Chapter Eleven: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune flung open the door to the Godaime's office, panting from running through the corridors and up the stairs. She clutched the doorknob and tried to catch her breath. "Tsunade-sama, this letter…"

"Shizune? What's wrong?" Tsunade hadn't seen her friend act like she was in a long time. Something must be up; she noticed that the Jonin was trembling as she walked towards her desk. "Shizune?"

Shizune handed the Godaime a letter, its envelope was black and as Tsunade flipped it over she noticed its seal had been stamped with the impression of a cloud. She hesitated for a moment and looked up at her friend, then she slowly reached to her right and grabbed a kunai to slit the envelope open.

She took in a deep breath, reached into the packet and pulled out a letter. As she started to unfold it, a lock of pink hair fell out. The two of them gasped, was that Sakura's hair? Tsunade hesitated yet again and slowly finished opening the letter. She dropped it in surprise as a rather grotesque looking red scorpion scurried across her desk and faced her, taking a bow.

"Hello, Hokage-sama," It spoke, its voice a low growl. "By now you will have realized that this is a letter from the Akatsuki and that is indeed a lock of Sakura Haruno's hair. You will be pleased to know that the head in which the hair came from is safe…for the time being."

Part of Tsunade wanted to squash the scorpion but the other part told her to keep listening.

"However, it's only a matter of time before I get bored of her…you wouldn't want that to happen, right Hokage-sama?"

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Quiet, Shizune!"

"That's right, be quiet little girl," The scorpion hissed, wanting to get on with what it had to say. "Now, I believe we all know what will happen to your precious student if I grow tired of her, isn't that right Hokage-sama? You wouldn't want the head from which that lock was taken to be the next thing I send to you, correct? You could always mount it in your office though, I'm sure it would spark quite a bit of conversation."

Just who was this sick bastard? Tsunade's knuckles were white from clenching them so hard, once this bug was finished talking she was going to smash it flat. Thoughts were running through her head about how poorly her student was being treated, she was probably locked up in some cage in a dark dungeon somewhere starving.

"Now Hokage-sama, we both know that I know very well how to infiltrate your village, no matter how strict the security is. That leaves you with two choices, you either come to me or I come to you. You're going to have to choose which of the two evils you wish to follow through with."

And with that the scorpion burst into flames but as it burned into ashes it said just one more thing:

"My partner was originally your dear friend Orochimaru, seems like we're turning into equal threats to your village…"

Sakura had been lucky, but the previous night was only the beginning of her quest to win over the puppet master's affections. Like Itachi had said, he wasn't going to just admit it there on the spot; he might not even have any emotions for her. But at least it would get him thinking about it, he would question himself, especially after the fact that he had sort of 'made a move' on her. She had only won the battle, not the war.

She closed her eyes and gently ran a finger across her bottom lip; she could still feel his against hers if she really concentrated. They hadn't been stiff and dead like the puppet body he had possessed months prior, they were soft and alive. His smell wasn't of preservatives; it was sort of a…well she couldn't really place it but whatever it was she wished she could have taken it in longer. The scent was the same as the one on his pillow that Sakura was clutching tightly to her chest.

Her intuition told her not to go overboard, that there was always the chance that he would never return the same feelings that she felt towards him, but it was hard not to. Within the past day, or rather hours, she had admitted to herself about how she truly felt and now she found herself head-over-heels in love with him. There was really nothing more that she could do other than let destiny run its course, with a little help and guidance from her end of the deal.

Now all she could think about was him, she spent most of her time that she wasn't around him daydreaming about him, and the time she did spend with him she cherished. If anything her infatuation with him was at an even higher level than it was with Sasuke Uchiha, and she had taken that to the extreme with him.

So what was her next step towards the end result she desired? She hadn't figured that one out yet. Most likely she wasn't going to have such an ideal scenario to work with, she'd just have to improvise and make one herself. But right now she didn't have time to work on that, she would need full concentration to map out something like that, right now she had to worry about going shopping with Hidan and Kisame.

