"Give up! Concede!" Sasuke tried to make her give in, Sakura was on her stomach face down under him, his kunai point to the back of her neck, he had obviously won.
"Hey Sasuke", She sang out from underneath him.
"Uh what?, " he asked stupidly.
She pushed up with her forearms from the ground with a chakra infusion to her hands , bent outward from the ground lifting him off her back and kicking him in the head, leg backward across her back.
He fell off to the side of her, she picked up his kunai and pegged it through his hand, pinning him to the ground.
"Conceed." She told him.
"I concede! Why did you pin my hand to the ground! You're brutal and that was unnecessary!" He whined.
"Stop thinking you are better than me. I have been hiding my skill for years, decades remember?" You haven't seen a third of what I can do. "Besides, you big fat baby, I can heeeeeal you idiot."
"Whatever." he said like a baby.
"I'm hungry, let's get some food." She said and started walking back toward the inn
"Okay." He pulled the kunai out of his hand and followed her.
When they got back to the inn they were heading up the steps to their room when Sasuke was called back by the Innkeeper wanting a word with him.
"Meet you upstairs" He said to her and walked back down the stairs to the Innkeeper who was waiting for him at the bottom.
When she opened the door to their room she saw Kakashi sitting on their bed holding a rose.
"What are you doing?" She asked looking at the rose.
"I'm sitting on our bed holding a rose." He told her.
-Games again hum, never gets old right?-
"It is not our bed, it is Sasuke's bed and mine remember, and that rose is for me." She went to grab the rose from him but he held it away from her.
"Our bed Sakura, or have you forgotten last night already?" He ran the rose under his masked nose.
"I have not, I learn from my mistakes." She retorted reaching for the rose again. Again he held it away from her.
"Keep it, I don't care." She walked to the bathroom and shut the door. Turned on the shower and got in.
After her shower she stood in the bathroom towel drying her hair thinking about what she wanted for lunch when she heard Sasuke come into the room.
"Kakashi, where did that come from?" She heard Sasuke ask Kakashi about the rose.
"Your brother, for Sakura of course." Kakashi told him.
"Give it to me." Sasuke could be heard through the bathroom door.
"Sakura seems to really want it this time I am not sure it is a good idea to give it to you." Kakashi says.
Sakura opens the bathroom door, grabs some clothes , holding her towel to her body says to both of them, "Get out and leave my flower where Itachi left it."
Kakashi sets the rose on the pillow and walks out followed by Sasuke.
"This is all your fault." Sasuke says as they walk out of her room into the next room.
She sighs and falls back onto her bed.
"Itachi." She holds the rose to her nose inhaling. Rose and campfire ...and there it is Dango.
Once dressed she goes downstairs for some food. The little lunch bar is packed so she orders some tempura and dango and takes a walk to the river to eat her lunch in some much needed peace and quiet.
She chose a part of the river where it bends into a small island before stretching back out into the main branch. Pulling a blanket out of a storage scroll she lays it out then sits down to enjoy her food. The tempura is crisp and delicious.
Before starting in on her dango she reaches into her pouch and pulls out the book of poetry that Itachi gave her many years ago, a well thumbed through copy by now that has accompanied her on many missions.
Laying down on her side, book in one hand a stick of dango in the other she begins to read. A few pages in she hears a tapping noise. It isn't threatening but it is out of place by a river surrounded by forest. It doesn't sound like a woodpecker and she can't locate a chakra signatures so after a while she goes back to reading.
The tapping continues, changing every now and then , stopping sometimes , then starting back up again. It is some time before she notices it has stopped altogether and she sits up and looks around. Still nothing. Putting her book away she lays on her back watching the clouds and enjoying the oddly sunny, slightly crisp moment by herself when she sees something.
Something is floating down from the sky toward her. She jumps to her feet, blade in hand and as it comes closer she can see it is, it's a , a piece of paper? A paper bomb? No, too big. A really big paper bomb?
"Don't be stupid" she laughs at herself.
