Alright, listen up, this story is going a long way already. I don't want to make it that long so… I think I'll be ending it at around the 15th chapter or so.

It's so hard to concentrate on only one story at a time since I had lots of really good ideas that could fit my other stories. And I think Deidara is cute… so I've been trying another story for him and… Ino. I don't think Sakura looks good with him… I mean… maybe I just got to see more to Sakura than the others. And, it's not that I think the other girls are good for better roles/Sakura's roles, BUT they could start at an average level till I can get a lot of respect or look up to them more… like Sakura, and get them MAJOR roles.

Besides, I think a blonde should stay with the blonde.

Hope you'll like it. (Deidara is also OOC here… and I think he's cute)

Chapter 10: New Places

Deidara and Sakura were heading towards where they would train. They've been walking on mountains for hours and it was almost noon. Sakura hadn't had much sleep ever since she walked out of the old hideout. So she had been yawning and sighing and asking if 'they were there yet' all morning.

And she noticed that Deidara was a nice person. All throughout her asking and yawning and complaining, he never did get annoyed. He was just saying 'Soon' or 'Just a little longer' or 'Please wait a bit more…' to her. And when she yawned, he'd say, 'Stay up, okay? We've got a long way' or 'Don't worry, you can sleep there all day till you can train'.

And, being changed by joining Akatsuki, Sakura found this good… and a bit irritating. But she knew that if she was still herself before, she'd find this cute and nice and she'd love it. But she has changed now and she knows she should never act the same way as before.

She looked ahead and found a really high hill that covered the next sight except for the sky. She sighed, 'This will not be easy to climb… especially with my really low energy level right now.'

But at the top of it, Sakura gasped at the sight. There were cherry blossom trees and it was a wide, green place. There was also a cottage at the corner. And a river flowed not far away. "Sakura," Deidara said, "This is where we'll train."

"It's… perfect!" Sakura said with great excitement. She thought, 'It's just like my dream house. But I'll be training with this blonde here… I wonder if he's a good trainer. He seems to be nice… too nice, actually.'

"Well, let's rest first. And eat…" Deidara said, and they walked towards the cottage.

MEANWHILE… Kakashi had a hunch that they were very close to their goal. But something felt wrong and it seemed that something was missing. As he lead the others towards green plains. He remembered something that happened before Sakura's capture:

It was a bright summer day back in Konoha, just after Sasuke had come back, and Sakura was in her break... from missions and hospital shifts. She met Kakashi on the way and she smiled her usual smile. Kakashi was, as always, busy with his books. And when he noticed the pink-haired girl in front of him, he lifted himself from the book and smiled back.

He also saw that, inside, Sakura was really suffering from something… or someone. So, Kakashi asked. Sakura was always talking about her problems to Ino or her teacher… so she spilled.

"I still can't stop thinking about Sasuke-kun…But he's always busy practicing… and when I try to talk to him after his usual practices, he'd always disappear first before I've even stood up from where I was observing him." Sakura said, a tear threatening to drop from her eye.

"Sakura, maybe Sasuke-kun really isn't ready yet. And who knows… maybe one day he'd suddenly just ask you out!" Kakashi said, sounding concerned, "And… you're grown up already… you've had a big difference from the first time I met you till now—your clothes, your strength and justsus, your attitude, and your… beauty."

Sakura looked up at her sensei. "Really? Sigh… if that was true… then Sasuke-kun would have at least stopped ignoring me already."

"Sakura, you've all grown so big… but I just wonder why you can't thank the god enough for that already. I mean, isn't it great that we've already had Sasuke back finally? Or have you guys grow big and not die in all our missions together?"

"Well… maybe you're right, sensei." Sakura said, then she smiled her sweetest smile and thanked Kakashi and walked away.

'Sigh… that felt so long ago…' Kakashi thought as he ran across the plains.

MEANWHILE…

Sakura woke up later. She got up the bed and took her cloak which she hanged at the back of a chair in her new room. The room was wider than her last and it had 2 closets instead of one—which were filled with more clothes, both Akatsuki and casual. And there was more sunlight in the room, too.

Sakura headed outside to find the bathroom, when she did, she washed her face. Then she dressed up in the full Akatsuki uniform then toured the house. She found kitchen which was just beside the dining room which was beside the den which was between another room and the dining room and her room and the dining room. So the living room is the between other rooms. Sakura's room was upstairs—upstairs was a rectangular space with 7 doors. Sakura came from the room at the end of the rectangle at the right of the stairs which was, when you climb it, in front of the bathroom's door which was beside a… WHATEVER…. As long as there were 7 doors—2 at the rectangle's ends, three on the side where you'd be facing when you climb the stairs, and two others on each side of the stairway. Get the picture???

