I do not own Naruto. That would be Masashi Kishimoto.
The only thing that I own is the story line. Thanks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Haruno-san! Haruno-san!"

Stopping the pink haired woman cussed under her breath, "What's up?"

Looking the dark haired nurse over, Sakura didn't bother hiding the annoyed expression she wore. Her shift had ended and she was ready to go home.

"I'm sorry to bother you, I know your shift ended twenty minutes ago," she sputtered out, looking a little flustered under her cold stare, "But I found an I.D. and wasn't sure who to return it too."

Letting out an annoyed sigh Sakura took the I.D. and shook her head, "This woman would lose her head if it wasn't attached. Thanks um… sorry I never caught your name?"

"Oh, my name's Makota," she answered cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you, Makota," Sakura shook the woman's hand politely, "You must be new here, this is the first time I've seen you here."

"I started a couple months ago."

Sakura shrugged, "Normally I make a point to meet every new employee, but its been pretty busy lately."

"Yes it has," she agreed calmly, "Well I should return to my rounds, you have a wonderful evening, Haruno-san."

Makota walked away and Sakura watched her, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Brushing it aside for the time being she continued for the door.

"Haruno-san! I'm glad you didn't get too far!"

Unable to contain her irritation she groaned, "What now?"

"Shizune-san asked if you could meet her in the Hokage's office."

"Thanks," mumbled Sakura, before bolting for the door.

She hurried as fast as possible to the Hokage Tower, taking then stairs two at time. Much to her gratefulness Shizune was already there waiting.

"You summoned?"

Tsunade rose an eyebrow at her apprentices callousness, deciding to ignore it she leaned back in her seat, "Shizune has brought to my attention that we are greatly understaffed at the hospital. She suggested – "

"We aren't going to hire more people, right?"

"Let me finish!" spat Tsunade, "She said maybe we should consider finishing Yamanaka's medical training."

Sakura's brow knit together, unsure exactly how she felt about the idea.

"I was thinking on having Shizune do the training secessions," explained Tsunade, holding up a folder for Sakura to see, "Yamanaka has basic medical training. It would be foolish not to take this opportunity to train her, since she is on house arrest."

Glancing at Shizune momentarily Sakura shrugged finally, "Sounds like you've given this a little thought."

Shizune looked away sheepishly, "You could say that."

"Go for it, but one request."

Tsunade rubbed her temples, "What?"

"Train Hinata as well."

Without another word Sakura exited the office while both woman stared at where she'd just been standing, each a little stunned.

"Has she even ever shown any interest in medical nin-jutsu?" asked Shizune.

The Godaime reached for her sake, "No idea, but her learning – basics at the very least – couldn't hurt."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shadow whimpered softly at Sakura, dark eyes following his towel clad master.

"I can't take you with," she muttered, "I already told you this."

He huffed in response.

"I'll bring you a yummy ramen snack," she bribed while putting on a clean bra and panties.

Sakura laughed as Shadow looked away, tail wagging, "Hahah! You're ridiculous, Shadow. I won't be too long."

Pulling on a clean pair of spandex shorts, she grabbed a standard issue long sleeve before buckling her apron. Shadow padded along quietly behind her.

"Going out?" Naruto wondered boredly, lying on the couch as usual.

Glancing over at the clock hanging on the wall she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Sensing this, Sasuke muted the television, "It's not a date, she would've worn something different."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Shadow and Soul are over-looking you guys. I'll be back with dinner in a little bit, alright?"

Naruto looked up, "What's for dinner?"

"Haven't decided yet, but you'll eat what I bring regardless."

Slipping on her boots she rubbed Shadow behind the ears before leaving the house.

She hurried towards the Memorial Stone, hair still a little damp from her shower. Bouncing up onto a lower tree branch she disappeared into the trees and night.

That was something she missed, the freedom running could give her. For at least a few seconds everything on her mind could be forgotten. Nothing else mattered but the wind against soft skin.

Jade eyes searched the area, she knew she was alone and so Sakura leaned against the granite stone. But as she felt herself begin to drift away was when gentle fingers grazed her cheek.

"You came…" she breathed.

