It had been a week since we found that note. In that week, the rest of Seymour Granjesca had been found in pieces, but oddly enough, Sasori hadn't taken anyone since then. Sasori of the Red Sand they called him, ranked as the #7 Most Wanted Man for the FBI, right behind his partner, Deidara. He has 19 confirmed kills under his belt, though that number only reflects the ones that have been found. Some estimates put him at almost 100 kills, all in a brutal fashion. His murders have ranged from making his victims eat hot rocks to slicing off people's tongues and making them choke on it. He was the one cutting these people into pieces and tormenting the entirety of Baton Rouge. It was all him, and it was all for me. He was killing for me, so that he could lure me in and do what Deidara failed to.

But for now, he was in hiding. In the note, Sasori had said that I nearly had him, but ever since then, all the leads Sakura and I had been following turned out to be dead ends. We had located 4 possible hideouts near the house Sasori was staying at, but all of them were empty, save for one that was being used as a meth lab. Baton Rouge still had a shadow over it, so much so that a curfew had been placed. Everyone was to be inside by 10 PM, no exceptions.

That's the power fear has over people.

I had just woken up earlier than I had planned to, the clock still read 6:00 PM. Sakura and I were living off of 3 hours of sleep each day, but today I had only gotten two. The Commissioner insisted that we get at least 6 hours, but as long as Sasori was still at large there was no way we could sleep that much. So we napped from 4-7 PM, yet today I woke up early for some reason. We had a full day ahead as we were following another lead on Sasori that we had obtained from the two victims. Both were taken 10 miles apart from each other, which gave us a large radius, but another similarity between the victims was that both of them were successful and wealthy, meaning they lived in the rich neighborhoods. They were taken on their ways back to work. Demarillo was taken from his workplace because his car was still in the parking garage, meaning he was most likely taken on his way out. Granjesca had made it home and had parked his car, so he was taken from right outside his house as he was walking to the door. Our radius was 5 miles now, yet Sasori hadn't taken anyone yet. Sakura and I had studied the victims and evidence time and time again, we had practically memorized everything, yet we didn't have a clue as to where Sasori was.

If we did a perimeter search, than all of the cops would be in one location, meaning Sasori would be free to capture someone else while we were distracted. So all that was left was for us to keep narrowing the radius.

"Can't sleep?" Sakura asked. I looked down at the tired pinkette in my arms and nodded my head. We laid there for a little bit before getting ready and making our way back to the police station. We walked into our office and were surprised to see the Police Commissioner waiting for us.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, you two," the old man said. This week had taken more out of him than anyone else. The man was old, but right now he looked like a ghost.

"What is it?" Sakura inquired.

"Another one's been taken." I inwardly cursed at the man's words. "This time, its a woman, Grace Hargreaves, 28 years old and Executive for David & Johnson. She was reported missing a couple of hours ago and we're presuming its this Sasori character as it fits his MO. She was taken from the parking garage of the company. All cameras in the area were turned off, however, so we can't get a visual. Now if you'll excuse me, I must talk with her family. Do your best agents, I know you've been working as hard as you can," the man told us before giving us a tired smile and leaving our office.

"He looks terrible," Sakura murmured as she turned to me.

"Let's go check the crime scene," I responded. We walked out and to the car before driving to our destination. We made our way past the reporters who were itching for an interview and ducked under the yellow tape. At first glance, the scene was clean, no blood, nothing on the ground, just a car. Sasori left no evidence behind, nothing to track him by, just like I expected. From the looks of it, he probably used chloroform to knock her unconscious and take her with him to wherever he was hiding. The car was currently being dusted for prints, but I could tell that they would find nothing.

I walked over and pictured the scene. Hargreaves walks out of work, unsuspecting of any incoming danger, she opens the passenger door and puts her briefcase inside before closing the door and walking to the driver's side. That's when Sasori took her, before she even touched the handle. He checks if anyone's nearby before dumping her into his car and driving away. I walked over to Sakura, who was sifting through Hargreaves' briefcase for anything.

"Just M&A's, nothing special in here," she told me. I nodded and gave the whole place a once over before turning around and going back to our car. "I think we should visit Hargreaves' apartment, there might be something there that may be of use," Sakura told me.

