Hey, guys! So I did end up putting a bit of a fight scene in this chapter, but it absolutely sucks so after reading it you might wish I hadn't. I haven't written a whole lot of fights, so hopefully they'll get better as the story goes on. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

In Konoha. Fine for now, but not likely

to get out on my own. Weird stuff going

on. Help would be appreciated.

Deidara

Sasori reread the note several times before allowing himself a brief sigh of relief. The small bird perched on his shoulder ruffled its clay feathers contentedly before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The puppet master wished the bird wasn't only one way, that he could respond and tell Deidara that his note was received and help was coming. But at least he knew the brat was all right. And now he had evidence that his partner was in Konoha.

Tucking the note away, Sasori rose from where he'd been kneeling on a solid oak limb, dusting loose scraps of bark from where they clung to his cloak. But before he could move and farther than that, a sudden buzzing filled his head.

Sasori. The puppet master quickly reseated himself, unsurprised. The Akatsuki leader had an uncanny ability of knowing when one of his subordinates wished to speak to him. Although no command had been spoken, the implication was obvious, so Sasori hurriedly closed his eyes and flew through the hand seals to create an aerial projection of himself. There was one disconcerting second where the Suna-nin felt as if he was being jerked at lightning speed through black space before his "feet" hit solid ground. When he reopened his eyes, Sasori was no longer standing in the middle of the forest, but in a dark, cavernous room—one of the bases the Akatsuki used for sealing Bijuu. Pein's own ethereal projection stood only a few feet away, the man's strange eyes surveying his subordinate coolly. Sasori inclined his head, muttering a low "Leader-sama" before waiting quietly for the man to speak.

"You have been gone almost four days," Pein said, immediately getting to the point. "I expected you back by now. What is taking so long?"

Sasori sensed impatience in the man's question. With their plans moving along more quickly than ever, Pein was pushing his minions hard to complete their missions. Sasori had yet to even locate his Bijuu, and he knew the Leader would rather him be out searching. But it was important that the Akatsuki stay at full capacity; finding Deidara was almost as necessary as finding the demon.

"I apologize, Leader—sama," the puppet master said. "I have located Deidara, but I'm afraid it is going to be a while longer. Just before you called me, I found one of his birds with a note. Apparently he is being held in Konoha."

"Konoha?" He didn't sound surprised—he never did—but Sasori could hear the frown in his voice.

"Yes." The Suna-nin paused a moment, knowing Pein would not like his next words. "Admittedly, I will not be able to get him out on my own easily. If anyone else is available to help…" He trailed off as the other man shook his shadowy head.

"It is too dangerous to have too many of us near a village of Konoha's caliber, especially as they are already highly aware of us and our intentions. Deidara would be a huge loss, but he has already completed his mission. We can't risk any more of us."

Sasori's head snapped up. The response didn't surprise him, but that didn't stop the jolt it caused in his stomach. "But, Leader-sama, Deidara has been a strong asset to our organization. He is a powerful and intelligent fighter, and still young enough that he has the potential to become much stronger. We can't just give him up like this!" He stopped suddenly as he realized that he'd been speaking at a near shout, emotion evident in his voice. Pein was looking at him, undoubtedly with a raised eyebrow. Sasori cleared his throat, realizing that he'd always complained about—never complimented on—Deidara to his superior before. "I don't think we should give him up," the Suna-nin repeated, quieter, in his usual monotone. "If he was able to get that message out, then maybe Konoha's security on him is lax for some reason. At least allow me to continue to the village and assess the situation. I won't attempt anything unless I am certain I can get him out with no trouble."

Pein continued to watch the other silently as he considered the situation. After a tense moment (for Sasori, at least), he finally nodded. "Very well. Itachi and Kisame have just completed a mission nearby. I will inform them of your position and allow them to aid you if they wish. Itachi perhaps can use the opportunity to gather more information on his Jinchuuriki. But I will only allow you one more week. If no opportunity to get Deidara out presents itself by then, you will have to return."

