Piper: I am so sorry. I didn't mean for this to take so long, but life's been a bit hectic lately. I had spring break, and a family member of mine was in the hospital. I'm not using these as excuses, I just want to tell you why I've been taking so long. I know that doesn't make up for the wait, so I'm hoping to get you some chapters up.

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 13 - Delirious

Sakura Haruno

I remembered something. When Tobi left, and I sat down to try and collect myself from the shock, I remembered something. It wasn't a real distinct memory, but a past feeling. It wasn't related to Tobi in any way, I knew that, but it had been kicked out of the protection of my seal because of how emotionally raging I was at the moment.

See, as I sat there trying to think, something stirred. At first, I was excited. A memory was surfacing my brain, but all I could feel was it skim the surface of my mind. It left a terrible mark, a sickening pain. It wasn't physical, but so emotionally painful that I had slipped from the bed and onto the floor. My heart tried to fight off the heart break that overcame me, and the part that had me in hysterics was that I had no idea why I was feeling this way. I couldn't remember, but I knew now that in my past something had broken me in a way that could bring me to my knees.

I felt crazy, psychotic even. There I was, sobbing and clawing at the skin above my heart, with no reason for why I was doing so. The pain spread, and soon I lay on the floor with tears silently streaming from my eyes. Drained emotionally, I sat there on the cold, hard floor. I could hard breathe, and my face was soaked from tears. I couldn't see hardly anything, my eyes blurred by my tears.

"What's wrong with me?" I whispered, my voice coming out cracked and soft.

Recovering my past was the only thing that mattered to me, but now that I felt this pain, I didn't know if I wanted to any longer. The pain had been so real, so shocking, even though it had only been a small fragment from the past. At that moment, I didn't know if I wanted to know my memories. I didn't want to know if something had hurt me, because if it hurt as much as that memory had it would be better off left alone.

Shaking, I realized I had no energy to get up. My chakra was lively, full, but I couldn't use it. More like, I didn't want to. I wanted to stay on the floor and rot, to let the feeling slowly slide away. My throat was sore, and my heart was fluttering. This was something I haven't really felt after I woke. Putting a name to the feeling, I realized something akin to depression.

Feeling crazy for having such mood swing, I forced my protesting body off the floor. I walked to my bathroom and washed my face off, afraid to let anyone see the tear tracks on my face. If they found out I had been crying, they would ask why, and I would have no answer. The last thing I need is for the only people around me to think I'm crazy. For some reason, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle being alone like this.

Pein

"I do not think she is ready for this."

"Think of it as a challenge for her. She has to face a few tough things in her life sometime."

"She has already began to remember him, bringing her there could cause confusion for her if she hears his name or begins to remember more."

"She is already confused."

"If it is coming to this, I am not sending her alone."

"Send Deidara and Sasori along with her. They will do well on this mission, even though it is not their beast to deal with. Just make sure that the two know she is capable of fighting for herself if it comes to that. The last thing she needs is someone stealing her chance to grow. Her old team never gave her that chance, and it is their fault she is how she is now."

"Tell me, why do you care, Madara?"

"Think of it as me helping the needy."

"Since when do you care for those in need?"

"Since one of those people became part of my organization. We need no weak links, and she has the potential to be one of the best. I won't simply let it go to waste."

I had a feeling that Madara had a bit more to his reasoning. I couldn't tell completely, his hidden face making me unable to pick any hints form his expression. I felt a bit protective of Sakura, and I didn't like how Madara was suddenly entering her life like he was. She was probably frightened of him. I have gotten used to being in his presence, but for someone in a state such as the one Sakura was in, she probably felt like a small mouse in a snake cage every time he walked into the same room as her.

Sighing, I pulled a folder from my cluttered desk. I gazed at all the things on top of my desk, and wondered if I would ever clean it up. Probably not, I concluded. Focusing back on the folder, I began to read through file closely. I wanted to know ever single detail of this mission before I gave it to her.

Sasori

I looked down at my hands, frowning. I rubbed my hands together a bit, feeling the wear of todays work in the joints of my fingers. I had spent most of my day repairing my puppets, like I did any day I wasn't on a mission. But, now with this new body of mine, I could actually feel the consequences for spending all day holed up in my room. The strain of tinkering with small parts and splinters left my hands aching and slightly raw, their surface having been handling rough materials most of the day.

Deidara suddenly entered my room, causing a bright flood of light to be released. I narrowed my eyes, straining against the sudden changed.

"What do you want?" I asked dully, blinking slightly to try and adjust.

"We have a mission, yeah," Deidara said, holding a file out to me," I need to go get Sakura while you read this."

My eyes narrowed on their own accord, "She is coming along?"

Deidara sighed, "She can't even remember what she did, let it go, Danna, yeah."

I raised an eyebrow, "Last I checked, when you believed I was dead you wanted to rip her throat out, brat."

He shrugged a little, and walked out of the room. I glared at his retreating figure, before burying myself in the mission we were given. My eyes flickered slightly in surprise. This wasn't a mission I thought they would give her. I read over the file a bit more, and snorted at Pein's hand written explanation to let her fight if it came to violence. Like we would let her just sit there and be dead weight.

Sighing loudly, I couldn't help but think that this was just a disaster waiting to happen.

