Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto


"A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession. "- Albert Camus


"Sakura... Look at where we are, yeah."

She looked, and couldn't believe what she saw. Beneath her, though very dark, were the distinctive red cliffs just outside of Fire country's border. They were heading straight for Konoha.


"We're going to Konoha? But... I don't understand." She searched his face for answers, finding only amusement on his features. He only smiled more at her bewilderment, squeezing her shoulders encouragingly. He didn't want her jumping again. The truth was he was still reeling at the realisation that it had been her first kiss. Fifteen and never been kissed? He supposed stranger things had happened.

"You could say I've got motives of my own, yeah." He let go of her shoulders, and she swayed a little at the loss of contact.

"And you won't tell me what they are?" She asked, sighing a little tiredly.

"No." He replied. For once his trademark smirk was absent.

"Then at least tell me something; will it hurt Konoha?" Her tone was serious now. Her village was the most important thing in the world to her now. She would kill to protect it, though the thought of killing Deidara made her shudder, even though he was her enemy. She knew too much about him to consider him just another threat that needed to be removed.

He paused for a moment, as if not sure how to answer, before frowning slightly.

"No." He replied, sounding more sure of his answer than he looked. He seemed troubled, his eyes no longer focused on hers, settling instead on the pinkening horizon.

A hard gust of wind caused Sakura to lose her balance, making put her hands down either side of her for balance. She felt a painful tug at the skin of her back; the stitches were still there. Deidara noticed her grimace.

"What's wrong, hmm? Didn't you heal yourself properly?" His arm was on her shoulder once again, steadying her against the wind. She felt much safer like this. If it was anyone else, she would shove them off and call them a chauvinist pig, but this was different. She knew that in his own odd, warped way, he respected her and would never call her weak just because she was a girl. Though if she thought deeper into it, he probably didn't go around kissing boys to shut them up... She felt her cheeks darken at the thought.

"I'm fine. It's just that the stitches are still there. They kind of hurt." Now that the skin had healed around them, they were going to be difficult to remove, especially considering the location. She would find it hard to do something so fiddly on her back, despite her flexibility.

"I'll take them out, yeah. It's only fair. I put them in to start with."

Sakura was sure there was something wrong with that logic, but she decided to count her blessings.

Looking around, she noticed that they had climbed far higher in the time since she had jumped. She was confronted with one of the most beautiful, yet confusing things she had ever seen. The sun was beginning to rise, shedding a few rose-tinted rays upon them. That in itself was stunning, but the thing which made her speechless, was that she could still see the stars, embedded in the candyfloss pink sky like glitter.

Deidara noticed her looking, and grinned, also tilting his head back to observe the breathtaking view.

"You get used to it. It happens every day if you're this high up, yeah." He quickly lost interest in the sky, focusing instead on her expression.

Her lips were slightly parted; her head tipped back leaving the pale skin of her neck exposed. She seemed totally absorbed in the moment. She seemed to notice him staring, as she turned her head towards him, her eyes still partially obscured by her hair.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, turning her body round to face him.

"No, yeah." He replied, a little bemused. She laughed at his answer, his glare making his slip seem even cuter.

"No." He said again, before squinting in the general direction of Fire Country. "I was just wondering how far we are from Konoha. I've never been there before."

Sakura was surprised. He seemed so worldly; she couldn't imagine him never having visited the most influential ninja village this side of the great sea. Though considering the bounty on his head, it would be awkward to go sightseeing when you couldn't let your guard down for a second.

"On foot at an average speed... About three hours." She could recognise the hills and rivers, although it was disconcerting seeing them from this angle.

"Then under an hour travelling like this, yeah." He said conceitedly, clearly proud of his creation's speed. Sakura smiled at his boasting, and was secretly impressed. Konoha didn't have anything like this jutsu. The closest thing they had was Sai's ink birds, but they were flimsy and impractical.

"So what are you going to do when you reach Konoha? " Sakura was still mystified as to why he would enter enemy lands, but she had given up trying to understand him for the time being.

"I want to talk to someone important. I have an unusual proposal, yeah." His gaze had become distant again, staring out at the glowing expanse of forest.

