~Art's Most Valuable Form~

~Act. 5~

Pointillism

"Your sure you think it's best?" Nagato asked with authority.

"Very," Itachi replied. He was very sure about this. It would be an amazing experience, and it would be well desired. Akatsuki Productions would flourish from this. Truly it would.

"Itachi is just like Sasori," Yahiko announced with a grin. "He's never wrong about anything. If he thinks it's best then we should allow it."

Nagato nodded in acceptance, "Then it's settled."

"All that's left is the answer," Yahiko said. "And it will more than likely be a yes."

With that, the three nodded to one another before going separate ways.

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The morning after Sakura was dropped off by Sasori and Deidara, she hadn't woken until twelve in the afternoon. Sunlight shined on her form in the grand living space as she faced the couch's back. Her long pink locks was draped over the edge, cascading down inches from the carpet. She was still dressed from the night before, far too tired by the time she got back to do anything other than drop onto the nearest couch. She had probably forgotten to lock the door.

Her naturally long lashes started to flutter, awakening from a deep slumber. She moaned quietly, trying to get back to sleep. She knew that it would be practically pointless at this point, and flipped over so that her head was facing the cushions. She groaned again. She had a crick in her neck, and she felt unbelievably sore.

She remembered the night before vividly. She thought of when Sasori and Deidara had taken her back to the hotel for the night. She had been in Deidara's personal limo, barely able to stay awake. She had fallen asleep a few times, only waking when her head started to move bob forward.

She could remember having Sasori in front of her, replying to her thanks. She could see him stoping her at arm's length before she crashed into him none to gracefully. That he had actually replied was something she had not expected at all, so when he had she was glad.

She recollected that they had parted ways from the elevator, her leaving him after she reached her floor. He had looked blank when she had left. She had given him a smile and goodnight, and he had replied the same. She could see him as she walked away, giving him a sidelong glance as she did.

The elevator music wafted around the space. The atmosphere would probably be comfortable if Sakura had been awake enough to notice. Sasori stared at the lit up numbers as they ascended higher and higher, the noise of a bell going off after each level.

Sakura's eye lids felt heavy. It had been like that after the long time that Deidara and Sasori had taken her back to the theatre house. Before leaving, Deidara said that he had a little something in store for her before she left Vegas. She had been rather frantic about it stating that she didn't need more than what he had already given her. However he had grinned, and simply stated that it was his pleasure. She had been thinking about that as the bell went off for her level.

Sakura was snapped out of her reverie. Sasori was looking at her with those lazy eyes again. His posture was perfect, giving him the graceful movements of a prince in the medieval times. Sakura thought he was amazingly handsome, albeit many people probably thought that about most of the Akatsuki anyway. Sasori was like Itachi, only much more easily irritated and impatient. He was aloof, and had a detached sort of feel other when he was doing his art. It was as if he was missing something from his life, and Sakura knew that his past was probably at least part of that.

She smiled at him warmly. "Have a goodnight Sasori."

He hadn't replied until she had left the elevator. The doors were closing, and the words was uttered in a barely comprehensible mumble, "As to you."

She had been startled by the response, and turned her head toward him, feeling more awake than before, however the scene only lasted a moment. The doors had closed, and he was gone. Her night with the Puppet Master and Bomb Master of the Akatsuki was officially over the moment Sasori had left.

Thinking about it all now, Sakura thought of it in sadness. She would probably never find either of them again after last night. Neither Deidara or Sasori had given her their numbers, and Deidara hadn't really explained what he was going to do for her. Maybe she would see them again, but they were both such busy people that had incredible lives. They both would probably forget the girl that had run away from fangirls, and the one that had taken many photos. She doubted that they would ever meet again. That saddened her the most. The whole day before had to be the best day of her entire life. Really it had to be. It was like a dream that was never to happen again. She could feel the tears threatening to fall from the thought of it.

