To all my dear readers, since now I'm school-free and only have my maths exam the 15th (I think), I've been having more time to work on my stories, which is good!!

And also, my block seems to have gone away, now the ideas are flowing freely when I start writing!! Yatta!!

The bad news in all of this is that… this story is coming to an end, Sasuke and Sakura's relationship is improving and since the whole point of it was to make them be together… well, after that it'll be over… but, maybe, I'll do a sequel, I just don't think it'd be as interesting… I'll see what to do once I finished!!

Answering a question that some may be asking themselves, Deidara is in the story because I can put him in it, because he's one of my fav characters of Naruto, and also because he's a somehow important factor for Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, I'm obviously not gonna reveal all the details about it or it wouldn't be fun!!

Also, Sai's absence isn't something to worry about, he's back in this chapter, although, from now on, he won't have so much weight to story. I'm giving more importance to Sakura's past, like her relationship with Deidara (In this chapter there's a part in, somehow, Dei-chan's POV), and her relationship with Itachi and Shisui when she was a kid…

Finally, I'd like to thank Emma0707 for her review, because it's always good to hear nice things!! Thank you very much for the moral support and for the nice words!!

Also, thank to miss.AnoniiemouSe, because her review made me grin, a lot!! You're crazy, so what, we all are!! Besides, your craziness is appreciated!!

Oh, and, there's nothing wrong about squealing on the SakuDei parts!!

I'll stop rambling now, I only have a few more words to say anyway!!

REVIEW PLEASE, it's always good to know what people think of our work!!

And…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the honor goes to Masashi Kishimoto-sama, I only own the plot, so please don't plagiarize my work, thank you!!

Chapter 24 – Tears for her fallen artist

Life was something abstract.

The reason for such a statement lies in the way that everything goes by and no one seems to notice the small details, but only the big actions.

Moments remembered through time as great events aren't what change the world, those moments are merely meant to narrate the stupidity of men and the destruction that that stupidity causes.

The world changes, in reality, with small actions, made by people that won't be considered heroes. Those actions will not be told to the future generations, in fact, only a few will know it ever happened. The people that did them won't ask for recognition, because they are not stupid or foolish like all those people that long for something as shallow as being mentioned in a book.

Those actions that change the world will not be considered great, and the people responsible for them will not be considered heroes, but those insignificant actions, made by insignificant people will mark the world, and the changes caused by them will be said to have been caused by the foolishness of great acts and the idiocy of heroes.

Sunday, 18th May

She had disappeared from the 'party' after a while, and he had ventured away from the party, having drawn a few pictures from everyone.

After he had dropped the newly painted pictures home he had decided to take a walk, Konoha was a nice village to take walks, there was always something to look at, and the vegetation was quite beautiful.

It was as he walked close to the forest, enjoying the freshness the shadows of the trees proportioned to him that he felt her. Her dark aura was unmistakable, and when he looked her way, he had already known she would be pissed off (even if the term was a large understatement).

The villagers had all looked fearful and when she entered the forest, away from them, they all felt relieved.

He briefly pondered if he should follow her, and as he thought, his head tilted to his left lightly, he let the image of what she had wearing come to his mind. Black combat boots, black shorts under a black skirt, a blood red top and a black sleeveless vest zipped only half-way. Her hair had been in a high ponytail, she hadn't been wearing her piercing (which he though didn't look that bad on her), she had been carrying a bag and she hadn't been wearing any arm guards, leaving her right arm exposed, letting everyone see the dragon-like shaped mark on it.

Letting the look in her eyes sink in, he decided that he would follow her, even if it was just to prevent her from breaking half of the forest with her fists.

And so he had followed her by following her aura, which wasn't that hard since he could feel the darkness of it from far away.

When he had been almost reaching her, she had vanished, or better, she had suddenly become very distant from where he had traced her to, as if she had suddenly produced wings and flown away.

With a heavy sigh he had continued walking down the forest, even if he had lost her, he could still enjoy the forest, it was blooming with life and everything screamed lively, even the brown earth.

