Smoke and Mirrors
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights to Masashi Kishimoto, and I make no money from this story.
AN: I'm so sorry guys! I really tried to get this chapter out last weekend but with exams it just wasn't going to happen. If you guys didn't see the edit in the last chapter please go and read the AN. Quick random aside . . . I started using this program called liquid story binder and it's amazing! It's a program specifically created for novelists and it's just . . . awesome. I always have such a problem organizing my thoughts and everything on Microsoft word, but this program just kicks ass. So, go check it out if you're interested. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter =). Oh, and I changed the summary which you guys may or may not have noticed. It's not really that important but I think the new summary is a little more descriptive of what the story is actually about since I changed it quite a bit since I started.
Chapter Six: The Dream
Sakura shot up in her bed; skin covered in sweat and her head reeled from the nightmare that had awakened her so abruptly. Her hand quickly went to her heart, as if holding onto her chest could somehow make the pain go away. She gasped for air as a single tear zigzagged its way down her cheek and fell to the blankets below. Sakura took a few more cleansing breaths and willed the horrible feelings of paranoia from her consciousness. Once she had sufficiently calmed herself, her eyes searched for the clock on her nightstand. '6:45am' it read—too early to properly function. Sakura frantically looked around her room, as if there was some unknown intruder, though her thorough search found nothing suspicious. She absentmindedly recalled that Deidara had fallen asleep with her, but was now nowhere to be found. She laid back down and pulled the covers up to her chin, willing herself to fall back into a pleasant slumber.
After a few minutes Sakura realized that no amount of willingness on her part would allow her to sleep. She rolled to her side and looked at those glaring red numbers—6:50am. She threw her head back onto her pillow and sighed in defeat. Sakura had never been a morning person, as her teammates could easily attest to, nor had she ever really had nightmares. She could vaguely recall a few times as a young child where she had suffered from nightmares, but with everything she had seen and done nightmares had always been the least of her problems. Her dreams had always been her safe haven from the horrors of reality. 'Maybe a shower will make me feel better," Sakura thought, rolling out of bed and suddenly feeling the excessive need to be clean. Sakura quietly closed her bedroom door, hoping she wouldn't wake anyone, and made her way down to the bathroom.
Sakura opened the bathroom door without thought, and suddenly thanked god that no one was in there. She had easily forgotten that she lived with people now, and knocking on a bathroom door before entering was a common courtesy. She shut the door behind her and searched for the lock to no avail. 'What kind of bathroom door doesn't have a lock?' Sakura thought angrily, contemplating her next move. Showering was a necessity, but so was keeping her privacy. She sighed, and hoped that since she was awake so early she wouldn't have any problems.
Sakura quickly stripped her clothes away and stepped into the cool stream of water. She always liked to start her showers a little cooler, as it helped to jump start her morning wake up routine. She smiled to herself as she recalled all the times Kakashi and Naruto had thrown buckets of ice water on her in the morning. She couldn't recall one mission where she had been saved from the icy treatment. She supposed she deserved it a little; she never could wake up in the mornings, and Kakashi and Naruto thought the best way to remedy her problem was a loving treatment of ice water. Sasuke had always stood by and smirked at her piercing scream as the water made contact with her warm skin—though he had never actively taken part. Sakura had always taken her revenge somehow, and their games had become routine on nearly every mission they ever had. Sakura turned the water to hot and proceeded in washing the dirt from her body. She let her mind wander as the hot water washed over her body, soothing her sore muscles, and didn't notice the sound of the door opening.
"Man Deidara, you sure are up early," Kisame's voice spoke sleepily. Sakura's eyes widened as she snapped out of her pleasurable reverie.
Sakura stuck her head out of the curtain and said, "Kisame! What the hell are you doing just barging into the bathroom like this? I'm naked! Get out, get out, get out!" Sakura turned beet red and pulled the curtain back into place, rushing through the last of her shower.
Kisame laughed. "Oh, my bad Shorty I just figured you were Deidara. I forgot we have a lovely new female companion who prefers to shower in privacy."
"Wait," Sakura spoke, stopping him in his tracks. "Are you telling me you frequently shower with Deidara?" Sakura asked as convincingly as possible, unable to help joking about his sexuality.
