Disclaimer: Naruto is not owned by me! Plotline and original fan characters by me (/Jessarai fanfiction net)
Chapter Nine Of Friends and Lovers
She did not want to be sympathetic. She was right to kill him; he was an S-rank nukenin with an international death warrant. By killing him, she saved thousands of lives that would have fallen under his fearsome jutsu. Wasn't that true? Wasn't it? Why, then, did she feel guilt when she faced him after the deed was done? Two wrongs never made a right, but that's what Konoha taught her; person A kills one of us, you kill person A without thinking. It should be automatic, a given. She had never come to realize how screwed up Konoha's teachings were. Sakura had tricked her self into flag-waving and only now she came to confront it. Because when she killed Sasori not only did she wrongfully take a life, she took away his passion and destroyed his philosophy, his way of life. But could she ever be sorry for what she did? Being sorry for killing him and feeling sympathetic were two things that were far from the same.
Sasori's chest rose and fell more dramatically. Sakura did not even have to look to know Sasori's pride was a damaged, decayed thing. Only then did her accusation of mockery seem so juvenile, so sophomoric. But Sakura was not about to verbally apologize to the man not long ago she wished she had stabbed in the back. You took his reason for living. He's just a shell. Why don't you think of that? If she had lost everything she lived for, where would she be?
"Sorry" wasn't going to fix the problem. "Sorry" had become a meaningless utterance. It didn't show regret or compassion or sympathy. Words only spoke a fraction of what action could. Tentatively, she closed the uneasy gap between herself and Sasori. It was likely the last thing he wanted, last thing she wanted to do, too. She felt him struggle to free himself from her embrace but she would not let go, not until she was sure he accepted his apology. Only he would not be accepting any apology of hers. A hug, an apology, it all meant nothing to him. Not years before, when he was an emotionless puppet, and not even now, when he was burdened with human necessities and emotions. He was still in pain, in hurt and something as simple as that would never fix it. "Sasori, please, I'm trying to -"
"Go," he hoarsely whispered as he shoved her from him none too lightly.
"What?" Sakura asked, her short temper thrusting about to kick in.
"I said go. If you want to go and frolic in the fields and hug trees, then fine. We don't need you."
"What about Deidara? He needs me. And what are you going to do with Saori?"
He didn't even know how Sakura had the powers to make him answer to her. He was setting her free, yet here she was, asking about, worry about others. "Deidara can heal on his own. I'll make Saori a subordinate of mine, to replace Kabuto, when I'm back in Akatsuki."
Her temper broke free. "You're going to affiliate her with Akatsuki? That would put a death sentence on her!"
Sasori's temper returned the favor. "You think she doesn't already have one?"
"From Iwa! That's one country. She'll always be safe in Fire Country as long as I'm around but that won't happen if she's affiliated with Akatsuki. All affiliates, anything that has a trace of Akatsuki, have internationally valid death warrants. You can't do that, you can't kill her like that!"
"You're blind, Haruno! Almost all countries, including Ame and Kusa, have formed a partnership with Akatsuki, an alliance. That death warrant issued by Iwa isn't only valid there, not anymore. It's valid in every country. It is, and so is yours. Fire Country is of little significance. It'll be gone in a few months, if it isn't already. Akatsuki wins, Haruno. Akatsuki wins." Sakura tore her hardened expressions of rage from his doll face and bolted past him. She was going to prove him wrong. She was going to prove him wrong.
WHEN DEIDARA WOKE UP deep into the morning, the only mass of red he could see was that of Saori's head. He mussed up her hair with his good arm to wake her, also in knowing it would annoy her. "Get up, yeah. You'll never make it out here with that kind of laziness, hmm."
Saori grumbled and inched up into a sitting position, trying to wipe the tiredness from her eyes without luck. "Wait... didn't Sasori-sama come back yet?"
Deidara shrugged, "Dun know where they are, but we have to move. Number one rule for missing-nin, never stay in one place too long, even for us Akatsuki people; we have to constantly change base. Usually, hmm."
