he looked a bit more attentive than usual. Shikamaru might have noticed, but he seemed lost in thought, probably going over a hundred possible strategies, and possible locations of Akatsuki. Kakashi certainly didn't want a confrontation with Sasuke, but he didn't want to let Sasuke initiate anything that was for sure.
Finally, Kakashi stopped on a tree branch. "Everyone, wait." He called out. "We're being followed."
"And this is the local tavern.. You'll find Kisame here most nights." Deidara waved his hand for exaggerated effect, the tongue poking out and seeming to point to the building in question. "Isn't this such an exciting town…un?" He said sarcastically.
Sakura laughed nearly as hard as he did after that. She had to admit, for the only town within 40 miles of the Akatsuki hideout, it sucked.
"Wanna go somewhere else…un?" Deidara glanced around the little town boredly. "I saw Zetsu-san for a few minutes this morning he said something about a festival in Takigakure or something. It's a kinda long trip, and I know you're not too happy with my art, but at least it would be something to do."
"I never said I didn't like your art," Sakura laughed playfully, "I just hate flying on it. And yeah, let's get out of here. I guess I can deal with a little while longer on that bird thing…."
Sasuke sensed Naruto and the others stopping, catching bits of what Kakashi said. He stopped as well waiting to see what they would do and contemplating attacking all of them. When they didn't make any move though, Sasuke motioned for the rest of Team Hebi to follow him and caught up with Sakura's rescue team.
"Oh my God… Sasuke!!" Ino squealed.
Kakashi just looked at Sasuke askance, as he said, "Naruto tells me Sakura was kidnapped. If what he said is true, then we have a common goal- Akatsuki. Allow me to find them and kill my brother, and I'll consider returning to Konoha with you."
Naruto smiled triumphantly at Kakashi, as he replied, "Very well Sasuke. As long as you promise not to interfere with the mission. It would probably be best for everyone," he glanced at Naruto, implying the arguments those two would be sure to have, "if we split up a bit though to cover more ground. Here." Kakashi threw the radio he had been carrying to Sasuke, who caught it easily. "Gai-sensei has the other one, so we can keep in contact."
Sasuke nodded and turned, disappearing the way he'd come.
"Ha! Did you see that Kakashi-sensei!! I knew Sasuke couldn't be some sicko killer, even though he pretended not to care about Sakura-chan, and tried to kill me that one time!"
"See, I told you you'd like the festival." Deidara said as they walked away from the ride they'd just been on. "Those outfits they had on for that parade though… And that float, what the hell was that supposed to be..un? It looked like a cross between a fish and a donkey got raped by a pig or something…un. They really need to work on their papier-mâché sculpting." Deidara shook his head.
Sakura looked down at the stuffed bird he'd won her, and the necklace he'd bought, against her ardent protests, saying that the pink cherry blossom pendent matched her too well artistically to just let it go. "I guess you're right, that thing was really ugly…" She smiled at him.
As Sakura turned to go and get some dango and special pina colada and raspberry lemonade flavored pocky from a vendor's booth right next to them, Deidara boldly put his arm around her, leading her over. She glanced at him, and he was sure he was going to get it now, chakra depletion or not, but then to his surprise Sakura just looked away again, blushing as she picked out her pocky.
As he paid for the snacks, Sakura protesting once again, he held her tighter, and she snuggled into his grasp. "Maybe we should go on the dragon next.. Or we could go look at their pathetic excuse for an art show…un." He said, pointing with his free hand to the far end of the town square, where there was a tent set up with drawings by the villages children and teens on display.
"Actually Deidara-san, I'm starting to feel really tired. Sorry, but do you think we could head back?" Sakura looked up at him pleadingly.
Deidara nodded, dropping his arm from Sakura's side and walking off towards the outskirts of the village, where he'd left his bird, unnoticed by all the excited festival goers.
Sakura climbed hesitantly onto the bird, not waiting for Deidara to hoist her up this time. Deidara took off at a much lower incline this time around, though Sakura still seemed a little frightened. He moved closer to her and sat down, taking her hands off of the clay and taking them into his own. "I promise, I wouldn't let you fall…un. It's not like it'd be funny like with Sasori no Danna after all."
Sakura stared at his hands over hers, and could feel the tips of the tongues licking her. "Um, your hands are licking me again." She said gently but pointedly.
Deidara looked embarrassed, and she felt the mouths on his hands close quickly. "Sorry about that…un. Sometimes they just have a mind of their own."
"It's okay," she laughed. "And, thank you…" she said quietly. "I had a really great time today; much better than sitting in that damned cave."
Deidara took his right hand from Sakura's and tilted her chin up gently. As he looked into her eyes, he didn't care about how stupid this was or how he'd regret it tomorrow. He leaned in, and kissed her. And to her surprise, she let him. At first she was shocked and about to pull away, but something in her told her to stop, and she realized she was enjoying it.
As Deidara's clay bird made one last circle of assent over Takigakure, he silently dropped his hand from Sakura's chin, feeling for his clay pouch. He reached in, and upon opening his hand produced a little clay sparrow, which he dropped down towards the art tent at the festival.
As they flew away, the sky lit up, the beautiful sound of the explosion following it. Deidara averted his eyes to glance at it for a second, before returning to Sakura. Life couldn't get any more perfect.
When they returned to Kawa no Kuni, and landed in a grassy area just outside the hideout, Deidara gently helped Sakura off of the clay bird and walked over to a small hill with trees. "Hey, you hungry…un? I figured maybe it'd be nice to get something to eat, and then eat it out here under the stars."
