Sparrow

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Chapter 19:

I paced around Sasori, who was looking more and more irritated by the minute.

"I don't like to be kept waiting," he muttered to himself. "What's that idiot doing, taking so long?"

I sighed, and looked up at the sky as Deidara faced off against Gaara. A hand of sand grabbed Deidara's arm and crushed it. Blood seeped out from the sand, and the scent of it nearly drove me crazy. I could feel Kuragari growing more and more restless.

Suzume, give me blood, damn it! Kuragari cried. Give me blood! You know you like it just as much as I do, so just do us both a favor, and give me blood!

'Oh, shut up, 'Gari,' I thought back irritably, watching the battle between bombs and sand.

Kuragari sighed. You want to save him, don't you?

'...Yeah,' I thought back. 'This really sucks. I want to save Gaara, but I know I can't. At least, not right now.'

What if I help you?

'I said no.'

Kuragari sighed and went silent. I continued watching the battle, my heart feeling that with each moment, someone's trying to rip it out of my chest. Each moment, I try to convince myself that Gaara won't lose. That he can't lose. Then, to my horror, I watched as the tables turned on Gaara. Deidara created his "masterpiece", and dropped it on the village. Gaara quickly shielded the entire village with sand, blocking the lethal attack. Then Deidara's "pets" crawled into Gaara's sand shield and exploded. I could tell Gaara was near unconsciousness, the most dangerous place he could be in right now. Gaara used the last of his chakra to send the sand outside the village and dumped it back into the desert. I watched, terrified, as Gaara began to fall. Deidara quickly caught him and flew away, dodging the weapons that the villagers hurled at him with ease. Even dodging the ones that were explosive. Deidara landed where we were, Gaara tucked safely into his clay bird's tail. I swallowed down the lump that formed in my throat. My heart burned with anger. I could feel my eyes swirl into crimson. Before Deidara saw what was happening, I appeared right beside him and back-handed him hard across the face, sending him into the wall of the canyon. He formed a small crater, cracks dancing their way across the face of the rocks.

"Ow, un. What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.

"That's for beating Gaara," I said icily, beginning to walk towards him.

"Why'd you hit me, though?" he asked, then his eyes narrowed in understanding. "It's because he's host to a demon, isn't it? It's because you feel a connection with him, Suzume? Hmm?"

I stopped in my tracks and glared daggers at Deidara. A small bead of sweat formed on his brow, and he gulped.

"S-scary, hmm."

"That's enough," Sasori said, heading towards the village exit. "We musn't keep Leader waiting."

I glared at him, feeling slightly intoxicated from my desire to kill. It must be because of Kuragari.

"I'm not going. I won't watch as Gaara's life is taken from him. Not unless you want me to fight you."

Sasori looked at me.

"You remember what Leader told you, right? Betray us and you die."

"How is not doing something betrayal?" I asked, scowling. "To me, betrayal is something like leaving, or killing one of the members. That's betrayal. Just refusing to do something is...well, refusing to do something."

"Suzume, don't be difficult, hmmm?" Deidara said as he slowly got up from the crater. "Just come on, let's go. Sasori, my man, is right. We have to leave."

I glared at him, and I couldn't help but smirk as he shrank back a little.

"S-Suzume, don't do this, un," he stuttered nervously as I began making my way towards him, moving somewhat like a predator as it goes for its prey.

"Don't worry, Deidara," I said in an eerily soothing voice. "I won't kill you. All I want...is just a taste...of blood."

I teleported behind him, and with lightning-like speed, I grabbed him. Kuragari's power coursed through me, and my strength surpassed his own. Perfect timing too, 'cause he was weaker after his fight with Gaara, so it wasn't hard at all. My fangs were just about to pierce his throat when I suddenly felt a prick in the back of my neck. I snarled and looked over at Sasori. He was manipulating a few senbon needles with his chakra, each one of them dripping with some fluid. Was it poison? I smirked.

"Fool, did you forget? I can't get poisoned," I snarled.

"I didn't forget," he said.

My eyes widened a fraction. "Then...what is this?" I asked.

"It's a type of tranquilizer that I just created. I figured since your chakra seems to attack poisons and things that harm you, I would try something that doesn't harm your body. Just in case a situation like this comes up. It does make you lose consciousness for about four days, though."

My eyes widened slightly bigger. I could just about feel the effects of the drug as it began coursing through my body. I narrowed my eyes and scowled.

"Damn."

I quickly teleported to Sasori and focused my chakra in my hand. I swung my hand at him, but he dodged it easily. My moves were becoming sloppy, and he pointed it out.

"You're getting sloppy, Suzume. You can't beat me in your condition."

The world swirled around me and I stumbled. My eyes reverted back to their natural green color, and my skin began to tingle. I slowly lost feeling in my joints, and my knees buckled beneath me. Deidara quickly caught me before I could crash to the ground.

