"I can't believe you're standing in front of me," Sasuke said, staring down at her, his hands still wrapped around her shoulders. "I thought you were-"
"Did you really think Itachi would pick one of us over the other?" Sakaria interrupted, slightly offended. Sasuke thought for a moment as he looked at the floor.
"I wasn't sure what he would or wouldn't do," he admitted. "After I learned the truth about our clan and the village, I started hoping that you were still out there somewhere... and when Itachi told me you were still alive, I was going to come find you." He took his hands from her shoulders and looked at Suigetsu and Jugo, then back to her, "What happened? I mean... How did you survive all this time with Itachi... and when he was in the akatsuki, how did he keep you a secret? I don't think I understand."
Sakaria sighed, her head pounding from the interrogation, and thought back to where she should begin. She took in a deep breath as if preparing her lungs for the speech she was about to give. "When Itachi killed our clan, he made me hide in the woods... He told me that the police force was launching an investigation on Shisui's suicide, and that I needed to hide so we wouldn't get in trouble." Sasuke nodded, thinking how clever Itachi must have been to think of such a lie, but that it almost seemed unnecessary to fool a child with such elaboration. "When he came back into the woods to get me, he told me he had killed everyone but... Something about him seemed... sad..."
"I wish I'd been able to tell..." Sasuke said, suddenly jealous of his sister's empathetic heart.
"I told him I wanted to go with him... later, he told me that he was glad I chose that because, since the village had no idea I had been born, he had made no agreement with the Hokage to keep me safe like he had with you..." Sakaria looked down trying to remember back to her childhood after the leaf village, but everything seemed so hazy. "When Itachi first joined the akatsuki, he kept me hidden most of the time, always leaving me in the woods nearby... but that proved to be problematic after I was attacked several times and hurt... Eventually, he explained himself to Pain, who reluctantly took me into the village." Her mind was suddenly flooded with images of her playing in the rain and folding origami with Konan whenever she wasn't on missions. "Once I was old enough..." Her voice shook as she admitted, "I joined the akatsuki myself." Suigetsu glanced over at her at this, unsure as to why she'd never said anything about any of this to him. "I did what I had to do to stay with Itachi... and I wasn't sent out much...but, if I was, most of the time I was either with Itachi and Kisame or Deidara. I was sent out with Hidan once but..." Sakaria shook the thought from her head, not wanting to delve into the trauma that ensued after setting out on a mission with the Jashin follower who reveled and worshipped in violence, "Itachi never let that happen again... Anyway," She digressed, "After a while, he told me everything about the village and you... and why I couldn't go back to you. I had tried once before, but Orochimaru got in the way." Sasuke's attention was diverted to the curse mark that covered her shoulder and he snarled a little, angry that his sister had been around the snake sage at all. Sakaria looked up at Sasuke, her ashamed face replaced with a look of promise. "I never stopped hoping we'd be a family again, Sasuke," She said, staring at her brother whose mouth hung open, searching for words, "and Itachi never stopped protecting you."
"How did you end up with Suigetsu and Jugo?" Sasuke asked, not wanting to delve too far into the emotional storm that was whirring in his head.
"The leaf took me captive after the Anbu confirmed that I was still alive. Apparently, mom had kept track of all of our accomplishments in a diary that had been hidden somewhere at home, and they found it along with a picture of the three of us that had been kept inside." Sakaria lowered her head once again, saddened at the thought of her mother's journal filled with prideful memories being sifted through for information about her accidental daughter. "I stayed in the leaf village for quite some time and I was going to try to find you before you got to Itachi but no one would let me leave... I had everyone's eyes on me all the time until word got out that you had attacked the summit and killed Danzo... The village was still in shambles at the time and everyone was scrambling to rebuild and gather intel for the war so I became the least of their worries I gu-"
"Hold on," Sasuke said, holding his head while trying to piece together the information he was being given. "How could you let yourself be captured by the leaf after all Itachi did to keep you safe... and why wasn't Itachi there to stop that from happening?"
"Itachi was getting sick..." Sasuke's eyes widened at this, remembering Itachi coughing up blood as they had fought. "He told me it was time for me to be on my own."
"I thought when Itachi said you should start going out on your own, that meant 'on your own,' hmm?" Deidara complained, pulling his long blonde hair back into a ponytail. "I don't get why I have to go with you to this stupid temple."
"I asked nicely," Sakaria said sarcastically, sliding on one of her sandals, "And besides, do you really want me going out all by myself?"