"Well we are an organization full of males, Sakura. We have to get some enjoyment out of it somehow," Kisame replied, with the most honest voice he could muster. He should have suspected that was coming with the way he joked about Deidara's sexuality the day before, but he decided to play along knowing it would aggravate Deidara to no end. "It's a good thing I realized it was you before it was too late. Deidara doesn't like to share." Sakura was completely awed at Kisame's ability to speak as if everything was so 'matter-of-fact.'
"So he's actually cheating on Tobi with you?" Sakura questioned, reaching her hand out for a towel, which Kisame so kindly placed in her hand. Once she was fully covered she stepped out of the shower and came face to face with Kisame.
"Well, Deidara is kind of a whore, but don't tell him I said that," Kisame whispered, as if this were some deep, dark secret. Sakura couldn't help but giggle at that. Kisame had such a knack for humor.
"I'm so going to give him hell for this," Sakura laughed, plucking her clothes from the counter and leaving the bathroom to Kisame. "See you in a bit." Sakura went back to her room and changed as swiftly as possible, her stomach growling all the while. With all the time she spent sleeping, along with the chakra exhaustion, it was no wonder her stomach rumbled with hunger. With her current level of starvation, the walk to the kitchen seemed to take an eternity, though when she finally arrived she couldn't help but laugh at the sight in front of her.
Deidara stood, his back turned to her, at the stove—seemingly in the process of cooking; while Kisame waited patiently at the table for his food to be served. "Well aren't you two just the picture of domestic perfection?" Sakura remarked, laughing aloud while she took a seat across from Kisame.
"Har, har," Deidara replied. "Food's done . . . come and get it, yeah." Sakura and Kisame rose to serve themselves before rejoining Deidara at the table.
"So Deidara . . ." Sakura spoke, attempting to create an air of suspense. Deidara took a small bite of food and gave her a curious look while chewing cautiously. "So I hear you're quite the whore." The nonchalance with which she spoke made Sakura want to pat herself on the back. Sakura tried her best to hold back the laughter as Deidara choked on his food. He reached for his glass of water and downed the whole thing within seconds, gasping for breath as his airways were finally cleared.
"What . . . the . . . fuck," Deidara said pointedly, eyes wide as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kisame lowered his head while their interaction was taking place, hoping to be left out of the whole thing. He liked to poke fun at Deidara, but if looks could kill Sakura would be dead ten times over by now.
"Oh, maybe I heard wrong? Maybe you should ask Kisame about it. He's the one who told me," Sakura spoke. Again the incessant need to pat herself on the back came roaring back. She loved causing havoc, and these two had such great reactions who could blame her?
"Kisame what the shit, yeah! What have you been telling Pinky here?" Deidara questioned, anger still raging in his eyes.
"Calm down Deidara, she's just trying to rile you up," Kisame spoke, his voice somehow remaining calm; while inside he was laughing just as hard as Sakura was. "Just eat your breakfast." Deidara frowned, but quickly went back to shoveling food in his mouth. Sakura stared at him for a moment before noticing something on his hand. She quickly reached out to grab him, but was met with quite the resistance.
"What the hell Pinky . . . Don't touch me," Deidara spoke, yanking his hand back and cradling it against his chest as if he had been burned by her touch.
"I'm not going to do anything just give it here," Sakura replied, reaching her hand out for his. He studied her for a moment before relenting and shyly holding out his hand for her inspection. Sakura took hold of his wrist and turned his hand over to examine his palm. Her eyes widened as she moved her head closer, as if she had somehow imaged what she was seeing. She traced her finger along the row of pointed teeth, wondering what kind of jutsu this was. She was brought out of her thoughts when those pointed teeth suddenly chomped down on her finger, causing her to recoil with a pained hiss.
"You bit me!" Sakura shouted, staring at her finger as a small amount of blood dripped down her appendage and landed on the table. "What the fuck you asshole." Deidara laughed in response, feeling like he had sufficiently taken the revenge he so deserved.
"Watch out there Pinky these hands have a mind of their own," Deidara said, holding his hands up for her to see—the two mouths on his hands giving her the eeriest smiles she had ever seen. Deidara expected Sakura to be completely disgusted, but the look of intrigue on her face left him at a loss for words.
"That's fascinating," Sakura said, a twinkle of curiosity shining in her eyes as she reached for his hand again. "How does it work?" Deidara let her examine his hands once again; this time, without biting her.