"What did you just say, you little brat?" Hidan and Kisame stood looming over a bunch of kids who had followed the three of them down the street from the grocery store in Amegakura. One of them got the brilliant idea to throw a rock at Sakura, whom was now standing a few feet watching the two missing-nin argue with the group.

"I said your girlfriend's a slut!" Sure there was truth behind the idea that there was more power in numbers but numbers would only take you so far when you were dealing with three Akatsuki members, especially ones like Hidan and Kisame.

"Look you little fuckers, you better fucking run off to mommy and daddy before I fucking slice all of your fucking heads off, only I can call the bitch a 'slut'!" Sakura was somewhat flattered by Hidan's comment, she was sure he meant well…right? Still, if the kids didn't shut up and run away, Hidan really would chop them up. "Hidan, calm down, let's just keep going."

"Yeah, listen to the whore, she knows what she's talking about. Get off our turf!"

"What are you, some kind of little gang?" Kisame snarled, reaching back for Samehada. Sakura smacked her palm against her head, what could she do? Once Kisame and Hidan got going there was no stopping them, the kids would just have to learn their lesson. She just hoped that their parents wouldn't be picking them up in body bags after the two of them were done.

"Didn't I tell you kids to choose your battles wisely?"

Sakura and the other two whirled around to see a young man around the age that Sasori physically appeared. He was a sickly pale color, his grey hair was pulled back into a short ponytail and his eyes were jet-black like a doll's. He smiled kindly at the three of them, "I'm sorry, my brother and his friends tend to get carried away. Had they known that you were Akatsuki I'm sure they wouldn't have bothered you, I thank you for treating them as kindly as you have."

"It's okay," Sakura smiled. "No harm done, really."

The looks on Hidan and Kisame's faces said otherwise, luckily the young man didn't seem to notice or if he did he chose to ignore it.

"I'm Taoki," The young man held out his hand to Sakura, who shook it. "And you are…?"

"Sakura, and this is Hidan and Kisame." She pointed to the two of them who seemed preoccupied examining a rock on the ground before them. "It's nice to meet you, Taoki-san."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Sakura," He kneeled down on one knee and gently grabbed her hand, brushing his lips against it, making her blush while Kisame rolled his eyes and Hidan repeated what Taoki said, mocking him. Sakura shot both of them an angry glare and the two straightened their stance and plastered a fake smile on each of their faces. They could be so embarrassing, "Would you do me the honor in joining me for a late lunch, Miss Sakura?"

"I'm sorry, Taoki-san, but I'm afraid me and my friends have to get going. It was nice meeting you," She grabbed a piece of her robes on either side and curtsied before signaling to the two men to follow, "Some other time, okay?"

Hidan and Kisame glared back at him as they continued to walk along and then looked to each other, nodding. Something wasn't right about that man but neither of them could put their finger on it. He just seemed so familiar.

Sasori, Hidan, Kisame, Pein, and Itachi sat at the kitchen table. Pein had ordered Tobi to keep Sakura preoccupied while the five of them discussed business. As always, there was a tense, uncomfortable atmosphere in the room due to their Leader's presence; Hidan and Kisame were even on their best behavior which was saying something, especially for Hidan.

"Our sources in Suna have informed me of the presence of Team Snake in the area," Sasori said, the tone of his voice even more serious than usual. His arms were crossed and he was leaning back slightly in his chair, "That means that there are two parties currently in pursuit. I sent a letter to Konohagakura's Hokage earlier this week, they should be entering the hunt soon enough. I must say I was rather surprised to hear that they haven't already formed a team to retrieve her."

"Very good, Sasori," Pein folded his hands and leaned forward. "Any news on Orochimaru and Akito Kurosuki?"

