Chapter 9

Sakura awoke wrapped in Sasori's arms. She felt his chest moving as he took deep breaths in. She tilted her head up to meet his gleaming brown eyes. They were emotionless which caused Sakura to inwardly sigh.

What did you expect? Warming eyes of love?

'No but I mean he is holding me! Why can't I at least expect that?'

We'll talk about it later; the gorgeous redhead is moving now!

Just as Inner Sakura said, Sasori slowly began to move. He pulled his left arm off of Sakura and touched her hair softly. He began to stroke it as a smile pulled at his lips. The pinkette noted that his true smile was bright and dazzling, small but all the while mesmerizing. The redhead stroked her hair gently as his eyes danced with thoughts. Beautiful brown eyes that dragged Sakura's thoughts to her mouth and snuck them out without her consent.

"Such beautiful brown eyes..." Sakura whispered softly and cursed the words as they came out. Said eyes widened slightly in shock before closing for a brief minute with a smirk replacing the smile. Soon enough Sasori's forehead was leaning against Sakura's. The puppet master tilted his head and leaned closer. They both took a breath in, cherries and oak. Not the everyday smell. Their faces were centimeters away and their breaths were mingled when someone barged in.

"Danna and Pinky, we have to get ready for our mission, un!" Deidara ignored the scene before him and ran in. He grabbed the pinky and threw her into the bathroom and turned to give Sasori a curious look. When the door closed Sakura only heard Deidara's scream for help. Most likely because Sasori has him in one of his puppet's grasp.

Sakura took a shower and got ready. She laughed a little when she saw her head protector on the counter with a kunai next to it. The pinky took a brush and combed out her hair, silently she tied the protector to her head. Ignoring the feeling inside her gut, she put on her cloak and put the kunai into her small pouch.

She saw Deidara cowering in the corner and molding clay for comfort. It made her giggle and look at Sasori. He was done getting ready and placing his puppets into place, yet another habit. Even as a puppet you can't shake certain things.

They both looked up nonplussed at the protector. Deidara began chuckling until the puppet man shot him a look. Then their attention was on the kunoichi in front of them. Slowly, and deliberately, she took out the kunai and slashed the Konoha symbol. Everyone in the room knew what she was giving up, but it was dead silent.

"Good choice, Pinky. Now you can stay with me- I mean us, un" Deidara winked at her playfully. Sasori just grabbed his bag and looked for a confirmation that everyone was ready. Once the other two had nodded they left.

"So what's the mission again?" Sakura was bored as they leapt from tree to tree.

"Kill the Kazekage's assistant, Matsuri." Sasori's answer was blunt and to the point, but a secret lust for killing was hiding within it.

"That sounds cool to me." Sakura just sped up so she could kill the innocent girl.

"It's stupid, un. We have to kill her because she got lost and Kisame decided to bring her in. Stupid fish thought that he loved her until she opened her mouth and began to talk all highly about that Gaara kid. So now she knows too much and you're stuck with the job of killing the girl." The clay artist was annoyed as he continued his pointless story.

It was midnight when they reached the sand. The people in the village were asleep and that left the three Akatsuki members to walk silently in the moonlight. It glimmered over the sand and made it sparkle. The life was still as if the entire world was frozen. But soon enough they reached Matsuri's house. The trio entered the house quietly and made their way up to Matsuri's room. They found the girl wide awake on her bed.

Sakura smiled cruelly as a sudden urge to kill took over. Matsuri took out a kunai and immediately went to attack the pinkette. However, Sakura dodged it and sent a glowing punch to her spine. It cracked as the brown haired girl fell to the ground. Several pressure points were pushed and the Sand ninja was on the floor, helpless. Sakura touched the tip of her fingers to Matsuri's heart and the sharpened charka knives went straight through. The girl now lay dead and Deidara was cheering Sakura on with hushed applause. Sasori looked indifferent.

The troubling trio went off on their way out of the Sand village. It was still dark when they were far enough to set up a camp. Sakura yawned tiredly and forced Deidara to set up camp while Sasori took first post to watch.

After Sasori it was Sakura's turn. The pinkette groaned when Sasori shook her awake. She fluttered her emerald orbs open and smiled softly. Walking into the night she sat on a branch and began to her shift.

The night was beautiful. The moon was still glowing bright and crickets were chirping songs of loveliness and delicacy. The air was slightly damp, meaning that it would probably begin to pour soon. Inner Sakura was busy dreaming about Sasori, which for once wasn't bothering Sakura. She smiled at the small twinkling stars and the moving object in the bushes. Wait- MOVEMENT IN THE BUSHES?!

Sakura jumped up to her feet and stared down at whatever it was that was moving. Bright, obnoxious red hair was now directly below her. But this red hair wasn't blood red like Sasori's or even Gaara's. It was almost a softer color. The girl looked like she was crying, and lost. Upon closer inspection she noticed the girl had red eyes hidden behind glasses. She wore a lavender shirt and black shorts. Sakura felt pity for the girl suddenly and jumped to face her.

"You, girl, who are you and why are you crying?" Sakura masked her pity with a monotone voice and looked directly at her. The girl's eyes were brimming with more tears.

"M-my name is K-K-Karin. I was with O-Orochimaru, until S-Sasuke-kun k-killed him. He threatened to kill me if I didn't leave." Karin burst out crying and ran to hug a confused Sakura. Sakura's pity grew stronger and she hugged the girl back, stroking down her hair. Eventually the girl let go and the pinkette noticed her stare. 'Y-you're in the A-Akatsuki?"

Sakura nodded slowly. She noticed the girl tense up quickly, as if she were deep in thought. The cherry blossom heard Deidara and Sasori slowly get up. The sun was quickly rising in the distance as Karin rushed her words out.

"I want to join the Akatsuki with you!"

A/N I'm sorry I took so damn long. Anyway, I DON'T LIKE MATSURI, NOR DO I LIKE KARIN. However, I was in a good mood when I wrote this so I was going to be nice and change her into a nicer person. But should I place her with someone from the Akatsuki? I was thinking Hidan or Deidara maybe. Or even Kisame. I need someone to help me chose. Cause I'm stumped at this point. I love you guys. Bye!