Author's Corner: Hello, darlings. Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews and favorites! You have no idea how much I appreciate them, since I am so horrible with remembering to update this thing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

"Haha, YES! I get my job back!" Sakura cheered, jumping up. Hidan smirked as he watched her cheer loudly. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Why don't you yell it a bit louder, I don't think Iwa heard quite heard you," she said sarcastically. Sakura quickly sobered up, though she still glowed with giddiness. Tsunade raised her eyebrow at her, as if questioning whether or not she was done. Sakura cleared her throat and motioned for her to go on.

"It's quite sudden, but I have a mission I need both of you on. Currently all of my other shinobi are either gone or injured. I trust he can handle a B-ranked mission?" Tsunade questioned.

"Of course he can. I trained him, after all," she said. Hidan sighed and shifted his weight to his right foot. Tsunade smirked before pulling a scroll from her desk drawer, and tossed it at Hidan. He nearly fumbled with it but managed not to make a fool of himself.

"I need you to escort a noble back to the Land of Iron. His original escorts had been called back due to an unexpected outbreak of a serious rash in the hotels they had been staying at. He is a very important political figure, and I need you to keep him safe. Tatsuki and Lee will be going with you," She explained as Hidan scanned over the contents in the scroll.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on. Four guards?" Sakura butted in. "Shouldn't this be an A-ranked mission if he needs four jonin escorts?" Tsunade shook her head.

"No, Mifune was very stingy about having that many. Must be some kind of prince-like noble or something. Point aside, you leave in two days." Hidan rolled the scroll up again and pocketed it. He nodded and bowed. Tsunade nodded and Sakura turned around and left with Hidan trailing behind her. Sakura clasped her hands behind her back as she kept pace with him.

"Yay. Now I have my home to myself again," she said. Hidan noticed the lack of enthusiasm that had been there when she had been informed Hidan's rehabilitation had been complete. He grinned and nudged her lightly with his elbow. He raised an eyebrow, an unspoken conversation passing over his eyes. Sakura rolled her eyes and whacked him on the shoulder.

"Oh shut up, I am not going to miss you. You eat all my food and snore," she muttered amicably. That last part was a complete and utter lie and they both new it- Hidan was a silent sleeper. If you didn't noticed his chest barely moving, you would have assumed he was dead. Hidan chuckled quietly as Sakura scowled. He rubbed the back of his neck and a small smile lingered on his lips as he looked up at the sky.

In the past several months, his skills had sky-rocketed. He began getting into practicing with his scythe again, and his skills had improved vastly. He had also began tapping into his immortality. Turns out, even though he didn't make sacrifices to Jashin anymore, somehow, he had retained his invincibility. Everyone was quite happy with that, but Hidan had seemed troubled.

Sakura stretched her hands towards the sky and yawned widely. Just looking at her made the urge to yawn prickle at the back of his throat. Well, why was he looking at her anyways? Hidan ducked his head and stared at the dry earth before she could notice.

"Since we've got a whole two days to kill, how about we go down to the training fields and spar?" Sakura suggested. Hidan grinned and nodded. Sakura flashed him a devious grin- one that he had learned to be wary of.

"Last one there has to make dinner!" She said, before taking off down the road. Hidan grinned softly before heading after her. She knew she would never beat him with speed, but strength was another matter entirely. Sakura laughed as Hidan caught up with her and was now even with her.

"Oh, no you don't!" She yelled over the wind that whipped past them. She channeled chakra into her feet and blasted forward, leaving Hidan to maneuver himself through a small crater. His lips turned up as he saw she slowly getting ahead of him. He leaped up and took to the rooftops. It wasn't long until he hopped down, several feet in front of her.

"Hey, no fair!" Sakura yelled. Hidan turned and gave her a cheeky, lopsided smile before saluting her playfully and putting on a burst of speed. He only had to wait for a few seconds at the training field before Sakura appeared in front of him, panting. She smiled before putting her hands on her hips, grinning at him.

"That was a nice warm up. Would you like soup or salad, O speedy one?" she said playfully as did a few light stretches. Hidan shrugged. Sakura rolled her eyes and walked towards the middle of the field, and Hidan followed. She turned to face him.

"So, no ninjutsu or genjutsu, just taijutsu. Weapons allowed. Anything else?" She asked. Hidan shook his head. On cue, she vanished from his sight, and he smirked before bracing his arm to the left, blocking her kick. He wheeled on her and she used his hand as leverage to flip back. She pulled a kunai from her pouch and Hidan grabbed one from his. He didn't like using his scythe against her, but she forced him to sometimes.

They clashed, nearly nose-to-nose. A slow smile spread across his face, adrenalin beginning to pump through his veins. It was a welcome change from their rather slow day. He swung his leg around, attempting to knock her off her feet. It didn't work, and she used the momentum from her jump to prop a hand on his shoulder and do a pirouette. She laughed merrily as she did three back handsprings and skidded to a stop. Hidan spun around to face her and grinned again.