"How are Sasori-sama and Sakura going to find us?"
"If they don't find us, big deal. Sasori will dump Sakura and I'll meet him back at home home base, hmm."
"What about me?"
"I'll just ditch you, yeah. You think I'm taking you with me? Hah, that's a good laugh, hmm."
"You make it sound like I'm a bother."
"Tch, you didn't think you were?" Saori decided it was better for herself-esteem if she didn't acknowledge the question and instead busied herself packing up camp as it seemed Deidara considered it below him to do so. "Help me, yeah!" he snapped, head motioning to his tattered Akatsuki cloak which he was trying to make a sling out of. Apparently he wouldn't be a "half-assed" man if he made the sling or something stupid like that. She tired it for him, going on her tiptoes and forcing him to bend over as she wrapped it around his neck. Suddenly, his good arm lashed out and gripped on to Saori's wrist. He gave her a look, to which she nodded. They had company.
Deidara held four fingers up. Four men, a regular platoon. Saori's heart raced. This would be the first real fight she'd have as a real missing-nin. Was she up to it? She had Deidara on her side (at least she thought so), but who was to say he wouldn't just take her hostage or something like that (not that she wasn't already a hostage)? Apparently Deidara had neither in mind. He held three fingers up, each finger going down slowly one by one .When the last finger went down, both shoved immense amounts of freshly replenished chakra down their legs to their feet, sending them at ridiculous speeds blazing through the forest. Later, they would wonder how they went through it without being hit on the head.
SHE HAD NO REASON to be running so fast. Maybe it was because of the running Sasori had recently enforced in her or perhaps the thrill of going home after a long, long time. Was Naruto looking out for her? Had he even been told she was either dead or kidnapped? Was Kiba and Ino, the two who had been on the squad patrolling with her, escaped into the safety of Konoha? What was with this region anyway? It was mostly so barren and its people even more so. Questions would only have a little bit to wait, Sakura promised, because answers were in Konoha. Well. That's where she thought she was going.
"Gamma located, I repeat, Gamma located!" yelled some male voice. Oohhh, how she wished her gut feeling didn't tell her she was probably Gamma.
"Surround her, surround her! Seal off exits, take the target alive!" ordered who was probably the leader. "You, report back to Central, let them know Gamma has been captured." Well, if that wasn't so cocky of them. Oh shoot, oh shoot! Sakura erroneously miscalculated her abilities; now it got her surrounded by shinobi of multiple hidden villages. "Haruno Sakura, we are to take you alive. However, if necessary, we will take you dead too. No one needs to know the specifics of your status."
"Not if I get a say about it," said another. Wait. That voice sounded pretty familiar, like it belonged to a certain redheaded -
"What the -"Screams and gurgles created a grotesque symphony as men fell one after another around Sakura.
"Don't you even think about lecturing me on not valuing human lives. We don't have time; there's more coming," Sasori snapped, pulling her behind him and not a moment too soon. An explosion erupted where they were just seconds before.
THEY WERE CLOSE. AT times it felt like their closeness was suffocating Saori, but mostly it was her imagination that induced the thought. Deidara had no issues with throwing his bombs about, sending shrieks, along with body parts, into the air. He didn't ask for her help and she didn't bother. Let the two-year-old play, she thought quietly. His arm was violently swinging about in its sling, but if it hurt she wouldn't know because he didn't show it. "Move faster, yeah!"
"You think I'm trying to get caught?" Saori retorted.
"How should I know, hmm? You seemed pretty obsessive about Ootowari."
"Alright, fine, I like him and you don't. This isn't the time to discuss this!" Her long lock of blue whipped the tree branch her head just missed. "Katon: Sparrow Shuriken!" Two fiery (literally) sparrows spewed forth from her mouth, just as Deidara sent to of his own unique fowl creations flying. He wasn't about to have Saori ruin his show, his bird colliding into Saori's fire sparrows.
