- Sixteen -
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"Master Sasori doesn't need to know, now does he?"
Conniving bastard. How Deidara managed to lie straight to his partner without hesitation and pull it off was praise-worthy.
Sasori had returned shortly after them, blood staining his skin in various places both from wounds he had sustains and blows he had dealt. Pain, of course, did not phase Hidan worth a damn, and knowing better the psychotic immortal was furthering his wounds where he lie in the forest.
All for Jashin-sama.
Sakura reclined against the wall of Sasori's bedroom and rolled her eyes at the thought. Everyone here was some sort of whack job; not that she hadn't expected it when she'd been whisked away from her mission and taken captive by the former human puppet. Somewhere during the agonizing time she had spent with said whack jobs, Sasori had gone from being her rival to her hero. An anti-hero, rather, as he wasn't quite for helping her cause but he wasn't putting her in harm's way either.
Deidara lingered outside the doorway, speaking with Sasori. Sakura could catch bits and pieces of the conversation, words surrounding the fight, Hidan, and her.
Sakura could not see Sasori from where she sat, but she could perfectly well see Deidara, whose gaze lingered on her from beneath his long blonde bangs.
It was irritating, but moreover, chilling. Sakura had been desperate enough to believe he could be of some help to her, only to be taken advantage of. The events to follow…
Naruto…
Sakura shut her eyes to avoid seeing Deidara's indirect stare and to attempt to block out the image of her teammate, writhing on the ground in pain. It didn't seem possible; Naruto was such a strong shinobi, and should not have been taken down that easily.
Unless it was all an act?
Sakura sincerely hoped it to be the case. She wanted to get out of here, to play damsel for once and see Naruto come flying through the window, kick some ass, and then take off with her cradled in his arms. It was an odd thought, but one she entertained herself with for the moment.
"Sakura," a voice prompted from the hallway, grabbing her attention. Deidara had disappeared, and Sasori remained leaning lazily against his doorframe.
"Hn?"
Sasori hesitated, eyeing her from the short distance.
"What happened?"
He knew.
He knew.
Sakura hesitated - she wanted to rat on Deidara, tell Sasori that his supposed ally had attempted to rape her, only failing due to his 'competition'.
…or was it all an act, too?
Sakura shut her eyes tight, cradling her face in her hands, then running her fingers up and through her pink locks. The time spent here had screwed with her head. Badly.
"Nothing," Sakura confirmed, valiantly attempting to keep her voice steady as to proceed with a plausible lie. Sasori examined her expression with a disbelieving one of his own, but shrugged it off and dipped off the doorway, shutting the door behind him.
Sakura inhaled deeply, coming to her senses and realizing she'd yet to breathe in approximately a minute's time. As her breathing steadied once more, she leaned her head against the wall. She was feeling rather dizzy.
The window taunted her, the thought of freedom so alluring and so false. If she climbed through that window, it wouldn't be so simple as to just burst away and return home to her friends and family waiting on her. She would be pursued by one or more members looking to re-capture her or shed some blood for shits and giggles.
…Hidan…
Freedom. It was a horrible tease, dancing in front of her eyes like a jester, prompting her to take action but knowing she wouldn't.
Physical pain was less agonizing than this mental torture she was being subtly subjected to. It had been…how long had it been? A couple weeks?
Sasori had yet to indicate why he had brought her here aside from his eerie infatuation with her, which seemed to die down with every passing day. Of course, as much as he seemed to settle, other members' interests peaked at the sight of fresh, virgin flesh.
A loud boom! echoed from downstairs, followed by a loud cry accentuated by profanities.
The king of s & m was home.
Sakura pressed her nails into the skin at her hairline until she felt a sharp pain urging her to stop. She ran her fingertips along where her nails had been, examining for blood, but finding nothing but scraped skin and soreness.
Between boredom and the energy she had spent fighting earlier, Sakura was exhausted. Picking herself up off the floor like a rag doll, she edged over to Sasori's bed and fell onto it, closing her eyes as her body made contact with the soft sheets and fluffy pillow.
Sweet, sweet relief.
Dreams. They were her only solace, aside from when nightmares plagued her, which was every other night.
Dreams.
Sweet dreams.