"Nothing," Itachi frowned, he had his Sharingan off for the first time in a long while as his sight had improved enough to allow him to. "It's almost as if both of them disappeared off the face of the planet. I had previously informed nearly all of our sources in neighboring countries of Otogakura and even those within it to watch out for those two, but none of them have reported anything. It could just be the calm before the storm."

"Orochimaru isn't one to stay dormant for long, he'll rear his ugly head soon enough. He needs Sakura more than anything, no one else will do."

"We need to eliminate him as soon as possible."

"Otogakura's fucking growing too; they've almost fucking doubled in fucking size."

"I've heard they've become allies with Kumogakura. That isn't a good sign; it could mean that they're planning on starting another war. As Kumo is already allies with Kusagakura, three large villages could easily overpower Konohagakura. I'm sure we all agree that Konoha would be their initial target."

"They are already allied with Suna, if we were to go ahead and join the battle Otogakura would be completely over-powered, even if we are not allies with Konohagakura."

"Orochimaru would fucking never expect the fucking Akatsuki to engage in war against fucking Konoha, it would completely fucking surprise him."

"I believe it's settled then, if Konohagakura were to be attacked we would enter the war ourselves as a third party."

"What about the plan, Leader-sama?"

"We should consider this a war before the War to End All Wars as we do not yet have all of the Tailed Beasts within our power."

"I'm worried about Kurosuki; something tells me that we shouldn't underestimate the brat."

"Yes, I feel that way as well. We should definitely be on the lookout for him; he seemed very interested in Sakura the last we met," Sasori's eyes narrowed at Itachi's comment, Akito Kurosuki's last act towards the kunoichi was still fresh in his mind. "We know nothing about his capabilities; we should consider him a great threat as a precaution."

"Little fucker, I'll teach him to mess with the slut."

"Kisame, you previously stated that Akito Kurosuki was a candidate for the Seven Swordsman, correct? The books have no record of exactly how he came to be with Orochimaru but perhaps some of the Sannin's former henchmen in the Amegakura prison know something about it. I'll leave it to you and Hidan to dig into that."

"Yes, Leader-sama."

"Itachi, you are to contact our sources again and see if any of them have any information that they might be withholding from us."

"Yes, Leader-sama."

"Sasori, you are to keep constant watch over Sakura. Do not let her out of your sight."

"Yes, Leader-sama."

"Very well, you are all excused."

The bar that Kisame and Sasori sat at had almost cleared out since the two of them arrived. They were used to it, everyone always left once the Akatsuki were present. Sure it was bad for business, but no store owner, bartender, etc. would ever ask for them to leave.

Between the two of them, they had about ten sake bottles most of which had been consumed by Kisame, although Sasori wasn't exactly a lightweight either. Kisame had basically begged him to come along with him, something he never ever did, so Sasori knew something was up. The shark man hadn't made any indication as to what it was yet, but he was sure he'd find out soon enough. Hopefully he'd find out before the ex-Kiri-nin either vomited all over the floor or passed out. If Kisame did manage to pass out, well there was no way that Sasori was going to carry him back home; he'd just have to spend the night at the bar.

"Hey, hey Sasori, those girls over…over there are lookin' at you, maybe they like you," Kisame's voice was heavily slurred and he nearly fell off the stool he was sitting upon as he pointed over to a group of females eyeing his comrade. "Maybe you should…you should like…you should like go over and see 'em."

Sasori clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I'm not interested."

"Why…why not?" Kisame drained yet another bottle of sake and started on the next. "They…they look kinda…hey I know I'll call 'em over!"

The puppet master nearly knocked over his own sake bottle to protest against Kisame's idea but it was too late, he had already summoned them. He slapped his face with his palm and tried to get up to walk out but Kisame had grabbed him by the scruff of his cloak to hold him down.

"Hey…hey girls, this is…this is Sasori…he's single…" The shark man motioned for one of the girls to sit beside Sasori.

"And not looking," Sasori muttered under his breath as Kisame moved to the next chair to let another girl sit next to him. He moved his red eyes just enough to get a glimpse of the two girls on either side of him, ignoring the three behind him. They were attractive enough, but like he had said: he wasn't looking.