"You'll want to see the Hokage then, my Shishou. She's fair and will hear you out." Despite her words, she could imagine how Tsunade and Deidara's meeting would probably go. She smiled a little at the thought of Deidara being punched out of Hokage Tower like Naruto was so often.

"Seriously? The Hokage's your Shishou?" Deidara looked impressed. "How the hell did that happen, yeah?"

"I asked her." Sakura remembered the day vividly. It was the day she'd decided never to be a burden to anyone again, the same day that most of her naiveté and innocence had up and left along with her team. "She understood why I wanted to train so much. It wasn't easy being on a team full of prodigies."

"I know you were teamed with the Copy Ninja and the Kyuubi... Who else was on your team?" He looked thoughtful, a faint frown creasing his forehead.

Sakura paused for a moment, unsure if she should answer or not, deciding she should. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Deidara's reaction wasn't as bad as she had anticipated, his mouth merely twisting into a grimace of distaste. "I thought so, yeah."

Sakura was surprised. She thought that if he'd know her previous relationship to Sasuke he'd have been a lot more hostile towards her. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"I didn't see any reason too. You're not defined by who your team is. I hate stuck up bastards like him, yeah." The expression of his face was hardened, and she got the feeling he was talking about more than just Sasuke. "People should earn their power; it's worth nothing if you're born with it."

Sakura couldn't help but agree with Deidara's last statement, and had a hunch that he would get on well with Lee and Gai-sensei.

"That's very true." She said after consideration, remembering her own training with Tsunade. She felt very much as though she had earned the power she commanded, and had the scars to show for it.

She smiled when she realised that she hadn't reacted to him calling Sasuke a bastard; if she'd heard that a few months ago she would probably have started a fight over a comment like that. As it was now, she had barely even noticed the insult.

They spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, Sakura still fascinated by the constantly changing views. She noticed Deidara fiddling with something, and turned to see him holding a spidery white butterfly.

"What's that?" She asked, nodding at the delicate creature.

"This?" He held it closer to her. "It's my own unique jutsu, yeah. My art."

She reached out to touch it, question in her eyes. He nodded at her, an excited grin showing his straight white teeth. Just as she was about to pick it up, it fluttered to life, startling her. The little white creature descended back down, landing weightlessly on her hand, allowing her to peer closely at it.

"Deidara, this is incredible!" She exclaimed, fascinated by the intricate structure of the thin wings and body. He could really make something like this out of clay?

"I haven't done it yet... Watch this, yeah." The clay butterfly used its paper-thin wings to once again take to the air, this time travelling further away. Sakura noticed that the bird they were sitting on was no longer moving, instead flapping steadily to remain in the same spot. It looked like Deidara wanted to show off.

"Katsu!"

The tiny creature suddenly detonated, bursting with a loud pop into a huge mass of bright green sparkles. She was entranced completely for a moment, astounded by the unexpected beauty before it shimmered away as if it had never been.

"Deidara..." She said softly, still reeling from the captivating display he had showed her.

"I normally do them bigger, yeah..." He said, watching her reaction carefully. "But we're pretty close to Konoha."

The way he was reading her face, trying to see if she was impressed, reminded her of Lee or Naruto showing her a new move.

Then the thought of Deidara in one of those green spandex training suit crossed her mind.

Sakura smiled, a giggle bubbling up inside her that she couldn't suppress. His eyes narrowed and she tried to stop laughing when she realised what he was probably thinking. He probably thought she was making fun of him, which wasn't so.

"What's funny, hmm?" He was pulling away from her, the tenseness in his strong shoulders showing unmistakable irritation. She stopped laughing, regretting humiliating him; albeit unintentionally. He had clearly not expected her to laugh at him.

"Deidara..." She frowned, thinking for a moment before she grabbed his face with her hands, bringing it close to her own. She pulled his bangs to the side, making his eyes seek out hers in curiosity. She could see them better like this, and the intense blueness seemed luminous, his beauty marred only by the small burn scar covering his left eye.

Ignoring the slightly shocked expression on his face as her hands began to glow, she set to work on repairing the skin around his eye, using her chakra to regenerate the tissue and smooth it over. Though her eyes were closed as she worked, she could feel the skin becoming soft and even beneath her finger tips. She opened her eyes, looking over her work.