It was then that the hotel phone started to blare loudly. Sakura sat straight up, not wanting to wake Hinata or Ino. They had both had an extremely busy night from being in the casinos, and probably some clubs that they had to be exhausted. She had heard them both come it at around five in the morning; Ino stumbling as she went, and Hinata guiding them to the bedroom. She could barely remember any details from the whole ordeal. She had been half asleep, after all.

She grabbed the large phone from the nightstand nearest her, her eyes half open as she spoke clearly, "Hello?"

"Meet me downstairs in precisely ten minutes."

The line went dead, and Sakura sat there in confusion. Her brow's furrowed, and she was shocked. Was that...Seriously? Could it be? It had to be! It was Sasori! That straightforward and direct voice had to none other than Sasori! He seriously called her!

Then she shot up from the couch, all but slamming the phone down onto the holder. She rushed to the bedroom door that was wide open, and found her suitcase. She quietly took it from the room, tiptoeing out of the area. She was glancing behind her a few times to see the two girls sleeping peacefully on the bed, before closing the doors with a slight creek. Excitement filled her, and her heart thumped against her chest. A wide grin made it's way on her lips, and she never felt happier. Her time with Deidara and Sasori had been so amazing, that she wanted more than anything else to see the pair again. Just seeing Sasori was fine though if that was how it was.

She dashed into the nearest bathroom, showered, and changed. She had dressed a pair of black short-shorts, and a red tank with a white 'O' on the back 2that symbolized her family crest. She grabbed her iPhone, key, and wallet, stashing them into one of her pockets. She pulled on a pair of white tennis shoes, remembering her encounter with Deidara and the fangirls. That had left some pretty bad blisters on her feet afterward from wearing sandals the entire time. She placed a clip into her hair as it was still wet from the shower.

Sakura had sent Ino a text, letting her know that she'll be out for a little bit if she wakes up anytime soon. Then she closed the white double doors behind her, a smile adorning her features. She raced down the extravagant hallway making her way to the elevator doors. She was ecstatic.

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Sasori had been awake since the crack of dawn as per usual, not finding any work that needed to be finished. This meant that soon he would have to retire back to one of his homes for a few weeks. He'd give it a few days before he left again, instead of a month. There wasn't a real reason to stay here if there was no work to complete. He might as well take some time off from Akatsuki Productions, and go back to Rome for awhile. He shrugged. He would probably do that.

He had been walking to the hotel's cafe for breakfast when he noticed it. He glared in aggravation. So the paparazzi had found out about his and Deidara's day with the girl. The newest magazines that were thrown around the living area of the lobby had her face plastered onto all of them in various natural poses. Scenes of her and Deidara running frantically away from fangirls, and their time sightseeing, as well as a random pictures of her with them were everywhere. The questions and phrases of: The Akatsuki's New Girl? Mystery in Pink! Who is this?

Oh how he loathed them with a passion. He had thought that this might happen, but he certainly hadn't thought it would be this explosive. He hadn't expected to get quite this angry either, but at the same time this was not something that he wanted to happen.

The girl's anonymity was one of things that kept her invisible, as well as innocent. She wasn't like Deidara or him. She just wasn't. She was apart of the crowd that shouldn't be apart of something quite like this. She should get the regular life that she has now. She just doesn't seem like the type to be plastered onto the front page of a magazine with her secrets revealed to everyone. His had been partially revealed, after all. He didn't know why, but this angered him greatly.

When he was finally calm enough he regained his composure he plucked a magazine from a holder, before he strode right up to the desk demanding that he called for a guest with the last name of Haruno. He stared coldly into the receptionists eyes as he did so, scaring her slightly as she fumbled for the phone. He snatched it out of her grasp waiting impatiently as it rang.

Finally, the voice that he was wanting to speak with, answered, "Hello?"

"Meet my downstairs in precisely ten minutes," He demanded with an air of authority. He needed to speak with her now, before something else happened. However, he knew that she had been completely and utterly drained when he had left her. He figured that she had to still be sleeping when he had asked her appearance. He would give her ten minutes before he also demanded of the receptionist that he knew of her room number.

