DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and make no profit, for this is purely a fan-made story for entertaining others and is therefore FREE to read. If I owned Naruto, I'd probably be very rich, which I am not.

Authoress' Note: Sorry for the two week-ish delay in an update. I had a terrible case of writer's block, yet I knew what I wanted these last few chapters to include. It was bizarre. I also had my A-Level exams to get through, but they are very much over with now so the next chapter will be out either by tomorrow or Friday. I was at a loss with how to present Deidara, so please let me know what you think in your reviews.

I am very happy with the number of people who read this story, favourite it, alert it and review it! It makes my day each time I see a new e-mail in my inbox telling me that someone else really enjoys reading this story, because it's my very first attempt at a Naruto one. Please do stick with this until the end, which is in about 2 chapters time now, and I hope you will all read the sequel when I work on that one!

Chapter 11

When Sakura woke up it was to the warm morning sunshine bathing her entire body. A smile graced her lips and she stretched her arms while sitting up. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Sakura idly wondered how she had fallen asleep so suddenly. She looked behind her, where the forest of the Darkness ninja loomed ominously - but it wasn't as dark as it had once been.

"I wonder how I got out of there..?"

Like a light switching on in a pitch-dark hall, the last few moments before she passed out flooded her mind: she with her near empty chakra stores and Sasori trying to help her out of the forest, then she asking him how old he really was and he replying that he was over 30...which caused her to faint.

"Oh joy...so Sasori's some weird old guy and I must seem like an idiot now! No wonder he keeps being angry with me! I'm acting so immature to him." The pink-haired ninja slapped her forehead in irritation, "I should apologise the next time I see him...come to think of it, where is Sasori?"

The puppet master had carried Sakura a safe distance away from the forest, but he was nowhere within sight. Sakura gazed all around the various sand dunes and small boulders and still couldn't find him.

"Great, he ditched me! How 'kind' of him to do so." Her anger subsided slightly when she realised that Sasori hadn't owed her anymore than helping her get out of the village and forest, "I guess I can't be angry with him. He did help me get out, when I could tell he had never helped anyone else in his life."

The Leaf ninja sighed heavily and stood up, dusting her shorts and legs off which had gained a nice, healthy layer of sand. She turned to her right and almost died of shock! Right in front of her was a strange, hunched figure dressed in the same type of cloak as Sasori's - black with red clouds decorating it. The hunched person was also wearing a hat that had some bells on it, blowing in the slight breeze. For some reason, Sakura had not noticed the person until now.

With a little nervousness in her voice, Sakura tried to calmly get the person's attention, "Um...excuse me, can I help you..?"

The hunched person gave no reply and didn't even attempt to look in her direction. The person had their back to Sakura, so she couldn't even tell if it was a man or woman. The only thing that puzzled Sakura was why they had the exact same kind of cloak as Sasori. The teenage girl had to find out!

Cautiously and with as much stealth as she could muster, Sakura approached the shorter person. When she peered around to see their face, the pink-haired girl gasped in alarm and fell backwards onto her arse.

She raised a hand and pointed at the face that was clearly wooden and not at all real, "W-What i-is that t-thing??"

A calm voice answered from behind Sakura, "His name is Hiruko, and he's one of my puppets."

If not for the fact that Sakura knew that voice well, she would have probably jumped in alarm at the closeness of the speaker. As such, she recognised at once her previously missing companion's slightly charming voice and turned to glare at him, "Where the hell have you been Sasori?!" It appeared as though Sakura's slight panic had been switched for her anger when the puppet master had arrived. She darted onto her feet quickly and placed both hands on her hips to show just how truly angry she was with Sasori, who for his part remained silent. "Are you just going to stand there and say nothing? And what did you mean one of your puppets? What the hell was it even doing there?!"

Sasori glared at Sakura, annoyed with the girl before him who had the nerve to say such things. By all rights he should just have killed her when he got out of the forest, since his only bargain with her was to ensure she escaped the village and the dangerous forest itself. Yet he could not simply kill her when she had been so weak and vulnerable. The reason for the strange lapse in his otherwise cold and merciless personality was not one that Sasori wished to ever address; he was certain it would not be anything good.

Looking at the girl before him now, Sasori was undecided whether her rage would merit as a reasonable excuse to kill her. Sakura was no longer injured and weakened from charka loss – why should he keep her alive anymore than he already had?