She had never felt this satisfied with a healing before, she realised, as she took in the details of Deidara's newly perfected face. It was still very near to her own, and she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Why... Yeah?" He said softly, one hand reaching up to brush her hair from her eyes, remaining there to cup her cheek.

"Consider it an exchange," She replied, ignoring the burning blush of her cheeks and instead focusing on Deidara. "For showing me something so beautiful."

"You really liked it?" He asked with a grin, though he still sounded a little incredulous. She nodded with a smile, uncertain of what to say. He was one of the most over-confident, arrogant people she had ever met, yet the incandescent eyes fixed on hers flickered with an almost childlike vulnerability.

"You're the first person to say that, yeah."

Neither of them were showing any signs of moving away from each other. They were so close that she could feel the heat coming off his body. She felt one of his hands moving up her arm, coming to rest on her shoulder, steadying her, while the other lay on her back, pulling her closer.

Her eyes were closed; she knew that when she opened them things were going to change. Their fleeting partnership was about to come to an end, and he would be taken in for questioning by Konoha. She couldn't understand why there was such an aching sadness in her chest; she was just doing what she intended to do from the start, albeit in an unconventional manner.

She reached her hand up to his chest, letting it rest there. She could feel his heart beating with the steady rise and fall, the strong thudding reminding her of when she found him literally torn apart by his own hatred. Deidara, although he could hate, and could avenge and kill was so different from Sasuke. He smiled without irony and the constant teasing he gave her didn't make her feel belittled; instead she felt like he treated her as an equal. That was more than she could say for even her own teammates. She would be sad to end their journey, but it had always been inevitable.

Using the hand on his warm chest, she gently pushed him away from her. She opened her eyes blearily. It may have just been that she had very little experience with men, but she was finding how close he was almost intoxicating.

"We're near Konoha." Her small voice broke the silence, the world once again coming crashing down upon their shoulders. "We should land."

"We don't want to get shot down by some kunai-happy genin, yeah." He agreed, letting go of her and turning to the front of their vessel. Her shoulder felt cold where his hand had been, missing the contact already.

The forest was quiet, the spot where they had landed seeming peaceful. It felt almost surreal being this close to home after the whole ordeal.

Sakura hopped off the giant bird, wincing as she landed with failed grace on the dead leaves, her hands on the floor for balance. The stitches were tugging painfully on her newly-healed wounds and they were affecting her movement. Deidara was watching her, obviously amused at her landing.

"Need some help there, hm?" He asked, walking over to her with a hand proffered. Sakura ignored his hand and stood up herself, paying no attention to the slight shake in her knees. Looking up at him through her hair, she smiled in defiance.

"Could you take out my stitches now please?" She didn't like to ask for help, but he had already offered earlier. Besides, it's not like he hadn't been in the same situation just days ago. She'd had bigger blows to her pride.

He grinned. "Sure Kitten, but you'll need to lie down. The stitches will be too tight to take out if you're standing up, yeah." She gritted her teeth, but knew he was right. She had hoped he'd just take them out there and then, but it looked like he wanted to do things properly.

She took off her cloak and laid it on the ground in front of her. At least she wouldn't be lying in the muddy leaves. She unzipped her top and lay face down on the rough cotton, placing her hands under her chin. She wasn't wearing any chest bindings. She guessed Deidara must have taken them off to treat her wounds. It made sense that he wouldn't know how to re-tie them.

The image of him undressing her suddenly crossed her mind, and the mental imagery made blood rush to her face. At least he couldn't see her blush in this position. She knew she shouldn't be embarrassed; it was just a medical procedure and he'd already seen more than her naked back in the cave.

Hearing nothing from Deidara for once, she chanced a quick look over her shoulder. He was turned away from her, his arms folded, looking bored. He was being a gentleman? The surprises really did keep on coming with this guy.

"Can I turn around yet, yeah?" His tone wasn't mocking, like she thought it might have been; instead he seemed perfectly serious and respectful. Maybe the threats from last time had worked?

