OMG OMG OMG...

You guys must be sooooo pissed with me DX I'm sorry I haven't written a new chapter in soooo long!

Well, I finally found time anyways, and I'm not sure if this is even good, but just to let you guys know, it's pretty dramatic and may have some sasuxsaku in it, but I assure you all that this is a SASOXSAKU fanfic!

Please, be gentle if you guys don't like this chapter! XD haha, but still, thank you all soooo much for ur reviews, I was so amazed when I looked at my inbox to see how many new reviews I had gotten! O.o

But thank you, and I'll try to update soon again if I can!

"Are you saying you were merely using me in order to relieve yourself from your breakdown?"

"What? No! I was just upset with Sasuke and didn't know what to do…so I thought—"

"So you used me….as a...comforter? Not because you actually wanted to see me?" he finished with a devastated look on his face.

Sakura growled lowly at the way he then crossed his arms and looked upwards, deep in thought as he tried to think things through in a more logical way.

"No! that's not what I meant! I also wanted to see you, it's just that…well, I kind of needed—"

"Something to squeeze…just like a stuffed doll. So basically, you mean to say that I, being that comforter, I have provided you nothing more than a little…comfort?"

Her eye twitched as she smiled weakly, saying, "Well…yes." Sasori then dropped his arms and sighed, running his hands through his hair as he stared at her with a small grin on his face.

"I was quite busy discussing 'matters' with the Hokage. You really need to stop being reckless, you've caused more than several casualties trying to reach my interrogation room." He then said, turning around to walk back into the room, where Deidara had now been moved to. She widened her eyes at this and mentally cursed herself after remembering how she had thrown several of the guards out of the window.

She then watched him walk back inside, smiling sadly as he and Deidara soon sat next to one another by the table, being restrained by the hand cuffs surrounding their wrists. Sasori then looked back up to Sakura and smirked at her, mouthing the words, "Don't be reckless again."

After several days of interrogation, Sasori seemed to be perfectly fine with everything and still in good physical condition, although Deidara seemed to be less motivated, moaning and complaining about everything whenever he got the chance.

His head lay face-first on the table with his hands spread out in front of him.

Sasori merely sat upright with his arms folded on the table, waiting patiently for Tsunade to return. Sakura watched then both for several moments, still holding a rather tired and sad look on her face as she thought about everything. But before she could slip away into her thoughts, a suddenly outraged blonde Missing-nin shouted out loud, "I hate this place! The food sucks and I haven't been to the bathroom in nearly 5 days, dammit!" he finished—breathing inwardly while clenching his fists and glaring at nothing in particular. "I can't take it anymore!"

Sakura arched an eyebrow at his sudden outburst and stepped back when Tsunade put a hand on her shoulder saying, "You'd better leave this to me, Sakura. I need to finish this off, but I also need you to go back and continue to treat Sasuke Uchiha. I'm sorry if things have gotten a little complicated for you, but for now, just bear with me. Everything will turn out alright."

Sakura sighed and looked back to the two men who suddenly began squabbling with one another, not noticing the un-amused looks Tsunade and Sakura were sending them.

"I'm amazed that these two are actually partners…let alone skilled shinobi." Tsunade then muttered to herself, watching them tiredly. She then cracked her knuckles and neck, saying, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Sakura. And don't forget about the new arrangements."

Sakura nodded at this and bowed her head as she said good bye to her master and turned to walk down the hallway.

It was getting dark outside, but she was still 'technically' supposed to be working at the hospital. As she left the Hokage Tower, she couldn't help but feel unsure about everything. The incident with Sasuke had definitely brought out her normally hidden anger…

"Why do I even bother…it'll never be the same as it was before." She thought, stopping in her steps as she walked down the pathway, staring at the floor blankly. She remained where she was and bit her lip, trying to prevent her emotions from taking over again.

"Sasuke was so upset before…I thought we worked everything out…is he still serious about going after his brother? If so, he would have never come along with us so easily…he's a lot more powerful than most think…" she thought, knitting her brows in confusion.

"I really did…overreact…Sasori was right, I'm always so reckless! And after being away from Sasuke for so long now, what if he decides to…"

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…!" she suddenly shouted aloud. "How could I be so blind?" she said out loud as she ran towards the hospital, holding a suddenly determined and sorrowful look on her face.

"I—I need to fix this." She muttered, breathing in and out slowly as she entered the building, running up the stairs and looking back and forth to see if anyone was around, but everything was completely dark, and the lights failed to work as she tried turning them on with the switches.