"Katsu!" Both fugitives had to cover their ears, for the explosion was too loud to bear; but Deidara could not look away, his sole visible blue eye sparkling with enthusiastic excitement. "Did you see that, hmm?"
"I can't, you dummy. I already have problems with sight in my right eye; I don't need issues in the left to match!"
"That was epic, hmm!"
"So you can make my ears bleed. I should be impressed because…?"
"That wasn't just me, Saori. Your sparrows set my birds on fire and sent ceramic flying everywhere when I exploded it, hmm!"
Saori eyed him, just to be sure he was not insane (not that technically by definition he wasn't). "My fire is at a high temperature but it's no where near capable of cooking your clay creations like a kiln but…"
"if we let my birds cook longer…," Deidara grinned. Something inside Saori broke loose and before they knew it they were setting Deidara's creations on fire at the hottest temperatures Saori could create - there was even some flicker of blue until it became fully so - and sending them at their pursuers. They watched the ceramic shatter as if it were Saturday morning cartoons and not unknown lives destroyed. "That'll teach them, hmm!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Saori interrupted, swatting at Deidara until he made a funny face at her. "Do you hear that? It sounds like there's fighting ahead."
Deidara focused on his sense of hearing and his grin further widened. "Yeah, and who wants to be it's none other than -"
"Get moving," Sasori gruffly intervened, running right in between the two with a flailing Sakura stumbling behind him. The Third Kazekage nearly took out Deidara's head.
"But wait! We're being chased too!" Saori yelled. They were getting boxed in. None of them were used to being the prey and frankly, it did not suit their pallets at all. Sasori's brown eyes darted around, his clammy hands gripping Sakura's wrist tightly as he deeply inhaled. He focused chakra to his ears. IT discovered the joyous sound of fast, rushing water. "Chances are we're by the same river we fell into. That also means we're either in northern Fire Country or close to it. Let's take the river."
"But how will we know if we're heading back into Iwa or into the sea?"
"That's irrelevant." Their weary limbs carried them to a place where the earth just dropped.
"Well, shit, I'm not jumping, hmm, not again -"
"What are you waiting for?" Sasori leapt over the cliff edge and landed gracefully on the disturbed water (Sakura, too, surprisingly). Deidara blinked at Saori behind him for a few moments before she slipped her miniature hands into his and jumped, him in tow. Deidara decided that though he lived for thrills, jumping off high cliffs were not his thing.
"Didn't I tell you people to warn me, hmm?" Sasori - well, nobody in actuality - wasn't listening, his trained and experienced eyes picking out a cave's reflection on the surface of the water. He didn't have to order his legs to go; they did on their own. It didn't matter if there was an enormous waterfall at the mouth of the cave and that they would die if they jumped incorrectly - no, the objective was to find a place to hide. Even if there wasn't such a place, then one simply had to be created. Deidara was quick to follow, out of habit, but he stopped when a certain short girl did not follow. "What are you doing, hmm?"
"They're just going to follow us through those caves. We should be attacking the problem, get them to stop. Maybe they'll give up if we kill all of these guys. I'll set a box of fire around them - see how they like it - and then…"
"I'll blow them to bits. Turkey shoot, hmm! I'm certainly like the way you're thinking, hmm."
"Katon: Four Parapets of Imprisonment!" Only a few could skid fast enough to avoid falling into the pit of inferno. Deidara molded an armada of clay fishes and birds; he set them free. Those who avoided falling were not spared from this grotesque show. Debris hit them everywhere, even places where it really shouldn't be, and half the canyon's side crumbled and succumbed to Deidara and Saori's combined work (of art).
"C'mon! We'll lose Sasori and Sakura like this, hmm." They both looked tentatively down into the inky blackness of the cave. IT gave not telling of its true depth. They nearly decided to take a different escape route (also known as simply running the other way). That was until a body part floated by and caught them by surprise. You'd think Deidara would be used to them, being the cause of the most of the time. Saori let out a piercing scream and jumped for all it was worth. Deidara hollered at her to wait, despite knowing she couldn't, and jumped head first, which was not such a good idea. When he came to at the bottom, he was alone. With a dead man's forearm floating nearby.