As he kept walking, he frowned for 2 reasons, but especially for one in particular, the animals seemed to have deserted, or evacuated, the area, as if some great danger was coming near, cornering them between staying and dying or leaving and living.

He had considered not much of it though, he had never quite understood how animals worked, he had never studied them either, anyway.

So he had focused himself on his seconds reason to frown, which even had a name, not that he cared.

"You followed her too?" he stopped and turned around as the person he had directed the question landed on the ground expertly.

"Hn." He smiled his perfected fake smile and turned back to start walking forward, only to stop the next second.

The Uchiha, who had been walking towards him, also stopped suddenly, next to him now.

The tension in the atmosphere became almost palpable, the air seemed to grow cold, the wind stopped flowing, and the forest was quiet, not a sound being heard. Cold sweat formed over the 2 boys' brows as a cold shiver ran down their spines, their lungs constricted and their hearts started beating faster.

It was like the quiet before the storm, and from the feel of it, it would be a very strong and dangerous one, one that would devastate everything in its path.

They both gulped soundlessly, the danger was nearing, and both were paralyzed in fear, the coldness and ruthlessness of the danger that seemed to be coming paralyzing every muscle in their body.

A drop of sweat ran down the Uchiha's face, down his cheek, down his jaw, down his chin. It stopped there for a second and then fell to the floor. The sound of the drop of sweat hitting the floor echoed through the forest.

There was suddenly a strong gush of wind that almost made them reach for something to hold themselves onto as not to fall, and another shiver ran down their spines, the storm was coming.

"Uchiha." He muttered under his breath, somehow questioning. Should they run? Should they stay there and wait for it to be over?

"It's bad." Sasuke answered and, as if having the same feeling, they both looked up as a scream echoed through the air, resounding in every single bit of life existing, holding nothing but a sadistic excited ruthlessness.

"KATSU!!"

From there on, it was as if hell had been released on earth.

In life, what matters isn't holding good cards to play, but in playing those you hold well.

It's not a matter of possessing all the aces, even if you do, you may never be able to use them and you will be stuck with only them, without being able to do anything else. If you possess different cards, from different ranks, one day you will be able to play them all, and you will have truly lived.

It's not about having a specific purpose in life, it's about living a life of purpose. You cannot simply stand still as everything around you moves, you have to participate so you won't just exist, but live as well.

What is someone who exists but does not live? Nothing more than a disposable piece of furniture.

As the first explosions resounded, he was fast to move, the storm had begun, and he was not going to stand still and let himself be engulfed in the chaos like a mere piece of dead wood.

He swiftly opened one of his scrolls and, with his brush, was quick to draw a bird in it. After that task was done, in only a couple of seconds, he formed the needed hand seal and spoke the needed jutsu to make his drawing become his creation so it would become his way to fight the storm.

"Ninpou: Choju Giga." As the bird left the paper, he put his brush and scroll away while jumping into the birds' back.

"Get on." He yelled at the other raven haired boy (yelled because the sound of the explosions where quite loud) while extending his hand. Sasuke didn't need to be told twice and took the hand being extended to him, then settling into the bird and easily holding himself not to fall.

Sai led the bird higher into the sky, evading a couple of explosions in the trees while doing so. It truly was hell on earth.

The forest was like a burning inferno, explosions still erupting from amidst the flames, causing everything in its path to break and turn into dust and flames. The forest was dying and they watched in agony as it did, they could have been dying as well.

They reached higher, where they could see the whole forest, and a bit away from them, someone watching in sick fascination from a clay bird as the flames consumed everything.

She was crouched down on the edge of her bird, looking down in sick fascination as the once lively forest became nothing more than an inferno.

She looked giddy, biting her lower lip, the fingers of her left hand twitching as she fisted and un-fisted her hand in excitement, her right hand was still in front of her herself, still forming the seal needed to use the jutsu. A jutsu Sasuke was oh-so-familiar with due to the fact that he had almost been killed by it.

"How the hell does she knows?" he was talking (hissing) more to himself than to anyone else, but Sai turned to him with a concerned look, not for him but for the girl in the clay bird.