He leaned against a wall that was close to the elevators. He crossed his arms, and stared coldly at anyone who dared look back at him. After about seven minutes the doors opened and revealed an elated pink haired girl. He barely glanced at her before her smile broadened, and ran over to him.

"I was surprised you even called me," Sakura spoke in greeting.

He stared down into her ever happy emeralds. "Your early."

She straightened uncomfortably. She should be use to his directness by now, but still she was not. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at getting ready quickly."

Then his tone changed, sounding more of warning, "Your face is plastered on every magazine in the hotel."

Sakura stood there dumbstruck, "...What?"

Too impatient, he grabbed the one he had gotten from a nearby table and thrust it at her. Slowly she turned it over, and there was her and Deidara running away frantically from a bunch of screaming fangirls. There were countless more pictures of Sasori, Deidara, and herself.

Sakura placed a hand over her mouth in astonishment. "Do they know that I'm staying here? The paparazzi I mean."

"No," Sasori answered with a shake of his head. He doubted that they would know that much from one day. Even if they had retired at only one in the morning, they had entered with the mix of a crowd. In the mean time however that meant that she couldn't be seen entering or exiting the hotel. That would be chaos not only for the hotel, but for her as well. It simply wouldn't due.

"They don't know my name," Sakura mumbled, searching through the pages to find something that could be even more significant.

"They don't know anything other than your appearance," Sasori told her. "However, your too distinguishable."

She looked up at him then worriedly, "What exactly any I suppose to do then? I have the rest of the week here with my friends. I can't have people hounding down after me all week."

A moment of silence passed between them, as Sakura stared helplessly at Sasori for help, and he simply thought over ideas in his head. Then he suddenly he said, "Follow me." Then he walked away, her confusedly treading after him.

She had to jog just to catch up to his long strides. They were heading down one of the main hallways that were in the front of the hotel, at this point, and light shined brightly from the windows. Sakura looked at them wearily, halfway expecting to get a bright flash to abruptly appear out of nowhere.

She had always been rather apprehensive of paparazzi after all the years she's spent with her friends. Sasuke and Naruto seemed to have the worst of it, but thankfully she hasn't gotten her picture taken by celebrity photographers as of yet. She had always thought it was bound to occur in her life, but this was not the timing that she had thought it would be at.

"Sasori, where are you taking me?" Sakura finally asked, jogging slightly at his side.

He didn't even glance at her when he answered calmly, "To teach you how to be amongst the shadows."

She was completely taken off guard by that, and she almost stopped jogging. Then she noticed just how quiet he was. Not even a sound was emitted when he took steps, nor the thump of the messenger bag at his side. The only thing that had sound was his voice when he deemed it worthy to talk.

Then she started to question just why he was doing this for her. He was the one that had stated that she owed him, not the other way around. Not that she didn't appreciate it by any means, but he didn't exactly seem like the type of person to help another without a little something in it for himself. That was just Sasori, and she didn't think any wearier of him from that.

With furrowed brows she suddenly asked, "Why do you want to help me?"

He stopped then and gave her a sidelong stared at her with those chocolate eyes. They were so serious that it was alarming. "If you wish to be even around someone like myself, you must learn the ways of silence."

"But why do you..." Sakura trailed off.

"I'm often either being followed by Deidara or called upon by him," Sasori deadpanned rudely. The sunlight was making his eyes shine like a topaz, and Sakura found it captivating. She couldn't look away.

Then he walked up to her, his eyes narrowed. His voice was like cold steel, "Know this; I do not care for others. I use them for my benefit, your just another."

Sakura's blood ran cold at his words, and stared at him in shock. Then the words suddenly stumbled off her lips in a whisper, "Puppet master..." It certainly did make much sense now that she thought about it. A puppet master manipulates others, and he had just announced that to her as clear as day. Thing was though, she simply couldn't find it in her heart to believe him. She shook her head slowly, as her brows knitted together in confusion and sadness. Why was he saying this anyway?