"It might be easier to show you than to explain it," Deidara said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small pouch. He grabbed a small glob of white clay and held it up for Sakura to see. She gave him a curious look, but said nothing. Deidara proceeded to place the clay into the mouth on his right hand and Sakura watched as the mouth chomped hungrily for a few seconds before spitting out what looked like a small clay bird.
The bird waddled over to Sakura and jumped onto her outstretched hand. "So, you infuse chakra with clay to make living art?" Sakura questioned, still examining the bird that sat peacefully in her hand.
"Sort of," Deidara remarked, smiling mysteriously before whispering something that Sakura didn't quite catch. Before she knew it the bird had exploded in her hand, leaving a small burn mark in its wake. Sakura recoiled, pulling her hand to her chest and nursing the small wound. Kisame couldn't help but laugh a little at the look of rage that crossed Sakura's features.
"Dammit Deidara! What the hell is your problem? You know, you could have shown that to me without burning my hand you jerk," Sakura seethed, knowing this must be payback for her comments to him earlier. Sakura gave him another death glare as she healed the small burn.
"You can't blame me, yeah. It was just a perfect opportunity to use my art to have some fun," Deidara responded, as he stood to drop his plate into the sink. "Plus, you can heal yourself just fine . . . don't act like it actually hurt that badly."
"Just because I can heal myself doesn't mean you can attack me whenever you feel the need," Sakura remarked, throwing her plate at the back of his head. Luckily for Deidara he caught it just in time, and placed it gently into the sink.
"Now, now Pinky. Don't go destroying our dishes just because you're a little pissed that I tricked you," Deidara quipped as Kisame added his plate to the developing pile in the sink. Deidara washed them off a little, but left them in the sink to deal with them later.
"Well, that was fun," Kisame stated, finally speaking up. "Shorty if you have that much anger why don't you take it out by sparring with Deidara."
"While kicking his ass into next week sounds like a phenomenal plan, I'm still too low on chakra to do much," Sakura sighed, slightly irked that she couldn't use this perfect opportunity to get some well deserved pay back. "However, I wouldn't mind watching the two of you go at it." Kisame smirked, obviously itching to get out of the hideout.
"Well, how about it Deidara? We haven't sparred in . . . forever. Could be fun."
"I'm game, yeah."
Sakura smiled at their willingness to spar, since this would be the perfect opportunity to gauge their strengths. The first step in defeating your enemy is knowing what you're up against. The three of them quickly made their way outside and they all took their respective places—Sakura sitting beneath the shade of a nearby tree, and Kisame and Deidara standing on the water facing one another.
"Okay guys!" Sakura called, "Just fight with taijutsu . . . I don't need you destroying the entire hideout." Sakura looked between the two to make sure they understood the rules, and gave them the signal to start. The second that Sakura had given the word Kisame and Deidara became blurs of motion. They moved with unmatched speed, rushing at one another before jumping away and repeating the process. She squinted her eyes slightly, trying to focus in on their movements. She noticed that Deidara seemed to have the upper hand in speed, but Kisame's size gave him a strength advantage. It was truly a brilliant sight watching two incredible ninja fight one another, and it reminded her fondly of Itachi and Kakashi. Sakura winced slightly as she noticed Kisame land a hard kick right in Deidara's stomach, which sent him flying backwards like a rag doll.
"Hah! Finally gotcha you crafty little shit," Kisame laughed aloud, knowing he was gaining the upper hand. Not about to be outdone, Deidara pulled out some clay from his pocket and began to fire bombs in Kisame's general direction.
"Who's got who now?" Deidara yelled back, continuing the onslaught. Sakura immediately jumped up, knowing she should stop the fight. They had just begun and were already breaking the rules she had set down just minutes prior. They weren't meant to use anything other than taijutsu, but it seemed that Deidara's anger got the best of him.
When the smoke cleared away Sakura noticed that Kisame was nowhere to be seen, which caused her to stop in her tracks. He was there a second ago!' she thought. 'Where could he have gone?' Sakura's question was answered a moment later when Kisame came bursting from the water underneath Deidara, wrapping his arms around him, and pulling him below the crystal blue waters. Sakura knew this fight was beginning to get out of hand when neither of them came up for a minute.
