Author's Note: Well, thanks for all the comments! Enjoy this chapter!
Wow, this one really took longer than I thought... especially when typing the word "consciousness" OVER and OVER and OVER again in... that part. You'll know which one. It's my weak spot. I can't type that word fast! Enjoy, please!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters so STOP EATING MY COOKIES!

Wait... what?

Chapter Eleven

Naruto and his group gathered next to the gates of Konoha.

"In this picture, there is a certain plant that can only be found..." he pointed. "Here."

"So that's where we're going?" said Tenten.

"Well, we'll start there." said Gaara, taking the map from Naruto and inspecting it. Then, he rolled it up and gave it back to the excited teenager.

"Alright!" said Naruto. "We can do this!"

The group of people cheered.

"Let's go!" said Naruto, jumping ahead, and the rest of the group leaped after him, swiftly through the trees.

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"Sasuke! Saaasuke!"

*Poke*

Sasuke rolled over to find Milton Wernie's face inches from his.

"AAAH!" he shouted, jumping back.

"Master Sasuke is awake!" said Milton joyfully.

"Master Sasuke is annoyed." responded Sasuke, rubbing his eyes. "Whaddya want?"

"We should start the hunt now!" said Milton, his eyes gleaming.

"Fine." grumbled Sasuke, pulling his pack over his shoulder. "Let's start walking."

Milton opened his mouth to talk, but Sasuke interrupted him. "And don't talk. I have a headache."

"Yes, Master-!"

Sasuke whirled around, aiming his death stare right at Milton, who cowered and took a step back.

Sasuke turned his attention back to walking, letting his inner fight resume.

Sasuke, why are you doing this? What's so great about having power anyway? pleaded his consciousness.

I want to kill my brother. Surpass him. Sasuke thought.

But... why the girl? Didn't you see how much she and the blonde one love each other? his concussions responded. What heartless jerk would tear them apart?

I don't care about love. thought Sasuke, his eyes hardening. Plus, the blonde dude tried to kill me.

No, he didn't. said his consciousness disapprovingly. You felt it yourself. There was something different about him. Would the Deidara you knew protect Sakura? Would Sakura you know cling to the Deidara you crossed paths yet before?

Okay, that doesn't matter. Power matters. It's the only way to surpass my brother. thought Sasuke-

Who CARES about your frikin' brother? shouted his consciousness, making Sasuke practically jump out of his skin.

I care about my "frikin" brother. I have to kill him. It's for my honor. thought Sasuke, getting annoyed. And a headache.

Honor, honor, HONOR! screeched his consciousness, making Sasuke cringe. That's ALL you care about! Well, honor, SHMONOR!

Shut up. thought Sasuke.

There are SO many things more important than honor! There's love, and caring, and compassion! his consciousness shouted. What has honor ever done for you?

Shut up. Now. thought Sasuke, rubbing his head. He could really feel that headache coming on now. But the ache was more than that.

All you do is fight for honor, when you don't need it! You don't need honor! Never did, never will! But you need love! And compassion! Where are they, Sasuke? All the abandoned feelings? HONOR IS FAKE! IMAGINARY! LEAVE WHAT YOU HAVE AGAINST YOUR BROTHER BEHIND!

Sasuke dropped to his knees, clutching his head.

"Master Sasuke!" said Milton.

SHUT...UP! he thought fiercely.

YOU'RE A JERK! said Sasuke's consciousness, it's screeching reaching its peak. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! No matter how much power you gain, you will never, NEVER amount to anything, Sasuke Uchia! If you don't let go of your mad ambition, a bloodthirsty revenge that claws at you from the inside you will crumble and persish. LET GO OF IT! STOP THE MADNESS! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!" howled Sasuke, and punched a tree. All the leaves fell off and Sasuke looked down at his fist, clenching his teeth.

It was shaking.

"But... but Master, I didn't speak!" said Milton, taking a few steps back.

Sasuke turned to look at him, a tired look in his eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you." he muttered, and started walking again.

