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This story is definitely FAR from done. XD
Here's the next Chappie~
Star Crossed
Chapter 4: The Calm Before The Storm.
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Deidara sat crossed leg on the ground. His scope started to scan the dark forest. Damn Tobi, he always ended up being the lookout. He could hear Tobi snore behind him. Loudly. Very loudly. He would have thought the damned mask would muffle the snoring somehow but it just seemed to amplify it. All he ever wanted was to master his art. He had ended up in Akatsuki after fish-face, Sasori and Itachi had found him. He had been working as a terrorist bomber after he became a missing-nin. The euphoria was exhilarating! Watching his beautiful creations blow up and destroy was something he loved to do. The three Akatsuki members were sent by Leader to recruit him. He had refused. But the Uchiha had challenged him to a battle, promising to leave him alone if he lost. But he was easily defeated by his Sharingan and was forced to join Akatsuki. He had been doing the organization's bidding ever since. He hated Itachi, but he knew he could not win against him. He was smart enough though, to train his left eye to counter genjutsu.
He hated it when people looked down at his art. How could they ever understand? Art is an explosion! He always blew up the people that dared to insult his art, Tobi included.
When he first joined Akatsuki, he was partnered with Sasori of the Red Sand. He was Orochimaru's partner before he defected. Sasori had never really respected his art but Deidara found his puppets intriguing. What shocked him the most was when Sasori removed Hiruko, his puppet armour. He looked younger than him! The man was over thirty for heavens sake!
Sasori's death was something Deidara did not expect. Who would have thought he wanted to die willingly in his parent's arms?
It was also when he saw the girl after four years. She had destroyed the front of the lair leaving a huge gaping hole screaming to be repaired. Her pink locks were shorter than the last time he had seen her. He doubted she would remember him. It was a long time ago.
He smirked. Fate really liked to play around with him, cause it looked like they were going to meet again.
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She opened her eyes. The room was painfully bright. She tried to turn her head but her body ached so badly. She experimented by trying to move her hands. They were working fine. She opened her eyes wider taking in the room she was in. The hospital? How did I end up here?
Suddenly, she remembered the mission and the searing pain across her abdomen. She had survived the last one from Sasori. Who would have thought she could survive another? Her throat felt dry. She gingerly lifted herself up to a sitting position. She expected to feel pain from her wound but did not. How long had she been unconscious?
"Sakura!"
She was instantly engulfed in a tight hug. When she pulled back she recognized her childhood friend. Her waist-length hair was tied up in a high ponytail, her bangs covering the right side of her face. He icy blue eyes were filled with concern and relief. She was dressed in her usual purple attire, though she had removed the fishnets she usually wore over her knees and elbows.
"Do you remember who you are? The reason why you're at the hospital? What month is it?" She asked her tone suddenly serious.
"Uhh.. Haruno Sakura. I got stabbed by one of the Akatsuki members. March. Ino, what's wrong? Is everyone alright?"
"Everyone was fine. Except for you," she said nervously as she started to fiddle her hair.
"Ino, I told you to wait for me. Sakura! You're awake." A familiar said from the door. She looked up to find Shikamaru. His jet-black hair had remained the same throughout the years, tied up in a spiky ponytail. He walked over to the bed and stood next to Ino. He briefly looked at Ino before speaking.
"How are you feeling? Does the Godaime know?"
"I'll go get her." Ino said.
"No. You stay here. I'll go."
"What? Shikamaru, I'm fine."
"I know. I'm just making sure of it." He planted a chaste kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.
"I've been out for a day or two and you guys get busy," Sakura said a knowing smile on her lips.
"Actually you've been out for six months. Its August now."
"WHAT? That long?"
"Your wound was pretty fatal. We all thought we were going to lose you. But we still believed that you were going to pull through." She finished her sentence in a whisper.
"So, what did I miss?" Sakura asked. She hated it when people would be sad because of her. She would always try to lift up the mood. She smiled widely when Ino looked up in surprise. Even if she was gone for six months, Ino was still Ino. Talking about the happenings around the village always cheered her up. Gossip was what kept her engine running. She always figured that no man could tie her down. Ino was like a fire, uncontrollable. But she had a heart of gold and the prettiest set of icy blue eyes. After Asuma's death, she always found Shikamaru and Ino hanging out together. Sakura knew there was something going on between them but Ino would always ignore her. Sakura was starting to think that she was just imagining things until a certain incident at a party. They were all wasted after rounds and rounds of drinks. Shikamaru had boldly grabbed Ino by the waist and kissed her. Sakura's suspicions were confirmed. Shikamaru and Ino only grew closer after that.
The next few minutes Ino had talked about her wedding and other events that had happened during her six month absence. She had missed quite a lot. But Ino had showed no signs of stopping. This was going to be along day.
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"How are you feeling today?" Her buxom shishou asked as she sent small chakra pulses across her body to check for any forms of damage that could have affected her. Her chakra felt warm.
"I feel like crap," Sakura answered.