"I don't believe you," Sakura whispered, staring right into his eyes. Sakura felt something then. An anger. An uncontrollable anger, and she sneered at him through the tears that threatened to fall.

"I don't believe you at all!" Sakura cried, shaking her head frantically, throwing her arms down to emphasize it.

Sasori was breaking. He was breaking from the inside out. What he had told her was the common belief from people. The belief that people wanted to think. The belief that was a lie. The truth was something else entirely. The truth was something that he had locked away inside himself so long ago. He was already torn to pieces years ago. That event sent his affections off a cliff and into such deep water that no one has every been able to recover them. Now he was breaking. That patched up mask was breaking.

His brows knitted every so slightly, the impassiveness forgotten. He covered his eyes with his bangs, letting shadows consume the majority of his features. Then he did something that he has never done before. He rubbed the top of her head, silencing her. He could see the tears that streamed down her face, and Sasori felt a dull ache in his chest after see that.

"Stop," He whispered softly, even though she already had.

Sakura stopped. She had, and the only thing that was left in her was deep dread. "I still don't believe you," Sakura whispered horsely, gazing at his unseeable eyes.

Sasori's hand fell slowly, letting his fingertips trace her cheeks slightly until he reached the bottom of her neck. He let his hand drop, and his eyes emerged from the darkness of his bangs.

Sakura's breath hitched when she saw the topaz-like eyes as they sparkled slightly from the light. They were filled with sorrow, sadness, dread, and another thing that she couldn't quite grasp. Was it...Loneliness? She just didn't know. They were so readable, like an open book. The mask that he wore was gone, replaced with the reality of his emotions.

"I know you don't," He spoke slowly in reply. "Your the only one that doesn't," He thought sorrowfully.

Sakura brows knitted together. Then she whispered desperately, "Then why had you said that?"

He gazed away from her as his lips pursed. He spoke the next words with a sad sigh,"It's the common belief that people merge themselves in when they think of my personality."

"It's a lie then," Sakura replied with assertiveness, and his gaze slowly traveled back to her. There was the fire in her eyes that he had noticed from her the very first time they had met. A determination. A drive. A desire that has yet to be quenched. "The truth is something that is unknown, but the common belief is a lie."

At that, he shook his head in disbelief, and the tiniest of smirks spread across his lips. This girl. "Your like no one I've ever met."

Startled at the sudden comment, she smiled sideways at him. "You know Sasori, I do actually consider you a friend."

He nodded curtly, the smirk slowly diminishing. "Noted."

Sakura frowned at him. This was the Sasori she knew. The unenthusiastic, impatient, rude, genius, mysterious, handsome, and artistic man that she knew. Oh how she just wanted to sigh at his abrupt change in expression, and the impassiveness was back in it's usual arrangement. However this was the Sasori she actually liked to be around, despite everything.

Almost immediately the mood changed, and Sasori asked lazily, "Shall we get started?"

Sakura visibly rolled her eyes at him, and she sighed resolutely, "Sure."

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The week passed quickly. Between her time with Sasori and Deidara being the majority of her time, the rest was spent with her friends. They did countless outings, and ate at the most fancy of restaurants despite that she thought it was a bit much. She had to say though the places they went were extremely extravagant. Now it was her last day in Las Vegas, and Deidara was walking at her side, chatting animatedly.

Sasori had made it so that she could now walk within shadows, and not creating a single sound when she walked. Sure she wasn't exactly an expert like him, but she was getting better. She couldn't easily conceal herself completely, for her hair was a dead giveaway in a crowd. At first he had suggested that she dye it another color, but that conversation with an abrupt and horrified 'NO!' on her part. She could be as quiet as a panther, but that certainly didn't go well with physical appearance. Sasori had sighed resolutely, after the fact, saying that this was a practically useless effort on his part if her appearance was easily seen during the day. It was okay during the night, but even then it wasn't exactly a hundred percent.