Looking up into dark onyx eyes she couldn't help shed a few tears, the corner of his mouth twitched upwards, "I always do for you."

Dark onyx eyes watched her closely, she seemed different than before. Something deep inside those jade eyes seemed to sparkle again.

"Why are you here?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

He let out a long sigh, "None of us has heard from you."

"So you're risking your life because you miss me? I don't believe it. Has something happened? Is someone injured?"

There was silence for a long time. She studied him, he looked paler than usual, thinner too, he hasn't been eating properly the past few weeks.

"Something very large is coming, much bigger than the Akatsuki can handle, and I believe it is the same reason which brought me little brother back to your side. Elite shinobi have been turning up dead everywhere, for unknown reasons. From the Intel that we have, it's a very rare poison, there is no known cure."

Sakura frowned, "We've come across a handful of similar cases, but from what I've learned the majority of these attacks are farther North and only recently West."

She crossed her arms, "Do you known if it's being used via weapon or syringe?"

His cloak rustled quietly as he moved around the stone, "According to Zetsu it was close range, they didn't struggle."

"So there wasn't ever any struggle? That's strange."

"He believes that if exposed to the elements for too long it becomes ineffective and won't work. Zetsu has more research to do, but since the paper trail has run cold he plans to send everything to you. Much of the information on this toxin has conveniently gone missing."

"Conveniently?" snorted Sakura, rolling her eyes, "So why does Zetsu want me to have all his notes and the research he's done so far? He's so much better at toxic supplements than I am."

Sakura was given a look that spoke otherwise, "Zetsu may be good at creating them, but even he could not decipher Sasori's. If there is an antidote, you are the one who'se going to create it."

The weight of his statement slowly began to sink in and jade eyes widened, "Wait, you don't think…?"

"Yes, whoever this is has more than likely come to the same conclusion about you, or soon will. This may be a trap to lure you away from Konoha. You're a world known kunoichi who trained under two legendary sannin, one of whom is known for their medical skills. They will come for you."

"They wouldn't come here, that'd be suicidal!"

He blinked at her a couple times, "Only when you look at the situation narrow-mindedly. Leaf's forces are not as great as they once were; my being able to slip in and out undetected would be a good example of that."

She knew that he was right, he was always right. She wasn't looking at the bigger picture and when she did, she definitely didn't like the odds.

"I will send you what I can about this unknown poison, you may be visited by Zetsu," he said informatively.

Sakura nodded.

"Leader has requested that the moment you are given a mission to notify him immediately, along with Konan sending her love and concern," his fingers gently caressed her cheek thinking, 'As do I.'

She leaned into his hand, "Please be careful, all of you."

He nodded, gently brushing his lips against her forehead as she slipped a scroll into his hand, "My mission," she whispered.

Onyx eyes met hers and he brushed a locke of pink hair behind her ear, and then he was gone from sight.

Letting out a soft sigh she slumped back down, placing her head in her hands tiredly. The tiniest of smiles graced her lips, at least they're all safe, and he was safe.

"What did he mean about Sasuke and his reason for coming home?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Um…"

The cloaked shinobi glared at the small black bird, icy blue eyes intensifying the glare with each passing second. Walking down the long hallways he stopped before a wooden door and nudged it open with his elbow.

"Leader, un?"

The ring eyed man looked up, annoyed at the sudden intrusion.

"Yes Deidara?"

Equally irritated, the blond shinobi walked forward, gesturing to the creature perched atop his straw hat, "Yeah, this is for you, un."

"And why would this be for Leader-sama?"

Deidara stiffened at the voice, the owner who had concealed their presence until now entered from a secondary passage. She was tall for a woman and her hair was a beautiful shade of deep indigo, pinned up in a chignon and adorn with a white flower made of paper. Her eyes were a startling shade of amber, lidded in heavy dark shadow, and there was a metal stud under her bottom lip. Her appearance was atypical, but she was still stunningly beautiful.

"Konan," greeted Deidara, eyeing the woman nervously.

Her serious expression shifted from anger to curiosity and that was when Deidara noticed paper lining the doors, no one could hear what they were speaking about.

"Isn't that one of Itachi's crows?" she asked hopefully, unclasping the scroll from its back, "What's that in its mouth?"