"Sasori, huh? That's a name I've never heard before, is it foreign?" The girl on his right outlined his jaw with her finger; he hated being touched. 'I guess this is the part where I grin and bare it…'

"Uh yes, I'm originally from Sunagakura," Sasori tried to hide his agitation as best he could, he wanted nothing more than to dart out of the bar and drown himself. Was this what Kisame had intended? He wanted to set him up with some random female? The puppet master had come in contact with enough whores in his life; he didn't want to have anything to do with anymore.

"Oh wow," The girl on his left took a strand of his red hair and started twirling it between her fingers. "Are you a ninja or something then?"

"Yes, yes I am," Didn't they recognize his robes? How could they live in Amegakura and not know who the Akatsuki were? Or were they just playing dumb? "Kisame, shouldn't we be going now?"

"No, no you…you keep talking to…to them…Sasori ol' pal," Kisame had obviously missed the hint in Sasori's voice; of course he was so drunk he probably couldn't have noticed it anyways.

"Oh we like a nice, strong ninja," The girl to his left purred as she ran her tongue across her upper lip while the other one began unzipping his robes to expose his chest that was only covered by a mesh shirt. This was the end, Sasori was never going to make it back to Headquarters alive; they were going to drag him to their apartment or something, tie him down and do God-awful things to him before they killed him.

Kisame watched, with a drunken smirk on his face, the two females continue to tempt the puppet master. One of them was kissing his neck while the other whispered things into his ear. Sasori himself looked as though he was going to vomit all over the counter in front of him.

"Sasori-sama, Sasori-sama…come with us…" One of the girls behind him pulled his stool out from under the bar counter, allowing for the girl to his right to climb up upon his lap. His red eyes widened as he looked up at her, it was almost as if he was frightened or scared. She leaned forward, her lips slightly opened and her eyes closed, closer and closer until—

Crash! The puppeteer had thrown the girl across the room into the wall, knocking over several tables and chairs in the process. She cowered, curled up in a little ball, afraid of the possibility that he may pursue the situation further. The surrounding females had scattered away from him, their seductive aura changed to fear. Sasori remained calm and collective all the same as he left the building.

"Don't you ever do that again, Kisame," He was fuming now that he had left the scene; walking as fast as he could away from the village, the shark man was having a hard time keeping up with him from both drunkenness and laughter. "How dare you beg for me to come with you and then do something like that?"

"Oh c'mon Sasori ol' pal, we both know you…you loved it," Kisame slapped him hard on the back taking another long swig from his sake bottle. "They were all…all over you."

"I noticed. Never again will I go drinking with you."

"What…what didn't you like…like all those pretty girls…girls hanging all over you? I wish they…they did that to me. I thought I was…was doing you a favor."

"A favor? I think not."

"Oh don't be such a…such a…a…party pooper."

Headquarters was just down the road, once he got there he'd take a long shower to get rid of the disgusting, dirty feeling he now felt since those wretched whores touched him. He would lock himself in his room and never have to see Kisame again. He'd live there for the remainder of his days with Sakura who'd bring him his meals.

"Hey c'mon Sasori…I…I thought you'd like…you'd like…you'd like a nice…a nice girl…"

"No thank you, I'm fine." Sarcasm was laced in his words but the shark man obviously didn't get it.

"What…what c'mon…I mean you're…you've gotta be like…like sixty years old…isn't it time you found…you found a nice…a nice girl?"

"Those whores were not interested in a relationship, Kisame," Sasori chose not to bother correcting Kisame on his age, it wasn't worth the argument. He was more concerned with thinking about how he was going to murder him without Leader finding out. Maybe if he used one of his more 'silent' poisons he could make it seem like an accident, "Besides, a shinobi isn't supposed to have emotional attachments."

"Yeah right, that's…that's complete…complete bullshit."

"Oh?"