SASORI DID NOT KNOW why, but he kept his grip firm on Sakura as they plunged into the roaring of the waterfall. They clung to one another out of panic and quickly released when their movement had stilled, with the exception of their rising chests and pounding hearts. In the back of his mind, Sasori decided that there would be no more blind jumps. "Are you alright?" Sakura sputtered after catching her breath. "I mean, like, can you…?"
"I'm fine," Sasori replied tersely. He stood up, droplets following him. He was soaked. That was not good news.
"You should at least remove your shirt. You'll get cold like that," Sakura advised, shrugging off her vest to dry it off. She hadn't quite thanked him for saving her butt after how she treated him, after she basically ran away. She squeezed as much water as she could manually, using her chakra to draw out the rest.
"All my clothes are wet. There is no point."
"Do you have, um, water resistant… wood?"
"I did. I haven't quite been able to apply any in awhile," he bluntly replied, shaking the water from himself as much as possible.
"Won't you... grow mold? And rot?"
"I can worry about that later. Let's keep going and get the hell out of here."
"I can dry you off now."
"I can do that myself later."
"Why won't you just listen to me? You think I want you to die? You'll catch a cold and you'll die from it because you have no immune system!"
"Of course you wish death unto me."
"Sasori, I don't. I should, but I don't. I can't survive alone down here, and let's face it. You actually are not as awful as I thought you were. You've saved my life time and time again. Last time, you had no reason to save me. I was no longer of use to you. But you did."
"I decided it was bet if I had you hostage. I need bargaining chips. Saori is too low a ninja to do the job."
"That's bull, Sasori, and you know it. Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Sakura forcefully turned his head to her. When did she sneak up on him and get so close? "Haven't you ever thought, maybe you were revived for a divine reason, not just to fight for Akatsuki? You are having the second chance so few have ever had; why are you wasting it? You're not bounded to the Akatsuki. You don't have to return to them. They don't deserve someone like you, Sasori. They stuck you in a state of imperfection. They only brought you back so you would fight for them, for their ideals, not yours! They don't care about your art, your puppets. They don't care about how much you're suffering. Screw them, Sasori! Isn't there anything you've always wanted to do that you couldn't? Here's your chance. Forget Akatsuki exists." Actually, there had been something Sasori had been wanting to do since their imprisonment but he didn't think Sakura would be too keen on the idea. Having turned into a work of art at a tender age, he had missed out on quite a bit, but now he was stuck in this state… And she was indirectly telling him to… The inner Sasori smirked cockily. "I can argue with Fire Country on your behalf. I'll make sure they don't bother you so long as you stay of crime. I'll do it, I'll -"
"For the sake of my sanity, shut up, woman."
Sakura was dumbfounded for all of one minute before replying, "I'm giving you a motivational speech, you -"
"Oh," Sasori said smugly. His angel faced seemed unusually and uncomfortably close. "Trust me, I've been motivated." Sakura's mind shut down and soon the only thing she was protesting was whenever his soft lips left her lips and skin.
SAORI WAS A LONE (wo)man left to fend on her own in the damp underground network of tunnels. Of course, she might have had it better as she had her fire-type chakra, which kept her warmer than other chakras and permitted light from an inflamed fist. "Hello?" Her voice echoed through the tunnels and was the only sound heard aside from the solitary dripping of water from the gray, depressed ceiling. She hated being alone. After all, if something happened to her, who would know? What if she died down here, all alone? She would disappear off the face of the earth and years later no one would even remember there was once a girl who had many aliases but in her heart, had always been Ookamika Saori. It only forecasted the years to come, the feared moment when she would be a lone missing-nin in a far too large world.