Sasori inclined his head again, relief rushing through him. "Thank you Leader-sama. I promise we won't take any unnecessary…" His head snapped up just as Pein announced "There is someone approaching on your side." They were silent a moment, and Sasori could feel a dim echo of chakra approaching his real body. Then Pein said, "Report back in a week. You are dismissed." Sasori nodded before he quickly dematerialized his aerial projection, feeling the same strange pull through blackness before coming back to his body.

He made it just in time, his sharply honed instincts the only thing that saved him from the two shuriken that buried themselves in the oak trunk where his body had sat not a half-second before. Flipping easily to a lower branch, Sasori whipped around and scanned the dense foliage, attempting to find his unexpected assailant. There was nothing for a moment, and then the Suna-nin felt a sudden surge of chakra directly beneath him and once again narrowly avoided a hit as his attacker burst upwards through the limb he had stood upon.

"So you're the one who was spying on us yesterday," a low, feminine voice spoke behind Sasori, and he turned to see a young woman standing upon the splintered knob of the branch that now lay on the forest floor twenty feet below. Although he hadn't seen her face, Sasori immediately recognized the voice and the garb of the girl he had seen the day before. Her hood was pulled back now, revealing a fine, pale face framed by dark auburn hair, a face that would have been quite beautiful if it wasn't set in such a hard, severe expression with eyes flashing like deadly blue fire. The woman's lips pursed as she surveyed the puppet master. "One of the Akatsuki, huh? How ironic. Unfortunate for you though. I suppose I'll have to kill you before you tell anyone what you heard."

"I'd like to see you try," Sasori deadpanned, his own eyes hard as they took in his opponent. He wondered briefly if he should have spoken to Pein about the confrontation he had witnessed. Finding Deidara's note had driven it from his mind. "Kaede, right? That's what the man called you? What was that about yesterday, and what do you want with Deidara?" He didn't like her. It wasn't just her too-perfect voice, her threat against his partner, or her attempt to kill him. There was something sickly evil in this girl's gaze. She gave Sasori a feeling of unease that few ever had before.

The young woman stared at him haughtily a moment, her full mouth pulled down. "I don't believe I have any obligation to inform you about what went on between Kanaye and me. As for dear little Deidara, you can ask him all about it when you see him in the afterlife." Falling into a crouch, Kaede's right hand came up in front of her defensively. Copying her stance, Sasori reached into his cloak to pull loose two summoning scrolls. There was no use playing around with this woman. She was obviously strong.

And incredibly quick, too, as Sasori wasn't even able to summon his puppets before she was upon him. He dodged her strike as her fisted left hand, now wreathed in a strange purple chakra, came at his face. It connected with the trunk of the tree instead. The blow was immediately succeeded by a resounding crash, and the entire top half of the monolithic oak plummeted to the grass, completely severed.

In the resulting cloud of dust and debris, Sasori was able to leap away from Kaede and unwind both scrolls, calling his puppets out to aid him. Her attacks seem somewhat similar to that brat from Konoha, he thought as he flung chakra strings out from his fingers to connect to the puppets. I have to avoid getting hit by a physical attack or it might not end so well for me.

Kaede had stopped again, perched precariously on the jagged trunk she had just obliterated. "Puppets, huh? I guess that would make you Akasuna no Sasori, according to my organization's information on Akatsuki. Deidara's partner as well, if I'm not mistaken."

Making small talk, Sasori though as he watched her carefully. Her last two attacks were pretty powerful. She must have to recharge a bit between those kinds of strikes. Without responding to the woman's previous comment, the Suna-nin flicked his fingers forward. One of the puppets flew at his opponent, simultaneously releasing a volley of poison-coated needles. Kaede was quick to dodge out of the way of the needles and then the puppet, not attempting an attack and so reinforcing Sasori's theory that she had to wait at least a short time before striking again.

