There was no doubt in Sakura's mind that the "assignment" in question that she was forced to go do was something shady. She looked down at the new clothes she now wore, which consisted of a hoodie and sweats, which were all black. The symbol she'd seen on the carpet was emblazoned on the back of her hoodie - a single red cloud lined with silver. She still didn't quite understand what it stood for, but it'd taken some major convincing on Deidara's part for her to finally wear the clothes he'd given her. Sasori had simply huffed and stood aside, tapping his foot impatiently and tinkering with some wooden scraps, no doubt still angry that she called his puppet a doll.

She sorely regretted agreeing to wear the clothes Deidara had given her. Ame was hot and humid, and the sweats and hoodie weren't making the uncomfortable, sticky feeling any better. Sakura could feel her skin and flesh melting off her bones, yet she didn't dare to lift her arms and adjust her clothing; she could feel sweat accumulating in the places where she forgot to put deodorant. She just had to deal with it - if she survived walking with them for the first twenty minutes, then she could surely survive the rest of the way. The skies above were splashed with dark, grey clouds, and Sakura wished that rain would descend from the heavens and gloriously wash away her perspiration.

Glancing at Deidara and Sasori, Sakura saw that they appeared to be perfectly accustomed to the hellish, muggy weather (unless they were hiding their discomfort, which meant they were really talented actors). But as relaxed as the two in front of her seemed, Sakura couldn't help but anxiously beat herself up mentally as she trailed behind them, dragging her feet.

Why did I agree to come here? The corners of of lips twitched. She had no idea what had possessed her to agree to go with them, except for her raging curiosity that never seemed to quell unless she got answers, and she hated that part of herself sometimes. It'd gotten her into plenty of trouble as kid. Then again, the situation hadn't been in her favor; she had been worn out - exhausted- and Sasori and Deidara would have had no trouble overwhelming her. Resistance would have been a waste of energy.

Sakura fingered the aglet on the cord of her hoodie nervously. Deidara had mentioned something about her not wanting to get caught, which had only gotten her more curious and agitated; in her attire, she realized that she would look rather similar to the two of them if she covered her hair. Neither Sasori nor Deidara had told her where they were going and what they were going to do yet, but she wanted to know; she hated being left in the dark after all. That didn't mean she couldn't guess, though. Sakura could imagine that they were going to throw her in the middle of a turf war or even make her stand guard at a drug deal. Then again, she was getting surprised left and right. For all she knew, they might even ask her to dress up as a unicorn and frolic around in damn a cornfield. With the people at her new school, anything could happen, so she had to ask.

"Are we going to get participate in physical aggression?" She winced at how stiff her question sounded. She'd always been teased for being extremely formal with others. The worry was clear in her voice, though.

After a pause, Deidara decided to reply. "Nope, yeah."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at his response. "So we are going to beat people up?"

That's good, her more violent side decided.

She rolled her eyes. The fight back in the classroom had revitalized a part of her that had lain dormant for a full year, and the excitement wasn't going to subside anytime soon, but she forced her mind to control itself. No. Just because I broke my promise to Tsunade and Kakashi doesn't mean I'm going to run around beating people up for no reason.

Pft. You're no fun. Just give in already.

But Sakura had to appreciate one thing, and that was Deidara's rather casual personality. Even if he had an insufferable speech quirk, the blonde was easier to talk to than his red-headed "partner" who had a mile-long stick up his ass. Furthermore, he hadn't attacked her yet.

"No, we're not." Deidara replied. He looked at her strangely before turning back around. "We're not beating anyone up today, yeah." Their footsteps were quiet against the cracked concrete road. "Why, did you want to?"

"No."

He shrugged. "You're pretty calm for someone who's joined Class S, yeah. And here I was, thinking you were some ripped, crazy chick after what I saw."

Sakura lifted an eyebrow. "What did you see?" The most he'd seen was all of the information about her that he'd ever want to know and Sasori holding a knife to her neck in a rather intimate position that could easily be taken out of context.

"Tobi's smashed mask." Deidara had slowed down, matching his pace with hers. He now walked leisurely at her side, his hands stuck casually in his pockets. He offered no reaction when Sakura sidestepped to put more space between them. Sasori walked alone in front of them now, leading the way. "Normally he doesn't even let anyone touch his mask, yeah. If you even brush it with a finger, he'll get super angry." He glanced down at her and flashed a toothy grin. "You might even end up on his 'List of People Tobi Will Kill.'"

Sakura froze in her tracks. "Kill?" She stared at Deidara's form as he continued to walk on without her. The memory of Tobi's crushing aura sent a shiver down her spine. Just thinking about that swirly orange mask made her choke.

Her blonde companion waved his hand dismissively. "Tobi is kinda bipolar - just without the depression part, yeah. As long as you don't make him too angry, he won't kill you. Don't worry about it, though." He noticed that she'd been left behind. He stopped and turned around. "You ok?"

"Uh… Just fine." She smiled uncomfortably as she shuffled back to Deidara's side. Her fingernails dug deep into her flesh.

At that moment, several thoughts flashed through her mind, none of them particularly optimistic. Oh shit. I fucked up. I'm going to die. It's over.