Icy blue eyes widened, "A cherry blossom branch? Did he see her?"

Leader turned to Konan, ignoring Deidara's question, "Please make the preparations to respond to his message."

They shared an unreadable gaze before she nodded briefly and exited the room, taking the papers with her. He then turned to Deidara who stood there with his arms crossed. "I have a mission for you," he said evenly, "Earlier Itachi communicated with me that she was to be traveling to Sunagakure. You're mission will to be rendezvous with Sakura Haruno, you will give her this."

Fixed with Leaders penetrating gaze Deidara took the object in his hand. Stunned at the item, he recognized immediately as his former partners Akatsuki ring which bore the kanji for "sky" against a purple background.

"Now leave and prepare, you leave in one hour."

Shocked at his unwarned departure from Amegakure, "…Understood, un."

The blond glanced at his straw hat and huffed in annoyance, the crow remained where it was, if he could read the birds expression it was probably gloating. Exiting the room he passed by Konan, she muttered, "Hug her for me."

He closed the door quietly behind himself, and hurried to pack. Sensing her curiosity he explained, "They will rendezvous in Sunagakure, your mission to receive the eight tails will be placed on hold. I do not want you away from my side."

"Understood," she replied calmly, ignoring the small swelling in her chest, "I have a request, I wish to be present when you speak with Itachi."

"I assumed as much," he replied dismissively, motioning for her to come closer, "Upon his arrival I will determine our next steps."

Amber eyes softened, "Everything will be alright, Pein. This is Sakura we're talking about, she's grown so much."

Rough hands held pale fragile ones, "I know this, but there has been too much information pointing towards her to ignore it any longer."

She smiled softly, "We're just going to have to trust her."

"I do trust her," he said darkly, "I don't trust her village."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Would you make a move already!" groaned the exasperated blond kunoichi.

Quiet munching ceased momentarily, replaced by chuckling, "Relax, rushing through is probably the reason you've lost every time."

Baby blue eyes glared at the large shinobi seated beside her, unaware of her opponent having already made his move.

"You're turn, Yamanaka."

"Shikamaru Nara, I swear to all that is holy I will invade your mind to win this stupid game," she threatened, shifting her gaze back to the board.

They sat there in relative silence, listening to their teammate eating his bag of chips while she thought, she cried out in frustration. Flipping over the table, "I don't know how, but you cheated!"

Chōji burst out laughing, "You are so easy to beat at checkers, of course he won."

"I'm so tired of playing these stupid old games," whined Ino.

Her teammates silently agreed, but allowed her to continue ranting; Much like a child, if she didn't just get it all out at once she would be much worse later on.

"We're back!"

Immediately the three became quiet as shadows themselves.

"Do you think they know we're here?" whispered Chōji.

Ino looked at him as if he had sprouted wings, "Where else would we be? We aren't allowed to leave."

Shikamaru moved his finger to his lips to silence the bickering pair. He motioned to the three shadows that crept across the floor, shadows known only to be controlled by Shikaku Nara – Shikamaru's Father.

Looking between each other they shared an unspoken understanding, Ino rose from her chair without moving it, her teammates doing the same.

Leaping to the ceiling Ino used her chakra to fuse herself before heading for her target – Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Go you," came a gruff voice from behind, sounding rather amused, "You're going to have to do better than this to surprise us."

A smile curled up her lips, "I plan too."

Turning to a log, she disappeared.

The half-assed fight between Fathers and children continued.

Much like Kiba, the members of Team Ten were placed in custody of their parents, the well-known trio Ino-Shika- Chō.

Knocking on the door brought the playful fight to an end, Inoichi moved to answer the door.

"Ah, Shizune, what a nice surprise," he greeted, removing his hand from his side holster, "Please, come in."

"I do not believe that this is a social call," observed Shikaku, "Has something happened?"

She nodded, looking between the three Fathers and children, "There has been a request of sorts made by the Hokage."

"If the Godaime is sending our children on some suicide mission, they refuse. I refuse for them. They aren't going – "

"Enough Chōza," Shikaku began, "Let her finish."

Brown eyes met baby blue, "The request actually only concerns Ino Yamanaka."

