Hullo there! :D Here we go! :DDD

Sasori closed his eyes, thinking his decision through one last time. Was this really worth it? What if he didn't like what he heard? Could he really go through with any of it? He pushed all the doubts aside. He needed to know, the curiosity was burning him up; he needed advice from an expert.

He knocked. "Konan?" he inquired.

"Come in!" her kind voice answered. Sasori took a deep breath and pushed the door open, nodding when Konan smiled at him. "What's up?" she asked.

"I…" he trailed off. He didn't really know how to put it. "I, uh… Zero."

Konan hid her amused face. Sasori was looking like an awkward schoolboy trying to talk to the girl he had a crush on. She motioned to her couch. "Come on, sit down. This may be a long conversation," she warned. Sasori sat down anyways. "So what do you need to talk about her?"

He opened his mouth and then closed it, think about how to use words. "She… Wou- I have feelings for her. What do I do?" He breathed out in relief. It was said and done!

Konan smiled. "I'm happy for you, Sasori. Now, what you do is kind of up to you; whatever you're most comfortable with." She put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously. "But first, do you know about Liam?"

He blinked. "No," he replied. But then the gears in his mind started turning. "Wait, is that the man she was married to?"

Konan nodded. "I can't honestly tell you how she'll feel about dating again; she really loved him. But don't be deterred," Konan quickly assured him, seeing his slight crestfallen expression. She smiled at her own cleverness. "To quote the Lion King, 'Love will find a way."

"I don't think it's love," Sasori interrupted.

She rolled her eyes. "How will you know unless you treat it like it is?"

And that shut Sasori up. He was going to do his best to be finished with doubts; there was no room for doubts anywhere in life. It was a lesson taught on the battlefield, but he felt it applied very nicely elsewhere in life. "So how do I begin?"

"Aw, Little Sasori is going to do some girl talk!" Konan was tempted to pinch his cheeks.

"I'm leaving."

"Wait! Sorry, I won't do any of that again," she quickly apologized. She wasn't letting him escape under any circumstances. "Now, how to begin… Well! What exactly do you like about her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess… Her interest in music is much like my passion for art; I respect that and would like to share it. She's kind, she held no grudge against Itachi. She's brave, especially in that fight against Orochimaru's henchmen. She's pretty, she's smart. She's does funny, cute things…" He trailed off, aware that he was talking quite a bit.

"What does she like?" Konan was practically grinning. It was a delight when Sasori talked a lot about something; it meant he was very passionate. And to think that it was about a girl! Never before would she have dared to believe it.

"You know what she likes, why are you asking me?" Sasori wasn't amused by any of this. He was embarrassed.

Konan had another chance to roll her eyes. "Yes, I know. But do you know? Incorporate what she likes into a first date."

Sasori thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Music, of course." He narrowed his eyes in disgust. "And I've seen she's taken a liking to Deidara's explosives," he growled.

Konan's mouth twitched. "Alright, now combine those into a single night."

"Go to a concert and then watch Fire Works? So wait for the Fourth of July or a Konoha Festival?" He didn't want to wait. Both of those would be far away. The summer solstice was three weeks away; he wanted to take Zero out on a date now.

"If that's what you want to do. Pein promotes camaraderie among us; he'll have no problem with you going anywhere as long as you're safe. But both of those are far away in time. And I know you're impatient."

Sasori rubbed his eyes. "Can I just tell her I like her and want to date her?" All this seemed pointless.

"Go right ahead, if that's what you want to do. I applaud you for having that courage! Just make sure it's at a good time," Konan warned. Sasori nodded. Yeah, he thought, that would be easy enough.

How wrong he was. At that moment Kakuzu ran past Konan's room, straight to Leader's."Kakuzu?"

The pair entered the hall, looking to where the masked ninja had run. The door at the end of the hall was ajar, and hushed voices were conversing inside; Leader emerged into the hall and rushed past them without a word. Kakuzu came out, slower.

"What's happening?" Konan asked, worried. What was going on?

"Zero found the body of one of Orochimaru's henchmen. We don't know if there are others or just that one, but Zero said she smelled Leaf Ninja around the area. I think they've found us," he solemnly reported.

"Found us?" Sasori swore. What was with everybody targeting this stupid house lately? "What do we-,"

"ZERO!"

The raised voice of Pein, highly uncharacteristic, sent chills through the three standing there, and it wasn't long before they tore out of the house and to him. "What's going on?" Konan asked, panicked. Pein was clutching an arm, staring into the dark woods with his teeth clenched.

Konan rushed to him and moved his hand, revealing a kunai wound. "They took me by surprise; they took Zero," he growled. Tearing off some clothe from her robes, Konan wrapped his arm in a makeshift bandage. "Sasori, go after them. Track them. But don't try and take them on; just find out their intentions. Then come back."

Sasori nodded; he took off without any questions.

Zero

I cursed, loudly.

"Quiet!" One of the ninja- Genma?- commanded.

I growled, threatening to bite him as he raised a gag to my face. "No!" I protested. (To be completely honest, it sounded rather childish x) "Lemme go!" I tried to throw a punch but stupid Mr. Raidou caught my arm. He then proceeded to tie them together.

"Do you want to get back to Konoha or not?" Genma snapped.

"Not really!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Well I don't like you!"

"Zero!"

"Genma!"

He stuffed the gag in my mouth and I glared at him. It was about all I could do. "Good, now that you've shut up I can explain the situation." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You've been 'missing' from Konoha for months, and even though we all knew you ran off to join the Akatsuki Tsunade kept that your status out of kindness. We're here to give you a choice."