She bit her lip as she ran through the several ways she could be killed that she'd seen on tv. Strangling, drowning, electrocution, poison; the list was endless. With enough imagination, anything could become a weapon. The plastic bag that was drifting through the wind alongside them might be slipped over her head, and the dirty sock that poked out from a tipped over garbage can could be filled with coins or rocks and be used as a bludgeon.

"So…" Sakura began awkwardly, "does that mean he's going to kill me? Because I kind of … uh... really demolished that mask." Her eyes darted along the rooftops of houses. She scanned fences for peepholes where Tobi could be watching her with a knife behind his back. Quickly, she threw a glance over her shoulder.

"Hmm… Maybe."

"Maybe!?""

"But you're new meat, yeah. I think he'll get over it."

"You think!?" Sakura's sweat-covered hands flew to her hair, and they tangled themselves in her sweaty pink hair. She pulled and pulled, completely frustrated with everything. Ignoring the stinging sensations on her scalp, she stared at Deidara, bewildered. "I'm going to die!"

"Then put him in a headlock," he shrugged, reaching into his pocket to reveal another blob of clay. "That tends to calm him down." He fashioned two small figures, one that looked similar to him, and one that looked like Tobi, which was getting strangled by an arm.

Intrigued, she tilted her head. "Headlock? Really? How do you - wait. That's not even the problem!"

"Don't worry about it." Deidara replied. He squashed the clay back into a formless heap and stuffed it back in his pocket. "Hey, Sasori! Are we there yet?"

"Yeah." Sasori had stopped, and was now facing a grey, nondescript, concrete wall; it appeared to be the side of an office building of some detective agency. He leaned in, narrowing his eyes, seeming to take in every detail: the crack in the bottom corner, the tiny splotch of black in the middle, the various bugs crawling across the higher portions. Experimentally, he lifted a finger and traced it down the rough surface before rubbing his hands together tactfully. A small smile spread across his thin lips.

"Why is he smiling like that?" Sakura whispered, not really thinking at all. "Does he have a wall fetish?" A secret hideout was a too extreme of an answer, and there certainly wasn't going to be a secret message hidden on the wall (there was really nothing written on it except for a few curse words here and there). But there wasn't a really good reason she could think of, considering Sasori was staring intensely at a wall while wistfully sliding a finger down it.

"HAHAHA, yeah!" Deidara burst into laughter and grabbed at his sides, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes. "Yeah, he totally has a wall fetish."

At that Sasori stiffened and Sakura paled. She hadn't meant to let him hear that, and he was most definitely pissed, but Deidara continued to laugh, slapping his hand on his knee. She panicked. Desperately, she balled a hand into a fist and swung it into his stomach. He grunted, doubling over and crumpling to the floor, but persisted in laughing, much to Sakura's dismay. He wildly beat the floor with his fists.

"Hahaha," he whimpered as he rolled around on the floor. "Ow, my stomach, yeah." Deidara clutched his stomach and resumed his maniacal laughter. "Hehehe! A wall-fetish. You're amazing! Out of all of the things you could've said..."

"I didn't mean to say that," she tried, wildly waving her hands. "I mean, it's not every day that you see people look at a wall like that, you know -"

"Deidara," Sasori hissed. He was still facing the wall, but disapproval was clear in his voice as he continued to brush the wall with his fingers. Sakura sighed in relief - he wasn't blaming her for saying something completely and utterly ridiculous. Giving the wall one final pat, Sasori reached into his pocket and pulled out a vaguely red cylinder. He gave it a good shake before aiming at the wall.

"Um, what are you doing?"

Hearing her, he stopped and stared at her with a unamused eyes, his expression dead, so Sakura inched closer to the red head, trying to get a glimpse of what he was holding. The letters on the label became clearer. "S-P-R-A…" Her eyes widened in shock as she registered the printed words. "You're spray painting the wall?"

"That's our assignment for the day, yeah." They watched as Deidara leapt to his feet and smirked. His unperturbed expression suggested that he'd already recovered from the impromptu punch and laughing fit. "We're currently expanding our territory, so we need to mark it. Last week, the area around here belonged to some no-name school we forgot about."

So kind of like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. The words nearly escaped from her lips, but she managed to bite her tongue just in time. There was no need to make someone who was friendly towards her hate her.

"What happened to the no-name school, and who is this 'we'?"

"Kaboom! It blew up beautifully, yeah." Deidara made tiny sparkling motions with his fingers, a huge grin on his face. "It displaced quite a few students, but it's not like they cared anyway."

Sasori scoffed. His dull expression heavily suggested that he was irritated and wanted to slap his partner. "Beatiful? That explosion was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. It was all gone in the blink of an eye. True art lasts forever." As if he was making a point, he directed the spray paint nozzle at the wall.

"Wait!" Sakura's hand flew out and smacked the can out of his hand, her heart skipping a beat as he slowly turned his head to glare at her. She ignored his boiling anger and crossed her arms. "That's vandalism of public property. It's illegal." Her voice was firm.