Sakura Haruno

We had been traveling for a few hours now, after Deidara had come to me to explain that we had a mission. I wasn't told much about it, only that we were going to go check up on one of the tailed beasts. It was originally Itachi and Kisame's tailed beast, but they were on another mission and it was time to check up. It wouldn't be a kidnapping mission, to technically it was still Itachi's and Kisame's. We were just doing their check up for them, I guess.

Deidara had created a large bird for us the ride on, made out of the clay he uses. Once we got close to the home of the tailed beast we would have to walk, so that we wouldn't be noticed so much. To enter the village we would have to go under a henge, and disguise ourselves at least slightly. For some reason Sasori was extremely stern with me when he explained that we would have to use a henge, and I didn't understand why.

Sasori. He still seemed to have a problem with me. He didn't talk to me, but almost glared at me from the corners of his eyes when I spoke with Deidara. I tried to keep myself focused away from his attitude, wishing that he would just tell me what his problem was with me. I knew that not all people would like me, but it bothered me that Sasori seemed to have no reason.

"How long will it take us to get there if we're flying?" I questioned Deidara, who pondered for a bit.

"It will take us at least a couple of days, three at the most," Sasori's cold voice answered, and I shivered a bit.

Deidara frowned at Sasori slightly, before turning back towards the front of the bird, "He's right, yeah. We don't really go there often, but when we do get sent there that's how long it normally takes, yeah."

Nodding, I closed my eyes lightly. The wind brushed my face and played with my hair, my Akatsuki hat discarded. I felt at peace with the light movements of the bird, and my senses began to fall. Soon, I found myself drifting. Teetering on the edge of sleep, I could hear Deidara's and Sasori's breathing along with the sounds of the sky we soared through. My lips curved, and I slowly fell asleep.

We had taken a break at a small village the next day. We got some food and got clean. we didn't stay long after that, and didn't get back on the bird. Deidara shrunk it with his chakra, and let it explode in a small puff. I laughed a little at the small explosion, and followed Sasori as he began to walk away form the village.

"We need to put up our henges now," He instructed, "Incase anyone sees us walking towards the village."

Sealing my Akatsuki gear into a scroll, I altered my appearance with some simple hand signs. My hair curled into thick ringlets around my head, their color turning into a bright bronze color. My emerald colored eyes shifted, darkening to a deep forest green. My skin color went from being the color of snow, to a very light tan dusted upon its surface. I had been wearing a red tank top, a black kimono over it. I wore black shorts underneath, seeing as the kimono stopped at mid-thigh. The shorts went down to my knees, and covering the rest of my legs were knee high ninja sandals.

Deidara's hair shortened, but the bangs he kept covering his eye stayed. The blond color darkened to a honey color, his single showing eye becoming a deep chocolate color. His skin turned lighter a few shades, no longer the tan color I was used to seeing him with. He wore a long sleeve fishnet shirt, a short sleeved black shirt over that. The standard ninja pants and sandals cover the rest of him.

Sasori's hair lengthened slightly, becoming more wild. The color turned a dark navy blue, the old crimson color being washed away. His caramel eyes turned a dark brown, a few shades darker then Deidara's new eye color. His skin tanned, the loss of his pale skin a large change for my normal remembrance of his appearance. He wore a fish net tank top, a black vest over that. The vest was opened slightly at the top. His feet and lower half adorned the same clothing as Deidara.

"Here," Sasori held a headband out to me.

It was an Amegakure head band, with no scratch in the middle of it. He and Deidara switched their normal headbands for Amegakure headbands also. I tied mine around my left leg, and couldn't help but wonder what village I had belonged to before my mind was erased. Did I have a scratch through its symble, the sign of someone who had severed all ties from those inhabiting their old home, or had I still been loyal to them?

"Lets go," Sasori said, his voice almost not fitting his knew appearance.

I nodded, and walked after him, slinging my rucksack over one of my shoulders. I had my kunai pouch tied to my right leg, full of the weapons I would need. I had another pouch tied to my waist, full of any medical equipment we might need. This mission was a few days long, not just a quick visit, so I didn't know how much I would need if we were to get in some trouble.

Deidara looked at me, and his hand found one of my new curls. He pulled it lightly, and watched as it sprung back into place. Chuckling, he did it once more and I glared at him slightly.

"You should style your original hair like this, Sakura, yeah. You would be so fun to play with," He said, his tone teasing.

Sasori twitched a little ahead of us, also seeming to notice the hidden meaning in Deidara's words.

I pushed Deidara to the side as we walked, "And you call Tobi a pervert."

He grinned a little, and I walked a bit ahead of him. Sasori didn't seem to mind, oddly enough. Soon, I was walking right beside him with Deidara on the other side of me. We walked along the side of the road, and I could see the outlines of buildings begin the show on the horizon. It was getting close to noon as I saw the gate come closer, and soon we were on the villages doorstep, talking to the guards.

Sasori manage to get them to let us in, saying that we were on a mission for Wave and wanted to rest here for a while. The guard smiled at us as the gates opened, and he spoke to us in a proud tone, "Welcome to Konohagakure."

Piper: Like I said, I'm so sorry it's late. I feel bad for making you guys wait so long.

Please, review.