Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Naruto besides my characters.

Chapter Three: Tortured Innocence

The light footsteps were closing in on the two Akatsuki members. Green eyes collided head on with Deidara before either of them could blink their own. The young man almost fell back but managed to regain balanced by digging his feet into the cool sands. Whatever ran into him grasped his cloak and held on tightly.

Shocked, Sasori loosened his inhumane grip on his partner's collar and took a couple of steps back. He stared intently at what appeared to be a sobbing small figure. The wooden-like creature could not determine its gender because of the thick white clothe wrapped messily around its head. The headdress reminded him of how those mere villagers from Sunagakure wore it to protect their heads from the sun. He could not even tell the green-eyes' gender by the soft muffles he heard.

"Please Jou-san… help me… I'm lost…", the girl cried as she looked up into Deidara's seemingly glowing blue eyes. "I'm a man hmm..." he corrected her. His deep voice startled her. The girl's head clothe fell off revealing chestnut brown hair as she cranked up to get a good look at him again. "I'm sorry… but you look like a pretty girl Ossan", she choked on her tears as she tried to smile.

Sasori was at loss for words. The entire time he believed it was an possible threat but it turned out to be some brat from his village. He reminded himself it was now his ex-village because of his current status as a missing-nin. He quietly laughed when he saw the new expression splashed across his artistic partner's face. He looked as though he was ready to rip off the girl's head for her innocent remark. Deidara ran his fingers through his thick blonde locks and tried think of a quick and needed solution.

The girl continued to sob as her tears soaked into the dark Akatsuki garment. His frustration converted to confusion as he searched for a way to stop the brat from ruining his newly washed cloak. 'Ugh after all I went through to get the blood off, now there's definitely gonna' be some pretty ugly stains after she's done using my cloak for tissues hmm'.

He then bent down on his knees and gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders, almost in a brotherly way. The young girl released her tight grip from the black garments as she stared into the pretty man's eyes once more.

"What's the matter little one? Shouldn't you be at home with your parents? What are you doing wondering the desert by yourself at this hour hmm?", he asked her softly yet his cold eyes told otherwise. The girl gingerly wiped her tears with the white scarf wrapped across her chest and she smiled timidly. The entire time she did not notice the evil glint in the blonde man's eyes.

"My mommy and me went shopping for my birthday clothes", the girl smiled fondly at the memory. "And then I was looking at this pretty necklace and I wanted to show mommy but she was gone." Fresh tears formed in her now reddened eyes but nonetheless she continued. "I got scared Ossan, my mommy wasn't in the store and then I asked the store man where she was and he said she wasn't there! So I walked back home but I got lost cause' I dunno how to get back home and now… I'm here…" The young girl had a bit of hope in her eyes. "Ossan… can you help me find my mommy…? Pretty please?"

Deidara could clearly see the desperation in the girl's eyes. He knew Sasori no Danna would disapprove if he were to help the child find her way back home. It would create a great stir and eventually help the villagers resolve as to why many people have disappeared lately: the two Akatsuki members would ultimately be held responsible. He decided to play along with the girl, give her some hope of finding her mommy but in the end, he would crush it and enjoy watching the tortured expression on her face. After all, he was a wanted criminal and should indeed have no sympathy when ending a life. Whether it be a man, a woman or child. To him, everyone was the same, regardless of their gender or age.

"Sure I'll help you find your mommy", Deidara grinned as he reassured the girl. "But you haven't told me your name yet little one hmm…" The girl's eyes widened at her 'savior' and smiled sweetly. "My name is Tokiku, Ossan".

"Such a pretty name for a cute little girl", The blonde Akatsuki rubbed her hair affectionately. "Can I call you Toki-Chan then hmm?"

Tokiku nodded vigorously. "What's your name Ossan?" she asked him shyly.