"Tch." Sasori reached down, his hand wrapping around the spray can. "This is why I didn't explain myself to you. You wouldn't understand."

She rolled her eyes, frustration tingling in her fingertips. "It doesn't matter whether or not I understand. We're not spray painting someone's wall. Especially not a detective's wall! Do you want a death sentence? If you're going to spray paint a wall, then you do it somewhere where they don't have connections to the police and specialize in dealing with juvenile and organized crime."

A heavy silence filled the air. Sakura's heels dug into the ground, her teeth ground together; a gut feeling told her she'd just pissed him off again, but she stood her ground. Sasori narrowed his eyes at her before glancing at Deidara and nodding. "She's right," he declared. "Even if the detective who works here is an idiot, this isn't an ideal location."

"Thank you," Sakura sighed in relief, shutting her eyes and ignoring the 'idiot' part. She'd finally gotten some sense through to him. "Can I please go home now?"

"I was foolish in believing I should display my art here; the police might catch us. We're relocating."

Her eyes snapped open and focused on the disappearing figure clothed in black. "That's completely not what I meant," she cried, running after him. "Hey! Wait up!"

Sakura chased after the mane of red hair, dodging the few passerbys that trudged along the streets, intent on saving an innocent wall from being vandalized. Deidara remained silent, but he followed her like a shadow. She wished he didn't though; she felt pressured to sprint when she desperately wanted to walk and rub her burning legs. And by no means was Sasori a slow runner. He was quick to turn corners without losing much momentum, and Sakura nearly lost him when they hit a crowd of people milling about. If the boy she was chasing after didn't have a wall fetish, Sakura had no idea why he was running so fast. She and Deidara ducked into alleyways and vaulted over railings in the pursuit of the running red head until they screeched to a halt at a dead end.

"I swear he went this way," Sakura panted. She ran her sleeve along her brow. It was way too muggy to be running, and her entire body was dripping with sweat. Maybe Sasori had gone another way; her eyes were clouded with weariness and sweat, so her fuzzy recognition skills were questionable enough. But the fence that loomed before her seemed too high to climb, and no one would be crazy enough to scramble over it to draw on a wall.

"He did, yeah. Danna-sama climbed the fence."

Of course he did.

"Shit." She buried her face in her hands. "All this for a wall," she mumbled. "I'm surrounded by freaks." She glared pointedly at Deidara. "I suppose you're going to follow him by taking this shortcut."

"He is my partner, yeah, " he shrugged. "Pein says we have to stick together, so you have to come with us, too. The faster we regroup with Sasori, the better." Misinterpreting the pout on her lips, he added, "It's not that hard. Watch me. Just look out for any cops, yeah." Before Sakura could reply, Deidara yanked the hood over her hair and then let his fingers slip around the chain links. He hoisted himself up. Methodically, he wedged the tips of his shoes into the temporary footholds, quickly moving up before his shoes lost their grip. In no time, he'd climbed up and pivoted himself over, dropping down on the opposite side. The wires rattled quietly. "You coming?"

"Uh…" Sakura poked at the metal, her eyebrows furrowed. "Can I be honest?"

"Go for it."

"I've never climbed a chain-link fence. Furthermore, I'm wearing a skirt. And I get the feeling you're going to make me participate in illegal activity even if I stop Sasori." She tugged at the ends of her hem. "I can't climb up this fence."

"It doesn't matter," Deidara replied. "You're wearing shorts underneath, yeah. Rather nice ones, I must admit. Besides, you have sweats on."

Immediately, her cheeks flushed red. "How did you know?" she practically shrieked.

"Tobi, yeah. He tells me everything."

"Motherf-"

"-And if you don't follow us, you're going to clean the toilets for a week because you would be disobeying Pein, yeah. You coming or not?"

Sakura flung her hands into the air. "Just tell the world everything, why don't you? You guys already know everything about me. You might as well announce to the whole world my social security number as well and make me kill someone; you can't ruin my life more than it already is!" With a huff, she kicked the chain-link fence with full force, filling the air with cacophonous clanking as the metal groaned under the force of the impact. A dent the size of a plate appeared where the side of her foot had met the fence. "I didn't want to come to a school full of gangsters."

A lone blue eye scrutinized her in her fury, and lips tugged into a smile. They parted to say something, but shut immediately.

"Hey!"

Sakura snapped out of her anger and whirled around. A uniformed man who was standing across the main street pointed a finger at her. "You're damaging public property! Remain where you are, and state your name! You as well." He gestured towards Deidara, too, who appeared nonchalant, but had decided to cover his hair with his hood. She cringed at the sound of his voice.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, her fingers twitching ever so slightly. Her knees bent, her muscles grew taut as the police man's form grew. His mouth was twisted into an angry scowl as he marched at her with his hands on his hips.

"What do you think you're doing, almost putting a hole through that fence? You'll have to pay for damages. Seriously, kids these days," he spat in a high-pitched, pre-pubescent voice.

"Uh oh," she whispered. Slowly, Sakura took small steps backwards until she no longer could. The heels of her shoes were pressed firmly against the fence. Though she couldn't see, she could feel a smirk stretching back across Deidara's lips.