"Th..anks...Dei...dar..a," I could barely speak, but with those few words, everything faded to black.

Yelling. A voice was yelling, cutting through the darkness that had engulfed me. I couldn't move, my limbs numb from the tranquilizer.

"Get off him, you bastard!" the voice yelled. It sounded somewhat familiar, as if I heard it in a dream. "Gaara, wake up, damn it! Quit laying there! Get up and kick his ass!"

"You don't get it, do you? He's dead," another voice said. It sounded like Deidara. A couple of muffled thunks were heard as he tapped on something.

I managed to open my eyes and look around. I was in a corner of the cave from earlier. My eyes rested on Deidara, who sat on Gaara's body, his hand resting on the Kazekage's head. My insides burned with anger and I could feel my eyes change to red. I was too late to save him. Too late to save Gaara.

"Deidara," I said, my voice sounding foreign, but menacing. "Get off of him. Respect the dead...unless you wish to become one of them."

Deidara glanced back at me, then to Sasori, who was standing next to him.

"Sasori, my man, it seems that your touch is not what it used to be. She woke up a day early, yeah."

Sasori glanced back at me. "...Yeah," he said in that gruff voice of his.

I struggled to stand, leaning on the wall of the cave for support. I finally made it to my feet. My limbs were still numb, and it took all my willpower just to move them. I glared at Deidara, who still sat on Gaara's body. I quickly took out a kunai and teleported in front of Deidara, and slashed at his throat. He leapt back to dodge, getting off of Gaara in the process. My knees began to shake and a tingling sensation flitted through all the nerves in my body. I closed my eyes and focused on just standing.

"S-Suzume? What are you doing here?"

The voice was soft, but the familiarity of it hit me like a ton of bricks. I popped my eyes open and glanced back, towards the entrance of the cave. Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and an old woman stood at the entrance of the cave. Naruto's eyes were wide, the red of his demon eyes swirling back to its original ocean blue. My eyes widened at the sight of him. He was taller, and he looked...so grown up. And...dare I say it?

"Naruto, damn, you've grown hot!" I exclaimed. Deidara smacked his forehead with his remaining hand.

"Suzume, this is not the time for that! Hmm?" he said, his hand sliding down his face in embarrassment.

I ignored him and focused all my attention to my best friend, who I didn't see in years. I soaked him in, every cell in his body didn't escape my gaze. I wanted to lock him away in my memory, so I could always look back and see him again. A small blush spread across his cheeks. I smiled and extended my hand forward, towards him.

"Come here, Naruto," I said quietly. "I want to see you better."

He was about to take a step forward, but Kakashi's hand stopped him.

"Naruto, don't. You don't know what she'll do. She's in the Akatsuki now, after all," he warned.

I smirked and teleported right behind Naruto, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. My speed surprised everyone, except for Kakashi. Kakashi had a clone at my back in an instant, pointing a kunai at my spine. My eyes twinkled playfully as I moved my hands down to his stomach. I leaned in to Naruto, putting my lips near his ear.

"I'd have to say, Dad is right, Naruto," I whispered. "You don't know what I'll do."

He gulped, a small bead of sweat tracing its way down the side of his face. I grinned, squeezing my arms slightly in a back-hug.

"But don't worry, silly! I won't hurt you!" I vowed in a happy tone. I glared over in Deidara's direction. "I won't hurt any of you. But those two will, though, so watch out for them."

"Suzume, come back to the village," Naruto said, looking back at me. "Come back with me."

For some weird reason, my heart did little flip-flops when he said that. It made me feel good. Warm. Something I haven't felt in the three years since I've been part of the Akatsuki. I inhaled, breathing Naruto's scent in. It smelled...good. I snickered and looked in Deidara's direction.

"Hey, Deidara!" I called in a teasing tone. "Naruto smells really good! Why can't you smell like this? You smell like an old-guy!"

Naruto blushed at the same time as Deidara looked as if steam was coming out of his ears.

"I'm not old yet, yeah!" he cried, shaking his fist in my direction. I laughed.

"Suzume, I'm serious," Naruto said, his blush still apparent. "Come back to the village. Come back with us. We'll save Gaara and get out of here."

My smile faded. "I'm sorry Naru-chan, but I can't," I said remorsefully. "Not yet anyway. You do me a favor and save Gaara for me, okay? I know you can do anything you set your mind to." I smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, I couldn't."

Without warning, I destroyed the Kakashi clone with Kuragari's shadows and teleported to the entrance of the cave. My former teammates turned back, surprised.

"Hey, Sasori, my man, I don't think you would like to hear this," I heard Deidara say. "But I think I'll try to get this jinchuuriki, too. Hey Suzume, any tips on getting this one? You know what he's like."

I looked back at the blond-haired, one-armed man and frowned, my eyes narrowing.

"Don't underestimate him," I said, then disappeared.