Sakura glanced up at the crystal clear night. It looked so much more beautiful from up on Deidara's bird, but she had to admit, it would be nice to eat out here, instead of inside the hideout's dining area, with all the other members around. "Alright, that sounds perfect."
"Okay. That pathetic town we went to earlier actually has a few good eating joints. A Chinese place, and two gourmet sushi restaurants. Just lemme know what you want."
"I guess sushi, whichever one you think is better. Just don't take too long, I'm really hungry." Sakura laughed.
"Okay, okay." He waved her off jokingly as he walked back to his bird, Sakura sitting down to rest against one of the trees until he returned.
Sasori had been briefly watching the scene, and once Deidara left saw his opportunity. He walked swiftly over to Sakura's resting form, causing her to glance up as he approached. "Hello Sakura-san, how're you feeling?" Not that he really cared…
"Um…fine I guess Sasori-san. Still kind of weak from all that healing though; you know, chakra depletion. Sakura stared at him, wondering why he would ask her how she felt. Before she could question him though, he interrupted with another question of his own.
"Sakura-san, did Deidara tell you? He should have known…" he suddenly said in a much more serious tone.
"Tell me what?..." she replied, tilting her head up to him in confusion.
"And I would have thought he would. But after all, he is rather stupid. Probably didn't even cross his mind that you would be obligated to know. I'm sure your father would want you knowing." Sasori sat down near Sakura, a grave look on his face. It would help he knew to create a more dismal atmosphere, though women were prone to acting so rash and emotional anyway. But it was best to be on the safe side. "You know of course that Zetsu-san and Tobi-san returned from their mission today." It was more a statement than a question. Tobi had run into the dining area saying something about Sakura-san not feeling well, interrupting his and Zetsu's conversation some hours ago.
Sakura nodded, trying to read Sasori's face. 'Maybe Naruto?!.. But no, Sasori-san would probably be happy if they captured him…'
"It seems Sakura-san that sometime during yesterday evening, your step-father, from what I gather, grew angry at your mother and killed her." He paused for affect, seeing how she reacted.
Sakura's eyes grew wide in shock and disbelief. "He..he'd never! Otousan would never hurt anyone! You're lying to me, why?!" Sakura stood shakily from her place and angrily turned to go, telling herself it couldn't be true.
Sasori continued, calling after her, "Well, Zetsu-san isn't Akatsuki's spy for nothing. He and Tobi were sent to Takigakure, to look for one of the last jinchuuriki that we need, and from what he told me, on the way back, Tobi got hungry and wanted to stop to get something to eat. You know how he can be… They stopped on the outskirts of Hi no Kuni, and he overheard it being talked about. Knowing who you are, he decided to take a short side trip and see if what he'd heard was true. I would have no reason for lying to you about such things Sakura-san. If I wanted to trick you, I wouldn't have to come up with such outlandish stories, believe me."
Sakura froze in her tracks, and he could see that her body began to rack with sobs which she did her best to hide.
Sasori got up and walked towards her. "I'm sorry Sakura-san, I just thought you had a right to know…" he stated in a flat voice.
Sakura in turn slowly spun her body to face him, tears finally spilling over onto her cheeks like a waterfall as she collapsed into his arms, her body shaking uncontrollably. He allowed her to wrap her arms around him and cry, and after a bit of hesitation he wrapped his arms around her, helping her to keep from falling to the ground in her distress, and rubbing her back comfortingly.
Deidara returned, happily walking from where he'd left the exploded remains of his clay bird towards where he'd left Sakura. When he got near to the hideout, Deidara dropped his bags, just staring at the scene before him.
Sasori had of course heard Deidara's bird explode- who wouldn't hear an explosion like that?.. Well except Sakura, who was so wracked with grief right now that she probably wouldn't notice if the sky fell down on top of her. Sasori really still couldn't understand how Deidara had ever managed to get out of the Ninja Academy. He had pulled Sakura into a tighter embrace, turning a bit, and moving one of his hands to ruffle Sakura hair comfortingly. After all, Deidara paying so much attention to the brat wasn't exactly helping things along, better to end things between those two before they could really start, if at all possible. He didn't need to worry about Deidara competing for her affections.
Deidara just stared at the pair for a minute, angrily, before walking over. "Well Sakura-san, I got your food, like you wanted. It's over there by the tree… Hope you two have a nice dinner…un." And he stalked off without another word, into the cave.
Sakura lifted her tearstained face in confusion, to try to ask Deidara what was wrong, and tell him to stop, but her voice cracked, weak and dry as it was, and Deidara was already gone anyway.
"Nevermind him, Sakura-san. He can't help his attitude problems." Sasori looked into her eyes, wiping her tears away with his cold wooden hands.
Sakura nodded weakly, too distressed to argue, and barely choked out, "C-can we please g-go inside Sasori-san?.." Sasori carefully repositioned Sakura, wrapping his right arm around her waist and leaning her head against his shoulder, leading her inside, all thoughts of her moonlit dinner with Deidara forgotten.
So yes review!! This chapter may have confused you a bit. If so, let me know. And if you think of it, the Deidara and Sakura scene is totally believable.. he's been growing on her, what can I say? He's a nice guy, the moment just helped her finally realize that somewhere other than in the back of her mind. And Sasori... well, if you don't get it yet, you'll see...