"How does she know what?" he gritted his teeth and his fists clenched tighter, the pressure making his knuckles start to ache.

""C3" no Bakuhatsu." He answered. Sai tilted his head to the side, he'd never heard about anything that sounded like it. "C3 explosion… it's a jutsu that was used by someone I killed." Sai nodded briefly. "But he was the only one able to use it due to his kekkai genkai." Sai straightened himself and looked back at Sakura.

"Oh." He uttered softly as he watched the girl, catching a glimpse of her eyes, he was… he didn't knew what to call it, was it surprise? No, probably not. Shock? Perhaps, he didn't know, but he wasn't ready for what he saw.

Her eyes were a dark shade of sapphire, holding this sick sadistic fascination, as if she had liked all the destruction caused by the explosions… like a pyromaniac would… but she wasn't… was she??...

Buddha once said: Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

If you only think about the past, about what happened, what you did, what you did not do and what could've happened, you will get stuck in time, not moving forward, and impossibly not being able to move backwards. You will keep existing, but you will stop living.

I somehow disagree with what Buddha said, not with all of it thought. I agree that we should not dwell in the past and that we should focus on the present moment, but I disagree when he says that we should not dream of the future.

Dreaming of the future is needed, because if you do not dream of it, what will you live for? Without a dream, a goal you wish to reach, there is nothing waiting for you, thus you stop having a future, which leads to ceasing to live and only existing.

If one stops dreaming about the future, he or she will become a mere unmoving speck of dust in an infinite amount of space.

So I will rephrase what Buddha said into my own opinion: Do not dwell in the past, merely remember it and learn from it. Dream of the future, fight to reach your goal so you will not cease to live. Concentrate on the present moment, watch all the small details, a mere speck of dust may cause the world to change.

Her brain wasn't working like it usually would, not in any way. Her brain was working like his did, before he had been killed.

But, at the moment, the truth was, she didn't care about it, in fact, she enjoyed it, because it was just like he had told her every time se asked him why he did what he did.

It felt as if your soul was free of everything and anything, as if you had not problems, concerns or even pains. It was just about those fleeting moments of pure, beautiful perfection and about living those moments.

She felt free, and she finally understood what he had meant with his words. It was liberating, and it wasn't about hurting people or animals, it was just about the perfection.

This perfection that she had created, so unique and liberating, it was better than everything she had ever felt.

She got up and watched as the forest turned into an inferno, to later become nothing more than aches and dust.

She finally knew why he had loved his art so much. She understood him so well it hurt. She understood him so well that she couldn't help but to cry, not from pain or agony, but of something deeper. She cried silently for the bond she had had with him, that even when he was already dead still remained.

This bond that she cherished so much.

This bond that made her feel truly alive and free.

This bond that she loved so much.

She would never forget him, and as the tears kept falling, she promised herself that, no matter how much pain she went through, she would never forget someone again.

And the silent tears kept falling, and for once she didn't care she was crying. It was just so beautiful, the colors, the rise of temperature every time an explosion occurred.

And after a few moments, she started crying for her fallen artist.

In the past, when Sakura was 14, 5 months before she turned 14

"Look, it's not about hurting others, it's just…" he scratched the back of his head as they kept walking down the street of the small, quiet village. "Well, when I do it, it's like nothing else matters…" he struggled with his words, frowning lightly when nothing that could explain how he truly felt came up. "Hm… well I dunno, it's… It's like you're free, it's beautiful, because it somehow resumed our lives." She looked at him with a confused look.

"How come?" he bit his lower lip and looked up at the sky.

"Well… It gives you a feeling of pure freedom, and the beauty of it only makes you feel higher, because art is a moment of fleeting pure perfection, and when I do it, it's what it is, art. It's a moment of pure perfection, fleeting, that ends. And it's like it frees your soul from all the problems and the world in general." He sighed. "You probably don't understand any of what I just said." He sighed. "I probably sound like an idiot." She shook her head and took his hand in hers.