When they finally resurfaced, Deidara gasping for much needed breath, Sakura ran to them as quickly as her chakra enhanced legs would allow. She roughly grabbed their wrists and threw them to opposite sits of the pond.
"Enough!" she shouted, hoping her stern tone of voice got her point across. "I said taijutsu only you fucking idiots. You really can't control yourselves can you?" Sakura wasn't sure how to take this. Deidara and Kisame weren't just strong, they fought to kill without hesitation. Even in simple sparring sessions, their intent wasn't just to beat their opponent, it was to annihilate them—and truth be told, it terrified her.
"I've told you Itachi, there are no missions for you to go on right now. Unless you want to catch some stray cats, I suggest you calm down and wait until something comes up," Tsunade explained. Itachi had come to her for what felt like the tenth time in the span of a few days and continued to demand missions.
Itachi waited a moment to see if Tsunade would bend; however, she went back to her work and was easily ignoring him. He sighed and moved to leave her office, knowing there was nothing he could do about it. As he walked down the streets of Konoha he noticed Kakashi sitting on a bench, Icha Icha ever present in his hands.
"Yo," Kakashi said, waving slightly in Itachi's direction. Itachi wasn't entirely sure he wanted to deal with the copy-nin at this moment; though, he had nothing better to do so he relented. He sat in silence for a while with Kakashi, and it seemed to calm his nerves a little. That was the one good thing about Kakashi—he knew when to shut up and just offer his company.
"So, Tsunade wouldn't give you any missions huh?" Kakashi questioned knowingly after a few minutes of silence.
"Nah," Itachi replied, sighing in annoyance. "There has to be something going on . . . something to do other than just sit around all day doing nothing."
"Maybe you should take advantage of the break. It's not often that we actually get a small holiday," Kakashi offered, obviously taking full advantage of the lack of missions.
"Man Kakashi, you're just as lazy as Shikamaru you know that?"
"I wouldn't call it laziness per se . . . let's just say I know how to appreciate a calm and quiet day." Itachi scoffed at his answer.
"You can add all the pretty words you want Kakashi . . . It's still laziness no matter which way you look at it," Itachi responded, giving Kakashi a knowing look. There was a small glimmer of amusement in Kakashi's eyes before he went back to reading.
"Well, maybe Naruto and Sasuke will offer more entertainment," Kakashi replied, turning a page and directing his full attention back to his book. Itachi said nothing but decided it was time to take his leave. Itachi continued his way down the street, wandering in no particular direction. He knew he didn't want to deal with his brother and the idiot, as it was too much work being around those two for any length of time. Part of him considered Sakura a saint for being able to put up with it for so long without losing her mind.
'Maybe Shikamaru will be up for a game of Shogi," Itachi thought, changing his direction and hoping that his mind would be sufficiently distracted by the strategic game.
As Itachi made his way to Shikamaru's, Naruto and Sasuke collapsed on the dirt covered ground after another round of heated sparring. Their battles had always started out innocently enough, though neither knew when to give in, as admitting defeat was not a quality either nin possessed.
"Hah, I beat you that time bastard," Naruto mocked, lying back on the ground and breathing heavily, the damp dirt soiling his clothes slightly—though it went unnoticed by him. Leave it to Naruto to still be able to talk shit after an exhausting battle.
"Shut it, idiot . . . you didn't beat me," Sasuke countered, refusing to admit defeat so easily. "You cheated."
"What the hell bastard! I definitely beat you fair and square. Just admit you lost."
"Never."
"That's it! I'm going to beat the shit out of you and force you to admit that I won," Naruto responded, jumping up as if his previous exhaustion had somehow flown out of him. Sasuke stood as well, not about to be outdone by his hyperactive friend.
"Bring it," Sasuke said, giving Naruto the cockiest smirk he could manage; and, once again, their never-ending battle began.
An hour later, Naruto and Sasuke completely collapsed, as neither were able to attack anymore. "Let's just call it a draw," Sasuke stated, breathing heavily as he spoke the words. Naruto nodded his head in reply, too exhausted to argue anymore. Their fights generally ended with them conceding a draw, as neither was ever willing to give up, and they fought to complete exhaustion.
"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said, after a few minutes of silence. Sasuke turned his head in Naruto's direction to show that he was paying attention, but gave no reply.
"Do you miss Sakura?" And there it was, the mention of Sakura.