Inoichi's gaze narrowed as he stepped protectively before his daughter, "Why?"

Ignoring the elder shinobi Shizune looked right to Ino, "It concerns your medical training. With you being banned from missions for the time being, right now would be the ideal time for you to complete the training you had started years ago. This way you'll be qualified as the medic on your team when placed in the field once again."

Ino looked like she was about to burst into tears, Shikaku patted her back," This is positive, you should do this."

She looked back to her Father, not sure if this was for real or not, "This is a step forward," he reassured.

"Yes, I would very much like to complete my training," answered Ino.

Shizune smiled softly, "I will inform the Godaime immediately then, you're training begins tomorrow morning at eight AM sharp."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata looked up as her grumbling sister entered her room. The opal eyed teen looked rather annoyed about something and curiosity was getting the better of her.

"What's up?"

Hanabi huffed, continuing her rummage through her pack, "Stupid cousin, hogging the hot springs, again."

The elder quirked an eyebrow, "Why can't you two share?"

"Ah hah!" she grinned, pulling out the item she'd been searching for, "Because it doesn't work like that anymore."

Shuffling over to Hinata she handed her a small envelope, a faint smile on her lips, "This is for you."

"Wait… is this really from – "

"From Kiba? Yeah, it's really him," interrupted Hanabi, "But before you become so engrossed in his words there is something else I needed to discuss with you."

Sensing the importance Hinata set the letter aside, her sister continued. "There has been a request made for you to be trained medically. Would you want to do this?"

Silence stretched, Hanabi's annoyance rose, finally she spoke up quietly, "Has Father okayed this?"

Hanabi scowled, "Who cares about what that bastard thinks or wants? The request was about you and what you want, it doesn't concern him in the slightest!"

Completely stunned she watched her sister run her hands though her long raven hair. She looked like she had aged older in the seconds she sat there massaging her scalp.

"They really want you to do this, Sakura personally requested you be added to the training. This isn't something you can take lightly," she said, looking at her sister tiredly, "Please don't decline this, this is a good thing Hinata. It's a step forward. You need this."

She only nodded, sad nothing, it was like her voice ceased to cooperate with her. Her eyes prickled with tears, but she refused to let them fall.

Hanabi smiled, "I'm glad."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the hundredth time he sighed and Sakura was ready to kill him, slowly with a butter knife.

"If you don't stop," she threatened.

He smirked, "Oh, am I upsetting you?"

"Stop it, Genma," warned Kakashi, feeling like he was babysitting children.

"Make me!"

"Gladly!"

Kakashi shook his head while Sakura punched Genma a good distance ahead of them. Rubbing her temples she let out an exasperated sigh, "I don't know how you or Shizune can stand being on a mission with that man without wanting to kill him. I wanted to slit his throat ten minutes into the mission!"

Chortling he patted her on the back, "Years of practice, lots of practice."

Shaking her head she was thankful when the village was finally in view, though something in the back of her mind sent her senses into high alert. Stopping she looked around the open desert, searching for something, and for a moment she thought she had seen it.

"Everything okay?" asked Kakashi, noticing her hesitation.

Sakura shook her head slowly, "Yeah… I just thought I saw something was all."

Genma laughed, "Probably just a mirage. This is a desert after all."

Giving him a mild glare she continued running with the pair, eyeing the surrounding area still. Her uncertain feeling not going away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya stared at the door, thirty minutes had probably gone by and he was still standing there staring at the wooden door. He huffed loudly with annoyance, annoyance mostly directed at himself. The Great Toad Sannin Jiraiya stopped by a door, how childish.

"Come in whenever, we know you're out there," came Naruto's voice through the door, "It's unlocked."

He groaned inwardly, of course they knew he was out there; they were S-Class level shinobi criminals whom spent their past years out in the field.

"Stupid snot-noised child," he muttered under his breath as he opened the door.

Much to his surprise Naruto was laying on the couch reading and Sasuke sat watching television.

"Been awhile, Jiraiya, how've you been?" asked Naruto, eyes still glued to his book.

He was silent for a long while, Sasuke seemed to sense the tension growing between the two and disappeared inside his bedroom; giving them the privacy that they needed.