Sending the second puppet charging forward after the first, Sasori attempted to fence Kaede in against a tree as her escape route forced her to the ground. But she was prepared this time, and when Sasori saw her retreat turn into an assault, her hand raised once again and surrounded with violet flame, he pushed his puppets forward faster, attempting to hit her with one of the kunai grasped in the wooden hands before she could get him. But Kaede's slim body easily slipped beneath the first weapon, and her arm punched upwards so that her first two fingers buried themselves in the cloth covering the puppet's shoulder. A second later, its entire arm exploded. Kaede slipped smoothly out of the path of any shrapnel before turning to meet the second puppet. She caught this one's elbow joint in the palm of her hand, and the same outcome occurred before Sasori could avoid it.

The weaker attack, the more times she can use it in a row, the puppet master reasoned. He leapt to the forest floor himself and pulled his marionettes—each minus an arm—back to him. Kaede stood among the splintered wood and metal, her breathing hardly hitched and her arms crossed. She sneered at him. "Is that really all you've got? The great Sasori of the Red Sand? Quite the overstatement, I would say."

"Overstatement? These aren't even my strongest puppets. If I was going all out you'd be dead right now." Not quite like the Konoha girl, Sasori thought. She used her chakra as physical strength. This one seems to release her chakra into something and…blow it up. He frowned slightly. The observation recalled to his attention that the woman had mentioned some sort of relationship with Deidara when they were both still in Iwagakure. What kind of connection did they have? he wondered.

As these thoughts were running through his head, Sasori was sending the first puppet forward again. Armed with a katana it pulled from beneath its cloak this time, it could stay farther out of Kaede's reach. It swung the sword at her head, but Sasori was rewarded with empty air rather than a satisfying spray of blood. Kaede tried for another hit from she crouched, springing upwards under the katana at the puppet's chest. Sasori yanked it out of the way, turning the blade to Kaede's now exposed back. She was too quick again, though, spinning around and kicking the katana away. Her hand-to-hand combat is quite impressive, Sasori thought. I'll have to try a different approach. First moving the second puppet back into the shadowy underbrush while the woman was occupied, he then drew the first puppet to a mid-range distance and threw the katana at her. It didn't even come close—as he had expected—but she had evaded the attack in the direction he wanted her to. The second puppet was maneuvered so it was just behind her, not three feet from her back, when it suddenly exploded out of the brush. There was a brief moment where Sasori was sure he had her, where the puppet's poisonous blade was almost in contact with the heavy black material of Kaede's cloak, but then the expression of surprise he had expected appeared as a cold grin. Moving with a speed that Sasori knew could easily rival Itachi's, her fist swung around in a sharp arc and connected solidly with the puppet's chest. The Suna-nin gritted his teeth as he watched one of his prized weapons explode and crumple to the ground, no more than a useless pile of cloth and splinters.

"Hah! You really are pathetic. I would have expected more from a member of the notorious Akatsuki." Kaede smirked at Sasori from above her "kill." Seeing his opportunity, Sasori forgot his ruined puppet and refocused on the first one, snapping its mouth open and sending another shower of venomous needles at his triumphant opponent. He caught her this time, with her back turned and senses clouded by victory. Her face slackened and her blue eyes went wide as the barbs dug deep into her pale skin, the deadly poison immediately taking affect. Sasori breathed a sigh of relief as Kaede collapsed, and the musical symphony of ragged, gasping breaths filled the air.

"Well, that took long enough," Sasori muttered, his irritable and impatient personality taking over. "What did?" the low voice mused directly behind him. "Honestly, you just fell for the oldest trick in the book."

A substitution jutsu! Sasori realized his slip just as Kaede's dying body disappeared with a puff of smoke and was replaced with a pinchusioned log. He whipped around toward her voice, only to be greeted with her violent purple fist coming straight for his chest, aimed almost directly at the vulnerable chakra core that housed his very life. She was already too close, there was no dodging or countering, his puppet was too far away…

Kaede froze, her azure eyes flickering to a point just Sasori's shoulder. Her lips parted in a frustrated snarl and then she suddenly flipped backwards, barely avoiding the huge, bandaged sword that crashed into the ground where she had stood a second before. Sasori blinked in surprise as the large form of Kisame stepped up beside him, swinging Samehada back up to drape it over his shoulder, frowning at the woman who had retreated to a good twenty feet away.

