Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it ever happens in the common course of nature."- David Hume.

She stared up at the sky, the first signs of dawn tinting the clouds behind the leaves above her pink. No, she definitely wouldn't sleep tonight.

Sakura watched the sunrise meditatively, her knees pulled against her chest. It was a crisp morning, her breath frosting a little in the cold air. It may be early summer, but the mornings were just like winter this far north.

She thought about her team, wondering if they had found Sasuke. Were they okay? She couldn't help but worry sometimes, and the dreams didn't help. Last night's dream wasn't the first of that kind to invade her mind, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last, but it had certainly been the most graphic one to date. There had never been intestines before. She shuddered at the unpleasant memory.

Deidara shuffled in his sleep, making little snuffling noises into his cloak, which was partially covering his face. She preferred him when he was asleep, she decided with a small smile on her lips.

With the morning came the rainclouds, approaching slowly but steadily with the cold breeze that ruffled her hair and made her shiver a little within her cloak. Sakura loved the rain, but only from behind the protection of a window, where she could listen to the soothing sound without getting rained on.

"Deidara, we should get going." She called over to the sleeping man, still looking apprehensively at the sky. They were going to get wet.

He seemed to have been nearing wakefulness anyway, as he was up and stretching like a cat in seconds. He squinted at the oncoming clouds. The dark grey mass flickered with lightning in the distance, promising a storm.

"Looks like rain, yeah..." He was facing towards her, but looking up at the sky. When the sound of thunder reached them, he smiled. He seemed to like the idea of a thunderstorm. A flash of far away lightning reflected of his face, making his eyes sparkle.

"We need to go." She stood up, pulling her cloak around her shoulders once more. "We can cut nearer to the villages now, since the storm will work in our favour."

"That's true, yeah, but one thing first." He pointed to his hair. "We had a deal."

Sakura froze. She had forgotten about that. She wished she hadn't let him rile her up, and make a bet she really, really didn't want to do. She sighed, and walked over to him. He turned round, grinning like a kid.

"You're too tall." She told him, hoping he wouldn't want to sit down, and she could walk away with her ego unscathed. He sat down. Crossly, she ran her fingers through his hair, tugging a little in revenge. It was extremely soft, she noticed.

She worked out the knots with her hands, surprised to find that she actually enjoyed the feel of his long pretty hair between her fingers. What style would he want, she mused, thinking back to the time in the cave. He had worn an odd ponytail of some sorts. It hadn't suited him. She decided to give him just a normal ponytail at the back of his head, combing it back with her fingers and fastening it with her hair tie.

He turned around, and she was struck by how attractive he was, now that you could see his masculine jaw line. Before, he had looked too feminine for her tastes, but now, if he had been anyone else, she would have drooled.

She was well aware that they should take the opportunity of being less traceable to make as much progress as they could. Also, she wasn't sure being alone with him for much longer would be a good idea. She still didn't know how to feel about last night, the embarrassment and confusion still vivid in her memory. He had tried to comfort her, in his own unexpectedly awkward way. Why on earth had he done that? She couldn't think of anything he could gain from it.

The metal clip on her cloak wouldn't clip shut properly, and fell to the ground as she fumbled with it. Deidara raised an eyebrow as she bent to pick it up, probably amused at her clumsiness. She managed to fasten it with no problem the second time, glaring at the little clip. Everything seemed to conspire against her when she was with the annoyingly nimble artist.

She slipped the shoulder straps of her pack around her shoulders, and leapt towards the approaching storm. She knew he was following by his light footsteps, a few paces behind her. Despite his infuriating arrogance, she did kind of enjoy his company, which was why she was feeling so unsettled. She needed to remember who they were, and that they were not friends.

They hadn't been travelling for long, leaping from one tall branch to another when they hit the storm. Sakura had seen many storms, but this had to be one of the most violent yet.

The warm summer rain pounded with almost painful force against her face, unprotected by her hood as she drove forwards. The mossy bark of the trees had become slippery like seaweed, making it too dangerous to travel at a fast pace. They were forced to slow down, and Sakura's feet kept on sliding off the branches, and she nearly fell more than once.

"Deidara." She shouted over the sound of thunder, and the roaring sound of the raindrops hitting the leaves above her.

"What is it, hm?" The bastard seemed unaffected, even pleased with their situation, a playful grin on his dripping face.

"Let's travel on the forest floor." She said, hoping he hadn't seen her slipping earlier. "We can go faster."