"Of course I do, idiot. She's like a sister to me," Sasuke responded, turning his head to gaze up at the cloudless blue sky.
"Do you think she's alright?" That question seemed to be weighing heavily on everyone's mind as of late.
"You know Naruto, if Sakura knew you were questioning her like this she'd kick your ass into next week, and enjoy every second of it." Naruto sighed. Even if Sasuke's statement was true it didn't ease his worry. "Of course she's alright," Sasuke said, figuring he needed to appease his idiot otherwise he'd never hear the end of it. "You and everyone else seem to be forgetting Sakura's abilities. She's been on every mission we've been on. She's seen and done everything we have. Sakura's not the same girl she was when she was twelve. She's perfectly capable of handling the situation. Don't worry so much."
"You say that like it's easy," Naruto sighed.
"Ugh, come on Naruto. Stop acting like Itachi . . . I can only take so much of this constant brooding before I go crazy." Naruto laughed a little at that.
"Itachi's been going a little crazy huh?" Naruto questioned, smiling again. It was a rare sight to see Itachi come unglued, as he generally had been trained against it. Naruto could imagine that Itachi showing any emotion other than mockery would be a sight.
"You have no idea," Sasuke responded. "It's a little ridiculous. He keeps bugging Tsunade to give him missions so he doesn't have to sit around. He's not handling it very well."
"You think that he loves Sakura?" Naruto questioned, once again opening his mouth with no regard to what he was actually saying.
"Of course he does," Sasuke replied, shocking Naruto with his candid answer. "I don't think he's ready to admit it, but he does. Itachi's never loved anyone before . . . I don't think he knows how. But he'll figure it out. Eventually."
Sasuke and Naruto continued to lay on the ground and stare up at the sky. No more words were spoken, as they were both lost in thought. Neither would ever admit to Sakura how worried they were, but it was a weird feeling being on the training ground without her scolding them for fighting too rough. Naruto and Sasuke eased their minds with the thought that she'd be home soon—she had to be.
-A Week Later-
Sakura stumbled down the dark hallway, trying her best to focus her sleep fogged mind on her goal—getting back to her room. The nightmares that had been plaguing her each night made getting a complete rest almost impossible. It wasn't uncommon for her to wake twice a night, a scream caught in her throat and tears streaming down her cheeks. She could never remember what had frightened her so much, because as soon as she woke it all became a messy fog of indirect fear. Sakura wasn't a stranger to being exhausted much of the time—as a medic-nin it was generally a common occurrence—but it was a new feeling for her to be afraid of falling asleep. As she stumbled through the corridor she was almost to the point of considering curling up on the hard stone floor, as making it to her room seemed entirely impossible. Just as Sakura was about to give in to the temptation of sleep she saw a flash of blue hair out of her peripheral.
Konan.
'Shit,' Sakura thought, 'She truly couldn't have worse timing.' Sakura blinked a few times, attempting to focus her blurry vision. Konan didn't speak, just gave Sakura a look that said, 'Follow me.' Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples, knowing she would have to follow Konan despite her intense exhaustion. Sakura gave Konan a small nod to express her understanding of the situation, and proceeded to follow her on the hour long trip to where Pain resided. Sakura knew she should have been keeping track of the days, but she had been so caught up lately in adjusting to her new life that it seemed like just yesterday that she had met Pain for the first time.
Her thoughts ran back to Deidara and Kisame. They weren't truly nice to her, but they weren't cruel either. It was a weird sort of agreement that they had all come to. They bantered back and forth like married couples, and Sakura felt comforted by that fact. Her relationship with Deidara and Kisame so deeply mirrored her relationship with Naruto and Sasuke that their presence brought her comfort. She felt as if she hadn't left home at all, as if they were still with her somehow. Sakura never thought that being away from her family for only two weeks would cause her such pain—but she had to be strong . . . She could make it through this.
Sakura was pulled from her thoughts when Konan finally slowed her pace, and Sakura once again took in her surroundings—the familiar scenery welcoming her back. Sakura was once again led to Pain's chamber, and was surprised to see that he had been moved to a half sitting position.
"Pain I told you to lie down," Konan scolded. "You don't have enough strength to sit like that you idiot. Stop pushing yourself so much." Konan rushed over to his bed and moved him, once again, to a flat position.