"Ok," I sighed. I turned the key to ignite the car's engine but the car wouldn't start. I turned the key again and again at least 6 times, but it wouldn't start. "FUCK!" I yelled before smacking the steering wheel in frustration. I slumped back in my seat, tired and angry.

"That was nice," Sakura remarked with a small smile on her face before she slumped back in her seat as well.

"I have a short temper."

"I know, Sasuke, but we still have places to go."

"The car won't start," I muttered. She reached over and turned the key, igniting the engine. I looked at her incredulously before sitting up. "How the hell did you do that?" I wondered, drawing a small laugh from her. "Where are we going again?"

"Hargreaves' apartment, its been sealed off since she lives alone so maybe we can find why Sasori took her." I nodded and drove off, following Sakura's directions until we reached an enormous apartment complex that looked expensive. I'm pretty sure a 7-figure salary was a requirement to live here and here I am still at 5-figures living in an ok apartment.

Oh well.

Sakura and I made our way up to her apartment where an officer was stationed. We showed him our badges and he lifted up the tape to let us in. The apartment looked even more expensive from the inside, decorated with portraits and paintings and smelling faintly of money. The ceiling was at least 20 feet high and the windows overlooked the city. Hargreaves' kitchen was bigger than my entire apartment, no joke.

Sakura and I looked around, trying to find any potential evidence as to where Sasori would take Hargreaves. I went into her bedroom while Sakura checked the bathroom, but we both found nothing. I searched her kitchen next but there was nothing other than normal kitchen stuff.

"Sasuke," Sakura called. I walked over to the living room, where an enormous TV resided along with a huge sofa that looked like it was worth half a year's rent.

"Find anything?" I asked.

"No, there's just a bunch of technology and a fireplace, nothing out of the ordinary." I walked over to the fireplace Sakura was talking about and examined it. There were a bunch of framed pictures resting on top of it. A couple of them were Hargreaves and her family while some others were pictures of Hargreaves when she was just a child. She was smiling brightly while on top of her dad's shoulders. When you're a kid, the highest place in the world was always your dad's shoulders, its a special place. Sakura picked up the picture of Hargreaves as a child and stared at the blonde-haired girl with a pained look on her face.

"I know we're not supposed to be emotional when we're working cases, but..." She trailed off, though I knew what she was trying to say. I slowly took the photo from her hand and placed it back before grasping her hand. She looked up at me and neither of said anything because we didn't need to. She knew what my eyes were telling her, that we would try our best to save this woman. If we can't save her, than that's that. I didn't like the idea of someone dying, but it had happened to me before and it would happen again. Sakura gave me a small, yet encouraging smile before walking towards the entrance to the place. I took one more glance at the pictures and followed after her.

I only took 2 steps before turning around, my eyes glinting with recognition.

It was a picture of Grace Hargreaves and her little brother at an amusement park called The Great Escape. I've seen that park before, on a picture of Seymour Granjesca and his wife, the same photo Sasori had left in that house.

He left a clue for me.

The small amusement park fit our radius as well, I had no doubt that he was there, waiting.

"Sakura," I called out. She turned to face me with an inquisitive look on her face, but it quickly turned to realization.

"You know where he is," she summarized. I nodded and we were off, running to the car and firing up the engine. "Should I call the local PD?" She inquired.

"No, Deidara made it clear that the Akatsuki want no outside interference." She nodded at my answer and looked ahead, guiding me to the abandoned park.

I sped through the streets of the city, sirens blaring as I formulated a plan in my head. Sasori wasn't a large man, he stood at about 5'8", only a bit taller than Sakura. He weighed in at about 150 pounds as well, so he wasn't a physical fighter, probably tries to use his small frame to outmaneuver people. However, all the evidence against him made it seem that Sasori wasn't too well versed in hand-to-hand combat as most of his victims were small and not too capable of defending themselves against someone like him. Sakura and I could definitely take him on, especially if I could defeat Deidara 1-on-1. The only thing that had me worried was Grace Hargreaves, the victim.