Man, I'm... I'm losing it. thought Sasuke.

The whole "voice inside his head" thing had been going on for some time now.

And every time, it ended up with the same words.

"Stop... stop... stop..."

I'm going mad. thought Sasuke. Or maybe... I've gone mad already. The only thing left to do is to keep going.

So that's what he did.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ugh..." muttered Deidara, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked and looked outside.

"Hey, Sakura." he said, stretching and yawning. "It's morning."

Sakura sat up, her hair frizzy and sticking out in every direction humanly possible.

Deidara's eyes drifted up to her head.

"What're you lookin' at?" grumbled Sakura, rubbing one of her eyes.

"Ehehe... nothing!" said Deidara, holding up his hands. He stood up and walked outside to check the weather.

When he ducked back into the cave, he saw Sakura had fixed her hair.

"So... where do we go now?" she said.

"Well, just so they can't track us, I think the best thing to do is find another cave. We've gotta keep moving."

"Fine by me." said Sakura, standing up. "Wanna fly?"

"Let's walk for now," said Deidara, slinging his pack over his shoulder. "We don't want to attract any unwanted attention... and plus, we need to save our energy. There's no knowing who we'll meet out there."

Sakura nodded, picked up her daggers, and slid them into her belt. They flashed pink for a second before fading.

They walked out, feet crunching the leaves underfoot.

"Hey, Deidara," said Sakura.

"Yeah?" he said, turning to her.

"Do you think... that they'll ever stop going after us? The Akatsuki?"

Deidara looked at Sakura's hopeful eyes and sighed.

"Sakura... I don't think so. Not yet." he said.

Sakura looked down.

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's split up, search in different directions. We can cover more ground that way."

"Okay." said Sakura. "Send up a flare with a dagger if we run into trouble or a cave?"

"Sure!" said Deidara. He started off in a different direction.

"See you soon?" called Sakura, watching his ponytail sway behind him as he walked away.

"Yeah!" Deidara called back, turning to face her. The sunlight glinted off his features, but his smile out-shined the light.

He turned back and disappeared into the trees.

Sakura walked, looking in all directions. "If I was a cave, where would I be?" she muttered.

Suddenly, she felt her hair stand up.

Darn, it's getting frizzy again. she thought, annoyed, as she smoothed it down. Like there's static electricity around here somewhere-

Sakura stopped, her eyes widening.

She whipped out one of her daggers and pointed it towards the sky, her eyes glowing pink as she charged the pink marble in it's center-

"Oh no, you don't!" said a voice, and an arrow whizzed past her hand, hitting the dagger. It spun out of her grasp.

"Hello, m'dear." said a voice, and she saw a very pudgy man standing on a tree branch.

Standing with his arms crossed behind him stood...

Sasuke.

Sakura reached for her other dagger, but as she lifted it another arrow went by. This time, it caught her sleeve and pinned her to a tree.

"Nothing personal, I assure you." said the man, grinning. He dressed oddly in pink with a black cape.

"Let's finish this." said Sasuke.

Sakura ripped free of the arrow restraining her. A sneer curled around her lips.

"I'm not that weak, idiots." she said. "We're on the ground."

Her hand curled into a fist.

"This is my territory." she said, and then she let loose a yell and puched the ground.

The ground rumbled and split, and the tree that Sasuke and the stranger were on tipped over. They both jumped off.

As soon as they landed, Sakura punched the ground again, and Sasuke was thrown off his feet. The man in pink, however, landed cat-like next to Sakura.

"Got you." he said, and as she turned he grabbed for her.

Sakura lashed up a kick, right into his chin.

"My chin!" he cried.

Sasuke ran forward, gathering a ball of electricity in his hand. He swung it at her, but she dodged and rolled to the side.

She kicked Sasuke's legs, but he didn't stumble, instead grabbing Sakura's hands and flipping her over onto her stomach.

Wow, he's strong! thought Sakura. She started to get up, but-

She felt a foot plant itself onto her back.