"Better figure out how to climb a fence now, yeah, before the policeman comes and gets you," he said. "Unless you want to pay a couple hundred dollars and give him the satisfaction of scolding another teenager, yeah."

"Can I go around?" She twisted her neck to get a glimpse of her associate.

Deidara shook his head and stuck his hands in his pockets. "You can't cross over to this side without going all the way back to that last stop light we were at, yeah. And that was pretty far away."

"Well, I'm not going to beat up a cop," Sakura cried. "That's worse than spray painting a wall!"

"Then get over the fence, yeah," he said, as if it were the most obvious option she had.

The badge pinned to the cop's shirt gleamed brightly against the drab, grey surroundings, and though Sakura would have appreciated this symbol a while ago, now she could not - not when she was the one who was going to get in trouble. At least her little skirmish back at Ame High School had been pardoned because of Pein (who she thought was crazy), but Sakura was sure to get in official trouble if she stuck around. He was quite a distance away, still, but was closing in fast. She was beginning to feel cornered.

"Dammit!"

Without wasting another second, Sakura followed the example she'd seen earlier, finding a stable foothold and hooking her fingers through the gaps. The metal bit into her skin and chewed off tiny chunks of her shoes. Her breath was shallow and uneven as she clumsily coordinated her arms and legs. Her chest contracted as she clung to the fence, fingers slipping because of her slick, sweaty palms. Moving as fast as she could, Sakura scaled the fence, but she knew that she was going too slowly.

"You might want to hurry up, yeah."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, wishing she could jab a middle finger in Deidara's face. "You think I don't know? I've never tried this before, so shut up!" She blinked the sweat out of her eyes and forced her arms to pull her up; they were starting to feel numb. Her hands shook, and her fingers felt raw.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Get back down!" Sakura shivered - it sounded like the police man was yelling right in her ear with his sonar voice. Looking up, she could see she still had quite the distance to go. Heartbeat quickening, she looked down to see that the policeman was reaching for her legs. She steeled her nerves and climbed higher, praying that his arms were short and wouldn't touch her. But her heart nearly stopped when she felt the fence rattle under additional weight.

"Deidara, what the hell are you doing!?" She hung on for dear life as he began climbing back up the fence, adding more unsteadiness to her already delicate balance. She watched in horror as he sat, perched directly above her.

Please don't tell me you're doing the '300' kick.

Sakura recoiled as his hand shot out at her, fearing a punch, a slap, or a kick to the face - any kind of betrayal from Deidara in an attempt to buy himself some more time. As nice as he appeared, Sakura wasn't sure if she trusted him yet (he was a delinquent after all).

He chuckled at her expression and to her surprise, stretched his hand out further. "Grab on. That was actually pretty good for a first try, yeah."

Beneath her, the policeman commanded Sakura to get back down. "Don't you dare climb any further. As a member of the Ame Police Force," he said this while proudly displaying his police badge and information, "I demand that you let go of the fence this instant!"

Above her, Deidara snorted, squinting to read his name. "If she lets go, she'll hurt herself, yeah, Mister To-shi-hi-de. Come on, hurry up." His hand remained suspended in the air, waiting for her to take it.

Sakura bit her lip, knowing she had little time to make a decision, but there was no need to wait longer; she knew she was at her limits - her feet were nearly slipping. She stared hard into his eyes, sending a threat for precautionary purposes, before unhooking her fingers and clapping a hand into his. Immediately, his grip on her hand tightened, and with a heave, he hauled her up beside him. A hand rested securely on her waist as they balanced on an inch wide bar.

"Geez, your hands are really sweaty, yeah."

Heat rose to her cheeks and she struggled to defend herself. "Hey, I was really nervous!"

"Yeah, sure."

Sakura was about to jam a fist into his face when she realized that number one: he was holding onto her, and if he went down, she would too (his grip was rather strong for a guy who looked like he cared more about his appearance). Number two: Deidara seemed more comfortable with the height they were at, and would no doubt be able to maneuver around better than she would, which meant that if he somehow dodged her punch, he'd push her off. Number three: if she somehow got caught by the annoyance of a policeman named Toshihide who was screaming at them, she'd get in even more trouble. So Sakura decided to keep her hands to herself and let Deidara handle the situation, though she really wanted to make him pay for scaring her and almost making her fall.

"How dare you? I don't know who you are, but I will report you and find you all! Do you understand me?" Policeman Toshihide squawked, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his pointy nose.

Rubbing a hand on her forehead, Sakura puffed out a long breath. "His voice is so annoying."

The blonde shrugged and flashed a grin. "See? You did it. Be thankful I covered up your hair with your hood. Now let's go find Danna-Sama -" He was cut short by an object, commonly known as Sakura's fist, colliding with his abdomen. "Ow! What was that for, yeah?"

"That's for scaring me." She jabbed his stomach once more, glad to have caught him off guard and opted for a target that wouldn't knock him unconscious when her desire for revenge overtook her for a moment. "I thought I was going to die when you jumped back onto the fence," she accused with a huff. "Let's just get out of here."