"Hn." She grunted in confirmation, turning her head forwards again quickly. She was still too embarrassed to say any words.

She felt him sit down beside her, his knees brushing her side. She jumped a little, not anticipating how close he'd be. She gritted her teeth as she felt him pushing her top up her back, his warm hands ghosting over her skin. She cursed as she felt herself shiver, not anticipating the touch. She hoped he hadn't noticed.

She felt his touch on a slightly tender area, and was surprised at how gentle he was. Maybe being an artist had more uses than she had thought. She twitched again as he made a noise in the back of his throat.

"So you did tear your stitches didn't you, hm?" He reprimanded lightly, reaching into her medical pouch. She could feel his hand through the leather on her outer thigh, rummaging for something. She felt his hand retreat, apparently successful. "This is a type of antiseptic, right?"

She turned her head slowly, hiding behind her sheet of pink hair to look at the half obscured tube of medicine he was holding up.

"Yes." She replied, before returning to her previous position, her face hidden. She couldn't look at him; she knew he'd be amused at her embarrassment and would probably make fun of her later for it. He already knew how inexperienced she was- she had inadvertently blurted out that he'd taken her first kiss.

His touch became more professional, his nimble fingers skimming over the stitches before retreating briefly. The warm feeling of his palms soothed the agitated wounds, before she realised what he was about to do.

"Deidara, you're not-" She wanted to sit up, but her modesty and his hands on her back prevented her, resulting in an odd spasming motion.

"Stop wiggling Kitten. It's a very useful part of my jutsu, yeah, and you're going to relax." One hand was in her hair, stroking it soothingly, while the other continued to hold her down. "I'm going to take out your stitches now." She felt the hand in her hair retreat, but was still furious at the patronising implications of both his actions and the nickname. She had to retaliate somehow.

"You look like a girl." She told him lamely, feeling childish as soon as the words had left her mouth.

She felt him pause, his hand hovering over her back. Why had she deliberately tried to anger him? Here she was, completely vulnerable to this unpredictable, hot-blooded S-Class criminal, and she just insulted him in the worst way. She wouldn't be surprised if he blew her up.

"Are you asking me to prove something, hm?" He asked, his tone saturated with innuendo.

She hurriedly shook her head without turning round. She definitely did not want him proving anything; her face was red enough already. She awaited some form of retribution for her comment, but none came. Not even a small explosion.

Instead, she felt a mouth very gently undoing her stitches. She tried not to squirm at the ticklish sensation. She'd never known her back was this sensitive. Deidara gave a satisfied 'Hn' of amusement at her failed attempts to stay still.

"It tickles." She explained crossly, her voice muffled through her cloak which her face was currently buried in.

"If you don't stop moving I'll have to sit on you." He told her. His voice was teasing, but she didn't want to find out if he was telling the truth, so lay dead still, putting her shinobi training to good use. If she really put her mind to it she could truly pass for a corpse, chilling her body and slowing her pulse, but it wasn't something she enjoyed doing. That particular technique had been the most unpleasant one her Shishou had taught her.

Even with her training, she found it hard to ignore his close proximity. His touch was efficient and gentle, but his fingers on her skin as he rubbed in the antiseptic made it hard to repress a strange shiver. She would have to look into it when she got back to her medical journals.

He finished faster than she expected and was walking off, away from the bird.

"I'm going to get water. You should get dressed while I'm gone, yeah. I may not be so much of a gentleman now you're not injured." He grinned at her stunned expression before sauntering off with her canteen in the direction of the river.

She glared at his retreating form, making sure he was out of sight before digging out some chest bindings and her last clean shirt, almost ripping the zip off in her irritation.

That man! She raged internally. He was being a gentleman one minute, and a pervert the next. She didn't understand him whatsoever. She could understand some men. She understood Naruto; he just wanted to be accepted, loved and to eat ramen. Kakashi was a man deeply engulfed in his past, his regrets holding him back from happiness, but he was content as long as he was doing the right thing. Deidara, however, was very much a mystery to her. As annoyed as she was, she was curious about him. Nobody in Konoha had ever interested her this much.