"Don't be an idiot Konan," his raspy voice spoke, followed by a fit of coughs. Sakura stood back and watched the scene that played out in front of her. Last week he couldn't even speak, and now he was capable of forming a whole sentence before the coughs took over. Sakura was truly blown away that her treatment had actually begun to work so quickly. Konan gave him a death glare, as if daring him to question her authority, and Sakura saw that he rolled his eyes slightly, though he remained silent. Sakura couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips, and she quickly muffled the sound by throwing her hands over her mouth, hoping they hadn't heard. Konan turned to face her finally, giving her a questioning look.
"I apologize, you two are quite amusing. You act like a married couple," Sakura responded in explanation of her small outburst. Konan smiled slightly in understanding.
"Please begin, Sakura," Konan spoke again, moving away from Pain a little to allow Sakura access. Sakura bowed her head slightly and took a few steps forward, and allowed her chakra to begin it's exploration. It seems that her hard work the week prior had paid off slightly, as she could feel a stronger chakra signal from Pain. Though it was still exceedingly low, it was better than it had been.
"He seems to have improved slightly from last week," Sakura explained. "Though it will still be quite some time before he will be up and moving around, I can safely say that my treatment has been a success thus far." Konan nodded her head in understanding and gave Sakura signal to continue with the treatment. Sakura took a deep, rejuvenating breath, and forced the exhaustion from her body. Now was not the time to slip up because of sleep deprivation. Though Konan and Pain had been cordial to her thus far, she knew that would be gone in an instant if she made the smallest mistake. She took another few moments to compose herself, before allowing her chakra to, once again, course through his body—and thus, the painstaking work began once again.
After two hours of work Sakura pulled back and collapsed suddenly as a wave of vertigo hit her like a ton of bricks. She fell out of the small chair that she had been sitting in, and her head roughly connected with the floor. Pain shot through her entire body as she tried to focus her vision. "I'm sorry," Sakura spoke, unable to say anything more as unconsciousness finally took her. Konan looked to Pain to make sure that she had not hurt him in any way, and once she deemed him to be fine, she decided to take pity on the pink haired medic. Sakura had been exhausted when Konan went to retrieve her in the first place, but the fact the she had worked tirelessly for two hours impressed Konan. Granted, this level of dedication was what they expected of her. However, Konan knew she had to return Sakura so that Deidara and Kisame remained blissfully unaware of the situation. Konan pressed a small kiss to Pain's forehead as sleep finally took him, and she reached down to Sakura and cradled her in her arms. Konan took her leave, running Sakura back to the hideout as swiftly as she was able.
After the hour long trip, Konan finally reached the waterfall, released the genjutsu and stepped inside the dark hallway. She was hoping she'd be able to drop Sakura into her room and leave without being noticed; however, luck was not on her side tonight.
"What did you do to her Konan?" Deidara asked, stepping into the light as if he had been waiting for Sakura to return.
"That is none of your concern Deidara. Sakura was a little tired, so I brought her back. That is all." The Konan that spoke to Deidara was a completely different Konan. Her voice was harsh and unyielding, and it demanded respect. Deidara sighed, knowing he could not question her if he wanted to live. He reached out his arms to take Sakura as Konan deposited her in his waiting embrace. He gave her one last disproving glance before turning around and walking down the hallway towards his and Sakura's rooms. Deidara looked at the small girl he held in his arms. She was much more peaceful when she was asleep, he decided. It was probably due to the fact that she was unable to open that awful mouth of hers to yell insults at him. He smiled to himself and decided to relish in this sweet, untarnished moment.
Deidara entered Sakura's room and moved to place her softly onto the bed, hoping not to disturb her slumber. As he moved away to return to his own room, Sakura's arms reached up and grabbed onto the hem of his shirt.
"Stay," she whispered. Deidara turned around to question her when he noticed that she was still fast asleep. He shook her hand off of him and once again attempted to move away from her. "Please," she whispered once again. Deidara sighed, and turned around to look at her slightly pained face. He knew he should have gotten out of her room as fast as possible, but it saddened him to see that the peaceful look had left her features. He decided it wouldn't hurt to lie next to her for awhile—hopefully then he could sneak out and leave her to her sleep.
