Disclaimer: I do not or Naruto, or any of its associations.

It was a brand new day and the sun was shining vibrantly outside of the Akatsuki hideout…

It was cold and windy. Dark, looming clouds hung over the grey sky. With her raven hair flowing in the wind, Naoshime looked over the gloomy landscape. She shook her head and sighed. She stood there, thinking to herself, I can't believe I did this…

Score! This is so cool! Nee-chan will definitely be proud of me now!

All of a sudden, the sky began to grow lighter. The sun came out and the clouds disappeared. Naoshime turned to see a shimmering golden god holding out a well sculpted hand. To her own surprise, Naoshime took it. After that they…

Naoshime tossed in bed and covered her face with a pillow shouting, "Kore wa oo sugi te koko de wa akarui yo!"*

Deidara stood in front of the full-length mirror he had brought into his room. It just seemed as though nothing he did could make him look good. He pulled his coat this way and that, trying to make sure he looked more muscular than bulky. He brushed his hair multiple times so that is seemed to be soft and shiny.

Deidara sighed and blew a few stray strands away from his face. Nothing he did was right. Everything he did only succeeded in making him uglier.*2 Now she would never love him, and he will grow old being lonely and without a person to love and have love him in return. Oh wait, he might have cats. Old, Lonely, unloved people always have tons of cats. His cats will love him, or he thinks they will. Will they run away from this hideous face?

Though it was only midday, the sky was dark as though it were midnight, if not for the occasional flashes of the powerful jagged lightning, there would be no light in the sinister black sky. The waves slapping against the boat were a lugubrious grey. Back and forth it rocked, much too close to capsizing. With the boat plummeting over the crest of the monstrous wave, down towards the ever-darkening trough, it was hard to hold on. Nataru plunged over-board.

Struggle as she might, Nataru could not stay above water; drowning. She was drowning. Her one and only fear. And that fear would be the death of her. It was choking her, suffocating her more than the water was. But then, a hand reached out to her. That glorious hand was her savior, and she reached wildly for it. Amazingly enough, she grabbed it. It pulled her to safety. She was suddenly on dry land. And in Sasori's arms. To her own surprise, she did not move. She stayed there and began to cry…

Nataru sat straight up in her bed, with the same choking feeling coming over her. She could not breathe, her fingers were numb, her heart was pounding, and her mind was racing. I just met this guy a few days ago *3. And yet, it seems as though I've known him all my life. How can I feel this way? Why am I feeling this way?*4

Sasori shielded his eyes and tried to blink away the violent rays of sunlight. After his eyes adjusted, he surveyed his room and his eyes finally settled on the empty spot in the bed next to himself, not believing that she had actually left him while he was asleep. He thought they had really connected the night before. After dinner, when they had made themselves comfortable in his room, they had talked. And not just the back-and-forth-childishly-spiteful-game-of-poking-fun-at-one-another comments they were well experienced with either. The two of them had an actual civilized conversation. He learned quite a lot about her that night. He learned that her favorite food was smoked salmon *5 with lemon, that her birthday was June ninth, making her a Gemini *6, that she absolutely hates swimming, that she had to mature quite quickly because of the premature death of her older brother and caretaker….

But none of that matters, he thought to himself as he rolled over in bed. She's a prisoner anyway. She signed her own death warrant the moment she decided to mess with Pein's spies. And besides, I'm a guy. I shouldn't be the being so obsessive. She should; she's the woman. And since she has shown no signs of being interested, I should just cut my losses and move on.

Sasori tossed once more in bed and his gaze settled once again on the empty space next to him. He stared blankly for the next few moments, and then he sighed.

But if all of that is true…then why can't I stop thinking about her?

"What's wrong?"

Deidara quickly snapped out of his daze when he heard the sound of Naoshime's light, sweet-as-honey voice hit his ears. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, un."

"Are you sure? You seem kind of…spacey today." The look upon her beautiful porcelain face was one of worry.

"No, really. I'm fine. I didn't mean to seem distant. It's just that…"

"What? What is it?"

"Um, nothing, un. Just forget about it. So what were you saying?"

"I was saying that…."

And that was when Deidara started to stare again. He could not help it. The way she moved her hands animatedly when she talked, and the way she occasionally flipped her hair behind her shoulder. Deidara just found her so beautiful, but he still could not believe that she would bother to even breathe the same air that someone as homely as he was.

"Hello…are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

Nataru trekked along the pathway, so glad to be outside, with only the tranquil sounds of nature to disturb the silence. The soft chirping of sparrows, the mellifluous padding of the timid rabbits, the calming thud of Sasori's feet against the ground as he followed her. It was all so relaxing. She just wished Sasori would stop hiding. She knew he was there, and she was sure he knew that she knew that he was there. He was only hiding because he wanted the satisfaction of having her tell him that she wanted him to come out. Which she did not really want to do. But she saw through his foolish little plan. Now she just had to find away to get him to stop. She could just turn around and tell him to come out, but that would be walking straight into his trap. Then he would think that she wanted him to come out and talk to her.

Which I don't. I could care less if he talked to me. I'm just tired of him stalking me is all.

And her thought pattern went on this way, trying to convince herself that she did not care. But the harder she tried to convince herself, the more she realized she actually did care. Then the choking feeling came over her again. She stopped walking and touched her hand to her throat.

Why can't I breathe? I only feel this way when I'm scared of something. But what am I afraid of?

Sasori peeked out from the bush in which he was hiding. Nataru had stopped moving. Had she finally figured out he was there? He thought that she already known. Maybe he overestimated her abilities.

Or maybe she's waiting for me to come out. There's no way she didn't know I was here. I wasn't really trying to hide. Maybe I should….

Sasori came out from behind the bush and slowly walked up to Nataru. He thought for a moment or two, contemplating if he should speak first or not. He did not have to think much longer though. She turned around to face him. Just as she spun around, her eyes met his. Nataru stared deeply into his pools of brown, searching for the emotion she could feel emanating from them. She could not quite pin down what it was, but she knew she was familiar with it. In fact, she was sure she felt it herself just moments ago. But what in the world was it? It was not the fear but she had the feeling that it was the thing she was afraid of. But she was not quite sure what she was afraid of herself. If only she could remember, then it would hit her... Sasori he…. And she started to suffocate again. All at once, she began to make sense of all the confusing pieces of the puzzle. It all fit together perfectly. Sasori had fallen in love with her and she felt exactly the same towards him. The thought of it terrified her.

So she fainted. *7

*: Means "It's too bright in here!"

*2: Aw, Deidara. Nothing could make you ugly!

*3: That's how long it takes to get from the middle of nowhere in the Land of Lightning to the Akatsuki hideout (I'm guessing).

*4: OMGZ… I squealed while writing this. Just thought you should know.

*5: It's not mine… I hate fish of all kinds (for the most part).

*6: And Sasori's a Scorpio. Ironic, isn't it?

*7: Ok lookz, a cliffhanger! Duh duh duuuuuuuh.