"It's Deidara. You know, I'm not that old enough to be called Ossan yet hmm" Tokiku giggled again and cupped his face in her hands. "Yeah, you're too pretty to be called Ossan, Dei-Nichan". Deidara gently removed her small hands from his face and shifted her entire body in Sasori's direction. "Toki-Chan, if you really wanna' see your mommy. You gotta' ask Sasori no Danna for permission first hmm".

Fear plastered quickly across the young girl's green eyes. Her mind could not administer fast enough of what she saw in front of her. She began to shake involuntarily as the monster's eyes burned through her own. Sasori saw how fear immediately took over her entire small body once their eyes met. He smirked as he realized she was no older than seven. He knew that in her eyes, he was a large hump-backed creature with glowing amber eyes and wore the same black cloak her 'Dei-Nichan' was wearing, to cover his wooden skin. He growled intentionally and saw how she was desperately trying to face away from him. However, his partner prevented the girl from hiding behind him. The puppeteer believed his partner had a twisted obsession of seeing blood being spilt on the ground. 'Hmm… no wonder he has that peculiar glint in his eyes the entire time the girl was here… I see what he wants to happen… Maybe I can show a bit of a demonstration.'

"Come here little girl", the puppeteer growled and when he saw her shake her head nervously, his tail uncurled from his back. He swung it lazily and then before the young girl could blink, it thrusted outwards and aimed at the girl's throat. He made sure he did not aim with the poisoned soaked side.

Blood seeped onto her white scarf from the newly received gash across her throat. She almost fell backwards but was roughly pushed to stand against her own will. Confused and still bleeding, the girl turned her back on the hideous monster to face her Dei-Nichan. She gurgled but words could not form from her vocal cords. They had been severed to an extent where she would not be able to speak anymore. Deidara saw the confused gaze on her tired eyes and in return, he smiled pleasantly.

"Toki-Chan… you shoulda' stayed in your village hmm". He caressed her soft chestnut hair, while making sure none of her hair tuft got into the small mouth on the palm of his hand. Tokiku felt something grazing above her head but the sensation quickly faded as she felt herself slowly drifting from reality.

When the young Suna girl dropped onto her knees, Sasori hulled her roughly and threw her over his wooden shoulders. Deidara was surprised at his partner's action and decided to confront him. "Sasori no Danna, wouldn't it be a better idea for us to leave her body out here in the desert hmm?"

"I am well aware of what the normal procedures are, Deidara. But I happen to be missing a human puppet between the ages of six and eight. I think this little brat would fit in perfectly with my beautiful collection", he answered back nonchalantly. Sasori walked towards the entrance of the hideout and his shadows disappeared, along with the unmoving body of the child on his back.

The other artist still remaining outside and sighed at the new circumstances. He was glad he was not the one who had to knock the girl unconscious. She resembled too much like a certain person from his past. Maybe it was the spark in her green orbs when Toki-Chan smiled at him. Or maybe he was thinking too much. 'Sasori no Danna is probably just using an excuse to keep the girl to satisfy his undeniable desire for little girls.' Deidara chuckled to himself, it was hard to imagine the stoic but cold puppeteer being a pedophile. He looked one last time at the starry sky and headed towards the entrance of the cave.

::In Konohagakure::

The sun's rays shone through the blinds, highlighting the bedroom to appear powdery lilac. Sakura groaned from under her covers and wished she had closed those infernal blinds properly. The light accented her pale face, creating a soft glow. Her eyes fluttered as they tried to adjust to the morning light. She still felt heavily exhausted, yet nonetheless tried to rub the tiredness out of her eyes.

Suddenly it dawned her; she was suppose to be ready and out on a mission before the sun broke. The Hokage advised it would be best to travel when the sun was not present in the sky. Darkness would conceal her and she would have been able to travel safely without any difficulty.