"Yeah…yeah everyone…everyone needs to have someone."

"I don't, I have no need for any type of emotions. Emotions like that just get in the way."

"You're such…you're such a hypocrite…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! My body might not be cold like it used to be but my heart still is."

"What…what about Sakura?"

Sasori stopped dead in his tracks and spun around on the spot to face the shark-nin, "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"You know…you know what it means."

"No, I don't. Enlighten me."

"Hey…hey don't use big words…I can't…I can't comprehend what they mean right…right now."

"Tell me what you mean by that!" Sasori clicked his tongue. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what Kisame was about to tell him, it was probably better if he didn't. At this point he didn't want to bother making his death looked like an accident, he didn't care if Leader found out as long as his death was painful!

"Oh c'mon, you know what I mean."

"No, I don't. That's why I told you to tell me."

"Yeah yeah…well…well…"

"Would you hurry up and tell me?!"

"Oh…oh right…Well you know…I mean Sakura…Sakura didn't just…didn't just find that necklace of hers on the…on the ground somewhere."

"I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Oh c'mon, Sasori. We both know that you…that you gave that to her."

"So what if I did? It was a Christmas present; you gave her a present as well."

"Yeah but…but mine didn't…didn't cost me an arm and a leg."

Sasori felt himself go red in the face; whether it was from anger or embarrassment he didn't know. He wasn't accustom to the feeling of embarrassment so he really didn't know what it felt like, but maybe it was what he was feeling right now. "It wasn't that expensive."

"Yeah…yeah whatever," Kisame obviously didn't buy into it, even though he was three sheets in the wind. "Even if it wasn't…you…you don't buy your friends something like…like that."

They were standing on the front porch of the Headquarters front door, feet away from its warmth, but Sasori refused to go a step forward. "Just what are you getting at, Kisame?"

"Oh c'mon Sasori…we…we both know…we both know you have…you have a thing for Sakura."

The puppeteer grabbed the drunken Kisame's neck and held him to the wall; his nose was centimeters away from the shark man's, his teeth bared and his crimson eyes livid with rage. He hadn't been so furious in a long time, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"We…we both know what I meant," Kisame choked, he attempted to pull Sasori's hands away from his neck with his own but he couldn't. He was already lightheaded from the alcohol but it was getting worse, he was growing fainter and fainter. He could still see the fury that was in the Scorpion's eyes even though his own vision was getting very blurry.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sasori let go of Kisame and let his body drop to the floor. He would have liked have kicked or stabbed him, but Sakura Haruno was standing in the doorway. Her hair was damp and she was wearing a pink sleeping yukata that matched her hair as well as the necklace that he had given her which had started the whole argument.

"No."

Sasori finished tying the golden obi around him and swung the door open, letting it crash into the wall. He was dripping wet; he hadn't bothered to dry himself off. Sakura raised an eyebrow at his entrance, picking a card from Tobi's hand. "Tobi. Out."

Tobi cocked his head in confusion and jumped off the bed, exiting the room. The kunoichi still on the bed frowned watching her roommate throw back the covers on his side. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," He pulled the covers over his head as he climbed into bed. "Good night."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sakura reached over and gently pulled them back just enough to see his red hair. Whatever it was, it was obviously bothering him. "You'll feel better if you do."

"Just—just go to bed, Sakura." The puppet master's voice was muffled since his face was buried in his pillow. He attempted to reach for the covers but couldn't find them, instead he waved his hand around in the air until he latched on to Sakura's and let go quickly. "Hnn."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Her voice was soothing, just from hearing it his anger was slowly waning. Still, he didn't want to talk about what Kisame and he had argued about. Even if he did want to talk about it he couldn't tell her, if he told her…well the outcome wouldn't be good. "What happened with you and Kisame? I thought you two were just going out drinking."

"Nothing happened."

"Sasori-san, something obviously happened or else you wouldn't have your face in your pillow like that."

"Kisame was just acting like a child."