They both looked down at the yammering police man beneath them who was waving his fists and stomping his feet, yelling empty threats. Getting a better look, Sakura could tell that he was actually rather short and didn't appear intimidating at all, with his silly expression and his poorly slicked back hair. Sakura looked at Deidara wearily and motioned for him to follow her. Going down wasn't as bad as going up; all she had to do was jump onto the dumpster that sat beside the fence. She landed with a loud clunk, her companion following soon after, and sprang onto the floor.

Walking away, Sakura could hear police man Toshihide continue to scold them, but his voice was quick to fade; her heart was still beating out of her chest from the exhilarating experience. But she remembered why she'd even bothered to skin her hands in the first place. She swept her eyes over the walls of dilapidated buildings and sighed. "We lost him. Great."

"No, we didn't. I think know where Sasori went, yeah." Deidara pointed down an alleyway. "He probably went to the park."

She snorted. "The park? Why the park?" They walked side by side down the narrow passage.

"There's a lot of space to work with and there are no cops there. Apparently, the park also belonged to that no name school that blew up a the other day." Deidara tilted his head. "It's strange how they were able to keep that territory for so long, yeah. But as long as we get one of our markings on their domain, we should be fine. We just need to send a message."

"How do you know all these things?" Sakura wondered out loud. It was strange how he knew the politics of the local gangsters so well.

Deidara shrugged. "The information was sent to my phone. The one that you broke, yeah."

Shit.

He suddenly pulled back his sleeve and took a glance at a black watch that was strapped around his wrist. "By the way, Sasori has already started spray painting."

"I figured as much." Sakura shook her head. She'd spent far too long trying to get over that fence, after all. "Earlier, didn't you say that someone was expanding domain? What was that about?"

"Ah, that. Sasori and I are part of the Akatsuki, yeah."

Akatsuki… The name sounded familiar enough. She rolled the name on her tongue, trying to recall where she'd heard it before. There was no doubt in her mind Tsunade had once mentioned the name in one of her announcements, but no one bothered to listen to them back then. Sakura wrinkled her forehead as she racked her brain for answers.

You could just ask him, the genius within her suggested.

… Good idea.

"So," she started, lacing her fingers together. "What is the Akatsuki?"

"It's an organization that wishes to implement peace. Don't ask me how it works specifically, yeah. I just do what I'm told."

Sakura blinked. "Peace?" That definitely wasn't been the answer she'd been expecting, and Sasori didn't seem to a peaceful kind of person. Furthermore, it was strange how they were spray-painting their 'territory' like hoodlums in order to send a message. But an organization striving for peace was a step in the right direction.

"Peace," Deidara repeated with a nod. "I was forced to join, yeah, but to be honest, peace isn't really my thing."

"I see." Sakura scooted away as far as she could from the blonde, trying to forget that he'd just saved her hide and a lifetime of embarrassment of being caught by an incompetent policeman. "You're sure it promotes peace, right?"

"Yeah."

"So how do I join?" She began twiddling her thumbs casually. "Peace is a good thing, I think," she added quickly, seeing Deidara raise an eyebrow. "That's actually what I wanted when I was told I was moving here, to Ame."

"Really?" He wrinkled his forehead. "You're really good at fighting, yeah. You fought head-to-head with Danna and caught Tobi off guard. But are you sure that you'd join the Akatsuki out of your own free will?"

"Yeah… but I didn't mean to hit Tobi," she muttered, kicking aside a pebble.

In a way though, there was a surge of pride that swept through Sakura's mind. Having someone who was probably as strong as her, if not stronger, recognize her years of training made her rather giddy inside. Having been one of the physically weakest people to join her class, Sakura sweated tears of blood for years before finally accomplishing brute strength that could split bricks and wood.

"Either way, you don't need to worry about joining - you're already part of the Akatsuki."

Sakura blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

"Did Pein not tell you? Anyone who gets into Class S automatically becomes a member. He only wants the best of the best to help him spread his vision of peace, yeah."

Of course he's the leader of a peace organization. Why didn't I think of that earlier.

"Oh." She stifled a groan of exasperation. "Did this information happen to be on the back of the info sheet he gave me?"

Deidara nodded.

So maybe I judged too quickly.

Her heart sank a bit, knowing it was a bad habit of hers to judge quickly, which meant Pein was actually a pretty good guy, however threatening his appearance was, and so was everyone else in Class S. She peeked over at Deidara.

I mean, I guess he looks kind of nice. Maybe he was forced to join because of Sasori, she speculated. But Sasori's pretty mean. Her thoughts then drifted to P1 and the general atmosphere of Class S's classroom. If the Akatsuki really believed in peace, then why was every square inch of the room rigged in a way to maim or kill? Then again, Ame High School was infested with high school gangsters and an organization advocating peace was bound to get in conflicts with them and needed a method of defense. She also recalled how Sasori had brandished and pointed a knife at her because of a stupid misnomer. Sakura knew that the need for self-defense was a poor explanation, but she didn't take long to dwell on that thought; she could ask later anyway, and they were sure to have their reasons.