EVEN HE HAD TO admit, he was pretty darned lost. Lucky for Deidara, his solitude would not have to last very long. But until then, it was just him… and his thirsty throat. He didn't have any water on him an didn't plan on trying out the water that dripped and pooled on the floor until he found any of the other three to tests it out first. Two days had passed and only soldier pills and a good humor kept him alive. He was dying to have anyone - even Sasori - with him. His mind read y to go into pure insanity, he decided, if he was going to die, he was going to blow up the entire joint for causing his problems first.
The plan was good… at first. Surprisingly, there wasn't a cave in and he for the most part didn't get hurt. He blew a straight line through a tick mass of moist rock before coming across an enormous tunnel. Curiosity piqued, he followed it for some time until he saw an orange glow ahead. Whoever shielded it was either short or sitting down. I turned out to be the latter; Saori was boiling water with her chakra to rid it of bacteria and the such. She did not have even the slightest knowledge of his presence. Quietly, he molded some clay, and…
"YAAAAAH! What the hell?" Deidara couldn't keep his laughter in - only momentarily to avoid an incoming ball of fire, courtesy of Saori. "Deidara, you could have put me in cardiac arrest!"
"So? It'd be even funnier, hmm!"
"You made me burn myself!" she continued, pointing to the dark blotches on her skirt. He only laughed more.
"Dude, you look like you shitted, hmm!" He had to dodge her attack yet again. Lighting her fists with fire-type chakra, she set about heating up water again. Deidara's eyes trained on the water. Oh, he wouldn't mind some of that… "What the freak, hmm!" Saori snickered as Deidara grabbed at his face. "You could have burned my face, hmm!"
"Well you should be thankful that water has a high heat capacity and that I hadn't boiled it much. You deserved it, don't you deny it!" Between his fingers, Deidara stared at her. A smirk formed just moments before he tackled.
"Hey! Not cool! Get off if you want water," she laughed. Deidara got off reluctantly and waited impatiently as she boiled away. She wasn't so bad after all. Days later, they found an exit and walked into another world. Not only the land, but the people were impoverished, much more than the ones they had seen before. Saori stared dumbfounded at the dejected villagers. Villages usually had slums; but in these villages, it seemed that the entire village was the slums. The only areas of real activity were the bars and the hostels.
"Hey, there," a prostitute called as sweetly as her alcohol-ridden mind would permit. Deidara kept on walking, faster now, suddenly gripping onto Saori to the point it felt like her forearm was about to snap in half in response to the pressure. "Boy!" The red-haired, aquamarine-eyed prostitute would not be put off so easily. She staggered over to him, reaching out shortly before being violently slapped away.
"Not interested, yeah," Deidara snapped. "Get moving, Ookamika. It's sick." As was the land.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast, pretty boy," the prostitute mumbled, her dirt-caked fingers nearing too closely to Saori's chin. "She's a nice young one. Looks like me when I was younger. Pity she has that scar, though. Don't find any untainted her age anymore out here. I take it you're taken, boy? I'm willing to buy her out. We need fresh girls."
"I'm not taken and she's not for sale, yeah. I sell animals to humans, not the other way around, hmm. She's no good for that job anyways, look. Get the hell away, hmm." Deidara's fingers were getting uncomfortable, practically crushing Saori to his side to create just an inch of sacred space between Saori and her. The prostitute pouted a little before giving up. Saori's eyes stayed on her face until Deidara had shoved her head to face forward. It seemed simply imagined, but Saori felt like she knew the prostitute, who shared the same violent shade of red hair.
After putting some distance between the woman and them, Saori poked Deidara's side and asked, "Deidara… did you just say I'm not goo enough to be a prostitute? And by extension, that I am not pretty enough to be one?"
Immediately, Deidara let go, clearly displeased. "What the hell made you think that, yeah, I never said you aren't pre -"
"Well then why did you say 'look'? Why don't you think I could be one?"
"Why the hell do you want to be one, hmm? Terrible aspirations, yeah!" Saori's face broke out into a smile.