"You can either be welcomed back into Konoha as a hero that survived the Akatsuki's torment and will continue to fight them, or you can be welcomed back as a criminal," Raidou explained, much more calmly than his companion.

"That's right. So what do you choose?"

I stared at him blankly. I had a gag in my mouth, how could I answer…?

"Uh, Genma… Her gag…"

Angry because he was embarrassed, Genma roughly snatched it out of my mouth.

"You're a lot touchier than I remember," I told him matter-of-factly. He grew red in the face. Threateningly, he raised his fist to hit me. Thankfully, Raidou stepped in.

"His girlfriend just broke up with him yesterday," Raidou explained. I don't know what had happened, but Raidou seemed a lot friendlier than when I had seen him at the Konoha Main Gate. "You'll have to excuse him."

"Oh! Who was his girlfriend?"

"Shizune." Genma's mouth dropped open in surprise at his friend. I did my best not to laugh at his expression.

"Well, tell him I'm sorry to hear that." It seemed so odd an idea to me that Shizune would even date.

"She's sorry to hear about your girlfriend," he told Genma. The normally calm ninja looked like he was about to yell at his friend, but then stormed off into the night. His curses drifted back to our years. "Sorry about that."

I grinned at Raidou. "You're more talkative than I remember," I told him. And I stood by what I had said earlier; his scar didn't mar his face. He was rather good-looking. I was glad he was going to be doing the negotiating rather than the hot-headed Genma.

He shrugged. "Genma got me out into the dating world; it's much easier to talk to girls now." He smiled shyly, just like he had before. "But talking to really cute ones is still a bit tough." Then he winked.

I laughed. "You pull off the shy-guy well. It works- your adorableness grows exponentially."

He returned my friendly demeanor and leaned against a tree, striking up a conversation as if we were great friends; except for the hints he dropped, suggesting that we should get together. I didn't really think much of it, though. Liam was too close of a memory. It would probably be a long while before I was ready to date again- if ever. But Raidou was getting into it- I was beginning to doubt that it was joking matter.

But I let him continue. He was giving away valuable information; it was obvious he thought he was going to convince me to return to Konoha. Already he had explained Tsunade's entire plan. A battalion of ninja were going to attempt to take down the Akatsuki permanently and rescue Sakura. And it would be in ten days.

In the Bushes

Sasori's chest smarted in jealousy. He didn't like the scarred ninja standing over Zero in a flirtatious manner. And he didn't like the fact that Zero seemed to be responding so well to it; poor Sasori was convinced that she was willing to date this Leaf Ninja. But he forced his emotions down and crept forward to listen.

"So, what do you think of our proposition?" the ninja asked, sliding his back down the tree to sit next to her. Too close.

Zero shook her head. "I… No. Sorry, but the Akatsuki are not bad people; they've been more hospitable than Konoha ever has." That warmed Sasori's stomach. Did she really think that? He had a chance!

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I can't help but think that maybe you were just hanging out with the wrong people?" When Zero didn't answer he leaned closer. "Maybe this will change your mind." He kissed her. Sasori could stay back any longer- he burst forth from the bushes and attacked, going all out.


I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy- I was trying to pull away but he was too persistent. Well, I had been right. He had been getting to serious. Then I rolled onto my back, lashing out with my foot; I caught him full in the face, making him yelp in surprise. "Liam was such a better kisser!" I growled at him.

And then it was my turn to yelp in surprise. Not three feet away was Sasori, throwing kunai and using a puppet to pin Raidou against a tree. Apparently the puppet was dispensable, because he picked me up and ran, leaving the puppet behind. Once a good distance away, he dropped me.

"Thanks, Sasori-," He wasn't listening. The red head was prowling around, glaring in every direction. Too frightened to say anything, I did my best to saw off the rope around my hands. Once successful, I got to my feet. "Sasori, what are you doing?" His behavior was frightening me.

"What?" he snapped.

I jumped. But I wouldn't let his mood deter me. "What's going on? Why are you so angry?" He stopped, looking me full in the face; I'll admit I wasn't entirely prepared for the emotion I saw. "Sasori?"

"I wanted to do that to you."

My mind flashed to kidnapping, but after a few frightened seconds I figured that was probably not what he meant. "The kiss?" He nodded. I honestly didn't know what to say. My mouth wouldn't work- he looked so dejected. :(

"I want to date you."

"I… uh…" What was I supposed to say? I began panicking; I was so inexperienced with these sort of things! HALP!

Without warning, he stepped forward and captured my lips with his. I didn't know what to do, once again. But I'll admit it. I practically melted into the kiss. All thoughts of Liam were washed away, until Sasori pulled away from me; he looked about as startled at his action as I had been. "I, uh…" I cleared my throat. "Wow."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "That was too forward of-," I cut him off with a kiss, just as passionate as the last one. Then I pulled away, not sure what to say. Slowly, his mouth turned upwards into a happy smile, practically glowing and lighting up the night. "Well, alright. Maybe not."

I rubbed my face with a hand, trying to hide my red, blushing cheeks. Gawd, what had happened to me? I was like a bumbling, blushing, school girl… So this is what girls felt around Sasuke… "Sorry," I said. Suddenly guilt washed over me; I was taking complete disregard of the vows I had made to Liam when I had married him.

"Don't be." He smiled kindly and touched my hand. I hesitantly let him take it in his, and then he led me back towards the base. Everything that had happened seemed a long way off.