A swingset creaked off in the distance, and the hissing sound of a spray can penetrated the gloomy, morning air. Undoubtedly, it was Sasori who was using the spray can. Sakura picked her way through rusted scraps of metal that lay strewn on the floor, stepping past carcasses of broken plastic horses and cows to follow the the faint sound of paint leaving its container. And there he was, spray painting a wall. He seemed to be completely focused, not even reacting when she and Deidara stopped beside him.

He had his mask on and was finishing the final touches to his design of red. Every move he made was precise, controlled, and calculated. Sakura stared in wonder. Even though she knew what Sasori was doing was unmistakably bad, it was stunning at the same time. He'd painted the red cloud she'd seen on the carpet in the top floor back in Ame High School with artistic genius. Filling in the final spot of gray wall, Sasori stepped back, slowly pulling down his mask, and inspected his creation with a satisfied smirk on his face before capping the can and stuffing it back in his pocket. Though Sakura hadn't saved the wall from the paint, a tiny part of her was happy she failed; never in her life did she think she'd ever see something like what Sasori had created with simple spray paint. She almost felt guilty for smacking the spray paint out of his hand earlier.

It was simply "...beautiful," she sighed, taking in the contrast between the well-defined lines at the curves and the slight wispy effect at the tail; it was a bold yet delicate design. A thin silver hue bordered the cloud's shape, and she realized just what it meant. "Akatsuki," she mused aloud. It was a fitting name. Sakura tore her eyes away from the cloud and cast them upon Sasori's blank expression, her eyes wide with wonder. "It's breathtaking."

Admittedly, she hadn't gotten a closer look at the clouds she'd seen while moving into Ame, but now she wished she had. The red head's gaze met hers, and it softened by a fraction of a degree. He stood a bit straighter, and his mouth was no longer compressed into a hard line. Sakura turned her attention back to his masterpiece, and unknowingly, her hands lifted slowly, wanting to touch the image, but a swift hand flashed forward and snatched her wrists. Startled, she jumped.

"The paint is still drying," he said quietly. His voice held no malice, but it was firm.

"Oh. Sorry." She quickly withdrew her hand and stood there awkwardly between the two, her hands held behind her back. "I didn't mean to do that."

Sasori grunted. "It's fine."

Beside them, Deidara snorted, crossing his arms. "Whatever. My art is better than his, yeah."

Shooting him a dirty look, Sasori ran a hand through his messy, rust-colored hair. "Let her decide for herself. Her judgment appears to be better than yours, anyway."

"That's because she hasn't seen it yet." He motioned with a finger for the girl to follow him, which she did out of pure curiosity. "Come on, I'll show you." He strode off to an opposing wall across the tiny, residential street and patted his pockets. "Where did I put them?" he muttered. "No, that's my clay. More clay. What's this doing in here?" He poked through his pockets some more before his expression lit up. "Found them, yeah. Now, watch."

In his hand were tiny spheres, not unlike those which contained the vomit - inducing stench that had exploded on Sakura earlier. She shuddered at the bad memories she'd made only a little while ago.

"Uh, you might want to stand aside." Deidara had stepped back a few feet and had his throwing arm ready. Getting a good look at what he was holding, Sakura could tell that it was encased paint.

Quickly taking his advice, she put a safe distance between herself and the wall, prudently pinching her nose. She watched as he flung the spheres at the wall, making them to burst on impact and splatter it with red paint that dried almost instantly, allowing his creation to maintain its shape. The sound of the hits reverberated loudly in Sakura's ears, disorienting her - grabbing her head and giving it a good shake did wonders to restore her focus. She examined what Deidara had made. It was unique, but she didn't quite understand what the hell it was. At best, it was a conglomeration of circles that held no particular form.

"Do you like it?" The blonde's eyes looked at her expectantly.

"What is that?" It wasn't until the words left her mouth that Sakura understood how much of an ass she sounded like when she had asked the question. Nervously, she clapped her hand over her mouth to prevent anything else from escaping.

"It's art, yeah," Deidara replied indignantly. "And I did it with a bang."

"Pft."

"Danna, stop laughing. Let me borrow your silver."

Begrudgingly, he held out his hand and let Sasori drop a small can of silver spray paint into his palm. Deidara grumbled curses and insults to nobody in particular as he popped the lid off sharply and shook the bottle with a bit too much strength. He pointedly aimed the nozzle at the edge of the group of red splatters and began to stiffly traced them, albeit rather quickly. His lips were twisted into the angriest of scowls while he continued the outline. It was only when the end of the silver paint met its beginning that Deidara appeared remotely happy. He slapped the silver back into Sasori's open hand and pointed towards the now-clearly-defined cloud on the wall.

"It's the Akatsuki cloud, yeah. Was it really that hard to see?"

Oh.

"N-no." Sakura tilted her head, struggling to find words. "It was just a lot to take in." Internally, she winced at the lie.

It wasn't until he traced it that I knew what it was.

Of course, she couldn't say this out loud, and she skillfully bit her tongue, nearly drawing blood. But she had to concede that the more she looked at Deidara's cloud, the more she liked it. His was more spontaneous and bright. Though it wasn't something breath-stopping, the conglomeration of red circles was certainly interesting in its technique and texture; Sakura had never seen anything quite like it.