Sakura reached up to feel her hair where he had stroked it, sighing when she felt how messy it was. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out a small comb and began to brush out the tangles. Her thoughts turned again to home.

As much as she loved Naruto and Kakashi and would give her life for them, she knew they didn't truly respect her- even though she had grown strong. She knew it wasn't a reflection on their character; Fire Country was still a country reigned by and for men and possessed many ideas which had long since been abolished by other nations. One of Mist's most elite assassination squads was entirely comprised of women, whereas Konoha still only allowed the training of one female ninja for every two males. The only country which was behind Fire Country in this respect was Wind- at least female civilians didn't have to cover their faces in Konoha.

No, Deidara was extremely different from anyone she'd ever met. She found him... Refreshing.

Her reverie was interrupted by his return, his stealthy footsteps only alerting her to his presence when he was right behind her. He had surprised her, but she didn't show it. She turned around to face him, her blush finally gone.

He had pulled his hair into a single tie- much like she had done for his the day before. He really did look better without it sticking up on top of his head, she mused.

"No pigtails today then?" She grinned at him, nodding at his hair.

"I thought about it, yeah." He grinned back, not missing a beat. He looked up at the brightening sky. Was that a little apprehension in his eyes? "We'd better set off soon. If we're any later patrols will come looking for us, yeah."

"I'm surprised they haven't already." She frowned. It was unusual for Tsunade to be so late in sending backup. Then Sakura sighed. Of course. The Konoha ninja would have followed the sounds of the fight with the Iwa hunters, and assumed wrong. Her blood would have been everywhere, and she'd left the chakra bind. They'd think she'd been taken. "Let's go." She said tiredly. She was going to have a lot of explaining to do when they reached Konoha.

Deidara didn't move. He was staring at the bird.

"What's wrong?" She asked. He didn't seem like the type to mourn over abandoning his creations.

"I'm not used to just leaving them, yeah. It's been years since I didn't blow one up."

"We can't. It will attract a lot of Konoha ninja. The type that don't ask questions first." Sakura looked at the bird. "We can't risk it"

It did seem like a waste, but they were too close to the ninja village. Nearby patrols would probably assume Konoha was being attacked and kill without hesitation.

Deidara nodded, still looking slightly disconcerted, lagging behind a little. They didn't have time for this, she thought with irritation, though she found it oddly endearing how torn he looked; his body turned towards Konoha, but his head frequently looking back towards the bird.


They were just a mile from Konoha. They had paused, looking at the village from the mountain surrounding it. It looked quiet, which meant it would be easier to enter without disturbance; many people would want to know what an Akatsuki member was doing in their village.

Sakura looked up at him, trying to read the vaguely troubled expression on his features.

"I hope you have a plan, for your sake. There are a lot of people in this village with a grudge against you." She warned him, choosing her words carefully.

"Are you worrying about me, hm?" He teased, though he didn't seem to be paying much attention, his eyes focused on the distant houses.

Sakura didn't bother to reply. She merely looked at him sadly; this may be the last time she ever saw him if negotiations didn't go well. She jumped off the edge of the steep edge, using her chakra to slide down the rock face quickly. She heard Deidara doing the same, and they hit the ground lightly, quietly.

It took barely a minute to reach the gates, the tall protective structures seeming more ominous than ever before to Sakura. They were open, Izumo and Kotetsu staring ahead tiredly. Kotetsu noticed her and gave a weary wave as they passed through unhindered. Tsunade must have been overworking those two, Sakura thought. They didn't even pay any attention to Deidara.

"Isn't your security a bit lax, yeah?" Deidara muttered to her once they were out of the earshot of the two guards. She pretended not to hear him, knowing he was right.

"Just be polite. Shishou's got a nasty temper this early."She advised. Although it would be funny to watch, she knew it wouldn't be in Deidara's interest to be punched through the wall during his talk with the Hokage.

He gave a 'Hn' and smiled at her, though Sakura wasn't ever so reassured. She had a feeling the whole event was not going to go according to anyone's plans.


A/N: I finally managed to update and I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting! Things are less busy now so updates should be back to normal.

You know what to do, my cutest lovely readers! ^-^ Tell me your favourite parts!