"You'll stay right there!" said the man. "Or my name isn't Milton Wernie!"

"That's a STUPID NAME!" shouted Sakura, flipping onto her hands and kicking him in the face. He stumbled back.

But suddenly, a shock hit her. Literally. Bolts of electricity coursed through her body, and she fell, weakened. When she tried to get up, she was stepped on and thudded into the dusty ground again.

"Don't move." she heard Sasuke say. "Or I will shock you again. This little fight is over."

But suddenly, a force smacked into the side of his face, and he stumbled to the side.

Sakura looked just in time to see Deidara soaring above her, foot raise in a kick.

His hair flowed behind him, sparkling in the sunlight... as if in slow motion...

And then reality hit her and Sakura stood up to fight.

But then...

A huge, heavy force smacked into her and Deidara, and they both crashed heavily onto the ground.

"C-can't... move..." Deidara gasped.

Sakura pushed with all her strength against the air, but even she couldn't get up. The ground around her sank.

"Didn't you know what my power is?" said Milton. "I can control the gravity. Makes me an effective hunter... because if prey can't move, then they're easy to catch, aren't they?"

He walked over to Deidara, who looked up at him with rage in his eyes and struggled to get up.

Milton lashed his hands behind him and tied his legs together. Then walked over to Sakura and did the same to her.

He then drew a small tube out of his pocket and blew two needles at both of them.

Deidara looked into Sakura's eyes. They were directly opposite of each other.

"Deidara... I'm scared..." she whispered as her world started to turn

"Don't worry... I'll see you again... someday... I promised I'd... p-protect you...

And then their eyes closed.

"This one's coming with me." said Milton, turning the gravity back to normal and pointing at Deidara. "The ties on the hands suck their chakra and any other force around them in. Don't remove them, or they can just summon their spirit daggers and escape when they wake up."

He lifted Deidara and slung him over his shoulder, walking off. Deidara shouted some protest through the gag, but it was muffled.

"G'bye, Master Sasuke!" he called, waving.

Sasuke didn't answer. His eyes flickered over to Sakura, lying there defeated.

How am I supposed to carry her? he thought.

He summoned a clone of himself, who swung the small Kunoichi over it's shoulder and walked after Sasuke.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Deidara woke up, he found himself in a small cell.

His first thought was of Sakura, and he deflated.

Sakura.

I... I failed to protect her. I failed. he thought.

He looked around the small, dark cell. Water dripped from the ceiling somewhere, and he drew his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them.

The cold soaked deep into him, and he shivered.

Deidara heard a clank, and looked above him. His arms were chained to the wall, loose enough for movement... but he probably couldn't get more than a few feet away from the wall.

There was no running from it, no escaping. Deidara couldn't see the sky anymore.

He started to breathe faster, his heart beating within his chest.

Alone.

He knew this feeling.

Panic.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura woke up in a big room, made of stone blocks. She tried to move, and couldn't.

She looked to the side, and saw that her arms and legs were strapped onto a huge board, sort of in the form of a cross.

She looked up. The board was dangling by two chains from the ceiling.

True, pure fear pierced her.

After that, she thought of Deidara.

I'll probably never see him again.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook silently.

She knew this feeling.

Terror.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The small group of young ninjas searched the area were they thought Sakura had last been frantically.

They searched for clues, anything that would tell them what happened to her.

Gaara stood on a tree in the center of the operation, seeing that everyone was spread out to cover as much ground as possible.

Naruto leapt onto the tree branch next to him. "Gaara!" he said. "Has anyone found anything?"

"No, not yet." said Gaara. "But be patient. I bet that-"

"Naruto!" said someone.

Suddenly, there were two voices shouting his name.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

And then it was a chorus of voices.

Naruto and Gaara jumped quickly from tree to tree, landing next to the shouting ninjas.

They were all gathered around a small lake.

"What? What's going on?" said Naruto, looking over. "Find something?"