"I never said I wanted to be one. I just wanted to know why." Deidara chose not to respond. "You know, it's okay if you don't think I'm pretty. I don't think I am. I can only lie to even myself so much sometimes."
"Why, hmm?"
"What do you mean, why?"
"Why don't you think you're pretty, hmm?"
"Well, look at the two of us. I've been watching the people as we walk. They always look at you first."
"Cause I'm bigger, idiot, hmm!" He had his good humor back.
"Ahhh… I'll tell you later."
A WHILE EARLIER, SAKURA woke to smooth wood wrapped around her bare skin. She could feel the hard rock through Sasori's Akatsuki cloak. Why was it so cold? "Nhhh… hello? Is anybody there?" she drowsily called. She tensed at movement in her bare shoulder blade. His hair was so soft and gentle, a complete opposite of the owner's personality. "Sasori!" She leapt to her feet, her heart racing, and quickly dressed herself. Sasori rested a moment on his cloak, not pleased he had lost her body warmth, before his brilliant brown eyes opened for her to view.
"I'm cold now," Sasori replied as she glared at him.
"I don't care! Do you know what you did?"
"You motivated me."
"That's not motivation!"
Sasori drowsily tugged his pants on and rose. "Tch. Women always complain after they get what they want." She didn't complain as his lips reached for hers.
"THEY NEVER SAY ANYTHING, you know," commented Saori a week after they left the caves. They assumed Sakura and Sasori were still stuck meters under. Deidara shrugged without care on the sparse grass.
"Maybe whatever happened was so caustic they think you can't not know already, hmm."
"I want to ask but…"
"Being useless, as I thought they would be." Saori's eyes lighted up and Deidara turned to the speaker.
"Sasori-sama! Sakura!" Saori hollered. The two mature entities of the cell approached the second half. "Sakura, you're alive…!"
The pinkette frowned, pink eyebrows rising in question. "Why wouldn't I be…?" Sakura exchanged glances with Sasori and both shrugged. Sasori used their obscured joined hands to motion the direction of their travel. Deidara protested to movement, resulting in his using his strength to remain planted on the ground while Saori tugged to get him up. He suddenly relinquished, causing Saori to pull too hard and topple over. They laughed at their childish pursuits. Deidara glanced up to keep an eye on Sasori's direction, at which point his sharp eyes spotted Sakura's hands joined with his, which both were trying to hide.
"Hey, hey," he loudly whispered as he pulled Saori up. "Look at them." Saori followed his line of sight. There was clearly something much unlike hatred fostering between Sasori and Sakura. It prompted immediate discussion between the two child-like shinobi.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Saori grinned. Sakura tensed, fully able to hear the intentionally loud whisperings behind her. Sasori missed the warmth of her hand.
"I'm thinking that I am thinking what you're thinking, hmm."
"You know what would erase all that thinking into knowing?"
"I'm thinking some Mind's Eye will detect if there's a little somethin' somethin' going on there, hmm."
"And you won't be doing anymore thinking or mindreading when I gouge out your eyes, Saori!" snapped Sakura over her shoulder.
"I don't actually need my eyes to read, Akasuna no Sakura-san!" Deidara and Saori burst out laughing.
"Ignore the Iwa idiots," said Sasori quietly. "They're being kids. One day you'll have your own and they'll act the same stupid way." Sakura didn't say a word. How could she, when she was with child already?
"Deidara-kun! I decided," Saori continued after the laughter subsided.
"What has little Saori-chan decided, hmm?"
"I don't know what it takes to be a best friend or how I should know if I have one. But I trust you." Stupid move, he thought. "And I've never had as much fun as I have had with you. Best friends are people you'd save without even thinking, aren't they?"
"Yeah, I guess so, hmm."
"I would."
"Would what, hmm?"