The worst case scenario was that he might've already cut her up and stored her parts away. I was holding out hope that she was in one piece, but right now it was a 50-50 chance.

"Sasuke," Sakura whispered to me, "we're here." I looked ahead to see a small amusement park, not nearly the size of a Six Flags or Dorney Park. It was old school, a local place for the families of Baton Rouge to visit, not really suited to hordes of tourists like current day amusement parks. The place was decrepit, the entrance sign had half fallen off and there was dust and garbage everywhere. The ferris wheel looked like it was about to fall over and the rollercoasters were already half gone. The game booths were already torn down, waiting to be removed.

Sakura and I walked through the abandoned place with our hands on our guns, ready to draw should trouble strike. The night had set in, darkness wrapping us in its grip. I scanned the area, but my eyes came up empty. I couldn't hear anything except the sound of wind howling in agony. My eyes caught something nailed to a pole, an old poster with fading text. It was a picture of two red-headed performers standing back to back, smiling. The title read: Witness a Stunning Performance from the World's Best Trapeze Artists!

"My parents were the best," a voice called out. It was the man we had been hunting, Sasori of the Red Sand. He claimed that moniker when he fed a man red sand to the point where the man couldn't breathe.

"Where's the girl, Sasori?" Sakura questioned the man in a rarely stern tone. A couple of moments passed in silence as we gazed at each other. I remembered seeing Sasori right after I had arrested Deidara, back in Fort Myers. I knew there was something off about the way he looked and waved at me, turns out I was right. He looked young, way too young to be a criminal of his caliber, maybe puberty forgot to get him because he could pass for a high school freshman.

"You don't know this, but I spent the first 13 years of my life in Baton Rouge. This place is special to me, you know, this was my favorite park in the world when I was a child. I came here so often to see my parents perform their amazing acts, watching them was magical, the way they balanced themselves, the way they kept themselves from falling, it was brilliant. Oh how I loved to watch them put on a show."

"I'm not asking again, Sasori," Sakura threatened, aiming her gun right at Sasori. All he did was cock his head to the side in amusement and shift his gaze from me to her.

"Of course my happiness was literally cut short when a man gutted my mom and dad, truly saddening that was. For a time, all I could think about was that man and how he had broken my heart. My parents were taken from me, and for what? Why did he do it? It baffled me, so I researched. I delved into books and researched everything I could about serial killers. I just had to know why he did it, why take a boy's happiness away from him? What did he gain from it? Yet after all this research, I couldn't understand. But when I appeared in court as a witness, I saw it. While the prosecutor asked me his questions, I caught that killer's eyes and looked into them. He smiled at me, and that's when I understood. He killed them because he wanted to, for fun. It made me curious, how fun could taking a life be? So to satisfy my curiosity, I killed a little girl. I realized that murdering was a thrill, the best feeling in the world, so I kept killing."

"You're testing my patience, freak," Sakura taunted the boy-man.

"My target is Sasuke Uchiha...those were my orders, yet, as I stand here, I can't help but be distracted by you," Sasori said, licking his lips.

"If you want to impress a girl, don't lick your lips like a predator," she responded.

"A sharp tongue you have," Sasori giggled, like a child. He raised his arms and pressed a button in his hand. My first thought was a bomb, but it turns out it was for the lights. The old bulbs flickered on, lighting up a ride behind Sasori. It was a small rollercoaster, the ones you would take a 4-year old on. Only that the ride currently had Grace Hargreaves standing on the track cuffed by her wrists to two rollercoaster cars going opposite directions.

"I'll make her something special, she'll be one of my favorite pieces, don't you worry about that," Sasori mused.

"You bastard," I growled, taking a step forward, only to be stopped by Sakura.

"Yes...she'll be special, but not as special as you Sakura. You'll be my masterpiece, the one people will remember me by. I'll cherish every part of you."

"I'm gonna slit your throat and watch you die, you sack of shit," I told Sasori.

"No, Sasuke, you don't interest me at the moment, I want Sakura," Sasori demanded.

"You don't get to choose," I replied.

"No! Do as I say or the girl dies now!" The redhead screamed, putting his finger on the switch to activate the rollercoaster.