"Why should I care? I don't like your brother, so I don't like you by association, yeah."
"You're not fooling anyone, Deidara," Sakaria rolled her eyes and smirked at him as she stood up straight. "Besides, I thought you might like to come to the temple. There's bound to be something you can blow up there... You know, for fun or whatever."
"It's for ART," the blond akatsuki member shouted, half growling at her. "This is why I don't like you," he confirmed, shaking his head and following her out of the door, "You and your brother have no idea how to appreciate true art. Hmm."
"I seem to recall you being enamored by my brother's appearance the first time you set eyes on him," Sakaria teased, "So, I feel like you have to at least like us a little."
Deidara became flustered at this and shook his head adamantly this time, "Just because something looks nice, doesn't mean I have to like it! Hmm!"
"Well, I feel the same way about your 'art.'" Sakaria grinned, not turning to see Deidara fuming behind her. As they headed down the road in the direction of the temple, their feet sloshed in the mud that was created by Pain's never ending rainfall. "Don't you think it will be nice to get out of the rain for a little while?" Sakaria asked after a few moments of silence. "You should make us a bird so we can get there quicker."
"Are you kidding!? After you just said you didn't like my art!? Hmm!?" He crossed his arms in front of him and stuck his nose up in the air, closing his uncovered eye as if to shield himself from her pleading expression.
"C'mon, Deidara," Sakaria whined. When her yellow haired companion didn't budge, she sighed, turned, and looked up at him again, poking out her lip and ready to strike a bargain. "Tell you what, you make us a bird and get us where we're going, we can stop and buy you some new art supplies at the closest village." Itachi hadn't taught Sakaria much about being on her own, but she had learned how to peak someone's interest. She watched as Deidara opened his one eye but didn't uncross his arms, a sign that he was listening, but she hadn't entirely won him over. "I'll buy anything you want."
"Where the hell did you get money, hmm?" Deidara asked suspiciously, still only staring at her with his one blue eye.
"Don't ask," Sakaria said, pulling out a small coin purse. Deidara recognized it as Hidan's and quickly decided not to press the matter so as not to involve himself. "So, where's that bird? C'mon, we're getting soaked out here." Defeatedly, her companion unfolded his arms and suddenly the pair was on the back of a clay bird Deidara had sculpted. Once they were high in the air, Sakaria watched as the sun set in the sky, leaving a creamsicle color mixed among the pink clouds. "Now, that is art," Sakaria sighed dreamily.
Deidara couldn't bring himself to argue with her, which was rare. Although they'd only started really talking to each other recently, the two had become fast friends, even if he didn't always like to admit it. This made his goal to kill Itachi one day a little more complicated because he wouldn't ever want to hurt Sakaria like that, but he decided he'd deal with that as it came. For now though, it was just nice having someone that was relatively close to his age to talk to. "What are we going to this temple for again hmm," Deidara asked, looking down over the buildings below, thinking of what they'd look like if he had dropped a bomb on even one of them.
"I'm just getting a feel for the area," Sakaria said, shrugging. She knew this was a lie and that she was really searching the area for Sasuke in hopes that she could talk him down from killing their brother, but if she had told Deidara that, he might try to attack Itachi before Sasuke would even get the chance anyway. "If I'm going to be on my own, I think I should start learning the layouts of places a little better... and this is the only place I can think of that is close enough to the sound village without actually going inside of it. I know we won't get caught there."
"Why do I feel like a sheep being lead to slaughter," Deidara mumbled, annoyed.
"You are kind of sheepish, aren't you?" The Uchiha girl cooed, patting her companion on the head sarcastically. He swatted at her hand and snarled at her, causing her to giggle.
"You sure are pressing your luck today," The blond warned, eying his companion angrily. "If you aren't careful, I might just blow you away. Hm."
"That would probably be the first and only time you'd ever have that effect on a girl," Sakaria muttered, peering over at him with a wicked smirk on her face.
"You're such a bitch!" He scoffed, slamming his hand down on the bird he had sculpted causing it to disappear underneath them. Suddenly, Sakaria found herself grasping the air, attempting to grab hold of something to stop her from falling as she screamed. Just as quickly as she found herself skydiving, she landed on a new bird sculpture safely after it flew under her to catch her. She blew her black hair from her face, casting an angry look at the artist before her.
"Why would you do that!?" She complained, fixing her hair and scowling at him. "You could have killed me!"