The first day that she had gotten back from her 'silence training' with Sasori, Ino had bombarded her with question after question, as well as the rest of the group. Sakura felt rather awkward about it all at first, but after awhile things got easier. She ended up explaining the whole thing to them other than her little outbursts and the rather emotional arguments with Sasori. They understood that they were actually friends of hers now, instead of people that didn't really care for her existence. Inevitably, she spend most of her time with the duo of Akatsuki, and thankfully her friends seemed to understand enough to give her the time she wanted with them.

The tabloids, luckily had not only calmed, but still didn't know anything about her yet. She had Sasori to thank for that. Somehow the shadows seemed to be more comfortable for her than she had expected. However when Sakura did spot them she would often shy away so that they couldn't find her.

Sometimes as she sat in bed at night she wondered just what had happened to Sasori. She worried about him. He pushed people away, but she didn't know why. He held people at arms length, yet he obviously felt lonely doing so. She didn't understand his reasoning, and she wanted to help him. She didn't want him to have to fend for himself. She had become really good friends with him over the week and he seemed to accept her in his life well. He just very well consider her one as well, but was simply too prideful to admit it.

Now as she walked along the busy and heated streets of Las Vegas with Deidara at her side, she wondered what she was going to do without the duo of the Akatsuki. Sure they have very different lives, but Deidara seemed to love having her around, and Sasori accepted her presence. What was she going to do? She didn't want to leave either of them. Really, she didn't.

Deidara had been chatting endlessly about an exciting event that had happened to him, and Sakura had unconsciously been nodding away. He seemed too immersed in his story to really notice her state. Her features just became more and more depressed the more she walked. It wasn't until Deidara had led her into the Dawning Theatre House that someone had finally taken her back from being a thousand miles away in her thoughts.

"The fucking singing girl?" Cursed a loud and obnoxious silver haired man. At that, Sakura was snapped out of her reverie.

"What?" Sakura questioned, feeling like she had just been dreaming.

The man that had spoken to her raced down the golden staircase's railing with his hands in his pockets. An arrogant grin was marring his face, making him seem like he held himself high. His black dress shirt showing part of his chest, while a necklace was wrapped around his neck with a symbol at the end. His pants were white while the bottoms were red clouds. Hidan Focker? The Death Deifier?

Deidara scowled at Hidan, "Don't curse, un. At least not in front of Sakura, yeah."

Sakura pointed to herself, and spoke incredulously to Hidan, "You remember me?"

Hidan landed gracefully right in front of her, not creating a sound to be heard. "Why wouldn't I remember you? Your the one person that actually made that fucking Uchiha look good on stage."

Sakura was speechless, and not just for the compliment he had given her. She had insulted Itachi like he didn't give a care in the world, cursing in the same sentence. How...Rude.

"What are you talking about, yeah?" Deidara asked in complete confusion.

Hidan and Sakura looked at him, rather startled at his comment. Hidan just quirked a brow at him like he was an idiot. "You fucking can't remember? It was the damn straight best performance of the night."

"Wait," Deidara announced, trying to think clearly. Then he looked to Sakura. "Itachi's performance was right before Sasori's one. I was looking for him at that time, un. Neither of us had known. I doubt even Konan knew either, yeah."

"I thought that you..." Sakura trailed off. "Why had you gone to find me-?"

Then a voice cut off her statement, droning the next two words, "Your late." All three of them turned to the staircase, and found Sasori making his way down them.

Deidara scowled at the usual comment given to him. "Your the one that arrived last, un."

"On the contrary," Sasori corrected. "I was waiting here a few minutes previous when you were supposed to arrive."

Deidara scoffed at the redhead momentarily, before remembering the conversation that they were talking about before. He all but jumped towards Sakura, " I want to hear you sing, un!"

Taking an awkward step backward, she stared at him with raised brows. Her voice shook slightly as she spoke, "R-really? You want to?"

Then Sasori had finally made his way down the staircase, softly he questioned,"Sing?"

"Fucking yes!" Hidan yelled joyously. "Finally a different person that can actually fucking sing! All we have here is that damn Uchiha! This is gonna be fucking awesome!"