"Sasuke, try getting her free while I deal with him," Sakura told me.

"No, you'll be playing right into his hands, you're not going after him alone."

"Don't be stubborn, Sasuke, he'll kill Hargreaves if we go at him together."

"I don't care, I'll put a bullet through his head right now and we can be done with this."

"Sasuke, please, you have to trust me."

"I trust you, it's him I don't trust."

"You told me in Fort Myers that you would take care of Deidara alone, remember? I didn't like it, but I let you go off by yourself, remember that? I was a nervous wreck because of it, but I still let you get him alone because I saw that look in your eyes. I had faith in you Sasuke, so can't you have faith in me?"

She had a point, of course she had a point.

"Be careful," I whispered to her as I kissed her forehead, "don't you dare die."

"I won't," she responded with that dazzling smile of hers. I nodded and backed off so that Sakura could make a move against Sasori and give me some space to get to Hargreaves. Sasori began to walk towards Sakura, a creepy, yet childish grin covering his face. Sakura aimed her pistol at his head in return, her eyes glaring daggers at him.

"If you throw your gun away, my dear Sakura, then I will throw the switch to my toy away. Fair?"

"You sure you want to fight me, Sasori? It won't end well for you, I'm afraid," Sakura jeered as she tossed her gun to the side.

"I have honed my fighting skills and bested some good opponents, Sakura," the redhead responded, placing the switch on the ground and kicking it away.

"They're not me," the pinkette responded before walking menacingly towards the small redhead. Sasori attacked first, swiping at Sakura's head with his fists. He was fast, that was for sure as he almost caught Sakura. She was on the defensive, backing away as Sasori lunged at her, trying to grab at her throat. He aimed a kick at her head that she deflected with her forearm. However, the force of the kick still staggered her slightly. Sasori saw the opening he created and kicked her in the stomach, pushing her back a couple of steps.

"How disappointing," Sasori sighed as he lunged again, barely missing her head with a punch and nearly connecting with another to the stomach. Sakura still took a defensive stance, deflecting a kick and parrying a punch before feinting to the right and avoiding a 1-2 punch from Sasori.

It took everything I had to look away, in fact I almost didn't, but Grace Hargreaves was still in danger as long as she was cuffed to those rollercoaster cars. So I turned away as Sakura caught Sasori's leg and threw him aside. Hargreaves was still unconscious when I got to her, and the cuffs around her wrists had caused her to start bleeding. I took out a black Army knife and stuck the point of the blade inside the lock of the cuffs. I kept my ear as close to the cuffs as I could so that I could hear the clicking sound that signified the cuffs were unlocked. I fiddled around with the cuff around her left hand first, moving my knife around until I heard the click.

One down. One to go.

I moved over to her right side and did the same with my knife, freeing both of her arms and successfully taking her away from the death contraption Sasori had built. I checked her pulse to make sure she was still breathing and carried her off the ride and to the ground where Sakura and Sasori were still fighting. I laid Hargreaves down and turned my attention upwards. Sasori didn't have the switch anymore and I had his hostage, there was nothing preventing me from getting in there, yet, I didn't. This was Sakura's fight, even though she was in danger right now, I had faith in her, she would finish this fight.

Sasori continued assaulting her, but Sakura didn't let him land any clean blows. As it was going right now, Sasori had gotten some hits in, but none of them were hard. He was tiring himself out at this rate, part of Sakura's plan. He was getting slower at this point, his hits weren't forcing Sakura back like they were. This time she caught his arm when he threw a punch, held it in place, then delivered a brutal elbow right to his nose, breaking it. He roared in agony, crimson liquid spilling from his nostrils as he glared at Sakura.

She just smirked at him in return.

God, I love this woman.

Sasori lunged again, only to be tripped by Sakura. He rolled to his feet and tried to sidekick her, but she was ready. She lifted her right leg and hit Sasori's leg from underneath, forcing his kick upwards and over her, then, without putting her right leg down, she kicked his other leg out from under him, making him land on his back, all in one fell swoop. He tried to grab ahold of her from the ground, but she just stomped on his arm and kicked him in the face. Sasori rolled to his feet and let loose a lightning-fast jab that almost connected. However, Sakura moved to the side, grabbed ahold of his wrist, pulled him towards her, and using his momentum as well as the momentum of her fist, absolutely ANNIHILATED him with a punch that resounded across the place. It literally flattened Sasori, actually for a second I thought it killed him.