Anyway, Sakura went downstairs and smelt food… which reminded her that she didn't eat much last night since she was so tired from their journey. She had already gone through this last night but she thought over it again as she followed the smell of food. 'First I'll eat then we'll be training. Then I get to get my revenge…'

"Eat up." Deidara said as he put the food on the table as Sakura sat. Sakura looked at the food; it was something she expected he'd give… a complete meal full of vegetables, meat and carbohydrates. "Are we gonna train after this???" Sakura asked.

"Not immediately after this… we'll stretch up a bit first and wait for the food to digest." Deidara said. "By that time, you should've been ready."

"Till when are we gonna be training?" Sakura asked again and Deidara answered with a shrug. He said, "That depends on your ability and what you've learned back when you were in Itachi's—"

Sakura stood up and stopped him, "Never say the Uchiha's name… please…"

An hour later, Sakura and Deidara were outside on the meadows already, far from the house they'd be living in. Deidara started, "Okay, so first, we'll spar a bit then I'll tell which you need to learn. Then you'd be fighting me, if you lose, then you'll be training till night… either with me or by yourself, whichever you chose. And if I lose, you can take a rest or train more… if you are that desperate."

Sakura knew she also had to give him rules. "Right, so if you have those rules… I have mine as well… it's all basically on respect and not invading my space, my private space. And you can just call me… Shindez."

"Alrighty, if I can call you that, call me Deidara-senpai. And soon, you'll need to change your hair color so if any uninvited guests come, they'll never know who you are. Any questions?" Deidara said. "Then let's start."

They sparred and sparred until Sakura was tired. Then Deidara said they could take a break. Sakura went in the house and drank some water as Deidara came in too. "You were taught well by the… Uchiha but he didn't teach you the most important thing…" Deidara said. "Although as ignorant as he is… I think he was still smart to not have taught you that."

"Your right… He is ignorant and so insensitive." Sakura said, "But what did you mean by that?"

"We'll get to that… let's go back to training first." Deidara said as he went out the back door from the kitchen. "Shindez-chan… always remember, that when you least expect something, it'll come… so try to expect the unexpected." Deidara said with a grin.

'He's planning something…' Sakura thought, 'I think it's supposed to be part of the training.' Then they started training again.

MEANWHILE… Naruto was thinking about how life would be after they've rescued Sakura… or if they ever rescue her. 'She would have probably been changed by the Akatsuki. She could've had a phobia from people, especially those who wear cloaks with the red clouds. Or she could've changed by being stronger, this made Naruto shiver. Her record of a hundred miles would become a thousand. But if she ever changed by becoming an evil person, who knows what could come out of Naruto if he ever faced her again… he may not come to control himself.

But little did he really know that he was slowly falling for Sakura, despite all the insults and punches she threw at him, he didn't know that she was to become the most important person in his life. That's why he's doing all this—the rescuing and the hopes, and the prayers, and the getting outraged at times. He didn't really see Sakura that way, not like he did before. To him, she was a sister, but deep down, he knew she's more than that.

MEANWHILE… Sakura was sound asleep in the room she was supposed to be in that same night. But then suddenly, a kunai flew in the air towards her pillow. Sakura jumped off her bed and prepared to fight when she saw more kunais come her way. So she took the one that ripped her pillow to shreds and used it to avoid most of the incoming kunais.

When the attack stopped, Sakura saw that Deidara was in one corner of her room. 'So the kunais came from him… grrr…' Sakura thought, "What are you doing? Trying to kill me?!"

"I told you… expect the unexpected." Deidara replied. Then he grinned and did the snake hand seal. Sakura had only a split second to react. Then a bomb knocked her out the window and had her land on her back with a thud.

"Hey, what's with you?! Don't tell me this is still part of training, isn't it?" Sakura said after Deidara jumped out the window, landing on the floor with broken grass. Amazingly, the concrete wasn't damaged at all, even in the inside where the bomb exploded. 'Whenever this'll happen again, I've got to expect more attacks when I sleep. And then I'll beat him up!' Sakura thought angrily.

"Correct, but I'm afraid training on this day ends here." Deidara said, then he bowed and said, "Goodnight, Shindez-san" Then he left saying, "You could take that glass for replacement of the window... or this."

Deidara did some hand seals and the window was filled in with solid glass again. Then Diedara went inside using the back door and Sakura opened her window then went back to a restless sleep.

Next day, they were training again, Sakura having trouble keeping up with Deidara. Then out of nowhere, a blue dog came and handed Deidara a scroll and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Deidara read the scroll mentally and kept it right away. "Okay, let's continue," He told Sakura.

Out of curiosity, Sakura asked what message the scroll had. Deidara just shrugged and told her to continue. A little later, it was sunset and the two were already inside the cottage. Sakura came out and jumped on a cherry blossom tree branch just near the house and watched the sunset. She had tried to make it a hobby to watch the sun set in the late afternoon and stars at night. 'And talking about the sky, I've never experienced bad weather since I came to this place.' Sakura thought. 'Weird…'

End of chapter.

Please don't forget to give a review. No flames please. If you don't like what you read, shut up and keep it to yourself, no offense to my loyal fans.