"I may not understand it, but you don't sound like and idiot, because it's what you believe in, and the beliefs of people should be respected." She smiled up at him, and he couldn't help himself but to smile back.

"You really are weird, yeah." She tilted her head.

"Why?" he looked down at her and then back at the road ahead of him.

"You're not like everyone else." He paused. "It's not that you're weird, you're different." Her thumb moved softly against the back of his hand, her skin was so warm and soft.

"Every girl I've met 'til now… you're the only one that ever said something like that, hn." She laughed softly, and he liked to hear her laugh, it was melodic, soft and it made everything seem lighter than it really was.

As they kept walking, hand in hand, a pleasant silence settled. The villagers watched as the strange couple walked by, a boy with long blond hair and blue eyes and a girl with pastel pink hair and emerald green eyes, it wasn't everyday that something like that was seen.

The boy wore a small, pleased smile on his lips and the girl was smiling freely, seemingly happy. They seemed to be happy with just each other's company.

He was the one to break the silence, because he had never really liked being quiet, he liked to express himself.

"Ne, Suki-chan." She looked up at him and tilted her head, she looked so innocent— was so innocent.

"Nani Dei-chan?" he hated it when she called him that, because he wasn't a girl and because when she called him that his heart constricted, so instead of saying what he had intended to say at first, he said something else.

"Let's have dinner." She smiled up at him, and that smile made up for the fact his heart felt painfully tight.

"Ok, what do you wane eat Dei-chan?" again with the nickname he hated so much. He smiled at her and shrugged.

"What about some teriyaki?" he wondered why he still couldn't tell her what he really meant to tell her.

Still in the past, when Sakura was 14, 3 months before her 15th birthday

It was late December, a couple of days away from new year, and he desperately needed a getaway plan for it, he wanted to see her, he wanted to tell her, he needed to tell her, it was becoming unbearable to keep the words inside any longer, he had to tell her, for his sake and sanity.

And so he walked to Leader's office, she didn't know, couldn't know, he was Akatsuki. He knew she had the right to know, but… but if he told her, he would get in trouble with the organization he had been forced to join… and she would get in danger too, because then they would make her a target, put her on the to-kill list. And he didn't want that, because he didn't want— couldn't hurt her.

Leader had been reading something he hadn't paid attention to, and his grey eyes had made him even more nervous than he had already been.

"What is it Deidara?" his voice was somehow cold, annoyed and the danger and ruthlessness in it was almost palpable.

"Well, I was wondering if I could spend New Year in the Tea country, the celebrations are nice and since we haven't been doing anything these… days…" he had slowly said the last word as Leader had looked him up and down, his gaze blank.

There had been a heavy silence that engulfed him and made him forget how to breath, until Leader had spoken again.

"Be back in 2 weeks, I do not tolerate delays." He had nodded vigorously and left the office before Leader changed his mind.

He had already told his partner he wanted to spend the holiday somewhere where he could pretend he was normal, like when he had been staying at the temple, before he even knew about Akatsuki, and his partner had merely nodded.

He contained his grin, because happiness and good moods weren't supposed to be shared between this group, and made his way towards his room.

He opened the doors of his closet wide and stared inside. He knew there would be snow while he traveled, so he took warm clothes, and he also knew that he wanted to go to the festivities, so, from the farthest of his closet, he took his winter yukata, it wasn't something fancy, it was just a simple yukata, but it would do.

He packet the yukata in the bottom of his backpack, and then he put the clothes and personal items (toothbrush, comb, etc).

He also decided to take a bag of clay just in case, and then he hurried out of the god forsaken base, he hated the place, it was dark and lifeless.

Once he had been on one of his clay birds, flying away from the base, he let his grin spread and sat down cross legged.

He always knew where to find her because they communicated by messages. Every time they parted ways, he would make a small clay sparrow (that looked like a regular white sparrow) go with her, and every time she would have a mission that required she left the village, she would sent him when and where she would be going. When he received the bird, he would send her a message back, telling her if he would be able to make it to see her, or not.