He was motionless, lying there like a statue. Sakura looked up at me, panting but smiling victoriously. I sighed in relief and fell to my knees, watching that was both physically and emotionally draining for me, I needed a break. I closed my eyes and dropped my head, being fooled into thinking it was over.

It wasn't.

I heard a yelp and opened my eyes to see Sakura pinned to the ground with a rabid Sasori trying to stab at her with a knife. She held his wrist, preventing him from bringing the knife down onto her. I leapt into action, only for the unconscious Grace Hargreaves to suddenly wake up yelling bloody hell. She grabbed a hold of me, screaming for me to get off of her.

"DON'T KILL ME!" She yelled at me while shaking my collar. I swiftly knocked her aside and went to assist Sakura, but she was already on her feet. Sasori was desperate now, he was slashing wildly to keep Sakura away from him almost cutting her one time. She was too fast for him, however, so he couldn't land a solid strike. He tried to stab her, but she caught his knife hand by the wrist, punched him on his already broken nose, causing him to cry out in agony, then held Sasori's arm in place before swinging her other fist upwards right underneath his elbow, breaking his arm into a 90-degree angle. The redhead screamed in agony, only to be silenced by a kick to the head. He was definitely out now.

I let out a relieved sigh, falling to my knees for a second time. I caught Grace Hargreaves' confused look and showed her my badge before telling her everything will be alright and cops are on the way and all of that usual stuff.

"Stay," I told her before getting up and going over to the pinkette who was regaining her breath.

"That was exhausting," she gasped out.

"You're not hurt, are you?" I asked her.

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"No concussion, right?"

"Oh my god, Sasuke, I'm fine, I swear."

"Good," I breathed out.

"You're so cute when you worry," she giggled.

"You have no idea how stressful watching that was."

"Yep, I have no idea. Not like I was part of it or anything."

"I think I had multiple heart attacks through that, Sakura. I was scared out of my mind that he would pull out some poison or special weapon and kill you."

"Stop that, everything turned out fine in the end, ok?"

"Please don't put me through that again."

"No promises, Sasuke."

"But you're really ok, right?"

"He hit like a bitch, Sasuke, I'm fine."

We shared a laugh over that before lying in wait for the police to arrive. Within 5 minutes, cops and ambulances had arrived, sealing off the scene. They were followed shortly by the press, who the cops were struggling to keep in control. Grace Hargreaves was taken to the hospital to be evaluated while Sasori was taken to the hospital separately for obvious reasons. Sakura had been cleared by the medics and was currently resting her head on my shoulder with a blanket draped over her while we sat on the edge of the ambulance.

"Well done, you two," the commissioner congratulated after dealing with all of the press.

"Glad to help, sir, though we wish we could've helped the first two victims as well," Sakura told the man.

"No, you've done more than enough. Both of you have mine and the city's gratitude, we can't thank you enough for this."

"Oh, u-um," Sakura stammered, surprised by his praise.

"Thank you, we were just doing our job," I told the Commissioner.

"May I ask how it happened?"

"We tracked him down here after I spotted a clue in Hargreaves' apartment. Once we got here we found him and Hargreaves. She knocked him out while I got Hargreaves. Rest is history," I told the old man.

"Ms. Haruno took him down?" The man asked, a little surprised.

"That's not a problem, is it?" She asked him jokingly. The man threw his head back and laughed before addressing us again.

"You are one incredible young woman," The man cried out in between laughs.

"Don't stroke her ego," I muttered. She just smiled up at me, still resting her head on my shoulder.

"My god, you two remind me so much of my dear wife and I," the old commissioner mused. "Anyways, you're free to go after you fill out some papers back at the station."

"We'll go in a couple minutes," I told the man. He nodded and went back to handling the press, job never stops for a Police Commissioner. We sat there on the edge of the ambulance in a comfortable silence, just basking in each other's presence for a bit.