"Damn it…where is everyone?" she asked herself as she slowed down her pace and walked towards Sasuke's room. When she finally reached it, she slowly pushed the door open, shaking slightly as she looked forwards only to see his bed empty. The window was wide open, but she could still sense his chakra emanating from inside of the room. She took several steps forward and stopped in the middle of the room, staring at the two nurses who lay on the ground. They weren't dead, just unconscious from what she could tell. She then sighed and ceased her shivering, closing her eyes for a moment and waiting for several seconds.

She then whipped her head upwards and stared at the man who was hanging from the ceiling. His eyes were burning red in the darkness of the room, glaring at her with hatred fuming throughout his face. Her eyes didn't glare back like he expected her to, and instead, she held a sad look in them as she stared back at him.

"This was never what I wanted." He then said in a dark angry tone of voice, breaking the silence as he silently dropped to the ground and straightened his posture to look her in the eye. Her determination never faded as she replied back, "Neither was it ever what I wanted."

"Why did you come back?" he then asked, suddenly appearing behind her after a split-second. She stayed where she was and said nothing. He arched an eyebrow at this and soon put his hands on her shoulders, sliding them down and crossing them across her chest almost as if he wanted to embrace her. "I understand now." She then said, closing her eyes as she clenched her teeth.

"You understand what?" he asked, daring her to reply back as he held a knife next to her neck. She swallowed and turned her head slightly to look back at him properly and said, "What it's like to lose the ones you care most about." He paused slightly at this and dropped the weapon, turning her around to fully face him as he replied back angrily, "How could you ever understand?"

She then lifted her arm and put her hand on his cheek saying, "I understand because I've experienced losing you." He scoffed at this and slapped her hand away, shouting, "Do you think that means anything to me? Try experiencing losing your entire clan, maybe then you'd understand! But don't ever think you can TRY to relate to my past!" he finished, jumping forwards to push her down. She frowned at this and caught his arms, throwing him back down to the floor. "You let your guard down." She said lowly, restraining him with her hands. The chakra which flowed throughout her body gave her enough strength to keep him in place.

"Stop trying to act like the world is against you." She whispered, looking away for a moment as she clenched her teeth. "I see so many people die each day…whether it's here in the hospital or on the battlefield. Death is irreversible, there's nothing we can do about it…and seeking revenge will bring neither the dead, nor your own happiness back!" she finished, shouting angrily in his face, "What the hell makes you think that killing others is justifiable? By doing this, you're only throwing your own life away! Why can't you see that?"

By the time she had finished, tears were flowing down from her cheeks. She then gasped when Sasori's face suddenly appeared in her mind.

"Sasori lost his parents as well…but he waited for so long for them to return…and they never did. It wasn't sudden…but after having so much hope, wishing them to return one day…his hatred grew. Sasuke saw it with his own eyes when it happened to him. They've both lived with such burdens for so long."

"You know what…you're actually right." She then said aloud, loosening her grip on his arms. He stared at her emotionlessly and slowly sat back up, surprised that she had let him free so suddenly.

"I know nothing about what you've gone through…" He growled lowly at this and stood up, glaring down at her weak form as she simply sat there on her knees.

"All I want is for you to somehow understand that me and Naruto have been through so much…just to bring you back."

"I never wanted you to come back for me. Don't you get it? After leaving the damn forest, I thought I'd be able to deal with this—coming back to Konoha. I thought for a moment…that I'd be able to forget revenge on my brother and try to live with you all again, but now that I'm here…" when he finished, he bent down and brought her face closer to his whispering, "I can't."

She bit her lip and glared at him for saying such a thing, replying back, "That's not what was bothering you before, was it?" He widened his eyes for a split second at that moment, spitting, "Oh? Really? I should have guessed that person like you wouldn't be able tell the difference between being pissed off and annoyed."

"So what was annoying you when I came to take care of you?" she then said back angrily, ignoring the way he glowered down at her.

His fingers twitched at her response, pulling away from her as he scowled.

The wind blew in, making the curtains swish from side to side.

Sakura huffed when he failed to make a comeback, saying lowly, "I suggest you get back into bed. I'll deal with all the nurses— it looks like they're just unconscious."

She then slowly stood up and dusted her outfit, not giving him a second glance, but before she could get over to the first nurse, she suddenly sensed something flying towards her from behind, she spun around and ducked the kunai as it flew past her.

She then jumped upwards when he threw several others towards her, making her realize that he must have taken them from all the nurses' pockets when he knocked them out.

"Damn him!" she thought angrily, tearing off her white apron and throwing it to the side as she leapt forwards and aimed a chakra-filled punch at his chest. He just managed to dodge and began forming his chidori in his hands.