She reaches out to catch it as it floats sideways to her and it's, her. It is a picture of her laying down on the blanket reading. Pink hair tucked behind one ear, two strands falling forward, the rest flowing down the side of her head over her shoulder, just a hint of green in the profile of her eye, reading intently. He posture captured in exact likeness and the sparkling river with its clear, white and grey blue hues tumble behind her.
"This is absolutely incredible." She whispers.
"I know yeah!." Deidara pops up behind her grinning.
"Deidara!." She gasps "Hey!" She is actually really happy to see him. She rather likes the enthusiastic artist.
"Sakura, I was hoping to see you again soon. You ok?" He asks her seriously.
"I'm ok now. I admit I was not okay yesterday or this morning even." She smiles a real smile at him
"I love this drawing, you are amazing!" She holds the picture up, "I love it, can I have it?"
"Of course, I drew it for you yeah!" He grins at her.
"It's really good to see you. Deidara I am really sorry about lying to you but , you knew who I was from the tea house even?" She was curious.
"We knew you were coming to the village for recon on the Akatsuki yeah." He can't stop grinning at her.
"How?" She asked him
"Can't say that yeah ." He laughs at her.
"I guess not, " She laughs at herself.
"But isn't this weird for you, I mean we are enemies aren't we?" She asks him
"The Akatsuki are different yeah, we don't belong to a village so, we don't have to follow those sort of rules. It is only a problem if it puts our goals in jeopardy hey." He says and twirls a piece of yellowing grass in his fingers.
"I saw you sparring with the Uchiha brat earlier, you did really well hey." He smiled at her, his eyes sparkled ...and he was inching toward her on the blanket.
"Thanks, you know Sasuke is a decent guy, he is just crabby sometimes." She defends Sasuke
"Still, I bet you're glad you aren't really married to him yeah?" He grins at her and tugs on a lock of her hair
"True, I don't think I would be happy married to Sasuke, not my type." She pulls her hair back and swings it over her other shoulder away from him.
Deidara watches her do this and frowns slightly.
"But yeah, I'm definitely not your enemy. You like the drawing yeah, can I have a kiss hum?" He is grinning again like a smirking cat.
"I'm not going to kiss you every time you make me something." She laughs at him
"Aww come on yeah I'll make you another sculpture." He teases her.
"I meant it when I said I didn't want to hurt you , the other night under the sakura tree." She looked at him.
He straightened up a little, he could be serious when he needed to be. "I know. I knew what you meant. I'm pretty smart hey, even if I don't always look at it. I can read between the lines" He smiled at her.
"I could tell it was bothering you, the whole situation you were in. That's why I told you that I didn't think you were a bad person either, I knew you didn't want to hurt me and it was bothering you, a lot."
He took her hand and squeezed it, "It's ok. It was a mission yeah, we all have those."
"I meant what I said, You really are a decent guy. " She was glad he didn't hold it against her.
"I might be out of line but you don't seem like you belong with that team, they seem too uptight for you hey." He is watching her.
"I have been with them since I was 12, we are like family." She says
"Didn't seem like family with that crazy ass Copy nin trying to cut you with his lightening yeah, he doesn't trust you either, keeps asking you who you are loyal to ." Deidara points out.
"It's complicated." She says
"What isn't?" he laughs. "Look it isn't my business , but they don't seem like they know you very well, Teammate since you were 12 yeah?"
"He's just...well, a little." She was trying to think of something nice to say but Deidara beat her to it.
"Self centered?" He said.
"Well, maybe a little." She laughed.
"Like I said, none of my business but you just don't seem like you belong with them." He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear again and kept his hand on her cheek smiling at her.
She looked down and pulled away a little putting some distance between them
"You said something about taking me with you two and Itachi said no, it wasn't time. What was that about?" She asked him
"Oh uh, well we have been watching you for a while a few years now I think and Leader Sama wants a good healer and you're it. We didn't want to approach you yet though, Itachi says you aren't ready to join us yeah." He says
"Not ready like, not good enough yet?" She asks him.