"I wish!" Deidara barked, rolling his eyes. "That just goes to show, you should be nicer to someone who is doing you a favor. Especially if that favor is several thousand feet in the air. Hmm."
"Ugh! Now I know why you're paired up with Tobi! You're just as annoying!" Deidara looked over at her, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Why do you sound like you're being serious? Hmm?" He asked, his feelings actually hurt, "What's gotten into you?"
Sakaria sighed and sat up straight, criss crossing her legs on the clay bird's back. "Sorry, Dee... I just..." She bit her thumbnail out of habit, trying to calm down, "It's been hard adjusting to not being with Itachi... and I'm just worried about a lot of things."
"Well, don't take it out on me," Deidara fussed, still looking annoyed until he plopped down beside her, leaned his elbow on his knee, and propped his chin in his hand, gazing at her with a slight smile, "Especially since I'm your only friend."
Sakaria looked up at him curiously, but soon her face softened into a smile. Afterwards, looked down below to find that their destination was a few yards away. "We're here!" She cheered as the bird descended. After it landed on the temple lawn, it disappeared in a poof of smoke, and the two akatsuki members stood, gazing up at the massive, dilapidated temple that was before them.
"What a train wreck," Deidara said, raising an eyebrow, "You were right, Sakaria, looks like there is a place I can bomb. I'll turn this place into a true masterpiece! hmmm."
"Not so fast, picasso," Sakaria said, walking ahead of him into the temple, "You blow this up, and we won't have anywhere to sleep." Her matter of fact tone cause Deidara to fly off the handle once more.
"Sleep!? You didn't say anything about being out all night! I have a life too, yeah. And what if Pain has something for us to do!? Then what!? Hmm!?"
"Man, someone sure is acting like a kiss-ass all of a sudden," Sakaria said, pushing the large wooden door of the temple open on her own and listening as the hinges groaned from disuse. "Did you wash your hands after they were done sucking Pain's-"
"Would you just shut up already!?" Deidara growled, flailing his hands in the air, "All I'm saying is I don't think we should be deciding to wander around in our spare time what with Pain wanting us to all focus finding the jinchuriki. Just because you're Itachi's kid sister, doesn't mean you get a pass to goof off and do whatever you want, hmm."
"News to me," Sakaria replied arrogantly as she looked up at the stained glass windows of the temple. Deidara huffed, ready to give up arguing with her yet again. It was rare that his opinion ever seemed to matter to her anyway. "We're only staying here for the night, then we can go back. I'll tell Pain we were scouting out the hidden sound to see if maybe the nine tails jinchuriki was poking his head around here looking for Sasuke."
"Yeah, because lying to Pain has worked so well in the past." The blond ninja replied, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes at her as he followed her into the abandoned temple. He started to take in his surroundings a bit more after listening to his voice echo off of the dilapidated walls. The ceiling above them must have been at least two hundred feet high and, despite night falling over them, the moonlit windows casted beautiful shadows onto the creaky wooden floor.
"I've gotten away with it enough," Sakaria shrugged, her hand grazing the marble as she danced around one of the five columns that stood in two single file lines throughout the massive, empty room. The sixth in the far right corner had fallen and shattered into three rather large pieces on the floor.
"This place doesn't freak you out?" Deidara asked, ultimately deciding to change the subject. "It's pretty dark in here."
"It's not too bad," Sakaria said, looking around, "But, we definitely need to lighten things up a bit." On the walls, she spotted torch holders and one by one, she lit them using small bursts of her jutsu. Once the room was somewhat lit, she smiled over at Deidara who had taken off his akatsuki robe and found a seat against one of the pillars. She walked over to him, taking off her robe as well and placing it on the floor so she could sit on it.
"Remind me, again, why we have to sleep here? You're just getting a feel for the area, right? So, why do we have to stay all night, hmm?" Deidara asked, taking off his satchel and setting it beside himself so he could dig through it.
"It's already night time," Sakaria reminded, shifting her position so she could lie on her stomach. She propped her chin on her hands while her feet alternated swaying back and forth, looking much like a normal teenage girl.
"Yeah, but it's not like it's late enough to go to sleep." Her friend grumbled in reply, feeding his right hand some of the clay he had found in the bottom of his bag just to fiddle around and ease some of the boredom that was growing. The trouble with Deidara's artistic personality was, much like Sakaria, he needed constant stimulation. The words "sit still," seemed more like a call for execution to him, so he wasn't very fond of things like going to bed early.