Noticing that he still had yet to answer her questions, Sasori decided that he'd just keep her alive until he grew bored by her presence. He lessened his glare at Sakura and replied in a voice that was hopefully not as menacing as his thoughts had been, "I went to find some water for you, since you hadn't had anything to drink for quite some time and I know that you humans can't last without a little drop of water after nearly a week of having none at all." The puppet master tossed a small bottle of water at Sakura, who caught it before it collided with her head. Sasori then walked over to Hiruko and continued with his explanation – although he didn't know why he was even bothering to explain his actions, "I left Hiruko here as a sentry of sorts should danger have come during my absence. I had placed some simple traps that would set off it anyone not matching my chakra signature or your own tried to approach you. If I had known that you would be afraid of a mere puppet I would have kindly left you to die here."

Sakura tried to find a comment to counter what had seemed quite logical, however rudely he had said the words, but nothing came to her mind. Sasori had actually been concerned about her wellbeing. Gratitude swelled inside her towards the red-haired person standing only a couple of metres away, but she wasn't quite sure how to thank him. A simple 'thank you' would suffice, she supposed, but she felt like she had to do more than just that.

Sakura racked her brain to try and recall anything that struck her as odd about Sasori that she could hopefully change for the better, when she suddenly remembered the conversation that had occurred a couple of nights ago. He had quite adamantly told her that he did not need any friends, but she remembered how coldly he had said those words and how it had hurt her heart to know that he was very alone in the world.

Perhaps she could offer her friendship to the grouchy puppeteer?

Cautiously Sakura approached Sasori, trying her very best to not look slightly nervous or even remotely crazy in any way, shape or form. It wouldn't do to make Sasori instantly reject any offers of friendship before he even thought about it. Sakura calmly schooled her face into one of honesty and she spoke without once stammering or stumbling over her words, "I'm grateful that you were worried about me Sasori, I really am. Thank you for everything that you've done."

She smiled and this was the thing that unnerved Sasori more than her words had. He glanced at the pink-haired girl as though she was partially insane, but he didn't speak or make any motions as though he wished to. He just let the young girl finish what she wanted to say.

Sakura took a deep breath and continued, "I know that you think little of friendships and the concept of friends, but…would you like to be friends with me Sasori?" She was hopeful, but not too hopeful.

Her question puzzled the puppet master and for a moment he was stunned – his eyes had widened and his mouth hung open in shock. After much care, and a good ten minutes, Sasori composed himself and managed to find his voice, "What are you blabbering about girl?"

"I would like for us to be friends, Sasori. I had thought that I had made that clear with my question, but apparently you didn't understand." Sakura was slightly angry with the reaction that the puppet master had to her words, but she merely tried again with her question.

"I heard what you said and I understood your words well enough. What I do not comprehend is WHY you believe that I would ever desire to be your friend. Are you sure you didn't damage your brain in this heat?"

His words were condescending and once more made Sakura realize that he wasn't exactly her equal with age. Still, she had to at least try once more to make him consider her words in stead of simply brushing them off.

"My brain is perfectly fine; I just thought that you might appreciate the offer of being someone's friend when you told me that you had none. Don't you get tired of being alone?"

He narrowed his eyes, the glare he had suppressed now back with a vengeance, "I don't want your friendship, little girl. Now take your pity to someone who actually wants it!"

With that he swiftly placed his puppet back into the scroll he had removed it from and then stomped off in the opposite direction of the forest, intent to get as far from Sakura as he possibly could.

The girl's words left him feeling disturbed and…alone. Never before had he truly thought into the depth of his loneliness, but now that it was brought up he began to consider how long he had remained detached from other human beings. Of course, he couldn't fit in with them since he was not a real human being anymore, but he did still have feelings and a soul, however dormant they were.

In the past few days he had spent away from the rest of the Akatsuki and with Sakura, he had come to acknowledge long forgotten emotions: worry, fear, happiness and caring for another. For some reason he had felt a strong desire to protect Sakura and make sure that she was healthy and alive, even after they had emerged from that accursed forest.

Perhaps he shouldn't have been so angry and harsh with the young girl; she only wanted to offer him friendship, not anything serious like a declaration of love! Sasori knew that he would never be able to accept her offer though, seeing as how he was a dangerous and wanted criminal and she was a loyal ninja from the Leaf village.

Still…he could try, couldn't he?

With the intent to at least apologise to the pink-haired girl, Sasori pivoted around on his feet and marched back towards where he had left her, only to sense the presence of someone nearby. He turned his red-topped head skywards and nearly sighed with relief when he saw just who the new presence was.

