Chapter Two
Reasoning

I looked up to see my ex teammate standing in the doorway. She looked so much…older. Her once curly rats nest had be transformed into a neat straight black half ponytail. Her childish bright eyes had faded into deep piercing onyx. Her old turtle neck tank had been traded in for a black short-sleeved shirt with a mess midriff portion. Her old black and blue skirt exchanged for red shorts. Her hands were clad with gloves and she had shinobi boots on. Her headband was worn on her forehead, although you could barely see it due to all the hair covering the left side of her pale face.

"I said, 'why are you here' I expect an answer, Sakora. "She glared at me. I could tell she was angry with me for leaving. Then again, who wouldn't be?

"I don't know how I ended up back in Konoha, but I'm at your house because I'm injured and Sasuke offered."

"Well, I don't want you in my home. I don't like housing people who abandon their village. You have a sister. Go stay with her." Ouch. That stung.

"Sarika, I didn't just leave. okay? Let me explain myself." I pleaded. A sharp pain stabbed my leg. I hadn't noticed some of my other injuries yet.

"Alright, I'm listening." She walked in to my room and sat on the bed. I began telling my story.

Good god she looked awful. Her light blue strands were riddled and mangled with blood and chunks of dirt. It was longer than I remembered. Her distinct yellow-green eyes were still the same as ever though. She still wore our yellow and red friend ship arm bands around her bicep. Her clothes were ruined. It looked like she hadn't changed in years. Her ice blue top was strapless now and torn is several places. She had a one strap black undershirt on that covered half of her wounded midsection. Her skirt was held together by only string. It matched her ice blue top. Her black short were barely covering anything. Her gloves and shoes were falling apart but otherwise fine. Her headband…was beaten to hell. Huge scratches and gashes told a tale of hardship and misery. She had a semi healed deep chuck missing form her side and stomach. She had a gash in her left leg that was surely infected. Her arms were laced with superficial scratches and bruises.

She began her long twisted tale of why she left. "About 5 years ago, I was called into the Hokage's office. He had a mission for me. A team of genin had been sent on an under ranked mission and found themselves in some trouble. Apparently some Akatsuki members had been interested in what we were sent to retrieve.

"I was to go on this mission alone. Hokage-sama thought I could handle it. He didn't know that Akatsuki were involved. When I got to the rendezvous location…I found 2 of the genin dead. One was dying. She had 2 major injures. One on her shoulder the other in her stomach. I looked around to see who the perpetrators were. I turned around and saw a dark haired man with the palest skin I'd ever seen. His tongue was so long and pointed. Freaky stuff, Sarika.

"His name was Orochimaru. He didn't wear the Akatsuki cloak. His partner however, did. He was very short and fat. He had a long metallic tail that was dripping with something. I later found out that was poison. We started fighting. I was severely out matched. His tail scratched me and I felt that poison take affect. I couldn't keep going.

"Then, just as I was about to pass out, a bomb went off. A man grabbed me and the genin and we took off flying into the air. We were on some sort of clay bird or something. I can't remember everything. He was wearing the cloak though. I thought I was done for. I felt a needle jab in my leg. I began to feel better.

"He'd given me the antidote. I was so confused. He had this long blonde hair, almost girlish. His name was Deidara. I forced my attention on Sakara, the genin who had survived. Her wounds were significant and she had that poison in her system. I healed her wounds as best I could. Deidara gave her the same antidote he'd given me.

"We didn't talk much. I wasn't sure of why he was helping me though. It confused the hell outta me. We were almost back to Konoha when something shot us out of the sky. The three of us went tumbling down until we hit the ground. When I got up I was Deidara arguing with some red-headed kid. Sakara had been knocked unconscious and I woke her up. I told her to run back to Konoha as fast as she could. I told her to just get out of there.

"Sasori, the red head kid, noticed and sent something after her. I still don't know if she made it back to the village or not… The thing never came back as far as I saw though. Deidara and Sasori started fighting and I tried to run away. I didn't want to get caught up in this and Sakara probably needed my help.

"As I turned to leave a kunai stabbed me in the arm. I pulled it out and started healing myself. I looked around to see who'd thrown it. I finally found a pair of eyes sitting in a tree above me. It was Orochimaru. He started talking to me about the ambush of three innocent genin and why they'd been interested in whatever they were retrieving. It was terrible, hearing about how poison had slowly and torturously killed two of the three genin. Only Sakara had been strong enough to endure for that long.

"Then, he told me that actually, the item wasn't important at all. It was me he wanted. He could tell that I would become a great kunoichi one day and he didn't want to be on the other end of my kunai. He wanted me to join him. He told me to think about his offer. He and Sasori left after that and Deidara grabbed me. I told him I had to tell the Hokage and he said that the Hokage couldn't help us. He told me if I returned to my village they would attack and destroy everything in their path."

She paused and looked at me. "Sakora…"

"We started running as far away from there as we could. Deidara and I have been running from them for 5 years. When I told Orochimaru that I wouldn't be his puppet he got angry…very angry. That was about 4 years ago. Deidara and I were extremely injured and so were they. I didn't come here on purpose, Sarika."

Her eyes were full of regret. "It's okay, Sakora. I'm just glad you're okay. It's getting dark. You should sleep." I stroked her hair, trying to work out some of the dirt. She smiled up at me.

"Thanks." She sat up and hugged me.

Sarika left and I layed back down. I wondered what had become of my blonde companion. I vaguely remembered falling in the river but nothing more. I rolled over on my side and started drifting off when I heard someone come in my room through my window.

I rolled over to see my blonde darling. "Deidara!"

He smiled and came over to me. "Hello, un. I think I need some help."

I looked over at his arm to see it limp and bleeding. "Oh my god! What the hell did you do?"

He half smiled. "You didn't think I'd just let you float back home did you? They was following us. If you think I look bad you should see them."

I chuckled as I started healing him. "How far behind are they?"

"A few days probably. I think they followed my shadow clone instead of me but I'm not sure, un. So how's the family reunion going?" He asked me. I flinched.

"I haven't actually seen my family. I saw my sister back at the training ground but she didn't recognize me so I didn't bother. I'm not ready to face all of their questions yet. This is my old teammate's house, Sarika. I told you about her. I told her everything. How's your arm feeling?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Fine, un. We need to leave tomorrow. We don't need Orochimaru and Sasori attack here."

I bit my lip. "Well...what if we stayed here? We'd have reinforcements. And…I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Sakora, no. we've talked about this before, un. I don't want others dragged into this." His voice was deep and commanding.

"Please…Deidara. There are people in this village who care about me enough to fight for me." I wasn't sure how he would take my defiance.

"My arm is fine now." He said coldly. He got up and walked away. "7:00 Sakora. I expect you to meet me outside the front gates."

Before I could object he was gone.

What's so damn important here? Huh? Everyone must thing she abandoned the village. No one will accept her. Even her old team mate had a problem with her. I stared at her through her window in a nearby tree. She was asleep, a deep sleep. She looked so peaceful. I sighed out loud and jumped down from the tree. I needed to dig up some paper.

If she wants to stay, then lets stay. She's right about reinforcements. They are just right here. I scratched a note on a piece of paper and slipped back in her bedroom. I slid the note under her pillow, careful not to wake her. She was shivering. I took off my cloak and laid it on top of her. It wouldn't do much but It would help her a little. I turned to look at her one last time before I slipped back out into the darkness of Konoha.

A/N I hope you liked it! Thanks Sierra. Love you girl!