Through My Skin

Chapter Two: The Running Free

Sakura was about three hours out of Iwa. So far her little escape wasn't nearly as adventurous as she thought it would be. She had set up camp twice. Both in very secluded parts of the forests and mountains, both in nice weather and with no trouble coming her way. Once. She was almost worried. Her luck had it so she was almost always finding trouble on her doorstep- why is this any different? She didn't want to think about all of this depressing crap. Not when she was so close to starting over. It had her heart pumping harder than the hardest work out she's ever had.

She stopped on the nearest tree and looked around her. The land was bumpy with rocks and craters. The trees were either old and thick or new and stringy. She smiled. The one thing she noticed that wasn't the land was hoe peaceful it was. She could only hear birds and bugs in the evening night.

She checked her clock and took note that it was nearing six o clock at night. She wondered how fishy she'd look coming into town and getting a hotel room so late at night. At least she didn't have a man with her for anyone to consider her a prostitute. She took a few deep breaths then pounded on.

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Deidara had hit town almost a day and a half before her. It always helps to have a flying clay bird to take you to your destination. He got into town, bought a small one bedroom apartment with the money the Akatsuki granted him.

He had been told the mission would take a while to complete. He had not been told why. He also had been told to find a job within the village. This, Deidara really did not want to do. Most jobs would require him to remove his gloves and reveal his trait. That would give him up for who he really is.

During this day and a half in the village he kept himself locked up in the new apartment. He was going to wait as patiently as he could for his next orders- that and eat a lot of ramen.

On the eve of his second night he got a note from Tobi. After a quick decoding he read it over quickly. What he read did not please him one bit.

"Tobi is so excited for this mission! Leader says you have to get her to fall in love with you! Congratulations!" the short note read. Deidara felt himself go white with terror. "Also, I was told she had finally arrived! Leader says to get to work!"

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Sakura dropped her stuff on the stiff motel bed. The room was dimly lit, but clean which is all she could ask for at this time. She was more pleased to have a shower and a bed to sleep in instead of a little sleeping bag. She pulled out a few of her shower things and went to the kitchen, a smile on her face.

She let herself forget the terror she left behind and soak in the warm water. After her shower she crawled into the bed. She allowed sleep to take over her almost instantly. In the morning she pulled on a clean outfit and made sure her head band was tied proudly on her head. She was going to go to the hospital and see if she can't stuff her way into the system. She was thinking she'd either have to give a false name or say that Tsunade was not allowing her to achieve was she could and pity her way in.

She stood outside of the Hospital nervously, but when her eyes wandered to a sign she found something that made her oh so happy. They were looking for new nurses. Sakura could do that. She walked in and found the receptionist who looked up at her with raised eyebrows.

"Yes?"

"I was hoping to apply for the nursing job." Sakura said with a smile.

"Fill this out and we'll give you a call." The tiny red head behind the counter said, handing Sakura a rather large packet. Sakura didn't even take a second glance, just sat down and filled everything out. She but the motel's phone number and address and decided to put her name. She was going to have to have a talk with the supervisor if she gets hired on her namesake alone. She turned in her paper and watched the receptionists eyes go wide at her name. Sakura smiled and left the hospital, feeling confident that she will have a job.

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"She's fast." Deidara spoke to himself over a bowl of noodles. There was a simple restaurant across the street from the hospital. It took the pink-haired girl about twenty minutes to walk in and out. No doubt looking for a career. He slurped the rest of his noodles down and left the bill on the table, then followed after her. He was grumbling to himself. He was going to have to talk to her as soon as possible. He didn't know how she worked. She may take the longest time to fall in love…or at least get close enough to it.

She stopped into a little café. It was slightly busy. He followed her in and stood two people behind her as she ordered her drink. After he received his he noticed where she sat. It was a tall bar table, her face turned to look outside into the peaceful day. He was frozen. The light hit her in such a way that he wanted nothing more to do but sculpt her and watch it implode on itself. He broke out of his trance and moved closer to her.

"Excuse me.." He said, catching her attention. She looked up at him with questioning eyes but a sincere smile on her lips.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you would allow me to sit with you. You see, I caught a glimpse of you and it just begs to be drawn."

Sakura's cheeks flared. He could almost smirk. Of course she'd fall for something like that. She nodded. "Go a-ahead and sit."

He smiled and sat down, pulling a pencil out of his uniform and stretched a napkin out in between them.

"So, may I know your name?" He asked, as he started to form the basic sketch.

"It's Sakura." She said. Her head was still but her emerald eyes scanned every inch of the paper and his face. "May I know yours?"

"Daisuke." He said not missing a bit. He wanted to cringe at the terribly generic name, but not a muscle moved on his features. "How long have you been here, I would have noticed a rather beautiful shade of hair bouncing around this city earlier."

"Oh, well only the last day actually. I've been looking for a more active medical career. I used to live in the fire country, but the hospital was mostly slow. It gets kind of boring." She said, her eyes growing soft with a bit of sadness. Deidara made sure to nod at every part of this. He was finished with the basic outlines of her features when he heard her let out a little gasp. "You did all of that in three minutes?"

Deidara's head popped up and searched her face. She was honestly in awe. "Yes. Though, this could be better. I haven't started to shade yet. I'm more of a sculptor myself. I would love to make a bust out of you but I figured you wouldn't spare the time for that."

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'A bust?' She knew what that meant, but she was just so…shocked. Here this pretty man just comes strolling up to her wanting to make pieces of art out of her face. It was the ultimate compliment in Sakura's book. She wondered if she would take him up on this little idea. She shut her mind off. She'd do it. It's a time for change.

"I would love to spare time for it, if you'd still want me to."

She watched his eyes light up. 'such a pretty blue' She thought to herself.

"Really? That is amazing." His smile brightened as well. He wrote his address and phone number on the napkin where her face was currently etched and handed it to her. "Give me a call when you're free and we'll set something up, yeah?"

Sakura couldn't help but nod. "Yeah."

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End of Chapter two