Sakura awoke to the smell of ramen. Truthfully, she detested ramen, likely because Naruto had begged their team to take trips to Ichiraku often back when they were genin, and even years later she had yet to get over the stomach-churning broth and noodles.
The smell was nostalgic, and a pain abruptly shot through her chest at the thought of the ramen-loving boy, struggling on the ground, soaked in his own blood.
Naruto…
Sakura tossed over, only conscious enough to acknowledge the smell of ramen in her mind. She had no desire to awaken fully and discover why it was there, who had put it there, or what time of day it was.
Sleep…
Sleep meant peace.
After a few more minutes of unsuccessful attempts at completely slipping back into unconsciousness, Sakura rolled over to face the majority of the room and acknowledge the ever-present ramen and whatever else came with it.
Much to her surprise, and dismay, Deidara sat on the opposite side of the room slurping down noodles somewhat quietly. Another praise-worthy act on his behalf.
The blonde didn't seem to notice she had come about and was reading over a document placed before him while he ate, careful to avoid droplets of broth from flecking the paper and cursing silently when he failed to do so.
Pressure built up in her sinuses, and Sakura silently cursed the oncoming sneeze. The sound would draw Deidara's attention, as would any attempt to stifle it.
"Achoo!"
True to thought, the blonde raised his head, noodles still dangling from his mouth. Sakura shut her eyes tight although she was aware he had already taken in her conscious presence, attempting to pursue the notion of, 'If I can't see you, you can't see me'.
"I know you're awake, un."
Dammit.
Sakura attempted to keep up her poker face, determined not to acknowledge the marauder looming across the room from her. It was a rather unsuccessful attempt, seeing as her sinuses betrayed her once more and began to itch, which involuntarily had her scratching her nose.
"Baka."
Sakura's emerald eyes opened to shoot a fiery glare at the almost-rapist sitting casually on the floor a few feet from her. Deidara ignored said look and turned back to his document, sitting serenely in a cross-legged position with the ramen directly in his lap.
"Why the hell are you in here?" Sakura demanded stubbornly, unsure whether to put her guard up or take the situation at face-value; in other words, to assume the arsonist was purely in here to keep tabs on her for his partner and overlook documents while eating dinner.
"Why does it matter, un?" Deidara challenged, completely ignoring her presence otherwise. This, for whatever reason, irritated Sakura.
"Could you at least be so polite as to look at me while you're being a prick?" Sakura snapped, crabby from the day's earlier events and having just woken up. Deidara continued inhaling his noodles and reading until all the noodles had slid down his throat. Then he looked up.
"What?"
They were having a childish staring contest, or so it would seem. Sakura had not intentionally started such antics, but being half-conscious while you are in the presence of a foe did not help her irrationality.
"Nothing," Sakura remarked bitterly, rolling onto her back and gazing at the ceiling. She could feel Deidara's blue eye burning holes in her head.
"Stupid girl, un," the blonde spat, bowl of ramen now beside him and empty. He cradled his long-haired head in one hand as he continued reading the multi-paged document, looking frustrated at the amount of reading he had to do.
Either that or he was frustrated because he had failed to get some. Then again, how on earth was rape fulfilling? Deidara seemed like a first-class asshole, but he would have never struck her as the type of guy to get off while a girl was writhing, crying, and bloody beneath him.
Hidan? Of course he'd successfully get off. He got off by stabbing himself and tearing himself apart, let alone anyone else.
"So are you a rapist or aren't you?" Sakura inquired boldly.
Deidara, who had been reading aloud to himself under his breath, stopped.
"What the fuck kind of a question is that, un? Do you always flat-out ask people stupid shit like that?"
Due to the amount of profanity he had tossed in with his normally well-spoken sentences (aside from his ever-present 'uns'), Sakura wanted to take that response as a "no".
"No, I don't. Then again it isn't every day that I have two men competing for who is going to rape me first."
Deidara snorted.
"I wouldn't want you if you offered yourself to me, un. You're a vile little creature."
Sakura didn't think twice before spitting out her next comment.
"So you're gay?"
Deidara shot up from the floor, knocking over the bowl in the process and ruffling his papers.
"Do you have a death wish, un? I'd be more than happy to send you to hell - maybe there you can worship Jashin with that immortal asshole downstairs."