"I would save you without thinking. Even though any sticky situation you're stuck in is probably too difficult for me, I would. Since I was twelve, I've lived with a weight on my back, quite literally. I wanted to live life to the fullest from then on. I thought I was, but it doesn't compare to when I'm with you, with Sasori-sama, with Sakura, too. So I decided you are my best friend. I feel like I actually belong when I am with you guys." Deidara stiffened a little at the words of 'best friend.' The last best friend he had hadn't quite ended too well.
Deidara chuckled. "How did that happen? All of us are much more powerful than you, hmm."
"So?"
"What do you think of us, really, hmm?"
"Well, I imagine you're my brother. Definitely. You're so darned annoying but I still like you. Sakura is someone I think of as a mother. You know, because all she ever does is order us around, if Sasori isn't already doing that. And Sasori… my father. No, my dad. The one I have wished for since I was a little brat in Suna."
"Heh, funny. Sakura as your mom, Sasori as your dad."
"When you're done playing games," said Sasori. Deidara rolled his eyes. "We'll separate, get the situation. Location is the goal. I don't have half a mind of where we are."
"Let's eat first, yeah!" Sasori wasn't given the opportunity to say no as Deidara and Saori seated themselves at the base of a telephone pole. Sakura frowned at the surroundings, which were much greener than before. "So how was your honeymoon, Sakura? I hear damp, underground tunnels are quite the romantic vacation, hmm." His short co-troublemaker burst out laughing alongside him.
"Don't laugh, Saori! What's with you, you wouldn't have laughed before," Sakura said, placing her hands on her hips to feign anger. IT was hard to be mad at them. They were like kids, albeit Deidara was older than Sakura. Though they were laughing at her expense, seeing their pure innocent happiness made it worthwhile. "It's Deidara, isn't it? Saori, you hang around him too much. He's a bad influence!"
"Yare, yare," started Deidara, putting his arm around Saori's neck and pulling her closer as she giggled, "if you keep saying things like that Saori won't like me anymore, hmm."
"That's kind of the point!" Slightly annoyed (it was easier to be annoyed at Deidara), Sakura huffed, turning to Sasori, who was doing something to his joint. "Sasori, can't you be responsible and do something? At this rate, Deidara will turn her into an awful, mean missing-nin like hi…"
There were only a few moments of amused silence before Saori and Deidara were falling all over themselves on the floor in fits of laughter again. Sakura inhaled deeply. Sasori had an elegantly amused expression himself. "Yes, darling, you were saying?"
"Ah, Sakura-chan, hmm," Deidara cut in. "I don't know if you've, ah, noticed, but all of us but you are missing-nin..."
"Thanks for the news flash…," Sakura muttered.
"When you're done eating, we'll split. I'll take Sao -"
"That won't be necessary, hmm!" Deidara yelled, running off with Saori in tow. Sakura frowned a moment before narrowing her eyes at Saori, where mischief freely danced. "We'll meet in a couple of days, yeah! Have fun! Don't do anything too stupid, Sasori-danna! And get some, hmm!" The two conspirators left, leaving Sakura and Sasori alone.
"They're planning something," commented Sasori.
"Quite."
"IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY sense, hmm!" Deidara wore his Akatsuki cloak and flashy silver Akatsuki ring, thinking he could scare innkeepers into giving him a free room. He was used to the tactic working but here it didn't. Akatsuki did not strike fear into the hearts of the people, despite Deidara blew up the hotel owners of previous rejections. There was a heavy air of hopelessness and Saori had only begun to sift through it all.
"Maybe we should just pay for a room in the next one," Saori suggested hopefully.
"Deidara does not pay, hmm." He said it with such a serious face, Saori was convinced he could not be swayed and decided since she was a criminal now anyways, it didn't hurt to ask to stay for free, so long as the owner didn't get hurt unlike those of previous rejections. "Yo!" yelled Deidara obnoxiously loudly, slamming his fist on the counter, making sure to put his Akatsuki ring in plain view. The owner of this motel only briefly glanced at Deidara, then Saori, then back down, making no note of the cloak whose red cloud were easily seen.