"You're a failure of an artist," Sasori said rather bluntly. "That's why she couldn't tell what it was." He smiled smugly at Deidara.

"No, that's not true," Sakura interjected, earning her a slightly annoyed stare from Sasori. She offered a tentative smile to the artistically distressed blonde. "I think that the fact that the paint dries quickly is what makes your cloud intriguing." She let a finger trace the bumps and ridges of crimson that'd formed. "I like the freedom … if that's what it can be called."

The partners stared at her. They then turned and stared at each other.

"I thought she was the one who could be the tiebreaker in our argument, yeah."

"Agreed. Since she can't decide, we should settle this now." With a shake of his arms, knives slid out from Sasori's sleeves and into his hands.

Deidara chuckled as he shifted his weight and revealed a BB gun that'd been strapped to his waist and hidden from sight. "Why are you so agitated today, yeah? Could it be because you finally understand that art is a bang?" The gun was promptly unfastened and aimed.

"Never," the knife user sniffed.

Why is it suddenly my fault? Oh jeez, they're just like kids but worse. How fitting we're at a playground. But that didn't matter too much, even if she was panicking at the sudden spike in tension between them; there was a bigger issue at hand, both physically and metaphorically speaking.

"Um, maybe you guys shouldn't be fighting right here and now," Sakura interrupted. She squinted into the distance and trained her eyes on a large group of people that carried dangerous looking weapons approaching them and wore scowls on their faces. Her fingers tingled as she counted more than twenty people, all sauntering confidently towards them.

Deidara threw a glance over his shoulder and sneered. "They're nothing but small fry, yeah. We can always deal with them later."

"What happened to keeping the peace!?" she cried. "Isn't that your job?"

"Say, Deidara," Sasori said, looking over Deidara's shoulder. Sakura rolled her eyes when she realized he'd just ignored her question. Again. "Don't they look familiar?"

The group of people stopped behind Deidara. Sakura caught her breath as her eyes absorbed the situation before her. Several tattooed men with piercings, scruffy beards, and rippling muscles angrily cracked their knuckles. The leader of them (at least Sakura assumed he was the leader) was a skinhead. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and a sly smile was stretched across his face. He wore an oversized jersey that proudly displayed his scarred watermelon-like biceps and jeans that sagged inappropriately below his waistline.

However, Deidara wasn't affected in the slightest. He casually turned on his heel and looked the leader right in the eye. "Yeah, they do. I think they're from that no-name blown up school." He scanned the head thug before him. "Isn't your name Onishi or something, yeah?"

"That's right," he smirked. "And who is this?" He gestured at Sakura, who flinched at his sudden movement. "Seems kinda useless, doesn't she? I guess she's just your plaything." His eyes roved over her figure, leaving her feeling uncomfortable and somehow violated.

Useless? Plaything?

She bristled at the insults. She'd heard that word several times throughout her time back in Konoha, especially when she was a kid, and she hated being called useless. A strained smile appeared on her face as she tried to control her anger. Unfortunately, though, counting to ten wasn't helping, and neither was thinking of her happy place, which just so happened to be the dojo. Furthermore, she was definitely not their plaything - she hadn't even known Sasori and Deidara for more than two hours. Her blood was beginning to boil. There was nothing more that Sakura wanted to do than beat his face so far into the ground he'd become part of the concrete. Her fingers twitched, begging to curl up and form fists.

Sasori narrowed his eyes. "She is not of your concern. What do you want?"

Onishi twirled the wooden plank in his hands. "You're putting your mark on our territory," he observed. "I could hear it from a mile away."

"So? It looks better than your stupid alligator, yeah. Our name is also better than yours," Sakura's blonde companion retorted.

The wooden plank's twirling halted. A crimson hue stained Onishi's face and shiny bald head. "We, the Southern Alligators, will not be insulted. Although our school is obliterated, we still stand," he declared. The thugs behind him cheered in agreement.

"You're right, it does sound stupid," Sakura whispered to Deidara, hoping she'd been loud enough for Onishi to hear.

That Bastard deserves it for calling me a useless harlot. And Ame isn't even in the south.

"Damn right it is," the blonde agreed.

"Oi," the newly dubbed Bastard growled. "Woman. You dare insult me? If you prostrate yourself before me, I'll consider forgiving you, you trash! "

Sakura froze, the anger within her reaching boiling point. "What did you just call me?" She allowed her hands to curl into fists and her knees to bend. He had crossed a line for the third time and insulted her and everything she'd worked towards, and there was nothing he could do to quell her anger now except beg for mercy. Sakura stalked forwards, grabbing the back of Deidara's hoodie and pulling him behind her. She stood toe-to-toe with Onishi before grabbing his collar and yanking him down to her level. Peace was now the last thing on her mind.

His lackeys surged forward, weapons at the ready, but he waved them off and laughed. "Don't worry. I can handle a little girl." He confidently met her glare.

"I asked you a question." she stated. "What did you just call me?"

Onishi jeered. "I called you trash. Do you have a problem?"