As he moved to lie next to her she instinctually moved towards his warmth, curling her arms around his chest. Deidara looked down at the small girl that was curled against his side and he couldn't help himself from smiling once again. 'She's going to regret this in the morning,' Deidara thought, unable to keep the desire to rub this in her face later at bay. Sakura was one tough kunoichi and it didn't seem she wanted comforting from anyone. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and she liked to let others know it. Deidara could imagine very few were able to lie so close to such a deadly kunoichi without the feeling of impending doom.
Deidara moved himself into a more comfortable position and decided that shutting his eyes for a little bit would be alright. 'What's the worst that could happen,' he thought, before following Sakura into a deep, pleasant slumber.
It could have been minutes or hours when Deidara woke again, this time to a blood-curdling scream. His eyes flew open and he reached to the bedside table where he generally kept a plethora of weapons. It took him a moment of running his hands over the smooth wood to remember that he wasn't in his own room—he was in Sakura's. He hoped and prayed that the scream wasn't hers, as he hadn't planned for her to find him lying in her bed . . . this wasn't going to go well.
He finally forced his eyes to look in Sakura's direction, and he found her holding her arms around herself and breathing heavily—she looked like she was truly in the worst kind of pain. He looked at her a moment longer before realizing that she hadn't even noticed he was there.
"Sakura," Deidara whispered, hoping to peacefully draw her out of the state she was in without scaring her. When she failed to respond Deidara tried again. "Hey Sakura . . . are you alright?" Sakura blinked her eyes a few times, seemingly realizing that she was actually awake. Her eyes flashed over to Deidara for a few moments, though her brain seemed unable to process that he was sitting next to her . . . on her bed. Deidara waited a moment, knowing her brain was going to catch up with the situation. Part of him considered moving off the bed, so as to be as far away from her as possible when she finally came to; though, he decided moving would probably put him in more danger than staying still would.
"Deidara?" Sakura questioned, finally addressing him.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Why are you in my bed?" The question was short, and filled with apathy rather than the anger he expected.
"Konan brought you back here half dead," he explained. "And I guess I accidently fell asleep . . . I'm sorry?" he tried, hoping that explanation would do. Sakura didn't seem to be in a proper enough mental state to handle bantering with him, so he fudged the truth a bit. Sakura seemed to give his words a quick thought, before nodding her head slightly as if she understood.
"Sakura, are you okay?" He couldn't keep the question from falling from his lips. To say that she was out of it was an understatement. Though he hadn't known Sakura for very long, it had been long enough to know that Sakura wasn't this easily shaken. Though, right now, she was acting like an entirely different person—one that he was unable to recognize.
"I don't know," she replied honestly. She moved to lie back down with her back facing Deidara, hiding her face from his view.
"You have a nightmare?" he pressed.
"I think so," she responded, giving another short answer. Deidara sighed, he had never been good at this whole "talking without insulting" thing and she was making it even more difficult.
"Do you want to talk about it?" If she said no he'd just let it go and leave. She was strong . . . She could deal with this on her own. There was silence for a few moments before Sakura began to speak.
"I don't know what's wrong with me," she started, pausing again for a minute to gather her thoughts. "I've never had nightmares before . . . I don't even know what they're about. I just . . . I wake up feeling like someone has just stabbed me in my heart. The pain, it's unbearable."
"I can stay with you until you fall asleep if that will help," Deidara offered, not sure of what else to say. Dealing with an emotional kunoichi was not one of his strong suits. Sakura nodded her head slightly, signaling that she did indeed want him to stay. She continued to lie with her back facing him, but just knowing there was someone there calmed her nerves a little, and allowed her to fall back into a somewhat pleasant slumber.
Deidara looked at Sakura as her breathing slowed, and sleep once again took her. Once she was sufficiently asleep, Deidara let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He slowly moved from her bed, making as little noise as possible. He stood at the door before giving Sakura one last glance. 'Please sleep peacefully,' he thought, quietly opening the door and taking his leave.
Unbeknownst to Sakura, at that exact moment someone else had awoken from a very similar nightmare. Itachi rested his head on his hands, willing himself to erase the feelings of dread that filled his entire body and caused it to tremor. He snapped his eyes shut, forcing himself back into a turbulent, dreamless sleep.
AN: So, I know this chapter didn't have that much in the way of story progression, but it was necessary. Please let me know what you thought! I hope you guys still enjoyed it! Till next time . . . Ja ne!