They dashed at each other. Sakura threw a punch and Hidan caught it and twisted it in an attempt to pin it behind her back. Sakura slipped out of his grip and aimed another punch at his gut. Hidan struck the side of her arm and it was thrown off course. Unfazed, she tried to do an uppercut to his chin. He smacked that out of the way too and retaliated with a high kick. She dodged and threw four more punches, all of which were blocked.

Their dangerous dance continued for several minutes. Every time Hidan thought he got a hold on her, she would slip out of his grip like water and hop away, grinning deviously. It continued for several minutes, weapons being hurled back and forth with no real intent to harm.

Soon, they both threw punches and were locked with their Hidan's left fist in Sakura's right and vice versa. It was down to brute strength now and Hidan knew he only had seconds before he was overpowered by her. He smirked as an idea came to mind. It would probably get him socked in the face but he might as well try...

Without warning, he leaned in and placed a light kiss on her nose. Her eyes went wide and her grip went weak. He easily kicked her feet out from under her and pinned her on the ground with his hands on her wrists. He had his knees braced on either side of her hips and he was hovering inches above her. Her face was flushed bright pink to match her hair and she didn't talk for several seconds.

"You cheated." She grumbled. There was a mischievous glint in his violet eyes and a devillish smirk on his face. Sakura had realized over the past few months they had been living together that he was no longer outwardly evil. Instead, he had reigned in his deviousness and nobody seemed to see him coming. He had been spending way too much time around Naruto when, in retaliation for her eating his dango, he had put blue dye in her shampoo.

Hidan rolled his eyes, raising an eyebrow at her. He sat back on his heels, letting her prop herself up on her elbows. She stared at him, her head tilted curiously. Suddenly, she brought her hand up and smushed his cheeks together. Hidan's eyes widened in confusion and Sakura burst out laughing.

"Oh wow, that's funny. Would you mind getting off of me now?" She giggled. Hidan scowled and shifted off of her, instead sitting in the grass next to her. Her rubbed his cheeks, slightly cowed and a small scowl on his face. He glanced up at her with a questioning look on his face.

"You're dimples are disgustingly cute," she said simply, smiling cheerily at him and turning around, leaving him sitting in the grass with his cheeks flushing a deep shade of pink.

"You know, there was a dango shop back there, I saw you looking at it," Sakura said, smirking as the pair walked down the road. Hidan had a large paper bag in one arm and Sakura had a smaller one dangling from her elbow. A shopping trip had been in order in preparation for their next mission, as they were low on supplies. Hidan huffed lightly in response to her statement and he tugged lightly on a stray piece of flyaway hair from her braid.

"Whatever you say, Pops," she chortled. Sakura glanced at her list.

"Next we need... Ah, crap!" She exclaimed as a gust of wind wrenched it from her fingers. She jogged after it and scooped it off the ground. As she bent over, someone wolf whistled from the side of a building.

"Nice ass!" A man crowed. A vein appeared on her temple and she crushed the list in her fist and she stood up again. Before she could move, the same man let out a girlish yelp after four simultaneous thumps. She glanced at the offender to see four kunai wedged deep into the wall, a hair's-breadth from his body. He was frozen, a terrified look on his face. Sakura glanced at Hidan who was staring off to the left, the opposite direction of the creeper. He noticed her look and gave an innocent but completely false shrug. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Right." She said bluntly. She didn't noticed Hidan's wide grin as they continued walking once again. Hidan tagged a little closer to Sakura, shifting the bag he was carrying to his other hand. Several ordinary minutes passed and (after one small argument on which type of fish to buy) they started to walk home. But once again their progress was halted, but this time it was much worse.

"Sakura-nii! Sakura-nii!" A small voice yelled behind them. Sakura didn't even have time to turn around before something small and blue crashed into her legs. She nearly stumbled if it hadn't been for Hidan's steadying hand. Sakura gave him a smile in thanks before looking down at the child that had decided her legs were the only thing saving him from an unseen hurricane.

"Akari!" Sakura said, smiling down at the little girl. She looked up, rosy pink cheeks and crimson eyes stared up at her from under a curtain of messy black hair. "How have you been? It's been a while!" She said. Akari giggled and began bouncing on the balls of her small feet.

"Nine days. I've been counting," she said. Sakura laughed and ruffled her hair. "Where's your-" Sakura suddenly cut herself off, her smile fading and her face draining of color. Hidan gave her a worried look. "-Crap." Sakura looked around and seemed to sag when she saw someone walking through the crowd, trying to catch up with her fleet-footed child. Hidan caught her gaze and his face promptly went pale as well.

"Kurenai-sensei," Sakura greeted weakly. The said retired jonin froze and her normally warm scarlet eyes went cold and sharp.

"Akari, come here." She said. Akari looked at her mom, up at Sakura, then back at Kurenai.

"But mom-!"

"Akari, now," she hissed. Fearful at her mother's tone, Akari trotted over and grabbed her hand. Kurenai turned around and went to leave. Sakura almost did as well when Hidan stepped up, almost lurching after Kurenai.

"W-wait..." He said. "Can I- Can we-" Hidan sighed. "Can we talk?" He asked

The tension in the small cafe so was thick, even people from other tables were getting up and moving away. Kurenai sat with a stiff back, her ruby eyes narrowed lethally and her arms crossed over her chest. A waitress came by and quietly delivered the tea they had ordered, not even bothering to ask if they needed anything else before rushing away. Hidan's hands were wrapped around his cup and his fingers drummed nervously on the worn ceramic. Sakura had taken Hikari home and it was just the two of them.