"So Sakura and Kakashi leave on a mission and Baachan decides that you should be the one to babysit us," observed Naruto before his expression darkened somewhat, "Sensei I –"

"I don't want to hear it, not yet. I am so furious and disappointed in you that sometimes it makes it hard to see straight. You abandoned the Village, you let down so many people, but most importantly you abandoned your own teammate," said Jiraiya, looking down upon Naruto with the heat of a raging war, "I was entrusted by your Father to look after you, to teach you his ways the best I could. Your Father, who had been the Yondaime, who had trained with me until his death, who had died protecting his Village and newborn child. How will I ever be able to face him in the afterlife? How do I tell your Father I allowed you to slip out of the village and abandon it?"

Cerulean eyes starred at their hands, eyes full of shame and sadness.

"I know I taught you better than that, Naruto Uzumaki, so why have you shown me and your parents so much disrespect?"

"I didn't have a choice, my friend needed my help and I couldn't just abandon him!"

"So instead you abandon Sakura?!" he roared, unable to contain his rage, "She who stayed by your side when that Uchiha bastard left you both behind, she who healed you countless times and saved your life, she who you left behind. You left your own teammate high and dry, Sakura was your friend as well but leaving her behind was okay?"

The question was rhetorical, he knew this as his eyes rose to meet Jiraiya's, "You don't understand."

"No I don't, Team Hiruzen went through a similar situation. Orochimaru deflected from Konoha, Tsunade left not long after. I know how Sakura feels; I know what she went through and what she'll think the rest of her life. I don't understand why you would help him after everything he has caused you."

Naruto continued to look him square in the eye, "I made the choice I made, I won't wallow in self-pity because of it."

Jiraiya looked ready to kill Naruto, had it not been for the tears rolling down his whiskered face.

"I'm sorry, that's all I can say. At that moment all I could think about was what I had been told, Sakura could not come with us. She would have been killed – and not because I think of her as weak – but because of her healing abilities."

Something flashed across Jiraiya's face and he summoned one of his toads, one that Naruto recognized as Kōsuke, "Hello Jiraiya-san."

"Please inform the Godaime that I request a formal meeting with her," he ordered.

The small red toad nodded once, "Hai, Jiraiya-san!"

The toad hurried off and the toad sage turned towards the hallway, dumping out his scrolls on the ground, "Uchiha, get out here!"

The soft click of the door signaled that he was coming, walking down the hallway and rubbing sleep from his eyes, "What?"

Jiraiya looked Sasuke straight in the eye, "Why did you not want to bring the student who trained under the sannin Tsunade? Who were you afraid to run into?"

Sasuke was quiet, his gaze drifted to Naruto.

"Again I ask you why you did not bring a well-trained highly skilled medical kunoichi with you?"

"About two weeks before my team was to speak with Naruto, I had stopped at a local bar around three towns away. A group of unidentified shinobi was sharing information that they had gathered about a particular pink haired kunoichi, how many woman do you know that have pink hair?" explained Sasuke, ignoring Jiraiya rolling his eyes at the sarcasm, "They seemed to know quite a bit about her, I decided that I wouldn't risk bringing her along for the risk of drawing more attention to ourselves than necessary."

Naruto dropped down on the ground beside Jiraiya, reading some of the scrolls over his shoulder.

"What did they say?" asked Jiraiya, "Can you remember anything specific?"

"They seemed similar to Akatsuki in their goals, from what little information was gathered. Though their interests in Sakura fairly large. Mostly because of her medical skills – which in retrospect could be why I let her in Konoha – but the odd things was that their leader seemed to have different plans concerning Sakura. He didn't want her at all."

The toad sage frowned, there could be many reasons for not wanting her amongst their ranks. "Perhaps they thought she would strive to become strong – like she did in our absence – and wanted to see how far along she would get," suggested Naruto.

"Or they thought she was a threat that needed to be eliminated," countered Sasuke.

"Do remember anything specific about the leader? What he looked like? Mannerisms?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Male around my height, dark eyes and hair," answered Sasuke.

"Almost sounds like Sai," remarked Naruto, as he grazed through one of the small scrolls, "This doesn't look like your handwriting, too neat."