"Let's go, sooner we get this done, sooner we can sleep," I said after a couple of minutes.

"I can't walk, I'm wounded," Sakura replied, unmoving.

"Wow, it seems you've discovered a mysterious injury right when we have to leave, Sakura. How unfortunate and convenient."

"Both of my legs are broken, Sasuke. What ever will we do?" She responded cheerfully. I sighed and picked her up, carrying her all the way to our car while she grinned and settled in my arms.

"You're such a child," I muttered.

"Oh shut up," she responded. I placed her into the passenger seat before going to the driver's seat and starting the car up. I drove back to the station, where the both of us were given hero's welcomes once we entered the building. I just did my best to not scowl at everyone while Sakura just smiled at everyone. Eventually they stopped and we were free to go up to our office where there was a folder of forms we had to fill out to make this whole thing official. Sakura and I split the pile and finished up in about 20 minutes. It was just questions and who arrested him and if everything was done in the confines of the law, the usual stuff.

Once we finished all that up, we were technically free to go, but there was still some business to attend to.

"I'm going to talk to Sasori," I told Sakura.

"Are you sure?"

"Might as well.

"Ok, let's go."

"You don't have to come."

"I know."

With that, we were off. I drove through the city's revived streets since the curfew was lifted. People weren't scared anymore and the night life of Baton Rouge could continue forward and past Sasori. It was good to see everyone out again, the place seemed like a ghost town for the past week because of all this.

"You know it looks good with all the lights on," Sakura murmured.

"Yeah," I agreed.

A little while later I pulled into the hospital's parking lot. Sakura and I got out and walked towards the gray 5-story building. We flashed our badges to the nurses who led us to the room they were keeping Sasori on, all the way on the top floor. There were 2 guards outside the door with pump-action shotguns at the ready, they were packing some firepower. I opened the door to see 2 more guards on the other side also carrying shotguns.

"Take a walk," I told them before closing the door, leaving Sasori with me and Sakura.

"They've got me locked up tightly," Sasori said with that creepy smile of his. His nose was bandaged up and he had multiple bruises on his face. His arm was also wrapped in a cast and lifted up while his head was wrapped in a bandage as well from a concussion.

"You look so stupid right now," I chuckled.

"Sakura, my dear! So good to see you!" The redhead greeted, ignoring my comment.

"What happened to you, Sasori? Looks like someone beat the shit out of you," she taunted, smirking at him. His calm demeanor vanished, replaced with a hateful look on his face.

"That's not funny, Sakura," he said.

"Got anything to say to me?" I asked the bedridden Akatsuki member.

"The next two work in a pair, that's it." With that, he sank back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

I nodded to Sakura and we left the room. The next two are a pair, so I might be fighting them with Sakura at my side if it becomes a 2-on-2. Those are good odds for us, now we wait. They might announce their arrivals like Deidara or get my attention through murdering like Sasori, either way, those were 2 Akatsuki members down. We rode the elevator down and walked back to our car only to be stopped by a familiar voice.

"Ah, its you two, so you'll be gone tomorrow, right?" The Commissioner asked.

"Yes, our flight leaves at 10 AM," Sakura answered.

"I see, well it was a pleasure meeting you two." He extended his hand and shook both of ours before going towards the hospital. We got into our car and I drove away from the city.

"I'm so tired," Sakura yawned.

"Yeah, yeah."

I drove back to our hotel, reaching there in a little bit. It was almost 11 PM by that time, so mostly everyone had called it a night at the small place.

"Finally," Sakura and I muttered at the same time as we made it to our door. I unlocked the door and we made our way inside.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower," Sakura told me as I sat on the bed. She disappeared into the bathroom, reemerging 10 minutes later, her hair wet. I went in after her, cleaning my body and hair before drying myself and leaving with some pants on. She was already under the covers, waiting for me.

"Set an alarm?" I asked. She nodded in response. I got under the covers and collapsed onto the bed. She curled up and laid her head on my chest while letting out a content sigh.

"Good night, Sasuke," she whispered.

"Good night."