"We could play a game!" Sakaria suggested, watching as a tiny spider-like creature crawled from the mouth in Deidara's palm and over to a small monk statue that was abandoned by whatever religion was once practiced there. After making a handsign, he let out a small grunt and watched as his creation exploded, creating a tiny spark and disappearing, taking the relic with it.
"A game?" The artist asked, rolling his eyes, "You know, if you wanted to have some girlie sleep over, we could have done it back home. Hm." Sakaria sighed and set her cheek back on her bent arm, looking rather deflated at his rejection. "Fine," Deidara grouched, giving in. "What game?"
"Well..." Sakaria thought for a moment, trying to come up with any game she could relate to this thing called a 'sleepover' she'd heard about so many times but never attended. "We can't play Spin the Bottle cause we don't have a bottle..."
"And there's only two of us," Deidara said, shaking his head at how oblivious she could be.
"... Hmm..." Sakaria thought harder, "What about truth or dare?"
"Alright," Deidara conceded. "You go first. Hm."
"Okay! Truth or dare?"
"Dare," He said flatly, not looking up at her as he tossed more clay between his hungry hands.
"I dare you to let me put your hair in pigtails when we get back home." Sakaria giggled.
"Hey, no way. You can't make dares for future dates. It has to be right here, right now. A true artist lives only in the moment. Hm." He protested, already envisioning the looks he would get from the other akatsuki members. Sakaria pouted slightly and thought hard once more.
"Fine... I dare you to..." She drew out the word "to" in order to buy time as she figured out exactly how she wanted to end her sentence. "show me the worst art piece you've ever done!" She eyed him suspiciously, knowing his arrogant attitude might not allow him to complete the dare, but instead, he dug into his satchel and pulled out a sketch book that was filled with several blank pages save for a drawing that he flipped to and handed to her. Although it was hard to make out, Sakaria eventually managed to decipher the picture and identify it as an attempt at a woman with spider legs outstretched from a floral patterned kimono. "It's a Jorōgumo!" Sakaria announced cheerfully.
Deidara's eyes widened momentarily and a smile snuck across his face. Not one to remain humbled, he quickly scooted over beside her and analyzed the drawing himself. "I've always been more of a sculptor than anything... but, at least you could figure out what she was. Hm." He shrugged, looking up at her. "You know what they say about Jorōgumo, don't you?"
"Sure," Sakaria said, still studying the shaky lines of her companions drawing, "She's a powerful spider that can shape shift into a beautiful woman... and, kind of like a siren, she lures people in and then drags them into her waterfall and drowns them to death." Deidara nodded and pointed to the center of his sketch pad.
"I tried to draw the waterfall behind her, but..." He opened his palm and looked down at the mouth on it as it licked away, expecting more clay. "My hands weren't meant for sketching." He closed his hand, perhaps a little more morosely than originally anticipated, but was pulled from his mood by the sound of the paper being pulled from the rings of his pad. "What are you doing? Hmm?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched Sakaria fold his rough drawing and put it in her weapons holster.
"I like it, so I'm keeping it!" She beamed. "I'll pay you for it if you want!" Deidara shook his head, taking comfort in his friend's admiration, but she pulled out the coin purse from earlier anyway.
"Alright, I have to ask..." He pointed at the gold and black coin purse in her hand before she had a chance to pull out any of her money. "Why do you have that? Hmm?"
"Weren't we playing a game?" Sakaria asked, pretending to suddenly remember. "I uhm.. I think it was your turn!" Her voice was shaky as she set the purse back beside her and put her small pale hand over top it as if to hide it from him.
"Okay... Truth or dare?" Deidara asked.
"Dare!" Sakaria replied hastily, knowing if she picked truth, Deidara would only repeat his question.
"Fine. I dare you to tell me why you have Hidan's coin purse!"
"That isn't fair, Dee!" Sakaria whined, looking down at her hand. "It's really not a big deal, anyway."
"If it's not a big deal, you can tell me." Deidara goaded. He watched in silence while Sakaria let out a hefty sigh as if something was weighing on her chest, before she spoke hesitantly.
"Well... You know Hidan and I were sent out to gather information on the two tails before they captured her... Pain sent me with Hidan because Kakuzu was out on a different mission, and Hidan refused to go with anyone else..." She looked up as Deidara nodded then lowered her head again, "Gathering intel took a little longer than expected so we ended up camping out in a cavern near the Hidden Cloud Village..."