"You look like crap," Shikamaru confirmed dryly. He was smacked by his wife and dragged out of the room, her best friend smiling and promising to visit her as soon as possible. She was wrong when she said Shikamaru had tied her down. Instead it looked like Ino had him wrapped around her little finger. But his comment still had her feeling self-conscious. She walked to the front of the mirror and observed her reflection. Her cheeks were sullen and her skin was paler than usual. Her eyes had dark rings under them. And she could only imagine how left behind she was in her training. Six months was a very long time, it looked like she had a lot of training to do get her body back in working condition. The one thing that caught her attention was her pink hair. It was longer. It grew past her usual length and her shoulders. Stopping a couple of inches after her collarbone. She had cut her hair to prove that she was capable of taking care of herself. That she was tired of watching her friend's back and would try to catch up to them. But she was ANBU now, so she chose not to cut her hair to its usual length.
"When can I be discharged, Shishou?" She asked as she turned around and focused her gaze on the blonde.
"Today, but you still have to come to the hospital for check-ups. You are going to stay in Konoha until further notice. I'm not allowing you to go on any missions until Akatsuki have been neutralized," She said as she scribbled on a notepad.
"You can't lock me in here!"
"I can! Akatsuki wants you for a reason. I don't know if it's to lure Naruto to them or because of you're healing abilities." She said sternly as she put away her notepad and enveloped Sakura in a fierce hug.
"I can't bear to lose you again, Sakura," She whispered. Sakura hugged back, she knew her Shishou only locked her in the village to keep her out of harm's way. Though she figured they wanted her for her abilities, she was not even sure if Naruto was alive. If he was, when he came back, she was going to beat him to a pulp for not contacting her.
Tsunade released her from her arms before she spoke, "I think you have a lot of catching up to do. You can leave whenever you are ready." She smiled before she left.
Sakura dressed quickly. She had been in the hospital for the past few days and wanted to get out of there fast. She wanted to have a warm shower, a decent meal and take a really long nap.
She left the room dressed in her usual red shirt, with a yellow shirt under it and her navy skirt. She tied her hair in a loose half ponytail. Her shorter bangs fell freely to frame her face. When she left the hospital and walked to her house she was greeted by some of the villagers that knew her. The villagers were surprised to see her and had wished for her to get well soon. She stood in front of the door and was about to unlock it when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Sakura.."
"Neji!" She exclaimed, shocked. His long, flowing, dark brown hair reached the middle of his back and was tied a few inches above the end. She could never understand how it never got in the way while in battle, her hair always did.
"Do you want to come in?" She asked, smiling sweetly as she opened her house door.
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Neji had waited for this moment. The moment when he would be given a chance to say..something. But her presence was so surreal. A Hyuga was never at a loss for words, always calm, collected…. Oh, he was a disgrace to the Hyuga clan. He groaned inwardly.
"I'm on my way to a mission."
"Oh." Was she disappointed? "Good luck, then," She said as she entered, closing the door.
He walked away from her house and started his way towards the meeting place. You're an idiot Neji! How could you have left that chance go? You could have said a 'thank you' at least. She saved your life for heaven's sake! He was mentally beating himself when he started to near the meeting place. He needed to get this mission over and done with.
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"It is confirmed. Okai Reita has seen the key in its human form. Though it still surprises me it would be her."
"Why do we need her alive? Madara."
"Your plan will not work without her. You want war to cease, yes? Then we need her to make sure the tailed beasts does not go out of control."
"How are you so sure?"
"It is written in the archives. The Yonbi has also confirmed it."
"She would still be well protected. The last attack did not end so well. She survived it though."
"Of course. The key would not let its host die so easily. But it would be a challenge to try and get her out of Konoha. Perhaps you should send more people to aid us. Deidara-senpai is not strong enough."
"But you're his partner. Shouldn't you aid him?"
"The fool is not competent enough. Send Kisame and Itachi. The Sharingan would be of great use. I cannot use my Sharingan under the guise of Tobi."
"Fine. I will contact them."
"And Nagato, contact me once you have found the Kyubi. It would be easier to kill two birds with one stone."
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Deidara was definitely pissed. He wanted to freaking blow something up! He was perfectly capable of capturing the kunoichi. Why would Leader need to send people to help them? Especially him. The last thing he needed was to accidentally blow the damn Uchiha up. So what if he massacred his whole clan?
He was already so near the Fire Country border. Now he needed to wait for fish-face and him. His scowl deepened. Not that he actually had a plan. He just vaguely planned to fly into Konoha and blow up some buildings to lure pinky out. Then he would knock her out and escape out of Konoha. Simple and easy. Sure she was a member of ANBU. How strong could she be? Punching through a huge stonewall was no big deal either. And she could not have defeated Sasori without the help of the old hag. Oh god, he was in denial. He sighed inwardly and decided to wait patiently for the other two members. For now he was going to-
"WHAT THE FUCK, TOBI!" He screamed in horror.
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Wassup! Hehe. What did Tobi do? I leave that to you're imagination! XD
Chapter five will be coming soon~!
Review please. Cause I love reviews. XD