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When Sakura walked into the auditorium for the second time, but only this time from the stage, she was speechless, and a broad smile adorned her lips. The place was even more immaculate that she had recalled it as. Her hands covered her mouth in astonishment as her emeralds traveled around the room and back.

The red velvet curtain was pulled back revealing the backstage of broad screens that were black from being turned off. The seats were emptied letting the color red surround much of the room. There were five isles that split the rows equally. There were three levels, the bottom, more seats on the second, and the suits in the third. The sides had viewing stations like the normal theatre house, used only for invited guests or big business owners.

Just seeing the amount of space in the room was unbelievable. Sakura had no idea it was this big. Sure she had been on the stage before, but she hadn't really been looking at the spaciousness of the area around her. She was far too consumed into singing at the time.

"Not something you expected?" Said a familiar voice, that made her smile broaden. She turned around and there was Itachi, seeming just about as aloof as ever, unless you were Sakura Haruno. She could see the ever so slightly elevated curve of his lips. That more than suggested that he was glad to see her.

She ran up to him, hugging him as she squealed excitedly, "Itachi!"

He embraced her back, before quickly letting her go. She was radiating happiness as she gazed back at him. "Where have you been all week? I haven't seen you since I sang with you!"

"Business," He said dismissively. Sakura nodded in understanding. Itachi had been trying to create his own company for a few years now, and was just recently making a huge breakthrough with it. "But what exactly are you doing here?"

Sakura pouted slightly, her cheeks puffing out to emphasize it. "How rude Itachi. Aren't you at least happy to see me?"

"Sakura," Itachi sighed slightly. This only caused said girl to chuckle at his response.

"I'm actually here to meet with Deidara and Sasori," Sakura replied brightly. "We were going to stay here for a little while, Deidara said he had a surprise for me later today."

"You know them?" Itachi inquired.

Sakura nodded happily, "Pretty well actually."

"They just left you on stage?"

"Well, they went to set a few things up, they wanted me to sing. Hidan seemed the most anxious out of all of them," Sakura answered honestly.

Then Deidara came running up to them, and just like the others was completely silent with it. "Oh hey Itachi. Sakura, we got everything set up backstage for the song. It'll be up soon for your solo. Unless you want to do a duet or something?"

Sakura placed a pointer finger to her chin in thought, 'Hmmm... Surprise me then."

Deidara grinned in reply, and gave her a microphone before he ran back to the others, setting up things on the main computer. Sakura knew that Sasori had to be the one that was the one really doing all the work, while Deidara and Hidan did the little things. She hadn't seen the computer room yet, but she knew that it had to be complicated if there was a whole room for it.

"Sakura, before you start," Itachi said formally. "There's something you should know."

She gazed at him curiously, "What is it?"

He smirked at her and knew that she would be shocked at the news he was bringing. "Would you like to be apart of Akatsuki Productions for the rest of the summer?"

"Wha-" But she didn't get a chance to finish. The three remaining boys rushed out onto the stage to watch, for the music already started.

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Art's Most Valuable Form

Author's Note:

Updated: August 24, 2013

As for last chapter, I apparently misled you guys. I meant to say that I will only update this story until I get to 30K then I will do a chapter each for my other SasoSaku stories before continuing this one. Hey guys! Gotta love a cliffhanger neh? Yeah right! I'll start the next chapter tomorrow. I more than likely won't finish it until next weekend. My schedule is so busy, and making JV for volleyball is seriously making me already staring to cram for things. After October, and especially after January I will not be nearly as busy as I am now.

This is seriously going to be really long. Probably at least 80k my the time I'm done. I hope you guys stay tuned! If you guys have any ideas I'm open to suggestion.

More SasoSaku in this chapter, sort of. Itachi was OOC wasn't he? Sorry! In this story they've known each other for many years. He won't be like that with anyone else though. He'll be more remote, and less talkative. That's a promise!

Please review! Please!

Ja-ne!

-Cassandra