"I don't think that's it but I never know what that guy is thinking, so quiet and creepy yeah. He says you aren't ready though and Leader Sama trusts him, so it is up to him." He cocks his head at her.
"We aren't what you thought huh? You're a ninja, you kill on missions, so do we, but we don't kill because someone told us to and it is the wrong thing to do but we have to do it anyway. We choose our missions, choose our clients and do a lot of good yeah." He says proudly.
"We saved a small village from a group of bandits, killed them all, just like you did the other week yeah. I saw you , you know, you were beautiful." He looked at her with a funny look in his eyes like wonder.
"Beautiful? I was a monster covered in blood." She said quietly
"No, " He lifted her chin up and held her eyes, " you were beautiful vengeance, retribution for those who were too weak to take it for themselves. Everyone of those nin and bandits were terrible people, they tortured those villagers yeah, and you killed them all." He was serious.
"I never thought of it like that I guess so." She kinda smiled.
"Are you kidding? It was amazing! Blood everywhere, " he waved his arms around as if flinging blood artistically on the grass, " You flew about ending their reign of terror on those civilians forever!' He almost ended in a sitting twirl. She laughed out loud.
"I guess, that sounds better than cold hearted killer." She mused.
"Is that how you see it huh?" He asked her
"Yes, I am a monster, cruel, cold blooded because it takes me over, I get, I go insane? I guess is the best way to describe it. It's like it isn't me." She says not looking at him but looking over the water.
She looks down at the picture he drew of her and she smiles, he smiles at her smiling. "This is me." She holds the picture up.
"Why can't you be both?" He is serious.
"How can I be, the evil will take over, the blood lust will eventually take over and I will lose control, I can't be both." She shakes her head. It is impossible he doesn't understand.
"Sure you can, just figure out how to control it, like by doing good, like that village yeah? Use it to help those who can't help themselves. Be a weapon of peace yeah. Like me, like Itachi." He grins at her again.
"Weapon of peace?" That sounds a lot better than insane, crazed killer.
"I would really like that, but I can't. I'm a kunoichi of Konoha, I can't just go around killing bandits or taking down rogue nin on my own, without permission." She laughed at the thought.
-Why the fuck not?-
"Then leave Konoha and come join us and do it." He kisses her cheek. "You already know Itachi and I and well, you met Sasori."
"Leave Konoha?" She says in disbelief.
"Itachi was going to recruit you eventually so why not just come on your own now yeah!" He is getting excited.
"You can share my room yeah." He winks at her.
"I can't just up and leave Konoha, it is all I have ever known, it is my home." She smiles at him sadly.
"What happens if your home blows up, or burns down?" He asked her
"Blows up?" She laughed.
"My last house blew up, but it was kinda my fault...anyway, yeah what if hey?" He asks again.
"Well , I don't know if I would have to get a new house?" She said quirking her eyebrow at him wondering where this was going.
"What if your house wasn't the only one? What if the whole village got blown up yeah?" He said.
"I would have to move I guess?" She said confused.
"Yeah, right!" he said as if that explained everything.
"Deidara? Did you blow up your village before you left?" She asked
"That's besides the point yeah, we are talking about you!" He grins at her
"Deidara!, you didn't did you?" She is smiling at him.
"Only a little." he shrugs it off, "anyway, just pretend you don't have a village and come join us." he snickers
She laughs at his absurd reasoning, "That is silly Deidara, I am not going to do that, besides won't Itachi get mad if I come now, he said it wasn't time yet." She pointed out.
"He is just over cautious yeah, you'll be fine, it will be great. I'll make you all sorts of things!" He is warming up to the idea fast.
'Besides, " he says "now that you know, and I know, we don't have to pretend now yeah, it is easier." He hugs her.
"Sakura, I kinda like you yeah, I meant it when I said I wanted to get to know you better. I know only a little about you so far and you're amazing yeah. I want to know more." He was so singularly sincere and open it hurt.