He didn't say anything, and they began to descend the trees down to the ground. The effect of the rain was less severe due to the shelter of the tall trees, and Sakura could see more clearly. The trees flew past them as they sped through the forest, the only thing remaining constant was the rain and each other's presence.


Tsunade looked out over Konoha thoughtfully, her gaze spanning the many buildings and the green hills beyond them. Team Kakashi was still searching for Sasuke, but Pakkun had appeared at her window that morning, with a message from Kakashi.

Dear Esteemed Hokage,

Sakura is on her way back to Konoha with Deidara of the Akatsuki. We have gone on ahead. I gave her the chakra bind, so she may not run into problems. He looked very limp.

Kakashi

P.S- It was her idea.

She wanted Sakura to come home. To her, Sakura was worth more than any Akatsuki. She would choose a safe, cheerful Sakura over a little information any day. She didn't even know why Sakura was bothering; this Deidara probably couldn't tell them any more than they already knew.

Tsunade sighed as she crumpled the letter that was clutched in her hand. How could Kakashi just leave her apprentice at the mercy of an Akatsuki? She had faith in Sakura's strength, but Sakura was no S-class nin. She hadn't even made jounin yet. What's more, the Akatsuki she had in custody was a mystery. He was supposed to be dead, and little was known about his past, or his motives.

She was worried.


The travelling pair had stopped. There was a heavy smell of smoke in the air which was dulled slightly by the fresh rain, but it was imposing none the less. What's more, the smoke smelled like flesh. Sakura couldn't ignore it.

Deidara looked over at Sakura questioningly, wondering if she wanted to check it out. She nodded at him, a hint of anxiousness in the gesture. The village was somewhere outside Sound, but not quite in Lightning, so she didn't know very much about it. What she did know was that villages in unclaimed border land were very dangerous places to live. They were often subject to pillaging and theft, as there was no threat of retribution to any bandits or rogue ninjas. There was no hidden village to take revenge.

They approached the village, slowing down when they could see the smoke, the blurred outlines of houses shimmering in the dark heat, the rain hissing as it hit embers.

Sakura cast out her chakra, hoping to find some civilian signatures. Finding none, she walked towards the village, dread in every step.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? There could still be enemies hanging around, yeah." His hand was on her arm, tugging gently. She jumped at the touch, looking up at him. Their eyes met, her big green ones meeting his deep blue, the rain hitting the soft earth around them. It was an effort for her to look away from his hypnotising gaze.

"It's my duty." She tugged her arm gently, and he let go. She had a nagging hope that maybe; just maybe there might be someone alive. Maybe she couldn't sense their chakra because they were so weak. She entered the village apprehensively, looking around.

The first people she saw were two charred corpses, strung up by their necks from the beams of a decimated house that was still smoking despite the rain. She tried not to look, concentrating hard instead on putting one foot in front of the other, searching for a movement, a sound; something she could do.

The only thing that moved was Deidara, walking by her side. He watched her as the pain on her face flickered into hope, as she seemed to see something, then back into despair at the false alarm. How could someone this expressive be a ninja? He wondered. She seemed so open, so different from anything he knew.

Sakura moved among the skeletal ruins, her tears mixing with the rain as they fell. Children lay in pieces on the soggy ground.

"Sakura..." Deidara began, and found he couldn't speak when she turned to face him. The expression on her face was so heartbreaking, he felt like he needed to do something, anything, to make it stop. Her big eyes were wide with trauma, and her pink bottom lip trembled ever so slightly. The rain made her hair cling to her face, the dripping strands hanging in her eyes.

"Let's get out of here."

No sooner had she spoken, and two shuriken came slicing through the air straight towards her. Deidara grabbed her and leapt out of the way, pulling her close as they landed on a branch. It looked as though there were some stragglers; probably hanging behind to rob the first people who came to investigate.

Sakura seemed to come out of her daze, looking around uneasily for the source of the attack as she found herself pressed against a tree with Deidara. She cast out her chakra again.

"There are six." She said quietly. She lifted her hand, shaking slightly. "Two there," she moved her hand and pointed in a different direction. "And four there."

He reached into her equipment pouch, pulling out two exploding tags and three shuriken. She jumped a little as his hand brushed her inner thigh. Whipping out the kunai he had taken before, he dashed off towards the area where four of the enemies were lurking.

She supposed the other two were for her. She shook her head to get rid of her daze. She needed to fight now. She kicked off the branch towards the enemies, charging her fists with chakra as she drew close. It seemed they had seen her coming, as a few sharp objects flew towards her. She dodged them easily, twisting her body round the missiles.