Sakura sighed. It was a petty way of entertaining herself, but something told her Deidara wouldn't hurt her, most likely because Sasori would come back and hurt him if he did. Playing "therapist" with the blonde hothead served of some interest.
"Then, you aren't gay, you're just in denial that you failed at - forcefully and sadistically - getting laid."
"Fuck off, un. I meant what I said - I wouldn't touch you if you offered yourself to me."
A light bulb went off in the rosette's mind; testing that statement wouldn't be half bad.
Especially if Sasori caught it.
Sakura rolled over onto her side, facing the blonde who had now seated himself on the floor once more, looking more agitated than before.
"Is that so?"
Deidara glanced up at her with his visible eye, then look down again shaking his head.
"What, are you trying to convince me that you want me, un? I wouldn't believe your bullshit for a second. You're just as manipulative as every other worthless female I've ever come across, if not more than, un."
The comment made her eye twitch, an involuntary reaction that Sakura stopped by pressing the heel of her hand against her upper eye.
"Did I say that?" Sakura came back, giving him a cautious look. "I just don't believe you. Your "act" earlier was fairly convincing."
"Really? I'm flattered, un," Deidara drawled sarcastically, once again refusing to acknowledge her presence any further than snippy bits of conversation.
Sakura rolled her eyes dramatically and flopped onto her back once more, staring at the ceiling.
"When will Sasori be back?"
"He's here, un," Deidara confirmed. "In his workspace, constructing a new puppet."
A new puppet. Wonderful.
"You all need better hobbies, un."
Sakura stifled a snicker at her added syllable, knowing the arsonist was stifling his need to blow her up.
"Fuck you," Deidara murmured, purposely leaving off his trademark. Or would you consider it a speech impediment? Either way it made for decent mockery.
"Sorry, un," Sakura continued, attempting to elicit some sort of a reaction from Deidara. He growled something incoherent under his breath but continued reading.
"What was that?"
"I said," Deidara began, irate, "I do not enjoy babysitting you, un. You're an immature, prissy little bitch that I would love to watch explode, un."
"Then blow me up," Sakura challenged enthusiastically. "I could use an escape from this hell."
"Ask Sasori for permission, and I'll gladly, un."
"Why not just do it now?"
Sakura knew the answer to it; Deidara had basically stated it in his previous claim. This was turning into another petty argument for her personal entertainment purposes.
"I'm not taking that risk, un. I cherish my life, even if it doesn't seem so."
Sakura rolled her head to the side to look at him. Deidara was hunched over, looking at what appeared to be the final page of his document.
"Then why do you do what you do?"
Deidara glanced up at her momentarily before returning to his reading once more.
"You ask stupid questions, un. You would be more tolerable if you learned the value of silence."
Sakura bit back the angry commentary that was about to fly from her mouth, curses and all. He was such a sexist pig.
They all were. Then again, so were most men.
From downstairs she could hear Hidan screaming about something, swearing every other word. Sakura sighed. Living in the same house as him would get really old really fast. How the rest of the Akatsuki dealt with him was beyond her.
Sakura rolled back to face Deidara again, deciding she couldn't give two fucks if he hated her and wanted her dead. For all she knew she would never see the light of tomorrow anyone, should one of them decide to kill her in her sleep. Of course, Sasori slept in the same room and she was sure he would wake to anyone's presence besides hers lingering.
"So, what's so appealing about this lifestyle? I'm sure you could have had a lot if you'd stayed in your village."
"Fuck my village," Deidara murmured, flipping the papers upside-down on the floor, finished. "Life is better this way; I don't have to hold anything back. There aren't any laws I have to abide by - I'm free to do whatever the hell I please, un. No one to stop me."
So that was why he did it. It made sense, not that Sakura desired to live such a crude lifestyle.
The ceiling became her point of focus once more. Somewhere above that roof, the stars sparkled, encouraging her to find the fight within her to get out of here and go find Naruto, to make sure he was okay and express her remorse for not being able to save him from the injuries he'd been dealt.
I'll make it out of here, Naruto.
I'll make it out of here for you.
I promise.
Sorry that there has been a lack of Sasori in the story. I promise I won't turn it Dei/Sakura.
Promise.
Hope this chapter was satisfactory. Again, please review. I like knowing what you think.