"It's not," he replied stiffly, almost seeming hesitant, "It's Sakura's unofficial report on the mission she lost her teammate…"

Curious, Sasuke squatted down behind Naruto, reading the scroll now as well.

X

We had taken a classified mission into Amegakure, there had been a resent spotting of Akatsuki members in the area. Tsunade requested that I go specifically and originally Kakashi Hatake would have accompanied me, but he had taken a last minute mission with Jiraiya-sensei. Instead my longtime friend and teammate, Sai, was assigned to escort me.

Sai had seemed eager, it had been about a month since either of us had seen one another because of missions and hospital duties it made it extremely difficult.

Our travel had been fairly easy; we stayed in a few hotels along the way to avoid cold nights, mostly because we were being lazy. Tsunade knew I would do this, she had said it would be okay if we did this. I'll choose warm bed over cold wet cave any day.

Upon arrival in Amegakure we came across a group of unidentified shinobi, they did not appreciate our arrival but left us alone. Since we did not want our presence widely known we avoided them for majority of the week. As far as I knew, Sai had also.

Akatsuki presence was correct. Many times in a bar known as the Green Dragon Kisame, Itachi, Konan, and Pein – their Leader – were seen conversing and drinking. As far as Sai and I knew they had not marked our presence, but the unidentified shinobi had. We were aware of them tailing us; we took precaution everywhere we went. It wasn't enough.

We received message to return home, later did we learn the message had been staged. It cost us dearly.

We had been ambushed. Sai took a lot of damage to the chest and abdomen, I had been knocked unconscious. When I finally came too I found him not far from me, bleeding heavily and also unconscious. Someone else had come to our aid, from the remnants of battle, I decided that it had undoubtedly been Akatsuki. Large gashes caused by a sword were in some bodies, others were scorched by flames. I found some soaked papers around bodies as well.

There was nothing that I could do for Sai, had I not been knocked unconscious perhaps I could have saved his life. He left everything he owned in my possession, I eased his pain. He died peacefully.

There is another organization forming out in the shinobi world, I feel that it is one that even the Akatsuki feel threatened by.

X

"No… this isn't true – Sai's not dead!"

"They fought against an unknown opponent, he died protecting her," reasoned Jiraiya, placing a hand on his once student.

Naruto had visibly stiffened beneath his sensei's touch, holding his head between his hands, "That's why he wasn't there, that's why he hasn't visited yet. I thought he was that angry with me."

Knowing this would go no further with Naruto upset like this Jiraiya returned the scrolls to his bag.

"I know this won't make it any easier, but Sakura managed to alleviate the pain, he felt nothing when he died –"

"THAT DOEN'ST CHANGE ANYTHING!" yelled Naruto, "Sai is dead, he's gone, and I wasn't there! I should have been there to say goodbye – I should have been there!"

Silence.

"He was there for us when Sasuke left, he was there for Sakura when we left, he was the one who was there for her. He helped her through everything," continued Naruto, tears streaming down his face, "First we find out Sakura is alive, but she could care less about whether or not we're okay. Not once has she asked us how we are doing and now I find out that Sai is dead."

"Don't you dare accuse Sakura of not caring," growled Jiraiya, "Perhaps you should stop acting like a selfish brat and think about all that she has done for you. Think about it, Uzumaki. You and the Uchiha were the first removed from prison and into safe houses – Sakura knows how uncomfortable they are – then she makes sure all your belongs are here. You left and many threatened to burn down the Uchiha Compound and your apartment. Sakura was there, gathering all your belongings and kept them safe."

Naruto stared wide-eyed at his former sensei. Jiraiya let out a small sigh, those large cerulean eyes looked up at him with so much sorrow it made his heart ache, "You left Sakura behind for many years, you need to earn back her forgiveness. That isn't something that happens just overnight, it takes time. I know that she will one day forgive you, both of you, but until then you will just have to wait."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura felt a strange yet familiar tingle of chakra not too far off, looking around her empty room she couldn't help be feel a little irritated. Deciding she would accept the challenge Sakura changed her shirt to a fitted long-sleeved black shirt and slipped on her boots. Grabbing her pack she headed for the main living area of the shared hotel room.