"Uh Deidara, I...I am really flattered you are so honest. I'm not used to that I guess. I like talking with you a lot but, but I, there is someone and I am not sure where we are, if we are something, or if I'm confused I guess. It is uncertain, his actions are confusing and contradictory sometimes." She grimaces at him. "I'm sorry, but I didn't want to lie to you."
"I appreciate it really hey. Thanks uh, but so, is it that Sasuke guy?" he asks.
"Oh no, no he is like my brother, not him no." She laughs a little.
"He likes you though I can tell." He grins, "Please tell me it isn't the copy nin!"
"No, I am not interested in him romantically." She smiles, "It's just someone that comes and goes out of my life alot and never stays, but comes back, if it is a year, 6 months, a week, he just...one day he is here the next gone. It is confusing." She admits her frustration to him.
"Oh, that sounds rough hey. Does he know you feel this way?" He asked her.
"Well, he is a prodigy and a genius, I would think so, but he is also very quiet, doesn't talk a lot and is kinda a loner, so maybe not?" She frowns, " I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it , he was gone for a year and I just saw him again recently."
"Oh! So this is all just happening right now? That explains a lot. I would be confused too yeah, and then I kissed you, well you kissed me first yeah." He grins and teases her.
"Yeah," she smiles.
"It was a really good few kisses though right?" He winks at her
"They were really good, too good Deidara." She says giving him a stern look.
"I don't remember, wanna kiss me again to remind me yeah?" He leans forward and she playfully slaps him away.
"Not today " She smiles at him.
"Thanks Deidara, you really cheered me up. I was in a bad place yesterday, I really needed this. You're the best" She hugged him hard.
"I'm glad I could help yeah, I should go though, someone is looking for you." He grinned, kissed her cheek and jumped on a bird he pulled out of his sleeve and flew away.
She looked at the drawing he had done for her one more time before putting it in her bag , opened her book again and read while she waited for whoever was looking for her to find her.
No, the two Akatsuki members she had met and spoken to were nothing like she had thought, even Sasori was not what she had pictured from his Bingo book entry. Were they really the bad guys? She thought of what Deidara had said, shinobi can be a weapon for peace.
Is that what you were Itachi? She could understand that, she could see him as such, not the clan killing psycho people thought was. There had never been a time she had felt she was in danger with him, never had feared him.
The trick to life is being able to really see what it is you're looking at. Take your own advice Sensei...
She felt better than she had felt in days. She was herself again but also something new. The blood hummed fine and clean in her veins now, no longer weighed down by doubt and self loathing, it felt great.
-Fuck yeah bitches, we're back!-
Sasuke sped toward her from the forest, "Sakura," He choked out we need to go back to the village, back to Konoha, Hokage, summoned us back, let's go, now." He grabbed her bag and her hand and they started running back to the inn.
"Sasuke what the hell is wrong, what happened? Where is Kakashi?" She was running beside him instead of running ahead so he could explain.
"Innkeeper," he huffed, he was out of breath " told me urgent message, I read it, Hokage said village was attacked. Akatsuki."
-What the fucking hell, noooo! Was it all a lie? -
"While we were out of the village. The Nine tails, The Aprentice of Senju Tsunade and Anbu Captain, The famous Copy Nin of Konoha and the last Heir of the Clan Uchiha of Konoha. They waited for us to leave to attack. I know other high level Anbu are out of the village right now too on missions" Damn it.
"Yeah, exactly" Sasuke said.
Kakashi met them in their room.
"I have everything in storage scrolls, let's move" and they did, racing back to Konoha at top speed.
Sakura fingered the little sculptures in her hoodie pocket as she ran, Deidara, he had said "what if your village got blown up and there was nothing left?" No! Did he know? Of course he knew! He is in the Akatsuki! Damn it Deidara!
Itachi, did you know too? Did you help them destroy the village? Damn you Itachi, Damn you Deidara, fuck you all to fucking hell!
-Is there no one we can trust anymore?-
Me, I can only trust myself from now on.