"Uh huh, and that's it? You're that angry over Kisame acting like he always does?"

"Yes, exactly. Now let me go to bed."

"Sasori-san, just tell me what's bothering you, I promise I won't laugh."

'Ugh just great, she's never going to leave me alone,' He could tell her half the story, right? That wouldn't hurt, she'd never figure out the rest of it. Sitting up, he scratched his head and faced her, trying to act as calm as possible. "Kisame attempted to 'set me up' with these whores."

"Oh, and it didn't work out?" He thought he heard a bit of hurt in her tone, but that was probably just from all the alcohol he had drank. After all, alcohol not only makes your vision blurry but you have difficulty hearing as well.

"No it did work out, that was the problem." Sasori frowned; he was going to have to be careful not to hint to anything. If Sakura found out what Kisame had said to him she'd probably never speak to him again; he didn't want that to happen, he liked talking to her. She was really the only one in the house who he could stand having a conversation with, now that he though about it she was really the only one period that he could stand having a conversation with. "He kept egging them on."

"I would be mad if Kisame did that to me, too." Now he thought he heard anger in Sakura's words, but he brushed it off again. It was just the alcohol getting to him; it had been a long time since he had drank so much. "So what happened?"

"I managed to get away, obviously," He looked up at the ceiling and then back to her. "Kisame was apparently intent on 'getting me laid'."

Her jade eyes seemed colder than usual; they didn't have their normal warmth to them. Of course, he was probably just imagining things. He laid back down, this time on his back with the covers free from his face, "Love is for the weak."

"It is not!" Sakura wished she had Haku with her, "Love is what makes you stronger!"

"Pfft," Sasori looked over at her, she was rather red in the face, apparently she felt strongly about the topic. "Love is just another emotion that gets in the way. Shinobi are not supposed to have emotions, especially not love. Emotional attachments lead to careless mistakes."

"That's not true at all! If you care for someone you'll protect them from danger!"

"Which will lead to mistakes that will cost you your life, it's not worth it. In Suna we are taught to forget about those emotions, apparently Konoha doesn't honor the Shinobi Code."

"How are you supposed to protect your village if you don't love it?"

"Simple, if you are ordered to protect it then it shall be done."

"If someone who loved their village was put up against someone who was ordered to protect it who would win?"

"Well that's difficult to answer seeing as I'm not aware of their strength or capabilities."

"Say they were equal."

"That is impossible."

"Look, we're 'what if'-ing here."

"Very well, I would have to say—"Sasori paused, he wasn't sure as to exactly what the answer was. In truth he'd never really thought about it in that sort of scenario, as there would never be a chance for two opponents to be equal. So what was the correct response then? "—That the answer does not matter because the situation could never happen."

"You're just avoiding the answer!" Sakura fumed. "Okay, how about this? Do you think Pein and Konan follow the stupid Shinobi Code?!"

He paused, thinking. How exactly was he supposed to respond to that? He couldn't call his Leader a fool for ignoring the code, if Leader caught wind of that he'd have his head on a platter for sure, "Whatever, just go to sleep."

"No don't you 'whatever' me! You admit that you're wrong, you know you are!"

"I'm not wrong, emotions aren't meant for shinobi."

"So Pein and Konan aren't shinobi then?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?!"

"I meant—"Sasori rolled over on his side away from her. She had pretty much defeated him, it had been a long time since he had lost an argument, she was much too passionate on the subject. How could she have proved the Shinobi Code wrong? In a way she was right though, if you didn't love your country you couldn't really protect it as well as those who did. Orders only go so far; those who are devoted to their country are much more likely to succeed than those who don't. And with his Leader and Konan, one couldn't deny that they were in love, even if they weren't out in the open about it, they were shinobi and good ones at that. "—Just go to bed, Sakura."

"No," Sakura pulled him back over so he faced her. Her brow was furrowed; she really wasn't going to just let the whole thing go, "You're going to admit that you're wrong, you're going to admit that love isn't a weakness and you're going to mean it."