"Going out?" questioned Kakashi.

"Oh! I bet she's got a hot date with the Kazekage," teased Genma, wriggling his eyebrows, "I saw the way you two were acting. So cute and love – "

"Genma!"

Startled, he looked to the aloof copy ninja. Sakura met Kakashi's gaze with an unreadable expression. "Don't be too long," instructed Kakashi.

"Of course," she answered, closing the door quietly behind her.

Sensing the strange chakra again she hurried out the hotel and down the street. Thankfully the sun was almost set and she would be able to move about the shadows easier.

She jumped, hearing that familiar whoosh of air, a kunai flying right past her cheek. Every muscle in her body tensed and she pushed her legs harder, moving faster until she was bolting out into the never-ending desert.

Done running she slammed her boot onto the ground, sand flying everywhere and creating the perfect smoke screen as she masked her presence tot eh attacker. She couldn't help but smirk when she felt the cool tip of a kunai press to her neck, pale blond hair fluttering around them both.

"You are one speedy little kunoichi, yeah," he purred, hot breath against her ear.

"Who doesn't love the thrill of a chase?" she countered, pushing the weapon from her throat and turning around in his arms.

Her smirked, dropping the kunai in the sand while Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and nearly knocked him over, but he didn't care. She smiled against his skin, taking in his warm familiar scent, she whispered, "I missed you."

Silently he brought his hand up to her cheek, small lips parted and a tongue stuck out and licked her cheek. Sakura squealed out in surprise.

"Hey!"

"Do you still miss me, un?" he asked, looking incredibly serious if it weren't for those icy blue eyes sparkling gleefully.

Rolling her eyes she playfully punched his arm, "Nobody could ever compare to your charisma."

Deidara wriggled his eyebrows and Sakura hugged him again, "So why're you here? It must be something pretty important for Leader to send you to Suna, especially after everything that happened here."

He shrugged. "Leader trusts me," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh? And why's that?" teased Sakura.

Deidara did his trademark frown-pout, "You're being mean, un."

Smiling she gently patted his cheek, "So why did he send you? What's going on?"

"Leader wanted me to deliver this to you…"

She watched him with mild skepticism as he pulled an item from his pocket, small enough to be concealed in his fist. Without even asking he grasped her hand and slid the cold metal onto her left little finger.

The symbol flared brightly and then she gasped as a sharp flood of sensation coursed rapidly through her body. It was like being burned and dunked in ice water at the same time. It hurt and she could feel her knees buckle, had it not been for Deidara she would have dropped to the ground. She stared at her trembling hand as her fingernails began to burn, darkening and turning black before her eyes.

"I forgot what that felt like," she murmured, regaining her balance, "Why is he giving it back?"

"This ring grants you access to our bases and forms a telepathic link that allows us to communicate when physical gathering isn't possible, un," he answered, sounding a little miffed, "I guess you're back."

Sakura shook her head, "I never left, you know that. Remember?"

"Once an Akatsuki, always an Akatsuki," snorted Deidara, rubbing her hands in his, "I wish things were different, un."

Jade eyes dropped to the ground, "Me too."

"Do you need to head back soon?" he wondered, eyeing the village in the distance, "I don't want the silver-haired freak chasing me again."

At that Sakura couldn't help but laugh a little. "Kakashi is not a freak, he was just doing his job," she defended, "But yeah, I probably need to head back."

Nodding, he pulled her tight against his chest. Burying his nose in her hair, "Whatever is happening, un. Promise me that you'll make it to the end."

A few tears slipped down her cheek, "I'll only keep mine if you keep yours."

Deidara gave a small satisfied sigh and slid his hand under her chin, lifting her gaze to his and captured her lips. He could feel her relax against him.

"You're a reckless, resk-taker," she murmered into his ear, "And I love it."

Deidara's smirk only widened as he threw a small bird into the air. Leaping up onto his creation he waved over his shoulder, "Look for me on the horizon!"

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(1) - Cover Photo – Created ByStray Ink 92, title "Never Alone"

(2) – Created by Theos-Kengen, titled "Ryokugan"

(3) – Hinata/Hanabi 's appeance, visit Cynchick at Deviantart. Will of Fire.