Immediately upon hearing his answer, Sakura let go of his shirt and sent a fist straight at his nose, creating a satisfying crunching sound that reverberated in the spectators' awed silence. Blood began dribbling from Onishi's nose as he struggled to stand stably after receiving the impact.

"B-bitch."

Wordlessly, Sakura ducked under a shaky punch and socked him right back in the nose; he was nothing compared to Sasori, who she'd fought earlier. She watched him slump to his knees and hit his head on the ground before standing over him, her hands behind her back.

He didn't any brain cells to lose anyway.

"And then what did you call me in the beginning?"

Onishi said nothing; his face was planted right into the ground.

"You heard me, and I won't ask again," she said sternly.

"I-I don't know," was the muffled reply.

Sakura lowered herself until she was kneeling beside Onishi. "You called me useless." She leaned in closer and lowered her tone. "I am not a plaything either. Call me anything like that, and I will personally castrate you with a pencil," she hissed. "Without anesthesia."

"I'm sorry," he muttered, turning his cheek to rest it against the road.

"Good."

She pushed herself up and stood by her companions, her back turned to the fallen gangster and his friends.

"Get lost."

Listening to their shuffling feet, she stared at the clouded sky. There was not a particle of regret to be found in her. In fact, it'd been rather liberating. A breath of fresh air flooded into her chest as she shut her eyes. All of her frustrations and worries had simply evaporated with those two punches.

"You're really something when you're angry, yeah," Deidara observed. He broke out into a grin. "I like it."

She smiled half-heartedly. "Thanks. Sorry I punched him, though. We're supposed to do these things peacefully, right?"

He blinked. "No, you did fine. We're allowed to use force, yeah. Pein calls it 'asserting dominance.'"

"... I see." Sakura glanced at the two beside her and choked out a giggle. "So, I'm guessing that was the assignment for the day?"

Sasori nodded. "Part of it. We must rid Onishi's territory of his emblem." He raised an arm and pointed at the nearby light pole. A poorly drawn alligator had been scrawled across the metal surface. Sakura had to rub her eyes to see it; it was rust at best and a shit stain at worst. "There should be quite a few." He tossed her a rag. "We should start soon. Spray paint removal takes a while."


That night, Sakura returned home, exhausted. She could barely lift a finger to unlock the front door, much less push open the gate. With some difficulty, she forced the door open and stumbled in. Her legs were sore and covered in dirt; the Southern Alligators apparently liked putting all of their signs in the dirtiest locations, namely under bridges and on sewer caps, and Sasori hadn't been joking when he said paint removal took a while. Cleaning paint off public surfaces had been like a difficult team-building exercise, but it had been a mostly quiet day after the spray-painting and gang-confrontation, which Sakura found to be a relatively nice way to wind down after the rather action-packed morning.

She staggered up the stairs, stripping off her god-awful hoodie and sweatpants as she went, leaving on her sweat-soaked shirt and scratchy skirt. Collapsing on her bed, Sakura sighed, not caring that she was dirty. Her limbs loosened as she sank into the fluffy mattress. The night breeze that wafted through her window caressed her skin gently. Fatigue nearly overtook her mind until she heard a now familiar voice.

"Nice room, yeah."

Sakura immediately sat bolt upright, her heart pounding out of her chest. "What are you doing here?"

Deidara landed lightly on her polished floorboards, a grin on his face. Sasori followed soon after, slipping through her window.

"Calm down, yeah, we're not here to kidnap you." Deidara held up his hands. "We're just here to give you something." He tossed her a small, rectangular object, and she caught it, curious. "It's a cell phone. Don't worry, it won't blow up in your face," he joked.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, her hand ready to throw it out the window.

"Please don't," he said quickly, face paling. "Anyway, Pein will contact you tomorrow morning through that phone. He'll tell you where to go, yeah."

She looked down at the phone she was given, and her eyes bugged. "I can't take this! It looks really expensive! I -"

"You have unlimited data and minutes," Sasori added. "But you are limited to calling and texting the members of the Akatsuki and your parents."

"Wait, but -"

"We'll be on our way."

As quickly as they appeared, the two left her room, climbing down the tree just outside her window to get to the ground. Bewildered, Sakura rushed to the window, wanting to hopefully yell out a question or two, but they had already disappeared.

"Dammit." She pounded a fist on her windowsill.

"Sakura?" Her mother's light voice reached her ears. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." She turned around and smiled, hiding the phone behind her back.

Her mother sighed. "I know you miss Konoha High, but this move was necessary. Did you make any new friends today?"

If you consider impressing people with feats of violence, then yes.

"Yes."

"That's wonderful!" Dark, worried eyes brightened. "What are they like?"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "What are they like? They're both artists, and most of the time, one of them talks to much, and the other one says nothing at all."

"That's interesting! I hope I can meet them one day."

Please, don't.

The corners of her lips twitched. She could just imagine her mother fainting at the sight of their weapons.

"Of course."

"You seem tired," her mother observed. "I'll let you get some rest. I'm sure you'll make even more friends tomorrow." She nodded and shut the door behind her.

"Joy…"