There was really no way out of this one, she had him trapped. He had admitted to himself that love wasn't really a weakness, and that was painful enough, but admitting it to her was a whole different story. If he admitted it to her then it was final. The puppet master had felt so strongly on the subject, that emotions were for the weak, that was what he was always told, but now that he had thought about it he knew he had been wrong, "…Love isn't a weakness."

Sakura smiled sweetly and patted him gently on the head, turning the light off and lying down beside him, "You can go to bed now."

Sasori was still awake hours after she had told him to go to sleep; his whole philosophy on life had just been turned upside-down. How was he just supposed to fall asleep after that?

Did that mean he could feel emotions now? That it was okay? The thought scared him a bit, he hadn't felt any emotions like 'love' since the death of his parents, how was he just supposed to just start feeling them again? His heart wouldn't have to be cold anymore; it could be just as warm as the rest of his new body.

Now that he was allowed to love, what would he love? He didn't exactly feel devoted to the Akatsuki; the whole World Domination plan just wasn't something he could truly dedicate himself to. There weren't really any material items that were really precious to him, except maybe his one of his puppets but then again those were just a dime a dozen. Was he supposed to care for someone then? And if he was, who? He couldn't see himself protecting someone like Kisame or Hidan with his life.

It was a difficult concept to grasp; he had spent most of his life without positive emotions. Sure, he felt anger, frustration and other such emotions but love and affection were a whole different ballpark. He couldn't even remember what it felt like to love someone, or be loved. His parents loved him, and he had loved them but that feeling was long forgotten. Would he ever even be able to be loved again or return the feeling?

If he even was able to find love, what would he do? He didn't know how he was supposed to act, no one had ever told him. There needed to be some sort of instruction manual on the matter. Pein and Konan were in love, but they tried to hide it from the world. Then again, if he ever did find love he would do the same. No one need know about his personal life.

The puppet master sighed, he didn't need to get so worked up over it, he hadn't even found something or someone to love yet. It would probably be a long time before he found someone like that, someone he could really devote himself to.

He began to fall off into the Realm of Nod as his mind relaxed from all the racing it had been doing. The thoughts he hadn't finished could wait for another day, he needn't rush into things. It wasn't as if he was just going to search for someone or something to love just to be able to.

But just as he had almost drifted far enough into sleep Kisame's words played faintly in his ears causing him to bolt up, shaking:

'What…what about Sakura?'

A/N: You have no idea how many times I've re-written that ending.

I'm not sure how everyone's going to react to this chapter. I don't really like it at all, I can't seem to figure out why though…I guess it's many different things.

I had to get Sasori to admit that love isn't a weakness and this was really the only way that I could think of doing so (Obviously I'm not very creative). I had a rather difficult time with the whole argument over the Shinobi Code… I couldn't really remember the reasons as to why love conquered over orders…oh well. In Naruality (Yes, I just totally combined 'Naruto' and 'Reality' together) I'm sure Sasori wouldn't really just admit it like that, I'm sure he probably would have put up more of a fight (and won), but he was tired and uhh…I guess the alcohol made him less…argumentative or something. xD Just go along with it people.

Every situation in this chapter serves a purpose though, that's why I kept going with it instead of scrapping it. Feel free to flame it in the little review box though.

The next chapter will be much better, I promise. You'll learn more about Akito Kurosuki's past with Orochimaru and stuff. Oh, and Sasori rains on Sakura's lunch-date parade. I hope 'Taoki' isn't really a word either.

And can you tell I've never really seen anyone drunk? Well, I have on TV. but I never studied as to how they acted…I'm sure it was nothing like how I made Kisame be. . I live in a box.

For some strange reason that I cannot explain I kept imagining Sasori speaking with a British accent as I re-read this thing. I guess it's 'cause I try and make him speak all proper and mature, that's just how I picture him (Yeah, that's totally not a typical American stereotype right there).