Hidan opened his mouth to speak.

"If you're going to apologize, I wouldn't even bother." She said icily. Hidan closed his mouth. Kurenai's lips turned down in a frown and she pushed her tea away.

"If this is it, I think I'd-" Kurenai went to remove herself from the booth.

"You're right." Hidan blurted. Kurenai paused, for a moment looking honestly surprised. Then she schooled her features and sat down again.

"About?"

Hidan's hands were starting to burn from the heat of the cup and he removed them.

"Sorry won't even begin to cover it. I know what I did and I know that apologizing is useless. I just... I guess I want you know that I regret killing him. I truly and honestly do." For the first time, Hidan looked up and met her eyes. To his surprise, she didn't look as venomous.

"What?" She breathed. Hidan took that as an incentive to rush into an explanation.

"I... know what it's like to not have a father. I'm sorry I did that to you and your child and I've regretted it ever since I realized you and Asuma were an item. I'm not asking you to forgive me, but I just want you to know... that." He said. He wrapped his hands around the mug again, squeezing until he was sure the glass would crack and his hands burned. He took a sip and only succeeded in scalding his tongue. Nonetheless, he drained his glass and set it back down on the table. He went to stand up and was stopped when Kurenai held up her hand.

"It will be hard to forgive you... but at least now I can start learning to." She said. She avoided his eyes. Overcoming his initial shock, Hidan smiled slightly and nodded at her.

"Thank you." He said.

When he left the cafe, he wasn't surprised to see Sakura waiting for him outside the door. She gave him a small smile.

"That was really something." She said. Hidan raising an eyebrow.

"I had a clone in there listening in. Just in case you two ended up trying to kill each other," she explained. Hidan frowned and began walking down the road to her house. Sakura caught up with him and elbowed him.

"I'm being serious here. That really was something. I'm proud of you, Hidan," she said quietly. Hidan felt his face get warm and he looked down at her. Sakura was giving him a kind smile and even looped her arm through his. He scowled and looked down at the ground in front of him but kept walking, his arm still linked with hers. Sakura was grinning like a madman, a blush spreading across her own cheeks as well.

"I wonder how someone like you could have possibly made it to ANBU level. You are a dimwitted moron."

"What was that, you son of a bitch?!"

"Does your slow mind need me to repeat it, you idiot?"

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!"

"Tatsuki-san, please, calm down!"

"I wouldn't bother, he is obviously a complete idiot."

Sakura jumped off a roof and walked into a very odd scene. Lee was holding back a thrashing Tatsuki, who was oozing a dark killer intent. Sakura looked at the noble. She blinked and had the urge to rub her eyes.

The "very important political figure" was only about fifteen. He had long black hair tied into a high ponytail, a fancy white shirt tucked into tight black pants and knee-high brown boots. Sakura hung her head in exasperation. This was not going to be an easy mission. Having to put up with someone like him, that is.

"Tatsuki, calm down." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tatsuki glanced at her, his eyes still blazing. Sakura squeezed his shoulder harshly and the anger faded from his muscles but remained in his eyes. He jerked out of Lee's grip, straightening out his uniform.

"Yeah, sorry Sakura-chan," he said. Sakura flicked her eyes to the noble quickly at the noble, then back at him, and rolled her eyes. Tatsuki winked in understanding.

"Alright, mister, what's your name?" She asked cheerfully. The noble looked at her in disgust.

"It's proper to give your own names first, peasants," he said nonchalantly, looking at his fingernails. Sakura tensed, a fake smile plastered on his face. Hidan, Lee, and Tatsuki looked at her fearfully. Shudders went up and down their spines as Sakura leaked a small amount of her very potent killer intent. The noble still seemed unfazed. Sakura counted to ten in her head to get her temper under control.

"My name's Sakura Haruno. This is Tatsuki Ryujin, Rock Lee, and Hidan," gesturing to each of them in turn. The noble glanced up from his fingernails for an instant.

"Hirohito," he grunted. Sakura's eye twitched. She was so going to blow her top soon. She'll give him a ten second head start. Run mousy boy, run.

Sakura felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She glanced up to see Hidan standing over her, a warning look in his eyes. She scowled fiercely.

"Right. I can do this. Just a couple of days." She muttered to herself. Hidan nodded and released her, taking a step back out of her personal space. Now Tatsuki and Lee were both staring at him incredulously. Hidan shrugged silently. They shook their heads.

"Whatever, let's get going. We aren't getting close to the Land of Iron just standing around here," Tatsuki said, turning on heel and walking out of the gates. Hirohito rolled his eyes, shoved his hands in his pockets, and followed after him. Haku, Hidan, and Sakura followed after.

Wow, fast updates, am I right? How I'm getting these done, I do not know. You should be thankful, I could be reading Ascend right now (Trylle trilogy). Ah ha, ha. *Squishes all your guys' cheeks* Hidan has dimples~ =w=

-Kaya Kazaki