"Who the heck is this, Sasori?" the shark-man questioned.

"Kisame Hoshigaki." He started slightly when Kaede spoke his name. "And if you're here, that must mean…"

Sasori glanced around as he felt Itachi approach on his other side, the young man as silent and unreadable as ever as his blood red eyes stared Kaede down. However, when Sasori looked back to her, she had already averted her eyes to their feet, a slight smirk on her lips.

"Well, this isn't looking too good for me," she said, although she didn't appear perturbed at all. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not likely to win a fight alone against three Akatsuki. So I guess this is where I will take my leave. Farewell, Akasuna no Sasori. Perhaps the next time we meet, you will prove yourself to be a more worthy opponent."

"Like we'll really let you go that easily," Kisame said. He sprinted forward, Samehada raised to strike.

"Kisame, wait!" Sasori shouted as the shark-man hurtled forward. "You can't get too close! Don't let her touch you!"

But before the Kiri-nin had covered even half the distance between himself and Kaede, she had raised her chakra-enveloped hand and slammed it into another tree. Not only did the trunk snap in half this time, but it seemed as if her chakra ran down the remainder of the stump and into the ground as well. Dirt and rocks blew up in all directions long before the tree impacted the ground, effectively separating Kaede from the three Akatsuki. Blinded by dust and faced with the toppled tree, Kisame was stopped short a second before he swung his great sword downward and smashed the trunk.

Sasori shielded his face against the resultant cloud of debris and wooden shrapnel. When the cloud settled and the Suna-nin could safely lower his hands, he saw that Kisame was left standing alone on the other side of the chaotic mess he and Kaede had created.

"She got away," the shark-man called back over his shoulder.

Sasori raised his eyes to scan the surroundings quickly and, indeed, saw no sign of the strange woman. He felt a sudden, boiling hatred toward Kaede rise unwittingly in his chest. Clenching his fists, he took a deep breath before turning to Itachi.

"You two got here awfully soon," he said, his calm voice not betraying any emotion.

Itachi glanced over at the Suna-nin as his cold eyes faded from red to black. "We were no more than a mile or two from here when Leader-sama contacted us."

"Lucky for you, eh Sasori?" Kisame smirked as he returned to him. "She really had you, man."

Sasori chose to ignore the jest and instead concentrated on returning his remaining puppet to its scroll. The other lay in sad ruin on the forest floor, completely unsalvageable. Itachi followed the redhead's gaze to the destroyed puppet.

"Who was she?" the Uchiha questioned.

Sasori said nothing, not looking at the other as he silently deliberated. After a moment, he simply shrugged. "I have no idea. She attacked me out of no where." He would wait until he spoke to Pein before revealing to anyone else what he really did know. He could feel Itachi studying him, but the Suna-nin kept his gaze firmly locked on his obliterated puppet, and, eventually, the other nodded and said, "All right, then."

"Anyways," Kisame spoke up, "I believe the reason we're really here isn't to save Sasori from random angry women. What's this about Deidara being held in Konoha?"

Turning back to the other team, Sasori produced the note from inside his cloak and handed it to the Kiri-nin. "I received this not too long ago. One of Deidara's birds found me. I don't know any more than what is written here, but he obviously needs help."

Kisame read the note over and then handed it down to his partner. "It is Deidara's handwriting?" Itachi asked as he too scanned the crumpled piece of napkin.

"Definitely," Sasori assured him.

"'Weird stuff going on.'" Kisame frowned. "I wonder what he means by that."

"Perhaps it has some connection to this strange woman who attacked Sasori." The puppet master glanced up at the Uchiha when he said this. Itachi stared back at him steadily for a moment. "They both have a similar chakra pattern. That's all," he stated.