"5000 ryo a night a person. 100000 total for one night. Nothing less."
"You think we can't go to another place, hmm?"
"No one else has as nice a room as I do."
"Well, look here, boy," Deidara growled, using his Akatsuki ring-graced finger to point at his Akatsuki cloak. "Akatsuki don't pay."
The owner snorted, "The Akatsuki doesn't exist. I thought you fakers would have stopped weeks ago, but there's always that lagging idiot..."
"Excuse me, yeah?"
"Akatsuki doesn't exist. You can't scare us with that crap."
"You want to see what I can -"
"Sir. I really don't think you should doubt him. He's been occupied for awhile but he really is Akatsuki," Saori interrupted. Attracting attention with even more flashy bombs was not part of the plan. The owner sighed, noting the desperation in Saori's voice.
"500 ryo a night a person. It don't get much cheaper 'an that."
"The hell, I said Akatsuki don't pay -"
"That'sfinethanksforthedeal!" Saori sputtered out, snatching Deidara's bag in search for his money pouch.
"Only dumb people stick their wallets in their bags, yeah," Deidara bluntly said, fishing his pant pocket for his wallet. As they walked upstairs, he was fuming about having to have paid anything, but it got worse when they got to the room. "Dude. It has one bed."
Saori only gave the thought of a single bed a moment before she jumped face first onto the relatively clean-looking covers, not caring about all the bugs that might be crawling around or the dust she had roused. It had been a long, long time since she had known the comfort of her (his, technically) bed. This dirty bed was much, much better than the nonexistent one she had come to know in the prison or the harsh earthen floor. "I'm not dealing with this shit for 500 ryo a night, yeah!" snapped Deidara, making the motions to go and blow up the owner.
"Deidara, just be happy you even can get a decent bed in this area. If your eyes weren't glued to a certain area of most women who walked by you, then you might have noticed how poor this part of our world is."
Deidara completely disregarded the first part, "Yeah, poor and stupid. They think the Akatsuki doesn't exist anymore."
"Please... you already paid it. Just steal it back in the morning or something." Reluctantly, Deidara retreated, only because in his mind he promised himself when Saori was out of the inn and he had stolen the owner's money, he would blow the entire thing up.
The bed creaked under his weight, much heavier than Saori's. He had to agree; right now, he was much relieved to have a soft thing underneath his sore and tired body. Saori had been quiet for a time now, but he couldn't see her face so he couldn't read her. "Penny, hmm?"
"Mhmm?" she mumbled incoherently.
"I said penny, yeah."
"Penny for what?"
"Your thoughts."
"I don't usually charge for my thoughts..."
"It's an idiom, yeah."
"Oh."
"... Two pennies?"
"Oh, right. I was just thinking. You're a boy but you're a lot prettier than I am. I see it, when people walk by. They look at you first because you're bigger than me. But they always look back at you. Sometimes I wonder, maybe it would be better to have been born a boy. I might be dead and I might have never met you, but it just makes me wonder."
"Why do you want to be a boy? To make me gay?"
"No... I never said anything about that. I'm just saying, you're already prettier than me and girls are supposed to be prettier so that makes me wonder what advantage do I get for being a girl? My dad was sexist and hated it. We are unappreciated as kunoichi. I don't see the value." She glanced at Deidara, who had a big smirk on his face. "What?"
"You... are so oblivious, yeah."
"Oblivious about what?"
"Nothing, nothing, hmm. First, stop saying that I am prettier than you. I'm a dude, hmm! It ruins muy manliness. Don't worry about being pretty. I think you're fine and all that matters is what Deidara thinks. Got it, hmm?"
"Deidara? I'm glad you're my best friend." She did not notice he did not call her his best friend, let alone friend, once. "I was serious before, you know. I would give my life to you in an instant." Little did she know that one day, she would.
Author's Note: Please review ^_^ And always check out my deviantart account (username Saisuki) to look at the 100 Flashes... visuals are always nice!