Second to last chapter...

DON'T HATE ME FOR THE WAY THIS TURNED OUT!

*sighs* it sucks because i had this really long, awesome scene written where i made Deidara wear a dress (i'm a sucker for Deidara in a dress) and i had to cut it due to plot changes! Dx IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES!

Uh... unfortunately, there can be no sequal, there WILL be an epilogue though. and also, i'm in the process of writing another Akatsuki fic which will be uploaded tomorrow when i upload the last chapter of this ^^ um.. not that i'm expecting anyone to care.

DISCLAIMER: I Do Not Own Naruto/Shippuden, unfortunately.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – Sasori's P.O.V

BOOM!

The bomb went off in a burst of colors.

Red. Orange. Yellow. And I even saw sparks of blue.

I knew that if he was awake, the brat would no doubt say how beautiful he though this whole thing was. I know he liked things like that; explosions and the like.

As it was, he had fallen asleep leaning on my shoulder.

I felt bad for those people, if only for a moment, since I was after all, destroying their money. But whatever, I'm sure insurance would cover it.

So that was it. I was dead. Officially anyway.

They would find my body in that bank, or its charred remains anyway. They would find the ring on my finger and the Akatsuki would take care of the rest.

Tayuya and Ukon would be found wearing our rings on their burnt out skeletons, which Itachi and the others would insist we were wearing when we left, they'd even have rings of their own to compare ours to. Forensics would find Deidara's blood on scene and assume there was a fight, Hidan would insist Tayuya and Ukon were lovers and were planning to run away with the cash.

Meanwhile the dead bodies of three Oto scumbags would be right under their noses.

You see, that bomb had a detonator, but it wasn't instant. It would go off exactly three and a half minutes after I hit the button.

So with Tayuya wearing Deidara's ring and Ukon wearing mine, the brat and I had three and a half minutes to get out alive. It was tricky to shoot Kimimaro without getting shot myself, but the kiss served as enough of a distraction for Deidara to get a bullet through his head.

From there the plan was pretty straight forward; run.

I had already gotten us a couple of tickets on a train. Heading nowhere, or everywhere, I'm not really sure. So once we were out of the building, that's where we went.

Tobi and Zetsu work as counterfeiters, they made us whole new identities so in all truth that meant Deidara and I had died that night. But we were also reborn and given a new chance, away from the crime life and away from criminal charges and away from the dead-end lives we used to live.

I remember when Itachi first told me his plan. I thought he was crazy, but anyone would've thought the same at first.

Faking your own death should be an absolute last resort but when I really took the time to think about it, I realized it was our only choice. Because no matter which way you looked at it, somebody was going to prison unless we went through with it.

I wonder what life will be like this time around?

It seemed like I had already lived a thousand lives.

I had been a son. A cousin. A nephew. A gang member. A murderer. A criminal. And now I would start a new life with the brat. What would that be like?

I watched the world I used to know; the city lights, the tall glass and metal buildings, the hospital, the prison, the cemetery, I watched it all float past, caught up in the burning glow of the bank fire.

I wondered briefly how Konan would react when she heard. When she heard that I was dead.

And Pein too, what would Pein do?

Well the idea was for him to suddenly realize that the Akatsuki was dangerous but I wasn't sure that would be the initial outcome. Maybe one day though, one day I'd wake up to a world without groups like that…. a peaceful world.

I feel asleep like that; my mind filled with wishful thoughts.

Deidara's P.O.V

When I woke up, we were on the road.

I guess I'd slept a little too long last night as it appeared to be at least midday. But I'd say I deserved a long sleep. After all, I'd just been killed.

How wonderful it was that on my official records, it would say I was killed by an explosion.

Sasori had gotten us a car with some of the Akatsuki money. We had new identities now. Tobi and Zetsu specialized in making new lives; new identities and now Sasori and I had the papers to prove we weren't who we used to be.

The radio was on; they were discussing what happened last night.

"So you're saying it's a possibility that this could be a case of murder/suicide?"

"Yes I believe this is a strong possibility. One of the bodies found was identified to be Deidara Iwa, on trial for breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. He was facing a life sentence so it just makes sense for him to do something like that."

"And what of the other people, the others caught in the blast?"

"Well I believe he may have wanted to go out with a bang, excuse the pun. But with what he have on him, he doesn't seem the type to go quietly…"

The voices continued to drone on and I smiled contently. I couldn't believe they were actually buying it and that I had actually gotten away with this! It was the perfect pan I suppose and now I was free from everything!

I sat up slowly, my body ached from being curled up in a ball for so long but I hardly minded. Sasori glanced sideways at me, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth but no words were needed and so none were said.

Where were we going? I didn't know; all I knew was that freedom was just around the corner.

This was my ending, Deidara's ending but it was our beginning. A beginning for me and Danna, a couple of kids who just didn't know any better.

The fight with my step-father is a really long and dull story, not worth mentioning at all really. But in a way, I'm glad it happened and that I got kicked out of the house and that all the bad things in my life happened. Because if they didn't, if even one thing in my life had been different, I'm convinced I never would have met or fallen in love with Sasori.

And if I had to suffer for twenty-years before something amazing finally happened, well I'm just glad I made it through.