"Hmm." Sasori tried not to appear too interested in that information. "So are you going to help me then?"

"Of course." Kisame grinned toothily at him. "I've always liked Deidara. The kid's fun to have around. We can't just leave him to enemy ninja."

"He is important to the organization," Itachi agreed. "Leader-sama said he gave you a one week time limit. We will do what we can to help you in that time.

Sasori nodded, face emotionless but secretly thankful. Now he'd just have to make sure they didn't have another encounter with Kaede near the village. He didn't think she would attack all three of them, but she had said something the day before about traveling with another woman. He'd just have to try and avoid them if they were still around.

"Very well," the puppet master said out loud. "We are still a little ways from Konoha. We should probably get moving."

The other two nodded, and soon they had completely vacated the area, leaving only a few toppled trees and a huge trench in the earth where Kaede's last attack had blown it apart.

111

"This is a…nice place you have, un," Deidara said, stepping over the threshold into Sakura's apartment uncertainly. The kunoichi walked in behind him, turning to shut the door as the Iwa-nin surveyed the room.

Her place was small and simple. The front entrance opened onto the living room which contained a couch and chair fronted by a coffee table and facing a small television. A bookcase and a few cabinets ranged around the cream colored walls. On the other side of the room, large glass doors revealed a balcony overlooking the village below. The broad doorway on the right led to the kitchen while one on the left gave entrance to a dark hallway. Deidara took it all in in one cursory glance and wrinkled his nose. It was all very plain and dull. He had never been much of one for interior decorating, but the drab room was already strangling his artistic side.

Sakura seemed to pick up on this as she hurriedly said, "I don't spend a lot of time here, so it isn't much. I'm also afraid there's only one bedroom, so you'll have to sleep out here on the couch."

Deidara looked at the cheap, lumpy piece of furniture distastefully. "That's one way to treat a guest," he grumbled as he sat down on the couch and bounced experimentally. It was hard but better than the rough ground he was accustomed to camping out on.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Sakura said sharply, suddenly seeming to become frustrated, as Deidara leaned back against the cushions and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "You're still more a prisoner than anything else." She shoved his booted feet back to the floor roughly, slung her bag in the empty chair, and stomped to the kitchen, grumbling.

Deidara chuckled as he rose to follow her. "Well, I'm glad to see this arrangement is going to work out well, un," he said cheerily, leaning against the doorway and watching Sakura dig through the cupboards violently in pursuit of a snack. His good mood quickly dissipated, though, when his eyes alighted on the ram statue sitting on the kitchen table. Deidara frowned.

"What's that thing doing there," he spat, causing Sakura to look up in surprise at his change of tone. She followed the Iwa-nin's gaze to the mysterious object.

"You wanted me to bring it home, remember? So Tsunade wouldn't see it."

"I mean, why is it just sitting there, out in the open, like it actually belongs there? I expected you to shove it in a drawer or a closet somewhere, not use it as a dining room decoration."

Sakura sighed as she stepped up to the table and looked down at the ceramic statue. "I told you I'm not here a lot. I probably just set it down when I got home and never got around to putting it away." She suddenly turned and breezed past Deidara pack into the living room. The kunoichi pawed through her bag a moment before producing the black ram's horn, quietly slipped from drawer to backpack as they were sneaking Deidara out of the hospital. She returned to the kitchen and placed it beside the figurine, then stepped back to observe them both. "What do they mean?" she muttered to herself. She heard Deidara shift behind her, and turned to see that he had actually taken a step backward, his eyes still on the table's contents. There was a shadow of uncertainty, almost fear, in his normally confident, ice blue gaze. Sakura once again felt that cursed softening in her chest as the criminal revealed his more vulnerable side.

"Are you sure you can't think of any significance they might have?" she asked quietly. "Does just the ram itself have any importance?"