"Look, Rock Lee's coming up with something we saw right now!
"And just what did he see?" said Gaara, looking over Naruto's shoulder.

Rock Lee burst out of the water, gasping. His hair was sopping wet, and shinier than usual.

His hand rose out of the water as he flung something out onto dry ground.

Everyone crowded around it, and Naruto kneeled to pick it up.

It was wet, torn, faded, and almost unrecognizable, but the unmistakable red clouds were still clear on the black material.

"It's an Akatsuki cloak!" shouted Rock Lee.

Everyone was silent.

"What could this mean?" said Naruto, starting to shake. "Did an Akatsuki member... kill...

"No." said Gaara, coming forward. "Look."

He took the cloak. "This cloak was probably ripped intentionally. See, it's in strips. I doubt someone would want to cut an Akatsuki into strips, much less get the chance to."

He held the cloak against himself and looked down.

"Furthermore." he added. "This is the cloak of a very short Akatsuki member. Which of the Akatsuki members are short?"

"Itachi!" someone called.

"Deidara!" said someone else.

"Definitely not Kakuzu!" said someone shouted. "The guy's HUGE!"

"So... this is probably Itachi or Deidara's cloak." said Tenten. "But... how can we be sure?

Neji looked at the lake.

"Hey, Rock Lee?" he said.

"Yeah?" Rock Lee responded, still floating in the middle of the small lake.

"There's more stuff down there." said Neji. "Something big and something small. Can you see them? It's a little hazy through the water."

Rock Lee glanced down into the lake's murky depths. "I can check!" he said, and dove down.

Everyone above waited with bated breath... until Rock Lee burst to the surface, his hand clutched over something.

"Found stuff!" he said, and swam over to the edge of the lake, dropping the items on dry ground. Tenten grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the lake.

Gaara bent down and picked up the two items.

"It's a ring and a headband." he said. "Both... definitely Deidara's."

Everone stared at the crossed out Iwakagure headband and the jade ring.

"And... Deidara was in that picture without any of these. So he disposed of them before the picture was taken. But maybe not before he met Sakura." said Rock Lee, wringing out his clothes.

"Guys... why do you think Deidara and Sakura were together? And why would someone take a picture? Our spies found the pictures in the middle of the forest, like someone left them there for us." said Ino, holding up a finger.

"For the exact reason that you'd think." said Neji. "To soil their reputation."

"And they'd do that..." said Tenten.

"So Sakura couldn't go back to Konoha!" said Naruto.

"Maybe Deidara made someone take the picture?" said Ino.

"No, that makes no sense." said Rock Lee. "I mean, why wouldn't he be wearing Akatsuki clothes? To convince us that he's good and fighting with Sakura?"

Gaara pulled the picture out of his pocket.

"And... Sakura didn't die! She was really wounded, wasn't she?" added Rock Lee.

"Yeah." Whispered Naruto, looking at the discarded cloack. "She was."

"She has bandages in this picture." said Gaara. "They're on a bird."

They all stared at the picture until Naruto broke the silence.

"Everyone, split up again! Good job, everyone! Now, let's keep looking before the trail goes cold! We know they were here!"

They all went in different directions, except for Gaara and Naruto.

"Naruto." said Gaara.

"Yeah?" Naruto said, turning to him.

"Given these recent developments," said Gaara, "We might meet Deidara."

Naruto's face hardened. "Yeah, I know."

Gaara put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let your anger control you. You control your anger. Keep an open mind to all the possibilities that may be the explanation for this."

"Yeah, that's what I've been doing!" said Naruto, smiling.

"Including the possibility that for some bizarre reason, Deidara has left the Akatsuki, healed Sakura, and helped her fight. Not necessarily in that order."

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"No, there's no way!" he said. "Deidara's evil. He killed you once. The Akatsuki, they're all evil. They-"

"Keep an open mind, Naruto." said Gaara starting to walk away.

He stopped and turned back for a moment.

"It's what made you go after Sakura. Keeping an open mind."

Then he walked away, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts.