Sakura's POV

The drive home was agonizingly silent between Deidara and I. So much was going on inside me and although I wanted to pour everything out to him, it just felt wrong to do so. Deidara wasn't the one who should be driving me to appointments for my baby… he's not the child's father. Itachi should be the one who was driving me.

Deidara parallel parks as close to his apartment building as he can. We walk silently down the sidewalk. It's late in the evening from the low placement of the sun and most of the children that normally play are not out. Deidara holds open the door for me and I step into the familiar lobby. I walk to the large square room where stairs goo all the way up to the top floor. I walk behind the first wide set of stairs and see the familiar grayish-blue stone stairs leading down into the basement. I walk down and Deidara follows behind me. I take the few steps into the short hall and open Deidara's door and step in.

"Hello," a distantly-familiar male voice says.

"Sasori my man! It's been awhile."

I step into the large room and Deidara follows, shutting the door behind him. I lean against the door and watch the scene play out. I feel like an outsider, an intruder on the two men's friendship. Deidara walks over and claps the red-headed man on the shoulder.

"Nice of you to drop by. How long have you been here?"

"Only half an hour. I figured you must be busy with something so I waited," Sasori responded with no emotion. He turned to me and nodded. "Sakura, I'm glad to see that you are doing well."

The lack of emotion in his voice and face made it seem as though he truly did not care if I was doing well or not. I felt almost mocked by his statement.

"Thank you, I'm doing fine," I replied politely.

Sasori nodded.

"Are you going to stay for dinner, hm?"

Sasori continued to stare at me for a second before turning to his friend and replying. "If I may. I see you got your DVD player to work."

I paid vague attention to their conversation as I made my way to the fridge, I hadn't eaten since breakfast and my stomach was beginning to grumble. I looked in to see a half full fridge and decided to make myself a small sandwich. The lunch meat that Deidara bought a week ago was still good. I began to make my sandwich and then stopped.

I'm supposed to make dinner tonight. There is a guest over and I am supposed to wait on them. I need to stop thinking only of myself. I need to do my job.

I put my half-sandwich aside and looked back in the fridge, thinking about what I could make. I brought out the bag of lettuce that hadn't been opened yet, a cucumber, a tomato, and a few dressings. I got out two bowls and began to prepare salad for the men. I brought the two bowls over to Sasori and Deidara who sat on the couch talking and watching some action show but not really paying attention to it.

"I was unsure on what dressing you guys like… So I just brought over what we have," I tell them, holding the bowls out in front of me towards each man while I squeezed the three bottles of dressing between my arm and breasts. Sasori looked up with no emotion and took the bowl. Deidara looked up in confusion but took the bowl. I tried my best to smile big as I reached for the dressings and held out the options to them.

"Thank you Sakura," Sasori said, taking the French dressing from me.

"You're welcome," I smiled.

Deidara continued to stare at me though, first with confusion and now with his eyebrows slightly pulled toward one another and his eyes squinting. I tried to ignore the stare. Was I doing something wrong?

"Deidara, what dressing would you like," I asked.

"The ranch, hm."

I handed him the Ranch dressing and took the French from Sasori's outstretched hand. Deidara squeezed the ranch onto his salad then passed the bottle up to me.

"Thank you."

I smiled at Deidara, it was nice to be appreciated. I took the dressings back to the fridge and began to wash the small pile of dishes that had accumulated in the sink that day. I wasn't paying close attention but I could no longer hear Deidara and Sasori talking. I began to focus more and all I hear were quiet mumbles that I couldn't quite make out. I continued to wash the dishes, it was not my place to be curious about their conversation.

"Hey Sakura, are you going to eat, un?"

I'm not supposed to eat while company is over. I'm supposed to be a good host.

"Later," I responded to Deidara.

There was silence and a shuffling, I heard steps walk into my direction. I assumed that one of them was heading to the fridge. I turned around.

"Can I get you any-"

Deidara stood a few feet away from me, a frown on his face. He looked worried and disappointed. Instantly I knew I had done something wrong.

"Would you like to eat with us Sakura? We're just watching some show and talking, hm."

I stared at him in shock. Was I supposed to eat with them? That would be invading on their relationship though…

"I'm okay, really," I smiled at Deidara, closing my eyes to avoid looking in his.

"Sakura, hm," Deidara said softly, "Please eat with us."

I opened my eyes and looked into his face. He seemed to be so concerned by me not eating with them. Yet I felt so out of place. Whenever Itachi had Kisame over, I was to wait on them and stay out of the room unless they wanted me to get something for them. It felt wrong that Deidara wanted me to spend time with him and his friend.

"Oh-okay…" I mumbled, feeling a heat rise to my face. Deidara waited while I continued to make my unfinished half-sandwich and we walked over to his make-shift living room together. Deidara gestured for me to sit on the couch with Sasori while he sat in a folding metal chair next to my spot on the couch. I sat down stiffly, making sure to keep myself completely to myself so no part of me was leaning into Sasori's spot on the two-seat couch. I had to break the uncomfortable silence. I turned to Sasori and forced myself to smile.

"Deidara told me that you are the one who grabbed my clothes for me; I never got the chance to thank you for that."

Sasori looked at me with that same annoying emotionless face, "You're very welcome. I'm just glad to see you out of that house. You're bruises have healed nicely too."

I stared down at my lap. I hadn't even thought about if Sasori had been there when Deidara came to get me. I had figured that Deidara had sent Sasori over later but from Sasori's statement… I knew that Sasori had seen me that day… He had to have known that Itachi was the cause for the bruises that had been clear on my face.

"Yeah," I breathed out.

"So!" Deidara chimed in after a moment of tension so heavy I could almost feel myself being crushed, "Do you guys want to watch a movie or we could go out somewhere or…"

"I brought my laptop but I left it in the car. We could use it for whatever," Sasori added.

"You have a laptop?" I asked him surprised. Sasori blinked his eyes at me as if my question was idiotic.

"Yeah."

"Could I… uhm… Please… uh… Use it?"

I felt so wrong asking to use his laptop. It was out of place for me to even think of asking such a thing, but I was desperate. I hadn't used a computer in months because Itachi had changed the password on his laptop, and although my phone had internet access, I no longer had my phone.

"Sure," Sasori said plainly, standing up and walking towards the door, "I'll be right back."

The moment Sasori shut the door, Deidara turned to me. "Are you okay." It was less of a question and more of a demand for an accurate answer. I was about to smile while pretending to be interested in the T.V. but I betrayed myself and glanced at Deidara's face.

"No… I'm very confused…"

"Why, un."

"Well… You… I…" I struggled for the proper words, "I'm not… supposed to bother you… while you are with your friends…"

Deidara gave me a confused look, "Where did you get that idea, yeah?"

I looked away from him nervously. Where did I get that idea?

"Uhm… Itachi always-"

"Stop," Deidara cut me off. I looked up shocked, I instantly knew I had angered him. Deidara's face was hard and serious, his tone sharp, "I'm not Itachi, hm. Any rules or jobs you had with Itachi, you don't have with me. You don't ever have to do anything for me you don't want to, and you don't ever have to feel uncomfortable around me. You're free to be you Sakura."

I wanted to cry but I made sure the tears didn't fall from my eyes. Deidara told me that I was free as if I had once been imprisoned… and Itachi was the warden.

"Sakura…"

I bit my lip while looking into Deidara's eyes. They were so soft, so kind, and filled with so much sadness and worry. I wanted erase the sadness in his eyes and replace it with happiness, I wanted to erase the worry and replace it with confidence.

"I want to take care of you. Not the other way around, hm."

Before I could respond, the door opened. Sasori walked in and looked up. We were both staring at him silently.

"Did I interrupt something?" His face just as calm and emotionless as ever, his voice the same simple monotone.

"No, not at-" I began to say.

"Yeah but It's alright. Sakura and I will talk later," Deidara finished.

Sasori looked between the two of us for a moment then nodded at Deidara. I wondered what he was nodding at Deidara for, had Deidara told him something silently? How much did Sasori really know about my relationship with Deidara and my life with Itachi?

"It will automatically connect to the WiFi," Sasori said, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to me. He pulled opened the laptop and pressed the power button. It was not as nice as Itachi's laptop, but it still seemed like a good quality brand.

"Thanks," I mumbled as Sasori passed the laptop to me after logging in. The background screen was the original green landscape image. I wondered if this guy had any sort of personality as I clicked on the internet browser.

"What do you want to use Sasori's laptop for anyway," Deidara asked me curiously.

"I just want to check my facebook. I haven't had the chance to in a long time," I told him as I logged into my facebook. I was happy to see that the password I remembered was the right one.

"Oh."

I tried to think of the last time I had been on my facebook. It had to of been a few months because over time I stopped using my phone and talking to people on facebook because it bothered Itachi. I looked to see I had too many notifications for me to ever check so I dismissed them all. I had three messages. A message from Naruto, a message from Ino, and a message from Itachi… I clicked on the message from Ino, finally using some of my better judgment. She had sent the message about a month and a half ago saying how she missed me and she hadn't heard from me for awhile and how she was worried and how she was wondering if she did something to upset me. I read the long message once, then again. She did remember me… maybe I did still have friends…

Ino,

So much has happened since we last talked but before I tell you any of that I want to say I MISS YOU SO MUCH! It's been way too damn long since we talked or got together. I am so sorry for not talking to you for so long. You did nothing wrong! I've just had so much going on in my life… I haven't gotten the chance to talk to anybody. I really miss you and I want to tell you everything but I can't tell you over messaging. It's just too much and it would be wrong to not talk to you face to face after so long., especially to tell you this stuff. I don't have my phone anymore so I can only talk to you through facebook. I want to get together some time and just have a nice girl's day, I could honestly REALLY go for some good girl time. Message me and I will try to get back to you whenever I can, although I am not sure when I will be on facebook again. I miss you Ino.

I sent the message and looked up at the T.V. A women was being stabbed by some guy in a mask.

"Well that's lovely," I commented sarcastically.

"Do you want me to change it, un, "Deidara asked me.

I chuckled lightly, half faking half real, "No, it's okay. I just didn't expect you two to be watching a murder scene so intently."

"It's Deidara's and my favorite show series," Sasori commented.

"Yeah. It started out about this guy who grew up in the projects and got involved in a gang to try and earn money for his family and also to protect them. Then-"

I nodded along to Deidara's explanation of the show. It was nothing I would be interested in and I couldn't understand why Deidara and Sasori would enjoy watching such a depressing and violent show. The main plot of the show was about how the boy got involved in the gang while in his teen years because his family was threatened by them. It continues to develop about how he survives being apart of the gang and how it changed him and his life. It also tells about the things he had to do to stay alive as a member of the gang that he really didn't want to do.

"This is the forth episode in the third season. This season has so far been about him wanting out of the gang and trying to find a way to get a good education but so far it hasn't been working out at all. That girl that just got killed," Sasori explained after Deidara's summary of the show, "was an innocent. She ordered to be killed by the gang's leader as a warning to Mishio –the main boy-. The whole gang knows that Mishio has a thing for innocent people being involved."

I nodded at Sasori and looked back to the screen, I could now understand why they were so interested. I watched as Mishio ran towards the girl's dead body and bit back obvious tears. A popping sound from the laptop pulled my attention away from the T.V.

SAKURA! I'M SO GLAD YOU MESSAGED ME! I have missed you SO much! I want to hear ALL about what has been going on in your life when we get together. And we WILL get together soon. What happened to your cell phone? Too much has happened with me in the past few months too. My marriage is going great and Sakura, I've never been happier. How are you and Itachi? I know things were rough with you two for awhile but I'm sure you guys have figured things out. Maybe some time you, me, Itachi, and Shikamaru can get together for dinner? It would be nice to catch up.

I stared at the message but did not click on it. I never told Ino about Itachi hitting me… Of course I didn't. I would ever spend time with her while I had bruises either… I only told her that we were having a lot of arguments but that was it… Then I stopped talking to her…

I logged out of my facebook and closed the browser. I closed the laptop and passed it to Sasori, no longer wanting anything to do with it. Sasori looked at me with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"I've had enough of facebook. Thank you for letting me use your laptop Sasori. I really appreciate it," I forced myself to smile at him. Sasori stared at me with his never-ending blank expression then looked away. He turned his eyes back to the T.V. and I decided to watch the graphic drama show with the them.

Deidara's POV

"I don't think Sakura like me much," Sasori commented as we walked to his car together. He, Sakura, and I had spent the past few hours watching our favorite show. Sakura seemed to like it enough once we explained it to her, but we both knew she wouldn't like it in the same way we did. Sasori and I could relate to the show a lot, and although the writers got some things wrong, it was similar enough to some things we had faced in our teen years, especially me.

"Not many people do like you at first. You tend not to be open, yeah." I chuckled at him. Sasori didn't say anything in response. "So… What do you think of her?"

"She fakes a lot of smiles."

"Yeah," I mumbled back to Sasori, "It's just been hard for her."

"That's not going to change," Sasori tells me blandly, "And right now I'm sure she's feeling conflicted."

"What do you mean, un," I asked him.

Sasori leaned again his car. "Well… I'm sure she still loves Itachi, Deidara. Her love for him isn't going to go away instantly just because she finally left him and you're there to take his place."

"I'm not-" I began to defend but Sasori cut me off.

"I know you're not trying to be him or replace him. But to Sakura it probably seems like that. She's been living with you for two weeks now? She knows you love her and you've been taking care of her. It's probably making her confused on her feelings."

I looked away from him. Sasori was always analytical but every now and again how right he seemed got on my nerves. "Ya know, hm… She told me something last week…" Sasori raised an eyebrow. "She found out she's… pregnant. And today we were at the doctors so she could get testings and stuff to see if everything is okay."

I looked back to Sasori at his sigh. "All the more reason for her to be feeling conflicted. You're taking care of her while she's pregnant and taking her to her appointments. The child is Itachi's, right?" I nodded. "She'll be missing him and wanting him to be taking care of her instead of you."

Anger bubbled inside me. Why would Sakura want Itachi to be the one to take care of her after all that he had done to her? It didn't make any sense.

"Sasori, you're not making any sense, yeah."

"The baby is Itachi's. She just left Itachi because he was abusing her. You've taken the place of boyfriend-husband role and father-of-baby role. That's not your role though. And I'm sure Sakura knows that too. That's Itachi's role."

"But Itachi isn't here for her, I am. Itachi doesn't deserve her. He treated her like crap, yeah!" I snapped at Sasori, becoming more annoyed by his observations and conclusions.

"Deidara, you need to understand that she still loves him. Sakura may not be in denial anymore but there is no way that she has opened herself up to you, ready for you to step into her life like a lover. You had to have noticed by now any romantic tensions and hesitations by her."

I thought over this past week and hated to admit it, but Sasori was right. The corners of Sasori's eyes drooped just slightly and his eyebrows seemed to twitch closer together. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed anything different from his face, but I knew that he was frowning.

"Just take your time Deidara… She's not ready to love you yet… You don't want to scare her off."

"Yeah… I know… But sometimes she confuses me too," I told him.

"In what way."

"She's been very emotional, crying on a regular basis. I always comfort her and she will cling to me, holding me close to her and crying. We've had some really intense talks too where it seems like she's almost about to say something about our relationship but she doesn't. Then at other times she is incredibly distant that I just want to sit her down and make her tell me everything but if I do that, I'd push her away."

Sasori didn't look surprised at all, "More effects of her feeling conflicted about you and her relationship with you and her emotions for Itachi." I nodded once more. I hated when Sasori was so right, but I was also grateful for his advice. I was not as good as him at coming to accurate conclusions based off of barely anything, hell, I couldn't do that at all.

"Ya know Sasori my man, you should be an investigator, hm."

The corners of Sasori's lips went up and he raised his eyebrow. A smile. "Why is that."

"You're able to make such accurate conclusions based off of what you know, even if it's a little bit. You're always serious and you have the best no emotion face," I teased him.

"Shut up," Sasori growled at me, his face coming close to showing the emotion of being annoyed.

"Wait hold on, yeah! I think I spoke too soon!"

Sasori looked at me with a dead pan stare as I laughed at him.

"I'll see ya later Deidara," he announced, and walked around to get into his car.

"Alright, hm," I grinned and began to walk back to Sakura.

YAY! SECOND CHAPTER! So what do you all think so far of the sequel? Is it seeming to be as good as the first? Why or why not? Does it have potential? Have you already picked up on some of my foreshadowing ;) ? Please let me know in REVIEWS! I need my writer's motivation food! The more food I get, the more likely I will feel obligated to post the next chapter sooner!