Deidara's eyes turned to her, and he shook his head. "I believe they were once seen as sacred through much of the Land of Earth, un. Something about a god or a demon or something that the native tribes used to worship. But that was hundreds of years ago, and…" he shook his head again "…I don't know how that would relate to any of this."

"Hmm." Sakura looked back to the table, then picked up both the statue and the horn. Opening a cabinet, she shoved both of them inside among the pots and pans, closed the door tightly, and then rose to look at Deidara. "There. Ya happy now?" she asked, hands on her hips. He was still leaning in the doorway, but he wasn't looking at her now. He gazed straight ahead, eyes unfocused and doubt and anxiety once again swimming in the blue depths.

"Yeah, that's fine," he mumbled after a moment.

Sakura sighed again, shaking her head, and moved to pass him into the living room. She stopped a second and impulsively reached out to put a gentle hand on the missing-nin's arm. He turned to her, surprised, but his gaze quickly changed back to the confident, mocking stare she had grown used to. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and Sakura suddenly realized how beautiful those great orbs really were: clear and cool as an ocean's tide pool, yet also misty with vestiges of pain and suffering that she supposed all ninja eventually acquired. So deceivingly lovely and mysterious. Hiding the evil beneath. At this thought, Sakura dropped her hand and broke their eye contact. "There's nothing wrong with being afraid once in awhile," she muttered before continuing past him. "I'll find you some blankets, then I'm going to bed. The kitchen's there if you're hungry. And you can shower if you want. Extra towels are underneath the sink. Also, always keep in mind that this place is being watched by ANBU now. So no funny business."

Deidara watched her fade into the darkness of the hallway across from him with a mixture of confusion and amusement. The truth was, he really didn't know how to feel about this whole situation. Escape was out of the question—for now at least. He would give time for the Akatsuki to find his note and hopefully formulate their own plan to get him out. And if that didn't happen…he'd just have to see how things played out here. It wasn't like he was being held in a prison cell beaten, starved, and tortured. He could bide his time. Of course, the Iwa-nin hated sitting still. He lived for action, movement, the chaotic beauty of employing his art. But things were getting interesting here.

Pushing away from the wall, Deidara strode back to the couch and plopped down again. Sakura wasn't mistaken in the emotion she had seen in his eyes, though. He was very much afraid. Perhaps even more than the perceptive kunoichi had realized. But the artist had hoped to leave all this behind when he left Iwagakure. As fun as this could be, it was also dangerous, and it brought up all sorts of unwanted memories. Deidara clenched his fists into the couch cushions and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the parade of images that began to flash through his head. He was supposed to have gotten over all this. He left Iwa to start over, to leave all that pain behind. Working as a freelance terrorist bomber had allowed him to keep himself under the radar for awhile. Those who hired him didn't care who he was as long as he got the job done. And then after a few years, he was recruited for Akatsuki. He hadn't liked it at first—as low as the organization was laying at that time, his name quickly started popping up in bingo books—but he started to see it as an advantage after awhile. It would show them that he had grown strong, that they wouldn't be able to dispose of him easily if they ever decided he should be killed. And he had already proved that once. Although the attack the week before was no more than a dark blur in his memory, there was no doubt in his mind who it was.

"Rebirth," Deidara murmured under his breath, and then laughed quietly. "What a load of bull. They can't even kill one of the corrupters of their perfect little world." He remained where he sat a moment, then shook his head and stood, turning toward the hallway. All that could wait for later. Right now, he needed a shower.

111

So maybe it's just me, but that fight scene at the beginning seemed sooo awkward. It was rather painful for me to write. If anyone has any constructive criticism relating to that, please don't hesitate to share it. And, no, I don't think Sasori would fall for a substitution jutsu that easily, but that's just how it played out. When I write, I just kinda go at it. I need to learn to think things through a little better. Sorry for that.

So although there was a little more action in this chapter, it's still not really moving along. My current problem is that I know where I want to go with this story, but I'm having some trouble getting there. So I apologize for beating around the bush a bit. It'll all come out eventually. Read and review!!!