Sakura quickly bolted in a sitting position and tried to think of a reasonable excuse as to why she had completely forgotten to wake up before dawn. She scanned her room quickly and noticed her alarm clock was not set to go off. 'Damn… so it's my fault entirely for not setting the alarm last night. Tsunade-shishou is going to have a fit if she hears about this.' Incomprehensible words were mumbled through the young kunoichi's mouth. Something along the lines of not having to mention about this incident at all to the Hokage.

She lazily hung her legs over the bed and attempted to get up. The pink-haired ninja then slowly made her way to the bathroom but did not realize she was heading towards a wall. Sakura was entirely absorbed in her thoughts, she hardly had any time to change directions. Before she knew it, her body collided head on with the wall and soon she found herself on the cool floor, in an unlady-like fashion. Clumsily she got off the floor cursing and her suppressed anger finally discovered a hole to leak out of.

As the young kunoichi closed the bathroom door, she was still visible through a freshly made hole in the wall. Sakura knew the repairing costs were going to be coming out of her pocket. Her parents had informed her on numerous occasion that they will no longer be held responsible for her uncontrollable violence towards inanimate objects. She needed to ventilate her anger although, punching a clean hole into the wall was not an appreciated nor appropriate method of therapy.

Once inside the brightly-lit bathroom, her anger was subsided by the cool running water from the shower head. She was angry for quite a number of reasons, one being that she was already late for her first mission in a while. The other being the reoccurring dream she kept having. She tried not to think about it too much. Though she was flustered with the idea of having that certain dream, it led to endless frustration due to not knowing who exactly was the other person she constantly envisioned. Sakura disregarded this issue and preceded to step out of the shower to dry her light-colored pink locks.

When Sakura finally came out of the bathroom, she only had a towel wrapped around her small frame and the clothes she had slept with in one arm. Water droplets formed at the end of her hair and dropped softly yet in a uniform motion onto the wooden floor. Tossing the clothes on the unfolded bed, she moved towards the large window near the back of her bedroom.

Her damp hair glistened, illuminating her distinct aqua-green orbs. With ease, she opened the blinds and stared at the clouds hovering over a jagged cliff. The pink-haired ninja's house was situated in an area where she was close enough to recognize clearly the facial shapes engraved on the cliff. The five Hokages' faces stood high and mighty, reminding the villagers of their great contributions into building what was now known as Konohagakure.

Sakura thought she noticed something unusual above the Godaime's rocky upper lip. She squinted her eyes to make sure she was seeing correctly and almost snorted out loud. A thick black line protruded from above the lips, made its way to either sides of the cheeks and curved in a comical way. A black goatee was drawn rather messily near the bottom of the chin, completing the intended masculine look. 'Whoever did this must have an early grave stone with their names engraved', she snickered. 'Seems like something Naru-'

Her thought was cut short before she could enjoy the pleasant surprise. The unexpected shock had not registered fully in her mind and she could not believe what her eyes were seeing. All Sakura could do was open and close her mouth in a repeatedly fluid motion.

Note: Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews so far :) I'm sure most of you believed it was Sakura that was going to confront the Akatsuki members. LoL but I mentioned it somewhere in the first chapter about how it will take three days for her to reach Sunagakure anyway. Plus I did mention something about people from the Sand Village turning up missing.

I hope this chapter clears up any confusion from the first and second chapter. What do you guys think about the new cliff-hanger? Hmm… who could it possibly be?? LoL don't forget to tell me who you guys believe it's going to be in your REVIEWS! LoL anything is possible right?

P.S. If there's anything wrong with the first part of this chapter, it's probably because I used word pad… I hate it because it doesn't have any spell-check.

P.P.S. Don't forget to review! I wanna' know what you guys think about Deidara and Sasori's characters as well. I do accept criticisms very openly… I learn from them LoL And remember!! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! I guess it inspires me XD


I would like to add that even though I don't draw much… (mainly cause' I suck) I've attempted to draw how would Tokiku would look like. If you wanna' see the picture, just tell me :D (But don't laugh cause' it's not the best picture though !!)