The giant clay bird descended slowly towards the ground, landing with ease that real birds took months to master. The rider of the bird leapt off the back of the creature and landed with a crouch on the sand, his long blonde hair blowing in the gentle breeze as he did so. He stood up and looked at the puppet master, a grin present on his face, "Sasori, everyone's been worried about you. Well, no that's a lie…Our Leader wants to know why you weren't sending any reports back to him, so he sent me to find you and bring you back, yeah."

Sasori scowled at his blonde-haired partner, "I was…a little busy, Deidara."

Deidara frowned at Sasori, but then a mischievous smile adorned his face, "And what were you busy with, yeah? Did the stupid villagers annoy you so much that you had to kill them all, yeah?"

"Not quite, although a fair amount of their corpses now litter their precious forest. As much as I dislike admitting this, the ninja of that village had somehow found a way to capture me and kept me locked in a storage room for puppets for nearly an entire week. I had some help in getting out of the village and the forest, but there was a fight before we managed to leave the place. The current leader of that village is dead now though, so I doubt they'll be looking for revenge anytime soon."

Deidara had perked up at the mention of another person helping his partner, "Who helped you, yeah?"

Sasori wasn't too sure that he wanted to tell anyone about Sakura, but he had confidence that Deidara would never tell the other Akatsuki about her so he reluctantly confided in his blonde-haired partner about the 'ordeal' he had been through in the Darkness village. He left out things that seemed too personal – like his confusing thoughts and feelings – but he told Deidara that Sakura was a Leaf ninja. Deidara did not look pleased. His one visible blue eye widened in shock.

"And you just let her live?! What if she tells someone about you?! We have to go back and make sure she won't tell anyone, yeah!"

Sasori grabbed the ex-stone ninja's cloak and pulled him close to his face, anger evident in his very presence, "WE will be doing nothing of the sort Deidara! She won't tell anyone, of that I'm certain. So just forget about her." He dropped his partner onto the sandy floor and reined in his anger, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Whatever you say Sasori, yeah."

They both hopped onto the back of the large clay bird and Deidara made his creation rise steadily into the air. Once they had reached a reasonable height, the bird began to head back into the direction of the nearest Akatsuki base, which happened to be past the large forest of the Darkness ninja.

They neared the forest and Sasori automatically thought of the pink-haired girl that he had left alone in the desert. Sakura probably hated him now and wanted nothing to do with him, but Sasori couldn't help as his eyes traveled downwards and searched for a patch of pink amidst the golden sands. What his eyes saw made him freeze with fear…for Sakura.

The remaining Darkness ninja had emerged from the forest and leading them was a new Yamikage. He didn't so much care about how they had managed to choose a new Kage so quickly, but he was worried about the sheer numbers that were all encircling the small form of Sakura, who was very much on her own now.

"Deidara…land somewhere now."

His partner looked at him confusedly, for he hadn't seen the large group of people left of where they were flying, "Why, yeah?"

"Don't question me, just do it!" His voice sounded frantic even to his own ears. He didn't care though. Sakura was in danger and he had left her there…alone.

"Alright, alright…" With a sigh, Deidara made the clay creation land in the sand below their current position, but before the bird's feet even touched the ground Sasori had jumped down and was walking swiftly towards the left…towards a large group of ninja that Deidara had only just noticed.

The blonde followed his red-haired partner and caught up to him when they reached a small hill that provided some cover from the eyes of the enemy ninja. He didn't know why Sasori had seemed so desperate to be there, but he raised his head briefly over the top of the hill and used his eye-scope to get a closer look at the ninja. They were all without any head band, so Deidara assumed they were probably the Darkness ninja that Sasori had mentioned. One was wearing a black set of robes like in the style of a Kage, so he was probably their leader. What struck the explosive expert as strange was the one lone Leaf ninja standing in the middle of the large group. She looked afraid, but at the same time she stood bravely as she stared at the Kage.

"Sasori," Deidara whispered to his partner, "Why are we here, yeah?"

The puppet master didn't look away from the group as he said, "That's her Deidara, the girl who helped me."

The blonde's mouth formed an 'oh' and he turned his blue eyed gaze back to the other ninja ahead of them.

Sasori's eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw that the Darkness ninja were closing in slowly on Sakura's lonely form. He looked back at his partner, a rare spark of concern shining in his normally cold red eyes, "We have to help her…but we'll need a plan first…"

Deidara seemed worried that his partner had become a little soft. Never before had Sasori actually cared for another person's life. Still, the blonde wasn't about to stop the puppet master from doing what he wanted; Deidara was secretly glad that his cold partner had finally found someone to care about.

A gleam appeared in the blonde's eye and he smiled with glee when a plan formed in his mind that would be very fun to carry out, "I have an idea, yeah…"