"Why are you doing this!" she shouted at him, jumping backwards and standing in a defensive position on the ground. She then noticed a needle lying next to the bed, remembering that it was one of her sleeping doses she had been planning on giving him earlier.

"If I can just reach it…" she thought, clenching her teeth and forming a plan. Sasuke stared at her as they stood several meters away from one another, ready to strike at any moment. The thunder outside was getting louder by the second, making Sakura flinch and turn to look when lightning struck not far from where the hospital was.

At that moment while she was distracted, it was almost too late for her to notice him when he was suddenly looming above her.

She gasped in shock and froze in place when she saw him pause in his attack. His face was mere centimeters away from hers—his face showing a mix of emotions such as confusion, anger…and sadness. He then let his face drain of emotions as he stared into her terrified face.

His chidori was now fading away from his hands. The look in his eyes told her that he had come to finally realize what he was actually doing.

"Sasuke…?" she whispered, staring up at him. He then dropped to the ground and stared at it for a prolonged moment, shivering all over. "I—I'm…sorry." He then whispered after several moments of silence. She couldn't help but feel utterly helpless then, allowing the tears to pour down her face. She then reached forwards towards him and pulled him into a sudden embrace.

His usually passive face held shock that made her heart beat speed up. He then slowly but surely put his arms around her back as well and tightened his grip on her, burying his face in her hair and holding her face close to his. "I'm sorry." He said again, repeating those two words over and over again. The rain outside was pouring hard down, and the thunder became louder with each second. But it wasn't only the weather that had suddenly become enraged…a dark figure standing on the branch of a tree outside of the hospital stared at the scene which had taken place inside the building. The frown on his face turned into a scowl, clenching his fists and turning around as he fled from the area.

The next morning…

"These two ex-Akatsuki members will be put under surveillance by Naruto and Sai for the next two months. If they pass my test without doing anything suspicious, then you are to list them both as full-fledged shinobi of Konoha and erase any information of them being in the bingo book." She said, then turning to look at the Uchiha as she continued,

"And as for the Uchiha, he will be put under surveillance by Sakura for the next four months. He wasn't brought here on his own accord, so he'll be needed to be kept an eye on, more so than the other two, is that clear Sakura?"

The pink haired kunoichi then straightened herself saying,

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sakura repeated this scene in her mind from when she and the others first returned back to Konoha, standing tall next to Naruto and Sai while Deidara, Sasuke and Sasori stood on the other side of the room.

"As of now, after much interrogation, Deidara you will be escorted to Naruto's household, where you'll be watched over by him for the next 2 months. Sasori, you will be escorted to Sakura's household where she will be watching over you. Due to complications, Sai is being sent on another mission for the next month so he won't be able to assist her and Naruto like we planned. And seeing as the council has doubts about allowing the Uchiha to be watched over by either of you, Sasuke will be remaining here in the Hokage Tower where he will be carefully examined and watched for the next 4 months." She finished with a serious look on her face.

Sakura was surprised with the sudden change in plans but held a determined look as she clenched her fists tightly. After the small incident that had taken place the previous night, she and Sasuke had more or less cleaned up everything and taken all the nurses back to their homes where they would have probably woken up forgetting ever being knocked out. She had also come up with a new suggestion when it came to having Deidara and Sasori on probation, so she decided to wait until today to tell her Master about her thoughts about it.

"I'm just glad that everything worked out in the end…and now I can finally be around Sasori again." She then thought, smiling a bit as she glanced back at the red-head. He had his arms folded and was leaning against the wall, not really paying much attention to the Hokage as he stared into nothing.

"What's with him?" she then thought.

"Sakura…Sakura!" the woman then shouted. Sakura gasped at this and straightened her posture saying aloud, "Yes Tsunade Sama!"

Naruto and Deidara chuckled a bit at this, watching the woman fume over the girl. "Is there something bothering you, Sakura?" she then asked her.

Sakura frowned and said,

"No… But I was meaning to ask you about the probation, Tsunade-sama….about whether or not we should instead of watching over the three of them, prepare for a possible attack from Pein and the other Akatsuki. We could work together and go on separate missions to locate the Akatsuki, and afterwards it can be decided whether or not the three should be listed as official Konoha Shinobi."

Everyone stared at her for coming up with such a notion, waiting for the Hokage to reply. "I think not, Sakura. I see you still don't fully understand the point of this. If they were to go on missions with you, it's possible that they would try to escape. And as far as an attack from Pein goes, we've already got shinobi scouting the area for possible tracks of the Akatsuki's whereabouts."

Sakura frowned at this and then said without thinking, "But how can we not trust them when they've already basically revealed everything we need to know about the Akatsuki! Giving us such valid information should surely be enough to win their trust!"