He had met her, approximately, 1 year and a half ago. He remembered he had helped her with her first kill when she was around 13 and a half, but what he remembered even more was the day— night he had first kissed her, it had been, since her birthday was on march 28th, around 2 weeks after her birthday. At lack of words, it had been magical and beautiful.

And even now, every time they would part their separate ways, he would steal one more kiss from her (just one more), and she wouldn't say no. He had kissed her more than that thought, sometimes, when they were alone and just sitting together, he would kiss her— make out with her. He enjoyed it, and, he knew, she enjoyed it too.

He couldn't wait to see her again, this time, he promised himself, he would tell her.

The morning went by quickly as well as the afternoon, his clay bird flying as fast as he could make him fly, he wanted to get to the small village in the Tea country near the border with the Fire country as soon as possible, he wanted to buy her a present.

While the night settled he started thinking about what he would get her, he didn't have that much money. Kakuzu was the biggest niggard he'd ever met, the guy only gave you money if strictly necessary. Unfortunately for the cheap-ass stitch mummy, when he went on missions, he always collected some bounties on the side so he could have a little more money, though he never took the big bounties (even if he knew he could probably do it) so no one would be suspicious.

So he thought, and thought, and when he started to get a headache, he decided to just enjoy the stars, he hoped it would be a good New Year, because he hadn't been happy for New Year since he was a small kid.

He arrived to the small village late at night, it had probably been 3 a.m., and only when he had landed on a small clearing just outside the village did he noticed how hungry he was, he hadn't eaten anything since the previous day.

His clay bird was sent away with the idiotic black and red Akatsuki cloak and he had started making his way to the village.

The streets were empty and the small village gave you this cozy feeling, made you feel at home. The stores, naturally, were all closed, as well as the restaurants, only the occasional small bar was still opened, but he doubted that there would be anything to eat in there. So he decided to just look for an inn to stay at, he could endure a few more hours of hunger.

Finding an inn wasn't difficult, he village was small and there was only one inn anyway.

There was an old woman at the front desk, knitting was looked like a scarf in yellow wool. He approached her sowly, not wanting to disturb her, but the moment he reached the front desk she looked up at him with a smile.

"You look tired young man." He smiled sheepishly, it wasn't that he was tired, he was just hungry.

"Not really, I'm just hungry." The old woman put down her things and got up, she looked awfully energetic for someone that looked so ancient.

"In that case, let me prepare you something." She held herself straight, as if her age didn't do anything.

"You don't have to Obaa-san, I'll-" she just cut him off while waving her hand dismissively.

"Nonsense, nonsense." She dismissed. "Now follow me." He sighed in defeat and followed the old lady, it was rude to go against someone like that.

"What would you like to have dear?" he shrugged.

"Something to fill my stomach." The old woman laughed quietly.

"You're just like the young kunoichi that arrived earlier!" he looked at the old woman as she walked, suddenly very interested.

"Kunoichi?" the old woman nodded while leading him through an hallway.

"Yes, she came in a couple of hours ago, she looked tired and was quite hungry." She nodded to herself. "Her clothes were a mess too." She shook her head. "All those young children already doing the work of adults." She kept shaking her head slowly. "In my days a Shinobi or a Kunoichi only started doing more dangerous missions once they were young adults, the poor children shouldn't see so much grief while being so young." He stayed quiet and just followed the old woman, by the way she spoke, she may have been a ninja in her youth.

Once they reached the kitchen, a very neat and tidy place at that, the old woman started preparing the food she could give him.

"Ne, Obaa-san, did the kunoichi told you anything?" the old woman stopped before putting a plate with soba in front of him.

"Not really, she just said she was eager to see someone." He nodded and looked down, a hidden grin making its way to his face, so she was eager to see him, huh??

I hope you all enjoyed, please review, because when I don't get any reviews, I get down and loose the good mood to write, which leads to me putting aside my fanfic work and you guys to wait longer.

Please review, tell me what you think and give me your opinions and ideas, they're always welcome!! Also, if you'd like to see something happening in the next chapters, please tell me!!

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Enough rambles…

Love you all very much,

Kimi-chan!!