As soon as she could see the men, she realised how angry she was. They had killed those innocent people. They had committed horrible atrocities and she wanted to punish them. She felt the rage bubble up inside of her as the memory of the small limbs in the mud resurfaced.

When she reached them, the men looked terrified. They had expected the travellers to be easy prey, not high class ninjas.

She smashed her chakra-enforced fist into the first one's chest, feeling his sternum crack and cave inwards, crushing his own organs. She punched the second one straight in the face, feeling slightly disgusted as his head was ripped off by the impact, arterial blood still pumping out of his neck, his heart still beating. The murderers had been no match for her.

The anger and despair getting the better of her, she screamed, punching the ground as hard as she could, feeling the ground ripple and break up around her. She looked at her bloody hands with confusion, tears pouring down her face. That was her first kill, and it was not what she had expected.

She was unaware of a pair of beautiful blue eyes watching her through the trees, obscured by the rain, fascinated.

She remained oblivious as he approached slowly. She only looked up when he was right in front of her. She felt herself being pulled into a warm embrace, a contrast to the icy rain still pounding at her. His strong arms held firm against her back, pulling her close and keeping her there, even as she tried to pull away. After a small struggle she gave in and leaned into his warmth, trusting him, just for a second.

"It's alright Sakura, yeah..."


They had found a cave about half a mile from the burned village, and had set up camp there for the night. They had hung their cloaks near the entrance in an attempt to dry them, and keep out the chilling wind.

Sakura was curled up, facing the wall. He couldn't tell if she was awake or not.

Back in that village, he had held her until she had stopped crying, holding her small shaking form in his arms. He had been amazed at how fragile she seemed, just like when she had her nightmare. Other than those times, all he could see was a strong, capable- if not slightly clumsy kunoichi who knew how to handle herself.

When he had seen her kill those men, he had been entranced by her fighting style; the way her fists seemed to almost make explosions as she touched the men. She had been beautiful, even though she was covered in blood- no especially because she was covered in blood. It suited her.

He looked over at her small body, trying to decide on her age. Right now, she looked about twelve, he decided. But before, when she had been healing him, he had thought she was around his age despite her small stature. She had just seemed so efficient and confident. Also, when she had pinned him at the inn, he was sure she was at least eighteen. Now however, he wasn't sure.

He noticed her shaking violently, though he couldn't tell if she was crying or shivering from the cold. He leaned over her, trying to see her face. There were tears leaking from her closed eyes. She seemed to be asleep. He touched her bare shoulder with his fingertips, checking her temperature. Her skin was ice-cold. A resigned sigh escaped his lips; if she really was as young as she looked right now, he thought, then she was going to think he was a paedophile. He lay down next to her and curled is body around her smaller one, quelling her shivering with his body heat.

If she got pneumonia and died, he'd be in trouble, he justified to himself.

Her head was under his chin, and her damp hair was soft on his neck. She smelled like flowers and rain, with just a trace of blood. Her shivering was beginning to subside, but he didn't feel like letting go; he was so comfortable. One of his hands unconsciously traced her upper arm, feeling the goose bumps gradually becoming smooth. She sighed in her sleep and snuggled into him.

He smiled at her, unused to anybody treating him with anything other than trepidation or hatred- except for Akatsuki. Even then, he wasn't friends with any of them, they were just there. He remembered the first time he met Sasori, and how he had mocked his art. Things had never gotten any closer than that between them. Tobi, on the other hand, had always been trying to gain his "sempai's" approval. Maybe he should have been kinder to Tobi. It could have been nice to have a friend.

Wait, what was he thinking? He always made a point to not think of the past if he could help it, and definitely not regret anything. However, here he was, reminiscing like an old woman. He grunted and shook his head to get rid of his annoying thoughts, turning his thoughts instead to explosions. Now where could he get some clay? Not that it would matter with the chakra bind. Maybe he could get her to trust him enough to take it off... She shuffled a little, trying to get comfortable. She made a kittenish noise and pawed a little at his chest.

A little pang of guilt came from somewhere he didn't know was there. He shouldn't feel guilty, he told himself. She's the one who kidnapped him. "But didn't she save your life, hm?" A little voice in the back of his mind asked him. Yes, he supposed, but only for her own purposes. He wouldn't feel guilty. He refused to feel guilty. She wrapped her arms around his torso, sighing with what sounded like contentment.

He just hoped he woke up first.

A/N: You may have noticed that I changed all his "un's" to "yeah's". I just thought it sounded better.

Sorry for how short the chapter is... It had to end there though!!

As always, I would love to hear from you, you cute cute readers!