Tsunade then growled and slammed her fist down shouting, "We can't afford to be naive at this point Sakura! Now an order is an order, so do what you're told and stop coming up with these silly notions!"

Sakura's pride was suddenly diminished at that point when she heard her master say that. "Naïve…but…" she muttered, clenching her teeth at that moment. And before she could say anything further, another voice cut in saying,

"I agree with the Hokage. Deidara and I can't be sure whether or not you plan on betraying us if we were to go on missions together, which is why neither of us can afford to be gullible in this type of matter, Haruno."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. She turned her head slowly to meet the brown eyes of her so-called love but met nothing but blankness in his face.

No emotion and no actual care in his expression.

"Sasori?" she muttered in confusion.

"Alright, then it's settled. Now the rest of you can leave while Sai stays here to discuss his new mission with me—along with Sasuke who will now be under my supervision." Tsunade then said with a sigh, also slightly surprised with how cold Sasori was acting towards her student all of her sudden, but she shrugged it off and hoped that everything would go according to plan.

As they all left, Naruto came up to Sakura from behind and quietly asked, "Are you alright, Sakura?" She nodded a bit and quietly took his hand as they walked outside, holding it tightly for a moment for some reassurance. He didn't question her but noticed how confused she seemed to be after the conversation they had had with Tsunade-sama.

He watched her eyes as they bore into Sasori's back, making him frown as he whispered in her ear, "Everything will be alright."

"Easy for you to say." She thought, sighing when they reached the tree outside of the tower—this was now the point where they would part and all go their separate ways. Deidara, the slightly childish, cocky and yet artistic clay master staying with Naruto—a loud-mouth, childish blonde who spent most of his days either eating ramen or going out training.

She figured that those two would get along well enough, even though neither of them had really spoken with one another since the 'Forest of Death' incident.

And then there was Sasori, the quiet, usually solitary Puppet Master who hated waiting and was once a merciless killer, having created nearly 200 puppets out of the humans he had killed in the past. And yet, in the last half-year, she had somehow come to communicate with this man whom she was paired up with while being in the Akatsuki. There were doubts at first, but in the end, they both managed to come to realize their feelings for one another and he agreed to come back with her to live the life of a normal shinobi.

But now it seemed as if none of that had actually occurred. He was acting like a complete stranger around her today, not bothering so much as to cast a single glance towards her.

She frowned as she watched Naruto and Deidara leave, both of them shouting back in unison,

"See ya Sakura- chan!"

"See ya, Danna!"

She waved at both of them and smiled as she watched them both walk away, beginning to talk with one another as they carried on down the pathway through town.

She then slowly turned around to see the red head leaning against the tree, not bothering to face her as he looked up to the sky.

She came up to him and stood next to him, deciding not to come too close for the moment. She then turned to look at him, staring at the way his face showed zero emotion again, and his rather bored eyes just looked up straight ahead.

She then cleared her throat and said, "Sasori…" he didn't blink but turned his head slightly to look at her, waiting for her to carry on with whatever she was meaning to say.

"…I don't understand…why are you so…? Did something happen…while I was away yesterday?"

He merely growled lowly, making her jump a bit. He then scoffed and said, "No, nothing at all. I've just been thinking lately…"

She nodded slightly and muttered quietly, "What it is?"

He then turned to look her in the eye, making her widen her own as she stared into his. They were filled with a type of emotion she had never seen in his eyes before, something that immediately sent alarms ringing through her head.

He then closed his eyes for a moment and grinned saying as he looked back down to her,

"I've just been contemplating if your feelings towards me were really genuine."

The way he said it so bluntly made her shiver, letting rage take over as she burst out saying,

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that after all this time, you think I've been lying to you about my own feelings! Did all those times we had together mean nothing to you?"

He then leaned forward and said in a dark tone, "I'm not saying you ever lied to me about your feelings, I merely wanted to find out if they were actually genuine."

"What! Is that what's been bothering you? Then what the hell is it that you want from me to prove that I actually love you?" she shouted, holding her hands into tight fists and glaring at him angrily.

He was slightly taken aback by her sudden outburst but expected no less from her and leaned forward, resting his hand on her cheek and brushing several strands of hairs out of her face. Her expression softened slightly at this and she put her own hand on his, rubbing his fingers gently as she said softly and yet in a firm tone, "What do I have to do to show you?"

He arched an eyebrow slightly and let his thoughts circle through his mind, thinking about how far she was actually willing to go to show him he wasn't merely a toy to her.

He then smirked and cupped her face, leaning down and stroking her neck seductively as he slowly kissed from her neck upwards, soon whispering in her ear,

"If you truly loved me, you'd allow me to take you."